 There was a small portion of the county who were Irish Catholic immigrants, Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas was extremely popular in this community, and during the Civil War the Irish Catholic community of Coles County would overwhelmingly be copperheads.Coles County is home to several well-known legends and folktales, including the Mad Gasser of Mattoon and the ghost of Mary Hawkins at Pemberton Hall.Michael Kleen has documented many of these tales, including the "witch's grave" of St. Omer Cemetery and story of "Rag Doll Cemetery," in his book "Tales of Coles County, Illinois".