Tazewell County Genealogical & Historical Society
“…increasing and enriching public knowledge of our heritage”
Ehrlicher Research Center
719 N. Eleventh Street
Pekin, Illinois
(309) 477-3044
Mailing Address:
PO Box 312
Pekin, Illinois 61555-0312
| Monday | Thursday |
| 9:00 am-1:00 pm | 9:00 am-1:00 pm |
| Tuesday | Friday |
| 9:00 am-1:00 pm | 9:00 am-1:00 pm |
| 7:00 pm-9:00 pm | |
| Wednesday | Sunday |
| 9:00 am-4:30 pm | 2:00 pm-4:30pm |
Tazewell County Genealogical & Historical Society is now a FamilySearch Affiliate Library! Visitors to our library have free access to many millions of additional digital images on the FamilySearch website than they can access from home.
Upcoming Events
A Historical Tidbit is a
short Tazewell County related article.
It could be a 5 or 6 page story but could be as simple as a
family photo, letter, or document.
If you have a Tazewell County related article, photo, letter, or document you’d like to share, here’s how to make a submission.
Here's the latest ten additions & modifications:
- 1933 – Pendergast Inn
July 21, 2022
- 1904 – Kiblinger & Merchenthaler Grocery
May 9, 2022
- 1844 – Old Horshor Mill
May 9, 2022
- 1929 – Horse Drawn Illinois River Ferry
May 9, 2022
- 1878 – Bird’s Eye View of Delavan
May 9, 2022
- 1900’s – William Rufus Hammer
April 30, 2022
- 1952 – Deer Creek-Mackinaw High Graduates
April 30, 2022
- 1879 – Daisy & Grace Reed
April 19, 2022
- 1880’s – Photographer H.H. Cole
April 3, 2022
- 1892 – Joachim Schroeder Family
March 28, 2022
If you have a
Tazewell County related
article, photo, letter, or document
you’d like to share,
here’s how to make a submission.
Welcome to theTazewell County Genealogical & Historical Society!
eThe Society was established in 1978 to “stimulate interest; to collect, preserve, and safeguard records; and to provide related educational services for the purpose of increasing and enriching public knowledge of our heritage.”
Our library is staffed with one or more trained volunteer genealogists. Our collection currently contains almost 13,000 volumes.
Unexpected closings can occur but are very rare (usually due to inclement weather and, recently, worldwide pandemics) – if in doubt, call us at 309 477-3044 before leaving home. If you are coming through town and can't stop by during our normal hours, email us in advance and we'll try to make arrangements to meet you at the library.
Our meetings are held on the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 7:00 pm. Our monthly meeting starts with a one hour presentation about a genealogical or historical subject followed by a short business meeting. The public is welcome to attend any of our meetings/presentations.
But we encourage you to consider joining the Society - annual dues are just $25 for an individual or $28 for a family (two individuals living at same address). Here's how to join!
A good way to get a general idea of what's available here on tcghs.org is to review our website map. Thanks for stopping by!
Recording of July Meeting Available in Members Only Area until August 12
Laura Street Chaplin presented Pathways to Spicy Stories: An Overview of Court Records at our July 12 meeting. If you weren't able to attend, Laura graciously allowed us to record the presentation and place it in our Members Only Area for the next 30 days! So, if you missed the meeting, you have a 2nd chance to watch at your convenience!
Court records in their infinite variety are a treasure trove for genealogists because they are not just legal documents. They are pathways into the stories of our ancestors’ lives, often leading to clues we might otherwise miss. While vital statistics like birth, marriage, and death dates and places are important, it is the stories we uncover that add the extra spice. Attend this humorous attempt to give an overview of the various documents found in an American court!
August 2022 Mystery Photos Posted!
Unfortunately, we have many photographs in our collection that are undated with unnamed persons taken at an unknown location. We have dubbed these as our Mystery Photo Collection
We publish one or more photographs each month in The Monthly newsletter and on our website. All additional details we have accompany each photo. Click on photo to see it full-size!
Here's the mystery photos from the August 2022 issue of The Monthly:
Please contact us even if you are not 100% sure of your information—sometimes a tiny tidbit can lead to big results! Thanks for your help!
Also, take a look at all the Mystery Photos we have posted in the past! Perhaps you can identify one of them.
Asking for Submissions forGreen Valley Sesquicentennial Book!
The Green Valley Sesquicentennial Book Committee is collecting information for a new book celebrating the One Hundred and Fifty Year Anniversary of Green Valley including both Malone and Sand Prairie Townships. A rich history of settlement, farming, and family history comes from these two townships.
The plan is to bring forward history from the 125th Celebration Book of Green Valley to the present 150th Celebration. The 125th Celebration was very thorough and detailed and covered a lot of the history of the community. [There's still a few of the 125th Celebration Book available!]
The 150th year book will include the Green Valley Sesquicentennial Celebration of August 2022 so it will not be published until after August 2022. The Committee is asking for current and former Green Valley citizens to submit articles that “Enhance the History of Green Valley Through Your Family Story”.
In addition to updating information from the former Green Valley histories, new topics will be added such as a history of street names, histories of some of the older homes, grain elevators, railroad, and the orphan train.
Elder and former residents of Green Valley are being interviewed. So far, a centenarian as well as a number of 80+ and 90+ year-olds are contributing their memories and information about growing up in the Green Valley area.
If you have additional contributions or questions, the Sesquicentennial Book Committee of Green Valley may be contacted at sesquicentennial150gv@gmail.com
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