Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Morgan County, Part 141

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. cn; Short, William F., 1829- 4n
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1286


USA > Illinois > Morgan County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Morgan County > Part 141


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"Resolved, That an academy ought to be im- mediately established in this State, to be de- voted to female education; and that Jackson- ville, in Morgan County, is, in our opinion, a situation highly favorable for successful opera- tion of such an institution."


The report of the committee was adopted, and a Board of Trustees immediately appointed, con- sisting of the following named persons, viz .: Bezaleel Gillett, Dennis Rockwell, Ero Chand- ler, John P. Wilkinson, Julian M. Sturtevant, Joseph Duncan, John M. Ellis, Joseph M. Fair- field, Samuel D. Lockwood, David B. Ayers, Elihu Wolcott, James G. Edwards and Ignatius R. Simms.


At the same time a lot of land in Jackson- ville was donated by Dr. Ero Chandler on which to locate the institution and the gift was ac- cepted. In due time a small brick edifice was erected and the school formally opened in the year 1833.


The Academy was chartered by act of the Legislature during its session in 1835. From 1833 to 1844 no classes were formally graduat- ed, though many young ladies passed through full courses of study, but classes were regularly graduated from 1845 to 1903. The following are the names of those who have held the posi-


tion of Principal of the Academy; Miss Sarah Crocker, 1833 to 1835; Miss Emily Price, 1835 to 1837; John Adams, LL. D., 1837 to 1843; Rev. W. H. Williams, A. M., 1843 to 1848; Miss Lu- cretia Kimball, 1848 to 1850; Miss Elizabeth Mead, 1850 to 1851; Rev. Charles G. Selleck, A. M., 1851 to 1857; Mrs. Phebe Thompson, 1857 to 1858; Hon. Newton Bateman and Miss H. P. Murdock, 1858 to 1859; Benjamin F. Mitchell, A. M., from 1859 to 1865; Gilbert Thayer, A. M., 1865 to 1874; E. F. Bullard, A. M., 1874 to 1901; Rev. John M. Gillette, 1901 to 1903. In the year 1858 Dr. Newton Bateman was elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction of Illinois, when he resigned the principalship of the Academy, and Miss Murdock performed the du- ties of Principal for the remainder of the term. The whole history of the Academy has been quiet and unobtrusive, marked by steady growth, advancing reputation and healthful prosperity. Multitudes have enjoyed its advan- tages, and its beneficent fruits are widely scat- tered. January 1, 1903, the Jacksonville Fe- male Academy was merged with Illinois Col- lege, and is now named Academy Hall.


Illinois Woman's College .- At the session of the Illinois Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, held at Paris, Illinois, September 23, 1846, a committee was appointed to organize and superintend the establishment of an "Acad- emy at Jacksonville, Ill., for the Higher Education of Young Women." That committee consisted of the following persons: Rev. Peter Cartwright, D. D., Rev. Peter Akers, D. D., Rev. William D. R. Trotter, D. D., Matthew Stacy, Esq., Mr. Nicholas Milburn, Sr., Hon. William Brown, A. M., and Hon. William Thomas. The committee met on the 10th day of October, 1846, and selected as a location for the Academy a plat of ground on the south side of East State Street in Jacksonville. The name adopted was "The Illinois Conference Female Academy." The term "Academy" was subsequently changed to "Seminary." The work of securing the neces- sary funds by donation and subscription was at once entered upon, and progressed so success- fully that, in the fall of the following year, contracts for erecting the building were let. The Academy was opened in the fall of 1847, in the basement of the Methodist church on East State Street-now Centenary Church-then located on the site of the marble front building, by Rev. Nicholas S. Bastion, M. D., then pastor of


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the church. The Academy building was sub- stantial and commodious, and was completed in1 1850. The material used was brick and stone- one hundred feet front, fifty feet in width and four stories in height. A wing was added to the west end in 1855, also four stories in height. In 1862 the wing was destroyed by fire, but was rebuilt the following year, three stories in height. In February, 1870, the main building was burned; but was soon replaced by one oť better architectural character. That building was also destroyed by fire in 1873, but was im- mediately rebuilt.


Rev. James F. Jaquess, D. D., having been ap- pointed President of the Academy, entered upon his duties in 1848, continuing in this position until June, 1854, with marked acceptability and success. At the time of the founding of the Academy the system of public schools had not been established in the State. That fact was favorable to a large attendance of pupils, which exceeded three hundred annually. After the in- troduction of the system of free schools the an- nual enrollment decreased. Dr. Jaquess was succeeded in the Presidency of the institution by Rev. Reuben Andrus, D. D., one year; and he by Rev. A. S. McCoy, A. M., two years. In 1857, Rev. Charles Adams, D. D., was elected President, and continued in that relation until hls resignation in 1868, when Rev. William H. DeMotte, LL. D., was appointed to the vacancy. Dr. DeMotte continued in the presidency till 1875, when Rev. William F. Short, A. M., D. D., was elected President, and filled the position until the end of the College year 1893, at which time he resigned to accept the superintendency of the Illinois School for the Blind. Rev. Jo- seph R. Harker, A. M., Ph. D., then succeeded to the presidency of "The Illinois Female Col- lege," the name adopted by act of the Legisla- ture in 1863.


During the administration of President Short, in order to meet the demands in the Depart- ments of Music and Fine Arts, a corporation was formed under the statute relating thereto, under the name of The Illinois College of Music and Art, and courses of study in those branches were prescribed similar to those of like insti- tutions. During the incumbency of Dr. Har- ker several large additions have been made to the buildings, and the attendance has been in- creased. The name of the institution has also been changed to "Illinois Woman's College."


The discontinuance of two other schools for young women in Jacksonville, The Athenaeum and Jacksonville Female Academy, was favor- able to the growth of the Woman's College, which, in home and equipment facilities, is cqual to any school of like grade in the West. (See "Illinois Female College," Hist. Enc. of Ill., Page 292.)


Young Ladies' Athenaeum .- This Institution for the education of young ladies was estab- lished in 1864, by Rev. William D. Sanders, D. D., at that time a professor in Illinois Col- lege. The Athenæum, in its organization, was planned to eradicate religious sectarianism in its management. By its organic act of incor- poration, it was provided that, of its twenty-one Trustees, not more than three should ever be members of the same religious denomination. The following were some of its chief peculiari- ties and claims:


"1. It prescribes no arbitrary and inflexible course of study. While it offers instruction in all the studies required in Yale or Harvard Colleges, it does not force the pupil to attempt the mastery of studies which she may have neither the talent, the time nor the strength to master. Its Higher English course embraces all studies of Yale and Harvard, except Latin or Greek. Its full classical course embraces all these, together with a good knowledge of Latin, but neither of these is required. It permits each pupil to take that special course, embrac- ing many studies, or few, which is, all things considered, the best for her.


"2. It classifies on a new system. It organ- izes no technical classes for recitation purposes. It puts together in each study those who are together, and who, in that study, can keep to- gether. It thus puts each upon her own merits. The slow are not compelled to be superficial in order to go on with the quick, and the quick are not held back by the necessities of the slow. The time required to complete any course of study will thus depend entirely upon the pupil herself. The aim is an actual educa- tion, and not a sham; an absolute mastery of each topic, and not a mere going over it in a given time. It prefers home life to boarding school life. It locates its pupils from abroad in carefully selected families. Family influence is far more healthful to body and mind than any system which separates the pupils from contact with family and social life. The fam-


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ily is the nursery and sanctuary of all womanly excellence.


"3. It is not sectarian. Its arrangements for instruction are unusual. Both in the number and qualifications of its teachers, it has few equals."


Such was the theory of its founder, and the manner of its application during the few years of the existence of the school. After several changes in the active management it was dis- continued.


Illinois Conservatory of Music .- This institution was founded by Rev. William D. Sanders, D. D., in 1870. He believed Jacksonville a peculiarly favorable place for such an institution, and that it would accomplish for Illinois and the great West what the New England Conservatory had attempted for New England. Instruction is given in classes of two, three or four each. This is not done to the exclusion of private lessons to individual pupils; class instruction being characteristic in all musical conservatories. By division of musical instruction in the various departments of study a conservatory secures to its pupils the highest order of professional skill in each department, as it furnishes in each separate department of musical study acquire- ments and ability of an expert-of a teacher who has made some one branch or instrument a special study. In piano instruction one pro- fessor may confine himself to technics or mech- anism alone and another may confine himself to style. Among the numerous teachers of a conservatory the pupil may thus find an excel- lence that he can not reasonably expect to find, all combined, in any one professor. The con- servatory thus affords the very best instruction on piano, or organ, or violin, or guitar, or flute, or cornet, or any other musical instrument; and, also, in the training and use of the voice. Class lessons operate as a powerful stimulus to the interest and ambition of each pupil. Pupils trained in classes acquire a confidence in play- ing before others, and a steadiness and relia- bility not so easily acquired by the unindivid- ual method. Each pupil's knowledge and taste are cultivated by the criticism made upon other members of the class. As each minute error in technics, or in phrasing, or in expression, is pointed out by the teacher, the other members of the class are benefited thereby. An adjunct of the musical conservatory is a department of languages. So large a portion of the best musi-


cal literature is written in the Italian, French and German languages, that a knowledge of these languages is very necessary to the musi- cal student. Such was the theory and such the aim of the founder of the Conservatory, which have been fully attained in its very successful history to the present time.


Jacksonville Business College .- To meet a want, long and widely felt in the community, the Jacksonville Business College was founded by Professor Rufus C. Crampton, of Illinois Col- lege, in May, 1866. The Business College was first located in the Chambers Block on the north side of the public square, and was there success- fully conducted for several years. The design ot the College is to fit young men and women for the active duties of successful business life. Its aim is not merely to send out bookkeepers or clerks, but its courses of study and work promote symmetrical development, and are cal- culated to strengthen the mental power of the pupil and secure a broad and substantial busi- ness capability.


In the summer of 1869 the ownership of the Business College passed into the control of the Trustees of Illinois College, and for several years it was conducted as such, in part of the Whipple Academy building, then located on the southwest corner of Morgan and Kosciusko Streets. In 1876 the number of students in the College had so increased that enlarged facilities became an absolute necessity. At that time Professor George W. Brown, who had been con- nected with the College since it was founded -. first as instructor, but later as Managing Prin- cipal-purchased the institution, including its building and grounds. Since that time the Col- lege has been conducted upon an enlarged plan, occupying the entire building with its commo- dious halls, recitation rooms and office. The rooms were also enlarged and improved, new and valuable features were added to the course of study, and no effort or means have been spared to make the institution, in the strictest sense, a business college which shall thoroughly train its students for the practical business af- fairs of life. The departments of the College are: (1.) The English training school. (2.) The theoretical business department. (3.) The ac- tual business department. (4.) The special pen- manship department. (5.) The telegraphic de- partment.


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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.


Routt College .- Routt College, located on East State Street, midway between South Clay Ave- nue and South Hardin Avenue, a Catholic insti- tution of learning, was founded by Mr. William R. Routt and his son, Harvey .I. Routt, by their contribution of $25,000 and the lot on which it is located. Their generous donation was supple- mented by an offering of $10,000 from the Cath- olic congregation and non-Catholic friends. Ap- propriate dedicatory exercises were held Wed- nesday, August 30, 1905, in charge of Rt. Rev. James Ryan, D. D., Bishop of Alton, assisted by a large number of distinguished resident and visiting clergymen and citizens. A large and able faculty has been employed, and the Col- lege is advertised to open September 6, 1905. Instruction will be given in the following branches: Latin, Greek, German, French, Span- ish, English, History, Mathematics, Science, Music and Christian Doctrine.


During the dedicatory exercises the announce- ment was made that Mr. William R. Routt had made an additional gift of fifty thousand dol- lars for an endowment fund for the college.


Waverly Seminary .- In 1834 Mr. Cleveland J. Salter, a native of New Haven, Connecticut, and at that time a merchant in that city, made a visit to Illinois. In 1835, on recommendation of a friend residing in Jacksonville, he made an investment in land, where Waverly now stands, of about five thousand acres, Messrs. D. B. Sal- ter, Alexander C. Twining and Joseph A. Tan- ner having with him about one-half interest. Mr. C. J. Salter returned to New Haven for the purpose of removing his family. During his absence the proprietors of the prospective vil- lage erected a brick seminary and a frame boarding house, at an aggregate expense of about $5,000. The chief aim of the founders of Waverly was the establishing of a school. Hence the erection of the seminary and board- ing house before other buildings were begun. On the 18th of May, 1836, the persons named above laid out the village of Waverly and do- nated six hundred and forty acres of land near the village for educational purposes, including the plan of establishing a theological school.


The school was opened about 1838, in the spring; the first teacher being Mr. John F. Brooks. During the first decade of the town's existence, its growth was slow, being chiefly de- pendent on the prosperity of the school. It soon became a well-known institution, having


for a time a good reputation throughout the State. Among its pupils were some of the most prominent men of Illinois, who remember with pride the days spent at Waverly Seminary. But the chief desire of the founders of the village, to build up a large school, was destined to fail, and only a high school was ever realized. The grant of 640 acres of land reverted to the orig- inal proprietors, and in time the seminary gave way to the present city public schools.


Ebenezer Manual Labor School .- The Ebenezer Manual Labor School was located four miles northwest of Jacksonville, Ill. The school was organized in 1836 by Rev. Peter Akers, D. D., who was its first President. Its course of study, besides the usual English branches, included mathematics, Latin, Greek and He- brew. It had a large patronage for that time, a number of students attending from families residing in Jacksonville. Among its students were a number who became distinguished in the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church, having received their prep- aration for their work therein; so that was the first Theological Seminary of the Methodist Church in this country.


Dr. Akers, having been assigned to other work by the conference, was succeeded in the presidency of the school, at different times, by Rev. John Piper, Lynus Graves, Rev. Nor- man Allyn, Rev. W. D. R. Trotter and Rev. Horace Spalding. In its early history the school had considerable distinction. The Illi- nois Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. holding its session in Jacksonville in the fall of 1837, arranged to receive three young Chippewa Indians into the school, to be edu- cated for missionary work among that tribe, namely: George Copway, John Johnson and Peter Marksmalı.


Johnson died soon after reaching his field of missionary labor. George Copway gave up the work in a short time. Marksman proved himself to be a very capable and efficient preacher, and was entrusted with importaut administrative affairs, which he dis- charged with much abllity and usefulness to the church and to his people. Rev. Samuel Spates, of Morgan, County and Rev. William Huddleston, of Macoupin County, accompanied the Indians to the Lake Superior region, where they spent many years in successful missionary work among the Chippewas, the fruits of which are still evident and abundant.


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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.


Berean College .- About 1853 the Christian Church of Jacksonville began the erection of the Berean College on East State Street, on the site of what had been the home of Col. John J. Hardin, who was killed in the battle of Buena Vista in 1847, but now occupied by the Passa- vant Memorial Hospital. A charter was ob- tained, dated February 12, 1855, soon after which the building was completed, and the fol- lowing year the school was opened, with Dr. Jonathan Atkinson as President. The school began under very favorable auspices, and for several years was continued successfully till about the year 1858, when a division in the church occurred, and soon after the College was discontinued. A few years thereafter the prop- erty was sold to Mrs. Eliza Ayers for $12,000, its original cost being over $30,000. Afterwards Mrs. Ayers deeded the property to a Board of Trustees, to be used as an Orphan Home and City Hospital, and a few years later it was in- corporated as the Passavant Memorial Hos- pital.


The Howard Academy .- In 1837, certain citi- zens of Jacksonville wishing to promote the cause of education, a committee was appointed to take the necessary steps to establish a school. The name selected for the same was The How- ard Academy. Rev. Horace Spalding of New Bedford, Mass., being highly recommended, was appointed President. On September 4th, 1837, the Academy was opened in the basement of the Methodist Church, or chapel, as it was then called. Several of the trustees attended the opening of the school. One of them, Judge William Brown, made a very able address on the occasion. The enrollment consisted of fif- teen pupils, which increased to thirty by the end of the first quarter. Mrs. Elvira M. Spald- ing had charge of the primary department in one of the basement rooms. On November 7, 1838, Miss Cynthia H. Ladd, a sister of Mrs. Spalding, from the Wesleyan Academy of Wil- braham, Mass., came to Jacksonville and opened a department for young ladies in the other base- ment room of the church. The Academy flour- ished for a few years, but for the lack of sufficient pecuniary support it was closed.


Mr. Spalding continued to teach a "village school" for a few years in the Episcopal (Trin- ity) Church; also in the basement of the Con- gregational Church. In these several schools conducted by Mr. Spalding, several


pupils


were prepared for college, who, in their later lives, became distinguished as teachers, law- yers and ministers.


Some Private Schools .-- The following educa- tional items have been collected from various sources. They are given as traditional, rather than as matters of absolute historic record:


Two sisters, the Misses Harriet L. and Mel- vina Melindy, taught a private school at dif- ferent times, in their home on West Court Street, north of the present court house. That house is still used as a dwelling.


A school was conducted by the Misses Spen- cer for some time on South West Street, near College Street.


"Father DeVore," as he was familiarly called, taught a school near where the German Luth- eran Church now stands.


William W. Eddy, son of Rev. Chauncy Eddy, an early pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Jacksonville, taught a boys' school on the east side of South Main Street, a little south of the public square, a few years. Mr. Eddy afterwards was a professor in the College in Beirut, Syria. He also edited a paper there. His son, William King Eddy, is also a mission- ary of the Presbyterian Board in Sidon, Syria, and his daughter, Harriet M. Eddy, is a teach- er in the girls' school there.


Daniel W. Fairbank and Talmage Collins (son of William Collins) taught a boys' school in the building that was the first church of the Presbyterians in Jacksonville, located on the northwest corner of West State and Church Streets. That building now stands on the north side of the lot on which the Baptist Church is situated.


Several ladies and gentlemen are still living who attended these early schools of Jackson- ville, and who have witnessed the great ad- vancement in the facilities and methods of ed- ucation.


The Ladies' Education Society .- The Ladies' Education Society of Jacksonville, Ill., deserves to be mentioned among the educational institutions of Morgan County, both by reason of its early origin and beneficent aim, and es- pecially, for the noteworthy fact that the So- ciety is the first organization composed and managed wholly by women in the United States. Its inception was largely due to women who had come to Jacksonville from New England, and to their friends residing there, who gave


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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.


valuable sympathetic and financial aid in pro- moting its object. Among those generous New England friends were Mrs. Z. P. G. Bannister and Mrs. S. Hale, of Massachusetts. From the report of the Secretary of the Society, presented at its Seventieth Anniversary, October 5, 1903, the following facts are compiled :


A meeting of ladies was held in the school room of Miss Sarah C. Crocker, the first teach- er and Principal of the Jacksonville Female Academy, on the afternoon of October 3, 1833. Miss Crocker was appointed chairman of the meeting. After due discussion of the matter of forming a society to aid young ladies in ob- taining an education, a committee consisting of Miss Sarah C. Crocker, Mrs. Julian M. Sturte- vant, Mrs. Edward Beecher, Mrs. C. W. Bald- win, of Jacksonville, and Mrs. John Tillson, of Hillsboro, Ill., was appointed to draft a constitution for that purpose, which was pre- sented and adopted at an adjourned meeting held on the next day. The name and purpose of the society was stated in the first article in this manner:


"The Ladies' Association for Educating Fe- males: The principal object shall be to encour- age and assist young ladies to qualify them- selves for teaching, and to aid in supporting teachers in those places where they cannot be otherwise sustained."


Officers and directors were elected, and an ap- propriation of $29.58 was made to enable five eager girls to start into school. From the be- ginning a most liberal policy was adopted. No pledges were exacted and no creed or school was favored. The one object was to instruct and elevate the mind for its own sake, that it, in turn, might lead and educate others. The only requirement was that the 1 beneficary should be of good Christian character, with ability to learn. She chose for herself the school best suiting her convenience, and a home was secured where service out of school hours could be given as a recompense for the favor.


In 1853 the name of the Society was changed to The Ladies' Education Society. In 1872 the Society was incorporated, that it might hold bequests in a legal manner. Since that time it has received the following legacies for the creation of an Endowment Fund: From Mrs. Z. P. G. Bannister, in 1875, $500; Mrs. Joseph Dun- can, in 1878, $500; Mrs. S. Hale, in 1882, $3,000; Mrs. Joshua Moore, in 1890, $5,000; Mrs. Cor-


tez M. Dewey, in 1901, $1,000-making the to- tal for that fund $10,000.




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