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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, In the late 1870s, after Ford County had been
3plotted, the county wide school system was established with 90
4one room school houses; one of these schools was initially
5known as number four in the southwest quarter of section
6seventeen of Sullivant Township; and
 
7    WHEREAS, In 1885, the acreage school on which number four
8was located was purchased by John Mottes Miner; after the
9original school burned down, he donated his land, and a new
10school was built, which was then referred to as the Miner Grade
11School; and
 
12    WHEREAS, John Miner was raised in Ohio and as a young boy
13had befriended his neighbor Michael L. Sullivant; in 1854,
14Michael Sullivant expanded his cattle and land empire into
15Illinois and brought John Miner with him; and
 
16    WHEREAS, John Miner was named as brigadier or foreman,
17known today as farm manager; he led over 600 farm hands for
18many successful years until several years of bad crops ended
19the farm's prosperity in 1877; and
 
20    WHEREAS, In the mid to late 1850s, John Miner would
21carriage Abraham Lincoln to the different county seats in

 

 

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1central Illinois and was one of the last people to shake the
2president elect's hand as he boarded the train to Springfield
3and then Washington D.C. to be our 16th president of the United
4States; and
 
5    WHEREAS, In 1922, with the passing of John Miner, his
6daughter Julia inherited the now 80 acres that contained the
7Miner Grade School house; after that, the Miner Grade School
8and the land it occupied would then be known as schoolhouse 80;
9and
 
10    WHEREAS, In the late 1940s, the Ford County school
11consolidation occurred, which included the closing of all of
12the one room schoolhouses, including the Miner Grade School;
13and
 
14    WHEREAS, The Miner Grade School had served as a school and
15as a social and meeting house for the local area for around 60
16years; and
 
17    WHEREAS, After sitting empty for a few years, the Miner
18Grade School was purchased by the Guthrie Grain Elevator and
19was moved two miles into Guthrie to its new home as a
20repurposed office for the grain elevator; and
 
21    WHEREAS, The Miner Grade School was used as the grain

 

 

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1elevator's office for the next 35 years until a new office and
2shop were built; although the story of this specific school
3ends, its legacy and historical significance to Ford County
4continues; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Thomas C. Dueringer, the great-grandson of John
6Mottes Miner, is responsible for compiling significant
7research about the Miner Grade School and local history;
8therefore, be it
 
9    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
10HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
11we recognize the long and incredible history of the Miner
12Grade School in Ford County; and be it further
 
13    RESOLVED, That we commend the impressive research
14completed by Thomas C. Dueringer concerning the Miner Grade
15School leading to its historical marker; and be it further
 
16    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
17presented to the Ford County Historical Society and to Thomas
18C. Dueringer as a symbol of our esteem and respect.