last visit was in 1859, when the future President visited his stepmother and his father's grave. Although Illinois was a solidly pro-Union, anti-slavery state, Coles County was settled by many Southerners with pro-slavery sentiments. In 1847, the county was divided when prominent local citizens offered refuge to a family of escaped slaves brought from Kentucky by Gen. Robert Matson. Abe Lincoln, by then a young railroad lawyer, appeared in the Coles County Courthouse to argue for the return of the escaped slaves under the Fugitive Slave Act in a case known as Matson v. Ashmore. As in the rest of the nation, this long-simmering debate finally broke out into violence during the American Civil War. On March 28, 1864 a riot—or perhaps a small battle—erupted in downtown Charleston when armed Confederate sympathizers known as Copperheads arrived in town to attack half-drunk Union soldiers preparing to return to their regiment. In 1895, the Eastern Illinois State Normal School was established in Charleston, which later became Eastern Illinois University. This led to lasting resentment in nearby Mattoon, which had originally led the campaign to locate the proposed teaching school in Coles County. A Mattoon newspaper printed a special edition announcing the decision with the derisive headline "Catfish Town Gets It." Thomas Lincoln's log cabin has been restored and is open to the public as the Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site, 8 mi. south of Charleston. The Lincoln farm is maintained as a living history museum where historical re-enactors depict life in 1840s Illinois. Thomas and Sarah Bush Lincoln are buried in the nearby Shiloh Cemetery. On May 26, 1917, a tornado ripped through Charleston, killing 38 and wounding many more along with destroying 220 homes. Geography Charleston is located at (39.4846183, -88.1779604). According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Charleston has a total area of , of which (or 92.68%) is land and (or 7.32%) is water. Climate The data below were taken from 1893 through January 2020, when this chart was made. They were accessed through the Western Regional Climate Center (WRCC). Demographics As of the 2020 census there were 17,286 people, 7,847 households, and 3,850 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 8,319 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 79.65% White, 8.39% African American, 0.27% Native American, 2.54% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 3.88% from other