USA > Illinois > Warren County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Warren County, Volume II > Part 36
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POPULATION.
The population of Monmouth, according to the federal census reports, has been as follows: 1830 1840
Семена Г. Диск.
749
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
1850
780
1860
2,503
1870
6,237
1880
5,004
1890
5,936
1900
7,460
This counts only the residents inside the cor- porate limits. There are in the neighborhood of 500 additional in the immediate vicinity who might properly be counted in the city's popula- tion.
CHAPTER XXIV.
History of the Monmouth Postoffice-Estab- lished in 1831 as Warren Court House Post- office, with Daniel McNeil as Postmaster --- Names of the Postmasters-Free Delivery and Rural Delivery Service-The Govern- ment Building.
When Warren county was organized the nearest postoffice was fifty or sixty miles away, and the county commissioners early took ac- tion toward the establishment of one in the county. In the records of that body under date of September 10, 1830, appears the following order :
"The clerk of the Warren county commis- sioners' court will certify to the postmaster general of the United States at Washington City, that the county of Warren was organized on the third day of July last past, and that the temporary seat of justice is and was located at the lower Yellow Banks on the Mississ- ippi river, in town eleven north of range five west, on the 9th day of July, and about half way between the Des Moines and Rock River rapids, and request the postmaster general to establish a postoffice at said county seat, to be called Warren Court House Post- office; and further request him to forward the mail immediately, to said office, either from Fulton county, Schuyler county, or from Venus, Hancock county. And the clerk will 749-5
place the foregoing upon the records of this court.
"Given under our hands in vacation of court this 10th day of September, A. D. 1830.
John rence, John B. Talbot, County Commissioners."
A petition for a postoffice at Cedar Creek was sent to the Department about the same time, and that postoffice was ordered first, in the winter of 1830-31. The Warren Court House postoffice was established in the spring, with Daniel McNeil as postmaster, but the estab- lishment of the county seat at Monmouth in April delayed the arrangements and the first mail was not received until in June. Cedar Creek was then supplied from the Warren Court House office at Monmouth, the latter receiving the first mail. Daniel McNeil held the posi- tion of postmaster about eleven years, and old settlers have told the story that the very few letters and papers he received from the stage routes were carried in his hat and given to the parties addressed wherever he might meet them. Soon, however, he built a store building on the corner now occupied by the National Bank of Monmouth, and kept the office there. He was succeeded by Elijah Davidson, probably in 1842 or 1843, though the exact date can not now be found. William F. Smith was the next post- master, receiving his appointment soon after the election of President Polk, and serving until 1849. He kept the office in his store on the south side of the square, west of Main street. Robert Grant had the office from July, 1849, until early in 1853, first on the north side of the square west of Main street, and later on the north side east of Main street. Early in 1853 Azro Patterson was appointed post- master, keeping the office in his store, but re- signing in a few months in favor of Aquillin W. Noe, who served until July 1, 1856, occupy- ing a small building on the east side of the square about half way between the northeast corner and Broadway. Thomas H. Davidson became postmaster July 1, 1856, and held the position until January, 1859, when he was re- moved by President Buchanan and William Clark appointed in his stead. Mr. Davidson kept the office on the north side of East Broad- way west of First street until November, 1857, when he removed to the south room in the Langdon block, which stood on the present site
750
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
of the Second National Bank building. His successor, Mr. Clark, occupied the same room awhile, then moved around the corner to a room where Johnson's jewelry store now stands. William H. Pierce followed Mr. Clark in 1861, having the office first on the west side of South First street between Broadway and Market Place, but afterwards erected a build- ing on the south side of Broadway a little east of First street. In May, 1865, Capt. John M. Turnbull took the office holding it until the fall of 1866 when he was removed by Presi- dent Andrew Johnson, who appointed Dr. B. A. Griffith, now of Swan Creek, in his place. The Senate refused to confirm the appointment, and after about six months Captain Turnbull was reinstated, and served until April 1, 1887, when the election of a Democratic President, Grover Cleveland, was the occasion of a change. Captain Turnbull built a small office on South Main street just north of West First avenue, occupying it until January, 1867, when the office was removed to the east room of the Hardin block on East Broadway, where it re- mained for nearly thirty years. The office was temporarily in the old Baptist church on the corner of South First street and First ave- nue, in the spring of 1896, then in June of that year was taken to the Shultz building on South Main street, a half block north of its present site, where it remained until the government building was ready for occupancy in 1902. J. W. Lusk was postmaster from April, 1887, to April, 1891, Col. George Rankin from 1891 to 1895, Samuel S. Hallam from 1895 to 1899, and Clarence F. Buck is now in charge of the or- fice.
Monmouth became a money order office in 1865. During the administration of J. W. Lusk, October 1, 1898, the free delivery service was inaugurated, starting with three carriers, W. B. Vorwick, Charles Eilenberger and George B. Moreland, a fourth, W. H. Dungan, being added a little later. The free delivery carriers now number six and are Oscar Henry, Will A. Hayes, R. E. Saville, Swan Matson, James H. Wilson and C. M. Patterson, with Roy Reed as substitute. Rural free delivery, with the Monmouth office as the center, was inaugurated August 1, 1901, with five carriers. Each route is approximately 25 miles in length and serves about 500 persons. The carriers are Joseph Miller, Louis A. Kobler, A. D. Filler, Walter Palmer and Joseph A. Eayres.
March 12, 1888, Congressman Gest introduced in the National House of Representatives a bill appropriating $100,000 for the erection of a government building in Monmouth. The bill never got farther than the committee. Con- gressman Ben F. Marsh introduced a bill in the Fifty-fifth Congress appropriating $47,000, and secured its passage, the bill being approved by President Mckinley March 2, 1899. Pro- posals of sites were called for March 21, twelve being offered, and on June 15 the property on South Main street north of West Second ave- nue was selected for the location of the build- ing. The property was owned by W. H. Sex- ton and Harrison Miller, and cost the gov- ernment $3,950. The total cost of the site was $8,000, but the difference was made up by private subscriptions. Bids for the construc- tion of the building were opened July 18, 1900, the contract being let July 21 to Thomas M. Yeager & Son, of Danville, Ill., for $26,973. Some changes increased the cost of the' build- ing itself, and the total cost with the furniture and fixtures reached $50,000. An additional ap- propriation of $3,000 was made by Congress in the spring of 1902 to meet the increased cost. The lot on which the government building stands is 130 by 132 feet, and the building itself is 49 by 81 feet on the outside. It is of the style of architecture known as the Italian Renaissance, popular in government buildings, and is constructed of gray pressed brick and Bedford limestone, with terra cotta trimmings. The building is but one-story, but a balustrade of brick and terra cotta which surmounts it rises to a height of 36 feet above the walk, giving the appearance of a greater height. The flagstaff is 70 feet high. The building was thrown open for a public reception on the evening of January 11, 1902, Congressman Marsh being the guest of honor, and the office was moved into the new quarters the following day.
The present postoffice force is made up as follows:
Clarence F. Buck, postmaster.
James W. Scott, deputy.
H. B. Garrison, mailing clerk.
James Huff, general delivery.
Alex Rodgers, money order clerk.
George McKelvey, stamp clerk.
James Kipper, messenger.
W. P. Speakman, janitor. Carriers are as given above.
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PUBLIC SCHOOL-MONMOUTH.
75I
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
CHAPTER XXV.
History of the Monmouth Public Schools- Robert Black the First Teacher-School Held in the Log Court House-Private Schools, Select Schools and Public Schools -School Buildings-Names of the Teach- ers.
(By James C. Burns, Superintendent 1888-1901)
If necessity compels the historian to divide his narrative into periods, necessity has been kind to the chronicler of these events, in that he finds the divisions already made ere he en- ters upon his task. These divisions are not arbitrary, but are the result of legislation or the great movements in educational affairs. The first period in the history of the schools of Monmouth begins in 1831 with the sale of the sixteenth section of Congress land, thus cre- ating a township fund for the support of schools, and extends to 1855 when the main features of the present school laws were en- acted. The second period begins in 1855 and extends to about 1888, when the schools fell under those great influences known as the New Education; and the third period extends from 1888 to the present time.
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FIRST PERIOD, 1831-1855.
Strange as it may seem, it is nevertheless true that for nearly a quarter of a century pub- lic schools in Monmouth, as well as through- ont the state of Illinois, were supported with- out taxation. No man living in Illinois prior to 1855 ever paid a dollar of tax for the sup- port of schools, to be expended in the erection of buildings or in the payment of teachers' wages. Through the generosity of the govern- ment two funds were created which furnished the only support of the schools for more than two decades. These funds were respectively known as the Township fund, arising from the sale of the sixteenth section, and the School fund proper, arising from the gift to the State of Illinois, by the Federal government, for school purposes, of three per cent. of all the money accruing from the sale of pub ._ c lands within the state. This fund is also known as the Three Per Cent. rund. From the interest
of these two funds, and from a tuition, called a "subscription," paid by the parents of scholars, public schools in Illinois were supported during the first period of their existence.
The characteristic feature of this period was the private school. It flourished side by side with the public school, sometimes for healthy rivalry, often to its great detriment. The first school in Monmouth was private, and was taught by Robert Black, a native of Virginia, who came here from Massey's Creek, Ohio. He was an elder in the Seceder church, and taught the children to read the Bible, and to repeat the Shorter Catechism. In addition he gave lessons in the A B C's, reading, writing and arithmetic, and especially spelling, using Web- ster's old blue-back spelling book and such other books as the pupil happened to have. This school was taught during the summer of 1832 in the old log court house that stood on the corner of North Main street and Archer avenue. Forty-four scholars attended the school, some of them walking three and four miles, and Rollin Andrews from beyond Cedar Creek. Their names were: Quincy B. McNeil, Daniel McNeil, George McNeil, James A. Mc- Callon, David C. McCallon, John Hargrove, Solomon Hargrove, Emiline Hargrove, Solo- mon R. Perkins, John Black, John Wallace, Joshua Wallace, Milton Wallace, George B. Wallace, James Wallace, Thomas Gibson, Samuel Gibson, Sarah Gibson, James Gibson, John Gibson, John Kendall Gibson, George Ragland, Mary A. Ragland, Sarah J. Ragland, Rollin Andrews, Hugh Rust, Dema Rust, Lot- tie Rust, Valencoor Kendall, Sarah J. Kendall, Martin J. Kendall, George S. Kendall, Eliza Kendall, Jane Kendall, William B. Kendall, William A. Kendall, William Kendall, Jane Pollock, Robert Hodgens, Azro Dennison, New- ton Dennison, Elmer Dennison, Thomas M. Dennison, Nancy J. Dennison. But one of these first pupils yet remains in Monmouth, Mrs. Edward Jones, or Martha Ann Kendall as she was then.
The second school was opened in the fall of 1832 and was taught by Alpheus Russell in the court house, and in 1833 Samuel L. Hogue taught in a log cabin near the present Catholic church. He was a fine man and a good teacher. Later he was sheriff of Warren county. In 1834 a young man named Elifret taught in the old court house. He was in delicate health and soon gave up teaching that he might go south.
752
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
He was followed in 1835 by a wild Irishman named McElroy, who was equally proficient in penmanship, prayermeeting and whisky drink- ing. Taking a pen in each hand he would write with both right and left hand with equal facility. He established a prayermeeting in the old court house, where his earnest prayers and groans soon made him the center of at- traction; but his intemperate habits soon drove him from the school room. The Seceders would not allow their children to attend the prayermeeting-not because of the man's habits, but because he was a Methodist. A little later Lydia Webster and her sister, Mrs. Eliza Brown, taught a private school in a house on A street north of Dr. Webster's office.
The private schools were in constant session from 1832 to 1855, and were taught not only in the court house but in the Christian and Presbyterian churches, in unoccupied store- rooms and cabins, and in more than one in- stance the spare room of a dwelling house was used for a school. Robert Gibson taught where the Patton block now is; W. B. Chamberlain and afterwards Amanda Paine taught on A street between First and Second avenues; Miss Watson taught in the Bar Parker house on South First street, and Hutchinson from Kirkwood taught somewhere unknown. In 1848 Richard Hammond taught a public school on the Y. M. C. A. lot, while W. B. Jenks taught near the Commercial house, and Mrs. Mary By- ron taught in the Babcock tavern.
A popular form of school in the early '40s and '50s was the select school. It was a pri- vate school in which the higher branches were taught. One of the first of these was taught by Robert Armstrong Gibson in the old court house in 1841. Mr. Gibson had been educated . for the ministry in the east, and probably gave the boys and girls of Monmouth their first taste of Latin, Greek and Algebra. Mrs. Mar- garet Montgomery and Sarah L. Boardman taught one of the earliest select schools. Miss Boardman was from Knox county and taught the higher branches. These select schools rapidly grew in importance, and able teachers were employed to conduct them. Miss Maria S. Madden opened a select school in the Chris- tian church in February, 1852, and the next autumn W. B. Jenks opened one in the base- ment of the Presbyterian church on South Main street. There was connected with Mr. Jenks' school a teachers' institute for the purpose of
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examining and qualifying teachers, as Mr. Jenks was at that time school commissioner of Warren county. His was the most notable of all the select schools. Many men and women prominent today in business and social circles both in this city and elsewhere attended.
In May, 1853, a Grammar School or Acade- my was established under the patronage of the Second Presbytery of the Associate Reformed church, which later developed into Monmonth College. The Academy opened in the follow- ing November, and the next summer Mr Jenks' school was consolidated with it. With the coming of the college, private schools may be said to have disappeared from Monmouth, for the select school could not compete with the college, nor the subscription school with the rapidly growing public schools.
The census of 1830 showed a population of . 308 in Warren county. These people were gathered into two groups, a small group of merchants and traders at Yellow Banks, now Quawka, and a larger group of farmers about Sugar Tree Grove and in the country north of where Monmouth now is. The people of the eastern group early became restless about the education of their children, and petitioned the county commissioners to sell the sixteenth sec- tion, that is, the school lands of the present Monmouth township, that the proceeds might be used for the education of their children. As a result of this petition, in September, 1831, Alexis Phelps of Yellow Banks was ap- pointed commissioner of school lands, and in the following October, having divided the six- teenth section of this township into lots rang- ing in size from ten acres to eighty, he sold a portion of them at public auction in front of the court house, and the remainder at pri- vate sale. The entire section brought $927.50. After defraying the expenses, there was a bal- ance left of $850, which was immediately loaned at 121% per cent. interest, thus creating the first public school fund in Monmouth. This fund has been preserved inviolate and amounts to $850 today.
In 1833, the legislature of Illinois for the first time made provision for the payment of teachers from the proceeds of school funds. Our people promptly responded by establishing, March 6, 1834, the boundaries of a school dis- trict containing sixteen square miles, the elec- tion of a board of school trustees, the pur- chase of a lot, the employment of a teacher,
753
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
and the opening of a school. The spot on which the public schools of Monmouth were opened is the ground now occupied by the Y. M. C. A.
On September 3, 1832, the county commis- sioners had set apart this lot-Lot 2, Block 26 -for a public school lot, the deed to be made when the district should pay $4.00 for the lot. In 1835 a frame school house was erected on the lot, and for many years a public school was maintained there. It was a small struct- ure, eighteen feet square, with an eight foot ceiling. It served its purpose well until 1848, when the growing population demanded a more commodious building. It was then sold for a dwelling, and now stands on South Third street, between First and Second avenues, al- most within the shadow of the Central school building, the tiny structure being in marked contrast to its majestic successor, a mute but potent lesson of progress.
December 8, 1836, the school trustees re- ported to the county commissioner that the school was growing and the building soon would not accommodate all the pupils, so ad- ditional lots were set aside for school pur- poses. They were lot 1, block 38, on the north- east corner of East Third avenue and South Second street; lot 1, block 47, on the west side of South Fourth street south of Fifth avenue; and the northeast corner of block 46, on A street and Fourth avenue. Only one of these sites-lot 1, block 46, was purchased by the district, $10.00 being paid for it December 5, 1838. It was never used for a school, however, but was sold when the city bought part of block 48 for a site for the old East Ward school building, in 1857.
In 1847 there were 308 children of school age in the district, and the small structure was inadequate to accommodate them. A move- ment was started to raise money to build a larger school house but met with so much op- position that it was abandoned. The next year the movement was again started. The building was to be 26 feet in width by 36 in length, and to be built in the style of a single room rural school house, with the door in one end and two small cloak rooms on each side of the entrance. The building was to cost $800, and like its predecessor, was to be erected solely by voluntary contribution. It was a large amount for these people, but brave hearts undertook the task, the women coming
to the help of the men with a "school house sewing circle," and finally the money was raised and the school house was built. In 1857 it was moved to the West Ward school grounds, where it did service until 1860, and now easily shelters the family of William Cowan on North B street.
These two buildings furnished the public school accommodations during the pioneer period of their existence. In the first rude structure the first public school was taught in . the summer of 1834. In October Gilbert Turn- bull and James McCallon, school trustees, made the following report to the County Commission- ers: "There are in the district fifty children between the ages of five and twenty-one years. There has been a school kept three months since the organization of the district. There have been twenty-five scholars. The probable expense will be forty-five dollars."
The following persons are known to have taught in these or in rented buildings during this period:
Alpheus Russell, 1834, the first public school in the county; Eliphalet Elifret, 1835; W. L. McElroy, 1836; Gilbert Turnbull; Elisha A. Smith, 1837; W. R. Webster, 1838; E. M. Well- man, 1838-40; Margaret R. Montgomery, 1838- 41; Addison Black, 1839; Cornelia Ann David- son, 1839; Nelson White, 1839-41; Persia N. Williams, 1839-41; William B. Chamberlain, 1840-41; John A. Smith, 1840; Moses C. Kellum, 1841-42; Mary L. Boardman, 1841; Thomas C. Moore, 1841-42; Ellen P. Phelps, 1842; Noah Randall, 1842-45; E. D. Adams, 1842; Harriet E. Hamlin, 1843; Chauncey Hatch, 1844; Amanda Paine, 1845-46; Eliphalet Elifret, 1846; Richard Hammond, 1848; Amos Hard- ing, 1849-50; William Williams, 1849; Joshua Miner, 1850; William Stewart, 1850; Emily A. Hale, 1850; J. H. Hutchinson, 1850; W. B. Jenks, 1850-59; Maria S. Madden, 1851; W. W. Horne, 1852; Mary A. Ferguson, 1851; A. H. Tracy, 1854
Mr. Randall was perhaps the most efficient teacher of this period. He was born in Ver- mont in 1820, and had been well educated in his native state, for in addition to the com- mon school studies of reading, writing and arithmetic, ne taught algebra, astronomy and philosophy. He began teaching in 1841, and taught until 1845, first in the little frame school house on the Y. M. C. A. lot, and after-
758
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
rangements of heating and ventilation, and with modern apparatus and appliances.
The Central School building was erected in 1887-88 at a cost of $52,000, including grounds and furniture. William M. Allen of Peoria was the builder and T. O. Hamsher of Monmouth was superintendent of construction. The erec- tion of this building was the first step in that great forward movement which paved our streets, lighted, watered and sewered our city, built churches, court house and many elegant residences, as well as increased our population by more than one-half. School was opened in this building September 3, 1888, all children above the fourth grade being accommodated. It was a great day in the history of the schools of Monmouth. The building was dedicated with elaborate ceremonies. Dr. Richard Ed- wards, superintendent of public instruction in Illinois; Dr. J. B. McMichael, the president of Monmouth College, and other gentlemen deliv- ered able addresses, and the schools were fairly ushered into the third period of their existence.
In 1899 a large and commodious building, the Harding school, was erected in the south part of the city, on Ninth avenue between Third and Fourth streets. It is well lighted, heated and furnished, capable of accommodating 400 pu- pils, and is the pride of the people in that part of the city. The building is of brick, with stone trimmings and is a handsome structure. 0. W. Marble of Chicago was the architect, and Caldwell & Drake of Indianapolis were the builders. The date stone was set June 13, 1899, and the building accepted and opened for school work in September following.
The Garfield school, another handsome and convenient building, modern in every respect, was erected in 1902 on the site of the old school of the same name. Reeves & Baillie of Peoria were the architects of the building, and C. L. Barnes of Monmouth the builder. The con- tract price was $25,774. The contract was awarded March 4, and the work of construction was begun at once so that the building will be ready for use by January 1, 1903.
The High School experiment begun under Miss Elizabeth Leighty with fifty pupils of an upper grammar grade had proved so successful that in 1890 nearly 100 pupils were enrolled. On her resignation the board determined to employ a male principal and an additional teacher. W. D. McDowell, now a practicing
physician in Chicago, was chosen principal, and the school continued to grow from year to year until the enrollment in 1901 had reached 307. To accommodate the work the district has authorized the erection of a High School build- ing, which will probably be placed on the block on which the Central School stands. The High School now embraces five lines of study, each four years in length-one in English, one in Latin, one in Mathematics, one in Science and one in History, with one year in German and one in Greek. The first class was graduated from the High School in 1900, and consisted of nine members. They were: Misses Fannie Weir, Mabel Coates, Mary B. Sampson, Mabel Harrington, Bella Torrance, Sarah Regnier and Pearl Gilbert, and Messrs. W. H. Torrance and Ralph Webster. The members of this class formed the High School Alumni Association December 26, 1890, at a meeting held at J. M. Torrance's. The officers elected were: Presi- dent, Miss Pearl Gilbert; vice president, Miss Fannie Weir; secretary, Will Torrance; treas- urer, Miss Mary Sampson.
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