HR0076 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0076 LRB097 09823 KXB 50808 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The Village of Palestine has reached its historic bicentennial year; and

WHEREAS, Palestine traces its history to 1678 and Captain John LaMotte, a Frenchman and member of the French LaSalle exploration party; he separated from his group and made his way down the Wabash River; and

WHEREAS, The LaMotte family diary recalls Captain LaMotte's words upon reaching the future Village of Palestine area as "the prairie to the north and the woodland to the south remind me of the land of milk and honey. This must be Palestine!"; and

WHEREAS, Sometime around 1750 a Frenchman named Joseph LaMotte, presumed descendant of Captain LaMotte, operated a trading post on high ground near where LaMotte Creek feeds into the Wabash River, just east of Palestine; and

WHEREAS, Around 1808 settlers began moving into the area; early families included the Eatons, Shaws, Waldrops, McGaheys, Kitchells, Brimberrys, Lagows, Newlins, Woodworths, Culloms, Houstons, Woods, Kennedys, Van Winkles, Parkers, and Garrards; and

WHEREAS, By 1811 the bustling community was called LaMotte Settlement, and oral tradition maintains that it received its Land Charter on February 18th, 1811; the Settlement looked to the city of Vincennes, Indiana for early guidance, especially when hostilities erupted with Indian tribes and Fort LaMotte was constructed; and

WHEREAS, During 1816 Edward Cullom and Joseph Kitchell decided that the area should be better organized, with streets, lots, and a public square; after purchasing property and donating many acres, the layout of the community was established; and

WHEREAS, For a brief time the Settlement's name was changed to Mount Pleasant, but people remembered the story of Captain LaMotte's words and by 1818 the name "Palestine" was chosen; and

WHEREAS, The oldest settled community in Illinois, the historic Village of Palestine continues into the present as a solid community with more than 1,300 people, including some 625 households and 400 families, residing in the Village; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate the people of the Village of Palestine on this momentous occasion and wish them a long and prosperous future in the years to come; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Mayor Patricia Schofield on behalf of the people of the Village of Palestine.