USA > Illinois > Shelby County > Combined history of Shelby and Moultrie Counties, Illinois : with illustrations descriptive of their scenery and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 25
USA > Illinois > Moultrie County > Combined history of Shelby and Moultrie Counties, Illinois : with illustrations descriptive of their scenery and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 25
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HISTORY OF SHELBY AND MOULTRIE COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
With the close of the year 1855-6, feeling that the severity of the labors incident to the position which he had assumed with many misgivings two and a half years before, was too great for his physical strength, Mr. Jerome tendered his resignation. It was reluctantly accepted by the Board of Trustees, and Parker M. Mc- Farland, A. M., was elected to fill the vacancy, with some other changes in the subordinate department.
The following year, 1857-8, the school opened with excellent prospects and larger attendance. Rev. W. H. Webster came fromn Danville to fill the place of Mr. Mace, resigned ; and Miss Eugenia A. Morrison, of Delaware, that of Miss Arnold. Miss Ann E. Rhoads took charge of the preparatory department, with Miss Minnie Graham and Jacob C. Miller as assistants. Judson A. Roundy taught vocal music. The enrollment for the year was 277, of whom 90 were in the higher grades.
With the opening of the next year, 1858-9, some important changes were made in the management of the institution, one of which was the establishment of a young ladies' department, under the control of Miss Margaret E. Osbond, preceptress, who should, also, have charge of the mathematical department.
During the vacation Mr. Jerome and Miss Morrison were mar- ried, Mrs. Jerome continuing as teacher of instrumental music until the final close of the institution. At the opening of the school year of 1859-60, Miss Mary Osbond took charge of the preparatory de- partment; and, when her sister returned east the following July, in consequence of the illness of their mother, she assumed the duties of preceptress in full.
For the two years following we find no definite records ; but the school continued in its noble work, with ever increasing influence, yet had not been without its difficulties ; but notwithstanding every obstacle that liad opposed its progress, the school had grown, and made its genial and wholesome power widely felt. Its reputation was not simply a local one, but brought many students from a con- siderable distance.
At the close of the year 1861-2, Mr. Jerome retired a second time from the school,-now to enter the army. In the meantime the school was continued under the control of several teachers. Among them were Prof. Thos. Easterday, A. M. Hess, D. W. Jacoby, and Rev. G. A. Pollock. But at best it was not seminary, as it had been known before, for there was was no Jerome at the head of it.
On the return of Mr. Jerome, he was promptly re-elected princi- pal of the institution, and continued at its head until its close. Mr. Parkhurst T. Martin, afterwards editor of the Shelbyville Union, and now of Danville, Ill., was chosen preceptor, and Miss Ione S. Daniels placed in charge of the preparatory classes. The attendance was not so great as in former years, partly on account of the greater efficiency of the public schools of the city, and partly on account of the establishment of Okaw Seminary under the patronage of some of the disaffected friends of the older institution. But in the cha- racter of its work it adopted its former high standard, and with hosts of friends, went on in the glorious labor which it seemed pe. culiarly fitted to perform.
The year 1867-8 was begun September 11th, with Mr. James M. North occupying the position of preceptor, and Mrs. Anna Headen and Martha G. Kerr in the preparatory department which they liad had charge of the previous year. The school opened for its last year September 9th, 1868, the corps of teachers remain- ing the same, except that the place resigned by Mr. North was filled by Miss Mary A. Hall. The year was one of usual success, and closed with the old-time public examinations and exhibition. The establish- ment in the city of a system of public schools with a high-school
that could take the place of the seminary, prepared the way for its discontinuance, and left Mr. Jerome to accept a position in another field of labor. He therefore tendered to the Board of Trustees his resignation, which was accepted-and so ended the direct work of the institution which for fifteen years had afforded the youth of Shelbyville and vicinity almost the only means for securing an edu- cation. Its misssion was accomplished. The seminary property was transferred to the Board of Education of the Shelbyville graded school, in consideration of its assuming and paying the indebted- ness thereon, amounting to between $600 and $700.
No one can estimate the value of the work, or the extent of the influence of the old seminary, or "siminary," as it used to be called, Dr. Webster, to the contrary, notwithstanding, though in many respects it was unpretentious, as compared with similar institutions. It never spoiled itself by trying to be a college. Its patrons speak of it with pride, and its children cherish the memory of the old days spent there as the happiest in their lives. Its walls may crumble and decay, but long will it live in the hearts of those who knew and loved it.
MOULTRIE COUNTY.
BY D. F. STEARNS, COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT.
To give a brief and concise history of the schools and school- interests of Moultrie county, is the object of this chapter. But such a history would be incomplete without giving a synopsis, at least, of the rise and progress of the free school system in the state of Illinois.
The state has encouraged and nurtured education since her ad- mission into the union. The present school-system dates from January 15th, 1825. Illinois was admitted as a state in 1818, and the act of admission contains the following stipulations imposed by Congress : " Whereas the Congress of the United States, in the act entitled ' An act to enable the people of the Illinois territory to form a constitution and state government, and for the admission of such state in the union on equal footing with the original states, passed the 13th of April, 1818," have offered to this convention, for the free acceptance or rejection, the following propositions, which, if accepted by the convention, are to be obligatory upon the United States, viz .: 1. The section numbered sixteen in every township, and when such section has been sold, or otherwise dis- posed of, other land equivalent thereto, and as contiguous as may be, shall be granted to the state for the use of the inhabitants of such township for the use of schools. 2. That all salt springs within such state shall be granted to the said state for the use of said state, and the same to be used under such terms and condi- tions and regulations as the legislature of said state shall direct : Provided, the legislature shall never sell nor lease the same for a longer period than ten years at any one time. 3. That five per cent. of the net proceeds of the lands lying within such state, and which shall be sold by congress from and after the first day of January, 1819, after deducting all expenses incident to the same, shall be reserved for the purposes following, viz .: Two-fifths to be disbursed under the direction of congress, in making roads leading to the state; the residue to be appropriated by the legislature of the state for the encouragement of learning, of which one-sixth part shall be exclusively bestowed on a college or university. 4. That thirty-six sections, or one entire township, which will be designated by the president of the United States, together with the one here- tofore reserved for that purpose, shall be reserved for the use of a seminary, and vested in the legislature of the said state, to be ap- propriated solely to the use of such seminary by the said legislature."
95
HISTORY OF SHELBY AND MOULTRIE COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
From the above, it will be seen with what carc and jealousy the general government guarded the school-interests of the new-formed states. These grants and conditions were accepted by the conven- tion which assembled at Kaskaskia in July, 1818, for the purpose of framing a constitution for the new state. Hon. Shadrach Bond, a man of marked ability, was elected first governor of Illinois. In his inaugural address to the general assembly, he called their spe- . cial attention to the educational interests of the state in the follow- ing forcible language : "The subject of education, the means for which have been so amply provided by the bounty of the general government, cannot fail to engross your serious attention. It would be well to provide for the appointment or election of trustees in each township sufficiently populated, and empower them to lease, for a limited period, the section of land reserved and granted for the use of schools within the same, requiring theni to appropriate the rents arising therefrom to such use and in the manner to be prescribed by law. The townships of land which have been granted to the state for the use of a seminary of learning, cannot, it is be- lieved, be so disposed of at present as to authorize the passage of a law to commence the undertaking ; but at least a part of them may be leased, and the rents arising therefrom may be laid up or vested in some productive fund as a secure deposit to be hereafter appro- priated to the object to which the grants were made ; such a course will render those lands productive, and when the period shall ar- rive at which it may be advisable to sell them, they will be exten- sively improved and of great value. These donations, together with the three per cent. upon the net proceeds arising from the sale of the public lands within the state, which have been appropriated for similar purposes, with proper arrangements, will create a fund sufficiently large to educate the children of the state to the remotest period of time. It is our imperious duty, for the faithful perform- ance of which we are answerable to God and our country, to watch over this interesting subject. No employment can be more engaging than that of liusbanding those resources which will spread through all classes of our fellow-citizens the means of wisdom and of know- ledge, which in the freedom of our institutions will make the child of the poorest parent a useful member of society and an ornament to his country."
The first general assembly was too much engrossed with other matters of state to give this portion of the governor's message the attention it deserved ; but at its second session, it took cognizance of the recommendations contained in his first message, and a bill was passed by both houses, and approved by the governor, March 2d, 1819. It provided for the appointment by the county commis- sioners in each and every county, of three trustees in eachi township, who were within six months after appointment authorized to em- ploy a surveyor, who should lay out section sixteen in each town- ship into lots, not containing less than forty, nor more than one hundred and sixty acres, and to lease the same for a term of ten years, for the purpose of creating a revenue for school-purposes. As this law was general in its tenor, it was sufficient to protect and throw around these school lands a proper safeguard ; and had the recommendations of the governor and the provisions of the law been adhered to until the lands became valuable, the public fund in nearly every township in the state would be to-day sufficient to maintain our public schools without special taxation. Unwise counsel prevailed somewhere, and the most of this munificent gift of the general government has been largely sacrificed.
From 1819 to 1825 but few changes were made in the school-law. Although the changes were few and unimportant, there was a de- cided, growing sentiment favorable to the free-school system ; and in 1825 the general assembly passed an act providing for the estab-
lishment and maintenance of public schools. In the preamble to this act, the following patriotic sentiment was expressed : "To enjoy our rights and liberties we must understand them ; their security and protection ought to be the first object of a free people; and it is a well-established fact that no nation has ever continued long in the enjoyment of civil and political freedom which was not both virtuous and enlightened ; and believing the advancement of lite- rature always has been, and ever will be, the means of developing more fully the rights of man, that the mind of every citizen in a republic is the common property of society, and constitutes the basis of its strength and happiness.
. It is therefore considered the pecu- liar duty of a free government like ours to encourage and extend the improvement and cultivation of the intellectual cnergies of the whole."
This act is unquestionably the foundation-stone of the present free-school system in the State of Illinois. The act was mandatory, as will be seen from the language of the statute in the following passage: " There shall be established a common school or schools in each of the counties of this state, which shall be open to every class of white citizens between the ages of five and twenty-one years." It also provided for the election in each district of the following officers : Three trustees, one treasurer, one clerk, one assessor and one collector. The trustces were empowered to per- form many of the functions now performed by the county superin- tendents, such as examining of teachers, visiting schools, reporting to the county commissioners, etc. Some of the provisions of the law of 1825 were repealed by the act of 1827, creating a general law of the state relating to the common schools; but no material changes were made until 1841, when the legislature made a com- plete revision of the school law, and approved February 26, 1841.
Among the changes of this act are the following provisions : Each township could have as many schools as the inhabitants of such township desired ; the people of every organized district were required to nieet and elect from their number three trustees, and to agree upon the plan and manner of conducting the school. These trustees or directors were vested with power to execute the plan adopted, and were required to visit and superintend the schools. This law was the first that required schedules to be kept by the teachers and returned to the township treasurers. It also required a teacher to pass an examination for a certificate to teach. The board of trustees was required to perform this duty, or appoint a board of examiners for the purpose. The law did not mention the branches to be taught, nor did it specify the branches in which the teacher should be examined, but required that the certificate, when issued, should enumerate the branches in which he was qualified to teach.
In 1845 another revision of the school-law was made, and many new and important features were incorporated in it. The secretary of state was by virtue of his office created state superintendent of schools. Among his various duties the statute provided that he should counsel with experienced teachers, relating to the latest and most approved methods of conducting the common- schools ; he was required to advise the school commissioners as to the best manner of managing the schools ; of constructing school- houses, and procuring competent teachers ; to recommend the best text-books, charts, maps etc., and to bring about a uniformity of the same. Under this law, whose duties were those of secretary of state, the first state superintendent was the Hon. Thomas Campbell, who made a very efficient and useful officer. Many of the sugges- tions given by him in his report to the governor could be used with profit to our school systeni of to-day.
The duties of the secretary of state confined him almost entirely
96
HISTORY OF SHELBY AND MOULTRIE COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
to his office as the state developed, and the demands for a special officer to discharge the duties of this department became a neces- sity. Hence, in 1854, the legislature passed a law making the office of state superintendent of public instruction a separate one. The duties to be performed were similar to those under the act of 1845. It was provided to fill the office by appointment of the governor until after the election in 1855, with a salary of $1,500 per annum.
The Hon. Ninian W. Edwards was appointed the first state superintendent under this law, and the first to have the honor of framing a bill for the unification of the school system of the state. Again, in 1872, there was another general revision of the school law, since which time there have been but few important changes made. Of this last revision, I should do this history great injus- tice without the mention of the name of Hon. Newton Bateman, who has no superior in this country as an educator or friend to the free-school system. Our legislators, in the above revision, which caused our school system to rank with the best in the land, gave the greatest heed to his judgment and counsel.
From the foregoing it will be seen that there have been five marked epochs in the school history of Illinois-1825, 1841, 1845, 1854 and 1872. In the main we have a most excellent free-school system in our state; but there are changes in the law that should be made, and which would prove wholesome to all concerned. I have special reference to the want of clearness in the language of the statute. The school law, above all others, should be the plain- est in all its details, and so well arranged as to be intelligible to all who are able to read.
The permanent school fund of the state comprises : 1-t, the school fund proper, being three per cent. upon the net procceds of the sales of the public lands in the state, one-sixth part excepted ; 2d, the college fund, consisting of the above one-sixth part; 3d, tlie surplus revenue derived from the distribution in 1836 of the sur- plus revenue of the United States ; 4th, the seminary fund, derived from sales of lands granted to the state by the general govern- ment ; 5th, county funds created by the legislature iu 1835; 6th, township funds arising from the sale of public lands granted by congress for common-school purposes.
The total income for school purposes in 1878, (at this writing I have not received the superintendent's report of 1880) from these funds and the current school funds, was $9,634,727.81. The total amount of expenditures in the same year was $7,526,109.26, leaving a balance on hand of $2,108,618.55. From this showing it will be seen that the state is far from being impoverished so far as its school finances are concerned.
In giving a correct school history of Moultrie county, the writer of this article is obliged to labor under many disadvantages, as a portion of the records belonging to this department were destroyed by fire when the court-house burned in 1864. Much of the data and other matters of record, that might have been found from information on file, have to be gleaned by word of mouth from those who figured most prominently in those days, and can give the most reliable history concerning the same. It will not be sur- prising, then, if some errors should be found in this chapter.
From the best information we have, the first school taught in what is now Moultrie county was conducted by Mrs. Mary Hostet- ler, in the year 1832. The house was situated on the farm of Hilera Rhodes, in Lovington township. In structure it was a double log-cabin, the private property of Mr. Solomon Hostetler, and served the double purpose of residence and school-room Mrs. Hostetler taught the school, and did her house-work as the duties of the school-room would permit. We can imagine the ner- vousness of the housekeeper as she was hearing the last prosy
spelling-lesson, to catch a smell of the scorching dinner-pot in the next room. In these times of steam and telegraph all over the continent, how many are there that have any conception of the difficulties and embarrassments that our parents had to undergo in order to get even the most meagre education ?
The next term of school was taught by Mr. John Allen, in the fall of 1834: The school-house was situated on what is now Col. Clore's farm, about a half mile west of the village of Lovington. As this house has a history, and was a fair sample in size and structure. of the early school-houses in this county, it would, per- haps, be appropriate here to give a detailed description of it.
In construction, it was of rough logs, just as they were hauled from the timber. The roof was made of short boards or staves, about four feet in length ; while the crevices between the logs were stopped up in a rude manner, by filling in what was called chink- ing, and well daubed in with mud.
This particular house had a very aristocratic chimney, for its day, as it was constructed of mud and sticks. I say aristocratic, for there were many that made no further pretensions than having only a hole in the roof to answer this purpose, with part of the house fenced off for fire-place and chimney. To some, this may seem overdrawn ; but the writer of this article has the best of evi- dence from some of our old settlers, that suchi was really the case. The floor was made of logs split in two in the middle, and placed side by side, with the split side up. Such a constructed stable-fixing was called a puncheon floor. The benches were made by boring two holes in each end of a puncheon, and driving in rude pegs.
The desks were no better. They were constructed by driving pegs into holes bored into the logs in the sides of the house, and the everlasting slab or puncheon served the purpose of a desk. The house was lighted with a window that extended the whole length of the building. This was done in the artistic manner of cutting out one log.
Prominent among others, who taught in this school-house, were John W. Tyler, Charlotte Emerson, and Hiram Hersey. This, it must be borne in mind, was prior to the organization of Moultric county. This portion of the county then belonged to Macon county. The first election for county officers, after the Organic Act was passed, creating Moultrie from the counties of Shelby and Macon, was held in this school-house. John H. Kellar was the teacher, and the school was dismissed for the purpose of holding the election in the building.
HISTORY OF SHELBY AND MOULTRIE COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
97
Among the teachers who taught in this county as carly as 1843, or soon after the county was organized, I find the following : Wm. G. Hayden taught in a log house, situated in Whitley creek town- ship, in the fall of 1843, the year in which the county was or- ganized.
James S. Freeland taught a school in what is now known as the Nazworthy district, in the same year. "Uncle " Jimmy Camfield was one of his pupils. It was there that he learned his a b c's. He was then in the 44th year of his age; and tradition tells us that he was one of the most difficult pupils to manage that Mr. Frce- land had to contend with. Not that he was malicious or mean in any way, but he could not restrain his risibilities when watching the pranks of the younger pupils. He had a kecn sense for the ridiculous, and at every thing donc or enacted by the small fry, he would burst out into a loud guffaw.
Judge Thomason taught a school in the south-western part of Sullivan township, as early as 1844. A. B. Lee in 1844, and in 1845, W. R. Lee, brother of A. B. Lee; but I think he might have taught prior to county organization. Miss Sarah Hibbard, afterward Mrs. Ambrosc Meeker, was one of the first who taught in Sullivan township after the county was organized. Oliver C. Denslow, Thomas Haney, H. Y. Kellar, James Steele, and Frank Porter were also among the early teachers.
Times have materially changed since then, and so have the cus- toms and sports of the school youth of that day. If you would desire to hear told, with all the dramatic effect the subject demands, of " barring-out," and rabbit-hunts of those early school days, get some old gray-headed pioneer to relate to you his experience. He can do the subject justice; I cannot. Those old customs, however, are now nearly obsolete.
There was no uniformity of school text-books in those times. Pupils were sent to school with such books as the family happened to have.on hand. For readers, they used histories, biographics of prominent men, etc. Some read in the Testament, as it was the only book the family possessed. The old " blue back," Webster's spell- ing book, was then in its prime, and was mainly used. The geo- graphies were principally Olney's and Woodbridge's series. Kirk- ham's and Smith's grammars, Pike's and Smiley's arithmetics completed the list of the school-books of those days.
The first school-house built in Sullivan township, was a small frame structure, and was situated on the lot west of where the Christian church now stands. Years afterwards, it was moved to the open lots just across the street, west of the present residence of Andy Shortess, and used for a stable. To-day, I passed by there to see if any of the old relic was still standing; but alas, it had gone with the things that were.
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