As Tazewell County approaches our Bicentennial in April of 2027, current Tazewell County Clerk John C. Ackerman and former County Clerk Christie A. Webb will be honoring and recognizing the previous 22 community leaders to have held this position. The office of the Tazewell County Clerk was the first Countywide Office established on April 10, 1827.

Each month on the 10th, as we approach the Bicentennial, we will be placing a floral wreath from The Greenhouse Flower Shoppe in Pekin at the gravesite of these 22 individuals. This is the eighth in this series of twenty-two recognitions. Additionally, we will share the biographies and signatures of these county government leaders, thanks to the research to Susan Rynerson of the Tazewell County Genealogical & Historical Society and Jared Olar of the Pekin Public Library. Please join us as we build momentum for the historic Tazewell County Bicentennial by honoring and recognizing these tremendous individuals.

This month, we recognize Washington’s Republican Tazewell County Clerk, Richard D. Smith, 1869 – 1877, of the Republican Political Party.

Richard D. Smith was born August 16th, 1832, in Homer, Cortland County, New York, to Noah and Susan Doud Smith. He graduated from Cortland Academy in 1849 and was encouraged by his older brother to move to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, to assist him in his Dry Goods business. There he would marry Miss Mary C. Beeden of Lake Geneva on October 1st 1855, and they would have five children: Alice, Frances, Charles, Thomas, and Anna. Charles would go on to be the city editor of the Canton Register Newspaper and publisher of the Peoria Mirror Newspaper. Anna would become the librarian of the Pekin Public Library.

Richard D. Smith remained in Wisconsin until 1859, when he moved to the City of Washington and opened a highly successful Dry Goods Store, which closed in 1866. While in Washington, he was an active member of the Masonic fraternity and one of the organizers of the Chapter Royal Arch Masons. In 1869, he moved to Pekin, Illinois, which he called home until his death, with the exception of a short period between 1878 and 1880 when the family moved briefly to Colorado.

His political career began in Wisconsin when his brother was appointed Postmaster of Lake Geneva, and the young Richard would serve as his assistant. In 1865, President Abraham Lincoln appointed him Postmaster of Washington, Illinois, and he was reappointed to that position by President Andrew Johnson until 1868.

He served on the Wash- ington Township Board from 1866 to 1869, serving the final year as Washington Township Supervisor and representing Washington on the Tazewell County Board of Supervisors. While in Washington, he developed a strong friendship with Shelby M. Cullom, whose family resided in Deer Creek. Shelby Cullom would serve as the 17th Governor of the State of Illinois from 1876 to 1883 and then United States Senator from 1883 to 1914.

In 1869, he was elected Tazewell County Clerk at 37 years old, and remained in that office until 1877. In 1881, he was appointed Postmaster of Pekin, Illinois, by President Chester Arthur, reappointed by President William Harrison in 1889, and remained in that office until 1894.

Richard D. Smith served as Chairman of the Tazewell County Republican Party for eight years and State of Illinois Republican Party Central Committeeman for one year. Richard Smith was a delegate at every Republican National Convention between 1860 and 1900.

He caught a severe cold over Christmas week of 1900 and passed away on January 9th, 1901 of pneumonia. He was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in Pekin, Illinois.