HR0082 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0082 LRB104 10044 MST 20115 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives wish to congratulate Mayor Harry "Andy" Ezard and the citizens of Jacksonville on the occasion of its 200th anniversary; and

WHEREAS, Jacksonville was platted in March 1825 by surveyor Johnston Shelton, becoming a prairie settlement on a state road running from the Illinois River to Springfield; it was settled by southerners who migrated from Kentucky and Virginia; the settlement grew rapidly with 11 log buildings and a post office within a year of its existence; settlers from New England were drawn to the midwest for its rich, fertile soil in the late 1820s; one of them was a Presbyterian missionary by the name of John Ellis, and he joined a group of theological students from Yale College to found Illinois College, the first college in the young state of Illinois; and

WHEREAS, The foundation of Illinois College fostered a sentiment that took root in Jacksonville even before the arrival of higher education; since the 1820s, local organizations that favored abolition were formed; through the influence of such organizations, Jacksonville's reputation as an abolitionist stronghold turned it into a station on the Underground Railroad, helping guide enslaved people to break from their chains and escape to freedom; and

WHEREAS, In the early years, transportation was a common inconvenience for settlers; that was until the arrival of the Northern Cross Railroad, the first railroad in Illinois, in 1840, and its connection to Springfield two years later signaled social and economic growth in the city throughout the decade; in 1845, the Illinois School for the Deaf opened its doors and became the largest boarding school for deaf students in the world; that same decade, the Illinois School for the Visually Impaired began a similar mission for blind students; the Illinois Conference Female Academy, later renamed MacMurray College, was founded in 1846, while the State's first medical school opened at Illinois College; during this time, local residents planted elm trees that soon towered over the city's streets and provided ample shade, earning Jacksonville the nickname, Elm City; and

WHEREAS, By 1860, the population had ballooned to 5,528, and the arrival of two additional rail lines, the Tonica and Petersburg and the Jacksonville, Alton, and St. Louis, brought further growth to the city; Jacob Strawn, the cattle king of Morgan County and one of the richest men in Illinois, spent $100,000 on a grand, two-story opera house that attracted names such as Mark Twain, Thomas Nast, John Wesley Powell, and Edwin Booth, brother of the assassin of Abraham Lincoln; and

WHEREAS, Abraham Lincoln himself had ties to Jacksonville through his legal career and gave a speech in the town square during his 1858 Senate race; three years later as our nation's 16th president, Lincoln faced his greatest challenge during the Civil War, which saw 12% of Jacksonville's populace enlisting for military service, mostly for the 10th Illinois Infantry and the 101st Illinois Infantry; one of those men who fought for the Union was General Benjamin Grierson whose cavalry raids through Mississippi achieved national fame; another Union soldier and Illinois resident, then-Col. Ulysses S. Grant, led the 21st Illinois Infantry westward through Jacksonville along State Street, resting briefly at the county fairgrounds, which was the beginning of the young commander's rise; and

WHEREAS, In 1867, Jacksonville was incorporated as a city, and its citizens elected John Mathers as its first mayor; and

WHEREAS, Following the war, Jacksonville's population boomed, growing to 9,200 by 1870; that growth was also reflected in the city's architecture with a new stone courthouse and many other commercial buildings and churches; the Jacksonville Street Railway Co., incorporated in 1867, provided horse-drawn cars in 1870 before evolving to electrified streetcars in 1892; and

WHEREAS, Throughout the latter half of the 19th century, many railways were established and later merged with larger lines, bringing many businesses and industries to the city; planing mills, shirt factories, broom factories, and iron foundries flourished in Jacksonville, among them men's clothing giant J. Capps and Sons, but the city soon became well known for its cigar factories; the L.S. Kent-McCarthy Co. produced roughly six million cigars in 1905, while the McCarthy-Gebert Co. employed 250 cigar rollers, making the owners among the wealthiest in the Morgan County working class before the local industry faded with the rise of the cigarette; and

WHEREAS, By 1900, the population had grown to more than 15,000; the rise of the automobile in the early 20th century finally brought Jacksonville to the modern age, with State funds used to finance a stretch of concrete pavement on Morton Avenue in 1915; as personal cars became more popular, the need for train lines became less pressing, ultimately ending a long chapter in Jacksonville's storied history; and

WHEREAS, In 2009, the citizens of Jacksonville elected Harry "Andy" Ezard as their mayor, and he still serves as mayor to this day; and

WHEREAS, In 1975, during its sesquicentennial, or 150th anniversary, Jacksonville buried a time capsule that was donated by the Jacksonville Rotary Club; the capsule currently lies underneath the downtown square, indicated by a stone marker in Central Park's northeast corner that reads, "Our message to the future"; the City of Jacksonville will unearth this time capsule and open it on October 4th, 2025, the last day of a year of celebration for its beloved community's 200th birthday; and

WHEREAS, Jacksonville is a beloved community with a very rich history that has had a positive impact on the growth of our great State of Illinois; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Mayor Ezard, the city council, the City of Jacksonville, and the Jacksonville community on the occasion of its 200th anniversary and acknowledge all of the contributions by its leaders, organizations, and citizens who have positively impacted the community; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to Mayor Ezard and the leaders of the City of Jacksonville as an expression of our respect and esteem for a storied 200-year history and for being a pivotal community in our State and nation's past.