HR0424LRB102 19606 MST 28375 r


  
1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

  
 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of 
3Representatives wish to commemorate the 160th anniversary of 
4the founding of the Joseph F. Glidden Homestead in DeKalb in 
51861; and
 
6    WHEREAS, The Glidden Homestead and Historical Center sits 
7on the site where Joseph Farwell Glidden invented barbed wire 
8with his second wife, Lucinda; he lost his first wife in 
9childbirth in 1846 and his three children during an epidemic a 
10year later in 1847; and
  
 
11    WHEREAS, Joseph Glidden, along with hardware merchant 
12Isaac Ellwood and lumberman Jacob Haish, crafted the idea for 
13a "barbed-wire" fence upon witnessing a fence board with 
14projecting brad points at a county fair in September of 1873; 
15and
  
 
16    WHEREAS, Joseph Glidden and Lucinda experimented in the 
17home's kitchen using a coffee mill to create the first-ever 
18strand of barbed wire; and
 
19    WHEREAS, At the age of 61, Joseph Glidden traveled to 
20Chicago to patent his new invention on November 24, 1874; and
 
 
 
HR0424- 2 -LRB102 19606 MST 28375 r

1    WHEREAS, Joseph Glidden and Isaac Elwood then built the 
2world's first barbed wire factory in 1874; and
 
3    WHEREAS, In 1857, Joseph Glidden, Isaac Elwood, and Jacob 
4Haish, along with journalist Clinton Rosette, founded what is 
5now Northern Illinois University with part of the land where 
6the idea for barbed wire originated; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Later, Joseph Glidden served until his death in 
81906 at the age of 93 as publisher for founding editor Clinton 
9Rosette's Daily Chronicle newspaper in DeKalb; and
 
10    WHEREAS, By the time of Joseph Glidden's death, Isaac 
11Ellwood estimated that their factory had produced enough 
12barbed wire to circle the earth 17 times, earning DeKalb the 
13nickname of "The Barbed City" to this day; and
  
 
14    WHEREAS, Barbed wire played a significant role in settling 
15the American West, where it became popular due to the lack of 
16stone or wood available for fencing crops and livestock; and
  
 
17    WHEREAS, The Illinois State Historical Society has erected 
18a historical marker commemorating barbed wire manufacturing at 
19the Glidden Homestead; and
  
 
20    WHEREAS, Members of the Glidden family have lived on the 
 
 
HR0424- 3 -LRB102 19606 MST 28375 r

1Glidden Homestead from the time it was built in 1861 until 
21998, when it became a museum; therefore, be it
  
 
3    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE 
4HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that 
5we commemorate the 160th anniversary of the Joseph F. Glidden 
6Homestead; and be it further
  
 
7    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be 
8presented to the Joseph F. Glidden Homestead and Historical 
9Center as an expression of our esteem and respect.