Photo courtesy: File
PEKIN, Illinois (WMBD) — Tazewell County just hit a milestone last Friday that the county clerk John Ackerman and his staff have been tracking for a year and a half.
Tazewell County was established in 1827. Since its inception, the county has been keeping track of marriage licenses ever since.
On Friday, June 27, 2025, Tazewell County just certified its 95,000th marriage certificate. Ackerman said the reason that this milestone exists is because of Tazewell County’s rich history.
“I think, it shows the richness of Tazewell County, just how much we maintain, how much we keep,” he said.
The long, arduous process of counting the number of marriages started in late 2023. Ackerman’s staff started with original documents and worked their way from there.
“They really just took a look at our old books first, where they were for marriage license on each page and were able to calculate how many pages kind of do a rough count that way. Then looking through the leaflets, the loose ones of how many there are down there,” he said.
Another reason for this endeavor is that Tazewell County is nearing its bicentennial celebration. Ackerman said that an announcement with more details will be coming soon.
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