USA > Illinois > McLean County > The History of McLean County, Illinois; portraits of early settlers and prominent men > Part 48
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George Park
$5,000 | H. J. Eager.
$5,000
J. H. Moore ..
3,000
Z. Lawrence.
2,000
A. J. Merriman
1,000
John Magoun. 5,000
John Dawson ..
1,000
Leonard Swett. 3,000
William R. Chew
500
James Grover. 3,000
A. W. Rogers.
2,000
A. W. Moore .. 3,000
E. R. Roe.
500
O. Ellsworth 1,000
R. T. Stockton.
500
L. Bunn. 1,000
J. C. Walker
2,000
Z. S. Hoover.
3,000
J. H. Robinson
1,000
S. E. Kenyon & Son.
1,000
William F. Flagg.
5,000
David Brier. 5,000
Overman & Mann
1,000
A. Johnstone.
500
William E. Foote
1,000
R. Thompson & Co.
1,000
D. D. Haggard.
500
S. G. Fleming.
1,000
Denton Young.
3,000
C. W. Lander.
500
W. W. Lusk.
3,000
John Ronse.
2,000
C. Baker
3.000
S. S. Adolph
1,000
Joseph Payne.
5,000
E. Il. Rood
S. B. Hance.
5,000
John J. Price.
5,000
C. W. Holder
2,000
Joseph Ludington
1,000
S. P. Morehouse
1,000
O. Rugg.
1,000
N. Dixon ..
1,000
N. B. Heafer.
2,000
Charles Roadnight.
5,000
Keays & Brother
500
Franklin Price.
3,000
S. Galagher.
1,000
William W. Orme.
5,000
Birch & Brothers
1,000
W. W. Lusk & Company.
5,000
Elihu Rogers
2,000
William T. Major.
5,000
E. M. Philips
1,000
D. L. Crist ..
2 000
J. F. Humphreys
1,000
George W. Stipp.
5,000
W. Wyatt. 5,000
W. H. Temple
3,000
A. J. Warner. 5,000
James Niccolls 3,000
500
E. Hartry
5,000
Edward D. Benjamin
1,000
James L. Rice.
1,000
E. W. Bakewell.
5,000
W. P. Withers.
1,000
Dr. II. Schroder
1,000
Jesse Adams.
1,000
H. H. Painter
3,000
Their guaranty was never enforced, as it was found that some of the lands were sold for cash, others on credit and the proceeds used in the building, and it also hap- pened there was no trouble about the county appropriation, as it was confirmed by the new court in the spring of 1858. This new court consisted of a Board of Supervisors, the county having adopted township organization at the fall election in 1857. This guaranty, however, was made in good faith, was of great value at the time, and is one of the important steps taken to secure the Normal University.
It will also be interesting to read the list of subscribers, which we give. The following is a list of subscriptions that were nearly all given with the single condition that the institution should be located at some point within one mile of the corporate limits of Bloomington :
Jesse W. Fell, $500, payable in six and twelve months after location is made ; also, ten acres for site, to be selected anywhere, valued at $2,000.
C. W. Holder, $200, payable in six and twelve months.
S. D. Rounds, $300, payable in six and twelve months.
William W. Orme, $100, payable in six and twelve months.
R. O. Warriner, $100, payable in six and twelve months after the building commences.
A. B. Shaffer, $600, payable in six and twelve months.
Park & Brother, $100, payable in six and twelve months.
Robert Leach, $100, payable in six and twelve months.
R. R. Landon, $100, payable in six and twelve months.
1,000
M. Pike.
1,000
J.C. Slening 1,000
Theron Pardee. 5,000
(. Wakefield. 1,000
J. N. Ward. 5,000
James Bronson
432
HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY.
George Dietrich, $50, payable in six and twelve months.
Leonard Swett, $100, payable in six and twelve months.
W. Thomas, $100, payable in six and twelve months.
A. & O. Barnard, $100, payable in six and twelve months.
J. E. McClun, $500, in real estate at cash prices. Isaac Mitchell, $50, payable in six and twelve months.
William E. Foote, $100, payable in six and twelve months. James P. Keen, $100, payable in six and twelve months.
S. B. Hance, $100, payable in six and twelve months. Hance & Taylor, $100, payable in six and twelve months. Corydon Weed, $100, payable in six and twelve months. John R. Smith, $50, payable in six and twelve months.
R. Y. Stockton, $50, payable in six and twelve months.
O. Ellsworth, $100, payable in six and twelve months. Lewis Bunn, $100, payable in eight and twelve months.
E. Thorp, Smith & Co., $100, payable in six and twelve months. John Magoun, $100, payable in six and twelve months.
C. P. Merriman, $50, payable in six and twelve months.
F. K. Phoenix, $100, payable in one and two years.
F. Price, $100, payable in one and two years.
E. Thomas, $200, payable in one and two years.
Denton Young, $100, payable in one and two years.
W. W. Taylor, $200, payable in one and two years.
K. P. Taylor, $150, payable in one and two years
K. H. Fell, $100, payable in good notes, to be made payable in one and two years from the 1st of June next, provided the said institution is located within two miles of the corporate limits of the city of Bloomington.
Jesse W. Fell, $500, payable by the conveyance of 100 acres of land, of average value, in Range 4 west, of Jackson County, Ill., on completion of building.
The list which follows is made up principally of those who limited their subscrip- tion to a location within three-fourths of a mile of the junction of the Illinois Central and Chicago & Alton Railroads. These individuals owned land in North Bloom- ington, or adjoining, or near by, and hence had, most of them, a direct interest in the location. Several of these made smaller unconditional subscriptions. C. W. Holder, for instance, would give $200, wherever the institution might be located, and $800 more provided North Bloomington were the fortunate point. The most of this, with that in the preceding list, was limited, practically, to the site which was chosen, it being within one mile of the corporate limits of Bloomington, and also within three-fourths of a mile of the crossing of the two railroads :
Jesse W. Fell, $2,000 (including a subscription of $500 already made), payable in one, two, three, four and five years : Provided, not less than $10,000 more can be added to this subscription, and not less than eighty acres of land ; the first $500 to be expended in making a good side or foot walk to the Junction from University.
Swett & Orme, $1,500 (including a subscription of $200 already made), payable in one and two years : Provided, not less than $10,000 more can be had to this subscription, and not less than eighty acres of land.
C. W. Holder, $1,000 (including a subscription of $200 already made), payable in one and two years : Provided, not less than $10,000 more can be had to this subscription, and not less than eighty acres of land.
F. K. Phoenix, $1,500 (including a subscription of $100 already made), payable one-half in nursery stock or ornamental planting on said site, and the balance in one and two years.
433
HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY.
R. R. Landon, $1,000 (including a subscription of $100 already made), payable in one and two years.
F. Price. $300 (including a subscription of $100 already made), payable in one and two years.
Robert Ulrich, $300, payable in one and two years.
William Dooley, $500, payable in one and two years.
A. Gridley & Co., $1,150, dischargeable by a conveyance of eleven and one-half acres of land, situated in North Bloomington, and in tracts adjoining on the north.
John Magoun, $700 (including a subscription of $100 already made), payable in one and two years.
William Hill, $400, payable in one and two years.
O. M. Colman, $1,000, payable in one and two years, or dischargeable by the conveyance, within one year, of ten acres of land in North Bloomington.
Joshua R. Fell, $500, payable in one or two years, or dischargeable by the conveyance, within one year, of five acres of land off the south end of my home farm, east of the railroad, at my option.
O. T. Reeves, Jr., $500, payable in one and two years.
Elihn Rogers, $500, payable in one and two years.
William E. Foote, $200 (including $100 already subscribed), payable in one and two years.
Robert A. Dalzell, $250, payable in one and two years.
Thomas Junk, $500, payable in one and two years, or dischargeable by the convyeance, within one year, of five acres of land in the northwest corner of my farm, at my option.
Norvel Dixon, $200, payable in one and two years : Provided, I succeed in getting a good title to the northeast quarter of Section 22, Township 24 north, Range 2 east.
W. W. Taylor, $600, payable in one and two years, including a subscription already made of $200.
K. P. Taylor, $500, payable in one and two years, including a subscription already made of $150.
J. S. Walker, $200, payable 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 acres of ground in North Bloomington, and adjoining on the north, at my option.
K. H. Fell, $500, payable in notes to be due in three years from the 1st of June next.
John Rouse, $200, payable in one and two years from the 1st of June next.
W. II. Allin, $1,100, payable on the completion of the building, by the conveyance of the following lots : Lot 7, Block 1; Lot 5, Block 2; Lot 13, Block 13; Lots 14 and 15, Block 23 ; and 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 (1), Section 16, Township 25, R. 2 east, containing forty acres.
George P. Howell, $150, payable in one, two and three years, equal installments.
Jesse W. Fell, $7,000, payable, on the completion of the University Building, by the con- veyance of 1,450 acres of my Jackson County lands, situated in Towns 8 and 9 south, Ranges 4 and 5 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 on 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-half payable in nine months and balance in eighteen.
Poston & Didlake, $100, one-half payable in nine months and balance in eighteen.
S. P. Morehouse, $100, one-half payable in six months and balance in twelve.
434
HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY.
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.
John 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.
435
HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY.
In the fall of 1857, these gentlemen were all re-elected to the same positions; and when the Board of Supervisors, in the following year, ratified their proceedings, appoint- ing A. J. Merriman Swamp-Land Commissioner, it was seen that McLean County fully sustained the County Court in its disposition of so large a portion of the swamp-land funds.
The Board of Education appointed an architect-George P. Randall, of Chicago- who prepared plans and specifications, upon which bids were called for in the papers of Alton, Galena, Springfield, Peoria, Chicago and Bloomington. Fifteen bids were made, ranging in price from $80,000 to $115,000. The contract was awarded to Mortimer & Loburg, and T. H. Soper, of Chicago, for the sum of $83,000, the work to be com- pleted September 1, 1858. The corner-stone was laid September 29, 1857. On this occasion there was quite an impressive ceremony. Rev. H. J. Eddy, of the Baptist Church of Bloomington, offered a prayer. Prof. D. Wilkins read a letter from Gov. 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 State 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. Judge 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 easier, and hence the buildings were not fully completed until the early part of 1861. 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 1860, 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 $65,000 to pay debts which had accumulated against the Board of Education. The building cost more than the sum first agreed upon, owing, in part, to advanced cost of materials. Included in the appropriation is a large sum for heating and furnishing the building and for miscel- laneous 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 Legis- lature to appropriate $35,000 more before all bills were fully paid. The total cost of
436
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
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 each, and seat 250 persons. They are similarly furnished, each 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. The Normal Hall is 80 feet square and 20 feet in width, with a seating capacity of about
437
HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY.
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-
438
HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY.
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. MeNulta, 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.
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