From Page 97 of The 1864-65 Illinois Gazetteer & Business Directory, viewable and searchable online: "Williamson County is situated in the south part of the State, and is bounded on the north by Franklin, east by Saline, south by Johnson and a corner of Union, and west by Jackson counties. It is twenty-four miles long, east and west, and eighteen miles wide. It contains the twelve following townships, viz.:--Bainbridge, Crab Orchard, Eight-mile, Grassy, Herring's Prairie, Lake Creek, Marion, Northern, Rock Creek, Saline, Southern and Union, with a population in 1860 of 12,205 persons. The Big Muddy River traverses the north-western corner of this county, while the Crab Orchard Creek (an affluent of the Big Muddy) waters the interior, and the South Fork of the Saline runs through the south-eastern portion. The Illinois Central Railroad passes within a few miles of its western limits. In 1861, there were 3,021 horses, 7,801 cattle, 9.458 sheep, and 22,960 swine. The products were 187,050 bushels of wheat, 929,120 bushels of corn, and 1,897 acres of oats, hay, cotton, &c. From the State Superintendent's report for 1862, we find that there were 5,588 persons between five and twenty-one years of age, 2,966 of whom attended the public schools, which were in session an average of 5.9 months during the year. There were fifty-two male and twenty female teachers employed at an average salary of $26 per month to the former, and $20 to the latter. The total expended for all school purposes was $7,089. Assessed value of personal and real estate for 1863, $1,104,499; estimated true value, $2,393,081."

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