Tyron Family Plat Book, 1890s

The McHenry County Historical Society also holds a collection of surveyor notebooks from the noted Tryon family of McHenry County. They consist of survey work done by three members of the Tryon family, Charles H., and his great-nephews, Charles L. and George L. Tryon.

Charles H. Tryon was the McHenry County surveyor for 20 years in the late 19th century. Charles H. Tryon was born in South Deerfield, Mass. on June 2, 1826 and came with his parents to the Hebron area of McHenry County. They established a farm at the northeast corner of what is now Tryon Grove Road. He married Elizabeth Downs of Lake Geneva, Wis.. In 1888, he served as the official McHenry County surveyor. Charles H. Tryon died at his home on April 13, 1916.

Charles L. Tryon, a great-nephew of Charles H. Tryon, was born November 30, 1885 and was raised on the family farm. He was elected county surveyor in 1913 and passed an examination for the newly formed McHenry County Highway Department where he served as the first county engineer until his retirement in 1958. He died in Woodstock on October 5, 1980. George L. Tryon, a brother of Charles L., was born March 1, 1891 in Woodstock. He was taught surveying by his brother and was a surveyor in private practice until his death on June 3, 1957. All three are buried in Woodstock’s Oakland Cemetery. The Office of County Surveyor was abolished in Illinois in 1957.

Content: This plat book is folio sized, 14 x 17 inches and contains 131 numbered pages of maps. A few of the maps are with color and some are double paged. The plat book is hand labeled “Part II.” MCHS does not have Part I, but the John Brink index details some of the survey plats in Part I. Only a few of the plats in Part II are dated. Among the plats are: Crystal Lake’s Prospect Point, Mead’s Second Addition to Hebron, Douglas Addition to Crystal Lake, Syndicate Addition to Marengo, and Smith’s, and Mansfield’s Addition to Woodstock, Coon Island, Pistakee Bay and Orchard Beach.

Conservation Treatment: Most of the first half of the book’s pages are loose and therefore tearing. Each page would be de-acidified and encapsulated and a new post binding would be created.