 It was named after Edward Coles, the second governor of Illinois, from 1822 to 1826.The majority of the American settlers who founded Coles County, Illinois were either from the six New England states, or were born in upstate New York to parents who had moved to that region from New England shortly after the American Revolution.This population was referred to as "Yankee" settlers, meaning that they were descended from the English Puritans who settled New England in the 1600s.