SJ0061 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SJ0061 LRB098 20649 MST 57254 r

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The McHenry County Conservation District owns and manages the North Branch Conservation Area, formerly owned by the Eldredge family, where 2 separate tragedies befell a pair of brothers while serving as State conservation officers years apart; and

WHEREAS, Brothers G. Earle Eldredge and Charles Marcus Eldredge were employed by the Illinois Department of Resources and Conservation; and

WHEREAS, Game Warden G. Earle Eldredge served with distinction for 7 years until February 24, 1907 when he was shot while investigating a report of poachers on the family's game reserve near today's Village of Richmond; and

WHEREAS, Charles Marcus Eldredge was a successful attorney, elected to the Illinois General Assembly in 1896, and later became an inspector for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, serving for 24 years; and

WHEREAS, Charles Marcus Eldredge devoted his time to finding and prosecuting his brother's murderer and carried with him the gun of his brother to remind him at all times of his personal mission; and

WHEREAS, Charles Marcus Eldredge was found dead in 1931 at an entrance leading to a nature preserve near the site of his brother's murder in 1907, with the same gun having been used in the murder of both brothers; and

WHEREAS, Both men are the only Illinois Department of Natural Resource and Conservation Officers to have been murdered in the line of duty; and

WHEREAS, Both men have been recognized at the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the Illinois Police Officers Memorial, and the National Memorial in Washington, D.C.; and

WHEREAS, Both men had their family roots tied to the McHenry County community and both died on McHenry County soil while in the line of duty; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING HEREIN, that we recognize G. Earle Eldredge and Charles Marcus Eldredge for their service and sacrifice; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Department of Natural Resources is requested to erect at suitable locations within the nature preserve at Nippersink Creek, consistent with State and federal regulations, signage in remembrance of both G. Earle Eldredge and Charles Marcus Eldredge; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to both the Department of Natural Resources and the McHenry County Board.