Nathaniel Pope
Nathaniel Pope, a politician and jurist from the Illinois Territory and State of Illinois was the Pope County namesake.

Nathaniel Pope, a politician and jurist from the Illinois Territory and State of Illinois was the Pope County namesake.

Pope County was created on 10 December 1816 from Gallatin and Johnson Counties. The first permanent settlement in what became Pope County was the modern-day Golconda in 1798.