History of Madison County, Illinois With biographical sketches, Part 70

Author: Brink, W.R. & Co
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Edwardsville, Ill. : W. R. Brink & co.
Number of Pages: 698

USA > Illinois > Madison County > History of Madison County, Illinois With biographical sketches > Part 70

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Under its present organization the Theological Depart- ment is accomplishing efficient work and is in the enjoyment of brighter prospects than for many years previous. Its funds are sufficiently ample for present purposes, and it is not anticipated that any emergencies will arise which will justify its suspension. In fact, as this sketch well demon- strates, there are insuperable obstacles, both legal and moral, to the abandonment of the sacred trust which the Fathers have imposed upon us. On the the contrary, it is hoped and expected that the future will see not only permanency, but growth and advancement in this special Department.

From 1836 to 1841 the average number of students in at- tendance was eighty-eight, and of instructors four. During

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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

this period Rev. Prof. Washington Leverett, LL. D., being the senior officer, acted as President of the College. In 1840 Rev. Adiel Sherwood, D. D., was elected to the Presidency, which position he filled until 1846. During his Presidency Professors Zenas B. Newman, Washington Leverett and Warren Leverett, were associated with him in instruction. During the years 1847-1849 Dr. Washington Leverett was again acting President of the College, and Warren Leverett, Erastus Adkins, Justus Bulkley and William Cunningham were instructors. In 1850 Rev. N. N. Wood, D. D., ac- cepted the Presidency, which he held for five years. Rev. S. Y. McMasters, LL. D., succeeded him in 1855, as Presi- dent pro tempore, and the next year Rev. Daniel Read, LL. D., became President and served 14 years. After an inter- val of nearly three years, during which the duties pertaining to the Presidency were performed by Professors Bulkley and Fairman, Rev. A. A. Kendrick, D. D., present incumbent, entered upon his duties.

It is a fact worthy of mention that the instruction furnished by the institution has been of a high order from the very outset. Indeed, so wisely was the curriculum of studies pro- jected, that no radical changes in the various courses pur- sued, have been called for to meet the demands which modern views upon education have made. The Institution has been brought up to its present position by building carefully upon the foundations originally laid, increased facilities of instruc- tion having been acquired, and better work having been done, but with little modification of the ideas upon which the College was at first projected. The advanced course of study insisted upon as a prerequisite to a degree goes far to account for the comparatively limited number of graduates, particularly when the general and public opinion of the West during this period, concerning liberal education, is taken into account. The good which this College has ac- complished, through the educational facilities which it has furnished, must therefore be sought for in great measure out- side of its list of graduates in the training, more or less com- plete, which over Three Thousand Five Hundred young men and not a few young women, have received within its walls. The average number of students in attendance during the last twenty years has been about one hundred and twenty, of whom nearly one-fourth have been ministerial students. Just how many, in all, have entered the ministry, we cannot tell, but the number is known to be several hundred.

During the late war between the States, a very large number of students enlisted in the service of the country- at least 140 of previous students and those connected with the College at the time, were in this service, in the year 1864, so that the school was, for a little while, virtually sus- pended. Several of these students rose to great distinction as soldiers, becoming Majors, Colonels, Brigadier Generals, and two rising to the rank of Major General.

But the students of this College have distinguished them- selves and honored their Alma Mater, not only by patriotism and bravery, but as jurists, and statemen, teachers and editors, as well as by ranking among the first of the Chris- tian ministers of the land. Two, who were formerly students in this college, are now representing a single city in our

National Congress, and still more honorable than this, is the fact that four of the graduates of Shutleff College are now missionaries of the Cross among the heathen in foreign lands.

As the school has maintained its original idea, by estab- fishing and sustaining a Theological Department, so it has again opened its doors to pupils of both sexes, in harmony with the more advanced ideas of the present age. Ladies have been graduated, during the last few years, from the full classical course of this College, by the side of young men, and won first honors in competition with them.

Notwithstanding this Institution had its beginning when the country was yet in its infancy-only a few years after Illinois became a state, and while most of the people of the West were yet poor, and the Baptist denomination especial- ly, on which the College was mainly dependent, was feeble- still, it has grown, if not with equal rapidity, nevertheless, somewhat iu proportion with the gowth of the country and of the denomination, and to-day has a valuable property, consisting of its buildings and grounds, worth at least $50,- 000 ; trust funds and invested endowments of several chairs, over $75,000, which last are all free from liabilities and iu- cumbrances ; and then additional outside properties and claims for at least $40,000 more, making a total of at least $165,000, besides Libraries, Apparatus and Furniture, in present possession of the College. And, still, valuable as its accumulations for the past half century have been, they are far from sufficient for the proper support of the Institution.

The year 1876, the Centennial of the Nation was an im- portant one in the history of this College. As the result of the inadequate endowments, and in spite of all possible economy in administration, on the part of a faithful Board of Trustees, the year came in with a large debt standing against the College, and very small and insufficient provisions for its payment. It was therefore determined to undertake the work of raising $100,000, with which to pay the debts of the College and increase its endowments. Rev. G J. John- son, D. D., well known for his great ability in the work of gathering benevolent funds, was secured as Financial Agent. The College having been established in 1827, as Rock Spring Seminary, reached in the ycar following the National Cen- tennial the fiftieth year of its existence, and the work of Dr. Johnson, begun in 1876, was continued. Thanks to his un. tiring zeal and entire devotion to his work, the movement to increase the funds of the College was successful. At the date of this writing the College debts have been fully pro- vided for and the institution is in a more flourishing condi- tion than ever before in its history.

Since the movement above described the College has re- ceived additional funds, among which may be named the sum of $10,000 secured through the exertions of President Kend- rick, as a fund for the erection of a New College building. This edifice is now in process of erection, and will add greatly to the facilities of the College.

This Institution has been greatly blessed during the entire period of its existence with warm friends and ardent patrons. Of those now living it may not be becoming to speak, but the names of the dead, many of whom were honored citizens

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of Madison County, deserve a record in this history. Elijah Gove E-q., of Quiuey, Illinois, deserves especial mention in this connection. In the year 1854 he became prominent in the affairs of the College, ministering to its financial needs with a munificent band. Until his death, in 1874, he eon- tinued his support to the College, and the least estimate placed upon the aggregate of his many and unostentations gifts is $50,000.

HI. N. Kendall, Esq., of Upper Alton, is another name that should be forever hallowed in connection with Shurtleff College. He was the cherished confidant and eo worker of Mr. Gove in planning and giving for this Institution.

Dr. Ebenezer Marsh, of Alton, was a teacher in Rock Spring Seminary. in 1829, and upon the removal of the In- stitution to Upper Alton took an active interest in it, and in 1852 became Trustee and served twenty-five years, till his death in 1877.

Hon. Cyrus Edwards, of Upper Alton, was one of the seven original members of the new Board of Trustees, orga- mized at Upper Alton upon the removal of the Institution from Roek Spring in 1832. Hermon C. Cole, of Upper Alton, at a later day became an active patron of the College.

D. D. Ryrie, Esq., of Alton, was a devoted friend to the College to the day of his death. His wise liberality and prudent foreeast were invaluable to the College in many emergeneies. This list might be greatly extended, but enough has been said to show that good and true men have wrought faithfully in connection with this College for the cause of Chri tian edueation.

The men who have spent years in Madison County, as edueators of youth in the Faculty of this Institution deserve honorable mention in this historieal sketeh. They have impressed themselves upon hundreds who are now the substantial eitizens of this county. or dwellers in the regions beyond. Many, as they read the names of Hubbel Loomis, Warren Leverett, Washington Leverett, Adiel Sherwood, Daniel Read, Justus Bulkley, O. L. Castle and Charles Fairman, will reeall the honored instruetors, at whose feet they have sat and learned praetieal wisdom and aequired intellectual strength.

This Institution has ever been known for the thoroughness of its instruction and its careful attention to the mental and moral culture of its students. As at present constituted there are three distinct sehools or departments, viz .: The Preparatory School, The College, and The Theological Sehool. The number of graduates in the College and the Theologieal School during the last ten years is nearly equal to the whole number graduated in the previous forty-five years, showing a marked advanee in the grade of seholar- ship in the Institution, as well as a corresponding advance in the demands for a Collegiate education in the West. From present indieations it is safe to assume that Madison County is destined to have within its borders one of the most an l important flourishing institutions of learning in the whole country.

MONTICELLO LADIES' SEMINARY. BY MISS HI. N. HASKELL.

This institution (projected and founded by Benjamin

Godfrey,) was opened for the reception of students on the 11th of April, 1833. It is situated at Godfrey, Madison County, Ill., on the route of the Chicago & Alton Railroad, twenty-five miles from St. Louis, Mo., and four from Alton. Chieago, Burlington & Quiney touching Brighton, Indiana- polis and St. Louis touching Alton, brings the Seminary into railroad communication with all parts of the country. The site was selected with regard to health and freedom from the bustle and temptations common to large towns.

The Seminary buikling is of stone, 110 feet by 44 feet, and five stories high, ineluding the basement. The base- ment is divided into Reeitation Rooms and a Dining Room. The second story is divided into a Library, Reeitation and Family Rooms. The next two stories, together, eoutain forty rooms, each designed to accommodate two young ladies. The fourth story is divided into Music and Painting Rooms. The south wing is 45 feet by 70 feet, contains two large halls and twenty-two rooms for the accommodation of students; the rooms and balls are lighted with gas and warmed with Marriott's hot water apparatus. There is also a Cottage situated near the Seminary building and within the Campus, designated as a boarding house for mothers who wish to be with their daughters, and also for the aceom- modation of guests visiting the students.

The Seminary Campus consists of about thirty acres. This affords room for garden, orehard, grove, play grounds, a spacious lawn in front, tastefully laid out in walks, and ornamented with flowers, shrubbery and arbors.

Since the opening of the Institution, all its income has been used to perfect its arrangements for educational advan- tage and domestie comfort. It is confidently believed that no seminary ean be found in the West where every depart- ment is better suited to the wants of its students. Its pat- ronage proves the wisdom of the Trustees in perfecting the arrangements.

Board of Instruction .- Miss Harriet N. Haskell, Prinei- pal ; Miss Emily G. Alden, Mental and Moral Philosophy, English Literature and Composition ; Miss Julia C. Kellogg, Physiology, Natural History and Botany ; Miss Evelyn L. Barbour, Natural Science and Higher Mathematics ; Miss Aliee Harlow, Latin and Greek ; Mi-s Ella F. Stroclin, Preparatory Department ; M'lle Rosine Stehle, M'Hle H. Chevalley, French and German; Miss Julia Newton, Oil Painting, Water Colors and Drawing ; Miss Alma L. Frost, Elocution.

Department of Music .-- Miss Emma Louise Fowler, Voeal ; Miss Katherine Armstrong, Piano ; Miss Augusta Dickson, Piano and Organ ; Miss Emma J. Williams, Piano ; Mrs. H. B. Pendleton, Matron.

Board of Trustees .-- Rev. Truman M. Post, D. D., Presi- deut, St. Louis, Mo .; Rev. A T. Norton, D. D., Secretary and Treasurer, Alton, Ill .; Rev. George N. Boardman, D. D., Chieago, Ill .; Dr. John B. Johnson, St. Louis, Mo .; Harriet N. Haskell ( Ex-officio), Godfrey, III

Prudential Committee .- Rev A. T. Norton, D. D., Har- riet N Haskell, J. R. Isett ; Edward P. Wade, Auditor, Alton, Ill.

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WITTENBERG - SORBER SC. ST.Louis

WYMAN INSTITUTE. BY PROF. L. M. CASTLE.

This institution is the practical embodiment of the mature ideas of one of the most prominent educators of the west, Edward Wyman, LL. D., from whom it takes its name. Dr. Wyman, the founder and present Principal, is a man of wide reputation as an instructor and disciplinarian, having been engaged in the profession of teaching for upwards of fifty years. He is a natural born teacher and his long career as an instructor has been extended over a field re- markable for the breadth as well as variety of its experi- ence. Dr. Wyman was born, raised and educated in the State of Massachusetts, and early brought the culture there obtained westward to be utilized as one of the elements of a success scarcely paralleled in his profession. During his life in the west he has been connected with various educa- tional enterprises, the most important of which was probably the well known St. Louis University, of which he had charge for more than six years; and which uuder his management attained a wide reputation both for its remarkable size and the uniqueness of its discipline Coming under his manage- ment at a stage of its existence bordering on dissolution, the University was infused with new life, which in the short space of six years raised its membership from forty to up- wards of 600, and invested it with a completeness of organization and discipline to be appreciated only by being seen. Among his former pupils Dr. Wyman numbers many

of the most prominent and successful business and profes- sional men of the west, who unite in paying unqualified tribute to the soundness and thorough practicability of his educational methods. Compelled by ill health induced by overwork and the superabundance of energy exercised in the management of this undertaking temporarily to abandon his profession for a more (active) employment, he never wavered in his interest in the cause of education, but even in the turmoil of an active business life went on maturing plans for a school which should comply as nearly as possible with his ideas of a-model school, to the direction of which he might bring not only an unabated zeal in the cause, but also the ripe experience of his maturer years. The state of his health having materially improved, Dr. Wyman felt himself justified in selecting for his school a proper location. After extensive search Upper Alton was selected as the most suitable site, and in the judgment of many competent authorities is considered, on account of its convenient ap- proach as well as its peculiar moral and educational ad- vantages, inferior to no other location for such a school. The grounds selected at pre-ent comprise 40 acres of what was formerly known as " Rural Park," a tract noticeable at once for its natural beauty of landscape, and for the excel- lent taste with which that beauty has been utilized to the best attainment of those purposes toward which it is now directed. The present buildings consist of a spacious main edifice used for the purposes of dormitory, school-roon, dining-room, and all points appertaining to the Home Depart-

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ment, all well arranged and finished iu tasteful and elegant style, with a splendid new gymnasium and various other buildings, each arranged and adapted for its special purpose. New buildings are being added as the needs of the school or the ideas of its owner demand. The object of the school is to be a perfect home-school for boys. It aims to furnish at the same time all the advantages of an orderly and pleasant home and a thoroughly regulated school. The pupils are under constant but pleasant supervision.

To the usual school curriculum it adds special features in the way of gymnastics, (military drill) and horsemanship In its government it seeks both to be firm and to develop that which is most manly in the conduct of the pupil. It is managed on a Christian unsectarian basis, and endeavors to advance its students as uniformly as possible in culture of the body, mind, manners and morals. The number of its members is necessarily limited to fifty, one of the primary ideas of the establishment being to have it select and not crowded to the disadvantage and discomfort of the pupil. Boys are received from the ages of 10 to 20, and are fitted either for a business career or for any of our colleges.

The Institute, having completed its third year, can no longer be considered a mere experiment, but an established fact. From the day of its first opening it has steadily and rapidly increased in membership, many most desirable ap- plications for entrance having been necessarily refused. Its location, its management, the completeness of its arrange. ments, and the substantial results attained in its various departments, have received universal encomiums from those who have had opportunity of observing the same.

Such an institution as the above, aside from meeting a want long felt among the people, cannot fail to be an orua- ment to the community in which it is found. It is highly deserving of the patronage of those who tind in it the grati- fication of a special want, and of the moral support of all who are interested in the proper training of youth.

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CHAPTER XIV.

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.

THIE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

BY HON. EDWARD M. WEST.

MONG the subjects which form the history of Madison county, none are more interesting than the religious element, which constitutes a real and important part of the history of every people and country, and particularly this of ours, which, as Mr. Webster said, " was formed in justice and religion."

As a part of the history of Illinois from its first settlement, and for six years before the organization of Madison county, affecting materially the prosperity and promoting the good order of society, the

Methodist Episcopal Church deserves recognition and hon- orable mention. For years before Illinois was a state, Methodist preachers were here, preaching in the settle- ments, forming societies, building churches, sustaining the government, defending the frontier and actively engaged in giving tone and character to society, and promoting the cause of religion. Nearly all these pioneers are now gone. Their work was well done; their names and memories are now almost unknown to those of the present age, and need to be rescued from the oblivion fast gathering around them.

Unlike most of the states, Illinois commenced settlements on her western frontier, where the first societies were formed, and the first churches built.

The first preacher in Madison county, and indeed, in Illinois, was Joseph Lilliard. He had been a circuit preacher in Kentucky in 1790. Came to Illinois territory in 1793 and preached in what few settlements there were, and organized several societies. He had no organized cir- cuit, but formed a society in New Design, Monroe county, and appointed Joseph Ogle class leader. Ogle had come to Illinois territory iu 1785, was an excellent man, but very diffident in assuming leadership in the church. In 1756 Hosea Rigg came to Illinois, and settled in St. Clair county, at Turkey Hill. He was a local preacher, but had preach- ing appointments in Monroe, St. Clair and Madison counties. A good, true man of courage and zeal. The writer of these notices lived near father Rigg from 1818 to 1830, and knew him very well. He was a poor man in this world's goods, but rich in faith and good works. In 1803 he left his blind wife and family, and went to Mount Gerizim, Kentucky, where the Methodist conference was sitting, represented to the Bishop the wauts and opportunities of the new territory, had Benjamin Young appointed missionary to Illinois, and piloted him to his new field of labor.

Benjamin Young was the first circuit preacher in Madison county. His circuit embraced all Illinois, but was mainly confined to what is now Madison, St. Clair, Monroe and Ran- dolph counties. He formed societies in Madison county. One at the house of John Nix, under the bluff, where his son, David Nix, afterward resided. Father Nix was leader of the class, the first formed in the county. I have not been able to obtain all the names of the members : John Nix and wife, Josiah Cumings and wife and Anna Gillham were five of the eight members forming the class. He had several preaching places in the county, but circulated principally amongst the Gillham families, and the same year was married to Miss Sallie Gillham, In a letter dated " Ran- dolph county, June 1, 1804," Mr. Young wrote : "I am, and have been sickly since I have been here, but am now on the mend. I met with great difficulty in coming to this country. I lost my horse in the wilderness, fifty miles from any settlement, and had to walk in, and then hire a horse to hunt mine. The Kickapoo Indians had stolen him. When I got to Kaskaskia they made me pay two dollars for a room to preach in, and twenty shillings for two days' board. I ran out of money and had to sell my book. As for the state of religion, it is bad. I have formed a circuit, and have organized five societies and fifty members." At that

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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

time it was against the rules of the church for any member. to contract marriage with one who was not a church member. Miss Gillham, when married to Mr. Young, was not a mem- ber of the church, and the rules required that Young be placed as a member on probation. This offended Young, and he would not consent to the change, but tendered his resignation, and was declared expelled. This arbitrary rule has long since been abrogated. Before his death Mr. Young rejoined the church, and died in its foll. He was a brother of the celebrated Jacob Young, of Ohio. The next year, 1804-5, Joseph Oglesby was appointed to Illinois, and preached in Madison county in 1804 and 1805.

Rev. Mr. Oglesby had visited Illinois as early as 1802. He was a large man, six feet tall, finely formed, an excellent horseman, had a good voice, self-reliant, an able preacher, and had all the requisites of a pioneer missionary. I knew him quite well. He had studied medicine, and was esteemed a good physician. In traveling the circuit, he carried some medicines in his saddle-bags with his library. Illinois was undrained and uncultivated, and was very sickly, and the preacher was everywhere welcomed, and ministered to the diseases of the body as well as the soul.

In 1797, two brothers, David and Anthony Badgley. came out from Kentucky, and traveled over this country, and so pleased were they with the country southeast of where after- wards Enwardsville was laid off, that they called it "the land of Goshen," by which it became extensively known. Here a settlement was made by the Whitesides, Judys, Nixs and Goods, and was made a preaching place by Ogh shy.

Here, on the land occupied by Thomas Good, two-and-a- half miles south of Edwardsville, in 1805, was built the first Methodist church in Illinois territory, called Bethel, attested by persons cognizant of the time of its erection. It was built of unhewed logs, clap board roof, puncheon floor, and rudely constructed windows. There was a society formed herc. Also a society was formed at Robert McMahan's, on the west side of Ridge prairie, and at Robinson's school- house, in the southeast part of the county, and at William Gillham's, in Six Mile prairie. The Bethel society was the largest religious society in the county, and embraced some of the most prominent citizens. Ouce when Mr. Oglesby had an appointment to preach, there was a large congrega- tion present. There seemed to be no one to raise the tunes. The preacher noticed Capt. John T. Lusk, of Edwardsville, in the audience, and invited him to come forward and con- duct the singing. Capt. Lusk, though not a member of the church, was a good singer, and went forward towards the speaker's chair,-for there was neither pulpit or table. The house was crowded, and it was difficult for the Captain to make his way, which somewhat confused him, and when reaching the speaker, he was so embarrassed that he could not read the lines of the hymn. The preacher noticed the embarrassment, read over the hymn a second time, when the Captain, recovering himself, raised the tune and conducted the singing service quite to the satisfaction of all present. Before leaving the history of Doctor Oglesby, I may men- tion another circumstance :

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History of Madison County, Illinois With biographical sketches, Part 70

Author: Brink, W.R. & Co Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Edwardsville, Ill. : W. R. Brink & co. Number of Pages: 698

Author: Brink, W.R. & Co
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Edwardsville, Ill. : W. R. Brink & co.
Number of Pages: 698