THEBES HISTORY

Thebes was established in the early 1800s by two Sparhawk brothers traveling up the Mississippi River from New Orleans. They were attracted to the land along the river and a bluff overlooking it. It was first known as Sparhawk Landing. The settlement was patented to Franklin G. Hughes and Joseph Chandler October 15, 1835. It was platted March 2, 1846. Since 1832 this region of Southern Illinois was known as "Little Egypt." A crop failure in central Illinois prompted farmers to come to "Little Egypt" for grain. Just like in the Bible. Some of the early settlers included: Dr. H. C. Barkhausen, William Bracken, Martha Bracken, Martin Brown, William Brown, Thomas Brown, A. Corzine, O. G. Ford, Dr. J.A.M. Gibbs, Levi L. Lightner, Jacob Light and many others.

Thebes was the county seat of Alexander County from 1846-1859. In 1848 a two-story sandstone courthouse was built at a cost of $4,400. It sits atop a bluff, commanding a sweeping view of the Mississippi River. The architect was H. A. Barkhausen. Abraham Lincoln visited the courthouse when he was a frontier lawyer. Fugitive slave Dred Scott reportedly was imprisoned in the courthouse dungeon. Judge L. L. Lightner was the first judge to officiate in the courthouse. In pre-Civil War days, lawyer John Logan, regularly argued cases in the courthouse. He later become a Civil War hero, U. S. Congressman, senator and vice-presidential nominee. This historical courthouse is on the National Register of Historic Places.

--Source: HISTORY OF ALEXANDER, UNION AND PULASKI COUNTIES, ILLINOIS, edited by William Henry Perrin, ©1883, Chicago: O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publisher, 183 Lake St.

This picture was contributed by Harriet Ellene Kuehne. It is the entrance side of the courthouse. For more pictures of the old courthouse, click here.

The first store in Thebes was opened by J. H. Oberley, who had for a partner afterward, John Hodges, the father of the present Sheriff of the county (1883). The first baby born in Thebes was Adaline Barkhausen, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Barkhausen and now wife of Henry A. Planer (1883). The first marriage was Judge Lightner, the first county judge, and Mrs. Susan E. Wilkerson.

    There are perhaps very few of the rising generation in Cairo who know that there was ever any county seat of Alexander county other than Cairo, says the Cairo Bulletin. Visitors to Thebes may have noticed standing on a hill near the roadside an old building which is occupied as a boarding or tenement house. This building has occupied this same spot for the past fifty years or more and until the year 1859 was used as a court house for the county of Alexander. It stands on a hill overlooking the Mississippi river and for a number of years the residents of Cairo were compelled to go to Thebes, a distance of twenty-six miles, to attend court. After its abandonment as a temple of justice, it was altered and used as a Baptist church. Since that time it has again been sold and is now doing service as a boarding house.
    Thebes is not the only town, however, that can boast of having once been the county seat of Alexander County. In 1833 Unity was made the county seat and court was held there until the removal to Thebes. Previous to the removal of the court house from Unity, the territory now comprising Alexander and Pulaski counties was one county and was known as Alexander County. The first county seat of this territory was America, where a brick court house and jail were built in 1820.
    Several pictures have been taken of the old Thebes court house as it now stands and many older Cairo residents will remember when they went there to attend court, with Judge M.C. Crawford of Jonesboro presiding.