Jefferson County, Illinois

Jefferson County is a located in the southern part of the  of. As of 2000, the population was 40,045 people. The is.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,512 (584 ). 1,479 km² (571 sq mi) of it is land and 33 km² (13 sq mi) of it (2.19%) is water.

Adjacent Counties

 * - north
 * - northeast
 * - southeast
 * - south
 * - southwest
 * - west

History
The first settler in Jefferson County is believed to have been Andrew Moore. In 1810, he settled near the southeast corner of the county, near where the emerges from the forest of  into what is now known as Moore's Prairie. It is interesting that Moore arrived from the Goshen Settlement, near. His migration was therefore retrograde, from the west toward the interior of the State.

In 1814 Andrew Moore departed with his eight-year old son for Jordan's settlement, a journey from which he never returned. A skull that was believed to have been Moore's was found several years later about two miles from his cabin. Jordan's Settlement, also called Jordan's Fort, was southeast of modern, about twenty miles south of Moore's cabin. This episode occurred during the when many of the  tribes were allied with the British.

In 1816, Carter Wilkey, Daniel Crenshaw and Robert Cook settled in Moore's Prairie. Daniel Crenshaw moved into Moore's cabin. This settlement is believed to be the first permanent settlement in the County.

Jefferson County was organized in 1819, out of parts of, and. It was named in honor of, principle draftsman of the , among other things. The baseline along the northern border of the County crosses the Third Principal Meridian at the northwest corner of the County.

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 40,045 people, 15,374 households, and 10,561 families residing in the county. The was 27/km² (70/sq mi). There were 16,990 housing units at an average density of 11/km² (30/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 89.87%, 7.83% or , 0.21% , 0.47% , 0.01% , 0.45% from , and 1.16% from two or more races. 1.33% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 15,374 households out of which 31.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.3% were living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.30% were non-families. 27.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 persons and the average family size was 2.96 persons.

In the county the population was spread out with 24.2% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 28.4% from 25 to 44, 23.3% from 45 to 64, and 15.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 104.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 104.1 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $33,555 and the median income for a family was $41,141. Males had a median income of $34,089 versus $21,015 for females. The for the county was $16,644. About 9.1% of families and 12.30% of the population were below the, including 14.0% of those under age 18 and 11.8% of those age 65 or over.