Forty-three people assembled in rural Tremont today, Thursday, 19 June 2025, to honor the life and virtues of Tazewell County pioneer Peter Logan (c.1780-1866), noted as the first formerly enslaved individual to own land in Tazewell County. The crowd and gathered for a special Juneteenth observance in which a new Illinois State Historical marker was formally dedicated.
The Juneteenth program was emceed by Tazewell County Clerk & Recorder of Deeds John C. Ackerman, who thanked the sponsors who paid for the historical marke: the Tazewell County Genealogical & Historical Society, the Illinois State Historical Society, Elm Grove Township, and Amazon. Ackerman introduced ISHS executive director Billy Furry, followed by TCGHS president Susan Rynerson. Furry spoke on the importance of remembering and celebrating history, and of handing it on to future generations so its lessons are not forgotten. Ackerman also described the organization and operation of the Underground Railroad in Tazewell County.
It was Rynerson’s in-depth historical and genealogical research into Peter Logan’s life and family that led to the creation of the new ISHS marker. The marker text was written by Pekin Public Library Local History Program Coordinator Jared Olar, relying on Rynerson’s research, and was proofread and edited by Rynerson and Ackerman. At today’s Juneteenth program, Rynerson told the story of Peter Logan, and took the occasion to share further details of his life that she has uncovered, including Logan’s activity in raising and showing horses, and especially his membership in the abolitionist Illinois Anti-Slavery Society, which aligns with the tradition that Logan was a conductor on the Underground Railroad.
The new marker, which tells Logan’s life story, has been placed on the south side of a rural county road, Franklin Street, a short distance west of Springfield Road, very close to the former site of Logan’s homestead, which was a station on the Underground Railroad in Tazewell County. Logan lived there with his sister Charlotte Hurst and Charlotte’s daughter Nancy. Old pioneer memories of Logan related that he was given the chance to buy his own freedom, and then proceeded to raise enough money to buy his sister’s and niece’s freedom too. They arrived in Tazewell County around 1833. Four years after that, Logan had raised enough money to buy his own land in Elm Grove Township, a home lot in Section 22 where the new ISHS marker has been placed, and a timber lot in Section 29 to the southwest of his home lot.
After the death of Logan’s sister Charlotte in 1857 (she is buried in Dillon Cemetery a few miles south of Logan’s former farmstead), Logan moved to Peoria, where he died in 1866 and was buried in Peoria’ Old City Cemetery. Logan’s will named Peoria abolitionist Moses Pettengill as the executor of his estate, which was left to Logan’s sole heir, his niece Nancy.
Concluding the program today was the Rev. Marvin Hightower of Liberty Church in Peoria, president of the NAACP-Peoria Chapter, who offered brief remarks on how important it is not to fear history, but to embrace and learn from it. Rev. Hightower then led the assembly in a brief prayer of benediction, asking God for the gift of peace.
Below is a series of photographs from the Tazewell County Juneteenth event, along with images of historical documents pertaining to Peter Logan that were found by Rynerson. Ackerman also gave the program attendees a chance to see the recorded real estate deed by which Logan became the first formerly enslaved person to own land here. The deed is in a bound volume archived at the Tazewell County Recorder of Deeds Office.
