Full Text of HR0588 095th General Assembly
HR0588 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 |
| Representatives are pleased to congratulate the residents of | 4 |
| Foster Township on the 150th anniversary of their township on | 5 |
| August 18 and 19, 2007; and
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| WHEREAS, Foster Township is situated in the northwestern | 7 |
| portion of Madison County, bounded on the north by Jersey and | 8 |
| Macoupin counties, on the east by Moro Township, on the south | 9 |
| by Alton and Wood River Townships, and on the west by Godfrey | 10 |
| Township; and
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| WHEREAS, Foster Township was named for Oliver Foster, a | 12 |
| veteran of the War of 1812; Foster and his family arrived at | 13 |
| Shawneetown on January 1, 1819, then continued on to | 14 |
| Edwardsville, then Upper Alton; being a skilled mechanic, | 15 |
| Foster erected the Foster Inn, the finest building in the | 16 |
| township; the inn's location on the Springfield Road, the | 17 |
| regular stagecoach route from Alton to Springfield, made the | 18 |
| inn a popular stopping place for travelers as well as a relay | 19 |
| station where fresh horses were obtained for the next lap of | 20 |
| the journey; Abraham Lincoln and other prominent persons of the | 21 |
| era stayed at the Foster Inn when the stagecoach made an | 22 |
| overnight stop; the Foster family property was sold following | 23 |
| the death of Mrs. Foster in August 1866; and
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| WHEREAS, Oliver P. Foster, son of Oliver Foster, surveyed | 2 |
| the land for the original 4 blocks of the town of Foster on | 3 |
| September 28, 1857; the plat for the town of Foster was | 4 |
| recorded by Oliver P. and Lucinda Foster on October 12, 1857; | 5 |
| the town was renamed Fosterburg in 1858; the first residence | 6 |
| built in Foster belonged to Ransom Chandler, son of early | 7 |
| settler Martin Chandler; and
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| WHEREAS, The first school house in Foster Township is | 9 |
| believed to have been a log school house built on the farm of | 10 |
| Green Short in 1833; subsequent schools include Ingersoll | 11 |
| School, which was started in 1856, Heiens and Fosterburg | 12 |
| Schools, which were built in 1858, Werts School, which was | 13 |
| built in 1859, Sherfy School, which was built in 1860, Luman | 14 |
| School, and Bockstruck School; Fosterburg School was destroyed | 15 |
| by a tornado in 1948, which led to a new school being built in | 16 |
| 1949; Fosterburg and Werts Schools were consolidated during the | 17 |
| summer of 1949; on August 28, 1950, the Fosterburg, Heiens, and | 18 |
| Ingersoll-Sherfy districts were placed into Alton Consolidated | 19 |
| School District 151; after an election in 1952, Alton School | 20 |
| District 151 became Alton Community School District No. 11 and | 21 |
| two remaining schools, Woods and Bockstruck, were closed; and
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| WHEREAS, Following Madison County's adoption of a township | 23 |
| form of government in 1876, the first town meeting was held in |
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| the town of Foster at the office of J.H. Mueller on April 4, | 2 |
| 1876; and
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| WHEREAS, The original Foster town hall was built in 1908 on | 4 |
| land donated by William R. Eddington, a Civil War veteran, from | 5 |
| property purchased from H. G. Bassett; Eddington also donated | 6 |
| the materials to construct the hall, with members of the | 7 |
| community donating their labor to construct the building;
the | 8 |
| old hall was used for a variety of activities, including box | 9 |
| socials, Christmas programs, church services, school programs, | 10 |
| and as a polling place for elections; the hall was completely | 11 |
| destroyed in the 1948 tornado; in 1954, a new basement was | 12 |
| constructed, just north of the old site, which was used until | 13 |
| 1975;
a new town hall building of double steel wall | 14 |
| construction was erected at the west end of Main Street; the | 15 |
| new town hall's dedication ceremony was held on June 29, 1975; | 16 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, Foster Township has had a long history of economic | 18 |
| growth; the Rockford, Rock Island, & St. Louis Railroad Company | 19 |
| purchased right-of-way through the township in 1870 and began | 20 |
| construction of a new railroad; the rail lines were bought by | 21 |
| the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad in 1876, and were | 22 |
| used to haul limestone to its many customers; many small | 23 |
| coalmines were operated in the township from the 1850's until | 24 |
| the early 1940's; and |
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| WHEREAS, The first Postal Service in Foster Township was | 2 |
| established in the stagecoach era; the office was located at | 3 |
| the Foster Inn, with John Nichols as postmaster; the stage | 4 |
| would travel over the Hillsborough and Staunton Post Road, | 5 |
| leaving Hillsboro and arriving in Alton;
an application was | 6 |
| made for a post office for the town of Foster in 1858; since | 7 |
| there was another office in the state by that name, the town's | 8 |
| named was changed to Fosterburg;
Rural Free Delivery was begun | 9 |
| in 1896; and
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| WHEREAS, The Fosterburg Telephone System was established | 11 |
| in 1903 when the right-of-way was signed with the St. Clair and | 12 |
| Eastern Telephone Company; the telephone line was known as the | 13 |
| Star Line and ran from Fosterburg to Alton; the company's | 14 |
| office and equipment were destroyed in the 1948 tornado; | 15 |
| negotiations were begun with Illinois Bell Telephone Company | 16 |
| and the line was completed and service was renewed in 1949; and
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| WHEREAS, Volunteers from Foster Township made up the larger | 18 |
| part of Company K of the 80th Illinois Regiment, which fought | 19 |
| in many Civil War battles; and | 20 |
| WHEREAS, The Fosterburg Water District began in 1965 when | 21 |
| concern over surface water entering the well at Fosterburg | 22 |
| Elementary School prompted the principal, Clifford E. Tinsley, |
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| to call Dr. J. B. Johnson, Superintendent of Alton School | 2 |
| District #11, to discuss
water service for the Fosterburg area; | 3 |
| however, as word spread, the areas of Dorsey, Prairietown, | 4 |
| Midway, Deerfield, and areas west of Fosterburg were included; | 5 |
| the district grew to encompass approximately 94 square miles; a | 6 |
| public election was held on November 25, 1967, which resulted | 7 |
| in the establishment of the Fosterburg Water District by a | 8 |
| court order on January 2, 1968; the first official meeting of | 9 |
| the District was held on February 1, 1968, with Principal | 10 |
| Tinsley presiding; and
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| WHEREAS, The Fosterburg Fire Department was formed in 1971 | 12 |
| and officially went into operation on August 8, 1971, with a | 13 |
| call-out list of 30 men under the direction of Chief Charles | 14 |
| Miller;
in September 1971, the Fosterburg Firemen's Ladies | 15 |
| Auxiliary was formed by the wives of the firemen;
the fire | 16 |
| department moved into their new 6 bay brick firehouse in May | 17 |
| 1979; and
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| WHEREAS, The citizens of Foster Township are grateful to | 19 |
| its early
pioneers and settlers for their important role in | 20 |
| founding the
township and continue to take great pride in the | 21 |
| township's natural and historic treasures; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 23 |
| NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we |
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| congratulate the residents of Foster Township on the 150th | 2 |
| anniversary of their township and wish them many more happy and | 3 |
| successful years to come; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 5 |
| presented to a representative of Foster Township as a symbol of | 6 |
| our esteem and respect.
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