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!
Annual Terri Lynn Nut & Candy Fundraiser Ends October 6!
Place your Order Today!
Our fall Terri Lynn premium nuts and candies sale continues! With products that range from Dark Chocolate Cranberries to Giant Pecans to Deluxe Mixed Nuts, you are sure to find the perfect item for snacks, baking, and holiday gifts!
Download, review, and fill out your order form now. Not online? Call us at 309-477-3044, or pick a form up at the library during normal hours.
Orders with payment should be in by October 6. Delivery will be in late October/early November. No orders will be processed until payment has been received!
We will only be placing one order this year so there will be very little unordered stock left over. So, if you want nuts this season, please make your order now! There will be no follow-up orders!
Thank you for your continued support of the Tazewell County Genealogical & Historical Society!
New Addition to Members Only Area!
Thomas MacEntee, professional genealogist, presents Navigating the Seven C’s of Genealogy.
Do genealogy “resolutions” really work? How about setting genealogy “goals” or “themes” instead? I’ve developed a list of seven “themes” to guide me this year and hopefully I can institute these as general “rules to do genealogy by” over the next few years.
Thomas thinks the themes cover most areas of concern for every family historian, whether you’ve been at this for some time or you are just getting started. Participants will learn how to focus on seven key areas in genealogy research: Clean, Collect, Curate, Create, Connect, Conserve and Continue.
Thomas originally made this presentation live at our September 8, 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!
October 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 October issue of The Monthly.
Can you identify the girl at the left of this circa 1909 photo taken by B.L. Moore of Eureka?
(L to R): Unknown Girl, Teddy (Theodore) Wagner, Oliver Wagner (standing), Mabel Wagner.
The parents of the Wagner children were Washington and Matilda (Blumenshine) Wagner of Washington, Illinois. The unidentified girl does not appear in any census with the family.
Matilda's 1957 obituary lists a “Mrs. Ha Look of Pekin who lived with the Wagner's as a girl.” Is Mrs. Look the "unknown girl"? Is “Ha” a typo, the first letters of a given name, or the initials of Mrs. Look (or perhaps her spouse)?
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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