Richard Northcraft Cullom and his wife Margaret Elizabeth (Coffey) Cullom made their way to Washington in 1830 when there were only a few families.  A few months after his arrival, Cullom endured "The Winter of the Deep Snow" and had a few stories to tell.  The Cullom family also owned property near Deer Creek, which Richard purchased from the government in 1831.  In fact, Cullom is credited for naming Deer Creek Township.  Richard got involved in politics in some of the earliest formations of Tazewell County and held the office of County Commissioner in 1835.

Richard was vehemently anti-slavery, which sparked his move from Kentucky. In 1840, he ran and was elected to the state senate as a member of the anti-slavery Whig party.

When the supervisor system replaced the county court system in Tazewell County in 1850, Richard was chosen to be the first township supervisor serving from 1850-51 and again in 1866 at the age of 71.

R.N. Cullom died in Washington in 1872 at the age of 77 and is buried in Old City Cemetery.

Richard and Margaret's son, Shelby Moore Cullom, was born in 1829 in Kentucky and came with the family as a baby to our area.  Shelby grew up around the farming trade but developed a real love for the law.  Realizing he would need more schooling than the local public schools could provide and not having the money for college, Shelby spent an entire summer using his father's plow and oxen as he hired himself out to break up the prairie ground for new settlers.  That winter, a teaching position opened at a country school.  Those jobs allowed Shelby to attend Rock River Seminary and then relocate to Springfield to learn among the best lawyers in the State, including Mr. Abraham Lincoln.

In the mid-1850s, Shelby experienced a steady political climb. He began as City Attorney for Springfield, leading to a spot in the U.S. Congress in 1864. He remained until 1870, when he decided to exit the political realm and re-enter the private sector.  That didn't last long. In 1876, he was elected Governor of the State of Illinois.  Two years into his second term as Governor in 1882, he was elected to the United States Senate, an office he held until 1913.  After 31 years of service in the Senate and at age 85, Cullom passed away that following year and is buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield.