USA > Illinois > McLean County > Normal > History of Bloomington and Normal, in McLean County, Illinois > Part 18
USA > Illinois > McLean County > Bloomington > History of Bloomington and Normal, in McLean County, Illinois > Part 18
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Norvel Dixon, $200, payable in one and two years : Proridel, 1 succeed in getting a good title to the northeast quarter of Section 22, Township 21 north, Range 2 east.
W. W. Taylor, Ston, payable in one and two years, including a subscription already made of SOUND.
K. P'. Taylor, $500, payable in one and two years, including a subscription already made of $150.
J. S. Walker, $200, prynble in one and two years, if located on the Arny property.
Overman & Mann, $1,200, payable in one, two and three years, one-half in nursery stock, hedging and ornamental planting, first and second years ; and balance cash, second and third years.
L. R. Case, $200, payable in one and two years in cash, or dischargeable within one year by the conveyance of two neres of ground in North Bloomington, and adjoining on the north, at my option.
K. II. Fell, $500, payable in notes to be due in three years from the Ist of June next
John Rouse, $200, payable in one and two years from the Ist of June next.
W. 11. Allin, $1,100, payable on the completion of the building, by the conveyance of the following lots : Lot 7, Block I ; Lot 5, Block 2 ; Lot MA, Block 18 ; Lots 11 and 15, Block 23 ; anıl Lot 9, Block 24-all of Western Addition to Bloomington.
William T. Major, $600, payable on the completion of the building, by a conveyance of Lot No. One (I), Section 14, Township 25, R. 2 east, containing forty acres.
George P. Howell, $150, payable in one, two and three years, equal installments
Jeane W. Fell, ST, INNI, payable, on the completion of the University Building, by the con- veyance of 1, 150 acres of my Jackson County lands, situated in Towns Finnd 9 south, Ranges 4 and & west of the Third Principal Meridian, and to be of average value with my other lands in said townships, to be selected by disinterested persons.
The next list is mostly made of those who subscribed ou condition that the institu- tion should be located at some point within three miles of the corporate limits of Bloom- ington
Dietrich & Bradner, $200, one-halt payable in nine months and balance in eighteen
Poston & Didlake, $100, one-half phynble in nine months and balance in eighteen.
S. P. Morehouse, $100, one-half payable in six months an l balance in twelve.
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D. L. Crist, $100, within one mile of Bloomington, one-half in six months, balance in twelve months, and $100 more if located within one-half mile of Junction.
A. C. Washburn, $50.
Harwood & Rugg, $200, one-half payable in nine months and balance in fifteen, if located one-half mile from Junction.
Jolın Denman, $100, on condition that said school is located within one and one-half miles of Bloomington.
E. K. Crothers, $50, one-half in nine months and balance in one year.
R. E. Woodson, $50, one-half in six months and balance in one year.
Thomas Carlile, $200, one-half in six months and balance in twelve months if located. within one mile of the corporate limits.
C. Weed, $500.
Samuel Watson, $200, in one and two years.
O'Donald & Warner, $300, in one and two years.
C. W. Lander, $50.
E. Barber & Co., $50.
R. B. Harris, $25.
A. Steel, $25.
E. Martin, $100, in one and two years.
T. J. Karr, $25.
C. Wakefield, $50, in one and two years.
Giles A. Smith & Graham, $50, in one and two years.
Samuel Colvin, $25.
John McMillan, $25, in one and two years.
A. J. Nason, $25, in one and two years.
J. Bronson, $25, in one and two years.
A. Sutton, $25, in one and two years.
J. W. Lichenthaler, $25, in one and two years.
J. B. Crouch, $25, in one and two years.
K. Thompson, $25, in one and two years.
J. W. Moore, $50, in one and two years.
Orin Small, $100, in one and two years.
James Grover, $100, in four yearly payments.
E. M. Phillips, $100, in four yearly payments.
The subscriptions in this last list, as well as those in the first and second classes, were, by the terms of their subscription, included among the donations to the Normal University.
In addition to the above, we find that Joseph Payne and Meshack Pike donated the site where the institution was located, consisting of about sixty acres, with enough more on the west to make their gift about eighty acres, the whole valued at about $22,000. Mr. E. W. Bakewell and Judge David Davis, each gave forty acres, valued, altogether, at $16,000. The whole of the last-mentioned eighty acres, and some of the other, is west of Main street, and is the land designed to be used by the agricultural department of the institution.
The list we have given speaks for itself. It is a record of liberality, which, at the time it was made, was unparalleled, and caused great comment all over the country. We should not forget that the most valuable part of the subscription -- that which really was of the most solid importance-was the county subscription. This was voted by the County Commissioners-Judge A. J. Merriman, of Bloomington, and his Associates, Hon. Milton Smith, of Pleasant Hill, and Hon. H. Buck, of Le Roy, in a quiet, almost private session, with no opportunity to consult their constituents.
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In the fall of 1537, these gentlemen were all released to the same position-, and when the Board of Supervisors, in the following year, ratified their proceedings, Appoint in: A. J Merriman Swamp- Land Commissioner, it was seen that Melan County fully sustained the County Court in its disposition of so large a portion of the swamp-land find-
The Board of Education appointed an architect-George P. Randal. of Chicago- who prepared plans and specifications, upom which bids were edlel for in the papers of Alton, Galena, Springfield, Peoria, Chicago and Bloomington Fifteen bids were male, ranging in price from $50,000 to $115,000. The contract was awarded to Mortimer & Loburg, and T. H. Super, of Chicago, for the sum of 8-3,000, the work to be com pleted September 1. 1-55. The cornerstone was laid September 29, 1357. On this occasion there was quite an impressive ceremony. Rev. Il .. Bildy, of the Baptist Church of Bloomington, offered a prayer. Prof D. Wilkins read a letter from Gios. Matteson, appropriate to the occasion. W. H. Powell, State School Superintendent, deposited in the corner-stone, a copy of the school laws and of the different educational Journals of the day.
Mr. Jesse W. Fell deposited a list of all the contributors to the location of the Normal, and hoped to see the institution develop into a complete Save University, with a model farm and agricultural college.
Dr. E. R. Roe, the editor of the Illinois Baptist, deposited all the Bloomington papers of the time, and made a very appropriate speech. Julge A. J. Merriman, of the County Court, placed the upper stone in position when the ceremony was completed.
Before winter, quite a large amount of work had been done upon the stone foun- dation of the lower story, and about $30,000 was expended before the work was sus- pended for the winter season.
The financial crisis of 1857, which commenced in the month of September, was the means of causing a discontinuance of the work on the building. The county lands could not be sold for cash ; many of the subscribers were crippled, and it was thought best by the State Board to wait a few years, till money matters might become casier, and hence the buildings were not fully completed until the early part of 15til. During 1859 and 1860, work was pushed with sufficient vigor to see the building inclosed in the winter of 1859, and far enough advanced so that the graduating exercises of the first class were held at the new building in June, 1860.
Temporary rooms had been secured by the State Board at Major's Hall, in Bloom- ington, where, on the 5th day of October, 1857, Charles E. Hovey, Principal, and Ira Moore, Assistant, opened the Normal School with 29 pupils, whose numbers increased during the academic year to a total of 127. Major's Hall continued to be used until the fall term of Isgo, when the Normal building was far enough finished to be occupied by the entire institution Several of the rooms were not completed till late in the winter, at which time the State made an appropriation of 865,000 to pay debts which lad accumulated against the Board of Education. The building cost more than the som first agreed upon, owing, in part, to advanced cost of materials. Included in the
lancons matters A portion of this money was lost by the failure of so many banks in the spring of 1861, and for other reasons it was found necessary for the next lagis- lature to appropriate $35,000 more before all balls were fully paid The total cost of
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the building, with all the incidental expenses, and the amount asked for books and furniture up to 1863, was about $200,000 ; but had the building been completed near the time it was started, the total cost would probably not have exceeded $100,000, reckoning simply the cost of the building. It should be stated that McLean County honorably met its subscription according to its terms, and that nearly all the private individuals paid, though, as before stated, the State Board of Education did not enforce the subscriptions at the time most of them were payable.
The Normal building is located about two miles north of the McLean County Court House, on an elevated plateau, commanding a splendid view of Bloomington and the surrounding country. At the time of its erection, the adjacent lands were princi- pally utilized for agricultural purposes ; but since that time, the beautiful suburban vil- lage of Normal, with its elegant villas, lovely parks, classic church-spires and wealth of flowers and shade-trees, has clustered around it, making as fine a combination of nat- ural and artificial landscapes as can be found in the entire West.
The building is admirably arranged for collegiate use. Its dimensions are 160 feet in length ; the end wings are 100 feet in width, and the central portions, 80 feet. The distance from the basement to the extreme height of the tower is 140 feet. The base- ment is divided into apartments, used, respectively, as a chemical and zoological labora- tory, scientific lecture-room and dissecting-rooms. These are furnished with the neces- saries for thorough, practical tests and demonstrations in the various branches. The remain- der of the basement is occupied by the janitor's rooms and the heating apparatus, hot air and steam being both utilized. Here, also, may be found reels of hose, connected with the reservoir, located near the roof, which furnish sufficient water-pressure to extinguish any ordinary outbreak of fire.
The first floor is exactly symmetrical in its divisions, the adjacent sides and oppo- site ends corresponding precisely with each other in the size of the apartments. The north side is divided into four recitation-rooms, occupied by the grammar and high schools. The corner rooms on the south side are large, convenient dressing-rooms. The primary department serves as a training-school for teachers. Here, the pupils of the normal department witness the theoretical, practical and disciplinary work of teach- ing, demonstrated by Prof. Metcalf and his assistants. Pupils are required to take charge of primary classes, affording them an excellent opportunity to put into practice the theories imbibed by observation. The reception room, in the central front, is a neat apartment, carpeted with Brussels and furnished with upholstered chairs and sofas, the walls hung with portraits, and, on one side, adorned with an elegant gilt-framed mirror.
Ascending to the second floor, we find the assembly-rooms occupying the entire width of the building, with seats and desks for 270 pupils. The remainder of this floor is divided into eight recitation-rooms, the library and reading-rooms. The library contains about one thousand two hundred volumes of choice, standard reference-books. The reading-room contains files of prominent literary and news journals.
The third floor contains five compartments-the museum, Normal Hall and the two society-rooms, the latter occupying the west end ; they are 30x50 feet cach. and seat 250 persons. They are similarly furnished, cach with a well-selected library, a piano and other appropriate articles, all of which are the property of the societies. The Pliadelphian and Wrightonians hold their regular literary exercises once a week. Tho Normal Hall is 80 feet square and 20 feet in width, with a seating capacity of about
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800 persons. The museum occupies the east end, and contains a very valuable collec- tion, of great interest to the student as well as interesting to visitors, and is valued at nearly $100,000.
Charles E. Hovey was the first President, from 1857 to 1861, followed by Perkins Bass, for the years 1861 and 1862. Richard Edwards became President in 1862, and filled the position with great ability until 1876, when Mr. E. C. Hewitt, who had been an assistant in the institution from 1858, was selected by the State Board of Educa- tion, and has been President to the present time.
The following gentlemen and ladies constitute the present Normal Faculty : Edwin C. Hewett, LL. D., President, Professor of Mental Science and Didactics; Thomas Metcalf, A. M., Principal of the Training Department ; Albert Stetson, A. M., Pro- fessor of Language and Reading; John W. Cook, Professor of Mathematics; Henry McCormick, Professor of History and Geography ; Stephen A. Forbes, Director of Sci- entific Laboratory ; Minor L. Seymour, Professor of Natural Science ; Lester A. Bur- rington, A. M., Professor of Latin and Greek and Principal of the High School ; Mrs. Martha D. L. Haynie, Professor of Modern Languages ; Miss Armada G. Paddock, First Assistant, Training Department; Charles DeGarmo, Second Assistant, Training Department ; Miss Rosalie Miller, Teacher of Drawing; Miss Bandusia Wakefield, First Assistant Normal School ; Miss Flora Pennell, Second Assistant Normal School.
During the year ending June, 1878, the number of students in the normal proper was 447 ; and in the high, grammar and primary schools connected with the institu- tion, there were 235.
Since the Normal University first started, nearly four hundred pupils have taken the full three-years course and graduated, while nearly seven thousand different students have availed themselves of its advantages. The institution has done a greater work with those pupils who have attended a portion of the course than with the limited num- ber whose means enabled them to avail themselves of the entire curriculum.
When the Normal Building was ready for occupancy, in the fall of 1860, the vil- lage of Normal comprised only about thirty houses, and a large number of the students resided in Bloomington during the first two years ; but by the fall of 1862, there were enough tenements to accommodate all who desired board at Normal. From this time forward, the number of permanent residents in Normal rapidly increased, and probably the year 1863 may be taken as the time when the village had become in reality, distinct and separate from Bloomington, with definite aims of its own. Houses went up on every side, retail stores, began to be started, and Normal was a town of 1,000 inhab- itants as early as 1865.
The total expenses of the Normal Department from July 1, 1877, to February 1, 1879, were $42,092, the whole of which were paid by the State. The total receipts from the Model Department for the same time, $5,776; expenses, $5,635. The expenses of running this school are met by the tuition fees charged to the pupils, only about thirty of the smallest being admitted free. These last are needed in order that the pupils in the Normal Department may acquire experience in the training of children. The Normal University has taken a high rank among similar institutions, and has a firm hold upon the hearts of the leading educators of the State. Its graduates have acquitted them- selves with honor, some of them having been chosen to fill leading positions in normal schools in other States. Its influence is felt not only in every part of Illinois, but
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throughout the entire West. It is an institution of which the State may well be proud, and is an honor to the community in which it is located.
SOLDIERS' ORPHANS' HOME.
While our civil war was raging, many plans were discussed for the future care of the disabled soldiers, and for the orphan children of those who might lose their lives in the country's service. As early as January 19, 1864. there was a meeting at the Court House in Bloomington, at which quite a number of citizens and several officers and sol- diers who happened to be at home on furlough, were present. A motion was offered by Col. McNulta, of the Ninety -fourth Illinois, proposing a resolution to appoint a commit- tee to memorialize the Legislature in regard to preparing a home for soldiers' orphans. This motion was seconded by Lieut. Col. Roe, of the Thirty-third Illinois Regiment, and it was carried unanimously. Other parties in different portions of the State, about the same time. re-echoed the sentiments of this meeting, and the movement here started re- sulted in the passage of an act of the Legislature. February 7, 1865, without a dissenting vote, which is " An act to establish a home for children of deceased soldiers." This law was not found quite operative, and, during the winter of 1867, it was further amended. The new law provided for a Commission to locate the home, and for trustees who should manage the same. It appropriated the sum of $70,000 toward erecting a suitable building. Gov. Oglesby added to this the sum of $30,000, which was in his care, known as the " Deserters' Fund." This money had been left in the hands of the Governor by men who had enlisted for bounties. and after enlistment had deserted or died, and left no heirs, and it seemed best to appropriate it to some worthy object. The citizens of Normal under the lead of Mr. Jesse W. Fell, organized a movement in April, to secure, if possible, the location of the Soldiers' Orphans' Home. The Commission for its location consisted of Dr. H. C. Johns, of Decatur, Col. W. Niles, of Belleville, Maj. John M. Beardsley. of' Rock Island, Col. J. H. Mayborne, of Geneva, and Col. T. A. Marshall, of Charleston.
Rock Island offered 100 acres of land, valued at $10.000; cash, $5,000; total, $15,000. Decatur offered 22 acres of land. Irvington, Washington County, offered 40 acres. Springfield's offer was 20 acres of land, valued at $20.000; cash, $40,000; total, $60,000. The location offered by Springfield was not desirable, and when it was compared with the offer of Normal, the Commission, on the 3d of May, 1867, unani- mously voted to locate the Soldiers' Orphans' Home at Normal. As a matter of histor- ical reference, we give the list of donors :
D. Davis, 80 acres, valued at ... .$12,000
J. W. Fell, 2,000 acres, valued at .. 10,000
S. A. Overman 300
K. 11. Fell, S. E. 21, 15, 1. valued al .... 2.000
M. D. Seward. 200
W. H. Mann, land valned al 1,000
James Kelley. 100
II. P. Taylor, 20 acres, valued at 2,400
Thomas S. Underhill. 150
W. A. l'ennell 1,000
B. Smith 120
J. S. Walker, land valned nt 375
C. D. James 300
N. Dixon, N. J N. E. 12, 25, 4, valued
1,000
Joshun Brown
150
F. K. Phoenix, 20 acres, valued at ......
2,500
Thomas Bates
100
G. Dietrich
1,000
Thomas Fell.
100
W. W. Bright.
125
S. J. Reeder.
50
L. Dillon, five acres, valued at 400
W. II. Allin
1,000
John Worden 200
Jackson lukill. 200
C. G. MeClure
1,600
Total
$50,220
I. R. Gaston.
400
W. G. Parr. $200
O. M. Colman, payable in six and eighteen months. 250
1. A. Hovey, payable in six and twelve months 500
J. E Mechun 500
Chicago & Alton Railroad in freights at (ariff' rates 10,000
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Mr. Jesse W. Fell's offer was finally made at $10,000, nearly all cash, the balance in materials, thus making it to him a very costly donation. Judge Davis' gift of land, afterward, at the request of the Board, modified to sixty-five acres, could, at the time, probably have been sold for the full amount at which it was valued in the list. As will be seen, nearly all of the donors were Normal citizens, and this liberality toward an institution, which does not, from its nature, call for the building of many residences or bring to the village much business, is truly most remarkable, and shows that the inhab- itants of the place appreciate the pecuniary value of educational institutions.
The Board of Trustees, as soon as possible, let the contract for the Home building, and, on the 17th of June, 1869, it was dedicated to the use designed. The cost of the structure is placed in the books of the institution at $125,000. It is 140 feet long, eighty feet wide, and four stories high. In the east end of the basement story are the girls' playrooms, bathroom and storeroom, and the place where the girls' clothing is manufactured. In the west end, we find the boys' playroom, bathroom and storeroom, while between the two departments is the large dining-hall. On the next floor is the reception parlor, with the officers' rooms in the front, while at the east end is the library and reading-room, which contains a fine library of 1,300 volumes. In this end, we find also the nursery for very small chil- dren. In the western portion of this floor are two large dormitories, which contain beds for about fifty children, and there are smaller dormitories and other rooms for various purposes. On the third floor, we find the large chapel in front, in which is a fine pipe organ. There are also dormitories on this floor. On the upper floor is one very large dormitory in front, others in the ends, with hospital accommodations, both for boys and girls. The whole building is warmed with steam, is lighted with gasoline gas made on the premises, is furnished with iron fire-escape ladders, and with ropes and all appliances for fire purposes. In the rear are the kitchen, laundry and boiler-house, erected in 1872, at a cost of $6,000. Here we find the most approved arrangements for cooking and heating, and for taking care of the children. The schoolhouse stands a few rods east of the main building, and was built in 1872 at a cost of $15,000. It has six schoolrooms, where 7 teachers take care of the 312 pupils now in the institution. The State may well be proud of the Soldiers' Orphans' Home. It is under the care of a Board of three Trustees, who are Gen. John I. Rinaker, of Carlinville; Gen. J. C. Black, of Danville, and Duncan M. Funk, of Bloomington. Dr. J. L. White is Phy- sician ; Clark N. Gill, Secretary, and Isaac N. Philips, Treasurer, all of Bloomington. Mrs. Virginia C. Ohr is Superintendent. She commenced her labors in this institution June 1, 1869, a short time previous to the dedication of the building. Before this, she had been at Springfield for eighteen months in charge of about ninety orphans, who were brought to Normal in June. There had been about ninety children in Blooming- ington for the same time at temporary homes-one on North Main street, west of the Wesleyan University, and the other at the corner of Prairie and North streets. The annual expenditures of the State in behalf of soldiers' orphans at this institution have been from $30,000 to $45,000 per annum. This noble charity is but a small por- tion of the country's debt to the brave men who risked their lives in the defense of the country. It is accomplishing a great work, and is one of the State institutions which seems to have little difficulty in securing appropriations.
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EARLY SETTLEMENT.
The township of Normal contains only one small tract of timber-land, the whole of the balance being among the richest and finest prairie to be found in the State. There are no swamps of any magnitude, and no large streams. Sugar Creek and its branches become noticeable in times of high-water, overflowing wide tracts along the banks, most of which, however, are seldom covered with water long enough to render it liable to be included in the category of waste land, as it produces abundant crops in spite of its occasional submersion. The timber-land referred to is at the extreme southern edge of the township of Normal.
Here, of course, along the borders of Little Grove, now called Major's Grove, we shall find the early settlement of the town, though at first included in the precinct of Bloomington, and being at a later day, down to the present time, a part of the corporation of Bloomington, it will be really difficult to include its history with that of Normal. Still, as our work deals with these matters territorially, we will give a sketch of the early settlement of Major's Grove, as well as a slight mention of the more recent devel- opment of the prairie portion of the township.
The first entry of Government land in the Grove was made by Robert HI. Peebles August 11, 1830. Peebles seems to have been the first genuine land speculator of this region, as his name appears frequently in the earlier entries. Ile lived at Vandalia, Ill., and loaned money to the pioneers. llis entry was the cast half of the southeast quarter of Section 32-eighty acres. This tract includes the present Water Works and stove-foundry. Achilles Deatherage appears to have been the first settler in the Grove, about the year 1831. His residence was in the central or western portion, while, a little later in the same year, Robert Guthrie occupied a log cabin in the castern part, and lived there for some time.
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