[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 7821-7822]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE VILLAGE OF RAMSEY

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, 150 years ago--on May 4, 1864, to be 
exact--the Village of Ramsey, IL, was incorporated. The village was 
named after an early settler named William Ramsey, who built his home 
on what is now known as Ramsey Creek.
  Ramsey was just getting started when Abraham Lincoln was traveling 
from his home in Springfield to Vandalia, which was then the State 
Capital where Lincoln was a member of the Illinois House of 
Representatives. The Illinois Central Railroad, completed on January 1, 
1855, made Ramsey a local trading and shipping point for nearby 
townships.
  To put the anniversary of Ramsey's incorporation in perspective, 
think about what the Midwest was like in 1864. The Civil War was coming 
to an end and a new America was being born. It was long before planes 
and cars--and trains were not yet common.
  By 1878, the people of Ramsey could support six dry goods and grocery 
stores, a drug store, a hardware store, two saloons, a boot shop, a 
hotel, and a harness factory. It was the second largest town in Fayette 
County. Ramsey even had its own newspaper in the 1880s, The Ramsey 
Democrat. Another publication, the Ramsey News-Journal, started in 
1911. It was purchased in 1912 by Julius Mueller and remained with that 
family for 100 years.
  The first women to vote in Illinois cast their vote in Ramsey. Mrs. 
Athilla Stoddard was the first female in the State to vote publicly. 
She was 83 years old when she voted in Ramsey on July 10, 1891.

[[Page 7822]]

  Ramsey is small--just over 1,000 people live there today--but it has 
its share of famous residents. Glen Hobbie, who played for both the 
Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals, called Ramsey home for a 
time. H.L. Hunt, an oil tycoon who inspired the TV series Dallas, was 
from Ramsey; and so was Tex Williams, a country music singer, 
songwriter and actor.
  One day each year, when the Lions Club hosts its annual auction, the 
population grows from 1,000 people to 5,000 people.
  The Village of Ramsey was in my district when I was a Member of the 
House of Representatives. I have been to the town many times and have 
enjoyed its famous chicken dinners. I camped out at Ramsey Lake State 
Park with my kids many years before going off to Congress. Today I 
extend congratulations to Mayor Claude Willis, the citizens of Ramsey, 
and the 4,000 people who spend a day in Ramsey each year as the village 
celebrates its 150th anniversary.

                          ____________________