The next meeting of the Tazewell County Genealogical and Historical Society will be Tuesday, September 9th at 7pm. Logan Pappenfort is scheduled to present “Mounds and Their Meaning.”  Meetings are free and open to the public.

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, including the local clothing stores.

Philip Henry Welty
Haberdasher

Philip H. Welty was born 22 March 1841 in Oxford, Ohio to Henry J. and Catherine Kumler Welty. Philip served as a 1st Lt. in Co. I of the 167th Ohio Volunteer Infantry.

He married Mary Elizabeth Bourgoin 1 August 1866 in Butler Co., Ohio. They had just one son, Charles, and shortly after his birth the family moved to Pekin where Welty Millinery was established in late 1867.

The family was found living in Pekin in every census and directory from 1870 through 1920. It would seem that Charles (1867-1938) worked for his Dad most of the time, but at one point was also listed as a musician.

The family initially lived above the store, but later had a home at 310 S. Capital St.

Mary died 9 July 1917 and Philip died 13 April 1922. Both were buried at Lakeside Cemetery in Pekin, but without grave stones. A 1930s era project had a military marker placed on Phillip, but neither Mary, nor her parents, have markers. Charles A. Bourgoin (1816-1884) was born in Boston and died in Pekin. Martha E. Graves Bourgoin (1821-1901) was born in New York but died while living in Indianapolis. Her death certificate lists the place of burial as Lakeside.

Charles J. appears to have had three wives, Florence Goller, with whom he had a daughter, Mary Florence Smith; Nora Johns; and finally, Ada, with whom he had a daughter, Ada Lou Welty Law. Charles was buried in Springdale.

Henry came to our attention via the Hamburg-Bremen Fire Insurance Ledger that we’ve been running in the TCGHS Monthly publication. A sample listing from the ledger: 

—Phillip H Welty – March 20 1897–- June 20 1897

$1500 on his Stock of Millinery and Ladies furnishing goods, all while contained in the one-story brick, metal-roofed building, known as No 315 Court Street, Pekin, Ill.

Later after the Welty store closed, it was used by Schipper’s temporarily while Schipper’s was being rebuilt after a fire.

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 47 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.