Franklin County

Joseph's Journey

Joseph Summers, a progenitor in the Wittenberg Summers Line, which we are following, spent his early years, 1749–1772, in Kent Co, Delaware, then resided in Guilford Co, North Carolina, 1772–1796. His next destination was Sumner Co, Tennessee, where he spent the years 1796–1829, most or all with his wife, Mary Jackson Summers. Joseph lived out the final years of his life, 1829–1839, in Morgan Co, Illinois, though he died in the adjacent county, Scott, possibly because his residence was in the portion of Morgan Co from which Scott Co was formed in 1839. Though Joseph ended up in Morgan Co, Illinois, as did several of his offspring, other sons and daughters, those that decided to leave Tennessee, ended up in Southern Illinois, in the counties of Franklin, Williamson, Gallatin, White, and Saline. In particular, Joseph’s son Thomas Sr. and all but one of Thomas’s thirteen children lived at least part of their lives in Franklin Co. And this is important since Thomas Sr. was the next progenitor of the Wittenberg Line. Confused? Take a look at this family branch in the Summers blog "In a Nutshell".

In many ways, the cradle of the Wittenberg Summers was Southern Illinois, not Delaware, not North Carolina, not Tennessee, not even Missouri. For nearly two centuries, starting around 1822, descendants of Thomas Summers Sr. have proliferated in Southern Illinois, with most living in Franklin Co.

 On 2 Jan 1818, eleven months before Illinois was established as the twenty-first state (3 Dec 1818) and four or so years before the arrival of the first member of the Wittenberg Summers Line (c1822), Franklin Co was created from parts of Gallatin and White counties. Originally twice its present size, Franklin Co was divided in half in 1839 forming the new county of Williamson to the south. Franklin lies in the center of Southern Illinois, midway between the Wabash and Mississippi rivers and more or less midway between the southern tip of Illinois and the ill-defined northern border of Southern Illinois.

Counties in southern Illinois before becoming a state

Southern Illinois today