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Between 1840 and 2000 when census figures were available, black population in the county has risen and fallen depending on prevailing socioeconomic conditions within and outside the county. Based on a study carried out by two 海角大神 sociology professors, Gary Foster and Craig Eckert, "The trend reflected in the total county population is nearly a unilinear increase over the sixteen decades [1840 - 2000], while the increase in the African American population was erratic, coinciding with, and perhaps reflecting the vagaries of history." (14) They went further to explain that,

the proportion of blacks in Coles County never approximated the proportion of blacks in the national population suggests that few economic opportunities for blacks and to exploit blacks as labor force were present historically. Agriculturally, the history of Coles County is one of homestead (family) agriculture, not plantation or commercial agriculture, with little need for outside labor and by 1870, little land remained available. The community where 95.9% of blacks were interred [Mattoon] was a railroad town with an industrial base, but always small. Hence, except for scattered enclaves of exceptions, historically, the rural Midwest was not a Beulah Land for African Americans following emancipation. (15)

While African Americans were recognized for individual accomplishments, as a group they were not readily accepted as equals by the white community. According to Meyer, "Although there seemed to be close friendships on an individual level, feelings about the growth of a black community may have been more ambivalent." (16) To substantiate her argument, Meyer writes as follows:

A case in point are the war letters of B.F. Reed, who was from Brushy Fork. In an 1863 letter to a farmer of that area, he writes, "I will close, my respects to all, especially my old friend, Lewis James." (One of the black farmers) However, two months later he writes, "I learn the sable sons of Africa on Brushy Fork have gone to Boston to enlist in the Federal Army. Bully for them, may they never return." His sentiments may have echoed those of many of the area farmers who came from Kentucky— respecting men as individuals and yet "having no conscientious scruples on the slavery question. (17)

The supposed inferiority of African Americans could not be erased by individual achievement. More importantly, even though Reed and his like were at this time in Illinois, a non-slave state, they were still being influenced by their southern heritage and allegiance. Clearly, the hostility towards Lewis James and his cohorts had to do with the fact that they chose to enlist in the Union Army which was determined to destroy slavery and the southern way of life. It was not in all cases that whites had ambivalent attitudes towards blacks. There were times when black individuals were given their due. As one newspaper report stated "Respected Colored Citizen Is Dead." The full report reads as follows:

Stephen Williams, age 78 years, one of the best known colored men of Coles County and for years a resident of this city [Charleston] where he had the respect and confidence of all, died at 11:20 this morning at the family home, 728 Eleventh Street, after an illness of several years... Mr. Williams, who was born in Huntsville, Ala., was a slave in the days before the great Civil war which gave him his rights and freedom as a human being. At the conclusion of the war he was brought to Charleston by the late Captain T.T. Tillotson. He was then a lad about 18 years of age and was in the service of the Tillotson family for some years... In the many that Williams resided here he has met with many of our people [whites]. He was well liked by every one, and held the confidence of all. For years he was seen on the streets of Charleston until about four years ago, when he contracted a severe eye trouble which later blinded him for the remainder of his days. (18)

Beyond individual recognition, blacks had to rely on liberal and sympathetic whites to help them protect their rights. For example, Ebenezer Noyes' family house on Western Avenue in Mattoon is cited as a station on the Underground Railroad. Built in the 1850's, local legend has it that "One of his great-granddaughters, Catherine Hughes Turner, recalls a story of the Noyes' family helping a slave escape. When men came looking for escaped slaves, the family dressed a slave they were hiding in the Noyes family's clothing. They put her to work in the garden and she went undetected." (19)