With participants gathered on the steps of the courthouse, or inside
if the weather is bad, the names will be read of those who have died
in 2013 within the city of Mount Pulaski and its immediate vicinity.
After each name is read, the old 1870s school bell on the south side
of the courthouse yard will be tolled. The service will last about
20 minutes.
To review the list of names to be read, go to the town's website,
www.mtpulaskiil.com, and click on "Obituaries." All corrections
or additions should be called in to Tom Martin, 792-3267.
The New Year's Eve Remembrance Service was initiated on Dec. 31,
2010, to kick off the yearlong celebration of the 175th anniversary
of the founding of Mount Pulaski.
Gonger Steve Martin of Mount Pulaski at the 2010
ceremony
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The historic courthouse was once the Logan County seat
(1848-1855) on the traveling Illinois 8th Judicial Circuit,
where Abraham Lincoln, Judge David Davis, Steven A. Douglas,
William "Billy" Herndon, Samuel H. Treat, Lionel P. Lacey,
Samuel C. Parks, and William H. Young, among many others,
practiced their craft by bringing the court of law to the people
by horseback and horse and buggy. This structure later became a
schoolhouse for grades one to 12 during the years 1857-1877 and
again for one year in 1911-12.
[By PHIL BERTONI] |