Honor Wilson’s 200th Anniversary

April 7, 2018; and WHEREAS, Located on the south shore of Lake Ontario, the Town of Wilson was created from the Town of Porter on April 10, 1818; with a population of approximately 6,000, the Town measures 51.5 square miles and consists of 41 miles of roads; and WHEREAS, Reuben Wilson held the title of the first Town Supervisor, and Daniel Holmes served as the first Town Clerk; Marilynn Allgeier was the first woman to be elected Town Supervisor in 1998; today, the Town of Wilson is led by Town Supervisor Doyle H. Phillips, and Town Clerk A. Diane Muscoreil; and WHEREAS, On January 18, 1819, the First Presbyterian Church was founded, and the first post office was established at the home of Reuben Wilson on December 4, 1824; over 20 years later, the Wilson Collegiate Institute was incorporated by the Board of Regents; and WHEREAS, On June 12, 1876, the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad (R W & O), passed through the Town of Wilson; commonly known as The Hojack Line, it operated along the south shore of Lake Ontario, from Niagara Falls, New York, to Oswego, New York; and WHEREAS, Through the next several decades, the Town grew and prospered; the Wilson Public Library was founded in 1910, the first volunteer fire company was formed in 1923, and the Wilson Central Rural School District was organized in 1941; and WHEREAS, The Town of Wilson consists of the Village of Wilson, and the hamlets of Ransomville, Coolidge Beach, Elberta, Hopkins Beach, Pleasant Corners, Roosevelt Beach, South Wilson, Sunset Beach, and Woodland Heights; and WHEREAS, The South Wilson Volunteer Fire Company, Wilson No. 1 Volunteer Fire Company, and the Ransomville Fire Company all serve the residents of the Town of Wilson; and WHEREAS, The Town of Wilson is home to Wilson Tuscarora State Park, the Morse Cobblestone Farmhouse which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010, and the Greenwood Cemetery, where the remains of many veterans from the Revolutionary War through the Vietnam War are interred; and WHEREAS, Notable residents of Wilson include DeWitt Bristol Brace, physicist; Frank A. Cipolla, Brigadier General; Virginia Dox, frontier educator and popular lecturer; and Earl Brydges, former New York State Senator; as well as Rexford Guy Tugwell, a member of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "Brain Trust", and later Governor of Puerto Rico; and WHEREAS, Remaining fruitful over the ebb and flow of decades of growth and change, the Town of Wilson continues its commitment to enhancing the quality of life of its citizens, ensuring a positive business, institutional and educational climate, and providing all essential services; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to commemorate the 200th Anniversary of the Town of Wilson, recognizing the significance of the role it continues to play in the life of the community of the State of New York; and be it further RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to Doyle H. Phillips, Supervisor, Town of Wilson.