HR0245 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0245 LRB102 18164 ECR 25652 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, In the late 1870s, after Ford County had been plotted, the county wide school system was established with 90 one room school houses; one of these schools was initially known as number four in the southwest quarter of section seventeen of Sullivant Township; and

WHEREAS, In 1885, the acreage school on which number four was located was purchased by John Mottes Miner; after the original school burned down, he donated his land, and a new school was built, which was then referred to as the Miner Grade School; and

WHEREAS, John Miner was raised in Ohio and as a young boy had befriended his neighbor Michael L. Sullivant; in 1854, Michael Sullivant expanded his cattle and land empire into Illinois and brought John Miner with him; and

WHEREAS, John Miner was named as brigadier or foreman, known today as farm manager; he led over 600 farm hands for many successful years until several years of bad crops ended the farm's prosperity in 1877; and

WHEREAS, In the mid to late 1850s, John Miner would carriage Abraham Lincoln to the different county seats in central Illinois and was one of the last people to shake the president elect's hand as he boarded the train to Springfield and then Washington D.C. to be our 16th president of the United States; and

WHEREAS, In 1922, with the passing of John Miner, his daughter Julia inherited the now 80 acres that contained the Miner Grade School house; after that, the Miner Grade School and the land it occupied would then be known as schoolhouse 80; and

WHEREAS, In the late 1940s, the Ford County school consolidation occurred, which included the closing of all of the one room schoolhouses, including the Miner Grade School; and

WHEREAS, The Miner Grade School had served as a school and as a social and meeting house for the local area for around 60 years; and

WHEREAS, After sitting empty for a few years, the Miner Grade School was purchased by the Guthrie Grain Elevator and was moved two miles into Guthrie to its new home as a repurposed office for the grain elevator; and

WHEREAS, The Miner Grade School was used as the grain elevator's office for the next 35 years until a new office and shop were built; although the story of this specific school ends, its legacy and historical significance to Ford County continues; and

WHEREAS, Thomas C. Dueringer, the great-grandson of John Mottes Miner, is responsible for compiling significant research about the Miner Grade School and local history; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we recognize the long and incredible history of the Miner Grade School in Ford County; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we commend the impressive research completed by Thomas C. Dueringer concerning the Miner Grade School leading to its historical marker; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to the Ford County Historical Society and to Thomas C. Dueringer as a symbol of our esteem and respect.