As a sign of respect for the City of Pekin’s historic leaders on the occasion of the celebration of Pekin’s Bicentennial, current City of Pekin Mayor Mary Burress and Tazewell County Clerk & Recorder of Deeds John C. Ackerman arranged to place gravesite flowers for Joshua C. Morgan at Prairieville Cemetery in Lee County. July 12th marked the 175th Anniversary of the death of the City of Pekin’s first mayor.

Joshua C. Morgan served the City of Pekin as the first mayor from 1835-1836. Joshua C. Morgan also served as the second Tazewell County Clerk & Recorder of Deeds between 1828 and 1836. In recognition of this historic past service to the community, current City of Pekin Mayor Mary Burress and current Tazewell County Clerk & Recorder of Deeds John C. Ackerman arranged for the placement of the wreath and gravesite flowers.

The flowers for this recognition, a wreath by The Greenhouse Flower Shoppe and gravesite floral arrangement by Artistic Flowers, were donated by the two Pekin Floral Shops. No taxpayer revenue was utilized for this display of respect.

Born July 15th 1804 in Xenia, Greene County, Ohio, Joshua C. Morgan married Almeda Moore in 1823 and moved to Sangamon County, Illinois. They had two sons and two daughters together before his wife Almeda died during the 1834 cholera epidemic in Pekin. In 1835, Morgan married Elizabeth G. Shoemaker and they had five sons and one daughter. The five sons of Joshua and Elizabeth Morgan all served in the Civil War.

Joshua C. Morgan served first as Postmaster of Mackinaw, Illinois, in 1828, before serving as Tazewell County Clerk & Recorder of Deeds. The family moved to Pekin around 1832. One of the main landowners in Pekin as the town was forming, he was one of the first five men elected as Pekin Commissioners in the first City of Pekin Election on July 9th 1835, along with David Mark, David Bailey, Samuel Wilson, and Samuel Pillsbury. The new commissioners first act was to elect Joshua C. Morgan as the first Mayor of Pekin.

Following his term as the first Mayor of Pekin and second Tazewell County Clerk, Joshua Morgan moved with his family to Lee County around 1839. He died in Palmyra, Illinois, on July 12th 1849 of typhoid and was buried in Prairieville Cemetery.

“I want to recognize and thank The Greenhouse Flower Shoppe and Artistic Flowers for this extremely kind community donation” stated current Tazewell County Clerk John C. Ackerman. “During the historic Pekin Bicentennial, it is important we honor and show respect to the distinguished community leaders that laid the foundation for this community we love today!”