Tazewell County Genealogical & Historical Society
“…increasing and enriching public knowledge of our heritage”
A Historical Tidbit is generally a short Tazewell County related historical article. It could be up to 5 or 6 page story but could be as simple as a family photo, letter, or document. Almost anything Tazewell County related is eligible (see all the Tidbits listed below).
If you have a Tazewell County related article, photo, letter, or document you’d like to share, here’s how to make a submission.
If you have questions or comments, please contact us.
The first Tazewell County legal document was recorded on 6 July 1827, authorizing John L. Bogardus to operate a ferry across the Illinois River opposite Peoria.
Our thanks to Robert Lutz, Tazewell County Recorder, for supplying us with a copy of the document back in May 2000.
In 2015, archivist Rindi Shannon purchased an old postcard with a black & white photograph on it. It was a rural scene with a dirt road, a fence and an old mill. It was labeled “Old Horshor Mill 1844, Tazewell Co., Ill.” She decided to try and find the location of the old mill. Rind would eventually find the Horshor Mill was actually the Hoshor Mill but was it located in Tazewell County? See how Rindi solved the mystery!
William Hodgson (15 Aug 1816 – 23 Nov 1906) first came to Tazewell County about 1832 with his father Amos.
These photos were contributed by Deborah Huffman, Seattle, Washington (William & Phebe’s third great-granddaughter).
James Anson Williams of Lilly served in Company I of the 94th Regiment of the Illinois Infantry during the Civil War.
This 1862 photo of James in his Civil War uniform was submitted by his great-grandson Ralph Brooks of Vancouver, Washington.
This is the only known photo of three members of the infamous Berry Gang, who terrorized Tazewell County in the late 1860’s.
The tintype was found in the floorboards during a 2000 remodeling of a home owned by the Berry family until the 1940’s.
A freight train wreck occurred near Delavan, Illinois in 1886 on the Chicago, Alton, & St. Louis railroad. Notes on the back indicate E. D. Shaw took the photo in May of 1886.
Jacob & Elizabeth Fischer’s wedding photograph taken by H.H. Cole in his Pekin studio in February 1891 as well as a 1919 family photo.
The photos were submitted by their granddaughter Louise Rollings of Salem, Oregon.
1892 photo of Maria Schrock with a Christmas note on the back to her son Karl
Found in a Pekin antique auction in March 1993 – over 100 years after it was first sent.
James Franklin Rollings (23 Sep 1843 – 26 Jan 1925) settled in Tazewell County in 1851.
The photo was submitted by his great-grandson Ronald E. Rollings of Salem, Oregon.
Originally posted as the October 2018 Mystery Photo.
Barbara Brooking Heindselman identified the man driving the carriage as her great grandfather John G. Heisel and the little girl as his daughter Lillian Heisel Brooking, who was Barbara’s grandmother.
George F Grimm married Anna Trausch on April 17, 1907. George owned Grimm’s Bakery which explains such an elaborate cake!!
Originally posted as September 2020 Mystery Photo. Our thanks to members Carol Walker & Thom Reed for the identification!
Samuel Franklin Rollings married Daisy Belle Carter on 15 March 1908 in Mackinaw, Illinois
The photo was submitted by his great-grandson Ronald E. Rollings of Salem, Oregon.
