Full Text of HR0386 102nd General Assembly
HR0386 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives wish to congratulate the Village of Montrose | 4 | | on the occasion of its sesquicentennial anniversary; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Montrose is located within the St. Francis | 6 | | Township of Effingham County and Spring Point Township of | 7 | | Cumberland County, with a population of 201 as of the 2010 U.S. | 8 | | Census; with the help of Calvin Mitchell, the Effingham County | 9 | | surveyor, the town was platted by J.B. Johnson and became | 10 | | official on July 19, 1870; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Montrose was originally named Spitler, or Spitler | 12 | | Corner, for early settler Wesley Spitler; it was founded due | 13 | | to its location along the National Road and the building of the | 14 | | St. Louis, Vandalia, and Terre Haute Railroad, later known as | 15 | | the Pennsylvania Railroad, which ran through Montrose and was | 16 | | completed in 1868; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Montrose's name is of medieval Scottish origin, a | 18 | | derivation of the French word "Mont" meaning "mountain" and | 19 | | "rose" meaning the flower or the color, possibly honoring the | 20 | | Scottish nobleman, poet, and general James Graham, the first | 21 | | Marques and fifth Earl of Montrose, who earned the title "The | 22 | | Great Montrose" for his military victories in the English |
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| 1 | | Civil War for King Charles I; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Montrose's early settlers were mainly German | 3 | | Roman Catholics from Westphalia and Oldenburg and Lutherans | 4 | | from Saxony, and they arrived by way of the National Road and | 5 | | included pioneer Abraham Marble, who arrived about 1845 and | 6 | | kept a relay house for stagecoaches; other early settlers | 7 | | included William Wallace in 1849, James Rolfe in 1850, and | 8 | | Thomas Gibbon in 1851; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, While Montrose was platted by J.B. Johnson, | 10 | | William Goebel was believed to be the town's first true | 11 | | resident; Goebel, who operated the grain elevator for 14 | 12 | | years, still has descendants in the Montrose area; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, The Village of Montrose held its first town | 14 | | meeting at Dr. H.G. Van Sandt's storeroom on May 7, 1892; | 15 | | then-elected officials were Village President Henry Will, | 16 | | Village Trustee Dr. T. Wisner, Village Trustee Matt Faber, | 17 | | Village Trustee Boon Miller, Village Trustee Dr. H.G. | 18 | | VanSandt, and Village Clerk R.N. Plummer; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, The first meeting of St. Francis Township was | 20 | | held in the home of Andrew Schneider and presided by Town Clerk | 21 | | F.C. Thoele on April 5, 1870; elections were held, and the | 22 | | victors included John W. Thoele as supervisor, Frederich C. |
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| 1 | | Thoele as town clerk, Bernard Wernsing as assessor, Ferdinand | 2 | | Hattrup as collector, Newton Gibbons as justice of the peace, | 3 | | D. Crews as constable, D. Overbeck as commissioner of | 4 | | highways, John W. Thoele as school trustee, D. Spitler as | 5 | | overseer of highways for District 1, A. Schneider as overseer | 6 | | of highways for District 2, and B. Pruemer as overseer of | 7 | | highways for District 3; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, Montrose's first building was a storehouse | 9 | | stocked with various types of merchandise built by Browning | 10 | | and Schooley; by 1890, there were six general stores, two | 11 | | saloons, an implement store, a blacksmith, a flour mill, and a | 12 | | hotel; the village's first tavern was opened by Lou Sehi and | 13 | | James Hall sometime in the late 19th century when other | 14 | | businesses included a funeral home and coffin shop, a hardware | 15 | | store, a barbershop, and implement stores; the village was | 16 | | also home to the Crews State Bank, which was built in 1902 and | 17 | | operated until 1949; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, Around the time Montrose was founded, Dr. H.G. | 19 | | Van Sandt opened a store that later expanded into what would | 20 | | now be known as a pharmacy; Dr. Van Sandt also was the town's | 21 | | first agent at the railroad depot and the second postmaster; | 22 | | and
| 23 | | WHEREAS, Montrose's first schoolhouse was a frame building |
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| 1 | | built by Newton Gibbon one-half mile west of Montrose in 1856, | 2 | | and the building was moved to town a year later; Miss Eva | 3 | | Gilmore served as the first teacher; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, Montrose was incorporated in 1892; according to | 5 | | the 2010 census, the village has a total area of 0.69 square | 6 | | miles; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Montrose has had a rich tradition of churches | 8 | | that were established to serve the families of Montrose, | 9 | | including the Montrose United Methodist Church in 1868, St. | 10 | | Rose of Lima Catholic Church in 1879, and the Harmon United | 11 | | Methodist Church in 1888; other churches in the area that were | 12 | | established for Montrose residents include the Mullen Baptist | 13 | | Church in 1956, Sacred Heart Church - Lillyville in 1875, St. | 14 | | Isidore the Farmer Parish St. Joseph Church in 1874, St. Paul | 15 | | Lutheran Church - Rural Wheeler in 1868, and the Woodbury | 16 | | United Methodist Church in 1905; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Montrose local lore includes the recollection | 18 | | that Abraham Lincoln, while riding the circuit as a lawyer | 19 | | along the Cumberland Road, stayed at the stage stop west of | 20 | | Montrose prior to the village's incorporation; and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, Montrose has had a number of notable residents, | 22 | | including Carl Winston Browning, who served as a gunner's mate |
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| 1 | | on the U.S.S. Phelps in the U.S. Navy during the Battle of | 2 | | Midway and Guadalcanal, Doctor Albert E. Goebel, who delivered | 3 | | over 2,000 babies during his career, and Philip Wiwi, who | 4 | | served in the Illinois General Assembly in the 37th and 38th | 5 | | sessions, where he sponsored bills concerning the education of | 6 | | children and the building of roads and bridges; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Montrose was also the home of Senator Lawrence | 8 | | Yates Sherman, who had an illustrious career in public | 9 | | service; locally, he served as a Macomb City Attorney and a | 10 | | McDonough County Judge; he served in the Illinois House of | 11 | | Representatives from 1897 to 1905, where he became Speaker of | 12 | | the House in 1899 and served until 1903; he was Illinois | 13 | | Lieutenant Governor from 1905 to 1909; he served as a U.S. | 14 | | Senator for Illinois from 1913 to 1921, making him the first | 15 | | directly elected senator by the citizens of Illinois per the | 16 | | 17th Amendment to the Constitution in the 1914 election; he is | 17 | | buried with his second wife, Mary Estelle (Spitler) Sherman, | 18 | | at Faunce Cemetery in Montrose; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, The Montrose Sesquicentennial celebration was | 20 | | planned and organized by the Montrose 150th Committee and the | 21 | | Montrose 150th History and Book Committee; and
| 22 | | WHEREAS, The Village of Montrose was not able to celebrate | 23 | | its sesquicentennial due to COVID-19 restrictions on |
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| 1 | | gatherings in 2020; it will now celebrate its 150-year | 2 | | milestone from August 6 to August 8, 2021; therefore, be it
| 3 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 4 | | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 5 | | we congratulate the Village of Montrose on the occasion of its | 6 | | 150th anniversary; and be it further
| 7 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 8 | | presented to the Village of Montrose as an expression of our | 9 | | esteem and respect.
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