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. 

Thomas Cornelius Camelin was born 21 January 1786 in Chambersburg, Franklin County, Pennsylvania to William T. and Mary Clark Camelin.

Thomas made his way to Ohio where he was married 28 November 1815 in Pike County to Mary Elizabeth (Betsy) Barker. Betsy (1791-1872) was a daughter of Charles and Jean Drake Barker. Tom and Betsy’s first two children were born in Ohio before the couple made their final move to Illinois around 1821.

When Peoria County was organized in 1825, Thomas Camlin was one of several men to be appointed Justice of the Peace.

Immediately after Tazewell County was organized in 1827, the county commissioners laid off districts for the upcoming elections, and it was “Ordered that the elections in the Ten Mile precinct shall be held at the house of Thomas Camlin and that Austin Crocker, Jacob Funk, and Hezekiah Davis be & are hereby appointed Judges of the election in said precinct.”  This precinct was geographically huge by today’s standards but the population was small even though it included all of modern Fondulac and Washington townships plus all of Woodford county and a little more. 

In September 1844, Camlin v. Hepperly & Schertz and the countersuit Hepperly v. Camlin were litigated in Tazewell County court with Charles Ballance and Abraham Lincoln representing Camelin.

Later in September 1848, it was “Ordered that the place of voting in Ten Mile precinct be held at Thomas Camlin’s School House.”  The school can be seen on the 1864 and 1873 Tazewell Plat maps in the SE corner of Section 26 of Fondulac township.

The Camelin family was enumerated in the Tazewell census in 1840, 1845 and 1850 but the land and court records place them here much earlier. Thomas owned land in Sections 26, 34 and 35 which were purchased at various times but all listed in his 1851 Will. 

When the Peoria and Oquawka Railroad Company was acquiring land for its track, the Camelin family conveyed a Right-of-Way to the railroad which cut through their property. It’s the T. P. & W. line today.

Camelin was mentioned in the 1879 Chapman History of Tazewell County as living on Farm Creek, being the only resident between Peoria on the west and Holland’s on the east. The trail between them became Route 8.

He was also said to be a great storyteller. One can imagine sitting in the old log cabin, listening to him spin yarns about the old pioneer days in the Midwest. 

Thomas and Mary’s known children were: William (1816-1854) who married Caroline Kirby, Thomas Jr., (1819-1858) who married Sarah Maclay and had a sawmill here, Permelia (1821-1853) who married John Hepperly, Nancy (1823-1848) who married Henry Oliver, Anna Maria (1825-1894) who married Thomas Pinkham, Martha (1830-1884) who married George Campbell and Elizabeth (1827-1920) who married Fred Koozer. All buried in Fondulac cemetery that was also commonly referred to as the Camelin Burial ground in the early days.

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.