HR0245 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0245 LRB103 32106 ECR 61115 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives wish to congratulate the City of Salem on the occasion of its bicentennial as the county seat of Marion County; and

WHEREAS, The largest series of earthquakes in the history of the new American republic brought the first settlers to Salem; the New Madrid, Missouri earthquakes of 1811 to 1812, which caused the Mississippi River to flow backward and church bells to ring as far away as Boston, sent Captain Samuel Young searching for a more hospitable home; after finding abundant game and tranquility when he reached the land of present-day Salem, he made camp on what is now the courthouse square; and

WHEREAS, In the 1820s, a severe drought hit northern and central Illinois, which contributed to wagonloads of people traveling to southern Illinois to obtain food and grain for themselves and their livestock; this migration was compared to the Biblical story of Israel going to Egypt to purchase grain; thus, southern Illinois became known as "Egypt" or "Little Egypt", with Salem being referred to as the "Gateway of Little Egypt"; and

WHEREAS, Salem is situated halfway between the Indiana and Missouri borders on what was originally the Vincennes-St. Louis Road, known today as U.S. Highway 50 that goes from Washington, D.C. to San Francisco, evolving the city into a stagecoach stop along the Vincennes Trail; although most of the Conestoga wagons rolled through the city, enough stopped to deposit their cargoes that Salem was eventually incorporated as a village in 1855; and

WHEREAS, Marion County was created on January 24, 1823; the legislation, sponsored by State Representative Zadoc Casey of Mount Vernon, stated that for the purpose of fixing the permanent seat of justice for the county, or the "county seat", a selection would be recommended by three appointed commissioners, who were Andrew Bankson, William Hicks, and John G. Fitch; and

WHEREAS, The commissioners, after viewing the situation of the county and examining the different donations offered, decided to fix the permanent seat of justice of Marion County on 30 acres of land offered by James Roberts, making their decision on May 13, 1823; and

WHEREAS, At the first meeting of the Marion County Commissioners on June 2, 1823, the location of the seat of justice was accepted, and the commissioners' court ordered that this seat be known and designated by the name Salem; and

WHEREAS, Local history indicates that the town of Salem was first known as Decatur; however, when the founding fathers went to register the town at the then state capitol of Vandalia, they learned the name Decatur had already been selected for another community in Illinois; due to the religious influence of the town fathers, they selected the name "Salem" as the town's permanent name, which is featured in the Old Testament and derives from the Hebrew word meaning "Jerusalem"; and

WHEREAS, Salem's next 200 years have included a rich history influenced by and involving agriculture, railroads, the discovery of oil and coal, the development and expansion of commerce and industry, and the influence of local leaders on local, state, and federal public policy; and

WHEREAS, William Jennings Bryan, known as "The Silver-Tongued Orator", is one of Salem's most famous citizens; he was the presidential nominee for the Democratic Party three times, represented Nebraska in the U.S. House of Representatives, and served as the Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson; and

WHEREAS, Salem is also home of John Thomas Scopes, a 1919 graduate of Salem High School whose commencement speaker was William Jennings Bryan; at 24 years old, Scopes was indicted for teaching evolution at a high school in Dayton, Tennessee; William Jennings Bryan served as a prosecutor at the subsequent trial, notably referred to as the Scopes Monkey Trial or The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes; and

WHEREAS, Salem is rich in local lore and legends, including being the birthplace of the condiment Miracle Whip; the restaurateur behind Max Crossett's Café, an eatery located at 100 North Washington, claimed that the Kraft Company bought the café's recipe of Max's X-tra Fine Salad Dressing for $300 in 1931, which was then renamed Kraft's Miracle Whip; and

WHEREAS, Another Salem legend surrounds the Halfway Tavern, located on U.S. 50 just east of Salem and halfway between St. Louis, Missouri and Vincennes, Indiana; originally constructed in 1815, the establishment was used as both an inn and livery stable; there has been speculation that one of the customers was a young attorney named Abraham Lincoln during a time when he and other lawyers "rode the circuit" from courthouse to courthouse to try cases; some years ago, the State of Illinois took over the property, making it a historic site; and

WHEREAS, In the 1930s, Salem transformed from a quiet-paced small town, doing its best to recover from the Great Depression, to a city hit with another severe jolt in its economy due to the oil boom; the city was noted for having the second highest amount of oil production in any one area when 93 million barrels of oil were pumped from area farmland in 1939; and

WHEREAS, Salem is known as the "Birthplace of the G.I. Bill of Rights", otherwise known as the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944; this Act was forged from the knowledge of Salem's own Luther B. Easley American Legion Post 128 on November 4, 1943, and it was drafted by Omar J. McMackin and Earl W. Merritt, both of Salem, former Governor John Stelle of McLeansboro, Dr. Leonard W. Esper of Springfield, George H. Bauer of Effingham, William R. McCauley of Olney, James P. Ringley of Lemont, and A. L. Starshak of Chicago; former Governor Stelle was with President Franklin D. Roosevelt when he signed it into law in Washington, D.C. on June 22, 1944; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate the City of Salem on its bicentennial anniversary as the county seat of Marion County, and we honor the achievements of its citizens and its role in Illinois and U.S. history; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we wish the City of Salem another 200 years of success; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to City of Salem as an expression of our esteem and respect.