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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives are pleased to congratulate the citizens of
4Princeville as they celebrate the town's 175th anniversary; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Princeville incorporated in Peoria County in
61874; Princeville was officially organized decades earlier on
7June 22, 1837 by William C. Stevens, Benjamin Clark, and Jesse
8M. McCutchen in an area previously known as Prince's Grove
9after Daniel Prince, said to be the first European to live
10among the Native Americans in the area; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Princeville has a proud military history dating
12back to the Lucky 13 who served in Company K in the 86th
13Illinois during the Civil War; Technician 4th Grade Robert E.
14Ward was awarded a Distinguished Service Cross for
15extraordinary heroism during World War II for administering
16first aid and evacuating 15 other soldiers while under enemy
17fire despite a fractured arm; Captain Lowell Fred Pierce served
18in Vietnam with honor and was awarded a purple heart, silver
19star, and 2 bronze stars; Mr. Finch Stowell survived Pearl
20Harbor and worked for the Department of Defense for 31 years;
21and
 
22    WHEREAS, In addition, the Princeville American Legion,

 

 

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1Post #248 was established March 11, 1935 and the Veterans of
2Foreign Wars, Gold Star Post #1255 was chartered July 17, 1952;
3and
 
4    WHEREAS, Princeville also has a tradition of voluntary
5service with the Princeville Fire Company No. 1, formed in
6February, 1889, which evolved into the Akron-Princeville Fire
7Protection District in 1945; the Akron-Princeville Ambulance
8Service has operated with volunteers since March 1980; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Princeville was once a factory town with a long
10tradition of making lawn sprinklers at L.R. Nelson, spreaders
11for L.L. Larson and then canning at the Princeville Canning
12Company, later associated with Joan of Arc, Pillsbury, and now
13Seneca Foods and is one of the nation's largest producers of
14canned pumpkin; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Princeville is the "Peony Capitol of the World"
16because, in 1937, Mr. Ed Auten introduced over 300 varieties of
17peonies and received a gold medal from the American Peony
18Society in 1950; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Princeville has a long tradition of excellence in
20education from the days of the one room schoolhouse to the
21enriched opportunities of the Princeville Academy, which
22opened prior to the Civil War and then re-opened in 1887, which

 

 

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1was followed by the building of a new school in 1908, the
2construction of the present high school in 1951, and the
3construction of the present grade school in 1964; one of the
4finest gymnasiums of its time was built at the old school in
51927 and became host to the longest running Boys' Basketball
6Holiday Tournament in the State of Illinois; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Princeville will now have 3 parks, including
8Stevens Square, which was originally platted by founder William
9Stevens in 1837; Cutter's Grove, named for Dr. Charles Cutter,
10who deeded his family home to Princeville, and which is now the
11Lillie M. Evans Memorial Library and once served as a station
12on the Underground Railroad; and Troutman Park, which was
13purchased by a resident, Dean Troutman, and named in memory of
14his late wife, Dorothy (Peggy) Troutman, and which will open in
15concert with the 175th anniversary; therefore, be it
 
16    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
17NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
18we congratulate the citizens of Princeville as they celebrate
19the 175th anniversary of their community on June 22, 2012 and
20wish them the best in the future; and be it further
 
21    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
22presented to Sid Stahl, Village President, as a symbol of our
23esteem.