The next meeting of the Tazewell County Genealogical and Historical Society will be Tuesday, February 11th at 7pm. Lin Strong will present “Online Resources for European Research.”  Lin Strong is President of the Ostfriesen Genealogical Society of America and she has great expertise in Germany, the Netherlands and Scandinavia, particularly the Ostfriesland area of Germany that was home to many of Pekin’s early residents. This meeting may be attended in person at our facility in Pekin or via Zoom if you prefer. See our website for details. 

Stop by TCGHS and pick up a bag of Terri Lynn nuts or candies while there are still a few bags left as they won’t last much longer.

All history is local until it is woven together with other stories to become part of the National fabric and there is no aspect of National history that doesn’t touch Tazewell County. Since this edition will be released just a few days before Lincoln’s 216th birthday, it seemed appropriate to include the Nation’s 16th President in this month’s column.

Abraham Lincoln was involved in hundreds of Tazewell County legal cases, many of which have been featured in the TCGHS Monthly publication. It seems that Tazewell was often the chosen court for other counties seeking a change of venue and one such case involved our neighbor, Peoria County.

Peoria County was formed in 1825 (They are celebrating their 200th this year) and included the land that would become Tazewell just two years later. The first election for county commissioners resulted in Nathan Dillon, William Holland, and Joseph Smith being chosen to lead the county. Dillon and Holland both lived east of the Illinois river. See page 451 of the 1880 “History of Peoria County, Illinois” for more on that.

In 2021, the TCGHS Monthly included a series on the Tazewell sheriffs and the Lincoln cases they participated in during their tenure. Sheriff William Gaither of Pekin saw more than 40 cases that involved Lincoln including “People v Compher et al.”

The case originated when the State of Illinois brought charges against the Peoria County Sheriff for failing to turn over collected taxes.

William Compher was born about 1802 in Bedford, Pennsylvania, and was married first to Mary Smith in Pennsylvania, then later to Harriet Jontz in Peoria. It would appear he arrived here in the early 1830s as he was first elected Peoria sheriff in 1834. He later served in the Illinois House before again being elected sheriff in 1846 and 1848. William and his family were enumerated in the 1850 Peoria census, where he was listed as sheriff. After the state held that he and his sureties were liable for the missing funds, William fled the state. He died of dyspepsia in Welton, Clinton Co., Iowa, in December 1859. 

The “Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln” database includes thousands of documents related to Lincoln cases in Illinois and gives this summation of the Compher case:

“In 1849, Compher, the sheriff of Peoria County, Illinois, executed a bond with a $62,000 penalty that permitted him to collect taxes in the county. Moss, Cleveland, and Ewalt served as his sureties. In 1850, the state of Illinois retained Lincoln and sued Compher and his sureties in an action of debt on the bond to recover the 1849 state tax that Compher collected but failed to pay into the state treasury. The sureties argued that they should be discharged from their liabilities because the legislature changed the tax and revenue laws affecting Compher’s duties after they had agreed to be sureties. The court ruled against the sureties and awarded the state the bond’s penalty and an additional $7,072.42 in damages. Compher and others appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court, which affirmed the judgment. Acknowledging Lincoln and Herndon’s argument, Justice Trumbull stated that the changes did not prejudice the sureties. Trumbull wrote, “The power to control the revenue is one of the highest attributes of sovereignty. Without this power, no government could exist, and it cannot be supposed that the general assembly intended to part with this important prerogative....”  Lincoln received $25 for his legal services from the state. The state of Illinois filed additional breaches on the bond against Compher and others. The Tazewell County Circuit Court issued a writ of inquiry to assess the damages. Compher motioned to dismiss the writ for a lack of jurisdiction. He claimed that the Tazewell County Circuit Court could not hear the case since Compher and others resided in Peoria County. The court agreed and dismissed the writ of inquiry. The state of Illinois appealed the judgment to the Illinois Supreme Court. The court reversed and remanded the case. Justice Treat ruled that the additional breaches were a continuation of the original suit; therefore, the Tazewell County Circuit Court had jurisdiction. In the remanded case, the court ruled for the state of Illinois and awarded $1,287.97 in damages.”

Among the local notables involved in this case were a young Judge David Davis, Tazewell clerk John A. Jones, Attorney for the Plaintiff Onslow Peters (in addition to Lincoln) and Norman Purple, Attorney for the Defendant.

The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln website is: https://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org/ 

The Tazewell County Genealogical & Historical Society is an award-winning 501c3, all-volunteer organization that has been in continuous service to our members and the public for over 46 years. TCGHS operates an archive, library, and research facility at 719 N. 11th St., Pekin. Visit our website at www.tcghs.org to learn more about us.  If you have any point of interest that you would like to know more about, stop in at TCGHS or drop us a line.