USA > Illinois > St Clair County > History of St. Clair County, Illinois. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 31
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The institute work of the county commenced in the year 1859 under the superintendency of George Bunsen. On the 4th of April of that year, in pursuance of a call issued by the leading teachers of the county, eighty-three teachers assembled at Belleville, and organized the first "St. Clair County Teachers' Institute," declaring in the first article of their constitution, that their object was "the advancement of education and the mutual improvement of teachers." Mr. George Bunsen, school commissioner, was chosen president of the institute, and Mr. E. Bigelow of Lebanon, secretary. Of the teachers who were members of that institute, only four are now teaching in this county, namely, Henry Raab, Clarence J. Lemen, and Mrs. Mary E. Thwing of Belleville, and Peter J. C. Marion of Cahokia. Hon. James P. Slade, present state superintendent, was also a member of the institute, and took an active part in its pro- ceedings. Institutes were also held in April, 1862 and 1863, du- ring the superintendency of John H. Dennis; in April, 1864, under the administration of Elihu J Palmer; and in 1868, 1869, 1870, 1871, 1872, 1873 and 1876, during the superintendency of Hon. J. P. Slade. In the institute of 1871 the largest number of teachers was enrolled, being one hundred and sixty-eight In July, 1880, a two weeks' institute was held by the present superintendent, and one hundred teachers were enrolled. The exercises at all the insti- tutes held were of special benefit to teachers, and designed to aid them in more efficiently discharging their responsible duties. They embraced lectures on theory and art of teaching, class-exercises and discussions of methods of teaching, interspersed with music, essays and original poems. In March, 1879, the leading teachers of the county, feeling the need of a closer union among themselves, organ- ized the "St. Clair County Teachers' Association," which holds regular quarterly meetings. Its membership is about one hundred, and it is steadily increasing. Its first president was John H. G. Brinkerhoff of Lebanon, and its second George F. Kenower of
Mascoutah. The association has an historical committee, who are engaged in compiling a history of the pioneer school-work of the county ; a library committee, who are securing a library for teach- ers, and a publication committee, whose business it is to maintain an educational column in one or more of the county newspapers.
The North St. Clair Teachers' Institute, composed of teachers employed on the north side of the county, was organized at O'Fal- lon in December, 1879. Its meetings are held monthly.
The South St. Clair Teachers' Institute was organized at Marissa January, 1880, and during the remaining months of that school year it held regular monthly meetings.
The Belleville teachers for many years have met regularly on the third Saturday of each school month for their mutual improve- ment.
Various other local institutes and teachers' meetings have been organized in the years gone by, but after short leases of life they have ceased to exist, as the leading spirits who conducted them left for new fields of labor.
The schools of the county for a number of years past have par- ticipated in the comparative examinations annually held under the auspices of the State Teachers' Association. The manuscript work of 1880, after being examined and arranged by the County Super- intendent, was neatly bound in two volumes and exhibited at the State Fair at Springfield and County Fair at Belleville, and received favorable mention at the hands of Hon. James P. Slade, State Su- perintendent of Public Instruction. Concerning the Comparative Examination work of the county, under date of March 14, 1881, State Superintendent James P. Slade writes as follows : "I believe the schools of St. Clair county have been benefited by these exami- nations, and they have done work that compares favorably with that done by the schools of other counties. This is the testimony of the committee having charge of these examinations. By refer- ence to the report of the chairman of the cominittee, Prof. S. H. White, of Peoria, (see page 272 of the Biennial Report of this Department for 1879-80), you will notice that St. Clair county con- tributed more volumes of school work to represent the schools of Illinois at the Paris Exposition than any other county in the State; for, while the committee took work from only seven counties and but fifty-six volumes in all, fourteen of these volumes were the work of the schools of St. Clair county."
Almost every school-house in the county has been " christened," so to speak, and is known by its own name, as well as by its dis- trict number. The lamented Lincoln has had his name bestowed on the West Belleville school ; Washington, the Father of his Country, the philosopher Franklin, and George Bunsen, who did so much to elevate the city schools, have all been remembered by Belleville. The " Douglas " school at East St. Louis, on famous Bloody Island, calls to mind the Little Giant among statesmen, Stephen A. Douglas. "Cherry Grove," " Union Grove," "Turkey Hill," and "Ogle Creek " still retain the names given them in 1825.
The " Valley " school, north-east of Summerfield, appears to be on a little elevation, and the valley is hard to find. The " Broad Hollow " school, south-east of Georgetown, does not seem to be in a hollow at all. " Point Lookout," on a ridge south-east of Freeburg, is high and dry enough. " Drum Hill " school, near Fayetteville, was so named on account of Case, the drummer of a rifle company of early times, having settled there and with his drum occasionally made " music in the air. ' The " Emerald Mound " school, north- east of Lebanon, and the "Sugar Loaf" school, south east of East Carondelet, were so named after large mounds near by, supposed to be the work of that mysterious race, the Mound Builders.
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
The various towns of the county have graded their schools into two or more grades, and almost all of them have good, substantial school buildings.
Summerfield employs four teachers, Charles O. Hodgdon, Prin- cipal.
O'Fallon, four teachers, Mrs. P. C. Capen, Principal. Caseyville, three teachers, James S. Edwards, trincipal.
Brooklyn, two teachers, Hubbard M. Wilson, Principal. French Village, two teachers, Samuel E. Pershall, Principal.
Millstadt, four teachers, Geo. W. Kraft, Principal.
Smithton (Georgetown), two teachers, Philip Brandenburger, Principal.
Freeburg, four teachers, Wm. A. Reis, Principal.
New Athens, two teachers, Chas. Gramlich, Principal.
Marissa, three teachers, Laura Varner, Principal.
Shiloh, two teachers, J. F. Quick, Principal.
Alma (Ridge Prairie), two teachers, Charles A. Thompson, Prin- cipal.
The following towns have each only one teacher, Floraville, Pa- derborn, Fayetteville, Lenzburg, Darmstadt, St. Libory and East Carondelet.
The school building at Alma, a two-story frame, was entirely de- stroyed by fire on the night of February 21, 1881. The Douglas school, at East St. Louis, and the Lebanon public school building were both destroyed by fire a few years ago, and the citizens, with a generous liberality, speedily replaced them with handsome and commodious structures.
Mascoutah has a commodious two-story brick school building, containing eight large school-rooms and a recitation room for the use of the principal's assistant. Nine teachers are employed and about 500 pupils are enrolled. Mr. Charles Cannady is the prin- cipal.
Lebanon has a three story building, the two stories being divided off into eight school-rooms, with convenient hat and cloak rooms attached. Eight teachers are employed and about 450 pupils are enrolled. Mr. John H. G. Brinkerhoff is the principal.
East St. Louis is composed of two school districts, the Douglas school being in District No. 2, and the Upper, Middle, Franklin, Broad way and Eighth street schools, as also the colored school, be- ing in District No. 1. Thirty teachers are employed, and about 1500 pupils are enrolled. The Upper, Middle, Eighth street, Broadway and Colored schools are kept in rented quarters, but the others are the property of the districts in which they are located.
Belleville and West Belleville are both in the same school dis- trict. There are four school buildings, all owned by the district, namely, the Lincoln, containing six rooms ; the Bunsen, containing eight rooms ; the Washington, containing ten rooms, and the Frank- lin, containing eighteen rooms. Forty teachers are employed, and a superintendent. Mr. Henry Raab, who has been connected with the schools of the city for about twenty-five years, has ably filled the position of superintendent for the last seven years. About 2000 pupils are enrolled. The course of study runs through eight gradcs, providing for eight years of work. The study of the German lan- guage runs through all the grades, and is participated in by a very large percentage of the pupils. The schools owe their excellence to the untiring efforts of the late George Bunsen, and since his death to the able management of the present superintendent, aided by a corps of enthusiastic teachers, and sustained by a community who take a deep interest in free schools. These schools took a number of premiums at the State Fair of 1880 for educational work, and among them the second premium for sweepstakes. The Bun- sen school building, completed in 1879, at a cost of about $10,000,
is an ornament to the city. It was opened for use September 8tb, 1879, and its first principal was James Campbell. It is heated with steam, and is well arranged for school purposes, being well lighted and ventilated, and having commodious class rooms with hat and cloak rooms attached.
In the year 1821 the Belleville Academy Association was in- corporated by act of the Legislature. The building, a frame struc- ture, was located about where the German Methodist church now stands. Its object was to furnish young men with a higher educa- tion. William Turner was among the first instructors. He was a cultured man and a lover of the writings of Shakespeare, which he read with all the eloquence and grace of an actor. His previous history he kept to himself, but his love for Shakespeare led many to suppose that he had been formerly connected with the stage.
In 1823 there was a log school house located where the English M. E. Church now stands, in which Wm. Gallop taught.
About 1824 or 25, John H. Dennis had a school in the Mitchell building where the West block now stands. Mr. Dennis' school was called the " Aristocratic " school, owing to the fact that the children of wealthy families from St. Louis and other places at- tended it, as Mr. Dennis was a proficient teacher of the languages.
In later years schools were kept in the Odd Fellows' Hall, the present Hinckley House. Here a Mr. Edwards and John F. Parks taught with success. Schools were also kept in the basement of the old Presbyterian church, now the City Hall, in the Advocate build- ing, and several other places, till at last it was decided to erect the Washington building, and a few years later the Franklin, so that to-day, the public schools of Belleville are all maintained in pro- perty owned and controlled by the school district, through its Board of Education, Dr. James L. Perryman, Dr. George Loelkes, John Lorenzen, A. C. Hucke, John Weber, Louis Bartel, Henry A. Kircher, Hermann G. Weber, and Hermann Burckhardt.
The following statistics taken from the County Superintendent's report for the year ending June 30, 1880, will no doubt be read with interest :
Male persons under 21 years of age,
15,956.
Females,
15,639.
Total,
31,595.
Males between 6 and 21,
10,736.
Females,
10,685.
Total,
21,421.
School districts,
116.
Graded schools,
26.
Ungraded schools,
110.
Average number of months schools were in session,
8.08.
Total enrolment of pupils,
11,476.
Male teachers,
134.
Female,
104.
School-honses built during the year,
3.
Whole number of school-houses,
138.
Volumes in district libraries,
938.
l'upils in private schools,
1460.
Private schools,
22.
Principal of township fund,
$65,803.32.
Highest monthly wages paid any male teacher,
$125.
" ₡
female "
$70,
Lowest to any male teacher,
$25.
female “
$22.
Amount of district tax levy,
$130,258.78.
Estimated value of school property,
$282,923.00.
Total receipts from all sources,
$229,205.52.
Total expenditures,
$161,298.60.
Salaries of teachers,
$100,121.45.
Paid for new school-houses,
$4,831.98.
Paid for repairs and improvements,
$7,209.56.
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Paid for school furniture, Paid for apparatus,
$3,041.07. $529.57. $11,761.67.
Paid for fuel and incidentals,
The statistics of illiteracy show 48 persons between 6 and 21 years of age unable to read and write, of which 29 cases were by neglect of parents. The schools of St. Clair county have taken a high rank among the schools of the state. Efficient management on the part of the various superintendents, especially by Hon. James P. Slade, who occupied the office longer than any other, has led to this, as well as being sustained and fostered by a population strongly imbued with the sentiment that the safety of the country lies in the education of the masses. Before closing this chapter, we desire to return thanks to those who have kindly aided us with information of the past, and to the teachers and school officers of the county who have willingly assisted us in our labors as super- intendent.
treasures for their establishment. To this action Hallam traces the first glimmering of that light which afterwards dispersed the darkness of the middle ages. Wieklyffe, Huss, Luther and Knox were trained in colleges, and some of them were occupied during no small portion of their lives in the actual business of instruction. The genius of Pascal was equally employed in extending the boundaries of science, and in defending the truths of religion. The sublimest poem of the modern world was written by a Christian school-master, and drew its inspiration from the "brook which flowed fast by the oracles of God." John Wesley-the founder of Methodism-was a scholar of Oxford, and the cause of learning in his day had no more earnest champion than he. His followers have emulated his example, and wherever they have gone they have labored alike for the moral and intellectual welfare of those among whom they have lived. They have not waited for wealth to erect stately edifices and provide the costly appliances which
McKENDREE COLLEGE.
BY PROF. SAMUEL H. DENEEN, A. M., PH.D.
Among the influences which have united to build up the civili- zation which we enjoy, the most powerful are the preaching of the Gospel, and the diffusion of knowledge. So well is this truth realized, that to a large extent, those who have labored and dared and suffered most for the advancement of mankind will be found to have been concerned at the same time for the promotion of both these interests. Charlemagne, the greatest of medieval rulers, believed that the church and the school are the firmest pillars of a well-ordered government, and devoted large sums from his royal
learning covets for the use of her votaries, but with such buildings and apparatus as could be procured, they have gathered the young together, and endeavored to impart to them whatever advantages education can bestow. It was to this policy that the foundation of McKendree College was due.
The Illinois Conference-embracing the states of Indiana and Illinois-met in Mt. Carmel, Ill., September, 1827. At this session a resolution was introduced by the Rev. Peter Cartwright, D. D., the object of which was to provide for the establishment of a college within the bounds of Illinois. The Conference favored the scheme proposed, and the citizens of Lebanon called a mecting and asked for subscriptions to secure the location of the institution in their
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
midst. Thomas Casad states that his father, Dr. Anthony W. Casad, wrote the compact to which the subscribers appended their names. The document, dated February 20th, 1828, is still preserved, and begins thus :-
" We, the undersigned, estimating mental improvement of the first importance to a commonwealth, as well in a political as a moral and religious view, promise to pay the several sums annexed to our names for the purpose of erecting an edifice in or near the town of Lebanon, St. Clair county, Illinois, for a seminary of learning to be conducted as nearly as may be on the plan of the Augusta college of Kentucky. * * * The property shall be deeded to the Methodist Episcopal Church for the purposes of safe-keeping and the benefits of incorporation." The Illinois Conference was asked to take the institution under its care, and the Missouri Con- ference was requested to unite in its support. The contributors of the largest sums to the amount subscribed were Nicholas Horner, Nathan Horner, Dr. A. W. Casad, David Chamberlin and Col. E. B. Clemson. Among the subscribers were Rev. S. H. Thompson, Rev. John Dew, Rev. Samuel Mitchell, Charles McDonald, James Riggin, Betsy M. Riggin, John Thomas, Sr., John Thomas, Jr., Thornton Peeples, Joseph Hypes, T. M. Nichols, Daniel S. Witter, Daniel Whittenburg, Rev. Wm. Moore, Gen. James Moore, Dr. W. W. Roman and Thomas Ray, the founder of the town of Leba- non. There were in all one hundred and five names, and the amount subscribed was $1,385. The sum seems small ; but there was little wealth in the community. The state was sparsely popu- lated. Lebanon contained less than two hundred inhabitants. The number of persons in St. Clair county did not exceed 5,000, and St. Clair was at that time the richest and the most populous county in the state. Between Lebanon and the Wabash there were few villages of any importance. The prairies were very much as the Indians had left them, and indeed many believed that they never could be inhabited on account of the scarcity of timber. The French element was still largely predominant in St. Louis. Chicago had no existence. Kaskaskia, formerly the capital of the state, now almost forgotten, had only a few years before lost its importance as the judicial power in Illinois.
The entire membership of the M. E. Church in the the states of Indiana and Illinois, it is believed, did not exceed 35,000. The subscribers were, at all events, not discouraged with the sum ob- tained, for they met a few days later, selected the grounds which they desired, authorized their purchase and appointed a committee to contract for the erection of a suitable building. As this was not completed as soon as it was needed, the use of the Lebanon school- house was obtained, and there on the 24th of November, 1828, " Lebanon Seminary," as it was called, was opened, with Mr. Ed- ward R. Ames, as principal, and Miss Mc'Murphy, as assistant. What became of the assistant is not known. Mr. Ames (1806- 1879), who was educated at Ohio University, was licensed to preach in 1830, elected Bishop of the M. E. Church in 1852, and in that office acquired a national reputation. While in charge of the Seminary Mr. A. became a candidate for ministerial orders before the quarterly conference then assembled in old Shiloh Church. He did not then possess the portly proportions which afterward enabled him to bear the burden of episcopal honors so easily. His health seemed delicate, and one half of the members present were opposed to granting him license to preach. While the case stood thus, a colored minister who belonged to the confer- ence was noticed riding along the road. He was stopped, brought in, and after learning the condition of affairs, cast his vote in favor of the applicant. He used to boast in after life that his vote had made Mr. Amcs bishop ! Mr. A during his connection with
the Seminary confined his efforts entirely to academical work. He remained until the autumn of 1830, when he was appointed to a charge as an itinerant Methodist' minister. In the same year Bishop Mckendree made known his intentions of devoting 480 acres of land lying in Moore's Prairie, St. Clair county, Ill., to found an institution of learning for the Illinois and Missouri Con- ferences. The board of managers learning this fact, voted to change the name of "Lebanon Seminary " to " McKendree Col- lege." It will not be inappropriate here to give a brief sketch of the venerable minister in honor of whom the college was named.
William McKendree, fourth bishop of the M. E. Church, was born in King William county, Virginia, July 6, 1757. His father was a respectable planter, and the son was brought up to follow the same occupation. Young McKendree enlisted as a soldier in the war of the Revolution, rose to the rank of adjutant, and was present when Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown. He was con- verted in 1787, and began a few months later to preach. In 1795 he had charge of four circuits, and labored on each of them three months during the year. In 1796 he was made presiding elder, and was transferred in 1800 to the West. His district embraced thirteen circuits-two in Ohio, six in Kentucky, three in Ten- nessee and two in Virginia. Six conferences have since found room in this field of his lahor. His distinguished services soon drew the attention of the Church to him, and in 1808 he was elected bishop. From this year to the close of his life he was engaged in the work of episcopal oversight, which compelled him to travel through the whole length of the country, and westward to the very outposts of the frontier settlements. In these journeys he often endured great hardships, which gradually undermined his health. His death took place at the home of his brother, Dr. McKendree, in Tennessee, March 5, 1835. Bishop M. excelled both as a preacher of the word, and as a presiding and executive officer. Judge John McLean, of the U. S. Supreme Court, said of him : " He was eloquent in the true sense of the word. Few men ever filled the pulpit with greater dignity and usefulness, and the beautiful simplicity of his sermons was, perhaps, unequalled in our country."
After the departure of Mr. Ames, the institution appears to have been conducted for two or three years as a preparatory school. Rev. Peter Akers, D D., was elected president of the Col- lege September 27, 1833, and soon after entered upon the duties of his office. Dr. A. had been educated at Transylvania University, Ky., and was earnestly requested by Bishop McKendree to accept the care of this new charge of the Church. Through his influence the college building, which was still unfinished but had been for some years in use, was now completed. Agents were appointed ; application was made to the legislature to have the college char- tered; a boarding-house, under the control of the trustees, was opened, and the work of instruction was divided into proper depart- ments. It was resolved to undertake the endowment of a Profes- sorship, to be called in honor of Bishop Asbury. The act to incorporate the college was approved February, 1835. Among the names of those voting to grant the charter is found that of Abraham Lincoln. The following are the names of the charter trustees : John Dew, Samuel H. Thompson, James Riggin, Nicholas Horner, George Lowe, Robert Moore, Theophilus M. Nichols, Joshua Barnes, Samuel Stites, David L. West, Nathan Horner, Joseph Foulks, Thornton Peeples, John S. Barger, Nathaniel M. McCurdy, Anthony W. Casad and Benjamiu Hypes. The institu- tution was greatly in need of funds to meet the expenses of the professorships recently established, and Dr. Akers, April 22, 1835, was released from the duties of the presidency in order to solicit
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
donations in behalf of the college. Rev. James C. Finley, D.D., was employed as his substitute in the work of instruction. Later in the same year, Sept. 19, 1835, Rev. John Dew was elected president. Prof. Annis Merrill, a graduate of Wesleyan Univer- sity, Conn., was chosen Feb. 13, 1836, for the Professorship of Ancient Languages-a chair which was then named the "John Emory Professorship." He prevailed upon the trustees to adopt the course of study pursued at the institution where he had beeen educated, and also secured the election of his friend, James W. Sunderland, to the Professorship of Mathematics and Natural Phi- losophy. These two young professors, students from the same university, were the real founders of the literary character of the college. They were fresh from their studies, distinguished for scholarship, full of zeal, with an enthusiastic love of learning, and well fitted to be pioneers in the cause of collegiate instruction. Entering upon their duties, they collected around them a band of young men into whom they transfused their own ardor in the pur- suit of knowledge. They determined to omit nothing from the list of studies required in the best Eastern colleges.
They encountered serious obstacles; but difficulties disappeared before their irrepressible energy. They were ready to labor, and content to wait, and, as is the case with most men animated by such motives, they accomplished the object for which they strove. Their toils were indeed fruitful, both as regards those who were immediately under their care, and as preparing the way in which their successors were to follow. Their high ideal was an inspira- tion, and has become an example. Rev. John Dew .resigned the presidency Sept. 18, 1837, and Rev. John W. Merrill, D.D., was elected as his successor. Dr. Merrill was a brother of Prof. Mer- rill, and was a graduate of Wesleyan University and also of Ando- ver Theological Seminary. Under his direction the several depart- ments of the college were regularly organized, and the scholarly work of himself and his colleagues soon gave to the institution deserved reputation. He has described his labors in an interesting letter, from which the following extract is taken :
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