USA > Illinois > St Clair County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of St. Clair County, Volume I > Part 30
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permanent educational societies, finally result- ing, in December, 1854, in the organization of the "State Teachers' Institute," which, three years later, took the name of the "State Teachers' Association"-though an association of the same name was organized in 1836 and continued in existence several years.
STATE SUPERINTENDENT AND SCHOOL JOUR- NALS .- The appointment of a State Superintend- ent of Public Instruction began to be agitated as early as 1837, and was urged from time to time in memorials and resolutions by educational conven- tions, by the educational press, and in the State Legislature; but it was not until February, 1854, that an act was passed creating the office, when the Hon. Ninian W. Edwards was appointed by Gov. Joel A. Matteson, continuing in office until his successor was elected in 1856. "The Common School Advocate" was published for a year at Jacksonville, beginning with January, 1837; in 1841 "The Illinois Common School Advocate" began publication at Springfield, but was discon- tinued after the issue of a few numbers. In 1855 was established "The Illinois Teacher." This was merged, in 1873, in "The Illinois School- master," which became the organ of the State Teachers' Association, so remaining several years. The State Teachers' Association has no official organ now, but the "Public School Journal" is the chief educational publication of the State.
INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION .- In 1851 was insti- tuted a movement which, although obstructed for some time by partisan opposition, has been followed by more far-reaching results, for the country at large, than any single measure in the history of education since the act of 1785 setting apart one section in each township for the support of public schools. This was the scheme formu- lated by the late Prof. Jonathan B. Turner, of Jacksonville, for a system of practical scientific education for the agricultural, mechanical and other industrial classes, at a Farmers' Convention hield under the auspices of the Buel Institute (an Agricultural Society), at Granville, Putnam County, Nov. 18, 1851. While proposing a plan for a "State University" for Illinois, it also advo- cated, from the outset, a "University for the industrial classes in each of the States," by way of supplementing the work which a "National Institute of Science," such as the Smithsonian Institute at Washington, was expected to accom- plish. The proposition attracted the attention of persons interested in the cause of industrial education in other States, especially in New York and some of the New England States, and
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received their hearty endorsement and coöper- ation. The Granville meeting was followed by a series of similar conventions held at Springfield, June 8, 1852; Chicago, Nov. 24, 1852; Springfield, Jan. 4, 1853, and Springfield, Jan. 1, 1855, at which the scheme was still further elaborated. At the Springfield meeting of January, 1852, an organization was formed under the title of the "Industrial League of the State of Illinois," with a view to disseminating information, securing more thorough organization on the part of friends of the measure, and the employment of lecturers to address the people of the State on the subject. At the same time, it was resolved that "this Con- vention memorialize Congress for the purpose of obtaining a grant of public lands to establish and endow industrial institutions in each and every State in the Union." It is worthy of note that this resolution contains the central idea of the act passed by Congress nearly ten years after- ward, making appropriations of public lands for the establishment and support of industrial colleges in the several States, which act received the approval of President Lincoln, July 2, 1862- a similar measure having been vetoed by Presi- dent Buchanan in February, 1859. The State was extensively canvassed by Professor Turner, Mr. Bronson Murray (now of New York), the late Dr. R. C. Rutherford and others, in behalf of the objects of the League, and the Legislature, at its session of 1853, by unanimous vote in both houses, adopted the resolutions commending the measure and instructing the United States Senators from Illinois, and requesting its Representatives, to give it their support. Though not specifically contemplated at the outset of the movement, the Convention at Springfield, in January, 1855, pro- posed, as a part of the scheme, the establishment of a "Teachers' Seminary or Normal School Department," which took form in the act passed at the session of 1857, for the establishment of the State Normal School at Normal. Although delayed, as already stated, the advocates of indus- trial education in Illinois, aided by those of other States, finally triumphed in 1862. The lands received by the State as the result of this act amounted to 480,000 acres, besides subsequent do- nations. (See University of Illinois; also Turner, Jonathan Baldwin.) On the foundation thus furnished was established, by act of the Legisla- ture in 1867, the "Illinois Industrial University" -now the University of Illinois-at Champaign, to say nothing of more than forty similar insti- tutions in as many States and Territories, based upon the same general act of Congress.
FREE-SCHOOL SYSTEM .- While there may be said to have been a sort of free-school system in existence in Illinois previous to 1855, it was limited to a few fortunate districts possessing funds derived from the sale of school-lands situ- ated within their respective limits. The system of free schools, as it now exists, based upon general taxation for the creation of a permanent school fund, had its origin in the act of that year. As already shown, the office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction had been created by act of the Legislature in February, 1854, and the act of 1855 was but a natural corol- lary of the previous measure, giving to the people a uniform system, as the earlier one had provided an official for its administration. Since then there have been many amendments of the school law, but these have been generally in the direc- tion of securing greater efficiency, but with- out departure from the principle of securing to all the children of the State the equal privileges of a common-school education. The development of the system began practically about 1857, and, in the next quarter of a century, the laws on the subject had grown into a considerable volume, while the number- less decisions, emanating from the office of the State Superintendent in construction of these laws, made up a volume of still larger proportions.
The following comparative table of school statistics, for 1860 and 1896, compiled from the Reports of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, will illustrate the growth of the system in some of its more important features:
1860.
1896.
Population
1,711,951 (est.) 4,250,000
No. of Persons of School Age (he- tween 6 and 21)
*549,604
1,384,367
No. of Pupils enrolled.
*472.247
898,619
School Districts.
8,956
11,615
=
Public Schools
9,162
12,623
Graded
294
1,887
= Public High Schools
272
the year
557
267
Whole No. of School Houses.
8,221
12,632
No. of Male Teachers ...
8,223
7,057
Female Teachers.
6,485
18,359
Whole No. of Teachers in Public Schools
14,708
25,416
Highest Monthly Wages paid Male
$180.00
$300.00
Highest Monthly
Wages
paid
75.00
280.00
Lowest Monthly Wages paid Male Teachers
8.00
14.00
Lowest
Monthly
Wages
paid
4.00
10.00
Average Monthly Wages paid Male Teachers
28.92
57.76
Average
Monthly
Wages
paid
Female Teachers ..
18.80
50.63
No. of Private Schools
500
2,619
No. of Pupils in Private Schools ....
29,204
139,969
Interest on State and County Funds received.
$73,450.38
$65,583.63
Amount of Income from Townshlp Funds
322,852.00
889,614.20
44
School Houses built during
Teachers.
Female Teachers.
Female Teachers.
* Only white children were included in these statistics for 1860.
UNIVERSITY HALL, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS.
NATURAL HISTORY HALL, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS.
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HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.
1860.
1996.
Amount received from State Tax ..
$ 690,000.00
$ 1,000,000.00
trict Taxes ...
1,265,137.00
13,133,809.61
Amount received from Bonds dur- Ing the year .
517,960.93
Total Amount received during the year by School Districts ..
2,193,455.00
15,607,172.50
Amount paid Male Teachers Female "
7,186,105.67
Whole amount paid Teachers
1,542,211.00
9,958,934.99
Amount paid for new School Houses . .
343,728.00
1,873,757.25
Amount paid for repairs and im- provements
1,070,755.09
Amount paid for School Furniture.
24,837.00
154,836.64
= Apparatus
8,563.00
164,298.92
trict Libraries
30,124 00
13,664.97
Total Expenditures.
2.259,868.00
14,614,627.31
Estimated value of School Property
13,304,892.00
42,780,267.00
=
Libraries ..
377,819.00 607,389.00
Apparatus
The sums annually disbursed for incidental expenses on account of superintendence and the cost of maintaining the higher institutions estab- lished, and partially or wholly supported by the State, increase the total expenditures by some $600,000 per annum. These higher institutions include the Illinois State Normal University at Normal, the Southern Illinois Normal at Carbon- dale and the University of Illinois at Urbana; to which were added by the Legislature, at its ses- sion of 1895, the Eastern Illinois Normal School, afterwards established at Charleston, and the Northern Illinois Normal at De Kalb. These institutions, although under supervision of the State, are partly supported by tuition fees. {See description of these institutions under their several titles.) The normal schools-as their names indicate-are primarily designed for the training of teachers, although other classes of pupils are admitted under certain conditions, including the payment of tuition. At the Uni- versity of Illinois instruction is given in the clas- sics, the sciences, agriculture and the mechanic arts. In addition to these the State supports four other institutions of an educational rather than a custodial character-viz. : the Institution for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb and the Insti- tution for the Blind, at Jacksonville; the Asylum for the Feeble-Minded at Lincoln, and the Sol- diers' Orphans' Home at Normal. The estimated value of the property connected with these several institutions, in addition to the value of school property given in the preceding table, will increase the total (exclusive of permanent funds) to $47,155,374.95, of which $4,375,107.95 repre- sents property belonging to the institutions above mentioned.
POWERS AND DUTIES OF SUPERINTENDENTS AND OTHER SCHOOL OFFICERS .- Each county elects a County Superintendent of Schools, whose duty it is to visit schools, conduct teachers' insti- tutes, advise with teachers and school officers and
instruct them in their respective duties, conduct examinations of persons desiring to become teachers, and exercise general supervision over school affairs within his county. The subordi- nate officers are Township Trustees, a Township Treasurer, and a Board of District Directors or- in place of the latter in cities and villages-Boards of Education. The two last named Boards liave power to employ teachers and, generally, to super- vise the management of schools in districts. The State Superintendent is entrusted with general supervision of the common-school system of the State, and it is his duty to advise and assist County Superintendents, to visit State Charitable institutions, to issue official circulars to teachers, school officers and others in regard to their rights and duties under the general school code; to decide controverted questions of school law, com- ing to him by appeal from County Superintend- ents and others, and to make full and detailed reports of the operations of his office to the Governor, biennially. He is also made ex-officio a member of the Board of Trustees of the Univer- sity of Illinois and of the several Normal Schools, and is empowered to grant certificates of two different grades to teachers -- the higher grade to be valid during the lifetime of the holder, and the lower for two years. Certificates granted by County Superintendents are also of two grades and have a tenure of one and two years, respec- tively, in the county where given. The conditions for securing a certificate of the first (or two- years') grade, require that the candidate shall be of good moral character and qualified to teach orthography, reading in English, penmanship, arithmetic, modern geography, English grammar, the elements of the natural sciences, the history of the United States, physiology and the laws of health. The second grade (or one-year) certifi- cate calls for examination in the branches just enumerated, except the natural sciences, physi- ology and laws of health; but teachers employed exclusively in giving instruction in music, draw- ing, penmanship or other special branches, may take examinations in these branches alone, but are restricted, in teaching, to those in which they have been examined. - County Boards are empowered to establish County Normal Schools for the education of teachers for the common schools, and the management of suchı normal schools is placed in the hands of a County Board of Education, to consist of not less than five nor more than eight persons, of whom the Chairman of the County Board and the County Superin- tendent of Schools shall be ex-officio members.
Special Dis-
Books for Dis-
2,772,829.32
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HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.
Boards of Education and Directors may establish kindergartens (when authorized to do so by vote of a majority of the voters of their districts), for children between the ages of four and six years, but the cost of supporting the same must be defrayed by a special tax .- A compulsory pro- vision of the School Law requires that each child, between the ages of seven and fourteen years, shall be sent to school at least sixteen weeks of each year, unless otherwise instructed in the elementary branches, or disqualified by physical or mental disability .- Under the provisions of an act, passed in 1891, women are made eligible to any office created by the general or special school laws of the State, when twenty-one years of age or upwards, and otherwise possessing the same qualifications for the office as are prescribed for men. (For list of incumbents in the office of State Superintendent, see Superintendents of Public Instruction. )
EDWARDS, Arthur, D.D., clergyman, soldier and editor, was born at Norwalk, Ohio, Nov. 23, 1834; educated at Albion, Mich., and the Wes- leyan University of Ohio, graduating from the latter in 1858; entered the Detroit Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church the same year, was ordained in 1860 and, from 1861 until after the battle of Gettysburg, served as Chaplain of the First Michigan Cavalry, when he resigned to accept the colonelcy of a cavalry regiment. In 1864, he was elected assistant editor of "The Northwestern Christian Advocate" at Chicago, and, on the retirement of Dr. Eddy in 1872, became Editor-in-chief, being re-elected every four years thereafter to the present time. He has also been a member of each General Confer- ence since 1872, was a member of the Ecumenical Conference at London in 1881, and has held other positions of prominence within the church.
EDWARDS, Cyrus, pioneer lawyer, was born in Montgomery County, Md., Jan. 17, 1793; at the age of seven accompanied his parents to Ken- tucky, where he received his primary education, and studied law ; was admitted to the bar at Kas- kaskia, Ill., in 1815, Ninian Edwards (of whom he was the youngest brother) being then Territorial Governor. During the next fourteen years he resided alternately in Missouri and Kentucky, and, in 1829, took up his residence at Edwards- ville. Owing to impaired health he decided to abandon his profession and engage in general business, later becoming a resident of Upper Alton. In 1832 he was elected to the lower house of the Legislature as a Whig, and again, in 1840 and '60, the last time as a Republican; was State
Senator from 1835 to '39, and was also the Whig candidate for Governor; in 1838, in opposition to Thomas Carlin (Democrat), who was elected. He served in the Black Hawk War, was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1847, and espe- cially interested in education and in public chari- ties, being, for thirty-five years, a Trustee of Shurtleff College, to which he was a most munificent benefactor, and which conferred on him the degree of LL.D. in 1852. Died at Upper Alton, September, 1877.
EDWARDS, Ninian, Territorial Governor and United States Senator, was born in Montgomery County, Md., March 17, 1775; for a time had the celebrated William Wirt as a tutor, completing his course at Dickinson College. At the age of 19 he emigrated to Kentucky, where, after squander- ing considerable money, he studied law and, step by step, rose to be Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals. In 1809 President Madison appointed him the first Territorial Governor of Illinois. This office he held until the admission of Illinois as a State in 1818, when he was elected United Sates Senator and re-elected on the completion of his first (the short) term. In 1826 he was elected Governor of the State, his successful administra- tion terminating in 1830. In 1832 he became a candidate for Congress, but was defeated by Charles Slade. He was able, magnanimous and incorruptible, although charged with aristocratic tendencies which were largely hereditary. Died, at his home at Belleville, on July 20, 1833, of cholera, the disease having been contracted through self-sacrificing efforts to assist sufferers from the epidemic. His demise cast a gloom over the entire State. Two valuable volumes bearing upon State history, comprising his cor- respondence with many public men of his time, have been published; the first under the title of "History of Illinois and Life of Ninian Edwards," by his son, the late Ninian Wirt Edwards, and the other "The Edwards Papers," edited by the late Elihu B. Washburne, and printed under the auspices of the Chicago Historical Society .- Ninian Wirt (Edwards), son of Gov. Ninian Edwards, was born at Frankfort, Ky., April 15, 1809, the year his father became Territorial Governor of Illinois; spent his boyhood at Kas- kaskia, Edwardsville and Belleville, and was educated at Transylvania University, graduating in 1833. He married Elizabeth P. Todd, a sister of Mrs. Abraham Lincoln, was appointed Attor- ney-General in 1834, but resigned in 1835, when he removed to Springfield. In 1836 he was elected to the Legislature from Sangamon
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HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.
County, as the colleague of Abraham Lincoln, being one of the celebrated "Long Nine," and was influential in securing the removal of the State capital to Springfield. He was re-elected to the House in 1838, to the State Senate in 1844, and again to the House in 1848; was also a mem- ber of the Constitutional Convention of 1847. Again, in 1850, he was elected to the House, but resigned on account of his change of politics from Whig to Democratic, and, in the election to fill the vacancy, was defeated by James C. Conk- ling. He served as Superintendent of Public Instruction by appointment of Governor Matte- son, 1854-57, and, in 1861, was appointed by President Lincoln, Captain Commissary of Sub- sistence, which position he filled until June, 1865, since which time he remained in private life. He is the author of the "Life and Times of Ninian Edwards" (1870), which was prepared at the request of the State Historical Society. Died, at Springfield, Sept. 2, 1889 .- Benjamin Stevenson (Edwards), lawyer and jurist, another son of Gov. Ninian Edwards, was born at Edwardsville, Ill., June 3, 1818, graduated from Yale College in 1838, and was admitted to the bar the following year. Originally a Whig, he subsequently became a Democrat, was a Delegate to the Con- stitutional Convention of 1862, and, in 1868, was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress in opposi- tion to Shelby M. Cullom. In 1869 he was elected Circuit Judge of the Springfield Circuit, but within eighteen months resigned the position, preferring the excitement and emoluments of private practice to the dignity and scanty salary attaching to the bench. As a lawyer and as a citizen he was universally respected. Died, at his home in Springfield, Feb. 4, 1886, at the time of his decease being President of the Illinois State Bar Association.
EDWARDS, Richard, educator, ex-Superin- tendent of Public Instruction, was born in Cardi- ganshire, Wales, Dec. 23, 1822; emigrated with his parents to Portage County, Ohio, and began life on a farm; later graduated at the State Normal School, Bridgewater, Mass., and from the Polytechnic Institute at Troy, N. Y., receiv- ing the degrees of Bachelor of Science and Civil Engineer; served for a time as a civil engineer on the Boston water works, then beginning a career as a teaclier which continued almost unin- terruptedly for thirty-five years. During this period he was connected with the Normal School at Bridgewater; a Boys' High School at Salem, and the State Normal at the same place, coming west in 1857 to establish the Normal School at St.
Louis, Mo., still later becoming Principal of the St. Louis High School, and, in 1862, accepting the Presidency of the State Normal University, at Normal, Ill. It was here where Dr. Edwards, remaining fourteen years, accomplished his greatest work and left his deepest impress upon the educational system of the State by personal contact with its teachers. The next nine years were spent as pastor of the First Congregational church at Princeton, when, after eighteen months in the service of Knox College as Finan- cial Agent, he was again called, in 1886, to a closer connection with the educational field by his election to the office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction, serving until 1891, when, having failed of a re-election, he soon after assumed the Presidency of Blackburn University at Carlinville. Failing health, however, com- pelled his retirement a year later, when he removed to Bloomington, which is now (1898) his place of residence.
EDWARDS COUNTY, situated in the south- eastern part of the State, between Richland and White on the north and south, and Wabash and Wayne on the east and west, and touching the Ohio River on its southeastern border. It was separated from Gallatin County in 1814, during the Territorial period. Its territory was dimin- ished in 1824 by the carving out of Wabash County. The surface is diversified by prairie and timber, the soil fertile and well adapted to the raising of both wheat and corn. The princi- pal streams, besides the Ohio, are Bonpas Creek, on the east, and the Little Wabash River on the west. Palmyra (a place no longer on the map) was the seat for holding the first county court, in 1815, John McIntosh, Seth. Gard and William Barney being the Judges. Albion, the present county-seat (population, 937), was laid out by Morris Birkbeck and George Flower (emigrants from England), in 1819, and settled largely by their countrymen, but not incorporated until 1860. The area of the county is 220 square miles, and population, in 1900, 10,345. Grayville, with a population of 2,000 in 1890, is partly in this county, though mostly in White. Edwards County was named in honor of Ninian Edwards. the Territorial Governor of Illinois.
EDWARDSVILLE, the county-seat of Madison County, settled in 1812 and named in honor of Territorial Governor Ninian Edwards; is on four lines of railway and contiguous to two others, 18 miles northeast of St. Louis. Edwardsville was the home of some of the most prominent men in the history of the State, including Governors Ed-
.
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HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.
wards, Coles, and others. It has pressed and shale brickyards, coal mines, flour mills, inachine shops, banks, electric street railway, water-works, schools, and churches. In a suburb of the city (LeClaire) is a cooperative manufactory of sani- tary supplies, using large shops and doing a large business. Edwardsville has three newspapers, one issued semi-weekly. Population (1890), 3,561; (1900), 4,157; with suburb (estimated), 5,000.
EFFINGHAM, an incorporated city, the county- seat of Effingham County, 9 miles northeast from St. Louis and 199 southwest of Chicago; has four papers, creamery, milk condensory, and ice fac- tory. Population (1890), 3,260; (1900), 3,774.
EFFINGHAM COUNTY, cut off from Fayette (and separately organized) in 1831-named for Gen. Edward Effingham. It is situated in the central portion of the State, 62 miles northeast of St. Louis; has an area of 490 square miles and a population (1900) of 20,465. T. M. Short, I. Fanchon and William I. Hawkins were the first County Commissioners. Effingham, the county-seat, was platted by Messrs. Alexander and Little in 1854. Messrs. Gillenwater, Hawkins and Brown were among the earliest settlers. Several lines of rail- way cross the county. Agriculture and sheep- raising are leading industries, wool being one of the principal products.
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