USA > Illinois > Carroll County > The history of Carroll county, Illinois, containing a history of the county-its cities, towns, etc., a biographical directory war record statistics, portraits of early settlers and prominent men history of the Northwest Illinois miscellaneous matters, etc > Part 36
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And it is further agreed that a failure to pay any instalment called upon our shares of stock respectively, for sixty days after the same shall have become due, and of which due notice of a call thereof shall have been given, shall authorize the board of trustees, at their option, to declare the stock upon which instalments shall have been called and shall remain due and unpaid, and all sums previously paid thereon, forfeited to said incorporation.
Shares of stock were placed at five dollars each, and the old stock book shows that five hundred and forty-eight shares were taken, ranging from one to fifty shares to each individual subscriber, and, omitting the Misses Wood and Gregory-of which, more hereafter-representing eighty-three different indi- viduals. These 548 shares, at five dollars each, were supposed to be equal to $2,740, but the authority from which we are quoting shows that out of the entire eighty-three different subscribers, only six of them paid up their stock in full. These six were: R. G. Bailey, 5 shares, $25 ; E. Funk, 5 shares, $25 ; William Halderman, 10 shares, $50; T. W. Miller, 10 shares, $50; H. B. Puter- baugh, 2 shares, $10; Thomas Rapp, 10 shares, $50. Total paid up shares, 42 ; total cash receipts from this source, $210; from partly paid up shares, etc., $750.75, making the grand total of cash receipts only $960.75.
Synoptical .- Whole number of shares subscribed, omitting Wood and Gregory's, 548; supposed cash value, $2,740, Of this sum only $960.75 was ever realized in cash. Settled by notes, $300.75, on which but a very small per cent was ever paid.
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Such were the surroundings of the seminary, now so prosperous and popu- lar, in its early days. By means of a business correspondence with Isaac Nash, a wealthy farmer of Saratoga County, New York, Mr. Wilson learned of two young ladies of that county, graduates of the Normal School at Albany, who were desirous of coming West to engage as teachers, for which profession they had qualified themselves, intending to make it the business of their lives. These young ladies were Miss Frances A. Wood (now Mrs. Shimer) and Miss Cinder- ella M. Gregory. When the seminary was chartered by the legislature, Mr. Wilson opened a correspondence with these ladies, and, in May, 1853, they came to Mount Carroll as teachers, under the patronage of the seminary inter- ests. Soon after their arrival, they commenced their engagement in the second story of the building now known as the Ashway Building, and then the only brick building in town. At that time the land where the seminary buildings have been erected, down as far as the Baptist Church, on Main Street, was a wheat field, valued at only $7.50 per acre, and considered away out of town. Although it was generally understood that these teachers were employed in the seminary interests, they were thoroughly independent of the board of seminary trustees. Only the influence of the seminary incorporators was behind them. They made all the necessary arrangements, provided the school room. paid all the bills, and collected all tuition fees. Their first term commenced on the IIth of May, 1853, with eleven pupils, but closed with forty This select school (for it was in reality nothing more) was continued down town about one year and three months.
When the Board of Trustees came to select a site for the contemplated seminary building, there was a remarkable vigilance on the part of land-owners, and the movements of the board were carefully watched. Wherever they per- ambulated, lands suddenly and rapidly increased in value. As an example : When the Misses Wood and Gregory came to Mount Carroll, in the Spring of 1853, the lands from the depot down as far as the Baptist Church were held, as previously stated, at $7.50 per acre. But when a site was selected there for the seminary building, they jumped up in price to $roo per acre. The magical charms of Aladdin's lamp, as related in the tales of the Arabian Nights, were lost as compared with the touch of these trustees. But five acres were pur- chased for $500, and in 1854 a brick building 42 by 46 feet on the ground, two stories and a half in height, with basement, was erected thereon. This building was erected under contract at a cost of $4,500, not including window blinds, etc. It contained twenty rooms, and as soon as finished, which was in October, 1854, the seminary formally organized under the charter, and the Misses Wood and Gregory employed as teachers at a stated salary of $300 per year each.
About the time the building was finished, the teachers were enjoying a vacation, and had gone back home to Saratoga County, New York, on a visit to their friends. Money was borrowed to furnish the building, and forwarded to Misses Wood and Gregory with instructions to expend it in the purchase of such furniture as, in their judgment, was necessary. At the end of six months the creditors began to clamor for their money, and it was found that a new financial management was necessary to the success of the institution. The expenses exceeded the income. The stock subscribers became dissatisfied, and the corporators began to devise ways and means to shift the responsibility of the enterprise. At last an arrangement was made by which the two New York women agreed to pay the cost of the building, $4,500; the trustees to donate the furniture on condition that they (Misses Wood and Gregory) would continue the school for a period of ten years, and Rinewalt and Halderman donated five acres of ground. Subsequently, claims for money borrowed, etc., were pre- sented, which the plucky and enterprising teachers likewise assumed, on the condition of their being released from their ten years' obligation. All of this indebtedness, however, was not paid in money. Mr. Rinewalt, who had always
Henry Thimer Ab, 169, 1
MT CARROLL,
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been a firm and fast friend of the institution, as well as of the teachers, assumed and paid the furniture debt, in turn for which a life scholarship in the seminary was issued to his son. Thus it will be seen, as the history of this institution pro- gresses, that the seminary owes all of its successes, merit and popularity to the Misses Wood and Gregory-the former of whom was the financial and business manager, and the latter the school worker. All the help they ever had from the community in which the seminary has been built up, was the donation of the five acres of ground and about one thousand dollars of money paid in by the stockholders. In this connection it is proper to remark that when these women came to Mount Carroll, all their cash capital was about $80, belonging to Miss Gregory-her sole savings of three years' teaching after their graduation. This was all that Miss Gregory ever put into the enterprise in money, either directly or indirectly-i. e., nothing through her home friends as a loan or otherwise. Miss Wood had nothing at the time in her own right, but an indomitable will and determination. But with such a heavy debt hanging over them, without help from some source, their undertaking would have fallen. In the person of Isaac Nash, before mentioned, who married a sister of Miss Wood, the institution had a friend in whom there " was neither variableness nor shadow of turning," and he came to the relief of his sister and her co-laboror when relief was most needed. To his generosity, liberality and confidence in her ability, honesty and man- agement, Miss Wood acknowledges her obligations. To his help, when all other sources failed, she accords a large share of the success that at last crowned the seminary of which she is now the sole manager and principal. Whatever of honor and fame attaches to this seminary, and it is wide-spread, should be equally divided between the Misses Wood and Gregory, and Isaac Nash, the financial and liberal farmer of Milton, New York.
Referring to Isaac Nash, the seminary's best friend, Mrs. Wood Shimer says in her own language :
" While true I came at the time empty-handed, my brother-in-law, Isaac Nash, coming with us and defraying iny expenses, etc., I afterwards put into this enterprise a small patrimony received on the settlement of my father's estate, of about two thousand dollars. This, of course, was a little help, but quite inadequate to meet the exigencies liable to arise in such an undertaking, and here came in the valuable aid, as backer, of Mr. Nash, who not only stood ready to relieve any business emergency, but did so many things to contribute to our comfort and pleasure, and as one instance of his thoughtfulness, indulge me in giving you the history of my first horse and carriage in the West. In the Summer of 1854, while I was East purchasing the furniture for the new semi- nary building put up by the trustees (for they entrusted this all to us) Mr. Nash said to me : 'You have always enjoyed driving so much, you must have a horse and carriage at Mount Carroll. Go to Saratoga with your Cousin David (whom manv of the citizens will remember spending the Winter of 1854-5 here) and select as handsome a carriage as you choose, and order a harness to match. Cousin David shall break Franky (a very fine young horse Mr. Nash had raised) to go single, and then he shall take the entire rig out to Mount Carroll for you. All was done according to orders, and a few weeks after our return here in Sep- tember, 1854, Cousin David arrived with horse, carriage and harness. This is but one of many examples I might give of the thoughtful kindness of my brother-in-law. Mrs. Nash, my only sister, who was some twenty-one years my senior, and more as a mother to me, was also constantly mindful of our wants, and contributing with a liberal and untiring hand to our necessities and to our pleasure. To me it seems that such another noble, generous couple as my sister and her husband can rarely be found, and such untiring benefactors as they proved through all those years of labor and trial which must be met in the pioneer work of such an enterprise, but few are blessed with. That noble sister has gone to her reward. The brother-in-law, though now eighty years of age, con-
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tinues to pay me annual visits. I am now (December, 1877) in daily expectation of his arrival. That he enjoys witnessing the success that has crowned our enterprise, I need not say.
"One other couple, not residents of this county, to whom I am indebted for much of encouragement in this work, I would name-Rev. Thomas Powell and wife, of Ottawa, Illinois. Mr. Powell became pastor of the church to which my parents and sister belonged (in Saratoga County, N. Y.) when I was a babe six months old, and thus the first ten years of my life, though not of a very appreciative age, I sat under his preaching, and to me he was the model preacher. Mrs. Poweil I recollect as one of my very earliest teachers-the first teacher of whom I have any distinct recollection, as I began my school life at two and a half years of age (quite too young, by the way, for sensible children to go to school), and one for whom I entertained the greatest admiration (I had almost said adoration) of any teacher I ever had, and the lapse of over forty-five years has in no measure diminished the feeling, but matured it into the highest regard for both as friends and counsellors. Over forty years ago Mr. Powell came to Illinois under the auspices of the Mission Board, and the great pioneer work he so successfully achieved renders him peculiarly susceptible to, and appreciative of, sacrifices in others. Thus have I had a most valued adviser and sincere sympathizer in all my work here, and when he shall be called to his reward, Mount Carroll Seminary will lose a most valued friend. Long may that day be deferred."
In 1857, the managers felt justified in undertaking an addition to their building, and, acting as their own architect and draughtsman-or draughts- woman-Miss Wood prepared the plans and specifications for an addition 21 by 60, to the southeast part of the original building. This addition was all completed under her own immediate supervision. Mechanics were employed and paid by the day, and the closest economy exercised in every particular. This addition, like the original building, was raised two and a half stories above the basement, embraced twenty-three rooms, and cost the same as the first-$4,500.
Success and popularity attended the seminary from the time it passed under the exclusive management and control of Misses Wood and Gregory. When it was formally opened by the trustees and incorporators, in October, 1854, the salary paid these ladies was only $300 each .. When the original management grew discouraged, their united savings did not exceed $500, but they had con- fidence and faith in the enterprise, and they determined to make it a success, and when a woman once wills to do a thing, she generally does it. But here were two women with one will to accomplish the one purpose, and they suc- ceeded. The debt hanging over the institution when they assumed its manage- ment, and which they agreed to pay, was only an incentive to greater energy and determination. Seven out of every ten men would have shrunk from the undertaking, but these women seemed to accept the situation as a harbinger of success, and from April, 1855, to the present, success has attended its every step. As its patronage increased, the debts were paid off, and new plans devised for its enlargement and improvement. Miss Wood planned and schemed and worked outside-in the school-room, when necessary; in the kitchen, when occasion required -- superintended the building of the additions -- painted (the cornices excepted) and papered some of them entire; contracted for the material wherever the most favorable terms could be had, and managed everything with a skill that defied opposition, while it commanded admiration. Miss Gregory was no less earnest among the pupils, and thus the work went on.
Up to 1864, the seminary had been open to both sexes, but in that year it was closed against young men and boys, and devoted exclusively to the educa- tion of girls and young women. This was not because the management was opposed to educating the sexes together, but because the accommodations were
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not sufficient. On the contrary, the principal is in favor of the co-education of the sexes, and hopes, at no distant day, to be able to re-open the seminary to boys and young men. This year another addition was undertaken. This addi- tion was built on the west side of the first addition, was thirty feet in width and seventy feet long, extending ten feet south of and taking in the first addition. Both additions were raised to a uniform height with the old building, which was unroofed, and the whole placed under one cover, presenting the appearance of one building. This last addition added thirty-eight rooms to the institution, all of which were larger than any previously provided. These enlargements and improvements cost about $11,000.
A third addition of 40 by 100 feet at the northeast corner of the buildings already erected, was commenced in 1865 and completed in 1867. It has four stories and a fifteen-room attic-adding, all told, seventy-one rooms, and increasing the other conveniences in like proportion, and costing about $30,000. As in the construction of the other additions, so in this one, Miss Wood superintended the building from its commencement to its completion. She contracted for the lumber with Minnesota Mills, and had it delivered in strings of rafts at Savanna. There she contracted with planing mills to receive it, reduce it to proper dimensions for particular purposes, to dress it and deliver it on the cars, having also contracted with the railroad authorities to deliver it from Savanna at the Mount Carroll depot. In this way she maintains that she saved fully, if not more than half in the cost of the lumber as compared with the price asked by dealers here. Lime, glass, paint, paper, etc., were bought the same way. The stone used was taken from her own quarries by men hired by the day.
When the seminary was located, the owners of the lands thereabouts laid off an addition to Mount Carroll. and the town commenced to grow up that way. When the financial panic of 1857 fell upon the country, these improve- ments were materially checked. Wishing enlarged grounds, steps were taken to secure the vacation as a town plat of that addition, and the seminary inter- ests, by purchase, at $100 per acre, increased its domain there to twenty-five acres. These grounds were enclosed by a substantial fencing and planted with trees, shrubs, vines, etc., until it has become a garden of beauty, as well as an ornament, not only to the seminary, but to the town at which it is located.
Retrospective .- From October, 1854, to April, 1855, the seminary was under the control of the incorporators. The last board of trustees were Hon. John Wilson, president; J. P. Emmert, Esq., secretary; H. G. Gratton, treasurer; Nathaniel Halderman, William T. Miller, Garner Moffett, John A. Clark, Rev. W. W. Harsha and John Rinewalt. From April, 1855, to December, 1857, under the control of Miss F. A. Wood and Miss C. M. Gregory. From December, 1857 to July 18, 1870, under the management of Mrs. F. A. Wood Shimer (Miss Wood having married Dr. Henry Shimer). July 1870, the partnership between Mrs. Wood Shimer and Miss Gregory was dissolved, and the former lady became sole manager of the institution. Miss A. C. Joy, of Maine, an accomplished lady and thorough educator, is now associate principal. Besides her accomplish- ments as a teacher, she is a valuable business aid-de-camp to Mrs. Shimer in the management of the large and increasing business of the seminary. Dr. Shimer's present connection with the school is that of a lecturer, although he has, at times, served as one of the teachers, generally in the mathematical department.
When he and Miss Wood were married, he did not assume any of the business duties of the institution, but preferred to leave its entire control in the hands of the one who had fashioned, shaped, guided and directed it to such magnificent success. A great student of Natural History, he has collected a choice cabinet for the use of the school. Competent judges assert that his
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ornithological collection is not equalled in any public institution in the Northwest.
Through the influence of Hon. E. B. Washburn, this institution was made one of the depositories of copies of all the public documents published at Washington, of which there are thirty to forty volumes of every session of Con- gress. Besides these, there is a library of about 3,000 volumes that is con- sidered very complete. The music rooms are furnished with the best of pianos and organs, as well as with the most proficient teachers. In all its details the Mount Carroll Seminary ranks among the best institutions in the country. It has ample facilities for the accommodation of 180 pupils, and has turned out about sixty graduates since the adoption of a regular course of study, in 1860. For the last ten years, it has maintained an average yearly attendance of 175 pupils, coming from all the Western states.
This great institution has been built up in a quarter of a century, and in the main is the work of one woman. When likely to fail under the manage- ment of men, this woman of the great head and iron will, aided and sup- ported by a no less determined sister, put her whole soul into the work, and has wrought out a position for the seminary that is an honor, not only to the state in which it has been built up, but to that national government, which is based upon the intelligence and virtue of its people.
Referring to another one of the early friends of the seminary, Mrs. Shimer says :
"When we came to Mount Carroll, Henry G. Grattan was editor and proprietor of the Carroll County Republican, and deserves honorable mention for the aid he gave to this enterprise. He had no money to give, but gave space freely in the editorial columns of his paper, and through these, with the enthusiasm with which he worked for every enterprise that looked towards the improvement of the town, he gave more true aid to this institution in its incipi- ent year than all the money paid by the citizens of this county, which, as else- where shown, amounted to about one thousand dollars. Mr. G. long since retired from the editorial chair and is now a well-to-do farmer in Alamakee County, Iowa."
The Normal Department is a valuable feature of the school. The princi- pal being a graduate of the New York Normal School, and thoroughly imbued with the value of that system of instruction for those having teaching in view, naturally has given prominence to this department. Hundreds of teachers have been educated here, and from their ranks many prominent positions in public and graded schools, in seminaries, academies and colleges, are being most successfully and honorably filled. The teachers from this institution com- mand a decided preference and the demand exceeds the supply. Of those in attendance the past year, over twenty-five had good positions secured within a month from the close of the school year.
A second charter was obtained under date of February 25, 1867, which named Mrs. F. A. Wood Shimer and Miss Cinderella M. Gregory, as sole incor- porators. This charter granted full college powers of conferring degrees. Hon. Elijah Funk, one of the oldest and most honored citizens of the county, was the representative at that time, and gave his influence to the measure.
Under the liberal management of the seminary, provision is made for free tuition to one teacher from each township of Carroll County, and one also from each county in the state.
The Manual Labor Department is another valuable feature of this school, affording the means to scores of the most worthy young women of securing an education and fitting themselves for positions of usefulness. This is not an Industrial School, as none are required to work. The object is merely to give the opportunity to those who could not otherwise enjoy the advantages of a
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seminary ; to young women of energy and character, to work their way, earning their own education. There are, at this writing, above forty in this depart- ment doing all the manual labor of the institution, except the work of one laundry woman, one cook, and a matron. Thus, with the "Teachers' Pro- vision," giving time to those needing, and the manual labor provision, the way is open at this institution for any young lady of good ability, with energy and perseverance, to secure an education to fit herself for a sphere of usefulness.
A Department of Telegraphy was established in January, 1878, largely for the benefit of a class of young women who wish to prepare for something that may enable them to be self-sustaining. A competent and experienced tele- graph operator has charge of this department, and makes the course not only complete, but thoroughly practical, thus fitting a class for some other sphere of usefulness of business than teaching.
In 1859, the Neosophic Society of the seminary established the first literary periodical of the school. It was to be sustained by the voluntary contributions of the students and conducted by a corps of editors elected by the students, and to be issued monthly; eight pages, each page 14 by 16 inches, of four columns to each page. The printing was done in the office of the county paper for about a year, at the end of which time the principal bought the office and complete fixtures and removed the same to the seminary, where the Seminary Bell was printed by the students, George R. Shaw, of Galena, a practical printer and student of the school, being foreman. The war was in progress, and during 1862 the call for volunteers took away the foreman. The expenses of running a paper were largely increased. War news was about all the public cared for, and a complication of circumstances led to the suspension of the Seminary Bell. The war still raged and there was no certainty when it could be resumed. The press and material would deteriorate in value if kept, and the principal decided to sell the entire office while prices were high. For six years the school was without a printed paper. In 1868, the Oread Society established a monthly journal, quarto form, of 16 pages, which has steadily grown till it now comprises 28 pages, including a neat cover. The exchanges furnish ample matter for a reading room.
A fact worthy of note is that this school has never resorted to the practice of nearly all others, in employing agents to solicit pupils and funds. Never have the principals asked a person for his or her patronage. Never has an agent been employed for such a purpose. Never has a dollar been donated to the enterprise by the public except the sum of about one thousand dollars in stock, elsewhere noted, and the original five acres of ground where the semi- nary stands. Of this the principal and present proprietor really had very little benefit, except of the five acres of ground, from the fact, as elsewhere shown, they paid the full cost, as per contract price, of the building, and the larger part of the cost of the furniture.
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