Coles County Legal History Project
The Coles County Legal History Project (CCLHP) was an investigation by student researchers and history professors at both Eastern Illinois University and elsewhere. It contains legal documents from Coles County in Illinois, (primarily during the 19th century), which have been entered into an online database. The database is free and accessible to the public, (see below), and has been designed so that high school students, undergraduates, graduates, genealogists, and professional historians can manipulate the search engine with a minimum of fuss. Coles County was created in 1830, and civil and criminal cases date from that year onwards. CCLHP provides excellent data for comparative legal history, but it also reveals the impact of settlement, railroad construction and use, the Civil War, integration with Chicago and other markets, and a comparative base for study of the law practice of Abraham Lincoln, as well as many other historical questions.
