Full Text of HR0803 93rd General Assembly
HR0803 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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HR0803 |
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LRB093 21782 HSS 49635 r |
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives of the | 3 |
| State of Illinois are pleased to congratulate the City of | 4 |
| Decatur and Macon County on the occasion of their 175th | 5 |
| anniversaries; and
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| WHEREAS, Macon County was established on January 19, 1829; | 7 |
| the first families to live in Macon County were the Leonard | 8 |
| Stevens Family (1821), the Ward Family, the Austin family, the | 9 |
| Smith family, the Warnicks family, and several other families; | 10 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, Macon County was originally part of Shelby County; | 12 |
| Benjamin R. Austin, Andrew W. Smith, and John Ward traveled to | 13 |
| the State capital of Vandalia to petition the legislature to | 14 |
| create Macon County, with the seat of justice to be called | 15 |
| Decatur; the county was named after the Revolutionary War | 16 |
| Patriot of Carolina, Nathaniel Macon, who refused to accept pay | 17 |
| for his services in the war; and
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| WHEREAS, The City of Decatur was established on April 10, | 19 |
| 1829; Benjamin R. Austin, Macon County surveyor, was paid the | 20 |
| sum of $24 for his services in laying out the town of Decatur; | 21 |
| the county seat of justice was named for Commodore Stephen | 22 |
| Decatur, the popular naval hero; and
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| WHEREAS, In 1836, the first municipal government in Macon | 24 |
| County was that of the Village of Decatur; the Board of | 25 |
| Trustees was elected with Richard Oglesby, the uncle of | 26 |
| Governor Richard J. Oglesby, serving as the president of the | 27 |
| board; and
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| WHEREAS, In 1839, the Town of Decatur was incorporated, and | 29 |
| in 1855, a new charter from the State legislature was given; | 30 |
| this charter provided for an aldermanic form of government, and |
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HR0803 |
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LRB093 21782 HSS 49635 r |
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| on January 7, 1856, the first city officers were elected with | 2 |
| John P. Post chosen as Decatur's first mayor; the first marshal | 3 |
| of Decatur was Captain John W. Harley, a veteran of the Mexican | 4 |
| and Civil Wars; and
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| WHEREAS, The Lincoln Log Cabin Courthouse was built in 1830 | 6 |
| and was the first courthouse in the county; it was also used | 7 |
| for public gatherings, church services, and as a school; the | 8 |
| Lincoln family first arrived in what is now Decatur's Lincoln | 9 |
| Square in 1830; and
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| WHEREAS, Decatur was the site where Illinois Republicans | 11 |
| gathered at the Wigwam Convention Building and first mentioned | 12 |
| Abraham Lincoln for president of the United States; therefore, | 13 |
| be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 15 |
| NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 16 |
| congratulate the City of Decatur and Macon County on the | 17 |
| occasion of their 175th anniversaries; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 19 |
| presented to the City of Decatur and Macon County as an | 20 |
| expression of our respect and esteem.
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