Notes from the White County Historical Society as they appear in "The Carmi Times."

Copyright ©2001 by "The Carmi Times" Permission to reprint granted to Cindy Birk Conley and the ILGenWeb by Tammy Knox, editor, "The Carmi Times."

Years ago Lucille Lawler, Gallatin County's veteran historian, told the
story of Boone's Fort, which later became known as New Haven. The
following is gathered from her research.

Daniel Boone's brother, Jonathan, and son, Joseph, arrived in the
unsettled forested area of Southern Illinois, making their way here
from Barren County, Ky. They were looking for a mill site and selected a
spot on the Little Wabash where they installed mill stones and
encircled the area with a stockade for protection from Indians. This
enclosure was large enough to hold several families.

The land office at Shawneetown did not open until about 1814; before
that, any families were considered squatters.

Jonathan Boone was born in Pennsylvania in 1730 and died in the New
Haven area in 1808. When the Boones came to this area their neighbors,
the Dagleys, accompanied them. Thomas Dagley was born in 1755 in
Ireland. (Our library has a book on the family history of this man
which tells of his service in the Revolution.) Mr. Dagley came to
Boone's Fort with five children in the early 1800s. One child, Sarah,
later married Joseph Boone. Thomas Dagley eventually bought land in
White County in an area which was later known as Union Ridge.

The Jonathan Boone cabin stood for more than 130 years near the river in
New Haven. Daniel Boone came to visit and stayed a while with his
brother. The Dagleys reported that in 1818, Daniel Boone slept in their
home.

According to Mrs. Lawler, Boone's Mill was named in 1813 to mark out a
road from Burnt Prairie to Shawneetown. The State Legislature used the
mill as a landmark in describing the boundary line separating White and
Gallatin Counties saying, "beginning in the eye of the millstone in
Boone's Mill in New Haven."

Joseph Boone and wife, Sally Dagley Boone, kept a trading post at the
early settlement. In 1818, the Boones sold out their mill, plus the land
and town site. Joseph and Sally Boone moved to Arkansas Territory.
There are many known Dagley descendants in White County and, no doubt,
also many Boone descendants in the area today.

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The Genealogy Library is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 to 2.

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Address letters to Genealogy, White County Historical Society, PO Box
121, Carmi, IL 62821.

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The Coordinator for the White County, Illinois ILGenWeb page is Cindy Birk Conley

Copyright © 2001 by Cindy Birk Conley, all rights reserved. For personal use only. Commercial use of the information contained in these pages is strictly prohibited without prior permission. If copied, this copyright notice must appear with the information.