rwa 
 
sawvr t ONnwaa 
 
Our Homage to the Past 
 
 
 % 
 
 An Historical Address 
 Delivered at Founders’ Day Celebration Nq^, 
 of Illinois Woman’s College 
 Jacksonville, Illinois 
 October 13 
 1910 
 
 '*Y 
 
 or 
 
 *1% 
 
 0 /$ 
 
 l, bh, 
 
 19 j 6 
 
 
 By 
 
 H iram Buck Prentice 
 
 Kenilworth, Illinois 
 
 Printed by order of the Board of Trustees 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2017 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates 
 
 https://archive.org/details/ourhomagetopasth1910illi 
 
Q_ 
 
 
 
 Our Homage to the Past 
 
Rev. William Swain Prentice, D.D. 
 
 May 21, 1819 June 28, 1887 
 
Rev. Hiram Buck, D.D. 
 
 March i, 1819 August 21, 1892 
 
Our Homage to the Past 
 
 In treating this theme it shall be my aim to have it 
 apply principally to the men known as the “Founders of 
 1862,” and incidentally to such other men and events of 
 the nearby years as seem necessary to give to it the 
 proper setting. First I should say that most of what 
 is said about persons is intended as a collection of per- 
 sonal impressions, gained not fronj observations at the 
 time, but from a subsequent knowledge of these men, 
 with most of whom I came in contact in later years, and 
 of course I speak with greater confidence and fullness 
 of such as I have known. By no means is this intended 
 to be an historical essay, but rather a short cursory 
 comment descriptive of the times in which this crucial 
 period of the college’s history was laid, of the atmosphere 
 and conditions that surrounded these times, and enough 
 of facts to warrant the conclusion that we do well to 
 honor these men of the past. 
 
 YOKE FELLOWS. 
 
 But before taking up the theme proper I shall first 
 discharge that part of the duty laid upon me by President 
 Harker, of saying something specially about the two men 
 of this number whom I knew best — my father, William 
 S. Prentice, and Hiram Buck, whose lives and labors as 
 ministers were so closely linked together ; realizing, how- 
 ever, my utter inability to adequately perform this serv- 
 ice and speak of them as they should be and could be 
 spoken of. 
 
 These two men were born in the same year — 1819. 
 They were entirely unlike, and yet from their first ac- 
 quaintance, which was after they had both entered the 
 
ministry, their natures seemed to blend into one and 
 throughout the remainder of their lives they were to each 
 other as David and Jonathan. 
 
 Young Buck was brought up in New York state on 
 a farm and at the age of sixteen came west to Illinois, 
 where he shifted for himself, clerking and working at 
 whatever he could find to do. He was studious, mostly 
 his own teacher, and what he learned he learned well. 
 He was converted and entered the Illinois conference in 
 1843, slK years before Prentice. He rose rapidly and 
 always measured up to the responsibilities of the larger 
 fields that opened to him. He became presiding elder at 
 the age of thirty-three years and was in that office twenty- 
 three years. 
 
 Dr. Buck was a man large of stature, large of heart. 
 Everybody loved him and he loved everybody. With 
 children he was a veritable Kriss Kringle, with his breth- 
 ren a jovial companion, and with the people, who “heard 
 him gladly” and always welcomed his coming, a genial 
 and trusted friend. 
 
 As a preacher and orator he was a Boanerges — a 
 “son of thunder.” Sin and Satan, treason and disloyalty 
 trembled at his powerful and impassioned utterances. He 
 was a man of fine sensibilities, with a high conception 
 of honor and of propriety in all things. He loved poetry, 
 he loved nature in all her ways, he loved a good horse, 
 and in that day this was the itinerant’s chief means of 
 rapid transit. But above all he loved the right, he loved 
 the people, he loved Methodism, he loved the world, he 
 loved God. His services were in great demand during 
 the war, and by voice and pen he labored unceasingly to 
 promote the cause of the union and the overthrow of 
 secession. Had he entered the field of politics his mag- 
 netism and oratory, together with his sterling qualities 
 of head and heart and his love for the people, would have 
 made him a popular idol. An instance of his loyalty 
 
to the church and to his high calling was shown when 
 he declined the office of postmaster at Decatur, 111 ., which 
 was offered to him by President Johnson in recognition 
 of his patriotic services during the war. 
 
 Dr. Buck believed in education and had strongly at 
 heart the interests of the schools affiliated with his own 
 conference. He was a good money raiser and in great 
 demand for dedication occasions. He served very effi- 
 ciently as financial agent of both Illinois Conference Fe- 
 male College and Illinois Wesleyan University. He gave 
 $1,240 to the fund of 1862, when he was receiving a 
 salary of $800 as pastor of West Charge, Jacksonville. 
 The last years of his life he turned over to Illinois Wes- 
 leyan University at Bloomington land valued at $27,500 
 conditioned upon the university raising $55,000 addi- 
 tional for its endowment fund within a specified time. 
 The conditions were met and the university got the land. 
 He made a similar offer to the Illinois Female College 
 in 1892, offering to deed to it 160 acres of land valued 
 then at $16,000 (and now worth double the amount), pro- 
 vided the college would raise $40,000 additional for the 
 endowment fund by commencement day of June, 1893. It 
 is greatly to be deplored that for some reason no serious 
 efforts seem to have been made to comply with the con- 
 ditions and this munificent gift was thus lost to the 
 college. A knowledge of this outcome would have 
 been a great grief to Dr. Buck, but death spared him this, 
 as he was taken shortly after making the offer and months 
 before the limitation of time expired, during all of which 
 time, however, his widow stood ready and anxious to 
 carry the offer into effect. It was through his sagacity 
 and foresight in entering land from the government at 
 an early day at $1.25 an acre and holding on to it that 
 he was enabled to make these generous offers. Mrs. 
 Buck, who was his faithful helpmeet and companion for 
 forty-six years, still survives, bright and vivacious in 
 
spirit and kindly of heart. She abounds in interesting 
 reminiscences of the days of long ago and still retains a 
 lively interest in the affairs of the church which the sac- 
 rifices and long service of an itinerant’s wife have made 
 dear to her. 
 
 William S. Prentice was raised in Illinois, attended 
 the country school, began clerking and at twenty he 
 and my uncle constituted the entire clerical force of the 
 state auditor’s office, then located at Vandalia. He moved 
 with the office to Springfield in 1839. He was a lieuten- 
 ant-colonel in the state militia and participated conspicu- 
 ously with Douglas and Lincoln, both of whom he knew 
 well, in the gaieties at the new state capital. He became 
 a good business man, his last secular employment being 
 that of clerk of the circuit court of Shelby county, Illi- 
 nois. It was at Shelbyville that he was converted and 
 licensed to preach. He joined the Illinois conference in 
 1849 at the a g e of thirty. 
 
 He was a tall, slender man, having a fine head, a 
 kindly face, an intelligent eye and a tender heart. He 
 advocated and possessed himself the homely qualities of 
 justice, honesty, frankness and fidelity. He was modest 
 and unassuming and always had a wide and intimate 
 acquaintance with public men and men of affairs. He 
 was firm as a rock when need be and always so when a 
 question of principle was involved. He had a superior 
 mind, was a logical reasoner, analytical and thorough 
 in the treatment of every subject. Granting his prem- 
 ises, his conclusions were irrefutable, and he had the rare 
 faculty of making his statements and expositions stand 
 out with such clearness that they seemed to take animate 
 tangible form before your eyes and always made a last- 
 ing impression. There never was any question as to 
 his meaning or of ‘‘what he was driving at.” He al- 
 ways arrested attention, because he always had something 
 
to say and the young and old, high and low, learned and 
 unlearned, understood him. He never felt more highly 
 complimented than to have the children go home and tell 
 what he had preached about. 
 
 Dr. W. H. H. Adams, of blessed memory, likened 
 his sermons to those of John Wesley for lucidity of state- 
 ment, logical reasoning and practical application. 
 
 James Leaton, the historian of Illinois Methodism, 
 said of Dr. Prentice : “He was a natural presiding elder. 
 It is no dispraise of others to say that he possessed the 
 presiding elder instinct in a larger share than most men. 
 * * * and he was ecclesiastically and morally one of 
 
 the best administrators of discipline in the Illinois con- 
 ference. His intellectual quality was very rare ; his mind 
 was of a practical quality and cast. * * * His ana- 
 
 lytic power was remarkable. His mind was incisive and 
 went to the core of the subject. He looked upon every- 
 thing from a practical standpoint, and not from a theoret- 
 ical, thus causing his judgments to be almost infallible. 
 There was no cant about him, no stage effect, no attempt 
 at display, but there was clearness of statement, logical 
 development of his subject, and a copiousness of illus- 
 tration that made him really on his plane a preacher of 
 surpassing power. He seemed to seize upon the salient 
 points, the very essence and marrow of the truth, and 
 so present it that everyone who heard him could not but 
 take hold of it and appropriate it. There was an under- 
 current of pathos in his preaching which sometimes, when 
 his heart was warmed, would burst out in great foun- 
 tains of feeling that would move his audience and melt 
 them to tears. He was a true man, honorable and up- 
 right in everything, a man of action, and having a great 
 contempt for meanness in every form.” So said Dr. 
 Leaton. 
 
 In traveling the district (and he was twenty-four 
 years a presiding elder) my father’s coming was always 
 
looked forward to with pleasant anticipation by the 
 preachers and the families with whom he stopped. He 
 put good cheer into their lives and was a welcome guest 
 equally with the children and the grown-ups. He had 
 a strong sense of humor, was an admirable story teller 
 and when with a company of his brethren for a social 
 time, he was the center and leader of jovial good cheer 
 and merrymaking; that is, unless Crane was also pres- 
 ent to share the honors. And who ever saw men who 
 could have a better time than a set of Methodist preach- 
 ers a generation ago? They seemed to be bubbling over 
 with good cheer. It was always at the surface ready 
 to be tapped upon the slightest provocation. When they 
 met the very fact of looking into each other’s faces was 
 sufficient cause for a hearty laugh, and at the “drop of 
 a hat’’ they would break out into a roar, and when some- 
 thing uncommonly funny happened — which it always did 
 on these occasions — the clerical hilarity became so boister- 
 ous as to very nearly make every one of them a proper 
 subject of arrest for disturbance of the peace. 
 
 My father, like Dr. Buck, was also a strong believer 
 in the church school and his interest lay principally with 
 the two conference schools, the Illinois Female College 
 and the Illinois Wesleyan University. I have in my pos- 
 session my father’s memorandum book, which has an 
 account in it called “College Debt.” It refers to this 
 very indebtedness which was raised in 1862 and reveals 
 something of how these preachers raised the ready cash 
 with which to pay their large subscriptions. This ac- 
 count shows that he borrowed $1,100 from Judge Thomas 
 at 10 per cent interest and in 1865 the account was still 
 running, having been reduced to about $500. How many 
 years it took to pay off this balance I cannot say. In 
 1862 he was forty-three years of age, presiding elder of 
 Jacksonville district receiving a salary of $750 with a 
 family of six to support. These men were not afraid to 
 
undertake large things and to aid them in carrying out 
 their undertakings they were not afraid to borrow money 
 and others were not afraid to loan them. 
 
 Buck and Prentice — what a team they were. What 
 one could not do the other could, so by joining together 
 they seemed to be able to accomplish almost anything. 
 One has said of them that Prentice molded the bullets and 
 Buck fired them. True it is that they were born leaders 
 of men, not by self-assertion, for they were both too mod- 
 est and loyal for that, but by common consent they were 
 chosen such by their brethren, who looked to them for 
 leadership, and with men of their mold it would have been 
 so in any walk of life. They belonged to that remarkable 
 coterie of men whose strength of administration and lead- 
 ership is still an abiding force and a living inspiration as 
 well as a cherished memory. Their counsel was sought by 
 bishops, editors and high church officials as well as by 
 those high in state. They commanded universal respect 
 and confidence and had no small share in giving to the 
 Illinois conference a standing and prestige that were rec- 
 ognized throughout the entire connection as among the 
 very highest. 
 
 These two men were boon companions for nearly forty 
 years and their lives were so welded together that one 
 seemed a part of the other. Had Buck had a son he 
 no doubt would have named him William Prentice just 
 as Prentice named his son Hiram Buck, little realizing 
 the impossible task which was thus imposed upon the in- 
 nocent subject of properly maintaining in later years the 
 dignity of their combined great names or of represent- 
 ing all that they stand for. Beecher said : “In friend- 
 ship your heart is like a bell struck every time your friend 
 is in trouble.” Their friendship was this and it was 
 more. They stood by each other at all times whether 
 it be in joy or in sorrow, in health or in sickness, in tri- 
 
umph or in distress. They were inseparable — a beautiful 
 friendship that made them one in purpose, one in heart, 
 typifying the blending of spirits in the realm beyond to 
 which they have gone and, whither, let us trust, our 
 footsteps too are tending. Shall we ever see their like 
 again ? 
 
 THE TIMES. 
 
 And now to the days of ’62 and something about the 
 conditions then existing. This period was not only a 
 period of dark days for the college, but of dark days 
 for our country — the darkest through which it has ever 
 passed — for during four years of this decade the great 
 civil war was raging and for the remainder of the dec- 
 ade the country was struggling to recover from the pros- 
 tration brought about by the war. The census of i860 
 gives Illinois a population of 1,711,951, Chicago 109,260, 
 Springfield 9,320 and Jacksonville 5,528, so that com- 
 pared with today the state was sparsely settled. Abra- 
 ham Lincoln was president and Richard Yates was war 
 governor. The war was the absorbing topic of the times 
 and party feeling ran high. Cartwright, Buck, Prentice 
 and Crane were Democrats, and although differing in 
 politics from the great majority of their brethren they 
 were accorded continued leadership by them throughout 
 this trying period. They were “war Democrats” and no 
 more loyal and effective service was rendered than that 
 given by these men in their efforts to maintain the union. 
 Crane went out with U. S. Grant as chaplain of his regi- 
 ment. The others by their speeches and influence were 
 untiring in their efforts to hold Illinois true to the union 
 — and it is a well known fact of history that there was a 
 time when Illinois was trembling in the balance with the 
 impending danger of becoming a state divided against 
 itself. At this time Prentice, who had long been a close 
 
EDMUND J. JAMBS 
 
 friend of Stephen A. Douglas, sent word to the senator 
 at Washington urging him to come out to Illinois and 
 use his influence to stem the tide of disloyalty that was 
 setting in. Senator Douglas at once went to see the 
 president. Mr. Lincoln advised him to go. He did so 
 and with patriotic fervor urged the people to support 
 the administration and rally round the flag. They were 
 obedient to his call. The state was solidified for the 
 union and never thereafter was the loyalty of its united 
 people called in question. This was in 1861. Other 
 well known members of the conference whom I call to 
 mind and who attained distinction in the field are Jesse 
 H. Moore, J. F. Jaquess, the first president of Illinois 
 Female College, and Allen Buckner, each of whom com- 
 manded a regiment. W. J. Rutledge, R. E. Guthrie, E. 
 
 D. Wilkin, Preston Wood and quite a number of others 
 went into the army as chaplains. 
 
 The conference minutes of 1862 show a decrease of 
 membership for the year of 725, the total membership 
 of the conference being 26,800, as against about 85,000 
 now. This decrease no doubt reflected the deleterious 
 influence of the war excitement and evidently applied not 
 only to the church, but to schools, trade, commerce and 
 industries of every kind. These facts about the war I 
 mention principally to show the distracting, prostrating 
 and blighting influence that the founders of 1862 had to 
 encounter in their endeavors to carry on the work of 
 the church and of its colleges. They were up against 
 stern realities, and things had come to such a pass that 
 they were facing the question not “how much can we 
 advance and go forward this year,” which is always 
 the slogan of the Methodist preacher, but “what can 
 we do to keep things together and hold our own.” 
 
 Truly they were beset by “fightings without and fears 
 within,” and because of this that which they accom- 
 plished was all the more noteworthy and remarkable. 
 
FOUNDERS AND CONTEMPORARIES. 
 
 And now something of other characters who made up 
 the life and entered into the activities of these stirring 
 and historic days. Who were they? I cannot hope to 
 mention all, for this would mean to call the roll of the 
 entire conference at that time. I can only give a few, 
 and these such as most of you, with me, will remember 
 either from acquaintance or by reputation. 
 
 First and foremost, of course, comes Peter Cart- 
 wright, claimed by all Methodism, then seventy-seven 
 years of age and presiding elder of the Springfield dis- 
 trict. He continued in active service until 1869 and died 
 in 1872. His was a remarkable career. When we con- 
 sider that he was born six years before John Wesley 
 died, and that most of us were born before Cartwright 
 died, and today are witnessing and enjoying some of the 
 harvest of his planting, it seems to bridge over the seem- 
 ingly far stretching expanse between us and the great 
 founder of Methodism and to make us feel a little nearer 
 to him, and as it were, to feel the touch of his spirit, 
 which was ever concerned for the welfare of education, 
 and which spirit Cartwright and his contemporaries so 
 faithfully cherished and passed on down to their succes- 
 sors even to the present day and hour. In 1862 Peter 
 Cartwright gave $1,000 to the college. His salary for 
 the preceding year was $500. 
 
 Then comes Peter Akers, at this time seventy-two 
 years of age. He was not then a member of the Illinois 
 conference, having transferred some time before, I think 
 to the Southern Illinois conference, but transferred back 
 to the Illinois conference later. He was an original 
 founder of the college and probably was the most noted 
 member the conference ever had, excepting Cartwright, 
 He was profoundly learned in the Bible and had a church- 
 
wide reputation as an expositor of the Scriptures. He 
 is credited or rather debited with preaching sermons three 
 and four hours long. What was a credit in this respect 
 in those days is a decided debit in these. 
 
 At this time Dr. Charles Adams was president of 
 the college. He held this position from 1858 to 1868. 
 He was a talented, courteous and genial Christian gentle- 
 man and at this time was fifty-four years of age. 
 
 Rev. George Rutledge was a lovable man, a good 
 preacher and stood high in the conference. At this time 
 he had just been assigned to the Bloomington district. 
 His salary for the preceding year was $642 and he sub- 
 scribed in 1862 $2,000 to the college. 
 
 Rev. Collin D. James at this time was fifty-four 
 years old and was just finishing up a year’s service as 
 financial agent of the college. He is credited with giving 
 $1,400 to the college in 1862, and that year was sent 
 to Old Town, Bloomington district, where the salary paid 
 the year before was $600, so it is an easy problem in 
 mental arithmetic to figure that he could not pay his 
 subscription that year. 
 
 Then there was W. D. R. Trotter, presiding elder 
 of Paris district, at that time fifty-five years of age. He 
 was an original founder, but not on the list of 1862. He 
 was an able man, a genial companion and a fine preacher. 
 He was the first editor and publisher of the Central Chris- 
 tian Advocate, which enterprise, however, caused him 
 financial los*s from which he never recovered. 
 
 The laymen who were among the founders of 1862 
 are Judge William Thomas, John Mathers, Mat- 
 thew Stacy, John A. Chesnut, Thomas J. Larimore, 
 James H. Lurton and Judge William Brown. John 
 A. Chesnut was a Springfield man, formerly of Carlin- 
 
ville, and the others lived in Jacksonville. These men 
 all evidenced their loyalty to and interest in the college 
 by giving liberally to the fund of 1862 : Thomas, $5,100 ; 
 Mathers, $3,225; Stacy, $2,700; Chesnut, $1,750; 
 Larimore, $1,600; Lurton, $1,400; Brown, $1,600. I 
 am of the impression that these Jacksonville laymen were 
 the great financial power back of the college movement. 
 Judge Thomas and John Mathers not only gave lib- 
 erally themselves, but must have underwritten a large 
 part of the preachers’ subscriptions. I am led to think 
 so because I have among my father’s papers an old can- 
 celled note given by him to Judge Thomas which John 
 Mathers had signed as security. Judge Thomas, if not 
 then, became afterwards the foremost layman in the 
 conference and as such was sent as a lay delegate to the 
 general conference of 1872, the first to admit lay dele- 
 gates. His colleague was Joseph G. English of Dan- 
 ville. John A. Chesnut stood high as a layman and 
 was a rare Christian gentleman. He was elected a dele- 
 gate to the general conference of 1876, together with 
 Judge W. J. Henry of Danville. In those days the con- 
 ference was only allowed to send two lay delegates, so 
 that the honor was of much higher import than at the 
 present time. 
 
 Then there is Rev. Newton Cloud credited with $700 
 to the fund of 1862. That year he was sent to Roches- 
 ter, where the salary was $425. Newton Cloud was a 
 man of more than ordinary ability and prominence. He 
 had been president of the constitutional convention of 
 1847, whose acts were adopted by a vote of the people of 
 the state of Illinois in the following year and known as 
 the constitution of 1848. 
 
 James L. Crane in 1862 was sent from East Charge, 
 Jacksonville, to Springfield First church, at the age of 
 
thirty-nine. The salary was $1,000, the highest in the 
 conference, but with a family of five husky, ravenous 
 boys to feed, whom I knew as brothers, he could not 
 have saved very much towards liquidating his subscrip- 
 tion of $375. The very thought of James L. Crane pro- 
 vokes a smile of tender regard with all who bring his 
 kindly face to mind. Looking down the long list of noble 
 names that grace the history of Illinois conference his 
 name looms high up among the greatest and the best. He 
 was the embodiment of tact, humor, gentleness, and of 
 forceful efficiency, and with Buck and Prentice formed 
 a trio of genial spirits whose close companionship became 
 a center of consecrated good fellowship, from which 
 radiated influences that brightened and cheered, and gave 
 to their brethren a relaxation from the sterner duties of 
 the itinerancy, adding a zest to the preacher’s daily task 
 that stimulated and inspired them to their best efforts. 
 
 Then R. W. Travis gave $500. He was then forty- 
 three years of age and presiding elder of Decatur dis- 
 trict, a good preacher and a man of great force. 
 
 W. J. Rutledge gave $500, was then forty-two years 
 of age and chaplain of 14th Illinois Volunteers. He was 
 an original founder, a jovial man and true, always bris- 
 tling with ideas which seemed to be dancing and prancing, 
 impatient for utterance, until they came tumbling over 
 each other from his ever ready lips. 
 
 J. C. Rucker gave $500, about $100 more than his 
 salary at Waynesville, where he was sent. 
 
 W. H. H. Moore, presiding elder of Danville District, 
 gave $400. He was then in his prime, forty-eight years 
 of age. 
 
 William H. Webster, now a revered father in the 
 conference, was then a young man of twenty-seven and 
 
moved this year from Island Grove to Champaign. In 
 the last year he had received a salary of $253, but sent 
 up $40 for the fund of 1862. 
 
 W. N. McElroy, destined later to become a leader 
 in the conference and its historian, was then thirty yeafs 
 of age and that year was sent to Naples to get rich on 
 $450 a year. 
 
 Preston Wood at thirty-seven had returned from 
 the army and was sent to Clinton. Another genial soul 
 and sterling character with unusual gifts as a presiding 
 elder and one who served the conference faithfully and 
 well in all the varied duties imposed upon him. 
 
 William McK. McElfresh, the lovable, who had 
 the esteem and confidence of all his brethren, was then 
 thirty-seven years of age and stationed at Waverly, re- 
 moving that year from Winchester, where his salary was 
 $520. 
 
 F. W. Phillips, the superb, was then thirty-five years 
 of age, but did not transfer into the Illinois conference 
 until some years later. 
 
 W. F. Short, afterwards the honored president of 
 the college, was then thirty-three years of age and that 
 year was moved from Waverly to Winchester with his 
 wife and little brood of three children, where they lived 
 happily on a salary of $500. His name is not recorded 
 in the list of ’62, but it is a matter of historical record 
 that he afterwards gave eighteen of the best years of 
 his life to the college and lives today in the lives of 
 scores who have gone out from its doors with his bless- 
 ing into all parts of the land. 
 
 Reuben Andrus, the second president of the college, 
 in 1862 was sent from Springfield to Bloomington sta- 
 tion, where the salary was about $700. 
 
The list of 1862 credits Joseph Capps with giving 
 $100. If this represents in full his aid to the college at 
 that time you may rest assured that this is all he was able 
 to give, but the host of his posterity that have risen up 
 to call him blessed have been no small gift to the church 
 and to the world, and his influence and presence through 
 them are still with us. Besides, the wheels of industry 
 which he set in motion are still running, giving to the 
 scores who watch over their workings the blessings of 
 contentment and happy homes ; and the fruit of the looms 
 are also being distributed broadcast over the land to 
 comfort and to bless. Verily may it be said of such, 
 “their works do follow them.” 
 
 Wesley Mathers' name is not on the list of sub- 
 scribers to the fund of 1862, and yet will any one say that 
 he was wanting in any good word or work? If at this 
 particular time his name is not in evidence there is cer- 
 tainly some good reason for it, for he and his brother, 
 John, were always faithful and true and liberal to all 
 good causes. 
 
 Then the name of Jonathan Stamper does not ap- 
 pear, yet will any one say that this godly man and great 
 preacher was indifferent to any of the church’s enter- 
 prises? 
 
 And then what about the wives of these preachers 
 who had mortgaged years of the future in order that 
 the college might be saved, and who through all these 
 years, loyal helpmeets as they were, stinted themselves 
 and uncomplainingly accepted plain living and scant cloth- 
 ing for themselves and children ? And what of the wives 
 and mothers who had willingly, though sorrowfully, hand- 
 ed their loved ones over to their country, to march off 
 to the field of battle, while they remained at home to look 
 after the farm and the little ones, and whose prayers and 
 
pennies, being all they had to give, cast these into the 
 treasury even as the widow who gave her mite? These 
 cannot be excluded — they must not be — but rather would 
 we, if only their names were known, place them high up 
 on the list of those whom we are gathered today to honor. 
 The true founders of any good cause born in adversity 
 and trial are not made by printer’s ink nor are they cre- 
 ated by any line or standard of monetary demarkation. 
 True, a rich man may give a large sum of money for the 
 founding of a very worthy object, a thing to be commend- 
 ed and encouraged, even if it does sometimes seem to be 
 like buying a monument, but where, as in 1862, it has 
 taken tears and prayers and hardships and denials as 
 well as money, then none who have contributed any 
 of these are to be excluded as founders, for it took all 
 of these things to make the foundation sure. So to- 
 day we would open wide our arms to receive all such of 
 the days of ’62 without distinction, and bid them make 
 merry with us, as we rejoice together in the work that 
 they have done. 
 
 WHAT THEY ACCOMPLISHED. 
 
 As with some books, it is necessary to devote most 
 of the pages to a description of the environments and 
 setting in order to bring out the full force of the teach- 
 ing or story, so I have found it necessary to describe with 
 some detail the conditions existing fifty years ago as a 
 preface to the brief application which I shall make of 
 my subject. Having shown something of the unusual 
 and trying conditions of those days and something of the 
 men who were on the scene of action then, it only re- 
 mains, before entering upon an application of the sub- 
 ject, to inquire what it was that these men of 1862 ac- 
 complished to make their deeds worthy of special com- 
 memoration and celebration. I know of nothing that 
 
will more fully and fittingly answer this inquiry than the 
 report of John Mathers, treasurer of the college at that 
 time, and which was regarded as so eventful that it was 
 ordered printed in the conference minutes of 1862. It 
 is as follows : 
 
 REPORT OF THE TREASURER OF ILLINOIS CONFERENCE 
 FEMALE COLLEGE. 
 
 I take great pleasure in being able to announce to the Illinois 
 Conference the pleasing fact that the college is out of debt On 
 the first day of October, 1861, the liabilities of the institution, 
 principal and interest to that date, amounted to nearly thirty-six 
 thousand dollars. It was supposed that the available assets or 
 notes belonging to the college would, if collected, reduce the 
 indebtedness to thirty thousand dollars. Shortly after the ap- 
 pointment of Brother James as agent, a meeting of the trustees 
 was called, at which time the pecuniary condition of the institu- 
 tion as above stated was presented for their consideration. The 
 questions then and there discussed were, shall we sell the college? 
 or shall we make one more effort to save the institution to the 
 church? The final conclusion was in favor of the effort to save, 
 and with a view to this the board proposed, and urged upon the 
 treasurer, to agree to pay or assume all indebtedness of the col- 
 lege over thirty thousand dollars, in consideration of which they 
 would assign to him all the notes due the institution. The 
 treasurer, though reluctantly, accepted this proposition. The 
 trustees then agreed to pay two-thirds of the remaining thirty 
 thousand dollars, provided the additional ten thousand could be 
 secured by the sale of Ashland lots, or otherwise, prior to the 
 first of October, 1862. The agent and treasurer during the past 
 year exerted themselves to raise the desired amount prior to 
 said date ; but as the year passed away it became evident that 
 this could not be done outside of the board of trustees, and 
 knowing that the twenty thousand dollars and additional small 
 subscriptions obtained would all be forfeited on the first of 
 October unless the whole amount was secured before that date, 
 three different meetings of the board were convened during last 
 month, and after a hard but united effort on the part of the 
 trustees, the much desired sum was finally secured by contri- 
 butions and sale of Ashland lots, as follows, and by the following 
 persons : 
 
(Here follows a list of subscriptions of 35 names aggregating 
 $30,180.) 
 
 It will be seen upon examination that those who have been 
 and are now trustees of the college, and who are personally 
 bound for the debts of the institution, have contributed the whole 
 amount of said $30,000, except $1,230. It will also be seen that 
 a few members of this conference have contributed over nine 
 thousand dollars of this debt, a number of whom will not be 
 able to meet their obligations except at the sacrifice of nearly 
 everything they are worth. Now, Brethren, is this right? Why 
 should they suffer so much? Does the institution belong to 
 them? Certainly not. By the official act of your body and the 
 legislature it is the “Illinois Conference Female College.” The 
 trustees have been appointed by this body. They have acted in 
 good faith, without fee or reward, as your agents ; and you are 
 as much bound, in a moral point of view, to pay your proportion 
 of this debt as they are. And now, Brethren, I close this report 
 by asking, will you stand by and see the members of your own 
 body suffer without lending them the least assistance? I hope 
 not. 
 
 All of which is respectfully submitted. 
 
 John Mathers, Treasurer. 
 
 WHY THEY SUCCEEDED. 
 
 It should be remembered that this was only one of the 
 burdens these men had to carry. Other colleges were 
 also having problems which these same preachers must 
 help to solve, then their missionary and benevolent col- 
 lections must be looked after and the work of their 
 charges and districts not allowed to lag. How could they 
 under all these conditions accomplish what they did? In 
 the first place they could do it because they were heroes. 
 In the second place, I am firmly convinced that one secret 
 of their strength and of their ability to cause things to 
 come to pass, lay largely in the fact that they were united 
 in purpose, without jealousies, not self-seekers, and al- 
 ways ready to put forward the one who could best repre- 
 sent them or accomplish the thing at hand ; preserving 
 among themselves a feeling of good fellowship that made 
 
EDMUND J. JAMES 
 
 for happy and effective service, and these taken alto- 
 gether forming a cohesive force that was irresistible, and 
 thus united in spirit and all pulling together as one man, 
 obstacles and difficulties gave way before them as before 
 a mighty army and victory was theirs. 
 
 OUR HOMAGE THEIR DUE. 
 
 Having now seen what they accomplished, and under 
 what extremely adverse and discouraging conditions, need 
 anything further be said to show that they are entitled to 
 our everlasting gratitude, homage and praise? Surely 
 their deeds are their sufficient praise, and yet it is ours 
 to do them tribute. As I have thought over their deeds, 
 the word homage in the sense of doing obeisance has ap- 
 pealed to me more nearly than any other as expressing 
 the proper regard due them. And therefore it is that I 
 took for the subject of this paper “Our Homage to the 
 Past.” 
 
 As the vassal in olden times paid homage to his supe- 
 rior lord — so we, acknowledging the superior talents, for- 
 titude, courage and faith of these men of the “Sixties,” 
 gladly and loyally do homage to them and to the great 
 work they have clone in so heroically battling against the 
 adversities that beset them. As the word “homage” 
 comes down to us ladened with the aroma of feudal days, 
 perhaps the use of a more modernized and Americanized 
 expression would better indicate the thought. I mean 
 that we of today may well “take off our hats” in honor 
 of the men of fifty years ago, and in respectful regard 
 make deferential obeisance to their memory. It was their 
 faith, their tenacity and persistence and their indefatiga- 
 ble labors that saved the day in the dark hours of ap- 
 parent defeat and saved to the future the life of a college 
 which ever since has been pouring forth its streams of 
 blessings into lives and homes all over this land. 
 
COLLEGE A WORTHY MONUMENT. 
 
 A college such as this may well be likened to the sun, 
 constantly sending out its rays of blessings and brightness 
 to purify and enlighten everything that comes within its 
 influence, and that without diminishing in the least its own 
 inherent power. Ever giving, never losing. But, unlike 
 the sun, such a school throws off annually little suns, 
 scattering them broadcast over the land, thus forming 
 new centers from which to radiate the borrowed light of 
 their Alma Mater with which they have been surcharged, 
 and to permeate the world with the benign influences of 
 Christian Womanhood. Verily the fathers planted wisely 
 in planting such a school as this. Did they plant more 
 wisely than they knew? We of today shall do well if in 
 taking up the work which they have laid down, we shall 
 carry it on in a way worthy of them and of their sacrifices, 
 and also worthy of the zeal and devotion and successful 
 labors of those who have followed them down to the pres- 
 ent time ; and yet it is not an unworthy ambition to hope 
 for a future so glorious and so far beyond their brightest 
 conceptions and ours that it may yet be said of all of them, 
 “they budded better than they knew.” And may we 
 not indulge the further hope that, with the past looking 
 down upon us and the future beckoning on, we of the 
 present may so dedicate ourselves to the duties before us 
 that we also may claim to have had some little share and 
 part in earnestly endeavoring to bring about these higher 
 hopes and aims. 
 
 These men with prophetic vision looked down the vista 
 of the years and heard the cry of the young womanhood 
 of today and of the days to come, and planted here in 
 the heart of the great Central Valley of the nation a 
 school they hoped would meet that cry, and in fulfillment 
 of that hope there stands today this splendid monument 
 to the labors and foresight of these noble founders and 
 their worthy successors. 
 
SALUTATION AND TRIBUTE. 
 
 Looking back into the dim distant past of fifty years 
 ago, we see their heroic forms and faces, their struggles 
 and at times their well nigh hopeless task, their indom- 
 itable courage, their sacrifices, their stern grapple with 
 impending defeat — and across this long expanse of years 
 we wave salute : 
 
 Brave heroes of departed years, 
 
 All Hail ! Thy work, though sown in tears, 
 Hath brought a harvest rich indeed, 
 
 And now full praise shall be thy meed. 
 
 The precious seed thus sown by thee 
 Are great sheaves now, couldst thou but see. 
 Rejoicing we would now thee greet 
 And lay them at the sower’s feet. 
 
 The inspiration of thy day 
 Still lingers with us, and we pray 
 That worthy we may be of thee 
 Whose labors spell sublimity. 
 
 Great souls, great hearts, great men of God, 
 Who quailed not under chastening rod 
 Of hardship’s task, knew not despair, 
 
 Knew nothing but to do and dare 
 
 When duty called and God did show 
 Wherein He’d have thy footsteps go, 
 
 Despising naught but fail of gain, 
 
 All Hail ! thy work was not in vain. 
 
. A ; ' 
 
EDMOND J. JAMES