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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The Village of Palestine has reached its historic
3bicentennial year; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Palestine traces its history to 1678 and Captain
5John LaMotte, a Frenchman and member of the French LaSalle
6exploration party; he separated from his group and made his way
7down the Wabash River; and
 
8    WHEREAS, The LaMotte family diary recalls Captain
9LaMotte's words upon reaching the future Village of Palestine
10area as "the prairie to the north and the woodland to the south
11remind me of the land of milk and honey. This must be
12Palestine!"; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Sometime around 1750 a Frenchman named Joseph
14LaMotte, presumed descendant of Captain LaMotte, operated a
15trading post on high ground near where LaMotte Creek feeds into
16the Wabash River, just east of Palestine; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Around 1808 settlers began moving into the area;
18early families included the Eatons, Shaws, Waldrops, McGaheys,
19Kitchells, Brimberrys, Lagows, Newlins, Woodworths, Culloms,
20Houstons, Woods, Kennedys, Van Winkles, Parkers, and Garrards;
21and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, By 1811 the bustling community was called LaMotte
2Settlement, and oral tradition maintains that it received its
3Land Charter on February 18th, 1811; the Settlement looked to
4the city of Vincennes, Indiana for early guidance, especially
5when hostilities erupted with Indian tribes and Fort LaMotte
6was constructed; and
 
7    WHEREAS, During 1816 Edward Cullom and Joseph Kitchell
8decided that the area should be better organized, with streets,
9lots, and a public square; after purchasing property and
10donating many acres, the layout of the community was
11established; and
 
12    WHEREAS, For a brief time the Settlement's name was changed
13to Mount Pleasant, but people remembered the story of Captain
14LaMotte's words and by 1818 the name "Palestine" was chosen;
15and
 
16    WHEREAS, The oldest settled community in Illinois, the
17historic Village of Palestine continues into the present as a
18solid community with more than 1,300 people, including some 625
19households and 400 families, residing in the Village;
20therefore, be it
 
21    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE

 

 

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1NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
2we congratulate the people of the Village of Palestine on this
3momentous occasion and wish them a long and prosperous future
4in the years to come; and be it further
 
5    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
6presented to Mayor Patricia Schofield on behalf of the people
7of the Village of Palestine.