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With assistance from the Mormon Historic Sites Foundation, the Perkins Family Organization unveiled this historic monument in Webster, Illinois in May 2000.
Webster is situated in Hancock County about twenty miles east of Nauvoo. Since the 1820s, Webster has been known by several names, including: Crooked Creek, the Perkins settlement, Ramus, and Macedonia. Ute and Sarah Perkins and their children were the first permanent residents on Crooked Creek, arriving in 1826. In 1839, following the Mormon expulsion from Missouri in 1839, a number of LDS families settled near the Perkins clan, including Joel H. Johnson.
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Ute and his family not only accepted their new neighbors, but the Mormon faith as well. In 1840, the Perkins settlement, or Crooked Creek branch, was renamed Ramus, a Latin word meaning branch. A town was also laid out on land owned principally by Ute Perkins. On July 15, 1840, the Ramus Stake was organized by Hyrum Smith consisting of 112 members with Joel H. Johnson as stake president. The stake itself was short-lived, being disbanded in December 1841. However, even though the stake ceased to exist after that time, Ramus continued to thrive as a Mormon settlement.
The monument erected by the Perkins Family Organization in conjunction with the Mormon Historic Sites Foundation honors Webster’s founder, Ute Perkins, and the Mormons who lived, labored, worshipped, and died there during the Illinois period of the Church.