Full Text of HR1166 94th General Assembly
HR1166 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The city of DeKalb celebrates the 150th | 3 |
| anniversary of its founding this year; and
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| WHEREAS, Vermont native Russell Huntley arrived in the area | 5 |
| in 1837 and is considered the founder of DeKalb; he was soon | 6 |
| followed by his brother, Lewis; the area was originally known | 7 |
| as Huntley's Grove, then Buena Vista, DeKalb Centre, and | 8 |
| finally DeKalb; Russell Huntley was the first Postmaster; and
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| WHEREAS, Russell and Lewis Huntley surveyed and platted the | 10 |
| village with the coming of the Galena and Chicago Union | 11 |
| Railroad in 1853; in 1856 the town was organized as a city | 12 |
| under the general act of the legislature of the State of | 13 |
| Illinois; there have been a total of 26 mayors since 1877; and | 14 |
| WHEREAS, Joseph F. Glidden and his brothers arrived in | 15 |
| 1842, in search of new, productive farmlands; Mr. Glidden and | 16 |
| another farmer, Jacob Haish, each independently developed a | 17 |
| wire fence using barbs to confine animals and keep them out of | 18 |
| their crops; on November 24, 1874, Mr. Glidden received U.S. | 19 |
| Patent 157124 for his invention known as "the winner", which | 20 |
| would help settle the west; DeKalb has been known ever since as | 21 |
| the "Barb City"; Mr. Glidden and hardware merchant Isaac | 22 |
| Ellwood would form the Barb Fence Company that grew into the | 23 |
| American Steel and Wire Company and produced barbed wire and | 24 |
| other steel products in DeKalb for over half a century; and
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| WHEREAS, DeKalb's rich agricultural soils and innovative | 26 |
| farmers led to the creation of the DeKalb County Soil | 27 |
| Improvement Association in 1912, forerunner of the DeKalb | 28 |
| County Farm Bureau, the first such group of its kind in the | 29 |
| nation; there soon followed the DeKalb County Agricultural | 30 |
| Association, which in 1934 marketed the first hybrid seed corn; | 31 |
| this company went on to become DeKalb Genetics Corporation, now |
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| a division of Monsanto Corporation; and | 2 |
| WHEREAS, The DeKalb County Agricultural Association, | 3 |
| located in DeKalb, also went on to market the first hybrid | 4 |
| wheat and sorghum and played a major role in the use of | 5 |
| biotechnology for corn and soybean seed trait development; and | 6 |
| WHEREAS, Religious denominations began organizing in the | 7 |
| early 1840s; among the congregations formed in the 19th century | 8 |
| were the Baptists, Congregationalists, Catholics, Swedish | 9 |
| (First) Lutherans, Adventists, Methodists, Episcopalians, | 10 |
| Bethlehem (Finnish) Lutherans, and Christian Scientists; many | 11 |
| others have followed; and
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| WHEREAS, The banking firm of Hamlin & Hunt commenced | 13 |
| operations in 1859; its direct successors included Rufus | 14 |
| Hopkins & Company, Lott & Baird, J.D. Lott & Company, DeKalb | 15 |
| National Bank, First National Bank of DeKalb, First National | 16 |
| Bank in DeKalb, and Castle Bank (started in Sandwich in 1856); | 17 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, Today's Daily Chronicle newspaper was first | 19 |
| published on March 8, 1879, under Editor Clinton Rosette; | 20 |
| Joseph F. Glidden subsequently acquired ownership, and it has | 21 |
| been in continuous operation for 127 years; and
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| WHEREAS, DeKalb has had a fire department since 1869 and a | 23 |
| police department since 1885; the DeKalb Public Library was | 24 |
| established in 1893; and
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| WHEREAS, The Illinois Legislature approved the passage of a | 26 |
| bill in 1895 creating the Northern Illinois State Normal | 27 |
| School, which would be located in DeKalb; it became Northern | 28 |
| Illinois University in 1957 and is noted for excellence in | 29 |
| teaching, discovery, and outreach; more than 25,000 students | 30 |
| study there and nearly 200,000 alumni call NIU their alma |
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| mater; and
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| WHEREAS, DeKalb has had its medical needs served over the | 3 |
| years by a series of public and private hospitals; these have | 4 |
| included St. Mary's Hospital (1922-1966), Glidden | 5 |
| Memorial/DeKalb Public (1922-1975), and Kishwaukee Community | 6 |
| Hospital (since December 27, 1975); a new state-of-the-art | 7 |
| hospital is currently under construction; and
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| WHEREAS, The Joseph F. Glidden House & Barn, Ellwood House, | 9 |
| Egyptian Theatre, Gurler House, and DeKalb Public (Haish | 10 |
| Memorial) Library are all listed on the National Register of | 11 |
| Historic Places; and
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| WHEREAS, The DeKalb Park District was established in 1935, | 13 |
| and now administers 46 facilities for public enjoyment; the | 14 |
| President of the Park District, David Mason, serves as 2006 | 15 |
| chairman of the Illinois Park District Board of Trustees; | 16 |
| summer concerts are given at Hopkins Park by the DeKalb | 17 |
| Municipal Band, organized in 1854; the Park District was the | 18 |
| winner in 2003 of a National Gold Medal Award for Excellence in | 19 |
| Parks & Recreation presented in St. Louis at the NRPA Congress | 20 |
| annual meeting; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 22 |
| NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 23 |
| we recognize the 150th anniversary of the city of DeKalb; and | 24 |
| be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 26 |
| presented to the city of DeKalb as an expression of our esteem.
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