December 19 Illinois History Minute

It’s December 19th, and the formation of Jasper County in southeast Illinois was finalized on this day in 1834. The rural county is named after Sergeant William Jasper, a hero of the Revolutionary War. Jasper County is the birthplace of Young Adult novelist Irene Hunt, who used it as the setting for her Civil War novel, Across Five Aprils.

The first basketball game between two high school teams in Illinois was played by girls teams this week in 1896. The Austin High School team defeated a team from Oak Park.

“Some Came Running”, the novel by Robinson Illinois native James Jones was made into a movie released this week in 1958. Frank Sinatra starred as cynical war veteran and frustrated writer Dave Hirsh, a character that Jones based on himself.