- This event has passed.
Juneteenth 2026 – 200th Anniversary of the Shipman Family Kidnapping and Rescue
June 19 @ 10:00 am
Free
This year’s Tazewell County Juneteenth Event will feature the dedication of a new stone monument & a new Illinois State Historical Marker at Woodrow Cemetery—celebrating the 200th Anniversary of the Shipman Family Kidnapping and Rescue (aka The Three Horseman of Tazewell County).
Two hundred years ago, in the fall of 1826, David Shipman, a Revolutionary War veteran, emancipated his slaves and brought them to Tazewell County to live in peace. The formerly enslaved Moses Shipman family settled in Circleville, a community that no longer exists.
In the middle of a night in May 1827, bounty hunters from Virginia kidnapped the family and began taking them down the Illinois River to be sold at a slave auction in St. Louis. Moses broke free and ran back to alert his neighbors.
Without hesitation, Johnson Sommers, Samuel Woodrow, and Nathan Dillon mounted horses and headed to St. Louis. On May 8, the three horsemen intercepted the kidnappers on the docks in St. Louis. Nathan Dillon signed an affidavit that the family members were all free.
Legal action took almost three years to confirm the freedom of the kidnapped family, with Tazewell County citizens called to testify. On April 13, 1830, with all legal actions exhausted, the family was finally freed and returned to Tazewell County.
The dedication will be held at 10 am on June 19 at Woodrow Cemetery in rural Tazewell County.
 |
 |
Tazewell County Genealogical & Historical Society (TCGHS) president, John Ackerman, will make opening remarks followed by Susan Rynerson of TCGHS discussing the Shipman saga. The honorable Judge Kate Gorman, chief circuit judge of the 10th Judicial Circuit Court of Illinois the will make brief remarks & introduce Illinois Supreme Court justice Lisa Holder White and retired Judge David Mason, Missouri 22nd Circuit Court, St. Louis who will make the keynote adress. The dedication will be closed by Reverend Marvin Hightower, President of the Peoria Chapter of the NAACP.
This event is being sponsored by the Tazewell County Genealogical & Historical Society, the Illinois State Historical Society, Woodrow family descendants, and Cincinatti Township.
Public is welcome to attend the dedication. Here is a map you can use for directions to the dedication.
