The next meeting of the Tazewell County Genealogical and Historical Society will be Tuesday, July 9th at 7pm when TCGHS staff will present “Images of Pekin’s Past.”  The public is invited.

We are excited to be celebrating Pekin’s Bicentennial this year and we are participating on the bicentennial planning committee. The next event is the opening of the time capsule in front of City Hall on July 4th followed by a big bash in the park all weekend long. See you there!

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, including brickmaking.

In Pekin’s early days, bricks were made locally using all that clay out on the east bluff. These three men helped pave the way for those that would follow--

Henry G. Ruhaak
One of Pekin’s earliest brickmakers was Henry Ruhaak (1832-1904). He was a German immigrant and was in business making bricks on the east bluff as early as 1860. He later was listed as a distiller and then town constable and finally as a farmer with a home on the east bluff. 

He married another German immigrant, Bertha Harbers, (1840-1922) in Peoria on 4 June 1857 and settled into a home in Pekin.

The couple had six children: John H (1859-1935), Anna Evans (1861-1927), Etta 1863-1939), Emma Oswald (1866-1957), George (1868-1926) and Maud March (1872-1953). Etta, Emma and Maud all moved to Kansas City. The others are buried locally.

Charles M Zoeller
Zoeller was born 4 November 1854 in Guntersblum, Germany to Johann M and Elizabeth Hackman Zoeller. He immigrated about 1871 and eventually settled at Pekin where he married Anna Elizabeth Friedrich on 10 Sep 1877.

The couple had six daughters: Amelia (1878-1881), Maria E (1880-1962), Ann Louise (1882-83), Charlotte K. J. Fisher (1886-1956), Lilah F. Heinlein (1889-1976) and Nina M Becker (1894-1992).

Zoeller was a brick mason that first worked for Snyder and Jansen, then was part of the firm Jansen, Jost, and Zoeller, which later became Jansen and Zoeller. They made both paving bricks and building bricks at the plant on the East Bluff.

In 1897 Zoeller was working on a vault for the new post office at Pekin and in 1900 was “erecting three monster buildings:”

Jansen and Zoeller paved many Pekin streets but then as now, things came up that slowed their progress, such as the use of “mineral rubber” which was similar to what is known as asphalt today.

Jansen and Zoeller continued in business together until about 1915 or so when they went their separate ways. Jansen Brothers continued in paving and became Jansen and Shafer.

Zoeller was listed as a contractor after that but it seems he was at least semi-retired. 

His wife, Anna Elizabeth, died 26 May 1925 and Charles passed 14 September 1935. Both are interred at the Lakeside Mausoleum.

Mr. Zoeller had been a member of the Pekin Masonic Lodge as well as the Elks. He was also associated with the Pekin Mutual Home and Loan, serving as President for several years.

Edwin Forrest Lampitt
Lampitt was born 18 June 1865 in Pekin to Edwin D. Lampitt and Helen Habberfield Lampitt. His father served in the Civil War. 

Edwin grew up in Pekin with a brother Herbert (1868-1941) and became a brick mason as well as a general contractor and builder. In 1893 he was a part of Marquardt & Lampitt but by 1898 was the senior partner in Lampitt & Michael. 

The 1903 city directory lists the business as Ed. F. Lampitt & Co., with E. L. Conklin being the junior partner. Eventually the firm comes to be known as Ed. F. Lampitt & Sons.

By the time the 1917 Prairie Farmer’s Reliable Directory was printed, the Lampitt’s had erected one of the most iconic buildings in Pekin seen in the advertisement below.

Edwin F. Lampitt (1865-1950) was married to Fannie Ethel Greer in Peoria on 18 Jan 1886. They had two sons: Edwin (1886-1964) and Benjamin (1894-1975). His son Edwin would marry Ann Davis. The couple had three children: Ivan (1911-1980), Miriam and Lois.

The photo below depicts four generations of Lampitt men. From left to right they are:  Arthur b. 1939, Ivan b. 1909, Edwin b. 1886 and Edwin b. 1886. Ivan was also a member of the 1926 Pekin High School Football team.

Mystery Photos:
We have many photos that are unidentified so we feature them on our website in hopes of finding someone that can recognize the individuals. One of those photos is included with this article. Please let us know if you recognize even one person in the image below:

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 over 45 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.