THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 RIVERSIDE
 
 A HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ILLINOIS 
 
 TATB \ ORMAL 
 
 NORMAL, ILLINOIS. 
 
 JOHN W, GOOK ACD JAMBS Y, McHUGH, 
 / 
 
 NORMAL, IILLINOIS. 
 
 1882.
 
 Copyrighted, 1882, by 
 
 JOHN W. COOK AND JAMES V. McHTJGH, 
 NORMAL, ILLINOIS. 
 
 BLOOM INGTON, ILL.: 
 PANTAGRAPH PRINTING AND BINDING ESTABLISHMENT. 
 
 1882.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The close of the first quarter century of the history of the 
 Normal School, and the celebration of that event, suggested the idea 
 of the following volume. The work was begun by Messrs. James 
 V. McIIugh and GeoVge Howell. "When about four-fifths of the 
 work had been printed, Mr. Howell disposed of his interest to John 
 AV. Cook. 
 
 The thanks of the publishers are especially due to those who 
 have- contributed articles and have assisted in the collection of infor- 
 mation. 
 
 The types are not quite intelligible in a few instances. On page 
 sixty-three, Grennell should have appeared instead of "Gunnell;" on 
 page sixty-four, read Stanard instead of "Standard;" on page seventy- 
 one, change "llarwood" to Ilurwood; on page ninety-five, change 
 "Levett" to Swett, and on page ninety-six, change "Benton" to 
 "Wilder. The above are the only errors of especial note. 
 
 It is hoped that the "History" will be of interest to the friends 
 of the school, and that it will contribute to a correct appreciation 
 of an institution that has done its share in promoting the general 
 
 welfare. 
 
 TJIK PUBLISHERS.
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 EARLY HISTORY, J. H. Burnham and E. A. Gastman, 
 
 ILLINOIS PIONEERS OF EDUCATION, James H. Blodgett, .... 9 
 
 LOCATION AND CONSTRUCTION, J. H. Burnham, .... .14 
 
 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GEN. C. E. Hovey, ....... 28 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF THE FACULTY, . . . . . .46 
 
 CHANGES IN THE FACULTY, ......... 52 
 
 PRESENT FACULTY, ..... 
 
 ALUMNI ASSOCIATION, John W. Cook, ..... 55 
 
 NORMAL ALUMNI REGISTER, John W. Cook, ... .56 
 
 PHILADELPHIAN SOCIETY, E. W. Thomas and Others, .... 103 
 
 WRIGHTONIAN SOCIETY, J. H. Burnham and Others, . . . . .116 
 
 INTER-SOCIETY CONTESTS, James V. McHugh, ...... 142 
 
 INTER-NORMAL CONTESTS, ..... . .148 
 
 ARMY LIST, ... .155 
 
 REMINISCENCES, . ..... .159 
 
 THE ECLIPSE OF THE MOON, S. Y. Gillan, .... .162 
 
 THE LIBERAL FIGHT, George Hoffman, ... . 164 
 
 WORKING THE ROADS, ... .167 
 
 DR. HEWETT'S BIRTHDAY, .... .108 
 
 THE SOCIABLE SQUABBLE, ..... .169 
 
 THE QUARTER CENTENNIAL, .... .171 
 
 NORTON'S LETTER, .... . .171 
 
 GEN. HOVEY'S ADDRESS, ........ . 175 
 
 DR. EDWARDS' ADDRESS, ......... 192 
 
 DR. HEWETT'S ADDRESS, .......... 207 
 
 W. L. PILLSBURY'S ADDRESS, ........ 217 
 
 THE CELEBRATION, .......... 227 
 
 THE LABORATORY OK NATURAL HISTORY, S. A. Forbes, .... :.':;<; 
 
 FURTHER IMPROVEMENTS, ......... 249 
 
 WORK OF THE UNDERGRADUATES, ....... 250 
 
 ABSALOM'S PILLAR, H. B. Norton, ........ 251 
 
 NAMES OF THOSE PRESENT THE FIRST DAY, ...... 25:! 
 
 MRS. MARY FRANCES HULL, . . . . . . . . .251 
 
 THE NORMAL SCHOOL ABROAD, ........ 255
 
 EARLY HISTORY. 
 
 Previous to the adoption of the constitution of 1848, Illinois 
 was peopled with emigrants who had generally come from the States 
 of Indiana, Ohio, or Pennsylvania, where, at that time, there existed 
 no system of common schools worthy of the name. These settlers 
 brought with them the ideas and usages prevalent in their old homes. 
 They were favorable to schools, but these schools were either acade- 
 mies, seminaries, or subscription primary, or district schools, supple- 
 mented generally by a little aid from the limited public funds. Our 
 school laws were, however, an improvement upon those of many of 
 our sister States, and our school funds were being provided for on 
 a liberal scale by the donation of the sixteenth section of government 
 land, which donation dates back to the admission of our State into 
 the Union, in 1818, when the foundation was laid for the magnificent 
 school system which we see to-day. This fund, however, though 
 very well in theory, proved, in too many instances, a delusion and 
 a snare in practice. Its management, in a great many instances in 
 the older counties, fell into the hands of men who had no conception 
 of the free school system, and even if they had foreseen the present 
 value of the rich lands, they lacked the financial capacity to manage 
 properly the great trust confided to their care. The settlers, in many 
 instances, banded themselves together to purchase these lands at a 
 mere nominal figure, thereby defrauding their posterity of the full 
 benefit of this magnificent provision. Even where honestly and care- 
 fully managed, this fund often fell short of its capabilities, owing to 
 the quality of the soil, the low value of all real estate, or to the 
 inevitable losses resulting from panics, paper money, and incompetent 
 supervision. 
 
 It therefore happened that from a variety of causes the col- 
 lege and seminary funds, and the general common school funds of 
 this State, previous to 1848, were far below what the greaf men 
 intended who provided for the original grant. Slowly and surely, 
 however, our common schools were progressing. The cultured emi- 
 grants from southern States, liberally educated entirely with their 
 parents' or guardians' money, and the descendents of our first settlers 
 here, who were fortunate enough to enjoy the advantages of an educa- 
 tion derived, in part, from public aid, were largely reinforced by 
 emigrants from New York and New England. The latter were fresh
 
 6 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 from States where common schools were free, and where the great 
 principle of the Republic free education of the masses had been 
 long enough in force to bring forth ripe fruit for western exportation. 
 
 These liberally-educated elements existed throughout the length 
 and breadth of our State. Northern Illinois and the region west of 
 the Illinois river, with scattering settlements in central and southern 
 Illinois, were peopled largely with these New York and New England 
 emigrants. Educated southerners were found all over the State, bufc 
 more especially in southern Illinois. 
 
 The best educated native Illinoisans were most numerous in St. 
 Clair, Madison, Monroe, Randolph, Gallatin, and the Ohio river 
 counties. These elements did not, perhaps, strive with a common 
 plan, but they were animated with a common purpose. They were 
 widely scattered, and enjoyed few means of public discussion, either 
 in convention or newspapers. But when their representatives met at 
 our Legislature, and the school laws were being amended or iv ' H 
 was found that there was a pressing demand for the pass or 'H t" 
 laws as should favor the free education of all the childr*. tiio 
 
 State. The efforts of these pioneers were finally rewarded- when the 
 new constitution of 1848 was framed. This provided a State tax of 
 two mills on the dollar, which should be annually levied by the State 
 Auditor, without the intervention of the Legislature, and a great step 
 was at once taken in the cause of education. 
 
 This tax, though not large in itself, when added to the revenue of 
 the school funds, in counties where these funds had been successfully 
 managed, was at least a nucleus. Legislation provided for the raising 
 of money to erect school houses, and, eventually, by further amend- 
 ments, our most advanced communities were enabled to present 
 successful instances of well-managed public schools. The great 
 impetus given to the cause of public instruction in New York, New 
 England, Indiana, and Michigan, exerted a powerful effect upon the 
 public mind of this State, and the act of 1854 placed our system far 
 in advance of its previous condition. 
 
 The friends of education were scattered all over the State and 
 counted our most energetic and most influential citizens among their 
 number and were fast advancing to the supreme control of our State 
 school legislation. They could now begin to point to hundreds of 
 most admirable free schools, in various parts of the State, taught by 
 the best teachers in .the Union. These schools were very numerous 
 in the extreme northern counties, where the settlers had brought with 
 them, almost perfect and entire, their eastern schools and eastern 
 ideas. Th^se had become naturalized and matured under the liberal 
 laws of Illinois. Scattered through the State were a few bright 
 examples in other counties. LaSalle, Feoria, Knox, Morgan, St. 
 Clair, Madison, and other counties, had brilliant illustrations to add 
 to the general stock, and free schools had not only become popular,
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 7 
 
 but the demand of the hour. This was the period, embracing the 
 year 1854, when our leading educators began to realize that, in order 
 to make our schools all the public were now demanding, they must 
 furnish some system, or source, through which more and bettei 
 teachers could be provided. 
 
 There were teachers then in this State whose superiors have, per- 
 haps, never been found. But it was undeniably true, and is, perhaps, 
 true to-day, that many, many thousands were upon the teachers' plat- 
 form, whose qualifications were far below the proper standard. Our 
 best teachers were then mostly from the older States, and were those 
 who had been educated at colleges or academies of a high grade, 
 though there were not wanting numerous examples of home growth 
 fully equaling the foreign article. 
 
 New England enjoyed almost a monopoly of supplying the best 
 teachers,, and had already commenced their regular production, Nor- 
 mal fcrovools having been in operation there for several years. Ohio 
 was n< ; i f^v behind, while the best colleges of Virginia and Kentucky 
 forway a a goodly proportion. 
 
 The idea of obtaining a State Normal School began to take root 
 and grow about 1856, especially among the teachers of the State who 
 had by this time commenced holding annual conventions. The 
 formation of the Illinois State Teachers' Association marks an era in 
 our educational aifairs. Previous to that time the schools of the 
 State were almost entirely without organization. The general man- 
 agement was in the hands of the Secretary of State, and the schools 
 formed simply a department in his office. Of course they could 
 receive but little intelligent attention from that officer. The free 
 school law itself met with bitter opposition in many parts of the 
 State. Its principles were either misunderstood or misrepresented. 
 County commissioners were elected in the several counties, but their 
 salary was extremely low in nearly every instance. Free high 
 schools were unknown. Under these circumstances, three men, H. 
 H. Lee, of Chicago, J. A. Hawley, of Dixon, and Daniel Wilkins, 
 met at the home of the latter, in Bloomington, for the purpose of 
 trying to devise some plan by which the condition of popular educa- 
 tion might be improved throughout the State. As a result of this 
 conference, a call was issued for a general meeting of the friends of 
 free schools to meet in Bloomington, December 26-9, 1853. The 
 convention assembled pursuant to this call, and D. Brewster, of Kane 
 County, was chosen president, and Wm. H. Powell, of LaSalle 
 County, secretary. It was reported at our late meeting in Springfield 
 that the president is still living. The secretary has not been heard 
 from for several years. 
 
 Three topics were thoroughly discussed at this meeting: It was 
 resolved to ask the Legislature to establish, as a separate office, the 
 State Superintendency; to establish and maintain a Normal School;
 
 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 and it also determined to organize a State Teachers' Association, and 
 secure, if possible, the publication of a journal devoted to the cause 
 of free schools in the State. The Normal School question seems to 
 have provoked a long and spirited debate. It is a curious fact that 
 the same objections were then urged that are biennially reproduced 
 in our Legislature against these schools. Can it be that we are never 
 to reach a period in the discussion when these questions will be set- 
 tled by the logic of events? It does seem as though the actual work- 
 ings of these schools, in the past twenty-five years, has abundantly 
 demonstrated the weakness of the arguments put forth against them 
 in 1853. 
 
 After the adjournment of the convention, the Illinois State 
 Teachers' Institute was organized. The name was changed to Illinois 
 State Teachers' Association, two years afterward, at the second 
 annual meeting, held in Springfield. 
 
 Rev. W. Goodfellow, of the Illinois Wesleyan University, was 
 the first president, and Rev. Daniel Wilkins, the first secretary. A 
 constitution was adopted, which contained nothing remarkable, except 
 that it made provision for the appointment of a committee on almost 
 every conceivable department of school work. After providing that 
 the first annual meeting should be held in the city of Peoria, in 
 December, 185J-, the meeting adjourned. 
 
 The most prominent topic in all the early meetings of the Illi- 
 nois State Teachers' Association, was the organization of a Normal 
 School. At the Peoria meeting, in 185i, and again at Springfield, in 
 1855, the discussion was continued with much warmth. There seem 
 to have been really three parties to the contest : The Normal School 
 men, who contended that the great want of the State was trained 
 teachers, and that these could be secured in no other way than by 
 establishing a separate institution for that purpose; on the other 
 hand, a large and influential class of educational workers, headed by 
 Prof. J. B. Turner, of Jacksonville, who maintained that either an In- 
 dustrial University, with a Normal Department, should be established, 
 or else that an Agricultural Department should be attached to the 
 Normal School; lastly, those who thought it would be disastrous to 
 the best interests of all parties if education and religion were 
 divorced, and who favored the founding of Normal Departments, by 
 the State, in connection with all the sectarian colleges already estab- 
 lished. The discussion of these various views was so long and bitter 
 at the Springfield meeting that the following resolution was adopted: 
 
 Resolved, That the Association does not wish to discuss any university question, 
 but occupy themselves (sic) with the interests of common schools and Normal Schools. 
 
 When the Association met in Chicago, in 1856, Prof. Turner sent 
 a letter, gracefully withdrawing from the contest. The following 
 extract will contribute to a clearer understanding of the whole con- 
 troversy :
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 9 
 
 "It has ever been my opinion, and the general opinion of the 
 friends of the Industrial League, that a Normal School, with an 
 Agricultural Department connected with it, would be more strongly 
 bound to the interests and feelings of the masses of our people, and 
 therefore more popular and prosperous than if it stood entirely alone, 
 for precisely the same reason that such institutions do not so well 
 prosper when standing beneath the shadow of a college or university, 
 or higher order of school; for it is a law of nature that the stronger 
 and higher should draw from the weaker and the lower. Still, if this 
 is not agreeable to the teachers of the State, or the friends of the 
 Normal School, I wish them to organize it in such manner as they 
 think best ; and in any plan the Teachers' Association may devise, 
 the friends of the League will most heartily cooperate, provided it is 
 effectually separated from such partisan political control as would 
 render it a curse instead of a blessing to the State. 
 
 It is high time, my friends, that you had your Normal School, 
 whether we ever get an Agricultural Department to it or not. Let 
 us all take hold together and try to obtain it in such form as you 
 may, on the whole, think best. 
 
 Respectfullv submitted, by yours most truly, 
 
 J. B. "TURNER." 
 
 After a long and animated discussion, the Association passed the 
 following : 
 
 "Resolved, That the educational interests of Illinois demand the immediate 
 establishment of a State Normal School for the education of teachers-, and, in the 
 language of the Board of Education, ' We therefore recommend an appropriation, by 
 the next Legislature, of a sufficient sum annually to support such a seminary of 
 learning.' In the following February, the Legislature passed, and the Governor 
 approved, 'An act for the establishment and maintenance of a Normal University.' " 
 
 Before giving a history of the University, its organization, etc., 
 allow us to introduce a letter received by 0. E. Mann at the quarter- 
 centennial of the State Teachers' Association, held at Springfield, 
 December 26, 1881. It contains many interesting facts respecting the 
 
 ILLINOIS PIONEERS OF 'EDUCATION. 
 
 CENSUS OFFICE, [ 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., December 26, 1881. j 
 C. E. MANN, Chairman Executive Committee, S. T. A. : 
 
 DEAR SIR : C. E. Hovey insists that I shall explain his failure 
 to write and myself respond for him. He is in a great pressure of 
 work just now, and regrets he did not begin when your note first 
 came, when he might have written something. We have recalled 
 many things in view of the anniversary at hand. I knew most of 
 the men prominent in the first meeting, and I had an early part in
 
 10 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 the Association's work. Joliet, Jacksonville, Quincy, Dixon, Eock 
 Island, and Rockford have each been the place of meeting at least 
 once. Decatur, Ottawa, Galesburg, and Peoria, each at least twice. 
 Bloomington and Springfield at least three times each. I cannot 
 locate all the* war-time meetings. Mr. Hovey's reminiscences freshen 
 up my knowledge of matters mostly known to me as they occurred, 
 and so little wholly new to me that this may pass for our joint pro- 
 duction, without separate credit for each item possibly due to him. 
 Some of the men prominent in those early meetings are yet prominent. 
 The first meeting was at Peoria, the year liovey came west, and 
 while he was yet a teacher of a stock school, the germ of the present 
 school system of Peoria. There was W. H. Powell presiding as first 
 vice-president, in absence of O. Springstead, president. Although 
 afterward State Superintendent, his record can only be followed as a 
 warning to teachers not to be too fond of money. Then there were 
 men with the teachers in interest, but not in school-room work at the 
 time. A strong force of such men was represented at that Peoria 
 meeting by one of eccentric enthusiasm, who attracted attention by 
 the balancing of his short name with the initials before and after it : 
 W. F. M. Arny, D. V. M., the latter part not interpreted to this 
 day so far as. heard from. He was afterward active in "Bleeding 
 Kansas;" yet later, acting governor of New Mexico; went to England 
 to look after one of those great estates so often left to unknown 
 Americans, and is reported to have died after his return. Bronson 
 Murray, active in agricultural ideas as applied to education, was there. 
 He left the State for an eastern residence after spurring others to the 
 work. Representing these agricultural men on the one hand, and the 
 school-room teachers on the other, the champion of agricultural 
 education, with broad culture, a sympathizing perception of the needs 
 of the actual teacher, serving to check impracticable notions, with a 
 bull-dog pertinacity, and a pride of independence in his ideas, was 
 J. B. Turner, of Jacksonville, of whom an opponent in debate, in 
 his vexation, said "he wanted to go in a gang all by himself." How- 
 ever, he was not always found alone in his many undertakings. Hovey 
 insists that from a speech in Putnam County, delivered by J. Turner, 
 whose ideas had gathered force meantime, came a rally and a petition 
 from the Illinois Legislature, which inaugurated the national grants 
 for the Industrial Colleges. It was the momentum of the movement 
 of J. B. Turner and Bronson Murray, and their associates, that made 
 the Normal School an early possibility, supported with the university 
 fund, granted to the State by the general government forty years 
 before. 
 
 The State Superintendent of that day was at Peoria Ninian "W". 
 Edwards, first Superintendent of Illinois Public Schools, yet living 
 to link the great State of to-day with the infant Territory, of which 
 his father was the only Governor. At other early meetings, John F.
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 11 
 
 Brooks, yet of Springfield, and Horace Spalding, of Jacksonville, 
 helped give form and force to the new order of things. 
 
 Uncle Sim Wright was at that Peoria opening. A wonderful 
 man for hard work, he had made a little village school, that even yet 
 is not reached by railroad, the nucleus for the young people forty 
 miles around. The sense of his power was even then upon the book 
 agents, who there showed the mighty zeal that has characterized them 
 in greater or less degree ever since. The prospects of the new era 
 in Illinois made them almost as zealous as in a recent year when they 
 gathered in Missouri to aid in determining, for the good of the people, 
 what books would be used for the next five years. Uncle Sim had 
 good qualities for us to copy, and he would sacrifice himself to his 
 work. He had his faults too, and died too soon, himself his own 
 worst enemy. The school attendance of Illinois was not before, nor 
 since, so high in proportion to population as when Simeon Wright, as 
 agent of the State Association in 1857-8, preached an educational 
 revival in the free school-room day and night. 
 
 Newton Bateman was at that formation meeting, and his forma- 
 tive influence was already shaping the first graded school of the State, 
 and to the younger teachers the name has become so much a matter 
 of course that they hardly know, even as a matter of history, that 
 the system and Newton Bateman have not always been synonymous 
 terms. 
 
 Not to dwell especially farther on the individuality of that Peoria 
 meeting, except to notice that Charles Davis, the mathematical pro- 
 fessor at West Point, was one of the speakers, and that Lucy Stone 
 and Henry B. Blackwell were there, the meeting must be charac- 
 terized as giving form and vitality to at least three movements of 
 great importance. 1. A. Teachers' Journal. 2. The Normal Univer- 
 sity. 3. The character of the State Superintendency. Mr. Edwards 
 had been appointed to the office by the governor. 
 
 In the early years of the Association, questions that have passed 
 so long that some teachers of many years experience think they were 
 always settled, stirred up the very depths of zealous excitement. 
 The men who met at Peoria did not represent the free schools. It 
 was only exceptionally rich districts that had free schools, through 
 lucky sales of their township land or accumulation of their funds. 
 Nor were the graded schools represented, for there were hardly 
 enough in the State to make a plural number. Many Illinois public 
 schools were under the plan of signing a certain number of scholars 
 to be paid for whether they came or not, and the patron received 
 some credit for any allowance there might be on the schedule. The 
 early public schools of the graded form even were not free. Tuition 
 was paid in Jacksonville, in Peoria, and in Springfield for some time 
 after the graded methods were introduced. The one idea, educate 
 the people, drew those pioneers together, and all the questions of
 
 12 HISTORY OF THE II.I.INOIS 
 
 how were yet fresh for discussion and possessed an intense vitality 
 that those who come to reap the fruits x>f others' planting cannot 
 realize. 
 
 Insurance and law, as well as death, have taken off some who 
 did zealous pioneer work. There were Tabor, of Aurora, and Hey- 
 wood, of the same place, and now I find my memories flashing all 
 about till I will drive a peg at the war and dismiss most this side of 
 it as modern history. C. JEL Dupee, then at the head of the Chicago 
 High School, has not been known by this generation of teachers, but 
 he can help them out of legal difficulties. D. S. Wentworth still 
 wears the armor of an old warrior. W. II. Wells yearns for schools 
 enough even now and then to take official relation to them, as also 
 does J. F. Eberhart. The great apostle of Egypt is known, in the 
 benignant name of Father Roots, to the present teachers who do not 
 know his fighting capacity of the formative days. There is N. C. 
 Nason, long a power, not known by his face to half so many as read 
 his name as publisher, for many years, of the Illinois Teacher, a 
 man of sound education, and rare taste as a printer. There is Wil- 
 lard, the painstaking professor of history in the Chicago High School, 
 who helped more than most men know in shaping the system of Illi- 
 nois. There was J. D. Low, first principal of the St. Louis High 
 School, superintendent briefly in Springfield, of larger influence in 
 Illinois than to be measured by the years of his teaching in the 
 State. There was the sturdy A. M. Brooks, whose ratio of boys 
 among graduates, in Springfield, has been rarely excelled in any sim- 
 ilar school. A. M. Gow is now editing a paper at Washington, 
 Pennsylvania. James Gow edits a paper and raises corn in Iowa. 
 S. H. White, a hard-working, devoted man, finds his long form valu- 
 able in overlooking sheep on an Iowa prairie.* President Edwards 
 was known to us as of St. Louis, when war came. He and President 
 Hewett are a part of present, as well as of former history. Matthew 
 Andrew and J. B. Roberts are names that come easily together as 
 of Galesburg, where one still does good service, while the other 
 teaches yet in Indianapolis. Trade, especially in books, has taken 
 some strong men, as Woodard and Cook, who both sat in the Legis- 
 lature, and Herrick, who did not sit in the Legislature. 
 
 Every State Superintendent of the State was identified with the 
 record before the war. J. Y. ]S r . Standisli was a faithful pioneer, of 
 whom the present Association sees little. There were B. M. Rey- 
 nolds, of Rock Island, HOW of Wisconsin, the earnest Kelly, of 
 Whiteside, Wescott, most wonderful in power of minute investiga- 
 tion, now at the head of the Racine schools, Dr. Sewall, now in Colo- 
 rado, and Ira Moore, now of Minnesota. 
 
 The Normal School was just beginning to show its results. Your 
 
 *Mr. White died March 15, 1883.
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 13 
 
 presiding officer (Gastman) and P. E. "Walker,' who went to war in 
 the Ninety-Second Illinois Mounted Infantry, and Gove, of Denver, 
 who was in the Thirty-Third Illinois Volunteers, arid Norton, of the 
 California Normal School, were of the men just putting their hands 
 to the work. There were M. L. Seymour, true to his friends, and 
 "W. B. Powell, who has won distinction at home and abroad, and 
 almost obliterated the memory of a Powell of a very different stock. 
 
 And there were many more doing valiant service in those days, 
 to some of whom apparent injustice may, I fear, be done. In a 
 record of the schools many names will have high position which were 
 not so closely identified with the history of the Association. 
 
 Chicago has done herself honor in putting the grandest old bach- 
 elor of the profession, of fine scholarship, and very long, faithful 
 service, in charge of her schools. It needs to be chronicled as an 
 instance of public recognition of such service. He plead the sorrows 
 of woman to some of us before the war, and the women in the Chi- 
 cago schools never had a more appreciative friend. 
 
 The story since the war is better known, but those who know 
 only the modern history know very little of the days when personal 
 pledges of work and of money were the means to secure general suc- 
 cess. This Association, one year, paid $1,500, and traveling ex- 
 penses, to an agent. Pledges to The Teacher meant something, and 
 among all the demands many a one put $25 and $50 at a time into 
 the funds. Discussions and resolutions only pointed the way. The 
 great school opportunities of to-day rest upon the foundations thus 
 laid. Will the teachers and the people of to-day work with so much 
 zeal and so much self-denial, upon the superstructure? Are the 
 teachers, and the preachers, and the people, ready for the labor, and 
 the sacrifices, and the self-denial, that shall make the moral and the 
 intellectual growth of the country equal the marvelous physical devel- 
 opment recorded in these .census reports under my hand? Labor, 
 and sacrifice, and self-denial, laid the foundation, and they are needed 
 for solidity in the progress of to-day. 
 
 Yours, very heartily, 
 
 JAS. H. BLODGETT.
 
 NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 
 
 ITS LOCATION AND CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 The location of the State Normal University at North Blooming- 
 ton, May 7, 1857, marks a period of history that is not only impor- 
 tant to Normal Township, but also in an equal degree to the city of 
 Bloomington and McLean County. At the time indicated, Normal 
 was North Bloomington, or "The Junction," the six miles square 
 now called Normal, not having been named until after the location of 
 the University, its first existence as a town dating from April 6, 1858. 
 The early history of the Normal Institution, its location, its first 
 years of struggling effort, its vigorous childhood, belong to Bloom- 
 ington, and this sketch is as well calculated to honor that city as it is 
 fitted to reflect credit upon Normal. As we proceed with our ac- 
 count, we shall reach a period when the newly-built village became 
 in reality Normal, with a definite future and prospects of its own, 
 after which time, its acts and doings shall be credited to the proper 
 source as zealously as its most earnest friends can desire. 
 
 We might state, that in 1857, the township was generally occu- 
 pied by farmers, the village of North Bloomington having been 
 platted and a few houses built, but to alt practical intents, the entire 
 township was simply an agricultural district. 
 
 The Illinois Central and Chicago & Alton Railroads were fin- 
 ished and in running order several years before the location of the 
 University, an excursion train having been run on the 4th day of 
 July, 1854, from Bloomington to Lexington. The cars of the Illinois 
 Central passed this point without stopping, from May 23, 1853, to 
 the time of the completion of the other line. It was thought, in 
 1852, that there would be a railroad crossing near this place, and after 
 the definite location of the Chicago & Alton line through the western 
 part of Bloomington, in 1853, the point of the junction was fixed. 
 North Bloomington was projected and platted in the early part of 
 1854. There was a sale of lots on the 15th of June, 1854, at which 
 about thirty lots sold at prices ranging between $30 and $50, and 
 public attention was thus attracted to the new town of North Bloom- 
 ington. The sale took place under the auspices of W. F. M. Arny
 
 STATK NORMAL TMVKKSITY. 15 
 
 & Co., but it was understood that Mr. Jesse "W. Fell was the moving 
 spirit in the enterprise. 
 
 Iii 1855, a large addition was made to North Bloomington by a 
 company composed of Jesse W. Fell, R. R. Landou, L. R. Case, C. 
 W. Holder, and L. C. Blakesly. The place had all the prospects 
 common to a railroad "crossing," or "junction," which were never 
 very brilliant, when it is considered that the important town of 
 Bloomington, with two depots, was only two miles away. Here, at 
 the point of greatest natural beauty, Mr. Jesse W. Fell commenced, 
 in 1855, his family residence, and finished it the next year, when he 
 made it his permanent home. 
 
 In the enterprise of building a new town at the "Junction," he 
 had taken into partnership, about this time, the several gentlemen 
 whose names we have given ; and in the course of a few years there- 
 after, acquired from them nearly the whole of their interests in the 
 town site. 
 
 Mr. Fell, from the first, had plans for bringing to North Bloom- 
 ington something more than the ordinary business of a common rail- 
 road crossing. He intended to spare no effort to build here a town 
 that should have for its characteristics, sobriety, morality, good soci- 
 ety, and all the elements for an educational center. Previous to the 
 passage of the act to establish a Normal University, which dates 
 from February 18, 1857, Mr. Fell was laboring, with some prospects 
 of success, to establish at North Bloomington a college or seminary 
 of learning, and was in correspondence with Hon. Horace Mann, and 
 others, in regard to the matter. Had he succeeded, the institution 
 was to have been located upon Seminary Block, shown on the plat of 
 North Bloomington, as the block next east of Mr. Fell's residence. 
 This particular piece of ground, at that time, before the trees and 
 shrubbery had made their appearance, commanded a fine view of all 
 the land in the neighborhood, being a part of that beautifully- 
 rounded, elevated prairie upon which Mr. Fell built his family resi- 
 dence. In fact, the whole tract was one of striking beauty, long 
 before North Bloomington was projected, in the days when, for more 
 than a mile in either direction, not a house or improvement of any 
 kind was visible. As long ago as in 1833, when on his way to what 
 is now the township of Money Creek, in company with Mr. Kimler, 
 one of the early settlers of Blooming Grove, Mr. Fell rode over the 
 beautiful elevation which his residence now occupies. The public 
 highway then passed in that vicinity. It was early in the morning, 
 and as they surveyed the beautiful prairie landscape, Mr. Fell re- 
 marked, what a fine location this would be, at some day, for a resi- 
 dence. His companion replied that it was not probable any one 
 would ever be fool enough to build at such a great distance from the 
 timber, echoing thereby the common sentiment of the early settlers. 
 Over twenty years after, Mr. Fell built his family residence at that
 
 16 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 point, and commenced to plant trees, which, in a little more than 
 another twenty years, have made at that location the most beautiful 
 grove, or park, that can be found in Central Illinois, and he has lived 
 to see the prairie landscape converted into a beautiful village, shaded 
 by many thousand trees tastefully adorning the whole. We question 
 if the history of our rapidly growing State can furnish a parallel, a 
 town built entirely on the prairie, and, in so short a space of time, to 
 be covered with more large trees than can be shown in most cities of 
 older growth, though they were built on land originally occupied by 
 those grand monarchs of the forest, which the early settlers delighted 
 in destroying as fast as possible. 
 
 Mr. Fell took a remarkable step toward bringing to the new 
 town a desirable class of residents, by providing in all deeds to pur- 
 chasers of lots in North Bloomington, that intoxicating liquors should 
 never be sold on the premises; and this stringent prohibition was 
 afterward re-enforced by a town charter, which was intended to be 
 entirely prohibitory. This charter needed amendments, however, in 
 1867, to make it as fully operative as the inhabitants desired, and a 
 petition was circulated, asking the Legislature to make such changes 
 as should perpetually restrain the town or city authorities from ever 
 licensing the sale of intoxicating liquors. It is remarkable that this 
 petition was signed by every man and woman, and every child over 
 seven years old, in a town which then contained 1,800 inhabitants. 
 This incident, though rather out of the proper historical order, is val- 
 uable, as we thus discover that the foundations for the gathering- 
 together of a very superior class of citizens, were laid broad and 
 deep, and the subsequent character of Normal can be traced quite 
 plainly to those early efforts. North Bloomington, in 1857, was 
 barely started scarcely known called indiscriminately by its proper 
 name, or the "Junction;" a town site without a town, ahd no special 
 reason for its existence. There was one inhabitant previous to 1855 ; 
 this was Mr. McCambridge, whose residence was at the crossing of 
 the railroads, where, as agent, he attended to all the interests of the 
 railroad lines crossing at that point. Mr. Fell moved into his resi- 
 dence in 1856, and, during the year, the new town was augmented by 
 the arrival of L. R. Case and family, and a few others, but no great 
 growth took place till after the events of the year 1857. 
 
 Normal Schools were new in the West at that time, Illinois being 
 the pioneer in this grand enterprise. Massachusetts, New York, and 
 New Jersey, and a few other States, had inaugurated Normal Schools. 
 None of them were equal to the demands of the times. Still, their 
 success had been such as to warrant the public in expecting that insti- 
 tutions for the education and training of teachers of our common 
 schools would aid the cause of education to a desirable degree. Some 
 of the ablest friends of this new project for the proper education of 
 the teachers of the public schools, lived 'in McLean County, among
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 17 
 
 whom we might mention W. F. M. Arny, Jesse W. Fell, Prof. D. 
 Wilkins, and J. H. Wickizer, the latter being member of the Legis- 
 lature from this district. 
 
 The public mind was ripe for the proper appreciation of the 
 needs, designs, and scope of such a school, although even its own 
 advocates differed somewhat as to the course of study and plans for 
 its development. 
 
 The act of the Legislature provided for a university, although 
 what was established is, in fact, a Normal School. The intention 
 was to gather around the new institution the different colleges, class- 
 ical, agricultural, industrial, law, medical, and the other departments 
 of a university, until, in the end, the State should have here a grand 
 university, equal to any in the land. The full design has not been 
 carried out, but there are many who still have hopes that the future 
 may yet see its realization. 
 
 The law provided a Board of Education of the State of Illinois, 
 with power to carry into effect its purposes. This Board consisted of 
 N. W. Edwards, of Springfield; W. H. Wells, of Chicago; John R. 
 Eden, Moultrie County; A. R. Shannon, White County; Simeon 
 Wright, Lee County; W. Sloan, Pope County; George Bunsen, St. 
 Clair County; George P. Rex, Pike County; Charles E. Hovey, 
 Peoria; Daniel Wilkins, Bloomington ; C. B. Denio, Galena; F. 
 Mosely, Chicago; S. W. Moulton, Shelby County; and J. Gillespie, 
 Jasper County. This Board had full power, and it was made their 
 duty, "to fix the permanent location of said Normal University at 
 the place where the most favorable inducements are offered for that 
 purpose, provided that such location shall not be difficult of access, 
 or detrimental to the welfare and prosperity of said Normal Univer- 
 sity." 
 
 This body of gentlemen soon organized, and it appointed a com- 
 mittee to receive proposals for the location of the Normal University, 
 which committee published notices in several newspapers, stating 
 that the Board would, on a certain specified day, open, at Peoria, 
 all bids that might be made. 
 
 Several cities and towns entered into competition for what was 
 understood to be a valuable prize. That the value of the new insti- 
 tution was thoroughly appreciated by the inhabitants of Bloomington 
 is shown by the following extract from the Bloomington Pantagraph 
 of April 8, 1857, then edited by E. J. Lewis: 
 
 The adrantage^ to be conferred by such an institution upon the place of its 
 location are too obvious to need enlarging upon. Richly endowed from a government 
 fund, collecting within its walls every year the flower of the youth of every part of 
 the State, and organized with a full corps of the ablest instructors, the Normal Uni- 
 versity will doubtless take rank among the noblest institutions of learning in the 
 country, and give to the town which contains it a degree of prominence at home and 
 abroad scarcely second to that enjoyed by the State capital itself. 
 
 In the light of subsequent events, how prophetic this statement !
 
 18 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 Mr. Fell and his co-workers did not rely on appeals made 
 through the public press. On the contrary, they were willing that 
 the competing points should labor under the impression that Bloom- 
 ington was not thoroughly aroused. These gentlemen labored inces- 
 santly with individuals; argued, pictured, pleaded, taught, both by 
 precept and example. They set the fashion by giving liberal sub- 
 scriptions, and so far succeeded that they brought the amount of 
 donations, in land and money, up to $50,000, from private individ- 
 uals. They had previously obtained a pledge from the members of 
 the County Commissioners' Court, A. J. Merriman, of Bloomington, 
 Milton Smith, of Pleasant Hill, and H. Buck, of LeRoy, who formed 
 the County Court at that time, that they would appropriate from the 
 proceeds of the swamp-lands funds an amount equal to that sub- 
 scribed by individuals. This made the total offer $100,000, and it 
 was thought amply sufficient to secure the location. 
 
 In order to be fully aware of what Peoria the principal com- 
 petitor was doing, one of the most active of our party went to that 
 city, quietly, and rather in disguise, dropped into a back seat of a 
 meeting of the County Board, held in aid of the project, mixed with 
 the crowd in the streets, and, in various ways, learned almost exactly 
 what Peoria was preparing to offer. Its liberality alarmed him; he 
 returned to Bloomington, arid aroused his friends to still further 
 efforts. Mr. Fell and other gentlemen increased their subscriptions 
 until they reached $20,000, or $70,000 in all. The County Court 
 was speedily called together again, the county's part increased by 
 20,000, and when the final effort was completed, at about the last 
 day, in the afternoon, the total offer amounted to $141,000, made up 
 of $70,000 from the first proceeds of the sales of McLean County's 
 swamp-land, and $71,000 in money, lands, and town lots from indi- 
 viduals. 
 
 But the gross amount was kept a profound secret. Mr. Fell, 
 and a very few others, were aware of the total, as it was highly 
 important that competing points should remain in ignorance until too 
 late for them to make additional subscriptions. 
 
 On the 7th of May, 1857, the State Board of Education met at 
 Peoria to open the bids and decide upon the location. The first offer 
 was that of Batavia. This bid embraced $15,000 in money, and the 
 land and buildings of the Batavia Institute. There were between 
 twenty and twenty-two acres of the land, and a building seventy by 
 fifty feet, three stories high, the whole estimated at $30,000, making 
 Batavia's bid, in effect, $15,000. The citizens pledged themselves 
 to raise $25,000, in order to pay a debt of $10,000 now resting on 
 the buildings, and to give the sum of $15,000 for the Normal Uni- 
 versity direct. There were several propositions from Bloomington, 
 six sites being offered. The tract of 160 acres at the junction was 
 the favorite, and the particulars of that proposition were as follows:
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 19 
 
 General subscription, $ 7,875 
 
 Local cash subscription for Junction site, ..... 25,850 
 Real estate: IfiO acres land 60 acres at $300 per acre, $18,000; 
 
 100 acres at $200 per acre, $20.000, 38.000 
 
 McLean County subscription, 70,000 
 
 Total $141,725 
 
 There were offered also, by K. H. Fell, thirty acres west of 
 Sugar Creek; by Judge Davis, ten acres, near his residence; by Wil- 
 liam Flagg, ten acres, on the north hill above the city ; by Thomas, 
 Young & Sears, forty acres northeast of town ; by K. H. Fell and 
 John J^icolls, eighty acres, two and a half miles east of the city, each 
 of these on condition the University be located upon them. jBy the 
 citizens of Washington, Tazewell County, and the Trustees of Wash- 
 ington Academy were offered $12,000 in cash, and the lot 430 by 120 
 feet, with brick building 47 by 62 feet, and three stories high, of said 
 Academy, in said town; real estate at $20,000, making the bid 
 $21,000. Feoria offered in money: 
 
 Individual subscription, ....... $25,032 
 
 City Corporation, 10,000 
 
 County Board of Supervisors, . . . . . 15,000 
 
 Total, $50,032 
 
 There were several offers of land for sites. Phelps, Conklin & 
 Brady offered 15 acres, of which appraisements were unsettled, the 
 first rating it at $18,000, the second at $30,000; the twenty-acre site 
 was valued at $20,000; 120 acres two miles from the Court House, 
 at $18,000; 200 acres three and a half miles from the Court House, 
 at $20,000, and there were two minor offers. Taking the highest 
 valuation of the principal site, the total bid of Peoria was $80,032. 
 
 The bid of McLean County was so far ahead of Peoria, the next 
 competitor, that the Board of Education located the Normal Univer- 
 sity in accordance with the conditions of the subscription, on the 160 
 acres of fine rolling land within three-quarters of a mile from the 
 junction of the Illinois Central and Chicago & Alton Railroads. 
 
 Great must have been the rejoicing at Bloomington on receipt of 
 the glad news of success, after a contest of such intensity; but we, 
 who look back over twenty years, can scarcely imagine the interest of 
 the occasion. 
 
 The Board of Education made the location upon the condition 
 that the full amount of the McLean County subscription of $70,000 
 should be legally guaranteed within sixty days, in default of which, 
 the location was to be made at Peoria. They employed Abraham 
 Lincoln to draw up a form of bond or guaranty to be signed by respon- 
 sible citizens of Bloomington. This guaranty is a matter of such 
 historical interest that we produce it entire, with the list of guaran- 
 tors, prefacing this with the remark that this bond was thought to be 
 necessary on account of the danger that a future County Court might
 
 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 reconsider the appropriation, and the further doubt whether the 
 swamp-lands would be sold for cash soon enough to meet contracts 
 for the building about to be erected. 
 
 GUARANTY. 
 
 WHEREAS, On the 15th* day of May, 1857, the Executive Committee of the 
 Board of Education of the State of Illinois passed a resolution in the words and 
 figures following, to- wit: 
 
 "Resolved, That we require of the citizens of Bloomington a guaranty that the 
 sum of $14,000 be paid on the 1st day of August next, and the further sum of $14.000 
 on the 1st day of November next, and the further sum of $14,000 on the 1st day of 
 February next, and the further sum of $14,000 on the 1st day of May next, and the 
 remaining sum of $14,000 on the 1st day of August, 1858, if called for by the Board, 
 to enable them to erect the building of the Normal University, on the McLean County 
 subscription." 
 
 Now, therefore, we, the undersigned, in consideration that the said McLean 
 County subscription be accepted by said Board of Education, and the said Normal 
 University be located at the place and in accordance with the conditions indicated in 
 and by said McLean County subscription, do hereby guarantee, each, to the extent of 
 the sum set opposite his name, and no further, the payment to said Board of Educa- 
 tion the several sums specified in said resolution, and to be made at the times therein 
 required. And in case of any actual default, we are to share with each other, pro 
 rata, according to the several sums set opposite our names. 
 
 May 15, 1857. 
 
 K. H. Fell, .... $5,000 
 
 Jesse W. Fell, . . . 5,000 
 
 J. E. McClun, . . . 5,000 
 
 A. B. Shaffer, . . . 5,000 
 
 A. Gridley 5,000 
 
 George Bruener, . . . 1,000 
 
 R. R. Landon, . . . 5,000 
 
 R. Leach, .... 500 
 
 W. McCullough, . . . 3,000 
 
 H. Rounds, .... 5,000 
 
 George Park, .... 5,000 
 
 J. H. Moore, . . . 3,000 
 
 A. J. Merriman, . . . 1,000 
 
 John Dawson, . . . 1,000 
 
 William R. Chew, ... 500 
 
 A. W. Rogers, ... 2,000 
 
 E. R. Roe, .... 500 
 
 R. T. Stockton, ... 500 
 
 J. C. Walker, .... 2,000 
 
 J. H. Robinson, . . . 1,000 
 
 William F. Flagg, . . . 5,000 
 
 Overman & Mann, . . 1,000 
 
 William E. Foote, . . . 1,000 
 
 D. D. Haggard, . . . ' 500 
 
 Denton Young, . . . 3,000 
 
 W. W. Lusk, . . . 3,000 
 
 C. Baker, .... 3,000 
 
 Joseph Payne, . . . 5,000 
 
 M. Pike, .... 1,000 
 
 S. B. Hance, . . . 5,000 
 
 C. W. Holder, . . . 2,000 
 
 S. P. Morehouse, . . 1,000 
 
 N. Dixon, .... 1,000 
 
 Charles Roadnight, . . 5,000 
 
 Franklin Price, . . . 3,000 
 
 James Bronson, 
 
 Edward D. Benjamin, 
 
 E. W. Bakewell, . 
 
 Dr. H. Schroader, 
 
 H. H. Painter, 
 
 H. J. Eager, 
 
 Z. Lawrence, . 
 
 John Magoun, 
 
 Leonard Swett, 
 
 James Grover, 
 
 A. W. Moore, . 
 
 0. Ellsworth, 
 
 L. Bunn, 
 
 Z. S. Hoover, 
 
 S. E. Kenyon & Son, 
 
 David Brier, 
 
 A. Johnstone, . 
 
 R. Thompson & Co., 
 
 S. G. Fleming, 
 
 C. W. Lander, 
 
 $ 500 
 1,000 
 5,000 
 1,000 
 3,000 
 5.000 
 2.000 
 5,000 
 3,000 
 3,000 
 3,000 
 1,000 
 1,000 
 3,000 
 1,000 
 5,000 
 
 500 
 1,000 
 1,000 
 
 500 
 
 John Rouse, .... 2,000 
 
 S. S. Adolph, . . . 1,000 
 
 J. C. Slening, . . . 1,000 
 
 E. H. Rood. . . . 1,000 
 
 John J. Price, ... . 5,000 
 
 Joseph Ludington, . . 1,000 
 
 0. Rugg, . . . .1,000 
 
 N. B. Heafer, . . . 2,000 
 
 Keays & Brother, ... 500 
 
 S. Galagher, . . . 1,000 
 
 Birch & Brothers, . . . 1,000 
 
 Elihu Rogers, . . . 2,000 
 
 E. M. Philips, . . . 1,000 
 
 J. F. Humphreys, . . 1,000 
 
 C. Wakefield, . . . .1,000
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 21 
 
 William W. Orme, . . 5,000 
 
 W. W. Lusk & Company, . 5,000 
 
 William T. Major, . . 5,000 
 
 D. L. Crist, .... 2,000 
 
 Theron Pardee, . . . 5,000 
 
 George W. Stipp, . . . 5,000 
 
 W. H. Temple, . . . 3,000 
 
 W. Wyatt, . . . 5,000 
 
 A. J. Warner, . . . 5,000 
 
 J. N. Ward, . . . 5,000 
 
 E. Hartry 5,000 
 
 James L. Rice, . . . 1,000 
 
 W. P. Withers, . . .1,000 
 
 Jesse Adams, . . . 1,000 
 
 James Niccolls, . . . 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 happened 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. 0. Warriner, $100, payable in six and twelve months after the building com- 
 mences. 
 
 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. 
 
 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. and 0. 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. 
 
 Cory don 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. 
 
 0. 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.
 
 22 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 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, or Jackson County, 111., on completion of building. 
 
 The list which follows is made up principally of those who lim- 
 ited their subscription 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 Bloomington, or adjoining, or 
 near by, and hence had, most of them, a direct interest in the loca- 
 tion. 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 with- 
 in 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 sub- 
 scription, 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 sub- 
 scription, 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 0. M. Colman, $1,000, payable in one or two years, or dischargeable by the con- 
 veyance, within one year, of ten acres of land in North Blooraington. 
 
 Joshua R. Fell, $500, payable in one or two years, or dischargeable by the con- 
 veyance, within one year, of five acres of land off the south end of my home farm, 
 east of the railroad, at my option. 
 
 0. T. Reeves, Jr., $500, payable in one and two years. 
 
 Elihu 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 con- 
 veyance, within one year, of five acres of land in the northwest corner of my farm, 
 at my option.
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 23 
 
 
 
 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 nur- 
 sery 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 adjoin- 
 ing 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. H. Allin, $1,100, payable on the completion of the building, by the convey- 
 ance of the following lots: Lot 7, Block 1; Lot 5,dBlock 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 con- 
 veyance of Lot No. One (1), Section 16, Township 25, R. 2 east, containing 40 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 conveyance of 1,450 a^res 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 condi- 
 tion that the institution should be located at some point within three 
 miles of the corporate limits of Bloomington. 
 
 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 eight- 
 teen. 
 
 S. P. Morehouse, $100, one-half payable in six months and balance in twelve. 
 
 D. L. Crist, $100, within one mile of Bloomington, one-half in six months, bal- 
 ance in twelve months, and $100 more if located within one 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 montlis 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. 
 0' 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.
 
 24 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 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 Grpyer, $100, in four yearly payments. 
 E. M. Philips, $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, to- 
 gether, 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 liber- 
 alty, which, at the time it was made, was unparalled, 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 Blooming- 
 ton, and his Associates, Hon. Milton Smith, of Pleasant Hill, and 
 Hon. H. Buck, of LeRoy, in a quiet, almost private session, with no 
 opportunity to consult their constituents. 
 
 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, appointing 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, Spring- 
 field, 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 completed 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
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 25 
 
 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. 
 
 I)r. 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 foundation of the lower story, and about $30,000 was ex- 
 pended before the work was suspended 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, the 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 Ma- 
 jor's Hall, in Bloomington, 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 I860, 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 accu- 
 mulated 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 miscellaneous matters. A por- 
 tion of this money was lost by the failure of so many banks in 1861, 
 and for other reasons it was found necessary for the next Legislature 
 to appropriate $35,000 more before the debts were fully paid. The 
 total cost of 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
 
 26 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 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 principally utilized for 
 agricultural purposes; but since that time, the beautiful suburban 
 village 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 natural 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 base- 
 ment to the extreme height of the tower is 140 feet. The basement 
 is divided into apartments, used, respectively, as a chemical and 
 zoological laboratory, scientific lecture room, and dissecting rooms. 
 These are furnished with the necessaries for thorough, practical tests 
 and demonstrations in the various branches. The remainder of the 
 basement is occupied by the janitor's rooms and the heating appara- 
 tus, hot air and steam being both utilized. Here, also, may be found 
 reels of hose, connected with the reservoir, located near the roof,
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. '27 
 
 which furnishes sufficient water-pressure to extinguish any ordinary 
 outbreak of tire. 
 
 The first floor is exactly sym metrical in its divisions, the adja- 
 cent sides and opposite 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 diciplinary work of teaching, demonstrated by Prof. 
 Metcalf and his assistants. Pupils are required to take charge of 
 primary classes, aifording 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 recita- 
 tion rooms, the library and reading rooms. The library contains 
 about one thousand four hundred volumes of choice, standard 
 reference-books. The reading room contains files of prominent 
 literary and news journals. 
 
 The third floor contains five departments the museum, Normal 
 Hall, and the two society rooms, the latter occupying the west end ; 
 they are 30 by 50 feet each, and seat 250 persons. They are similarly 
 furnished, each with a well-selected library, a piano, and other appro- 
 priate articles, all of which are the property of the societies. The 
 Philadelphia!! 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 800 persons. The museum 
 occupies the east end, and contains a very valuable collection, of great 
 interest to the student as well as interesting to visitors. 
 
 When the Normal building was ready for occupancy, in the fall 
 of 1860, the village 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 tene- 
 ments 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 Bloom- 
 ington, 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 
 inhabitants as early as 1865.
 
 28,. HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GEN. C. E. HOVEY. 
 
 (From the SCHOOLMASTER, 1869.) 
 
 DEAR WENTWORTH: 
 
 You say "your (my) history may be autobiographical or otherwise 
 (let it be otherwise), for I know lots of your old friends who would be 
 glad to do you the honor, if you would furnish the facts concerning 
 your early life, with dates, etc." Said history to occupy "about two 
 pages or eleven hundred words. " 
 
 Don't you think that limit will squeeze the story dry ? 
 
 You remember the cider-press in use when we were boys. The 
 pomace, made into cheese, and bound together by wisps of straw, occu- 
 pied a liberal space, and held the juice; but when compressed to a 
 pancake, by huge wooden screws, the cider oozed out. 
 
 However, these are the facts and dates, or some of them. 
 
 I was born in the town of Thetford, in the State of Vermont, 
 sometime during the twenty-sixth day of April, eighteen hundred and 
 twenty-seven. My mother was a Howard. I had four sisters and six 
 brothers. My parents called me Charles, but, after a while, observing 
 other boys had two Christian names, I appropriated Edward, which, 
 having got into print, has adhered since. 
 
 At or about the age of seven, I was sent to the public school, 
 distant some two miles. The "fragrant birch" grew hard by the 
 school house, and was held in high esteem by the "master," nor did 
 the gentle "mistress" confine her admiration wholly to the beauty of 
 its slender twigs. One custom, however, operated in mitigation. The 
 victim of the birch was usually selected to fetch the stick, and if he 
 fetched too tough an one, he alone had to answer for it. So there were 
 not many mistakes made. 
 
 In that old school house, ornamented with curious jackknife carv- 
 ings, I met my ideal teacher. She died long ago. But her memory 
 lives, and lingers bright as ever; and her image conies unbidden to 
 "my mind's eye," whenever I think of my a b c's. 
 
 My father was a farmer, and did not neglect to instruct me in the 
 the principles and practice of his art especially in the practice. So it 
 came to pass that, up to the age of fifteen, the farm and the school 
 house bore about equal sway. I preferred work to study, but do not 
 now recollect to have had any great liking for either. 
 
 At fifteen, I began "to keep" school. It was in a country dis- 
 trict, high up among the green hills. The neighborhood was small, 
 requiring but a single teacher, and it happened that some of the young 
 folks who attended the school were seniors to me in age. On this 
 account the committee raised an objection; but, as I had solved their 
 arithmetical puzzles, spelled their hard words, and read with some 
 fluency, it was agreed to waive the objection and give me a trial. The
 
 STATE NORMAL I'M VKKMTY. '2^ 
 
 fear was that I could not govern the big boys; nor is it probable I could, 
 had not the big girls come to the rescue; and the "boarding round" 
 may have had something to do with that matter. 
 
 I had stipulated to teach the school for nine and one-half dollars a 
 month, and board; but, was to board around with each family in turn. 
 
 I cannot tell whether this custom still exists, or how it affected 
 others; but it subjected me to many and ninny adventures, exposing all 
 sorts of secrets, and uncovering hidden views of such social institutions 
 as apple parings, sewing circles, and match-making. 
 
 The thing, however, which aifected me most, outside the daily 
 duties of the school room, was the evening spelling school. Nearly 
 everybody became interested and attended. There was contest and 
 victory in it. The boy or girl who ' ' spelled down " all others, triumphed 
 as really as the conqueror at the Olympic games; and when the rival 
 school, a little way up the valley, sent do*wn a challenge, and one of 
 our girls out-spelled them all, there was glory enough. Even the 
 1 ; master " came in for a share. This may have been wrong; it certainly 
 was delightful. I noticed that girl secured her choice of young beaux 
 from and after that event. 
 
 I was next employed in a village school, on a salary of twenty 
 dollars a month, and board. This was in 1843, and when the Millerite, 
 or Second Advent mania had driven whole settlements crazy. From 
 Friday night to Monday morning, Mr. Miller's disciples were allowed j 
 the use of the school house for meeting, and they used it uninter- 
 mittingly, day and night. These saints insisted that I should join and 
 yo up with them; but were quite indifferent about the progress of their 
 children in knowledge; nor am I aware that they made any great 
 progress. Nevertheless, their teacher was popular; and promoted to a 
 more important school for a third trial. 
 
 " The third day comes a frost, a killing frost; 
 And when he thinks, good easy man, full surely 
 His greatness is a ripening nips his root, 
 And then he falls as I do " (did). 
 
 I had ventured too far, got stranded, and was taught a lesson in 
 adversity. It was dictated roughly, with the moral of the Scotchman's 
 poem about a louse, in a church, on a lady's bonnet, for a text: 
 
 li wad some power the giftie gie us 
 To see ourselves as ithers see us 
 It wad frae mony a blunder free us 
 
 An foolish notion." 
 
 It was thought I lacked the "giftie," whereupon the parson pro- 
 ceeded to inquire privately; the critic printed his notes or notions in 
 the paper, and the young people waxed perverse in the school room. 
 There were gusts all around; and the gossips ran wild, and lost their 
 breath in the hurry to spread the news. It began with omnious looks 
 and whisperings, social ostracism followed, then confidence fled, and 
 both sides prepared for war.
 
 30 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 I kept that schqol through to the last hour of the last day of my 
 engagement, but it was a failure, and a load rolled off my spirit, when 
 it ended, bigger than fell from the back of Bunyan's pilgrim. 
 
 Sore over this result, and suspecting some mistake in selecting a 
 calling, I escaped to the woods and went to work in a saw mill; and 
 being rather tall, but not rather stout, my comrades seemed disposed 
 to disparage my ability as a lumberman almost as much as others had as 
 a pedagogue. It cost a great effort to work that conceit out of them; 
 but I did it, taking my turn at felling trees, playing Jehu, tending mill 
 and rafting lumber. I had to learn something of the mill-right's 
 trade and of navigation. It was an absorbing business for a green 
 hand, but it could not exclude the "bitter memory." Again and again 
 would the thought of failure obtrude, obstructing all consciousness of 
 the great, blind, live force at work in the mill. Again and again did some 
 board or scantling come to grief in the same way as bruin did, when 
 he undertook to dine, sitting on a log which was moving under the saw. 
 
 Such a state of things could not last long, and did not. The 
 lumberman resumed the ferule, and rarely afterwards had cause of 
 complaint against pupil, parent or people. 
 
 In 1848, at the age of one and twenty, I was admitted to Dart- 
 mouth College, and, four years later, graduated; having paid expenses 
 by teaching three or four months each year. 
 
 Now came the election of a profession. I preferred the law, but 
 was tempted away to another calling. Resolving to be a lawyer, I 
 became a teacher. Looking southward, towards the Old Bay State, 
 that "paradise of pedagogues," I "brought up" in Framingham, the 
 most charming town in the State. The people were highly cultivated, 
 the students of the Academy and High school, over which I presided, 
 were wonderfully intelligent, and the preceptress was a paragon of all 
 the graces. You may have seen her. She sits by the other lain}), 
 just over the table, quite unconscious of what I am saying. Late in the 
 autumn of 1854, I emigrated to Peoria. The preceptress went with me. 
 
 When I reached reoria she must have numbered twelve or fifteen 
 thousand inhabitants. Such schools as she had were "kept" in deserted 
 breweries, shanties, cabins, anything which furnished an excuse for 
 shelter or mimicked a house, with three exceptions; two of which were 
 private, and one public. 
 
 The private school buildings were constructed by an association of 
 the more intelligent citizens, mostly of northern origin one for males, 
 and one for females. The school for females had been in operation 
 several years under the care of Miss Sarah Mathews, a most excellent 
 lady and teacher; and the school for males was about to begin in charge 
 of ^'your humble servant" and the "preceptress." 
 
 The public school building referred to was a long, narrow, one 
 story brick, whose walls were fast crumbling, under the influence of 
 moisture from the swampy mud hole beside which it stood.
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 31 
 
 Here Mr. was monarch of all he surveyed, the great man, 
 
 " Sir Oracle," head and embodiment of the current ideas, and county 
 superintendent of common schools. 
 
 To his mind, things educational were as near right as they well 
 could be; even to the squalid barrack, where he held his court, didn't 
 seem to disturb his sense of aesthetics, or the pool to oifend any sense 
 nature had given him. He exemplified ideas indigenous to southern 
 and servile latitudes, and championed the chivalry. He was a Meth- 
 odist, and had the backing of that compact and powerful organization. 
 
 I found in Peoria, also, Dr. J. A. Sewall, sick in body and at 
 heart, and Doty, and other "lesser lights." 
 
 In the contest about school matters, "which soon opened, Mr. 
 
 stood firmly by the chivalry ; I fell into line with the Yankees. 
 
 Serving in a private school, my suggestions in regard to public 
 schools were looked upon as meddling, and were sturdily resented by 
 the aforesaid chivalry. But what was to be done ? Here was a city 
 already rich and populous, and needing no prophet to tell of great 
 expansion in the near future, whose school buildings were execrable, 
 whose ideas of common public school education were "villainous low," 
 and whose teachers were contemned as pedagogues " with none so 
 poor as to do him (them) reverence." 
 
 What was to be done ? Personally, there seemed little to gain, 
 and much to lose. I^had a comfortable school room, a very good class 
 of students, and a liberal salary; but I could not escape the public 
 schools, if I would. My school was envied, epitheted, and compared. 
 It was the rich man's school, the aristocrat's school; relied upon show 
 and clothes. Mr. -'s, per contra, was the people's school, es- 
 chewed all show, and relied upon solid merit. was a great 
 
 man; Hovey, "nix." All this was human and very natural. JEsop 
 explained it centuries ago, in his fable about the fox and the grapes. 
 
 But what was to be done ? The great, serious facts kept rising up, 
 and would not down, at anybody's bidding, that a wrong was being 
 perpetrated upon the school children of Peoria for a want of proper 
 school facilities ; that there was no proper appreciation of public duty 
 in regard to public education ; that there was no suitable public spirit, 
 or buildings, or teachers ; that there was needed some sensible system 
 for the organization, conduct, and support of the schools for the city. 
 
 I resolved to make a suggestion. I began with Mr. A. P. Bart- 
 lett, president of the association of citizens who employed me. He 
 talked with his associates; we all talked together; Judge Peters 
 drafted a bill, in the nature of an amendment to the city charter. It 
 was quietly put through the Legislature, though our member trembled 
 for his head for doing it. But these citizens agreed to back him in 
 case any troubles came of it such men as Hon. A. P. Bartlett, Judge 
 Onslow Peters, Judge Jacob Gale, Hon. Jonathan Cooper, and J. W. 
 Hansel, Esq. So the deed was done, and the chivalry woke up to
 
 32 HISTOKY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 find themselves superseded. A new charter was in force, and the 
 chivalry were not. But they didn't see it, didn't get the hang of 
 the tiling, didn't scent where the power had gone. Meanwhile those 
 who did put forward a ticket of good and true men for the School 
 Board, elected them. Pickett edited the Republican paper, and 
 Raney the Democratic paper, and both opened their columns to the 
 friends of free schools. It is but fair to say, however, that Pickett 
 had by far the best appreciation of the system, and did it the greater 
 service. Largely through his judicious management, through what 
 he kept out quite as much as what he put in his paper, our ticket 
 was elected practically without opposition. 
 
 The chivalry didn't understand it even then, but if they had it 
 would have been too late. The law was passed and gave nearly all 
 power to the School Board. The Board was elected, aiid an excellent 
 one it was, too, with Bartlett at the head. 
 
 The private school buildings, the only buildings suitable for 
 school purposes in the city, were at once purchased, and in one of 
 these was organized a high school, in the other a grammar school. 
 I naturally enough fell in charge of the former, and was also appointed 
 superintendent of all the schools. There was work enough to be 
 done school houses to be built, temporary accommodations to be 
 provided meanwhile, schools to be organized, courses of study to be 
 mapped out, text-books to be selected, teachers to be found, tested, 
 aided, and started on the road to glory. Lively times were these. 
 Night and day, week-days and Sunday, I worked on. The Board 
 backed me, and worked and planned with me, and without me. 
 
 New school houses went up, teachers' reputations went up, 
 scholarship went up, morals went up, and so the present school 
 system of Peoria was begotten, born, and christened. How well the 
 bantling has thrived since I am not able to say, but I have heard, "as 
 well as could be expected." 
 
 Even the chivalry have got the hang of the thing at last. 
 
 I have stated how I was involved in the public schools at Peoria, 
 and what came of it. I may here explain some matters which led to 
 other changes. 
 
 On the last days of the year 1854, the State Teachers' Association 
 held, in Peoria, its second meeting. It was by no manner of means 
 wholly composed of or controlled by teachers, although sailing under 
 their colors. It was a wild, western gathering, full of vim and 
 schemes a huge grindstone, on which each man who had an axe to 
 grind, ground away, or tried to. (Bear in mind that these are recol- 
 lections of fifteen years ago.) Among actual teachers w-ere Wright, 
 Bateman, Wentworth, Brooks, and Wilkins. Among others, many of 
 whom had been teachers, were Turner, Powell, Eberhart, Murray,
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 33 
 
 Arny, and, among distinguished scholars from abroad, Prof. Charles 
 Davies. 
 
 Turner, Murray & Co. wanted some action which wonld aid them, 
 at Springfield, to gobble up the College and Seminary funds of the 
 State for an Industrial University. The old college men desired 
 action looking to the distribution of these funds among existing 
 colleges. Both parties suggested Normal Departments as a lure to 
 the friends of Normal Schools. 
 
 Arny & Co. urged a manual labor scheme, as near as I could 
 understand them, volunteering to superintend the experiment, if 
 somebody would furnish the money. The member from Springfield 
 insisted that phonetic spelling was the*great reform, the coming event. 
 The member at large waxed eloquent about his "chain of commercial 
 colleges," and challenged debate a Stratton strategy. He got, what 
 he wanted, advertised. Several gentlemen intimated a willingness to 
 endure an endorsement of eminent fitness for the office of State 
 Superintendent of Public Instruction. 
 
 Several publishers of text-books hinted, warily, that now was the 
 time, and this the body, to render a signal service to the people of 
 Illinois, by recommending their wares for exclusive use, thereby 
 securing the blessings of uniformity. The agents of said publishers 
 exhibited surprising tact and ability, rising even to the plane of "grand 
 strategy" in some of their movements to capture the convention. 
 They were clever, obliging, companionable, and had there been but 
 one, he would certainly have got my vote; but as there were a score 
 or more, a vote for one became a vote against nineteen, and could not 
 be indulged. As well might a man be expected to choose between 
 equally bewitching women. 
 
 I was a new comer, and, for the most part, a looker-on ; and, in 
 truth, vastly taken by the free and easy way these people had of 
 pushing their hobbies, both at the court house and the hotel; and 
 no man could properly appreciate the former who had not the entree 
 at the caucus rooms, in the latter. I was a stranger, but they took 
 me in ; and once in, uncovered the situation. 
 
 On the one side were all these "reformers," not peaceful, but 
 resolute to rule the Association, and seize upon its power, whatever it 
 might be, to mould public opinion and legislation. On the other, 
 were the great body of teachers not quite prepared to ignore the ways 
 of the fathers, or the gathered wisdom of years, but eager to adopt 
 any measure which promised to better their calling or themselves. 
 They didn't appreciate, or if they did, they didn't take kindly, the 
 joke of playing second fiddle to Bronson Murray, W. F. N. Arny, 
 et id omne genus. True, there was the great-brained Turner, appar- 
 ently leagued with these men, whom all delighted* to honor. This 
 man we could follow. He was of us had been a life-long teacher. 
 He was the orator whose tongue uttered, at Granville, in Putnam
 
 34 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 County, the outline of an Industrial University, which was the origin 
 of the magnificent institutions now springing up in every State by the 
 munificence of Congress. Had he stood alone, his scheme might 
 have prevailed; but he did not. At his heels howled a pack of self- 
 seeking zealots, lacking culture and modesty, and casting a shadow 
 of doubt over even the orator himself. So it happened that the 
 hobbyists were not pleased, and shaking the dust from their feet, 
 departed. Nor am I aware that they ever again returned, certainly 
 not in such force. 
 
 One project, however, did prevail at Peoria. It was agreed nem. 
 con., to publish a monthly journal, to be called the Illinois Teacher, 
 as the "organ" of the Association. Wilkins and Arny were chosen 
 local and managing editors, with a corps of monthly editors, and the 
 editor of the Bloomington Pantagraph as publisher. A thousand 
 copies were subscribed for on the spot, and the "organ" started off 
 with great expectations. A year later, at Springfield, this same "organ" 
 gave its friends no little trouble. It had not proved a financial suc- 
 cess; was not elegant as a work of the printer's art; had not been 
 issued very punctually, nor on very fine paper; the monthly editor 
 was not regarded with favor, and no one was satisfied. I may as well 
 sa^ it was a failure. Those who had been more directly responsible 
 felt compromised. It was clear the Association did not care to have 
 such an organ, and would not assume financial or other responsibility 
 under such auspices. But some there were who liked not the word 
 failure, and resolved not to have it thrust upon them. Besides, they 
 believed an exclusively professional journal was needed. They held 
 a caucus and decided that the Teacher should go on, and that I should 
 be editor, with control over manner and matter, and should be priv- 
 ileged to pay all the bills, and might pocket all the proceeds, which, 
 when the former publisher learned, waked the spirit of prophecy 
 within him, and he prophesied, saying, "If Hovey has got fifteen 
 hundred dollars to throw away, he has now an excellent opportunity 
 to do so." 
 
 A year before I had desired this office, had time to devote to it, 
 and fancied the business would suit me, and I it. But now I had not 
 the time to spare, and was not a little fearful lest my friends should 
 be disappointed. But I "waded in" and swam as well as I could. 
 Luckily, the printer was a man of rare taste, scholarship and business 
 habits, from whose eye a typographical blunder had but a slender 
 chance of escape, who used new type, and clean white paper, and 
 issued "on time." Of course this man must have been Nason and 
 Nason it was. My caucus friends "kept the faith," and subscriptions 
 came tumbling in by every mail, until at the end-of the year there 
 was money enough to pay all the bills, and I" think a trifle more. The 
 next year showed a balance on the credit side also. This ^Teacher' 1 ' 1 
 business forced attention to matters outside of Peoria, and threw upon
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 35 
 
 me the responsibility of advising what should be done. In procuring 
 instructors for the schools in Peoria I had found difficulty, and had 
 been compelled to go abroad for them. The same difficulty existed 
 elsewhere. There were not enough well qualified teachers in the State. 
 
 The discussions at Peoria in regard to the College and Seminary 
 funds were fresh in memory. Why could not these funds be used to 
 endow a Normal School? I could find no valid objection, nor did any 
 one else suggest a good reason why they could not be so used. On 
 the other hand, those teachers with whom,! had opportunity to confer, 
 favored the idea, and it is likely some of them may have suggested it 
 to me originally. Be that as it may, I approved the scheme and 
 fought steadily for it, with the quill, on the stump, and in the lobby. 
 At Chicago, the Association moved in the matter, and appointed a 
 committee to visit the Legislature and urge this disposition of these 
 funds. Simeon Wright was the leading man of this committee, and 
 is entitled to the highest credit. I should weary you to tell how the 
 Normal University bill was finally enacted into a law ; how one objec- 
 tion after another was removed or quieted, and how the great stum- 
 bling block the location was at last got over, by leaving it to com- 
 petition and the Board. But the fact has passed into history, and 
 I pass on. 
 
 Peoria and Bloomington were the leading competitors for the 
 location. Peoria made the best cash bid, but was overborne by a 
 swamp land grant by McLean county. 
 
 I was chosen principal, Mr. Phelps, then of the New Jersey 
 Normal School, receiving the minority vote. 
 
 It was summer in 1857. I accepted the office, resigned all others, 
 except that of editor of the Teacher, and gave notice that I should 
 resign that as soon as a successor could be chosen. 
 
 [This event took place in Decatur the following Christinas, after 
 an exciting contest. Bateman and Eberheart, then, as now, acknowl- 
 edged leaders, were the candidates.] 
 
 Having shaken oif other occupations, I began to concentrate all 
 thoughts upon the Normal. Much had been already accomplished; 
 the live teachers were its friends; the Legislature had endowed it; 
 McLean County and people had subscribed a site and fund for build- 
 ing purposes; it was nearly half founded. 
 
 But that man was ignorant of interests at work in the State, who 
 supposed the College and Seminary funds could be diverted to this 
 purpose, unchallenged. These interests warred against the passage 
 of the Normal University act, and failing, belittled whatever was 
 done under it. The end aimed at was repeal. 
 
 Large numbers of men opposed educating teachers at public ex- 
 pense ; let them pay for their education like other people, or like 
 men preparing for other callings. McLean County was overrun with 
 thinkers of this sort. Citizens, respectable in numbers and intelli-
 
 36 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 gence, regarded the enterprise as an experiment; were willing to be 
 convinced, but would take nothing on trust. Among these were 
 eminent lawyers. 
 
 Enthusiastic friends looked for immediate results. In vain did 
 we plead inability to beat nature, which grows not men from babies 
 in a day. Something telegraphic had been promised, and must be 
 performed. Some, misled by the name, were disappointed not to 
 find included in the curriculum all branches of knowledge. A few 
 expected grand discoveries in science, such as would add to the sum 
 of human knowledge; and savans offered their services, and felt 
 aggrieved that they were declined. Inventors and manufacturers 
 
 Eaid their devoirs and deposited their wares. There are now, or 
 itely were, a highly-finished plow, and harrow, and roller, and horse- 
 rake, and I recall not what other implements gifts to the University. 
 Many suggestions came with them, and proffers of service to explain 
 their peculiarities, and were for sale. 
 
 No one will know how I was besieged with advice and intimations. 
 It may be true enough, that in a multitude of counsel there is safety; 
 but it does not follow that a multitude of counselors are safe, even if 
 Solomon did say so. 
 
 On the question of aims and ends, of what should be done or 
 attempted, there was a difference of opinion in the Board itself. 
 
 One party proposed to borrow a curriculum from existing institu- 
 tions to imitate the wise men of the east. It was in part the party 
 which proposed to borrow a man of that longitude for principal. 
 
 Another party, unwilling to snuff out "the lamp of experience." 
 did, nevertheless doubt whether all possibility of progress died with 
 "Father Pierce," or existed only at Trenton. Something more gen- 
 erous and broader than had yet been achieved was deemed possible, 
 and should be attempted. These ideas and expectations were by no 
 means calculated to put the principal at ease, for upon lu'm would fall 
 the task of realizing them. He must found an institution for, and 
 entitled to, leadership. Beside these parties, individual members held 
 individual views. 
 
 Good old Father Bunsen, learned in all the methods and courses 
 of study and of training in Germany, made primary education his 
 hobby; and I will do him the justice to say. was master of it. He 
 was an enthusiastic and learned Dutchman, and rode his hobby 
 eternally. It was the beginning and ending of any proper system -of 
 Normal training (a proposition half true, certainly). But he took 
 mortal offense because I could not, or would not, read through his 
 spectacles, and once even introduced to the Board a resolution of 
 inquiry, looking to my removal from office. What came of it I never 
 knew. 
 
 Xinian Edwards was rather ambitious in his notions. His father 
 had been Governor of the State. He himself had heard somewhere
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 67 
 
 of Oxford, or Cambridge, and was chagrined that our chief officer 
 should be styled principal instead of chancellor. To me he appeared 
 to be a little "at sea." His ideas and words were as two kernels of 
 wheat to two bushels of chaff. I think that is the scriptural way of 
 putting it. But great lawyers are not required to be great in even-thing. 
 
 Father Mosely didn't trouble his head about courses of study, but 
 was nervous to learn whether my salary, which he had fixed at $2,500 
 per annum in specie, was satisfactory; id est, he wanted, through the 
 Board to be himself complimented for liberality. I am afraid I was 
 never forgiven the stupidity of not catching his drift. But let that ] >a>s. 
 
 The general scope of the institution and a course of study having 
 been considered informally, and a committee of supervision appointe< I, 
 the whole matter was handed over to the principal to be put in form 
 and "put through." 
 
 Embarrassed by conflicting counsels and extravagant expectations, 
 there seemed to be a "right smart chance" of a first-class muddle. 
 However, as the smoke blew away, I was able to map the work to be 
 done with tolerable accuracy, and, having rented a hall to do it in, 
 and given notice of the day for beginning, and secured Ira Moore and 
 Cliarlton T. Lewis as associate instructors, began to feel that I was 
 getting my appropriate work well in hand, nor intended to be drawn 
 outside of it. Almost from my advent in the State I had lived in a 
 hurry, doing double, triple, often quadruple duties. Now I determined 
 to do but one. 'Twas useless. 
 
 " There's a divinity that shapes our ends, 
 Rough-hew them how we will." 
 
 Scarcely had said determination been recorded when I was startled 
 by the presentation of a plan or sketch for a university, by a member 
 of the Board, so singularly inappropriate that I presume its adoption 
 was not seriously expected, even though backed by a strong local 
 influence. But the bare presentation of such, a plan exposed the 
 importance of the subject, A mistake here would be a calamity. 
 
 For the purpose, therefore, of defeating any hasty action, quite as 
 much as of killing off this plan, I joined Dr. Rex in urging the pro- 
 priety of sending a committee to inspect the more notable school 
 edifices of our and other States. Dr. Rex, as chairman, made a 
 careful examination of the school architecture in Philadelphia, Trenton, 
 New York City, Albany, and in many towns of Connecticut and 
 Massachusetts; and on his return submitted a written report in which 
 I concurred, and also recommended for adoption the plans of the New 
 Jersey Normal School Buildings, in which I did not concur. I was 
 the other member of the committee, and, although I had seen nearly 
 all the prominent edifices in the country for educational purposes, or 
 plans of them, yet IVnade the tour and studied them over again. It 
 was not enough to select the best existing edifice, and model after that; 
 and if it had been I should still have non-concurred in the Trenton
 
 38 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 plans; but it was required to discover the best plan, existing or not, 
 in matter or only in mind, for an institution such as we were 
 founding. 
 
 Given, five hundred adult students: required to find how to con- 
 struct an edifice wherein they could be comfortably accommodated and 
 assembled in one room and separated therefrom into several rooms, or 
 vice versa, in the least possible time and confusion, and with the 
 greatest possible ease. That was the problem. It was not proposed 
 to organize or conduct the institution on the college system, in which 
 students occupied studied in their private rooms exclusively, and 
 could as conveniently go from these to one place, or to different places, 
 for recitation and for "prayers." A chapel and class rooms, whether 
 adjacent or not, satisfied this system. The class rooms might as well 
 be, and often were, in different buildings from each other, and from 
 the chapel. Had it been proposed to conduct the University on such 
 a system, it would have varied the problem. 
 
 But as it was, whoever will take the trouble to examine the second 
 story of the Normal University building, at Normal, will find my 
 solution. The plan of that story was the seed from which the building 
 grew the nucleus around which the architect grouped the balance of 
 the edifice. The building, as it now stands, is not my ideal, nor that 
 of Mr. Randall's, the architect, in two particulars. Something had to 
 be yielded to secure the adoption of our plan over that of Dr. Rex, 
 and something also to local prejudice. The local influence will be 
 better understood by recalling the fact that the money for erecting the 
 building had been subscribed by, and was expected to be realized from, 
 McLean County and her people. Hence, the very natural desire on 
 the part of the Board to conform to local humor, prejudice, or taste. 
 The two departures from the original ideas of Mr. Randall and myself 
 two blunders I have always thought were these: 
 
 1. Placing "Normal Hall," the third story hall, over the main 
 school room. This change, or addition, compelled the lowering of 
 the ceiling of the main working room of the building, which should 
 have been spacious, airy*, and proportioned, ten or twelve feet, and the 
 putting into it of columns to support the floor above. The upper hall 
 hardly compensates for these blemishes. 
 
 2. Changing the belfry tower from an angle to the center of the 
 building. This change was made in deference to local feeling, but in 
 defiance of taste and architectural effect. Whoever has seen the 
 Smithsonian building, in this city, will understand what I mean. 
 
 It is not unlikely that the varied relief at first contemplated would 
 have added to the expense; but that had nothing to do with the change, 
 which was made purely in deference to local feeling, but in deference 
 to local ideas of taste, and possibly of grandeur. * 
 
 Further, the center tower has nothing to roost on but a bridge; 
 the angle tower could have rested upon solid ground. There might
 
 STATE NOEMAL UNIVERSITY. 39 
 
 have been several towers, varied in form and size. But even one 
 would have suited me better than the present baseless belfry. 
 
 Saving these variations, the building, as it now stands, fairly 
 represents my ideas, and the views of the architect Such is the way 
 the plans were made, modified, and finally adopted. 
 
 A contract was at once entered into for the construction of the 
 building, and work vigorously begun in the fall of 1857. 
 
 I went back to the school, but did not expect to have much to do 
 with the University building until it should be ready for occupation. 
 The sequel will show how I was disappointed. 
 
 I need not tell how Ira Moore and I began to instruct a score or 
 less of students in a tumble-down hall, tumbled-up on the top of a 
 grocery house, at an out of the way corner, in the city of Blooming- 
 ton; how the students increased in numbers; how other teachers 
 were added; how Mary Brooks "run" the experimental school (pri- 
 mary), and made it a model; how said hall was fitted and furnished 
 and grew to be comfortable, bating the surroundings; how here we 
 pursued the even tenor of our way, biding our time; for these things 
 are well enough known. 
 
 But there came a time when we were not permitted to go on in 
 peace. Questionings, which would not be quieted by plain answer- 
 ings, came again and again. I tried hard to bar them from the school 
 room, but could not. The great fact that not a blow had been struck 
 on the University building for eighteen months, was known to every- 
 body. It acted and reacted on us depressingly. Were we to remain 
 cooped up in Major's Hall forever? Must we, after flattering the 
 public and ourselves with the grand idea of a model school in a model 
 edifice, confess failure? The thought was wormwood, and the fact, if 
 fact it should prove to be, was full of peril. We had carried the 
 Normal School bill " by the skin of our teeth," and who knew but that 
 the opposition might rally and repeal the law, armed with such a 
 failure, to carp at. 
 
 But what could be done? We had neither money nor credit. 
 What we did have, applicable to building purposes, was a subscription 
 which could not then be gollected, and perhaps never. The suspen- 
 sion of work on the building, in December, 1857, was brought about 
 by our inability to collect, from this subscription, six or seven thous- 
 and dollars to pay the contractors the first installment due them on 
 their contract, for work done. They reasoned, and sensibly, that if 
 the subscribers to the building fund, in the first flush of victory, while 
 yet the ink was hardly dry with which they had recorded their 
 "promise to pay," would not or could not pay seven or eight thous- 
 and, out of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars (I use round 
 numbers,) it would not do to rely upon them, or their subsciptions;
 
 40 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 t,nd the sooner they (the contractors) stopped work the better it would 
 be for them. So they stopped, and the suspension continued until 
 the summer of 1859 more than a year and a half. Meanwhile 
 ^natters grew worse. A great financial revulsion had swept over the 
 country, carrying ruin to some subscribers, and greatly crippling 
 others. Moreover, from this cause, or the lapse of time, or some 
 other reason, the great body of donors seemed to carry their obliga- 
 tion more loosely, if possible, than at first. Some who had sub- 
 scribed lands refused to deed them until the building should be fully 
 completed, which was a repudiation of their subscription so far as any 
 aid in erecting the building was concerned. The most prominent of 
 these was David Davis, then Judge of the Circuit Court, and now 
 one of the Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. His 
 example was disastrous. After the building should have been built, 
 it was quite immaterial whether he deeded his land or not. Every- 
 body knew, the State, in the end, would pay all necessary bills. The 
 need was present aid, the immediate and honest payment of the sub- 
 scription, 'on the faith of which the Board had located the institution 
 in McLean County. When a ship is once launched, it will float itself, 
 but it takes power to launch it. Davis, in bad faith I have always 
 thought, refused to furnish the power he had promised, until such 
 time as it should not be needed. And yet this same Judge Davis is 
 reputed to be worth four millions of dollars, and his subscription was 
 only forty acres of land. Adjoining it, a comparatively poor man, 
 Mr. Bakewell, gave twice as much, and didn't higgle about deeding 
 it, either. 
 
 That part of the subscription made by the county of McLean was 
 undoubtedly good, but remote. It was payable out of the proceeds 
 of the sales of her swamp lands. These lands could not, by law, be 
 sold for less than their appraised value, and would not then sell for 
 that. Of course there were no proceeds, and nothing due on her sub- 
 scription. This subscription was seventy thousand dollars, nearly 
 one-half the entire amount. 
 
 What, then, was the situation at the close of the school year, in 
 June, 1859? We had got a charter, a fund to pay teachers, a plan for 
 a building, and a subscription, but no money for building purposes. 
 
 Mr. Moore might have stated the case, so far as relates to the 
 building, as follows: 
 
 Given, a sixty-acre site, a plan on a scale of two hundred thousand 
 dollars, and and an unavailable subscription of one hundred and fifty 
 thousand dollars. 
 
 \Reqnired, to construct an edifice, in pursuance of said plan out 
 of said subscription. 
 
 Could it be done? Of course nobody but a Yankee school-master 
 would be fool enough to undertake it; but could it be done, if 
 undertaken?
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 41 
 
 You ask, Why not go to the Legislature for funds to build with? 
 For two reasons: 
 
 1. "We had promised not to do so; and that was one of the con- 
 siderations which secured the passage of the Normal University act. 
 We could not "eat our own words" and go back to the very next 
 Legislature and ask for more money. We were too modest for 
 that 
 
 2. We had not grown strong enough to risk the institution in the 
 Legislature at that time. It might take the idea into its head to modify, 
 or even repeal the charter itself. We needed a little more time for 
 development and results before going again to Springfield for 
 money. 
 
 If the people of Bloomington and McLean county could not or 
 would not comply with their obligations and pay up, why not change 
 the location to some town or city that would? 
 
 I was of the opinion that this might be done. But there were 
 objections. The site had been given and accepted in good faith. Some 
 donors had complied or stood ready to comply with the terms of their 
 subscriptions; others had failed only because of financial reverses 
 beyond their control. McLean County did not agree to pay her sub- 
 scription until she should obtain the money therefor by the sale of her 
 swamp lands; and this subscription alone was ^nearly equal to the 
 greatest bonus offered elsewhere, for the location and was sure to be 
 paid some time. Under these circumstances, the suggestion to change 
 the location to some other county could not be maintained. 
 
 When the Board met, therefore, in mid-summer of 1859, on 
 occasion of the annual examination and commencement, and reviewed 
 the situation of affairs, the following facts were found: 
 
 1. The "Normal University" bill became a law on the 18th day, 
 of February, 1857. 
 
 2. The interest on the College and Seminary rands was, by said 
 act, set apart for the maintenance of said University. 
 
 3. The location of said University was to be made by "the Board 
 of Education of the State of Illinois," where, other things being equal, 
 the largest bonus should be offered therefor; and was made at Is ormal, 
 in McLean County said county, and the people of said county, having 
 offered the biggest bonus. 
 
 4. The bonus, or subscription, for the location was the only fund 
 given to the Board for the erection of a permanent house, or home, 
 for the institution. 
 
 5. A plan for a building had early been considered and agreed 
 upon, a contract for construction entered into, work begun, and founda- 
 tions laid, in 1857. 
 
 6. Work was suspended in December of said vear, because of 
 the inability of the Board to pay the contractors the nrst payment on 
 their contract, as it fell due.
 
 42 HISTORY OK THE ILLINOIS 
 
 7. Said suspension continued during all of 1858, and half of 1859. 
 
 8. During this interval the availability of the subscriptions had 
 considerably deteriorated. 
 
 9. A distinguished judge, and a few others moved by his example, 
 refused to pay his subscription until after the completion of the 
 building; that is, until it was not needed. 
 
 10. McLean County's subscription was, at present, unavailable, 
 unless, indeed, it could be used as collateral on which to borrow money. 
 
 11. Nobody had yet been found willing to lend money to the 
 Board on that or any other collateral, or on any terms which the Board 
 could offer. 
 
 12. In January, 1859, two years after the passage of the Univer- 
 sity act, and during the suspension of work on the building, the 
 Legislature met, but it had not been deemed advisable, by the Board, 
 to ask of it farther aid at that time. 
 
 13. The proposition to change the location to some other place, 
 in the hope of getting money to build with, was decided to be unwise. 
 
 14. The Legislature would not meet again until January, 1861. 
 
 15. We could not aiford to wait, in temporary quarters, until that 
 time, nor to risk the effect of failure to provide a suitable edifice, for 
 four years after the inauguration of the institution. 
 
 16. We were, therefore, remitted to the subscription, and it 
 alone, for means to build a permanent and creditable house; and we 
 believed a failure to erect speedily such a house would peril the whole 
 enterprise. 
 
 With such a retrospect and prospect, with growing doubt in the 
 public mind, and restlessness in the school, the Board might cer- 
 tainly be pardoned for an occasional out-look for breakers ahead. 
 
 But what did' they do? 
 
 You remember what the Roman Senators did when the Republic 
 was seriously menaced. They chose a dictator and ordered him to 
 see that the Republic received no harm. [IVe quid detrimenti res- 
 publica, capiat.~\ 
 
 So comparing small things with great, our Board made its Build- 
 ing Committee dictator, and decreed that it should take care that the 
 University received no detriment; in other words, that the building 
 should be constructed anyhow and now and said committee should 
 do it. 
 
 I was the local member of the committee, and for about twenty- 
 nine days in each month, the only member 'comeatable,' and of 
 necessity was compelled to act for the committee. 
 
 Never did man have wosse means, or better backing. I remem- 
 ber especially Messrs. Moulton, Powell, Wright, Denio, and Rex, as 
 taking a decided interest, and a full share of responsibility. They 
 would leave their own business at any time, on call, and repair to 
 Normal. Powell spent months there. Moulton joined me on notes
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 43 
 
 to borrow money for the work, on our individual responsibility. 
 Rex came to the rescue in 1861, when our treasurer got timid and 
 refused to handle the money, just appropriated by the Legislature, 
 for fear bills of broken banks might get into his custody. But I 
 must not delay upon others. It is a long story, and would weary 
 us both. 
 
 The first step was to get clear of existing contracts, based upon 
 cash payments, because we had no cash. 
 
 The second, to substitute other contracts, based upon barter so 
 much subsciption for so much work or material. 
 
 The third, to accept labor or material of subscribers who could 
 not pay money, but could pay these. 
 
 The fourth, to compromise with those not able to pay all, for 
 a part. 
 
 It was purely a matter of barter. We traded, "made turns," 
 compromised and got all out of the subscription there was in it, then 
 laid it aside. 
 
 Such is a general statement of the case. But, perhaps, it does 
 not satisfy a reasonable curiosity to know some of the particulars. 
 How was all this done, and who did it ? 
 
 To the last Ifalf of the question, I answer, the Building Com- 
 mittee; but "how" will take more than three words to tell. 
 
 1. How we got our first start: 
 
 The Board authorized the sending of an agent east to effect, if 
 possible, a sale of the county lands, and thereby hasten the payment 
 of the county subscription. It was intended and expected, by the 
 Board, that the State Treasurer, Mr. Miller, a resident of Blooming- 
 ton, and well acquainted with the lands and their value, would be the 
 agent. It was believed his knowledge, wealth, and office would give 
 him influence enough to find a purchaser. But he would not go, or 
 have anything whatever to do in the matter. Other "solid" men 
 were applied to, but would not go. They seemed quite unaccountably 
 tender of touching these lands or our subscription. I had faith that 
 somebody could be found to buy these lands; and, inasmuch as the 
 "Honorable" men and the "rich" men would not undertake to 
 find said somebody, I concluded to try "Young America." 
 
 At that time, C. M. Cady, Esq., was instructor in vocal culture 
 in the University, a man of tact and pluck, and not afflicted with any 
 serious tenderness about investing his skill in an attempt to negotiate 
 the sale of the county lands. So to Gotham he went, with a list and 
 description of the lands in his pocket. He made something of a stir 
 there, I judge, from the letters of inquiry which, soon after his 
 arrival, b'egan to come by every mail. But he needed something 
 more than a list of the lands. He could do nothing without the 
 bonds for deeds which could be passed by simple endorsement. With 
 these he could effect a sale, in fact, had virtually done so already.
 
 44 HISTORY UK THE ILLINOIS 
 
 I tried to get the bonds from the county authorities, but could 
 not. They would enter into no transaction, save only to sell the 
 lands. There was one way in which I could comply with Cady's 
 suggestion. I could buy the lands myself, paying for them by a 
 small cash advance, and the balance by time notes, and could take 
 the bonds and do what I pleased with them. As this was the only 
 path, I walked into it, and bought seven or eight thousand acres of 
 the land, at a cost of twenty-five or thirty thousand dollars. The 
 purchase was made in the interest of, and intended for, the Board, 
 but without any authority, and it was never* recognized. I had to 
 shoulder the whole transaction. My notes, to the amount of twenty- 
 five thousand dollars, or thereabout, were turned over to the treas- 
 urer of the Board by the county, in part payment of her subscription; 
 and the Building Committee paid them to A, B, and C, for labor or 
 material. So they became widely scattered and gave me a "heap" 
 of trouble to take them up as they fell due. 
 
 But I got the bonds, and notified Cady. Meanwhile, the parties 
 with whom he had been negotiating failed, and the bargain fell 
 through; nor did he succeed in finding another purchaser. I was 
 now in a fix. As Deacon Homespun, or some other wise man, said, 
 or might have said, "I had brought my pigs to a fine market." I 
 could boast of numerous broad acres of swamp land, which nobody 
 would buy, and for which I was in debt, and had nothing to pay. 
 Besides, the transaction, in the turn it had taken, pretty clearly im- 
 peached my discretion, and might involve my honor. At any rate, it 
 was a delicate matter, for my notes were held by the Board, and 
 should they fail to be paid promptly, or not to be paid at all, the Board 
 would have cause to complain of my unauthorized and rash purchase. 
 
 But, however it may have affected and embarrassed me, it proved 
 a Godsend to the University. The sale got noised about as a big 
 speculation. Over twenty-five thousand dollars worth of the county 
 lands had been bought up by one party. (Mum about the party.) 
 The transaction grew on every tongue, and soon reached colossal 
 proportions. There must be something in these lands, after all. 
 (And they will soon be gone, I took care to have suggested. ) The 
 wave was rising. Through Powell, we got the State officers at 
 Springfield to invest (Hatch, Dubois, and Miller), and took good 
 care to have this fact related to Madam Rumor, who forthwith spread 
 it through all the country round. Others took heart and bought 
 lands; nor was it long before the funds in the treasury enabled us to 
 begin operations. 
 
 2. How we proceeded : 
 
 We paid off Mortimer & Loberg, the contractors for the mason 
 work, and they surrendered their contract. Mr. Soper, the contractor 
 for the carpenter work, elected to retain his contract, go on with the 
 job, and take his chances about getting his pay.
 
 STATK NOKMAL UNIVERSITY. 45 
 
 It was now necessary to find some mason who would undertake 
 the construction of the walls of the building, and take his pay in the 
 subscription. A man who could and would do this was hard to find. 
 But by dint of much talk, of appeals to local pride and interest, and 
 aided by the eclat of the recent sales of the county lands, we found 
 him in the person of S. D. Rounds, Esq. He exacted the k 'pick" of 
 our assets, and took the cream of the subscription, leaving the skim- 
 milk, and not much of it, to pay the carpenter, painter, plumber, and 
 plasterer. But it was the best we could do, and we did it. Even 
 with this choice, the mason found great difficulty in completing his 
 job; and, although he succeeded, the walls crept up at a snail's pace, 
 sometimes forgetting to creep at all for many weeks together, so that 
 the heart grew sick at hope deferred. 
 
 It was absolutely necessary to provide some money. Work 
 could not go on without it. It could not be obtained on the credit of 
 the Board. That matter was fully tested. Nor could it be obtained 
 on private notes, based for security on the assets of the Board. There 
 was but one way. The friends of the institution must loan it money 
 or credit. At first Moulton and I borrowed a few thousand dollars, 
 which was soon gone. Then Messrs. Fell and Holder came forward 
 and put their names to paper on which we got more money, and in 
 this way, from time to time, when hard pushed, money was raised. I 
 remember especially in this connection, Jesse and Kersey Fell, and 
 Charles and Richard Holder. Without them I see not how we could 
 have succeeded. 
 
 I next went among the merchants of Bloomingtou, and told 
 them I would be personally responsible that they should be paid out 
 of the first money the Board should receive for building purposes, if 
 they would supply our carpenter, Mr. Soper, with what he needed, on 
 credit. The Legislature was to meet the ensuing January, and I 
 told them it would appropriate for any deficiency there might be in 
 the means to build the University building, and that they should 
 have their pay out of said appropriation. So much I pledged. They 
 consented, and by this arrangement Mr. Soper was enabled to supply 
 himself with hardware, paints, oils, glass, some lumber, groceries, 
 and all kinds of provisions and clothing for his family and his work- 
 men ; and when the appropriation was made, as I said it would be, I 
 redeemed my promise, and caused them all to be paid. I considered 
 this a lucky piece of financiering, and it was lucky for the institution ; 
 but it bequeathed to me one first-class lawsuit, and sundry smaller 
 ones, and has cost me a good deal of money and trouble. 
 
 Perhaps it is not necessary for me to relate more particulars. I 
 Lave stated enough to show you how the deed was done. In Jan- 
 uary, 1861, the edifice was still incomplete, and I estimated the debt 
 then due at sixty-five thousand dollars, which was granted by the 
 Legislature. During the spring and summer of 1861, the edifice was
 
 46 HISTORY OF .THE ILLINOIS 
 
 fully completed, and an additional debt of some thirty odd thousand 
 dollars, as near as I can now remember, incurred, which has since 
 been paid. We realized some hundred and ten thousand dollars out 
 of the subscription, so the edifice cost a little over two hundred 
 thousand dollars. The time occupied in building the edifice, after 
 the resumption of work in 1859, was two years, although the bulk of 
 the work was done in 1860. OHAS. E. HOVEY. 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., May, 1869. 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF THE FACULTY. 
 
 Richard Edwards, LL. D., president of the State Normal School 
 from 1862 to 1876, was born at Aberystwitch, Cardiganshire, 
 Wales, December 23, 1822. His parents were classed among the 
 common people. His father was a stone and brick-mason, and his 
 mother, nee Jones, was the daughter of a thrifty farmer in moderate 
 circumstances. Owing to the limited means of his parents, his early 
 education was sadly neglected. At the age of ten, his father became 
 interested in the New World, and moved westward. Pleased with 
 Ohio, he located in the northern part, on a tract of land known in 
 histor} T as the Western Reserve. Richard, until he was twenty-two, 
 worked on a farm, sometimes turning the soil and sometimes plying 
 the trade of a carpenter. These industries, however, were not suited 
 to his taste and character. He desired something more elevating. 
 At this time it was his good fortune to meet two scholarly gentlemen 
 who had completed the classical course at Harvard. They gave him 
 some wholesome advice respecting the advantages of an education, 
 and after carefully considering their counsel he determined to go to 
 college. After much hard work he succeeded in gaining admission to 
 the Freshman class at Harvard. He remained at Harvard only a 
 short time. Afterward, he completed the Normal course at Bridge- 
 water, Massachusetts, and in 1847 became a student in Rensellaer 
 Polytechnic Institute, at Troy, New York. He has taught at II ing- 
 ham, Waltham, Bridgewater, and Salem, Massachusetts. After 
 leaving Bridgewater he became the agent of the State Board of Edu- 
 cation in visiting schools. For three years he was principal of the 
 State Normal School, at Salem, Massachusetts. In 1857 he was 
 appointed principal of the city Normal School of St. Louis, Missouri. 
 In January, 1862, he became president of the Illinois State Normal 
 University. In 1876 he resigned this position and accepted a call to 
 the Congregational church at Princeton, 111., where he is engaged at 
 present.
 
 STATK NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 7 
 
 Ivlwin C. Ilewett, LL. D., president of the Illinois State for- 
 mal University, was born in Worcester County, Massachusetts, 
 November 1, 1828. His childhood was spent 011 a farm with his 
 parents, who are still living. At the age of thirteen he learned the 
 shoemaker's trade, and began to do for himself. The day he was 
 twenty-one he engaged his first school, and received as a recompense, 
 $13 per month. He has had wonderful success as a teacher. His 
 services have ever been in demand. Be it said to his credit that he 
 never engaged but one school, and that was his first. In 1852 he 
 graduated at the State Normal School in Bridgewater, Massachusetts; 
 in 1853 he became an assistant teacher in this school, and remained 
 four years. In the fall of 1858 he came to Illinois and entered upon 
 his duties as Professor of Histoiy and Geography, in the Normal 
 University; in January, 1876, he was appointed president; in 1863 
 he received the degree of A. M. from the University of Chicago ; in 
 1877 he received the title of LL. D. from Shurtleff College. As an 
 instructor, Dr. Hewett has few equals, in the Union. His practical 
 experience, keen perception, and laconic forms of expression, have 
 gained for him an enviable reputation among the educators of this 
 nation. 
 
 Thomas Metcalf was born in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in 
 1826. His father was a farmer in poor circumstances, but was able 
 to give his children the advantages of attendance, for one or two 
 years, at an academy, in addition to the meager opportunity afforded 
 by the district school. The latter was seldom kept for more than five 
 months each year, and this in the warm season, in order to save the 
 expense of fuel. During the long winter, in common with nearly all 
 the children of that vicinity in those days, the Metcalf children 
 braided straw for bonnets, having their daily stint from eight to 
 twelve yards. The subject of this sketch must have been so em- 
 ployed for not less than seven winters. The morning of his sixteenth 
 birthday, when, with hoe in hand, he was cutting weeds amongst 
 the corn, he was called to take charge, "just for to-day," of the 
 school in his own district. Homesickness kept the teacher away, 
 and gave the young farmer-boy eleven weeks practice in school-keep- 
 ing, at her wages S3 per week. For five years teaching district 
 school, alternated with attendance at an academy, not without occa- 
 sional experiences at home with scythe, rake, and plow. At the age 
 of twenty-one came the year's course at the Bridgewater Normal 
 school, followed by an immediate engagement as sub-master in a 
 grammar school on Bunker Hill. Two hard, but helpful years, here 
 were followed by seven years as principal of a grammar school in 
 West Koxbury. He came west in 1857, leaving the last named school 
 for the assistant's position in the St. Louis high school, where, as 
 professor of mathematics, and afterward as principal of the combined 
 high and Normal School, he taught five years. From that city he
 
 48 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 was called, by President Edwards, in June, 1862, to this University 
 as professor of mathematics; then, in 1873, the Board established 
 the training department on a new footing, and he was appointed to 
 the new chair. Prof. Metcalf has taught nearly forty years. In the 
 spring of 1871, he visited England, Scotland, and Continental Eu- 
 rope, returning in August with health much improved. 
 
 Albert Stetson, professor of language and literature, was born in 
 Kingston, Mass., in 1834. One year of his boyhood was spent in 
 pegging shoes, and during the summers of his fourteenth and 
 fifteenth years he was employed in a tack factory. In 1852-3 he 
 took the Bridgewater Normal course. The next year he had charge 
 of a grammar school, situated at the extreme end of Cape Cod. The 
 following year Mr. Stetson went to Yellow Springs, Ohio, where he 
 entered the preparatory department of Antioch College. Here 
 circumstances afforded him an excellent opportunity of becoming 
 acquainted with the distinguished president of the college, Horace 
 Mann. In July, 1858, he was admitted to the Freshman class of 
 Harvard College. The college vacation of six weeks was spent in 
 hard study, and at the beginning of the school year he entered the 
 Sophomore class. His expenses at Harvard were paid with his own 
 earnings, save a little assistance rece : ved from the college. While at 
 college, he was one of the editors of the Harvard Magazine. He 
 graduated in 1861, and in 1862 was suddenly transplanted from the 
 shores of the Atlantic to this University in the midst of the prairies. 
 The Illinois Schoolmaster was founded and edited by Mr. Stetson. 
 In 1878 he visited Europe. 
 
 In the order of entering the Bridgewater school, the names of 
 our presidents and professors stand thus: Edwards, Metcalf, Moore, 
 Hewett, Stetson, spanning the period from 1845 to 1853. All these 
 men were assistants in the school for at least one term, Edwards 
 and Hewett for several years; and all ascribe a large share of what- 
 ever success has attended their labors to the influence of that quiet, 
 thorough, honest graduate of "West Point, Nicholas Tillinghast. 
 
 Joseph Addison Sewall was born in 1830, in Scarborough, Me. 
 He graduated from Harvard in 1852, and received the degree of 
 M. D. In 1860 he completed the scientific course, in the same 
 college. Between the years 1852 and 1856, he practiced medicine in 
 Bureau and LaSalle Counties. In the fall of 1860 he was appointed 
 professor of natural science in the Normal University. He went to 
 Colorado in 1878. He is now president of the Colorado State 
 University. 
 
 W. L. Pillsbury was born in Derry, N. H., November 4, 1838. 
 He was brought up on a farm. He went to Pinkerton Academy, in 
 Derry, for about a year, and when nearly eighteen, went to Phillips 
 Academy, at Andover, where he prepared for college. Entered 
 Harvard in 1859, and graduated in 1863. He came to Normal as
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 49 
 
 principal of the model school, in 1863, and remained until 1870. 
 His teaching was all done in the high school, and he seldom had 
 anything to do with the other departments. From 1870 to 1879 he 
 was engaged in the insurance and real estate business. In 1879 he 
 received the appointment of chief clerk in the office of Mr. Slade, 
 State Superintendent. He was married December 26, 1866, to Miss 
 Marion Hammond, of St. Louis, who had charge of the primary 
 department in the Normal University. 
 
 John W. Cook was born in New York, April 20, 1844, and is 
 the son of Col. H. D. Cook. In 1851 Mr. Cook came west with his 
 
 Earents, and settled in McLean County, Illinois. He entered the 
 tate Normal University in 1862, and graduated in 1865. He then 
 began teaching school at Brim field, Peoria County, Illinois. Here 
 he remained but one year, and returned to Normal, and became 
 principal in the model school department. In 1867 he was married 
 to Lydia Spafford, sister of Mrs. Gen. Hovey. In 1868 he became 
 a member of the Normal Faculty, and taught history and geography. 
 In 1869 he changed to reading and elocution. In 1876 he was 
 appointed professor of mathematics. 
 
 Stephen A. Forbes was born in Stephenson County, Illinois, in 
 1844. He worked on a farm until the age of fourteen, when he 
 entered the preparatory department of Beloit College. In 1861 he 
 enlisted as a private in Company B, Seventh I. Y. C. He was honor- 
 ably discharged at the close of the war, bearing the title of captain. 
 Immediately after the war closed, he entered Rush Medical College, 
 of Chicago. . In 1867 he taught school in southern Illinois. Before 
 receiving the appointment of curator of the museum of the Illinois 
 Normal School, which he did in 1872, he was superintendent of the 
 public schools of Mt. Yernon. He is now State Entomologist, 
 having been recently appointed by Gov. Cullom. 
 
 Lester L. Burrington was born in Burke, Caledonia County, Yer- 
 mont, March 24, 1838. He attended the district school of his native 
 State, and graduated at Tufts' College, near Boston, in 1866. For a 
 short time he was professor of ancient languages in Dean Academy, 
 at Franklin, Massachusetts. He held the same position in Goddard 
 Seminary, Vermont, for four years. From here he came west. In 
 January, 1874, he accepted a position in the State Normal University 
 as principal of the high school. He resigned in 1879. He is at 
 present president of the Dean Academy, at Franklin, Massachusetts. 
 
 Edmund J. James was born May 21, 1855, at Jacksonville, Mor- 
 gan County, Illinois. His parents settled on a farm near Normal, in 
 1863. He entered the lowest class of the grammar school in the 
 model department of State Normal in the spring of 1866. He 
 remained in the model department six years and one term, graduating 
 from the high school in 1S73. He then spent two terms in the 
 classical department of the Northwestern University, at Evanston.
 
 50 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 After holding a position for one season (six months) in one of the 
 field parties of the U. S. Lake survey, he went to Harvard College 
 in October, 1874, and remained one year, making a specialty of the 
 classics. He went to Germany in August, 1875, attended the univer- 
 sities of Berlin and Halle, studying history, political science, and 
 philosophy. He graduated at Halle in August, 1877, with the 
 degrees of A. M. and Ph. D. He then took charge of the Evanston 
 high school, January 1, 1878, and entered on his present work in 
 September, 1879. He is turning his attention to political economy, 
 and is one of the contributors to the Encyclopedia of Political 
 Science, now being published. 
 
 Minor L. Seymour was born in Genoa, New York, in 1835. He 
 attended a district school till the age of nineteen, afterward Owego 
 Academy, Ithaca Academy, arid the Illinois Normal University, each 
 one term. At present he is our professor of natural science. 
 
 Henry McCormick was born in 1837, in Mayo County, Ireland. 
 In 1853 he came to America, spent two years in Ohio, one in West 
 Virginia, and then went to Wisconsin, working on a farm in summer 
 and going to school in winter, until the winter of 1859-60, when he 
 taught his first school in a log school house for $16 a month, "board- 
 ing around." The school house being on the line between Illinois 
 and Wisconsin, he had to undergo examination in both States. The 
 next year he was promoted to a stone school house and 823 a month. 
 This school he had four months of every year until the spring of 
 1865, when he came here as a student. In 1869, one year after grad- 
 uation, he was appointed professor of geography. In the interven- 
 ing year he was principal of the Normal public school. Now he is 
 professor of history and geography at the University. Last year, 1882, 
 he received the degree of Ph. D. from the Wesleyan University. 
 
 B. W. Baker, a farmer's boy, was born in Coles vounty, Illinois, 
 November 25, 1841. He entered the army at the age of twenty, and 
 served from 1861 to 1864 in the Illinois Volunteers. He entered the 
 Normal University in 1867, and graduated in 1870. Since graduating 
 he has taught in the grammar school of the University, and is now 
 preaching in Colorado. 
 
 Charles DeGarmo was born in the State of Wisconsin in 1849. 
 At the age of two his parents moved to Sterling, 111., where he lived 
 ten years. Afterward he lived at Lebanon, St. Clair County, Illinois. 
 He enlisted in the army at the age of sixteen, and served one year. 
 He saw all the great battle fields of Georgia, one year after the 
 battles. He entered the Normal University in the fall of 1870, and 
 graduated in the spring of 1873. He was married in 1875 to Miss Ida 
 Witbeck, of Belvidere, 111., who was for two years a student in the 
 University. He has worked in institutes for eight years. At various 
 times he has done institute work in Shelby, Jo Daviess, Lee, Fayette, 
 and McLean Counties; also, in the State of Iowa.
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 51 
 
 Mrs. M. D. L. Hayirie was born in Danville, Kentucky, in 1826, 
 the daughter of Dr. Duff Green. At the age of five she entered the 
 primary department of an Episcopal Seminary, and remained there 
 seven years, having completed a year of high-school work. She was 
 then placed in a Presbyterian Ladies' Seminary, where she completed 
 the course, after which she spent several years in southern Tennessee. 
 When she was twenty years of age her father moved to Mt. Yernon, 
 Illinois, and soon after she, in connection with her sister, now Mrs. 
 Gray, opened a school. The experiment succeeded. She taught in 
 Mt. Veruon about one year, and a year and a half in Salem, Illinois. 
 In October 1849, she was married to Dr. A. F. Haynie, of Salem, 
 who died in 1851. In 1855 she accepted a position in an academy in 
 Mt. Yernon, and soon after was given the entire control of the young 
 ladies' department. She resigned in 1866, and became teacher of lan- 
 guage in the model department at Normal. Since 1876 she has held 
 the position of professor of modern languages in Normal University. 
 
 Flora Pennell was born in Putnam, the smallest county in 
 Illinois, in the town of Granville, which, in the early history of the 
 State, was one of the centers of education. She began attending 
 school at the age of four, and has not been out of school (either as 
 a pupil or a teacher) any whole year since. At the age of twelve she 
 moved to Normal, and entered the grammar school of the Univer- 
 sity. She entered the Normal in the fall of 1869, and graduated in 
 1872. The next year she taught a country school, one mile west of 
 Bloomington. In the fall of 1873 she went to Vassar College, and 
 in the year 1874 she became an assistant in the high school at Elgin, 
 Illinois, where she remained for three years. From Elgin she came 
 to teach in the Normal Department in the fall of 1877. 
 
 Julia E. Kennedy was born in southern Illinois. She attended 
 the district school and the spelling school, where she often ''spelled 
 down" all competitors, until the age of fifteen. At this time her 
 father died, and she taught her first school in a log school house. 
 She entered the Normal at seventeen, and graduated in 1871, vale- 
 dictorian of her class. Since then she has taught in Missouri, as 
 principal of a school in St. Louis, and as professor of rhetoric in 
 Cape Girardeau. In 1879 she came here and took charge of the pri- 
 mary department. 
 
 Rosalie Miller was born at New Haven, Connecticut. She grad- 
 uated at the Westfield, Massachusetts, Normal School. Entered upon 
 the profession of teaching in Massachusetts, and in 1874 came to Nor- 
 mal. At that time there was in the Normal Department only one lady 
 teacher, Miss Case. Before this time there had been no regular 
 teacher of drawing, and there were no casts, or any of the apparatus 
 used in that department now. Since she came here, Miss Miller has 
 been constantly studying and perfecting herself in the different 
 branches of her art.
 
 52 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 M. Emma Skinner, the most youthful member of the faculty, 
 was born on a farm, one mile from Princeton, Illinois. She attended 
 the district school, later the Princeton high school, from which she 
 graduated at the age of sixteen, valedictorian of her class. Still later, 
 after a two years' course of study, she graduated from the School of 
 Oratory, of Boston University, under the late Lewis B. Monroe, 
 being one of twelve to represent the class of forty. The two years 
 following she taught reading, in the high school at Princeton; thence 
 to Normal, in the fall of 1881. 
 
 CHANGES IN THE FACULTY. 
 
 At the breaking-out of the rebellion, Gen. Hovey, then president 
 of the University, entered the army as colonel of the Normal regi- 
 ment, which he had organized. Ten of those who had been 
 instructors took up arms on the right side. Leander H. Potter was 
 made a colonel in the army, and afterward president of the Soldiers' 
 College, at Fulton. Ira Moore was a captain, and at the close of 
 the war he became principal of the Normal School at St. Cloud, 
 Minnesota. J. H. Burnham was a captain, and Aaron Gove an 
 adjutant. Julian E. Bryant and Joseph G. Howell were made 
 lieutenants. Bryant was drowned on the Texan coast, and Howell 
 was shot at Fort Donelson. Edwin Philbrook was made a sergeant, 
 Dr. Samuel Willard a surgeon, and Dr. E. R. Roe a colonel. When 
 President Hovey entered the army, Perkins Bass, of Chicago, con- 
 sented to act as principal until a permanent appointment could be 
 made. In 1862 Richard Edwards, formerly principal of a Normal 
 School in St. Louis, became president. During Gen. Hovey's last 
 year there were ten members of the Normal Faculty. In President 
 Edward's first, there were five, Mr. Hewett and Mr. Sewall being the 
 tfnly members who served in both administrations. Mr. Hewett was 
 instructor in geography and history, Mr. Sewall in natural science, 
 Leander H. Potter in language, Thomas Metcalf in mathematics, and 
 Margaret E. Osband in grammar and drawing. During the next 
 year, Mr. Potter was succeeded by Prof. Stetson, so that twenty years 
 ago the faculty contained three of its present members. 
 
 Of the preceptress, Miss Osband, now Mrs. Stetson, Dr. Edwards 
 says: " She was a faithful and capable teacher, and her discontinuance 
 was altogether owing to her unaccountable preference for another 
 position." She was followed by Miss Emaline Dryer, who resigned 
 in 1870, Miss Myra A. Osband taking her place. In 1874, Miss 
 Case (now Mrs. Morrow) became preceptress. 
 
 At the head of the model school, in which the high-school grade 
 had just been established, was Charles F. Childs, who is described as
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 53 
 
 a man of rare power. Miss Levonia E. Ketcham was teacher in the 
 primary department, but shortly after she "went the common way," 
 and married. Her example was followed by her successor, Miss 
 Marion Hammond, who took for "better or worse," William L. Pills- 
 bury, who had succeeded Mr. Childs in the high school. After Mr. 
 Pillsbury, Miss Mary E. Horton occupied the position for one year, 
 followed by Prof. Coy, who, in turn, gave place to Mr. Burrington. 
 Prof. James has been principal of the high school for the last three 
 years. 
 
 The grammar school was organized as a separate department in 
 1866, with E. P. Burlingham, as principal. Previous to this time 
 the model school was entirely under the supervision of the principal 
 of the high school, and included all children of school age in district 
 'No. 2, of the town of Normal. But the rooms of the University 
 became too small for their accommodation. Accordingly, a school 
 house was built by the district, and the grammar- and intermediate 
 grades of the model school were removed to the new building in 1867, 
 with John W. Cook as principal. Two years later, Joseph E. Carter 
 became principal, and by a vote of the State Board of Education, the 
 University ceased to exercise control over the new building. In 1870, 
 Mr. Baker, familiarly known as "Big Baker," took charge of the 
 grammar school. Mr. DeGarmo came next. Miss Edith F. Johnson 
 had, in 1865, succeeded Miss Hammond in the .primary. In 1868, 
 Miss Lucia Kingsley took the position, but she "preferred Indiana 
 with a husband to Illinois with single blessedness," and passed her 
 work into the hands of Miss Martha E. Hughes. Miss Gertrude 
 Case, Mrs. Joseph Carter (sister of Miss Flora Pennell), and Miss* 
 Paddock, successively occupied this position until Miss Kennedy came 
 in 1879. 
 
 Miss Baudusia Wakefield, of the Normal Department, was ap- 
 pointed in 1875. She resigned in 1881, and her place was filled by 
 James Y. McHugh, who also resigned in December, 1881, to accept 
 the principalship of the Normal public school. 
 
 PRESENT FACULTY. 
 
 Edwin C. Hewett, LL. D., President, Professor of Mental Science 
 and Didactics. Succeeded Dr. Edwards in 1876. 
 
 Thomas Metcalf, A. M., Principal of Training Department. Ap- 
 pointed in 1862. 
 
 Albert Stetson, A. M., Professor of Language and Literature. 
 Appointed in 1862. 
 
 John W. Cook, Professor of Mathematics. Appointed in
 
 54: HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 Henry McCormick, Professor of History and Geography. Ap- 
 pointed in 1869. 
 
 Stephen A. Forbes, Director of Scientific Laboratory. Appointed 
 in 1872. 
 
 Minor L. Seymour, Professor of Natural Science. Succeeded Dr. 
 Sewall in 1878. 
 
 Edmund J. James, Ph. D., Professor of Latin and Greek, and 
 Principal of the High School. Succeeded Prof. Burrington in 1879. 
 
 Mrs. Martha D. L. Haynie, Professor of Modern Languages. 
 Appointed in 1865. 
 
 Miss Julia E. Kennedy, First Assistant, Training Department. 
 Appointed in 1879. 
 
 Charles DeGarmo, Second Assistant, Training Department. 
 Appointed in 1870. 
 
 Miss Rosalie Miller, Teacher of Drawing. Appointed in 1874. 
 
 Miss Flora Pennell, First Assistant, Normal School. Appointed 
 in 18:77. 
 
 Miss Julia Scott, Second Assistant, Normal School. Appointed 
 in 1881. Resigned in 1882. 
 
 Miss M. Emma Skinner, Teacher of Reading. Appointed in 
 1881. Resigned in 1882. 
 
 The museum of natural history, formerly belonging to the 
 Natural History Society, was, in 1871, transferred to the State, and 
 is now under the control of the Board of Education. In 1872 the 
 collection was estimated as being worth, in money, nearly $100,000. 
 The first collections were made by Prof. C. D. Wilber, who had 
 charge for several years. He was followed by Maj. John W. Powell, 
 whose explorations in Colorado have since become so famous. In 
 1873 Stephen A. Forbes took his present position, and has added 
 much to the value of the museum, both by arranging the mass of 
 material already collected, and by adding greatly to the variety of 
 specimens. 
 
 The changes in customs, methods of instruction, etc., have been 
 few and gradual. The institution has never been 
 
 k " The first by whom the new is tried, 
 
 Nor yet the last to lay the old aside." 
 
 Reappointment has been the rule, both in the Faculty and Board 
 of Education. Spelling has never assumed a very mild form. In 
 Dr. Edwards' time, he occupied one platform in the assembly room 
 and Mr. Hewett the other, alternately hurling verbal missiles at the 
 first and second classes in spelling. 
 
 In those halcyon days, there was no "observation work," but in 
 its place, every Friday afternoon, one of the classes taught by a pupil- 
 teacher was, without warning, whisked up to the assembly room, and
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 55 
 
 after the exercise was performed as well as the fright of the teacher 
 and children permitted, every pupil was expected to criticise if called 
 upon. The small drop of self-confidence, possessed by the poor 
 teacher, entirely evaporated when the concentrated wisdom of all the 
 faculty was brought to bear on the work. There was no training 
 teacher, as now, but each member of the faculty gave what time he 
 could to visiting the pupil teachers. Occasionally one would teach a 
 term without receiving a visit. 
 
 ALUMNI ASSOCIATION. 
 
 In June, 1863, I sat an intensely interested spectator at the Nor- 
 mal commencement. I had been a student in the institution for one 
 year, and had regarded Section A as a superior sort of people. My 
 interest in them was in no sense diminished by the conspicuous part 
 they played on that occasion.. 
 
 At the close of the exercises, Dr. Edwards announced that the 
 Alumni would meet in the Wrightonian Hall, and the happy seven, 
 who had been in the focus of the public gaze for three or four hours, 
 filed into the society room, and the closing door shut out the 
 inquisitive gaze of at least one u yearling." That was the first time 
 I heard of the Normal Alumni Association. 
 
 The succeeding year the scene was reenacted, and a year later, 
 in 1865, I, in common with my classmates, accepted the president's 
 invitation. We found a dozen or fifteen of our forty-one predecessors. 
 They received us with great cordiality and with many congratulations, 
 and, after a social meeting of an hour, we adjourned to receive the 
 compliments of our admiring friends. 
 
 It will be seen that the Alumni Association had not, as yet, a 
 very thorough organization nor a very definite purpose. A few years 
 later, two or three perhaps, the plan of a private business meeting 
 and banquet in the afternoon, and public exercises in the evening, on 
 the day preceding commencement, became the settled policy of the 
 Association. Before that time, it had been customary for the literary 
 societies to employ some lecturer of national reputation, to deliver a 
 public address upon that evening. The new arrangement dropped 
 into place very naturally. This plan was followed, more or less 
 faithfully, until 1880, when the cliange in the school calendar, _' by 
 which the annual commencement occurs in May, made it impossible 
 to secure a full attendance. About 1870 an attempt was made to 
 raise a permanent Alumni fund, but only two or three classes took 
 any interest in the matter, and the scheme was abandoned. 
 
 At each session of the Legislature the institution was obliged to 
 e.ncounter more or less hostility to its appropriation bills. A stock
 
 56 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 argument, employed by our enemies, was the charge that the grad- 
 uates did not teach. The Association determined to settle the 
 question. To this end the constitution was so amended as to provide 
 for an additional officer, a sorresponding secretary, whose duty it 
 should be to communicate annually with the Alumni, and to keep a 
 record of their work. I undertook the task in 1876, and the result 
 appears in the following pages. It is needless to say that the charge 
 that the graduates do not teach has been abandoned. 
 
 JOHN "W. COOK. 
 
 THE NORMAL ALUMNI REGISTER. 
 
 Those marked "H. S." have paid their tuition in full, and are under no obligation to teach. 
 
 CLASS OF 1860. 
 
 1. Sarah M. (Dunn) Strickler taught in the Peoria high school 
 one year, in the Bloomington high school one year, and in a private 
 school in Peoria two years. She married Mr. Strickler in August, 
 1862. They have two children. Their present residence is Phila- 
 delphia. Mrs. Strickler can always be reached by addressing her in 
 care of Miss Hattie Dunn, Bloomington, Illinois. 
 
 2. Elizabeth J. (Mitchell) Christian taught in the Bloomington 
 schools two years, and in the Decatur schools two years. She was 
 married in 1865 to M. L. Christian. They have two children, a son 
 and a daughter. Address is Bloomington, Illinois. 
 
 3. Frances A. (Peterson) Gastman was born in Sublette, Illinois, 
 in 1839. She entered the Normal School on the 5th day of October, 
 1857 the first day of the first term. She continued her studies until 
 June, 1860, and graduated with the first class. Evincing unusual 
 power as a teacher, she was retained as preceptress of the Institu- 
 tion, and remained in that position until June, 1862. On the 24th of 
 July succeeding, she was married to E. A. Gastman, who was teach- 
 ing in Decatur, and removed to that city. "With the beginning of the 
 school year of 1862-3, she took a position in the high school which 
 had just been organized. About the twenty-second of February 
 following, she was taken sick in the school room, and after an illness 
 of a little less than a week, she died. 
 
 4. Mary F. (Washburn) Hull was principal of the primary 
 department of the model school in 1860-1. Her health, always del- 
 icate, became so poor that in 1862 she was obliged to resign. In 
 April of the same year she was married to John Hull. They have 
 tw<> children. Her present address is Carbondale, Illinois.
 
 STATK NORMAL r.\ivi:i:-iTY. f>7 
 
 5. Enoch A. Gastman, immediately after graduation, went to 
 Decatur and commenced teaching in a primary school at forty-five 
 dollars a month, six months in a year. In May, 1862, he was elected 
 superintendent of city schools, and has held the position continuously 
 since, nearly twenty years. He has been twice married in 1862 to 
 Miss Peterson, mentioned above, and in 1861 to Miss Caroline Sar- 
 gent. They have four children. He is a member of the State Board 
 of Education, treasurer of the State Teachers' Association, a posi- 
 tion which he has held for several years, president of the Normal 
 Alumni Association, is especially interested in bee culture, and man- 
 ages a farm near Hudson. He has been tendered positions in both 
 of the State Normal Schools, but prefers to remain in Decatur. He 
 was president of State Teachers' Association in 1880. 
 
 6. Peter Harper taught a district school in Peoria County until 
 the war. He then entered the army, and remained until the close of 
 the war, finding himself much broken in health. He remained in 
 Louisiana, was elected a member of the State Legislature, and in 1876 
 was elected Parish Judge. He was a candidate for the same position 
 in 1878, but was defeated on the "Louisiana plan." His health is 
 not good. He is living on a farm purchased ten years ago. His 
 address is St. Charles, Louisiana. 
 
 7. Silas Hays, Jr., after graduation, taught in the Wenona 
 schools four months, in* Elm Grove two years, and in El Paso one 
 year. He traveled for Harper Brothers one year, and spent two 
 years selling goods. He was principal of the Fairview schools one 
 year, after which he bought a farin near Odell. Since 1869 he has 
 taught seven winters, five of them in the same school, and two of 
 them in "breaking-in " mutinous schools. His address is Odell, 
 Illinois. He has taught seventy-four months since graduation. He 
 is now farming at Rugby, Illinois. 
 
 8. Joseph Gideon Howell was born in Bethel, Bond County, 
 Illinois, September 4, 1838, and died from the effects of a rifle ball 
 through the head, on the bloody field of Donelson, February 15, 1862. 
 He entered the Illinois Normal University, October 5, 1857, and 
 graduated with his class, June 29, 1860, receiving the first diploma 
 ever issued. During the fall and winter of 1S60-1, he taught in the 
 model school, but resigned his position to enlist as a private in the first 
 company that left Bloomington, under the command of Captain 
 Harvey. After the expiration of the ninety-days service, he was 
 elected first lieutenant of Company K., Eighth Illinois Infantry. At 
 the time of his death, he was serving as aid to Gen. R. J. Oglesby. 
 He was a noble, Christian man in every sense of the word. He 
 despised a mean, low act in anyone. His mind was singularly clear 
 and decided. He reached a conclusion in a moment, and never hesi- 
 tated to carry it out with his whole soul. Probably no one ever left 
 the University with brighter prospects of usefulness than Joseph G.
 
 58 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 Ilowell. Had he lived, there can be no doubt that he would have 
 stood in the front rank of teachers. He was a warm and devoted 
 friend. Always happy and joyous, his very presence was an inspira- 
 tion. The girls said that "he always laughed with his eyes." He 
 was brought to Bloomington and buried in the cemetery, although he 
 had often expressed the wish that he might rest where he fell. 
 
 9. John Hull taught, 1860-1, at Salem, Illinois; 1861-2, in the 
 model department of the State Normal School, and 1862-4 in Bloom- 
 ington. During 1864-5 he was agent for Brewer & Tileston. The 
 next four years he was in business in Bloomington. In 1869 he was 
 elected superintendent of McLean County, and was re-elected in 1873. 
 He resigned this position in 1875 to accept the chair of mathmatics 
 in the Southern Normal, which he still occupies. He was married in 
 1862 to Mary F. Washburne, mentioned above. Mr. Hull edited 
 the Illinois Schoolmaster in 1868, was chairman of the executive 
 committee of the State Teachers' Association in 1873, president of 
 the Association in 1874, chairman of the executive committee again 
 in 1879, and is now the secretary of the Association. His address is 
 Carbondale, Illinois. 
 
 10. Edwin Philbrook taught one year in Pana, was four years in 
 the army, spent four years in various kinds of business at different 
 points, teaching, meanwhile, one year at Heyworth. He was princi- 
 pal of the Maroa schools three years, of the Sabetha, Kansas, schools 
 three years, of the Blue Rapids, Kansas, schools four years, and is 
 at present principal of the third ward school in Decatur Mr. P. was 
 married in 1871. 
 
 CLASS OF 1861. 
 
 11. Sophie J. (Crist) Gill was born in Perry County, Ohio, in 
 1840. She entered the Normal School in February, 1858, and grad- 
 uated with the second class, in June, 1861. After graduation, she 
 taught a year and a half in a female seminary in Greenfield, Illinois. 
 In November, 1862, she was married to Gary Judson Gill. She 
 accompanied her husband south, he being at that time in the army, 
 and remained eight or nine months. She returned to Bloomington in 
 July, 1863, suffering from disease contracted in the south. She died 
 in November, 1863. 
 
 12. Amanda O. Noyes was born in Landhoff, New Hampshire, 
 in 1830, and entered the Normal School in September, 1858, and 
 graduated in 1861. Immediately after graduation she took a position 
 in the schools of Jacksonville, and remained there for two years; but 
 her health failed, and she was obliged to resign. She went to 
 La Porte, Indiana, and resided with a brother there. After a painful 
 illness of several months, she died on February 7, 1864.
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 59 
 
 13. J. II. Burnham, immediately after graduation, entered the 
 army as lieutenant of the Normal company of the Thirty-Third Reg- 
 iment. He subsequently became captain of the same company. In 
 April, 1863, he resigned on account of ill-health, and returned to 
 Bloomington. He was superintendent of the Bloomington schools 
 one year, was editor of the Pantagraph two years, and since 1867 
 has been agent of the King Iron Bridge Company. In 1866 he was 
 married to Almira S. Ives. His address is Bloomington. 
 
 14:. Aaron Gove entered the Thirty-Third Regiment immedi- 
 ately after graduation, and soon became adjutant of the regiment. 
 He remained in the army two years, was in business two years, was 
 principal of the Rutland schools two years, and principal of the 
 Normal public schools for five years. In August, 1874, he was 
 elected city superintendent of the Denver, Colorado, schools, which 
 position he still occupies. He purchased the Schoolmaster of Mr. 
 Hull, and the Illinois Teacher of Mr. Nason, and consolidated the 
 two journals. Mr. Gove was married to Cora Spaiford, of Massa- 
 chusetts, in 1865. They have four children two boys and two girls. 
 
 15. Moses Morgan, immediately after the battle of Bull Run, 
 entered the army and remained a year and a half, when he resigned 
 with prostrated health. In 1863-4 he was principal of the third 
 ward school in Peoria. In 1864 he again entered the army, in a civil 
 capacity, and served until June, 1866. He removed to Brecksville, 
 Ohio, and commenced farming, and in two years recovered his 
 health. In 1865 he was married to Miss Laura Green. They have 
 buried one child, and have two living. His address is Brecksville, 
 Ohio. 
 
 16. Henry B. Norton taught one term in the model school, in 
 1861. In 1862-3 he taught at Warsaw. The year 1864 he was 
 editor of the Bloomington Pantagraph. In 1864-5 he was county 
 superintendent of Ogle County. In 1865 he resigned, and accepted 
 a position in the Kansas State Normal School, at Emporia. He 
 remained there five years. The years 1870-73 were spent in news- 
 paper work and traveling. In 1873 he returned to the Emporia 
 Normal School, where he remained two years, resigning to accept a 
 position in the San Jose, California, Normal School, where he has 
 since remained. He was married in 1864. They have three chil- 
 dren. Address is San Jose, California. 
 
 17. Peleg R. Walker taught in Dement, 1861-2. He enlisted 
 as private in Company K, Ninet} 7 -Second Illinois, in 1862, and was 
 made lieutenant in April, 1863. He commanded the company in 
 nearly every battle in which they were engaged, "Marched from 
 Atlanta to the Sea," and thence by way of Carolina to Virginia, and 
 was on an advanced post when Johnston surrendered. On his return, 
 he was elected principal of the Creston schools, where he remained 
 for seven years. In 1872 he resigned, to accept the principalship of
 
 60 lirsTOKY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 the llochelle schools, which he has held continuously since. He was 
 married in August, 1865. They have one girl, born in 1871. 
 
 18. Harvey J. Button entered the Thirty-Third Eegiment 
 immediately after graduation, and remained four years, becoming 
 captain before the close of the war. On his return to Illinois he 
 commenced farming, and removed to Missouri in 1860, where he had 
 purchased a farm. He has taught from four to six months each 
 winter for nine successive winters. In August, 1866, he was married 
 to Louise Y. Brinsden. They have four children three girls and 
 one boy. His address is Yirgil City, Missouri. 
 
 CLASS OF 1862. 
 
 19. Sarah E. Beers taught four years at Normal Center, and part 
 of 1866 in the Canton high school. In 1868, she opened a private 
 school in Canton, and has conducted it continuously since, excepting 
 the year 1878-9. She owns a neat little school house of her own. 
 She is librarian of a circulating library and teaches some. She writes, 
 February, 1882, "I do not propose to teach at all, on the account of 
 deafness, but the people insist upon keeping me in the harness. I 
 love the work, and would gladly spend the remainder of my life in it." 
 
 20. Elizabeth Carleton for four years following her graduation, 
 was first assistant in the Griggsville high school. During the next 
 four years she was principal of the grammar school in the same town. 
 For ten years she was employed in the Hannibal, Missouri, schools. 
 From September, 1881, to April, 1882, she was traveling. She then 
 resumed work in Hannibal. 
 
 21. Helen (Grennell) Guild, immediately after graduation accepted 
 the position of first assistant in the Peoria high school, where she 
 remained for the succeeding ten years. In 1872 she resigned to 
 take a similar position in the St. Louis high school. In 187-4 she was 
 married to Albert D. Guild, Chicago. Her present address is Lake- 
 side, Michigan. 
 
 22. Esther M. Sprague, for four years after graduation, was prin- 
 cipal of the intermediate department of the fourth ward school in 
 Peoria. During the year 1866-7 she was principal of the model school 
 in Platteville, Wisconsin, Normal School. The six years succeeding 
 she was head assistant in the Kinzie school, Chicago. She was for 
 seven years principal of Lincoln street school. From September, 1880, 
 to March 1881, she did not teach. Since then she has been in the Fos 7 
 ter school. 
 
 23. Emma (Trimble) Bangs in 1862-3 taught in York, Kendall 
 County; in 1863^ in Washington, Illinois; in 1864-5 in Lacon; in 
 1865-6 in Sparland; in 1866-7 in Lacon. She then learned the prin- 
 ter's trade from the "devil" to the editor's chair. She was postmistress
 
 STATE XOKMAL ' MVKKSITY. 61 
 
 of Ilillsboro for eight years. She is now local editress of Montgomery 
 County News. 
 
 24. Lorenzo D. Bovee entered the army in 1862, and served one 
 year in the One Hundredth Illinois Volunteers. In 1863 he was dis- 
 charged on account of ill health. He taught only one year, his health 
 having been impaired by service in the army. He is now engaged in 
 farming near Chelopa, Kansas. 
 
 i'."*. James F. Ridlon taught at Abingdon in 1862-3 and at Hen- 
 derson during the winter of 1863^. He entered the army in 1861, 
 and at the close of the war taught in Monmouth during the winter of 
 1865-6. In 1866 he went; to Kansas, and taught in Lawrence the win- 
 ter term of 1866-7, and at Lanesville during the winter of 1868-9. In 
 1869-70 he was a member of the Kansas Legislature, and took an active 
 part in all legislation affecting educational matters. He was married in 
 1870, and had charge of the DeSoto schools during the succeeding 
 year. He then went on his farm, surveyed one year, and taught every 
 winter until June, 1878. He is now farming during the summer, and 
 acting as Grange lecturer in winter. 
 
 26. Logan Holt Roots was principal of DuQuoin schools before 
 receiving a diploma. In the summer ol 1862 he entered the army and 
 .served till the close of the war; "Marched to the Sea;" was in "grand 
 reunion" at Washington; went south with Sherman, and remained in the 
 army a while after the close of the war. He resigned, bought a planta- 
 tion, raised cotton, and was successful. He was a member of the 
 Fortieth and Forty-first Congress, and was afterward U. S. marshal in 
 Arkansas. Since 1872 he has been president of the Merchant's 
 National Bank at Little Rock. 
 
 CLASS OF 1863. 
 
 27. Mary A. Fuller was born in Tazewell County, Illinois, in 
 1841. She entered the Normal School, April 13, 1860, before the 
 occupancy of the new building. She remained until her graduation, 
 in 1863. Immediately after graduation, she commenced work in 
 Decatur, as assistant in one of the grammar schools, and remained 
 there for seven years. Resigning, she accepted the principalship of 
 the Magnolia schools, which she retained three years. This proved 
 to be the last of her work as a teacher. Her family had moved to 
 Normal, and there Miss Fuller joined them to enjoy the quiet of her 
 pleasant home and to devote herself to the further development of 
 her cultured mind. After a visit to England and the Continent, and 
 a rest of three or four years, she spent a year in the Boston School of 
 Oratory, and was seriously thinking of resuming her teaching work, 
 of which she was ardently fond, when she was suddenly attacked 
 with a fatal illness, and in a few hours she had entered into a new life.
 
 62 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 She was a woman of rare poise of character. Her habits were those 
 of the scholar. She loved the seclusion of home and the companion- 
 ship of books; but she was no recluse. She felt the currents of our 
 busy modern life, and shrank from no duty that came to her door. 
 The thoughtful, earnest, sincere, clear-faced little woman, impressed 
 herself with singular force upon her associates', for she always brought 
 with her suggestions of higher living and purer atmospheres -of 
 thought. To scores of young lives she gave such trend and inspiration 
 that she still lives in many a home to enrich and bless it by the 
 potency of her character. She was buried at her old home in Tazewell 
 County. 
 
 28. Sarah F. (Gove) Baldwin taught one year in Granville, and 
 two years in Peoria. In April, 1866, she was married to Eugene F. 
 Baldwin. They have three children. Her address is Peoria, care of 
 Journal. 
 
 29. Abbie R. (Reynolds) Wilcox taught one term in Blooming- 
 ton. In June, 1864, she was married to Mr. Wilcox. They have 
 three children living, and have lost two. She has since studied 
 Kindergarten work, and is now a Kindergarten teacher in St. Louis. 
 
 30. Sarah Hackett Stevenson taught in Bloomington, Mt. Mor- 
 ris, and Sterling, aggregating four years in these places. She studied 
 medicine in Chicago, and subsequently went to England, where 
 she continued her studies with Prof. Huxley. In 1875 she was elected 
 to the chair of Physiology in the Woman's College, in Chicago, which 
 position she still retains. She is quite widely known as a lecturer and 
 writer, and also as the author of a charming book, "Boys and Girls 
 in Biology," published by D. Appleton & Co. Her address is 
 Woman's College, Chicago. 
 
 31. W. Dennis Hall began teaching at Granville, Illinois, in Sep- 
 tember, 1863. He remained there during the year 1863-^i, excepting 
 the last two months, spent in the army. He left the army about the 
 first of November, 1864, and began teaching in Brimh'eld, Illinois. 
 He remained there three mouths. During the spring term of 1864-5 
 he had charge of the second ward school, in Peoria. During the year 
 1865-6 he had charge of the Elmwood schools. In September, 1866, 
 he took charge of the Clinton schools, and remained there nearly five 
 years. From 1869 to 1872 he was superintendent of LaSalle schools. 
 During the years 1872-3, and 1873-4, he held a similar position in 
 Centralia. in 1874, and a part of 18^5, he did not teach. The last 
 fivq months of 1875-6 he had charge of the Farmer City schools. 
 Since June, 1876, he has been in the employ of D. Appleton & Co. 
 He was married about 1868, and has one daughter. Ills address is 
 340 State Street, Chicago. 
 
 32. Ebenezer D. Harris, the three years succeeding his gradua- 
 tion, had charge of one of the ward schools of Peoria. He then 
 engaged in market-gardening on a somewhat large scale, near Lincoln,
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. ':} 
 
 Nebraska. Since February, 1880, lie lias taught two terms in Lancas- 
 ter County, Nebraska. He is now teaching. 
 
 33. John B. Thompson was born in McLean County, Illinois, in 
 1842, and entered school in 1860. He graduated with the fourth 
 class, in 1863. Desiring to fit himself more fully for teaching, he 
 remained the succeeding year, continuing his studies in the high 
 school, and acting also as assistant in the same department. In 
 IS 64-5 he taught in El Paso, and in 1S65-6 in Charleston. In the 
 fall of 1866 he went to Kansas and taught there in 1866-7, returning 
 to Illinois in the summer of 1867, with his health much impaired. He 
 
 g-adually declined, and in January, 1869, died- at his home near 
 loomington. He was an intense worker, and carried into his chosen 
 profession a high degree of enthusiasm and earnestness. 
 
 CLASS OF 1864. 
 
 / ( 
 
 34. Hattie E. Dunn has taught constantly since graduation, as 
 follows: 1864-5 in Springfield; 1865-71 in Bloomington ward schools; 
 is 71-2 in Carbondale; 1872-3 in Carrollton; 1873-5 in Bloomington 
 high school, as assistant, and since November, 1875, she has been 
 principal of the same school. Her address is Bloomington. 
 
 35. Anna (Gunnell) Hatfield taught one year in Bloomington, and 
 two in Peoria. Her address is Mrs. "William Hatfield, care of Mer- 
 chants' National Bank, Chicago. 
 
 36. Edith (Johnson) Morley taught one year in Aurora, three 
 years in the model school, Normal, and two years in Bonham's Female 
 Seminary, St. Louis. In 1871 she was married to Rev. John H. 
 Morley. She writes in January, 1882, "Taking care of a good hus- 
 band, two sons and a daughter." Her address is Winona, Minn. 
 
 37. Isabella More taught four years in Conover's Seminary, 
 Bloomington; one year in Cairo, one year in Perry, and about three 
 years in ungraded schools. On account of ill health, she did not teach 
 for a few years. She resumed work in June, 1876. In 1877 was a 
 candidate for county superintendent of Pike County; opposite party 
 had a majoritv of 1,000; she was defeated by a little over 100. Since 
 June, 1879, slie has taught as follows: Six months in Perry, and four 
 months in Independence, Perry township, where she is now teaching. 
 
 38. Harriet E. Stewart. No report has been received from this 
 lady. 
 
 39. George Colvin was principal of Atlanta, Illinois, schools two 
 years, of the Pontiac schools two years, and has had charge of the 
 Pekin schools since September, 1871. In May, 1865, he was married 
 to Miss Sallie Bergen. They have two children. His address is Pekin. 
 
 40. Lyman B. Kellogg continued his studies at Normal for a time 
 after graduation, teaching meanwhile. In 1865 he was elected principal
 
 64: HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 of the Kansas State Normar~School in Emporia. He organized the 
 school and remained at its head for seven years. Since 1872 he lias 
 been engaged in business, and the practice of law. He was married 
 in 1866. His wife died in 1873, leaving two boys. His address is 
 Emporia. 
 
 41. Philo A. Marsh has taught but one year since graduation, and 
 that was at Magnolia in 1864-5. Since then he has been engaged in 
 railroading and milling. He was for a time passenger conductor on 
 the P., D. & E. R. E. He is now agent for the L, B. & W. E. E. at 
 Urbana, and is interested in a flouring mill near Atlanta. His address 
 is Urbana. 
 
 CLASS OF 1865. 
 
 42. Olinda (Johnson) Nichols taught nearly all the time until her 
 marriage in 1869. Her address is Mrs. N. F. Nichols, Aurora, Illinois. 
 
 43. Almenia C. Jones has taught every school month since grad- 
 uation. She taught two years in Pekin, two in Lewistown, and the 
 remaining time in Canton, where she resides. 
 
 44. Lucinda (Standard) Johnson taught in 1865-6 in Centralia; 
 the succeeding three years she taught in Charleston; in 1869-70 she 
 taught in St. Cloud, Minnesota, Normal School. After this she taught 
 one year in Ft. Smith, Arkansas, six months in Little Rock, and two 
 and a half years in the Arkansas State University, at Fayetteville. 
 The summer of 1874 she spent in Europe. On her return she was 
 married to A. O. Johnson, Esq., a lawyer of Drake's Creek, Arkansas. 
 
 45. Bandusia Waken" eld has taught as follows: Four terms in the 
 model school; one term in Farmer City, Illinois; one term in Atlanta, 
 Illinois; two years in Winterset, Iowa; one year in Emporia, Kansas; 
 one term in Farmington, Illinois; two terms in Bloomington, Illinois; 
 six and a half years in the Illinois Normal University. She resigned 
 at the close of winter term, 1880-1, to take charge of her brother's 
 children. Her address is Sioux City, Iowa. 
 
 46. Thomas J. Burrill had 'charge of the Varna schools three 
 years. Since September, 1868, he has occupied a chair in the Indus- 
 trial University at Champaign. For the last few years he has been 
 professor of Botany and Horticulture. He is widely known among 
 the leading agriculturists and horticulturists of the State, as he spends 
 considerable time in lecturing upon topics of great economic interest 
 to that part of our population. He was married in 1868. 
 
 47. John W. Cook. See page 49. 
 
 48. William Florin, 1865-6, was principal of the grammar depart- 
 ment of the Lebanon schools; 1866-7 he was principal of the Highland 
 schools; 1867-70 was principal of Lebanon, and 1870-2 of the High- 
 land schools; 1872-3 he had charge of a grammar school in Belleville;
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 65 
 
 "-6 he was assistant in the high school at the same place; 1876-7 
 he had charge of the Edwardsville schools, and in 1877-9 he held a 
 similar position in St. Jacob. In the summer of 1879, after teaching 
 steadily for fourteen years, he concluded to go into business. He is 
 now selling drugs at Altamont. 
 
 4'.). David M. Fulwiler, 1865-6 was principal of the Lexington 
 schools; 1866-9 he held the same position in Hillsboro. In 1869 he 
 left teaching and went into business. In 1876 he became a short-hand 
 reporter, lie has taught one year since. His address is Lexington. 
 
 50. Oscar F. McKim taught one year in the model school, and for 
 three years was principal of the second ward school in Decatur. He 
 served four years as county superintendent of Macon county, and was 
 associate principal of Decatur high school one year. In 1874 he com- 
 menced practicing law. He removed to Kansas in 1875, and taught 
 in Oxford in 1875-6. He was principal of the Wichita schools 1876-8, 
 and of the Wellington schools 1878-9. The next year he was an 
 attorney-at-law agent. He is now teaching at Dallas City. Mr. McKim 
 was married in 1866. 
 
 51. Adolph A. Suppiger, in 1865-7, was principal of the Maine 
 schools, and 1867-73 of the Highland schools. Pie served four years 
 as county superintendent of Madison County. After his term 
 expired he taught six months in Venice, and one year in North Alton. 
 He is now in business in Pierson. He was married in 1870, and has 
 three children. 
 
 52. Melancthon Wakefield taught two terms in the model school 
 after graduation. In 1866-7 he had charge of the Buda schools; 
 1867-8 of the Carrollton schools, and 1868-9 of the Cherokee, Iowa, 
 schools. He has not taught since June, 1869, but has been practicing 
 law in Cherokee. He has served three terms as mayor. 
 
 53. William McCambridge (H. S.) was station agent at Normal 
 until 1871. He has been engaged in newspaper work since, and is 
 now editor of the Pantagraph, Bloomington, Illinois. 
 
 54:. Gertrude K. Case (H. S.) taught six years in Bloomington, 
 and was three years principal of the primary department of the model 
 school. She was married in 1875. Her address is Mrs. Wesley 
 Young, Dayton, Ohio. 
 
 55. Howard C. Crist (H. S.) studied medicine, and, with the 
 exception of one year spent in Arizona as United States Mission Sur- 
 geon, has been practicing in Bloomington. 
 
 56. Charles L. Capen (II. S.) entered Harvard University in 
 1865, and graduated in 1869. He then studied law in Bloomington, 
 and is now a member of the law firm of Williams, Burr & Capen. 
 He married Miss Nellie Briggs, in October, 1875. 
 
 57. Robert McCart (II. S.) graduated at the Ann Arbor law 
 school, in 1867. He practiced in Bloomington until 1877, and then 
 settled in Fort Worth, Texas.
 
 66 HISTOKY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 58. Clara Y. (Fell) Fyffe (H. S.) married James Fyffe, now 
 deceased. Her address is IS ormal. 
 
 59. Hosea Howard (H. S.) is in the office of the Wabash, St. 
 Louis and Pacific Railroad, St. Louis. 
 
 CLASS OF 1866. 
 
 60. Harriet (Case) Morrow was principal of the high school 
 department of Hadley's formal Academy, in Richmond, Indiana, in 
 1866-7. For four years, 1867 to 1871, she was principal of a grammar , 
 school in Ottawa, Illinois, except part of one year when she was assist- 
 ant in the high school. For two years, 1871-3, she was teacher of 
 mathematics in the Leavenworth, Kansas, high school. From Septem- 
 ber, 1873, to January 1878, she was preceptress in the Illinois State 
 Normal School. In January, 1878, sne was married to Mr. Morrow, 
 of the lake survey. They have one son. Their home is Tonganoxie, 
 Kansas. 
 
 61. Martha Foster taught two years in the intermediate depart- 
 ment of the Yates City schools, one year in the intermediate depart- 
 ment of the model school at Normal, two terms in country schools 
 near Yates City, one year in Boone, Iowa, one year in Lindsay, Kan- 
 sas, five years in Dexter, Iowa, and one year in Ottawa, Kansas. She 
 also taught in six Normal Institutes, one month each, and three months 
 in Junction City, Kansas. Her health having been somewhat impaired, 
 she was obliged to give up teaching for a time. Since June, 1880, she 
 taught seven months at her home in Maquon, Illinois. 
 
 62. Harriet A. Fyffe taught two years in Menard County, two 
 years in the public schools of Normal, and for three years was princi- 
 pal of the Magnolia schools. She is now engaged in the drug business 
 in Magnolia, Illinois. 
 
 63. Margaret (McCambridge) Hurd taught in the Cairo schools in 
 1866-7. In 1867 she was married to Charles R. Hurd. They have 
 three daughters. Their residence is in Denver, Colorado. 
 
 64. Mary E. Pearce taught one year in Carrollton, one in Shelby 
 County, one in Farmington, six in Lexington, and two in the public 
 schools of Normal. The year 1877-8 was spent in California, and in 
 1878-9 she did not teach. In 1879-80 she was principal of the West 
 Side school in El Paso. In 1880-1 she taught six months near Hudson. 
 Since September she has been teaching in Lexington. Her address 
 is Normal, Illinois. 
 
 65. Alice (Piper) Blackburn taught six years in the public schools 
 of Macomb two years in the grammar school and four in the high 
 school. In 1872 she was married, and removed to California. They 
 have one daughter, six years old. Her home is in San Buena Yentura, 
 California.
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 67 
 
 66. Helen (Plato) Wilbur, from October, 1866, to March, 1867, 
 taught in Kaneville ; from September, 1867, to February, 1868, in 
 Elgin ; from February, 1868, to March, 1871, in Chicago. In 1871, 
 she was married. Mr. Wilbur died a few months after their marriage. 
 In December, 1874, she resumed teaching in Chicago, and has been so 
 employed constantly since. Her address is 256 Ontario Street. 
 
 67. Sarah E. Raymond, in 1866-8, taught in Fowler Institute, 
 Newark, Illinois, as assistant in the English department. 1868-9, she 
 was assistant in a ward school in Bloomington. From September, 
 1869, to March, 1873, she was principal of the same school. The 
 spring term of 1873, she was assistant in the high school. 1873-4, 
 she was principal of the high school, and since September, 1874, she 
 has been city superintendent of the Bloomington schools. 
 
 68. Olive (Kider) Cotton, 1866-7, was principal of the interme- 
 diate department of the model school at Normal. The six years 
 succeeding, she taught in the schools of Griggsville. In 1873, on 
 account of poor health, she gave up teaching. The succeeding three 
 years were spent in California, New York, and Massachusetts. In 
 January, 1878, she took a position in the Normal public schools, and 
 remained there until June. In 1879, she was married to Alfred C. 
 Cotton, of the class of 1869. Since then, she has spent two years in 
 California, and one year in New York. They reside in Turner Junc- 
 tion, Illinois. 
 
 69. Julia (Stanard) Frost taught one year in Charleston, Illinois, 
 one in Whitehall, one in Jersey County, one in Ottawa, two in Atlanta, 
 and five months in Bureau County. After resting three years, she 
 began teaching in Atlantic, Iowa. She taught one year in the primaiy 
 department, two in the grammar, and since 1879 has been assistant in 
 the high school. She was married in 1867 to K. H. Frost. They 
 have one child. 
 
 70. Nelson Case was principal of the Tolono schools in 1866-7. 
 He has not taught since. He studied law at Ann Arbor, and since his 
 admission has been practicing in Oswego, Kansas. He was married in 
 1872. He is now judge of the probate court. 
 
 71. Philo A. Clark was principal of the Chillicothe schools one 
 year, of the Neponset schools one year, one year near Davenport, and 
 one year in county schools in Kendall County. For two years he was 
 agent for school "apparatus and furniture. He was a wholesale mer- 
 chant and resided in Peoria; was then in the school furniture business. 
 He left Peoria in October, 1878, to travel for a spice and tea house of 
 Omaha. In 1879 he removed to Madison, where ne has inherited con- 
 siderable property. 
 
 72. John Ellis, jr., for three years, 1866-9, was principal of the 
 Naples schools. The next three years, 1869-72, he was principal of 
 the West Side schools in El Paso. In 1872 he went to Beatrice, Neb., 
 and engaged in real estate and loan business. In 1878 he was elected
 
 68 x HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 county treasurer. He was married in 1872, and has two children. 
 
 73. Joseph Hunter was born in New York in 1843. lie entered 
 the Normal School in September, 1863. In 1866-7 he was principal 
 of the Pontiac schools. The next year he took a position in Wash- 
 ington University, St. Louis. Here he commenced the study of law. 
 In 1869 he was admitted, and located at Ilockford, but soon changed 
 his residence to Mendota, where he remained until 1875, gaining, 
 meanwhile, a lucrative practice. In 1873 he was married to the only 
 child of J. C. Crocker, Esq., of Mendota. Thinking that a change of 
 climate would improve his enfeebled health, in 1875 he removed to 
 Lincoln, Nebraska, and formed a partnership with a leading attorney 
 of that place. In the year 1880 his old friends at Normal were 
 shocked to learn of his sudden death, which occurred on the 1 7th of 
 April. He leaves a wife and four children. Mr. Hunter was an 
 unusually modest, quiet man, gentle and tender as a woman, and gen- 
 erous to a fault. The rich treasures of his deep, true nature were 
 hidden from the many to be revealed to the few. During his school 
 days he was often called "Lincoln," from his resemblance to the mar- 
 tyred president in personal appearance, and in the general cast of his 
 intellectual and social nature. Once known he could not be forgotten. 
 His individuality was strongly marked. He was universally esteemed, 
 and his untimely death brings the keenest sorrow to hundreds of his 
 early mates, as well as to the friends of his maturer years. 
 
 74. Richard Porter taught one year in Perry, one in Rantoul, 
 one in Monticello, and three years in country schools. In 1877 he 
 removed to Kansas, and is now farming near Bavaria. Pie is married 
 and has two children. 
 
 CLASS OF 1867. 
 
 75. Emily (Chandler) Hodgin, immediately after graduation, was 
 married to her classmate, Cyrus W. Hodgin. She has taught only one 
 term. They reside in Terre Haute, Indiana. 
 
 76. Emily (Cotton) Collins taught in Griggsville, Collinsville, 
 Cairo, and Decater nine years in all. In September, 1876, she was 
 married to "Wm. H. Collins, of Quincy. They have one daughter. 
 
 77. Nellie Forman, immediately after graduation, began teaching 
 in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts. She remained there a year and 
 a half, when her health became so poor that she was obliged to resign. 
 She spent two years in the study of music, and three years as a teacher 
 in Lynn, Massachusetts. For seven years she held a position in the 
 Mercantile Savings Bank, Boston. Since October, 1881, she has been 
 teaching at Hampton Institute, Virginia. 
 
 78. Mary W. French, in 1867-9, taught in the Cairo schools. 
 Since 1869, she has been an assistant in the Decatur high school.
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 69 
 
 79. Eurania (Gorton) Hanna, from September, 1867, to June, 
 1869, taught in the Kock Island high school; from 1869 to June, 
 1871, in the Peru high school; from 1871 to June, 1872, she was 
 principal of the Aurora preparatory, and from September, 1872, to 
 May, 1874, was assistant in the Aurora high school. In May, 1874, 
 she was married to John R. Hanna, of Aurora. They have one 
 daughter. 
 
 80. Mary R. Gorton was born in Rock Island, Illinois, in 1844, 
 and entered the Normal School in December, 1862. Having had 
 superior advantages, she at once took high rank in .her classes. She 
 remained in school until June, 1865, when she interrupted her 
 studies and taught a year in Rock Island. Returning in the fall of 
 1866, she completed her course, graduating in the class of 1867. 
 After graduation, she returned to Rock Island and taught one year 
 in the high school. Pier career as a student and teacher had been so 
 eminently successful that in 1868 she was called to a position in the 
 Cook County Normal School, where she remained until April, 1871. 
 She then accepted a call to the Normal Department of the Arkansas 
 State University. In June, 1876, she was appointed principal of this 
 department. In June, 1877, she tendered her resignation, and 
 accepted an assistant's place in the Peabody branch high school, St. 
 Louis. Here she remained until her death, November 15, 1878. 
 Her appearance was unusually prepossessing; richly endowed in 
 person and intellect, with a rare dignity of manner, quick sympathies, 
 thorough scholarship, a genius for governing, and a noble ambition 
 to excel. She produced a profound impression upon all who came 
 within the circle of her influence. Dr. Harris, in a recent letter, paid 
 a glowing tribute to her rare qualities of mind and heart. In the full 
 maturity of a noble womanhood, she went out of this life into the 
 infinite possibilities of the unseen. 
 
 81. Mary (Pennell) Barber taught in the model school the spring 
 term of 1868, and again from January. 1869 to June, 1870. She spent 
 the year 1870-1 at vassar College; 1871-2 she taught in the Peoria 
 County Normal school; from January to June, 1874, in the Polo high 
 school; in 1874-5 in the Normal public school, and the fall of 1875 in 
 the Tuscola high school. In December, 1875, she was married to A. 
 II. Barber. They reside at No. 9 Langley Avenue, Chicago. 
 
 82. Onias C. Barber taught one year in Illinois, and two years in 
 Mississippi. He has been on a farm most of the time since gradua- 
 tion. His health, feeble from childhood, has prevented severe labor. 
 Since 1876 he has been clerking in Tamaroa, selling books and sta- 
 tionery. 
 
 83. John R. Edwards was born in Ohio, in 1839, and became a 
 student in the Normal School in September, 1865, taking an advanced 
 standing. He completed the course in two years, graduating with the 
 eighth class in June, 1867. He was at once appointed to the princi-
 
 70 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 of the Hyde Park schools, and remained there one year. In 
 the fall of 1868 he was called to the principalship of the Evanston 
 schools; but in the spring of 1869 his failing health obliged him to 
 resign. In August he was married to Miss Annie E. Downs, of Hyde 
 Park, and was elected principal of the third ward school in Peoria. 
 An injury received during the war had seriously broken his health, and 
 again his failing strength obliged him to give up his position, which he 
 did in March, 1870. He removed to Hyde Park, where, after a lin- 
 gering illness of more than a year, he died, in April, 1871. He was 
 of the thousands who escaped death upon the field of battle to die a 
 victim of the great war in the early years that succeeded it. 
 
 84. George E. Hinman has taught five years since graduation. 
 He has spent three years in Colorado, and four in Ohio. He was 
 married in 1871, but lost his wife in 1876. He is now living on a 
 farm near Granville. 
 
 85. Cyrus W. Hodgin was married to Emily Chandler in 1867. 
 They have one child. For two years he was principal of the Richmond, 
 Indiana, high school, and for three years was principal of the Henry 
 County independent high school. From September, 1872, to June, 
 1881, he was a professor in the State Normal School in Terre Haute. 
 He then resigned this position, and is now resting and doing institute 
 work. 
 
 86. Fred J. Seybold has not taught since graduation. He acted 
 as book agent for Sherwood & Co. , for a time, and subsequently was 
 admitted to the bar. His address is not known. 
 
 87. James S. Stevenson was married in 1861; 1867-9 he was 
 principal of the Sparta schools; 1869-70 he had charge of the fourth 
 academic department, "Washington University; 1870-2 he was prin- 
 cipal of the Collinsville schools, and since September, 1872, he has 
 been principal of the Bates school, St. Louis. His address is 1115 N. 
 Park Place. 
 
 CLASS OF 1868. 
 
 88. Ruthie E. (Baker) Scarrat was principal of Normal public 
 high school three years, and assistant in Alton high school one and 
 one-half years. In April, 1873, she was married to Isaac Scarrat, 
 who died not long after. She subsequently married his brother. 
 She taught one year in the Chicago schools, after the death of her 
 husband, before her second marriage. Her address is Mrs. Nathan 
 Scarrat, Kansas City, Missouri. 
 
 89. Ann Eliza Bullock taught, 1868-9, near Tonica. Subse- 
 quently she taught four terms in Bloomington, and five in Tonica. 
 She is not teaching now. 
 
 90. Jemima S. Burson taught four years in Richmond, Indiana,
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 71 
 
 and one and one-fourth years in Spiceland, Indiana, but is not teach- 
 ing now, on account of ill health. Her address is Richmond. 
 
 91. Lydia A. Burson taught four years in Richmond, one-third 
 of a year at Carthage, and one year at Spiceland, Indiana. Her 
 health will not permit her to teach. Her address is Richmond. 
 
 92. Etta L. Dun bar, 1868-70, was principal of the Blackburn 
 schools; 1870-74, of JDeKalb schools. She was then obliged to give 
 up teaching on account of ill health. Three years were spent in 
 taking care of an invalid mother. She is now painting. Her address 
 is Longmont, Colorado. 
 
 93. Anna C. Gates taught one year at Tolono, and since Septem- 
 ber, 1869, has been principal of the Gravvis school, St. Louis. 
 
 94. S. Grace (HarwocH) Whitney has taught one year at Council 
 Hill, two years as first assistant of Alton high school, and three years 
 and a half at Clear Creek, Illinois. In April she was married to Ezra 
 Whitney, of Livingston County, New York. She then conducted an 
 educational department in the Henry Republican, and 'afterward 
 devoted her attention to primary work. In 1879-81 she taught in 
 Magnolia, and is now teaching in the Soldiers' Orphans' Home. 
 
 95. Lucia (Kingsley) Manning was, for three years, principal of 
 the primary department of model school, and for four years was assist- 
 ant in the Peru, Indiana, high school. She was married August, 1870, 
 to G. G. Manning, of Peru. 
 
 96. Eliza A. (Pratt) Kean for four years was a teacher in the 
 Bloomington high school. Her address is 99 Washington Street, 
 Chicago. 
 
 97. Emma T. (Robinson) Kleckner has taught two years and two 
 months. She was married in July, 1870. Her address is Freeport, 
 Illinois. 
 
 98. Mary J. (Smith) Bogardus taught one year at Marengo, and 
 two terms in Springfield. Her address is Mrs. S. Bogardus, Spring- 
 field, Illinois. 
 
 99. Cornelia Valentine was born in Indiana, in 1846. She 
 entered the Normal School in September, 1865, and remained until 
 her graduation, June, 1868. The year of 1868-9 she taught in Earl- 
 ham College, Richmond, Indiana. The succeeding year, and until 
 April, 1871, she was assistant in the Rushville (Illinois) high school, 
 leaving this position on account of the sickness and death of her 
 sister. The succeeding year she was an assistant in the Rock Island 
 high school, and the year following (1872-3) she held a similar posi- 
 tion in Aurora. She remained in Aurora only five months, ill health 
 compelling her to resign. After several weeks of rest, she accepted 
 the chair of mathematics in the Methodist College in Jacksonville, 
 Illinois. Here she remained until the summer of 1874. In Septem- 
 ber, 1874, she returned to Rock Island, first as assistant, but soon 
 after as principal of the high school. She remained until April,
 
 72 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 1877, when a sudden attack of typhoid malarial fever obliged her to 
 resign. She returned to her home in .Richmond, followed by the 
 anxious solicitude of loving friends. She endured her terrible suffer- 
 ing without a murmur, and on the twentieth of June, 1877, "entered 
 into rest." 
 
 100. Clara E. "Watts was one year matron of temporary Soldiers' 
 Orphans' Home, for two years was teacher in Soldiers' Orphans' 
 Home at Normal, and one year was principal of the intermediate 
 department of the Normal public schools. She is now residing in 
 Normal. 
 
 101. Stephen Bogardus, in August, 1868, married Miss Mary J. 
 Smith. For two years he was principal of the Marengo schools. Since 
 September, 1870, he has been proprietor 9f the Springfield Business 
 College. 
 
 102. William A. McBane taught two years at Cairo and Metrop- 
 olis, published a weekly paper three years, purchased a ferry franchise 
 at Metropolis, and ran a steam ferry three years. He then went into 
 the real estate business, and has taught but one year (1880-1 in 
 Metropolis") since. His address is Metropolis, Illinois. 
 
 103. Henry McCormSck. See page 50. 
 
 104. Jacob Rightsell was one year principal of a ward school, and 
 for three years superintendent of city schools, at Little Rock. He was 
 married in August, 1871. For two years he had charge of the H. R. 
 library, Washington, D. C. He then was county superintendent of 
 Pulaski County, Arkansas, one year. He is now principal of the 
 largest graded school in Arkansas, Peabody school in Little Rock. 
 
 105. William Russell was married in August, 1868. 1868-9 he 
 taught in Newport, Indiana; 1869-73 at Marion, Indiana; one year in 
 Normal School at Terre Haute, and 1874-7 at Salem, Indiana. Since 
 1877 he has been teaching in Marion. He has charge of a township 
 school six to seven months a year, and is employed in a Normal School 
 about twenty weeks a year. 
 
 106. Elma Valentine was born in Indiana in 1849. She entered 
 school in 1865 and graduated in 1868. Immediately after graduation 
 she became a teacher in the Friends' Academy in Richmond, Indiana. 
 She remained there until the latter part of February, 1871, when failing 
 health obliged her to resign. Her position was very agreeable, and 
 was not the occasion of her illness. In spite of medical assistance 
 and the tender care of loving friends, she gradually sank away, until 
 the fourteenth of April, when she passed from earth. 
 
 107. Annie M. (Edwards) Dougherty (H. S.) was married in 
 December, 1871, to N. C. Dougherty. She taught six months in a 
 seminary in St. Louis, and one year in the Princeton high school. 
 Her address is Peoria. 
 
 108. R. Arthur Edwards (H. S.) graduated from the Normal 
 Department with class of 1870. 1870-1 he was principal of Paxton
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 73 
 
 schools; 1871-2 of Monticello schools; 1872-3 at Dartmouth College; 
 1873^ teacher of Latin and Greek in Rock Eiver Seminary, Mt. 
 Morris; 1874-76 was junior and senior in Princeton College, Xew 
 .Jersey, graduating in 1876; 1878-80 was acting professor of English 
 literature and rhetoric in Knox College. He was married in December, 
 1ST!), to Miss Alice M. Shirk, of Peru, Indiana. He is now in a bank 
 in Peru. 
 
 CLASS OF 1869. 
 
 109. Lizzie L. Alden, 1869-70, was principal of schools in Cale- 
 donia, Illinois; 1870-1 was assistant in Lena high school; 1871 1 she 
 taught a country school near Brimfield; 1874-5 traveled in the east; 
 1 875-7 taught in the Burton, Kansas, schools. She is now teaching in 
 Sedgwick. 
 
 110. Melissa (Benton) Overman taught in Geneseo from 1869 to 
 1871. In the spring term of 1872 she taught in the Dixon high school, 
 and in 1872-3 in the Freeport high school. In 1873 she was married 
 to A. H. Overman. Address Mrs. A. H. Overman, care of Jansen, 
 McClurg & Co., Chicago. 
 
 111. Ella K. Briggs taught one year at her home in Logan 
 County, two years at Lincoln, one year at Delavan, one year at Jersey- 
 vine, and was two years principal of Cream Ridge, Logan County, 
 schools. After resting one year she taught at Freeport two years. 
 Her health failed, and she went to Minnesota, where she suffered a 
 long and painful illness. Since June, 1879, she has taught two years 
 in Freeport, Illinois. 
 
 112. Lucretia C. (Davis) Ramsey, 1869-70, taught in the pri- 
 mary department of Quincy College; 1870-1 in Rushville schools. 
 Her address is Rushville, Illinois. 
 
 113. Jane (Pennell) Carter taught one year in Normal public 
 schools; seven months in country schools in McLean County; three 
 mouths in Bloomington schools, and one year in primary department 
 of model school. Her address is Peru, Illinois. 
 
 114. Maria (Sykes) Nichols taught two years in Geneseo, one 
 year in Kewanee, and was for four years principal of the Wyoming, 
 Iowa, schools. She was married in 1876. Address, care of Austin 
 Sykes, Kewanee, Illinois. 
 
 115. Helen (Wadleigh) Willis taught three years, one near Rut- 
 land, and two in Missouri. Her address is Neosho Falls, Kansas. 
 
 116. Ben. Allensworth was principal of the Elmwood schools, 
 1869-72; editor in Pekin in 1873, and taught three years in Minier. 
 He is county superintendent of Tazewell County. His address is 
 Minier. 
 
 117. Hugh R. Edwards was married in 1869. He taught as 
 principal of the third ward schools, Peoria, one year; of sixth ward,
 
 74 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 one year; of third ward, Sterling, one year; and of Byron schools, 
 one year. For three years he ran the Edwards' Seminary, Sterling. 
 The last five years he has been in the second ward school, Peoria. 
 
 118. Alfred C. Cotton, 1869-70, was principal of the Richview 
 schools; 1870-1 of Buckley schools; 1871-3 of Gilman schools; 
 1873^t of Grand Tower schools ; 1874-6 of Griggsville schools. He 
 graduated at Rush Medical College in April, 1878, and is now prac- 
 ticing at Turner Junction, Illinois. He is also lecturing in spring 
 course at Rush. He was married to Miss Olive Rider. 
 
 119. Charles H. Crandell was principal of Petersburg schools 
 one year; of ninth ward, Troy, New York, schools, five years; of 
 Atlanta schools, one year; of Lexington, Illinois, schools, one-half 
 year ; of Hilliard, Ohio, schools, one year ; of Worthington, Ohio, 
 three years, and of Flint schools, one year. He was married in 1876, 
 and is now in Worthington. 
 
 120. William R. Edwards taught in McLean, Illinois, three years. 
 In the summer of 1870 he moved to Charles City, Iowa, where lie 
 married Miss Josie Bigelow. He remained there two years in the 
 mercantile business. In 1872 he became principal of the Xew Hamp- 
 ton, Iowa, schools, remaining one year. He was for five years prin- 
 cipal of Osage, Iowa, schools. In 1878 he resigned and returned to 
 New Hampton, where he is in the mercantile business, and also editor 
 of the New Hampton Courier. 
 
 121. Charles Howard. 
 
 122. Isaac F. Kleckner was married in July, 1870. For four 
 years he was superintendent of Stephenson County. In 1873 he was 
 elected county clerk, which position he now holds. Address, Freeport, 
 Illinois.. 
 
 123. George G. Manning, 1869-70, taught at Fulton; 1870-1 at 
 Jacksonville, Illinois. In the summer of 1871 he was made superin- 
 tendent 'of Peru, Indiana, schools. He is still there. In August, 
 1870, he was married to Lucia Kingsley. 
 
 124. George W. Mason was married in August, 1875. He was 
 principal of Paris high school three months; of Charleston high school 
 six months; of Kramer schools, Little Rock, one year; of Pekin high 
 school two years; of Hannibal high school three years, and taught at 
 Lewisburg, Arkansas, one year. Since 1878 he has been engaged in 
 the study and practice of medicine. For a time, he was house 
 physician in Mercy Hospital, Chicago. He is now practicing in 
 Bloornington. 
 
 125. Charles W. Moore, 1869-72, taught in Fremont; 1872-4 was 
 principal of Ridott schools; 1874-5 of Cedarville schools; 1875-6 of 
 Lena schools; 1876-7 in country schools in Stephenson County; 1880-1 
 was principal of Storm Lake, Iowa, schools. He is now employed in 
 the postofifice at Storm Lake.- He was married in 1871. 
 
 126. Christopher D. Mowry was principal of the Pecatonica
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 75 
 
 schools 1869-72, and of the Anamosa, Iowa, schools 1872-4. He 
 then entered Kush Medical College, and graduated in 1876. To recover 
 broken health, he spent the following year on the plains and in the 
 mountains. For four years he practiced at Osage, Iowa. He is now 
 in Aurora, Illinois. He was married in 1869 to Fannie E. Alder- 
 man. 
 
 127. James "W. Hays in 1869-70 was principal of a grammar 
 school in Paris, and the next year was principal of the high school in 
 the same place. Since September, 1871, except one year when he did 
 not teach, he has been principal of the Urbana schools. 
 
 128. Gratiot "Washburn (H. S.) immediately after his graduation, 
 he joined his father, Hon. E. B. Washburne, in Paris. He remained 
 there most of the time until his father returned to America. He then 
 entered the New York Custom House, and was there at last report. 
 
 CLASS OF 1870. 
 
 129. Louisa C. (Allen) Gregory was principal of the Alton high 
 school one year, and for two years was assistant in the Peoria County 
 Normal School. In June, 1874, she was elected professor of domestic 
 economy in the Champaign Industrial University, which position she 
 resigned in June, 1880, and is now in Washington, D. C. In 1879 
 she was married to Dr. John M. Gregory, Regent of the University. 
 
 130. Barbara Denning taught in Shawneetown in 1870-1, and in 
 1871-3 in Cedar Point, LaSalle County. In 1873 she went to Rosario, 
 Argentine Confederation, as mission teacher. She will return to her 
 home soon. 
 
 131. Alice Emmons was the daughter of Judge Sylvester Em- 
 mons and wife, and was born in Illinois in 1848. She entered school 
 in September, 1865. Her course was interrupted by occasional terms 
 of absence, so that she did not graduate until 1870. She began teach- 
 ing in Cairo the following September, but after three weeks of school 
 work her health failed, and, very much to the regret of the Board, 
 she was obliged to resign. The year was spent at her home in Beards- 
 town. The succeeding year she returned to Cairo, but after two weeks 
 in the school room she was called to the death-bed of a dear friend. 
 She returned to her home seriously ill, and in a few days she passed 
 away, October 2, 1871. A brilliant scholar, thoroughly conscientious 
 and faithful in the discharge of every duty, all had anticipated for her 
 a future of rare usefulness. Though a decade has passed away since 
 her death, the memory of this beautiful girl is as though but yesterday 
 she had gone out from her schoolmates to her brief career. 
 
 132. Cara E. Higby taught 1870-1 in the Skinner school, Chicago; 
 1871-2 in the Blow school, St. Louis; 1872-7 in the Skinner school. 
 again, and 1877-80 in the West Division high school, Chicago. She
 
 7<> HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 is now employed in the West Side high school. Her address is 374 
 West Jackson Street. 
 
 133. Emma A. (Howard) Gardner taught in Warrensburg, Mis- 
 souri, 1870-1; in Carbondale, Illinois, 1871-2, and in Los Angeles, 
 California, 1872-4. In January, 1874, she was married to Henry I. 
 Gardner. Her address is Orange, California. 
 
 134. Margaret (Hunter) Regan from September, 1870, to June, 
 1874, taught in the Mississippi State Normal School; the last three 
 years she was principal of the school. In 1874 she was married to L. 
 T. Regan, of the class of 1870. Their home is Morris. 
 
 135. Maria L. (Kimberly) Perry taught two years in Wanvnsburg, 
 Missouri, and one year in Fort Smith, Arkansas. She was married in 
 1874. Her address is 164 Canfield Street, Detroit. 
 
 136. Mary D. LeBaron, in 1870-1, taught in Oneida; 1871-2 in 
 DeKalb County ; 1872-9 in the Rolling Mills schools, Chicago, and 
 for one year she conducted a private primary school in Chicago. She 
 has not taught since June, 1880. Address 741 Dixon Street, Chicago. 
 
 137. Letitia (Mason) Quine, immediately after her graduation, 
 commenced teaching in the Pontiac high school, where she remained 
 one year. The winters of 1871-2, 1872-3, 1873-4, were spent in the 
 Woman's Medical College, Chicago, from which she graduated in 
 the spring of 1874. By request of the Woman's Foreign Missionary 
 Society, in the fall of 1874, she went to Kin Kiang, China, to. estab- 
 lish a medical dispensary. She remained two years, when she was 
 obliged, by ill health, to return. She succeeded during her stay, 
 however, in permanently establishing the dispensary. In November, 
 1876, she was married to Wm. E. Quine, M. D., of Chicago. 
 
 138. Adella (Nance) Shilton taught three and a half years in the 
 aggregate, in Wetherstield, Galva, and Moline. In 1874 her eyes 
 became so weak as to oblige her to leave the school room. In 1879 
 she was married to Mr. C. A. Shilton. They reside in Kewanee. 
 
 139. Adelaide V. Rutherford taught one year in Missouri, one 
 in Texas, one in Plainview, and one in Chetopa, Kansas. In the 
 meantime, she spent one year in Michigan University. After Is 7 7 
 she was at her home in Girard, caring for her invalid mother. She 
 remained at home until August, 1880. She then returned to Ann 
 Arbor high school, where she expected to graduate in June, 1832, but 
 was compelled to leave in April on account of sickness at home. 
 
 140. Fannie (Smith) Cole, in 1870-1, taught in Paxton, and in 
 1871-2 in the intermediate department of Woman's College, in 
 Evanston. For the next two years she taught "good manners and 
 the etiquette of occasions" in various institutions. In 1S74 she 
 became the "paying teller" in the office of the treasurer of Cook 
 County. She remained there until her marriage to Madison B. Cole, 
 in July, 1875. She has done some teaching since her marriage. 
 Their present residence is Galveston, Texas.
 
 STATK NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 77 
 
 141. Armada (Thomas) Bevan taught three years in Lincoln, one 
 year in Jerseyville, and two years in Delavan. In 1877 she was 
 married to John L. Bevan, of Atlanta. They have one daughter. 
 
 142. Marion (Weed) Martin taught one year in Loda, and one 
 year in Lacon. She was married in 1872, to Irwin A. Martin, of 
 New York. They have one daughter. Her address is 36 West 
 Forty-Sixth Street, New York. 
 
 143. Ben. W. Baker was principal of the grammar department 
 of the model school for four years. Since then he has been preach- 
 ing. He is married, and has three children. In 1881 he went to 
 Denver, Colorado. 
 
 144. Joseph Carter, while pursuing his studies, was for two 
 years principal of the grammar department of the model school. 
 After graduation, he spent two years in farming, and studied law and 
 edited a paper for two years. He became principal of the Normal 
 public schools in 1874, and remained in that position until June, 
 1878, when he resigned to accept the superintend ency of the Peru 
 schools, where he still remains. In 1870 he was married to Miss 
 Jane E. Pennell, of the class of 1869. In addition to the above 
 work, Mr. Carter has done a large amount of institute work in Wood- 
 ford, McLean, and LaSalle Counties. 
 
 145. Robert A. Childs was principal of the Amboy schools for 
 three years. He was admitted to the bar in 1873, and since then has 
 been practicing in Chicago. In December, 1873, he was married to 
 Miss Mary Coffeen. They have three children. Their home is in 
 Ilinsdale. . 
 
 146. James W. Dewell, 1870-2, taught near Carrollton ; 1872-3 
 at Barry; 1873-4 at Elm Grove; 1874-6 in Kane. In 1876 he 
 bought a farm near Franklin, in Morgan County, and resides there. 
 He rents his farm and teaches, having taught three years in the same 
 school. He was married in 1872. 
 
 147. Samuel W. Garman, 1870-1, was principal of the Missis- 
 sippi State Normal School, at Holly Springs. 1871-2 he taught in 
 Lake Forrest Seminary. 1872-3 was spent i the Rocky Mountains 
 with Prof. Cope, of the United States geological survey. Since 1873 
 he has been connected with the Agassiz museum, in Cambridge. He 
 has traveled quite extensively, having spent some time in South 
 America, especially in the Titicaca Valley. At last accounts he was 
 engaged in "deep sea," and similar work. 
 
 148. John W. ''Gibson, 1870-2, was principal of one of the 
 schools in Belvidere. He was married several years ago. Since 
 the summer of 1881 he has been in business. 
 
 149. Benjamin Hunter taught one year in Oneida. Subse- 
 quently he practiced law in St. Louis. Present address is unknown. 
 
 150. John W. Lummis, 1870-1, taught in Clayton; 1871-2 in 
 Elm Grove. In the fall of 1872 he was married, and moved to a
 
 78 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 farm near LaPrairio, where they still reside. With a single excep- 
 tion, he taught every winter until June, 1880, since which time he 
 has not taught. His teaching has all been done in Adams County, 
 except in the winter of 1879-80, when he taught in Hancock County. 
 
 151. John H. Parr taught in Cedarville four years, and in Mt. 
 Morris Seminary two years. He is now a student in the Chicago 
 Theol6gical Seminary. 
 
 152. Levi T. Regan was superintendent of Logan County for four 
 years. 1874 5 he was principal of the Lincoln schools; 1875-8 of the 
 Amboy schools, and since September, 1878, he has had charge of the 
 Moms schools. Married Margaret Hunter, July, 1874, of same class. 
 
 153. Wade H. Richardson was married to Lydia Corbett in August 
 1870. He taught in Kankakee and Rantoul 1870-2. From October, 
 
 1872, to June, 1882, except one year which he spent in the south, ho 
 was principal of a ward school in Milwaukee. In 1878 his wife and 
 one child died of diphtheria. Two daughters survive her. In the 
 summer of 1880 he was married to Mary A. Hawley, of the class of 
 
 1873. He is now a member of the firm of Fenn, Williams & Co., 
 booksellers, stationers, etc. 
 
 15-i. John W. Smith was principal of the Pontiac schools four 
 years, and taught one year in California. For four years he was 
 engaged in business in Pontiac and McDowell. He was employed 
 during 1881-2 as teacher in the Illinois Reform School. 
 
 155. William Burry (H. S.) entered Harvard in 1870, and grad- 
 uated in 1874. He then studied law, practiced in Chicago, and is now 
 a member of the law firm of Isham, Lincoln & Bur^y, of that city. 
 
 156. Wm. II. Smith (H. S.), 1870-1, taught at Granville; 1871-3 
 at Tonica; 1873-4 was in business; 18745 taught at Farmer City. . In 
 November, 1875, he was elected county superintendent of McLean 
 County, to fill unexpired term. He was re-elected in 1877. He was 
 married in 1870 to Miss Nellie Galusha. He resigned the superinten- 
 dency in December, 1881, to become one of the proprietors of the 
 Saturday Evening Call, Peoria. 
 
 157. William Duff Haynie (H. S.) entered Harvard, and gradu- 
 ated in 1874. He studied law one year at Cairo, graduated from 
 Wesleyan law school in June, 1876, and has since been practicing 
 law in Bloomington. 
 
 158. Almira A. Bacon (II. S.) No report. 
 
 159. Nellie H. Galusha (H. S.) was married to W. H. Smith, 
 and taught with him one year. Her address is Peoria. 
 
 CLASS OF 1871. 
 
 160. Charlotte (Blake) Myers, 1871-2, taught in the Carbondale 
 schools; 1872-4 in DeKalb; 1874-8 in the Normal public schools;
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 70 
 
 is 78-9 iu Metamora; 1879-81 in Streator; 1881-2 in Morris. In 
 June, 1882, she was married to Edward Myers. They reside in 
 Streator. 
 
 161. Isabella (Huston) Tabor taught one year in Atlanta, one 
 in Lincoln, and one in Springfield. June, 1875, she was married to 
 Rev. Manly Tabor. Her address is Middletown, Connecticut. 
 
 162. Julia E. Kennedy. See page 51. 
 
 163. Harriet (Kern) Walker taught five years in the Blooming- 
 ton schools. In 1877 she was married to Mr. T. M. Walker, of 
 Blooinington. 
 
 164. Celestia M. Mann. No report. 
 
 165. Frances I. Moron ey taught in Minnesota in 1871-3. Since 
 the spring of 1875 she has been teaching in the Blooinington, 
 schools. 
 
 166. Frances (Rawlings) Cunningham taught in Centralia iu 
 1871-2, and in Pekin in 1872-3, and in the Soldiers' Orphans' Home 
 in 1873-4. In 1874 she was married to Dr. T. N. Cunningham. She 
 taught one year after her marriage, in Topeka, Illinois. Her 
 address is Sheffield, Illinois. 
 
 167. Isabel (Rugg) Reed taught one year in Odell, and two in 
 Pontiac. In 1873 she married N. H. Reed. Their home is in 
 Pontiac, Illinois. 
 
 168. Francis (Shaver) Thompson taught in Chicago" until the 
 great fire, and finished the year in Woodstock. In 1872-3 she v 
 taught in Pekin, and in 1873-4 in Chicago, until her marriage, which 
 took place in ^December, 1873. Her address is Mrs. J. T. 
 Thompson, 146 Twenty-Seventh Street, Chicago. 
 
 169. Emma G. Strain taught in the Bloomiugton schools for 
 seven years, and finally resigned on account of ill health. Her 
 address is Louisville, Kentucky. 
 
 170. Frances (Weyand) Latham taught three months iu Sorn- 
 anauk, six months near Belleflower, and two in Bloomington. She 
 was married in February, 1874, to W. A. Latham. They reside on 
 a farm near Osman, in McLean County, Illinois. 
 
 171. W. C. Griffith, on leaving school, took charge of the Tay- 
 lorville schools and retained the position for five years. In 1876 he 
 resigned and accepted the general agency for Indiana of the Aetna 
 Life Insurance Company. Mr. Griffith was married to Miss Elnora 
 Libby, a high-school student, in 1871. He resides at Indianapolis. 
 
 172. Henry F. Holcomb entered the Normal School from Lake 
 County, September, 1867, and graduated in 1871. Immediately after 
 graduation, he commenced teaching, but after a few weeks was sud- 
 denly stricken down, and died in a few days. He was a man of 
 unusually good health, and was full of life and physical vigor. 
 
 173. Andrew T. Lewis taught only two years. He was admitted 
 to the bar, but has not practiced, having been engaged in publishing
 
 80 HISTORY ()K TIIK ILLINOIS 
 
 a newspaper most of the time since graduation. In 1879 lie went 
 west and engaged in teaching in Central City, Nevada. In 1880-1 
 he was principal of the Deadwood schools, and since has been in Col- 
 orado, Utah, and Montana. He is now in Urbana. Mr. Lewis was 
 married some years ago, but lost his wife a few months after leaving 
 Illinois. 
 
 174:. T. A. H. Norman taught four years, and then took the 
 course of study in the American Medical College, St. Louis. lie 
 practiced for a time, and then returned to teaching, having been 
 employed for three years near Martinsville, Illinois. He was mar- 
 ried, shortly after leaving school, to Miss Pauline Bartholdt, a lady 
 who will be well remembered by the students of 1870-1. He has 
 retired to a farm near Martinsville. 
 
 175. Edgar D. Plummer has taught but one year, his health 
 having failed during his school course. lie is engaged in business in 
 Heyworth, Illinois. 
 
 176. James O. Polhemus was a classmate of the two preceding, 
 and entered school in September, 1868. After graduation he taught 
 in Panolia; Chester, Ohio; near Paxton, Illinois; and in Ludlow, 
 Secor, and Gridley. At the close of his work in the last-named place 
 he was quite ill. He had a distressing cough which soon developed 
 into hemorrhage of the lungs. He survived the attack about a month, 
 dying August 15, 1877. His widowed mother resides in El Paso, 
 Illinois. 
 
 177. James R. Richardson taught in Sparta, seven months, in 
 1871-2; six and one-half months in Arcadia, in 1872-3; nine months 
 in district schools, in 1873-4; seven months in district schools, near 
 Jacksonville, in 1874-5; at Mauvaisterre, in 1875-7; at Union Grove, 
 in 1877-8; at Woodson, in 1877-9; five months near Jacksonville, in 
 1879-80; at Woodson, in 1880-1; at Franklin, in 1880-2. All the 
 above work, except the first, was done in Morgan County. In 1S77 
 he was married to Miss Sarah M. Williams, a former student of the 
 Normal School. His address is Jacksonville, Illinois. 
 
 178. R. Morris Waterman entered school in September, 1867, and 
 devoted four years to his work, taking the classical course in order to 
 fit himself for teaching the ancient languages, and graduating with the 
 class of 1871. He spent the summer with his parents on the farm 
 near Barrington, Illinois, and in July was appointed to the principal- 
 ship of the Blue Island schools. A few days before the schools were 
 to open he was somewhat indisposed, and the beginning of the term 
 was deferred. He gradually failed, and in three weeks died. Mr. 
 Waterman was an especial favorite while at school. The students of 
 ten years ago vividly recall the quiet, unassuming gentleman with a 
 keen sense for humor, a kindly word and willing hand for any enter- 
 prise that promised good to the school or his society the Wrightonian. 
 Having fitted himself for any position in the schools of the State, much
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 81 
 
 was expected of him; but at the beginning of his career, standing on 
 the verge; of manhood, crowned with the love of friends and the sin- 
 cere respect of all who knew him, he died. 
 
 179. John X. Wilson was principal of the sixth district in 
 Pcoria, 1871 to June, 1879. He has not taught since the latter date. 
 Mr. Wilson was married in 1866. 
 
 180. John P. Yoder, 1871-2, was principal of the Blue Island 
 schools; 1872-3 he was in business in Chicago; 1873-4 he taught a 
 district school in McLean County; 1874-80 he was principal of the 
 Danvers schools. In September, 1881, he became principal of the 
 Bushnell schools. He is married, and has three children. 
 
 181. Alice C. Chase (H. S.) Chicago. 
 
 CLASS OF 1872. 
 
 182. Anna G. Bowen, her health not having been such as to 
 permit her to teach continually, has taught thirteen terms, and 
 expects to resume her work as soon as she is able. Her present 
 address is 78 Aberdeen Street, Chicago. 
 
 183. Martha A. Fleming, from September, 1872, to June, 1876, 
 was principal of a grammar department in the Hyde Park schools. 
 She resigned to accept a position in the Peoria County Normal 
 Schools, where she remained until 1878. Since that time she has 
 been teaching in Chicago. For one year and a half, she was con- 
 nected with one of the leading seminaries for young ladies Park 
 Institute. She resigned this position in September, 1880, and in the 
 following month took a position in the primary department of the 
 Oakland school, where she remains. Her address is 37 Oakwood 
 Avenue. 
 
 184. Lenore Franklin taught in the Normal public schools for 
 five years ; in the Delevan schools for two- years ; in the Rockford 
 schools part of 1876-80 ; in Pueblo, Colorado, schools, 1880-1, and 
 in Princeton in 1881-82. She is now teaching in Belvidere. 
 
 185. Mary C. Furry, for three years succeeding her graduation, 
 taught in the Normal public schools. She then taught one term in a 
 family school ; one year in the Sterling schools ; two years in a 
 country school near Sterling, and since September, 1880, she has 
 been teaching in Sterling. 
 
 186. Clara (Gaston) Forbes taught one year in La Porte, Indi- 
 ana. On Christmas day, 1873, she was married to Prof. S. A. 
 Forbes, Director of the Laboratory of Natural History, at Normal. 
 They have three children, two girls and one boy. 
 
 187. Anna M. Gladding entered the Normal School in 
 September, 1868, from McLean County. She had been for some 
 time a student in the model school, and by the singular sweetness of
 
 92 HISTORY OP THE If.UXOIS 
 
 her disposition, and by her patient fidelity, she hud won the esteem 
 of all who knew her. She finished the course in 1S72, and at once 
 began her work as teacher, spending the first year in Vienna, Illinois. 
 The two succeeding years she taught in district schools; in 1*75 '"> 
 she did not teach, but resumed her work the succeeding year, teach- 
 ing at Galva. Never robust, her strength was insufficient for the 
 wearing life of a teacher; she therefore relinquished her position and 
 removed to Vineland, New Jersey. Nothing was known of her 
 ill-health until the news was received in April that she hud pas:-<-d 
 away. 
 
 '188. Eachel Ilickey taught in Ramsey in 1872-3; in DeKuIb 
 in 1873-4, and in Bloomington in 18745. Since September, 1875, 
 she has been teaching in the grammar grades of the Indianapolis 
 schools. Her address is 48 Cherry Street. 
 
 189. Sara C. Hunter has taught in the Lakeview schools 
 constantly since her graduation. Her address is Englewood, Illinois. 
 
 190. Alza (Karr) Blount taught in Atlanta, Illinois, 1873-4, and 
 in Forreston, 1874-6. In August, 1874, she was married to George 
 Blount, of the same class. They reside in Macomb. 
 
 191. Martha G. Knight, from September, 1872, to June, 1879, 
 taught constantly. The first four years she taught part of the time 
 in country schools, and the remainder of the time in Henry, and in 
 Bloomington. From September, 1876, to June, 1870, she taught in 
 the Bloomington city schools. She did not teach in 1^7'. -SO, but is 
 now principal of the Clear Creek school, in Putnam County. 
 
 192. Julia F. (Mason) Parkinson entered the model school when 
 quite young, .her parents having moved to Normal to educate their 
 children. She entered the Normal Department in September, isfj'j, 
 and graduated with the class of 1872. The year after her graduation 
 she was principal of the Winchester high school. The succeeding 
 year she was first assistant in the Lincoln high school. Iji Septem 
 ber, 1874, she took charge of the model department of the Southern 
 Illinois Normal School, where she remained until December ys, 
 1^7*1, when she was married to Prof. D. B. Parkinson, of the same 
 institution. For some years her health had riot been very good, and 
 in the summer of 1S76 her husband took her to the mountains of the 
 west, hoping, at least, to prolong her life. At first she seemed bene- 
 fited by the change, but she soon began to fail, and died in August, 
 
 . at San Jose, California, leaving one son. 
 
 193. P]rnma A. Monroe, 1872-3, taught in Virgina, Illinois, and 
 1 -"7:5-5 in Bloomington. From June, 1875, to September, Is 7s, she 
 did not teach. In September of the last named year, she resumed 
 her work, and has been employed constantly in the Bloomington city 
 schools. 
 
 104-. Julia (Moore) Byorly has not taught. At least, no report 
 has been received.
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. S3 
 
 105. Mary V. Osburn, 1872-3, taught in the Lebanon schools; 
 1X7;'. 4 was principal in the primary department of Elleardville 
 school, St. Louis; 187-4-5 first assistant in the same school; 1875-6 
 rested; 1ST 7 S2 in the same school. In March,, 1882, she was 
 promoted to the Everett school. 
 
 llH). Flora Pennell. See page 51. 
 
 107. Alice B. Phillips, L872-5, taught in the Normal public 
 schools. Sho has not taught since June, 1870. Her address is 88 
 Fort Greene Place, Brooklyn. 
 
 10S. Louisa Ray taught in St. Soseph, Missouri, in 1872-4; in 
 1ST I 8 she was head assistant in the Peoria County Normal School. 
 She was an invalid for two years. Since September, 1881, she has 
 taught in Oakland high school. 
 
 100. Alpha Stewart taught in Stanford in 1872-3; in Oak 
 Grove in IS 73-5; in Mount Hope in 1875-6; in Oak Grove in 
 1X7(5 7; iu Mount Hope in 1877-9; in Normal in 1870-81. She 
 is now teaching at Atlanta. 
 
 200. Gertrude (Town) Beggs was assistant in the Henry schools 
 in 1S72 3 ; she was employed in the Bloomington city schools in 
 1x7" 5; she was assistant in the Wilmington high school in 1875-6. 
 In September, 1875, she was married to Robert II. Beggs of the 
 same class. They reside in Denver, Colorado, where she is teaching. 
 
 201. Edith (^Ward) Roache taught one year in Elgin, two in 
 Hyde Park, and one in California. She was married in 1877. Her 
 home is in Watson Valley, California. 
 
 202. Robert 11. Heggs, IS 72-5, was principal of the Virginia, 
 Illinois, schools, and 1875-80 of the Wilmington schools. Since 
 September, 1880, he has been principal of a ward school in Denver, 
 Colorado, 
 
 203. George Blount, 1872-3, was principal of the Adeline 
 schools: 1873 7 of the Forreston schools: 1X77-8 of the Lexington 
 schools: and since September, 1870, has had charge- of the Maeomb 
 schools. August, 1X7-4:, he was married to Miss Alza Karr, of the 
 same class. 
 
 204. James M. Greeley was principal of the Elmwood schools 
 1 872 3. 1X73-6 he taught winter schools aggregating fourteen 
 months. His health tailing, he went to Kansas, and in October, 
 !S7s>. he was elected county treasurer of Saline County. His 
 address is Salina. 
 
 20.V Frank W. Hullingor taught two years in Bloom, Cook 
 Oountv, one year in Granville, and one year in Homewood. He 
 studied in Oberlin College, and Chicago Theological Seminary, and 
 in July, 1S70. was ordained and began the work of the ministry, lie 
 was pastor of a church in Dundee. Michigan, for two years, and is 
 now pastor of the Congregational church, in Milton, Rock County, 
 lie was married in December, 1873.
 
 M HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 206. Elisha W. Livingston spent 1872-3 in Beloit College. I It- 
 was principal of the schools in Caledonia station for four years. His 
 failing health obliged him to resign. Since 1879 he has taught two 
 terms, and is now farming. 
 
 207. Thomas L. McGrath taught one year in Litdifield, one in 
 Equality, and one in Butler. He is now city attorney in Mattoon. 
 
 208. Samuel W. Paisley was % born in Golconda, Illinois, in 1X4H. 
 Orphaned at the early age of three years, lie was reared by an uncle. 
 His early life was devoted to manual labor, and his circumstances were 
 such that he enjoyed few opportunities for educating himself. His 
 ardent nature responded to the call for volunteers, and although very 
 young, he entered the Union army. After the close of the war. lie 
 attended the academy at Friendsville, and for several years thereafter 
 alternately taught and attended school, striving, with characteristic 
 energy, to fit himself for his chosen profession. In September, ISiiS 
 he entered the Illinois Normal School, and graduated with his class in 
 1872. During his life as a student he won the high esteem and confi- 
 dence of his instructors and fellow-students. He enthusiastically iden- 
 tified himself with every noble enterprise. No student ever responded 
 to the roll call of his alma mater who lived upon a higher plane than 
 he. Scrupulously faithful to every requirement, brilliantly successful 
 in his studies, loving and tender in his nature, he was fitted as few men 
 or women are, to perform the delicate and difficult task of teaching the 
 young. Immediately after graduation, he was appointed principal of 
 the Watseka schools, having been united in marriage in August, 187i ; . 
 to Miss Helen Clute, of Normal. Into his work he threw all the devo- 
 tion and enthusiasm of his loyal heart. His ambition was unsatisfied 
 with the mere teaching of text-book facts, and he aimed to impress 
 upon his pupils the lessons of gentleness, reverence for the true and 
 beautiful, and obedience to the highest promptings of their natures. 
 His success was abundant. Like every true teacher, he was an inde- 
 fatigable student. Upon the foundation acquired at school, he was 
 steadily building a broad and liberal education, thus fitting himself for 
 whatever position might await him. After four years of intensely 
 active work at Watseka, he took charge of the Lexington schools. 
 With a kind of fierce energy he threw heart and soul into the duties of 
 his new position. The sequel could have been forecast with almost 
 unerring precision. After three or four months of labor, he was sud- 
 denly prostrated with hemorrhage of the lungs. He relinquished his 
 position and returned to Normal, the home of his wife's mother. Here 
 lie slowly rallied, and regained so much of his original strength as to 
 take charge of two of the classes in the Normal School. But he was 
 unequal to the task, and the dreadful hemorrhage returned about the 
 first of November. Hoping to stay the progress of the disease, he 
 went to the mountain region about Chattanooga, Tennessee, and for a 
 time seemed to gain strength in the bracing atmosphere. His last let-
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 85 
 
 ter, addressed to President Ilewett, was full of hope and good cheer; 
 but on the morning of February 4, all were shocked by the unexpected 
 tidings of his sudden death. His funeral took place at Normal on 
 February 7, and was attended by a large number of students and 
 friends. His remains were gently laid to rest under the trees of the 
 sad city of the dead. Thus upon the threshold of a noble career, with 
 a heart full of hope and love and good will to men, with his eager face 
 aflame with high aspiration and courage, ho halted, and laying aside 
 the garb of the toiler, obeyed the summons of the Master, and 
 "entered into rest." 
 
 209. Frank E. Ritchey taught two years in Milwaukee and one 
 in Illinois. He commenced the practice of law in St. Louis, but 
 received such flattering propositions to relinquish this business that 
 he left St. Louis in 1879, and is now engaged in stock business in 
 Ford County. His address is Campus, Illinois. He was married 
 in 1879. 
 
 210. Espy L. Smith was principal of the Granville schools in 
 1872-3; of the Camp Point schools in 1873- 1; of the Wenona 
 schools in 1874-5 ; of the Minonk schools in 1875-9. He spent a 
 year on a farm and is now studying medicine in a Homeopathic 
 College in Chicago. 
 
 211. John II. Stickney was principal of the Altona schools from 
 1872 to 1877, five years, and of the West Side schools in St. Charles 
 for three years. In September, 1880, he again took charge of the 
 Altona schools, where he is at present. 
 
 212 William R. Wallace entered from McLean County in April, 
 1868, and graduated with the class of 1872. The succeeding year he 
 was principal of the Piper City schools, and in 1872-3 he held a 
 similar position in Piukneyville. His health, never good, warned 
 him to leave teaching, so he went into the drug business, first in 
 Bloomington, and subsequently in Heyworth. His health grew 
 gradually worse, however, and in December, 1876, he died. His 
 parents reside near Hudson. 
 
 213. James M. Wilson was principal of the Bloomington, 
 Indiana, schools, for three years. In September, 1875, he entered 
 upon his duties as professor of mathematics in the Indiana State 
 Normal School, at Terre Haute, which position he occupied until 
 June, 1881. In August, 1873, he was married to Miss Sallie Tom- 
 linson, an undergraduate of the Illinois Normal. 
 
 214. Edwin F. Bacon had nearly completed his studies in 1865, 
 when he left school and went to New York City. He taught there in 
 1865-6. For two years, 1866-8, he had charge of a large school in 
 Norwalk, Connecticut. In the fall of 1868 he entered the scientific 
 department of Yale College, and graduated in 1871. He taught 
 Latin and German, in Wilmington, for one year. In 1872 he recc-ivcd 
 his diploma from this Normal School, and shortly after he went to
 
 86 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 Germany and studied and taught two years. In 1873 he returned to 
 New York, and has since been engaged in teaching German, in which 
 lie has become very successful. His address is box 296, Jersey City. 
 
 215. Charles D. Mariner was principal of the Byron schools two 
 years, of the Marengo schools one year, of the Durand schools three 
 years. He taught, also, a country school one year. Since June, 
 1880, he has taught twelve months in Winnebago Township. He 
 was married in 1871. His address is Winnebago. 
 
 216. Chalmers Rayburn (H. S.) taught in Vienna, Illinois, two 
 months, in Sperry, Iowa, four months, in McLean County one year, 
 in Hudson two years, and at Money Creek two years. His address 
 is Towanda. 
 
 217. Newton B. Reid (H. S.) taught two years at St. Paul and 
 Albion, Illinois. He is now practicing law in Bloomington, Illinois. 
 
 CLASS OF 1873. 
 
 218. Lura (Bullock) Elliott, during the spring term of 1874, 
 taught near Tonica; 1874-5 was principal of primary department, 
 Tonica; 1875-6 was principal of Tonica schools; 1877-8 was 
 assistant in Macomb high school. She was married in 1879, and is 
 now living on a farm near Tonica. 
 
 219. Mary M. Cox taught one year at Belleville, one year at 
 Greenville, California, and five years at Watsonville, twenty miles 
 from Santa Cruz. In the summer of 1881 she went to Europe, where 
 she is still studying. Her address is number 14 Wieser Strasse, 
 Hanover, Germany. 
 
 220. Ellen S. Edwards taught one year at Lexington, five months 
 in Rock River Seminary, and was for two years assistant in Normal 
 School. In September, 1877, she entered the Boston School of 
 Orators and completed the course in 1879. Her address is 
 Princeton. " 
 
 221 Ida. L. Foss taught six months at Homer, and for three 
 years was assistant in Rossville high school. Sirtce September, 1877, 
 she has had charge of the high school at Rushville. 
 
 222. Mary (Hawley) Richardson taught six months in Naples, 
 one year in Beardstown, and five years in Milwaukee. In August, 
 1880, she was married to W. H. Richardson, of Milwaukee. 
 
 223. H. Amelia Kellogg, after graduation, taught constantly in 
 Chicago until November, 1881. Her health failed, and she went to 
 Texas. She is at San Antonio. Her address was 29 Oak Avenue, 
 Chicago. 
 
 224. L. Effie Peter, immediately after graduation, went to San 
 Juan, California, and taught near that place one year. 1874-5 was 
 teacher in the grammar school in Mason City; 1876-7 assistant in
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 87 
 
 the high- school at same place ; 1877-9 was first assistant in Lincoln 
 high school; 1880-1 taught in Lamed, Kansas; and since, has been 
 teaching in Cimarron, Kansas. 
 
 225. Anna V. Sutherland taught the Mt. Prospect school two 
 years, taught in Bloomington two terms, in Heyworth one year, and 
 in LeRoy two years. Her address is LeRoy. 
 
 226. Mary I. Thomas, for three years taught at Atlanta. She 
 has not taught since. 
 
 227. Emma (Warne) Hall, 1873-4, was assistant in DeKalb; 
 1874-5 was principal of Blackberry schools. Her health failing, she 
 did not teach again until January, 1877, when she took charge of a 
 grammar school at DeKalb. She was married in 1877 to E. Hall, 
 superintendent of the S., C. & 0. R. R. She resides at Sycamore. 
 
 228. L. P. Brigham was principal of the Tolono schools in 
 1873-4 ; of the Arcola schools 1875-7. He then studied one year at 
 Indianapolis. In 1878-81 he was principal of Farmer City schools. 
 He was married in 1878. In 1881-2 he attended Rush Medical 
 College. 
 
 229. Charles DeGarmo. See page 50. 
 
 230. Jasper T. Hays was married in December, 1875. In 1873^ 
 he taught in Whiteside county ; in 1874-6 in Lee county ; in 1876-7 
 in Morrison and Delhi ; 1877-8 taught four mqnths in country 
 school; 1879-81 taught in Kansas. He is now farming. His 
 address is Elivan, Kansas. 
 
 231. E. R. E. Kimbrough taught at Golconda in 1873-4, and is 
 now practicing law in Danville. In 1878 he wrote : "One boy eight 
 months old, a few briefs, and a Democratic nomination for State 
 Senate, Thirty-First district." He was defeated for Senator, 
 although receiving a very complimentary vote, his district being 
 strongly Republican. 
 
 232. George W. Lecrone taught three months at Moccasin and 
 was principal of East Side schools at Emngham one year. He then 
 served as deputy clerk of Effingham County. He is now publishing 
 a paper at Emngham, Illinois. 
 
 233. Walter C. Lockwood married Elizabeth Peers in 1874. He 
 was three years in the hardware business in Ottawa, two years on a 
 farm near Rankin, taught one winter near Rankin, and went to 
 Kansas in 1879, where he is engaged in the hardware business. 
 His address is Marion Center. He paid his tuition in full, after 
 graduation. 
 
 234. DeWitt C. Roberts married Miss Fannie Pace in July, 
 1875. He was principal of Beardstown schools 1873-6, professor of 
 mathematics at Cape Girardeau Normal School 1876-80, and is now 
 principal of Broadway school, Denver, Colorado. 
 
 235. Arthur Shores taught six months in Minnesota, three 
 months in Glencoe, in that State, nine months in Taylor's Falls, and
 
 88 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 six months in district school in Tazewell County. He is now practicing 
 law in Minneapolis, Minnesota, 921 Eighth Avenue. 
 
 236. John B. Stoutemyer continued studies two years. lie 
 taught one month at Covel, and two months near Bloomington. He 
 is now farming two miles west of Bloomington. 
 
 237. Felix B. Tait taught one year at Woodstock Seminary, and 
 was admitted to the bar in June, 1876. He is practicing in Decatur, 
 Illinois. 
 
 238. J. Lawson Wright, 1873-6, was principal of Adeline 
 schools; 1876-80 of Forreston schools; 1880-1 of Savanna schools; 
 1881-2 of Cedarville schools. 
 
 239. M. Louise Abraham (II. S.) has taught constantly since 
 graduation. 1873-5 in Spencer, Indiana; 1875-7 in Illinois, near 
 Oilman; 1877-8 in Spencer; and since September, 1878, in Edinburg, 
 Indiana. 
 
 240. Edmund J. James. See page 49. 
 
 241. J. Dickey Templeton (H. S.) worked in the State museum 
 for a few months. Since 1875 he has been employed in a bank in 
 Bloomington. 
 
 CLASS OF 1874. 
 
 242. Emily Alden taught in Loda in 1874-5. In 1875-6 she was 
 principal of schools in Princeville. She did not teach in 1876-7. In 
 1877-8 she taught in Kent, Iowa, and since 1878 she has taught in 
 Afton in the same State. 
 
 243. Lida (Brown) McMurry taught in Sublette in 1874-6; in Ar- 
 cola in 1876-7; in Clear Creek in 1877-8; and two months in Decatur 
 in 1878-9. In the summer of 1878 she was married to Win. P. Mc- 
 Murry, of the same class. Their home is in Normal. 
 
 244. Eunice Corwine taught in the country near Lincoln in 1874-8. 
 Since 1878 she has been teaching in the Lincoln schools. 
 
 245. S. Alice Judd has been employed constantly as assistant in 
 the Decatur high school since her graduation. 
 
 246. Sarah M. Littlefield was principal of the Rushville high 
 school in 1874-5; she taught in the Beardstown schools in 1875-6; 
 she was again principal of the liushville high school in 1876-7, and in 
 is 7 7-8 she again taught in the Beardstown schools; she taught in the 
 (ialva schools in 1878-9, since which time she has not taught. Her 
 address is Beardstown. 
 
 247. Mary (McWilliams) Burford taught in Logan County in 
 1874-5, and in Farmer City in 1875-6 and 1877-8. She did not teach 
 in 1876-7 on account of poor health. In September, 1879, she was 
 married to Will F. Burford, of Farmer City, where they now reside. 
 
 248. M. Ella Morgan has taught continuously since graduation, in 
 Washington, D. C. Her address is 1114 Tenth Street.
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. Mt 
 
 249. Elizabeth (Poors) Lockwood has not taught. In September 
 following her graduation she was married to Walter C. Lockwood, of 
 the class of 1873. She discharged her obligation by paying her 
 tuition in full. Her home is in Marion Centre, Kansas. 
 
 250. Emma Y. (Stewart) Brown entered school in September, 
 1870. One year was spent in teaching during the course, so that she 
 did not graduate until June, 1874. She taught in Rochelle in 1874-5 ; ' 
 in Peru, Indiana, 1875-6, and 1876-8 in Wichita, Kansas. August 
 9, 1S6S, she was married to I. Eddy Brown, of the same class, and 
 removed to Decatur, where Mr. Brown was employed as principal of 
 the high school. Her wedded life was brief. August 1,1880, a little 
 less than two years from the time of her marriage, she died of puer- 
 peral fever. She left a babe, but it survived her only a few weeks. 
 The closing days of her life were singularly beautiful. Conscious of 
 approaching death, she arranged all of her affairs with the serenity 
 and fortitude of the hero of a hundred fields. Loving life as only 
 the young blessed with all that is beautiful can love it, she submitted 
 to the inevitable with calm composure, and even greeted it with a 
 happy smile. 
 
 251. Maggie (Woodruff) Evans, 1874-6, taught in Savannah, 
 Illinois. In 1876 she was married to William A. Evans, of the same 
 class. Her address is Leavenworth, Kansas. 
 
 252. I. Eddy Brown immediately after graduation was elected 
 principal of the Decatur high school. He retained this position 
 until June, 1880, when he resigned to accept the State Secretaryship 
 of the Y. M. C. A. In August, 1878, he was married to Emma Y. 
 Stewart, a sketch of whom is given above. 
 
 253. Francis W. Conrad, the first year after graduation taught 
 in the Maine State Normal School. Warned by failing health, in the 
 summer of 1875 he went to California, where he has been teaching 
 constantly since. In September, 1877,'he was elected principal of the 
 Montocito schools, Santa Barbara, which position he still retains. 
 
 254. John N. Dewell, 1874-5, was principal of the Barry schools; 
 1S75-S of the Litchh'eld schools, and 1878-81 of the Hillsboro 
 schools. His present address is Bloomington, where he is in the 
 insurance and real estate business. 
 
 255. David S. Elliott, 1874-5, was principal of the Cuseyville 
 schools. In 1875 he joined the Methodist Conference and preached 
 for a while, teaching, in the meantime, four months in Mackinaw, 
 three months in Groveland, and two months in a private school. 
 1878-9 he was assistant in the Centralia schools. 1879-81 was 
 principal of the same schools. He is now principal of the Bunsen 
 school, Belleville, Illinois. 
 
 J256. William A. Evans, since graduation, lias taught two years 
 in Illinois, and four in Kansas. At present he is teacher of history 
 and natural science in the Leavenworth high schooL
 
 90 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 257. Thomas E. Jones, 1874-6, taught in Troy, Kansas; 1876-8 
 he was principal of the Mt. Pleasant, Missouri, schools ; 1878-9 he 
 had charge of the Hillsdale, Kansas, schools ; 1879-80 he spent as a 
 traveling salesman, 1880-1 he was again principal of the Hillsdale 
 schools, where he is at present. 
 
 258. William P. McMurry has not taught. He studied law, was 
 admitted, spent a few months in Texas, and then returned to Normal. 
 He is now employed in the office of the Phoenix nursery, Bloomington. 
 
 259. Elinzer H. Prindle, 1874-6, taught in Centreville. 1876-8 
 he was principal of the White Hall schools. In the summer of 1878 
 he removed to Kansas, and engaged in farming and stock-raising. In 
 November, 1879, he was elected county clerk of Hodgeman County. 
 He is now teaching in Larned, Kansas. 
 
 260. Carlton H. Hew, 1874-7, was principal of the Pontiac 
 schools, and 1877-9 of the Fairbury schools. 1779-80 was spent in 
 study. Since September, 1880, he has had charge of the Wilmington 
 schools. In 1878 he was married to Miss Ada Casley, an undergrad- 
 uate of the Normal School. 
 
 261. William J. Simpson has taught six years since graduation, 
 most of the time in country schools. He is now farming near 
 Sigel. Mr. Simpson has been married twice. His first wife, whom 
 Normalites of 1873 will remember as Alice Buchanan, died in 1877. 
 He was married again in 1880. 
 
 262. Harry A. Smith, 1874-5, was principal of the Lena schools, 
 and 1875-8 of the Kock Falls schools. In 1878 he entered the 
 ministry, and is now in charge of the Baptist Church, in Tampico. 
 
 263. Jasper N. Wilkinson, 1874-9, was principal of the Buda 
 schools. 1879-80 he was principal of one of the ward schools in 
 Peoria. Since September, 1880, lie' has been principal of the 
 Decatur high school. He was married in Buda, in 1879. 
 
 264. Adele (Cook) Sample was married to A. Sample in Septem- 
 ber, 1875. Her address is Paxton, Illinois. 
 
 CLASS OF 1875. 
 
 265. Margarita McCullough, 1875-6 taught in Edinburg, Indiana. 
 She has since taught at South Evanston, having lost but one day since 
 graduation. 
 
 266. Josephine Mcllugh, 1875-7, except spring term, was assist- 
 ant in the Galena high school. The spring term of 1877 she taught in 
 Omaha; 1877-80 in Warren; 1880-1 in Shellsburg; 1881-2 in 
 Dwight. She is now teaching in Bloomington. 
 
 267. Florence Ohr, with the exception of the spring term of 1881, 
 when she attended the Normal, has taught constantly in the Soldiers' 
 Orphans' Home since graduation.
 
 STATE NOBMAL UNIVERSITY. 91 
 
 268. Henrietta Watkins taught a short time a few weeks in 
 Decatur. She is now at home in Normal. 
 
 269. Mary A. "Watkins has not taught. Her address is Normal. 
 
 270. David Ayers, 1875-6, taught a district school near Sweet- 
 water; 1876-7 taught near Elkhart; 1877-81 was in charge of the 
 Sweetwater schools. He married Miss Anna Martin in November, 
 1 vsi. He is now in business. His address is 734 Forty-Third 
 Street, Chicago. 
 
 * 271. Robert L. Barton, 1875-7, was principal of Mound City 
 schools ; 1877-8 he taught four months at Farmer City ; 1878-81 at 
 Rossville. He has since been superintendent of the Galena schools. 
 
 272. Albert D. Beckhart, 1875-7, taught in Cerro Gordo ; 1877-8 
 in Buffalo, Sangamon County. He was married in December, 1876, 
 to Miss Jennie II. Baker. In 1877 he joined the Illinois Annual 
 Conference, and is now preaching. He is located at Nilwood. 
 
 273. Lewis O. Bryan, 1875-6, taught in Salem; 1876-9 in Van 
 Buren, Arkansas. He was admitted to the bar in February, 1880, 
 and is now practicing at Van Buren, Arkansas. 
 
 274. W. T. Crow Iras not taught. He is postmaster at Cotton 
 Hill, and proprietor of Sugar Creek mills. 
 
 275. James Ellis was principal of Winnebago schools, 1875-6; 
 1876-7 he taught four months in Boone County; 1877-80 was again 
 principal of Winnebago schools. Since September, 1880, he has 
 been principal of the high schools at Sharon, Wisconsin. 
 
 276. Judd M. Fiske taught one year, 1875-6, at Arrnington, 
 Illinois, and two years at Naples. He married Miss Harriet A. 
 Hunter. For two years he taught in district schools. 1880-1 he 
 taught at Ridott, and is now teaching there. 
 
 277. Justin L. Hartwell was principal of the Dixon schools in 
 1S75-7; 1877-8 ran a business college at Dixon; 1878-80 was 
 principal of Odell school. He has since been principal of Barry, 
 Illinois, schools. He was married in 1873. 
 
 278. Josiah P. Hodge taught six months. His business is law 
 and real estate. Address, Golconda, Illinois. 
 
 i ; 79. U. Clay McIIugh was born in Monroe County, Ohio, July 
 16, 1850. lie entered school from McLean County, January, 1872, 
 and graduated in June, 1875. In 1875-6 he taught in Pleasant 
 Hill. During the summer of 1876 he entered Rush Medical College, 
 Chicago, and remained there until March, 1877, when he returned to 
 his home in Lexington, and taught a further term of three months, 
 continuing his medical studies meanwhile. In the summer of 1877 
 he returned to Rush, and graduated in February, 1878. He returned 
 to his home, but was stricken down by sudden illness, and died July 
 11, 1878. 
 
 280. W. S. Mills, 1875-6, was principal of the grammar depart- 
 ment of the model school; 1876-80 of a ward school at Joliet. In
 
 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 May, 1882, he graduated from the law department of Columbia 
 College. His address is 73 Pine Apple Street, Brooklyn. 
 
 281. James N. Mosher, 1875-6, taught near Odcll; 1876-7 he 
 had charge of the Watson, Missouri, schools; 1877-8 of the Van 
 Buren, Arkansas, schools; 1878-9 he did not teach; 1879-80 of the 
 Watson schools. Since September, 1880, he has been principal of 
 the Edwardsville schools, Kansas. 
 
 282. John L. Shearer taught at Rockport in 1875-6 ; taught a 
 country school near St. Louis in 1876-7 ; a country school in Henry- 
 County in 1877-8 ; was principal of the White Hall schools in 1878-9. 
 He has since been principal of Napa City schools. 
 
 283. Benjamin F. Stocks was married in 1875. In 1875-6 he 
 was principal of Bethallo schools ; 1876-7 of Fail-mount schools ; 
 1877-9 of Sullivan schools; 1879-80 of La Moille schools; l.SW-a 
 of Cerro Gordo schools. 
 
 284. Ann S. Wheaton (II. S.), after graduating, went to Montreal 
 to study French. She returned to Normal in 1876 and continued her 
 studies one year, when she went to Yreka, California. After teach ing 
 a private school for a short time, she became a teacher in the public 
 schools. She purchased a home in 1880. 
 
 285. Nicholas T. Edwards (II. S.) graduated at Knox in is 79, 
 and taught in Dover one year. lie studied Theology in the Chicago 
 Theological Seminary and is now preaching. lie may be reached by 
 addressing Princeton, Illinois. 
 
 286. Frank W. Gove (II. S.) graduated at Dartmouth in 1878. 
 For six months he was professor of mathematics in Colorado State 
 University. He is now surveying in the mountains of Colorado. 1 1 e 
 was married in July to Miss Ida Cook. His address is Rico, Colorado. 
 
 287. Einrich B. Hewitt (II. S.) entered the high school in 1871, 
 from Forreston, Illinois, and graduated with his class in 1875. He 
 entered Harvard University in September, 1875, and remained one 
 year, when failing health obliged him to give up his college work and 
 endeavor to regain his strength. He remained at his home, in Five- 
 port;, for a few months, but failing to receive any benefits from 
 medical attendance, he went to Colorado., hoping that a change; of 
 climate might prove beneficial. lie gradually declined, however, and 
 finally died in March, 1879. Universally esteemed, ambitious to 
 excel as a scholar, and surrounded with all that tends to make life 
 desirable, his early death was peculiarly sad. 
 
 CLASS OF 1S7<>. 
 
 288. Mary L. Bass, since graduation, has been teaching in Oak- 
 land school. Her address is 3655 Vincennes Avenue, Chicago. 
 
 Louisa C. Larrick, in the fall of 1876, taught at Gibson ;
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 93 
 
 S ! at Middletown, Virginia. She has since been teaching at 
 Pontinc, Illinois. 
 
 290. Amanda M. Pusey, 1876-80, taught in Champaign ; 1880-1 
 she taught in Ottawa, Kansas. She has since taught at Neosho, 
 .Missouri. * 
 
 291. George II. Beatty taught six months near Clinton, six 
 months in Midland City, six months near Clinton. 1879-81 he was 
 principal of the Hey worth schools. He is now at Maroa. 
 
 292. Daniel S. Buterbaugh, 1876-7, taught at Money Creek; 
 1*77-9 at Camargo and Pesotum; 1879-80 near Clinton. Since 1880 
 he has been principal of the Danvers schools. 
 
 293. William II. Chamberlain, 1876-9, taught at Kidge Farm, 
 Illinois; 1879-80 he studied at Normal; 1880-1 at Eidge Farm. 
 Since 1881 he has been principal of the Rossville schools. 
 
 294. Asbury M. Crawford, 1876-7, taught in Mechanicsville ; in 
 l s 77-8 he studied law in Bloomington. He then went west, and is 
 now in the nursery business at Helena, Montana. 
 
 295. George "W. Dinsmore taught one year in Shelbyville, 
 Tennessee, and one year in Illinois. His health would not permit of 
 further teaching. He went west, settling at Lyons, Kansas, and 
 engaging in the hardware business. lie married Carrie Wallace, in 
 Houston, Texas. 
 
 296. Lewis C. Dougherty, 1876-8, taught at Lacon; 1878-9 
 taught four months in Rising, Neb. Since September, 1879, he has 
 been principal of the Minonk schools. 
 
 297. J. Calvin Hanna, taught one year in Toulon, three 
 months near Monica, Peoria County, two months in Wooster, Ohio. 
 He graduated from Wooster College in June, 1881, and has since 
 been teaching in the Columbus, Ohio, high school. 
 
 298. Benjamin S. Hedges was born in Virginia, in 1852. He 
 entered the Normal School in September, 1873, and graduated with 
 the class of 1876. He secured a State certificate about the time of 
 his graduation. Shortly after graduation, he was appointed principal 
 of the Rochelle high school. A part of the summer of 1S76 was spent 
 at the Centennial Exposition. He returned to his home in the early 
 fall, expecting to begin his work, but contracted typhoid fever in the 
 home of a friend, who died of the same disease, and passed away 
 October 1, 1876, at the age of twenty-four years, five monthsarnd 
 twenty-seven days. He was a young man of high character and g eat 
 promise. 
 
 299. Charles L. Howard, 1876-7, was principal of the Farming- 
 ton schools; 1877-8 was agent for Johnson's Cyclopedia; 1878-9 was 
 principal of the Centralia schools; 1879-81 of the Shelbyville schools. 
 He is now principal of the Madison school, St. Louis. 
 
 :'.IM). John T. Johnson, 1876-8, was principal of the Millersburg 
 school ; in 1879 he taught a few months near Bloomington. lie then 
 
 7
 
 94 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 went into the hedge business. In 1880-1 taught eight months in 
 New Boston. Since September, 1881, he has been principal of the 
 fifth ward school, Peoria. 
 
 301. Claudius B. Kinyon has not taught. Graduating from a 
 medical college in 1878, he has since been practicing in Rock Island. 
 
 302. Joseph F. Lyon, 1876-7, taught in Kansas; 1877-8 in 
 Cumberland County; 1878-9 traveled and studied; 1879-80 taught in 
 Altamont. Since September, 1880, he has been principal of the Odell 
 school. 
 
 303. Truman B. Mosher taught seven months in a country school 
 in Livingston County; 1877-8 taught at Sullivan Center; 1878-9 at 
 Grouse, Kane County; 1879-80 in Livingston County. Since Sep- 
 tember, 1880, he has been teaching in Cherryvale, Kansas. 
 
 ^304. DeWitt C. Tyler taught two years at New Boston, and one 
 year at Millersburg. lie now practices medicine in Clifton, Kansas. 
 
 305. Leroy B. Wood is secretary and treasurer of the Piano 
 Manufacturing Company, Piano, Illinois. 
 
 306. Arabella D. Loer (H. S.) is in Mexico, Missouri. 
 
 307. Charles A. McMurry (H. S.), 1876-7, continued his studies 
 at Ann Arbor; 1877-8 taught at Armington ; 1878-9 at Clear Creek; 
 1879-80 at Clifton for five months, returning to Ann Arbor in the 
 spring; 1880-81 taught at Littleton, California; 1881-2 in Denver, 
 Colorado. lie is now in the University of Halle, Germany, making 
 a specialty of political economy. 
 
 CLASS OF 1877. 
 
 308. Mary A. Anderson has taught in the Bloomington high 
 school since graduation. Her address is 605 West Front Street. 
 
 309. Agnes E. Ball, 1877-8, taught near Girard ; lS7-s--so in 
 Girard; 1880-1 in Virden; 1881-2 in a district school near Girard, 
 Montgomery County. 
 
 310. Emma E. Corbett has been teaching at Milwaukee con- 
 stantly since graduation. 
 
 311. Nettie (Cox) Smith, 1878-9, taught in Hudson ; 1879-81 in 
 a district school near Hudson. She was married in 1881. 
 
 312. Adeline M. Goodrich, is traveling in the interest of the 
 Woman's Christian Temperance Union. Her address is Freeport, 
 Illinois. 
 
 313 Anna L. Martin, 1878-9, taught near Washburn; 1879-81 
 in the Normal public schools. She was married in the fall of 1881, 
 to David Ayers. Her address is 734 Forty-Third Street, Chicago. 
 
 314. Selina M. Regan taught a district school three months; 
 1878-9 she taught the same school six and one-half months. Since 
 January, 1880, she has taught in Morris, Illinois.
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 95 
 
 315. Laura A. Yarner, 1877-9, taught in country schools near 
 Freeburg. 1879-80 she taught in Marissa. She has since been 
 principal of the Marissa schools. 
 
 316. Wilraas (Varner) Metzger, 1877-8, taught four months in 
 Marion County. In April, 1878, she moved to California, and taught 
 constantly until her marriage to J. E. Metzger, in November, 1880. 
 Her address is Healdsburg, California. 
 
 317. Emily Wing spent two years at Wellesley College, taught 
 one year in Collinsville, and one year in the Female Academy, at 
 Jacksonville. Her address is Collinsville. 
 
 318. Levi D. Berkstresser is employed in banking and the 
 clothing trade. His address is Buda, Illinois. 
 
 319. W. Irving Berkstresser, 1877-8, taught in Bryant's Com- 
 mercial College, Chicago. He is now preaching in Decatur. 
 
 320. Richard G. Bevan taught, 1877-8, in a district school six 
 months; 1878-9 in the same school six months, and 1881-2 he taught 
 six months near Atlanta. 
 
 321. Edward R. Faulkner has been principal of the Frankfort, 
 Kansas, schools, since graduation. 
 
 322. Hiram R. Fowler has taught in Cave-in-Rock constantly 
 since graduation. 
 
 323. Frank B. Harcourt taught part of 1877-8 in Logan County. 
 In 1878 he returned to Normal and finished the high school course. 
 His address is Chestnut, Illinois. 
 
 324. George L. Hoffman was married in 1879 and is practicing 
 law at Mt. Sterling, Illinois. 
 
 325. Albert Swan taught in Toulon in 1877-8 ; in N. Wyoming 
 in 1878-80 ; in Castleton, Illinois, in 1880-2. 
 
 326. Levi Spencer taught during the summer term of 1878, and 
 winter term of 1878-9, in Piatt County; summer term of 1879 in 
 Macon County ; then two terms Piatt County. He has since taught 
 at Oronogo, Missouri. 
 
 327. Edward R. Levett is practicing law in Chicago. His 
 address is 132 LaSalle Street. 
 
 328. Sarah (Coolidge) White (H. S.) was married in the fall of 
 1879. Her address is Springfield. 
 
 329. Jennette Kingsley's (H. S.) parents moved to Normal when 
 she was a little child. She entered the lowest department, and com- 
 pleted the course, graduating from high school with the class of 1877. 
 After a few months of rest, she became a teacher in the Normal public 
 school, and remained there until June, 1879. Very soon after the 
 close of school she went to Denver, in order to be present at the com- 
 petitive examination of teachers in that city. Brilliantly successful, 
 she received an appointment, and in September commenced her work 
 She had been in the school room but a few weeks when she was 
 stricken down with the dreadful typhus fever, and survived but a few
 
 96 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 days. Her body was brought back to her old home, and laid to rest 
 in the cemetery at Bloomington. Miss Kingsley was one of those to 
 whom nature had been peculiarly generous. Possessing an unusually 
 sunny disposition, superior intellectual attainments, rare personal 
 beauty, and the rarer gift of a devout and loving heart, she won the 
 respect and affectionate regard of all with whom she came in contact. 
 
 330. Sabina F. Mills (H. S.) taught nine months in Granville, and 
 three months near Mt. Palatine. Since June, 1879, she has taught in 
 El Dorado, Kansas. 
 
 331. Laura Sudduth (II. S.) is at Wellesley College, and will 
 graduate in 1883. Her address is Normal. 
 
 332. Fremont C. Blandin (II. S.) was at Ann Arbor in 1877-9. 
 He since graduated from the Wesleyan law school. His address is 
 Rutland, Illinois. 
 
 333. George A. Franklin (H. S.) taught in Butler in 1877-9; was 
 for some time foreman of a printing office in liockford; is now run- 
 ning a cattle ranch at Forest City, Iowa. 
 
 334. Theodore T. Hewitt (II. S.) is in a bank at Freeport, Illinois. 
 
 CLASS OF 1878. 
 
 335. Mary M. Baird, 1878-9, taught at Naples. Ill health 
 compelled her to rest until 1880, since which time she has taught at 
 Mendota, Illinois. 
 
 336. Evangeline (Candy) Mitchell taught at Chestnut, Illinois, 
 one year. Her present address is Arcola, Illinois. 
 
 337. Jessie (Dexter) Benton taught one year at Lexington. She 
 was married in the summer of 1879. 
 
 338. Eugenia Faulkner taught in the Frankfort, Kansas, high 
 school two years, and has since taught at Marysville, Kansas. 
 
 339. Flora M. Fuller, 1878-9, taught in the Carrollton high 
 schools. She is now teaching in the Millersburg schools. 
 
 340. Sarah C. Martin, 1879-80, taught at Washburn, and in 
 1881-2 in the same place. 
 
 341. Ida (Philbrick) Gaston taught three months in Bailey ville. 
 She married Frank Gaston, of Normal, in December, 1879. 
 
 342. Frances Preston entered the Normal School from Lee 
 County, in September, 1874, and graduated in 1878, taking the full 
 Latin and Greek course. The year 1878-9 she taught in Centralia. 
 In September, 1880, she commenced work in the Mendota schools, 
 west side, and remained there until the following spring, when failing 
 health compelled her to resign. She returned to her home in 
 Amboy, but she rapidly declined, and died May 3. She had an 
 intense desire to acquire knowledge, and doubtless hastened her 
 death by over-study and severe exertion as a teacher. She possessed
 
 STATE NOEMAL UNIVERSITY. 97 
 
 an unusual amount of individuality and originality, and by her careful 
 preparation was especially fitted to occupy a conspicuous position. 
 Her ample success as a teacher indicated that if her life had been 
 spared she would not have disappointed the high hopes of her many 
 friends. 
 
 343. Florence Richardson entered school in September, 1875, 
 and graduated with her class in 1878. Immediately after graduation 
 she became an assistant in the schools of Millersburg, Mercer 
 County, where she remairied one year. In September, 1879, she 
 entered the Bloomington corps, where she remained until her death. 
 The following sketch is taken from the Bloomington Pantagraph, for 
 which it was prepared by Rev. J. W. Dinsmore: 
 
 " A very great company attended the funeral of the above-named young lady, at 
 the Second Presbyterian church, yesterday afternoon. It is creditable to human nature 
 that so great public interest should be shown in a simple school teacher. Many a 
 millionaire has been carried to his grave without a tithe of the respect and sympathy 
 that were shown yesterday for the memory of this modest girl. * * * * From 
 our public schools she entered the Normal University, and having made a very success- 
 ful course, she graduated in 1878. Having become a teacher in our city schools, she 
 rapidly advanced until she became mistress of the highest room in No. 1. and some 
 
 months ago was promoted to be principal of No. 3. To this creditable distinction she 
 
 by the strong hands of i 
 real merit and industry. She was thoroughly devoted to her calling; talented, diligent, 
 
 was borne, not by the strong hands of influential friends, but by the simple force of 
 
 painstaking, and full of a sustained enthusiasm. She gave much promise of a bril- 
 liant career in her chosen work. She was a faithful member of the Second Presbyterian 
 church, being a pupil, and lately a teacher, in the Sunday school, much admired and 
 respected by her pastor, and by all who have knowledge of her ways of life. Her 
 loving and sacrificing devotion to her foster parents was beautiful and noble. No less 
 was she devoted to the mother that bore her, although necessarily living mostly at 
 a long distance from her. She was called away suddenly, just as promise was budding 
 into fulfillment, as hope was waxing into realization. A highly intelligent, attractive, 
 amiable, and whole-hearted young woman, a sincere disciple of Jesus Christ, well 
 qualified to live, well qualified also to die. Peace to her ashes, while her memory will 
 be long and lovingly cherished by many who knew her in life. This little tribute is 
 gladly laid on her grave by one who knew her well, and valued her highly." 
 
 344. Helen L. Wyckoff, 1878-9, taught in Centralia; 1879-81 in 
 Roberts, Illinois. Since February, 1882, she has been teaching in 
 Bloomington. 
 
 345. Osci J. Bainum, 1878-80, taught at Parkersburg. Since 
 September, 1880, he has been principal of the Olney high school. 
 
 346. John T. Bowles, 1878-80, was principal of the Naples 
 schools. He was married in November, 1879, to Miss Clara Webster ; 
 in 1880-1 he taught at Gridley; in 1881-2 he was principal of the 
 Metropolis high school. He is now superintendent of the Metropolis 
 schools. 
 
 347. Oliver P. Burger, 1878-9, taught in country schools near 
 El Paso; 1879-80 at Crittenden, New York; 1880-1 taught at Spring 
 Bay; in 1881-2 he was principal of the Secor schools. He is now at 
 Maroa, Illinois. 
 
 348. Gilbert A. Burgess, 1878-81, was principal of the schools at 
 Monticello. He was then appointed county superintendent.
 
 98 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 349. Arthur 0. Butler, 1878-80, was principal of the Normal 
 public schools. Since then he has been principal of the Virginia, 
 Illinois, schools. 
 
 350. Andrew W. Elder, 1878-9, taught at New Boston ; 1880-1 
 taught ; 1881-2 was principal of the Centralia schools. He is now 
 teaching in Denver, Colorado. 
 
 351. Willis C. Glidden taught from the time he entered until 
 graduation. He graduated from the Homeopathic Medical College, 
 Chicago, in June, 1879, and is practicing in Beloit, Kansas. He was 
 married in June, 1881, to Miss Leager. 
 
 352. C. Guy Laybourn, 1878-80, was principal of the preparatory 
 department of Markham's Academy, Milwaukee. In the summer of 
 1880 he visited Europe. On his return he entered the Ann Arbor 
 law school, and remained there one year. He was admitted to prac- 
 tice in Iowa, and is now a member of the firm of Wilson & Laybourn, 
 Creston, Iowa. 
 
 353. Edwin II. Risliel taught at Adeline in 1878-9. He is now 
 teaching in a colored university at Selma, Alabama. He was married 
 in the summer of 1880. 
 
 354. William N. Spencer taught three months in Piatt County; 
 one year in Hardin County; one year in Bland ville, Ky., and the last 
 year at Carterville, Missouri. 
 
 355. George I. Talbot taught in Yictor in 1878-9; in Shabbonu 
 in 1879-80. In December, 1881, he was elected county superin- 
 tendent. His address is Shabbona. 
 
 356. Rachel M. Fell (II. S.) taught in Normal public schools two 
 years. She is now working in labratory of natural history. 
 
 357. Annie Sudduth (11. S.) is at her home, Normal, Illinois. 
 
 358. Dorus R. Hatch (II. S.), 1878-9, was principal of the Hurry 
 schools. He held the same position until January, 1880, when his 
 eyes became so weak that he resigned and commenced treatment. 
 Since then he has been railroading. He is now in Chicago under a 
 physician's care. His address is 13 Avon Place. 
 
 359. Theodore W. Peers (II. S.), 1878-9, taught in the "colored 
 department" of the Collinsville schools. He is now at Ann Arbor, 
 Michigan. 
 
 CLASS OF 1879. 
 
 360. Annette S. Bowman, since graduating, has taught as assist- 
 ant in the Rock Island high school. 
 
 361. Amanda M. Crawford is continuing her studies at Normal. 
 
 362. Mary S. Cummings taught in district schools nine months. 
 She is in the millinery business at Macon. 
 
 363. Daisy (Hubbard) Carlock, 1879-80, taught at Roodhouse ;
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 99 
 
 
 
 1 vs ' > -1 she taught in Morris. In the summer of 1881 she was married 
 to Mr. Carlock. Her address is Hudson. 
 
 364. Harriet E. Morse, 1879-80, taught at Pekin, and has since 
 taught at Oregon, Illinois. 
 
 365. Nettie (Porter) Powers, 1879-80, taught in Mendota ; 1880-1 
 in Omaha. In the summer of 1881 she was married to Horace E. 
 Powers, of Omaha. 
 
 366. Lizzie Ross, since graduation, has taught at Pekin. 
 
 367. Julia Scott, 1879-81, taught in Mendota. She was assistant 
 in Normal University from January, 1882, to the end of the year. 
 Her address is Pecatonica. 
 
 368. Emily (Sherman) Boyer, 1880-1, taught in Astoria; 1881-2 
 in Normal public schools. In Julv, 1882, she was married to E. R. 
 Boyer. They live at Lewistown, Illinois. 
 
 369. Jennie A. Wood, 1879-80, taught in Minonk; in Perry, 
 Ohio, ten months, and is now teaching near Perry. 
 
 370. Emanuel R. Boyer, 1879-81, was principal of the Astoria 
 schools. He has since been principal of the Lewistown schools. In 
 July, 1882, he married Emily A. Sherman. 
 
 371. C. R. Cross has been principal at Sparland, Illinois, since 
 graduation. 
 
 372. Silas Y. Gillan was principal of the Galena schools in 
 1879-81, and has since been principal of the Danville high school. In 
 the summer of 1880 he was married to Lizzie K. Harned. 
 
 373. Horace E. Powers graduated from Ann Arbor law school, 
 and is now practicing in Omaha. In the summer of 1881 he married 
 Nettie B. Porter. 
 
 374. William C. Ramsey, 1879-80, taught at Gait, California; 
 1 v Vl i -2 at Stockton. He now has charge of the Normal Department of 
 the Stockton Business College. 
 
 375. Fannie C. Fell (II. S.) is at her home, in Normal. She 
 taught a few months at Streator, Illinois, but ill health compelled her to 
 resign. 
 
 376. Hattie Follette (II. S.) is at her home, in Normal. 
 
 377. Mary Sudduth (H. S.) is continuing her studies at Vassar 
 College. 
 
 378. Nelson K. McCormick (H. S) graduated from the Wesleyan 
 University in 1881, and is now at work in the State laboratory of 
 natural history, Normal. 
 
 379. Frank M. McMurry (II. S.) taught five months neaV 
 Farmer City, and four months at Empire. He is continuing his 
 studies at Ann Arbor. His address is Normal. 
 
 380. Oscar L. McMurry (II. S.) taught four months near Clifton, 
 and then went to Ann Arbor. His address is Normal. 
 
 381. Thomas Williams (II. S.) is in the stock business in 
 Kansas. Address Bloomington.
 
 100 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 CLASS OF 1880. 
 
 382. Elizabeth Baumgardner, for two years, taught the primary 
 department of the Gardner schools. She is now principal of the 
 same schools. 
 
 383. Helen Baxter, since graduation, has been teaching at 
 Griggsville. 
 
 384. Lillie M. Brown, during part of the year 1881, taught in 
 Mendota. She is now teaching in Berea, Kentucky. 
 
 385. May Hewett, since September, 1881, has been teaching in 
 Oak Park. 
 
 386. Helen F. Moore taught in Decatur until December, 1881, 
 when she resigned to go to Albuquerque, New Mexico. 
 
 387. Isabel Overman, 1880-1, taught in Gardner; 1881-2 she 
 taught six months in Piatt County. Her address is 2715 Wabash 
 Avenue, Chicago. 
 
 388. Mary E. Parker, 1880-1, taught in Eskridge, Kansas ; 
 1881-2 in McPherson, Kansas. She is now teaching in Gardner. 
 
 389. Grace W. Weeks, 1880-1, taught in Dwight. She spent 
 the summer of 1881 in Normal. She is now in the south. 
 
 390. James W. Adams, 1880-2, taught in Forrest. 
 
 391. Andrew L. Anderson, 1881-2, taught near Chandlerville, 
 Cass County. 
 
 392. Alpheus Dillon has taught a school near home five months. 
 
 393. James M. Harper, 1880-2, was principal of the Gardner 
 schools. He is now teaching in Milford, Illinois. 
 
 394. Woodman R. Marriott, 1880-2, was principal of the Port 
 Byron schools. 
 
 395. Carleton E. Webster taught two years in the Ottawa town- 
 ship high school. He is now principal of the Dixon schools. 
 
 396. Edgar Wyatt, 1880-1, was principal of the Chapin schools. 
 
 397. Alice C. McCormick (H. S.) taught one year at Naples. She 
 is now continuing her studies at Normal. 
 
 398. Frances Ohr (H. jS.) taught one year in Gardner, one year 
 in Centralia, and is now in the Normal public schools. 
 
 399. F. L. Lufkin (H. S.) is continuing his studies at Ann Arbor. 
 
 400. Herbert McNulta (II. S.) is in Annapolis Naval Academy. 
 
 401. George K. Smith (II. S.) taught in Maroa one year, and is 
 now working in a railroad office in Denver. His address is 296 Lin- 
 coln Avenue. 
 
 CLASS OF 1SS1. 
 
 402. Sarah A. Anderson is teaching in the Delavan schools. 
 
 403. Clara A. W. Bowles, since graduation, has been teaching in 
 Metropolis, Illinois.
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 101 
 
 404. Mary R. Gaston taught two months in Mendota, and since 
 in Astoria, Illinois. 
 
 405. Addie Gillan taught in the Harvard schools, 1881-2. 
 
 406. Mary J. Gillan taught one year in Fanner City. She is now 
 at Danville. 
 
 407. Belle Ilobbs is teaching in the Metropolis schools. 
 
 408. Annie P. Knight ; health does not permit her to teach. 
 
 409. Helen Middlekauf is continuing her studies at Wellesley, 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 410. Celia S. Mills taught at Mendota in 1881-2. She is now in 
 Normal. 
 
 411. Carrie Rich is in the Shawneetown schools. 
 
 412. Mary A. Springer is in the Elizabeth, Illinois, schools. 
 
 413. Lizzie P. Swan taught but five months at Metropolis, resign- 
 ing on account of ill health. 
 
 414. AVilliam H. Bean taught one year in Blue Mound, and is now 
 at Ann Arbor. 
 
 415. Isaac L. Betzeris principal of East Side schools, Champaign. 
 
 416. Elmer E. Brown is principal of the Belvidere schools. 
 
 417. James B. Estee taught one year at Woodstock, Illinois. 
 
 418. G. Frank Miner is principal of the Hennepin schools. 
 
 419. Wendall Puckett studied one year at Normal. 
 
 420. Edward Shannon is principal of the Payson schools. 
 
 421. Elmer E. Shinkle died of malarial fever in August, 1881. 
 
 422. John H. Tear is principal of the Astoria schools. 
 42-3. Nathan T. Veatch is principal of the Butler schools. 
 424. Charles Walter, Alton, Illinois. 
 
 CLASS OF 1882. 
 
 425. Mattie V. Bean. 
 
 426. Matilda Glanville teaches at DeKalb, Illinois. 
 
 427. Camilla Jenkins teaches at Butler. 
 
 428. Lida Kelly teaches in Normal public schools. 
 
 429. Cora A. Lurton teaches at Elgin. 
 
 430. Mattie B. Maxwell teaches at Plainfield, Illinois. 
 
 431. Lillian Pillsbury teaches in the Belvidere schools. 
 43-2. Mattie L. Powell teaches in Amboy. 
 
 433. Florence Ilubbard Reid is at Normal. 
 
 434. Louisa M. Scott teaches at Magnolia, Illinois. 
 
 435. Lettie J. Smiley teaches at Gardner, Illinois. 
 
 436. B. Bayliss Bcecher (II. S.) teaches in McLean Cr unity. 
 l:;~. Charles Fordyce teaches in McLean, Illinois. 
 
 43,s. Jesse F. Hannah teaches in Peru, Illinois. 
 
 439. James Y. McIIugh is principal of the Normal public schools.
 
 102 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 440. Murray M. Morrison teaches at Adeline. 
 
 441. George W. Reeder teaches at Mt. Pulaski. 
 
 442. Milton R. Regan -teaches at Auburn, Illinois. 
 
 443. Edwin E. Rosenberry teaches at Franklin Grove, Illinois. 
 
 444. Charles N. Smith is studying medicine in Danville. 
 
 445. William J. Smith teaches at Oak Hill. 
 
 446. Evens W. Thomas teaches in the Normal Department of 
 the University of Colorado, at Boulder. 
 
 447. Franklin L. Williams teaches in Loda, Illinois. 
 
 PHILADELPHIAN SOCIETY. 
 
 The State Normal University was opened October 5, 1857, in 
 Major Block, in Bloomington, with an attendance of nineteen, of 
 whom six were males. Four days after the opening of the school, 
 October 9, 1857, the male students (by this time their number had 
 increased), "desirous," as the preamble to their constitution reads, 
 "of forming a society for the purpose of extending their social 
 relations, and for the elevation of their moral character and intel- 
 lectual attainments," called a meeting in a small room on the second 
 Hoor of the building. The room was lighted by one miserable old 
 tallow candle, and, as Mr. Gastman says, "Harvey J. Dutton had a 
 fearful time in trying to induce the old thing to burn." C. D. Irons, 
 of Peoria, was chairman, and II. J. Dutton, of Metamora, secretary 
 pro tern. After a lengthy discussion of the object of the meeting, 
 Mr. Pope and Mr. Harper were appointed a committee to draft a 
 constitution, which was presented and accepted on the following 
 evening, fixing the name of the society as the "Normal Debating 
 Society." The following names were immediately affixecf to the 
 instrument: 
 
 Henry II. Pope, Taylorville, Christian County; E. D. Harris, 
 Monmouth, Warren County; J. G. Howell, Duncanton, White 
 County; John Hull, Salem, Marion County; C. D. Irons, Peoria, 
 Peoria County; J. L. Spaulding, Metamora, Woodford County; II. J. 
 Dutton, Metamora, Woodford County ; Peter Harper, Peoria, Peoria 
 County; Edwin Philbrook, Vandalia, Fayette County; E. A. Gast- 
 man, Hudson, McLean County; B. F. Rawolt, Canton, Fulton 
 County; Silas Hayes, Bloomington, McLean County; L. L. Lightner, 
 Thebes, Alexander County; J. D. Kirkpatrick, Princeton, Bureau. 
 County. 
 
 The meeting then elected C. D. Irons, president, J. L. Spaul- ' 
 ding, vice-president, H. J. . Dutton, secretary, and John Hull, 
 treasurer, and selected their first question for debate, which was as 
 follows: "Is a lawyer justified in defending a bad cause?" supported
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 103 
 
 by Messrs. Hull, Howell, Harper, Philbrook, and Kirkpatrick, on the 
 affirmative, and by Messrs. I*ope, Dutton, Hayes, Spaulding, and 
 Webber, on the negative. 
 
 The peculiar and interesting parts of the first constitution read as 
 follows: 
 
 Preamble. Whereas, we, the undersigned students of the Normal University, 
 of the State of Illinois, desirous of forming a society for the purpose of extending our 
 social relations, and for the elevation of our moral character and intellectual attain- 
 ments, pledge ourselves to be governed by the following constitution and by-laws: 
 
 ARTICLE I. This Society shall be known as the Normal Debating Society. 
 
 ARTICLE II. The officers of this Society shall consist of a president, vice- 
 president, secretary, treasurer, librarian, critic, marshal, editress, and chorister. 
 
 AUTICLE III. The exercises of this Society shall consist of debates, etc. 
 
 ARTICLE XII. It shall be the duty of -each member to attend all the regular 
 meetings of the Society, and to perform such other duties as the Society may impose 
 upon them. 
 
 ARTICLE XIII. Four regular meetings shall constitute a term. 
 
 ARTICLE XX. Should any member move the dissolution of this Society, he 
 shall thereupon be expelled. 
 
 The name of the Society, especially after the ladies were 
 admitted, was not perfectly satisfactory, and October 15, 1858, notice 
 was given by Mr. Hull that two weeks from that time a proposition 
 would be made to change the name. Accordingly, October 29, it 
 was moved that Article I be so amended as to read: "This Society 
 shall be known by the name of 'Social Friends.' ' This change did 
 not seem to meet the wants of the members, and it was tabled for 
 one week, when it was taken from the table, voted on, and lost. At 
 last, Miss Jennie G. Michie, now Mrs. Dr. Fox, of Lyons, Cook 
 County, Illinois, proposed the name "Philadelphian," as expressing 
 the idea that we are a band of brothers. This was finally adopted, 
 after much discussion and filibustering. 
 
 The first few meetings are interesting, on account of the variety 
 of exercises they present in contrast with our present meetings. The 
 exercises consisted, as per Article I of the constitution, of debates, 
 etc., and if the minutes are correct, the "etc." part of the programme 
 must have been irregular business. The entire literary part of the 
 programme, in those days, consisted of debates, and if one did not 
 occupy the whole evening, the members often proposed another, and 
 went to work on it, making it sometimes the best debate of the 
 evening. The roll was often called, and members were expected to 
 respond by speaking on the subject. What a sensation that would 
 produce if practiced now! 
 
 Attendance on all regular meetings, and performance of duty, 
 were compulsory then, and the Societies were always called to order 
 on time, probably because of the fine attached to tardiness. At that 
 time members of the Society acted as critics, which custom prevailed 
 up to about 1865, when gradually the professors came to till that 
 position, and now a student as critic is seldom seen. It was formerly 
 the custom to have special critics for papers and debates. At first
 
 104 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 the critic was one of the officers, chosen at the regular election. It 
 was also customary, the evening of the installation of officers, for the 
 out-going presidents to appoint one or two persons (ususally ladies, 
 for at that time the presidents were always gentlemen, no lady being 
 bold enough to aspire to the presidency) to conduct the president 
 elect to the chair. At that time members were not afraid to do 
 work, as is manifested by the fact that the same persons were on 
 debate every evening for nearly a whole term. According to the 
 constitution, the Society held its first meetings Wednesday evenings, 
 but the first amendment to the constitution changed that to Friday 
 evenings. This continued to be the time until after the formation of 
 the Wrightonian Society, and after the bitter feeling that existed 
 between the two Societies had subsided enough to permit them to 
 act together, when the Philadelphians would meet Friday night, and 
 the Wrightonians Saturday night, and vice versa the next week. 
 After many changes in the time of meeting, the present plan was 
 finally adopted. 
 
 The manner of conducting their exercises appear to us as father 
 peculiar. In those exciting times the Society was of the first import- 
 ance; marks and graduation were secondary affairs. There were 
 fewer members and as much work to be done as now, and each one 
 had to do his part toward pushing forward the Society. 
 
 The solid debates, in which the members engaged with a great 
 deal of zest, were lightened here and there by a humorous one, in 
 which the professors were not loath to engage. This dignified subject 
 was once discussed: 
 
 Resolved, That we most horribly protest against, vigorously con- 
 demn, obstreperously denounce, and aguishly shudder at the influence 
 of such historical literature as, 
 
 " Jack and Gill went up the hiil 
 
 To get a pail of water. 
 Jack fell down and cracked his crown, 
 And Gill came tumbling after." 
 
 Supported on the affirmative by Professors Hewett and Sewall, and 
 on the negative by Professors Stetson and Edwards. 
 
 And again, "Resolved, That the poem commencing, 'High Did- 
 dle Diddle, the Cat and the Fiddle,' etc., is utterly unworthy of belief," 
 supported by gentlemen Sewall and Baldwin, and denied by gentle- 
 men Hewett and Wright. The question was decided by a committee 
 appointed by the chair to examine a copper tossed by the president. 
 The committee consisted of gentlemen Hull, Liversay, and Gilwie. 
 
 Again, "Ought men to shave?" 
 
 The following preamble and resolution was presented by Mr. 
 Hewett, in a joint meeting, March 1, 1862, and received with much 
 applause: 
 
 S. We are credibly informed that the president of the
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 105 
 
 Wrightonian Society has this day become the possessor of a fine horse 
 and buggy; therefore, be it 
 
 Resolved, That we are jointly and severally tickled." 
 
 During the war, and the exciting times before and after it, ques- 
 tions of more than usual interest were discusssed with more than the 
 usual earnestness. Questions such as, 
 
 Resolved, That it is just and expedient at the present time for 
 congress to declare the liberation of the slaves of those in rebellion 
 against the government." September 28, 1861. 
 
 "Resolved, That the slaves emancipated by the United States 
 government should be colonized on this continent." May, 1862. 
 
 "Resolved, That the appointment of General Hall eck in place of 
 Fremont was unjust and impolitic. " 
 
 "Is it expedient to colonize the freedmen?" 
 
 "Resolved, That the States in rebellion should be reduced to the 
 condition of Territories." 
 
 "Resolved, That Jeff. Davis should be hung." December 2, 1865. 
 
 "Has a State a right to secede?" 
 
 "Resolved, That congress should declare the slaves free." 
 
 ''Resolved, That Lincoln's proclamation is unjust and impolitic." 
 
 Gradually, other exercises found their way into the Society. First, 
 declamations, then orations, and when the ladies were full-fledged 
 members they started a paper, called "The Literary Paper," which 
 consisted of several departments, under as many editresses, as the 
 "political," the "social," and the "religious departments," which 
 continued to exist for some time. 
 
 Our "Ladies' Garland" was first known as "The Student's Man- 
 ual," and was entirely in the hands of the gentlemen. In February. 
 1858, the name became just "The Garland," yet in the hands of the 
 gentlemen, but in August of the same year it came into the hands of 
 the ladies, and has since been known as "The Ladies' Garland." 
 
 Debates, considered the object of the Society at first, gradually 
 lost ground, except during the war, until now our exercises consist of 
 "etc.," and debates, in the face of the old constitution. The gradual 
 growth of the present class of exercises is plainly seen in the 
 minutes of the meetings, where the whole programme is usually 
 recorded. Shakspearian readings were practiced considerably, 
 which lightened the exercises very much. These the teachers con- 
 ducted as they do now. The professors frequently lectured before 
 the Societies. Often their lectures have been published at the 
 expense of the Society, and copies distributed among the members. 
 The usual lecturers were Professors Stetson, Sewall, and Cook, and 
 Doctors Hewett and Edwards. During the war, tableaux illustrating 
 scenes from military life /were given. 
 
 During the early days of the Society, only Normal students were 
 admitted, but on April 29, 1862, the Societies agreed to draw the
 
 106 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 students of the model school, who were of the age required for admis- 
 sion, into the Normal, but they could not hold office, nor vote, and 
 were not subject to tax. Later, they were admitted on the same 
 terms as the Normal students. At this time they were among the 
 most active members of the Society. There were frequently contests 
 between the two departments, and very exciting ones, too, for, on 
 the whole, the Normal students did not win much glory. Although 
 ladies were not admitted at first, despite the opposition of a few, led 
 by Mr. Harper, on October 16, 1858, it was moved and carried to 
 invite the professors and ladies to attend and take part in the exer- 
 cises, and soon afterward the constitution was so changed as to admit 
 them. The opposition were not conquered, however, and January 
 20, 1860, Mr. Harper, as Mr. Philbrook says, "a persistent English- 
 man, and a bachelor," introduced a motion excluding ladies from the 
 Soc : ety, giving as the principal objections, that their presence would 
 embarrass the beginners and leave all the talking to a favored few, 
 and that many young men would attend the exercises simply to 
 accompany the ladies, and disturb rather than assist the meeting. 
 The motion, however, failed, and no more was heard of the opposi- 
 tion. The ladies quietly grew into power and began to hold 
 office. As officers, they crept gradually up from chorister and 
 editress to the position of secretary, which office was first filled by 
 Miss Scott, in December, 1861 ; and to the position of president, in 
 the winter term of 1870, which office was filled by Miss Alice 
 Eminons, who had a hard fight for the position, having been defeated 
 the term before. The election of a lady caused dissatisfaction, and 
 a committee was appointed to test the election, and it was finally 
 declared illegal. R. A. Edwards was chosen to fill the vacancy. 
 
 The following is a list of the presidents, and the order in which 
 they served, from the organization up to the winter term of 1882: 
 
 1. 0. D. Irons, 49. C. W. Hodgin, 
 
 2. Edwin Philbrook, 50. J. R. Edwards, 
 
 3. Peter Harper, 51. L. A. Chase, 
 
 4. Henry H. Pope, 52. Joseph Carter, 
 
 5. E. A. Gastinan, 53. William M. Bane, 
 
 6. John Hull, 54. William Edwards, 
 
 7. J. G. Howell, 55. B. W. Baker, 
 
 8. E. D. Harris, 56. A. C. Cotton, 
 
 9. L. H. Hite, 57. Alice Emmons, 
 
 10. J. F. Ridlon, 58. Alice Emmons, 
 
 11. J. M. Burch, 59. James H. Hovey, 
 
 12. M. R Kell, 60. William C. Griffith, 
 
 13. T. F. Willis, 61. George Blount, 
 
 14. E. A. Gastman, 62. Lottie C. Blake, 
 
 15. Edwin Philbrook 63. Frank Eichey, 
 
 16. J. G. Howell, 64. N. B. Eeed,
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 
 
 107 
 
 17. J. Littk-, 
 
 18. Mr. Waite, 
 
 19. John Hull, 
 
 20. M. I. Morgan, 
 
 21. J. G. Howell, 
 
 22. E. A. Gastimm, 
 
 23. T. F. Willis, 
 
 24. Edwin Philbrook, 
 
 25. E. F. Bacon, 
 
 26. J. Little, 
 
 27. M. I. Morgan, 
 2S. Ira Moore, 
 i >( -). Ira Moore, 
 
 30. Mr. Waite, 
 
 31. J. Little, 
 
 32. M. I. Morgan, , 
 
 33. Mr. Waite, 
 
 34. I. D. Scholes, 
 
 35. John F. Gawdy, 
 
 36. J. ll. Thompson, 
 
 37. C. F. Childs, 
 
 38. 0. F. Childs, 
 
 39. D. Fulwidcr. 
 
 40. C. H. Crandall, 
 
 41. W. L. Pillsbmy, 
 
 42. Mr. Robinson, 
 
 43. H. C. Karr, 
 
 44. Joseph Hunter, 
 
 45. E. 0. Hewett, 
 
 46. A. T. Ewing, 
 
 47. F. J. Seybold, 
 
 65. Louise Ray, 
 
 66. J. D. Templeton,' 
 
 67. I. E. Brown, 
 
 68. F. B. Tait, 
 
 69. J. K Wilkinson, 
 
 70. S. L. Spear, 
 
 71. Ella Morgan, 
 
 72. Elma J. Webster, 
 
 73. Lewis Bryan, 
 
 74. C. O. Drayton, 
 
 75. Mary A. Anderson, 
 
 76. D. C. Tyler, 
 
 77. Charles McMurry, 
 
 78. W. C. Glidden, 
 
 79. Miss F. Preston, 
 
 80. Miss A. Stahl, 
 
 81. H. E. Powers, 
 
 82. Jessie Dexter, 
 
 83. G. A. Burgess, 
 
 84. C. E. Webster, 
 
 85. W. C. Ramsey, 
 
 86. John Humphrey, 
 
 87. Jesse F. Hannah, 
 
 88. W. H. Chamberlain, 
 
 89. Austin C. Rishel, 
 
 90. Frank Tyrrell, 
 
 91. E. W. Thomas, 
 
 92. May Parsons, 
 
 93. L. Messick, 
 
 94. M. R. Regan, 
 
 95. F. L. Williams, 
 
 96. J. L. Hall. 
 
 is. W. L. Pillsbury, 
 
 Of the faculty not before mentioned, Miss Flora Penncll was sec- 
 retary in the spring of 1870, and vice-president in the winter of l^Ti'; 
 Mr. De Garmo was chorister in 1871; Mr. Ilewett was treasurer in the 
 summer of 1863; Miss Bandusia Wakefield was secretary during the 
 winter of 1865. 
 
 The constitution has suffered many changes. During its history, 
 there have been seventy changes or amendments, three of which have 
 been complete revisions. The first change was proposed the same 
 evening the constitution was adopted. 
 
 Members were formerly elected to the Society on their application. 
 The first account of any "drawing" is recorded as happening during 
 the winter term of 1859, when a committee was appointed to see t<> it. 
 Even then they had to pass through the form of an election before 
 becoming full members. This was abolished by a change in the con-
 
 108 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 stitution soon afterwards. Thus for no mention has been made of the 
 organization of the Wrightonian Society. 
 
 On the evening of February 26th, 1858, during the presidency of 
 E. A. Gastman, after a very exciting debate, and during a very stormy 
 time among the members, which prolonged the exercises very much, 
 as there was a rule which made it the duty of the president to fine any 
 member who left the room without permission of the presiding officer, 
 C. D. Irons, H. J. Dutton, and J. L. Spaulding requested permission 
 to leave the room. As the session was nearly over, Mr. Gastman 
 asked the gentlemen to remain until the adjournment. This request 
 was answered by their promptly leaving the hall, and the president 
 ordered a fine of twenty-five cents to be entered against each of the 
 refractory gentleman. This action was the beginning of a trouble that 
 led to the founding of the Wrightonian Society. The next step is 
 best shown by the minutes of the meeting which are as follows : 
 
 BLOOMINGTON, February 27, 1858, 3:30 p. m. 
 
 Special meeting; roll called; society resolved itself into a com- 
 mittee of the whole; Mr. Gastman was chosen chairman of the meeting, 
 Hite acting as secretary. Gentlemen Irons, Dutton and Spaulding 
 appealed to the house from the decisi6n of the chair, in the case of the 
 fine imposed upon them. After considerable wrangling, the question, 
 "Will the Society sustain the president? " was put, and decided in the 
 affirmative. Motion was made by Mr. Pope to expunge the fine from 
 the records. Carried. On motion, the society adjourned. March 5th, 
 the resignations of the gentlemen were handed in and acted upon. 
 Spalding's and Dutton's were accepted, but on motion of John Hull, 
 C. D. Irons was expelled from the Society. On March 6th, however, 
 Iron's resignation was accepted, and on March 7th, their request for 
 an honorable discharge was granted. 
 
 At the beginning of the spring term, in 1858, an unusually large 
 class entered the University. Among them were J. II. Burnham, P. 
 R. Walker, Aaron Gove and H. B. Norton. "We noticed," says Mr. 
 Gastman, "that these men came into our Society, but manifested no 
 desire to join. In a short time it was whispered around that Dutton 
 and Irons were going in with these men to form a new society. It 
 was also hinted that this new society would receive the aid and sym- 
 pathy of Simeon Wright, then an honored and respected member of 
 the Board of Education. It seems quite ludicrous to me now, when I 
 remember the tremendous excitement this announcement produced 
 among us. The leaders of the opposition were quiet workers, and it 
 was sometime before their real plans were disclosed. When it was 
 generally known that a new society was formed, and recognized by 
 the president of the University, we were somewhat disgusted with the 
 uncertainty of human affairs. As I remember it, the new society came 
 into existence with the name of 'Wrightonian,' and it was always 
 understood that it was conferred on account of the gratitude that the
 
 STATK NOUMAL UNIVERSITY. l(l', 
 
 members felt toward 'Uncle Sim' for his kindness at a time when 
 they needed all the help they could get" We thus see that the real 
 founders of the Wrightonian Society were our first president, vice- 
 president and secretary. 
 
 Perhaps it is worth while to repeat an old joke that gave some 
 of us considerable satisfaction at the time. Between Ira Moore and 
 the members of the new Society, there was considerable gall and 
 wormwood. They did not like him, and certainly no love was lost. 
 Neither party took pains to hide the feelings that raged within. 
 When the rooms were fitted up in the University, some of the 
 boys were puzzling their brains over the motto on the door of the 
 Wrightonian Society sapere aude (dare to be wise). The discussion 
 attracted quite a number, and just then it happened that Prof. Moore 
 passed along, and some one called on him to translate the motto. 
 Without a moment's hesitation he said, "Sap heads and adders," 
 and passed on. For quite a time it was altogether sufficient to set a 
 Wrightonian raving to ask about the meaning of the motto on the door. 
 
 The first meeting recorded as being held at Normal was that on 
 September 22, 1860, and was in one of the lower rooms. The first 
 meeting held in the Philadelphia!! Hall was on October 20, 1860. 
 January 5, 1861, arrangements were begun for dedicating the hall, 
 which were carried out July 2, 1861. The minutes of the meeting 
 are as follows: 
 
 PHILADELPHIAN HALL, Friday Evening, July 2, 1861. 
 
 The Society assembled for the purpose of dedicating this hall. 
 The Wrightonian Society attended in a body, and many other visitors 
 were present, including members of the State Board of Education, 
 filling the hall to its utmost capacity. The following programme was 
 successfully carried out, viz.: 
 
 1. Prayer by the Ilev. Mr. Ames, of Bloomington. 
 
 2. Music "Washington's Birthday." 
 
 3. Dedication address by B. F. Taylor, of Chicago. Subject, 
 "Going Away from Home." 
 
 4. Dedication Ode, written by Miss Sprague. (Tune, America.) 
 
 Come, brothers, sisters, sing; 
 Let all our voices ring 
 
 In concord sweet. 
 To dedicate this room, 
 Our Philadelphia!! home, 
 We hither gladly come 
 
 With joyful feet. 
 
 To progress, social joy, 
 And truth without alloy, 
 
 This hall we give. 
 The pleasures tasted here, 
 With friends to us so dear, 
 Shall yield us mem'ries dear 
 
 While each shall live.
 
 110 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 Before we close our song 
 We'll greet the coming throng 
 
 Who hither move. 
 As time new years shall tell, 
 Oh! may the members swell, 
 Our name still proving well, 
 
 "Fraternal Love." 
 
 K E C E S S . 
 
 5. The unfortunate quarrel among Uncle Sam's girls: Prudence 
 (away down east), Miss Sprague; Ruth (middle States), Miss 
 Dunlap; Carolina (the sunny south), Miss Stevenson; Katrina 
 (prairie land), Miss Puffer. 
 
 6. Music "The Crystal Spring." 
 
 7* Oration "Our Society," by John Little. 
 8. Music "Over the Mountain Wave." 
 
 DISMISSION. 
 E. F. BACON, Secretary. M. I. MOKGA.N, President. 
 
 The manner of gaming our room is worthy of mention. When 
 this building was ready for occupancy, there was some dispute in 
 regard to the choice of halls. So one day the boys lifted Prof. Moore 
 to their shoulders, and let him through the transom of the south hall, 
 which he preempted in the name of the Philadelphian Society. 
 
 On the eleventh of May, 1867, the Societies received their charters 
 from the Legislature, of which they were justly very proud. Mr. 
 Gastman says: "We felt that we were somebody; we could sue and be 
 sued. We put on a good many airs in consequence of it, and 
 attempted to intimidate the faculty when they threatened to close up 
 the halls if the Societies did not keep better order. 
 
 For a number of years but little improvement was made on the 
 halls. They were warmed by the pipes which are still here, but for 
 years have not been used. The pipes had a habit of beginning sud- 
 denly, and without warning, a most disagreeable popping and cracking, 
 more or less, throughout their entire length. This often occurred 
 when some flowery orator was in the midst of his most effective burst 
 of eloquence. There was no help for it. Business had to be suspended 
 until the pipes stopped their noise, which they usually did in a short 
 time, and about as suddenly as they began. An improvement was 
 made in the pipes, which thenceforth prevented this noise, and soon 
 afterward stoves were brought in. For two or three years the halls 
 were not carpeted. Our first carpet was a' red-and-white Brussels, 
 selected and purchased with the greatest secrecy. It was presented to 
 the Society by Professors Hewett, Moore, and rlovey, and a few others 
 of the Society, and cost about two hundred and fifty dollars. It was 
 desired to have it laid without the Wrightonians knowing anything 
 about it until the following Saturday night, when we expected to da/xle 
 their eyes with a beautiful new carpet, in striking contrast to their own
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 1 1 1 
 
 bare floor. But we missed it. It was deemed that the only time to 
 get the carpet into the hall unobserved was during devotional exercises. 
 As the boys were taking it in at one of the windows, they were dis- 
 covered by a tardy Wrightonian, and by Saturday evening the Wright- 
 onians had a carpet laid ready for use. That red-and-wnite Brussels 
 was sold when the old one sold this year was purchased. 
 
 The platform was formerly at the opposite end of the hall. The 
 one now used by the critic was placed upon another, about. two and 
 one-half feet wider. On the upper and smaller one the president was 
 perched, and the person addressing the Society stood on the narrow 
 projection of the lower one, if he did not step off, which a high-flown 
 orator would sometimes do, just as the eagle was soaring to its highest 
 altitude. When the platform was first changed to its present position, 
 the lower part extended entirely across the room, and the upper part 
 not so far. The piano stood on the lower part, and made it necessary 
 for the musicians to ascend two steps, and descend one, to get to the 
 instrument. It was soon changed to its present form, thereby con- 
 forming to the plan of the Wrightonians, who had taken the start of us 
 in at least one improvement. When the change in the platform was 
 made, it became necessary to ornament the windows behind the presi- 
 dent's chair. The expense of fixing it as it now is, was nearly one 
 hundred dollars in those times of high prices. The walls have been 
 twice frescoed, once in 1868, during the winter term, at a cost" 
 not less than one hundred two dollars, but how much more is a 
 mystery. "When the hall was frescoed the second time, is not 
 definitely known. The first frescoing was badly damaged by 
 the leaking of the roof, and by a careless carpenter, who pushed his 
 foot through the ceiling. 
 
 Our rooms were first lighted by tallow candles, then by wall lamps, 
 and lastly by chandeliers, two sets of which have been used. In the 
 early days, the Normal University boasted of but one piano, the little, 
 old one now used in the primary room. This the societies used alter- 
 nately, carrying it up and back again each Saturday evening. The 
 societies not having any instruments, oftentimes regaled themselves 
 witli comb music and the like. At last a bold strike was made, and 
 in 186-i a new and expensive piano was purchased, and dedicated 
 with appropriate ceremonies. On November 4, of the same year, the 
 Wrightonians, hearing of our intention and being determined to keep 
 even with us and have a piano of some sort, bought a second-hand one, 
 which soon wore out, compelling the purchase of a new one. The 
 music in the early days consisted most commonly of hymns, and to aid 
 in the singing, hymn books were furnished the members. The chor- 
 ister, or his assistant, usually led in this exercise, which quite often 
 was somewhat of the character of congregational singing in churches, 
 either too fast or too slow, too high or too low, and always ftill of 
 discords.
 
 112 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 Many of our pictures were donated to us, but the larger number 
 were purchased and hung between the years 1868 and 1873. 
 Previous to 1867, the chairs used were carried up from the recitation 
 rooms, not then being fastened together as now. When we had an 
 influx of visitors, the president would ask some of the gentlemen to 
 step down stairs and bring up some more chairs. They were not 
 always promptly returned, and President Edwards often became 
 quite indignant in consequence. In 1866 a union festival was held, 
 at which all kinds of gambling known to the moral and religious 
 world were resorted to, such as grab-bags, ring-cakes, fish-ponds, etc., 
 as well as many other perfectly legitimate means, for the purpose of 
 raising money. By this festival three hundred and ten dollars was 
 cleared, and arm chairs were purchased February 23, 1867, at a cost 
 of five hundred dollars. After furnishing and beautifying the rooms, 
 a re-dedication took place. This was during the administration of 
 Loring A. Chase. 
 
 Janitor's fees for the care of the hall have varied largely. About 
 fifteen years ago the members took turns in caring for the hall, free 
 of charge. The work has several times been let for eighteen cents 
 per week; once for seventeen and three-fourth cents; then for 
 twenty cents, thirty cents, and sixty cents. We pay now seventy-five 
 cents. For a long time previous to the removal of the stove, one 
 dollar and a quarter was paid. 
 
 It was formerly the custom to leave all wrappings in the 
 dressing rooms, when coming up to the Society, as we now do 
 when up coming to school. Society meetings were more like 
 sociables. 
 
 Our library started with a few pamphlets belonging to mem- 
 bers, or donated by them. Shortly after the organization of the 
 Wrightonian Society, the Societies received from the Board of 
 Education the books belonging to the district school libraries, Nos. 
 1 and 2. No. 1, consisting of sixty-three volumes, fell to the Phila- 
 delphian Society. Only a few of the sixty -three volumes are 
 valuable. Among them were Macaulay's History of England, four 
 volumes; Irving's Works, four volumes; Bayard Taylor's Travels, 
 and Webster's Unabridged Dictionary. In every possible way the 
 members sought donations. Members pledged themselves to give 
 books. Committees were appointed to solicit books, and in May, 
 1863, an exhibition was given in Phoenix Hall, Bloomington, for the 
 purpose of raising funds to purchase books. Among the many 
 donors is the name of Senator Trumbull. A catalogue of books was 
 printed, in connection with the Wrightonians, at a cost of $84. The 
 catalogues were disposed of at the rate of twenty-five cents each, 
 and as none are left to tell the story, they must have been in 
 demand. The number of books reported in the library at that time 
 was eight hundred and fifty-six. We now have about three hundred
 
 STATE NORMAL (IXIVERSITY. 113 
 
 less than that number. Formerly the office of librarian was 
 important, for he received a salary. 
 
 In the early times it was customary to elect honorary members. 
 Every one who took an active interest in the University received an 
 honorary membership, and for the honor conferred it was expected 
 that in times of great need, from one dollar to ten dollars would be 
 forthcoming. When necessary, taxes were imposed on the members, 
 from five cents to a dollar. Sometimes only the gentlemen were taxed. 
 The strength of the Societies has alternated. There was formerly 
 
 treat strife between them. The members of one Society were not 
 xmd in the halls of the other for months at a time. 
 
 "At the contest, in 1868, the Wrightonians had a very strong 
 quartette of male voices. We called them 'the four pirates.' The ques- 
 tion of the hour was, What can we do to beat them ? We finally hit 
 upon the plan of choosing two young, sweet-looking girls to sing 
 against them. The pl an worked successfully, as the judges, in those 
 days, were men. They could not decide against the girls, and we 
 swept the board. The folks on the other side always claimed that we 
 bought the judges." 
 
 The Societies used regularly to have a union exhibition at the end 
 of the winter term, and a union lecture at the end of the spring term. 
 They had a picnic each spring in the grove between here and the 
 standpipe. They had an annual custom in connection with the school 
 as a whole, of serenading the teachers. They would hire the Bloom- 
 ington band at a large expense, and follow it around to each teacher's 
 house. One summer, as usual, the faculty were requested to retire 
 from the assembly-room, so that arrangements might be made for the 
 serenade. The usual motion was carried, and the serenade committee 
 appointed, when some one moved an amendment to the motion, sup- 
 porting it by a vigorous speech. Times were hard; it would cost forty 
 dollars to hire the band to come out, and it was a tiresome tramp to 
 follow it all over town in the night. They could effect a great saving 
 by hiring a big wagon and taking the faculty to the band's head- 
 quarters, where they could be senenaded at one-third the expense. He 
 (supposed to be Joseph Carter) was followed by two or three vigorous 
 speakers, cocked and primed for the occasion, and through their efforts 
 the amendment prevailed. The committee on arrangements failed to 
 do their duty, consequently the faculty received no serenade. 
 
 Without relating any more stories concerning the school at large, 
 let us return to the subject of our sketch. In 1871 the Philadelphia!! 
 Society stood on a good financial basis. Harmony prevailed among 
 its members, and the barriers and obstructions that impeded its pro- 
 gress were rapidly disappearing. At this time we had cash on hand 
 to the amount of $50.97, and a prospect for a large increase. Times 
 were good, and everybody Deemed willing to contribute freely toward 
 any enterprise with a noble purpose. Dues were raised from fifty
 
 114 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 cents to one dollar per term, and tickets sold like government bonds at 
 a premium. By 1872 we had an abundance of wealth, and were 
 enabled to purchase new curtains and a beautiful carpet. With these 
 new additions our hall began to assume the appearance of a royal 
 manse, and we were very anxious to make it a model of perfection and 
 beauty; but after due consfderation, we banished our extravagant notions 
 and applied ourselves to business. During the year we handled no 
 momentous questions, but we introduced a great many novelties. 
 Burlesques, exciting tragedies, comic lectures, beautiful tableaux, etc. , 
 were the great attractions. Strangers read our programmes with 
 protruding eyes and gaping mouths, and when the time came we 
 usually " took them in " for a dime. 
 
 In 1874 we experienced considerable difficulty in the management 
 of uninterested parties, who were at times inclined to interrupt our 
 exercises by loud talking and ill-mannered actions. The propriety of 
 adopting a ticket system, which would exclude disorderly persons, was 
 discussed with much earnestness. It was proposed to issue as many 
 tickets as there were seats in the hall, and to give them only to respect- 
 able people/ This measure failed after a stubborn fight, but it was the 
 means 01 securing our present ticket system (adopted in 1877). 
 
 Soon after settling the ticket question, we became involved in a 
 spelling war, for which we made ample preparation. We had great 
 faith in our ability to conquer words and inconsequence of this we wen; 
 war-like, and ready at any moment to meet an enemy. The anticipation 
 of a battle and the glory that was to follow, fevered us with excitement, 
 and when the mania had a firm hold, we received word from our neigh- 
 bors, who by the way were affected likewise, that they could cure our 
 disease on the homeopathic principle. The result was a contest. AVe 
 met at the appointed place in due time, and tested our knowledge of 
 words. Fortunately for us, we gained a victory which secured for us 
 an elegant picture and a good deal of confidence. 
 
 Having conquered the "Wrights," we pursued the even tenor of 
 our way for a while, unmolested by outside factions. But this calm, it' 
 such it may be called, was of short duration. Many of our most active 
 and energetic members belonged to the famous "Liberal Club," and 
 they succeeded admirably in giving prominence to their thoughts. 
 They exercised a powerful influence, and to a certain degree they con- 
 trolled our finance and made our laws. When it was time to nominate 
 a candidate for the presidency in the spring of 1875, they had a man 
 selected who was well qualified to fill the office. He was not a liberal 
 in his views, but owing to the friendly relationship that existed between 
 him and different members of the club, he consented to be their candi- 
 date. An exciting campaign followed, and party feeling ran high. 
 Not unfrequently did the conciliatory members of the faculty recom- 
 mend measures of peace, but all in vain. Both parties were persistent, 
 and a compromise was as unfavorable as a treaty. Finally, after a long
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 115 
 
 ami careful canvass the votes were cast, and the decision announced. 
 According to the official report, the liberals had a majority. The*Chris- 
 tians, however, were dissatisfied with the result, and called tor an 
 investigation. The examining board failed to discover discrepancies of 
 a serious nature, but so much dissatisfaction prevailed that it was 
 deemed best to hold a new election. The second election again proved 
 successful for the liberals. Their candidate received a hand><>me 
 majority, but, unfortunately, he resigned just after his inauguration. 
 The history of the "Liberal Club" receives more attention in our 
 "chapter on reminiscences." 
 
 After the "Liberal Club excitement" had cooled down, the Society 
 concluded that the hall was in a condition for repairs. It was never 
 fully determined whether this was due to the faction battle or not; 
 nevertheless, the hall was thoroughly repaired. The walls and ceiling 
 were artistically frescoed in oil, and the wood work received a fresh 
 coat of paint. The expense incurred was not less than $215, but what 
 was that to a band of loyal "Phils," who had the confidence of the 
 public. Our entertainments were giving universal satisfaction, and the 
 payment of so small a debt was simply a question of time, not of 
 
 i rce. 
 
 In the fall of 1879, we purchased a new piano, costing $250 and 
 the old one. One year from the above date the Society made an 
 investment in furniture. We purchased three costly chairs for the 
 convenience of the president, secretary, and critic. Our hall, at 
 present, is equal in splendor to any of its kind in the State. The 
 new carpet of 1881, costing over $300, the richly dyed curtains 
 swinging from the arch, the beautiful scenes of life portrayed by 
 master hands, and the costly chandeliers, cast in a model of rare 
 design, command the admiration of our friends and the respect of 
 our rivals. 
 
 Before closing this brief and imperfect history, let us notice an 
 amendment to the constitution which has worked with good results. 
 Until 1881, it was the duty of the president to arrange and publish a 
 programme for each regular meeting. This necessitated much time 
 and labor. It over-burdened the ambitious student who worked lor 
 "marks" and "society fame," consequently a change was necessary 
 in order to secure good talent for the chair. It was our object to 
 make the office one of honor. With this intention, we appointed a 
 committee of three to revise the constitution. After long delibera- 
 tion, they proposed the establishment of an executive board 
 (consisting of the vice-president, acting as chairman, and two direc- 
 tors) whose duty it was to solicit exercises for the meetings, and to 
 report to the president of the Society the exercises for each meeting 
 previous to the Wednesday evening preceding said meeting. Accor- 
 ding to this amendment, wo gained our object. Everybody seemed 
 pleased with the change, so we incorporated the amendment as a part
 
 116 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 of our constitution. At each regular election now we have several 
 aspiriitg candidates for the office who (according to their campaign 
 speeches) are willing to perform the duties of the office to the best of 
 their ability. 
 
 This history must now end, incomplete as its records are. We 
 have done our best to gather the facts of interest. We have searched 
 the archives, and sought for treasures in the secret vaults, some- 
 times with success, sometimes with failure. The records, though 
 imperfectly kept, have aided us in our work, and old students have 
 generously responded to our call. In many instances, however, we 
 have been disappointed. Those who could have given us valuable 
 information have failed to do so, but we have no word of fault. We 
 are content. Old Philadelphia will live and hold her sovereign 
 sway. The historians of to-day have not done her justice, but we 
 trust that future men, with ampler means, will pay her a more 
 deserving tribute. With bright hopes for the future, and kind 
 wishes for her friends, we say adieu. 
 
 WRIGHTONIAN SOCIETY. 
 
 The following address was delivered in the Wrightonian Hall, 
 December 18, 1880. Through the courtesy of J. H. Burnharn it is 
 inserted here: It was my fortune to be one of the pioneers of the 
 Normal, and you know pioneers are a privileged class. Hence, while 
 you allow me the pleasure of telling stories, please have the kind- 
 ness to remember that in matter and manner the Normal pioneers 
 are not to be criticised by the strict rules of modern scholarship. 
 The Normal institution entered upon its career in October, is,') 7, 
 at Major's Hall, in the city of Bloomington. Some time in the 
 course of the first few months, the students in attendance organized 
 a literary society, the lineal ancestor of the present Philadelphian 
 Society. During the winter, this Society grew and prospered, being, 
 perhaps, all that the size of the Normal would at first justify, the 
 number of pupils amounting, perhaps, to seventy-five or eighty at 
 the end of the first winter term. I entered the Normal at the 
 beginning of its first spring term, April, 1858, in company with 
 about forty students, who were organized into classes "D" and "E." 
 
 At the close of school, on the second day of the term, the 
 members of the entering classes were invited to one of the class 
 rooms, where they were told that the time had come to organize a 
 new literary society. The principal speakers were old students, who 
 were, or had been, members of the existing Society. There were 
 only four or five of them, and as the entering students were, as yet, 
 strangers to each other and to the subject, the arguments used were
 
 STATE NORMAL TTNIVERSITY. 117 
 
 mostly furnished by the older members, who displayed at the same 
 time their want of appreciation, to say the very least, of the society 
 privileges which they had been enjoying. Their remarks were so 
 ill-natured that some of the entering class discovered they could not 
 rely upon these representatives, and it was suggested that before 
 organizing a new society it would be well for all to attend the 
 existing Society at its next meeting, when we could judge whether 
 it would be advisable to take steps to organize another, and a rival 
 society. This idea at once became popular, and in spite of all that 
 could be said by those who had organized the meeting, it adjourned. 
 
 Upon the following Saturday, some of the new students took a 
 walk from Bloomington to the new Normal building, then in a state 
 of practical suspension its foundation walls only were erected, and 
 the financial panic of the previous year had apparently given the 
 enterprise its eternal quietus. The eye of faith told us that the great 
 State of Illinois would, sooner or later, complete the building, and in 
 imagination we could almost view the beautiful structure since 
 erected upon that foundation. Some one in the company possessed 
 a plan of the proposed building, upon which the two Society rooms 
 were shown exactly as they are now finished. The fact that here 
 would be good hails for two literary societies, prepared us for the 
 part we subsequently took, and, no doubt, proved the turning point 
 in the minds of some who were, perhaps, a little ambitious of organ- 
 izing a society which might become one of the permanent institutions 
 of one of the earliest Normal Schools in the great west. 
 
 It was the bad fortune of the organization, now called the Phila- 
 delphian Society, upon its first meeting in the spring term of 1858, to 
 make a very poor exhibition of its literary ability, and the new students 
 were so much disappointed that it required very little argument to 
 convince the majority, that classes "D" and "E" had the ability to 
 organize and carry on a society which would be, at least, on a par with 
 the organization then in existence. 
 
 Tradition asserts that the members of these classes were, in their 
 own estimation, a very superior class of beings. Posterity is unable to 
 vindicate the great claims or these individuals, but it should be remem- 
 bered that posterity had no vote at that particular crisis, and hence it 
 was easy, at the adjourned meeting of the "D" and "E" classes^ to 
 pass a resolution to organize a new literary society. It was at first 
 organized as the "D and E" Society, and it is unfortunate that your 
 present records do not show this fact. History requires me to stare 
 that our by-laws provided for the admission of members who were not 
 of our classes, and we actually required the four or five old students 
 the originators of our enterprise to obtain honorable discharges from 
 the old Society before admission to the new organization. This being 
 the case, they were not eligible to office at the first election, and all 
 positions were tilled by members of the entering da-
 
 1 1 S HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 It is proper to state that the two Societies were at this time and 
 for a long time after rivals, contesting for existence, and that the best 
 of feeling did not always exist between their members. The new 
 organization did not at first have the formal consent of the principal. 
 He allowed it to organize as a temporary expedient, and often explained 
 that the time might soon come when both Societies might be broken 
 up, and when two new institutions might be organized upon an entirely 
 different basis. The temper and spirit shown by each was not exactly 
 such as he wished, and lor the proper development of the Normal, 
 he was of the opinion something different must be attempted. Thus 
 matters stood during the spring term of 1858. The Philadelphians 
 thoroughly believed their organization was altogether the most perma- 
 nent, and that only the new Society was in any danger of disruption. 
 They were allowed their choice of evenings, and our Society used the 
 same hall on the night which they rejected. Instead of being depressed 
 by this little circumstance, the elastic public spirit of the new Society 
 declared it possessed the most desirable evening of the week. A very 
 laudable degree of interest was shown by the members of the new 
 Society. There was a zeal and ambition unknown in the other, and it 
 was not long before we could discern symptoms that the ruling powers 
 were disposed to treat the young fledgling as being almost a grown 
 bird. For this change of treatment we were largely indebted to 
 Simeon Wright, then a member of the State Board of Education, who 
 took a deep interest in the welfare of the new Society. He boldly 
 advocated our right to live, and took the ground that we were entitled 
 to equal rights with the Philadelphians, and it was popularly believed 
 that his whole influence was given in favor of the continuance of our 
 organization. 
 
 At first our by-laws required an election of officers every four 
 weeks. P. R. Walker was the first president, and your humble 
 servant was the first secretary. There are those present who can 
 appreciate my deep mortification at being compelled to take this 
 position. No other person would accept; my excuse of poor penman- 
 ship being considered a mere pretext. Being determined to do my 
 whole duty, I took up the pen, but have a distinct recollection of 
 receiving no ballots for the office at the next election. When told 
 that our first record-book is now lost, I confess to a secret satisfaction 
 at the disappearance of such formidable evidence against my penman- 
 ship. Three years in Normal did little to improve my handwriting, 
 even though I enjoyed the benefit of a course of lessons from 
 Professor Washington Irving Vescellius, tlje great American card 
 writer, who taught the whole school, in 1860, the full beauties of the 
 " shyrographic curve." Thus you see one illustration of the peculiar 
 advantages enjoyed by the pioneers of the Normal. 
 
 During the first term the OleasteUus was started and named. 
 Miss Ross was the first editor, and was instrumental in selecting the
 
 STATK NORMAL UNIVERSITY. I I 1 .* 
 
 name, which was suggested, I think, by Mr. E. P. Clark, then 
 principal of the Bloomington high school. I think we devoted more 
 time to debate than is given at present, and that we did not possess 
 the talent to carry on such a variety of exercises as you are able to 
 enjoy at present. The most of us were truly pioneers, having never 
 seen a literary society before. At that time we obtained no benefit 
 from the teachers of the institution, who did not join the literary 
 societies until 1860, when, by agreement of the faculty, they were 
 equally apportioned to the two organizations. 
 
 For fear of foundering upon the rock of parliamentary discord, 
 and with a shrewd desire to acquire the confidence of the principal, 
 we provided a by-law, under which, in case of disputes within our 
 Society, we would agree that our "umpire" should be the principal 
 of the Normal. I believe he was never appealed to, and eventually, 
 becoming a little more confident of our internal harmony, we 
 repealed this provision. Before reaching this stage, however, we 
 had demonstrated our disposition to maintain good order at our 
 meetings. The first election contest in our ranks grew out of the 
 determination of a few resolute members to maintain good order. 
 Our meetings being in the city, free to the general public, and not 
 necessarily attended by our teachers, became the resort of triflers 
 and idlers, and threatened to become unmanageable. The election 
 of a strict disciplinarian for president came near being lost, and was 
 only carried by very close campaigning, and the bringing out of every 
 possible law-and-order voter. A certain energetic member, who now 
 lives near the Rocky Mountains, saved the day by escorting- to the 
 meeting an extraordinary number of woman suffragists. As he 
 brought them separately, the trouble did not begin till the meeting 
 adjourned, when he suddenly found his contract rather unprofitable. 
 I am inclined to think that the literary work of the Society was more 
 easily performed during this first term than it was a year or two later. 
 At that early day, no standard of excellence had been formed, and 
 we were too easily contented, perhaps, and yet our simple perform- 
 ances were a severe strain upon a few of the most active members. 
 These had enlisted for the contest, and preferred to succeed in the 
 Society, even if they failed in the class room, and it was no. uncom- 
 mon event for these persons to deliberately accept low class-standing 
 rather than see the new Society fail of surpassing the standard shown 
 by its neighbor. The action and reaction being equal, it is probable 
 these strenuous efforts exerted a most beneficial effect upon both of 
 the literary Societies, and that the influence of those early times has 
 not yet wholly disappeared. Among the most active and useful 
 early members, I can give you the names of several now occurring to 
 my mind. There was the conscientious and devoted P. R. Walker, 
 who gave days and nights of unceasing labor, and whose interest in 
 your Society is of an undying nature. W. H. Avery, a talented
 
 120 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 young man, was the most fluent debater of our early times, and 
 contributed much towards onr success. H. J. Button, II. C. 
 Prevost, L. D. Bovee, James R. Fyffe and James H. Bailey 
 were among our best members. Of the ladies, there were Misses 
 Town, Carter, Clark, Dennison, Ross, McKinstry, Collom, Ives, 
 Boughton, and many others who assisted, by their pens, their 
 voices, and their presence, and who are entitled to your remem- 
 brance. I have here a printed list of all who were members at the 
 close of the year 1858, including the large number who entered in 
 September, and have indicated the names of all who were charter 
 
 James II. Bailey,* 
 L. D. Bovee,* 
 J. H. Burnham,* 
 J. R. Fyffe,* 
 William T. Law,* 
 John B. Miller, 
 Hermes S. Payn,* 
 Byron Sheldon,* 
 Rufus W. Angell,* 
 P. R. Walker,* 
 
 P. R. Butler, 
 Ann R. Collom,* 
 Fannie S. Dennison,* 
 Julia A. Ives,* 
 Sarah E. Town,* 
 Susan II. Wright, 
 Emily A. Carter,* 
 Martha J. McKinstry, 
 Amanda O. Noyes, 
 Anna B. Roberts, 
 
 MEMBERS: 
 
 GENTLEMEN. 
 
 John P. Curtiss, 
 George B. Robinson, 
 E. Aaron Clove, 
 C. J. Gill, 
 K M. Carter,* 
 Edwin B. Fiske,* 
 H. C. Prevost,* 
 Robert L. Duncan, 
 H. B. Norton, 
 
 LADIES. 
 
 Phebe W. Jones, 
 Kate Zorger, 
 Sarah E. Fell,* 
 Mary E. Moore, 
 Caroline Moore, 
 Lydia M. Young, 
 Mary Brigham,* 
 *Lizzie Wakefield,* 
 Hattie E. Hoover, 
 
 William II. A very,* 
 Lewis P. Cleveland,* 
 W. Duncan, 
 Harvey J. Dutton,* 
 Duncan G. Ingraham,* 
 J. L. Spaulding,* 
 L. L. Lightner,* 
 John Walton, 
 K D. Stevens,* 
 
 Mat tie Havens,* 
 S. Stewart, 
 Jennie Bryant, 
 Helen Ross,* 
 Martha L. Fay,* 
 J. McCoy, 
 Ellen L Boughton,* 
 Lizzie Clarkson, 
 Mary J. Scoggan.* 
 
 Our officers were at first chosen .for one month, and could you 
 examine that lost record you would be surprised to see the care and 
 facility with which the honors were distributed. I was soon 
 promoted to the position of vice-president, and while filling that 
 office was called upon to preside at a very critical period. Our name, 
 that of the "D and E Society," was found inconvenient, and when 
 compared with the dignified title of our rival, suffered very materially. 
 Besides it was seen that the members of D and E classes would some 
 day pass to the upper grades. Brains were busy devising a name 
 which should out-shine or out-sound the Philadelphians ; but for
 
 STATK NORMAL UNIVKIISITY. 121 
 
 weeks we wrestled with the problem in vain. Our knowledge of the 
 dead languages was too limited to devise an original word, and we 
 fell back to tirst principles, and declared that the genius of the 
 Normal required an expressive name of English origin. Name after 
 name was proposed and rejected in our secret conclaves, and we 
 were fast approaching serious disagreement, and were fearing our 
 best efforts might end in ridiculous failure. At this juncture some 
 one of our number, E. Aaron Gove, if I remember rignrly, who well 
 knew of the great assistance rendered us by Simeon Wright, and 
 who was well-informed as to that gentleman's interest in our welfare, 
 suggested that we name our Society in his honor. Mr. Wright, as 
 you all know, had been one of the earliest friends of the Normal. 
 ILc had traveled all over Illinois as agent of the Illinois State 
 Teachers' Association ; had addressed public audiences ; had exerted 
 himself to the utmost to mould public sentiment in favor of a State 
 Normal School, and when the institution was founded, was selected 
 as a member of the State Board of Education. In our Society's 
 early struggle for existence, he had spoken words of encourage- 
 ment, and unless we were entirely misinformed, he had influenced 
 the president of the Normal, Ch-arles E. Hovey, to "let the boys go 
 on with their experiment." Hence, in our perplexity, the proposition 
 to call the "D and E Society" the "Wrightonian," found many 
 warm supporters. In order to change our name, a by-law must be 
 amended, and the proposition laid on the table one week. During 
 this week the amendment was discussed and grew in favor. When 
 the vote was taken, it was my fortune to be called to the chair in the 
 sickness or absence of the president. There were eleven votes in 
 favor of the proposed name, out of seventeen members who were 
 present. Our constitution required a two-thirds vote to change a 
 by-law, and in the excitement of the occasion I decided that eleven 
 was two-thirds of seventeen, and that the amendment was adopted. 
 Historical accuracy requires the statement that at the moment I 
 reflected that even if mathematical accuracy required eleven and 
 one-third votes, that third of a vote was an impossible quantity, and 
 I was doing no violence to the rights of voters, even if I was 
 making a bad ruling for one who was a little proud of his class- 
 standing in mathematics. Inasmuch as the six 'members who had 
 voted no were tolerably sure they were legally and mathematically 
 entitled to the right of defeating the amendment, they promptly 
 appealed from the decision of the chair. The whole matter was 
 discussed, and I was given an opportunity to revoke my decision. 
 By this time I had discovered that the question of a name was very 
 difficult to manage, and that it should be settled in some manner as 
 speedily as possible, and it occurred to me that if a majority sustained 
 my decision, the Society would be permanently named, as I saw 
 that even if we failed of possessing the fraction of a vote required,
 
 122 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 we at least had the matter where a majority held the power to 
 settle the question by upholding my decision, and I insisted on 
 allowing it to stand as given. As a majority voted to sustain me, 
 there was no help for the minority, and they very soon accepted the 
 situation, although they afterward, very properly, asked me very 
 exasperating questions in mental arithmetic. 
 
 As the summer term drew near its end, and plans were being 
 discussed for the entertainment of the public at the end of the first 
 academic year, our principal proposed a joint contest meeting between 
 the two Societies. The exercises consisted of music, and a paper 
 from each Society, and a debate. The latter was decided by judges, 
 while the other exercises were left to the decision of the general 
 public. Not being considered a very ornamental debater, as I had 
 already been found lacking as a secretary, I was not chosen as one of 
 the disputants, and that labor was thrown upon W. II. Avery and 
 P. R. Walker. Just twenty-four hours before the time appointed, for 
 the public meeting, Avery positively declined the position, although 
 he had spent over a week in preparation. No one else would take 
 the position, and, as in the case of the first of the organization, my 
 assurance and audacity were equal to any emergency, and I accepted 
 the place. My preliminary rehearsal before Mr. Walker, in the 
 shades of Blooming Grove, was a dismal failure, and my colleague's 
 heart failed him entirely. For once it was evident his high estimate 
 of my versatility was entirely at fault, as he was in favor of 
 abandoning the contest. I thought the audience was entitled to the 
 privilege of seeing us defeated, and that the performance should 
 proceed as per programme. In some unaccountable manner, it 
 happened that my public rehearsal was rather better than my failure 
 under the trees, and the Wrightonians were not specially disgraced, 
 as they won the debate, and closed the term with flying colors. 
 
 The important question of the admission of new members at the 
 beginning of the next year was uppermost in the minds of the 
 leading members of the Wrightonian Society. Very quietly they 
 formed their plans, and began to lay wires to secure, during vacation, 
 the best of the new members who might attend in September. Our 
 efforts during vacation, and at the beginning of the new year, were 
 so successful that we were about to secure a very large majority of 
 the new students, and were in a fair way to deal a terrible blow to 
 our rivals, when a new rule was promulgated that of alphabetically 
 dividing the entering class, which ingenious device is, I believe, still 
 in existence. Chagrined and disappointed, we were forced to acquiesce, 
 though there would have been a tremendous satisfaction in showing 
 our success in proselyting. Again your narrator will boldly introduce 
 his own experience, and again will you perhaps draw the conclusion 
 that he should be ashamed to expose his actions to the light of day, 
 even if twenty years and more have elapsed. It was my fortune to
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 123 
 
 fill the -presidential office at tlie time of drawing these new members, 
 in September, 1858, while Hon. Luke II. Hite, now of East St. Louis, 
 was tine Philadelphia!! president. There was one very talented student 
 in the entering class, Henry B. Norton, of Ogle County, now, as 
 you all know, one of the faculty of the State Normal in California. 
 11 is early Mend, P. R. Walker, one of our most valuable members, 
 had filled his mind with a desire to join the Wrightonians, and those 
 of us who knew his peculiar talents, were anxious to secure the new 
 member. I procured a list of the names of the entering class, and 
 exercised my best ingenuity in arranging them in such alphabetical 
 order that Mr. Norton would fall to our side, but my best efforts were 
 unequal to the occasion. With a sad heart but deceitful countenance, 
 I took the precaution to request Mr. Hite to meet me in private, where 
 we could draw the members without interference from any of our 
 associates. As I expected, we lost Norton, for whom I would have 
 given two dozen ordinary members. Before separating, I tried one 
 last expedient. Norton was my room-mate, and I told Hite he was 
 very anxious to belong to our Society, and that a young man named 
 Kestcr, whose sister was a Philadelphian, was, I thought, anxious to 
 be exchanged from the Wrightonians. I proposed we make the trade. 
 " What kind of a fellow is Norton?" queried Hite. I gave my room- 
 mate a good recommendation, but did not see any call for telling the 
 whole truth. Just at that moment I pointed him out, crossing the 
 hall with his well-known "kangaroo" stride. "What! Is he that 
 tall, gauky-looking fellow? You may have him." Thanking Mr. 
 Hite very kindly, I soon proposed we report our list to the principal, 
 and kept the secret for some months, but before the beginning of the 
 next term it leaked out, and such exchanges were afterwards rare, 
 or impossible. 
 
 Our Society made good use of all its new members, but it is 
 hardly saying too much to assert that this one acquisition gave us the 
 best society man that ever entered the Normal University. During 
 the second term of our existence, we were officially recognized as the 
 equal of the older Society. Both Societies were then obliged to use 
 the same hall, which was the school room, but we were allowed our 
 choice of Friday or Saturday night for one term, while at the next 
 term the other Society took its choice, and so on, alternating, until 
 the completion of the new building. 
 
 During the spring term of 1858, our library was founded by 
 Simeon Wright, who secured for each Society the donation of one of 
 Moore's district school libraries, of over one hundred volumes each, 
 with five library cases. He also donated, personally, quite a number 
 of valuable books, so that from the very first our library was consid- 
 ered the best of the two, although in this, as in my other statements, 
 it may be proper to bear in mind that twenty-two years have not 
 proved sufficient to dampen the ardor of an original Wrightonian,
 
 124 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 and I may occasionally exaggerate. During the whole of the second 
 year both Societies made considerable progress. Both were fortunate 
 in possessing a membership that took pride in striving after the 
 highest possible excellence. The Philadelphians were the most 
 quiet. They were less ambitious than their rivals. While the 
 VVrightonians were less tractable, they were the most enthusiastic. 
 They were the most thoroughly imbued with a love for their 
 Society, and appeared to have the highest appreciation of the design 
 and scope of the Normal institution. To us, it seemed as if the 
 Philadelphians disliked change, even if in the direction of progress. 
 To our rivals, we seemed too ready to try experiments, and too 
 willing to trust our own untried judgment. I have no doubt that both 
 were partly right, and partly wrong. In the progress of time it is 
 natural that the two Societies should lose many of their distinctive 
 traits, and they are now, perhaps, more nearly alike than at the time 
 of which I am writing. 
 
 The Wrightonians never ceased plotting for the supremacy, and 
 at the close of the summer term of 1859, found themselves once 
 more ahead of their antagonists. They decided that the annual 
 examination should be signalized by some event besides a Society 
 contest, and fixed upon a lecture before their Society, and the whole 
 institution, as one of the events of the last week of the year. They 
 therefore very quietly secured Phoenix Hall, and engaged Benjamin 
 F. Taylor, then editor of the Chicago Evening Journal, and a poet 
 and lecturer of some considerable note, to give a public free lecture, 
 to which should be invited the Board of Education, the Philadelphian 
 Society, as well as the general public. When our plans were fully 
 matured, we found, to our surprise, that the president, Mr. Ilovey, 
 refused his consent. He declared we had carried the spirit of rivalry 
 too far; that were this lecture allowed, the Philadelphians would be 
 made to appear before the public in a humiliating position, and that 
 he was not sure whether the Wrightonians cared most for the merit 
 of the lecture, or for the other feature of the event. It was in vain 
 we urged that we had engaged the hall and the lecturer. The matter 
 must stop. He, however, proposed that if we would join with the 
 Philadelphians, he would engage that Society would unite, and that 
 upon that basis the lecture might proceed. With some reluctance we 
 consented, and when it was learned that our rival's treasury was 
 unprepared for the sudden call, and that it would be in our debt for 
 some months, this little circumstance, together with the satisfaction 
 of having inaugurated an important custom, gave our society 
 leaders all the credit they could reasonably desire. This lecture at 
 the close of the summer term, was kept up for years, until other 
 exercises more important occupied all the evenings at the disposal of 
 the faculty. 
 
 In September, 1860, the new building was partially prepared for
 
 STATI: NOU.MAL rxivKusiTY. 125 
 
 occupancy, and the Society's meetings were held in whatever room 
 was most convenient, migrating from place to place until midwinter, 
 when it took possession of its present quarters. During this first 
 term at Normal, many of the students boarded in Bloomington, and 
 the Society meetings were with great difficulty sustained, again 
 throwing a severe strain upon the few energetic and ambitious 
 leaders who had from the beginning known no such word as failure. 
 The present hall was dedicated January 24, 1861, at which time 
 an original ode was one feature of the occasion, a copy of which I 
 have furnished your president. The event was one of the proudest 
 of our history, and our feelings on that occasion can be better 
 imagined than described. 
 
 A band of workers, true and tried, 
 
 In learning's toilsome way, 
 We've walked together, side by side 
 
 Through many a changing day ; 
 And hostile forces have essayed, 
 
 With labor ever vain. 
 Our happy union to invade 
 
 And break the clasping chain. 
 
 Chorus : 
 Then, comrades, linking hand in hand, 
 
 A joyful chorus swell, 
 In honor of the gallant band 
 
 That each has loved so well. 
 
 But now upon our waiting eyes 
 
 A brighter star has shone, 
 Which points to where our pathway lies 
 
 Through future years unknown; 
 And all that coming road seems bright 
 
 With sunshine, song, and flowers, 
 As joyfully we come to-night 
 
 To greet these festal hours. 
 
 Chorus: 
 So, brothers, sisters, gather all, 
 
 A bright and smiling throng, 
 And dedicate our temple hall 
 
 With joyful swelling song. 
 
 May mental treasures evermore 
 
 Be poured upon its shrine; 
 May might and triumph, as of yore, 
 
 Upon its banners shine. 
 And when this happy season 's fled, 
 
 The parting hour draws near, 
 When strangers in these halls must tread 
 
 And fill our places here, 
 
 Chorus: 
 Again we'll gather, hand in hand, 
 
 Our parting song to swell, 
 In memory of the gallant band 
 That each has loved so well. 
 January 2i, 1881.
 
 126 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 At that time the library shelves which you now possess, though 
 drawn upon the plan of the building, were still unfinished, and 
 rumor declared that the want of funds would compel the building 
 committee to leave these necessary adjuncts out of our new hall, and 
 this rumor had an important bearing upon the circumstance which I 
 now relate. Our library books, as well as the Philadelphians,' 
 remained in the district school library case, in which they were 
 presented two years before, and were situated in one of the lower 
 halls of the building. Sometime in the month of January, 1861, 
 the acting president of the institution, who, by the way, is not now 
 a member of your faculty, gave an order to the presidents of the two 
 Societies to transport the books, with their cases, to the new society 
 rooms. Fearing that if this were done, the new library cases might 
 never be finished, the two presidents counseled together and quietly 
 resolved to ignore the authority of the acting president, and to take 
 the position that they were not to be ordered, as presidents, to 
 perform any labor which properly devolved upon the janitor of the 
 building. This position was interpreted as being contemptuous 
 insubordination, an interpretation which impartial history compels me 
 to admit was one part correct. A peremptory order for the removal 
 of the library cases was followed by silent inaction on the part of the 
 presidents, and by a threat of throwing the books out of the window 
 on the part of the acting president. At this juncture of affairs, 
 several innocent members of each Society, ignorant of the motives 
 of their presidents, performed the required duty, but too late to 
 save the two officials from the wrath of offended majesty, as the 
 next morning they were publicly suspended from the Normal 
 University. The Wrightonians, with the impulsive promptness 
 for which they were then famous, called a special meeting imme- 
 diately and appointed a committee to report at the next meeting. 
 This committee prepared a report, reciting the affront which had 
 been put upon their Society, and the attempt to disgrace their 
 president, by intimation, reflected upon the acting president of the 
 Normal, and ended with a hearty endorsement of the Wrightonian 
 Society's president, who could but feel that his position was fully 
 sustained. No action was taken by the Philadelphians, and their 
 president was left to guess at the estimation of his associates. In a 
 few days both presidents were restored by C. E. Hovey, the 
 president of the Normal, to their former standing in the school, 
 but the trouble did not end here. The teachers of the Normal, 
 now called professors, were equally divided between the two 
 literary Societies, a proceeding which dates from the early part 
 of 1860. The teacher who had suspended the presidents concluded 
 that the vote of the Wrightgnians, sustaining their presiding officer, 
 was of such a rebellious nature that no member of the faculty could, 
 consistently, retain his place in the Society, and he demanded that
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 127 
 
 they withdraw from the Wrightonian Society, or compel it to 
 expunge the proceedings from the records. By this time the 
 excitement ran high, and a majority of this Society, acting upon 
 their own impulses, would cheerfully have bid good-bye to the 
 professors, and retained their resolutions and independence; but 
 cooler heads and wiser counsels prevailed. Dr. J. Little, now of 
 Bloomington, was the Philadelphian president at this crisis, and your 
 humble servant was the other. I at once besought the Society to 
 expunge the record, declaring that it had already done far more in 
 my behalf than I deserved, and requested that action be taken 
 which would leave the faculty at liberty to remain in our ranks. 
 The matter was settled by cutting out the leaf containing the 
 obnoxious resolutions, and presenting it to me with great formality, 
 on the ground that in some future emergency I might need the 
 document to establish my reputation if assailed by malice or ill-will. 
 This record, perhaps the only official page of your early history now 
 in existence, is still preserved by me with great care and affection. 
 It is perhaps needless to add that twenty years of active life have as 
 yet presented no crisis where the document has possessed any moral 
 or financial value to its owner, or that the discussions or incidents of 
 those exciting times compelled the finishing of these library shelves 
 according to the original plan. 
 
 These excitements and diversions brought out the full zeal and 
 energy of a body of active members. Pride and ambition conspired 
 to build up a love for the Society that has never been excelled. 
 Greater literary ability has, no doubt, since been witnessed here, but 
 no greater devotion to the cause. I will give two more illustrations, 
 which are in the nature of valuable history, going to show this 
 devotion. In the spring of 1861, in order to add to the library, we 
 formed a literary club, which met at private houses. The gentlemen 
 were required to pay an admittance fee of five dollars, either in such 
 books as the library needed, taken on a valuation fixed by a com- 
 mittee, or in cash, while the ladies gave three dollars, upon the same 
 terms and conditions. This society, or club, had no written consti- 
 tution or by-laws. Its principal officer was called the "tycoon," and 
 possessed absolfite power. He was the constitution, limited by one 
 single condition, which was, that at any time the club might, by a 
 majority vote, depose this official and order the election of his 
 successor. Prof. L. H. Potter was the first tycoon, and so admirably 
 did he manage the club that no notice was ever given of a new 
 election. The meetings of this society, all held at private residences, 
 were, to my mind, the most delightful and valuable gatherings I ever 
 attended. In addition to the social and literary advantages gained, 
 our library received an addition of over one hundred much-needed 
 volumes of just the books we desired, and but for the outbreak of 
 the civil war, and the diversions and dispersions of the times, it is
 
 128 IIJSTOKY "!' THE ILLINOIS 
 
 probable that the impulse then given to the growth of your library 
 would have continued until the present time, and resulted in State 
 appropriations in aid of the Society libraries, or in their growth and 
 upbuilding by other means. It must be admitted that the Society 
 libraries have come nearer being failures than is pleasant to the 
 contemplation of the pioneers of the Normal. 
 
 Near the close of the spring term of 1861, while all our efforts 
 were being given to class study, Society work, and to the library 
 effort before mentioned, a few of the most active members were 
 startled to learn that the Philadelphians, whom we had apparently so 
 far surpassed, who were unable to inaugurate any library, or other 
 successful Society movement, were in reality carrying out a magnifi- 
 cent scheme which would, at commencement, enable them to throw 
 open their hall to the public, and far outshine the Wrightonians, by 
 the exhibition of a new Brussels carpet. Had the earth opened 
 beneath us we should have been no less surprised, but we were com- 
 pelled to keep our knowledge secret, and make no comment beyond a 
 trusted, limited circle. History is silent upon the manner of acquiring 
 this knowledge. Our information, which proved to be correct, 
 told us that the Philadelphians were raising a fund of over two 
 hundred dollars, and had ordered a carpet to be delivered at the end 
 of the term. Possibly our information may have been derived from 
 that sex which is said to be weak in the matter of keeping secrets, as 
 there were then a few instances where Wrightonians and Phila- 
 delpians of opposite sexes so far forgot their prejudices as to be 
 almost, if not quite, of one mind towards each other, and in some 
 such a manner information crossed the lines and entered the 
 Wrightonian camp. "We at once determined to buy a carpet, and to 
 buy it more secretly than our rivals. By superhuman efforts, as it 
 then appeared, the two hundred and twenty-five dollars requiied was 
 pledged, and the carpet ordered from New York by telegraph, to be 
 sent to Bloomington by express. The Philadelphia!! carpet was 
 shipped by a freight line, and ours arrived first. The secret was so 
 well kept that the first knowledge of our movement gained by the 
 Philadelphians was when the dray arrived at our door with the 
 carpet, arid it is safe to assert that Normal experienced a flutter of 
 excitement to which the first gun at Fort Sumter, then one of the 
 events of the times, was a tame and inconsiderable matter. When 
 it is considered that a majority of the members of both Societies 
 were in ignorance of what had been transpiring, you will readily see 
 that the movement, in an institution which then counted but one- 
 third of its present number, must have been a severe financial 
 strain upon the two Societies, and will perceive that this incident is a 
 good illustration of the intense rivalry existing at that early day a 
 rivalry which I now believe was rather too sharp to be healthy and 
 profitable.
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 
 
 129 
 
 Looking back, as I can, to the day when this Society began its 
 existence, and being identified closely with its history through a 
 little over three years; having seen it emerge from infancy to a 
 vigorous childhood, and living nearly twenty jears in your immediate 
 vicinity, where I often hear of your progress and success, it is with 
 pride and respect that I now behold your polished and finished 
 maturity. J. H. B. 
 
 The following is a list 
 Society, in the order in which 
 
 1. P. II. Walker, 
 
 2. W. H. Avery, 
 
 3. J. H. Burnham, 
 
 4. T. J. Curtis, 
 
 5. D. W. Beadle, 
 
 6. J. H. Burnham, 
 
 7. L. D. Bovee, 
 
 8. P. K. Walker, 
 
 9. E. A. Gove, 
 
 10. D. G. Ingraham, 
 
 11. William H. Fuller, 
 
 12. John X. Wilson, 
 
 13. II. B. Norton, 
 
 14. J. H. Burnham, 
 
 15. E. A. Gove, 
 
 16. P. R. Walker, 
 
 17. J. L. Spaulding, 
 
 18. II. B. Norton, 
 
 19. Dr. J. A. Sewall, 
 
 20. L. B. Kellogg, 
 
 21. Albert Stetson, 
 
 22. W. Dennis Hall, 
 
 23. Thomas Metcalf, 
 
 24. John W. Cook, 
 
 25. T. J. Burrill, 
 
 26. L. B. Kellogg, 
 
 27. O. F. McKim, 
 
 28. T. J. Burrill, 
 
 29. Aaron Karr, 
 
 30. John W. Cook, 
 
 31. Albert Stetson, 
 
 32. J. A. Sewall, 
 
 33. James Stevenson, 
 
 34. Edward Dunn, 
 
 35. L. T. Regan, 
 
 of the presidents of the Wrightonian 
 they served : 
 
 36. S. Bogardus, 
 
 37. B. C. Allensworth, 
 
 38. James Stevenson, 
 
 39. B. C. Allensworth, 
 
 40. G. H. Kurtz, 
 
 41. W. II. Smith, 
 
 42. G. G. Manning, 
 
 43. Hugh Edwards, 
 
 44. J. W. Hays, 
 
 45. Lewis Goodrich, 
 
 46. E. A. Doolittle, 
 
 47. Lou C. Allen,* 
 
 48. R. A. Childs, 
 
 49. Benjamin Hunter, 
 
 50. Marie Kimberly, 
 
 51. Owen Scott, 
 
 52. R. M. Waterman, 
 
 53. Henry Holcomb, 
 
 54. Alice A. Chase, 
 
 55. Belle S. Houston, 
 
 56. E. R. E. Kirnbrough, 
 
 57. D. C. Roberts, 
 
 58. Emma Monroe, 
 
 59. T. T. Thompson, 
 
 60. James Carter, 
 
 61. Minnie Cox, 
 
 62. Nellie Edwards, 
 
 63. L. C. Dougherty, 
 
 64. Sarah Littlefield, 
 
 65. James Ellis, 
 
 66. R. S. Barton, 
 
 67. J. N. Cushman, 
 
 68. S. B. Wadsworth, 
 
 69. J. P. Hodge, 
 
 70. Adam Hoffman, 
 
 'First lady president.
 
 130 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 71. Emily Wing, 84. S. B. Hursh, 
 
 72. Adeline Goodrich, 85. E. K. Boyer, 
 
 73. E. R. Faulkner, 86. John II. Lear, 
 
 74. Leroy B. Wood, 87. Beth L. Ford, 
 
 75. Flora Fuller, 88. James W. Adams, 
 
 76. Agnes E. Ball, 89. Elmer E. Brown, 
 
 77. George Franklin, 90. W. H. Bean, 
 
 78. Edward Swett, 91. Nathan T. Veatcli, 
 
 79. Edgar Wyatt, '92. Edwin E. Rosenberry, 
 
 80. Ida L. Philbrick, ' 93. John K Wayman, 
 
 81. Andrew W. Elder, 94. Wendell F. Puckett, 
 
 82. Theodore W. Peers, 95. William II. Heath. 
 
 83. Silas Y. Gillan, 
 
 When the Society was first organized, debating was considered 
 its principal object, and debates continued to be a leading feature of 
 the programme for many years. The records show that the debates 
 were generally upon questions of the day. These debates, especially 
 during war time, were often very spirited. It was voted at one 
 time to make Abraham Lincoln an honorary member of the Society. 
 Then followed a motion to add Jeff. Davis to the number. This 
 served only to provoke a spirited discussion, and was voted down. 
 
 It was customary, in the early days, to have a standing committee 
 on debate, whose duty it was to announce at each meeting the subject 
 for debate at the next meeting. The monotony of the more serious 
 debates was broken by the introduction of those whose whole aim 
 was fun. The following are illustrations : 
 
 "The difference I ne'er could see 
 'Twixt Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee." 
 
 Question: '* Resolved, That the sentiment of the foregoiiig lines is 
 calculated seriously to impair the morals of the community." Messrs. 
 Stetson and Metcalf supporting the affirmative, and Messrs. Edwards 
 and Sewall the negative. And again: 
 
 "Resolved, That the proposed transit of Venus is inexpedient, 
 and should be postponed till the times are easier," in which Mr. Bur- 
 rington sustained his argument by copious extracts from Cesar's Com- 
 mentaries, and Dr. Sewall had a black-board brought in, and illustrated 
 his remarks by appropriate sketches with his own hand. 
 
 Again, "Resolved, That the progress of the nineteenth century is 
 the greatest humbug afloat. " 
 
 The programmes of the two Societies present, at present, 'a much 
 greater variety of exercises than in former days. What is said in 
 the Philadelpian history in regard to the gradual growth of these 
 exercises, is applicable to Wrightonia as well. 
 
 The lecture seems to have occupied great prominence. In the 
 records of 1870, we find accounts of eight lectures. While some of
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 131 
 
 these lectures were obtained from abroad, most of them were given 
 by members of the faculty. 
 
 One of the most important events of 1867 was the refurnishing 
 of the hall. It sadly needed renovation. Lou C. Allen, H. R. 
 Edwards, and B. C. Allensworth were chosen as a committee to fix 
 up things. The funds were largely raised by subscription, quite a 
 number of the members subscribing ten dollars each. Something 
 over three hundred dollars was raised. With this sum and the 
 proceeds of an exhibition, the work began. Thomas Atkins was 
 employed to fresco the ceiling and walls. This was done after a new 
 style, as shown in the house then occupied by Mr. Hawley, and in 
 which Mr. Pennell now lives. Tommy was quite an artist in his 
 way, a great favorite with the committee, and warranted his work to 
 stay on as long as the plastering stuck. The chairs and chandeliers 
 now in use were purchased at this time. The piano (not the same one 
 now in the hall) was selected by Prof. Metcalf while on a visit east. 
 There was a special committee selected to buy the piano, at the head 
 of which was that accomplished musician and royal gentleman, I. F. 
 Kleckner. The only time Mr. Metcalf was ever known to reprove any 
 one for being polite was when Kleckner, in ordering the piano, began 
 a telegram with the word "please." The hall was finally ready for 
 reopening. The committee was satisfied, and so was everybody else. 
 Of course the Philadelphians had to follow suit in the way of fixing 
 up. The project of framing the photographs of the presidents was at 
 this time conceived and carried out. About this time the craze for 
 dramas struck the two Societies, and the "curtain" was about the only 
 thing that would draw the crowd. About the last night of the winter 
 term of 1867 witnessed the culmination of the aforesaid craze. The 
 presidents of both Societies had a special programme, each putting 
 forth his best efforts to get the audience. The curtain was joint 
 property, and mysteriously disappeared until recess, when it was 
 spread to the breeze in Wrightonian Hall. The president of 
 Wrightonia went home a happy boy that night. 
 
 The halls were first heated by means of steam pipes. These, 
 however, proved insufficient, and a great nuisance, and Ruttan 
 ventilating stoves were substituted. The stove was sometimes 
 unable to warm the hall. Instances are found of adjournments on 
 account of the cold. In 1878, a joint committee presented the 
 matter of heating the hall to the Board of Education, and the hot 
 air ducts on the west side of the building were continued to the 
 society halls, and two registers put in each hall. 
 
 The constitution of the Society has undergone constant change. 
 Even as early as the year 1869 the original framers of the instrument 
 would not have known it. The present constitution was adopted in 
 September, 1877, but has since been amended. Among these amend- 
 ments are those providing for an assistant treasurer and a news gleaner.
 
 132 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 Among many topics that deserve more extended notices, are 
 the following: The presentation of the present secretary's desk by 
 Aaron Gove, in behalf of Simeon Wright, in March, 1870; the 
 "Sumner" meeting in 1874; the contests between the high school 
 and the Normal Departments, in which the high school pupils 
 compared favorably with their opponents; the gradual increase of 
 contest expenses, and the spelling-match between the two Societies 
 in March, 1875. 
 
 On November 20, 1876, occurred the death of Simeon Wright, 
 at his home in Kinmundy, Illinois. His body was taken to Rock 
 Falls, where it was buried with Masonic rites. The following 
 resolutions were adopted by the Society: 
 
 WHEREAS, It has pleased Divine Providence to remove, by 
 death, the founder and devoted friend of the Wrightonian Society, 
 Simeon Wright; therefore be it 
 
 Resolved, That in his death we recognize the loss of the 
 beneficent father of this Society, one of the most energetic workers 
 in the earlier educational efforts of Illinois, and one of the warmest 
 friends of the Normal University. 
 
 Resolved, That his generous character, manifested, as it was, 
 by hearty sympathy and material aid in our behalf, shall ever be 
 cherished by the members of the Wrightonian Society, and that we 
 tender his relatives our deepest sympathy. 
 
 Resolved, That as a token of respect to his memory, the 
 Wrightonian Hall shall be draped in mourning during the present 
 school term. 
 
 Resolved, That our secretary be instructed to forward a copy of 
 these resolutions to the bereaved relatives of the deceased, and also 
 a copy of the same to the Educational Weekly, for publication. 
 
 The following is from the pen of a graduate of 1861: 
 
 It was shortly after the formation of the "D and E" Society that 
 Simeon Wright appeared amongst us. Most of us had heard of him, 
 many had seen him. He had been an ardent worker in the interests 
 of common schools of the State, had traveled and lectured in nearly 
 every county, a task in those days of no small magnitude, and as 
 agent of the State Teachers' Association had contributed more than 
 had any other man toward the upbuilding of that sentiment that has 
 since helped to make Illinois one of the first common school States in 
 the Union. I have been told that his career as State agent is the only 
 instance, in our educational history, where a lecturer was employed 
 at the voluntary expense of the teachers of the community to travel 
 and lecture in the interests of popular education. Uncle Sim, as we 
 soon learned to term him, called our attention to the need of libraries 
 connected with the Normal School, and early espoused the champion- 
 ship of the k 'D and E" Society. Being as lie was a welcome visitor, 
 and intimate in the advices of the school management, I have ever
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 133 
 
 thought that this espousal of the "D and E" was but a part of the 
 plan whereby the principal of the school should be the patron of the 
 elder, while Uncle Sim could foster the interests of the younger. Be 
 this us it may, he urged us to proceed at once to the establishment of 
 a library, and made what were at that time munificent otters towards its 
 foundation. Two large library cases stood at that time in the school 
 room. One of these was set apart for the library and was soon well 
 filled with books. The other was ottered to the other Society for a 
 similar purpose. Thus it was that Uncle Sim was the real founder of 
 the Society libraries. The increase in members of the school increased 
 the roll of the Societies. The older Society found it necessary to 
 amend their constitution, and admit ladies to membersliip. The 
 re-christening followed close upon these movements, and the names 
 Wrightonian and Philadelphian were assumed. The latter, in the 
 light of subsequent events, should have been named for the first 
 principal of the school. Uncle Sim now again stepped to the front 
 and volunteered to procure a charter for the Society from the Legis- 
 lature. He argued that as some considerable property was likely to 
 come into posession of the Society, the title should be safely vested. 
 At that time we fondly hoped to be able to erect a separate building 
 for Society hall, and while that consummation is yet in the future, 
 perhaps the next quarter century may find such an enterprise 
 completed. 
 
 The rebellion opened in the summer of 1861. We .had been in 
 the new building one season, when principal, part of the faculty, and 
 a majority of the Society enlisted for three years. Uncle Sim went 
 with us as quartermaster of the regiment. It was during these years 
 of camp and campaign life that we learned more than ever before to 
 love the man. Now those warm, affectionate traits of his character 
 had full play in caring for the interests and comfort of his boys. 
 No position, save perhaps that of surgeon, and even that except in 
 an engagement was second, offered such opportunities as did that of 
 quartermaster for doing good to that youthful and immature regiment 
 of soldiers. To him they looked for food and clothing, for protect inn 
 from the inclemencies of the weather and from the dangers of 
 disease. Uncle Sim was a true hero in camp and on the march. 
 No man ever asked from him in vain. His labors were unceasing 
 and unselfish. When others were sleeping, he was planning for 
 their comfort. Did a man break down on the march, Uncle Sim had 
 an extra horse for him to ride. Did one fall sick, Uncle Sim found 
 transportation to some comfortable hospital. 
 
 As I look back at those days, I remember him with the utmost 
 admiration and thankfulness. After the war I lost intimate knowledge 
 of him, but managed to see him at least once a year, the last time a 
 few months before he died, at his farm near Kinmundy. He was the 
 same Uncle Sim Wright, fond of talking of his dear young friends.
 
 134: HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 and ever putting above all other things the Wrightonian Society, 
 which he seemed to regard with especial favor. I was ready to learn, 
 at his decease, that he had remembered it substantially even to his end. 
 
 Few men have lived the peer of Simeon Wright in true friend- 
 ship. His faults, like those of the rest of us, were apparent, but 
 covered so deep by his graces that the former can barely be discerned 
 at this writing, and in a few years more will be lost forever. 
 
 Whatever his private personal griefs may have been, I have 
 never known. That he bore a burden of sorrow, I believe we always 
 thought, but he bore them alone. No man ever heard him complain. 
 He seemed to live for others, never for himself, and successfully 
 prevented his intimate friends from sharing whatever of his pain, in 
 his moments of solitude, saddened his heart. It is good for us who 
 have left your halls forever, to know that kindly hearts still beat, and 
 kindly remembrances still exist, for one who, despite his faults, had 
 one of the largest and warmest hearts, and whose true friends are 
 scattered far and wide over the earth. No poor student ever appealed 
 to tlncle Sim in vain. No case of deserved charity ever passed his 
 door unheeded; his hand, heart and purse were always open to the 
 deserving. His memory will ever live in the hearts especially of the 
 class of 1861. 
 
 Whatever may be the career of the Illinois Normal School, 
 whether fortune or mishap be met, so long as memory can relate 
 one item of its life, the relation of Simeon Wright to it and its 
 interests will be a salient feature. 
 
 At the request of one of the young members of the Society, 
 I am glad to write these few words in testimony of my affection 
 for him, and rny regard for his memory. AAKOTST GOVE. 
 
 In December, 1876, the Wrightonians were elated, and the whole 
 school surprised, by the announcement that the Society had received 
 a legacy of one thousand dollars, through the liberality of its 
 founder. In due time the officers of the Society were notified of 
 the fact that the last will and testament of Mr. Wright contained 
 a bequest, as above stated. A committe was appointed to take the 
 matter in charge, and act in the matter for the Society, and for 
 nearly two years, from term to term, a "committee on the Simeon 
 Wright legacy" was regularly appointed. But after a great amount 
 of correspondence with Mr. Grove Wright, brother of the deceased, 
 and other parties, the Society found it impossible to realize any 
 part of the legacy, the estate of the grantor having been considerably 
 encumbered, and the will having been changed in regard to one of 
 the legatees, by interlining, after it had been attested. 
 
 The correspondence on this subject made the members better 
 acquainted with the early history of their Society, and the. interest 
 which Mr. Wright took in its prosperity during the first years of 
 its existence. By invitation of Mr. G. Wright, a committee of the
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 135 
 
 Society furnished an epitaph for Simeon Wright's tomb. He is 
 buried in a picturesque spot in the cemetery at Rock Falls, which 
 is situated on a high point of land, overlooking the valley of Rock 
 River with its beautiful scenery, for miles. The deed of the 
 burying lot in which his remains rest, is held by the Society ; and 
 the gavel now in use in Wrightonian Hall was made from a 
 branch of Siberian arbor vitae which stands at the head of his grave. 
 
 At the close of the fall term of 1877, Andrew "W. Elder was 
 elected Wrightonian president, and Miss Jessie Dexter Philadelphian 
 president. It was decided that the regular union meeting of the term 
 should be postponed till after the holidays, and both Societies assembled 
 in the Normal Hall, on the first Saturday evening of the next term. 
 The programme was a good one, and the reeling between the Societies 
 was only such as to promise a healthful emulation. There were no 
 indications of the storm that closed the term on the memorable ides of 
 March, 1878. 
 
 At a joint meeting of the Societies it was decided to hold a 
 union meeting, Saturday evening, March 16, 1878, and that no admis- 
 sion fee should be charged. This was unsatisfactory to many leading 
 Philadelphians, and a meeting was called to reconsider the question of 
 admission fee. It was argued by Messrs. Powers, Laybourn, Bowles, 
 and other Philadelphians, that such a proceeding was in violation 
 of their Society's constitution, under the provisions of which they 
 could not hold a free meeting. The Wrightonian constitution was free 
 from any such restraining clause, and it was thought, even if it were 
 not, such clause would be null and void so far as the union meeting 
 was concerned, for neither constitution ought to limit the action or fix 
 the liability of the other Society. They met in the president's room 
 after school, and a hot contest ensued. Miss Dexter occupied the 
 chair. A vote was taken and the Wrightonians seemed to be in the 
 majority. Motions were made to suspend, to amend, to lay on the 
 table; points of order were raised, till the president, despairing of 
 any peaceable settlement of the questions, called Mr. Elder to the 
 chair and suddenly left the room. This was a signal for a "bolt,'' and 
 the Philadelphians all followed. The opposition having left the room, 
 of course it was soon decided to sustain the action of the previous 
 meeting. The following announcement of programme appeared in the 
 Bloomington Lead.er, Friday afternoon, March 15: "The union meet- 
 ing of the two Societies, next Saturday, promises to be the great event 
 of the season. The lovers of good music will surely be entertained; 
 and every one will be delighted with the exhibition of chemical ex]>c>r- 
 iments by Prof. Seymour. The admission is free, and every one \> 
 cordially invited. The meeting will be held in the grand hall, and will 
 be the last society exercise of the term. The following exercises will 
 be presented:
 
 136 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 Music, Misses Bradshaw and Manning and Messrs. Peers and 
 Oug; essay, Miss Knight; oration, "Echoes," P. R. Cross; 
 gallopade, violin and cornet, Messrs. Ong and Luf kin ; declamation, 
 L. S. Judd ; vocal solo, Miss Bradshaw; comic debate: Resolved, 
 That congress should take immediate action to prevent the present 
 threatened attack of spring weather. Affirmative, Silas Gillan and 
 Dode Peers. Negative, "Stephie" and Jim Byrnes; violin solo, 
 Charles Gaston; declamation, J. W. Adams; humorous reading, 
 Elmer Brown ; oration, "The Devil's Yard-sticks," Silas Y. Gillan ; 
 song, "Carve Dat 'Possum," Colored Glee Club. The entertain- 
 ment will close with some brilliant experiments with the oxyhy- 
 drogen blow-pipe, by Prof. Seymour. 
 
 , Philadelphia!! President. 
 
 A. W. ELDER, Wrightonian President. 
 
 The above blank is explained by the fact that the Philadelphian 
 president is among the number of bolters who propose to have a 
 little meeting all to themselves." 
 
 The union meeting was all, and even more, than its friends 
 expected. The great hall was crowded, there being hardly standing 
 room for the "bolting faction," some of whom responded to a special 
 invitation to come out of the adjoining room and witness "the 
 brilliant experiments with the oxyhydrogen blow-pipe," which, by 
 the way, amounted to nothing, for the blow-pipe was out of fix. 
 The following is taken from the autograph album of a loyal 
 Wrightonian of that day: 
 
 Let "brotherly love " be thy motto, 
 
 Wrightonian decisions thy guide; 
 And whether in mansion or grotto, 
 
 Refer to the " Union " with pride. 
 In society rules so potential, 
 
 In joint rules, so easily spurned, 
 Isn't there yet a "cream " (confidential) 
 
 That bolters will bring when well churned ? 
 Remember, inflame there's attraction, 
 
 In gas there's a wonderful " draw;" 
 And, by these, one may wheedle a faction, 
 
 That openly sneei's at a law. 
 March 20, 1878. Yours in friendship, JAMES BYRNES. 
 
 Among the traditions of the Society, is one to the effect that, 
 years ago, there was a regular publication conducted by ' ' the boys, " 
 which was called The Ventilator; that it was vigorous and sprightly 
 and gradually grew so spicy that it burned itself out, and died for 
 want of editors brave enough to handle it. However this may be, 
 certain it is that in 1877 some of the boys undertook to revive this 
 real or mythical publication; but the undertaking was not crowned 
 with perennial success. Notliing of a startling character had occurred 
 in the field of journalism among the students since the phenoim-mil
 
 STATE NORMAL '"NIVKKSITV. I:;T 
 
 event that marked the close of the centennial year, and the monotony 
 begun to be oppressive; besides, the boys concluded that there weiv 
 a few things that needed regulating. Accordingly, a half-dozen of 
 them set about the preparation of the "Great Illustrated Monthly, 
 The Ventilator." 
 
 On the evening appointed for the reading of the "periodical," 
 the Wrightonian Hall was crowded to its full seating capacity. A 
 number of visitors from abroad, several members of the faculty, and 
 many citizens of the town were in the audience. The editors were 
 introduced after recess, and proceeded to unroll five or six yards of 
 manuscript in one continuous scroll. As they read from one side 
 of the paper, the crayon sketch illustrations Vere displayed on the 
 other. Of the special points of excellence which characterized the 
 paper, it is not necessary here to speak; suffice it to say that it 
 contained some features of such unusual interest and merit that the 
 boys received an invitation to read it entire the next Monday morning 
 in the reception room to a select audience, consisting of the members 
 of the faculty. After receiving this high and well-deserved attention, 
 the editors were requested to file the original copies of the contri- 
 butions and the names of the writers;* and as a further token of the 
 regard in which the faculty held them, the boys were granted a 
 vacation for an indefinite time, which, however, was terminated at 
 the end of one week, and Society matters once more flowed on in 
 their accustomed channel. Yet, strange to relate, until this day no 
 one has seen another copy of The Ventilator. 
 
 In the fall term of 18T8, a certain lawyer of Normal, one 
 Newton B. Reed, sent a bill of two dollars and twenty cents to E. R. 
 Boyer, chairman of the finance committee, claiming that the amount 
 was due from the Society to a certain grocer who had recently 
 become insolvent and left the State. Mr. Boyer asked for an 
 itemized statement, but this was peremptorily refused, immediate 
 payment demanded, and a law suit threatened. After consultation 
 with the other members of the finance committee and the officers of 
 the Society, it was decided to "let him sue." Accordingly, Mr. 
 Reed was duly informed that if he could show the bill to be a just 
 debt, he could get his money by presenting the claim in a regular 
 manner, otherwise not. A few days later, summonses were issued 
 for E. R. Boyer, chairman of the finance committee, Silas Y. Gillan, 
 president, and Miss Lizzie Ross, secretary, to appear in Bloomington. 
 By unanimous vote of the Society, Mr. Gillan was appointed to take 
 charge of the matter. A change of venue was taken to Judge 
 Lawrence's court. The case was duly heard, and argued at some 
 length by both sides, the Society's representatives claiming that the 
 
 *One of them, "Stevy's" article, remained among the archives of the University 
 about two years.
 
 138 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 bill could not be legally collected until regularly presented. Mr. 
 Reed claimed to have an order on the society treasurer for the 
 amount, signed by a former president, but up to the time of the trial 
 he had failed to produce it. Mr. Gillan argued that if that were 
 true, then the bill was already paid, the order having been accepted, 
 and that as soon as such order should be presented to the treasurer 
 it would be honored; but since Mr. Reed made no claim of ever 
 having presented the order, it could not be held that the Society had 
 refused payment, and that it must be presented before suit could be 
 brought. Legal authority was quoted in favor of this opinion. 
 Judge Lawrence postponed his decision for a few days to consult 
 authorities. On the following Saturday he rendered a decision 
 sustaining the points taken by the Society, and entering judgment 
 for costs of trial against the party in whose name Mr. Reed had 
 brought suit. There was, of course, universal rejoicing among the 
 Wrightouians when the result was announced. They had undertaken 
 the fight "for the principle involved," because they felt that Mr. 
 Reed had been haughty and imperious, and that tamely to go to him 
 to pay an order which had been accepted and never presented for 
 payment, would be acceeding to an unjust demand. This exultation 
 was short-lived, however, for Mr. Reed appealed the case to the 
 Circuit Court, and it came up during the winter term following. Mr. 
 S. B. Hursh was then president, and Mr. Gillan was made chairman 
 of the finance committee, with instructions from the other officers of 
 the Society, sanctioned by a unanimous vote of the members, to take 
 charge of the case, as before. On the day fixed for hearing the case, 
 Messrs. Hursh, East, and Gillan, appeared for the Society, and 
 owing to "the law's delay," had to wait three days before it was 
 called. Mr. Reed, probably not caring to appear in so dignified a 
 court with school boys for opponents, engaged another attorney to 
 conduct his case. This time a jury trial was had. The jury did not 
 agree on a verdict until near noon the next day, when they reported 
 a decision adverse to the Society. The costs in the case amounted to 
 about forty dollars. 
 
 Previous to May, 1877, the Society obtained funds by means of 
 dues, which were one dollar per term. This fund they supplemented, 
 when necessary, by a tax upon the members. No admission fee was 
 charged at their meetings. By means of lectures and festivals, 
 they raised money to make many great improvements. The amounts 
 netted at these lectures and festivals show that they were well 
 patronized. The committee on a union supper in 1875, reported the 
 net proceeds to be one hundred and fifty-one dollars and ninety cents. 
 
 Wrightonia's enterprise in pushing forward such schemes was 
 well illustrated in the management of an ice cream and strawberry 
 festival in June, 1876. The evening proved stormy and cold, but
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 139 
 
 nothing daunted by the weather, they secured a large attendance. 
 Fires were put in all the stoves, and the temperature of the room 
 was made such as to induce all to become patrons. The net proceeds 
 were seventy dollars. 
 
 To prevent disorder, naturally resulting from free admission, as 
 well as to provide an easy method of raising funds, the present 
 ticket system was adopted. In the following resolution introduced 
 by Silas Y. Gillan, and passed by the Wrightonian Society, in May, 
 1877, are embodied the principal features of the system : 
 
 WHEREAS, The current expenses of the Society are greater than 
 can be met by the usual receipts; be it 
 
 Resolved, That the following measures be adopted : 
 
 1. The treasurer shall give to each Wrightonian who has signed 
 the constitution and paid his dues for the current term, a ticket 
 which shall entitle him to admission to all sessions of the Society 
 during the present term. 
 
 2. Philadelphians who possess like credentials from that Society 
 shall be admitted to any session of this Society, provided that the 
 Philadelphia!! Society grants the same privileges to persons 
 possessing tickets from this Society. 
 
 3. The president and chorister shall have power to give compli- 
 mentary tickets, which shall admit the persons receiving them to one 
 session of the Society. 
 
 4. Persons not possessing tickets of the above description shall be 
 admitted on the payment of ten cents an evening. 
 
 5. It shall be the duty of the janitor to collect the admission fee 
 from all persons who enter this hall, from whom said fee is due. 
 
 6. These measures shall be enforced after one week from adoption. 
 The term dues now are fifty cents, and these receipts of the Society 
 
 are generally sufficient to meet all demands. During one term of the 
 past year Wrightonia's membership was one hundred and forty, so 
 that, notwithstanding the extensive improvements made during the 
 past two years, the Society's finances are in good condition. 
 
 The society fight, of the fall of 1880, began with the discovery 
 of some things that looked to Wrightonian eyes like irregularities in 
 the selling of tickets by the Philadelphians. Season tickets admim-d 
 the holders to all regular meetings of both Societies during the n-rui, 
 and entitled them to a participation in society affairs. These tickets 
 bore the following inscription : 
 
 1880. I. S. N. U. 1880. 
 
 MEMBERSHIP TICKET 
 
 PHILADELPHIAN AND WHIGHTONIAN 
 
 SOCIETIES. 
 
 Fall Term. Dues, 50c.
 
 140 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 Persons not members of the school, and consequently not mem- 
 bers of either Sociofcy, began to present these membership tickets 
 for admission at the Wrightonian door. The doorkeeper reported to 
 the Society officers, and aprivate investigation began. E. E. Brown 
 was Society president. The pith of the whole affair was found in 
 Article XIII, of the Philadelphian constitution, the first sentence 
 of which read as follows : ' ' All persons except members in full of 
 either the Philadelphian or the Wrightonian Society, shall pay an 
 admission fee of ten (10) cents to each regular meeting of the Society; 
 except that upon payment of fifty (50) cents a ticket of admission shall 
 be given, with the name of the person purchasing the same written 
 thereon, and admitting said person to all meetings of either the Phil- 
 adelphian or the Wrightonian Society (contest excepted), for the term 
 during which the same may be purchased. In other words, the Phil- 
 adelphian constitution provided that the "Wrights" should admit 
 to all of their meetings, public and private, any person who should 
 favor the ' ' Phils ' ' to the extent of fifty cents. 
 
 A joint meeting was held in room twenty-four, October 5. 
 After the regular business of the meeting had been disposed of, 
 a Wrightonian got the floor, spoke of the discovery, gave in a sentence 
 or two a mild statement of his opinion about that Article XIII, and 
 referred to the need of immediate action. A joint committee was 
 appointed to examine and report on the subject, this committee, con- 
 sisting of three from each Society, failed to agree. Another joint 
 meeting was held, to which Wrightonian members went en masse. 
 The committee gave two reports: the Wrightonian to the effect that 
 the clause in the Philadelphian constitution must be repealed as a 
 necessary condition of further joint action on the ticket question; the 
 Philadelphian to the effect that the clause was justifiable. A certain 
 Wrightonian moved the adoption of the Wrightonian report, which 
 was followed by a spirited debate and a motion to adjourn. The Phil- 
 adelphians found themselves in the minority on the vote to adjourn, 
 and most of them left the room. They bolted. The Wrightonian 
 report was shortly afterward adopted. Some of the Philadelphian s 
 complained that there had been trickery, in that they had not had due 
 notice of the meeting. In reply they were told that their president 
 had a hand in calling the meeting. 
 
 Many of the Philadelphians began to acknowledge the unreason- 
 ableness of Article XIII, but the majority seemed disposed to retain it, 
 for fear its repeal would look like humiliating submission. The latter 
 feeling lost influence, and near the close of the term, a committee from 
 each Society framed a joint rule on the question, and Article XIII, of 
 the Philadelphian constitution, was repealed. 
 
 The idea of uniting the two libraries was talked of in September, 
 1880. A Wrightonian urged the union of the two Society libraries
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 141 
 
 with the University library, the setting apart of some convenient room, 
 and the appointment, by the Board of Education, of a librarian. It 
 was a part of the plan to make this librarian a salaried officer, on 
 duty one-half of each day, and that the positions of librarian and 
 university stationer be made scholarships, to be assigned to those of 
 highest rank in certain work, and given to th ose only who intended 
 finishing the course. This plan was presente d to the Board, but at 
 that time did not meet their approval. 
 
 In the spring term of 1880, the Society began a series of 
 improvements which it has continued to the present time. During 
 this time there have been purchased, curtains, at a cost of eighty-two 
 dollars ; a piano for two nundred and sixty dollars (the old piano, 
 valued at one hundred and twenty-five dollars, being part payment); 
 a new frame for Simeon Wright's picture, for thirteen dollars and 
 fifty cents; a presidents chair, for twenty-four dollars and fifty 
 cents; a secretary's chair, for eighteen dollars and fifty cents; a 
 president's table, for ten dollars; a critic's table, for eighteen 
 dollars, and a chandelier, for twelve dollars. The hall has been 
 repainted at a cost of seventy-five dollars, and the disabled chairs 
 repaired for twenty-five dollars, making an aggregate outlay for the 
 two years of five hundred and forty-two dollars. When it is 
 remembered that this amount does not include the "running 
 expenses" nor the cost of minor improvements, such as the covering 
 of the books in the library, the rebinding of some of them, the 
 hanging of curtains in the library windows, and others, it will be 
 seen how ample are Wrightonia's resources. Composed of energetic 
 and loyal members, she has but to see a want to have it supplied. 
 For nearly a quarter of a century she has spread her banner to the 
 breeze and a loyal band of heroes has ever been found gathered 
 under it. Her triumphs have been many and well-earned. At 
 times has come the chagrin of defeat, but the remembrance of the 
 victories has kept away depression. Her growth has kept pace with 
 favoring circumstances. Starting' with but a score of workers, she 
 has enrolled, through the years, three thousand, and boasts of a 
 term-membership of nearly two hundred. Her library has been 
 enlarged and her hall beautified. With new chandeliers and carpet, 
 the probable improvements of the coming year, Wrightonian Hall 
 will surpass in beauty any other in our State. This year, 1882-3, 
 the quarter centennial of the Society's existence should be marked 
 by such improvements. 
 
 to
 
 142 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 INTER-SOCIETY CONTESTS. 
 
 1858. Debate: "Resolved, That compulsory attendance is bene- 
 ficial." Affirmative, Peter Harper, J. T. Ridlon, Philadelphians ; 
 negative, P. R. Walker, J. II. JBurnharn, Wrightonians. In addition 
 to the debate, there were on the programme, papers and music. 
 The debate, however, was the only point contested and decided by 
 judges. The debate was won by the Wrightonians. This contest 
 was held in July. The time was changed the next year to 
 December. 
 
 1859. Debate: " Resolved, That public opinion ought to restrict 
 a teacher from expressing his political sentiments freely on public 
 occasions." Affirmative, P. R. Walker and D. G. Ingraham, 
 Wrightonians ; negative, Howell and Little, Philadelphians. Misses 
 Town and Clark read the Oleastellus, and Misses Washburn and 
 Peterson, the Ladies' Garland. The judges awarded both debate 
 and paper to the Wrightonians. 
 
 1860. Debate: "Resolved, That manual-labor schools are founded 
 on correct principles, and are practicable." Affirmative, H. B. Norton 
 and I. B. Kellogg, Wrightonians; negative, Edwin Waite and A. B. 
 Keagle, Philadelphians. The Ladies'* Garland was read by Misses 
 Sprague and Whiteside; the Oleastellus by Misses Curtis and Baker. 
 The judges awarded the debate to the Wrightonians, the paper to the 
 Philadelphians. In this, as in previous contests, the literary exercises 
 were interspersed with pieces ol music, but the latter formed no part 
 of the contest. 
 
 1861. No contest. 
 
 1862. Debate: "Resolved, That the labors of Pestalozzi in the 
 educational field have been of more value to mankind than those of 
 Horace Mann." Affirmative, L. Kellogg and A. McClure, Wright- 
 onians; negative, E. F. Bacon and J. II. Thompson, Philadelphians. 
 Wrightonian vocal music, a quartette by Misses McCambridge and 
 Jones, and Messrs Hill and J. W. Cook. The Philadelphia!^ pre- 
 sented a quartette. Sarah Stevenson and Mattie Bun-ill read the 
 Ladies'' Garland', Mary A. Fuller and L. A. Stevens, the Oleastellus. 
 The judges awarded to the Wrightonians, the debate and vocal music; 
 to the Philadelphians, the paper. Here we first notice music making a 
 point in the contest. Owing to the absence of fixed rules, governing 
 these contests, it was customary to agree to rules just before contest 
 time. This often produced ill feelings. Here is a resolution adopted 
 by the Wrightonians in November, 1860, which shows the lack of 
 fixed rules: "The Wrightonian Society shall consider it their privilege 
 to object to any judge appointed by the Philadelphians to serve at 
 coming contest-meeting." It is worthy of note, too, that the above
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 143 
 
 is the first "contest-meeting," the others being recorded as "joint"' 
 meetings. 
 
 1863. A disagreement and no contest. 
 
 1864. Debate : "Resolved, That Thomas Jefferson should be 
 ranked higher as a statesman than William Pitt." Affirmative, F. J. 
 Seybold and II. L. Karr, Philadelphians ; negative, A. G. Karr and 
 J. W. Cook, Wrightonians. Each Society furnished a quartette. The 
 OleasteUus was read by Misses M. Little and M.- R. Gorton ; the 
 Ladies' Garland by Misses B. Wakefield and E. A. Pratt. The 
 Wrightonians won the debate; the Philadelphians, the paper and 
 vocal music. 
 
 1865. No contest. A failure to agree upon a programme. 
 
 1866. Debate: "Ought the election franchise to be restricted to 
 such persons as can read and write understandingly?" Affirmative, 
 James S. Stevenson, Lewis Goodrich, Wrightonians; negative, Gifford 
 S. Robinson, John R. Edwards, Philadelphians. Instrumental music, 
 Lill Pearson, Pliiladelphian; Mary R. Gorton, Wrightonian. The 
 Ladies' Garland was read by Mrs. Janette E. Gorham and Miss Annie 
 M. Edwards; the OleasteUus, by Emma T. Robinson and Cora Val- 
 entine. Pliiladelphian trio, Myra G. Overman, Eurania Gorton, and 
 Laura Fulwiler; Wrightonian quartette, Misses Moss and Howard, 
 Messrs. Kleckner and Goodrich. The Wrightonians won the paper, 
 vocal music, and instrumental music. The Philadelphians won the 
 debate. 
 
 1867. Debate: "Should the congress of the United States 
 regulate suffrage in the States?" Affirmative, Ben C. Allensworth 
 and George G. Manning, Wrightonians. Negative, Loring A. Chase 
 and Charles H. Fiske, Philadelpians. Instrumental music, Kate 
 Anderson, Pliiladelphian; Fannie Smith, Wrightonian. Misses 
 Barker and Nellie Galusha read the Ladies' Garland; Misses Benton 
 and Lou C. Allen the OleasteUus. The Pliiladelphian vocal music, 
 a duet, by Minnie Boyden and Julia M. Rider; the Wrightonian, a 
 quartette, by Messrs. Kleckner, Waterman, Smith, and Manning. 
 The judges awarded the paper to the Wrightonians, the debate and 
 music to the Philadelphians. 
 
 1868. Debate: " Resolved, That Maximilian's career in connec- 
 tion with Mexican affairs shows that he possessed a noble character 
 as a man and high abilities as a statesman." Affirmative, R. Arthur 
 Edwards and W. C. Griffith, Philadelphians ; negative, W. G. Myer 
 and Ben. Hunter, Wrightonians. Instrumental duets, Jennie Roe 
 and Marian New, Wrightonians; Fannie Smith and Onie Rawlings, 
 Philadelphians. Mary C. Owen and Flora Pennell read the Ladies' 
 Garland; Mary L. Kimbell and Clara D. Burns, the OleasteUus. 
 Yocal music, quartettes. The paper and vocal music were awarded 
 to the Philadelphians; debate and instrumental music to the 
 Wrightouians.
 
 144 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 1869. The debate was on the subject of "Free Trade." 
 Affirmative, H. F. Holcomb and John "W. Gibson, Wrightonians; 
 negative, B. W. Baker and S. Kimlin, Philadelphians. The 
 instrumental music consisted of two duets: Wrightonians, Misses 
 E. Kingsley and Fannie Thomas, piano; Philidelphians, Messrs. J. 
 M. Trimble and T. A. H. Norman, violins. The Oleastellus, Alice 
 C. Chase and Isabel S. Houston. The Ladies' Garland, Alice 
 Emmons and Dell Cook. Yocal music: Wrightonian, a trio by 
 Misses G. Dietrich and F. Smith, and Mr. J. Miner; Philadelphia!), 
 a solo by Mary Hawley. The oration for the Wrightonians was 
 omitted on account of the sickness of their orator, W. II. Smith. 
 The Philadelphian oration was delivered by R. A. Edwards. 
 
 The victory in the debate, vocal and instrumental music, was 
 awarded to the Wrightonians. The paper was awarded to the 
 Philadelphians. It is probably worthy of note, that the debaters 
 submitted the question for debate to the Society, instead of deciding 
 it themselves. 
 
 1870. Debate: "Resolved, That the United States should at 
 once pass a Free Banking Law; and that the banks established under 
 this law should be compelled to redeem their notes in specie." 
 Affirmative, Arthur C. Butler, Edmund J. James, Philadelphians; 
 negative, R. Morris Waterman, Samuel W. Paisley, Wrightonians. 
 Instrumental music, Philadelphian, Mrs. Lillie Moifatt; Wrightonian, 
 Josephine Mosley. The Ladies' 1 Garland was read by Louise Ray 
 and Lottie C. Blake ; the Oleastellus by Onie Rawlings and Lida T. 
 Howland. The vocal music consisted of two duets ; Mrs. Lillie 
 Moifatt and Mary G. Eldridge for the Philadelphians, and Alice B. 
 Ford, and Flora D. Brown for the Wrightonians. W. C. Griffith 
 was the Philadelphian orator, and Henry F. Holcomb the 
 Wrightonian. 
 
 The Philadelphians gained the debate, instrumental music, 
 paper and oration ; the Wrightonians, the vocal music. A day or 
 two before this contest, the Philadelphians told the judge appointed 
 by them that the other judges would make a great difference in their 
 marks, consequently that he should do the same. This judge marked 
 the Philadelphian debate 10, the Wrightonian 5; the Philadelphian 
 paper 10, the Wrightonian 5, and so on, thus making the general 
 average of the three judges, which up to this time decided the 
 contest in favor of the Philadelphians, who, otherwise, would have 
 been defeated. Before the next contest the rule was changed, so that 
 one judge could not out-mark the other two. 
 
 1871. Debate: "Is the policy of making land grants by general 
 government, in aid of railroads, a wise one?" Affirmative, James 
 Hovey and George Blount, Philadelphians; negative, J. M. Wilson 
 and J. E. Lamb, Wrightonians. The instrumental music was given 
 by Miss Roop, Wrightonian, and Miss Ware, Philadelphian. The
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 145 
 
 Oleastellus was read by Misses Franklin and Monroe ; the Ladies' 
 Garland by Misses Gaston and Karr. Miss Mary Stroud sang for 
 the Wrightonians ; Misses Compton and Town, and Mr. F. W. 
 Conrad sang for the Philadelphians. 
 
 The Wrightonians won the debate and vocal music; the Phil- 
 adelphians won the instrumental music and the paper. Shortly 
 before the contest the Philadelphian orator was suspended, and the 
 Wrightonian orator, through courtesy to the Philadelphians, refused 
 to give his exercise. 
 
 1872. Debate: "Hetolwed, That it would not be wise for the 
 State of Illinois to pass a law compelling all persons between the 
 ages of seven and sixteen years, not otherwise well instructed, to 
 attend school for at least four months each year, or for an equivalent 
 amount of time." Affirmative, J. Dickey Templeton and Felix B. 
 Tait, Philadelphians; negative, DeWitt C. Roberts and E. R. E. 
 Kimbrough, Wrightonians. Libbie Peers, Philadelphian, and Anna 
 Hughes, Wrightonian, were the contestants in instrumental music. 
 The Ladies' Garland was read by Amelia H. Kellogg and Mary 
 Hawley. The Oleastellus was read by Nellie S. Edwards and Emma 
 V. Stewart. Each Society furnished a quartette for its number of 
 vocal music. Walter C. Lockwood was the Philadelphian orator, 
 and J. W. Smith, the Wrightonian. 
 
 The Philadelphian Society won the instrumental music, and the 
 Wrightonians the debate, the paper, the vocal music, and the 
 oration. 
 
 1873. The debate was on the question of the general gov- 
 ernment taking control of the telegraph lines. The Wrightonian 
 disputants were R. S. Barton and E. R. Faulkner, affirmative; the 
 Philadelphia!), I. Eddy Brown and J. N. Wilkinson, negative. The 
 contestants in instrumental music were Helen Stone, Wrightonian; 
 Lula Brown Philadelphian. The Oleastellus was read by Misses Pace 
 and Judd. Misses Morgan and Lillian DeGarmo read the Ladies* 
 Garland. Julia Codding sang for the Wrightonians ; Ida L. 
 Aldridge for the Philadelphians. "Mr. Cushman was the Wrightonian 
 orator, and Mr. Conrad the orator of the Philadelphians. 
 
 The Wrightonians were successful in debate, paper and vocal 
 music. The Philadelphians won the instrumental music and oration. 
 
 1874. Debate: "ResoVoed, That the bill known as the Civil 
 Rights Bill, recently passed by the Senate of the United States, 
 should become the law of the land." Affirmative, J. S. Shearer and 
 S. B. Wadsworth; negative, A. D. Beckhart and C. O. Drayton. 
 Miss M. M. Butterfield played for the Philadelphians, and Fanny 
 Wright for the Wrightonians. Anna B. Simmes and Mary L. Bass 
 edited the Philadelphian paper, and Hattie Smith and Agnes E. Ball, 
 the Wrightonian paper. Lillian E. Hanford was the Philadelphian 
 vocalist, and Lydia H. Clark, the Wrightonian vocalist. The orator
 
 14f) HISTOEY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 of the Philadelphians was Charles McMurry; for the Wrightonians, 
 R. L. Barton. 
 
 The Philadelphians were successful in debate, oration, and vocal 
 music; the Wrightonians, in paper and instrumental music. 
 
 1875. Debate: "Resolved, That the law of Congress directing 
 the resumption of Specie Payment in 18T9, in that particular, is 
 injurious to the best interests of the country." Affirmative, $LJL_ 
 Wood and W. W. Brittain, Wrightonians ; negative, Stephen L. 
 Spear and DeWitt C. Tyler, Philadelphians. Instrumental music for 
 the Wrightonians: a duet by Lilly Brown and Anna Pierce; for the 
 Philadelphians: a solo by Amelia Stahl. The Oleastellus was read 
 by Emma Corbett and Julia P. Codding ; the Ladies' Garland by 
 Mary C. Edwards and Jessie P. Codding. Adelaine Goodrich was 
 the Wrightonian vocalist ; Miss L. E. Sanders, Philadelphia!! vocalist. 
 S. B. Hursh. and C. Guy Laybourn were the orators of the Wrigh- 
 tonian and Philadelphian Societies respectively. 
 
 The Wrightonians won the instrumental and vocal music, and the 
 oration. The Philadelphians won the debate and paper. 
 
 1876. Debate: "Resolved, That Chinese immigration to the 
 United States should be prohibited by Congress." Affirmative, Silas 
 Y. Gillan, C. W. Stevenson, Wrightonians ; negative, George L. 
 Hoffman, William C. Picking, Philadelphians. Edward R. Hum- 
 phries was the Philadelphian instrumentalist ; Clarence T. Hardin the 
 Wrightonian. Mary Torrence and Mary A. Anderson edited the 
 Ladies' Garland, Emily Wing and Frances M. Kosier the Oleastellus. 
 Lillian S. Chapman sang for the Philadelphians ; May Ross for the 
 Wrightonians. AVillis C. Glidden gave the Philadelphian, and 
 Edward R. Swett, the Wrightonian oration. 
 
 The Philadelphians received the favorable decision of the judges 
 on debate, and instrumental music ; the Wrightonians on paper, vocal 
 music and oration. 
 
 1877. Debate: "Resolved, That the United States Government 
 should abolish all Protective Tariff." Affirmative, C. Guy Laybourn 
 and John T. Bowles, Philadelphians ; negative, Andrew W. Elder 
 and William McCutcheon, Wrightonians. Instrumental music. 
 Wrightonian, May Ross; Philadelphian, Lillian Peers. The 
 Oleastellus, Flora Fuller and Mina C. Smith. The Ladies'' Garland 
 by Helen L. Wyckoff and Jessie Dexte'r. Vocal music, Alice C. 
 Bradshaw, Wrightonian ; Hattie J. Burgess, Philadelphian. Silas Y. 
 Gillan was the Wrightonian orator, Horace E. Powers the Phila- 
 delphian orator. 
 
 The Wrightonians gained the debate, vocal music, and oration ;' 
 the Philadelphians gained the paper and instrumental music. 
 
 1878. Debate: "Resolved, That the National Banking system 
 should be abolished." Affirmative, Horace E. Powers and Carlton 
 E. Webster, Philadelphians; negative, Samuel B. Hursh, John H.
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 147 
 
 Tear, Wrightonians. The contestants in instrumental music were 
 Minnie G. Adams, Philadelphian ; Hattie O. Hayward, Wrightonian. 
 The Ladies' Garland was read by Lettie J. Smiley and Lou 
 M. Allen ; the Oleastellus, by Emily A. Sherman and Daisy A. 
 Hubbard. Mary L. Criswell, Philadelphian, and Anna Lou Fisher, 
 Wrightonian, were the vocalists. The Philadelphian orator was 
 John Humphrey; the Wrightonian, Frank B. Harcourt. 
 
 The favorable decision of the judges was given to the Philadel- 
 phians on debate and instrumental music; to the Wrightonians, on 
 paper, vocal music, and oration. 
 
 1879. Debate: "Resolved, That General Grant should not be 
 elected president of the United States in 1880." Affirmative, Win. 
 H. Chamberlain and Austin C. Rishel, Philadelphians, and Rudolph 
 Reeder and James W. Adams, Wrightonians. The contestants in 
 instrumental music were Charles D. Lufkin, Wrightonian, and David 
 A. Hill, Philadelphian. The Ladies' Garland was read by Lida 
 Kelly and Elizabeth Glanville; the Oleastellus, by Beth Ford and 
 May Hewett. Emma Bookwalter was the Wrightonian vocalist, and 
 Lizzie K. Harried, the Philadelphian. The orations were delivered 
 by John H. Tear, Wrightonian, and Jesse F. Hannah, Philadel- 
 phian. 
 
 The favorable decision of the judges was given to the Philadel- 
 phians on debate, instrumental music, vocal music, and oration, and 
 to the Wrightonians, on paper. 
 
 1880. Debate: " 'Resolved, That the United States should, in 
 its tariff legislation, adopt the principle, 'A tariff for revenue only." 
 Affirmative, David W. Reid, George Howell, Philadelphians ; 
 negative, Elmer E. Brown, James Y. McHugh, Wrightonians. 
 Instrumental solos, Minnie B. Potter, Philadelphian ; Myrtie M. 
 Freeman, Wrightonian. The Oleastellus was read by Jessie M. 
 DeBerard and Addie Gillan ; the Ladies' Garland by Lizzie P. Swan 
 and Caroline A. Humphrey. Mattie L. Beatty, Philadelpliian, and 
 Margareth Dalrymple, Wrightonian, were the vocalists. James B. 
 Esteo was the Philadelphian orator, and William H. Bean, the 
 Wrightonian. 
 
 The judges awarded to the Philadelphians the debate, instru- 
 mental music and oration ; to the Wrightonians, the paper and vocal 
 music. 
 
 1881. Debate: "Resolved, That the Irish people ought to accept 
 the land bill as a solution of the Irish land question." Affirmative, 
 Frank L. Williams and Murray M. Morrison, Philadelphians; 
 negative, Walter J. Watts, and John H. Fleming, Wrightonians. 
 Instrumental solos, Lida A. Kelly, Philadelphian, and Sadie 
 A. jSToleman, Wrightonian. The Oleastellus, Harriet Scott and 
 Malvina Y. Hodgman. The Ladies'' Garland, May M. Parsons 
 and Marie C. Anderson. Yocalists, Jessie A. Buckman, Wrightouian,
 
 148 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 and Lydia M. Reed, Philadelphia!!. Orations, "Win. D. Edmunds, 
 Wrightonian, and George Howell, Philadelphia!!. 
 
 The judges awarded the Philadelphians the oration, paper, and 
 instrumental music; the Wrightonians, the debate and vocal music. 
 
 INTER-NORMAL CONTESTS. 
 
 Some time ;n the latter part of the fall term of 1878, a certain 
 student of the Illinois State Normal University suggested to a few 
 of the leading society workers among his school-mates, the propriety 
 of inaugurating annual contests between the students of the Illinois 
 State Normal University and those of the Southern Illinois Normal 
 University. The suggestion met with universal approbation, and 
 when President Ilewett was spoken to about the matter, he readily 
 gave his consent, and approved the plan proposed. 
 
 Accordingly, on December 3, a meeting of all students interested 
 in literary work was held in Normal Hall, to discuss the project. 
 William C. Ramsey was made chairman, and Horace E. Powers stated 
 the object of the meeting. On motion, a committee of five was 
 appointed to send a challenge to the students of the Southern Normal. 
 As such committee, the chairman named Silas Y. Gillan, Horace E. 
 Powers, S. B. Hursh, Emily Sherman and Jennie L. Wood. 
 
 On December 4, the challenge was sent. The subsequent history 
 of the contests may be gathered from the following: 
 
 NOKMAL, ILLINOIS, December 4, 1878. 
 
 The students of the Illinois State Normal University, to those of the 
 Southern Illinois Normal University, greeting : 
 
 Recognizing the importance of the culture to be derived from 
 what is known as literary work, and wishing to add a stimulus to such 
 work in the two Normal Schools of Illinois ; believing that both of 
 said schools will be benefited by a better acquaintance with each 
 other ; and on account of our relative stand as Normal Schools, being 
 debarred from participation in the Inter-Collegiate contests, in a 
 spirit of friendship, and not of rivalry, we hereby send you 
 a challenge for a literary contest, to take place during the school 
 week ending March 14, 1879, or as near that time as practicable ; 
 said contest to consist of a debate to be participated in by two 
 representatives from each school, an oration, an essay, a piece of 
 vocal music, and a piece of instrumental music from each school. 
 
 We farther suggest the following conditions, subject to your 
 ratification : 
 
 1. That the contestants shall be bona fide pupils of the schools 
 they represent. 
 
 2. That the place of holding the contest be Normal or Carbon- 
 dale (to be decided by mutual agreement hereafter).
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 149 
 
 3. That the time allowed for each exercise be as follows: 
 Leaders on debate, fifteen minutes each for opening, and ten minutes 
 each for closing; assistants on debate, twelve minutes each; orations 
 and essays, twelve minutes each. 
 
 4. That to the contest meeting an admission fee be charged 
 sufficient to defray expenses, including the traveling expenses of the 
 contestants and judges. 
 
 5. That the decision as to the merits of the exercises be left 
 to a board of three judges, one to be appointed by the State 
 Superintendent, and one by each of the presidents of the two 
 Normal Schools. 
 
 6. That the persons who participate in the first contest be a 
 committee to draft a code of regulations for a similar contest 
 annually. COMMITTEE. 
 
 CARBONDALE, ILLINOIS, December 7, 1878. 
 
 The students represented by the two Societies of the Southern 
 Illinois Normal University, to those of the Illinois State 
 Normal University, greeting: 
 
 Realizing equally with you the importance of literary contests, 
 and recognizing the fact that such contests are never without 
 beneficial results, we accept your challenge for a contest to take 
 place during the school week ending March 14, 1879, or as near that 
 time as may be practicable, with the following modifications : 
 
 That instead of four debaters, there be only two ; and that the 
 debate be limited to fifty minutes, the two opening speeches to be 
 fifteen minutes each, and the two closing ten minutes each, and in 
 place of the two other debaters, there be two declaimers, one from 
 each school, each declamation not to exceed ten minutes ; and that 
 the programme consist of an oration, an essay, a declamation, a 
 debate, one piece of instrumental music, and one piece of vocal music. 
 We propose this modification because it will afford a better 
 representation of society work. Being the challenged party, we 
 insist that the contest be held at Carbondale. 
 
 A. E. PARKINSON, 
 H. A. KIMMELL, 
 DORA A. LIPE, 
 A. C. BURNETT, 
 S. H. NORMAN, 
 W. E. MANN, 
 
 Committee. 
 
 NORMAL, ILLINOIS, December 10, 1878. 
 
 A. E. PARKINSON AND H. A. KIMMELL, Chairmen of Contest Com- 
 mittees, Carbondale, Illinois. 
 
 Gentlemen: Your communication is received. "We accept the 
 modification as to adding a declamation ; but we think you will agree
 
 150 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 with us that it is better to have four speakers on debate ; not only 
 because such is the customary plan in society work, but also because 
 such an arrangement making seven points, will obviate the possibility 
 of a tie in the result. You will readily see that counting seventy-five 
 minutes for debate, twenty-four for essays, twenty-four for orations, 
 twenty for declamations, thirty for music, and ten for recess, the 
 evening's entertainment will not exceed three hours in length. 
 
 We shall probably elect our contestants soon, and then they will 
 take the place of our committee in making permanent arrangements 
 for an annual contest between the two schools. In the meantime, 
 however, we suggest the following: 
 
 That, of the proceeds of the contest each year, whatever remains 
 over and above the expenses be divided equally between the literary 
 societies of the school at which the contest is held ; and in case the 
 proceeds fail to pay the traveling expenses of the judges and 
 contestants, the deficit be made up by the students of the school at 
 which the contest is held. Such a plan will be an incentive to the 
 students at which the contest is held to "work up" the matter by 
 advertising, etc. Of course, this is on the presumption that when 
 once inaugurated, the contests will be held alternately' at Carbondale 
 and Normal. 
 
 It will probably be necessary to have two boards of judges one 
 for music, and one for the literary work. Probably each year two of 
 the judges can be selected from the residents at which the contest is 
 held, thus necessitating the traveling expenses of but four judges 
 and seven contestants, so that the necessary expenses each year, 
 including advertising and the printing of programmes, will probably 
 not exceed one hundred and twenty-five dollars. We feel confident 
 that, with judicious management, an audience of five hundred, or 
 more, can be secured for such an entertainment. 
 
 In respect to the question for debate, our rule here, in the annual 
 contests between the two literary societies, is that the challenging 
 party selects the question, and the other takes choice of sides, within 
 a week after receiving the question. This rule has always been 
 found satisfactory with us, and we suggest the propriety of adopting 
 a similar plan. Yery respectfully, 
 
 SILAS Y. GILLAN, 
 Chairman of Contest Committee. 
 CAKBONDALE, ILLINOIS, December 12, 1878. 
 
 MR. SILAS Y. ' GILLAN, Chairman of Contest Committee, Normal, 
 Illinois. 
 
 Dear Sir: Your communication is at hand. Committee met 
 and decided as follows : 
 
 1. That we insist upon only one debater from each school, for 
 these reasons: (a) With four debaters, the exercises would be four 
 hours long, exclusive of the time occupied in changing, which, at the
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 151 
 
 lowest estimate, would be thirty minutes. (5) In your first proposi- 
 tion, you implied six points, and in our reply, we implied the same 
 number. We insist that the first proposition, as accepted, stand. 
 
 2. That we insist upon only one board of judges, for the reasons: 
 (a) If the judges appointed are capable of judging the literary 
 exercises, they will be capable of judging the music, (i) The 
 probabilities are that the attendance will not be sufficient to defray 
 so much expense. 
 
 The other propositions you make, in regard to expenses, choosing 
 your question, etc., are agreed to. As soon as our contestants are 
 elected, they will be the committee on further arrangements. Please 
 let us know the question for debate as soon as decided upon. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 ARTHUR E. PARKINSON, 
 Chairman of Contest Committee. 
 
 NORMAL, ILLINOIS, December 16, 1878. 
 
 MR. ARTHUR E. PARKINSON, Chairman Contest Committee, Carbon- 
 dale, Illinois. 
 
 Dear Sir: Yours of December 12 is received. In reply, let 
 me say: 1. The fact that our challenge included only six points, was 
 an oversight. There ought to be an odd number of points, as you 
 will no doubt admit. 2. It was with reluctance that we voted to 
 include the declamation, as the aim of our Societies here is to give 
 special prominence to original work. 3. We do not agree with 
 you concerning the judges. On the contrary, we think the instances 
 extremely rare in which one person is capable of judging intelligently 
 of musical and also of literary performances. Yet we grant the 
 possibility of finding judges who are thus capable. 
 
 There seems to be but three points on which we do not agree, 
 and we propose the following compromise : Having already yielded 
 to your wish in regard to introducing the declamation, we shall also 
 yield the other point in regard to the judges, and agree to have but 
 one board. We make these concessions, hoping that you will be 
 so considerate as to yield in the remaining point, and agree to have 
 two debaters on each side; for we deem it of importance that the con- 
 test be inaugurated, and we feel confident that when once the repre- 
 sentatives of the two schools come together, they will be able to adopt 
 permanent regulations that will be fully satisfactory to both parties. 
 
 In regard to the length of the programme, let me say, at our 
 annual contests here, the exercises are not unfrequently three and 
 a half to four hours long ; yet our audiences are always large and 
 never wearied. With a programme consisting of such a variety 
 of exercises, an audience may easily be held for full four hours. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 SILAS Y. GILLAN. 
 Chairman Contest Committee.
 
 152 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 CARBONDALE, ILLINOIS, December 18, 187 s . 
 ME. SILAS Y. GILLAN, Chairman of Contest Committee. 
 
 Dear Sir: Your letter is received. Committee met this p. m., 
 and decided to yield in your favor in regard to the debate. In other 
 words, we agree to the four debaters, but think the exercises will be 
 entirely too long for a Carbondale audience. Please send question 
 for debate as soon as possible. According to this programme there 
 will be seven points. Reply at once. Yours, etc., 
 
 A. E. PARKINSON, Chairman. 
 
 NORMAL, ILLINOIS, January 13, 1879. 
 MR. A. E. PARKINSON, Chairman of Contest Committee. 
 
 Dear Sir: We submit the following subjects for debate, and ask 
 your debaters to select one from them, and take their choice of sides: 
 
 Resolved, That the United States Government ought to take 
 steps to secure such a modification of the treaties with China as 
 would prevent further Chinese immigration. 
 
 Resolved, That our' Government is a league of States, and 
 not a Nation. 
 
 Resolved, That the present system of National Banks should 
 be abolished. 
 
 Resolved, That the United States ought to adopt a system of 
 Free Trade with all nations. 
 
 A word of explanation is perhaps due to you. We hope you 
 will not think we have intentionally delayed the sending of this 
 question for debate. We were not elected until Wednesday evening, 
 and did not know the result until Thursday noon, on which day, and 
 also on Friday, one of us was sick and out of school, so that we did 
 not see each other until after mail time Saturday evening. 
 
 We expect that each of our pieces of music will be a solo. At 
 present, we can not give you the full list of our representatives, as 
 there is a probability that one of our musicians can not serve, and 
 that we shall have to elect another. The election of essayist has 
 been postponed until to-morrow. By next week we shall be able to 
 give you the names of all. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 SILAS Y. GILLAN, Leader on Debate. 
 HORACE E. POWERS, Assistant. "* 
 
 CARBONDALE, ILLINOIS, January 21, 1879. 
 MR. SILAS Y. GILLAN. 
 
 Dear Sir: Yours of the 13th instant is at hand. I should 
 have answered sooner, but our debaters were slow in selecting the 
 question. They decided to-day to accept the first question, and 
 take the affirmative side, thus leaving you the negative. 
 
 Yours truly, A. E. PARKINSON, 
 
 Chairman Contest Committee.
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 153 
 
 The Illinois State Normal vs. the Southern Illinois Normal, at 
 Carbondale, Illinois, Thursday evening, March 13, 1879. Judges, 
 lion. J. II. Oberly, Hon. M. Weir, Hon. E. M. Prince. Dr. Robert 
 Allyn, president of the evening. Programme: Music; prayer; 
 music; debate: "Resolved, That the United States Government 
 ought to take steps to secure such a modification of the treaties with 
 China as would prevent further Chinese immigration." Affirmative, 
 Win. B. Train, Luther A. Johnson (); negative, Silas Y. Gillan, 
 Horace E. Powers (); instrumental solo, "Rondeau Brilliante," 
 Jeannie B. Morrison (J); instrumental solo, "Liszt's II Rhapsodie," 
 Minnie G-. Adams (a); oration, "Results of Doubt," Frank 
 B. Harcourt (a)\ oration, "Republicanism in Europe," Arthur E. 
 Parkinson (&); music; essay, "Let there be Light," Dora A. Lipe 
 (&); essay, "Sermons in Stones," Daisy Hubbard (#); vocal duet, 
 "O'er Hill, O'er Dale," Lizzie Sheppard, Lizzie Harned (5); vocal 
 solo, "Going out with the Tide," E. Carl Webster (<z); declamation, 
 "The Maniac," Mary L. Beecher (a); declamation, "Lost and 
 Found," Maggie Kennedy (&); music, Northern Normal (a), 
 Southern Normal (&). Decision: On debate, instrumental music, 
 essay, and declamation, the judges decided in favor of the State 
 Normal ; and on oration and vocal music, they decided in favor of 
 the Southern Normal. Result: Five points to two points in favor of 
 the State Normal. 
 
 CARBONDALE, January 14, 1880. 
 MR. J. HANNAH, 
 
 Dear Sir: We submit the following question for debate, viz : 
 "Resolved, That the migration of the African race from the Southern 
 States will promote harmony among their citizens and the prosperity 
 of that section." Truly yours, 
 
 E. L. SPRECHER, 
 Chairman of Committee. 
 
 NORMAL, ILLINOIS, January 17, 1880. 
 
 Dear Sir: The question proposed for debate does not seem 
 clear to us in two points. There is doubt as to the meaning of the 
 word migration. Do you mean the migration of the whole African 
 raee, or the present migration with all the uncertainties of the future { 
 Second, we understand you to say this migration, whatever it may 
 be, will promote harmony and prosperity in the States, from which 
 the migration takes place. Is this your meaning? An answer in the 
 form of a revised statement would be preferable. 
 
 Respectfully, 
 
 JESSE F. HANNAH, 
 Chairman Contest Committee.
 
 154 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 CABBONDALE, January 20, 18*0. 
 MR. J. F. HANNAH, Chairman Contest Committee : 
 
 Dear Sir: Your letter concerning the question for debate came 
 to hand to-day. We prefer to leave the question as it stands, and 
 take the popular construction in regard to the meaning of migration 
 of the African race from the Southern States. Putting this interpre- 
 tation upon the question, it seems clear enough to us and seems to 
 be in the proper form. Respectfully, 
 
 CIIAKLES E. HULL, Secretary. 
 NORMAL, ILLINOIS, January 29, 1880. 
 MR. CHARLES E. HULL, Secretary Contest Committee. 
 
 Dear Sir: We have decided to support the affirmative of the 
 question proposed for debate. Respectfully, JESSE F. HANXAII, 
 
 Chairman Contest Committee. 
 
 Second Annual Inter-Normal Contest, Normal, Thursday evening, 
 March 11, 1880. Judges, S. S. Lawrence, Esq., Pontiac, Illinois; 
 William Hill, M. I)., Bloomington, Illinois; T. T. Fountain, Esq., 
 DuQuoin, Illinois. Programme: Quartette, "Carnovale" (Rosmi), 
 Normal Quartette Club; debate, "Resolved, That the migration of the 
 African race from the Southern States will promote harmony among 
 the citizens and the prosperity of that section." Affirmative, John H. 
 Tear, Austin C. Rishel (a); negative, Charles E. Hull, Lauren L. 
 Bruck; instrumental solos, "Last Rose of Summer," Miss Annie C. 
 Wheeler (&), "Le Dernier Sourire," Miss Hattie Potter (a). Recess. 
 Essays, "Want Stimulates to Action," Henry A. Kimmel (&); "Jean 
 Ingelow," Miss Sarah Brooks (); vocal solos, "In Quests Simplice," 
 Miss Mary B. Walker (&); "Who's at my Window?" Miss Emma 
 Bookwalter (a); orations, "The Desire of Eminence," Harold W. 
 Lowrie (6); "Just Beyond," Jesse F. Hannah (a); declamations, "No 
 Sects in Heaven," Miss Alice Krysher (&); "Rock me to Sleep," Miss 
 Addie Gillan (dr.); quartette, "In this Hour of Softened Splendor," 
 Normal Quartette Club. State Normal (a); Southern Normal (b). 
 Decision: State Normal won the whole seven points. 
 
 The following persons had the honor of being elected for the 
 third Inter-Normal contest: Debate, David W. Reid and James Y. 
 McIIugh; essay, James B. Estee; declamation, Robert Elder; vocal 
 music, Margareth Dairy rnple; instrumental music, Minnie B. Potter; 
 oration, George Howell. 
 
 NORMAL, January 12, 1881. 
 To DR. ALLYN, President of the Southern Normal University : 
 
 We send this question for contest debate: "Resolved, That the 
 I'nited States, in its tariff legislation, should adhere to the principle 
 of a Protective Tariff." Respectfully, 
 
 (Telegram.) NORMAL DEBATERS.
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 155 
 
 CABBONDALB, ILLINOIS, January 14, 
 E. 0. HE \VKTT, LL. D., President Illinois State Normal University, 
 
 Normal, Illinois. 
 
 Dear Sir: I yesterday received a telegram, purporting to be 
 from the contest debaters of your University, stating a question for 
 debate and implying a desire for an answer. 
 
 I am at a loss about replying. But as our students have made no 
 movement in the matter of any future contests, and just now seem 
 wholly indifferent about doing so, indeed, appear rather indisposed 
 to move, I have deemed it best to say so much that you may com- 
 municate it to your contestants. 
 
 I may add that my opinion, personally, is decidedly averse to 
 more contests conducted as the two already had have been carried 
 on. I have scarcely named it to our faculty, but from casual words 
 dropped from time to time, I infer their opinions coincide with mine. 
 Our students, as yet, have made no arrangements for a contest, and 
 when I mentioned the fact of the telegram, seemed wholly apathetic. 
 I am, very respectfully and obediently, 
 
 ROBERT ALLYN. 
 
 ARMY LIST. 
 
 The following named persons, formerly teachers or students in 
 the Normal University, were in the Union army: 
 
 TEACHERS NORMAL DEPARTMENT. 
 
 Charles E. Hovey, . . Brevet Major-General, U. S. Vol. 
 
 (a) Dr. E. R. Roe, . Lieut. Col., 33d 111. Inf. 
 
 Leander H. Potter, . . Lieut. Col., 33d 111. Inf. 
 
 Ira Moore, . . Capt, Co. G, 33d 111. Inf. 
 
 Julien E. Bryant, . . Lieut. Col., 1st Miss., (C. V.) 
 
 *Dr. Sainl. Willard, . Surgeon, 97th 111. Inf. 
 
 STUDENTS NORMAL DEPARTMENT. 
 
 Edward Allyn, . . Private, Co. A, 33d 111. Inf. 
 
 Jas. II. Beach, . . Private, Co. H, 20th 111. Inf. 
 
 *Wm. C. Baker, . . Ord. Sergt, Co. A, 33d 111. Inf. 
 
 Eugene F. Baldwin, . Ord. Sergt., Co. B, 12th Ind. Inf. 
 
 Wm. A. Black, . . Private, Co. , 87th III. Inf. 
 
 James II. Baily, . Gunboat Service. 
 
 (J)Charles Bovee, . . Corp., Co. A, 33d 111. Inf. 
 
 James M. Burch, . Capt., Co.., 94th 111. Inf. 
 
 Lorenzo D. Bovee, . . Private, Co. E, 100th 111. Inf. 
 
 George M. Berkley, . Corp., Co. C, 13th 111. Inf. 
 
 Joseph M. Chase, . . Corp., Co. , 3d 111. Cav. 
 
 Wilson M. Chalfant, . Private, Co. , 104th 111. Inf. 
 
 (tf)Charles M. Clark, . Quarter-master, 2d La., (C. V.)
 
 156 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 (d)Wm. P. Carter, 
 
 *J. W. Cox, 
 
 Lewis P. Cleavelaud, 
 
 fPeter T. Crist, 
 
 Elmer F. Clapp, 
 
 Jesse Cunningham, 
 
 (0)Ephraim D. Carrothers, 
 
 John T. Curtis, 
 
 J. Harvey Dutton, 
 
 (/YWm. H. H. DeBoice, 
 
 (<7)Wm. Downer, 
 
 ^Valentine Denning, . 
 
 James R. Fyffe, 
 
 Win. M. Fyffe, 
 
 Wm. H. H. Fuller, 
 
 C. Judson Gill, 
 James Gilbraeth, 
 E. Aaron Gove, 
 (A)Francis M. Gastman, 
 Wm. A. Gunn, 
 fdiarles Hayes, 
 Peter Harper, 
 John H. Hume, 
 John M. House, 
 Otho H. Hibbs, . 
 *Ebenezer D. Harris, 
 Charles E. Huston, 
 Wm. W. Hall, 
 Chas. D. Irons, . 
 Duncan G. Ingraham, 
 Hiram W. Johnson, 
 (^)Fred B. Jones, 
 (^Christopher Krebs, 
 John D. Kirkpatrick, 
 A. B. Keagle, 
 Matthew K. Kell, 
 Wm. Law, 
 Dr. Jehu Little, 
 (&)Alvin T. Lewis, 
 Clark Leal, 
 *Moses I. Morgan, 
 (Z)Isaac N. McCuddy, 
 Joseph K. McGregor, 
 fGeorge Marsh, 
 
 Corp., Co. C, 40th 111. Inf. 
 Private, Co. C, 33d 111. Inf. 
 Ord. Sergt., 1st Ala., (C. Y.) 
 Private, Co. F, 68th 111. Inf. 
 Private, Co. C, 76th 111. Inf. 
 Private, Co. E, 78th 111. Inf. 
 Sergt., Co. , 20th 111. Inf. 
 Hospital Steward, 97th 111. Inf. 
 1st Lieut, Co. A, 33d 111. Inf. 
 Private, Co. A, 33d 111. Inf. 
 Sergt., Co. E, 70th 111. Inf. 
 Private, Co. G, 4th 111. Cav. 
 2d Lieut., Co. A, 33d 111. Inf. 
 Private, Yaughn's Springfield Bat. 
 1st Lieut, Co. G, 84th 111. Inf. 
 
 Detailed as Signal Officer on 
 
 Gen. McCook's Staff. 
 Capt, Co. B, 33d 111. Inf. 
 Private, Co. , 3d 111. Cav. 
 Adjutant, 33d 111. Inf. 
 Corp., Co. A, 33d 111. Inf. 
 Sergt., Co. K, 8th 111. Inf. 
 Private, Co. K, 8th 111. Inf. 
 Sergt, Co. G, 4th Wis. Inf. 
 Corp., Co. , llth 111. Cav. 
 
 110th 111. Inf. 
 
 Private, Co. E, 94th 111. Inf. 
 Corp., Co. A, 33d 111. Inf. 
 Private, Co. A., 33d 111. Inf. 
 Sergt, Co. , 115th 111. Inf. 
 Private, Co. , 77th 111. Inf. 
 Corp., Co. B, 33d 111. Inf. 
 Sergt, Co. E, 8th 111. Inf. 
 Private, Co. , 77th 111. Inf. 
 Private, Co. B, 8th 111. Inf. 
 Private, Co. B, 93d 111. Inf. 
 1st Lieut, Co. D, 117th 111. Inf. 
 Private, Co. D, 49th 111. Inf. 
 Com. Sergt, 47th 111. Inf. 
 1st Asst. Surgeon, 24th Mo. Inf. 
 Corp., Co. A, 33d 111. Inf. 
 Private, Co. A, 118th 111. Inf. 
 Capt, Co. B, 33d 111. Inf. 
 Corp., Co. A, 33d 111. Inf. 
 
 , Irish Brigade. 
 Private, Co. K, 69th 111. Inf.
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 
 
 157 
 
 Win. W. Murphy, 
 G. Hyde Norton, 
 *Marvin J. Nye, 
 Edwin Philbrook, 
 Truman J. Pearee, 
 * James G. Pearce, 
 Henry C. Prevost, 
 Edward M. Pike, 
 Henry H. Pope, 
 George Peter, 
 Richard R. Puffer, 
 Orange Parret, 
 Logan II. Roots, 
 Rasselas P. Reynolds, 
 Geo. McClellan Rex, 
 Thomas M. Roberts, . 
 *John II. Rhomack, 
 J. M. Stine, 
 f-Justiri S. Spaulding, 
 Gilbert L. Seybold, . 
 Byron Sheldon, . 
 Samuel Smith, 
 (m) John son W. Straight, . 
 Edwin Scranton, 
 Frederick J. Seybold, 
 fWm. A. II. Tilton, . 
 John J. Taylor, . 
 John H. Walker, 
 John X. Wilson, 
 Chas. E. Wilcox, 
 James E. Willis, 
 Peleg R. Walker, 
 Chas. W. Wills, 
 Theophilus F. Willis, 
 Wm. Walton, 
 Cvrus I. Wilson, 
 J." R. Walker, . 
 
 Sergt., Co. , 87th 111. Inf. 
 Capt., Co. A, 33d 111. Inf. 
 Private, Co. A, 33d 111. Inf. 
 Quarter-master Sergt., 8th 111. Inf. 
 Private, Co. A, 33d 111. Inf. 
 Private, Ottawa Battery. 
 Sergt. Major, 94th 111. Inf. 
 Ord. Sergt., Co. A, 33d 111. Inf. 
 Capt, Co. D, 33d 111. Inf. 
 Ord. Sergt., Co. A, 43d 111. Inf. 
 Private, Co. E, 8th 111. Inf. 
 Private, Co. B, 77th 111. Inf. 
 Quarter-master, 81st 111. Inf. 
 Corp., Co. A, 33d 111. Inf. 
 Private, Co. I, 33d 111. Inf. 
 
 , Co. B, 47th 111. Inf. 
 
 Private, Co. G., 68th Ohio Inf. 
 Private, Co. M, 16th 111. Cav. 
 Private, Co. K, 8th 111. Inf. 
 Private 1 , Co. A, 33d 111. Inf. 
 
 , , 111. Inf. 
 
 Private, Co. A, 33d 111. Inf. 
 Private, Co. A, 33d 111. Inf. 
 Miss. Marine Brigade. 
 
 , , 111. Inf. 
 
 Ord. Sergt, 68th 111. Inf. 
 
 , Co. K, 20th 111. Inf. 
 
 Private, Co. E, 58th 111. Inf. 
 1st Lieut., Co. F, 33d 111. Inf. 
 Sergt. Major, 33d 111. Inf. 
 Private, Co. F, 87th 111. Inf. 
 2d Lieut, Co. K, 92d 111. Inf. 
 Capt., Co. , 103d 111. Inf. 
 Private, Co. C, llth 111. Inf. 
 
 III. 1111. 
 
 , , 111. Inf. 
 
 Capt., Co. , 28th 111. Inf. 
 
 TEACHERS MODEL SCHOOL. 
 
 (^Joseph G. ITowell, 
 *J. Howard Burnham, 
 
 Franklin B. Augustus, 
 
 Joshua Baily, 
 
 I John G. Dietrich, 
 
 f Joseph T. Davisoii. 
 11 
 
 1st Lieut., Co. K, 8th 111. Inf. 
 . Capt. Co. A, 33d 111. Inf. 
 
 STUDENTS MODEL SCHOOL. 
 
 Private, Co. A, 33d 111. Inf. 
 . ' Ord. Sergt., Co. B, 73d 111. Inf. 
 
 Private, Co. , 68th 111. Inf. 
 . Sergt, Co. F, 68th 111. Inf.
 
 158 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 Arthur H. Dillon, . Private, Co. A, 33d 111. Inf. 
 
 ITlysses D. gddy, . . 1st Lieut., 4th K Y. Art. 
 
 Richard Huxtable, . Private, Co. H, 77th 111. Inf. 
 
 William Hogue, ' . . Private, Co. G, 69th HI. Inf. 
 
 Jas. F. Hough, . . , , 33d 111. Inf. 
 
 tRobert McCart, . . Sergt, Co. G, 68th 111. Inf. 
 
 - Mills, . . , , 111. Inf. 
 
 0) William A. Pearce, . Private, Co. A, 33d 111 Inf. 
 
 f Edward L. Price, . Corp., Co. F, 68th 111. Inf. 
 
 Myron J. Peterson, . . Private, Co. E, 75th HI. Inf. 
 
 fFrancis S. Eearden, . Corp., Co. G, 68th HI. Inf. 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 *Resigned or honorably discharged, on account of continued ill health. 
 
 fThree months' service. 
 
 (rf)Disabled by wounds at the siege of Vicksburg, and resigned. 
 
 (ft)Disabled by five wounds, and honorably discharged. 
 
 (c)Mortally wounded at Milliken's Bend, Louisiana, June 7, 1863. 
 
 (d)Disabled by wounds at Shiloh, and honorably discharged. 
 
 (e)Killed at the siege of Fort Donelson. 
 
 (/)Died in hospital at Ironton, Missouri, February, 1862. 
 
 (^)Died July 23, 1862. 
 
 (^)Died in camp, on Black River, Missouri, March 23, 1862. 
 
 (i)Reported killed at the siege of Vicksburg, May, 23, 1863. 
 
 (J)Disabled by wounds at Donelson and Shiloh, and honorably discharged. 
 
 (fc)Killed at Wilkinson's Landing, Mississippi. August 4, 1862. 
 
 (Z)Died in hospital at Ironton, Missouri, October, 1861. 
 
 (m)Lpst an arm in battle, and returned to Normal. 
 
 (n)Killed a t the siege of Fort Donelson. 
 
 (o)Killed at the battle of Jackson, Mississippi, July 12, 1863. 
 
 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 Commissioned officers, 27; non-commissioned officers, 83; privates, 45; niuk 
 unknown, 12.
 
 REMINISCENCES. 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF EAKLT TIMES. 
 
 One of our early peculiarities was the possession of ninety acres 
 of land for a model farm, and the existence of the idea that agricul- 
 tural chemistry, if no more, was to be taught in the institution. 
 With the laudable desire to spread a little agricultural knowledge 
 over as large a surface as possible, the Board managed to secure a 
 course of lectures on chemistry, with the intention of making, event- 
 ually, some kind of universal application of the principles to the 
 agricultural improvement of the State, through the knowledge 
 infused or injected into the Normal School. A lecturer was therefore 
 employed, who gave us highly interesting discourses upon the 
 principles of chemistry. He laid down the law at a galloping pace, 
 took us below the crust of the earth and beyond the planetary bodies 
 in a remarkably short time, pouring out knowledge at the rate of 
 no one knows how many volumes per month. 
 
 Had we all been short-hand reporters, and had we been given 
 time to write out and study his information, it is quite probable 
 we might have acquired some knowledge of the great science of 
 chemistry, and might at some future day, when teaching in the rural 
 districts, have given the world some benefit from the lightning calcu- 
 lations. But as we knew nothing of the tricks of short-hand writing, 
 and were not even allowed to take notes, and had no breathing spells 
 allowed for that purpose, it naturally happened that the old adage 
 pertaining to things that go in at one ear and out at another, had 
 pertinent application. After a number of weeks of this treatment, 
 some one, possibly one of our hard-working drill masters, with a 
 weary experience of our general dullness, suggested that in all prob- 
 ability, the pupils were not fully appreciating the magnificent ideas 
 cast before their feeble understandings. But our remarkable lecturer, 
 who fully understood his own teachings, believed he had been 
 so careful in his statements, and had made his way so remarkably 
 straight and plain that the school had certainly mastered the subject 
 as far as he had progressed, and refused to believe there was any 
 doubt upon the subject.
 
 160 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 It was then suggested that in order to test our knowledge, a 
 written examination be sprung upon us without warning, and that 
 the result would show our ignorance, though it might not prove his 
 failure to give us an opportunity to learn. The lecturer at once fell 
 into the trap, if trap there was. We were provided with blank 
 paper in the ordinary way, and a list of questions was propounded 
 in the ordinary way. In his anxiety to prove our thoroughness, he 
 gave but a few simple questions. The latter were in many instances 
 answered correctly, but as the pupils might have learned these points 
 through general sources of information, the real test was considered 
 to be the answers to questions of a technical nature. These were 
 generally so far above the pupil's comprehension that very little 
 stationery was spoiled by any attempt at answering, and the paper, 
 like our minds, came out of the ordeal as blank as before. One 
 question I shall never forget, though the proper answer has not been 
 found in twenty years of extensive reading, "What is Allotropism?" 
 Only three or four attempted to grapple with this terrible fiend. 
 One believed it a system of medicine in opposition to homeopathy; 
 one believed it a species of extinct mammalia; and one did actually 
 show, by his answer, that the word had. been railroaded into some 
 previous lecture. I shall never forget the expression of our lecturer's 
 face, as he read these answers which were to be taken as evidence 
 of his admirable system, and which gave proof so conclusive that 
 the lecturer's platform was after that generally vacant during the 
 s of the Normal. 
 
 Another theory was tested to the satisfaction of the school, but 
 it never came to a full and final end in my time, and this was the 
 idea that each and every person can be made a musician, or a teacher 
 of music. Some of the members of the State Board went so far as 
 to refuse to believe a pupil should be allowed to graduate unless he 
 was able to teach music and lead in singing. Prof. C. M. Cady, of 
 Chicago, was employed, with strict instructions to spare no pains to 
 prove the correctness of the theory of the existence of universal 
 musical ability. He divided the school into four sections. "A" was 
 made up of good singers, those who had good voices, and also could 
 read music readily by sight. "JB" included moderately well-informed 
 singers, and those who were capable of being rapidly advanced. 
 "C" comprised all with a natural ear for music; those whose 
 voices needed training to fit them for a place in the upper classes. 
 According to popular report, section "D" was made up of "birds 
 that couldn't sing, and that could never be made to sing." This 
 class was small, but desperate. It labored zealously to grasp the 
 rudiments of the grand art, but its best efforts were failures, and it 
 became, in the course of a year or so, the laughing stock of the entire 
 school. Being an early and constant member of this class, I have a
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 161 
 
 right to mention its woes and tribulations, and to observe that it 
 finally graduated from the pursuit of knowledge under those 
 difficulties, by rising in a body and leaving the hall when the music 
 hour arrived, no permission being asked or given, it being tacitly 
 conceded that the pet theory of universal musical training had 
 broken under the strain. 
 
 If any have never heard of the great and good Prof. Washington 
 Irving Vescellius, or the great American card writer, they would 
 thank me for the information that he was the first "professor" 
 employed in the Normal 'University. Before his time, down to a 
 somewhat later date, all our instructors were teachers, and they were 
 unsparing in ridiculing the ordinary professors of the State. How 
 the title ever took root here, after our experience with the great 
 Vescellius, passes my humble comprehension. This remarkable 
 professor gave general writing lessons to the whole school, much 
 after the fashion of the agricultural chemistry class. Under his 
 tuition, all the students were to be brought to the highest style of 
 penmanship, and after graduation, were to be prepared to compete 
 with other American card writers, and might be supposed capable of 
 conducting an evening writing school. This accomplishment, when 
 added like a mansard roof to the ability to teach music, would 
 effectually dispense with the traveling professor, whose cards 
 displaying impossible doves and eagles are hung up in the postoffices 
 and other public resorts, and with the above-mentioned musical 
 accomplishment, render writing and singing teachers extinct races, 
 only to be met with in the lightest of light literature of the day. 
 Professor Washington Irving Yescellius was considerably inflated by 
 the promotion thus accorded to his merit, gave his whole soul to the 
 work, and delighted himself and the school by the most brilliant 
 blackboard exercises. Upon one unfortunate occasion he told the 
 school the lesson of the day was to be the " shyrographic curve," 
 and the general subject of "shyrography." I believe the gentleman 
 wondered why this particular lesson proved so amusing to the school, 
 and that he believed himself a much injured person, when the faculty 
 soon after dispensed with his further services. 
 
 Music and penmanship were to be supplemented by the elegant 
 accomplishment of drawing, and we were engaged three hours each 
 week in this delightful pastime. Our instructor was a sedate Episco- 
 pal clergyman, whose home was at Springfield. lie believed in 
 training all the faculties, and was anxious we should acquire proper 
 ideas of perspectives, and lines, and shades, and shadows, and 
 become experts in some one branch of this delightful art. He con- 
 ceived the idea of teaching the construction of capital letters on a
 
 162 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 large scale, giving blackboard exercises to the whole school by 
 sections, in hopes, I suppose, that we might some day compete with 
 sign painters. I remember that when his class was examined at the 
 close of the winter term in 1860, our beloved professor requested 
 section "C" to give an illustration of the method of constructing 
 the letter "E." History compels me to remark that several of his 
 pupils had attained such proficiency that they certainly were fully 
 worthy of taking rank with second-class sign painters, and their 
 capital letters were really almost capital specimens of art. 
 
 Our Mr. Hewett was perhaps as much given to bright sayings 
 and happy retorts in those days as he is at present, and on this 
 occasion he perpetrated one of his very best. Passing in review in 
 front of the long blackboard in company with our professor, he 
 quietly remarked: "Section C has performed to-day with great 
 ease." (E's.) Our quiet teacher, not given to wit and humor, agreed 
 with a gentle laugh, and through his mind there galloped no idea 
 of the peculiar humor of the remark. During the evening of that 
 day, at a social gathering of teachers and pupils, some one explained 
 to our drawingrnaster, with not a little difficulty, the real point of 
 Mr. Hewett's little joke. When he thoroughly took in the situation, 
 his joy and gratification knew no bounds. "Section 'C' performed 
 with great E's," he repeated over and over again, and seemed at 
 last to fully realize that something truly good had actually been said. 
 
 Scene: assembly room. McMackin standing at the dictionary- 
 table looking up a word; no member of the faculty in the room, 
 Dr. Edwards in charge, having stepped out; Frank Scarles, going 
 out to the reading-table, meets a greenhorn just in to enter school, 
 who inquires, "Say, Mister, where can I find the president? I 
 want to come to school." Searles directs him to " that man stand- 
 ing by the table," pointing out McMackin. He walks through 
 the room and approaches Me., with "Say, er you the president?" 
 Me. (very coolly and complacently), "Yes, sir; what can I do for 
 you?" "I want to come to school." Me. looks at him a moment 
 in a dignified manner, "Oh, ah, yes; well, I never attend to 
 matters of that kind myself; you'll have to see my private secre- 
 tary." [Enter Dr. Edwards.] "There he comes now; that bald- 
 headed man. You just step to his desk; he will tell you what to do." 
 
 THE ECLIPSE OF THE MOON. 
 
 In the fall of 1874, on a certain Saturday evening, a total eclipse 
 of the moon was advertised. The performance was to begin at one 
 o'clock Sunday morning. After society meeting, those who were
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 163 
 
 members of the "seventh hour class" strolled off in groups, two 
 in a group, or whiled away the blissful moments discussing the 
 critic's report, or the general topic of spelling; feeling all the while 
 that eclipses were a grand, good blessing to those who found it 
 difficult to frame excuses for occupying the parlor late at night and 
 burning so much of the landlady's kerosene. The strictly steady 
 ones went to bed ; for, truth to tell, many of them had not heard 
 that there was going to be an eclipse. A few boys, however, deter- 
 mined to "raise a racket" worthy of the occasion. Gathering about 
 forty on the east side, they crossed the University campus to the 
 west side, where were a large number of boys, "batching" and in 
 clubs. Most of them were asleep. Collecting about the houses, the 
 crowd would make night hideous until those within were prevailed 
 upon to join the party. Re-crossing the ground, with numbers 
 doubled, they reached the club house, popularly known as "Saint's 
 Rest," next door to Dr. Hewett's residence, and quieter measures 
 at first were resorted to in order to raise the boys, who were 
 chiefly of the strictly circumspect sort. A committee of two or 
 three went to each room, but some of those within, probably filled 
 with visions of cruel hazing, resolutely refused to admit the callers. 
 In vain the explanation was made that the intention was only to 
 raise as large a crowd as possible, call out one of the professors and 
 get him to "talk eclipse." One burly, broad-shouldered fellow 
 displayed violent symptons of becoming unpleasantly pugilistic. All 
 but two or three, however, yielded at last, and by this time the 
 eclipse was coming on. 
 
 As to which one of the faculty should be called out, was the 
 next question. Edwards wouldn't do. He would probably take 
 it amiss. So thought several of the leaders of the party who did not 
 happen to be on the most amicable terms with the president. 
 "Doc." (Sewall) was just the man, but he was not at home. Pro- 
 fessor Hewett was selected as the victim. The company of about 
 one hundred ranged along the street in front of the professor's 
 house. A committee of three "waited on him" by vigorously ring- 
 ing the door-bell until he was wakened. It would seriously impair 
 the writer's reputation as a truthful historian to say that Dr. Hewett 
 was in full dress when he appeared at the door to inquire, " What's 
 the matter?" With a word of explanation from the boys, he took 
 in the situation in a moment. Said he had returned late in the 
 evening from a trip by rail, and too weary and sleepy to sit up till 
 the time of the eclipse, had gone to bed, but thanked the boys 
 kindly for waking him. Then, putting on wraps, he came out, and 
 for more than an hour entertained and instructed us with explana- 
 tions and facts regarding the heavenly bodies. Altogether, it was 
 probably the best remembered lecture on astronomy that any of 
 those who heard it, listened to during their course in school.
 
 164 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 THE LIBERAL FIGHT. 
 
 In the fall of 1874, the following young men, who were then 
 students of the State Normal University, organized a society, termed 
 the "Liberal Club," which originally consisted of John Shearer, 
 Samuel Wadsworth, L. B. "Wood, Stephen Spear, Charles Howard, 
 Christopher Stephenson, George Snelling, Asbury Crawford, - 
 
 McPherson, Hume, Adam Hoffman, and Geo, L. Hoffman, 
 
 which was subsequently joined by W. C. Gemmill, S. B. Hursh, J. 
 N. Hursh, Cyrus W. Picking, George Beaty, Albert Snare, Dorus 
 
 Hatch, Brown, a Hindoo, Charles Schwer, \M Merriett, Vo*-" 
 
 Trenchard, and others. No one could become a member of this club 
 unless he had met with the club for at least two evenings, and 
 received the unanimous vote of all the members present at a regular 
 meeting, nor unless the members were satisfied that the applicant for 
 membership fully understood the nature and object of the club, 
 which usually met in a small office on Main street, in Normal The 
 object of the club being mutual improvement, and an impartial 
 investigation, as near as might be, of such subjects as might be 
 deemed beneficial and of common interest to the members of the 
 club, and that free scope should be given to a proper discussion of 
 any subject under consideration, each member feeling that his honest 
 opinions could be frankly stated and his doubts expressed without 
 restraint, and that no matter how diversified the opinions of the 
 different members would be, each member and his opinions should 
 be treated with respect, whether upon questions of education, 
 politics, science, morals, or religion. Hence the name, "Liberal 
 Club." To many, the name suggested that the club was antagonistic 
 to orthodox religion, but this was primarily foreign to its object, 
 although, incidentally, its members invaded the domain of orthodoxy, 
 for opinions were freely expressed upon various phases of religion, its 
 creeds, doctrines, and sects, as well as upon other topics of interest. 
 The club work consisted in reading and commenting upon Tyndall's 
 Belfast address, Draper's Intellectual Development of Europe, 
 Huxley, Darwin, Winshel on Evolution, Herbert Spencer, Butler's 
 Analogy, Theodore Parkers Discourse on Religion, and other books 
 of like character. Besides, essays were written by the members, and 
 read and criticised by the club. All the members were liberally 
 inclined in their religious views, and frequently gave expression to 
 their religious sentiments in the Wrightoniaii and Philadelphian 
 Societies of the Normal University. Of this, the strict orthodox 
 members of these Societies disapproved, and especially those 
 belonging to the Young Men's Christian Association; consequently, 
 they arrayed themselves against the Liberal Club, and recognized its 
 members as antagonistic to religion and its institutions, and endeav-
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 165 
 
 ored to tolerate no exercises in the Societies which tended to be at 
 variance with orthodox doctrine. The Liberals, acting on the 
 defensive, claimed that the Societies were secular institutions, and 
 that there was no more impropriety in discussing theological subjects, 
 in an honest and candid manner, than there was in treating other 
 topics. This opposition to the Liberals brought about a zealous 
 rivalry between the Liberals and their friends, and the Young Men's 
 Christian Association and their sympathizers. 
 
 The strong opposition to the Liberals became clearly manifested 
 in the Societies after the Liberals had arranged to prepare a pro- 
 gramme for each Society, which was to consist of exercises given by 
 members of the Liberal Club alone. The proposition had been 
 accepted by Mr. Drayton, president of the Philadelphian Society, and 
 Josiah Hodge, president of the Wrightonian Society. This was 
 in the fall of 1874 or 1875. Adam Hoffman, who was a member of 
 the Liberal C^ub, succeeded Mr. Hodge as president of the 
 Wrightonian Society. It was during Hoffman's administration that 
 the programme prepared by the Liberals for the Wrightonian Society 
 was given. For admitting this programme, the president was 
 censured by a majority vote of the Society. This motion was made 
 and supported by members of the Young Men's Christian Associ- 
 ation and others opposed to the Liberal Club. This motion called 
 forth heated discussion for several evenings, and finally a motion to 
 strike the vote of censure from the record prevailed, without a 
 dissenting voice. Some of those who supported the motion of 
 censure, after due deliberation, concluded that they were hasty. 
 Thus, the trouble in the Wrightonian Society was ended, and 
 harmony was restored. Soon after, the programme prepared by the 
 Liberals for the Philadelphian Society, was given after some little 
 opposition. No reasonable objection could be urged against the 
 character of these programmes. They were in every respect com- 
 mendable and worthy to be offered in the society halls. The 
 opposition was to the privilege granted to the Liberals, rather than 
 to the nature of their exercises. The leaders of the opposition to 
 the Liberals were W. S. Mills, L. C. Dougherty, J. P. Hodge, 
 James Ellis, B. F. Stocks, Kenyon and others. 
 
 The next contest took place in the Philadelphian Society at its 
 spring election, when there were two candidates for president, viz.: 
 Laybourn and Charles McMurry, the latter receiving the support of 
 the Liberals, although he had no connection with them, and the 
 former being the choice of the Young Men's Christian Association. 
 There would have been no difficulty at this election had not Lay- 
 bourn's supporters promulgated that the Liberal's were supporting 
 McMurry, and that McMurry must be defeated. This caused an 
 issue to be made between the Liberals and the Young Men's Chris- 
 tian Association, at this election. Both parties zealously engaged in
 
 166 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 securing voters and advocating their claims. On the day of election, 
 when the result was announced, it was evident that Charles McMurry 
 was elected, whereupon a few of Lay-bourn's ardent supporters 
 charged fraud upon the judges, George Beaty, D. C. Tyler and Miss 
 Mary Anderson, and, at the following meeting of the Society, 
 succeeded in carrying a motion for another election, without Urst 
 duly investigating the election. This arbitrary move was denounced 
 as unjust and illegal by McMurry' s friends. The excitement was 
 intense for several days. Special meetings were called for the 
 purpose of determining the proper mode of proceeding for an investi- 
 gation of the election, but no terms could be reached other than that 
 there should be another election without further ceremony. The 
 McMurry constituents refused to yield their position, as well as their 
 antagonists. The strife was growing fiercer, day by day r and no com- 
 promise could be effected, until finally some of the members of the 
 faculty saw proper and necessary to advise. Upon their suggestion 
 that it would be best to consent to another election without further 
 difficulty, the Liberals and McMurry' s friends generally, yielded, and 
 another election was called. The excitement had risen to such a 
 pitch that it interfered with the regular school work of those who 
 were most interested. As soon as it was conceded that there would 
 be another election, both factions at once proceeded to solicit mem- 
 bers to pay their dues, so that they could vote. Before the close 
 of the election, the number of voting members in the Philadelphian 
 Society was more than doubled', and the election again resulted in 
 favor of Charles McMurry. Both candidates were highly esteemed 
 by the students, and either would have been satisfactory so for as 
 they were individually concerned. But the fight was between the 
 factions, rather than for their candidates. When McMurry 's election 
 was announced, a scene of wild excitement took place, after an 
 interval, of stillness, during the counting of the votes. After this 
 election, all differences were adjusted, and the waging factions ceased 
 their hostilities toward each other, and it was generously conceded by 
 the leaders in the fight that both parties were too rash, and acted 
 imprudently. It is an event that will always be remembered by 
 those who attended school during the period of the Liberal contest. 
 After sallies of passion and burning remarks, came deliberation and 
 candor. Whatever the Liberal or the orthodox may have said in 
 the Societies which was of sufficient force to call forth comment 
 must at last have been of mutual benefit, either in tempering or 
 strengthening both in their respective convictions.
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 167 
 
 WORKING THE ROADS. 
 
 In the spring of 1877, about twenty-five of the boys were 
 notified by the local authorities to work the usual two days on the 
 roads. A meeting of the students interested in the matter was held 
 in Dr. Sewall's room, and the subject was thoroughly discussed. It 
 was decided that they should turn out in a body, each one taking 
 three others to work on his time, thus putting in the required two 
 days in half a day. A committee of five, consisting of Messrs. 
 Gillan, Berkstresser, Faulkner, Boyer, and Bainum, was appointed 
 to make necessary arrangements for the particulars of the plan. The 
 committee drew up a code of regulations which all agreed to observe, 
 to the effect that: 
 
 1. All were to come to school at the usual time the next 
 morning, and remain until after devotional exercises and spelling, 
 and when the classes passed out, file down stairs, form in line in 
 front of the building, and march to the scene of the day's labor. 
 
 2. White shirts, collars, coats, and jewelry of any kind, were 
 strictly forbidden to be worn. 
 
 3. As far as practicable, pantaloons must be worn inside 
 of boots. 
 
 i. Each should be provided with whatever implement for 
 digging he might be able to improvise. 
 
 The next morning a unique and motley crowd assembled, bearing 
 a great variety of implements, from a grubbing hoe to a garden rake 
 and a fire shovel. Edward Faulkner was chosen captain, and the 
 company, consisting of eighty members, was divided into squads of 
 eight, each commanded by a sub-boss. Forming in line, they 
 marched to the place' designated by the roadmaster, just south of 
 the iron bridge over Sugar Creek,- on Main street. After working 
 (?) about an hour, three of the "busy B's," Berkstresser, Bainum, 
 and Burger, were sent to Bloomington to get a supply of liquid 
 consolation, as the day was warm and the "work" thirst-provoking. 
 Owing to the fact that the committee required so much time to 
 "sample" the different varieties, it was near noon when they 
 retured in company with a drayman and a barrel of cider. Sitting in 
 the shade of the maples by the road side, the crowd by this time 
 augmented to one hundred, or more, soon emptied the barrel. The 
 remainder of the programme consisted in building a memorial 
 mound of earth some six or eight feet high, in the middle of the 
 road, making speeches, listening to vocal music by a colored man, 
 who, passing by, was captured and urged to sing, although he 
 protested that lie had not time to wait, and the nnal homeward 
 march. A large stone was selected from the creek near the Chicago 
 and Alton railroad, and taken through the streets of Normal to the
 
 168 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 front of the city council's office, whore it was planted by the sidewalk 
 with appropriate ceremonies. In dedicating the stone as a memorial 
 to the city council, Hoffman, Gillan, and Stephenson, were called on 
 for speeches, and each one of the audience contributed a fitting 
 sentiment as he put in his spadeful or hoefnl of earth. 
 
 Two days later was commencement. By preconcerted arrange- 
 ment, at the close of the exercises, the boys repaired to the west 
 steps of the building, where, in a neat and appropriate speech, Mr. 
 Edward Faulkner, in behalf of those who had worked on the road, 
 presented the roadrnaster with a hat, as a token of good feeling and 
 respect, he having acted in the matter only in obedience to the legal 
 direction of the city council, but having treated the boys in a most 
 gentlemanly and generous manner. 
 
 DR. HEWETT'S BIRTHDAY. 
 
 A THREE-FOLD SURPRISE. 
 [From the Bloomington Pantagraph, November 2, 1878.] 
 
 Yesterday was President Hewett's birthday, the horologe of 
 time having struck for him the half century. During the opening 
 exercises, the members of the model department quietly gathered 
 near the doors of the assembly room. The usual spelling exercise 
 was begun, but after the president had pronounced three or four 
 words, Silas Y. Gillan, of the senior class, arose and interrupted the 
 exercise, saying: "I would like to put in a parenthesis right here in 
 this exercise. For years and years this performance has been going 
 on in just the same way; you have been drilling and drilling upon 
 ^spelling, and yet, even here in McLean County, there are persons 
 who cannot spell a fact which conclusively proves the whole 
 business of spelling to be a failure. [Applause.] Variety is the 
 spice of life, and this morning we propose to have a little variety. 
 Let it be recorded in the annals of the University, or at least become 
 a part of the traditional history thereof, that on one morning, 
 November 1, 1878, the spelling exercise was omitted." Here the 
 speaker drew from his desk an elegant gold-headed cane, and, 
 continuing in a neat little speech, which was decidedly unique, 
 abounding in humor and good feeling, presented the cane to 
 Dr. Hewett, in behalf of the students' of the school. It bore the 
 inscription: "Pres. E. C. Hewett, LL. D. From the students of the 
 I. S. N. U., Nov. 1, 1878." 
 
 Immediately on the first interruption, the doors on both sides 
 were thrown open, and the pupils from the model school filed in. 
 No sooner had the president begun to speak in response to Mr. 
 Gillan, than little Jessie Davis came forward, carrying a beautiful
 
 STATE NORMAL I'M VKU.SITY. 169 
 
 bouquet, and said: "Mr. Hewett, please accept these flowers as a 
 birthday present from the children of the primary department." 
 Turning to make a double response, he was a third time interrupted 
 by Mrs. Haynie, of the Normal Department, who, as representative 
 of the faculty, held in her hand an elegant Bagster Bible. Mrs. 
 Ilaynie's address was a model of delicacy and beauty, and was 
 delivered with such evident feeling as to make it peculiarly 
 impressive. 
 
 So successfully had the preparations been kept secret that the 
 president had not the least suspicion of the affair, but was completely 
 surprised. When at last he "got the floor," with voice tremulous 
 with emotion, he thanked the good friends for their thoughtful 
 kindness, on the day upon which he reached the "summit of life." 
 In a short speech, which was full of good advice and good sense, he 
 recalled the fact that just twenty-nine years before, he began his 
 career as a teacher, and since that time, with the exception of a few 
 months, he had been engaged in teaching, the last twenty years 
 having been spent in this institution. 
 
 The members of the faculty were all called upon. Prof. Metcalf 
 spoke at some length. Prof. Cook made a very witty. little speech. 
 When the president announced that the spelling exercise was over for 
 the morning, the eyes of the students sparkled with delight, and they 
 greeted the announcement with hearty applause. 
 
 THE SOCIABLE SQUABBLE. 
 
 The American of average pluck and combativeness has, among 
 his most pleasant memories, the recollection of some parliamentary 
 contest about society or class affairs. Wrightonians and Philadel- 
 phians of the spring of 1881, remember with special pleasure the 
 sociable fight of the spring term. The opening of the spring term 
 found both Societies in a healthy condition, with their ranks filled 
 with earnest, plucky and able workers. 
 
 As usual, early in the term, arrangements were made for a union 
 sociable. The night appointed was so stormy that few attended. 
 Many now wished to hold the sociable the following (Saturday) 
 evening. The older members objected to adjourning the regular 
 literary exercises, and from this difference started one of the most 
 hotly contested struggles of later years. As stated above, the 
 contest was upon the propriety of adjourning the regular literary 
 exercises for a joint sociable. The first joint meeting called to decide 
 the matter was held March 22. In this meeting the sociable party 
 carried their point, with but little opposition. It was now that the 
 fight began.
 
 170 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 At the close of the session on the twenty-third, the anti-sociable 
 party called a meeting of the Wrightonian Society. Matters grew so 
 interesting that about twenty members paid their dues before the 
 meeting was called to order. Faces that had been long strange, 
 and faces new in business sessions, now appeared. The anti- 
 sociable party at this meeting were ably led by E. E. Brown, John 
 Gray and others. The sociable side, by Walter Blake, and F. 
 A. Iloughton. The session was protracted and warm. The anti- 
 sociable party argued that we could not afford to do away with the 
 regular literary exercises for such a trifling thing as a sociable; that 
 we get too little literary drill, even if every regular meeting is held. 
 This was met by the new students retorting that there are more 
 opportunities to do literary work than are taken advantage of; that 
 drill in social courtesies is more needed by the majority of students 
 than literary .drill, and that the older students, having become 
 acquainted, did not feel the need of a sociable, as did the newer 
 students. At the final vote, by a majority of three, the anti-sociable 
 party carried their motion to annul the action of the "joint meet- 
 ing." Still the fight grew warmer. 
 
 The next meeting a union meeting met at 4 p. m., March 24, 
 in Normal Hall. To those already spoken of as leaders of the 
 sociable party in the Wrightonian session, we must now add the 
 name of George Howell, a Philadelphian. At this meeting, David 
 W. Reid was chosen by the two society presidents to preside. As 
 the session was turbulent, it was found no easy matter to conduct 
 the business expeditiously. The motion to reconsider previous action 
 carried, and on reconsideration the joint meeting again declared in 
 favor of the sociable by a vote of eighty-four to thirty-seven. This 
 session lasted from 4 to 9:45 p. m. 
 
 At four p. m., March 25, another meeting of the Wrightonians 
 was called in room twenty-three. At this meeting Mr. F. A. 
 Iloughton moved that we have a short programme, after which 
 society adjourned for social exercises. This motion was seconded by 
 E. E. Brown, and was unanimously carried. So ends the sociable 
 fight, in which the "cream" and "scum" met in earnest but friendly 
 conflict. Let us add that the sociable proved a grand success, and 
 that one of the most pleasing incidents was the presentation of a 
 beautiful bouquet by the ladies to George Howell, in token of their 
 appreciation of his efforts in behalf of the sociable.
 
 QUARTER CENTENNIAL. 
 
 NORTON'S LETTER. 
 
 DKAR OLD FRIENDS: 
 
 To my home on the summits of these Santa Cruz hills, by the 
 Pacific, has come an invitation to write a few words upon the days 
 when we dwelt and worked together. I was not exactly a beginner 
 with the Normal University. I entered in the autumn of 1858, and 
 found myself decidedly a junior, compared with a group, grave and 
 reverend, of the real pioneers. John Hull, Joseph Howell, Enoch 
 Gastman, Hayes, Ridlon, Augusta Peterson, Sally Dunn, Fannie 
 Washburne, Edward Philbrook, whose hair parted in the middle, 
 these were in the front rank of years and honors. We who entered 
 in those September days of 1858, felt small and insignificant beside 
 them. We w T ere daily convened in the upper story of Major's Hall. 
 I suppose that these younger generations of Normalites are not 
 aware that such a building ever existed. The walls of the old 
 house were rickety, and iron girders, with huge S's at the ends, held 
 in place the brick masonry. Our assembling room was the third 
 story. In the second story were recitation rooms, rather dark, and 
 ill-adapted to our needs. Grocery and hardware stores occupied the 
 first floor. The building was heated by a coal stove in each room, 
 and as Illinois coal is gaseous and explosive, the stove doors were 
 frequently blown open, with loud sounds and clouds of yellow smoke. 
 C. E. Ilovey was principal in those days, but Ira Moore was the one 
 most directly in charge. Dr. Willard, looking very pale and frail, 
 soon began to open his wonderful budget of philological knowledge. 
 Hewett came within a month after my arrival, I think. He was a 
 small man with a big head, in those days. He had very demonstra- 
 tive boot heels, and especially hated cats, and went to sleep in 
 Baptist meetings. He used to give us prodigious lessons in history 
 and geography. He couldn't draw maps, but made us draw very 
 nice ones. I remember his geography lessons, even unto this day. 
 The names of the branches of the Amazon, the forms and heights of 
 the Andean and Himalayan plateaus these are mine yet, and will 
 be to all eternity. My history work has not staid with me so well.
 
 172 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 There was once a slight unpleasantness between my class and their 
 teacher as to how General Greene got away from Cornwallis. It was 
 quite a double-and-twisted business anyhow, and we inwardly vowed 
 that we wouldn't learn it. The teacher gave us hard words and low 
 marks, but our obstinate stupidity won the day. I am still densely 
 ignorant as to whether it was the Chickahominy or the Nile that 
 rose and fell in such a miraculous fashion, for the discomfiture of 
 the British. Come to think of it, may be it wasn't Greene and 
 Cornwallis, after all. It tires me to recall the matter. At any rate, 
 somebody got away from some other fellow, and we wouldn't and 
 didn't learn the particulars, and Professor Hewett considered us, 
 very justly, a pack of ninnies. 
 
 We were called section "C" for awhile. There was a section B, 
 including Burnham, Edward Waite, Fanny Grennel, Peleg R. Walker 
 and others; a class which had entered some months before us, but 
 they were soon incorporated with us. Gove, from Boston, John T. 
 Curtis, Sophie Crist, C. J. Gill, Harvey Dutton, Moses Morgan 
 these stand out very conspicuously upon the tablet of memory as 
 entering when I did. I had a peculiar psychological experience with 
 Gove. It was a case of hate at first sight. He was very slim in 
 those days, had a big nose, and used to laugh at people who made 
 mistakes. I regarded him for some time with a silent, unspeakable 
 hatred. Well, time mended all that. After these twenty-four years, 
 I send love to Gove, whom I hated ; to Dutton, whom I quarreled 
 with; tc Joseph Howell and Augusta Peterson, whom I respected 
 and yet felt it my duty to regard with a certain dislike, because they 
 were Philadelphians. From their heights of spirit-life may a bene- 
 diction be wafted down, even to us, who struggled hard to make the 
 name of Simeon Wright immortal ! 
 
 There were two literary societies in those days. It is strange, but 
 true, that the members used to quarrel. We had contest meetings, 
 joint debates, and various occasions of conflict. After our removal 
 into the "new building," we impoverished ourselves and incurred 
 heavy debts, in order to buy better furniture and more books than 
 the people of the other Society. On the door of the Wrightonian 
 Hall was a motto, painted in blue and gold, "Sapere Aude." It 
 was the occasion, to the Philadelphians, of many irreverent and 
 disrespectful puns. As a loyal Wrightonian, I trust that this motto 
 has disappeared, and that the Brussels carpet, gay with yellow roses, 
 which reduced us all to bankruptcy who were concerned in purchas- 
 ing it, has been replaced by the bounty of a younger and wealthier 
 generation. 
 
 In 1858, Bloomington had a population of some 7,000 people. 
 In winter, its streets were a sea of mud. "Come over here," once 
 shouted Professor Wilbur, the geologist, to Uncle Sim Wright, across 
 the street. "I can't," was the answer; between thee and me there
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 173 
 
 is a great gulf fixed." Teams were daily mired down in the princi- 
 pal streets. There was a place called Pone Hollow, allusions to 
 which were particularly in order, if any one would be called facetious. 
 The crossings there were particularly dreadful when the long rains 
 drenched the prairies. 
 
 "The gunpowder plot" was enacted in Major's Hall. Gove had 
 organized a band of nocturnal serenaders, called the "Squallers." 
 They used to go about with an awfully discordant orchestra of willow 
 whistles. To blow these beneath the lattice of a slumbering maiden, 
 was to induce in her spasms of palpitating fear and agony. The 
 Squallers were wont to meet in Mr. Hovey's office, not to rehearse, 
 but to form their plans. One of the boys had observed this, and 
 longed to know what it all meant. He took into his confidence one 
 Bumham, who wickedly betrayed him to the Squallers. Their plans 
 were duly laid. Hidden in a box in the room, the inquiring youth 
 heard the particulars of a plot which caused his "knotty and combined 
 locks to part, and each particular hair to stand on end" no less a 
 scheme than the blowing up of the old building with gunpowder, in 
 order to expedite the construction of the new one! The very box in 
 which the spy was secreted was selected as the receptacle for this 
 terrible explosive, and was turned over, rolling out upon the floor this 
 inquiring youth. The tableau was unutterable; the muttered threats 
 were dreadful. At last, after binding himself with more horrible 
 oaths than Morgan, the anti-Mason, ever dreamed of, and making a 
 liberal contribution for the purchase of gunpowder, he was allowed to 
 go home, where he doubtless passed the night in dreadful expectancy, 
 and came to school next morning, only to find an audible smile on 
 every face. Well, he treated the crowd to apples, and we unanimously 
 agreed not to tell his father of his misadventure; in pursuance of 
 which pledge, his name appeareth not in these pages. 
 
 \\ e were shabbily dressed in those days. I think my pantaloons 
 were generally too short, and my coats seemed to have been made 
 for some other person. We were very poor, but very plucky. We 
 boarded ourselves, mainly on corn mush, washed the floors and built 
 the fires at the Normal Hall, worked hard, lived hard, and were poorly 
 provided with all things ; our parents were sad-faced, struggling 
 pioneers of the prairies ; but we were cheery, resolute and happy in 
 our life and our work. To the toiling youth of frontier homes, 
 thirsting for knowledge, the Illinois Normal University opened the 
 gateways of a new life. We loved it, rejoiced in it, and were thor- 
 oughly loyal to its name and fame. 
 
 The school saw but little of its principal in those years. Two 
 miles to the northward, across the sodden prairies, in the rainy 
 autumn of 1858, were clay pits, heaps of brickbats, half-complete 
 foundations for a stately structure, yet in embryo. The construction 
 fund was exhausted, the State heavily in debt, business everywhere 
 12
 
 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 distressed and languishing; truly a somber prospect for the com- 
 pletion of a building, demanding, on the basis existing before the 
 war, a hundred thousand dollars. It would be as easy to-day to raise 
 a million. To secure these needed funds was the task which Charles 
 E. Hovey set before himself. It was a labor for Hercules. His own 
 fortune was pledged over and over. Had his plans failed, he would 
 have been weighted for life with hopeless bankruptcy. This enor- 
 mous task he undertook and carried through. He had a place on 
 the programme of the school's daily work, but his classes generally 
 wrought out their own salvation. But in the winter of 1860-1 the 
 building was completed ; the Legislature assembled ; Governor Dick 
 Yates delivered the dedicatory address ; the State assumed the liabil- 
 ities of the Board of Regents, and the enormous burden of debt 
 rolled off the shoulders which had borne it so bravely. A new gen- 
 eration has arisen since those days, mainlj r ignorant of these events, 
 and yet enjoying the fruits of those labors. It is for them that I 
 make the record. We of the pioneering days, need no reminder of 
 the grand work which could hardly have been performed by another 
 than General Charles E. Hovey. 
 
 We were free in our conduct, to a singular extent. No school 
 rules rested upon us. Our hours and methods were wholly our own. 
 We lived as we pleased, formed our friendships and associations, made 
 our calls, and managed our affairs, entirely at our own choice and 
 pleasure. Very few schools were ever so slightly governed. I do not 
 believe that our successors of to-day can be journeying under any 
 similar slackness of rein. Nevertheless, the record of those years was 
 a thoroughly Spartan one. We were from Puritan households, disci- 
 plined in self-restraint. Industry and poverty were our safeguards. 
 
 A magnificent park, stately buildings, a beautiful and prosperous 
 city, methods well-ordered, and polities established, splendid museums 
 and laboratories, a wealthier and more cultured generation of students 
 these are the pleasant things that greet the view as you gather to the 
 silver wedding of our Alma Mater. It is not true that the former 
 days were better than these, but we who saw the working out of the 
 beginnings, had also our joys, straggles, and coronations; and we 
 received a training which, if less orderly and exhaustive than that 
 rendered now, nevertheless gave us some measure of fitness for our 
 life-work. 
 
 From my home and class-room by the Pacific, I send hearty 
 greeting to the teachers and pupils who worked in Major's Hall 
 together. God bless and speed you ah 1 , dear old friends and com- 
 rades, and grant you such length of days that, in the seventh year of 
 the twentieth Christian century, a few of us, if old, yet vigorous, if 
 with snow on the head, yet with fire at the heart, may gather to our 
 Alma Mater's golden wedding. H. B. NORTON. 
 
 STATE NOKMAL SCHOOL, San Jose, California, July 23, 1882.
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVEKSITY. 175 
 
 ADDKESS LY GEN. C. E. IIOVEY. 
 
 ALUMNI AND FRIENDS OF THE NORMAL UNIVERSITY: 
 
 We are here in obedience to a much honored custom, for the 
 purpose of celebrating the completion of the first quarter-century of 
 the Normal University; and I recognize the fact that I owe the honor 
 of occupying the platform to-night to my early connection with the 
 institution and a presumed acquaintance with the ideas on which it 
 was founded. 
 
 It is no secret that this Normal School has achieved very consid- 
 erable reputation in its department of labor. It is as well known in 
 Washington as in Chicago. State lines have not walled in its fame, 
 and I doubt whether Illinois can point to another institution which 
 has done her more honor, except, always, her common schools. It, 
 however, is one of these. The same men founded both, and main- 
 tained the right to support both at the public charge. They held that 
 the Normal School was simply the head common school of the State. 
 
 I have thought I could not do better, on the present occasion, 
 than to invite you to go back with me to the time when these 
 measures, the establishment of free schools and a Normal School, 
 were under consideration, and to introduce you to the men and ideas 
 of that time. I admit the principle they contended about the right 
 to tax the whole property of the State in support of schools for the 
 free education of every child in her borders is no longer in issue. 
 It has gone into your statutes and constitution, and gone there to 
 stay. Indeed, he would be a brave man who should propose to 
 take it out. 
 
 Similar laws, or laws for a similar purpose, more or less effective, 
 are now on the statute books of every State and every territory of the 
 United States of North America. By what right are they there? 
 What right has government to take the property of one man to 
 educate the children of another? Is not property an absolute natural 
 right, as much as life, or liberty? When and how did government 
 acquire the right to seize upon the property of the citizens for the 
 support of schools to take, by taxation, the earnings of the indus- 
 trious and frugal to educate the children of the idle and thriftless ? 
 
 At the time to which I invite your attention, a respectable body of 
 the people of the State held that government had no such right, and 
 they stoutly resisted, by words and votes, those who put forward the 
 claim. They insisted that taxation for the support of common schools, 
 if not tyranny, was at least an invasion of the rights of property, not 
 warranted by anything in the social compact, and they challenged 
 those who held the contrary opinion to an examination of fundamental 
 principles of civil government. They pointed out the clause in the 
 State constitution which declares "that a frequent recurrence to 
 fundamental principles of civil government is absolutely necessary to
 
 176 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 preserve the blessings of liberty," and they invoked those principles 
 in aid of their side of the question. Of course, the friends of free 
 schools had no alternative but to accept the challenge, and for a 
 quarter of a century the contest went on. 
 
 In 1825, the Legislature, under the lead of some far-seeing 
 statesman, passed a school law, setting out with a preamble : 
 
 "To enjoy our rights and liberties, we must understand them ; 
 their security and protection ought to be the first object of a free 
 people; and it is a well-established fact that no nation has ever con- 
 tinued long in the enjoyment of civil and political freedom which was 
 not both virtuous and enlightened ; and, believing that the advance- 
 ment of literature always has been and ever will be the means of 
 developing more fully the rights of man, that the mind of every 
 citizen in a republic is the common property of society, and consti- 
 tutes the basis of its strength and happiness; therefore, be it 
 enacted, etc." 
 
 That is pretty good doctrine, even now. The law, that followed 
 this preamble, established a system of common schools, and author- 
 ized a majority of the legal voters in any school district to levy a tax 
 for the support of a school in that district. It was a local matter, 
 and depended on the voluntary action of the voters. But it recog- 
 nized a principle the right of a people in neighborhoods to tax 
 themselves for the support of free schools in such neighborhoods. 
 
 The next Legislature, 1827, amended this law, and provided that 
 "No person shall hereafter be taxed for the support of any free 
 school in this State, unless by his or her own free will and consent, 
 first had and obtained, in writing." Here was a flat denial of the 
 right of taxation for free schools. As amended, the tax section of 
 the school law amounted to little more than a legislative permission 
 "to pass around the hat." Of course, the legislation of 1827 was 
 the death of taxation for school purposes, and it maintained a place 
 on the statute book for many years. In process of time and changes 
 it finally disappeared, but not until 1855 did the contrary principle 
 take its place. Then was passed the first rough draft of the present 
 free-school law. A two-mill tax was levied on "each dollar's valua- 
 tion of all the taxable property in the State" for the use and 
 support of common schools. In 1857, under leadership of a man 
 who is no stranger to these halls, this law was revised and its 
 provisions harmonized. I shall read from his speech, on reporting 
 the bill to the House, before I get through. 
 
 From 1825 to 1855, or 1827 to 1857, if you prefer, the discussion 
 among the people as to their right, in their collective capacity as a 
 government, to impose a tax for the support of schools, went on. It 
 was a memorable debate. I am sorry so little of it is now available. 
 The most of it, so far as I know, and some of the best of it, was 
 never in print. It was carried on in cabins, in shops, in town-halls,
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 177 
 
 in churches, in school houses, on the stump and in the capitol. I 
 remember its substance very well. 
 
 I should say in passing, that the plan of my address to-night 
 excludes the idea of originality. I am inviting you to listen to the 
 story as told by other men in other days, and in so far as I am com- 
 pelled to vary from this rule, and to use my own words, it will be 
 done sparingly and with a free knowledge that I am, to that extent, 
 detracting from the historic value of the narrative. I am compelled, 
 however, to begin the subject with some sketches in my own 
 language. Here is one, wherein the right of taxation for education 
 is deduced from the nature and objects of the social compact. I give 
 it in outline only : 
 
 The purpose of all human government is protection. Every 
 man has an absolute natural right to life, and liberty, and such prop- 
 erty as he has earned or otherwise honestly acquired ; and he may 
 properly defend these against all comers. If anybody attempts to 
 murder him he may strike back, and if, in so doing, he kills his assail- 
 ant, he is held blameless. In the absence of outside aid he must 
 maintain his rights himself, or lose them. But he may combine with 
 others for protection, thereby foVming what is called the social 
 compact; and this combination, or compact, or government, may 
 undertake to protect each of its members from being murdered, or 
 enslaved, or robbed ; and it may do this by any appropriate means ; 
 for instance, it may establish courts, build jails, employ judges and 
 sheriffs and policemen. These are held to be appropriate means the 
 world over, but they cost money, and, as their purpose and effect 
 is to protect all alike, all may properly be required to share in the 
 expense of supporting them, each according to his ability. This is 
 taxation. Nobody denies its propriety. It grows out of the neces- 
 sities of the case. If men were angels the case would be different, 
 and taxation might probably be less. But these repressive agencies 
 are not believed to be the only means adapted to the protection of 
 society. The inventive genius of mankind has been at work to 
 discover others less repulsive. Of course, if other means or agencies 
 or institutions can be found which tend to protect society, they will 
 stand on the same ground as to their right to be supported by taxa- 
 tion that courts and jails do. 
 
 Assuming this theory to be correct, philanthropists have under- 
 taken to find some such other means. Observation and experiment 
 began a long time ago. It was discovered and recorded in a very 
 old book that a child trained up in the way he should go, would go 
 that way. It was ascertained that the patrons of jails and prisons 
 were generally illiterate. Acting on these hints, wise men began to 
 devise means for training children, and abolishing illiteracy. Col- 
 leges and universities were founded, and finally, after centuries of 
 trial and experiment, the common schools. They are proposed as a
 
 178 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 substitute for the machinery of force, except as to the hopelessly 
 incorrigible. Their effect is to do away with, or greatly abridge, the 
 need of repressive agencies; and just so far as they do this, they 
 protect society. The system is one of prevention. It undertakes to 
 afford everybody's children an opportunity for elementary instruction 
 and thereby help them to become good citizens, and to make free 
 government possible. Such is an outline of the argument. 
 
 It assumed, of course, a variety of forms of statement. I 
 remember one which struck me at the time as a little peculiar, but 
 it was really grounded on the idea just stated. Perhaps I had better 
 stop long enough to give this statement, as a further sample of the 
 way the thinkers of the past generation reasoned about this matter 
 of taxation for promoting the general welfare and the general safety. 
 The statement to which I refer was about as follows: 
 
 The great Oxford professor, Dr. Blackstone, speaking of the 
 absolute natural rights of man, groups them all together, under 
 the general term, liberty. Now, liberty is the idol of mankind. 
 Whoever can find out a means of promoting it is sure to be honored 
 as a benefactor. For a thousand years the races to which we belong 
 have been devising, and testing, -and fighting for institutions which 
 they believed would tend to secure for them and their posterity this 
 supreme good. They began to formulate principles of government 
 in tlie interest of liberty as far back as the middle of the eleventh 
 century, when Henry II assembled a great council at Clarendon, and 
 brought forward therein ordinances defining and limiting ecclesiastical 
 authority. Half a century later, they made the plains of liunning- 
 mede forever famous as the place where the great charter of England 
 was promulgated by King John, in the presence of the barons who 
 had drawn it up, and a vast multitude of people. 
 
 This declaration was intended to define and protect the civil 
 liberties of Englishmen. Its twenty-ninth chapter is regarded as the 
 corner stone of the British constitution, and provides that no free 
 man shall be taken, or imprisoned, or dispossessed of his property, 
 or liberties, or outlawed, or punished in any other way, unless by the 
 judgment of his equals or the law of the land.* Fitz waiter and the 
 old barons did not declare for wild, unregulated liberty. They did 
 not undertake to say that nobody should be imprisoned, or dispos- 
 sessed of property or life. That was not their idea of liberty at 
 Runningmede. But they did declare, and made their king agree, 
 that none of these things should be done except in pursuance of law 
 and the verdict of a jury. That was their idea of liberty six hundred 
 years ago. It has not been much improved upon since. 
 
 Their great charter, amended and enlarged, was again promul- 
 gated in the reign of Charles I, and again on the accession of William 
 
 *"Xullus liber homo capiatur, vel imprisonetur, do libero tenemento suo, vel libertatibus 
 vol liberis consuetudinibus suis, aut utlagetur aut exulitur, aut aliquo modo destruator, nee 
 super cum mittimus, nisi, per le?;ili judicum parium suorum, vel per legein terrae."
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 179 
 
 and Mary, about 1688. In all these cases the people had been obliged 
 to recover their liberties "by intrepid councils, or by force of arms," 
 and they undertook, by formal declarations, to construct a barrier 
 against future encroachments. 
 
 The institution they invented and chiefly relied upon for the pro- 
 tection of their civil liberties has come to be known as the common 
 law; the old barons called it the law of the land. It made use of 
 courts and all the officers and incidents necessary to ascertain and 
 punish violence and fraud, and to settle disputes. They held it to be 
 no invasion of the rights of property to compel every man, according 
 to his means, to contribute to the support of these instrumentalities, 
 and they were right. These agents were and are necessary for liberty 
 and safety. But it can hardly be said that they are the only ones. 
 There may be others. The test is protection to liberty. The ma- 
 chinery of the common law was devised to maintain liberty among 
 men. The machinery of the common schools does the same thing. 
 Both stand on the same ground. It will be seen that the soundness 
 of this view hinges upon statistics. If it is a fact, and that must be 
 shown by statistics, that the common schools do tend to decrease the 
 enemies of social order, and to increase the number of good citizens, 
 then the reasoning is sound. 
 
 I have before me a report of Hon. J. 0. Dore, first superinten- 
 dent of schools for Chicago, made about the time of the passage of 
 the free school law, which furnishes some of these statistics. He 
 says: 
 
 "The public has rights as well as individuals, and education is 
 the surest protection to both. It is in a very great degree the pre- 
 vention of crime. Out of 28,000 convicts in the State of New 
 York during the last ten years, previous to 1853, only one hundred 
 and twenty-eight had received the advantages of a good common 
 school education. More, than two hundred uneducated persons 
 became convicts to every one who had received a common school 
 education. In view of these facts, who will hesitate to acknowl- 
 edge that our public school system is the security of the State, and 
 that the public has a right to demand, and enforce, if need be, the 
 attendance at school of every child of school-going age, until a 
 common school education is insured? Suffering children to grow 
 up in ignorance is doing violence to society. Who can tell how 
 many thousands, pests to society, rendering necessary policemen 
 by day, and sentinels by night, and courts of justice through the 
 year for public protection, would have made inoffensive citizens 
 had they possessed a good public school education? Who can 
 number the murders perpetrated, thefts committed, crimes and 
 misdemeanors of every name and nature, that never would have 
 been, had the guilty availed themselves of the advantages of the 
 public schools? * * * * * *
 
 180 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 "In a country of free competition and equal rights, whore * every 
 man is heir to the highest honors of the State,' a good education is 
 indispensable to the lull enjoyment of those rights. Places of 
 honor, trust, and profit, can be filled only by persons qualified to 
 perform the duties peculiar to such positions. It is in the public 
 schools that the great majority of children and youth are to be 
 educated, if at all. The question then comes home to every patriotic 
 and philanthropic citizen, shall they be educated? * * * * 
 
 "The United States exhibit the relation of public education to free 
 institutions. Their public school systems are the result of the grandest 
 conception of modern times, and may yet make the tour of the world." 
 
 So said John C. Dore, nearly thirty years ago, and since that 
 time the system has been spreading. And who shall say that it will 
 not yet make the tour of the world ? But I should mislead if I confined 
 myself to a statement of fundamental principles and to the reports of 
 school officers. There was an exceedingly practical side to the debate 
 which-, cropped out, more particularly in State Legislatures. I am 
 glad to be able to present this phase of the great common school 
 contest in the words of one of its most celebrated combatants. (He 
 did not reside in this State, and the speech from which I quote was 
 a little earlier in date than the chief discussion here, but it covers the 
 same ground. It was the same contest.) 
 
 Pennsylvania had passed a free school law, and the hosts of 
 ignorance had rallied and demanded its repeal. In answer to that 
 demand, Thaddeus Stevens said (I give only a part) : 
 
 "Mr. Speaker: I will briefly give you the reasons why I shall 
 oppose the repeal of the school law. 
 
 "It would seem to be humiliating to be under the necessity, in 
 the nineteenth century, of entering into a formal argument to prove 
 the utility, and, to free governments, the absolute necessity of educa- 
 tion. More than two thousand years ago, the Deity who presided 
 over intellectual endowments, ranked highest among the goddesses 
 worshipped by cultivated Pagans. And I will not insult this House, or 
 our constituents, by supposing any course of reasoning necessary to 
 convince them of its high importance. If an elective republic is to 
 endure for any great length of time, every elector must have sufficient 
 information, not only to accumulate wealth and take care of his 
 pecuniary concerns, but to direct wisely the Legislature, the ambassa- 
 dors, and the executive of the nation, for some part of all these 
 things, some agency, in approving or disapproving of them, falls to 
 every freeman. If, then, the permanency of our government depends 
 upon such knowledge, it is the duty of government to see that the 
 means of information be diffused to every citizen. This is a sufficient 
 answer to those who deem education a private and not a public duty 
 who argue that they are willing to educate their own children, but 
 not their neighbors 1 children.
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 181 
 
 "The amendment which is now proposed as a substitute for the 
 school law of last session is, in my opinion, of a most hateful and 
 degrading character. It is a re-enactment of the pauper law of 1809. 
 It proposes that the assessors shall take a census, and make a record 
 of the poor. This shall be revised, and a new record made by the 
 county commissioners, so that the names of those who have the 
 misfortune to be poor men's children, shall be forever preserved, 
 as a distinct class, in the archives of the country! Sir, Hereditary 
 distinctions of rank are sufficiently odious, but that which is founded 
 on poverty is infinitely more so. Such a law should be entitled 'an 
 act for branding and marking the poor, so that they may be known 
 from the rich and proud.' 
 
 "Many complain of this tax, not so much on account of its 
 amount, as because it is for the benefit of others, and not themselves. 
 This is a mistake; it is for their own benefit, inasmuch as it perpetuates 
 the government and ensures the due administration of the laws under 
 which they live, and by which their lives and property are protected. 
 
 "This law is often objected to, because its benefits are shared 
 by the children of the profligate spendthrift equally with those of 
 the most industrious and economical habits. It ought to be remem- 
 bered that the benefit is bestowed, not upon the erring parents, but 
 the innocent children. 
 
 "It is said that its advantages will be unjustly and unequaly 
 enjoyed, because the industrious, money-making man keeps his whole 
 family constantly employed, and has but little time for them to spend 
 at school, while the idle man has but little employment for his family 
 and they will constantly attend school. I know, sir, that there are 
 some men whose whole souls are completely absorbed in the accumu- 
 lation of wealth, and whose avarice so increases with success that 
 they look upon their children in no other light than as instruments of 
 gain ; that they, as well as the ox and the ass. within their gates, are 
 valuable only in proportion to their annual earnings. And, accord- 
 ing to the present system, the children of such men are reduced 
 almost to an intellectual level with their co-laborers of the brute 
 creation. The law will be of vast advantage to the offspring of such 
 misers. If they are compelled to pay their taxes to support schools, 
 their very meanness will induce them to send their children to the 
 schools to get the worth of their money. 
 
 " In New England, free schools plant the seeds and the desire of 
 knowledge in every mind, without regard to the wealth of the parent 
 or the texture of the pupil's garments. It is no uncommon occur- 
 rence to see the poor man's son, thus encouraged by wise legislation, 
 far outstrip and bear off the laurels from the less industrious heirs of 
 wealth. Some of the ablest men of the present and past days never 
 could have been educated except for that benevolent system. Not to 
 mention any of the living, it is well known that the architect of au
 
 1S2 HISTOBY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 immortal name, who 'plucked the lightnings from heaven, and the 
 sceptre from tyrants,' was a child of free schools. 
 
 "But we are told that this law is unpopular; that the people 
 desire its repeal. But, sir, much of its unpopularity is chargeable 
 upon the vile arts of unprincipled demagogues. I do not charge this 
 upon any particular party. Unfortunately, almost the only spot on 
 which all parties meet in union is this ground of common infamy. 
 I have seen the present chief magistrate of this commonwealth 
 violently assailed as the projector and father of this law. I am not 
 the eulogist of that gentleman ; he has been guilty of many dee]) 
 political sins ; but he deserves the undying gratitude of the people 
 for the steady, untiring zeal which he has manifested in favor of 
 common schools. I trust that the people of this State will never be 
 called on to choose between a supporter and an opposer of free 
 schools. But if it should come to that ; if that should be made the 
 turning point on which we are to cast our suffrages ; if the opponent 
 of education were my most intimate personal and political friend, 
 and the free school candidate my most obnoxious enemy, I should 
 deem it my duty as a patriot, at this moment of our intellectual 
 crisis, to forget all other considerations, and I should place myself 
 unhesitatingly and cordially in the ranks of him whose banner 
 streams in light. 
 
 "It is said that some gentlemen lost their election by being in 
 favor of the school law. I believe that is true of the two highly 
 respected members of the last Legislature from Union County. They 
 were summoned before a county meeting and requested to pledge 
 themselves to vote for its repeal as the price of their reelection. But 
 they were too high-minded and honorable to consent to such degrada- 
 tion. They fell, it is true, in this great struggle between the powers of 
 light and darkness; but they fell, as every Roman mother wished her 
 sons to fall, facing the enemy, with all their wounds in front. 
 
 "True it is, that two other gentlemen, and I believe two only, 
 lost their election on account of their votes on that question. I refer 
 to the late members from Berks, who were candidates for reelection; 
 and I regret that gentlemen whom I so highly respect, and whom I 
 take pleasure in ranking among my personal friends, had not possessed 
 a little more nerve to enable them to withstand the assaults which 
 were made upon them; or, if they must be overpowered, to wrap 
 their mantles gracefully around them and yield with dignity. But this, 
 I am aware, requires a high degree of fortitude; and those respected 
 gentlemen, distracted and faltering between the dictates of conscience 
 and the clamor of the populace, at length turned and fled; but duty 
 had detained them so long that they fled too late, and the shaft which 
 had already been winged by ignorance, overtook and pierced them 
 from behind. 
 
 "I am happy to say, sir, that a more fortunate fate awaited our
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 183 
 
 friends from York. Possessing a keener insight into futurity, and a 
 sharper instinct of danger, they saw the peril at a greater distance, 
 and retreated in time to escape the fury of the storm, and can now 
 safely boast that "discretion is the better part of valor," and that 
 "they fought and ran away," "and lived to tight on t' other side." 
 Sir, it is to be regretted that any gentleman should have consented 
 to place his election on hostility to general education. But will this 
 Legislature, guardians of the dearest interests of a great common- 
 wealth, consent to surrender the high advantages and brilliant pros- 
 pects which this law promises because it is desired by worthy gentle- 
 men who, in a moment of causeless panic and popular delusion, sailed 
 into power on a Tartarean flood ? A flood of ignorance, darker, and 
 to the intelligent mind, more dreadful than that accursed pool at 
 which mortals and immortals tremble! Sir, it seems to me that the 
 liberal and enlightened proceedings of the last Legislature have 
 aroused the demon of ignorance from his slumber; and, maddened 
 at the threatened loss of his murky empire, his discordant bowlings 
 arc heard in every part of our land. 
 
 "The barbarous and disgraceful cry 'that learning makes us 
 worse; that education makes men rogues,' should find no echo within 
 these walls. Those who hold such doctrines anywhere, would be the 
 objects of bitter detestation, if they were not rather the pitiable 
 objects of compassion, for even voluntary fools require our compas- 
 sion, as well as natural idiots. 
 
 "In giving this law to posterity, you act the part of the 
 philanthropist and philosopher. Those who would add thereto the 
 glory of the hero, can acquire it here; for in the present state of 
 feeling in Pennsylvania, I am willing to admit that but little less 
 dangerous to the public man is the war-club and battle-axe of savage 
 ignorance, than to the lion-hearted Richard was the keen scimetar of 
 the Saracen. He who would oppose it, either through inability to 
 comprehend the advantages of general education, or from unwilling- 
 ness to bestow them on all his fellow-citizens, even to the lowest and 
 the poorest, or from dread of popular vengeance, seems to me to 
 want either the head of the philosopher, the heart of the philan- 
 thropist, or the nerve of the hero." 
 
 Such was the language of the men who fought the great battle of 
 free schools. It was the same battle in Illinois as in Pennsylvania, 
 and was won in the same way in both States. 
 
 Suppose you join me on a trip to Springfield, and having made 
 yourselves comfortable in the gallery of the old capitol, as it was 
 in February, 1857, turn your attention to the proceedings going on 
 in the hall below. A man of medium size, wearing spectacles, rises 
 t<> address the assembled legislators. It is evident that some measure 
 of more than usual interest is about to be considered, or that some 
 man of more than usual ability is about to speak; probably both.
 
 184 HISTORY OP THE ILLINOIS 
 
 I 
 
 The members have discontinued their letter-writing and are giving, 
 attention : 
 
 "Mr. Speaker: As chairman of the House committee on edu- 
 cation, it becomes my duty to explain the changes made in the 
 present school law by the joint committee of both houses," began 
 lion. S. W. Moulton, of Shelby. "I believe I may say with truth 
 that out of the one hundred members of this Legislature, there are 
 none but are in favor of taxation for the support of common schools." 
 
 Recollect it is now in 1857. The great struggle of a quarter of 
 a century culminated two years before when the two-mill tax was put 
 upon the statute-book. The questions now at issue have reference 
 to perfecting the law and distributing the fund. Mr. Moulton 
 continues : 
 
 "The friends of this bill assume, as the true principles that 
 should govern its distribution (the tax), that two-thirds be distributed 
 upon population equally all over the State, and one third upon terri- 
 tory. Those who oppose this distribution adopt the amendment 
 proposed by the late superintendent, viz.: That the amount of the 
 two-mill tax collected in each county should be repaid to the several 
 counties without regard to population, or other circumstances. This 
 is the statement of the question. 
 
 "Mr. Speaker, I presume but little difference of opinion exists 
 as to the true object of the two-mill tax that of providing means for 
 the education of all the children of the State, and that each child is 
 of right entitled to an equal share of the tax, without regard to 
 condition or locality, or from what particular part of the State it was 
 collected. This principle has its foundation in the fact that every 
 child has an absolute right to an education at the hands of somebody, 
 to an extent that shall properly qualify him to discharge his duties 
 as a citizen. Experience shows that when education is left to the 
 voluntary actions of parents and others, it is greatly neglected, and 
 amounts almost to a failure. Children come into the world in a help- 
 less condition, and remain so for years. They cannot educate 
 themselves any more than they can provide for themselves food 
 and clothing. Hence, the duty and necessity of government, pro- 
 viding by general laws, ample means for their education. This can 
 only be done by taxation ; and I hold that, as this tax is collected by 
 the same persons and in the same manner as all other State taxes 
 are, it should be disbursed upon the same principle, without regard 
 to where, from what person, or from what county or locality col- 
 lected ; and that any other principle of disbursement operates 
 unequal y and unjustly. 
 
 "The tax being collected from all the property of the State, and 
 the object being the education of all the children of the State, it 
 seems to me that it follows as an irresistable conclusion, that each 
 child is entitled to an equal pro rata share of all the
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 185 
 
 collected; that if the aggregate amount collected is equal to five 
 dollars for each child, then that is the amount that each child is 
 entitled to, without regard to any other circumstances, and especially 
 whether one county pays more or less than another. 
 
 "If property is to educate the children of a State, then the rich 
 counties ought to pay more than the poor counties, because they have 
 more to pay with, just as the rich man pays more than the poor man. 
 No county or individual has an absolute and unlimited control over 
 property. It may be regarded as held in trust for certain purposes. 
 The right of every child in the land to be educated is one of these, 
 and of primary importance, upon which our government stands. 
 This great principle, I trust, will never be subverted and lost sight of 
 by the adoption of the principle that particular localities shall receive 
 back just what they pay, which amounts to no taxation at all." 
 
 ''Mr. Speaker, 1 desire only to say a word as to the result of 
 the free school experiment in this State. Two years since the system 
 was adopted, and it went into operation under not very favorable 
 auspices. It was rather a novel thing to many of our citizens, some 
 of them being greatly prejudiced against it ; and besides, there were 
 man}' defects and objectionable things in the old law. But, notwith- 
 standing the many disadvantages of the old law, the expectation of 
 its friends had been more than realized. The people have been 
 aroused from the apathy that enthralled them; they have been 
 brought into direct contact with the system, good or bad, for when a 
 people are taxed for a thing, they become interested in it. The 
 result seems to be that the great mass of the people everywhere are 
 in favor of continuing the two-mill tax, and differ only about the 
 details of the law. It is a remarkable fact, worthy of all remem- 
 brance, that no State or people who have once adopted a free school 
 system ever abandoned it." 
 
 The chairman is supported by Dr. Gowdy and others, and 
 opposed by Mr. Sparks and others, but his bill prevails and "is 
 passed;" and from that event I date the real beginning of the 
 grandest institution of the State, her free schools. 
 
 You will see that I have now called attention to early legisla- 
 tion in the State wherein taxation for the support of schools was 
 directly drawn in issue ; to the reasoning from fundamental principles 
 of civil government by which the friends of free schools undertook to 
 justify them; to a report of a school officer, Hon. J. C. Dore, 
 twenty-seven years ago; to a speech on the merits of the free school 
 system, by lion. Thaddeus Stevens; and to a speech on perfecting and 
 harmonizing our own system, by Hon. S. "W. Moulton. This is as 
 full and fair a presentation as I am able to make in the time allotted. 
 
 I now come to a separate consideration of the head school of the 
 system, and I can not better introduce the subject than by stating the 
 idea of a Normal School as understood at the time it was established.
 
 180 HISTORY (IF T1IK ILLINOIS 
 
 Fortunately, I can do so in the words then used. I quote from the 
 Illinois Teacher: 
 
 "The idea of Normal Schools is a very simple idea. It proceeds 
 merely upon the ground that a man may profit by the experience of 
 other men, as well as by his own; not by the experience of one 
 predecessor alone, but of a whole lineage of them ; not by the 
 experience of one contemporary alone, but of any contemporaries 
 who know more, on any common point between them, than he does. 
 Now, the person who denies the utility of Normal Schools, under- 
 takes to refute such a proposition. He affirms that one man cannot 
 derive knowledge from the experience of others; that Tubal Cain 
 made as good household or agricultural implements as can now be 
 found in Chicago, reaping machines included. He undertakes to 
 show that Fulton's first steamboat, which went from New York to 
 Albany at the rate of four and a half miles an hour, was equal to 
 those which now shoot, arrow-like, up and down the Mississippi. In 
 a word, he denies that experience teaches, and that light enlightens. 
 The object of Normal Schools is to teach teachers how to teach." 
 
 Such was a teachers' idea of Normal Schools as he wrote it twenty- 
 five years ago. The Industrial League, an important organization, 
 took a similar view of professional schools, as appears from its 
 memorial to the Legislature in 1853. They say : "We, the members 
 of the industrial classes are still compelled to work empirically and 
 blindly, without needful books, schools or means, by the slow process 
 of that individual experience that lives and dies with the man. Our 
 professional brethren, through their universities, books and teachers, 
 combine and concentrate the practical experience of ages in each 
 man's life." 
 
 Such was their idea. These people seem to have thought that 
 one man might learn something from the experience of another, and 
 one generation from the experience of another generation ; and that 
 it was worth while to gather up these experiences and make them 
 available. They thought they could do this, as the doctors and 
 lawyers and ministers had done it ; by establishing professional 
 schools. 
 
 The great thinker and orator of that day, on these questions 
 the man who towered above his fellows like a Colossus was Pro- 
 fessor John B. Turner. His speech to the farmers and mechanics 
 at Granville, in 1851, set in motion a movement which spread and 
 strengthened until finally Congress responded by endowing pro- 
 fessional schools for the industrial classes in all the States. From 
 the first, Prof. Turner placed a Normal College at the head of the 
 colleges or departments of his proposed university. The League 
 was a unit on that question. Arny, Murray, Pennell, Kennicott, 
 Rutherford, Minier all agreed. A committee of the State Senate, 
 to whom was referred their memorial, reported in 1854, I think, that
 
 STATE NORMAL UNI VKKSITV. 1ST 
 
 "in education, as in all other subjects, there are certain truths that 
 are self-evident, or at least so nearly so, that they are admitted as 
 axioms by all men acquainted with the subject. One of these self- 
 evident propositions is, that the teacher must exist before the scholar 
 can be taught. Whoever, therefore, would begin at the foundation 
 of any system of public instruction must provide the means for 
 furnishing a supply of competent teachers; and without these, it is 
 equally self-evident that any system of common school instruction, 
 however wise in its laws or ample in its expenditures, or free arid 
 accessible to rich and poor, will prove a useless tax on the one, and 
 a waste of time, if not a nuisance, to the other." 
 
 How much have you improved on these "self-evident" prop- 
 ositions during the last quarter of a century? The statesmen who 
 signed that report were George Gage, John D. Arnold and Joseph 
 Morton. 
 
 I have drawn attention to the Industrial League because it had 
 considerable influence in preparing the way for the Normal School. 
 1 must, also, refer to some facts about the State school funds. From 
 time to time, as money accrued to these funds from the sale of lands, 
 the Legislature appropriated it to the ordinary expenses of govern- 
 ment; and directed the State Treasurer to enter on his books the 
 amount, so appropriated, to the credit of the funds; and thereafter 
 the State paid interest on the amount so taken and used, and applied 
 it to the support of the common schools. There were three of these 
 State school funds, but the interest on the college and on the sem- 
 inary funds was consolidated with the interest on the common school 
 fund, and disbursed for the support of the common schools. 
 
 Against this illegal diversion of the interest on the college and 
 seminary funds, the League was the first to protest. In one of its 
 memorials to the Legislature, it explains how the funds were being 
 frittered aw r ay: "The annual interest on the university fund is about 
 nine thousand dollars. If this should be divided between ten or 
 fifteen colleges (as was proposed by some), it would give them only 
 from six hundred to nine hundred dollars each per annum. Divided 
 among one hundred counties (as was proposed by others), it would 
 give them only ninety dollars each for a high school, or other pur- 
 pose. Divided, as it now is, among the million of our people, it gives 
 nine mills, or less than one cent, to each person." 
 
 Plainly the fund was not large enough to be of any great account 
 to the common schools directly; and it was not intended by Congivss 
 to be so applied. In the special report to the State Senate, from 
 which I have quoted, this matter was considered and the committee 
 said : 
 
 "The universities and higher schools of Europe, and of the 
 older States of this continent, were founded long before any attempt 
 was made at a thorough system of common schools, and through
 
 188 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 them teachers were prepared to descend into, create, and instruct all 
 departments below. If any State ever can secure a good system of 
 common schools, for the people, by any other process, it is certain no 
 one yet has done it, nor is it easy to see or imagine how it can 
 be done. 
 
 "In accordance with this view, and in distinct recognition of 
 this great fact, Congress granted to each new State of the west three 
 separate funds, university, seminary, and common school, well 
 knowing that the experience of the civilized world demonstrates the 
 need of three departments in education as well as of three depart- 
 ments in the government of a free State. 
 
 "It is believed that no State but our own has ever attempted to 
 reverse this decision of law, and our success so far in this enterprise 
 is, to say the least, not very nattering." 
 
 So the report was adverse to the practice of applying the 
 proceeds of the college and seminary funds to the support of the 
 common schools, but it was made too late in the session for action, 
 and the matter went over to the next Legislature. 
 
 Meanwhile, a new power had been growing up in the State. It 
 found public expression through the State Teachers' Association. 
 You know the men, Simeon Wright, Newton Bateman, S. M. Ktter, 
 D. S. Went worth, William II. Wells, B. G. Boots, L. H. Potter, 
 W. II. Haskell, J. Stone, Jr. I need not read the roll. It is a long 
 one, and an honorable one. These men took counsel together at 
 Chicago, in December, 1856, as to what had better be done or recom- 
 mended. It was at a crisis in the intellectual history of the State. 
 The free school law, then lately enacted, was on trial. It was crude 
 in many provisions, and had some serious defects, chief of which 
 was the total omission to provide any means for keeping up a supply 
 of competent teachers, and the esprit de corps of the profession. 
 
 One result of that conference that meeting of the Teachers' 
 Association at Chicago, in 1856 became public a few weeks later, at 
 Springfield, where the legislators had assembled. The bill, which 
 disclosed the views and wishes of the Chicago conference of teachers, 
 was entitled "An Act for the establishment and maintenance of a 
 Normal University," and it called out a somewhat extended discus- 
 sion of the nature and office of Normal Schools, and of their 
 practicability and expediency. I have been unable to procure but 
 one of the speeches delivered on that occasion, and from that must 
 infer the tenor of the others ex uno disce omnes. The speech 
 which I have was made by Hon. C. B. Denio, of Jo Daviess: 
 
 "Mr. Speaker: "I had not intended to make any remarks on 
 this bill, but since my name appears as one of the corporators, and 
 after the unwarrantable insinuation of the gentleman from Union, 
 that some gentlemen upon this floor are influenced in their support of 
 this measure because their names are included among the corporators,
 
 STATK NORMAL UNIVERSITY. !>!> 
 
 I deem it due to myself to state ray position to this House, and give a 
 few reasons for the hearty support I shall lend this measure. I 
 happen, unlike the honorable gentleman from Union, to be numbered 
 among those who, in early life, were deprived of the advantages of 
 even a common school education. Had I enjoyed the advantages of 
 that gentleman in my youth, and, sir, had I been favored with the 
 long legislative experience of that gentleman, I might to-day realize 
 less keenly than I do, my inexpeiience and want of these advan- 
 tages ; and, sir, I might be found battling on this floor, side by side 
 with that gentleman, against extending to others those privileges 
 which are the freeman's shield and the safeguard of the State. But, 
 Mr. Speaker, in my time and in that part of the country where I was 
 raised, one might travel a whole day and not find the sign of a 
 school house ; or, if he did, it would be only a little log hut, window- 
 less and doorless. But, sir, a new era is dawning. Within two years, 
 and since the passage of the law which the honorable gentleman only 
 a few days ago voted against, school houses have sprung up in every 
 part of the State, and by this time, perhaps, they have one even in 
 Jonesboro. 
 
 "Now, sir, so far as the objection to this application of the 
 interest of these 'sacred' funds is 'concerned, it seems to me that 
 some gentlemen have all at once become wonderfully fearful that the 
 'sacred' fund (as they are pleased to call it) will be diverted from its 
 legitimate channel. Why, sir, by reference to the journal of this 
 Legislature some years since, I find that the gentleman from Union, 
 and his political friends were feasting on oysters by appropriations 
 from this same 'sacred' fund! And now, because it is proposed, 
 after the lapse of nearly fifty years, to turn the interest of these funds 
 to their legitimate course, the gentleman holds up his hands in holy 
 horror. 
 
 "Mr. Dougherty: Can the gentleman from Jo Daviess state the 
 amount belonging to these funds appropriated at any one time by 
 the State? 
 
 "Mr. Denio: I will answer the gentleman by saying that, 
 whether I can state the exact amount taken at any one time or not, 
 does not matter, so far as the fact is concerned that the State has used 
 up all these sacred funds, and grudgingly paid into the common 
 school fund six per cent. only. And who are the gentlemen in this 
 House mostly implicated in this matter? If you will go with me to 
 the office below (the office of the Secretary of State was under the 
 hall of the House) you will see by the names that the persons who 
 are now so fearful that the school fund will be diverted from its 
 legitimate direction, were in former years willing to pay themselves 
 out of that fund ; and chose to do so rather than take the responsi- 
 bility of taxing the people. I suppose they acted in view of the fact 
 that the little boys and girls could not vote, and their fathers could. 
 
 13
 
 190 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 "What does this bill do? Sir, it proposes to educate teachers 
 for the people's colleges. For these schools we must have teachers, 
 and I think we should have western teachers, educated here at home. 
 True, Governor Slade has done well in sending westward young 
 women who not only make good teachers, but good wives. But I 
 am not disposed to depend forever on such efforts. It is due to the 
 State of Illinois that she take a nobler stand, and provide the means 
 for educating her own young men and women to become teachers. 
 
 "The gentleman says we can not educate enough teachers to 
 satisfy one-tenth of the wants of the State. I have not the slightest 
 hope that this school can furnish a teacher for every school in the 
 State; but it can and will, in a few years, furnish one, perhaps two, 
 for every county. Their knowledge will become available to other 
 teachers, and in this way the Normal School will multiply its 
 usefulness. 
 
 " 'But,' says my friend from Union, 'there is no guaranty that 
 these men will continue to teach after they are prepared in this 
 school.' In reply .to this I have only to say that that will depend 
 entirely on whether or not we are willing to pay them a reasonable 
 compensation. 
 
 "Mr. Speaker, I am somewhat surprised that the speech just 
 delivered by my friend from Coles should for a moment have 
 disturbed or alarmed the friends of the bill before the House. It is 
 true, he has made a speech against the bill; but this, to me, is a 
 promise of a good time coming. I argue from the fact that he has ' 
 spoken against the bill, that we may depend upon his vote with us 
 for the bill. This has been the gentleman's way of doing business 
 all winter. He has always convinced himself while speaking that he 
 was wrong, and then voted against his own speech. I am not 
 looking for a departure from his usual practice. I expect his vote 
 for the measure." 
 
 I have a dim recollection that the gentleman from Jo Daviess 
 once told me that the gentleman from Coles went back on him, and 
 ruined his reputation as a prophet, by voting against the bill. 
 
 "There are certain reasons," continued Mr. Denio, "why I wish 
 to see this bill become a law. It is not in all respects the thing I am 
 in favor of, or have been in favor of. I have been, and am now, of 
 the opinion that something like an Industrial University, on the plan 
 of Prof. Turner, was demanded and should be adopted ; and, acting 
 on that opinion, I introduced the following resolution into the Legis- 
 lature, in February, 1853, and it was adopted unanimously by that 
 body: 
 
 "Resolved, by the House of Representatives, the Senate concur- 
 ring therein, That our senators in Congress be instructed, and our 
 representatives be requested, to use their best exertions to procure 
 the passage of a law of Congress, donating to each State in the Union
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 191 
 
 an amount of public lands not less in value than five hundred thous- 
 and dollars, for the endowment of a system of Industrial Universities, 
 one in each State, for the more liberal and practical education of our 
 industrial classes and their teachers. 
 
 "This resolution was presented to Congress by Hon. E. B. 
 Wash burn, of my district, and the lands were asked for, but nothing 
 has yet been done." 
 
 I call attention to the dates. Prof. Turner outlined his plan for 
 a University in 1851. In 1853, February 8, the State Legislature 
 took action. These were the first steps taken anywhere, so far as I 
 know, to procure an endowment by Congress for Industrial Univer- 
 sities in the several States. 
 
 "At that time, 1853, it was thought best to take a part of the 
 University and Seminary funds to start such an institution. But 
 there were too many ' old fogies ' in the Legislature, and too many 
 men in Congress who preferred to attend to the interests of railroad 
 companies rather than the interests of the people and their education. 
 So nothing was done. We now have a chance to do something to 
 promote the welfare of the common schools, by furnishing them with 
 competent teachers, educated at home. I shall give the measure my 
 hearty support." 
 
 So spoke Denio. I have the speech of no other member, and 
 did not, myself, hear the debate; but I understood, at the time, 
 that it took a wide range, covering the theory of professional 
 schools as well as the manner and means of their establishment and 
 maintainance. 
 
 On the eighteenth day of February, 1857, this Normal Univer- 
 sity Act took its place upon the statute book "as an appendix to the 
 school law ; and on the fifth day of October following, its first class, 
 or part of it, assembled for the first time. The meeting took place in 
 the third story of a plain brick building, standing a little off from the 
 principal street in Blooming ton, and known as Major's Hall. This 
 hall had, theretofore, become historic as the birth place of a powerful 
 political party in the State; arid, more particulary, as the place where 
 the grandest man of modern times had delivered an oration in behalf 
 of liberty. It now became the scene of another event, quite unlike 
 the former in outward demonstrations, but destined, I think, to be 
 remembered as long. 
 
 Had you been there on that October morning, five and twenty 
 years ago, you would have seen ten young men and seventeen young 
 women grouped together on the benches, looking inquiringly towards 
 Ira Moore and the principal sitting on the platform. That and there 
 was the beginning. The names of those young people, or of some 
 of them-, head the column of your alumni. The two men on the 
 platform saw, or thought they saw, in the faces before them a 
 promise of coming honor to the institution. They believed in its
 
 192 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 growth, not as a sudden creation of a magic palace, but as the slow- 
 coming result of hard work on a good plan. I think I may say, 
 they, and their associates, were much in earnest. They had faith. 
 Theirs was the glowing expectancy with which Romulus and Remus 
 began to build, about the shepherds' huts upon the seven hills near 
 the Tiber, the walls which afterwards sheltered imperial Rome. 
 
 In the quarter of a century of its existence, by the silent pro- 
 cesses of a natural evolution, the Normal University has grown to be 
 an important radiating centre of educational thought. Its graduates 
 have gone abroad over the State, but loyally return from time to 
 time to pay their tribute of affection and esteem. For them and for 
 myself, I tender that tribute to-night. 
 
 ADDRESS OF RICHARD EDWARDS, LL. I). 
 
 When men are to be urged forward to the achievement of some 
 high purpose, when the deeds under discussion are as yet unper- 
 formed, he who addresses a public assembly has need of skill in 
 arranging his facts, and eloquence in uttering them. At such a time, 
 the purpose of the speaker is to arouse his hearers into the right kind 
 of activity, to awaken within them the required enthusiasm. But this 
 is not our task to-day. Not of the future, but of the past, are we to 
 speak on this anniversary. We need the spirit and bearing, not of 
 the ecstatic seer, peering into the hidden depths of the time to come, 
 but of the alm and truthful historian, reviewing the records of years 
 gone by. And it is a positive luxury to feel that for once we are not 
 to address ourselves to legislators, from whom an appropriation is 
 expected, nor to a crowd ol indifferent people whose torpid interest in 
 education, or at least in the Normal University, it is necessary to 
 kindle into life. Not that we have cause to complain of the way in 
 whicli the appeals of the past have been met, either by citizens or law- 
 makers. Both have dealt generously with this institution in the 
 quarter century which ends to-day. Its friends have been grandly true 
 to it, both in Springfield and throughout the State. But there is a 
 refreshing sense of relief in the thought that we are discussing things 
 accomplished, and not things hoped for. And the aim of this paper 
 shall be to present as plain and impartial a statement as possible of 
 the most significant facts in. the history of the institution during the 
 period nearly fourteen years of the writer's connection therewith. 
 
 That connection began on the seventeenth day of March, 1862, 
 when I took the place on the faculty which had just been vacated by 
 Mr. John Hull. My duty was to hear the classes in mathematics, and 
 to give instruction in the Theory and Art of Teaching. At this time, 
 Mr. Perkins Bass, a member of the Board of Education, was acting
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 193 
 
 as temporary principal. On the twenty-fifth of June in that year, the 
 Board, by a unanimous vote, elected me to the principalship of the 
 institution, and my acceptance was sent in on the next day. The con- 
 nection thus established was continued until January 1, 18T6. 
 
 It is certainly no exaggeration to say that, in 1862, the prospects 
 of the institution were gloomy. In the first place, it was a time of 
 depression for all schools. The chief occupation of the people was 
 war. Ambitious men and patriotic men those who were seeking 
 their own profit and glory, and those who were unselfishly seeking the 
 good of the country, were for once engaged in the same oufward pur- 
 suit. Home interests were for the time, in a state of suspended 
 animation. Even business was neglected. The millions of the 
 republic stood appalled in the presence of a terrible danger, a danger 
 the like of which had never before appeared. And the year just 
 named will be remembered as the very gloomiest in all that perilous 
 time. Military disasters had darkened the prospect. Bull Run had 
 been the scene of two desperate defeats. Mr. Seward's ninety days 
 had come and gone so many times, that the count of them began to be 
 monotonous, and yet the rebellion was not crushed. Instead of that, 
 it seemed mightier than at the beginning. Good reasons there seemed 
 to be for expecting that several European governments would soon 
 acknowledge the Confederacy as a nation, under such a terrible pres- 
 sure, men's minds -dwelt almost entirely on one subject the great 
 question of preserving the nation's life. So that a discussion of edu- 
 cational topics of schools and the means of sustaining them 
 seemed an impertinence. 
 
 And in regard to this institution, there were some special reasons 
 for anxiety. Its faculty had been broken up by enlistments into the 
 army. A large number of its students had also entered the service. In 
 collecting the fragments that remained, and in organizing them into an 
 effective school, the gentleman already named, Mr. Bass, had exhibited 
 great energy, and no little skill; yet the minds of many continued to 
 entertain grave and perplexing doubts. I remember that some of us 
 talked very pluckily, but at the same time, felt a weakness in the knees 
 that was not reassuring. And perhaps the principal cause of solicitude 
 remains yet to be mentioned. It was the financial outlook. Great 
 difficulties had been experienced in securing funds for the erection of 
 the building. It is not strange that in the process debts should have 
 been contracted. The Board, in their report dated December 20, 
 1860, state their liabilities at $65,000, and ask from the Legislature an 
 appropriation of that amount, for the meeting of all obligations. The 
 money was voted with the expectation that by the payment of that 
 sum the institution would be left free of debt. But the result failed 
 to justify this expectation. Claims to the amount of $2,000* or 
 thereabout, were proved up against the University, after the last 
 
 *f 10,000 of this was afterwards paid from the sale of swamp lands.
 
 194 HISTORY OP THE ILLIXOIS 
 
 appropriation was entirely exhausted. Some of these claims were 
 prosecuted in the courts, and judgments obtained. The defence had 
 been offered that the building and fixtures were State property and 
 therefore not liable to be taken on, execution. But the courts decided 
 otherwise, and a decree of mechanic's lien was issued in favor of one, 
 at least, of the parties, empowering him to sell the building. Many 
 incidents of that trying time recur to the mind. I remember 
 attempting one day to bespeak the forbearance of the party holding 
 the decree just mentioned. I strove to point out to him the great 
 harm that* would be likely to follow if the property should be sold, but 
 the appeal made little impression upon him. He answered with much 
 more of energy than of politeness or reverence of sacred things, and 
 declared that he would sell the entire concern at any moment, when- 
 ever a purchaser could be found. His only difficulty arose from the 
 fact that nobody wanted the elephant. Another, not financially 
 interested, volunteered the clieerral remark that he hoped soon to buy 
 the house for a corn crib. Another still, the principal of a private 
 school in a county not far distant, foretold very confidently the 
 approaching collapse of the Normal, and showed how his institution 
 would come in for a share in the estate of the deceased. This kind of 
 talk was very common all over the State. There seemed to be a 
 confident expectation, very generally entertained, that the days of the 
 Normal were numbered, and that soon the place that knew it should 
 know it no more. 
 
 In view of all these discouragements, we took what still seems to 
 me as the wisest course. It was resolved to ask for no more money 
 at the beginning. For the time being, the current expenses, we knew, 
 were provided for. The debt was therefore left untouched. It was 
 resolved to concentrate every effort upon the work of instruction. 
 The adverse gales were blowing, and the waves were dashing upon 
 the good ship, and it was thought the best protection against the storm 
 would be to make her thoroughly sea-worthy. I think we may say 
 that no labor was spared. Every man, and every woman, cheerfully 
 did what he could, and all he could. Nobody shirked a task. Nobody 
 tried to escape hard work. Every one made the common cause his 
 own. In the class rooms of the University, full hours were put in. 
 But this was not all. Opportunities for outside work were utilized. 
 Instruction was given at teachers' institutes. It was solemnly resolved 
 that whatever could be done for the general advancement of education 
 in Illinois, should not fail of being done, and that thus the school 
 should vindicate its right to be. In all parts of the State, north, south, 
 and middle, the members of the Normal faculty were to be found, 
 cheerfully rendering such service to the teachers of the schools as they 
 could. Nor should it be thought that this distant labor diminished the 
 efficiency of the teaching at home. The work of classes was laid out 
 with care for the time of the teacher's absence. And as the memory
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 195 
 
 rises before me, I am strongly impressed with the belief that the 
 hours of night were largely utilized for the purposes of travel. As far 
 as possible, efforts were made to save the precious daylight for teaching. 
 Another instrumentality was used for extending the benefits of the 
 institution to the teachers of the State. This was the State Teachers' 
 Institute, whose sessions were held in the University building during 
 the long summer vacation. The first session was held in September, 
 1863. It was attended by only fifteen teachers, and continued for four 
 weeks. At the tenth annual meeting of the State Teachers' Association, 
 held in December, 1863, this institute project at the Normal was com- 
 mended to the notice of the teachers. fWtly in consequence of this 
 encouragement, another meeting was advertised for August, 1864. 
 The number in attendance was 127. Prominent educationalists not 
 connected with the Normal, were engaged as instructors, but most of 
 the work was done by the regular faculty of the University. In 1867, 
 another session was held, attended by 255 teachers; another in 1868, 
 attended by 248; another in 1869, attended by 291. In 1870, 242 
 were present; in 1871, 215, and in 1872, 300. After that year, the 
 meetings were devoted more exclusively to the study of science. In 
 all these meetings, with perhaps but a single exception, the instrmc- 
 tors labored voluntarily and without compensation. The time given 
 to this work was the regular vacation allowed to members of the 
 faculty after forty weeks of school work. 
 
 These labors were soon rewarded by very cheering indications of 
 progress. The number of students at the University rapidly increased. 
 The public sentiment throughout the commonwealth grew more and 
 more favorable to us. The village of Normal began to be settled up 
 with people who valued education enough to bring here their boys and 
 girls, and to rent or purchase homes near the institution. In the prin- 
 cipal's report of December 14, 1864, I find the following: "At present, 
 we are suffering, for the moment, from a circumstance that seems to 
 result from the high esteem in which the school is held by the com- 
 munity. So many persons have come into the neighborhood to reside 
 in order to secure the benefits of the model school to their children, 
 that real estate has about trebled in value during the last two years; 
 and notwithstanding the unprecedented number of tenements recently 
 erected, rooms for the use of students are as scarce as ever." I 
 remember that one clear, moonlight night, about this time, a gentle- 
 man alighted from the train at what he had been told was Normal. 
 No man was more familiar with the place as it had been two or three 
 years before than he, but so great had been the changes, so numerous 
 the added houses, that just as the train was moving out, he rushed 
 wildly back upon the platform of the car, and consented to stop only 
 upon the strongest assurance from the conductor that this was indeed 
 his old home.* Of course, it ought not to be claimed that all the 
 
 *In June, 1862, the village contained about twelve houses, great and small.
 
 196 HISTORY OP TUP: ILLINOIS 
 
 financial prosperity that came to the village towards the close of the 
 war, was due solely to the success of the school. Much of it no doubt 
 arose from the general prosperity of the country. .But the fact that so 
 much of the general good luck came to this spot, was no doubt owing 
 to the energetic life which had been developed within the school. One 
 of the consequences of the returning prosperity was, that in February, 
 1865, the last dollar of our debt was canceled by an appropriation 
 from the Legislature. From that day we breathed more freely. For 
 the first time in its history, the institution owned itself, and had need 
 to ask the people for nothing more than the means of paying its cur- 
 rent expenses. 
 
 The progress of the institution during the period of which we arc 
 speaking may be indicated by the number of names on the catalogue 
 for the successive years. These numbers in the Normal and model 
 departments, respectively, were as follows : 
 
 For the year ending June, 1862, in the Normal, 152; in model, 133 
 For the year ending June, 1863, in the Normal, 205; in model, 220 
 For the year ending June, 1864, in the Normal, 304; in model, 279 
 For the year ending June, 1865, in the Normal, 282; in model, 411 
 For the year ending June, 1866, in the Normal, 270; in model, 502 
 For the year ending June, 1867, in the Normal, 327; in model, 580 
 For the yiear ending June, 1868, in the ^Normal, 413; in model, 630 
 For the year ending June, 1869, in the Normal, 462; in model, 318 
 For the year ending June, 1870, in the Normal, 429; in model, 328 
 For the year ending June, 1871, in the Normal, 464; in model, 2.V> 
 For the year ending June, 1872, in the Normal, 460; in model, 317 
 For the year ending June, 1873, in the Normal, 437; in model, 2!)3 
 For the year ending June, 1874, in the Normal, 450; in model, 316 
 For the year ending June, 1875, in the Normal, 467; in model, 312 
 
 From 1868 to 1869, the table shows a falling off in the model 
 school from 630 to 318. This was due to a change in the status of 
 that school. At first it was ungraded, having for its pupils the hand- 
 ful of children resident in the village, with a few others from other 
 places. As the number of these residents increased, and as the school 
 became better known, the attendance from both sources was greatly 
 enlarged. The public moneys belonging to the local school district 
 were paid over to the University authorities, and in return the children 
 of the district were taught in the model school. But by the year 1867, 
 there had been such an enormous increase in the population of the 
 town, that it became impossible to continue the arrangement. On the 
 seventeenth day of December, 1867, the board voted that at the end 
 of the year, the connection with the school district should be termi- 
 nated. By this action, the attendance upon the model school was 
 diminished by something more than three hundred. 
 
 I pass on to note some of the most important results attained 
 during the fourteen years of which we are treating; and 1 mention.
 
 STATE NORMAL rjNIVERSITT. 197 
 
 iiist. the development of the model school. In 1862 it had been in 
 part reorganized by my predecessor, Mr. Bass. Two grades had been 
 established in it, the high school and the primary. At the head of 
 the former was Mr. Charles F. Child s, who had been called to that 
 position from St. Louis. The primary was under the care of Miss 
 Livonia E. Ketcham. This arrangement continued until June, 1803, 
 when both these teachers resigned their places. Mr. Childs' place 
 was tilled by the appointment of Mr. William L. Pillsbury, a then 
 recent graduate of Harvard College. As principal of the- primary 
 school, Miss Marion Hammond, of St. Louis, was appointed about the 
 same time. Soon after Mr. L. B. Kellogg was employed as an addi- 
 tional instructor. This last appointment was the germ from which 
 sprung, in 1866, the grammar school grade. Until the autumn of this 
 last-named year, the principal of the high school had general super- 
 vis ion *of all the grades. After that time the grades were independent 
 of each other. 
 
 The moving purpose in establishing the model school was to 
 furnish to the Normal pupils an opportunity for practice in teaching. 
 But, by the act incorporating the University, it is required that its 
 maintenance shall not involve the Board in any expense; that is, the 
 model school must pay for itself. The only way in which that result 
 can be accomplished is by collecting tuition fees from its pupils. For 
 some years it had been somewhat freely charged that the teaching 
 imparted in it was of a poor quality. Mere pupil-teachers, so it was 
 argued, could not, in reason, be expected to do as thorough work as 
 well-qualified, regularly-employed, instructors. The natural effect of 
 that objection would be to discourage parents from patronizing the 
 school. As the readiest way of breaking its force, a number of 
 gentlemen from Bloomington and elsewhere persons well qualified 
 for the work were invited to give the school a thorough examina- 
 tion, and to report upon its condition and the character of its teaching. 
 Two days were spent in the rooms, listening to the work, and a report 
 was made, which effectually turned the edge. of all that criticism. 
 
 One principal object aimed at in the management of the model 
 school during these years, was the thorough fitting of boys for tl it- 
 best colleges of the country. This, it was thought, would help to give 
 character to the institution in all its grades. A high reputation for 
 sound scholarship, it was believed, would induce students to come, and 
 would help to maintain good order among them after they were 
 assembled. It was with this idea that the services of Mr. Pillsbury 
 were secured. By some of the members of the Board it was thought 
 that a man of stouter muscle than the pale student which he appeared 
 to be, was required for the exigencies of the situation. They feared 
 that the stalwart boys of rough exterior and boisterous ways would 
 prove too much for him, that his authority would be despised and his 
 influence neutralized. But the result was quite the reverse of all this.
 
 198 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 Closely connected with tlie model school is the training depart- 
 ment. This has grown from very imperfect beginnings. Originally 
 the pupil-teachers had very little supervision. The principal of the 
 University was almost as much occupied in teaching as any of the 
 other instructors. The principal of the high school had fully one 
 man's work in the higher classes under his care. The regular 
 instructors in the other grades were equally laden with duties. 
 Systematic and efficient oversight of the fifty or sixty persons 
 entrusted, with classes in the three grades was a thing almost impos- 
 sible to bring about. At first, the attempt was made by the principal 
 of the University. Certain hours in the day were devoted to this 
 work. As far as possible, the recitations were so arranged that his 
 vafcant hours came when the largest number of young people were 
 engaged in teaching. Meetings of the pupil-teachers were appointed 
 for the afternoon, after school hours. A record was kept t>f the 
 classes and their work. Besides this record, each pupil-teacher was 
 required to keep a diary, giving an account of every recitation, setting 
 forth its subject-matter, the method employed in conducting it, the 
 difficulties experienced, and the successes and failures encountered. 
 In my report for December, 1873, I find a somewhat complete 
 statement of the course pursued at that time and previously, in the 
 matter of training the young teachers. But the great need of some- 
 thing better had been recognized. I had been all along convinced 
 that this work required the full time and energy of one well qualified 
 person. This idea had been repeatedly presented to the Board, but 
 could not be carried out on account of the expense. At length, by the 
 appropriation of 1874, the means seemed to be furnished. In June of 
 that year, Prof. Thomas Metcalf was taken from the chair of mathe- 
 matics, and installed in the newly-established department of practical 
 didactics, or training. It was preeminently the right thing to do, both 
 as to the proposed service, and the man to perform it. 
 
 The methods of professional instruction which prevailed during 
 this period were introduced in the spring of 1862. The members of 
 the class which had reached its third term in school, listened to a 
 course of conversational lectures upon the Theory and Practice of 
 Teaching, which they were required afterwards to reproduce, with such 
 additions and variations as they wished to insert. These papers were 
 examined by the instructor, corrected, and returned to the writers. 
 At a later point in the course, several weeks were given to the history 
 of education, and the biography of eminent educators. Besides this 
 there were lectures upon the philosophy of education. About the 
 year 1873, these lectures were discontinued, and in their place, that 
 charming and lucid treatise, which has so won the hearts of the young 
 people, Rosenkranz's Pedagogics, was substituted. This book, I 
 understand, is still used, the authorities doubtless fearing that an 
 attempt to put it out would provoke a rebellion.
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 199 
 
 In June, 1869, the Board adopted the plan of issuing certificates 
 to such students as had completed the work of one or two years. This 
 action was taken on account of the fact that a large number of the 
 students were employed as teachers in the public schools before com- 
 pleting the entire course and securing diplomas. These teachers, 
 claiming to represent the University, had nothing to show in con- 
 firmation of their claims. One consequence was that the community 
 had no way of discriminating between the worthy and the unworthy, 
 or between him who had mastered many studies and him who had 
 mastered only a few. Each .of the certificates contained an exact 
 statement of the amount of work satisfactorily done by the holder. 
 
 Another department that has been developed and established upon 
 a permanent basis during these years, is the museum, with its connected 
 scientific work. In 1862, there was a very fine collection of specimens, 
 considering the time it had taken, but it was owned by a private 
 association the Illinois Natural History Society. By their action as 
 a corporation, all its work was done, and all its officers elected. At 
 that time, the office of curator was filled by Prof. C. D. Wilber, who, 
 we must not forget, had rendered very valuable service in making the 
 collection. But it seemed desirable to unite this important interest 
 under the same control as the school. In the year 1867, an appropri- 
 ation of $1,500 a year was made by the Legislature for the salary of a 
 curator, and $1,000 a year for additions to the museum. Prof. John 
 W. Powell was elected by the Board of Education to the office of 
 curator, and the election was ratified by the Natural History Society. 
 This was the revival of an interest which had slept since the retire- 
 ment of Prof. Wilber, in 1862, or thereabout. Prof. Powell shed 
 luster upon the institution by his Rocky Mountain expeditions, and 
 continued his connection with the museum until June, 1872, when the 
 present faithful and efficient curator, Prof. S. A. Forbes, was elected. 
 The divided jurisdiction which had hitherto obtained in this depart- 
 ment, came to an end in June, 1871, when the Natural History 
 Sock-ty made over its rights in the premises to the Board of Education. 
 Thus all the interests within this building were placed under one man- 
 agement, and the purposes thereof were harmonized and unified. 
 The development of this important department of the institution would 
 of itself present an interesting history, and it is a history that ought to . 
 be preserved as a part of the permanent records, but in this sketch it 
 is not possible to present it in full. The proper person for that duty 
 is the curator himself, who is familiar with all the steps, and able to 
 set them forth in their true order. 
 
 Reference has already been made to the fact that the courts had 
 decided that the Normal University was a private institution, belong- 
 ing to the Board of Education as a corporation. The appropriations 
 of money made to it seemed to be regarded merely as grants or gifts. 
 The State was held not to be liable for the Board's debts. The
 
 200 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 property was not shielded from the demands of creditors by the 
 sovereignty of the State. In some respects this was a disadvantage. 
 Not, of coarse, in that it compelled the University to pay its debts. 
 This, to an individual or a corporation, is not a drawback but a 
 benefit. But it was an injury to the school to be thus shut out from 
 the popular sympathy, to be severed from the great system of educa- 
 tion for which the State feels a responsibility, and for whose wants, 
 therefore, the Legislature is under some sort of obligation to provide. 
 To remedy these evils, the first section of the act of February 28, 
 1867, ordains that "The State Normal University, established by an 
 act approved February 18, 1857, is hereby declared a State institution, 
 and the property, personal, real, and mixed, in the hands, and stand- 
 ing in the name of the Board of Education of the State of Illinois, is 
 the property of the State of Illinois, and is by said Board held in 
 trust for the State." Since the passage of that act, the Normal, with 
 all its appurtenances, has been as much the property of the common- 
 wealth as the State House or the great seal. 
 
 From the time of its establishment, the institution had received as 
 an annual appropriation from the State, twenty-three twenty-fourths of 
 the interest on a certain fund, called the college and seminary fund. 
 The principal of that fund consisted of the proceeds, in part, of the 
 sale of certain lands, given to the State by Congress, in the act admit- 
 ting it into the Union. The revenue from this source amounts to 
 $12,444.99 per annum. As our operations the number of students 
 and teachers increased from year to year, it was reasonable that the 
 expenses should also increase. This was, after some delay, recognized 
 by the Legislature. In the appropriation bill, approved March 10, 
 1869, an addition of $9,000 per annum was made to our ordinary 
 revenue for the next two years. Another appeal we were constrained 
 to make to the Legislature, on account of the fact that in early years 
 our appropriations had fallen behind in point of time, to the extent 
 of some months. That is, every installment of money voted to us was 
 used in part retrospectively. This irregularity was not corrected until 
 1873, when an appropriation of $6,915 was made to bring up the 
 arrears. 
 
 It is said that when Dr. Johnson was reminded of the fact that 
 the trees in Windsor Park were growing rapidly, lie answered in his 
 blunt way that they had nothing else to do, and therefore ought to 
 grow. The same might be said of the beautiful grove now surround- 
 ing this building. But we can remember the time when there were no 
 trees here, with the duty of growing incumbent upon them ; and the 
 converting of the bare prairie into such a noble forest as the eye rests 
 upon here to-day was no slight undertaking. It involved a consider- 
 able expenditure of money. In 1867, $3,000 was appropriated to 
 this purpose. Mr. Jesse \V. Fell was appointed to superintend the 
 work. It was done with his accustomed energy and skill. The winds
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 201 
 
 were mighty and the situation was exposed. Many of the trees had 
 to be reset ; some of them more than once. I remember that this was 
 true especially of the row of tulip-poplars just in front of the building. 
 But Mr. Fell's intense love of trees carried him successfully through 
 all the trials, and after a labor running through four years, he made 
 his linal report in 1871. It ought not, however, be thought that noth- 
 ing had previously been done in the way of ornamenting the grounds. 
 The line of trees along the margin of the enclosure were growing 
 before my coining here. There was also a nursery of young ever- 
 greens which were utilized in the final planting. 
 
 The heating apparatus, as it was originally put in by Walworth, 
 Hubbard & Company, was accepted by the Board in June, 1863, and 
 was thought to be sufficient for the wants of the school. But as the 
 number of students increased, and all parts of the building came to be 
 continually used, two serious defects began to appear. First, the heat- 
 ing power of the apparatus was found to be insufficient, and secondly, 
 the ventilation turned out to be worth very little. In the coldest 
 weather it was found impossible to raise the temperature above fifty 
 degrees Fahrenheit, and the condition of the air, when the windows 
 could not be opened, became at last absolutely unendurable. Efforts 
 were made to secure an appropriation for a new apparatus. It appears 
 that in 1871, the sum of $4, 000 was voted to us; but this was found 
 utterly inadequate. This fact was made plain by a thorough canvass- 
 ing of the whole subject. Another appeal was made to the Legisla- 
 ture of 1873, asking for an additional sum ; but the request was not- 
 acceded to. In the emergency, the Board resolved to save the needed 
 sum by curtailing other expenditures. This was done, and in the l<uig 
 vacation of that year a new boiler was put into the basement, and the 
 present machinery for ventilation put up, at a cost of $8,500. 
 
 Among the lesser changes which took place may be mentioned 
 this, that in June, 1866, it was ordered by the Board that the principal 
 of the formal University be hereafter officially known and called 
 "president," and that the principal male teachers thereof be known as 
 "professors." This was an accession of honor which had not been 
 sought by the instructors, and I am not certain that they have all 
 learned to appropriate it as yet. But the change was introduced into 
 the catalogue from that time forth. 
 
 At all times since the school first went into operation, there has 
 been criticism upon it and its work. It has often been charged that 
 the graduates and pupils have done no appreciable amount of 
 teaching, and that what they have done has been of an inferior 
 quality. As early as Isiji;. statements to this effect had been some- 
 what industriously circulated in different parts of the State. In order 
 to meet them, it was thought best to issue circulars of inquiry to the 
 most prominent educators in Illinois, respectfully asking answers to 
 the following four questions:
 
 202 HISTORY <F THE ILLINOIS 
 
 1. Have any of the graduates or pupils of this institution been 
 employed as teachers in the schools of your vicinity ( 
 
 2. What degree of success has attended their labors in teaching 
 and governing? 
 
 3. In what repute is the University held by the people in your 
 portion of the State? 
 
 4. According to your best judgment, is the University a benefit 
 to the State, and is the outlay of money required to support it a 
 judicious and profitable expenditure? 
 
 To this circular, thirty-eight answers were received, all of which, 
 with the names of the writers, were published in full in the biennial 
 report of the State Superintendent, and also in a separate pamphlet. 
 Of these answers, Hon. Newton Bateman, in the report already 
 referred to, says that they contain "a mass of testimony in relation 'to 
 the standing and success of the graduates as teachers, which must be 
 regarded as in the highest degree gratifying to the friends of the 
 University, and a satisfactory proof that it is achieving the ends for 
 which it was established. * * They (the letters) are from every 
 portion of the State, and reflect the unbiased opinions of their various 
 writers, founded upon personal knowledge and observation. With a 
 unanimity and emphasis that is certainly remarkable, they affirm the 
 superior ability, skill, enthusiasm, and success, of the graduates of the 
 Normal University." These answers, thus warmly endorsed by the 
 State Superintendent, were very helpful in maintaining and extending 
 the reputation of the institution. Other inquiries of similar character 
 have been since addressed to educational officials and others, with a 
 view of exhibiting the amount of good which the school is doing. By 
 a resolution passed by the House of Representatives, February 18, 
 1873, the State Superintendent was directed to obtain from the county 
 superintendents the names of the graduates and pupils of the Normal 
 University teaching in the different counties. By the returns made to 
 this inquiry, it appeared that one hundred and twenty graduates, and 
 three hundred and eighty-nine other pupils, were thus employed. 
 They were teaching in eighty-six different counties. But it was easy 
 to show that these numbers were far below the truth. This subject 
 will be found discussed with some thoroughness in my reports to the 
 Board of Education, presented in June and December, 1873. 
 
 The first specific appropriation for a reference library was made in 
 December, 1862. The sum of $500 was voted at the beginning, and 
 it was provided that $200 a year should be used in replenishing and 
 enlarging it. Large purchases of books had been made before this, 
 but they were chiefly of text-books for the use of individual students, 
 to whom they were loaned. In this way, every student was furnished 
 with every book that he needed to use in preparing his daily 
 recitations. But this practice was found to be, in many respects, bad. 
 In the early stages of the institution, when the attendance was small,
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 203 
 
 this policy may have seemed wise; but when the numbers were greatly 
 increased, the conditions were entirely changed, and the supplying of 
 the students with all their books became an intolerable nuisance, 
 entailing upon the institution an immense expense, and causing the 
 teachers vast labor and trouble. But the abolition of the practice was 
 gradual. As a general rule, books continued to be loaned until they 
 were worn out. 
 
 In the war for the union of the States, the University bore an 
 honorable part. The first principal became the colonel of the famous 
 Thirty-third Regiment of Illinois Volunteers^ and was promoted to 
 the rank of brigadier-general. Many of the students had also entered 
 the service. In all this there was a fitness. Institutions of learning 
 are the natural homes of patriotism, as well as of other generous 
 sentiments. Young men in pursuit of knowledge have always been 
 distinguished by their sensitiveness to these higher appeals. In the 
 report for December, 1866, I find the following statements: 
 
 Of the teachers and pupils of the University who entered the 
 army, there were, as far as known, commissioned officers, thirty- 
 four; non-commissioned officers, forty-two; privates, eighty-nine; 
 rank unknown, ten ; rank and regiment unknown, thirty-six ; total, 
 211. The report closes with the hope that in the future a more com- 
 plete list may be made out. Whether this has been done, I am not 
 able to say. It must be remembered that the history of these enlist- 
 ments belongs mostly, though not entirely, to the period preceding 
 that of which we are now speaking. I remember that in the spring 
 of 1862, the city of Springfield was thought to be in danger of an 
 attack from the confederates. The rumor had been circulated in 
 Bloomington and was quickly brought to Normal. The commotion 
 was intense. A meeting was held in the northwest recitation room, 
 and it was resolved to meet the foe in a manner worthy of American 
 citizens. Farewells were impressively spoken, and I am sure that 
 some tears were shed, but the whole turned out to be a false alarm, 
 and the next day witnessed the return of the fiery youths to the dull 
 routine of ordinary school duties. They had shown their willingness 
 to serve their country, but their services were not then required. 
 Many other events might be detailed, but it does not seem wise to 
 take the time for them. A few may, perhaps, be simply mentioned 
 without expansion or comment. For several years, the president of 
 the University had no responsibility for the keeping of account books, 
 or the disbursement of money, except a small amount known as the 
 contingent fund. In 1869, a new set of books was opened, and in 
 December of that year, the president was put in charge of them, and 
 required to countersign all orders upon the treasurer. In June, 1873, 
 the blanks, pay-rolls, and duplicates were adopted, which, I suppose, 
 are still in use. 
 
 Several attempts were made to allow the Bloomington and
 
 20-i HISTOKY (>F THE ILLINOIS 
 
 Normal horse railway to pass through the grounds, but the per- 
 mission was not given until December 18, 1867. Even then, some 
 of the members of the Board were doubtful of the wisdom of the 
 measure. 
 
 Of the men and women who have been employed as teachers in 
 the institution, I can give only a bare list of names. In the Normal 
 Department, during my incumbency, there have been (naming them 
 in the order of their appointment) Edwin C. Hewett, Joseph A. 
 Sewall, Margaret E. Osband, Thomas Metcalf, Albert Stetson, Fannie 
 L. D. Strong, Emmelihe Dryer, Martha D. L. Haynie, John W. 
 Powell, John W. Cook, Letitia Mason, Henry McCormick. Myra 
 A. Osband, Rosalie Miller, Harriet M. Case, Stephen A. Forbes, 
 Bandusia Wakefield. 
 
 As principals of the high school, there were Charles F. Childs, 
 William L. Pillsbury, Mary E. llorton, Eliab W. Coy, Lester 
 L. Burrington. Assistants in the high school, Lyman B. Kellogir, 
 ( )sear F. McKim, Melancthon Waken'eld, Bandusia Wakefield, Thomas 
 J. Burrill, John H. Thompson, Ruthie E. Barker, John R. Edwards, 
 Martha D. L. Haynie. 
 
 Principals of the grammar school, E. P. Burlingliam, John 
 W. Cook, Joseph Carter, Benjamin "W. Baker. Assistants in the 
 grammar school, Mary Pennell, Lyman Hutchinson, "W. S. Mills. 
 
 Principals of the intermediate school, Olive A. Rider, Martha 
 Foster. Principals of the primary school, Livonia E. Ivetcham, 
 Marion Hammond, Edith T. Johnson, Lucia Kingslev, Martha K. 
 Hughes, Gertrude K. Case, Jane P. Carter. 
 
 The members of the Board of Education during this period were 
 Samuel W. Moulton, John P. Brooks, Perkins Bass, Newton Bate- 
 man, Walter M. Hatch, William II. Powell, George P. Rex, J. W. 
 Schweppe, Henry Wing, William II. Wells, Simeon Wright, Thomas 
 J. Pickett, J. W. Shehan, William H. Green, Calvin Goudy, Joseph 
 Medill, John H. Foster, Walter L. Mayo, Charles P. Taggart, Benajah 
 G. Roots, Thomas J. Turner, Kersey H. Fell, Thomas R. Leal, Jesse 
 II. Moore, Elias C. Dupuy, Jesse W. Fell, Nicholas E. Worthington. 
 W infield S. Coy, George C. Clarke, Enoch A. Gastman, Charles 
 F. Noetling, Edward L. Wells, Joseph Carter, Samuel M. Etter, J. 
 C. Knickerbocker, H. Harrison Hill, Richard S. Canby. The 
 treasurer was Charles W. Holder during all my connection with the 
 institution. The janitors were Frank Nolle, and our good, honest, 
 efficient friend, Peter Ketelson. 
 
 One of the most noticeable facts connected with the history of the 
 Normal has been the permanency of its officers and teachers. While 
 the controlling boards of other State institutions have been repeatedly 
 legislated out of office, and other bodies created to succeed them, the 
 Board governing this school has never been disturbed, but has gone 
 on in the even tenor of its way. And in its very membership there
 
 STATK NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 
 
 has been unusual continuity. Hon. Samuel W. Moulton was president 
 of the Board from July, 1859, to June, 1877, with a short interreg- 
 num. Hon. "W. H. Green has been a member since about 1860. 
 Dr. Calvin Gowdy was for many years a most faithful and efficient 
 member, and the present president, Mr. Hoots, has been for manv 
 years a most useful helper. Indeed, he was so before his appointment 
 on the Board. 
 
 The transcribing of these lists, both of teachers and of members 
 of the Board, has awakened a flood of precious memories. On the 
 part of the instructors, I recall unflagging industry and faithfulness, 
 and an ennobling faith in high ideals. Their work and their spirit 
 have gone into the very bone and sinew of this great school, and 
 have made it the grand thing it is to-day. All over this honored 
 commonwealth, their influence is felt. They have been permitted 
 to lay their hands, in a most effective way, upon the forces which 
 affect its destiny. The Illinois of the future will be a different and a 
 nobler entity, by reason of what these teachers have done for it. 
 
 And of the gentlemen, who, without fee or reward, have given of 
 their time and their thought and influence, to build up here a power 
 for the mental improvement of these mighty communities, to open 
 here a fountain whose streams have helped to cover the land with the 
 beauty and fruitful ness of culture, what shall be said? Nobly have 
 they wrought. They have labored for permanent and not temporary 
 ends. If this building should to-day be consumed in the flames, if 
 the voice of instruction should be here forever hushed, their labor 
 would not be in vain. Like good seed, the influence here planted 
 would continue through the ages to reproduce itself, to the nourishing 
 of mind and heart. And if this were a tit place for the expression 
 of personal feelings, I might long engage you in listening to my 
 grateful recital of the generous support and encouragement which I 
 received from their hands. 
 
 Nor must I forget to say a word concerning the members of the 
 Legislature, with whom I have had so much to do. I wish to say 
 that my recollection of them is most pleasant. Many favors, many 
 courtesies, have I received at their hands. On the whole, they gave 
 us a liberal support, and I gladly express to them my thanks on 
 this occasion, the last, perhaps, in which I shall ever publicly speak 
 of the subject. 
 
 And the graduates and pupils of this school, how well they have 
 carried out its spirit! How effectively have they recommended it to 
 the good will of the citizens of Illinois! In a very important sense, 
 they have made the Normal a success. Upon the flood of their suc- 
 cessful teaching, the good ship has thus far floated, and weathered all 
 the gales, and thus it must always be. The teachers may be faithful, 
 the Board may be wise, and the Legislature may be generous, but 
 all will go for nothing unless the out-going students are efficient in
 
 206 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 meeting their responsibility. Every friend of the Normal ought to 
 be proud of the good service rendered by the boys and girls who 
 have migrated from its halls into the school houses of the land. 
 
 As a general indication of the progress made by the school 
 during the period which we have been considering, allow me to quote 
 a paragraph from the president's report of December 15, 1875: "The 
 progress of the institution for the last fourteen years may be shown 
 b} 7 several facts. For the school year 1861-2, the number of pupils 
 catalogued in the Normal School was 152. The number for 187-45, 
 was 467; a gain of 207 per cent. The number catalogued in the 
 entire institution during the former year, was 285; during the latter 
 year it was 779; a gain of 171 per cent. The amount annually appro- 
 priated by the Legislature at that time was $12,445-99. For the 
 current period it is $27,200; a gain of more than 118 per cent. The 
 income from the model school at that time cannot be determined from 
 documents within my reach, but for the year 1862-3, it was $1,778.20. 
 Last year it was $4,488.04; a gain of 152 per cent. It will be seen 
 that the gain from appropriations, large as that is, falls far below the 
 gains in the number of pupils, or in the income from the model 
 school. There has also been vast progress in respect to the number 
 of our pupils found teaching and superintending, especially in posi- 
 tions of importance. The total number known to be teaching last 
 year (1875) was 777. Of those employed in Illinois, ten were 
 county superintendents, two were instructors in the Southern Nor- 
 mal University, two were professors in the Industrial University, 
 one was a teacher in the Peoria County Normal School, and two 
 were meinbers of this Board (State Board of Education). Besides 
 these, there were many superintendents and principals of high 
 schools. Of those in other States, there were two county superin- 
 tendents in Iowa, four principals of schools in St. Louis, one of them 
 a branch high school, and the others large grammar schools; one 
 principal of the city high school in Hannibal, Missouri; one teacher 
 in the State Normal School in Castine, Maine; one city superin- 
 tendent in Denver, Colorado; one principal in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; 
 one high school principal in Warsaw, New York; two professors in 
 the State Normal School in Terre Haute, Indiana ; one professor in 
 the State Normal School, San Jose, California; two professors in 
 the State University, in Fayetteville, Arkansas; one professor in 
 the State Normal School, in Cape Girardeau, Missouri; one city 
 superintendent in Little Rock, Arkansas." 
 
 The paper just read in your hearing refers exclusively to the 
 period of my own connection with the institution. It has been so 
 limited by the suggestion of the committee of arrangements for this 
 day. But I believe that on all proper occasions I have been prompt 
 to express my appreciation of the work done by my predecessors in 
 office, and I think I may claim to have missed no opportunity of
 
 STATE NO UMAX UNIVERSITY. 
 
 saying a good word for the school since leaving it. And perhaps I 
 can not close this long paper in any better way than by a reiteration, 
 in one word, of these sentiments, and by professing anew my 
 personal loyalty to the Normal University, past, present, and future. 
 May its power increase, and its friends be daily multiplied. 
 
 ADDKESS OF EDWIN C. HEWETT, LL. D. 
 
 Twenty-five years ago this summer, I made a journey to Illinois 
 on a somewhat important errand. One year before I had made my 
 first visit to this State; I came on what was not altogether a ''voy- 
 age of discovery," but it was something like one. At any rate, my 
 first visit gave occasion for the second, 1857, from which I returned 
 to New England accompanied by a young woman. We had formed 
 a kind of copartnership, which still continues. During this visit I 
 heard considerable talk about the new, Normal School, which was 
 about to go into operation. I had no suspicion, however, at that 
 time, that the establishment of this State Normal School was a fact 
 of any special significance to me, personally; my home was in New 
 England ; it had always been there, and I had no thought or expecta- 
 tion that it might not always remain there. 
 
 Another year passed away, and through the kind offices of 
 friends, I had been spoken of to President Hovey, as a proper person 
 to fill a place in the faculty of the new institution, then entering 
 upon its second year. After some correspondence, extending over a 
 period of a few weeks, I received a formal offer of the position. The 
 salary, $1,200 per annum, did not promise an increase sufficient to 
 tempt me much; but I had had some experience in the Normal 
 School work, and decidedly preferred it to the work of a grammar 
 school, in which I was then engaged. The result was that I closed 
 with the offer, and the month of October found me a resident of 
 Bloomington, and a teacher in the State Normal University. The 
 connection thus formed has never been severed. I came here a young 
 man, but I am reminded in many ways that I am a young man no 
 longer. Whatever may be the ultimate period of my life, or what- 
 ever other work in the providence of a good God I may be called to 
 undertake, it can hardly fail that, when my life work is finished, I 
 shall find that the largest, the most important, and most character- 
 istic part of it has been done here. 
 
 Nor does this probability, looked squarely in the face, cause me 
 a single regret. I regret, indeed that I have not been able to do my 
 work here better ; but to have given my efforts, such as they were, to 
 the shaping of this institution in its early days, its days of struggle 
 and doubt; to have participated in its subsequent prosperity, and to 
 have shared in the triumphs that have been set before you by a more
 
 208 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 eloquent tongue than mine; to have taught, for a longer or shorter 
 period, every one who has gone as a graduate from its halls, at 
 least from the Normal Department, leaves no room for regret that 
 I have here spent some of the years of my youth and the best 
 strength of my manhood. 
 
 I think there is little need that I should spend much time in 
 relating facts of history concerning our institution. The story of its 
 early days- its founding, the struggles through which it passed, the 
 courageous self-sacrifice of its friends has been given you better than 
 I could give it; and it needs not to be repeated. My predecessor in 
 the presidency has told you, with an eloquence that few can command, 
 of its growth and prosperity in the years that followed its early 
 struggles. The funny things connected with its history are to have 
 a permanent place in the book now preparing, and you will all read 
 them there. 
 
 When I came to the head of the institution, in January, 1876, it 
 was firmly established; it had passed more than eighteen years of 
 vigorous and successful life; its methods of work had crystallized, at 
 least so far as such a thing is desirable; its character and aims had 
 come to be well understood by a large part of the community; nor 
 had it failed to have settled a large body of traditions such as grow 
 up around every institution of learning. I had not to build the ship, 
 nor to launch it, nor to mark out its voyage, nor to assign the duties 
 of its officers and crew. It was already in full, successful and confi- 
 dent progress. Other men had labored, wisely and well, and nothing 
 remained for me but to enter into their labors, and to carry them 
 forward as best I might, on the lines of progress already clearly 
 marked out. 
 
 It has been said that a time of peace and prosperity affords but 
 a barren field for the work of the historian. Thus the historical part 
 of this discourse may be soon dispatched. 1876 was about the 
 middle point in the period of severe business depression through 
 which our country has just passed. Our institution, in common with 
 all others, had felt the effect of this depression. It was shown con- 
 spicuously in a considerable falling off in the number of its students. 
 "Hard times," so-called, have a two-fold tendency to diminish the 
 number of those who seek instruction in a Normal School.. In 
 addition to the difficulty of obtaining the money to pay current 
 expenses at such an institution, a difficulty which it shares in common 
 with all other schools, it has a peculiar influence to encounter from 
 the following fact: When a diminution of revenues, and increased 
 difficulty in collecting taxes, make it necessary that municipalities 
 should diminish expenses, they are quite likely to be unwise in 
 selecting the point of contraction. As the private individual is more 
 likely to sacrifice his newspaper or magazine than his beer and tobacco, 
 so our communities seem to be more ready to cripple their schools
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 209 
 
 than to curtail expense for some other things that might be better 
 spared. The heaviest item of expense for schools is the salaries of 
 the teachers; moreover, this item of expense is one whose magnitude 
 is fully known and appreciated by "Thomas, Richard, and Henry." 
 Hence, the pruning knife of economy is likely to be felt here sooner 
 than anywhere else. As a result, teaching becomes a very much less 
 attractive Held for prospective labor, and fewer will be found who are 
 ready to incur expense in preparing themselves to enter this unprom- 
 ising field. I think the reasons I have given fully account for the 
 falling off in the number of students to which I have referred. For, 
 with the return of better times, and a tendency toward a restoration 
 of teachers' salaries, our numbers began to increase, and have con- 
 tinued to do so. Our enrollment in the Normal Department for the 
 last winter term reached 369, an appreciably higher mark than had 
 ever been reached before. 
 
 I am well aware that the excellence, efficiency or benefits to a 
 community which belong to an institution of learning cannot be 
 gauged by the the gross number of its students; but a large attend- 
 ance is certainly presumptive evidence of efficiency and resulting 
 benefit, and with many, perhaps most people, hardly any other test 
 is applied. 
 
 Moreover, there are those in the Legislature and elsewhere, who 
 are disposed to estimate the work of the school, simply by numbers, 
 and at the same time to take into the account the number of gradu- 
 ates alone. Tried by this test, we suffer severely;- for in fact, but 
 about one-tenth of those who enter the Normal School take its 
 diploma. Our course of study is more extended than that of most 
 Normal Schools. We insist rigidly on our rule of requiring each one 
 to reach a fixed standard of attainment in any study before he is 
 allowed to pass that study. Many of our students, as some of you 
 well know, are dependent upon their own exertions for means, and, 
 before their course is complete, they are obliged to go out and teach. 
 They may leave us with a full intention of returning to complete their 
 course, but, if successful in their teaching, they are sorely tempted 
 to remain in the school room instead of returning here to finish their 
 work. Perhaps it may also be said that some do not appreciate 
 sufficiently the advantages of a completed course and an enrollment 
 among the alumni. From all these causes, it happens that the num- 
 ber of our graduates bears but a small ratio to the whole number of 
 our students. I have hoped that, as the years go on, this state of 
 things may change somewhat. I think it will ; and still, much as I 
 should rejoice to see a larger number of our students attain a place 
 among the alumni, much as I regret to see that many do not seem to 
 estimate the value of our diploma as highly as I think they should, I 
 would not entertain for a moment the proposition to lower our 
 demands in order to increase the number of our graduates. I do not
 
 210 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 want to see our diplomas any cheaper. Rather let the diploma mean 
 as much as it does now, even if it must continue, as it has so long, 
 that a large part probably the largest part of our influence on the 
 schools of the State must continue to be exerted by our under- 
 graduates. 
 
 The six and one-half years since January, 1876, have been years 
 of harmony and prosperity. But very few changes have occurred in 
 our faculty, nor have our relations to eacli other been marred by 
 quarrels or bickerings such as afflict many faculties. Yery few cases 
 of severe discipline of students have arisen. I think they may all 
 be counted on the fingers of one hand, and still have a finger or so to 
 spare. Our interruptions by sickness of either teachers or students 
 have not been very serious in any case, and but one out of the whole 
 number of teachers and students in all departments, has died during 
 that time. I commend this fact to the consideration of those timid 
 people who fear that we are killing our people by hard work. 
 
 Our institution has never shown an undue haste in taking up 
 new plans of educational work. We have never been over-anxious, 
 I think, to forsake the old and well-tried for the new and experi- 
 mental. I trust that we have not been unwilling to "prove all 
 things," at least all things that were worth proving, but our strong 
 tendency has been to "hold fast that which is good." Hence, there 
 have been few radical changes in our plans and methods of work 
 during the last six and one-half years. Three somewhat important 
 changes are worthy of a passing notice. During President Edwards' 
 administration, we had come to feel that our training work, the 
 actual practice work of our students in the instruction of classes in 
 the model school, was failing to do justice both to the pupil-teachers 
 themselves and also to the young people who were placed under their 
 care for instruction, and it was believed that this failure arose from 
 the fact that their work was not always wisely planned nor properly 
 supervised. The reason that this was so, was found in the fact that, 
 with their multiplicity of other duties, no member of the faculty was 
 able to give this work of planning and supervising the attention it 
 required. Hence, in 1874, the office of training teacher was estab- 
 lished, and our oldest professor was relieved from the duties of his 
 chair and inducted into the new office. The wisdom of this step has 
 been sufficiently demonstrated. 
 
 But another evil was found to exist, which a new device was 
 necessary to remedy. Of course, we could not put classes into the 
 hands of our pupils for actual instruction, until those pupils had had 
 the benefit of our training for a few terms. But it was found that 
 quite a large per cent, of our pupils remained with us but one or two 
 terms, and left without ever having undertaken this practice-work. 
 Nor had they received direct professional instruction or practice of 
 any kind nothing beyond what was incidental to the daily move-
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 211 
 
 merits of the school and to their pursuit of the several branches of 
 study in the class room. Hence, a lady competent to instruct young 
 children philosophically, and also prepared, at the same time, to 
 expound the philosophy of her work to others, was sought out and 
 put in charge of the primary room, with the title of assistant training 
 teacher. It was then ordained that all who entered the Normal 
 School should spend one hour a day, during the first term, in observ- 
 ing her work with the children, or in listening to the exposition of her 
 philosophy of the work that they had seen done. Moreover, they 
 must keep a careful record of what they observed, and of what they 
 were taught, and be examined in regard to the results. Thus arose 
 the study called "Observation," among us, a study not popular with 
 many at first, but against which I have heard no complaint now for a 
 long time. Furthermore, many now ask to be allowed to pursue 
 this work beyond the limits of our demands upon them ; and 
 generally such as prefer this request are among our brightest, best- 
 prepared, and most promising pupils. 
 
 Secondly, our laboratories for the study of the natural sciences 
 have been enlarged, improved, and much better supplied with 
 apparatus than formerly. A quite important change has followed in 
 our methods of teaching those sciences. In all of them, the work 
 consists of experiments, to a much greater extent than formerly. Not 
 simply nor chiefly seeing experiments performed by the professor, but 
 the actual making of the experiments by the pupils themselves. In 
 this way, we feel that we have come more into harmony with the 
 theory and practice of the best modern teachers of science, and the 
 results are correspondingly gratifying. 
 
 About three years ago, feeling that something might be done to 
 bring more of the teachers of the State to share in the benefits of the 
 Normal University, and at the same time to bring about a closer union 
 between our institution and the body of actual teachers in the State 
 who had never received instruction here, I proposed to our Board 
 that we should cut down the regular work 01 our school year from 
 thirty-nine weeks to thirty-six, and introduce a special term for actual 
 teachers, four weeks in length, to be held in the month of August. 
 My proposition met the approval of the Board, and the first suoh term 
 was held in August, 1880. About two hundred teachers were present, 
 a majority of whom had never been here as students before. These 
 teachers, representing an immense aggregate of experience, took hold 
 of the work with much enthusiasm, and expressed themselves highly 
 pleased with what had been done for them. The next year, about 
 thirty more came, and the term was equally successful. The third 
 teachers' term is now in progress. The increase in attendance is a 
 little greater this year than it was last, and the results promise to be 
 quite as encouraging. I feel that the movement is fairly accomplish- 
 ing the two-fold purpose I had in view when I proposed it to the Board.
 
 212 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 The Illinois State Normal University has now completed a round 
 twenty-five years of life and work. During the first four years, under 
 the administration of President Ilovey, aided by Moore, Potter, 
 Sewall, and your speaker, together with others whose term of service 
 was- shorter, its foundations were firmly laid, the work received its 
 impetus, and its scope and character were determined. After three 
 years of hard nursing in old Major's Hall, in Bloomington, this 
 spacious and commodious structure, erected in the face of difficulties 
 that a man less full of pluck, persistency, and sublime audacity, than 
 its first president, would not have overcome, was ready in the fall of 
 1860, to receive the school. Here, for one year, the work went on 
 under the same managers, before the tempest-tones of war called the 
 president, most of the teachers, and of the male students, to the field. 
 Then followed a year of transition under the able management of 
 Perkins Bass, aided by two of the helpers of his predecessor, together 
 with some others. The times were- troublous, the difficulties weiv 
 great, but the work of the school was held firmly to the course already 
 marked out, and in the model department, the high school work was 
 well started under the guidance of the lamented Childs. 
 
 Before the year closed, a man came upon the stage here who was 
 to play a conspicuous part at the head of affairs for the next thirteen 
 years and a half. Early in President Edwards' administration, came 
 Professors Metcalf and Stetson, and soon after, Mr. Pillsbury suc- 
 ceeded to the place of Mr. Childs, whom St. Louis had recalled. The 
 story of President Edwards' administration, and of the succeeding 
 one, I need not tell again. 
 
 During these twenty-five years, members of this faculty, men 
 and women, have here invested the best of their powers, and of 
 themselves, for periods of five, ten, fifteen, twenty years. No other 
 Normal School on the continent has had, or has now, such an accumu- 
 lation of teaching experience in its faculty. During this time, more 
 than 5,000 young men arid women have entered as students in the 
 Normal Department, of whom 386 have received our diploma, and 
 thousands of others have gone forth, bearing the training received 
 here for longer or shorter periods, to take their places in the school 
 rooms of the State. 
 
 What have been the results? I have no figures that will express 
 them, nor can they be expressed in figures. But I am sure, after all 
 allowances have been made, that a grand success has crowned our 
 efforts a success that has given the institution an enviable reputation, 
 not only in our own State and in the neighboring States, but on the 
 other side of the Atlantic, as well. 
 
 If I am asked to give the specific reasons for this, success, I shall 
 name the following as chief, in my opinion: First, the singleness of 
 aim in all that has been done, viz., to fit young persons for the work 
 of teachers in the school room. '"This one thine:" we started to do
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 213 
 
 in 1857, and this one thing is the aim from which we have never 
 swerved to the present day. Second, I would name the faithfulness, 
 thoroughness, and singleness of purpose with which the men and 
 women who have taught here have done their work- Third, I would 
 include the fidelity with which such an overwhelming majority of our 
 graduates and under-graduates have gone forth to redeem the pledges 
 made to the State, by the devotion of their powers and their acquire- 
 ments to the doing of the work for which they were trained here. 
 Nor must I forget to mention, in this connection, the wisdom and 
 faithfulness which have been shown by members of the Board of 
 Management, some of whom have served in this capacity almost as 
 long as the veterans among the members of the faculty. 
 
 If I were asked what peculiarities of the teaching here have done 
 most to give our pupils the strength they have, and to crown our 
 work with the success that has followed, I should not hesitate a 
 moment to name two. First, the fact that our main strength has been 
 given to the elementary studies. We believe in reading, arithmetic, 
 and map-drawing, and we have some faith in spelling, as a worthy 
 subject of school study, especially for teachers. It is at the foun- 
 dation of the structure where the best work is needed, but where too 
 often the poorest work is found. Second, I should name the intelli- 
 gent thoroughness with which these foundation subjects have been 
 preserved. We believe that work rightly done on the elementary 
 studies can be made as efficient for training the mental powers, the 
 essential part of an education, as any work in the whole field of 
 scholastic pursuit. Our faith on these two points is no new thing, 
 but a survey of the work done here for twenty-five years and the 
 results of that work make that faith stronger to-day than ever before. 
 
 Yes, the Normal University has succeeded. The evidences of 
 this fact are abundant and convincing. The past is secure. No mis- 
 takes of the future can obliterate it. Whatever of disaster may be 
 in store for this grand enterprise, nothing can destroy what has 
 already been done, nor annihilate the influences that have gone forth 
 from this point as a center. 
 
 But our enemies are not all converted, nor are they all dead yet. 
 From time to time, here and there, often in the very places where 
 we should least expect them, are heard the same old questionings, 
 assertions, and objections, and this being the case, perhaps I cannot 
 better fill the remaining pages of this paper than with a brief pre- 
 sentation of the reasons why Normal Schools should exist, and 
 should be supported at the public charge. 
 
 I shall assume that the necessity of free public schools for the 
 education of the whole people is settled. I believe it is settled in 
 the minds of the great American public in Illinois and elsewhere. 
 Questions of detail may still arise. Questions of the scope of the 
 studies to be pursued, of the best methods of doing the work, etc.,
 
 214 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 but I do not believe that our people will ever consent to discuss 
 seriously the question of the utility and necessity of the free public 
 school. 
 
 Now, it is clear that the value of a school depends upon the 
 character of its teacher vastly more than upon anything else; yea, 
 than all other things combined. If the teacher is good, the school 
 will be good, whatever else may be lacking. If the teacher is worth- 
 less, the school is a total failure, although everything else may be of 
 the best. Furthermore, it would seem to be clear that persons who 
 are to do the best work as teachers must receive a special training for 
 that work. As much as this is conceded for the proper doing of the 
 commonest mechanical work. No man will send his old boot to be 
 mended to any one who has not been trained to mend boots, although, 
 perchance, the same man will put the training of his children into 
 the hands of some green boy or girl who has never given one half-hour 
 to learning how to do the work. Is the training of the future citizen, 
 of the young immortal, at the critical, formative period of his life, so 
 much simpler than the repairing of a broken boot? Experience in 
 this country and in others, has fully shown that teachers trained in 
 the philosophy and practice of their profession will not be forth- 
 coming in sufficient numbers unless special schools are established on 
 purpose to give that special training; hence, the necessity for Normal 
 Schools. Normal Schools have been in existence in Europe almost 
 one hundred and fifty years. They have existed in this country for 
 about forty years. Now, the exact work and methods of a Normal 
 School have never been settled, and perhaps they will not be settled 
 for a long time to come, if ever; but the aim or purpose of a Normal 
 School is simple and single, viz., to prepare prospective teachers for 
 their work. Any school which has this for its sole aim, and does 
 work which accomplishes this purpose to a reasonable degree, is a 
 Normal School. Any school which aims at something more or less 
 than this, or at something different from it, is not properly a Normal 
 School, no matter how much incidental help for his future work the 
 candidate for teaching may get there. 
 
 Recently, a whole brood of so-called Normal Schools has been 
 spawned here in these western States, which have no right to the title, 
 simply for the reason I have given. They do not make the prepa- 
 ration of teachers their special and single purpose. By their own 
 published circulars, they are shown to be Normal Schools no more 
 than they are ''business colleges," or "schools of telegraphy," or 
 "classical schools," or "music schools," or what not. They have 
 chosen this word Normal rather than some other one out of half a 
 dozen equally appropriate, to say the least, simply because those who 
 have wrought in real Normal Schools have done such work as to give 
 that word a greater cash value thai any of the others, and so have 
 made it worth "appropriating." Nor would it be an easy matter, if
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 215 
 
 indeed it were possible, to keep a school dependent on popular patron- 
 age for its support, strictly and exclusively to the work of a Normal 
 School; nor would it be easy to insist in such a school upon the work 
 being done in such a way as best to accomplish that purpose; hence, 
 a reason why Normal Schools should be established and supported 
 and controlled by the State. 
 
 Prof. Payne, of Ann Arbor, in a recent article, urges the 
 "enforced preparatory training of a prescribed kind for the few who 
 propose to assume grave responsibilities, and to perform duties of 
 extraordinary difficulty and importance." He says: "The only prac- 
 ticable safeguard against empiricism, against an ignorant and culpable 
 trifling with the highest and dearest of human interests, is a training 
 of a prescribed kind and degree for all who would assume such grave 
 responsibilities and duties." Can such training as he here demands 
 for teachers, be reasonably expected except in an institution established 
 by government, under its control, and supported at its expense ? Wise 
 leaders of public thought have said "no," and hence they have advo- 
 cated the establishment and support of State Normal Schools. 
 
 If, then, the value of our public schools depends upon their 
 teachers, if these teachers require a special kind of training, if those 
 having this required training are not forthcoming in sufficient numbers 
 without government assists in their preparation, and if governmental 
 authority and support are necessary in order that a school should give 
 this training in the best way, it is clearly the duty of the State to 
 establish and support such schools. 
 
 But, let it be clearly understood that government does this in 
 order to further its own purposes, and for nothing else. Such schools 
 may confer great benefits upon those who are instructed in them, 
 but that is not the reason for their existence; they are in no sense to 
 be regarded as charitable institutions. The money spent for such 
 schools should be regarded as spent in the interest of public econ- 
 omy. Whatever is invested in our public schools is thrown away, 
 if all the teachers are worthless. In whatever degree anything 
 improves the efficiency of the teachers, just in that ratio it gives 
 worth to the money expended for the schools taught by those teach- 
 ers. Our State spends about $7,500,000 annually for its public 
 schools; if, then, the work and influence of its two Normal Schools 
 make the teaching in the State one per cent, better than it would be 
 without them, then it follows that their cash value to the State is 
 $75,000 per year. Whether their influence, direct or indirect, does 
 make the teaching in Illinois one per cent, better or not, I will not 
 assert; I merely say that, if it does so, they pay to the State an 
 annual interest at the rate of more than fifty per cent, on the annual 
 investment of less than $50,000 to support them. 
 
 And how much does this annual expenditure really burden the 
 tax-payers ? I made a careful calculation a few years ago, based on
 
 216 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 official data, and I found that a man that pays tax on $3,000, and 
 such a man, as we rate property for taxation, would be worth about 
 $10,000, this man pays less than twenty cents yearly towards the 
 support of both these schools. This is a little less than the cost of 
 two moderately good cigars ! Can any one wonder that some of our 
 economical politicians would be glad to blot us out, not, of course, 
 because they love us less, but because they love the tax-payers more ! 
 
 It is possible that some one might grant all that I have said, 
 and yet ask: Why should not the State insist that the teacher should 
 get his necessary preparation at his own expense? Why educate 
 teachers at the public cost any more than lawyers, or physicians, 
 or ministers? Are not the interests of the public health, the public 
 morality and religion, and public justice, quite as important as the 
 interests of public education ? Without any attempt at discussing 
 the last question, it is sufficient to say that the State puts itself into 
 no such relations to these interests as it does to that of public educa- 
 tion. It does not, by its constitution, appoint a State officer to have 
 the oversight of these interests. It does not put its hand into the 
 pockets of its citizens, willing and unwilling alike, and take out 
 millions of money to promote these interests. Hence, it is not under 
 the same obligations to do .everything necessary in order that these 
 interests may not suffer, and to provide whatever means may be 
 requisite in order that the money it has taken from its people by 
 force, and invested in its own way, be not squandered. 
 
 But we are still told sometimes that these young people will not 
 teach, even after they have been prepared to do so at the public 
 expense. However, recent careful statistics which so clearly prove 
 the falsity of this charge in respect to all our students, save a very 
 tew, have caused this statement to become much less frequent. 
 
 One of the funniest points made by our opponents is, that what- 
 
 ever need there may once have been for State Normal Schools, they 
 
 lave now accomplished their work; they have outlived their usefu'l- 
 
 ness When it is remembered that about 20,000 teachers are needed 
 
 the schools of Illinois, and that the average period of their teach- 
 
 ing is about three years, this statement appears verv much like a 
 
 nige joke t would seem that the necessity for Normal Schools will 
 
 cease at about the same time with the necessity for cradles and cribs, 
 
 and not much sooner. 
 
 But we still hear it said occasionally, that our Normal School is a 
 local institution that McLean County derives most of the benefit from 
 is hard to understand how any one can talk thus, if he will take 
 h W the residen ces of our students are 
 to Cairo ' and from the Wabash to the 
 
 T 1 . ' 
 
 ?fl J2 c ^ nsul ! :m g the catalogues of the other Normal 
 
 f the country, that there is scarcely another one of which the 
 charge could not be made with more force than of our own. If we are
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 217 
 
 in good repute at home, that can hardly be set down against us; and 
 it might be urged that the princely gift of McLean County to this 
 institution entitles her to some favors. But it will be found thaf, 
 under the rules of our Board, the only special privilege granted to 
 candidates from McLean County is this: If they come to enter the 
 Normal Department without appointment, they are required to show, 
 on examination, that they are prepared more than forty per cent. 
 better than candidates from other counties. 
 
 Friends, I have made no attempt to seize upon the poetry of this 
 occasion, nor have the speakers who have preceded me. The temp- 
 tation was strong to dwell upon the memories that this celebration is 
 s< > well calculated to awaken, or to give free wing to fancy, and attempt 
 to picture the glories that shall attend the completion of another 
 quarter of a century, or to speak words of eulogy and of kind remem- 
 brance of those whose feet have grown weary by the way, and who 
 have laid them down to their rest before reaching the meridian. We 
 have attempted none of these things. We have given you the plain 
 prose, but I close by expressing the hope that some of the poetry may 
 be reached before the day is ended. 
 
 ADDRESS BY W. L. PELL8BUBY, A. M. 
 
 The growth of- Illinois from 1850 to 1860, in population and in 
 wealth, was immense. In the development of its material resources 
 it made progress as great. Improvements in farm machinery, open- 
 ing up coal mines and building great railroads, multiplied the number 
 and enhanced the value of our farms, increased our farm products, 
 and made markets for them accessible, and started us on the road to 
 become what we now are, the greatest agricultural State in the Union, 
 and what our friend, Mr. Jesse W. Fell, whose absence to-day we so 
 much regret, says we shall be, the seat of the greatest manufactories 
 of the world. But the growth of that decade is not all recorded in 
 the census reports and the transactions of the State Board of Agri- 
 culture. There was a growth of ideas as well. It is true that certain 
 black laws, of which we hear much in every political campaign, were 
 put upon the statute books of the State about that time ; but it is 
 also true that the same time gave birth to the movement and trained 
 the man through whose agency all black laws have been swept from 
 the statute books of this and all the other States. 
 
 We go, too, to 1855 for our first free school law, for the law that 
 established common schools upon taxation of property, providing for 
 the first time a State tax and a feasible and eifective plan of local 
 taxation in their behalf. And, following close upon this free school 
 law of 1855, we find its corollary, the act of 1857, establishing the 
 Illinois State Normal University to train teachers for the free schools. 
 Hence, then, from this fruitful decade, this stately building on the
 
 218 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 prairie, this renowned school of teachers; hence these alumni, and 
 this^ auspicious meeting. 
 
 'But the whole of this subject, fortunately, does not belong to 
 me. Gen. Hovey, last night, and Dr. Edwards, this morning, in 
 eloquent words, have told you of the struggle for free schools and 
 the Normal School, of the men and the arguments that prevailed, of 
 the making the bricks in these walls, not perhaps without straw 
 but without what is more needful in these times, money. They have 
 told how the University grew and matured under their wise care, 
 and Dr. Hewett has told you in fitting terms, of both its earlier 
 and its later days, of which he has been so great a part. It is for me 
 to speak more especially of the model school, that has grown up be- 
 side the Normal School from the beginning. 
 
 I have said that the law establishing the State Normal University 
 was a corollary of the free school law of 1855. In like manner a 
 training school, or a model school, is an essential part of a complete 
 Normal School. I shall not elaborate this statement nor attempt to 
 prove it before this audience, for I am sure that you all concede that 
 it is true. There has been, and still is, a difference of opinion on the 
 question whether this auxiliary of the Normal School should be a 
 model school, or a training or practice school. It has been said on 
 the one hand, that the purpose should be "to place before the pupil- 
 teachers a correct model, a thing to be looked at, studied and 
 imitated," and on the other hand, that the purpose should be "to 
 send the pupil-teachers to the school to experiment and acquire prac- 
 tical skill in teaching." Doubtless much might be said on this 
 question that would not be entirely out of place here, but I prefer to 
 present the history, and to add only a few conclusions. 
 
 The purpose in the beginning here seems clearly to have been 
 to establish a school to be observed and studied; and hence the name 
 by which it has always been known THE MODEL SCHOOL. The first 
 allusion to the model school which I find in the proceedings of the 
 State Board of Education, is in the report of a committee consisting 
 of Messrs. Rex and Hovey, who had been appointed by the Board at 
 its second meeting, "to visit the various Normal and high schools of 
 the East, and report to the Board upon the subject of building, inter- 
 nal arrangements, etc." The Board adjourned from May 7 (this was 
 in the year 1857) to June 23, and at the adjourned meeting of the 
 Board, the committee, having meanwhile made the trip East, under 
 the ^"etc." part of their instructions, I suppose, presented a careful 
 outline of their "views upon the nature, object, organization, course 
 of training, gradation and management of Normal Schools." In 
 that report the committee say: "The third step is that indicated 
 above; namely, to give practical skill by actual service under instruc- 
 tion in the school of practice, or model school. They should here be 
 taught that there can be no real success in practice without a rational
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 210 
 
 theory to which such practice can, at every step, be referred. They 
 should be made to see and to feel that there must be a reason for 
 every process in education, as well as in medicine, or engineering, or 
 mechanics." [Proceedings State Board of Education, June 23, 1857, 
 p. 10.] 
 
 At this same meeting of the Board, Mr. Hovey was elected 
 principal of the Normal University, that was to be. At the next 
 meeting of the Board, held August 18, it was resolved that the 
 first session of the Normal University should begin on the first Mon- 
 day in October; "also that the principal, should it be necessary, be 
 authorized to employ a principal teacher in the model school." [Pro- 
 ceedings State Board of Education, August 18, 1857, p. 14-.] 
 
 Pursuant to this resolution, Miss Mary M. Brooks,* who had 
 been a primary school teacher in the Peoria schools, was appointed 
 principal of the model school, the purpose being to begin with a class 
 of primary pupils. In the report of the State Superintendent of 
 Public Instruction, 1857-8, p. 392, I find the following, written by 
 Gen. Hovey, in December, 1858, a little more than a year after the 
 school opened : 
 
 "The model, or experimental school, is a necessary adjunct of a 
 training school for teachers, and it was therefore determined to estab- 
 lish the primary grade at once. Miss Mary M. Brooks, a young lady 
 of remarkable fitness for the place, was appointed principal. 
 
 "At first the success of the school was not very flattering, there 
 being only seven pupils during an entire term, and one of these was 
 received gratuitously. The second term opened with ten, and closed 
 with fourteen pupils. But on the morning of the first day of the 
 third term, every seat was filled, and over fifty applied who could 
 not be received for want of room. So long as there was room in the 
 Normal School for a class of twelve pupils of the intermediate grade, 
 they were received and taught partly by the Normal students, and 
 the proceeds of their tuition applied to the payment of the salary of 
 the model school principal, and such assistants as it was found neces- 
 sary to employ. This class, now grown into eighty pupils, has passed 
 into the hands of Mr. G. Thayer. The receipts for tuition in the 
 model school during the first year amounted to $439.50, and were 
 wholly applied to the payment of teachers. The members of Section 
 A have spent considerable time in this school as observers and teach- 
 ers, and the members of the other sections or classes will, in turn, 
 do the same." 
 
 It is, perhaps, fortunate, that the model, rather than the training 
 school idea prevailed in the start, for had all the Normal School 
 been permitted to assist in the nursing, I fear the infant might have 
 perished in its cradle. Its trials would have been as terrible as those 
 of that freshman class of one, to which Holmes says the sophomores 
 
 *See letter at close of this article.
 
 J L 'D HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 and faculty of Harvard once devoted their attention for a year. But, 
 happily, the child passed safely through the perils of infancy and has 
 shown a lusty growth. 
 
 Perhaps I should say in passing, that Mr. Gilbert Thayer, who is 
 mentioned by General Hovey in the extract above, was at that time 
 keeping a private school in a building on the north side of the square 
 in Bloomington, about where Fitz William's store now stands, and that 
 the connection between his school and the model school was never 
 more than merely nominal. Mr. Thayer was never regarded as a 
 teacher of the University. The model school continued on the same 
 course for three years, until, with the Normal School, it removed to 
 this building. It was mainly a school for observation, of the primary 
 and intermediate grades, and the instruction was given by Miss 
 Brooks, who received some help from two or three students who were 
 called assistants. Miss Brooks left at the end of the third year, and 
 the school began in this building with three new teachers, and some 
 higher classes were started. 
 
 The year 1861-2 gave the model school for the first time a high 
 school department. At the beginning of the second term, or about 
 the first of January, 1862, Mr. Charles F. Childs, who came from the 
 principalship of the Franklin school, in St. Louis, was made principal 
 of the model school, and the high school was organized by him. 
 
 The school at this time grew rapidly, partly because of the 
 increase in population of the school district in which the University is 
 situated, the pupils of which attended the model school, and partly 
 % an influx of pupils drawn by the reputation that the school already 
 began to have. This growth in numbers, there being only two 
 teachers in the school, changed very materially the relations between 
 it and the Normal School. In the three lower grades it became more 
 closely allied to a training school. How far this change had pro- 
 gressed, and the way in which the work of the pupil-teachers was 
 done, and how it was made valuable to them by direction and 
 criticism, is very clearly shown by the following, which I find from 
 Dr. Edwards, in the State report of 1861-2, written December, 1862: 
 "One of the most prominent features of the Normal University 
 is the model school. It is precisely what its name implies, a model 
 by wliich the students of the University may be guided in the teaching 
 and discipline of their own schools. It is placed under the charge of 
 instructors whose methods and skill in teaching and governing may be 
 held before the uninitiated as the best known. The influence upon the 
 minds of those about to go out as teachers, of having constantly before 
 them a school of superior character, whose every movement they are 
 required to inspect, and whose progress they may note, is certainly 
 very great ; but when in addition to this they are themselves required 
 to conduct classes in such a school, and according to its high model, 
 their work being carefully inspected and criticised by the regular teach-
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 221 
 
 ers of both the Normal and model schools, we cannot fail to see that 
 an opportunity for improvement in the art of teaching is offered by 
 it such as is furnished by no other instrumentality. A plain statement 
 of the method pursued in reference to the practice of the Normal 
 students in the model school, will best illustrate the utility of this part 
 of a teachers' seminary. 
 
 "At the beginning of each term, such members of the higher 
 classes in the University as are designated by the principal for practice 
 in the model school, have classes assigned to them for the term. 
 Each student so designated has charge of one class in one study, and 
 is therefore employed in teaching one hour in the day, the remaining 
 time being appropriated to other work. For the progress of his class 
 during the term, each pupil-teacher is held responsible, the principal 
 and other teachers making from time to time such suggestions as the 
 case seems to demand. As frequently as possible, however, the class, 
 under its teacher, goes through an exercise before the faculty and the 
 b< dy of pupil teachers. This exercise is intended to be a fair sample 
 of an ordinary recitation ; or, if allowed to differ from that, it is in 
 order to illustrate more fully some principle or method considered 
 important. After a reasonable time employed in the exercise the class 
 is dismissed, and the method and manner of the instructor are fully 
 and freely discussed by all present, their merits and demerits pointed 
 out, and improvements suggested. In these discussions many princi- 
 ples are set forth and illustrated, and thus fixed in the minds of all 
 present; practical suggestions are made just where they are most 
 needed, in connection with actual work; the objections that arise in 
 any mind are presented, and, if unfounded, are answered; so that 
 everything proposed is tried by the most natural and proper tests. It 
 will be seen that in these exercises and discussions, the advantages of 
 both theory and practice are combined in a very desirable and efficient 
 manner. Without the practical illustration presented in the exercise, 
 the general principles enunciated in the discussion would not be 
 aj (predated nor remembered ; and without the discussion, the peculi- 
 arities of the exercise might be unobserved, or understood only as 
 isolated facts, and their uses and relation to other facts remain 
 unperceived. 
 
 ' ' The model school, as here organized, is a very important auxiliary 
 to the Normal University. But to make it efficient, it must be under 
 the charge of skilful and earnest teachers. In this way there is pre- 
 sented to the Normal students a practical illustration of the teaching 
 in any grade to which they may be called. ' ' 
 
 Many of you here present recognize the faithfulness of the pic- 
 ture. From the great increase in numbers, beginning in 1862, until 
 1874, there was no considerable change in the relations between the 
 Normal and the model schools. For a part of the time the model 
 school had been over-run with pupils, and four principals, one for each 
 

 
 222 . HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 department, and an assistant in the high school and the grammar 
 school had been found necessary. But with the discontinuance of the 
 connection with the district school there came relief; the grammar and 
 intermediate departments were consolidated, and the school lias con- 
 tinued thus organized up to this date. But these changes had brought 
 no essential modification in the functions of the school as a model or 
 training school. The instructors of the University, both in the Normal 
 school and model school, had been more and more crowded with 
 work. The duties of the president had multiplied. There was no 
 one who could do more than snatch, from pressing duties, a little time 
 to look after the work of the pupil-teachers, and they did not receive 
 that careful and continuous supervision which is essential both for 
 their profit and to the welfare of the pupils taught. The evil, which 
 plainly existed, was met by the appointment of one of the teachers of 
 the Normal school to the exclusive duties of a training teacher, and 
 the principals of the primary and grammar school were styled, in 
 addition to the title of principals, first and second assistant training 
 teachers ; and the change in name indicated a corresponding change 
 in a part of their duties, a change which, it should be said, had to 
 some extent already taken place. 
 
 Under the direction of Mr. Metcalf as training teacher, the work 
 of the pupil-teachers has been most carefully systematized, and the 
 training teacher or one of his assistants is constantly at hand to advise, 
 to direct, and to note the faults and excellences. * A further step has 
 been made which carries us back to the idea of the model school. The 
 pupils of the entering class each term visit, for observation, one hour 
 a day, the class in charge of the principal of the primary department, 
 The principal takes pains to explain her methods and the philosophy 
 of them to her observers ; the whole is discussed, and subsequently 
 the pupils preparing to teach are examined upon the work. 
 
 Viewing, then, the model school as an adjunct of the Normal 
 school, we see it occupying these three positions: First, a model 
 school for observation, with only a primary department ; next, the 
 transformation having come about from an increase in the number of 
 pupils, a school with a high school department, which was a model 
 school, and lower departments, which were training schools; and, 
 finally, ^ the high school remaining a model school, the lower grades 
 containing a training school for the pupil-teachers, so far as to have 
 all the benefits that we may reasonably seek in a training school, 
 unless we say that its pupils are mere subjects to be operated upon, 
 and a school of observation for entering classes; while, at the same 
 time, all is so carefully and so skilfully supervised that it is still a 
 model school. 
 
 It appears to me that in this, as often in other matters, the truth 
 has been found between the extremes, and I give it as my judgment 
 that under the present regime, prevailing for the last eight years, the
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 223 
 
 model school is more nearly, than ever before, accomplishing its part 
 in furtherance of the legitimate purposes of the University. "But," 
 some one will say, "this may be true enough so far as the grammar 
 and primary grades go ; but why have a high school department?" 
 
 When I became principal of the model school in 1863, Dr. Ed- 
 ward# said to me that he wanted the high school developed upon a 
 liberal plan and with a high standard to be attained. I believed he was 
 right theoretically, then ; and as I read the results, there has been no 
 conflict between them and the theory. Such an auxiliary school of a 
 Normal school should be a model school. Would you have a headless 
 model ( Again show me a public school, I care not whether it, be a 
 city high school or a country district school, in which the teacher, or 
 the school board, thinks that the teacher may be finished off and 
 turned out with a diploma, and with about all the education they will 
 ever need, a public school that does not have constantly in view fitting 
 boys and girls to acquire further education, either by their own unguided 
 efforts, or in another school, and I will show you a teacher and a 
 school board that fail to comprehend what education means, and a 
 school that fails to educate in the noblest sense of the word. And so 
 I would have in our model school a high schooj in which fitting boys 
 and gir ] s for the college and the seminary and the scientific school 
 shall be more prominent than preparing them to graduate. This I 
 consider the main argument for our model high school. The idea of 
 something beyond should be constantly presented by precept and 
 example to those who are to become teachers of our youth. But I 
 consider that there is, aside from this, abundant reason for its exis- 
 tence, inasmuch as it is unquestionably the high school in view that 
 does much to fill up the grammar school ; and because the principal of 
 the higli school has always been able to reciprocate, in a large meas- 
 ure, for the instruction of his pupils in Normal school classes, by 
 receiving Normal pupils to his own classes. 
 
 So far I have, spoken of the model school, and have given its 
 history, viewing it as an adjunct of the Normal School. But it has had 
 a history of its own, a history that is apart from that which I have 
 given. It has had a corps of teachers of whom, and of whose faith- 
 fulness and skill and ability and loyalty to the University, much might 
 be said. But time forbids, and I can only ask you to pause a moment 
 for a word of tribute in memory of some of those who have fallen. 
 
 Mary M. Brooks, the first principal of the model school, was a 
 teacher of some experience, and of rare skill and power in teaching, 
 winning and training children. She had a wonderful grasp of the 
 principles of primary education; and it is the uniform testimony of 
 tin isc who were teachers or pupils in the Normal School during the 
 three years of her principalship, that she filled her position most civd- 
 itably, and that she made the school in her charge a model school in 
 reality as well as name.
 
 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 Among the six young men present that October morning twenty- 
 five years ago, when the first session of the University began, was 
 Joseph G. Howell, then about nineteen years old, the youngest of 
 them all, I believe, who had come two hundred miles and more, from 
 near Carmi, in White county, to prepare himself to be a teacher in the 
 public schools. He continued a pupil for three years, graduating in 
 the first class, and was immediately thereafter made a teacher in the 
 model school, and at the beginning of the second term of the year, 
 1860-61, became principal. The catalogue for the year has this note: 
 "From defects in the records, resulting from the hurried departure 
 for the war of the principal of the model school, it is impossible to 
 publish a correct list of the names in that department." And a later 
 catalogue having a list of those who became soldiers says: "Joseph 
 G. Howell, Company K, Eight Illinois Infantry; killed at the siege of 
 Fort Dorielson. " These brief words tell of the quick response to the 
 nation's call, and the swift-following death of as noble a youth as ever 
 laid down his life for right and country. I have learned from his class- 
 mates that he was the son of a Presbyterian minister; that he was a 
 young man of unusual mental power and promise ; that he was by 
 common consent the foremost man of his class. He was earnest and 
 patient and ambitious; but he was always a genial companion, and his 
 heart was filled with ready sympathy for every friend. 
 
 During his brief career as a teacher he won the hearts of all his 
 pupils, as well as their respect, by his manliness and his ability. 
 When the first call for ninety-day men came, he enlisted, the 
 first from the University, a private under Captain Harvey at Bloom- 
 ington, and was mustered in, April 25, 1861, at Springfield. His regi- 
 ment, the Eighth, under Colonel Dick Oglesby, was the second "in 
 number of the War of the Rebellion (the first six were the numbers for 
 the Mexican war); but it was organized the same day as the Seventh, 
 which took the first in number, and Colonel Oglesby, of the Eighth, it 
 was agreed should outrank Colonel Cook, of the Seventh. When the 
 ninety days were up, Howell reenlisted at once, helped to reorganize 
 company K, and was made first lieutenant. In the light at Donelsori, 
 Colonel Oglesby was in command of a brigade, and Lieutenant Howell 
 was detailed to act as a staff officer. While on duty he was shot in 
 the eye and fell dead.* 
 
 *At this point, the speaker was interrupted by Dr. Hewett, who said he wanted 
 to relate a little meident. Said he, "In the summer of 1861, Howell returned on 
 a brief furlough, to visit Normal for the last time. One morning, as I was coming up 
 the southeast walk towards the University, I met him returning from a farewell visit 
 to his little friends m the model school. The sun was shining fiercely, but he was 
 walking bare-headed, his soldier's cap in his hands filled with flowers that the little 
 ones had given him. He paused and spoke a few words, then passed on, carrying 
 tenderly the love-tributes of the children. It was the last time I ever saw him alive." 
 
 [It was an interesting fact that one of the little girls who contributed the flowers 
 was present, in the person of Mrs. Flora M. Hunter, the dean of the Wesleyan College 
 of Music.]
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 225 
 
 His memory belongs to the whole University, but a more fitting 
 place for some memorial of him would be in No. 12, where he 
 taught. I have in my hands five dollars that may be used for that 
 purpose, and if there are those of his classmates or friends who will 
 increase the amount, the recollections of his life may be preserved as 
 a precious memory, to teach our youth a lesson of noble devotion and 
 patriotism. The day after Mr. Howell's enlistment, he resigned his 
 position .as principal of the model school, and recommended, for his 
 successor, Mr. J. H. Buruham, of the graduating class. His wishes 
 were carried out. The summer session had been in operation about 
 one week, and Mr. Burnham finished the term of twelve weeks, and 
 graduated with his class by having his teaching in the model school 
 counted as an equivalent for the studies of the last term. 
 
 As I have already said, about the first of January, 1862, Mr. 
 Charles F. Childs came from the public schools of St. Louis to the 
 principalship of the model school. A man about thirty-two years of 
 age, a graduate of Antioch College while Horace Mann was its 
 president, and a teacher of considerable experience, he had already a 
 well-established name in the profession. Gen. Hovey had, in the 
 outset, substantially outlined the plan of the model school, and Miss 
 Brooks had most ably seconded him in developing that plan for the 
 lower grade of the school. To Mr. Childs belongs the credit of the 
 first organization of the high school. Under him the school rapidly 
 won a reputation that has continued, and that has brought here the 
 hundreds of pupils that have thronged the model school, coming 
 from all parts of the State. Mr. Childs was an untiring student, and 
 he made the model school a working school, for he had wonderful 
 power in impressing himself upon all with whom he came in contact, 
 and especially upon the young. He was a live man, abreast with the 
 spirit of the times, and filled with a noble ambition to win a place 
 and a name that should last. He left the model school at the close 
 of the school year 1862-3, and became principal of the St. Louis 
 high school. He staid there until his death, in February, 1866. I 
 had hoped to make this meager sketch fuller, but have been 
 unsuccessful in my search for material. 
 
 A little later, March 29, 1866, a memorial exercise in his honor 
 was held in the hall above, and I am permitted by the author to read 
 a few stanzas from a poem prepared for that occasion. 
 
 While sluggards slept, he bravely sought to gain 
 
 The goal to noble workers ne'er denied, 
 Who leave the noxious vapors of Life's plain 
 
 For Fame's far summit towering in its pride. 
 
 The tireless Teacher! whose unbending will, 
 
 Forever active in the quest for truth, . 
 Played on his pupils' hearts with matchless skill, 
 
 And roused to worthy deeds the minds of youth.
 
 226 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 Scorner of meanness, hater of pretense, 
 
 Bold to avow convictions all his own, 
 He pierced deception's veil with keenest sense, 
 
 And dared, when conscience bade, to stand alone. 
 
 Though sculptured pile, above his silent dust, 
 
 With tongue of marble ne'er his fame should tell, 
 
 The souls he stirred and waked to manly trust 
 Will keep the record of his labors well. 
 
 It is fitting, perhaps, that I should say a word of the high 
 school. The catalogue has shown usually but one teacher of the 
 school, or at most two. That has been to some extent misleading; 
 for, as you know, the pupils of the high school have been freely 
 admitted to all the classes of the Normal School; and thus, instead 
 of one or two teachers, the school has constantly had a full corps of 
 able instructors, having many special qualifications as teachers in 
 their particular departments. Taking this view of the case, I have 
 no hesitation in saying that it would be difficult to find in the country 
 a secondary school that has offered to its pupils a broader or a richer 
 course of study. I think the result of this has been apparent in the 
 pupils of the school. 
 
 I want here to note an error in the catalogue. It shows from 
 1862 to 1871, but a year's course in Greek. It should show a three 
 years' course. No pupil has ever graduated from the classical course 
 of study without doing three full years' work in Greek. 
 
 But what shall I say to-day for the nearly five thousand pupils 
 who have frequented the model-school rooms during the quarter of a 
 century whose limit we mark to-day? One tiling should not be left 
 unsaid. No account of the teachers sent out from the University 
 would be complete that left them out. About half of the graduates 
 have taught, and have averaged about three years apiece, and the 
 under-graduates of the school who have taught have been numbered 
 by the hundreds. 
 
 The pupils of the model school, since it grew to respectable num- 
 bers, have always had a wonderful love for it, a great esprit de corps. 
 The school, though down stairs, and not the University nor the largest 
 interest in it, has always been jealous of its own good name and no 
 mean competitor of the Normal School for society and University 
 honors. 
 
 It is too soon to expect great things in the history of the world 
 of the pupils of a school begun but twenty-five years ago as an a b c 
 school, and whose first class was graduated since the close of the war. 
 But they are already to be found among the rising men of the 
 professions, among the merchants, the mechanics, and the farmers. 
 Many of the girls are worthy matrons now. If I mistake not there is 
 abundant promise for the future ; and to that I think we may safely 
 leave the harvest.
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 227 
 
 In closing, I will only say that I am sure no school has ever had 
 more loyal pupils than those of the model school, and that the Normal 
 University has to-day no truer or stauncher friends than are to be 
 found among those whose names have been enrolled upon the registers 
 of the primary school, the grammar school and the high school below. 
 
 NORMAL, ILLINOIS, August 27, 1882. 
 MY DEAR SIR: 
 
 Soon after I came to the State in 1854, a young 1 woman timidly introduced herself 
 to me at my school room in Peoria, as Mary Brooks, from Brimfield. She was about 
 the usual height, of rather large frame, a little gaunt, or poor in flesh, with a head to 
 delight an artist, and a face so sincere and winning as to greatly impress, I will not 
 say fascinate, the beholder. She was a Vermonier by birth, but her parents had 
 settled in Illinois some years before. She said she wanted to engage in teaching and 
 desired to pursue preparatory studies with me. She developed rapidly, serving as a 
 pupil-teacher and as a full teacher in Peoria for about two years. Children loved her 
 at sight, and the love was returned. It was genuine, and I think quite involuntary qn 
 both sides. Neither could help it. She had. or seemed to have, an intuitive knowledge 
 of a child's mind at different stages of development, and a genius for inventing 
 methods to aid its growth. I call this power intuition, genius, but I do not mean that 
 it came to her without effort. She was a hard student of books and of nature. When 
 a model school was determined upon as an incident and annex to the Normal 
 University, the Board of Education, on the advice of the principal, invited Miss 
 Brooks to take charge of it. Her class was composed of children. It was intended 
 at that time chiefly as a model, and not as a school of practice for pupil-teachers. I 
 shall not soon forget how Mary and her little friends got on together in their cramped 
 and unsuitable room under a corner of Major's Hall, nor how the most learned 
 man of the Board, Dr. Bunsen, used to sjt for hours, sometimes whole days, watching 
 Mary's work, as pleased as any of the children, and apparently unconscious of the- 
 lapse of time. The management and methods of the model school during this period, 
 would repay study, if available. I do not know that they were ever described in print, 
 and I cannot undertake to describe them now. After three years of successful labor, 
 the first teacher in the model school resigned, to become Mrs. James M. Wiley, and 
 died January 9, 1863, leaving two children, George and Katie. 
 
 Very truly, CHARLES E. HOVET. 
 
 To W. L. Pillsbury, Esq. 
 
 THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 As early as May, 1881, preparations were began for a quarter- 
 centennial celebration in 1882. 
 
 By correspondence, it was ascertained that a much larger number 
 could attend in August than at the time of the annual commencement, 
 in Mav. Arrangements having been perfected, the exercises began on 
 the evening of August 24. After a cornet solo, by Charles Luf kin, 
 General Ilovey, now residing in Washington, D. C., delivered the 
 address found in the preceding pages. The weather was very unfav- 
 orable, but the speaker was greeted by a large and enthusiastic audi- 
 ence, many of whom had been identified with the early history of the 
 school. 
 
 On Friday morning the assembly room was crowded to its utmost 
 capacity bv a happy throng of old students, pioneer workers in educa-
 
 228 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 tional enterprises in the State, and prominent citizens of Normal and 
 Blooming-ton. Nearly an hour was spent in having a good, old-fash- 
 ioned sociable. The early classes were well represented. Harvey 
 Dutton and Lizzie .Carleton had journeyed up from Missouri. Logan 
 Holt Roots had forgotten his banks and railroad schemes, and Mexican 
 telephones, and was there, the happiest of the happy. Anna Grennell 
 Hattield paid the school her first visit since her graduation eighteen 
 years ago. These and scores of others had returned to the familiar 
 halls rendered sacred by hallowed associations, to greet old mates and 
 renew their allegiance to their "cherishing mother." Charles E. 
 Hovey was there, quiet and grave as of old, but with a twinkle of joy 
 in his eyes that spoke more than volumes. Richard Edwards was 
 the centre of a boisterous group of his boys and girls, and he the 
 youngest of them all, while E. C. Hewett, the shortest in stature but 
 the longest in service, put to shame all of his previous attempts at wit 
 and hilarity. 
 
 Thomas Metcalf broke his vacation off at the short end to be on 
 hand, and Albert Stetson, his co-worker for twenty years, was nowise 
 behindhand in promoting the general fun. Hon. Newton Bateman, 
 grown gray in the service, laid aside his cares for a day to greet old 
 friends and join in the general rejoicing. Father Roots, lion. Charles 
 T. Strattan,' Hon. Thomas F. Mitchell, Dr. E. R. Roe, Hon. Robert 
 Brand, and many others' whose names are familiar to Normal students, 
 were in the audience. At ten o'clock, President Walker called the 
 assembly to order and announced the following order of exercises : 
 
 Piano solo, Mrs. Flora M. Hunter; address, Dr. Edwards; 
 reading of Henry Norton's paper, by John W. Cook; piano duct, 
 Mrs. Flora M. Hunter, Miss Minnie Potter; address, W. L. Pillsbury; 
 address, E. C. Hewett. These papers are found in the earlier part 
 of this volume. At three o'clock, the alumni business meeting was 
 held in the Philadelphian Hall. The chief item of interest was a sub- 
 scription to provide a memorial for the lamented Howell, as suggested 
 by Mr. Pillsbury in his address. In a few minutes a sufficient sum was 
 collected to insure the success of the movement. A committee con- 
 sisting of Silas Hays and Captain Burnham from the alumni, and Dr. 
 Hewett from the faculty, will have the whole matter in charge. 
 
 The event of events was, of course, the banquet. Miss Flora 
 Pennell, of the executive committee, had that part of the work under 
 her supervision. The executive committee asked Miss Carrie Pennell, 
 an under-graduate living in the village, to prepare the supper. She 
 undertook the task and the successful manner in which it was accom- 
 plished was a matter of universal comment. The large hall had been 
 elaborately decorated for the occasion. Festoons of evergreens con- 
 nected the chandeliers; flowers were scattered about in profusion; 
 a shower from a fountain, in the center of the hall, fell upon a huge 
 circular basin filled with plants and blossoms; tablets on the walls bore
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 229 
 
 the names of, "our dead," and a fine large crayon portrait of Samuel 
 W. Paisley occupied a place on the west side of the hall. Class 
 pictures, crayon designs, and various other appliances completed the 
 decorations. Humphrey's orchestra furnished delightful music for the 
 occasion. At six. o'clock the procession filed into the room, the 
 alumni taking their places at the tables by classes. The guests weiv 
 seated along the south side, facing north, and on the outside of 
 the side tables. John W. Cook, of the class of 1865, acted as master 
 of ceremonies. When ah 1 were seated, Dr. Edwards asked the bless- 
 ing, and the assembled company, two hundred and twenty in number, 
 entered upon the serious business of the evening the discussion of 
 the numerous delicacies spread before them. After this part of the 
 business had been disposed of, the toasts were in order. 
 
 Gov. Cullom had indicated his intention to be present, but was 
 taken sick in the train and was obliged to return to Springfield. Lieu- 
 tenant-Governor Hamilton was on hand, however, and responded to 
 the toast, "A true and tried friend of popular education." Dr. Bate- 
 man was "toasted" as "the man who hrst gave the schools of Illinois 
 a national reputation," but the doctor had been obliged to return to 
 Gulesburg on the afternoon train. The sentiment, however, was 
 greeted with loud cheers. "Our venerable friend, the president of 
 the State Board of Education, for a full half century the light of 
 Egypt," brought Father Roots to his feet for a characteristic speech of 
 ten minutes. Judge Reeves responded to the toast, "The Bar the 
 last resort of the school-master." The class toasts and speakers were 
 as follows : "Our First Born the Class of '60," E. A. Gastman; "The 
 Class of '61," J. H. Burnham; "The Class of '62," Logan H. Roots; 
 "The Class of 65," O. F. McKim; "The Class of '66," Sarah E. Ray- 
 mond; "The Class of '68," Henry McCormick; "The Class of 70," 
 Joseph Carter. lion. Jesse W. Fell and Flon. A. J. Merriman were 
 expected to tell " How McLean County got the Normal School."- Mr. 
 Fell, however, was unexpectedly called to Iowa three days before the 
 meeting. It was a serious disappointment to him and to the company, 
 for his activity in securing the location is generally understood. Judge 
 Merriman was a member of the Board of County Commissioners in 
 1857, and with his associates, Hiram Buck and Milton Smith, made 
 the county appropriation of 70,000. The judge also had the distin- 
 guished honor of laying the corner stone of the building. Speech- 
 making, however, is not in his line, and so Dr. E. R. Roe told 
 the story in his stead, and, at its conclusion responded to the toast : 
 "Our Early Teachers." General Hovey was called upon to let 
 us know ''how the building was erected," but instead, spoke as 
 follows : 
 
 An intimation, more or less plainly stated, has several times 
 been made, tending to show that the first presiding officer of this 
 institution was substantially its founder, and that, at least, the
 
 230 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 building could not, or would not, have been built at the time it 
 was without him. 
 
 I am glad of an opportunity to speak of these matters, and I 
 may claim, I suppose, without challenge, that I was part of them. 
 Right or wrong, the chief place in the beginning fell to me, and, 
 with it, came an opportunity of influencing the trend of affairs in the 
 institution, and, to some extent, out of it. I had done what I could 
 to bring about the legislation which set the school in motion. Here, 
 again, the accident of position* at the critical time enabled me to 
 know and do what would otherwise have been impracticable. My 
 advice as to plans for the proposed building was generally followed, 
 and my services in and about its erection came to be in considerable 
 demand before it was completed. But it would be a mistake to say 
 that the Normal University owes its establishment, or conduct after- 
 wards, to any one man or set of men. It was the outgrowth of the 
 ideas and wishes of a majority of the people of Illinois, formulated 
 and uttered by a large number of persons, and by at least two 
 inflaential State associations. Prof. Turner and the Industrial 
 League blazed the way, but they did not found the Normal Univer- 
 sity. The State Teachers' Association followed and secured for it a 
 hearing, but the association did not found it. Father Roots tells 
 you that Simeon Wright was the man who did the business, and I 
 think myself his services were indispensable, but it would hardly be 
 correct to say that he was the Atlas of the enterprise. The first 
 superintendent of public instruction elected by the people, assisted in 
 drafting the bill, but he did not enact it into law. His successor, the 
 honored president of Knox College, stood guard over its interests at 
 the gateway of danger for many years, and took care ne quid 
 detrimenti Normalis Universitas capiat, but even he was not the 
 sole Fidus Achates. Hon. S. W. Monlton, Hon. C. B. Denio, Dr. 
 Calvin Goudy, and a majority of both Houses of the Legislature, 
 voted for the Normal University Act, and Governor Bissell signed 
 it, but they were not the founders of the institution; and yet, without 
 each and all of these, I do not see how it could have been established 
 at the time it was, and as it was. Each was a link in the golden 
 chain, but only a link. 
 
 Nor do I see how it could have been located in McLean County 
 without Jesse W. Fell ; and yet Jesse Fell did not bring it here. A 
 very modest and worthy citizen (Judge Merriman), who appears to be 
 listening to me from a corner of the table to my right, and two other 
 McLean County men (Messrs. Buck and Smith), were the heroes of 
 that act. They took the responsibility and risk to themselves, 
 politically, of involving the county in a debt of seventy thousand 
 dollars to secure the location of the institution here*. That act of 
 
 MLn-ey was president of the State Teachers' Association, and editor of its "organ" at 
 
 the time.
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 231 
 
 theirs required a high degree of moral courage, and entitles them to 
 a seat on the upper bench at the head of the table, along with Jesse 
 Fell. But even these men must consent to a division of the honors. 
 Back of them stood the people of Bloomington with their subscrip- 
 tion paper. Without this paper, Jesse Fell and the County Court 
 would have had "to throw up the sponge" and yield gracefully, no 
 doubt, to Peoria. 
 
 Nor did Asahel Gridley risk any money in loans for erecting the 
 building, though my friend, Colonel Roe, gives him credit for making 
 advances. True, Colonel Gridley furnished some money for that 
 purpose, but not a dollar came over the counter of his bank until he 
 had been amply secured by the promissory notes of citizens. Such 
 men as S. W. Moulton, Jesse and Kersey Fell, Charles and Richard 
 Holder, Edwin C. Hewett, Joseph A. Sewall, Charles E. Hovey, and 
 others whom I do not at this moment recall, signed the notes. The 
 banker risked nothing, and lost nothing, but gained interest. The 
 men who signed the notes took the risk. ' But the merchants of 
 Bloomington stand on a different footing. They did take risk. They 
 gave the contractor for erecting the building, Mr. Soper, credit, to a 
 large amount in the aggregate, with no other security than my 
 promise to see them paid whenever there was anything to pay with. 
 They trusted the enterprise, and, to that extent, risked their 
 advances, and I take liberty to invite them to a seat on a bench a 
 little higher up than the banker's pew. 
 
 I must not leave this subject without naming the committee of 
 the Board under whose supervision this edifice was erected. They 
 were Hon. S. W. Moulton, chairman; Hon. C. B. Denio, Dr. George 
 P. Rex, Hon. N. W. Edwards, Hon. William H. Powell, Prof. 
 Daniel Wilkins, and Charles E. Hovey. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, if you have been listening to me, I think you are 
 beginning to see that a goodly number of people have been engaged, 
 at one time or another, in one way or another, in founding this great 
 school, and in building its house. Nor did one man make its course 
 of study, nor plan and limit its scope, nor give to the work so 
 mapped out that impulse which has thus far swept over, or brushed 
 aside, all adverse obstacles. True, there was at first, as there has 
 been since and must continue to be, a head. Somebody must decide 
 and direct, and the questions at the outset of any enterprise, 
 which clamor for settlement, are often numerous, and generally 
 important. But the first principal was not left to solve these 
 problems unaided. In addition to C. M. Cady, Dr. E. R. Roe, and 
 Rev. L. P. Glover, special instructors, and Charlton T. Lewis, 
 Samuel Willard, Chauncey Nye, and Miss B. M. Cowles, employed 
 from time to time, any or all of whom he could call upon for informa- 
 tion and counsel, I say, in addition to these, the first principal had 
 the good fortune to have associated with him, as co-laborers, Ira
 
 232 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 Moore, Leander H. Potter, Edwin C. Hewett, and Joseph A. Sewall. 
 A principal surrounded by such men need not set up for himself, or 
 put on airs, or assume that he is the only considerable person on the 
 premises. They were the peers of anybody in the profession. The 
 principal had the benefit of their knowledge and experience, in 
 determining the course to be pursued, and in formulating work to be 
 done. These men made their mark on the school. I should not 
 wonder if it could be pointed out even now. But they did not make 
 the school what it is now. Presidents Bass and Edwards, and their 
 associates, came later, it is true, but they served longer, and with no 
 doubtful success. The proofs are all around me to-night. Their 
 
 food deeds have been recorded, and were read to you this morning, 
 do not see how anybody can wipe out that record, and it is one on 
 which they can afford to stand. But even these men and women 
 must be content with having done a part. They did not do every- 
 thing. After them came President Hewett and his associates, who 
 are moving forward, bearing aloft the old banner, inscribed with 
 mottoes indicating reliance upon plain, unpretentious, common-school 
 work. I believe they are conducting this great school with judgment 
 and efficiency. I know Edwin Hewett ranks high among the Normal- 
 school teachers of America. But neither Hovey, nor Bass, nor 
 Edwards, nor Hewett, nor all of them and their associates combined, 
 have made this institution what it has grown to be. I will throw in 
 the Board of Education, Father Roots, and all, and still I say there 
 is an omission. The students must be added. They have carried the 
 Normal University to a thousand school rooms all over the State, and 
 have taught its classes there. I look upon them as non-resident pro- 
 fessors. They have played no inconsiderable part in the work of the 
 institution. I have not attempted to keep track of them, and what I 
 happen to know has come to me incidentally. But right before mes its 
 a well-known man who has been in charge of Decatur's public schools 
 for _ twenty years ; this morning a paper was read from a professor in 
 California's Normal School; a moment ago a soldier, as well as 
 teacher, addressed you; "shake," comes over the wires from the 
 head school man in Denver; in front of me sits a- citizen who, in 
 addition to teaching, has twice represented his district in Congress; 
 to my left sits a lady who for some years has been superintendent of 
 public schools in Bloomington. A few years ago, at the reunion of 
 the society of the Army of the Tennessee, in Chicago, a note was 
 handed in to me, signed by a familiar name. I went out, and there 
 met a remarkable woman in looks and attainments, a physician and 
 professor of physiology in the Woman's College. I must not detain 
 you by further recitals. All these, and a thousand more, are your 
 boys and girls. They are the links in the silver chain that binds' this 
 school to the common schools of the State. But I must stop. I beg 
 pardon for detaining you so long.
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 233 
 
 Dr. Edwards told "How the building was filled," and Dr. Hewett 
 %k Ilow.it is kept full." Hon. Thomas F. Mitchell, the staunch friend of 
 the school in the Legislature, told "Where we get our munitions of 
 wiir." 1 He was followed by Hon. Charles T. Strattan, the member of 
 the house from Mt. Yernon. "The Normal University abroad," was 
 responded to by E. J. James, Ph. D. In the course of his remarks 
 he read an extract from Geschichte der Paedagogik, von Karl Schmidt, 
 which appears upon a later page of this volume. 
 
 Letters expressing regrets for unavoidable absence were read from 
 Senator Logan, Senator Davis, Governor Cullom, Prof. E. W. Coy, 
 Prof. Burlington, Miss Emaline Dryer, Dr. Sewall, Perkins Bass, 
 Mrs. W. L. Pillsbury, George Howland, Superintendent Chicago 
 Schools; S. H. Peabody, Regent Industrial University, and Hon. D. 
 C. Smith, M. C. Thirteenth District. Aaron Gove, of 1861, tele- 
 graphed: "Classmates of '58, shake!" The following letters were 
 also read : 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, August 25, 1882. 
 PROF. JOHN W. COOK, Normal. 
 
 Dear Sir: Your kind invitation reached me this morning. I 
 am very sorry that I did not know of your meeting sooner ; but it is 
 impossible for me to go now. You will undoubtedly have a grand, 
 good time, and my sincere desire is that the Normal school may pros- 
 per still more in the future than it has in the past. Its growth and 
 success have been great so far, but it has its work still to do for the 
 good of the schools of the State. There is no agency in existence 
 that has done so much for the elevation of the schools as the Normal 
 University, and my wish is that it may continue the good work for 
 \cars to come. As you all know, I have been an advocate and friend 
 from the start, and shall continue to do all I can in the future for the 
 continuance of the school. There have been in the past many good, 
 hard-working men and women connected with the school, as there are 
 at present, who will never be forgotten by the people of this great. 
 State. The first president, General Hovey, deserves especial mention 
 for the noble work he did in the start. Many of the students from 
 the Normal have done good, noble work in various sections of our 
 State, and we all hope to see this school not only continue, but to 
 increase year after year. Remember me to General Hovey and 
 others, and accept my best wishes. Yours Truly, 
 
 S. M. ETTER. 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, August 23, 1882. 
 JOHN W. COOK, Corresponding Secretary. 
 
 Dear Sir: I am in receipt of your kind invitation to attend the 
 quarter-centennial celebration of the alumni of the State Normal 
 University. In replv would say that family sickness prevents my being 
 present with you. Were it possible, nothing would afford me greater
 
 234 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 pleasure than to join in your festivities, and meet again some of the 
 old friends and active workers who were the founders of that excellent 
 institution, the Illinois State Normal University. The old workers 
 and the new workers all have my heart's good will. May God bless 
 and prosper any agency that elevates and blesses humanity. "With 
 kind regards for yourself and all educators, I am, 
 
 Yours very sincerely, JOHN F. EBERHART. 
 
 CARBONDALE, ILLINOIS, August 22, 
 PROF. JOHN "W. COOK, State Normal University. 
 
 Sir: Your very kind and cordial invitation to me, asking me to 
 be present and enjoy the twenty -fifth anniversary of the State Normal 
 University, was received a few days ago. I should have replied at 
 once, but for the fact that I was under a promise to do a little institute 
 work in Pope county during this week, which I was then hoping to be 
 permitted to turn over to another. That is found Impossible, and I 
 am therefore, at this late moment, obliged to send my regrets for an 
 enforced absence, on account of a previously-made engagement. I am 
 not able in words to convey my feelings of disappointment, for I know 
 how much of interest centers around your noble pioneer Normal, and 
 how large and enthusiastic a body of graduates, students and friends of 
 education and virtue are rejoicing at your quarter of a century of suc- 
 cess. It would have done me good, body, soul, mind and spirit, to 
 have been with you, if only for an hour, to drink in new life and 
 inspiration from the rehearsal of your noble history, and from the 
 inspiring prospects before your grand University. But it may not be. 
 I can only add, "May the first Normal University of Illinois' continue 
 first in war against ignorance, first in the peace which intelligence 
 brings, and first in the memories of a grateful people." But let her 
 remember that she must "run," if she shall "obtain" so great a 
 boon, until her second quarter-centennial, for there is another child of 
 the State, born and growing up, to do what she can. 
 
 1 am very respectfully and obediently your servant, 
 
 ROBERT ALLY \. 
 
 SPRIXUFIKLD, ILLINOIS, August 25, 18S2. 
 PROF. E. C. HEVVETT, President State Normal University. 
 
 My Dear Sir: Deprived of the pleasure of attending your cele- 
 bration to-day, I write this line to say that I am with you in spirit, and 
 that I very much regret I cannot also be with you in person. I have 
 watched with much interest the work of the State Normal University, 
 from the time of its establishment twenty-five years ago until 
 the present time. Early in its history I became satisfied that it did 
 thoroughly and well what it attempted and professed to do; and I have 
 long been of the opinion that the thoroughness with which work is 
 done in the school has done much to improve the character of the 
 instruction given in other schools; that the influence of the school,
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 
 
 directly through its students and graduates, and indirectly by its 
 example, is felt throughout the whole State in the improvement of the 
 teaching done in its schools. 
 
 The friends of education in Illinois are to be congratulated upon 
 having succeeded in securing the maintenance, for a quarter of a cen- 
 tury, of so good a school for the training of teachers. May its 
 influence for good to the schools of the State be augmented and long 
 continued. Hastily, but very truly yours, 
 
 JAMES P. SI.ADK. 
 
 CHICAGO, August 10, 1882. 
 
 rloii.v W. COOK, ESQ., Corresponding Secretary Alumni Association. 
 Dear Sir: Accept my thanks for your kind invitation to attend 
 the quarter-centennial of your association. I regret to say that I find 
 it impracticable to be present on that occasion. I should like to meet 
 once more with those who stood "shoulder to shoulder" twenty -five 
 years ago and struck out boldly for a higher plane of education in this 
 State, and to enjoy with them in the retrospect what we then so much 
 enjoyed in the prospect. Our anticipations have been fully realized; 
 a glorious victory has been won, and Illinois to-day stands proudly 
 among the foremost States of the Union in her system of popular 
 education. And now, my young friends, men and women of a new 
 generation, hold fast to the ground that has already been gained; 
 strike out again; aim still higher; meet worthily the responsibilities 
 that rest upon you; let the next twenty-five years witness still greater 
 progress toward perfectkm, and you will have for your reward the 
 consciousness that you are imitating the example of him who "went 
 about doing good," and the thanks of the generations that are to 
 follow. Yours truly, "W. H. "Wi:i.i>. 
 
 At the close of the exercises, General Hovey arose and stated that 
 it had been his pleasure to attend a good many banquets at one time 
 and another, but that he had never seen one in which the arrange- 
 ments were more complete nor in better taste. This opinion was 
 evidently the sentiment of all present, as it was received with loud 
 applause. At eleven o'clock, after rive hours of solid enjoyment, the 
 formal part of the exercises closed, and the quarter-centennial celebra- 
 tion passed into history. Many lingered an hour longer saying good- 
 byes. 
 
 All agreed that the celebration was an unqualified success. The 
 early trains on Saturday bore away most of the visitors, and the in-ti- 
 tution settled down again to the routine duties that have made it what 
 it is. There was- a general desire expressed that a similar meeting 
 should be held at least as often as once in three or four years, and 
 there is no doubt that at least as early as the thirtieth anniversary there 
 will be a gathering that will surpass the meeting of
 
 236 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 THE STATE LABORATORY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 BY S. A. FORBES. 
 
 The long and close association of the establishment now known 
 as the State Laboratory of Natural History with the Normal Univer- 
 sity, and the influence continuously exerted by it upon the pupils of 
 the Normal School, and upon the teachers and pupils of the State at 
 large, make it proper that a history of the Normal University should 
 contain some account of the origin and development of the labora- 
 tory. The history of the latter institution has been one, not only of 
 growth, but of metamorphosis, also. Commencing as the museum of 
 a natural history society, it was afterwards transferred to the State, 
 and served for a time the purpose of a state museum, but was finally 
 converted into a natural history laboratory, made a center of opera- 
 tions and a source of supply for the State at large, but relieved 
 from the necessity of maintaining a public display of specimens. 
 While by far the most extended and useful part of its work has been 
 done since its conversion into a laboratory, its actual beginning dates 
 from the time of the formation of the old State Natural History 
 Society of Illinois, an organization which had its origin in the same 
 general progressive impulse which gave rise to the Normal Vniver- 
 sity. The first public movement for the formation of this society 
 resulted from a discussion of the subject had at a meeting of the 
 State Teachers' Association, held at Deditur, in December, 1857. 
 The society was actually organized at a convention held in Bloom- 
 ington on the thirtieth of June, 1858. Prof. J. B. Turner, of 
 Jacksonville, was chosen the first president; Dr. E. R. Roe, of 
 Bloomington, treasurer; Gen. Charles E. Hovey, then principal of 
 the State Normal University, secretary; and C. D. Wilbur, general 
 agent. Letters of congratulation were read from most of the working 
 naturalists of the State who were not present in person, and the new 
 organization set out with every assurance of an active and useful 
 life. This promise was abundantly fulfilled for several years. The 
 annual meetings steadily increased in numbers and interest, and the 
 work carried forward became of continually higher character, as 
 shown by the papers contributed and by the large collection of speci- 
 mens accumulated. These specimens were placed in rooms of the 
 State Normal University, especially set aside for the use of the 
 society by the Board of Education. 
 
 The scope and character of the scientific work fostered by the 
 society may be inferred from the following partial list of the papers 
 read at its various meetings: 
 
 By Prof. J. B. Turner, of Jacksonville, "On Microscopic 
 Insects" and "The Great Avalanche of the Ocean;" by Dr. F. 
 Brendel, of Peoria, "Forests and Forest Trees," "Meteorology in
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 237 
 
 connection with Botanical Investigation," "On the Peculiar Growth 
 of the Water Lily (Nelumbiuni Luteum, Willd.)," "Additions to 
 Robert Kennicott's Catalogue of the Flora of Illinois," "Meteoro- 
 logical Table," and "Trees and Shrubs of Illinois;" by Dr. George 
 Vasey (now botanist of the agricultural department at Washington), 
 "The Mosses of Illinois," "Catalogue of Illinois Flora, with Three 
 Hundred and Eleven Recent Additions," "Pernicious Weeds," 
 "Range of Arborescent Vegetation, " and "Additions to Illinois 
 Flora;" by Prof. Cyrus Thomas, afterwards State Entomologist, 
 "Orthoptera of Illinois," "Notes on Illinois Insects," "Catalogue 
 of the Mammals of Illinois," and "Plan of a Natural History 
 Survey;" by B. D. Walsh, the first State Entomologist, "Insect 
 Life" and "Fire Blight;" by Dr. E. R. Roe, of Bloomington, 
 "Some Features of the t)rift Formation;" by Hon. James Shaw, 
 of Mt. Carroll, "The Great Tornado of I860;" by C. D. Wilbur, 
 "Mastodon Giganteus" and "Fuel in Illinois;" by Richard H. 
 Holder, of Bloomington (now of Freeport), "Directions for Collect- 
 ing and Preserving Specimens in Ornithology," and "A Catalogue of 
 the Birds of Illinois." 
 
 Most of these papers, with several others of similar character, 
 were published in the State agricultural reports, notably in the third 
 and fourth volumes, and many of them were reprinted in 1862 by 
 the society in the form of a volume of transactions. 
 
 The principal donations of specimens made by members were 
 those of Illinois birds, by R. H. Holder; of Illinois fossils, by C. D. 
 Wilbur ; of fresh-water shells and southern fossils, by J. W. Powell, 
 and a tine series of Illinois plants, by Dr. George Vasey. 
 
 The society was formally chartered by the Legislature, February 
 22, 1862. The museum was at first supported by contributions of 
 members and the regular income of the society, but as the collections 
 increased in size and Importance, the expense of caring for them 
 became too onerous a burden for the small membership of the 
 society, and the aid of the State was invoked. By section four of 
 "An Act concerning the Board of Education and the Illinois Natural 
 History Society," approved February 28, 1867, an annual appropria- 
 tion of $2,500 was made for the salary of a curator and the improve- 
 ment of the museum, and it was provided that this money should be 
 expended under the direction of the Board of Education, by whom, 
 with the advice and consent of the directors of the Natural History 
 Society, said curator should be appointed. Under this act, Prof. John 
 W. Powell, now in charge of the United States Government Surveys 
 of the western territories, was appointed curator, March 30, 1867, 
 and immediately prepared for an expedition to the valley of the 
 Colorado River of the West. Appropriations were made for the 
 expenses of his party by the State Board of Education, the State 
 Industrial University, and the Chicago Academy of Sciences. 
 
 16
 
 238 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 Collections of mineral's, fossils, plants, insects, birds, arid mammals, 
 were made along his route from Council Bluffs to Denver, and thence 
 to the canon of the South Platte, Pike's Peak, and the head waters 
 of the Colorado, and this material was divided, at least in part, 
 among the institutions sharing the "principal expense of the trip. In 
 the following year, Prof. Powell undertook a more elaborate explora- 
 tion of the Colorado River, in behalf of which an appropriation had 
 been made by Congress, and $1,000 had been voted by the Board 
 from the income of the museum. Prof. Powell spent the next four 
 years chiefly in the western territories in the further prosecution of 
 his explorations, the principal expense of which is understood to 
 have been borne by the general government. The affairs of the 
 museum were in the meantime administered by acting curators in 
 his pay. The appropriation of $2,500. per annum made by the 
 Legislature in aid of the Natural History Society had been continued 
 regularly up to this time, under the original conditions, but by 
 an act approved April 14, 1871, this appropriation was made subject 
 to the condition that the collections, cases, etc., of the State Natural 
 History Society, then in the museum, should be made over to the 
 State in such a way as should be satisfactory to the Governor. In 
 accordance with this act, the transfer was authorized by the society, 
 as is shown by the following transcript from its records: 
 
 "BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS, June 22, 1871. 
 
 "The Illinois State Natural History Society met, pursuant to 
 adjournment, at the office of the city superintendent of schools, Vice- 
 President Etter in the chair. 
 
 "On motion of R. H. Holder, J. A. Sewall was delegated as the 
 agent of the society to transfer to the State Board of Education, for 
 the use and benefit of the State, the collections in the museum, and 
 other property belonging to the Illinois State Natural History 
 Society, unconditionally." 
 
 The following is a copy of the instrument executed by J. A. 
 Sewall, as agent of the society: 
 
 "WHEREAS, The State Natural History Society, at a meeting held 
 in the city of Bloomington, and State of Illinois, on the twenty- 
 second day of June, 1871, appointed the undersigned agent for said 
 society, to assign and transfer all the property of said society to the 
 Board of Education of the State of Illinois, in pursuance of the 
 resolutions of said society; therefore, by virtue of said authority, 
 said Natural History Society hereby assigns and transfers all its 
 property of every kind, now in the Normal University building, to 
 the said Board of Education forever. 
 
 This twenty-eighth day of June, 1871. 
 
 THE STATE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 
 
 [SIGNED.] By JOSEPH A. SEWALL, Agent."
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 239 
 
 This conveyance was accepted by the following resolution of the 
 Board of Education, extracted from the proceedings of their meeting 
 held June 28 and 29, 1871: 
 
 "WHEREAS, The Illinois State Natural History Society did, on the 
 twenty-second day of June, 1871, by formal resolution, determine 
 and agree to transfer to the State of Illinois all the right and interest 
 of said society in and to the property of the museum in the Normal 
 University building, and did also then and there appoint and 
 empower Joseph A. Sewall, as agent, to convey said resolution into 
 effect; and, 
 
 WHEREAS, In pursuance of said resolution and authorization, the 
 said Joseph A. Sewall did, on the twenty-eighth day of June, 1871, 
 execute and deliver a conveyance of said property to the Board of 
 Education in trust for the State of Illinois; now, therefore, be it 
 
 Resolved, That the Board of Education of the State of Illinois 
 do hereby accept the said conveyance, and take possession of the 
 property therein conveyed, for the use and benefit of the State of 
 Illinois." 
 
 During the year following this transfer, Dr. George Yasey, then 
 acting curator, made large botanical collections in various parts of 
 the State, and added several hundred specimens to the museum 
 herbarium from his large private collection. Specimens of fossils, 
 minerals, woods, etc., were also obtained, and sets of minerals, 
 geological specimens, woods, plants, and shells, were distributed to 
 twelve of the principal public schools of the State. 
 
 On the twenty- eighth of June, 1872, the resignation of Prof. 
 Powell was offered and accepted, and on the saine day, Mr. S. A. 
 Forbes was appointed to succeed him. A careful estimate of the 
 contents of the museum was made at this time, with the following 
 result: 
 
 Minerals, 1,500 specimens, .... 300 species 
 Plants, 9,000 specimens, .... 3,000 species 
 
 Shells, 5,000 specimens, . . . . 958 species 
 
 Fossils, 5,000 specimens, . . . . 1,200 species 
 
 Insects. 2,500 specimens, .... 1,500 species 
 
 Birds, 200 specimens, . . . . .191 species 
 
 Mammals, 30 specimens, . . . . 26 species 
 
 After the transfer of the museum to the State, no formal declara- 
 tion of the views of the Board of Education concerning its relations 
 and their intentions with respect to it was ever made, until the 
 following resolutions were passed, December 15, 1875; but as these 
 resolutions simply embodied the settled policy of the Board, in 
 accordance with which the museum had been governed from the first, 
 they may be properly introduced here: 
 
 ' -WHEREAS, Since the control of the museum of the Illinois State 
 Natural History Society was transferred to the State Board of Educa- 
 tion, no general declaration has ever been made by this Board of the
 
 240 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 relations and policy of the museum, or of the purposes of the Board 
 concerning it; and, 
 
 "WHEREAS, It seems desirable that the students and friends of 
 science should know definitely and authoritatively the nature, scope, 
 and promise of the work of said museum, in order that they may 
 intelligently cooperate with its officers for the promotion of the 
 scientific interests of the State; therefore, 
 
 "fiesofatd, That we regard the museum as a State institution, 
 devoted to the prosecution of a natural history survey of the State, to 
 the encouragement and aid of original research, and to the diffusion 
 of knowledge and habits of thought among the people. 
 
 "JBeeoTved, That we consider it an important part of its work to 
 supply collections of specimens to the public schools, as far as this 
 can be done consistently with its own general interests, and especially 
 to provide all needed facilities for the instruction of teachers in 
 natural history, and in the most approved and successful methods of 
 teaching the same; and, 
 
 "Jtesolvedi That we cordially invite the cooperation of the 
 scientists of Illinois, offering them the free use of its collections, 
 library, and apparatus, and assuring them that whatever may be 
 contributed to its cabinets or its funds, shall be used faithfully and 
 impartially for the advancement of science throughout the State." 
 
 Until December, 1876, the establishment 'retained the obsolete 
 title of "The Museum of the Illinois State Natural History Society;" 
 but at that time the following resolution was adopted by the Board: 
 
 u jKesolved, That the museum in the Normal University building, 
 formerly the property of the Illinois State Natural History Society, 
 but now under the control of this Board, be hereafter known by the 
 name of "The Illinois Museum of Natural History." 
 
 The changed relations of the museum made it now proper that 
 its operations should be confined chiefly within the limits of the 
 State. It was therefore determined to put the large but disordered 
 collection into condition for use as rapidly as possible, by classifying, 
 arranging, cataloguing, and indexing the specimens and the library; 
 to give immediate attention to filling up the most important lacunse 
 in both, with the view of ultimately accumulating sufficient material 
 for a botanical and zoological survey of Illinois; to give much greater 
 attention to the supply of cabinets of specimens to the public schools, 
 and to encourage and aid, in every way that could be devised, the 
 rational study of nature by the teachers and children of the State j to 
 promote original scientific research, by bringing together the essential 
 instrumentalities for its successful prosecution, and by providing for 
 the publication of its results ; and to assist in the solution of scien- 
 tific problems bearing upon the industries of the people. 
 
 The sudden introduction, in 1872, of four new sciences into the 
 common-school course, a knowledge of which was required of candi-
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 241 
 
 dates for certificates, powerfully stimulated the study of natural 
 history throughout the State, and made that part of the museum 
 work relating to the public schools most pressing and important, 
 especially as it soon became evident that the lack of preparation 
 upon the part of teachers and school officers for the new duties which 
 the law imposed upon them, threatened serious injury to educational 
 interests, unless efficient help were given. Circulars were therefore 
 issued from the museum, as soon as practicable, offering especial 
 facilities free of charge to those who wished to fit themselves 
 thoroughly for work in the new field, and proposing a series of 
 mutual exchanges for the general benefit. While conducting these 
 exchanges, all the available duplicates in the museum collections were 
 issued to the schools which seemed most to need them. In continua- 
 tion of this work it was determined, in the autumn of 1873, to 
 attempt the organization of a new society of natural history, which 
 should have for its leading purpose the supply of practical working 
 collections to the schools, through the labor of the teachers ana 
 pupils of the schools themselves. With this view, after correspond- 
 ence with several of the leading teachers of the State, the friends of 
 the movement were invited to convene at Bloomington, Illinois, 
 during the session, at that place, of the State Teachers' Association, 
 in the Christmas holidays. The result was a large and earnest 
 meeting of teachers, at which, after an animated discussion, a consti- 
 tution was adopted, and the society formally organized by the 
 election of Dr. Richard Edwards, as president, S. A. Forbes, curator, 
 and Aaron Gove, secretary. 
 
 The purposes of this society were declared to be, to collect, 
 study, and exchange specimens in natural history, to obtain for the 
 schools with which its members were connected, suitable cabinets of 
 specimens for study and reference, and to encourage and assist the 
 rational study of nature by the pupils of our schools. 
 
 This society enlisted the teachers and pupils of more than forty 
 of the colleges and public schools of the State, most of which did 
 active work for the museum during the first two years. The 
 duplicate specimens sent in, to the number of more than three 
 thousand, were named and redistributed to these schools, and 
 material to the amount of about four hundred and fifty dollars was 
 added to tliB sets from the museum duplicates. This was largely 
 alcoholic marine material, illustrating the sub-kingdoms, classes, and 
 leading orders, representatives of which are otherwise beyond the 
 reach of Illinois schools. A systematic check-list of these specimens, 
 for use in making exchanges, was published daring the winter. 
 
 Under the auspices of this association, a vacation school of 
 natural history was held in the museum at Normal, in July and 
 August, 1875. Instruction of a high grade, and good facilities tor 
 work and study, both elementary and advanced, were provided in
 
 242 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 the following branches: Systematic and structural botany of the 
 flowering plants; cryptogamic botany, with especial reference to 
 mosses and fungi; systematic and structural zoology, illustrated by 
 mounted skeletons and other preparations, and by series of dissections 
 made by the students under the eye of competent instructors. 
 
 A sufficient number of microscopes was provided for the use of 
 students in the study of histology and the lower forms of life. 
 Marine material was furnished fresh from the sea, and inland speci- 
 mens of all varieties, in great abundance. Occasional excursions 
 were made by the class to give opportunity for field-work. 
 
 The following gentlemen acted as instructors for the term: 
 Prof. B. G. Wilder, of Cornell University, New York; Prof. W. S. 
 Barnard, Ph. D.; Prof. T. J. Burrill, of the Illinois Industrial 
 University; Prof. Cyrus Thomas, State Entomologist; Dr. J. A. 
 Sewall, of the State Normal University; and S. A. Forbes. 
 
 It was found necessary to limit the attendance to fifty students, 
 but within this limit the school was open to the teachers of the 
 State. Over seventy applications were received, from forty-two 
 different counties. The specimens selected for study were typical 
 ones, and the dissections and examinations were so planned and 
 conducted that the chief facts demonstrated were true, not of the 
 species or genus only, but of the whole classes or sub-kingdoms, or 
 else furnished notable exceptions to general statements about these 
 larger groups. 
 
 The fresh water collections for study and dissection were 
 obtained from Lake Michigan and the Illinois River, and the marine 
 animals were collected, as needed, along the New England coast. 
 The laboratory work was made, throughout, the basis of the course, 
 and the lectures were designed chiefly to explain and complete the 
 knowledge gained with the scalpel and the microscope. The study of 
 the anatomy of vertebrates included careful dissections of Amphioxus, 
 of the ganoid and common fishes, and the sharks, and skates; turtles, 
 serpents, frogs, and salamanders; and birds, and mammals. 
 
 Invertebrate zoology was illustrated by dissections of star 
 fishes, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars, and sea cucumbers; 
 earth worms, marine worms, brachiopods and ascidians; lobsters, 
 crawfishes, crabs, beetles, and caterpillars; the common river 
 mussel, several species of marine gasteropods, and the com mon 
 squid. Besides these dissections of typical animals by the class, 
 many alcoholic preparations and other specimens were presented for 
 their examination. 
 
 The study of entomology was especially provided for. The 
 students were taught the characters of the orders of insects, and 
 afforded abundant practice in the determination of genera in the 
 most prominent of these. 
 
 About seventy species of flowering plants were analyzed by the
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 243 
 
 botany classes, representing some forty different orders. In struct- 
 ural and cryptogamic botany, the microscopes were in constant 
 use. A key to the larger fungi was compiled by Prof. Burrill, and 
 about half the session was given to these important but difficult and 
 little known forms of vegetable life. The remainder was devoted to 
 the ferns, mosses, algse, etc., and to the study of the structure and 
 development of plants. The students were incidentally taught to 
 use the microscope, to mount objects, and to demonstrate important 
 structures and processes. Considerable work was also done in 
 ornithology, including the preparation of specimens. The lectures, 
 thirty in number, were delivered one and two a day, and were 
 brought into close relation to the laboratory work. 
 
 It will be seen that the amount of work done was tremendous; 
 and yet it was so new, so varied, and intrinsically so interesting, that 
 the students found themselves refreshed and rested rather than worn 
 out, at the end of the term. The class separated delighted with 
 the result of their studies, and expressing a lively desire to continue 
 it in the future. 
 
 In accordance with a resolution of the Board of Education, 
 adopted at their meeting in December, 1875, measures were taken to 
 represent at the Centennial Exposition of the year following, the 
 work done by the museum, for the benefit of the schools of the 
 State. One set of specimens was prepared from those sent in by the 
 schools connected with the School and College Association of Natural 
 History, and another, intended to illustrate the character and condi- 
 tion or the material issued to these schools by way of distribution , 
 and exchange, was made up from the museum duplicates then on 
 hand for such use. 
 
 Concerning this exhibit, the State agent says in his report: "This 
 case contained, so far as I know, the only exhibit of the kind in the 
 whole exposition. The fact that it was thought worthy of a medal 
 by the board of judges is an indication of its merits, and should 
 afford strong encouragement to the Society of Natural History to 
 persevere in its work." 
 
 During the year 1875, investigations were begun upon the food 
 of the birds and fishes of the State, and a paper upon- the former 
 subject, giving the results of an examination of the contents of two 
 hundred and twenty stomachs, was published in the Transactions of 
 the Illinois State 'Horticultural Society for the year 1875. More 
 elaborate preparations were made for the distribution to schools and 
 state educational institutions of more or less complete sets of speci- 
 mens of the zoology and botany of the State. With a view to the 
 further development of work of this character,- it was determined to 
 abandon all attempts at a complete exhibition of specimens, to pack 
 the material in the museum as closely as was consistent with its 
 arrangement for convenient and ready reference, and to occupy the
 
 244 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 space thus vacated with tables for work and study; thus converting 
 the establishment into a biological laboratory for the investigation of 
 natural history subjects. It was further proposed, as a part of this 
 plan, to establish in the new State house, at Springfield, a general 
 exhibit of the natural history of the State, in connection with the 
 collections of the State Geological Survey ; and an act was passed by 
 the general assembly, approved May 25, 1877, giving effect to this 
 purpose. 
 
 By sections 8 and 9 of the act it was directed that the Illinois 
 Museum of Natural History, at Normal, be converted into a State 
 Laboratory of Natural History, at which, under the direction of the 
 curator thereof the collection, preservation, and determination of all 
 zoological and botanical material for said State Museum should be 
 done. It was made a part of the duty of said curator to provide, as 
 soon as possible, a series of specimens illustrating the zoology and 
 botany of the State, to deposit them from time to time in the museum 
 established by the act, and to furnish, as far as practicable, all zoolog- 
 ical and botanical material needed by the State educational institutions 
 for the proper performance of their work. It was also directed that 
 one set of the duplicate zoological and botanical specimens then on 
 hand in the Illinois Museum of Natural History, at Normal, which 
 were not needed to illustrate the natural history work of the State 
 Normal University, should be deposited, as soon as practicable, in 
 the museum established by the act. 
 
 At the next meeting of the State Board of Education, directions 
 *were given for the necessary refurnishing and reorganization of the 
 rooms and collection, the title of the Museum was changed to the 
 "Illinois State Laboratory of Natural History," and sufficient appro- 
 priations were made to carry out the directions of the law in a liberal 
 way. About two-thirds of the room was cleared of cases, those 
 remaining were adapted to the systematic arrangement of specimens 
 without reference to their display, and the space vacated was filled 
 with the work tables and large cases of drawers. 
 
 This metamorphosis and reorganization of the establishment was 
 the turning-point of its career, and amounted in fact to the founding 
 of a new institution. 
 
 The following brief statement of its character and purposes, 
 extracted from the report of its director for 1878, may therefore 
 properly be introduced at this point. 
 
 "This is an institution whose chief objects are the prosecution and 
 aid of original work on the natural history of the State (preference 
 being given to subjects having special educational or economical 
 value), the publication of the results of such work for the informa- 
 tion of the people, the training and instruction of teachers of botany 
 and zoology for the public schools, and the supply of the necessary 
 scientific material to these schools, to the State Museum, and to the
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 245 
 
 State educational institutions. It affords a place to which any 
 specialist or scientific student may come, with the assurance that he 
 will find everything necessary for special study or original work on 
 the natural history of Illinois, to which any teacher may come for 
 preparation to teach these subjects intelligently, and upon which the 
 officers of any school may draw for material to illustrate the scientific 
 work of their school. 
 
 "Its operations are guided by the conviction that the spread of the 
 knowledge and discipline of science among the people is essential to 
 their highest prosperity ; that this is a matter of public rather than 
 of personal concern, and that it must be provided for by public rather 
 than by private measures. 
 
 "To encourage the spontaneous and gratuitous labors of our 
 scientific men, to assist them at least to the extent of supplying 
 them with such facilities for work as are beyond the reach of individ- 
 uals, and to furnish them a means of adding the results of their 
 labors to the common stock of human knowledge, is obviously sound 
 public policy. Without this class of workers, devoted to science for 
 its own sake, no solid and valuable progress in science is possible. 
 From them comes the initiative, the incitement. They are the root 
 of the tree by which the raw elements of the natural world have 
 been in all ages drawn together and made ready for the nourishment 
 of the organism. 
 
 "As a means of putting the people in possession of scientific 
 knowledge, museums and publications are necessary, each serving 
 similar ends in different ways, the former instructing and arousing 
 even the most ignorant as well as the most cultivated, but chiefly 
 limited in its influence to those who visit it; the latter reaching a 
 more widely diffused, but on the whole a better educated class. 
 While the museum conveys instruction through the eye, and arouses, 
 by a representative display of the natural history of the State, a x 
 popular interest in science which incites to study, and furnishes a 
 basis of support for the h'gher scientific work, in the popular 
 sympathy and intelligence, the laboratory is needed to provide ways 
 and means by which this cultured interest may be converted into 
 valuable knowledge and skill, and this, in turn, be bestowed upon 
 the people through the press and the school. 
 
 "The functions of the museum and laboratory are too radically 
 distinct to be successfully performed by one institution. The collec- 
 tions of the former are intended for display; of the latter, for study. 
 The material, furniture, arrangement, and general equipment of the 
 two must therefore be essentially different. 
 
 "It is also of great importance to the public welfare that the 
 methods of work and habits of thought by which the achievements 
 of modern science have been made, should be brought to bear as far 
 as possible upon the daily life of all. For this, trained and intelli-
 
 246 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 gent teachers of science are necessary, able to comprehend the work 
 of specialists, and to assimilate and adapt it to the needs of the com- 
 munity at large, able also to translate the .spirit and methods of 
 science into the work of the school, and through the school into the 
 pursuits of business and labor. 
 
 "But a practical knowledge of nature cannot be imparted by 
 books, or by word of mouth alone. The distinctive discipline of 
 science can only be got by the immediate exercise of the mind upon 
 objects and upon ideas directly derived from objects. Materials for 
 study, and named cabinets as the standards of reference, are the 
 sine qua non of work worth doing. To incite and reward natural 
 history work, nothing has been found more effective than skeleton 
 cabinets of representative species, which can afterwards be filled up 
 by the collections of teachers and pupils. The cost of these is 
 slight, the value very great. An easily accessible medium of mutual 
 exchanges, a center of authority to which difficult questions can be 
 referred for solution, are also indispensable to success. 
 
 "The pressing needs of these three classes, specialists in science, 
 the teachers and the pupils of the public schools, it is the principal 
 function of the state laboratory to supply. 
 
 "It is also evident that the large collections needed by the state 
 museum, and in the work of the great state educational institutions, 
 can be made more rapidly and much more economically by one 
 thoroughly equipped central laboratory than by the separate institu- 
 tions themselves, since one set of apparatus, materials and men can 
 thus do the work which would otherwise require several. It is not 
 intended to take from those institutions any work of special educa- 
 tional value, but to do for them in the least expensive way what each 
 can not do separately without considerable special outlay." 
 
 To follow in detail the various operations of the laboratory since 
 its reorganization, would exceed the limit of this brief sketch, and a 
 general summary of the work accomplished must suffice. Zoological 
 and botanical collections have been steadily made in all parts of the 
 State, with a view primarily to accumulating material for a thorough 
 zoological and botanical survey of Illinois. In ornithology, a collec- 
 tion of two hundred and fifty species has been made, in northeastern 
 Illinois, near Waukegan and Chicago; in western Illinois, near Gales- 
 burg and Warsaw; in the central part of the State, at Normal; and 
 in Union, Jackson, and Alexander counties, in southern Illinois. A 
 good beginning has also been made in collecting a full series of the 
 nests and eggs of Illinois birds. 
 
 Insects of all orders have been regularly collected in northern 
 [llinois, from Galena to Chicago; in the central part of the State, 
 from Rock Island to Bloomington ; and in southern Illinois 
 generally, except in the Wabash valley. The entomological cabinet 
 now contains about four thousand Illinois species, and twenty thou-
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 247 
 
 sand duplicates. With the appointment of the director of the labor- 
 atory as State Entomologist, in July, 1882, this department of the 
 work assumed a new activity and importance. 
 
 The aquatic fauna of the State has been studied with especial 
 care. The Illinois river and tributaries, from its headwaters to its 
 mouth, have been thoroughly searched, as well as the lakes in 
 the river bottoms. Rock river and its branches have been less 
 carefully but sufficiently explored. The Mississippi and Ohio have 
 been seined for weeks at Cairo, and numerous trips through 
 southern Illinois have yielded an excellent collection from the 
 lakes and smaller streams of that territory. Galena river, in 
 northwestern Illinois, and the lakes in the northeast part of the 
 State, have been exhaustively searched with seine, dredge, and 
 towing net, and both the deep and shallow waters of Lake Mich- 
 igan have been explored with dredge and trawl. These collections 
 have included all orders of aquatic life, from fishes, amphibians, 
 and reptiles, to the microscopic Entomostraca and Protozoa. Even 
 the ponds and wayside pools have been searched everywhere for 
 insects and minute Crustacea. Several large collections have also 
 been made for the laboratory on the coast of New England, more 
 especially for the supply of marine forms for use in our natural 
 history schools, and for general distribution to the public high schools 
 throughout the State. 
 
 The herbarium of flowering plants was already so large, that 
 botanical field work has been confined chiefly to the cryptogams. 
 An expert collector of fungi (Mr. A. B. Seymour) has been almost 
 constantly in the field since July, 1881, and has sent to the laboratory 
 about three thousand five hundred numbers, aggregating more than 
 a hundred and fifty thousand specimens. About three thousand five 
 hundred species of fungi have also been bought within this period, 
 and eight hundred microscope slides of parasitic species have been 
 mounted. 
 
 The laboratory has filled its function as a feeder to the State 
 museum by supplying that institution with a series of three hundred 
 and twenty species of mounted Illinois birds, each usually represented 
 by male, female, and young, and a collection of sixty species of eggs; 
 a good set of mounted mammals of species now occurring in the 
 State, or known to have occurred here formerly; an extraordinary 
 series of about fifty painted casts of Illinois fishes, together with 
 about one hundred and* fifty specimens in alcohol, and large cabinets 
 of insects, mollusks, marine specimens, and plants, both flowering 
 and cryj)to<;amous. A series of mounted skeletons of mammals, 
 birds, reptiles, amphibians and fishes, has also been sent down. To 
 the Industrial University and the Southern Illinois Normal, good 
 collections of fishes, insects, and plants have been given, with much 
 miscellaneous material. Forty public high schools have been sup-
 
 248 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 plied with representative cabinets of fishes, insects, crustaceans, 
 marine animals, and other objects, aggregating over ten thousand 
 specimens, and the material is now on hand for the supply of about 
 as many more. These cabinets are all issued under such conditions 
 and with such precautions that it is known beforehand that they are 
 needed, that they will be used, and that they will be properly 
 cared for. 
 
 In the course of the investigation of the food of birds, over six 
 thousand stomachs, representing two hundred and twenty-five species, 
 have been obtained, and about seven hundred of these have been crit- 
 ically and exhaustively studied with the microscope. The food of 
 fishes, both young and old, from all parts of the State, and during all 
 seasons of the year, has been investigated on an equally elaborate 
 scale. About two hundred and fifty insects have been dissected for a 
 study of the food of certain difficult and important families, and the 
 contents of their alimentary canals mounted as microscopic slides. 
 The results of this work have been embodied in papers published in 
 the bulletins of the laboratory, in the transactions of the State Horti- 
 cultural Society, in the American Naturalist, and in various other 
 reports and periodicals. 
 
 For the purpose of making the work of the laboratory avail- 
 able for the information of the general public, a series of bulle- 
 tins has been published and gratuitously distributed. The fourth 
 in number was issued in May, 1881, a fifth is now in press, and 
 a sixth will be published during the coming winter. These bulletins 
 contain only original contributions to a knowledge of the natural 
 history of the State. Besides papers prepared at the. laboratory, 
 tliey include about one hundred and twenty pages of matter con- 
 tributed by naturalists not connected with the institution. Three 
 hundred and seventy-six pages have thus far been printed, and about 
 two hundred more will be added this winter. Among the more 
 important papers are an annotated catalogue of the birds of Illin- 
 ois; elaborate reports on the food of the thrush family and the 
 bluebird ; complete catalogues of the fishes of the State, with studies 
 of the food of old and young; a descriptive catalogue of the reptiles 
 and amphibians of the United States east of the Kocky mountains, 
 with a list of Illinois species; papers on the food of predaceous 
 insects; a descriptive list of the Crustacea of Illinois; a list of our 
 mosses, liverworts, and lichens, and various papers on Illinois fungi. 
 
 The library has grown in the meantime from a small and ill- 
 assorted set of books, to a carefully selected collection of 1,200 vol- 
 umes, and about 1,000 pamphlets on natural history. A card catalogue 
 of authors is now complete, and a subject catalogue well under way. 
 
 Mention should also be made of a second natural history school, 
 held in July, IS 78, similar to that more fully described above, and 
 equally successful in all respects.
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 249 
 
 From a movement initiated at this school, sprang a second State 
 jSTatural History Society, organized in December, 1878, of which the 
 director of the laboratory has been secretary from the first. Tins 
 society holds semi-annual meetings, one in June for Held work, and 
 one in February for the reading and discussion of papers. It is an 
 active and flourishing organization, and gives every indication of a 
 long and useful life. The educational value of the establishment is 
 greatly enhanced by the fact that all its material and appliances are 
 "free fur the use of such special students of science as wish to push 
 their studies independently. Many capable teachers of science, and 
 several promising young naturalists, have found here the means of 
 entering upon their careers, or of adding largely to their resources. 
 
 And so the State Laboratory of Natural History, embodying the 
 earnest and devoted labors of many whose names have found no 
 place in this brief record, has grown and developed with the steadily 
 increasing wealth and intelligence of this great State, by a slow and 
 healthy enlargement of its field and building up of its power, until 
 to-day it stands unique among all the state institutions of America. 
 Its work will not be done until the life of the great and varied region 
 which its operations cover, is known in all its forms and details, and 
 understood as a whole, until the general system of laws by which 
 this complex aggregate of living things is unified and governed, 
 has been mastered and made known. It is properly only at the 
 real beginning of its career, now first actually equipped for system- 
 atic and effective service. Its prime and essential function is not to 
 do that which has been done before, nor even to teach that which is 
 already known, but to push forward the bounds of human knowledge 
 along certain special lines, and to apply the knowledge gained to the 
 welfare of tlfb people of the State. Its office is to enlarge that 
 knowledge and mastery of nature which distinguishes the civilized 
 man from the savage, and the support which it receives is to be 
 regarded as a contribution to human progress. 
 
 FURTHER IMPROVEMENTS. 
 
 The foregoing article shows the development of the work in 
 natural history during the last few years. But, in the mean time, 
 other departments have been increasing their facilities and changing 
 their methods of work. 
 
 AVhen Dr. Sewall left the school to take charge of the Colorado 
 State University, in 1*77, he was succeeded by M. L. Seymour, of 
 Blue Island. 1'his gentleman had already won considerable reputation 
 on account of his skill in devising simple, apparatus to illustrate the 
 work in the natural sciences. Under his management, a change has
 
 250 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 been effected in the appearance of the lecture room and chemical 
 laboratory that would astonish the "old-timers." A steam pump that 
 had outlived its usefulness, and had given way to one of more modern 
 design, was transformed into an engine for working a pump to con- 
 dense oxygen and hydrogen. It stands at the right of the door at the 
 entrance to the lecture room. By its use, these gases are packed 
 into cylinders and are always "on tap," to run the excellent lantern 
 that has been added to this department of the school. The utility of 
 this apparatus becomes apparent in many ways, especially in the study 
 of anatomy and botany. Near the engine stands a three-story case, 
 tilled with beautiful and ingenious appliances for class use. At the 
 back of the room is a commodious herbarium case, furnished with a 
 large collection of plants for the botany classes. Large twenty-four- 
 cell batteries illustrate the work in electricity, while the chemistry 
 classes are assigned places at tables in the adjoining room, where the 
 study is pursued by objective work on the part of the pupils them- 
 selves. A Bunsen niter pump adorns the south wall of the laboratory, 
 and a lathe for wood and metal, a furnace, a bench and vise, numerous 
 wash-bowls supplied with water from the cisterns in the roof, and 
 many other conveniences are close at hand. 
 
 The work in physics has also changed its character to conform to 
 modern ideas of teaching. A large case is filled with excellent appar- 
 atus from the establishment of James W. Queen and other manufac- 
 turers, and the pupils constantly use it in their work. This collection 
 is increased from time to time by the liberality of the Board of Educa- 
 tion. About a year ago, a four-inch glass was obtained from the 
 celebrated house of Alvin Clark & Sons, and the astronomy classes 
 are enabled to form a more intimate acquaintance with our celestial 
 neighbors. 
 
 The room formerly used as the boys' play-room was remodeled 
 about two years ago and is now used by Miss Rosalie Miller, the teach- 
 er of drawing. During the summer vacation of 1882, the dressing 
 room in the southwest corner was converted into a class room for 
 the observation classes, and the adjoining dressing room was furnished 
 with cases and will henceforth be used as the library room. The part 
 of the basement formerly occupied by the janitor was fitted up for the 
 gentlemen's dressing rooms. 
 
 WORK OF THE UNDER-GRADUATES. 
 
 In Dr. Ilewett's paper will be found certain statements respecting 
 the attendance of pupils, and the reasons for the small percentage of 
 graduates. ^ The work of the under-graduates, however, is worthy of a 
 large place in this volume. As has been stated, the reputation of the 
 school must probably rest chiefly with them.
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 251 
 
 It was often charged by members of the Legislature, who were 
 hostile to the institution, that students do not redeem their pledge 
 to tench, but that, after receiving instruction at State expense, they 
 enter other professions or other lines of business. The only way to 
 reach just conclusions is to secure the facts in the case. To this end an 
 attempt was made in 1878 to settle the question. Correspondence was 
 opened with students, addresses were ascertained, and, by one device 
 and another, reports were received from over nine hundred under- 
 graduates who during the year 1878 were teaching. 
 
 It should be remembered that the canvass was necessarily imper- 
 fect, but it was demonstrated that more than one thousand of the 
 pupils were actually teaching in the State at that time. This number 
 is now undoubtedly increased very materially. When it is shown that 
 one fifth of all the students that have attended the school are in the 
 schools of the State twenty years after the establishment of the institu- 
 tion, it ought to settle the question forever as to whether or not the 
 school is accomplishing its work. J. W. COOK. 
 
 [The following poem was written by H. B. Norton, and read by Lucy Curtis at the dedica- 
 tion of the Wrightonian Society Hall in 1861.] 
 
 ABSALOM'S PILLAR. 
 
 (2DSAM'L, xviii:18.) 
 
 Young Absalom sat on the palace stairs, 
 Sucking a julep through a straw, 
 
 And musing over his own affairs 
 
 With a thoughtful visage as e'er you saw. 
 
 Absalom was a handsome fellow 
 As human being could wish to view; 
 
 His hair was silken and long* and yellow, 
 Tied in a me st miraculous cue. 
 Let no mortal ever aspire 
 In beauty to equal the dye of Tyre, 
 Ophir gold, and Damascus blade, 
 In which Prince Absalom sat arrayed. 
 But the truth must be told at last 
 He was very decidedly fast. 
 And yet, on account of his silken curls, 
 His golden bracelets and glimmering pearls, 
 His handsome face and his shining sword, 
 By all young ladies was quite adored 
 Although Jerusalem's solid men 
 Warned them against him with tongue and pen. 
 
 But Absalom never yet had married ; 
 Year on year he had patiently tarried 
 To step into the Governor's shoes 
 As lawful monarch of all the Jews; 
 Then some Princess as bride to win, 
 Nobly endowed with the needful " tin."
 
 252 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 And then, his wild oats being sown 
 Before he ascended the Hebrew throne, 
 He would establish a splendid reign, 
 And his memory last while the stars remain. 
 
 But David, without the slightest qualms, 
 Still kept singing those endless psalms, 
 And promised yet, in Absalom's fears, 
 To live to the age of a hundred years. 
 All things considered, his chance was fair 
 That yet he mi^ht bury his son and heir; 
 And the solid men of Jerusalem 
 A joyful prospect was that to them. 
 
 So Absalom owned, with courage dim, 
 
 That his chance for the throne was decidedly slim ; 
 
 And, in his desolate bachelor state, 
 
 Without a child or wife or mate, 
 
 He sighed that soon in the coming day 
 
 His very name should have died away. 
 
 But, struck by a happy thought at last, 
 
 He rose, and forth from the palace passed; 
 
 To an architect straight his course directed, 
 
 And showed the plan which he'd projected. 
 
 A mighty column he meant to raise, 
 
 Which should bear his name to the future days. 
 
 And so they reared it, stone on stone, 
 
 From the marble steeps of Lebanon; 
 
 Carved and fitted in every part 
 
 With the rarest power of the builder's art. 
 
 An obelisk was the column's form, 
 
 As suited best to outlast the storm, 
 
 Which, down the centuries yet to come, 
 
 Should bear the name of Absalom; 
 
 The name which its polished facets told 
 
 With inlaid letters of gleaming gold! 
 
 (He has been dead full many a year.) 
 
 He still kept on in his fast career. 
 
 Thus far had the work of* the firm been done 
 
 Under the name of David and Son. 
 
 But our hero thought that he would rather 
 
 Change it to Absalom and Father. 
 
 But failing to make this grand progression, 
 
 At once decided upon secession; 
 
 And went to battle and perished there, 
 
 Because of the length of his darling hair. 
 
 But still, as my authorities say, 
 
 The Pillar standeth until this day. 
 
 A very decidedly similar plight 
 Was that of our much-loved Simeon Wright. 
 Years were creeping on apace, 
 Stamping their crow-tracks over his face. 
 Often the maxim at him was thrown, 
 That " no moss collects on a rolling stone." 
 But a better proverb had he than that: 
 "A setting hen is never fat." 
 And still he wandered o'er land and sea, 
 And never a chicken nor child had he.
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 253 
 
 Yet^the children loved him they loved to place, 
 
 Their rosy cheeks to his smiling face. 
 
 And countless friends o'er all- the land 
 
 Rejoiced in the clasp of his genial hand. 
 
 Yet often it cannot be denied 
 
 Over his lonely lot he sighed; 
 
 And sang, in view of his situation, 
 
 Weeping Rachel's lamentation. 
 
 And so, as we've seen young Absalom do, 
 
 He upreared a pillar too. 
 
 Three long years has this column grown, 
 
 Stone upraised upon living stone, 
 
 Rising silently day by day. 
 
 We have heard our President say 
 
 Through what triumphs and toil and strife 
 
 This pillar has grown to its perfect life. 
 
 And now we have joyfully gathered here, 
 
 The topmost stone in its place to rear. 
 
 The years in their steady course will keep, 
 And he, our sire, with his sires shall sleep. 
 ( But he will not perish, we surely know, 
 By allowing his hair too long to grow; 
 For the world beholds him every morn 
 Neatly shaven and trimly shorn.) 
 And if the moss, as the years speed on, 
 Should gather about the rolling stone, 
 We think he might with perfect propriety 
 Will it all to his pet society. 
 
 And the Pillar, as ceaseless years roll by, 
 
 Still may it lift its head on high, 
 
 And bear to the centuries before, 
 
 The name that glitters on yonder door; 
 
 Standing ever, in strength sublime, 
 
 A signet ring on the hand of Time; 
 
 Stamping its likeness on hosts unborn, ^ 
 
 Who its records may yet adorn . 
 
 Standing ever its founder's boa&t 
 
 (We have offered this as a closing toast). 
 
 EXTRACT FROM THE FIRST PRINCIPAL'S FIRST REPORT. 
 
 "On the fifth day of October, 1857, the principal and Ira Mo<> re- 
 opened the Normal University in presence of no spectators and the 
 following students: Enoch A. Gastman, Jr., W. AV. Iliggins, Joseph 
 G. Howell, John Hull, John D. Kirkpatrick, and Henry H. Pope 
 six; and Elizabeth K. Arnold, Hannah C. Bedell, Mary Y. Davi>oii, 
 Sarah M. Dunn, Cornelia A. Gregory, Sarah J. Gregory, Helen 
 F. M. Grinnell, Emily Junk, Elizabeth J. McMillan, Jane G. Michie, 
 Jane F. Montgomery, Margaret C. Smith, and Kate I. Young 
 thirteen; in all, nineteen. Some others came in during the day, and 
 on the ensuing morning the number had grown to twenty-nine. 
 During the first eight days forty-three students (fourteen males, 
 
 IT
 
 254 HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS 
 
 twenty-nine females) were enrolled, our number for the first term. " 
 
 Ira Moore, in The Schoolmaster, November, 1869, names James 
 H. Dutton, Peter Harper, Silas Hayes, Charles D. Irons, Edwin 
 Philbrook, Justin R. Spaulding, Fanny S. Denison, Annie M. English, 
 Martha W. Fay, Martha A. Hawkins, Martha M. Marble, Frances 
 A. Peterson, Matilda I. Reisings, and Bessie A. Strong, as also 
 present in Major's Hall on the morning of the fifth day of October, 
 1857. It is probable these were the students who came in "during 
 the day. " 
 
 MRS. MARY FRANCES HULL. 
 
 Since the early pages of this volume have gone through the press, 
 another member of the class of 1860 has passed away. 
 
 Mary Frances Hull was born in Bloomington, Illinois, June 
 3, 1841, and died in Carbondale, Illinois, August 19, 1882. She was 
 the daughter of Amasa C. and Ann Washburn, both of whom survive 
 her. She entered the Illinois State Normal School, January 4, 1858, 
 at the beginning of the second term of the school, and graduated 
 with the first class in 1860. Immediately after graduation, she was 
 employed to take charge of the model school. She remained in this 
 
 Eosition about a year, when failing health compelled her to resign, 
 ince that time she has been more or less an invalid. April 3, 1862, 
 she was married to John Hull, a classmate, and now professor of 
 mathematics in the Southern Illinois State Normal University. Two 
 children survive her, a third having died some years since. Those 
 who knew her will readily recognize the justness of the following 
 extract from the remarks made by Dr. Allyn'at her funeral: 
 
 "She had a rare degree of intelligence a native genius, in fact, 
 for acquiring knowledge and forming accurate judgments. Few have 
 I found, in a very large circle of friends, who excelled her in ability 
 and power to grasp facts and deduce principles; and in this estimate of 
 her I was not alone. * * '* She had large ability to teach, and 
 
 did succeed as few can. She had genius for thought which could 
 readily have turned to authorship; but she chose the domestic circle, 
 including wifehood and motherhood, the holiest and noblest of human 
 relations that higher plane which makes heaven possible for a human 
 race, arid which, as she presided in it, is the best type of a heaven of 
 purity and improvement. And never should the hint that this was not 
 her highest merit go without rebuke. Home was her kingdom, and 
 she ruled it into peace and a school of virtue and power. Seldom 
 have I known one so unselfish and considerate of others, so wise in 
 words and -especially in silence, so quick to form a judgment from 
 obscure facts, and at the same time so accurate in 'conclusions, so 
 charitable in judging of motives and actions, and so generous of quiet 
 appreciative praise, or so sparing of censure.'*
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 255 
 
 WHAT AN EMINENT FOREIGNER THINKS OF THE NORMAL UNIVERSITY. 
 
 They (the Americans) are beginning to recognize the importance 
 of the theoretical and practical training of teachers, and to establish 
 Normal Schools to afford the opportunities for such training. At the 
 head of such institutions stands the Normal University at Bloom- 
 ington, Illinois." The large and very tasteful building was erected at a 
 cost of $182,000. Two hundred ladies and one hundred gentlemen 
 attended the school in 1864. The institution is intended to train 
 teachers for the public schools by instructing its pupils in the art of 
 teaching. * * * * In the third year of the course especial atten- 
 tion is devoted to methods of instruction and to practice in teaching. 
 To afford opportunity for the latter a model school is connected with 
 the institution. The present principal, Mr. Richard Edwards, is 
 known far and wide as a prominent, able, and, in every respect, 
 blessing-working man. He understands the dangers of slavish obedi- 
 ence to the text-book, and emphasizes properly the advantages of oral 
 instruction." Translated from Dr. Karl Schmidt' 1 * Gesckichte der 
 Paedagoyik, Volume 1 V, page 902.
 
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 Where any of the above are introduced, we will exchange even book for book, dozen for 
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 -THIS IS A- 
 
 32-page Monthly Magazine, 
 
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 It contains articles by the various members of the 
 
 faculty, besides commu7iications from 
 
 prominent teachers of Illinois 
 
 and other States. 
 
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 SPECIALTY OF NORMAL AND STATE NEWS. 

 
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 DEALER IN 
 
 UIJ.MI 
 
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 INSURANCE, NOTARY PUBLIC, COLLECTING 
 
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 RECENT SCHOOL PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 APPLETONS' READERS 
 
 UNIVERSALLY APPROVED. EVERYWHERE SUCCESSFUL. 
 
 Appletons' School Readers were Adopted, June 22, 1882, for the Public Schools of 
 Chicago, with a Vote of Thirteen to One. 
 
 Appletons' Elementary Reading Charts. 
 
 46 numbers. Prepared by Rebecca D. Rlckoff. Every Chart in the series has in view a 
 definite object, which is thoroughly and systematically developed. Every step in advance is 
 in a logical order of progression and development. The beautiful and significant illustra- 
 tions are an especially noticeable and attractive feature of these charts. Lectures, objects, 
 and things employed, rather than abstract rules and naked type. " They follow the natural 
 method of teaching, appealing to those faculties of the child that are most easily awakened, 
 and inciting correct mental processes at the outset. They are arranged to be suspended 
 when in use, from the back of a common chair, thus securing at all times a good position for 
 the convenient and advantageous display before classes. 
 
 A Latin Grammar for Schools and Colleges. 
 
 By Albert Harkness, Ph. D., LL. D. Revised edition of 1881. It is an elocutionary gram- 
 mar for beginners. This is indeed its prime object, with which nothing has been allowed .to 
 interfere. Brevity of treatment, clearness of outline, and simplicity of statement, charac- 
 terize this part of the work. It is an adequate and trustworthy grammar for advanced 
 students. Care has been taken to explain and illustrate with the requsite fulness, all difficult 
 and intricate subjects. The Subjunctive Mood and the Indirect Discourse have received 
 special attention. It contains a practical introduction to philological study, based upon the 
 Latin. Abundant references are made to the latest and best authorities upon the numerous 
 linguistic questions which now interest the classical scholar. ^ 
 
 The Song Wave. 
 
 A collection of choice music, with elementary instruction. For the school room, insti- 
 tute hall, and home circle. It is the freshest, brightest, and most entertaining work of the 
 kind pwtflisbed. It contains a variety of pieces, adapting it to every occasion. It contains 
 the purest sentiment in its text, desirable for memorizing. It is characterized by a prevail- 
 ing harmony in its musical selections seldom found. It contains a brief, practical, and 
 comprehensive course of elementary instruction. It has a large, clear, beautiful type, 
 rendering it attractive in appearance and helpful to the eyesight. It retains the best of 
 standard favorites among the old songs, and introduces new ones of great merit. A sample 
 copy, for examination, will be forwarded on receipt of 60 cents. 
 
 A Geographical Reader. (Illustrated.) 
 
 A collection of geographical descriptions and explanations, from the best writers in 
 English literature. Classified and arranged to meet the wants of geographical students. By 
 James Johonnot. It is original and unique in conception and execution. It is varied in 
 style, and treats of every variety of geographical topic. It supplements the geographical 
 text-books, and by giving additional interest to the study, it leads the student to more 
 extensive geographical reading and research. It is not simply a collection of dry statistics 
 and outline descriptions, but vivid narrations of great literary merit, that convey useful 
 information and promote general culture. It conforms to the philosophical ideas upon 
 which the new education is based. Just published. Sample copy, for examination, 75 cents. 
 
 Appletons' Standard System of Penmanship. 
 
 Prepared by Lymau D. Smith. Lead-Pencil Course, 3 Nos. Short Course, 7 Xos. Short 
 Course (tracing), 2 Nos. Grammar Course, 7 Nos. The following are among the leading 
 features of this system: Writing made the expression of thought. Word, phrase, and 
 sentence building, constituting interesting language-lessons. Writing taught synthetically. 
 No tedious drills on parts of letters or isolated letters. The movement drill, whereby pupils 
 acquire with certainty the real writing movement. No exaggerated style of writing which 
 leads the pupil to draw rather than to write. Graded columns, whereby the increasing scope 
 of movement enables the pupil gradually and naturally to acquire the fore-arm movement. 
 Better gradation than is found in any other series. They are in accordaace with the modern 
 methods of teaching. 
 
 This system, thus dealing with whole letters, words, and sentences, rapidly advances the 
 pupil by steps that are natural, progressive, graded, clear, and attractive. 
 
 Catalogues, circulars, etc., mailed free on application. We also send "Educational 
 Notes," free to teachers who will send us their P. O. address. Address 
 
 D. APPLETON & CO., 
 
 New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco.
 
 How to Teach Arithmetic 
 
 IS POINTED OUT STEP BY STEP IN 
 
 BY PROF. JOHN W. COOK, 
 
 Professor of Mathematics in the Illinois Normal University. 
 
 This book is without a rival, and is the best presentation ever made of the entire subject. 
 Every principle in Arithmetic and the best and latest methods are cleai-ly explained and 
 illustrated by examples, and all difficult points are fully solved and illustrated. 
 
 Prof. Cook is known throughout the country as a mathematical instructor without a 
 superior, and in the discussions of this work he has embodied his best thoughts on the 
 subject of teaching numbers, the fruits of a long experience, and the best methods that 
 deep research and careful study have mastered. The matter contained in the book is the 
 same in substance as that which Prof. Cook offers to his arithmetic classes in the Illinois 
 Normal University. The definitions, methods of solution, form of analyses, etc., are 
 precisely those in which his instruction of those classes he has found to be the most effective 
 in leading pupils to an accurate and thorough knowledge of the subject. For clearness and 
 simplicity, the book is absolutely unequaled, at least by anything that we have ever met 
 with. We commend it to teachers as an invaluable help. 
 
 TESTIMONIALS. 
 
 Am highly pleased with its clearness and 
 simplicity. Prin. J. Pike. 
 
 I have not only been a careful reader, but 
 a close student of Prof. Cook's work. It has 
 been to me a fountain of new ideas. C. J. 
 Alien. 
 
 His years of class-room work make him 
 an excellent judge of what is best to pre- 
 sent, and the best manner of presenting it. 
 Supt. Burgess. 
 
 I regard it as very valuable. It is clear, 
 practical, and without nonsensical "hair- 
 splitting" in definitions or analysis. E. A. 
 Gastman. 
 
 Clear, sharp, and vigorous, it cannot fail 
 to be a valuable auxiliary in the teaching 
 
 of this important subject. Worth many 
 times the cost. S. Y. Gillan. 
 
 I do not know of any place where there 
 can be found in so little space so much that 
 is valuable, and so concisely said, as in this 
 work. It seems to me that in every case he 
 gives "the conclusion of the whole mat- 
 ter." Joseph Carter. 
 
 I am glad Prof. Cook has published this 
 volume, and I think it invaluable to correct 
 work in arithmetic. For years past I have 
 had to prepare notes for every new teacher 
 appointed to my school. Prof. Cook's book 
 relieves me of this labor, and in a most 
 satisfactory manner. W. H. Richardson. 
 
 PRICE, POSTPAID, 75 CENTS. 
 
 W. L. KLEIN & CO., CHICAGO AND MINNEAPOLIS.
 
 J. L. TIMERMAN, 
 
 118 S. MAIN STREET, BLOOMINGTON, ILL. 
 
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 General Western Manager for J. L. TIMERMAN & CO., Manufacturers of the Celebrated 
 
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 In Clothing made to order, we can save you twenty-five per cent., fit and workmanship 
 
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 mal, where a full line of Drugs and Medicines, and Druggist Sundries, are to be found. 
 I have now the largest and most complete stock of Drugs ever brought to this 
 market. I will, and do, sell as low down as any house in the county. I han- 
 dle White Lead and Linseed Oil, Window Glass, and all painters' goods. 
 Also Students' Supplies, Paper, Pens, Note Books, Etc., all except text- 
 books. A specialty is made to accommodate the public. Special care in filling 
 prescriptions. Save money and time, arid trade with Dr. J. McCann, THE Normal Druggist- 
 
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 plete, warranted genuine, and of the best quality. Prescriptions carefully compounded. 
 Night and Sabbath day calls answered (for medicines only). Store in third building east of 
 the postoffice, NORMAL, ILLINOIS.
 
 COLLEGE OF COMMERCE, 
 
 ILLINOIS 
 
 WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY 
 
 BLOOMINGTON, ILL. 
 
 NOTHING SUCCEEDS LIKE SUCCESS. 
 
 Twice in two years we have outgrown our college rooms. 
 
 On June 13, we graduated the largest class ever graduated in this section of the country, 
 and gave four beautiful gold medals for merit. 
 
 Though only two years in existence, our graduates are already found in banks and other 
 counting rooms, in business houses of all kinds throughout the country. Several members 
 of our last class are engaged to teach in business colleges in different parts of the country. 
 
 During the last year a number of our students executed specimens of Pen Art that 
 cannot be excelled in the west. A single drawing by one student was valued at $500. 
 
 IN SHORT-HAND, 
 
 We had, in 1881, more students than any other business college in the United Stutes had in 
 the last year reported by the Commissioner of Education. 
 
 IT MUST NOT BE DENIED that we can fit students for short-hand amanuensis work 
 in from one to three months, and for general reporting in from three to six months, for we 
 have repeatedly done it. Schools all over the country are taking up our system Eclectic 
 Short-Hand. 
 
 The Reporters' Bureau, of Chicago, wrote us: 
 
 "We have found positions for several of your students, as amanuenses, and every one of 
 them has been a success." 
 
 Young Man, Young Woman! 
 
 If you want the fullest course of study and practice in Accounts, Penmanship, and Steno- 
 graphy, with a certainty of success, send for our College Annual, and prepare to enter at the 
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 NORMAL, ILLINOIS. 
 
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 PACKING GROUNDS TWENTY RODS WEST OF NORMAL TNIVKUSITV.
 
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 Exchange Price, 25c. 
 
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 Exchange Price, 50c. t~i U W 1 O W K 1 
 
 These two books, prepared by W. B. Powell, A. M., Superintendent of Schools, Aurora, 
 Illinois, are the result of many years of successful effort in training children to talk and 
 write correctly. 
 
 Their purpose is to guide the young learner in the correct, use of language at the time 
 when he is acquiring a vocabulary and forming habits of speech. 
 
 The ordinary school grammars and alleged language text-books fail because they are 
 only suitable for comparatively advanced pupils, who commence their study too late, after 
 bad habits of speech, which books are powerless to correct, have been formed. 
 
 Pupils reading in a Second or Third Reader, can readily understand everything in the 
 first book. 
 
 Specimen copies for examination, with reference to adoption, sent prepaid on receipt of 
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 Liberal terms for first introduction in schools. Send for descriptive catalogue. 
 
 Address, ^. s r 
 
 COWPERTHWAIT & CO, PUBLISH.BS. 153 WABASH
 
 JERSEY CATTLE, 
 
 Of the Families most noted as Butter Makers. 
 
 BRED AND FOR SALE BY 
 
 J. E. GASTON & SON, NORMAL, ILL. 
 
 Julius IVTueller, 
 
 PROPRIETOR 
 
 PALACE 
 
 STEAM DYE 
 
 Give us a call. Ladies' and Gents' Garments Neatly Dyed and Cleaned. All work 
 done in the best possible manner, and at very low prices. Goods received 
 by express will receive prompt attention. Special 
 rates to students. 
 
 NORTH CENTER STREET. 314 NORTH MAIN STREET. 
 BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS. 
 
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 NONE BUT THE BEST 
 WILL BE OFFERED FOR SALE OVER MY COUNTER. 
 
 LIVERY 
 
 CHRIS. SCHENFELDT, 
 
 XORMAL, ILLINOIS.
 
 STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY 
 
 NORMAL, MCLEAN COUNTY, ILLINOIS. 
 
 This institution was established, by the General Assembly of the State, in 1857. Its sole 
 purpose is to prepare teachers for the schools of the State. The several grades of the 
 Model Department are established to aid in this work. 
 
 All students in the Normal Department are required to declare that their purpose in 
 attending- is to fit themselves for teaching, and all the work of the school is shaped to this 
 single purpose. Probably no other Normal School Faculty in the country embodies so much 
 of successful experience in Normal School work as ours. 
 
 Tuition is FBEK to tho->e who take a pledge to teach in the schools of Illinois; others pay 
 tuition at the same rate as in the high school. 
 
 Our facilities for the study of Botany, Zoology, Geology, Chemistry, and Mineralogy, are 
 excellent; and we now offer them to such as desire to make those studies a specialty at a 
 very small cost. 
 
 THE HIGH-SCHOOL 
 
 grade of the Model Department offers the advantages of a first-class academy, and prepara- 
 tory school. There are two courses of study, the General and the Classical. Those who 
 satisfactorily complete either course receive the Diploma of the University. The Classical 
 course gives a thorough preparation for our best colleges; our graduates enter Harvard and 
 Yale without difficulty. The General course offers excellent opportunities to those who do 
 not have the time or inclination for an extended college course. Tuition in this grade, $30 a 
 year, or $ 10 a term. For particulars concerning the High School, address the principal, 
 Edmund J. James, Ph. D. 
 
 THE GRAMMAR-SCHOOL 
 
 grade is under the charge of the Assistant Training Teacher; he does much of the teaching' 
 sees that healthy discipline is maintained, and takes care that no improper or vicious pupils 
 are admitted to the school. This school prepares pupils for the Normal Department, for the 
 High School, or for general business. The instruction is given by teachers who are trained 
 in the best modern methods, and who are under constant and efficient supervision. Pupils 
 who complete the Preparatory Course are promoted to the High or Normal School without 
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 For Catalogues and particulars, address 
 
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 SCRIBNER'S 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL READER 
 
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 THIS BOOK IS MADE UP OF TWO PAETS. 
 
 PART I, 192 pp., is a Reader of the advanced third-reader grade, consisting of a series 
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 PART II, 96 pp., including 16 pages of handsomely colored and clearly printed maps, is 
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 lessons, exercises, and reviews, presents all the essentials of a FIRST BOOK on this subject. 
 
 A handsomely illustrated twelve-mo volume of 288 pages (including 
 
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 WHOLESALE PRICE, 60 CENTS. INTRODUCTION PRICE, 50 CENTS. 
 
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 Wholesale, introduction, and examination prices: Per dozen,54 cents; postage, 10 cents; 
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 Fourth Reader, cloth back (wholesale, introduction, and examination prices), Part 18, 96 
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 Model Student's Reader, 96 cents. 
 
 No Series of Readers ever published is so well adapted for Phonic Analysis. All the 
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 BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS. 
 
 ESTABLISHED 1846. 
 
 THE DAIL Y PA NT A GRAPH. 
 
 The Daily edition is a neat 8-column folio, issued every morning- (except Sunday); 
 contains very full telegraphic dispatches of the Western Associated Press, reliable 
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 THE WEEKLY PANTAGRAPH. 
 
 Its excellence is attested by the fact that its circulation is greater than any weekly 
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 JOB DEPARTMENT. 
 
 This department of the Pantagraph Establishment has gained a reputation second to 
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 "In 1858, specimens of the Pantagraph job printing took the first premium at the 
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 Buying stock from the manufacturers direct, and having all modern machinery, 
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 BOOK BINDING. 
 
 It is not generally known that in Bloomington the metropolitan cities have a rival in 
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 NORMAL, ILLIXOIS. September 23. 1881. 
 
 Having had a number of volumes bound at your establishment. I am happy to say that I am pleased 
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 Bloomiugton ought to be proud of your bindery. Yours respectfully", REV. H. R. PEAIRS. 
 
 BLOOMIXGTOX LIBRARY ASSOCIATION'. September 25. 1882. 
 
 Having had considerable binding done at your establishment during the past two years, I take 
 pleasure in recommending the style, durability, prices, etc. One of the \-~t pl.n-t.- t" test the strength 
 of the binder's work is in a public library. Respectfully, H. R. GALL1SER. Librarian. 
 
 ILLINOIS STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY, September 20. 1882. 
 
 I am pleased with the work you have done, in binding books belonging to our University Library, 
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 ILLINOIS STATE LABORATORY OF NATURAL HISTORY. September 25. 18K. 
 
 The Bloomington Pantagraph Bindery has bound about 250 volumes for the library of this insti- 
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 ILLINOIS SCHOOL JOURNAL. NORMAL. ILL.. September 23. 1882. 
 
 Having had many books bound at your establishment, it gives me pleasure to say that I have (MM 
 the work uniformlv handsome and substantial. It is also reasonable in price. So better or more 
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 CHARLES DEGARMO, 
 
 Assistant Training Teacher, Illinois S. X. U.
 
 DATE DUE 
 
 RINTEOIIM U *.*
 
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