ILLINOIS INSTITUTION 
 
 LOCATED, AT 
 
 JACKSONVILLE, ILL. 
 
 1849-1893.
 
 
 
 
 .-
 
 BRIEF HISTORY 
 
 ILLINOIS INSTITUTION 
 
 EDUCATION OF THE BLIND, 
 
 LOCATED AT 
 
 JACKSONVILLE, ILL. 
 
 1849-1893. , 
 
 Presented by the ILLINOIS BOARD OF WORLD'S 
 FAIR COMMISSIONERS. 
 
 JOHN MORRIS COMPANY, PRINTERS, 
 
 118 AND 120 MONROE STREET, 
 
 CHICAGO.
 
 SAMUEL BACON (Blind). 
 
 1849-1850. 
 
 W. S. PHILLIPS. 
 1988-1890. 
 
 DR. JOSHUA RHOADS, 
 
 1850-1874. 
 
 KEV. F. \V. PHILLIPS. 
 
 1874-1888. 
 
 FRANK H. HALL, 
 
 1890-1893.
 
 HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ILLINOIS INSTITUTION FOE THE EDUCATION OF THE 
 
 BLIND. 
 
 LOCATED AT JACKSONVILLE. 
 
 The question is often asked, " How did it happen that three of 
 the twelve State Charitable Institutions Avere located at Jackson- 
 ville?" Briefly the answer is in the character and ability of the 
 early settlers of that city. Here were men who were not only ex- 
 ceptionally capable in the management of affairs but who were 
 deeply interested in every public enterprise; who abounded in good 
 works religious, political, educational, and philanthropic. 
 
 A leader in benevolent and educational enterprises, was Judge 
 Samuel D. Lockwood whose home was in Morgan county from 1829 
 to 1853. His name appears as a member of the first Board of Trust- 
 ees of every state institution in Jacksonville, and to him, perhaps, 
 as much as to any other man, is that city indebted for the location 
 of these institutions within its borders. Associated with Judge 
 Lockwood in philanthropic and educational effort were Judge Will- 
 iam Thomas, Col. J. J. Hardin, Dennis Kockwell, Col. James 
 Dunlap, Judge James Berdan, Dr. David Prince, William W. 
 Happy, Gov. Richard Yates, Joseph Morton, Samuel Hunt, Dr. 
 Nathaniel English, Joseph O. King, Matthew Stacy, Julian M. 
 Sturtevant, Dr. Samuel Adams, and Gov. Joseph Duncan. Had 
 these men settled in Peoria county or in Madison county instead of 
 Morgan county, it is altogether probable that Jacksonville would 
 not have secured for itself in a period of twenty years (1830 to 1850) 
 Illinois College, The Female Academy, Illinois Female College, 
 Illinois Institution for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb, Illi- 
 nois Hospital for the Insane, and Illinois Institution for the Educa- 
 tion of the Blind. */. 9 o *, \ 
 
 K \
 
 THE DEAF AND DUMB. 
 
 In the winter of 1838-39, Hon. Orville H. Browning of Quincy, 
 Illinois, prepared and introduced into the General Assembly of 
 Illinois, a bill for an act to establish the "Illinois Asylum (now In- 
 stitution) for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb." This bill 
 passed the Senate without a dissenting voice; passed the House of 
 Representatives by a large majority, and was approved by Gov. 
 . Thomas Carlin, February 23, 1839. In securing the passage of 
 this bill, Judge Browning was ably assisted by Hon. William 
 Thomas, Hon. Newton Cloud, and Col. J. J. Hardin, of Morgan 
 county. Presumably through their efforts, the school was located 
 at Jacksonville. The " Asylum " was not opened for the reception 
 of pupils until December 1, 1845. and no pupils were enrolled until 
 January 26, 1846. This was the first of the great State Charitable 
 Institutions of Illinois, provided for by legislative enactment, and 
 theirs/ to open its doors to the unfortunate. 
 
 THE INSANE. 
 
 In response to a most eloquent appeal made by the sainted Do- 
 rothea Dix, a bill for an act to establish the " Illinois Hospital for 
 the Insane " passed both houses of the General Assembly with 
 little opposition. It received the signature of Gov. Augustus C. 
 French, March 1, 1847. The second section of this act named nine 
 gentlemen, all residents of Morgan county, as trustees. On March 
 20, 1847, the Board organized, electing Judge Lockwood as Presi- 
 dent, and soon after agreed upon a site for the location of the 
 Hospital about one mile south of the Court House in Jacksonville. 
 The first patient was received from McLean county, November 3, 
 1851. 
 
 What is now known as the Illinois Central Hospital for the In- 
 sane was the second o the great State Charitable Institutions of 
 Illinois, to be provided for by law, but as will appear from what fol- 
 lows, the third to open its doors for the reception of inmates. 
 
 THE BLIND. 
 
 In the summer of 1847, Samuel Bacon, who had just graduated 
 from the Ohio Institution for the Instruction of the Blind at Colum- 
 bus and Avho had been employed there during the previous year as 
 a "pupil teacher," determined to seek his fortune in the West. 
 Accordingly he embarked at Cincinnati with the intention of going
 
 to Galena, Illinois. While on the steamboat below St. Louis, he 
 became acquainted with a gentleman from Southern Illinois who 
 was a member of the Constitutional Convention then in session at 
 Springfield. By him Mr. Bacon was informed that a large building; 
 was about to be erected in Jacksonville, Illinois, in which, wheo 
 completed, a school for the blind was to be opened. Thinking that 
 he might obtain employment as a teacher in the new institution, he 
 turned his course toward Morgan county and arrived at Jackson- 
 ville, August 12, 1847. Here he learned that the supposed insti- 
 tution for the blind was a hospital for the insane. 
 
 Mr. Bacon remained several days in Jacksonville during which 
 time he met Mr. John W. Lathrop and by him was introduced to 
 Dr. English, Judge Lock wood, Judge Berdau, Dennis Rockwell, 
 and others, by whom he was encouraged to attempt the establish- 
 ment of a school for the blind. 
 
 Concerning the visit of Mr. Bacon to Jacksonville, Mr. Lathrop 
 relates several interesting incidents. On one occasion Mr. Bacon 
 was in Mr. Lathrop's store in consultation with Judge Lockwood, 
 Dennis Rockwell, and others. A gentleman entered who desired 
 to pay a note the amount of which was at that time due Mr. Lathrop. 
 The note was produced and read in an undertone, but loud enough 
 for the sensitive ear of a blind man to hear every word. The note 
 bore an endorsement indicating that one partial payment had been 
 made. " What is the legal rate of interest in Illinois?" inquired 
 Mr. Bacon. " Ten per cent.," replied the holder of the note, and 
 before Mr. Lathrop with paper and pencil could solve the problem 
 presented, the blind man named the amount due which proved to 
 be correct to a cent. 
 
 Mr. Bacon inquired if there were any blind persons in the vicin- 
 ity. On being informed that there was a family near Lynnville, 
 eight miles distant, in which were one or two blind children, he 
 immediately declared his intention of visiting them, and that he 
 would go at once. Judge Lockwood suggested that without doubt 
 he would find an opportunity to rfcle to Lynnville within two or three 
 days. He assured the Judge that he would rather walk than wait 
 one day ; and as soon as he could obtain the necessary directions, he 
 started on his midday journey in the dark, afoot and alone. He reached 
 Lynnville before sunset, spent the night with Mr. Hays the father 
 of the blind children, and returned alone to Jacksonville next 
 morning.
 
 8 
 
 Soon after this Mr. Bacon visited Springfield. The constitu- 
 tional Convention was still in session and he had the opportunity of 
 meeting many of the prominent men of the state. On all proper 
 occasions he urged the necessity of a school for the blind of Illi- 
 nois. From Judge William Thomas of Morgan county, who was 
 a member of the Convention and also at that time one of the trus- 
 tees of each of the two state institutions already located in Jackson- 
 ville, he received some encouragement, although coupled with the 
 remark that it would require a very skillful and persistent effort to 
 succeed. 
 
 It will be remembered that at this time the state was just emerg- 
 ing from a period of very great financial embarrassment. In 1841 
 Illinois state bonds declined to fourteen cents on the dollar, and it 
 was many years after this before the Auditor's warrants were always 
 worth the amount named on their face. 
 
 To interest an already overburdened people in the education of 
 the blind to the extent that they would be willing to provide the 
 necessary funds, seemed almost a hopeless task. But toward the 
 accomplishment of this most humane object, Mr. Bacon had set his 
 face and it was not for a moment in his thoughts to turn back. 
 
 He left Springfield for Galena, going by stage through Peoria, 
 Hennepin and Dixon. While on this journey and while in Galena, 
 he constantly carried in mind the interests of the blind children of 
 Illinois. He kept up a vigorous correspondence, gathering all pos- 
 sible information concerning this unfortunate class and interesting 
 the friends of the blind in the prospective institution. 
 
 In the following spring he returned to Jacksonville and on 
 April 1, 1848, met, at the office of BroAvn & Yates on the east side 
 of the public square, a number of gentlemen who favored his enter- 
 prise. It was then and there determined that Mr. Bacon should 
 continue to gather information which would show the necessity of 
 such an institution, and, as soon as practicable, open in the city of 
 Jacksonville, a private school for the blind. To defray the ex- 
 penses of such an undertaking a subscription paper was drawn up 
 and circulated among the citizens of the town. Judge Thomas' 
 name appeared at the head of the list with a subscription of $100 ; Col. 
 George M. Chambers subscribed $50; Judge William Brown, $50; 
 Richard Yates, $25; D. A. Smith, $25; Col. James Duniap, $25; 
 Harmony Lodge No. 3, A. F. & A. M., $40; Thomas Officer, $20. 
 The original papers cannot be found, but it is known that the follow-
 
 9 
 
 ing names in addition to those given above, appeared on the list, 
 the amounts subscribed by each varying from $3 to $15 or $20: 
 Samuel Dunlap, Prof. Sturtevant, Dr. David Prince, George Dun- 
 lap, Matthew Stacy, Joab Wilkinson, Rev. Andrew Todd, Dennis 
 Rockwell, E. Walcott, Dr. Samuel Adams, Judge S. D. Lockwood, 
 J. W. King, J. Neely, Ira Davenport, James Jackson, J. J. Cassell, 
 David Robb, Samuel Markoe, M. H. Cassell, F. Stevenson, J. H. 
 Finch, A. Coffin, William D. Freeman, Cornelius Hook, A. F. Mil- 
 ton, G. W. Harlin, J. O. King, and Robert Hockenhull.* 
 
 Dr. English was appointed superintendent of the enterprise, J. 
 O. King collector and treasurer, and Judge Berdan, secretary. Mr. 
 Bacon was authorized to continue his work of securing information 
 concerning the blind in the state and of interesting their friends in 
 the establishment of a state school. For this purpose he visited 
 many counties traveling on foot, by stage, on horse-back, by boat, 
 and by wagon, more than two thousand miles. 
 
 A PRIVATE SCHOOL FOB THE BLIND. 
 
 When Mr. Bacon returned to Jacksonville he had nearly sixty 
 names of blind children who were residents of Illinois, many of 
 whom he had visited. Selecting four from this number, George 
 Springer of Adams county, John Jones of Marion county, Joseph 
 and Nancy Fielding of Pike county, a school was opened June 5, 
 1848, in a two-story frame building which stood on the ground now 
 occupied by the Wabash depot. Mrs. Sarah Graves was employed 
 as matron and Mr. Bacon was the teacher. Miss Sarah Graves a 
 daughter of the matron did much reading for the pupils and for 
 their teacher, and has continued to read for the teacher ever since 
 that time. They were married July 12, 1849, and are now living 
 at Nebraska City, Neb. Later one or two pupils came into the 
 school, but the four named seem to be the ones upon whom Mr. 
 Bacon depended to prove his point, namely, that it was worth while 
 to attempt to educate the blind. The school continued in session 
 for about seven months. Of the work done, Mr. Bacon says: "The 
 pupils were taught to sing twenty quartettes. The geography was 
 elementary as we had no maps. In arithmetic they were taught 
 all forms of fractious, also cube root; and they were able to solve 
 any arithmetical question." 
 
 *These subscriptions were paid in installments and the entire amount was not collected as the 
 sum subscribed was larger than was needed to pay the expenses of securing the necessary in- 
 formation and conducting the school.
 
 10 
 
 On the 3d or 4th of January, 1849, these four pupils were* 
 taken to Springfield, and on the evening of the 9th they were ex- 
 hibited before the members of the Legislature in order "to satisfy 
 them that the blind could be and ought to be educated." On the 
 next day a bill for "An Act to establish the Illinois Institution for 
 the Education of the Blind," which had been prepared by Judge 
 William Thomas and introduced by Hon. (afterward governor) 
 Richard Yates, passed both Houses and on January 13, 1849, was 
 approved by Gov. Augustus C. French. The blind children were 
 sent from Springfield to their respective homes. 
 
 Much work had been done gratuitously by Mr. Samuel Bacon in 
 order to convince the citizens of Jacksonville of the necessity of a 
 school for the instruction of the blind in Illinois. To convince the 
 public of the necessity of a state school, cost the citizens of Jack- 
 sonville in money expended, about four hundred dollars; and in 
 addition to this, prominent and philanthropic residents of that city 
 devoted much valuable time and effort to this worthy cause. It 
 need not then be a matter of surprise that the legislative enact- 
 ment that brought the school into existence, named in its first sec- 
 tion, five Morgan county men as trustees, and that section twelve 
 provided that the school should be opened and continued in or near 
 Jacksonville. 
 
 THE STATE SCHOOL. 
 
 TRUSTEES. 
 
 SAMUEL, D. LOCKWOOD, President. 
 
 JAMES DUNLAP, W. W. HAPPY, 
 
 DENNIS KOCKWELL, SAMUEL HUNT. 
 
 SAMUEL BACON, Principal. 
 
 On February 3, 1849, just twenty-one days after the bill pro- 
 viding for the school became a law, the gentleman named in the 
 first section of the Act, met and organized by electing Judge Samuel 
 D. Lockwood president and Judge James Berdan secretary. At 
 this first meeting of the Board of Trustees, Mr. Bacon was ap- 
 pointed principal of the school at a salary of $600 per annum, and 
 it was determined that if a suitable building could be secured, he 
 should begin work on the first Monday in April. A few days later 
 Col. Dunlap's "Mansion House" situated a little south and west of 
 Illinois College, was rented for one year, at $225. Five hundred 
 circulars were issued and distributed among the friends of the 
 blind, announcing the opening of the school at the date named. 
 Mrs. Sarah Graves was appointed matron. Mr. Bacon was in-
 
 11 
 
 structed to procure the necessary books and apparatus, and at the 
 appointed time the doors were thrown open for the reception of 
 sightless students. No pupils came until the following Saturday, 
 April 7th. On that day George Springer of Adams county, and 
 Mary Stuart of Madison county, came to the "Mansion House" 
 and were duly enrolled as students at the Illinois Institution for 
 the Education of the Blind. 
 
 From the foregoing it will appear that this institution was the 
 third of the twelve state charitable institutions of Illinois to be 
 provided for by legal enactment, and the second to open its doors 
 for the reception of inmates. It is interesting to note that all the 
 charitable institutions of Illinois that were established " before the 
 war" were located in Jacksonville. 
 
 As before stated the first term of the state school began in April, 
 1849. It continued without vacation until July 10, 1850, a period 
 of fifteen months. The number of pupils, small at first, gradually 
 increased, until on the 2d of July, 1849, there were fourteen in 
 attendance. At this time Mr. Aaron Rose, a blind man who had 
 been educated in the Ohio Institution, was employed as teacher of 
 music, and Miss Lavinia Booth, a blind lady from the same school, 
 was appointed " teacher of handicraft in the female department." 
 By the end of the term the number of pupils had increased to 
 twenty-three. After a public examination they were dismissed 
 until the first Wednesday of October. 
 
 ME. BACON'S RESIGNATION. 
 
 On the 24th day of June, 1850, just before the close of the first 
 term of the state school, the Board of Trustees ordered that $100 
 be allowed Mr. Bacon to defray his expenses during the summer 
 while he should visit institutions for the blind in Boston, Phila- 
 delphia and New York. Three days later, there being some dis- 
 satisfaction in regard to salaries, Mr. Bacon, Miss Booth and Mr. 
 Rose tendered their resignations to take effect at the close of the 
 term. These were promptly accepted. A month after this Mr. Rose, 
 at his request, was reinstated, and Mr. Dennis Rockwell was 
 authorized to visit institutions for the blind in the East for the pur- 
 pose of collecting information, of procuring needed books and 
 apparatus, and of engaging a competent superintendent who should 
 be "a seeing man experienced in the conduct of a blind school." 
 
 After leaving Jacksonville, Mr. Bacon was instrumental in
 
 12 
 
 establishing two other schools for the blind; one at Vinton, Iowa, 
 and one at Nebraska City, Neb. He is now (1893) seventy years 
 of age and is residing upon his own farm a few miles from the 
 Nebraska school. He is a living proof that blindness, though very 
 inconvenient, is by no means a bar to financial success. 
 
 PREPARATIONS FOR BUILDING. 
 
 The legislative enactment establishing the Illinois Institution 
 for the Education of the Blind, provided that " the proceeds of a 
 tax of one-tenth of a mill upon every dollar's worth of taxable 
 property in this State " should annually be paid to the trustees for 
 the purposes set forth in the bill. To enable them to commence 
 building at once, the sum of $3,000 was appropriated "out of any 
 money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated." 
 
 On May 2, 1849, the Board voted to purchase twenty-two and 
 forty-five hundredths acres of land that was a part of the Col. 
 Hardin estate, and is situated about three-fifths of a mile east of 
 the public square in Jacksonville. For this now valuable property 
 they paid $75 per acre. Mr. Napoleon Koscialowski prepared the 
 plans and specifications for the building. These were accepted and 
 work was begun in September, 1849; but at the close of the first 
 term, July, 1850, the foundation had not been completed. 
 
 DR. JOSHUA RHOADS SUPERINTENDENT 1850 to 1874. 
 
 In the summer of 1850, Mr. Rockwell visited several schools for 
 the blind in the East, and succeeded in securing as Superintendent 
 of the Illinois Institution, Dr. Joshua Rhoads who had formerly 
 been Superintendent of the Pennsylvania School. Mrs. Rhoads was 
 employed as matron. On the first Wednesday in October, 1850, 
 school opened again in the " Mansion House " with eighteen pupils 
 present. By the first of the following January (1851) the number 
 had increased to twenty-three. In their report at that time, the 
 trustees announced that "the accommodations of the building which 
 is temporarily occupied for the purpose of the institution, are not 
 sufficient and no more pupils can be received except as vacancies 
 may occur in the present number." 
 
 In Dr. Rhoads' first report to the trustees we find the following 
 " Order of Business " : 
 
 "Rise at 6; prayers and reading in Bible, 6:45; breakfast 7; 
 literature and music, 8 to 12, with half-hour iutermssion; dine and
 
 18 
 
 recess 12 to 2; literature and music 2, to 6, with three-quarters of 
 an hour intermission ; supper and recess, 6 to 7 ; history, 7 to 8 ; re- 
 tire, 9:80." 
 
 Of the progress of the pupils in their studies Dr. Rhoads says: 
 
 " Two years only have passed since not one of the pupils of this 
 institution knew the letters of the alphabet. Now, all the pupils but 
 two, read the Inspired Word with pleasure and profit. The benevo- 
 lent heart of the Christian must thrill with delight, when he beholds 
 the blind enjoying, in their solitude and physical darkness, an inti- 
 mate communion with the inspired penmen, and feel itself repaid 
 for all the labor, time, and attention bestowed." 
 
 During this term Mr. Rose continued in charge of the music 
 while the superintendent himself did all the teaching in the literary 
 department. The girls were taught sewing, knitting and bead work 
 by the matron. 
 
 As an indication of the difficulty in securing the necessary 
 " help" at that time, it may be stated that the records show that Dr. 
 Rhoads was allowed $55.80 " for expenses in bringing two servant 
 girls from Philadelphia." 
 
 FAVORABLE LEGISLATION. 
 
 An act of the Legislature of 1851 provided that for two years 
 (1851-1852) in addition to the tax already provided for, a tax of 
 one-tenth of a mill on every dollar's worth of taxable property in 
 the state should be assessed and collected, the proceeds to be applied 
 to the completion of the building then in process of erection. It 
 was also provided by the same act that the Governor should appoint 
 five trustees for this institution, and biennially thereafter, should ap- 
 point five. The persons appointed in accordance with this act met 
 April 19, 1851, but did not organize until their second meeting 
 which occurred April 29, after their bonds had been approved by 
 the Governor. 
 
 TRUSTEES. 
 
 SAMUEL D. LOCKWOOD, President. 
 
 JAMES DUNLAP, SAMUEL HUNT, 
 
 W. W. HAPPY, WM. B. WARREN. 
 
 DR. JOSHUA RHOADS, Principal. 
 
 There was the usual vacation in the summer of 1851, and with 
 the walls of the new building less than half completed school opened 
 in the " Mansion House " October 1. Some additional as-
 
 14 
 
 sistauce was employed, and the superintendent took upon himself 
 the instruction of the male pupils, in brush-making, basket-making, 
 and rope-making. 
 
 The writer is unable to learn the number of pupils in attend- 
 ance during the third term of the school; but at the close of the 
 second biennial period (January, 1853), thirty-three pupils had 
 been enrolled since the opening of the state school and twenty-five 
 were present. The family in the "Mansion House" at that time 
 consisted of Dr. Rhoads, Superintendent and teacher; Mrs. Rhoads, 
 matron and teacher; four daughters of the Superintendent, the eldest 
 being eleven years of age and the youngest under one year; Mr. 
 Rose, teacher of music; Mr. Dunham, assistant in the literary de- 
 partment; twenty-five pupils (eleven males and fourteen females) ; 
 "a porter and three female domestics by whom all the washing, cook- 
 ing, etc., for the establishment was done, with the exception of the 
 hire of a washerwoman one day each week." 
 
 MOEE LEGISLATION. 
 
 An act of the Legislature which became a law in the spring of 
 1858, provided that the number of trustees of the Institution for the 
 Blind should be six inclusive of the Principal who should, exofficio, 
 be a member of the Board. It was also provided that a majority of the 
 trustees should reside without the county of Morgan. In accord- 
 ance with this law Gov. Matteson appointed a new Board of Trus- 
 tees, and on March 15, 1853, they met and organized. 
 
 BOARD OF TRUSTEES 1853. 
 SAMUEL U. LOCKWOOD, Jacksonville, President. 
 NIVIAX W. EDWARDS, SAMUEL HUNT, 
 
 MATTHEW STACY, SAMUEL MARSHALL. 
 
 JOSHUA RHOADS, Principal and. ex offlcio, member of the Board. 
 
 Afterward Judge Lockwood removed from Jacksonville to Ba- 
 tavia, 111., and on July 11, 1853, Mr. Stacy became President of the 
 Board. 
 
 In the autumn of 1853, school opened again in the " Mansion 
 House;" but in January, 1854, the work on the new building had 
 so far progressed that it could be occupied, and accordingly the pu- 
 pils with their officers and teachers took possession of their new 
 quarters. 
 
 It was not until January, 1855, that the building was fully 
 finished and furnished. The Board of Trustees then announced 
 that they were " prepared to receive as pupils all the blind of either
 
 15 
 
 sex, capable of receiving an education, within our State, who may 
 apply for admission." 
 
 In the fall of 1853, James Dunlap was appointed as teacher in 
 the Industrial Department. Soon after this Mrs. Dunham accepted 
 a position as assistant teacher and Mr. Joseph Ramsey (blind) was 
 employed as a teacher of music. 
 
 LEGISLATION. 
 
 In 1855, that part of the law of 1849 which provided for the levy- 
 ing of a tax of one-tenth of a mill on every dollar's worth of taxable 
 property in the state for the purpose of creating a fund for the In- 
 stitution for the Blind, was repealed. The amount of money col- 
 lected under the laws of 1849 and 1851, and paid over to the trustees 
 was, including the $3,000, special appropriation made per section 
 14, of the act of incorporation, $99,431.90. The law of 1855 appro- 
 priated to the Institution for the Blind for the next two years after 
 its passage, the sum of $14,000 per annum. 
 
 In May, 1856, plans were made, bids received, and the contract 
 awarded, for building a work-shop sixty feet by thirty feet and two 
 stories in height. The building was to be of brick and to cost be- 
 tween three and four thousand dollars. Soon after this, the build- 
 ing was erected on the ground now occupied by the " East Wing." 
 
 January, 1857, the Superintendent reported as follows: 
 
 "Every pupil in our first class can make a good brush, a good 
 broom, a tolerable basket, and a strong rope, in addition to his 
 acquirements in literature and music." At this time there were 
 fifty-six pupils in attendance. 
 
 LEGISLATION. 
 
 By a law in force February 13, 1857, the number of trustees 
 was reduced to five, no two of the trustees to be residents of the 
 same county. It was also provided that no member of the Board 
 should be " employed or appointed in or to any office or place under 
 the authority of the Board; and that no member of the Board 
 should be "directly or indirectly interested in any contract to be 
 made by said Board for any purpose whatever." It was further 
 provided that the accounts of the institution should be so kept and 
 reported as to show the kind, quality, and cost, and of whom bought, 
 of every article purchased. The Board appointed under this law, 
 met and organized April 8, 1857.
 
 16 
 
 BOARD OF TR USTEES 1857. 
 
 MATTHEW STACY, Jacksonville, President, 
 
 S. D. LOCKWOOD, Batavia, WM. H. BROWN, Quincy, 
 
 JOHN MAGOTTN, WM. BUTLER, Springfield. 
 
 DB. JOSHUA RHOADS, Principal. 
 
 The law of 1857 also provided that "in all cases where the 
 parents of pupils sent to the Institution for the Education of the 
 Blind, are too poor to furnish them with good and sufficient cloth- 
 ing, or where said pupils are without parents and unable to furnish 
 themselves with such clothing, the judge of the county court of the 
 county from which they are sent shall certify the same to the 
 Principal who shall procure such necessary clothing and charge the 
 same to said county and pre sent the account with the vouchers to the 
 Auditor of Public Accounts who shall draw upon the county Treasurer 
 for the amount so charged to the county." This law remained in 
 force until the passage of a law now in force, that made the same 
 provision for pupils, but changed the method of collecting the 
 amounts due the institution from the several counties. 
 
 To secure the attendance of pupils, notices were sent to the 
 editors of newspapers throughout the state, informing the people 
 that the doors of the institution were open to every blind child 
 within the limits of the state. Once in two years, the Principal 
 accompanied by a number of pupils (usually twelve), visited many 
 large towns giving concerts and exhibitions. At the end of the fifth 
 biennium (January, 1859), fifty-eight pupils were present and ten 
 more were expected to arrive. 
 
 In 1857, the Jacksonville & Carrollton Railroad obtained and 
 entered upon, for its own use, a strip of ground about thirty feet 
 wide and nearly 1,000 feet long near the west end of the tract 
 occupied by the institution. February 3d of the same year, the 
 trustees put on record the following declaration : 
 
 " The Board can not concede permission for the railroad to pass 
 through its grounds, and the President is appointed to attend to the 
 interests of the institution in this case." 
 
 The controversy growing out of this trouble continued, in and 
 out of the courts, until 1869; when, the Board of Trustees protest- 
 ing, the matter was settled by legislative enactment, the railroad 
 company retaining the land and another and wider strip west of the 
 strip before mentioned and paying therefor into the State treasury 
 the sum of $5,700. A full account of this unfortunate litigation can 
 be found in the report of the Board of Public Charities, 1876, pp. 
 130-132.
 
 17 
 
 Some building was done during the year 1857-8. The barn 
 was enlarged and a brick smoke-house built. The latter is still 
 standing, having been converted, several years ago, into an outside 
 water-closet connected with the sewer. 
 
 LEGISLATION. 
 
 By the law of 1859, the annual appropriation for the institution 
 was reduced from $14,000 per annum to $12,000. The latter sum 
 was the amount appropriated for the annual expenses of the institu- 
 tion from this date until 1865. 
 
 BOAKD OF TRUSTEES 1860. 
 
 MATTHEW STACY, Jacksonville, President. 
 
 S. D. LOCKWOOD, Batavia, D. ROCKWELL, Jacksonville, 
 
 SAMUEL LONG, M. D., JOHN MAGOUN. 
 
 DR. JOSHUA RHOADS, Principal. 
 
 In June, 1860, Dr. Samuel Long was instructed to procure an 
 organ for the institution to cost not over $1,600. He visited St. 
 Louis and purchased of Henry Pilcher an organ with twenty-four 
 stops. This instrument was pronounced at that time by competent 
 judges to be one of the best in the State. 
 
 June 19, 1861, probably on account of restlessness on the part 
 of the older pupils and a seeming lack of appreciation of the priv- 
 ileges offered by the state, the Board ordered: "That the term of 
 pupils be limited to five years unless for special reasons to be re- 
 ported to the Board." 
 
 1861 TO 1865. 
 
 During the seventh and eighth biennial periods, but little oc- 
 curred outside the usual routine of earnest, persistent, and cheerful 
 effort on the part of members of the Board, of teachers, and of 
 pupils. 
 
 During this period, James Magoun retired from the Board; 
 Dennis Kockwell removed from the State, and Judge Lockwood 
 asked to be relieved from further duties. The places thus made 
 vacant were supplied by Kobert Hill of , E. B. 
 
 Hawley of Springfield, William A. Grimshaw of Pittsfield, and 
 William Coffin of Batavia. On the retirement of Judge Lockwood 
 the Board caused the following tribute to be spread upon the 
 records :
 
 18 
 
 "Ordered, That the Board have learned with great regret of the 
 resignation of Judge Lock wood on account of his advanced age. 
 The Board feel that they have lost the leading spirit in the man- 
 agement of the institution from its foundation, and have a high 
 trust that they and their successors may continue to be guided by 
 the same spirit which always guided him." 
 
 His period of service was fourteen and one-half years. 
 
 In October, 1861, Prof. John Loomis commenced his long and 
 valuable service as a teacher of the blind. During the first few 
 years his salary was $800 per annum; but in 1865 it was raised to 
 $1,200; in 1871, to $1,400 and in 1878, to $1,500. This last figure 
 is the highest salary ever received by any one employed as a teacher 
 in the Illinois Institution for the Blind. Prof. Loomis was connected 
 with the Institution until 1881, a period of twenty years. There is 
 evidence that the pupils became very strongly attached to him, and, 
 although the methods of instruction employed might not, in some 
 particulars, meet the approval of modern teachers, there is abundant 
 proof that the value of his instruction and influence can not be 
 measured by the standards of worth that are usually applied to 
 human effort. 
 
 In 1862 Miss Alice Khoads began work as a teacher in the 
 primary department. She was employed uninterruptedly, part of 
 the time in the literary department and afterward as teacher of 
 music and leader of the orchestra, until 1874. 
 
 In the summer of 1862, Oscar Butts, of Adams county, a young 
 man who had left school without permission the previous year, made 
 a written complaint to the Board regarding the general management 
 of the Institution and charging the superintendent with inefficiency 
 and " arbitrary and despotic exercise of power." A special meeting 
 of the Board was called which continued two days (June 25 and 26, 
 1862), the members patiently listening to witnesses introduced at 
 the suggestion of Butts. At a subsequent meeting the following 
 statement was put on record: 
 
 "The trustees present who heard the testimony against and for 
 Dr. Bhoads, having carefully considered the subject, have unani- 
 mously come to the conclusion that the charges exhibited against 
 Dr. Rhoads have not been sustained. 
 
 " Resolved by the trustees, that we affirm the decision of the 
 Board made in December, 1861, that the Illinois Institution for the
 
 19 
 
 Blind is entitled to the confidence of the public and is answering 
 the purpose for which the institution was established. 
 
 " Resolved, That hereafter no pupil shall be returned to the 
 school for more than five years, unless the trustees, for good reasons 
 shown to them, shall otherwise order." 
 
 On the 16th day of June, 1863, the Board caused the following 
 to be spread upon the records, and copies sent to the newspapers of 
 Jacksonville, Springfield, Chicago, and elsewhere, with the request 
 that it be published: 
 
 " Resolved, That we have witnessed with pleasure and very 
 great satisfaction, the exercises of the institution under the charge 
 of Dr. Joshua Rhoads and Mrs. Rhoads assisted by able and expe- 
 rienced teachers, in the respective branches of study in this institu- 
 tion, and express our great satisfaction at the proficiency shown by 
 the pupils and return our thanks to the Principals and their assist- 
 ants for their able management of the institution during the past 
 year, as shown by the progress of the pupils. 
 
 Signed. MATT. STACY, 
 E. B. HAWLEY, 
 WILLIAM A. GBIMSHAW. 
 
 Near the close of the year 1864, Supt. Rhoads stated as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 " This institution now contains sixty-eight blind persons of 
 good moral character, kindly in their deportment to their teachers 
 and to each other. About one-half of the number were either born 
 blind or lost their sight in infancy; the other half of them became 
 blind from various accidents to which all are subject. Thirty-two 
 of the pupils are males and thirty-six are females. 
 
 1865 TO 1869. 
 BOARD OF TRUSTEES-1865. 
 
 MATTHEW STACY, Jacksonville, President, 
 
 WILLIAM A. GBIMSHAW, Pittsfleld, E. B. HAWLEY, Springfield, 
 M. SHAEFFER, Salem, H. BUCK, Decatur. 
 
 DK. JOSHUA RHOADS, Principal. 
 
 LEGISLATION. 
 
 The annual appropriation for ordinary expense was raised in 
 1865 to $20,000, and remained at that figure until 1869. In 1867 
 there was an especial appropriation of $1,000 per annum (1867 and
 
 20 
 
 
 
 1868) " to pay for repairs of buildings and improvements." This 
 was the beginning of a regular appropriation for repairs and im- 
 provements, the amount received for this purpose being known as 
 the E. & I. fund. 
 
 Near the beginning of this period, furnaces were introduced 
 into the building in place of stoves with which all the rooms had 
 been heated up to this time. 
 
 In October, 1865, Prof. A. E. Wimmerstedt was employed as a 
 teacher of music. He continued to serve as teacher and musical 
 director till the summer of 1879 a period of fourteen years. 
 
 In January, 1867, the trustees reported eighty pupils in attend- 
 ance and " no accommodation for any more." It was a period of 
 high prices and the Board recommended that the appropriation for 
 ordinary expenses be increased from $20,000 to $25,000 per annum. 
 
 In 1868 Miss Fannie Maginnis commenced a long period of 
 service as teacher in the literary department. She resigned in 
 1879, on account of the illness of her mother; was re-elected in 
 1881, and continued in the work until 1887. 
 
 1869 AND 1870. 
 LEGISLATION. 
 
 In 1869 the appropriation for ordinary expense was increased to 
 $25,000 per annum and $5,000 was appropriated for repairs and 
 improvements. An act entitled, "An Act to provide for the ap- 
 pointment of a Board of Commissioners of Public Charities" was 
 approved April 9, 1869. Since that time the state charitable in- 
 stitutions have been under the most vigilant supervision of that 
 Board, the active officer of which, has been from the beginning up 
 to the present time (April 1, 1893), their Secratary, Kev. Fred H. 
 Wines. 
 
 The act of 1869 further provided that the number of trustees 
 for each of the state charitable institutions should be three. 
 
 BOARD OF TRUSTEES 1869. 
 
 MATTHEW STAC if, Jacksonville, President, 
 
 E. B. HAWLEY, Springfield, WILLIAM A. GRIMSHAW, Pittsfield. 
 
 At ten o'clock on the morning of April 20, 1869, smoke and 
 flames were seen issuing from various parts of the roof of the main
 
 21 
 
 building of the Illinois Institution for the Blind. The following 
 statement from the Superintendent's report dated November 30, 
 1870, gives a succinct account of the fire and of the rebuilding. 
 
 " The citizens of Jacksonville rushed in haste to attempt the 
 suppression of the fire. A profuse supply of water was at hand 
 one hundred and twenty barrels being in tanks in the fifth story 
 of the building; but the progress of the fire was so rapid that 
 nothing availed to check its ravages. In a few short hours, the 
 comfortable home for the blind had become a mass of smould- 
 ering ruins. 
 
 " The fire is supposed to have originated from a defective smoke 
 flue in the attic of the building, and to have been making progress 
 there for four hours before it was discovered. When first dis- 
 covered, the flames were breaking through the roof, and the attic 
 could not be entered from the scuttle in the fifth story ceiling on 
 account of the heat and flame. 
 
 " The citizens succeeded in rescuing all the inmates, and in re- 
 moving their clothing. The books, papers, and much of the 
 furniture, including seven pianos, were also removed in safety. 
 The citizens of Jacksonville opened their houses to our pupils, and, 
 in a few hours, they were all installed in comfortable homes, and 
 well provided for until we could arrange to resume the charge of 
 them. 
 
 " Mrs. Eliza Ayers, without solicitation, at once proffered to us 
 her property, known as the Berean College, and in a week we had 
 our pupils comfortably domiciled in it, and in our workshops. 
 The school was at once resumed, and our pupils re-commenced their 
 studies with accustomed cheerf ulness. The school was continued in 
 session until the usual time for vacation, June 1, when the pupils 
 returned to their homes. 
 
 " The buildings being insured for $20,000, and some other funds 
 being applicable to the purpose of rebuilding, it was determined 
 to allow no unnecessary delay in providing a new building. Suit- 
 able designs were procured, and work was begun on a new building 
 on the site of the old edifice. This building was pushed forward 
 with such industry and energy that it was finished and occupied by 
 the officers and pupils on January 26, 1870. 
 
 " The building is seventy-two feet by seventy-two feet, and is 
 three stories high. It is placed on the site of the former building, 
 and is planned so as to be the "west wing" to a future main
 
 22 
 
 building and east wing, to be erected when the Legislature shall 
 appropriate funds for its erection ." 
 
 " The cost of the new building was $34,069.39. Of this amount 
 $20,000 was received from the insurance companies, and, as the 
 school was necessarily closed, a portion of the amount appropriated 
 for repairs and improvements, and current expenses became avail- 
 able for building." 
 
 It may be here stated that the Board of Trustees in beginning 
 to rebuild almost before the foundation stones of the old building 
 were cold, and in applying, not alone the insurance money, but funds 
 appropriated for ordinary expense, to this purpose, pushing the 
 structure to completion in the space of nine months, acted without 
 the sanction of law. They however did this under the advice of 
 Governor Palmer, and of individual members of the Legislature of 
 1869. The responsibility was upon themselves; but so fully did 
 their promptness of decision and energy of action in the interest of 
 the unfortunate class placed in their care, commend themselves to 
 the general public, that no one has been found to make complaint, 
 either formal or otherwise, of their assumption of authority; though 
 it has sometimes been said in an undertone that the desire to retain 
 the institution at Jacksonville had something to do with their very 
 commendable activity in providing the new building for the School 
 for the Blind. 
 
 The new building contained only about half as much available 
 space as the former one ; yet the school was continued in all its 
 departments. In the autumn of 1870, there were seventy-four 
 pupils present, and the Superintendent was obliged to refuse admis- 
 sion to many others. 
 
 1871 TO 1874. 
 BOARD OF TRUSTEES. 
 
 MATTHEW STACY, Jacksonville, President, 
 
 E. B. HAWLEY, Springfield, WILLIAM A. GRIMSHAW, Pittsfleld. 
 DR. JOSHUA RHOADS, Principal. 
 
 In 1871 the annual appropriation for the ordinary expenses of 
 the institution was reduced from $25,000 to $20,00; and in 1873, 
 from $20,000 to $17,500. 
 
 On November 20, 1871, Miss Clara E. Greeuleaf was employed 
 as assistant matron and, in December, 1872, was promoted to the 
 position of primary teacher. She resigned in the summer of 1878,
 
 23 
 
 on account of poor health, after having been connected with the in- 
 stitution six years and five months. 
 
 The building erected in 1869, was designed as a west wing of 
 a main building yet to be erected. Before the work was begun on 
 this " wing," Messrs. Dilger and Jungerfeldt, architects, of Spring- 
 field, 111., were employed to prepare the elevation and ground plans 
 for a structure consisting of a main building and two wings. In 
 1872^ the Board made a very earnest appeal to the Legislature then 
 in session, for an appropriation sufficient for the erection of the 
 central portion of the proposed structure. On May 3, 1873, a bill re- 
 ceived the Governor's signature, which provided for an appropria- 
 tion of $75,000 for this purpose. 
 
 Within a month from that time the board advertised for bids 
 for the construction of the " main building." On July 10 thirteen 
 bids had been received. That o Loar & Bruce being the lowest, 
 the contract was awarded to them, the sum named being $58,560. 
 The work of building was immediately commenced and with the 
 usual delays, changes in contract, and some additions thereto, com- 
 mendable progress was made. It was apparent in the spring of 
 1874, that the building would be ready for occupancy at the begin- 
 ning of the next term. 
 
 In the meantime Hon. John L. Beveridge became governor of 
 Illinois. 
 
 A new Board of Trustees was appointed, and at the last meeting 
 of the retiring Board (June 2, 1874), they caused the following 
 tribute to the officers and teachers of the institution to be spread 
 upon the records: 
 
 Resolved, That at this our last meeting, as trustees of this institution, we part 
 with the officers and employes thereof, yet feeling in them the same confidence 
 which their zeal, integrity, and devotion to duty has caused us to repose in them 
 in the past. 
 
 Resolved, That we feel our hearts oppressed, in consequence of the painful 
 illness of our long-time friend and faithful, upright, public servant, Dr. Joshua 
 Rhoads, preventing him from being present with us, it being the first time in our 
 official connection with this institution; and we now give to him our most cheering 
 congratulations, that to him is the consciousness of a life spent in public service 
 for twenty-four years in the education and training of the blind of Illinois, dis~ 
 charging with uprightness and with a genial heart and true manhood his impor- 
 tant duties as Superintendent of this institution; and we, as trustees, sympathize 
 most cordially with him and his amiable family in his present affliction; and we 
 return to him our sincere thanks for his incessant labors and for his pleasant inter- 
 course with us in our official capacity, in which his family so considerately co-op- 
 erated. 
 
 Resolved, That we especially present to Mrs. Rhoads, as Matron, our most
 
 24 
 
 hearty thanks for her truly motherly sympathy and charge over the numerous 
 children who have passed under her kind, considerate and useful training, during 
 the long period she has presided over this institution, being from its foundation. 
 
 Resolved, That Miss Alice Rhoads, has our sincere thanks for her exceedingly 
 happy and efficient effort in training those of the pupils who have been under her 
 charge, in literature and in music, and we feel it to be our duty to say that she 
 can not be surpassed in her vocation as a teacher of youth. 
 
 Resolved, That Mr. John Loomis, as senior teacher, has always merited and 
 received our confidence, as he now fully possesses the same, and we commend him 
 as unsurpassed if not unequaled in capacity as a teacher in the position he has 
 occupied. 
 
 Resolved, That Miss Frances Maginnis and Miss Clara E. Greenleaf, as 
 t eachers in this institution, has each discharged her duty in a highly acceptable 
 manner and to our entire satisfaction. 
 
 Resolved, That we, with pleasure, express our satisfaction in the progress of 
 *the pupils of the institution during the past term, and commend them to the public 
 as worthy objects of public care, deserving the same by good conduct and entitled 
 hereto as children of the great State of Illinois. 
 
 On June 4, 18.74, the new Board consisting of John Mathers, 
 of Jacksonville; John H. Wood, of Virginia, and John H. Lewis, of 
 Galesburg, met and organized. Mr. Mathers was chosen President, 
 and Bazzil Davenport Secretary pro tern. The resignations of Dr. 
 Joshua Rhoads and Mrs. Rosanna J. Rhoads, to take effect August 
 1, 1874, were read and accepted. 
 
 On motion, they proceeded to the election of a superintendent. 
 Several names were placed in nomination and on the first ballot Dr. 
 F. W. Phillips received one vote ; Prof. John Loomis, one, and Rev. 
 W. H. De Motte, one. On the second ballot, Dr. Phillips received 
 two votes and Rev. De Motte, one. Dr. Phillips was declared 
 elected. Mrs. Lucy J. Phillips was chosen matron. Prof. Loomis, 
 Miss Alice S. Rhoads, Miss Fannie Maginnis and Prof. A. E. 
 Wimmerstedt were re-elected as teachers. At a subsequent meet- 
 ing the resignation of Miss Rhoads was read and accepted. 
 
 At the close of Dr. Rhoads' term as Superintendent, blind 
 persons to the number of 443, had availed themselves of the privi- 
 leges of the institution and seventy-two were present. 
 
 1874 TO 1876. 
 BOARD OF TRUSTEES. 
 
 JOHN MATHERS, Jacksonville, President, 
 
 JOHN H. WOOD, Virginia, JOHN H. LEWIS, Galesburg. 
 
 DR. F. W. PHILLIPS, Superintendent. 
 
 With very few changes in the corps of teachers and officers, 
 Dr. Phillips commenced his long period (fourteen years) of service
 
 27 
 
 as Superintendent of the Institution for the Blind. Capt. William 
 A. Kirby was appointed foreman of the workshop, and Mrs. A. C. 
 Kirby teacher in the literary department, while Prof. T. D. Nut- 
 ting and Miss Fannie De Motte were employed as teachers of 
 music. 
 
 Immediately after the completion of the new building, circulars 
 giving ^notice of the increased capacity of the institution, and 
 requesting friends of the blind to see that those in need of the edu- 
 cational privileges thus furnished by the state were induced to 
 avail themselves of these advantages, were printed and sent into 
 every county. As a result of this effort, the number of pupils was 
 increased from seventy-two to one hundred and seven, the latter 
 being the number in attendance December 1, 1874. 
 
 In 1875 B, B. Gray was appointed foreman of the work depart- 
 ment in place of Captain Kirby, resigned. Mr. Gray had been em- 
 ployed as a carpenter and builder at the institution during the super- 
 intendency of Dr. Rhoads. He is yet (1893) an efficient officer of 
 the institution, having served continuously for eighteen years. 
 
 LEGISLATION. 
 
 By an Act of the Legislature in force June 1, 1874, $5,000, 
 which had before been appropriated and had not been drawn from 
 the State treasury, was made available for building purposes, and 
 Section 2 of the same Act appropriated $10,000 for furnishing. 
 Adding this $5,000 to the amount appropriated by the Act of May 
 3, 1873, made a total of $80,000. The new trustees found that 
 " contracts had been entered into and improvements made amount- 
 ing in the aggregate to $82,332.34, being $2,332.34 in excess of the 
 appropriations made." Disclaiming any responsibility for this, they 
 declared the claims to be just and asked the Legislature to make 
 appropriation for the payment of the same with ten per cent, inter- 
 est from the first day of August, 1874. Two years later this request 
 was renewed, and the General Assembly of 1877 appropriated a sum 
 sufficient to pay these claims with interest at the rate named. 
 
 The Board further declared that although the former board had, 
 "by some mistake or oversight, made improvements in excess of 
 the appropriation," additional improvements and repairs were needed 
 which demanded the consideration of the Legislature. 
 
 The "center building" was heated by steam, the boilers for this 
 purpose being located in the rear part of the basement. The wing 
 was imperfectly heated by four furnaces. The Board reported that
 
 28 
 
 convenience, comfort, safety and economy alike demanded that 
 there should be constructed a building for the reception of the 
 boilers, the same to be connected by a tunnel with the main struct- 
 ure, and that the wing should be equipped with steam-heating 
 apparatus. In response to their request for $8,000, the Legislature 
 appropriated $5,000 for building a boiler-house, stack and tunnel, 
 and supplying the needed pipes and coils for the wing. 
 
 The Board deeming this amount insufficient, it appears that they 
 inaugurated the custom of regarding the amounts received from 
 counties and individuals for clothing, as well as the amounts of 
 sales of live stock and articles manufactured in the shops and sew- 
 ing-room, as a " contingent fund " which they applied wherever it 
 might seem to them desirable. (This custom was continued until 
 July 1, 1881; the sum of the orders paid from this fund sometimes 
 being more than $1,500 per annum. Since that time the receipts 
 for clothing and sales of stock, etc., are returned to the ordinary 
 expense fund from which the amounts paid for clothing, for feed, 
 for live stock and for material to be manufactured, are always 
 drawn. ) 
 
 In explanation of this the Board in their biennial report, dated 
 October 1, 1876, make the following statement: 
 
 "We asked the Legislature for $8,000 to build an engine and 
 
 O f * O 
 
 boiler-house, and to heat the wing with steam, and received $5,000. 
 The building which we were able to erect after steam-heating had 
 been paid for, is not such as we desire, but will answer our purpose 
 for years. We could not have built as we did, and when we did, 
 had we not been able to add our sales and receipts to the amount 
 the state gave us. We did this when we wanted our sales and 
 receipts for another purpose, because the amount given us was not 
 sufficient to build, and the safety and health of the pupils and 
 security of the buildings, required that the boilers should be 
 removed." 
 
 "The entire building is now uniformly and comfortably heated, 
 and the tire removed from it, except in the kitchen." 
 
 The ordinary expenses for the year 1874 were several thousand 
 dollars more than the appropriation, and the Legislature, in the 
 spring of 1875, appropriated $5,000 "to defray the increased 
 ordinary expense of the Institution for the Blind," and provided 
 that the act should " take effect and be in force on and after its 
 passage."
 
 29 
 
 In the Superintendent's report for the same year we find the 
 following very courteous tribute to Dr. Bhoads: 
 
 Since my last report to you, my predecessor, Dr. Joshua Rhoads, has died. 
 His health, feeble at the time of his resignation, continued to fail until February 
 1, 1876, when death relieved him of his sufferings. A graduate of the Pennsyl- 
 vania University of Medicine, he was engaged in the active practice of his pro- 
 fession for a number of years. He was principal of the Pennsylvania Institution 
 for the Blind for four years. In 1850 he was elected principal of this institution, 
 which position he occupied for twenty-four years. Possessed of a good mind, 
 which was well cultivated, he was qualified, both by nature and habit, for the work 
 to which he gave so much of his life. Methodical, earnest, and in love with his 
 work, the institution was well conducted and successful under his administration. 
 At the time of his death he had entered upon his seventieth year. 
 
 1876 TO 1880. 
 
 The appropriation for ordinary expense for the biennium be- 
 ginning July, 1875, was $25,000 per annum, with $1,000 per annum, 
 for repairs and improvements; for the biennium beginning July, 
 1877, the appropriation for ordinary expense was $28,000 per an- 
 num, and the amount for repairs and improvements, $1,250 per 
 annum. Early in 1877, Governor Cullom appointed a new Board 
 of Trustees for the Institution for the Blind, and on June 4 the 
 appointees met and organized. 
 
 BOARD OF TRUSTEES-1877. 
 A. C. WADSWORTH, Jacksonville, President. 
 N. W. BRANSON, Petersburg, A. G. BURR, Carrollton. 
 DR. F. W. PHILLIPS, Superintendent. 
 
 For the term 1876-77 Dr. Phillips says in his report to the 
 trustees "ninety-five permits have been sent out [to pupils], di- 
 vided as follows: seventy-six returned, three re-admitted, and six- 
 teen new pupils. An addition of $3,000 to the appropriation made 
 for ordinary expense by the last Legislature, would enable me to 
 admit twenty-five more pupils. I have on hand from which to 
 select that number, eighty-nine applications. Four of these appli- 
 cants are too old, nine are too young, and one is from another 
 state. The remaining seventy-five are proper subjects for our care 
 and instruction, but we can not now receive them." 
 
 Mrs. Marion P. Wimmerstedt was employed for half her time 
 for one year, as music teacher, her term of service beginning Octo- 
 ber, 1876. 
 
 At the beginning of the next term (1877-78) Miss Lizzie B.
 
 30 
 
 Simpson was employed as a teacher in the literary department, and 
 Miss Hattie Hobbs as a music teacher in place of Mrs. Wimmer- 
 stedt. Miss Simpson retained her position until her resignation 
 was tendered and accepted July, 1885. 
 
 Miss Alice Dickey was employed in place of Miss Greenleaf re- 
 signed. Mrs. Alice Dickey Harsha resigned in the summer of 1884. 
 
 In April, 1879, Miss Harriet B. Heed was employed as teacher 
 in the junior division in place of Miss Maginnis; Prof. H. Breth- 
 erick, in place of Prof. Wimmerstedt as musical director. Miss 
 Reed's term of service continued until January, 1886; Prof. Breth- 
 erick's, until the summer of 1883. 
 
 NUMBEE OF PUPILS ENROLLED. 
 
 Term of 1876-77 96 Term of 1877-78 123 
 
 Term of 1878-79 133 Term of 1879-80 142 
 
 In response to the request of the trustees, the Legislature of 
 1879 made appropriations in addition to the usual amount for cur- 
 rent expenses, as follows: 
 
 For new fronts to, and for resetting boilers f 784 00 
 
 For stand-pipe, hose and connections 850 00 
 
 For dining-room and kitchen 2,400 00 
 
 With these funds the necessary work was done in the boiler- 
 house, and a large water tank was placed in the attic of the wing 
 and the necessary connections made to carry water to any part of 
 the building. A kitchen was built and a dining-room provided 
 that would accommodate one hundred and fifty pupils> 
 
 1880 TO 1884. 
 
 In the beginning of this period, the Board of Trustees con- 
 sisted of the persons appointed by Governor Cullom in 1877, 
 namely: Hon. A. C. Wadsworth, Judge Branson, and Judge Burr; 
 but on the death of Judge Burr, June 10, 1882, Dr. J. M. Davis, 
 of Carrollton, was appointed to fill the vacancy. The following 
 tribute to Judge Burr was prepared by his colleagues, and the 
 same was published and spread upon the records: 
 
 IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 Hon. Albert Gallatiu Burr, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Illinois 
 Institution for the Education of the Blind, died at his residence in Carrollton, 111., 
 June 10, 1882. 
 
 We had known Judge Burr for years, and to know him long and well was but 
 to know him with increasing esteem and admiration.
 
 . 31 
 
 As a jurist, his integrity, his manliness, and his legal attainments commanded 
 confidence and respect, and his death called forth universal grief in the judicial 
 district over which he presided. 
 
 Our association with him as trustee of the Institution for the Blind, which 
 began June 4, 1877, and closed when his life ended, was characterized by unity of 
 thought and action. A\ r e ever found him attentive to the duties of his office, inter- 
 ested in the affairs of the institution, and anxious for its welfare. 
 
 In our intimate acquaintance with him, we found him a Christian gentleman, 
 easy of access, pleasant in social intercourse, affable in his demeanor, cheerful in 
 mind, though at times a great sufferer, and always hopeful of the future. 
 
 (Signed) A. 0. WADSWOKTH, 
 
 N . W. BRANSON. 
 
 LEGISLATION. 
 
 The appropriations for current expenses were as follows: 
 
 1879-80, Ordinary expense, $21,000; repairs and improve- 
 ments $1,000 00 
 
 1880-81, Ordinary expense, $25,000; repairs and improve- 
 ments $1,000 00 
 
 1881-82, Ordinary expense, $22,000; repairs and improve- 
 ments $1,500 00 
 
 1882-83, Ordinary expense, $25,000; repairs and improve- 
 ments , $1,500 00 
 
 In addition to the usual appropriations, the Legislature of 1881 
 made the following special appropriations: 
 
 For building east wing $33,000 00 
 
 For school apparatus and musical instruments 2,500 00 
 
 For building barn, coal-house and shop 12,000 00 
 
 For engine and laundry machinery 1,440 00 
 
 The Legislature of 1883 appropriated as follows: 
 
 For fence on east, north, and west side of grounds $1,200 00 
 
 For purchasing twenty -two acres of pasture land 2,500 00 
 
 For steam mangle 550 00 
 
 With the funds thus provided, the east wing, containing twenty- 
 eight rooms, the inside work being of yellow pine finished in oil and 
 the openings between the wings and center building protected by iron 
 fire-doors, was completed in time for the opening of the term of 
 1882-83. 
 
 A brick workshop two stories high and containing eight rooms, 
 was built, it being located a little northeast of the east wing of the 
 main building. A brick barn was built a few rods in the rear of the 
 boiler-house, and between the boiler-house and the barn, was erected 
 a substantial coal-house. When these improvements had been made 
 and settlements had been made with the contractors, there remained 
 in the treasury, of the $12,000 appropriated, $1.08. 
 
 Twenty-two acres of most excellent pasture land, about half a
 
 32 
 
 mile northeast of the buildings, was purchased, and this continues 
 to furnish ample summer feed for the eighteen to twenty cows 
 necessary to supply milk for the inmates of the institution. 
 
 Half a mile of substantial fence was built which is yet standing, 
 and needs but little repair. The drain was provided and the neces- 
 sary laundry machinery purchased. 
 
 On June 9, 1881, Miss Susan Draper was elected teacher of 
 music (piano), which position she has filled acceptably since that 
 date. 
 
 October 11, 1882, Miss A. L. Nichols (blind) was employed as 
 a teacher in the primary division. She resigned in 1885. 
 
 October 10, 1883, Miss Annie Martin was employed in the liter- 
 ary department. She resigned in 1887. On the same date, Miss 
 Kate Smith was employed half her time as teacher of vocal music, 
 and Mrs. Annie Smith two-fifths of her time as teacher of organ. 
 Mrs. Kate Smith Dumrner and Mrs. Annie Smith resigned in 
 1885. 
 
 The number of pupils enrolled was as follows: 
 
 Term of 1880-81. . . .120 pupils. Term of 1881-82. . .128 pupils. 
 Term of 1882-83 .... 157 pupils. Term of 1883-84. . . 168 pupils. 
 
 1884 TO 1888. 
 TRUSTEES. 
 
 A. C. WADSWORTH, Jacksonville, President, . 
 
 N. W. BKANSOX, Petersburg, J. M. DAVIS, Carrollton. 
 
 DR. F. W. PHILIPS, Superintendent. 
 
 On the death of Dr. Davis, in 1885, Hon. Benjamin F. Funk of 
 Bloomingtoii was appointed to fill the vacancy. In the report to 
 Governor Oglesby. dated September 30, 1886, we find the following: 
 
 " We have lost from our Board, by death, Dr. J. M. Davis of Carrollton, a man 
 worthy and well qualified for the position he occupied, who was interested in the 
 work of educating the blind and whose loss we regret." 
 
 LEGISLATION. 
 
 The appropriations for current expenses were as follows: 
 
 1883-84, Ordinary expense, $32,000; repairs and improve- 
 ments $1,000 00 
 
 1884-85, Ordinary expense, $32,000; repairs and improve- 
 ments $1,500 00 
 
 1885-86, Ordinary expense, f 30,OJO; repairs and improve- 
 ments $1,500 00 
 
 1886-87, Ordinary expense, $30,000; repairs and improve- 
 ments $1,500 00
 
 33 
 
 In addition to the usual appropriations, the Legislature of 1885 
 made the following special appropriations: 
 
 For the construction of a refrigerator and storehouse $4,000 00 
 
 For the extension of the sewer 500 00 
 
 For the purchase of a pipe-organ 3,000 00 
 
 With the funds thus provided, the sewer was extended and 
 a pipe-organ, a most excellent instrument built by Hook & 
 Hastings of Boston, Mass., was put in place and used for the first 
 time December 25, 1885. The amount appropriated fora storehouse 
 and refrigerator was unsatisfactory to the trustees and to the Super- 
 intendent. Nevertheless they proceeded to build as best they 
 could, the building erected being of brick, twenty-two feet by sixty 
 feet and two stories in height and situated northwest of the main 
 building. 
 
 TEACHEES. 
 
 On the resignation of Mrs. Alice Dickey Harsha in the summer 
 of 1884, Mrs. Mary Burr, widow of Judge A. G. Burr, was em- 
 ployed to fill the vacancy. Of this appointment Dr. Phillips says in 
 his report to the trustees: " It affords me the greatest pleasure to 
 thus remember the kindness of Judge Burr in his intercourse with 
 those connected with the Institution, and his faithfulness to his 
 duties as a trustee." Mrs. Burr continued her work as a teacher 
 until the summer of 1891. 
 
 At the beginning of the term 1885-86 four new teachers were em- 
 ployed: Prof. Blanpied who was musical director for one year and 
 Mr. Ira William Davenport who was employed in the literary de- 
 partment until 1887 ; George R. Parker, a former pupil of the Insti- 
 tution and Mrs. Mollie Phillips. Mrs. Phillips resigned in 1887. 
 Mr. Parker is still numbered among the teachers in the literary de- 
 partment. 
 
 At the beginning of the term 1886-87, Miss Anne Wakely was 
 employed as teacher in the literary department and Miss Emma 
 Des Plaines, a former pupil, as a teacher of music. Prof. Wallace 
 P. Day was employed as musical director. Miss Wakely taught one 
 year and Miss Des Plaines four years. [Prof. Day, who had 
 previously had several years experience as teacher of the blind in 
 Canada still remains at the head of the musical department. 
 
 At the beginning of the term 1887-88, Mrs. Eliza Caldwell, Miss 
 Mattie Bevans, and Miss Lydia Hamilton took their places as teach- 
 ers. Mrs. Caldwell taught the girls of the intermediate division
 
 34 
 
 till the summer of 1891. Miss Hamilton had charge of the senior 
 division for five years. She resigned on account of serious ill 
 health. Miss Bevans taught the intermediate class of boys until 
 1890. During the term of 1890-91, she taught mathematics to the 
 pupils of all grades between the kindergarten and the high school, 
 and since that time has taught geography to the same classes. 
 
 NUMBER OF PUPILS ENROLLED. 
 
 Term of 1884-85 150 Term of 1885-86 168 
 
 Term of 1886-87 186 Term of 1887-88 171 
 
 DEATH OF SUPT. F. W. PHILLIPS. 
 
 On January 17, 1888, after a painful illness, Dr. F. W. Phillips 
 passed to his reward. There was a special session of the Board of 
 Trustees, called for January 19, to take appropriate action concern- 
 ing the death of the Superintendent. Mr. W. S. Phillips was 
 elected Secretary of the Board and the following tribute proposed 
 and offered for adoption by Hon. N. W. Branson was spread upon 
 the records: 
 
 " The Board of Trustees convened in special session immediately 
 after the sad but sacred duties pertaining to the final interment 
 of the late Superintendent of this institution, feeling acutely 
 the magnitude of our loss would pay our heart-felt tribute to 
 the memory of the deceased." 
 
 " Whatever honors can be paid to the memory of Dr. F. W. 
 Phillips will be worthily bestowed. No tribute which affection 
 may dictate can be worded in language too strong. The late super- 
 intendent fully appreciated the responsibility resting upon him in 
 ministering to the mental, moral, and physical welfare of the pupils 
 under his charge; and he gave to the discharge of his duties 
 his best energies. His heart was filled with sympathy for 
 those whose misfortunes made them the worthy recipients of this 
 noble public charity. With love for this special work and with a 
 mind fully equipped by nature for the discharge of high pub- 
 lic trusts, he gave himself up, with entire singleness of purpose, to 
 the performance of duty." 
 
 "In the management of pupils, he was quick to foresee and prompt 
 to provide for their wants. Courteous, kind, and affectionate, in 
 his intercourse with them, he yet could be firm as the occasion 
 might demand, and was always just. His relations with all 
 who were in any way associated with him were of the most kindly 
 character." 
 
 "As an executive officer he displayed rare ability. The institu- 
 tion grew and expanded under his wise and prudent administration, 
 and attained the measure of usefulness which its founders and
 
 35 
 
 prompters had in view. The public funds were applied exclusively 
 to their proper uses as contemplated by the law and were expended 
 with economy, with sagacity, and with unquestionable integrity. 
 Under his thoughtful and efficient management, the entire institu- 
 tion in all its branches and departments worked like a perfect piece 
 of mechanism without jar or friction." 
 
 " Our Superintendent was a man of principle and of purity ; stain- 
 less in character and spotless in reputation ; remarkable for the great 
 variety and extent of his attainments; and he exemplified in himself 
 the highest attributes of domestic life." 
 
 "Although his life was lengthened out to three-score years yet the 
 death of an upright and useful man, however long deferred, comes 
 always too soon, but we are not without consolation in the recollec- 
 tion of his many virtues and in the reflection that it was our happy 
 privilege to have been so intimately associated with him in his 
 labor of love; and we, the members of this Board, counting ourselves 
 as not the least affectionate among the many friends of our departed 
 brother, will cherish with unfailing tenderness and love, his precious 
 memory and the priceless inheritance of his virtues." 
 
 (Signed) A. C. WADSWORTH, 
 B. F. FUNK, 
 N. "W. BRANSON. 
 
 At the time of Dr. Phillips' death blind persons to the number 
 of nine hundred and three had availed themselves of the privileges 
 of the institution and one hundred and sixty-four were present. 
 
 1888 TO 1890. 
 BOARD OF TRUSTEES, 1888. ' 
 
 A. C. WADSWORTH, Jacksonville, President, 
 
 N. W. BRANSON, Petersburg, B. F. FUNK, Blooralngton. 
 
 W. S. PHILLIPS, Superintendent. 
 
 On May 27, 1888, Mr. W. S. Phillips, son of Dr. F. W. Phillips 
 was elected superintendent. Fourteen years of the. life of Mr. 
 Phillips had been spent at the institution. He had been book- 
 keeper and purchasing agent and was familiar with the details of the 
 work in every department. 
 
 To the arduous labors of his new position he devoted all his 
 energies. He made apparent to the members of the Thirty-sixth 
 General Assembly the needs of the institution the result of which 
 was increased appropriations for ordinary expense and generous 
 provision for necessary improvements.
 
 36 
 
 LEGISLATION REGULAR APPROPRIATION. 
 
 1887-88, Ordinary expense, $32,000; repairs and improve- 
 ments $1,500 00 
 
 1888-89, Ordinary expense, $32,000; repairs and improve- 
 ments..' 1,500 00 
 
 1889-90, Ordinary expense, $38,000; repairs and improve- 
 ments 2,000 00 
 
 SPECIAL APPROPRIATIONS. 
 
 Legislature of 1887: 
 
 For paving one-half the width of street $3,400 00 
 
 For building laundry and purchasing appliances 5,000 00 
 
 For fire-escapes 1,200 00 
 
 Legislature of 1889: 
 
 For repairs to cornice $ 1,000 00 
 
 For piano-tuning and repair department 3,000 00 
 
 For cottage for girls 18,000 00 
 
 For covered walk for girls 1,000 00 
 
 For repairs to chapel 4,350 00 
 
 With these funds, work was done and buildings erected as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 East State Street (to the center of the street), in front of the 
 grounds of the institution, was paved with vitrified brick. A brick 
 laundry, thirty by sixty feet was erected and equipped with all 
 needed appliances; complete fire-escapes were provided for the 
 main building. The cornice of the main building was thoroughly 
 repaired. Of the $1,000 appropriated for this purpose, $455.97 
 reverted to the state treasury. 
 
 A most elegant building was erected near the west end of the 
 grounds. This edifice is of brick and is known as the Girls' Cot- 
 tage. It is now (1893), occupied by four of our teachers and 
 about forty blind girls, there being from two to four in each room. 
 In this building the pupils do their own " room-work." 
 
 The repairs to the chapel were made necessary by a serious set- 
 tling of the floor, and a fear of dangerous imperfection in the walls 
 themselves. The settling occurred when there was a large audience 
 upon the floor, and through the presence of mind of the Superin- 
 tendent, W. S. Phillips, a serious catastrophe was averted. Com- 
 petent advice was secured and the chapel (and consequently the 
 dining-room beneath it) was greatly enlarged and made thorough- 
 ly substantial and secure. 
 
 An attractive exercise walk was built with the $1,000 appropri- 
 ated for this purpose.
 
 38 
 
 With regard to the expenditure of the $3,000 appropriated for 
 the piano-tuning and repair department, there was some slight mis- 
 understanding between the Secretary of the Commissioners of 
 Public Charities on the one hand, and the Superintendent and 
 trustees on the other hand. It resulted in the expenditure of this 
 money for the most part for tools to be used in tuning and repair- 
 ing, and in the payment of the salary of a competent teacher in tun- 
 ing, for several years. 
 
 It is not improper to say that the special appropriations made 
 by the Legislature of 1889, were secured largely through the ef- 
 forts of Mr. Phillips, and that the improvements that were thereby 
 made possible, a brief description of which appears upon the pages 
 immediately preceding this, were largely due to his enterprise and 
 administrative ability. The Board of Trustees, too, during this 
 period (Hon. A. C. Wadsworth, Judge N. "W. Branson, and Hon. 
 B. F. Funk), were all men of exceptional worth and ability. Alive 
 to the interests of the institution, they spared neither time nor ef- 
 fort in its behalf. In spite of some unpleasant episodes, the his- 
 torian is obliged is pleased, to declare that this was a period of 
 unusual prosperity. 
 
 TEACHEBS AND OFFICERS. 
 
 In October, 1888, Mr. Charles A. Hiuchee was employed as 
 boys' supervisor and teacher in the physical culture department. 
 He resigned in February, 1890, and Maj. C. E. McDougall was 
 elected to fill the vacancy. 
 
 At the beginning of the term 1889-90 Thomas Dower, a former 
 pupil who had been acting as assistant foreman in the broom-shop, 
 was put on the pay roll. 
 
 In the autumn of 1889 Miss Margaret Taylor was employed and 
 put in charge of a kindergarten. The Superintendent selected the 
 largest and best room at his command and caused it to be fitted up 
 and furnished with every needed appliance. This was the begin- 
 ning of the kindergarten work in the institution. It should continue 
 as long as the institution lasts. Miss Taylor resigned in 1891. 
 
 NUMBER OF PUPILS ENROLLED. 
 Term of 1888-89 171. Term of 1889-90 188. 
 
 At the close of this period, blind persons to the number of nine 
 hundred and seventy-eight had availed themselves of the privileges 
 of the institution.
 
 39 
 
 1890 TO APRIL 1, 1893. 
 BOARD OF TRUSTEES-1890. 
 
 A. C. WADSWOBTH, Jacksonville, President, 
 
 N. W. BRANSON, Petersburg, BENJAMIN F. FUNK, Bloomington. 
 FRANK H. HALL, Superintendent. 
 
 On July 1, 1890, Mr. Frank H. Hall, who had had twenty-five 
 years' experience as teacher and Superintendent in the public 
 schools of Illinois, took his place as Superintendent of the Institu- 
 tion for the Blind having previously made a brief visit to, and study 
 of, the institutions of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, 
 and Louisville. 
 
 LEGISLATION REGULAR APPROPRIATION. 
 
 1890-91, Ordinary expense, $38,000; repairs and improve- 
 ments $2,000 00 
 
 1891-92, Ordinary expense, $40,000; repairs and improve- 
 ments 2,000 00 
 
 1892-93, Ordinary Expense, $40,000; repairs and improve- 
 ments 2,000 00 
 
 SPECIAL APPROPRIATIONS 1891. 
 
 For constructing and furnishing a building to be used as 
 
 a dormitory for blind shop-hands $12,000 00 
 
 For enlarging and repairing the boiler-house, etc 3,640 00 
 
 For constructing a kitchen and bakery 7,500 00 
 
 For extra repairs, improvements and appliances necessary 
 
 to provide suitable accommodations for sick inmates 2,000 00 
 For purchasing apparatus, school and mechanical 3,000 00 
 
 These funds have been for the most part expended. 
 
 A building in which are sleeping-rooms, sitting-room and read- 
 ing-room, sufficient for fifty blind men, was erected a few rods east 
 of the main building. It is now occupied by thirty-eight men, 
 while two rooms are used for instruction and practice in piano-tun- 
 ing. The foreman of the shop also has rooms for himself and wife 
 in this building. 
 
 A new sixteen-foot, sixty-inch boiler was set and the boiler- 
 house enlarged, so that when it shall become necessary to cast aside 
 the three fourteen-foot, forty-eight-inch boilers now in use, they 
 may be replaced with boilers equal in capacity to the one recently 
 purchased. A large double-acting steam pump was purchased, 
 and so set and connected that water may be drawn from either of 
 two wells or from the city water mains, and thrown into the boilers 
 or into the pipes that supply water for ordinary use and for pro- 
 tection againet fire.
 
 40 
 
 An ample kitchen and bakery were provided, a twelve-foot rotary 
 oven was set in place, in which all our baking is done. At present 
 we use one barrel of flour each day while school is in session. 
 
 Near the new kitchen a convenient store-room was provided, and 
 the old store-house converted into a hospital. This is now an iso- 
 lated building two stories high with four rooms, besides halls and 
 closets on the first floor. These rooms are a boys' ward, a girls' 
 ward, a sleeping-room for nurses, and a kitchen. Ordinarily the 
 rooms on the first floor furnish sufficient accommodation for our sick 
 inmates; but in case of severe illness, epidemic or contagious 
 disease, the second floor can be occupied. 
 
 With the $3,000 for purchasing apparatus, we have provided 
 valuable broom machinery for the shop, philosophical apparatus 
 and physiological models for the high school, specimens in natural 
 
 THE HALL BRAILLE-WRITER. 
 
 history for all departments, and appliances for the kindergarten. A 
 complete printing outfit has been provided. This includes movable 
 type for printing "Boston Line" (raised letters), New York Point 
 (literature and music), and Braille music; a small "Army Press," 
 and a large Kidder hand- press. Under the direction of the Super- 
 intendent, a machine for writing Braille has been constructed by 
 which the pupil can write many times as fast as he could write with 
 a " stylus and tablet," with the further advantage of having what 
 he has written in a convenient position to be read. This machine is 
 known as the Hall Braille-writer. With these machines the pupils 
 solve their problems in algebra and write their letters and school 
 exercises. Although the first machine was not completed till May
 
 42 
 
 27, 1892, twenty-five are now in use in this institution, and about 
 seventy-five have been constructed and sold to other institutions 
 and to blind people. Fourteen are in use in the Boston school, 
 nine in St. Louis, twelve in Philadelphia, six in Alabama, two in 
 California, five have been shipped to England, and the remainder to 
 private individuals in different parts of the United States. 
 
 A machine has also been constructed (the Hall Stereotype - 
 maker, cut on page 43), by means of which work can be written on 
 copper plates. These plates can be used as stereotypes for printin g 
 with an ordinary press. Thousands of copies can be printed from 
 each plate. Several hundred such plates have been made, most of 
 the work of preparing them having been done by blind persons. Al- 
 though this machine was not completed until January 4, 1893, a 
 similar one is now in use in the St. Louis School for the Blind, and 
 another will be shipped to the Philadelphia school in a few days. 
 
 This appropriation also enabled us to purchase two Hammond 
 typewriters, three Remingtons and ten Merritts. Our " typewriting 
 room " contains, besides the typewriters here mentioned, six 
 Braille-writers; and nearly one hundred pupils receive instruction 
 and practice on one or more of these machines daily. 
 
 TEACHERS. 
 
 Miss Edith Paxtou was employed as assistant in the high 
 school at the beginning of the term 189192. Before the end of the 
 year her health failed, and her physician advised rest. She was not 
 able to return at the beginning of the next year, but gradually be- 
 came weaker, and on Saturday evening, January 21, 1893, a few 
 hours after caressing a little blind boy that had called to " see " her, 
 she fell asleep. It is no exaggeration to say that the blind chil- 
 dren of Illinois lost a most faithful friend when Miss Edith passed 
 to her long home. 
 
 Mrs. Mary Redick Bayly, who had been employed as a teacher 
 in the Ohio Institution many years ago, accepted the position of 
 kindergartener in the fall of 1891. She served the blind of the 
 state most industriously and conscientiously for one year. 
 
 NUMBER OF PUPILS ENROLLED. 
 
 Term of 1890-91 217 Term of 1891-92 .....241 
 
 AVERAGE DAILY ATTENDANCE. 
 Term of 1890-91 .. ..186 Term of 1891-92. . ..216
 
 43 
 
 THE HALL STEREOTYPE-MAKER. 
 
 With this machine a copper stereotype may be written in Braille (either 
 English or American) almost as rapidly as one can write on paper with the Hall 
 Braille-writer. Either single plates, or double plates for interlining, may be 
 written upon it. The machine is simple and substantial in its construction, and 
 requires but little skill to operate it. One of the pupils of the Illinois Institution 
 for the Blind, after a few hours' practice, wrote four lines of a familiar hymn, on 
 a copper plate of sufficient thickness to " stand up " under thousands of impres 
 sions, in one and one-half minutes.
 
 MARCH 23, 1893 PRESENT CONDITION OF THE SCHOOL. 
 
 There are now 212 pupils in attendance. Of these, thirty-six 
 are men in the shop department, and five are women in the sewing- 
 rooms. Of the remaining 171, ninety-one are males and eighty are 
 females. 
 
 The entire enrollment from the opening of the school in 1849 
 up to the present time, is 1,141. 
 
 LITERARY DEPARTMENT. 
 
 In this department there are three divisions : First, the kinder- 
 garten and primary grades; second, the intermediate and gram- 
 mar grades; third, the high school. 
 
 The second division is subdivided into four sections of boys and 
 four sections of girls. 
 
 The teachers and their terms of service are as follows: 
 
 HIGH SCHOOL. 
 
 Prof. L. M. Coates, one year. 
 
 DIVISION 2. 
 
 Teacher of geography, Miss Mattie Bevans, six years; teacher 
 of reading and history, Miss Tillie Johnson (blind), two years; 
 teacher of arithmetic, Prof. George R. Parker (blind), eight years; 
 teacher of language, Miss Eva Hewes, two years as assistant ma- 
 tron and two years as teacher. 
 
 DIVISION 1. 
 
 Miss Harriet Rees assisted by the more advanced pupils, one 
 year. 
 
 Miss Minnie Bacon, term of service two years, is employed half 
 of her time as teacher in the "typewriting room," and the other 
 half as assistant in the high school. Miss Nina M. Hall, term of 
 service one year, devotes half of her time to work in the "type- 
 writing room." 
 
 MUSIC DEPARTMENT. 
 
 Prof. Day, of whom mention has been made before, is in charge 
 of the music department. He gives instruction to several pupils on 
 the pipe-organ, teaches the harmony and chorus classes, and 
 arranges all the music work. One hundred and fifteen pupils
 
 45 
 
 receive instruction regularly on the piano, fifty-two on the violin, 
 ten on the pipe-organ, and several on each of the following instru- 
 ments: cornet, violoncello, viola, piccolo, French horn, euphonium, 
 etc. Thirty-five have instruction in harmony, twenty-five in vocal 
 music, while the chorus class (taught always by Prof. Day) usu- 
 ally numbers about forty. For all these subdivisions, most of the 
 music is printed on our own press, and a copy put into the hands of 
 each learner. Several teachers and pupils use the Stereotype- 
 maker. A person with sight (or two blind persons) can prepare 
 the stereotype for a page of music in fifteen minutes. Several 
 hundred copies per hour can be pi-inted on our Kidder press. 
 
 Prof. Day's assistants and their terms of service in the Illinois 
 Institution are given below: 
 
 Prof. M. H. Grist, teacher of violin and other orchestral instru- 
 ments, three years; Miss Susie Draper, piano, eleven years; Miss 
 Alice Clarke (blind), piano, three years; Prof. L. M. Hitt, vocal, 
 two years; W. H. Jackson, teacher of piano-tuning and repairing, 
 five years; Charles Tederstrom (blind), assistant in piano-tuning, 
 two years. 
 
 WOEK DEPARTMENT. 
 
 The subdivisions of this department are as follows; 
 
 1. The broom shop. 
 
 2. The girls' work-rooms. 
 
 3. The boys' work-room. 
 
 William R. Boyer has been for the past two years foreman of 
 the broom shop. About thirty blind men are here employed mainly 
 as apprentices in broom-making. The sales from the shop are now 
 over $3,000 per annum, while during the last year ten men have 
 been sent out to attempt to earn their livelihood as broom-makers. 
 Some of these are successful. 
 
 In the girls' work-rooms, chair- caning, sewing by hand and on 
 machines, crocheting, knitting, the making of bead-work and horse 
 nets and hammocks, are taught. The sales from these rooms amount 
 to from $15 to $25 per month. Miss Jennie Clark, who has been 
 connected with the institution for many years, is in charge of one of 
 these rooms, and Mrs. Clyde H. Hall, whose term of service is three 
 years, is in charge of the other. 
 
 Mr. Thomas Dower (blind) is in charge of the boys' work- 
 room. His term of service is four years. In this room the boys
 
 46 
 
 are taught chair-caning, and the older ones receive instruction in 
 horse-net and hammock-making. 
 
 A " Sloyd-room " has been opened this year in which attempts 
 are being made to give manual training by working in wood. The 
 room is provided with a lathe and full sets of wood-working tools. 
 Mr. Henry Edwards, a pupil in the high school, is in charge of this 
 room. 
 
 During the last two years nearly all the correspondence of the 
 Superintendent's office has been done with a Remington typewriter 
 operated by a blind pupil. Mr. Frank Stoddard, of Hillsboro, a 
 member of the class of 1893, has done a large part of this work. 
 He writes from dictation at the rate of thirty to forty words a 
 minute, and his work is unusually free from errors. When several 
 copies of a paper or a letter are required, he writes first from dic- 
 tation upon the Braille-writer and, from the embossed copy thus 
 provided, makes the requisite number of copies with the Eemington. 
 A large part of the work with the stereotype-maker has been 
 done by Mr. Arthur Jewell, a young man who graduated from the 
 institution in the class of 1886, and who returned for instruc- 
 tion in piano-tuning. He writes in copper rapidly and accur- 
 ately, reads and corrects his own proof, and operates the press 
 without difficulty. His reading of proof, with the fore finger of 
 the left hand on his embossed copy, and the fore finger of the right 
 hand on his stereotype, thus reading simultaneously both the copy 
 and the proof, called forth the expression from an observer, " It 
 beats eyes all to pieces." Since January 4, 1893, Mr. Jewell, 
 besides doing his work as a pupil, has written several hundred 
 copper plates. 
 
 Mrs. Frank H. Hall has been Matron for the last three years 
 She has generously taken upon herself the employment and manage- 
 ment of all the female help, and has personally apportioned and 
 supervised the work done by twenty-six women. In this she has 
 been ably assisted by Miss Jean Cunningham, who has been con- 
 nected with the institution sixteen years, and has had charge of 
 the kitchen and dining-room for three years. Her success in this 
 work has been marked, and is due to her unusual good judg- 
 ment, to her untiring zeal, and to her almost ceaseless energy and 
 activity. 
 
 Mrs. Hall has given personal attention to the purchasing of 
 and keeping in order, the clothing of the younger pupils, and to
 
 47 
 
 providing for the many wants of children in darkness and with- 
 out a mother's care. In this work she has ever found a most 
 competent assistant one whose worth can not be told in words 
 in Miss Katie Hal pin, who has been employed at the institution 
 seven years, and who, during the last three years, has acted the 
 part of mother to twenty-five or thirty blind boys. She has 
 washed their faces, combed their hair and taught them to do 
 these things for themselves. She has taken splinters out of fing- 
 ers, attended to sprains, bumps, cuts and bruises; she has wiped 
 away tears from sightless eyes weeping for a far-away mother, 
 listened to childish complaints, bathed feverish brows, and in one 
 instance, at the touching request of a dying boy, she took him in 
 her lap, and held him in her arms while his spirit passed away 
 from earth. Many a blind boy in Illinois will never forget " Miss 
 Kathy." 
 
 .Tljere are many others too who have been employed here who 
 are worthy of honorable mention, did space permit. Miss Jennie 
 Clark, who has been employed here since 1876, has shown much 
 self-denial and patient devotion to duty. Miss Alice Smith, who 
 has been in charge of the younger girls for the past two years has 
 been very helpful, and attentive to the wants of those under her 
 charge. Miss Titia Grant, continuously since 1885, and for many 
 years prior to that time has alike served the interests of the blind 
 and those who have given her employment. 
 
 Maj. C. E. McDougall, as ^Boys' Supervisor ; Byron Gray, as 
 Superintendent of Construction and Repairs (oftentimes indeed 
 usually not only superintendent but laborer as well) ; E. C. 
 Schureman as bookkeeper, and Clyde H. Hall as store-keeper and 
 purchasing agent, have all proved themselves competent in their 
 several departments, and in a high degree worthy of confidence 
 and esteem. 
 
 The writer of this brief history is aware that it is wanting in 
 a most essential part, viz.: the record of what has been accom- 
 plished after leaving the institution by those who have enjoyed 
 the advantages so generously provided for them by the state. 
 
 The records in the office of the Superintendent, bearing upon 
 the subject, are so incomplete, and the time allowed for prepara- 
 tion of this sketch so short, that no satisfactory account can be 
 given, of the occupations and achievements of former pupils. This 
 important work must be left for the future historian.
 
 48 
 
 One of the results of the victory of the Democratic party in 
 the elections of November, 1892, was the resignation of the mem- 
 bers of the Board of Trustees. Early in the following March, Gov. 
 Altgeld appointed their successors who met and organized, March 
 31, 1893. 
 
 BOARD OF TRUSTEES-1893. 
 HON. CHARLES A. BARNES, Jacksonville, President, 
 JUDGE HENRY PHILLIPS, Virginia, HON. A. L. LOWE, Robinson. 
 
 By request of the new Board at their April meeting, Mr. Frank 
 H. Hall tendered his resignation as superintendent to take effect 
 July 1, 1893, and Kev. W. F. Short, D. D. was appointed to fill the 
 vacancy.
 
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 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS- URBANA 
 
 362.4IL6JH C001 
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ILLINOIS INSTITUT