The Hancock County Historical Society announces its February 21, 2026 quarterly
program, The Moffitts, 200 Plus Years in Hancock County.
The program will be at the Carthage Community Center, 301 Main St. and
begins at 7:00 p.m.
In 1820, brothers Thomas and James Moffitt bought land along the Mississippi
River just south of what was to become Nauvoo. That land, purchased before
the county was even formed, is Hancock County's only registered bicentennial
family farm. It is one of 17 bicentennial farms in Illinois, honored in 2023 at the
Illinois State Fair.
Dan Moffitt will be presenting the program and is the sixth generation of the Moffitt
family to live on the historic family farm. He will tell stories and some of the history
of this pioneer family. Dan purchased the ancestral farm in 1994 and lives in the
1820s log cabin located on the banks of the Mississippi River. The first Moffitt's would
have known and, or, at least met people like Chief Keokuk, Joseph Smith,
Etienne Cabet, Robert E. Lee and others.