Middleton Tackaberry (1808-1863), 4th and 7th Mayor of Pekin

Middleton Adelbert Tackaberry was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on 15 March 1808, the son of Robert and Jane (Cooke) Tackaberry. His first wife was Eliza Bailey, with whom he had an unnamed son, a son named Samuel (born 1836 in Newark, Ohio), and a daughter named Sarah E. in 1838. He and his family came to Pekin, Illinois, in 1837. His wife Eliza died 30 Sept. 1839 and is buried in Lakeside Cemetery. Middleton remarried to Olive L. Hackett in Pekin on 29 Oct. 1840, and they had a daughter Amelia and a son Middleton Adelbert Jr., both of whom died in infancy, and another daughter named Ellen.

After settling in Pekin, Middleton Tackeberry went into business as a saddler, dealing in horse sadles and other leather goods. Just two years after coming to Pekin, he took an interest in local politics. He was elected as a Trustee on Pekin's Town Board on 12 Aug. 1839 and again on 10 Aug. 1844, being chosen as the board's treasurer on 12 Aug. 1844 and clerk on 25 Nov. 1844. The following month, on 16 Dec. 1844, he was appointed to be the U.S. Postmaster of Pekin, and was re-appointed as Postmaster on 7 Dec. 1854. He was also County Assessor in 1854. Around that time, he began to purchased large amounts of land in Pekin and Tazewell County (the 1873 Tazewell County Atlas showing sizeable tracts of land in southwest Pekin on the south side of Derby Street being owned by his estate).

In 1853, Middleton Tackaberry became Pekin's fourth mayor, serving a one-year term. In 1857 he returned for another one-year term as Pekin's seventh mayor.

The 1850 U.S. Census says he was a "saddler" by trade, while the 1860 census says he was a "magistrate." The 1861 Pekin city directory lists him as: "TACKABERRY MIDDLETON, justice peace and insurance agent, Court, ns., 3d d. w. Second ; res. se cor. Capiol and St. Mary." That same year he ran as a Democrat for election as county judge, and was elected on 5 Nov. 1861.

Middleton A. Tackaberry died in Pekin on 25 June 1863. He is the earliest Pekin Mayor whose grave may be found in Lakeside Cemetery. His grave is found in the Oak Grove Cemetery section, having been transferred there from a previous pioneer burying ground of Pekin. His grave is marked by an old obelisk in Oak Grove's Section 12 -- the inscriptions on the obelisk's four faces are for Middleton, his first wife Eliza, his second wife Olive, and his daughter Sarah E. (Tackaberry) Foster. There are numerous descendants of Middleton's son Samuel and daughter Sarah.