On Saturday, May 6, 2023, the Downers Grove Historical Society honors Abigail Stearns Root as their 2023 Founder of the Year. The ceremony will be held at the the Main Street Cemetery in Downers Grove. She was one of many pioneer women who came west, settled here and contributed to the history of our village. She is also the first woman selected as Founder of the Year.

Abigail Stearns Root was a pioneer wife and mother. She and her husband, Martin Root, made Downers Grove their home in the 1840s. Her father, Asa Stearns, served as a Revolutionary War soldier.  The Downers Grove Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution has honored her as daughter of an American Revolutionary War soldier at the Main Street Cemetery grave with a recently installed plaque.

For more on the life of Abigail Stearns Root, visit her full biography here.