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History of Du Page County, Illinois
The following pages owe their origin primarily to a
resolution of Congress, passed in 1876, recommending
to the various State authorities the preparation of Centennial State Histories.
In obedience to which resolution, the Governor of Illinois requested the County Boards of the State to provide histories of their respective Counties.
At a meeting of the Board of Supervisors of DuPage
County, held in June 1876, Supervisor Lakey presented
the following resolution, which, on his motion, was
adopted:
Resolved, That such an amount as shall be necessary,
not exceeding five hundred dollars, to defray the expenses
of preparing a history of the County of DuPage and the
towns therein, in accordance with the proclamation of
the Governor of this State, be, and the same is hereby
appropriated by the Board of Supervisors.
Resolved, That said sum, or so much thereof as shall
be necessary, be expended or used by the Chairman of
this Board, in his discretion, who is hereby appointed
a committee for that purpose and requested to make his
report to the Board hereafter.
To the Board Supervisors of DuPage County —
Gentlemen: — The importance of presenting as full,
complete and accurate a history of our County, from its
earliest settlement to the present time, as possible within
the limits contemplated by the resolution, made it necessary for me to employ some one, not having the time
myself, to collect and complete said history, subject to
my examination and approval, I secured the services of
C.W. Richmond, Esq., for that purpose.
I have the pleasure to say that he has made a highly
satisfactory compilation, which is herewith submitted in
manuscript. The time spent in gathering and arranging the statistics has been more than I at first anticipated, yet I am satisfied no more time has been consumed
than was necessary for the purpose.
The subjoined report of Mr. Richmond gives a general detailed plan of the history.
Very Respectfully,
Lewis Ellsworth, Chairman.
March 20th, 1877.
Hon. Lewis Ellsworth, Chairman of Board of Supervisors: — I herewith submit in manuscript a history
of the county as prepared by your request. It will be
observed that the plan adopted was to present:
First — An account of the early settlement, with facts
and statistics relating to the several industries, schools
and colleges, the organization of the county and its
political history.
Second — A history of the part taken by the county
in the late war, and an account of the services of the
soldiers. In this connection an effort has been made to
give the names of all who enlisted in the county during
the war. This has involved the careful scrutiny of
more than two hundred thousand names, and has resulted
in bringing together for permanent record some fifteen
hundred names, which were found scattered through
nearly fifty regiments.
Third — A history of the several towns, with an
account of their settlement and progress to the present
time.
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DuPage County is situated in the north-eastern part
of the State of Illinois. It derives its name from that
of the DuPage River, a small but beautiful stream, the
eastern and western branches of which, rising in the
northern part of the county, unite about four miles south
of its southern boundary, falling afterwards into the Des
Plaines, an eastern tributary, which, in junction with
the Kankakee, forms the Illinois River.
Several towns and places in the neighborhood, as well
as the DuPage River, retain names seeming to mark
their connection with the explorations of early Jesuit
missionaries in the State, and in this portion of the
country.
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