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
Consistent with the State of Illinois Phase 4 guidelines, we may have to limit occupancy on rare occasions to maintain proper social distancing. Visitors should be wearing masks and will be requested to use hand sanitizer upon entry. There may be signs posted with additional guidelines in order to help us keep our environment sanitary as possible.
Welcome to the Tazewell County Genealogical & Historical Society!
The 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 to inclement weather and worldwide pandemics) – any unscheduled closing will be listed prominently on this page. 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.
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!
Terri Lynn Nut & Candy Orders Have Arrived!
Our Terri Lynn premium nuts and candies order has arrived!
Your orders are now available for pickup at the library. Please pickup your order by November 30.
There are limited amount of items leftover but not all varieties. Stop by the library or give us a call to check what's still available — they won't last long!
Thank you for your continued support of the Tazewell County Genealogical & Historical Society!
2020 Christmas Pot Luck Canceled!
TCGHS has decided to cancel our December 8 Christmas party/potluck due to COVID19 restrictions on the size of gatherings, especially around sharing a meal. At this point, we continue to plan to have normal library hours that day.
We may not be able to celebrate the Christmas together this year, but we wish you peace, love, and joy this holiday season and throughout a Happier & hopefully Healthier 2021!
Time to Renew your Membership!
If you have already renewed for 2021, thanks for your continued support!
If you do want to renew for 2021 (or beyond), it's that time of the year again!
You can download a renewal application to renew by mail. Or, you can renew online using our shopping cart.
If you choose to not renew, please be aware that your Members Only Access and electronic Monthly Newsletter will expire at the end of the year. Folks who receive a mailed Monthly will be given a bit of a grace period to allow for time for their dues to be mailed in.
Again, thanks for helping us continue to gather and preserve Tazewell County documents and research materials.
New Additions to Members Only Area!
Professional genealogist, historian, & lecturer Tina Beaird presents Family History Resources from the Library of Congress
Whether you are researching in this glorious building or utilizing their amazing digital collections, the Library of Congress (LOC) offers something for every family historian. Tina will walk you through all of the different ways you can engage with the Library of Congress both through their digital resources and their dynamic social media presence, to advance your family history.
Tina originally made this presentation live at our November 10, 2020 meeting. Unfortunately, a glitch in the presentation software prevented us from seeing her PowerPoint slides. Tina made a new recording of her presentation which is now available in our Members Only area along with the handout.
Professional genealogist & writer Jill Morelli, CG® presents Finding Dirk: Insanity in the 19th Century
Shhhhh, don’t talk about Aunt Sally! Mental illness for too long has been something we don’t talk about.
Imagine my surprise then when I discover that my great grand uncle Dirk Bode, had been declared insane by a judge in 1872 and never returned to his family. Using public and court-obtained records, follow Dirk’s journey to three Illinois asylums between 1872-1905. Learn what you might discover in publicly available and court-obtained records.
Jill originally made this presentation live at our March 10, 2020 meeting. A recording of his presentation along with the handout is now available in our Members Only area.
Not yet a Member? Consider joining us today! We will be continually adding new content!
December 2020 Mystery Photo 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 photo from the December 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 the Mystery Photos we have posted over the past several months! Perhaps you can identify one of them.
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