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Andrew Elliott Marker Dedication, Capstone to Bicentennial

On Sunday, June 12, 2022 at 2:00 p.m., the Oak Ridge Cemetery Foundation and Veterans Memorial Foundation will dedicate a memorial marker for Andrew Elliott, a veteran whose personal effort secured the City of Springfield as the Sangamon County seat in 1821.


Andrew Elliott (circa 1792 – October 17, 1864), keeper of Springfield’s first hotel, the Buck Horn Tavern, can be considered as the man responsible for influencing the selection of Springfield as the seat of Sangamon County. In 1821, when the county’s first Commissioners were tasked with determining the seat of justice, their choices had been narrowed to Sangamo Town and Springfield. According to the History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois, Elliott purposely and over-extensively drove the Commissioners through the obtrusive sloughs and swamps surrounding Sangamo Town so that Springfield became the obviously preferred choice for Sangamon County’s seat.


The Marker Dedication Ceremony for Andrew Elliott, and his wife, Zilpha H. (Kelley) Elliott will be held at 2:00pm on Sunday, June 12, 2022 in the northeast Block 8, Lot 94 of Oak Ridge Cemetery, 1441 Monument Avenue, Springfield, Illinois.


Because Andrew Elliott was a soldier from Sangamon County in the Winnebago War of 1827, the Black Hawk War of 1831 and the Mormon War of 1845, Terry Prince, the Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs, will unveil the Memorial Marker and honor the Elliotts with a Wreath Laying.


With this Memorial Marker Dedication Ceremony serving as a capstone for Sangamon County’s Bicentennial Celebrations, remarks will also be provided by Lori Williams, Vice-Chair of the Sangamon County Board; Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell and Sangamon County Circuit Clerk Paul Palazzolo.


“Andrew Elliott’s wry chauffeuring led to Springfield’s selection as the Sangamon County seat,” said Michael Lelys of the Oak Ridge Cemetery Foundation. “For his extensive military service and for his civic service, Elliott deserves this honor. Without him, Springfield might be where Sangamo Town is today.”

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