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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, In the late 1870s, after Ford County had been | ||||||
3 | plotted, the county wide school system was established with 90 | ||||||
4 | one room school houses; one of these schools was initially | ||||||
5 | known as number four in the southwest quarter of section | ||||||
6 | seventeen of Sullivant Township; and
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7 | WHEREAS, In 1885, the acreage school on which number four | ||||||
8 | was located was purchased by John Mottes Miner; after the | ||||||
9 | original school burned down, he donated his land, and a new | ||||||
10 | school was built, which was then referred to as the Miner Grade | ||||||
11 | School; and
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12 | WHEREAS, John Miner was raised in Ohio and as a young boy | ||||||
13 | had befriended his neighbor Michael L. Sullivant; in 1854, | ||||||
14 | Michael Sullivant expanded his cattle and land empire into | ||||||
15 | Illinois and brought John Miner with him; and
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16 | WHEREAS, John Miner was named as brigadier or foreman, | ||||||
17 | known today as farm manager; he led over 600 farm hands for | ||||||
18 | many successful years until several years of bad crops ended | ||||||
19 | the farm's prosperity in 1877; and
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20 | WHEREAS, In the mid to late 1850s, John Miner would | ||||||
21 | carriage Abraham Lincoln to the different county seats in |
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1 | central Illinois and was one of the last people to shake the | ||||||
2 | president elect's hand as he boarded the train to Springfield | ||||||
3 | and then Washington D.C. to be our 16th president of the United | ||||||
4 | States; and
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5 | WHEREAS, In 1922, with the passing of John Miner, his | ||||||
6 | daughter Julia inherited the now 80 acres that contained the | ||||||
7 | Miner Grade School house; after that, the Miner Grade School | ||||||
8 | and the land it occupied would then be known as schoolhouse 80; | ||||||
9 | and
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10 | WHEREAS, In the late 1940s, the Ford County school | ||||||
11 | consolidation occurred, which included the closing of all of | ||||||
12 | the one room schoolhouses, including the Miner Grade School; | ||||||
13 | and
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14 | WHEREAS, The Miner Grade School had served as a school and | ||||||
15 | as a social and meeting house for the local area for around 60 | ||||||
16 | years; and
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17 | WHEREAS, After sitting empty for a few years, the Miner | ||||||
18 | Grade School was purchased by the Guthrie Grain Elevator and | ||||||
19 | was moved two miles into Guthrie to its new home as a | ||||||
20 | repurposed office for the grain elevator; and
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21 | WHEREAS, The Miner Grade School was used as the grain |
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1 | elevator's office for the next 35 years until a new office and | ||||||
2 | shop were built; although the story of this specific school | ||||||
3 | ends, its legacy and historical significance to Ford County | ||||||
4 | continues; and
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5 | WHEREAS, Thomas C. Dueringer, the great-grandson of John | ||||||
6 | Mottes Miner, is responsible for compiling significant | ||||||
7 | research about the Miner Grade School and local history; | ||||||
8 | therefore, be it
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9 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
10 | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
11 | we recognize the long and incredible history of the Miner | ||||||
12 | Grade School in Ford County; and be it further
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13 | RESOLVED, That we commend the impressive research | ||||||
14 | completed by Thomas C. Dueringer concerning the Miner Grade | ||||||
15 | School leading to its historical marker; and be it further
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16 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
17 | presented to the Ford County Historical Society and to Thomas | ||||||
18 | C. Dueringer as a symbol of our esteem and respect.
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