They were part of a wave of New England farmers who moved to the Northwest Territory in the early 19th century.

These New Englanders laid out farms, constructed roads, erected government buildings and established post routes.

They brought with them many of their Yankee New England values, such as a passion for education, establishing many schools, and were staunch abolitionists.

[9] As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 34,978 people, 14,262 households, and 9,605 families residing in the county.

In terms of ancestry, 32.8% were German, 13.8% were Irish, 12.1% were English, 9.2% were American, 8.8% were Italian, 7.6% were Swedish, and 5.8% were Polish.

[17] As part of Yankee-settled Northern Illinois, Bureau County became powerfully Republican for the century following the Civil War.

Between 1988 and 2012, the county trended Democratic – Bill Clinton won pluralities in both his elections and Barack Obama won an absolute majority in 2008 and nearly did so in 2012 – however concern with lack of employment opportunities in the Rust Belt led to a powerful swing toward Donald Trump in 2016 for the best GOP result since Ronald Reagan’s 1984 landslide.