Full Text of HR0533 98th General Assembly
HR0533 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives are pleased to congratulate the First | 4 | | Presbyterian Church of Vandalia on its long and storied | 5 | | history; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, In 1823, the Illinois General Assembly donated 5 | 7 | | lots to the City of Vandalia so that the capital city could | 8 | | have a church; Vandalia city leaders sold 4 of the lots and | 9 | | built the little House of Divine Worship on the 5th lot with | 10 | | the remaining money; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, The American Home Missionary Society sent the | 12 | | Reverend Solomon P. Hardy to organize the new church; the first | 13 | | members of the church included Jeremiah Abbott, his wife, | 14 | | Betsy, Mrs. Ruth Russell, Mrs. Amy Davidson, and Mrs. Martha | 15 | | Gorin on certificate; Mr. Samuel Russell and Miss Ruth Russell | 16 | | were on examination; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Following the completion of the House of Divine | 18 | | Worship, all people were invited to worship there, although it | 19 | | was used primarily by Presbyterians and Methodists; the House | 20 | | of Divine Worship was also used as a school; and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, Many important government officials and |
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| 1 | | outstanding members of the community were members of the House | 2 | | of Divine Worship of Vandalia and it is believed that Abraham | 3 | | Lincoln worshipped there; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, One of the most revered artifacts of the early | 5 | | Presbyterian Church and Vandalia was donated to the church | 6 | | after a Philadelphia department store owner and extensive land | 7 | | owner, Romulus Riggs, read an article about the poor little | 8 | | Presbyterian Church way out in the Wilderness Capital of | 9 | | Illinois; Mr. Riggs sent a bell in honor of his newly-born | 10 | | daughter, who was named Illinois; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, In 1837, legislators voted to move the capital to | 12 | | Springfield; since Vandalia was built as the seat of the State | 13 | | government in 1839, many Vandalia citizens moved to | 14 | | Springfield, which caused the population to drop greatly; as a | 15 | | result, the church's membership dropped to 5 people; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, Five people could not support the House of Divine | 17 | | Worship; therefore, the church was rented to a farmer who | 18 | | raised sheep on the premises until 1848, when it was | 19 | | reestablished by Reverend Joseph Gordon; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, In the early 1860s, a maiden lady of the church | 21 | | passed away and left $800 in her will to the church, requesting | 22 | | that the money be used to build a new church; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, In 1867, the House of Divine Worship land was | 2 | | purchased for $500 by the trustees of the Presbyterian Church, | 3 | | which included Trustee James Hall, who is known as the first | 4 | | man of letters in Illinois; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, The women of the church hosted strawberry | 6 | | festivals to raise money and with the help of Matthias Fehren's | 7 | | donation of $4,000, Fred Remann, Sr.'s donation of $3.000, and | 8 | | Dr. J. N. and Calvin McCord's donation of $1,000, the new | 9 | | Presbyterian church was built on the corner of Main St. and 3rd | 10 | | St. at a cost of $15,000; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, The House of Divine Worship was moved to the back | 12 | | of the lot during construction and was later sold to the First | 13 | | Christian Church; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, After the First Christian Church built a new | 15 | | church, the House of Divine Worship became a private residence; | 16 | | and | 17 | | WHEREAS, In 1970, the Presbyterians built a new church; | 18 | | Historical Vandalia, Inc. purchased the old building, with | 19 | | plans to open a museum on the first floor; on June 10, 1979, | 20 | | the Fayette County Museum was opened to the public for the | 21 | | first time; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, In March of 1982, the old Presbyterian Church | 2 | | building joined the National Register of Historic Places; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, The Fayette County Museum is now one of Vandalia's | 4 | | major tourist attractions; the museum is staffed by volunteers | 5 | | and operates on donations; each year, thousands of school | 6 | | children and tourists have the opportunity to view artifacts | 7 | | dating back to the days when Vandalia was the capital of | 8 | | Illinois from 1820 to 1839; therefore, be it
| 9 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 10 | | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 11 | | we congratulate the Vandalia Presbyterian Church on its | 12 | | enriching role in Illinois history and wish the church's | 13 | | congregation success and happiness in the future; and be it | 14 | | further
| 15 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 16 | | presented to the Vandalia Presbyterian Church as a symbol of | 17 | | our esteem and respect.
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