USA > Illinois > Shelby County > Historic sketch and biographical album of Shelby County, Illinois > Part 14
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In a way, he is .Shelby County's favorite son. but he has shaken the dust of our streets from his shoes, and claims some other place as his home, yet his old friends here are proud of him and his achievements. Prior to the trial. he and Chafee.
working together, procured the release on habeas corpus of John Austin, Jake Austin and Mrs. Antonio Mcclintock, before Judge Anthony Thornton, then of the Supreme Court. These defendants were in jail on a charge of the murder of Eugene MeClintock, husband of An- tonio. They were acquitted. Mrs. McClintock has since been tried on a similar charge and escaped in Ft. Smith. Ark. Wendling was member of the constitutional convention that drafted our constitution of 1870.
He married Josephine, the sister of Hon. 1 .. B. Stephenson, mentioned in these notes, and was blessed by being the father of two daugh- ters. Frances and Grayson, and one son. George. One of these daughters has become the wife of Mr. Catchings, a lawyer living in Mississippi, and his son is in some Virginia college. Shelby County can be proud of these girls, for no more graceful or beautiful girls ever visited Washing- ton. Wendling's fame and fortune is in his lec- tures. He has, so his bureau says, delivered them over 15,000 times at a price from $100 to $500 a lecture. The themes of these lectures are: "If a Man Die Shall He Live Again?" "Unseen Realities :" "The Man of Galilee:" "Saul of Tarsus :" "Is Death the End?" "Stone- wall Jackson :" "Mirabeau," and others. In the thousands of times he has spoken. he has compassed the entire country, and stood before as fine audiences as ever greeted. criticised and cheered any man, and only a few of the good things said and forgotten, may be embalmed here for his early friends. Of "Saul of Tarsus" from Baltimore American. "He traced the his- tory of Paul's life as orator, hero, martyr. and man by a series of beautiful word pictures, and delivered some of Paul's speeches with wonder- ful effect."
Syracuse (N. Y.) Standard. (Editorial.)
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"Beauty of diction, force of logic, and earnest- ness are the leading characteristics of Mr. Wend- ling on the platform. His tribute to the marvel- ous power of Paul and his impassioned apostro- phe were something never to be forgotten. The delineation was masterful. the peroration was sublime."
"Is Death the End." Williamsport (Pa.) Gazette. "There is no other man living who is like or similar to this famous man in the charac- ter of his public lectures. Hle more successfully popularizes religious, scientific, and philosophical subjects than all others. He is today the most sought for of all American lecturers."
Of "Stonewall Jackson." Charlotte (N. C.) Observer. "Charlotte had been prepared by critics, in whom she had confidence, to expect something grand in Wendling, but of his power. wondrous that it is: his magnetism of look. speech, and action : his beauty of thought and word in which he clothes the thought ; his mag- nificent descriptive power-of these, hearsay. like the photograph, which can convey but a cold and imperfect idea of what the living face with its expression and color is like-can give but an imperfect idea of what Wendling is. The stage was, in itself, an inspiration. The portrait of the great Confederate, the theme of the evening's lecture, hung on the centre wall. Back of it was draped the Confederate flag, in which his body was wrapped after death. Underneath the por- trait was Jackson's sword, and to the right and left his field-glasses, pistols, gold spurs sent him by the ladies of Baltimore, and also the spurs he wore all during the war, and other Confederate relics. Mrs. Stonewall Jackson herself superin- tended the decoration of the stage, and its sim- plicity was characteristic of her good taste."
The New York Chautauqua, as the head center of education, said of him: "This gentle-
man has written his name at Chautauqua where none can reach to obliterate it. He was born in Illinois, educated at the Chicago University, and is now a practicing lawyer. As to the scope of his reading and knowledge, he seems to be an encyclopaedia in himself. The only department of learning which did not glitter and blaze in his lecture, was his professional lore. The jurist was lost sight of in the historian, the philosopher. the polemic, and the statesman. His analytical faculty is the acutest, and his logic remorseless. Ile has just enough of the poetic element to dress his thoughts in attractive and beautiful form without obscuring a thought or disturbing his argument.
"He is yet in the morning of life, verging towards high noon; stoutly built, a keen eye. black hair, and in all respects, a splendid man. Hle held the platform as a king, and swayed his audience for two hours by the sceptre of his elo- quence."
Pages of rich extracts from his lectures might be given, if space were permitted, but my own inclination goes toward the genial neigh- bor, the jolly friend. the charming companion. the fun of a fight in some more or less interest- ing law suit before some wise Justice of the Peace, or a court with more power and dignity. vet perhaps no more sense ; or at the fireside, or in the shade with cigar and story and joke and tale, or fishing up and down the Okaw or in the lakes of the North. These are things that Wend- ling enjoyed, and he has written me in the past. that his heart ever turned to his boyhood home and friends. as the old coons did to Suawanee River. Wendling was of German and French extraction, is of stout build, but very graceful on the platform. He is convivial in his habits, against his best principles, but we, who know of the hereditary trend. and the sentiments that
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PHAYO ELIG. CO. ARETEN ..
JUDGE SAMUEL W. MOULTON.
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were in vogue here when he was a boy and young man, can and do feel that he has fought against heredity and fashion, and stood firmly where weaker men would have fallen never to rise. George was born a democrat, and quite naturally, in this county, remained one, but when the party made such a mess of itself about the war, he thought correctly its days of usefulness were past, and delivered a funeral oration over its supposed ashes ; after it was galvanized into life again, he kissed and made up, only to have his affections grow cold, as Bryan led the party to the altar of 16 to 1. But I see now he has again sought rest in the old mother's arms, and seeks to be shielded from the great shadow of imper- ialisni that Bryan has hypnotized the old party into believing hangs like a pall over the country.
HON. SAMUEL W. MOULTON.
the most distinguished lawyer of our Bar except- ing Judge Thornton, was born in Hamilton, near Salem, Massachusetts, in 1821, and was educated in the common schools and academy of his native town. His father was a sea captain for over thirty years, and Mr. Moulton himself made a voyage of some distance, but owing to his being extremely near-sighted, he was compelled to fit himself for other work. About the time he was twenty or before, in 1841. he followed the New England custom of emigrating to the West. traveling by stage and on the canoes and rivers. teaching school for about a year in Kentucky. and afterwards, in 1843. spent a year or more in teaching in Mississippi, where he became a voter, casting his first vote for Polk, when the battle cry was "54-40 or fight." He was married in Mississippi in 1844, to Miss Mary H. Affleck, of Scotch birth and decent, and shortly after- wards they moved to Illinois, living a short time in Coles County, near Oakland. Mrs. Moulton
was a daughter of Thos. and Mary Affleck, and was born in Dumfries, Scotland. The family moved to Illinois in 1836. Mr. Affleck was a merchant and land-owner, and a man of great ability and rare versatility. Mr. and Mrs. Moul- ton have lived together for over fifty-six years. In her prime Mrs. Moulton was a most hospit- able entertainer, and all her life has been devoted to charitable works, and many an unfortunate or sick neighbor has felt the kindness which she so lavishly extended. Mrs. Moulton was a great reader, and has a fine sense of the beauties of literature, and still enjoys reading and repeat- ing both okl and new jokes. In her prime her house was ever open to the young people, and the center of the best society. the young people always enjoying the mirth of the event as well as the lavish and appetizing repast which she served with great skill. She is a member of the M. E. church and has been for 50 years. Among her good works, I take pleasure in mentioning the fact that while she has had no children of her own, she has spent herself ,in training and educating a number of girls and giving her best thoughts and affections to her adopted son, Wal- ter C. Headen. Such care and affection as she lavished on the young people who were, for the time being, as her own children, is rarely ap- preciated at its full value and seldom repaid in the only coin that would fill a woman's heart.
In 1847 Mr. Moulton was admitted to the Bar of Illinois, and commenced practice at Sul- livan. In 1849 he removed to Shelbyville, Illi- nois, where he still lives, honored and respected by numerous friends. For fifty years or more he has been in active practice in all of the im- portant litigations occurring in this county, and for a great many years in the adjoining counties of Coles. Effingham, Fayette, Montgomery. Christian and Macon. He and Mr. Thornton
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were nearly always on opposite sides. While Thornton was a man great, powerful, massive, with a heavy voice and aggressive manner, Moul- ton was a slight man with a weak voice and poor eyesight, yet always alert, wide-awake, and per- fectly informed upon every question that might naturally be expected to come up on a trial. At first blush it might look to a by-stander that the contest between the two was very unequal, yet before the suit was finally disposed of, Mr. Moul- ton always gave a good account of himself, and none of his clients ever lost any of their rights where he had them in charge. Mr. Moulton was an active politician in the early days, and made his presence felt at home, in the Legislature. in Congress, and wherever he was known. He was elected to the Legislature in 1853, and served three successive terms ; he was chairman of the Committee on Education, and to him the great State of Illinois is largely indebted for its most perfect system of free-schools.
For eighteen years or more he was president of the Board of Education, having charge of the Normal University, and in this sketch we have used the speech of Prof. Brownlee, delivered in Shelbyville, June, 1898, on the occasion of un- veiling the pictures of Judges Thornton and Moulton in the court house, to emphasize this crowning act in Mr. Moulton's life.
Prof. Brownlee, one of the foremost orators of the state and a teacher of elocution and English literature in the University of Illinois, (now of Charleston), delivered an address upon the common schools of Illinois, showing the con- nection of Mr. Moulton with that subject. from which he has permitted me to make ex- tracts. For beauty of diction, absolute truthful- ness. and elegance of delivery, this speech was the gem of the occasion. Every Shelby County
man must feel prond that his fellow-citizen, Mr. Moulton, was deserving of all the praise there- in expressed. Here follow quotations from
MR. BROWNLEE'S SPEECH :
In placing this sentiment upon the pro- gram, and in selecting a teacher to respond to it. your committee have not only honored me, but have also honored the noble profession 1 repre- sent here this day. And in behalf of the 25000 teachers of Illinois, as well as for myself, 1 desire to express my deep sense of the courtesy thus shown us. The gentlemen you honor in your ceremonies today, each nas won honors in an honorable and strenuous profession. More than this, each has been the friend of education and schools. I know this; for not to know some- thing of their long and useful lives, is to argue one's self unknown. And in speaking to my theme, I shall find it impossible not to say some words in praise of one of these gentlemen who has had much to do with the creation of our system of free public schools. It will be a pleas- ure indeed for me to speak of his priceless ser- vices. The poet Landon says :
"There is a delight in singing, though none hear
Besides the singer ; and there is delight In praising, though the praiser sit alone And see the praised far off from him, far above."
We are proud of our imperial state : of her natural resources, her prairies, her forests, her hills, her valleys. her rivers ; proud of her civili- zation, her hamlets, her towns, and her cities. and her chief city, Chicago. Queen of the West, and destined to be the metropolis of the western world.
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"O'er thy wilderness of prairies, Illinois, Illinois, Straight thy way and never varies, Illinois, Till upon the western sea. Stands a great commercial trec. Turning all the world to thee. Illinois."
We are proud too, of the history of Illinois and of the men whose names are written upon its glittering pages. Indeed.
"Not without thy wondrous story, Illinois. Illinois,
Can be writ the Nation's glory, Illinois. On the record of thy years, Abraham Lincoln's name appears. Grant. and Logan, and our tears. Illinois."
And gentlemen, we are also proud of our system of public schools. In them knowledge unfolds her ample page rich with the spoils of time to all the children of the State.
These schools are the safeguard of our im- perial State, and a perpetual fountain of intellec- tual blessing to us all. Few states in this Union can boast of a system equal to ours. Pardon a moment of statistics. There are 25000 teachers engaged in an office that might be envied by a seraph of light. that of forming and training the capacities and characters of nearly one million of the children of Illinois.
"Oh. these angels of hearts and of households. They are angels of God in disguise. His sunlight still sleeps in their tresses. His glory still gleams in their eyes."
More exactly, these pupils are 900.000 in number. In addition to teachers and pupils. there is a host of school officers giving unstinted service for the good of the state, in most cases. without compensation. With a school master's love of arithmetic. I have summed them all up
together .and done a little figuring. I find that if all these pupils, teachers, school officers, were to march past this court house in line at the rate of forty a minute for eight hours a day, they would be seventy-two days in passing. The ex- penses of the schools last year were $19.000,000. If this sum were in silver dollars stacked one upon another. it would make a column thirty miles high. I find that the value of school prop- erty is in round numbers $50,000.000. This would make a column seventy-five miles high. This imperial commonwealth has wisely under- taken to educate all her children : and as they complete all their studies and go out to take places in this working world, they repay her ten- fold for the cost of their training. But. gentle- men. this stupendous system of free schools did not grow as grows the grass. These beautiful buildings that decorate our prairies and towns, and cities, did not rise in an hour like an exhala- tion. to the sound of music and sweet voices, as did Satan's palace. Pandemonium. Our public school system was reached only after a quarter of a century of discussion and struggle, and at last adopted against bitter opposition. It has attained its present breadth and efficiency only through forty years of experiment and effort. and sacrifice. Somewhere 1 have read the story of a painter whose colors, and whose crimsons in particular, were the despair of his brother ar- tists. Try as they might. they could not equal his rich crimsons. The artist died: and when they laid him out for the grave, they found just over his neart an unhealed wound. The secret of his gorgeous crimson was revealed. He mixed the colors with the blood of his own heart. Even so, there has gone into the estab)- lishing and perfecting of our schools the very life-blood of a host of noble men and women. Time will not permit me to speak of the salient
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points in its history. Every great work requires the co-operation of many minds. No one man can be called the creator of this magnificent sys- tem.
Mr. Moulton would not thank me if 1 should endeavor to minimize the services of many men, both of my profession and of his own, who de- voted their best energies to the establishment of our school system-he would not, 1 say, thank 11e for minimizing their efforts in order to ex- aggerate his. He is but one link in the goklen chain of benefactors who established the free school system of Illinois. But this I may fairly say. that he is the brightest link in the shining chain : and that if any one may be called the father of our free school system, that man is Samuel W. Moulton. "Perhaps," as Emerson suggests, "to the eye of deity one hour in the life of a man or of a state is just as critical as another: but to our imperfect sight, there are certain moments, or years, in the life of a man or of a state that seem more critical than others." Thus Longfellow says :
"Strange is the life of a man and fatal or fated the moments.
Whereon turn as on hinges the gates of the walls adamantine."
The years from '54 to '57, inclusive, consti- tute the intellectual crisis in the history of Illi- nois. During those years the State Superintend- ency was created, the free school system was es- tablished and perfected, and the great school at Normal, for the education of teachers, was founded. How fortunate that during those fatal years there was in the legislature a young man from Shelby County who had brought from his New England home, her generous culture and burning belief in free schools; how soon the strong men of my profession learned to counsel
with Samuel W. Moulton, and to confide in him: how they leaned upon him; how freely were the resources of his scholarship and of his trained, legal mind placed at their call. His knowledge of the constitution, and familiarity with legal phraseology enabled him to put their notions into correct form. His hand drafted their bills for the creation of the State Superin- tendency, for the establishment of a system of free public schools, and the creation of the great mother Normal school. Mr. Moulton was chair- man of the committee of education in the House (luring those critical years. Fortunate State to have such a son in such a position of power, at such a tune. Fortunate son to have such an op- portunity to serve such a state. Our present is usually said to date from 1855, but the law of '55 proved so defective, that I am inclined to date our system from 1857.
I also quote from Mr. Moulton's appeal in the Legislature for free schools :
"Mr. Speaker, I presume but little difference of opinion exists as to the true object of the two-mill tax-that of providing means for the education of all the children of the State, and that each child is of right entitled to an equal share of the tax, without regard of condition or locality, or from what particular part of the State it was collected. This principle has its foundation in the fact that every child has an absolute right to an education at the hands of somebody, to an extent that shall properly qual- ify him to discharge his duties as a citizen. Ex- perience shows that when education is left to the voluntary action of parents and others, it is greatly neglected, and amounts almost to a fail- ure. Children come into the world in a helpless condition, and remain so for years. They can- not educate themselves any more than they can
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provide for themselves food and clothing. Hence the duty and necessity of government, providing by general laws, ample means for their education. This can only be done by taxation ; and I hold that, as this tax is collected by the same persons and in the same manner as all other state taxes are, it should be disbursed upon the same prin- ciple, without regard to where, from what per- son, or from what county or locality col- lected : and that any other principle of disburse- ment operates unequally and unjustly.
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"The tax being collected from all property of the state and the object being the education of all the children of the state, it seems to me that it follows as an irresistable conclusion, that each child is entitled to an equal pro rata share of all the money collected : that if the aggregate amount collected is equal to five dollars for cach child, then that is the amount that each child is entitled to, without regard to any other circun- stances, and especially whether one county pays more or less than another. If the property is to educate the children of the state, then the rich counties ought to pay more than the poor coun- ties, because they have more to pay with, just as the rich man pays more than the poor man. No county or individual has absolute and un- limited control over property. It may be regarded as held in trust for certain purposes. The right of every child in the land to be educated is one of these, and of primary importance, upon which our government stands. This great principle. I trust, will never be subverted and lost sight of by the adoption of the principle that particular localities shall receive back just what they pay. which amounts to no taxation at all.
"Mr. Speaker, I desire only to say a word as to the result of the free school experiment in this state. Two years ago the system was adopted. and it went into operation under not very favor-
able auspices. It was rather a novel thing to many of our citizens, some of them being greatly prejudiced against it ; and, besides, there were many defects and objectionable things in the old law, but. notwithstanding the many disadvan- tages of the old law, the expectation of its friends have been more than realized. The people have been aroused from the apathy that enthralled them: they have been brought into direct con- tact with the system, good or bad; for when people are taxed for a thing, they become in- terested in it. The result seems to be that the great mass of the people everywhere are in favor of continuing the two-mill tax, and differ only about the details of the law. It is a remarkable fact, worthy of all remembrance, that no state or people who have once adopted a free school system ever abandoned it."
This bill for an act entitled. "An act to es- tablish and maintain a system of free schools." was passed on final reading, February 5th, was subsequently concurred in by the Senate and approved by the governor, February 16th. 1857. -and the twenty-five years struggle was over and won. The true measure of the greatness of the event is found in its results.
Thus measured, no other event in the his- tory of Illinois equals this. Gen. Wolfe. drop- ping down the St. Lawrence at midnight to the lleights of AAbraham, recited in low tones to his officers. Gray's matchless Elegy, and then said : "Gentlemen, 1 woukl rather be the author of that poem than to take Quebec tomorrow." Who woukl not rather go down the ages as the author of that bill creating a system of free schools for Illinois, than as the glorious destroyer of a Span- ish flect in the far Pacific, or even as the captor of Havana. It was during this same session that the chairman drafted for the Illinois Teachers Association the bill for an act creating the State
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Normal school at Normal, Illinois. The teach- ers saw that the Normal idea was a corollary of the free school idea. They realized that the "teachers must exist before the scholar can be taught"-that teaching is an art that ought not to be mastered at the expense of the pupils-that building, and furniture, and blackboards, and pupils, do not make a school, unless there is a trained teacher at the desk, skilled in the high office of instruction and discipline. This bill was strongly opposed in the House, but Mr. Moulton was its earnest advocate, and only two days be- fore adjournment he secured its passage. He was named in the bill as one of the first Board of Education, and served for twenty-four years as a trustee-most of the time as president of the Board. He was also chairman of the Build- ing Committee, and risked his private fortune by signing notes in order to raise money to com- plete the building. Time does not permit me to dwell upon this history of this noble mother Nor- mal of the West. 1 may not speak of its forty- one years of successful work-of its uplifting in- fluence upon our schools. Suffice it to say that it was so successful in furnishing competent teachers for the schools, that in 1870 another school for the training of teachers was estab- lished in Carbondale, during the administration of Governor John M. Palmer. This great school opened for students in 1874, has since been working in noble emulation with that in Normal. Further, two additional Normal schools have been created which will open their doors during the coming year. I have but a moment to speak further of our school system, yet I must call at- tention to the fact, that this system is now crowned by a noble institution at Urbana, the University of Illinois. But I cannot speak even of this institution, in which every citizen of the state has an interest and pride, without bringing
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