USA > Wisconsin > An illustrated history of the state of Wisconsin : being a complete civil, political, and military history of the state, from its first exploration down to 1875 > Part 3
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Reference has been made, in this volume, to the State Capitol building, - one of the finest of the State buildings. It is an elegant structure, and was built in an economical manner. It could not be rebuilt, probably, for double the original cost. The whole cost was about five hundred thousand dollars.
The University of Wisconsin is one of the State institutions that the State justly takes pride in. An account of the erection of the buildings has been heretofore given. They are beautifully situated on University Hill, one mile west of the State Capitol. The institu- tion is governed by a board of regents, ten in number, and has twenty-seven professors and instructors. John Bascom, LL.D., is president. It was founded upon a grant of seventy-two sections of land, made by Congress to the Territory in 1838, and subsequent grants, including the Agricultural College Grant. These lands are sold, and the income arising from the sale appropriated to the wants of the university. It has experienced all the vicissitudes of similar
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State educational institutions, but is now firmly established, and has the confidence of the community. The institution has been repeatedly re-organized, and at present consists of (1) a college of arts, in- cluding the department of agriculture, the department of mining and metallurgy, the department of military science and of civil engineer- ing; (2) the college of letters, with a preparatory department ; (3) law college; (4) female college ; and (5) post-graduate course.
By the law of 1872 all graduates of graded schools who shall have pursued a regular course, and shall have passed an examination satis- factory to the faculty of the university, shall be entitled to free tui- tion in all the colleges of the university. In the year 1875 the total number of students in attendance, at the opening of the fall term of 1874, was four hundred and eleven.
The State Normal Schools of Wisconsin are under the direction of a board of regents, and are supported by a portion of the income of the school-fund, and twenty-five per cent of the proceeds arising from the sale of the swamp and overflowed lands. In February, 1866, Platteville was selected as the site of a school; and in the month of May of the same year, Whitewater was selected as another. The school at Platteville was opened in October, 1866. It is now in charge of Prof. E. A. Charlton. The school at Whitewater was opened April 21, 1868, under the charge of Prof. Oliver Arey. A. third normal school was projected and located at Oshkosh. It was completed in 1870, and opened in September, 1871. It is in charge of Prof. G. E. Albee. These three schools have in training an ave- rage aggregate of about six hundred normal students, and possess- superior buildings for their accommodation. A fourth school has recently been located at River Falls, Pierce County, and will be opened in the fall of 1875.
The Institution for the Education of the Blind is located at Janes- ville. It was first supported by the citizens of Janesville; and in. 1850 the State adopted it, and erected a suitable building for its use. It is under the charge of five trustees, with a superintendent. The. institution was first opened in October, 1850. On the first of Octo- ber, 1873, it had seventy-seven pupils in attendance. The building: occupied by the institution was destroyed by fire in 1874; and a new building is in process of erection.
The Institute for the Deaf and Dumb is located at Delavan, Wal- worth County, on the Western Union Railroad. It was incorporated in 1852, and is in charge of five trustees. Instruction is given by signs, by the manual alphabet, by written language, and to one class by articulation. Two trades are taught, - cabinet-making and shoe-
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making. The whole number of pupils who have been instructed in twenty-one years is three hundred and seventy-four, of whom one hundred and forty-eight were in attendance Oct. 1, 1873. The insti- tution is in charge of George L. Weed, jun., as principal.
The Wisconsin State Hospital for the Insane is located near Madi- son, and near Lake Mendota ; the railroad to Barraboo passing near the grounds. It is in charge of a board of trustees. It has an elegant and substantial hospital building, with longitudinal and transverse wings, and all surrounded by ornamental grounds and farming- lands, to the extent of three hundred and ninety-three acres. The institution is in charge of A. S. McDill, M.D. In 1873 the whole number of patients was five hundred and eighty-five, and the average number three hundred and twenty-nine.
The Northern Hospital for the Insane is located at Oshkosh, and includes three hundred and thirty-seven acres of land. The north wing and central building have been recently completed, and the first patient was admitted on the 21st of April, 1873. Room is afforded for the reception of about two hundred and fifteen patients. The build- ing will be immediately enlarged to accommodate the wants of the people. The whole number of patients received was two hundred and fourteen, and two hundred and five remained on the 30th of Septem- ber, 1873.
The Soldiers' Orphans' Home was opened Jan. 1, 1866; the ne- cessary means being contributed by private subscription. The prop- erty became the property of the State in March, 1866, and was for- merly known as the Harvey Hospital for the Care and Treatment of Sick and Wounded Soldiers. In 1873 there were one hundred and fifty-three children in the Home. A law was passed subsequently, authorizing the board of trustees to secure homes, for those remain- ing, with farmers and others ; and in 1875 the institution was closed, and the property transferred to the regents of the State University, to be used by them, as they may think best, for the interests of that institution.
The Wisconsin State Prison is located at Waupun, and was occu- pied in 1852. It is a fine stone structure, and has all the appliances for carrying out the workings of an institution of this kind. The number of convicts in the prison, on Sept. 30, 1873, was one hundred and eighty.
The Wisconsin Industrial School for Boys is situated about three- quarters of a mile west of the railroad depot, at Waukesha, in the county of the same name. . It was organized as a house of refuge, and opened in 1860. The name was afterwards changed to State Reform
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School, and again to Wisconsin Industrial School for Boys, its present title. The buildings are located on the southern bank of the Fox River. The object of the institution is to afford a place of confine- ment and instruction to all male children between the ages of ten and sixteen years, who shall be legally committed to the institution as vagrants, or on conviction of any criminal offence, or for incorrigible and vicious conduct, by any court having competent authority to make such commitment.
The whole number of inmates since it was opened, in July, 1860, to Sept. 30, 1873, is nine hundred and sixty-six. The whole number of inmates at the beginning of 1873 is three hundred and sixty-two; and, at the close of the year, two hundred and eighty-one.
The State Historical Society of Wisconsin, although an incorpo- rated society, is, to all intents and purposes, a State institution,. supported mainly by a State appropriation, and may be regarded as the miscellaneous department of the State Library. It has rooms on the second story of the south wing of the Capitol, comprising two large rooms and a hall, all having connecting galleries. The hall is devoted, on the main floor, to the cabinet and museum ; and the rooms and galleries, to the library proper. From the Annual Report for the Year 1874, it appears that the additions to the library were 1,945. volumes of books, 1,186 documents and pamphlets, or, by titles, 3,131. The whole number of books and pamphlets, to Dec. 31, 1875, is 60,385. The additions to the 15th of August, 1875, will increase the whole number to sixty-five thousand.
The library is the best in its department in the North-west. D. S. Durrie is librarian, with two assistants.
The Wisconsin State Library occupies the east half of the second story of the north wing of the Capitol building ; the west half. is used by the Supreme Court ; and two rooms communicate. This library is devoted to law-books and law literature, and is very complete and valuable in English and American works of reference. The library is in charge of Frank Massing, librarian.
Aside from the State institutions, those supported by the State, there are a large number of endowed institutions of learning in Wisconsin, most of which are in a very flourishing condition. There are many of these under the patronage of the Catholics, all of which are a credit to Wisconsin. Besides these, the Protestants have several well-established colleges, among which we may mention the following : -
Lawrence University. - This institution had its inception in the offer (about 1846) of Hon. Amos A. Lawrence of Boston, Mass., to
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give ten thousand dollars towards the foundation of a school to be located in the Lower Fox Valley, provided the Methodists of Wis- consin would raise an additional ten thousand for the same purpose. The offer was accepted. A charter was secured from the Territorial legislature, under the title of the Lawrence Institute of Wisconsin. The bill granting the charter was signed by Gov. Dodge, Jan. 17, 1847. The organization of the board of trustees was effected the same year. After considerable canvassing, the location of the new institution was fixed near the Grand Chute, now the city of Appleton. The place where the city stands was then a wilderness; and the original building for the institute was one of the very first that were undertaken. In 1849, Nov. 12, the school opened, with Rev. W. H. Sampson as principal, R. O. Kellogg, A.B., professor of languages, James M. Phinney, professor of mathematics, and Miss Emeline M. Crooker, receptress. The number of students during the first year was about sixty. The accommodations were meagre, the surround- ings, in many respects, disagreeable, and the means very scanty. But the school had a good reputation from the start, and increased in popularity. The sacrifices of those who had the immediate manage- ment were very great, and at times the prospects very discouraging. In the latter part of 1852, Rev. Edward Cooke, D.D., of Boston, Mass., was elected president. The charter had been altered, so as to confer collegiate powers upon the institution ; and it had taken the legal title of the Lawrence University of Wisconsin.
Dr. Cooke was installed in office at the annual commencement, the last of June, 1853. At the same time the corner-stone of the main building of the college was laid by Dr. M. C. Darling, president of the board of trustees. This structure was completed about three years after, but not before the frame-building previously occupied had been destroyed by fire. The present college-building is a hun- dred and twenty feet long by sixty wide. It is built of stone, and is three stories and a half high above the basement, containing a com- modious chapel capable of seating eight hundred or a thousand people, six recitation-rooms, a large library-room, two fine society- halls, large cabinet and reading-rooms, apparatus-rooms, and dormi- tories for about fifty students.
The first college-class was graduated in 1857, and consisted of seven members, - four gentlemen and three ladies. The whole number of graduates up to this time (1875) is one hundred and sixty-two, of whom one hundred and six are gentlemen, and fifty-six are ladies. From the beginning, ladies, as well as gentlemen, have had the privi- leges of the institution in all its departments ; and for the last ten
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years there has been no discrimination in any respect between the sexes as to advantages and opportunities.
Like many other institutions East and West, this one has had experience of great hardships and much poverty. There were many mistakes, as was almost inevitable, in the early management of its affairs ; and some of these proved nearly fatal. It had, for a long time, an exceedingly small endowment-fund, although a large number of scholarships had been sold, thus cutting off the tuition-fees. The present property of the institution amounts to nearly two hundred thousand dollars. Of this, about sixty thousand dollars constitutes a perpetual endowment-fund, in addition to which a recent but not yet effectual conversion of unproductive property will probably give forty thousand dollars; making the whole endowment nearly a hundred thousand dollars. There are, however, some liabilities and contingencies connected with a part of this, which is likely to diminish the amount. There is, also, a fund of ten thousand dollars donated by Hon. Samuel Appleton of Boston as a library-fund, the income only to be used for the benefit of the library of the college, which from him takes the name of the Appleton Library.
This library now numbers over seven thousand volumes, and is one of the largest, as well as, perhaps, one of the best, working college- libraries in the West.
The institution has a good collection of apparatus, and a valuable cabinet and museum.
Besides the collegiate department, with its four years' parallel courses of study, - classical, scientific, and civil engineering, - there are a preparatory and an academical department, a commercial school, a conservatory of music, and a school of drawing and painting. The number of different students in all departments found in the last catalogue is three hundred and seventy-two, of which ninety are reckoned in the regular college-classes. The faculty consists of fourteen professors and instructors.
The presidency of Dr. Cooke terminated in 1861. He was suc- ceeded by R. Z. Mason, LL.D., who resigned in 1865, and was succeeded by Rev. G. M. Steele, D.D., the present head of the insti- tution.
Ripon College. - In the year 1851, at the first settlement of the town, the citizens of Ripon began a movement to establish an insti- tution of learning of a high order. A charter was obtained, and in the first year the building, now East College, was erected and enclosed. After this beginning, the trustees, aiming at a larger usefulness for their new institution, transferred the entire property
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to the care of the Winnebago District Convention of Presbyterian Ministers and Churches. The churches in the region being very weak at that time, the Convention, deeming it not practicable to raise the small sum ($400) expected in the transfer, requested Rev. J. W. Walcott to hold the property in trust until the churches could raise the money to take it legally and formally off his hands. Mr. Walcott consenting, according to agreement, completed the college-building so far as was then needed, and opened a school in the summer of 1853. Under Mr. Walcott's administration, the school was continued with a good degree of success. The college-grounds were enlarged ; and a second building, Middle College, was erected in 1857. The financial disasters of this year affected the resources of the institu- tion very severely. For about five years it struggled with great financial difficulties, in consequence of which, at the opening of the' war, the school was suspended for a year.
In 1862 a subscription to pay the debts of the college was so far successful, that the trustees re-opened the school ; and, in September of that year, Mr. E. H. Merrell, now professor of Greek, assumed the charge of it. The college, from that date, has had a uniform and rapid growth. In July, 1863, Rev. William E. Merriman of Green Bay was elected president, and E. H. Merrell, professor of ancient languages. At the opening of the term in September, 1863, the first college-class was formed. In that year the debts of the college were all paid, the two college-buildings were completed, and the library was begun. Since its permanent organization for collegiate work, the number of students has steadily increased ; a full faculty has been organized ; and the college has constantly progressed, not only in facilities for instruction, but also in reputation and influence in the State. In 1866 it had outgrown its accommodations; and in 1867 the West College building, larger and better than either of the others, was erected and occupied. Sixty-eight have graduated from the courses. The total number of students last year (1874-75) was three hundred and forty, of whom seventy-five were in college-classes.
The design and policy of Ripon College are clearly defined. The two sexes are educated together, and may take the same courses of study, and enjoy the same privileges. The managers of the col- lege do not regard this as an experiment, but are satisfied from expe- rience, as they affirm, that the co-education plan is in every way best. It requires better conditions, and produces better results, than the education of the sexes separately.
Health, Christian character, and Christian usefulness are made prominent ends of instruction as conducted at Ripon. The instruct-
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ors seek to have the college pervaded with a Christian spirit, and characterized by Christian principles ; and, as a result, they hope to secure a proper Christian morality in their students, and a devotion to service in Christian lives. An academical department is con- nected with the collegiate. The institution is open to all students of suitable age, when they have concluded their studies in the higher public schools. There are two courses of study in the collegiate department, - the scientific and the classical, differing chiefly in the relative attention given to sciences and classical studies. In extent and thoroughness of study, the standard of a liberal education is maintained, while instruction is studiously adapted to the wants of the times.
The site of Ripon is among the most beautiful in this beautiful State. The college-grounds include nearly twelve acres, and are high, convenient, and pleasant. The three college-buildings are built of stone, and afford room sufficient for the instruction of four hun- dred and fifty students, of whom about two hundred may reside in the buildings. There are no encumbrances of any kind on the college- property ; and its financial management has been remarkably thrifty and economical. Since the organization of the institution as a col- lege, in 1863, it has been operated on its own earnings and the income of its limited endowment. Every dollar contributed to it has been used in building up the college, without any diminution for current expenses, or for management, or for raising money.
The design of the trustees is to keep the college near to the poor. The expense of education is very low. The entire cost of board, room-rent, tuition, and incidentals for a school-year, is less than $135. Besides, students are encouraged to help themselves. The last cata- logue has the following, " It is the purpose of the college to afford every possible encouragement to worthy students of limited means. Young ladies who wish may assist in the domestic department, and thus pay, in part, for their board. None are required to render any domestic service, and none are allowed to work more than two hours and a half a day, except in special cases. . . . Persevering stu- dents of economical habits and good health may, by taking time enough, complete the course, and earn a large portion, or even the whole, of their own support. . . . Those who are in earnest for an education, and have tact in helping themselves, need not be deterred for want of means."
One of the prominent features of the college is the musical depart- ment. In 1868 the trustees decided to appoint a professor of music, under whose direction the most thorough instruction should be
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secured. Accordingly, Mr. John C. Fillmore, a pupil of the Conser- vatory of Music of Leipzig, Germany, then in charge of the Conser- vatory of Music of Oberlin College, was appointed to the place. The department was thoroughly organized, providing instruction in piano-playing, theory, vocal culture, and chorus singing. It is the steady aim of the professor and his assistants to make his department one of scholarship and intellectual discipline, as much as that of Latin or mathematics. The most profound compositions of the great masters are studied ; and while the most thorough technical training is provided, yet this is made a means to the end sought; viz., the ability to understand and interpret the best compositions. Three courses of study are provided. The rates of tuition, as in the literary departments, are very low. The chorus of mixed voices, called the Mendelssohn Society, studies weekly selections from the best oratorios and other compositions.
This sketch furnishes but a glimpse of one of the best organized institutions of Wisconsin, and one which is contributing its full share toward making the history of the State honorable. It has about it the signs of vigorous growth and permanent usefulness.
Beloit College originated in the deliberations of ministers and laymen of Congregational and Presbyterian churches in Wisconsin and Northern Illinois. In May, 1845, a convention of sixty-nine members, after prayerful deliberation, decided unanimously that the exigencies of Wisconsin and Northern Illinois, in the matter of pro- viding for the liberal education of the youth of that region, required the establishment of a college for young men, and a female seminary, of the highest order, on either side of the State line. Beloit, in Wisconsin, was fixed upon as the place for the college ; and Rockford, in Illinois, for the female seminary. A self-perpetuating board of trus- tees for the college was then elected, and incorporated by charter from the Territorial legislature of Wisconsin in 1846. The corner-stone of the first building was laid in June, 1847; and in the fall of the same year five young men were received to the first college-class. Jackson J. Bushnell, A.M., and Joseph Emerson, A.M., both gradu- ates of Yale College in the class of 1841, were the first regularly appointed professors, in the spring of 1848. Rev. Aaron L. Chapin of Milwaukee, also a graduate of Yale, was elected first president in 1849, and continues still in that office.
The institution embraces a collegiate department and a preparatory school. The collegiate department offers two parallel courses of four years, called respectively the Classical and the Philosophical Course. In the classical course, the branches of study, and the standard of
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scholarship, correspond with those of the best colleges in New Eng- land. The philosophical course combines, with such an amount of Latin and Greek as is considered essential to the best proficiency in any art or science, a more varied range of study and a more exten- sive culture of science. In the preparatory school, also, two parallel . courses are defined, called respectively the Classical Course and the Elementary Scientific Course. These courses occupy three years, and are adapted to meet the requisitions for admission to the courses of the collegiate department. For such as do not contemplate entering college, they offer opportunities for advanced general culture, well- balanced and thorough as far as it goes. The faculty of the college is now (1875) composed of the president, eight professors, and two instructors of the preparatory school.
About two thousand young men have received more or less of cul- ture in the institution ; and the graduates of the full course number two hundred and twelve. Its graduates occupy positions of influence in our own country and many foreign lands. Nearly one-half of them have chosen the clerical profession.
For its endowment and support, this college has depended entirely on private benefactions. Generous donations have been received from friends in both the East and the West; and its property is now estimated at something over two hundred thousand dollars. It has a beautiful location on the banks of Rock River. Its most prominent building is the Memorial Hall, erected in honor of the sons of the college who fell in the late war, and devoted to the collections of the cabinet and library.
The sister institution at Rockford has had a successful career, and done a noble work for the young women of the region, having sent forth two hundred and fourteen graduates from its full course, and thirty-eight normal graduates, and having had more than three thou- sand pupils under its instruction.
Both institutions have contributed much to elevate the general standard of scholarship, and to propagate right ideas of education in these new States.
In this somewhat lengthy Introduction, I have departed from the usual course, and instead of telling what was not included in the volume, that should have been, I have used the space for the present- ation of those features that were unavoidably crowded out of a more proper location.
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