Editing Tazewell County, Illinois (section)

==History==
Tazewell County was formed out of [[Peoria County, Illinois|Peoria County]] in 1827. The consensus appears to be that it was named in honor of [[Littleton Tazewell]], who served in the U.S. Senate, and who became Governor of Virginia in 1834. It is, however, possible that it was named after Littleton's father, prominent Virginia politician [[Henry Tazewell]], after whom [[Tazewell County, Virginia|Tazewell County]], [[Virginia]], was named.

The first county seat was in [[Mackinaw, Illinois|Mackinaw]] from 1827 to 1836.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Soady |first=Fred W. |date=1964 |title=''In These Waste Places'': Pekin, Illinois, 1824-1849 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40190022 |journal=Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society |volume=57 |issue=2 |pages=156–171 |jstor=40190022 |issn=0019-2287}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Williams |first1=Frank J. |last2=Williams |first2=Virginia |last3=Bates |first3=William Henry |title=Souvenir of Early and Notable Events in the History of the North West Territory, Illinois, and Tazewell County, including the Names of those who have Served the County in Various Official Capacities. |url=https://jstor.org/stable/community.33273062 |journal=Document |language=English}}</ref> It was moved temporarily from Mackinaw to Pekin in June 1831, with the county court proceedings in the Snell schoolhouse.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> It moved to Tremont in 1836.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=April 20, 2018 |title=When Pekin was only a town |url=https://fromthehistoryroom.wordpress.com/2018/04/20/when-pekin-was-only-a-town/ |access-date=November 7, 2023 |website=From the History Room |language=en}}</ref> After a political struggle between Tremont and Pekin, the county seat was reassigned to Pekin in 1849.<ref name=":0" />

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File:Tazewell County Illinois 1827.png|Tazewell from the time of its creation to 1829, including a large tract of unorganized territory temporarily attached to it, whose precise border was not defined.<ref>White, Jesse.  ''Origin and Evolution of Illinois Counties.'' State of Illinois, March 2010.  [http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/publications/pdf_publications/ipub15.pdf]</ref>
File:Tazewell County Illinois 1829.png|Tazewell County between 1829 and 1830: the creation of Mason County established a southern border for Tazewell's additional territory.
File:Tazewell County Illinois 1830.png|Tazewell County between 1830 and 1831: the additional territory to the east became McLean County.
File:Tazewell County Illinois 1831.png|Tazewell County between 1831 and 1841: the last of the county's additional territory became part of LaSalle County. 
File:Tazewell County Illinois 1841.png|Tazewell County in 1841, reduced to its present borders.
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