093_HR0410

 
                                     LRB093 11946 RAH 16419 r

 1                          HOUSE RESOLUTION

 2        WHEREAS, The members of the House of  Representatives  of
 3    the  State  of  Illinois wish to recognize milestone dates in
 4    the history of towns in the State of Illinois; and

 5        WHEREAS, Gillespie, Illinois  is  celebrating  its  150th
 6    anniversary this year; and

 7        WHEREAS, Gillespie is located in the southeastern section
 8    of  Macoupin  County  and  lies  midway between St. Louis and
 9    Springfield; it was surveyed in  the  spring  of  1853  by  a
10    gentleman named J.B. Meads from Edwardsville; and

11        WHEREAS,   Townships  in  and  around  Gillespie  include
12    Cahokia, Brushy, Mound, Dorchester, Hilyard,  and  Gillespie;
13    it  is  from  Gillespie  Township  that the struggling little
14    village in Macoupin County received  its  name  in  the  year
15    1853; and

16        WHEREAS,  The  township  had been called Gillespie by the
17    managers of the Indianapolis and St.  Louis  railroad  (later
18    the  Big  Four  Railroad) in honor of Judge Joseph Gillespie,
19    who was responsible for the railroads  passing  through  this
20    town;  the  towns-people  thought  him  worthy  of having the
21    community named for him, so it seemed only reasonable that he
22    receive the honor of having the town called Gillespie; and

23        WHEREAS, Jackson Sisson of Virginia moved to  a  farm  in
24    Gillespie  in 1837; although he was not the first settler, it
25    was near his farm that the town of Gillespie was later built;
26    and

27        WHEREAS,  First  settlers  of  the  town   and   township
28    immediately surrounding Gillespie hailed from Ohio, Virginia,
29    Kentucky,  Tennessee, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Hampshire,
30    and  the  Carolinas;  the  first  pioneers  included  Abraham
31    Huddleston  in 1828, with Alexander Miller, Dennis Dages, and
 
                            -2-      LRB093 11946 RAH 16419 r
 1    Mrs. McCafle, Aaron and Gabriel Maxwell, James Robinson,  and
 2    their families, later following suit; and

 3        WHEREAS,  The  first  building  built  in  Gillespie  was
 4    erected  by  B.F.  Clark;  the  lower  floor  was  used  as a
 5    store-room and the upper half as a dwelling; Mr. Giles  Adams
 6    became  Gillespie's first postmaster, and he kept the mail in
 7    his private home until 1854, when the post office  was  moved
 8    into  Clark's  store;  the  postmaster  thereafter was Thomas
 9    Chandler; and

10        WHEREAS, In 1835, classes where held in Gillespie's first
11    school, a log cabin, by Alexander Walls and Mr. More; and

12        WHEREAS, The town was now growing with a railroad running
13    through, and a post office; in 1856 the  National  hotel  was
14    built; it consisted of a frame building owned by S.D. Martin;
15    a  mill was erected in 1859 by Settlemire, Rankin and Holmes;
16    Dr. Isaac Osborn had set up a practice in 1855  and  schools,
17    blacksmith  shops,  taverns,  etc.  were  now  going  up  and
18    Gillespie was well on its way to becoming a city; and

19        WHEREAS,  On  May  2, 1907, Gillespie officially became a
20    city with Richard H. Isaacs as the first mayor; and

21        WHEREAS, This was the town that had taken the name  of  a
22    man  who  did not settle it, or ever live in it, Judge Joseph
23    Gillespie; nonetheless, Gillespie has  grown  and  flourished
24    during  the  past  150  years into a town that thrives on its
25    rich history and promising future; therefore be it

26        RESOLVED,  BY  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES   OF   THE
27    NINETY-THIRD  GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
28    we congratulate the city of Gillespie on the  celebration  of
29    its 150th anniversary; and be it further

30        RESOLVED,  That  a  suitable  copy  of this resolution be
31    presented to Daniel Fischer, Mayor of the city of Gillespie.