PEKIN, Ill. – A mystery that has lasted for parts of seven decades in Tazewell County has now been solved.
More than 70 Civil War artifacts that were in the county’s possession had been unaccounted for since August of 1968. County board minutes showed the artifacts were placed in storage to be re-displayed at a later date that never occurred.
County employees in a 1983 investigation testified that a mysterious person stole the artifacts in July 1978 to take them to an unknown state museum.
“The worst case scenario was they were sold on the black market or distributed to private collections where we never would have been able to get them from,” Tazewell County Clerk John Ackerman says. “At least whoever stole them from the Courthouse did the right thing by handing them over to a reputable museum that could properly store and display them.”
The artifacts were recently discovered at the Grand Army of the Republic Museum in Springfield, which County Clerk John Ackerman says was a stroke of luck.
“We just blindly picked up the phone and started calling state museums, asking to talk and work with the curators,” Ackerman said. “And during that outreach, the list was supplied to us, the first list, and then the second list was supplied to us.”
Ackerman also adds they reached out to the museum at the right moment. The GAR closed on March 31st, which he says would have made it more difficult to obtain the artifacts after its closure.
The artifacts include Springfield Muskets, a Colt 6 shot Revolving Carbine, an 1840’s Musician’s Sword, a Union Canteen found at the Battle of Shiloh, and a watch found at the Battle of Corinth.
The county is planning to have the artifacts back by this summer.
