USA > Illinois > Macoupin County > History of Macoupin County, Illinois : biographical and pictorial, Volume I > Part 28
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But suffice it to say that many of the earliest settlers in Illinois brought with them the idea that the education of their children was necessary, at least to the extent of teaching them to read and write. This idea had been transmitted to them from the earliest settlers on the shores of America, and especially from the settlers along the shores of New England. These settlers had come willing to endure the struggle, toil, and suffering necessary to conquer a wilderness and its savage inhabitants because they wished to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences. In other words, they had fled from those who insisted upon compelling them to think and act according to constituted authority, and had settled in America where they might have freedom of thought, expression, and action. These early fathers of our free institutions realized that, if their children were to be able to preserve and develop these institutions, they must be able to read, to write and speak intelligently, and to think clearly for themselves ; or, in other words, they realized the necessity for education. Therefore, schools and colleges were founded at a very early date in the colonies, and the idea of public education very naturally developed with the growth of our other institu- tions.
Probably the first official statement influencing education in Illinois was con- tained in Article three of the celebrated Ordinance of 1787, which planned in a general preliminary way for the government of the great Northwest Territory. This statement declared that "knowledge is necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind" and enjoined that "schools and the means of educa- tion shall forever be encouraged." This Ordinance was promulgated by Congress
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HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY
just after the colonies had won their independence, before the adoption of the national constitution, and at a time when Congress was struggling with the problem of forming one national government out of several quarreling colonies. No doubt, under these circumstances, the author of the clauses quoted above had it deeply impressed upon his mind that "knowledge is necessary to good govern- ment," and that, if the several weak, quarreling colonies were to form a strong and permanent government, they must be made up of intelligent people.
The encouragement urged in the Ordinance of 1787 took a concrete form in 1818. The convention which framed the constitution under which the state was admitted accepted in August of that year a proposition made by Congress, in the "Enabling Act" for this state, and made April 18th, appropriating section 16 in each township in the state for the use of the inhabitants of said township for school purposes ; also three-sixths of five per cent of the proceeds of public lands within the state sold by Congress after January 1, 1819, should be appropriated by the legislature for the encouragement of learning. One-sixth of this amount was to be applied to a college or university, and thirty-six sections, or one entire township, with one previously reserved for that purpose, should be reserved for the use of a seminary of learning. In 1835 there was established a County Fund, which was formed from certain surplus funds in the hands of county commis- sioners. In 1836 Congress added the surplus revenue then found in the treasury, which was distributed among the several states and loaned at six per cent interest. The share of Illinois amounted to $335,592.32. The interest from these funds was to be distributed annually to the counties for school purposes. The names of these several funds and their respective amounts were as follows in 1908:
School fund proper (from sale of public lands) . . .
$ 613,362.96
Surplus revenue
335,592.32
University fund 641,477.53
College fund
156,613.32
Seminary fund
59,838.72
County fund 61,091.II
Township fund (from sale of 16th section) . 19,049,336.69
The most valuable donation from Congress to the schools was the sixteenth section in every township. The act provided that, if this section had been sold or if a fractional township did not contain this section, lands equivalent in area but differently located were to be given for school purposes. This magnificent gift amounted to nearly one million acres. At the present time when we are hearing so much about the "conservation of our resources for the benefit of all the people" we might consider this gift and its disposal as a contrast to the idea of conservation. Had these lands been retained and properly managed by the public, the revenue derived from them would have released the people from local taxation for school purposes forever. But in 1828 the legislature authorized the sale of these lands at a time when land was very cheap, and they were nearly all sold, or practically given away. The meager proceeds were placed under the con- trol of a board of trustees elected for each township and were to be loaned, and the interest was to be used for the support of the schools. But the income thus received, because of the small amounts received for the lands, was entirely inade- quate to support the schools, and taxes had to be added by act of the legislature.
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HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY
In many districts the school tax now amounts to half or more than half the total tax paid. But a few townships were wise enough to retain the title of the school sections in the name of the people. These lands are rented and the income is distributed to the districts in the townships. One township in McLean county derives an annual income of nearly $4,000 from its school section. This is more than the total annual expenditures for schools in some of the townships of the state. There is not a foot of this township land left in Macoupin county.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE SYSTEM.
In 1824 Governor Coles, in his message to the Legislature, advised that pro- vision be made for the support of the common schools. Accordingly Senator Joseph Duncan of Jackson County introduced a bill to establish a system of free schools. Mr. Duncan is recognized as the founder of the public school system in Illinois, and the system that his bill provided for was in advance of the times. The bill was introduced in 1824 and passed January 15, 1825. Some of its important provisions were as follows :
I. The schools were to be open to every class of white citizens between the ages of five and twenty-one.
2. Persons over twenty-one years of age might be admitted on consent of the trustees and upon agreed terms.
3. Districts of not less than fifteen families were to be formed on petition of a majority of voters.
4. Certain school officers were to be elected and sworn in.
5. The legal voters at an annual meeting could levy a tax in money or merchantable produce at cash value not exceeding one-half of one percent, sub- ject to a maximum limitation of ten dollars for any one person.
6. The State appropriated annually to the schools two dollars out of every hundred received into the treasury. Five-sixths of this was added to the interest received from the school fund, and the sum was apportioned to the counties ac- cording to the number of white children under twenty-one years of age. The counties distributed this among the districts, but no district was to receive any part of this fund unless it had sustained a school of three months for the year in which the distribution was made. This distribution was based upon the report of the clerk of each county commissioner's court, which was made to the Sec- retary of State and contained an abstract of the reports made by the trustees of schools, giving the school population, school attendance, and the expenses of the schools.
Any progressive movement, even if it is just and for the good of a majority of the people, always arouses more or less opposition. So enemies of this law at once began to make themselves felt. They violently opposed the public school system and the payment of taxes to support it and questioned the legality of the appropriation from the state treasury in support of the system. This opposition became so violent and powerful that the law became inoperative and was prac- tically annulled by an act approved Feb. 17, 1827. This act repealed the fifteen family clause, made taxation for the full or half support of district schools op- tional with the voters of the district, and forbade the taxation of any one for
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the support of any free school without his or her written consent. This act proved that in those days it was possible to elect men to the Legislature who were weak, non-progressive, or ignorant. Suffering from this setback, the State entered upon a period of about twenty or twenty-five years which might be called the Dark Ages in its educational history.
But, even if the State as represented in the Legislature, was not willing to keep up with the progressive ideas of Joseph Duncan, the idea of public educa- tion was deeply implanted in the minds of the people in general, and their de- mand for more and better schools finally began to result in more liberal laws. The expression of these demands was often made through teachers and or- ganizations made up largely of teachers. For instance, in 1844, a "Common School Convention" was held in Peoria. This assembly appointed John S. Wright, H. M. Weed, and Thomas Kilpatrick as a committee to draft a memorial to the Legislature on the subject of "common schools." The paper drawn up by them was an able and exhaustive one, and plead for a State Superintendent with a salary of nine hundred dollars per year, and recommended local taxa- tion for school purposes. This movement among the teachers brought the sub- ject of public education again to the attention of the Legislature. In February, 1845, an act was approved which contained some provisions very helpful to the schools. It made the secretary of state ex-officio state superintendent of com- mon schools, and the county commissioners ex-officio county superintendents, one of whose duties it would be to examine and license teachers. It provided for local taxation on a favorable majority vote in the district. It contained some other provisions designed to help the struggling schools of the state.
But the opposition to the system was still strong and little progress was made until 1855. However, during the intervening decade, the opposition gradually ceased, a few helpful laws were enacted, and a healthy school sentiment was de- veloped. The press discussed the question favorably, and many ministers, teachers, and public leaders urged the necessity for better educational advan- tages. New settlers from the East and South were pouring into the rich prairies, bringing with them advanced ideas of education and a craving for broader in- tellectual opportunities for their numerous children. Great political questions of grave import were being discussed, and the people were beginning to realize that their children, the future citizens, must be intelligent and educated if they were to settle these questions so as to give justice to all and preserve the liberties guaranteed in the constitution. There was much discussion on the subject of schools, and several convocations met and passed resolutions relative to public education.
One result of this was that the Legislature, in 1854, created the separate office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction with a salary of $1,500 per year. This office has since that time been one of the greatest importance to the state, has been very influential for the good of the schools, and has been a strong factor in having some helpful school laws placed on the statute books. The salary has been increased at intervals until it is now $7,500.00 per year. The first state superintendent was to be appointed by the Governor and was to hold his office until his successor could be elected and qualified. Accordingly, the Governor appointed Hon. Ninian Edwards as the first State superintendent
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under this act, and he had the honor of framing an entirely new bill for a Free- school System. This bill met with ready acceptance by the Legislature and was approved February 15, 1855. On the delicate subject of taxation, it enforced the collection of a state tax of two mills on the dollar of assessment, to be added annually to the revenue already provided, and also provided for the levy and collection of local taxes for the support of schools. This law was too full and complete to give even a synopsis of it here.
The system thus inaugurated was the first which really made schools free by providing for a sufficient state and local tax for their support and for a sufficient number of properly related officers to organize and enforce the system. With some alterations and amendments, it is substantially the law of today.
These alterations, additions, and amendments have been made at intervals for the last fifty years, and a few years ago, it was noticeable that the school laws of the State were not very logically organized or arranged. This chaotic form of the law caused much comment on the part of teachers and others in- terested in it. When the State Teachers' Association met in Springfield on December 26, 1906, the Governor of the State, Hon. Charles S. Deneen, opened the proceedings with an address in which he urged the association to adopt resolutions requesting the General Assembly to appoint a commission to codify the school law which, he said, had "become so cumbersome and contradictory in its provisions that no lawyer, not to say laymen, pretends to know and under- stand it." The Association passed resolutions in accordance with the Governor's suggestion, and the result was that the next General Assembly provided for the appointment of an Educational Commission of seven members of which the state superintendent should be ex-officio chairman, and made an appropriation of $10,000.00 to pay the necessary expense of the commission. The Governor ap- pointed the commission on September 27, 1907. The State superintendent at that time was the man who is still serving, Hon. Francis G. Blair .. Under his forceful leadership, the commission at once began their Herculean task. They not only made a careful codification of the old law, but drew up several new bills embodying some of the advanced educational ideas already adopted by some of the most progressive states. However, only two of the bills recom- mended by the commission were passed by the General Assembly; one of them was the codification bill, and the other was a bill to increase the county super- intendents' salaries. But it was considered a great step in advance to have these two ยท bills passed. This Commission has been continued up to the present and made a few recommendations and prepared a few bills for the General Assembly which met January, 1911. One of their recommendations had to do with an increased appropriation from the state for the support of the schools. It seems that the "two mill tax" provided for in the act of 1855, as above stated, had re- mained in force only until 1873. About that time, the Legislature had appro- priated a lump sum of one million dollars "in lieu of the two mill tax." This was probably an equitable arrangement at that time, as the valuation of the prop- erty of the state under the two mill tax law yielded but little more than the mil- lion dollars. But the slogan of the public school defenders of the state has always been, "The property and wealth of the whole state must be taxed to edu- cate all the children of the state." And it was found that local taxes had in-
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HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY
creased from about five million dollars in 1870 to over twenty-three millions in 1908, while the appropriation by the state had remained at one million dollars. Therefore the Educational Commission and the Teachers' Associations of the state felt justified in asking for the restoration of the two mill tax, which would yield about four and a half million dollars at present. After an ener- getic campaign before the committees of the General Assembly by the Commis- sion and many school officers, an appropriation of two million dollars was made, which is double what it has been but only about half what was asked for. However, the fight will go on for a more liberal appropriation from the state to the schools. The appropriations to care for the insane, feeble-minded, paupers, and other dependent classes of the state, and to protect society from the criminals of the state have increased enormously in the last twenty years. The Educa- tional Commission and the teachers of the state believe that the best way to counteract the demands for these appropriations and the causes for them is to make more liberal appropriations to the schools.
One great problem always before the superintendents for solution is the prob- lem of obtaining a sufficient number of well qualified and efficient teachers. Upon the teachers ultimately depends the success or failure of the entire system. The State has shown a willingness to help solve this problem by establishing profes- sional training schools for teachers. Five of these State Normal Universities are now established in the state, and the State University at Urbana also offers teachers' courses. The names of the State Normal schools, their location, and the date of the acts creating them are as follows :
Illinois State Normal University, Normal, 1857.
Southern Illinois Normal University, Carbondale, 1869.
Northern Illinois Normal University, DeKalb, 1895.
Eastern Illinois Normal University, Charleston, 1895.
Western Illinois Normal University, Macomb, 1899.
Two of these universities were established under the administration of Gov. Altgeld in 1895. Gov. Altgeld proved himself to be very much in favor of public education, and much was done in his administration for the benefit of the school children of the state.
The hundreds of graduates from these institutions have gone abroad in the state and put into practice the practical lessons they received. Thousands who did not stay to complete the entire course have been greatly benefited in their work. While Macoupin County is about as far removed from any of these insti- tutions as any county in the state, many of our teachers have attended them and the results of their attendance have been good. During the summer of 1910. about sixty from this county were in attendance at the various universities, and this summer (1911), probably an equal number will attend.
Such is a brief review of the development of the public school system of Illinois. It has taken almost a century of study and struggle to make it what it is. But our sturdy citizens have thought, and planned and paid their taxes and zealously pushed forward to better things in education. And any one studying the development of the system will notice that it has advanced with a constant acceleration. It is natural that this should be true; for the better the schools the higher the average intelligence, and the higher the intelligence the better able are
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the people to perfect the educational system. Therefore, we may face the future cheerfully, trusting and believing that further advances will be made and that the future of our great state will be safe in the hands of intelligent, educated citizens.
PROGRESS OF EDUCATION IN THIS COUNTY.
The progress of education in Macoupin County has kept pace with the progress in the other counties and deserves special mention here. One of the first things to claim the attention of the early settlers of this county was the education of their children. They realized that these children would be the future citizens of a great state and would have to be prepared for the heavy responsibilities of this citizenship. Many people may think now that the early schools were indeed poor and inefficient, but we must remember that it required much effort and self-sac- rifice on the part of our early settlers to have schools at all. But they did the best they could under the circumstances, and laid the foundation for the splendid educational advantages our children enjoy today. As was the case in nearly all new countries, one great impediment to early education in this county was the lack of well qualified teachers. But less was required and less was expected of the teachers then than of the teachers of today. There were no Normals nor Train- ing Schools for teachers in the state, and the teachers were simply the better edu- cated people among the settlers or itinerant Yankees or adventurous college students from the East. The school houses, the furniture and equipment were of the most primitive character. The houses were most often built of unhewn logs and covered with boards held in place by weight poles. The floor consisted of rough puncheons, or more often of the bare earth. A few openings were left in the walls by cutting out short lengths of the logs and these served for windows. In bad weather oiled paper was placed over these openings to shut out the wind and snow but to admit a little light. The seats were usually made of split logs or puncheons with wooden pins driven into augur holes to serve as legs. Similar logs or puncheons placed on horizontal pins set in the walls served as writing desks. A rude fireplace in one end of the building baked the pupils near it and left those in the distant corners to shiver on cold days. About all the studies that were attempted in these early schools were spelling, reading, and writing, and in some of the best arithmetic was added.
The first school taught in Macoupin County was conducted by William Wilcox at Staunton in 1824. He boarded around among his patrons and received in addition $30.00 for ten weeks' work Mr. Wilcox continued to teach there at intervals until 1827, when he was succeeded by Roger Snell, who had come to the county in 1821. Mr. I. P. Hoxsey taught at the same place in 1828, Philip R. Denham in 1829, and Archibald Hoxsey in 1830. The first school in the northwest part of the county was opened in 1829. In the summer of that year and again in 1830, a school was taught near Apple Creek by a man named James Howard. He was a relative to the Solomons, who were early settlers in that part of the county and who still have numerous descendants there, several of whom have been teachers. Mr. Howard was a native of New York. His attain- ments were good for that day and he was considered the best scribe in the county at that time. He continued to teach until his death in 1864. In 1829 a gentleman
The overflow at Girard. Both cars are crowded with people listening to a lecture, and a university professor is lecturing on soil fertility to a crowd outside.
VIRDEN SCHOOL VIRDEN SCHOOL
PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDING MEDORA
School is out at Clark's Siding. The people are getting off the cars after the Jectures.
VIRDEN SCHOOL
OLD HIGH SCHOOL PALMYRA
PIASA SCHOOL BUILDING
LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
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HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY
named Scruggs taught a school in the southern part of what is now Scottville township in a rude school house on the south side of Nigger Lick Creek. In 1831 a Mr. Richardson taught a school in Bunker Hill in a small house near Mr. Branscomb's hat factory. Another early school was in the western part of the county near Chesterfield and was taught in 1832 by a man named Anderson in a small house with an earth floor. It is said that this school was very ele- mentary in its character, and that the teacher was familiarly known among his patrons and pupils as the "Plug teacher." A rude log-house was erected in Chesterfield in 1834 and a school was opened in it by a Mr. Dooner, who was considered a great improvement over the "Plug teacher."
The first lady teacher named in the records of the county was Miss Charlotte Sherman, who taught school in Brighton township during the summer of 1832. Mrs. L. P. Stratton taught near the same place during the next summer. Miss Matilda Thompson was employed as the first teacher in Dorchester township in 1832 and again in 1833. A school was organized in Brushy Mound township in 1834 and placed in charge of Mr. Thomas P. Laws as teacher.
These were the first schools organized in Macoupin County. Although they were poor as compared with our best schools now, they were equal to the demands of the people and were the foundation of the liberal and extensive school system of today. The growth from these early beginnings was gradual but steady and in accordance with the encouragement offered by the liberal school laws of the state. The children of some of the early settlers had to travel several miles each day to attend school, but school houses have multiplied in number until now almost all the children of the county are within easy walking distance of one or more school houses. In fact the schools have become almost too numerous to be properly kept up. There are now 179 school districts in the county and 184 differ- ent schools employing 315 teachers and having an attendance of about 12,000 pupils. Although we often hear some of the old settlers speak of the wide knowl- edge and wonderful proficiency of some of these very early teachers, we believe that the improvement of the teaching force of the county has kept pace with the growth of the schools. Be that as it may, we can truthfully say that the character and scholarship of the teachers will compare favorably with that of the teachers in any other county in the state. The teachers of this county have been greatly improved by institutes, normal drills, and attendance at the State Normal Schools. County teachers' institutes are now provided for by the state, and at these insti- tutes careful attention is given to the theory and art of teaching and the proper management of schools.
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