The next meeting of the Tazewell County Genealogical and Historical Society will be on Tuesday, March 10th at 7 PM. The speakers will be members of the local chapter of Children of the American Revolution. They will present a program on their American Revolutionary War Ancestors. What better way to celebrate America 250!  

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.

Once upon a time, Ferrymen were considered persons of such outstanding public service that they were free of the militia and road work duty that every other able-bodied man was required to perform. Ferrymen were necessary to move goods to market and to provide for the movement of all the people resettling into the Midwest and beyond. In the early days, not many had canoes or boats and even if they did, they were insufficient for moving livestock and other freight.

Fondulac township featured prominently in Tazewell’s early ferry operators. Abner Eads and George Sharp were two of the earliest men in the area to operate a ferry across the Illinois River. John Bogardus also operated a ferry across Lake Peoria off and on for 10 years. William May and J. W. Hack were briefly mentioned as ferry operators.

The ferry at the Narrows operated longer than most, a good 40 years. It was near the Little Detroit post office. Licenses to operate a ferry were issued to David Mathis/Mathews, Isaac Waters, John Phillips, John Dixon, John Griffin and Aquila Moffat.

Bogardus had the earliest license recorded in Tazewell, as it was posted to our books as soon as the county was formed, after originally being recorded in 1824 in Sangamon County.

The cost to use the ferry was as follows: Each man and horse 37 ½ cents, a foot person 12 ½ cents, horse and chaise with travelers $1, wagon or other 4 wheel carriage $1, wagon or cart with yoke of oxen 75 cents, each head of cattle, horse or mule 12 ½ cents, every sheep, calf or hog 6 ¼ cents, every hundred weight of goods 12 ½ cents, bushel of grain 6 ¼ cents, every barrel of any kind of liquor 25 cents.

In 1833 Balance bought the Mathis landing ferry and leased it to John Ross, Melvin Walker, Richard Hammett, Leonard Mathis, and Abram Lewis at various times before Balance sold his interest in Mathis and Lewis.

In 1835, Henry Cleveland received a license to operate a ferry across Lake Peoria that would land at Main St on the west. The same man platted the town of Cleveland on the Illinois River shore in what is today East Peoria, but the town never took off for whatever reason.

Every ferry had to be licensed and in 1830 William Eads, Elisha Perkins, John Wilson, John Bogardus, James Willis, James Adams, George Miller, and David Walker paid $2.00 for their license in Tazewell County. [Some of the ferries were inland over smaller streams such as the Ten Mile Creek or the Mackinaw.]  Ferryman often kept an Inn and Tavern and the county not only licensed the business but set the price that could be charged. For each single meal 18 ¾ cents, lodging 12 ½ cents, for each horse 25 cents and a half pint of whiskey 12 cents.

The ferries were primarily located at the Narrows on the North end, across Lake Peoria in the middle, and from the Old French Trading Post or Whitehouse crossing on the South.

As late as 1874, there was a record of Alexander Partridge obtaining a ferry license for the Narrows, but by then, there was a fairly reliable bridge in place downriver that eventually put all the ferries out of business.

In late 1888, the Upper Free Bridge was opened, and aside from a ferry that traversed from Spring Lake to Kingston, the bridges took the traffic from then on. 

This column was excerpted from several pages that ran in the 2015 TCGHS Monthly as prepared by David Perkins and Frank Borror.

If anyone would like more information about these families, contact TCGHS.

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.