Shurtleff College Newspaper Articles
HISTORY OF SHURTLEFF COLLEGE TRUSTEES ORGANIZATION
By George T. Brown, Esq.
Attorney
Founder of Alton Daily & Weekly Courier
Mayor of Alton (1846-1847); Friend to Lovejoy
Last August, I sent you, because I wished it published, the
documentary history of the origin of Shurleff College. By request of
the faculty, I now send you for publication an account of the humble
part which I acted in the trustee organization, and in teaching the
school from its commencement, September 1832 to June 13, 1836. I
then wrote in the third person, because my labor was in common with
the trustees. I now write in the first person, because the labor of
bringing together men who would unite in responsibility as trustees,
as well as the subsequent labor of teaching, was mostly individual,
and on individual responsibility.
In moving to Illinois with my family in 1830, onboard of a boat from
Louisville to St. Louis, I was made known to Senator Kane, returning
from Washington to his family in Kaskaskia. Before leaving the boat,
the Senator gave me a pressing invitation to visit Kaskaskia,
pledging me an encouraging school, if after looking around, I should
wish to teach.
Soon after arriving in the State, I received a commission to ride
three months in the service of the Sabbath School. In fulfilling
this commission, I obtained a general knowledge of the state of the
Baptist Church and ministry. Preaching I had hoped to make my labor,
but finding that this demanded itinerancy and absence from family
beyond what seemed to me my duty, I concluded that I could best
serve the interest of Christ by teaching youth. Accordingly, in
November, I made it in my way to visit Kaskaskia, where, in a few
hours, negotiations were closed for opening a school. To Kaskaskia,
therefore, with my children, I shortly removed. In that town I
continued in a pleasant and remunerating school, six quarters. In
the Fall of 1831, the late Dr. Going, sent out by Eastern Baptists,
called on me and spent some days in my family. He stated that his
official visit to Illinois was to see what could be done immediately
and prospectively, most effectually to advance the interest of
Christ’s Kingdom – that from the information he had gathered, a
Seminary, theological and literary, was of primary importance, and
he expressed it as his decided opinion that it was my duty to remove
north to Alton, and to make an effort to raise such a Seminary. I
replied that the subject had been on my mind, and had already taken
deep hold of my heart, and though it might be accompanied with heavy
pecuniary sacrifices, I might probably make an effort.
Accordingly, in the winter of 1832, I wrote to a friend in Alton
stating my thoughts and wishing his opinion. He returned answer,
expressing doubt of its practicability. Yet, not long after, I wrote
again, stating that my mind was made up to move north and to call at
Alton, and see what could be done. Though the Alton friend
discouraged, yet I had some confidence of success, for I could show
to friends that the enterprise, without risk of material loss, might
greatly enhance their prosperity, and that the risk would be on my
part, a stranger, ready to settle with them, or with any other, in
an eligible location, who would become co-workers in the enterprise.
They might well be appalled at the proposal of buying land and
putting up a building, and sending a thousand miles for a teacher,
and engaging to meet his traveling expenses and his salary, while
wholly uncertain whether he would answer expectation. But the
proposal of profit, without risk, I thought might gain the ear and
heart and prevail. Accordingly, though pressed by the late Judge
Pope and other gentlemen of high standing and wealth, to give them
terms on which I would continue by school in Kaskaskia, yet duty
pressed my removal north. And on April 1, I boxed my goods and took
passage on a boat for Alton.
In the morning after landing, I had an interview with brethren
Stephen Griggs and William Manning Jr., recent immigrants from
Boston, and found them ready to engage in my feasible plan. Soon
after I arrived in Upper Alton, and commenced the survey of that
place as a site of a Baptist Seminary, I inquired for the
schoolhouse and was led to a building of brick walls, 24x30, roofed,
and was informed that these walls had been standing thus erected
about three months, and that the beginners were not able to finish.
I inquired for their school, and was taken to a log cabin, story and
a half high, one room on a floor, and the door being opened, was
introduced to Mrs. Bailey, in the midst of her school, and on
ascending on the right a flight of steps, was introduced to Rev.
Alvin Bailey in his study, which was lighted through the stairway,
and a small window in the end of the cabin. This cabin was also the
meeting house for the church on the Sabbath. Of course, the cleaning
and cooking and eating were done during the recesses of the school.
Thus lived the indefatigable mister and his wife, and this in the
church, which in regard to the support of the pastor was in advance
of the two hundred Baptist churches in the State. This may deserve
to be told, when Baptist ministers shall no longer be straightened
in salary, to show to what straights a pioneer Baptist minister and
his accomplished and intellectual lady were pushed in the early
settlement of the State. And if ever a daguerreotype shall be taken
of Shurtleff College, by the side should be placed, if permitted by
Mr. Bailey, the daguerreotype of that cabin and of Mrs. Bailey in
her school, and of Mr. Bailey in his study above. These appearances
were not flattering, yet did not abate zeal in regard to a Seminary.
Patient, self-denying labor might succeed.
In the meantime, the friends in Edwardsville had engaged for one
quarter a school for me. I accordingly, with my children, removed to
that town, and accepted the proffered hospitality of the hospitable
Dr. Benjamin F. Edwards, of board of myself and of a son, and
providing board in another family for my other children, I opened
the school. This residence with Dr. Edwards gave opportunity in full
to consult in regard to the Seminary, and to find him as ready as
Griggs and Manning, to join in any feasible plan. Other friends in
Edwardsville would join on condition the Seminary Should be located
with them, not otherwise. And they advanced arguments not a few, to
locate it with them, such as a tolerable schoolhouse, and a
population able to maintain a respectable school, &c.
Yet Alton, though then very forbidding, prospectively had
advantages, especially the very important one – ease of access by
the Mississippi. And Alton, it was settled, should be the site of
the Seminary.
Thus, on the show of $3000 reserved for securing land, and the
understanding that the school should be maintained without material
pecuniary liability of the trustees, beyond that of school room, I
found three Baptists – Benjamin F. Edwards, Stephen Griggs, and
William Manning - and one Presbyterian – Enoch Long – ready to join
in the enterprise. Accordingly, I drew an article of agreement, an
exceedingly embarrassing one to frame. The difficult point was to
secure trustees who would through ages continue the Seminary in
close connection with those Baptists, well known, and ordinarily
designated through Illinois by the name, missionary Baptist.
SHURTLEFF COLLEGE ANNUAL EXAMINATION
Source: Alton Telegraph, July 24, 1841
By reference to the notice of this institution, in the column of
advertisements, it will be seen that its annual examination will
take place next week at Upper Alton, commencing on Tuesday the 27th
inst., at 9 a.m., and continue for two days. On the evening of each
of those days, addresses will be delivered by gentlemen of the
highest literary attainments; and on Thursday evening, the annual
exhibition in declamation of the students will take place. We
confidently hope that not only our own citizens, but also the
friends of education in the adjoining counties, will spare the time
to witness the examination of this young but thriving and invaluable
institution. Nothing that we could say will convey even the first
idea to those unacquainted with Shurtleff College of the high
attainments and qualifications of those to whom the different
branches of education are entrusted as instructors, nor of the
extent and commodiousness of the college buildings. The institution,
in all respects, is not only an ornament to the state, but in the
entire west; and it richly merits and should receive the fostering
care and protection of an enlightened public.
With two such institutions of learning as Shurtleff College at Upper
Alton for males, and Monticello Seminary for females, Madison county
may successfully challenge competition with any other portion of the
valley of the Mississippi for the superior advantages held out by
them for the education of the rising generation. They have thus far,
been reared and fostered thro' the untiring and ceaseless exertions
of a few benevolent individuals, accompanied by care, perplexities
and anxieties which have been well calculated to discourage the
stoutest hearts. But perseverance in a great and good cause has
crowned their efforts with success; and their reward will not be
merely in this world, but in that which is to come. Many an
individual, both male and female, who, from adverse circumstances,
would but for these institutions have been deprived of instruction,
will now, through the advantages held out by them, receive liberal
educations, and doubtless become bright and valuable ornaments of
society. All such, at least, cannot but cherish, even to the latest
moments of their earthly existence, feelings of the deepest
gratitude and veneration towards those who, by their time and money,
contributed, in the early history of our state, to the establishment
of these invaluable institutions of learning. We trust the
prosperity and usefulness of both Shurtleff College and Monticello
Seminary will continued to increase for ages yet to come.
SHURTLEFF COLLEGE - LETTER FROM A PARENT
Source: Alton Telegraph, August 27, 1842
Mr. Editor - In looking over the late catalogue, I had 80 pupils -
43 in Classical, and 43 in English studies; but 13 only from Alton
city - 30 are from a distance. Why do the Altons neglect this
institution? Are the teachers negligent or incompetent? If so, they
ought to be displaced, and thorough men put in their stead; for the
college should be a blessing to this vicinity.
1st. Each boarding student leaves at least $100 with our merchants,
boarding houses, washers, wood cutters, mechanics, &c.; 50 pupils
would leave $5,000 per annum; 100, $10,000 - no small sum for these
hard times. What class of inhabitants will not be benefited by these
$10,000!
2d. The prosperity of the college will enhance the price of rents,
and thus benefit holders of real estate in Upper Alton.
3d. The children of the city can be educated for little beside the
tuition - for they can board at home - $10 to $24; whereas, if they
are sent abroad, the expense will be about $100. The Trustees
already have to supply a considerable sum to pay the faculty, for
the income of the school does not support it. If they are crushed in
these hard times, we shall be compelled to send our sons abroad, at
four times the cost necessary for us now at Shurtleff College. This
matter ought to interest us parents, who have sons to educate. I
feel on this subject intensely, as I have several to be educated; if
the college winds up, then I am of necessity driven to expend four
times as much as now for their instruction.
The Trustees have lately appointed Major George W. Long, Professor
of Civil Engineering and French Language, and Dr. Edwin James,
Professor of Chemistry, Mineralogy, and Botany; and a Philosophical
and Chemical apparatus is to be purchased. The Medical College will,
I learn, begin fall operation in November. Our own interest requires
us to patronize this institution.
For the last term, board, lodging, &c., has been at from $1.50 to
$1.75 per week. Table board can be procured at $1.00 per week, and
the student room in the college building. Where can it be obtained
cheaper!
Why cannot the Altons supply 75 pupils for this college every term?
It is our interest to sustain the concern. It will save us $300 in
the education of a son; it will furnish rents for our houses in
Upper Alton; it will benefit merchants, mechanics, those who board
and work, indeed, all classes, more or less; and it will enlarge our
town - for if the college is built up and enlarged, parents from a
distance will move to the spot to educate their children under their
own eye. ~Signed, a Parent
SHURTLEFF COLLEGE CATALOGUE
Source: Alton Daily Telegraph, February 03, 1853
The annual catalogue of this institution, for the year ending
December 31, 1853, has just made its appearance on our table. It
informs us that the college is governed by a board of 28 trustees,
of which the Rev. Norman N. Wood, D. D., is President; Moses G.
Atwood, Esq., corresponding Secretary; Rev. John N. Tolman,
Recording Secretary; and Ebenezer Marsh, Esq., Treasurer – three of
the said trustees composing the executive committee. The faculty
consists of the Rev. N. N. wood, D. D., President, Professor of
Menial and Moral Science and Christian Theology; Erastus Adkins, A.
M., Professor of Oratory, Rhetoric, and Belles-Lettres; Rev.
Washington Leverett, A. M., Professor of Mathematics and Natural
Philosophy; Rev. Warren Leverett, Professor of the Latin and Greek
languages; and Mr. Philip P. Brown, Principal of the Junior
Preparatory Department. The number of students during the present
term amounts to 114; of whom 40 are in the collegiate, and 74 in the
preparatory department. The academical year consists of one term of
forty weeks, beginning on the third Thursday of September, and
ending on the fourth Thursday in June – the whole expense per year,
for tuition, boarding, room rent, fuel, lights, books, and
incidentals amounting to about $120 per annum.
Shurtleff College is located in the pleasant village of Upper Alton,
about two miles from our steamboat landing, in a high and healthy
situation, and within a few minutes ride from Alton – an omnibus
line running regularly between the two places every day. The
discipline of the institution is strictly paternal, and the faculty
stand deservedly high in the estimation of the public, as well for
their acknowledged ability as teachers, as for their correct
deportment as Christians and gentlemen. The college cannot fail to
command the general confidence and continue to prosper, so long as
it shall remain under their control.
SHURTLEFF COLLEGE – ITS FOUNDERS
Source: Alton Weekly Courier, August 12, 1853
At a meeting of Messrs. Benjamin F. Edwards, Hubbel Loomis, Enoch
Long, Alvin Bailey, William Manning Jr., and Stephen Griggs, at the
dwelling house of Mr. William Manning in Alton, June 4, 1832, to
take into consideration the establishment of a Seminary as the
foundation of a college. Benjamin F. Edwards was chosen Chairman,
and Stephen Griggs, Secretary, of the meeting. On motion, it was
Resolved, That the following agreement and arrangement be entered
into, and it is hereby entered into and ratified: that the said
Benjamin F. Edwards, Hubbel Loomis, Enoch Long, William Manning,
Stephen Griggs, George Smith, and Cyrus Edwards, be a Board of
Trustees, to receive a deed or deeds of land for the Seminary, to
whom six other Trustees shall be added, and to the union meeting of
the Baptists in Illinois shall be made the offer of appointing three
of the Trustees, and to the Northern Baptist Education Society,
shall be made the offer of appointing the other three. And should
the above-named meeting or society …. [missing]
An interesting chapter might be written of the literary state of
Alton in 1832, and of the failure in two years of raising money
enough in Alton to put up a schoolhouse, 33x40. Yet, the Seminary
sustained a school, which before the donations of Messrs. Shurtleff
and Edwards became available, was doing a good business. As good a
business for Baptist ministers as the college has at any time done
within fifteen years past. Signed Hubbel Loomis.
HISTORY OF SHURTLEFF COLLEGE
Source: Alton Weekly Courier, October 7, 1853
George T. Brown, Esq., Sir - Last August I sent you, because I
wished it published, the documentary history of the origin of
Shurtleff College. By request of the Faculty, I now send you for
publication, an account of the humble part which I acted in the
trustee organization, and in teaching the school from its
commencement, September 1832 to June 13, 1836. I then wrote in the
third person, because my labor was in common with the Trustees. I
now write in the first person, because the labor of bringing
together men, who would unite in responsibility as Trustees, as well
as the subsequent labor of teaching, was mostly individual, and an
individual responsibility.
In moving to Illinois with my family in 1830, on board of a boat
from Louisville to St. Louis, I was made known to Senator K**ne,
returning from Washington to his family in Kaskaskia. Before leaving
the boat, the Senator gave me a pressing invitation to visit
Kaskaskia, pledging me an encouraging school, if, after looking
around, I should wish to teach. Soon after arriving in the State, I
received a commission to ride three months in the service of the
Sabbath School. In fulfilling this commission, I obtained a general
knowledge of the state of the Baptist church and ministry. Preaching
I had hoped to make my labor; but finding that this demanded
itinerancy, and absence from family beyond what seemed to me my
duty, I concluded that I could best serve the interest of Christ by
teaching youth. Accordingly, in November, I made it in my way to
visit Kaskaskia, where, in a few hours negotiations were closed for
opening a school. To Kaskaskia, therefore, with my children I
shortly removed. In that town I continued in a pleasant and
remunerating school, six quarters. In the fall of 1831, the late Dr.
Going, sent out by Eastern Baptists, called on me and spent some
days in my family. He stated that his official visit to Illinois was
to see what could be done immediately and prospectively, most
effectually to advance the interest of Christ's Kingdom - that from
the information he had gathered, a Seminary, theological and
literary, was of primary importance, and he expressed it as his
decided opinion that it was my duty to remove north to Alton, and to
make an effort to raise such a Seminary. I replied, that the subject
had been on my mind, and had already taken deep hold of my heart,
and, though it might be accompanied with heavy pecuniary sacrifices,
I might probably make an effort.
Accordingly, in the winter of 1832, I wrote to a friend in Alton
stating my thoughts and wishing his opinion. He returned answer
expressing doubt of its practicability. Yet, not long after, I wrote
again, stating that my mind was made up to move north and to call at
Alton and see what could be done. Though the Alton friend
discouraged, yet I had some confidence of success, for I could show
to friends, that the enterprise, without risk of material loss,
might greatly enhance their prosperity; and that the risk would be
on my part, a stranger, ready to settle with them, or with any
other, in an eligible location, who would become co-workers in the
enterprise. They might well be appalled at the proposal of buying
land, and putting up a building, and sending a thousand miles for a
teacher, and engaging to meet his traveling expenses and his salary,
while wholly uncertain whether he would answer expectation. But the
proposal of profit, without risk, I thought might gain the ear and
heart, and prevail. Accordingly, though pressed by the late Judge
Pope, and other gentlemen of high standing and wealth, to give them
terms on which I would continue my school in Kaskaskia, yet duty
pressed my removal north. And on the first of April, I boxed my
goods and took passage on a boat for Alton.
In the morning after landing, I had an interview with brethren
Stephen Griggs and William Manning Jr., recent emigrants from
Boston, and found them ready to engage in my feasible plan. Soon
after I arrived in Upper Alton, and commenced the survey of that
place as a site of a Baptist Seminary; - inquired for the school
house, was led to brick walls 24 by 30, roofed - and was informed
that these walls had been standing thus erected about three months,
and that the beginners were not able to finish. I inquired for their
school, was taken to a log cabin, story and a half high, one room on
a floor, and the door being opened was introduced to Mrs. Bailey, in
the midst of her school, and on ascending on the right a flight of
steps, was introduced to Rev. Alvin Bailey in his study; lighted
through the stairway, and a small window in the end of the cabin.
This cabin was also the meeting house for the church on the Sabbath.
Of course, the cleaning, and cooking, and eating were done during
the recesses of the school. Thus lived the indefatigable minister
and his wife; and this in the church, which in regard to the support
of the pastor was in advance of the two hundred Baptist churches in
the State. This may deserve to be told, when Baptist ministers shall
no longer be straightened in salary, to show to what straights a
pioneer Baptist minister and his accomplished and intellectual lady
were pushed in the early settlement of the State. And if ever a
daguerreotype shall be taken of Shurtleff College, by the side
should be placed, if permitted by Mr. Baily, the daguerreotype of
that cabin, and of Mrs. Baily in her school and of Mr. Baily in his
study above. These appearances were not flattering, yet did not
abate zeal in regard to a Seminary. Patient, self-denying labor
might succeed.
In the meantime, the friends in Edwardsville had engaged for one
quarter, a school for me. I accordingly, with my children, removed
to that town; and accepted the proffered hospitality of the
hospitable Dr. B. F. Edwards, of board of myself and of a son, and
providing board in another family for my other children, I opened
the school. This residence with Dr. Edwards gave opportunity in full
to consult in regard to the Seminary, and to find him as ready as
Griggs and Manning to join in any feasible plan. Other friends in
Edwardsville would join on condition the Seminary should be located
with them, not otherwise. And they advanced arguments not a few, to
locate it with them, such as a tolerable school house and a
population able to maintain a respectable school, &c. Yet Alton,
though, then very forbidding, prospectively had advantages,
especially the very important one, ease of access by the
Mississippi. And Alton it was settled should be the site of the
Seminary.
Thus, on the show of $*000, reserved for securing land, and the
understanding that the school should be maintained, without material
pecuniary liability of the Trustees, beyond that of school room, I
found three Baptists, B. F. Edwards, Stephen Griggs and William
Manning, and one Presbyterian, Enoch Long, ready to join in the
enterprise. Accordingly, I drew an article of agreement, an
exceedingly embarrassing one to frame. The difficult point was to
secure Trustees who would through ages continue the Seminary in
close connection with those Baptists, well known, and ordinarily
designated through Illinois, by the name, missionary Baptist. Rev.
Hubbel Loomis
SHURTLEFF COLLEGE BUILDING COMPLETED
Source: The New York Times, December 24, 1853
The new college buildings at Upper Alton, Illinois, are now
completed, and ready for use. December 29, 1853, has been appointed for
a general gathering of the friends of this institution, on the
occasion of the opening of the rooms for congratulatory and
dedicatory services.
WHO IS THE FATHER OF SHURTLEFF COLLEGE?
Source: Alton Weekly Courier, June 29, 1854
Mr. Editor Brown - I see by the late numbers of the Alton Courier
that has come up here to Pekin, that a shocking display is going on
in print as to who is the "paternal relative" of Shurtleff College,
which institution, I am told, is situated somewhere in the
neighborhood of Upper Alton. The Rev. Hubbel Loomis has written a
"history" to prove that he is the father of the College, and says he
loves it dearly for it is his own child. But the Rev. Dr. Peck has
come out with his bundle of "facts," and proved equally strong that
Mr. Loomis is not the true father of the child, and hints pretty
plainly that he, himself, is. I am most desput [sic] sorry to see
too such worthy clergymen at loggerheads, or it is always the case
when the clergy drive at each other - it is "go it boots," with
them. Now, Mr. Editor Brown, I want much to settle this dispute
amicably between them; for I am afeard they will make a horrid
breach in the church by thus lamming away at each other, and I
shouldn't wonder if they made a pair of breaches before they have
done with the College dispute. Why can't they agree that each is the
father of Shurtleff College, and each had a hand in the child? Bless
your body, Mr. Editor Brown! Many a child has two fathers, and some
of them half a dozen, at least. There is one up in our part of the
Sucker State, that I say, if the truth was known, had forty. Of
course, literary children is what I speak of Madam; so don't get
into a "sterricky fit," if you please, madam, about what I have just
said. Cousin Ichabod Bone
JOHN MASON PECK RESPONDS TO COUSIN ICHABOD BONE
Source: Alton Weekly Courier, July 13, 1854
I see no profit or honor to be gained in contending with the
venerable old gentleman who has been put forward as a claimant to
the paternity of Shurtleff College. Could I reach the person or
persons who committed the misdemeanor against the fundamental
principles and rules of corporate bodies, by furnishing extracts
from the Book of Records, I could afford to give him or them a
severe castigation. But for two old men, whose memories cannot be
relied on, to quarrel in the papers and bespatter each other's
garments in a matter so exceedingly trivial, is surely too
ridiculous for the wisdom and gravity of age. Some apparently young
and facetious writer of the "Bone Family" has presented the subject
in its true light. The intention of my former replication was to
stop, if possible, an exposure of facts and events from June 1836 to
1850, which had far better be forgotten.
It is enough for me at present to refer to Dr. Benjamin Franklin Edwards of St.
Louis, and George Smith, Esq., of Upper Alton, for proof that the
project of Shurtleff College (at first Alton Seminary) was
contemplated, arranged, a subscription raised to erect the first
building of some $1,500 or $2,000, and negotiations for the land
commenced by certain gentlemen, while Mr. Loomis was teaching a
seminary in Kaskaskia. Probably he has forgotten what my journal
testifies (habitually kept of all these and other events), that the
writer, by the special request of these gentlemen, rode through deep
mud to Kaskaskia on the 28th and 29th of February 1832, for the
special purpose of engaging Mr. Loomis to relinquish his school
there and remove to Alton; that the plan was to have him engage in a
school temporarily, as a preparatory step to entering the seminary
as Principal, soon as the building then projected could be made
ready. He is certainly not to be blamed for not recollecting the
repeated interviews and correspondence between Dr. Edwards and the
writer; for probably he knew nothing about them. Dr. Edwards was at
first in favor of the location at Edwardsville, but subsequently he
yielded his predilections and entered cordially into the views of
the gentlemen at Upper Alton.
Probably he has forgotten being present at the annual meeting of the
Trustees of Rock Spring Seminary, held July 20th, 1831, where he was
courteously invited to a seat with the late Rev. J. Going, from
Massachusetts, when the following resolutions were discussed and
unanimously adopted:
Resolved, That the Trustees will hold themselves ready to receive
proposals from any quarter in this part of the State, and consider
the propriety and expediency of a change in the location.
Resolved, That James Lemen, Hubbel Loomis, B. F. Edwards, George
Churchell, James Pulliam, J. M. Peck and George Stacey be a
committee to ascertain the wishes of the stockholders and the public
in relation to a change in the location of this Seminary, and what
further steps can be taken to put the Seminary on a respectable
standing, and report at the next meeting.
Doubtless he has forgotten that this committee met at Edwardsville
on the 26th July, 1831, and all were present but George Churchill,
Esq. The late Rev. J. Going was present, and had an important part
to perform in giving advice to this committee. Mr. Loomis probably
was entirely ignorant of the fact that for some months previous a
correspondence had taken place between the writer and Rev. Dr.
Going, relative to the conversations already alluded to with
individuals who were in favor of a removal of the Institution to
Edwardsville or Alton, and that this subject had a specific place in
the mind of Mr. Going in visiting this State.
The writer looked to him as a kind of representative of Eastern
patrons, who had contributed liberally to establish that
Institution, and did not deem it wise or prudent to encourage the
project without his approbation. From the resolutions adopted by
that committee and placed on the Book of Records now before me, I
select the following:
Resolved, That a sub-committee of three persons be appointed to
receive proposals from Alton, or such other place or places as they
deem expedient, to encourage the location of the Seminary.
B. F. Edwards, Paris Mason and Ephraim Marsh were appointed. The
proposals were reported verbally, and led the Trustees of Rock
Spring Seminary to relinquish their claims to the location, and
justified them in removing their library and other property at a
subsequent time.
A slight error in date was made in my first communication. It was
not in July, but in June, after our return from the organization of
the Edwardsville association, that the Rev. J. Going, Dr. Edwards
and the writer returned to Alton (as Upper Alton was then called),
and made the exploration referred to, as George Smith, Esq.,
doubtless recollects, and which is recorded specifically in my
journal of June 28th-30th.
The affairs of the Seminary and its removal were topics of frequent
consultation between Rev. Mr. Going and certain brethren during the
period of the association. Rev. Mr. Loomis was not there, and
probably knew nothing of our arrangements. The meeting of June 4th,
1832, which Mr. L considers as the commencement of his "fatherly"
claim, was the consummation of a series of consultations and plans
begun more than twelve months previous. He was one of the number who
officiated at the birth, and as he paid his perquisite for the new
dress, and performed the duties of nurse, there is no objection to
his being regarded an accoucheur [a person who assists during
childbirth].
The writer occupied a delicate and important position as the reputed
"father" of Rock Spring Seminary, and did not deem it expedient to
be known as one of the Trustees in the new organization. He had a
duty to perform in preparing the minds of patrons in the Atlantic
States, and of numerous friends of the Institution in Illinois and
Missouri, that no unpleasant feelings might result from the
transfer. It was regarded by him as sound policy. He was consulted
in every step taken, and gave his approbation to every measure
adopted, both before and subsequent to the organization of the new
Board on June 4th, 1832.
And now, Mr. Editor, a word in your ear, if you please. When I sat
on the tripod, which has been over twenty years of my life, I had a
few common-sense rules for my government as editor. One was to
permit no controvertist to publish more than two communications on
one subject. This is the common sense of mankind in all oral
discussions, and why should not the editor of a newspaper act the
presiding officer in all paper debates, and apply the rule to all
controvertists? In all Parliamentary and judiciary proceedings, no
man is permitted to make more than two speeches. Why should the pen
and press be made a "perpetual motion!" This rule, if strictly
applied by editors, would work well and put a stop to the ravages of
that dangerous disease called by school boys cacoethes scribendi.
The "free discussions" of clergymen are characterized for freedom
and boundless extension, often to the grief and annoyance of their
readers. My statements in these replications are mere intimations of
materials in great abundance, but held in reserve for such
"Documentary History." But I have a lurking suspicion that were I to
discharge a tithe of the contents of my "documentary" budget into
the columns of your paper, it would not pay for the ink wasted, to
say nothing of improper feelings engendered in the community. My
judgment coincides with your interest, that in all such controversy
you "shut down the valve" after the steam has been let off, twice,
with the expressive sign, "refused." Signed J. M. P. [John Mason
Peck], Rock Spring, Illinois, June 30th, 1854.
MEMOIR OF REV. JOHN M. PECK, D. D.
Source: Alton Telegraph, July 22, 1864
Dr. Peck was in the true sense of the word, a pioneer, in all that
pertained to the physical, educational, moral and religious
development of the West. Coming to Illinois while yet a territory,
with a population of less than 30,000, he lived to see it the first
agricultural state of the Union – the fourth in population.
Peck was emphatically a self-made man. On June 9, 1813, he was
ordained to the work of the Gospel ministry by the Baptist Church at
Catskill, New York. In May 1817, he was appointed a missionary to
the West, reaching St. Louis in December of that year. The
population of that “village” was about 3,000, of which one-third
were slaves. The character of the inhabitants is thus described by
Dr. Peck in his journal:
“One half, at least, of the Anglo-American population were infidels
of a low and indecent grade, and utterly worthless for any useful
purposes of society. Of this class, I allude to, I cannot recollect
an individual who was reclaimed, or became a respectable citizen.
The reader will keep in mind that at this period, there were no
foreign emigrants among us. The boast was often made that the
Sabbath had not crossed the Mississippi, and never should. The Rev.
Dr. Blackburn of Tennessee made a visit to this remote village in
1813, and preached to an audience respectable in numbers. This was
the first gospel sermon ever preached in the town.”
In June 1818, Dr. Peck visited Kaskaskia, then the seat of
government. Madison, Bond, and Crawford were the three northern
counties across the State. All north was a wilderness, and one half
of the territory was supposed to be uninhabitable.
The establishment of a Theological Seminary was from the first a
cherished object. In search of a suitable location, he visited Upper
Alton, when in 1834 he had the pleasure of seeing the foundation
laid of that now flourishing institution - “Shurtleff College” – and
of which he justly claimed the honor of being founder. Although
somewhat lengthy, we copy the description of his first visit on
February 23, 1819:
“We left St. Charles on February 22, 1819, and rode to the “Point,”
towards Smeltzer’s Ferry, then located about three miles above the
site for a city. Here, we crossed the river a little after sunset,
and had five miles to ride to the inhabited village. For three miles
the pathway lay along the brink of the low water of the river, under
the cliffs. Not far from the present site of the Alton House, there
was a building, but whether a rough frame or a log house it was too
dark to perceive (there were four cabins on the town site). Here, we
obtained directions how to find and follow the dubious pathway
through the brush and forest, up a long hill to the village [Upper
Alton]. It was cloudy and dark, but on emerging from the forest, we
found on every side the appearance of campfires. Log beams, piles of
brush, old stumps, and other combustible materials were glowing with
heat, and spreading an illumination over the plateau. Inquiry was
made for a tavern or boarding house, and we were directed to a long,
low, ill-looking log house. It was about forty feet in length, and
probably sixteen feet wide, the doorway for the entrance at the west
end, and the dining room as it seemed to be used for eating
purposes, was the first room entered.
Our readers are aware we had been in some dirty places. The table
was supported by forks driven into the ground, on which rough,
newly-sawed boards extended perhaps twenty feet. An old cloth,
filthy like the rest of the establishment, covered a portion of the
table. A supply of dirty dishes indicated that several boarders
might have had a late supper. The part from which the dishes and
cloth had been removed was occupied by three parties with cards, or
something resembling spotted pieces of pasteboard, all in harmony
with the rest, for the cards and men were the dirtiest objects I had
seen since our pilgrimage in the Boone’s Lick country. On inquiry
for the landlord, a shock-headed [shaggy, thick hair], begrimed
[dirty] features, and soiled garments that appeared to belong to a
“human,” came in. The first thing was to find a stable and feed for
a wearied horse. On exploring the premises, I found him in a log pen
with some boards over one-half the roof, and the mud mid-leg deep.
Seeing no chance for better quarters, I left him munching corn, of
which he had a supply. It did not take many minutes to frame and
carry into effect a resolution to find better quarters for his
rider. While living in St. Louis the preceding year, I had formed a
slight acquaintance with the family of Doctor Erastus Brown, who in
Autumn had removed to Upper Alton. Offering a dirty, ragged boy a
dime to pilot me to Dr. Brown’s, slinging my saddlebags on the arm,
and climbing over stumps and logs, brought us to the snug, neat,
newly-built log house – no, we will call it a “cottage” – where we
found the doctor, his lady, and two or three little ones, in as
comfortable quarters as any decent folks deserved to have in those
frontier times. ‘Doctor, I have called to impose myself upon your
hospitality,’ and gave him a brief sketch of my recent adventures,
amongst wretchedness, filth, drunken ribaldry, and low profanity of
the boarding house. Both declared a hearty welcome, and regretted I
did not call on them on my first arrival. I told the good lady not
to get supper, for I had eaten a late dinner, and it was drawing
towards bedtime, but in the quickest time she had the tea made and
the table spread. I told her I was used to sleeping on the floor
with my saddle for a pillow, and saddle blanket for covering, but I
was ushered into a neat little room with a bed and covering fit for
a prince. In all my wanderings, I never experienced as great and
sudden a transition from wretchedness and filth to comfort and
happiness.
In the morning, after an early breakfast, in company with my friend,
Dr. Brown, I made an exploration through the town, was introduced to
several citizens, and learned all that was necessary of Upper Alton,
at that time as the site for a seminary of learning. There were on
the spot between forty and fifty families, living in log cabins,
shanties, covered wagons, and camps. Probably not less than twenty
families were destitute of houses, but were getting out materials
and getting up shelters with industry and enterprise. I had become
acquainted with the extremes of the social state, and had no
opportunity to enlarge my experience. Doubtless there were other
families living as comfortably as the one whose hospitality I had
shared.
I found a school of some twenty-five or thirty boys and girls, was
taught by some backwoods fellow, but the chance for a boarding
school was small indeed. There was the old settlement about the
forks of the Wood River and Rattan’s Prairie [Godfrey] that might
furnish a few scholars. The Macoupin settlement – real frontier
rowdies – was thirty miles north, of a dozen families, then three
families had ventured over Apple Creek. The immigrants to the
Sangamon Country went there the preceding winter. Peoria, on the
Illinois River, was an old French village of twenty-five cabins.
Morgan, Cass, Scott, and all those counties along the Illinois River
were the hunting grounds of the Indians. The late Major Wadsworth
and half a dozen families had made their pitch in Calhoun County.
All the country to the east and north was one vast wilderness. Where
then could scholars be found to fill a seminary at Upper Alton?
After deciding all such questions, I gave a fellow a quarter to
clean the mud from my horse, paid for his fare, received a hearty
invitation from Dr. and Mrs. Brown to call on them the next time I
visited Alton, and made my way by another path back to Smeltzer’s
ferry. It was three or four years before I again visited Upper
Alton, during which period quite a town had sprung up, but I never
could find the locality of the dirty tavern house, never again saw
the family or its inmates, and so fortunate as not to learn their
names. It is thought that not one of that breed can now be found in
Madison County.”
At this period, the Baptist churches were greatly agitated with the
question of “mission” and “anti-mission.” Dr. Peck coming out as the
appointee of the Baptist Board of Missions was the acknowledged
leader of the former party. The ministry at that time were largely
“unlearned and ignorant men” – a fear of being supplanted in their
influence with the people by those more highly favored was probably
the secret of their opposition. “College-learned men” and “book
preachers” were their especial abhorrence. To counteract these
absurd prejudices and to prepare the way for the future successful
prosecution of his chosen work, and as less liable to objection, Dr.
Peck set about the establishment of Sabbath Schools and Bible
Societies. On the October 5, 1822, we find the following entry in
his [Dr. Peck’s] diary, giving an account of his visit to
Carrollton, Greene County:
“The Sunday School met and recited lessons. I found four or five of
the children under serious impressions.” It is probable, that this
was the first Sabbath School organized in Illinois.
In February 1823, we find the record of the organization of Bible
Societies at Carrollton and at Edwardsville, Madison County. In
November 1824, he mentions attending the organizations of a society
for the suppression of intemperance in one of the central counties
of Illinois, and this is marked in the margin of his journal as the
first society in the State.
He came soon to the conclusion that no Auxiliary Bible or Sunday
School Society was reliably established, until it had been
re-visited at the end of a year or two of its history, to set in
order things that were wanting, and by continuous exercise on the
part of its officers and managers, they had found the habit of
earning success by patient and energetic well doing. His missionary
field embraced Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri. In October 1826, on
his return from a trip in the latter State, he makes the following
entry:
“I am happy to find among the slaveholders in Missouri, a growing
disposition to have the blacks educated and to patronize Sunday
Schools for the purpose. I doubt not, but by prudent efforts this
may be extensively.”
December 5, 1833, in the evening, the anniversary of the Illinois
State Temperance Society was held at Vandalia (then the capital of
Illinois). Several addresses were delivered, and an impulse given to
the cause. The policy of distributing temperance publications
largely was adopted.
In July 1835, he visited the East on business connected with the
college and the general religious interests of the West. His
experience as recorded below does not differ from that of pioneers
in later days:
“I regret to see men who have borne the heat and burden of the day
cast into the background towards evening. Such is human nature. Such
may probably be my fate. Well, if those who enter the field for whom
others and myself have pioneered out the way, thrust us back as
lumber of a past age, be it so, provided they will sustain the cause
and carry forward the great work.”
On a missionary trip into Missouri in 1838, the following incident
occurred:
“Was hospitably entertained during its session by an intelligent and
liberal-minded man, Mr. A., who kept a small distillery to make
whiskey for his own use. He acknowledged that he loved it, and
sometimes got drunk. His guest availing himself of the man’s
frankness, gave him repeated and earnest admonitions during his
sojourn. The result was that he soon became an active, praying
Christian, and, of course, put away his strange gods. Yes, much more
than this was effected. The holy flame of converting grace becoming
thus kindled, spread in different directions.” In a ‘footnote’
subsequently added to this part of the journal, it is stated that
“this revival spread through the country, and many professed Christ
and were baptized. The churches took quite a different course in
regard to practical religion from this time, said to be caused
principally by my very plain preaching. I preached under a peculiar
impulse, as for my life, to both saint and sinner, and God blessed
the Word – his own Word – abundantly. To him be all the praise!”
In October 1842, he attended the opening of the Croten Water Works
in New York, of which he gives the following account:
“As a temperance man and an advocate, one of the most delightful and
noticeable characteristics of that immense gathering was the almost
universal prevalence of the temperance reformation. Of all the miles
of procession, and the acres of people who were mere spectators,
scarcely one could be seen intoxicated.” In the evening of the same
day, he attended a temperance meeting, and heard Hawkins and
Anderson of the original Washingtonians, give some of their
“experience.” In this way, he says, more than the thousand-dram
shops in New York City had been shut up effectually, and an untold
amount of misery and ruin had been prevented. But we must bring this
already lengthy article to a close by giving one more extract:
On May 1848, he attended the anniversary of the American Temperance
Union, and gives the remarks of the venerable Dr. Beecher. He stated
that in 1811, he attended two ordinations in Connecticut, where rum,
brandy, and all sorts of intoxicating liquors were profusely drank,
even clergy; that at the General Association of Congregationalists
in 1812, a committee on this subject reported that nothing could be
done to arrest the evils of intemperance, when he (Dr. Beecher)
moved a recommitment of the report, and was added to the committee,
who thereupon brought in a resolution recommending the disuse of
ardent spirits at ordinations and like occasions; that this led on
to his six sermons, preached and since published, and that here, and
in this way, originated the great temperance movement.
CORNERSTONE LAID FOR NEW BUILDING
Source: Alton Telegraph, June 23, 1865
The closing exercise of the commencement week was laying the
cornerstone in the new college edifice. It may be proper to state in
the outset, that the new building will be 185 feet in length and 81
feet in width, four stories high, and built of stone. It will stand
about ten rods northeast from the present building, and will cost,
when completed, about $75,000. The present building has become too
small to accommodate the large number of students already in
attendance, saying nothing of the large prospective increase from
Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, and other States.
The exercises were opened with prayer by the venerable Rev. Hubbel
Loomis, who has just celebrated his ninetieth birthday, who may
justly be called the founder of the institution, and for many years
its principal. This was followed by an address by Rev. Dr. Bulkley,
giving many interesting personal and historical reminiscences. But
as this address will be published, we will attempt no analysis of it
at this time.
Next in order was a very long and very able address by President
Read. From nine o’clock a.m. until nearly five p.m., with a brief
intermission for dinner, the audience had been treated with good
things till they were in the condition of the boy we read of, who,
when the plum pudding was brought on at dinner, began to cry. On
being asked by his anxious grand-dame the cause of his grief,
replied that he had eaten so much roast turkey, he had no room for
the plum pudding. We greatly fear the tired audience did not fully
appreciate, as they would have done under other circumstances, the
delicious dessert so carefully prepared for them.
A list of articles to be deposited in the cornerstone was read by
Professor Mitchell:
1. Bible
2. Greek Testament
3. The Articles of Faith of the Baptists.
4. Historical Discourse, by Rev. Dr. Bulkley; extracts of Records of
Shurtleff College, by Rev. H. Loomis
5. Specimens of postal currency in use in 1865.
. Rev. H. M. Gallagher’s speech at the congregational reunion in New
York City.
7. Address of Dr. G. S. Bailey to the American Baptist Home Mission
Society.
8. General Catalogue of Shurtleff College, 1834-64.
9. Minutes of the Edwardsville Baptist Association, September 23 and
24, 1864.
10. Announcement of Theological Department of Shurtleff College, for
the session of 1865-66.
11. Catalogue of Monticello Seminary, for 1864-65.
12. Missionary Magazine, June 1865.
13. Illinois Baptist Anniversaries.
14. Catalogue of Shurtleff College, 1863-4.
15. The Good Templar, June 1865.
16. The Christian Times, June 8, 1865.
17. The Macedonian, June 1865.
18. Christian Watchman and Reflector, June 8, 1865.
19. The National Baptist, June 8, 1865.
20. Chicago Evening Journal, June 3, 1865.
21. Examiner and Chronicle, June 8, 1865.
22. The Western Baptist, May 18, 1865.
23. The Christian Banner, June 1865.
24. The Freedman’s Journal, May 1865.
25. The Christian Era, June 3, 1865.
26. Springfield Republican, June 10, 1865.
27. The Alton Daily Telegraph, June 14, 1865.
28. Tri-Weekly Missouri Republican, May 24, 1865.
29. Daily Missouri Democrat, June 15, 1865.
30. Statement concerning the Sigma Phi Society of Shurtleff College.
31. Miniature photograph of President Lincoln’s Emancipation
Proclamation.
32. Address to posterity.
33. Picture of old college edifice.
34. Statement concerning the Alpha Zeta Society of Shurtleff College
An impressive prayer was offered by Rev. Dr. Paitison of Shurtleff
College, an original hymn composed by Professor O. L. Castle was
then sung, and the services closed with the benediction by President
Read. The whole exercises were deeply impressive, and as the large
audience separated, many prayers and good wishes went up for the
prosperity of old Shurtleff.
FATHER LOOMIS CELEBRATES 91st BIRTHDAY
Source: Alton Telegraph, June 8, 1866
Last Thursday, May 31, was a day long to be remembered by some of us
in Upper Alton. Father Loomis is by far the oldest man in Upper
Alton. Thursday marked his 91st birthday. In the morning, he walked
down to see, perhaps, the next oldest citizen in this vicinity –
Father Elwell, who cannot be far from eighty years old, who is now
very sick (he thinks himself it is his last illness). The day had
not far sped before Father Loomis had a call from a neighbor.
Presently, another stepped in for a moment, and then another, and so
the stream kept coming in all day, until a large proportion of the
citizens of Upper Alton had called upon the aged patriarch,
congratulating him upon having reached so ripe an age. Doubtless it
was to him a pleasant surprise.
It was five o’clock when I called, and the old gentleman, to my
surprise, did not appear to be weary from his walks and numerous
calls, but waited upon me to strawberries and cream, and cake,
moving about as nimbly as I had seen him do twenty years ago. Ask
him how he is. His answer almost invariably is, “Comfortable,
comfortable.” He has none of the pains and aches of other men. We
think it remarkable. But really, this is the way all men ought to
die – with old age, and not prematurely by disease. Unfortunately,
the evil is traced back to the third and fourth generation.
LETTER FROM REV. HUBBEL LOOMIS
To the Union College Alumni in Chicago, dated April 10, 1871
Source: Alton Telegraph, May 5, 1871
“The sound of Union College is pleasant to my ear, recalling
associations which now in my extreme age, born May 03, 1775, are
somewhat exhilarating. If my heart continues to beat, it will be
with the alumni at the table April 25, but my body cannot be, as it
is more nearly akin to the grave than to the social circle. Herein
find $4, however, for a plate at the festival table. My ordinary
freedom from bodily pain is all I could ask for of God, but to get
abroad and lodge away from my old bedroom is impossible. Although I
cannot now talk in the ears of dear friends, I hope to meet them in
the better world, where spirits will freely communicate in language
of unmistakable perspicuity, and without the least stammer or
hesitancy. To tell the existing incidents of boyhood is mentioned in
your invitation to the dinner table, as one of the particulars which
may for a moment find a place. But the incidents of the closing part
of the eighteenth century, who can tell what to present first in it?
In 1797, I taught in Cherry Valley Academy with President Nott, and
roamed west into Springfield, Warren, and Richfield – then the far
west of New York. In 1810, I rode as a missionary to Angelina, three
miles from the Genesee River, and had repeated chats with Major
Cooper, who had cut a wagon track fifteen miles further, was
founding a town on the Alleghany River at Olean Point, but from
which to Lake Erie no horse path had been cut. In 1830, I moved to
Illinois, and in April 1832, I settled in Upper Alton and commenced
the Alton Seminary, now Shurtleff College, then bordering the far
West, and then I heard of some shanties being put up in Chicago,
known to a few as a place of Indian massacres. If then in poetic
hallucination a man had told what Chicago in forty years would
become, who would have lent a listening ear? Chicago, how changed,
how wonderfully changed! But literature, science, the topic of
college life, how wonderfully changed, how wonderful their advance,
and with what strides they now are advancing! Truly, what we shall
be, we know not now. Of what Illinois will become, we certainly hear
prophecies that show vigor of imagination. Chicago! Is it now the
city of colleges? How long before each of them will number its
graduates as did Union College under President Nott, and give them
breadth and symmetry like Berlin and Gottengen.
But I close, for my penmanship and style partake too much of old age
to be read with ease, or to be heard with pleasure. Wishing all the
friends at the table pleasure and profit long to be remembered.
Yours in the fellowship of Union College,
Hubbel Loomis
SHURTLEFF COLLEGE
Source: Alton Telegraph, June 21, 1872
On Wednesday, an important business meeting of the Board of Trustees
was held. From the report made by the financial agent, and from
other statements by members of the Board, it appeared that the
financial prospects of the institution are brightening. Especially
is the prospect for the future full of promise. A number of changes
were made in the officers of the Board. The following members, whose
term of office expired on that day, were re-elected for three years:
Messrs. J. L. Blair, Rev. M. D. Bevan, Richard Flagg, Thomas Hobson,
Washington Leverett, and David Pierson. Also, the following new
members were elected for three years: Rev. G. J. Johnson, D. D., of
Alton, and Rev. D. T. Morrell, and Messrs. E. B. Starkweather and G.
W. Ingalls, of St. Louis.
Vacancies in the class whose term expires in June 1873 were filled
by the election of Prof. Ebenezer Marsh Jr. of Alton, and Messrs. F.
J. Comstock and M. M. Manning of St. Louis.
The present officers of the Board are:
President – Rev. N. Butler
Recording and Corresponding Secretary – N. M. Wood
Treasurer – Washington Leverett
Auditor – D. D. Ryrie, Esq.
Executive Committee – Rev. A. A. Kendrick, John L. Blair, and E. W.
Pattison.
Trust Fund Committee – Richard Flagg, Washington Leverett, and
George K. Hopkins.
Curator of Grounds and Buildings – Washington Leverett.
ADDITION TO SHURTLEFF COLLEGE
Source: Alton Weekly Telegraph, June 20, 1873
The last number of the Qui Vive [paper of the Shurtleff College]
states that at the meeting of the Board of Trustees of Shurtleff
College, held on June 11, "most of the afternoon session was
devoted to the discussion of the proposition of Mr. H. N. Kendall to
sell his private residence to the College for the special use of the
ladies' department, and the conclusion at length was unanimously
reached to accept the offer. The building, with ten acres of ground,
have accordingly been purchased for $20,000. The purchase money is
made up by a donation of $10,000 from Mr. E. Gove of Quincy, and
$10,000 owed to the college by Mr. Kendall, including his original
subscription of $7,500 to the President's chair." This splendid
property formerly known as "Rural Park Seminary," being already
fitted up with a large number of dormitories and all the necessary
appliances of an educational institution, can be occupied at once.
It is surrounded by the most delightful grounds of any institution
in the west. This addition to the facilities of the college is
justly regarded as most valuable and important.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN EDWARDS
Board Member of Rock Spring Seminary; Trustee of Shurtleff College
Source: Alton Telegraph, May 03, 1877
Dr. Edwards was a distinguished practitioner of medicine for over
fifty years in this section of Illinois and in St. Louis. He was a
prominent member of the Baptist Denomination. He was a warm friend
of the cause of education, and did much to further its progress,
especially in the early history of the State. He was for a number of
years one of the most efficient trustees of Shurtleff College, and
prior to that, of Alton Seminary and Rock Spring Seminary, of which
institutions Shurtleff College is the successor. His practical
identification with the educational interests of the State,
therefore, dates back to 1827, the year in which Rock Spring
Seminary was founded. With him passes away the sole survivor of the
Rock Spring Board. His eminent and useful career, extending over a
period of nearly three score years of active labor, was
distinguished by benevolence, philanthropy, and devotion to the best
interests of the State and community in which he lived. Among the
early pioneers of Illinois none are more worthy of honor and
grateful remembrance. It is given to few men to live such a life as
he lived, or to make a more permanent imprint on the formative age
of a great commonwealth.
NEW CHAPEL AT SHURTLEFF COLLEGE
Source: Alton Telegraph, April 26, 1883
The new building which was commenced by the Shurtleff College
authorities on July 4, 1882, will be finished in a few days. It is
50x60 feet on the ground, and occupies part of the north end of the
old foundation which has been an eyesore to passersby for so many
years. The new building is of brick, with four recitation rooms,
22x24, on the ground floor, which are finished in hardwood and with
blackboards all round. In the second story is an elegant hall,
40x60, to be seated with 320 opera chairs of the most approved
pattern, with dressing room and a stage ample enough for any parlor
drama or dialogue. The entire building will be warmed by two Lotz
furnaces, furnished by Pitts and Hamill of Alton. The doors and
blinds are of hardwood, walnut, oak, ash, etc. The building is
surmounted by a slate roof, and entered from the west through a
paved portico supported by iron columns of the Corinthian order. The
work was planned and superintended by Mr. O. G. Stelle, and reflects
great credit upon his taste and skill. The building costs $9,500,
and the heating apparatus $500.
FEMALES ACCEPTED AT SHURTLEFF COLLEGE FOR THE FIRST TIME
Source: Alton Telegraph, June 10, 1886
A few years ago, the catalogue of Shurtleff College announced a
startling innovation in its educational course: “By vote of the
Trustees, young ladies will hereafter e admitted to the college
classes on the same terms as young gentlemen.” The ladies accepted
the invitation, and seem to have gone beyond the bounds anticipated
by the trustees. They came conquering and to conquer. In fact, they
seem to have captured the institution. There were seven graduates at
the commencement today, five of whom were ladies, and the highest
honors were awarded to a lady. The ladies graduating this year were:
Mary L. Abbott, Mamie Taggart, Hattie L. Yerkes, Lilian Blair, and
Alice E. Gillham. Gentlemen graduating were: Mr. C. C. Hall and Mr.
E. G. Knight. The valedictorian was Mamie Taggart.
SHURTLEFF COLLEGE GRADUATION
Source: Alton Telegraph, June 12, 1890
What has been in some respects the best year in the history of
Shurtleff College closed on Thursday with the customary graduation
exercises by the senior class. The class of 1890 is composed of six
gentlemen and two ladies: George William Gibbens, Barry, Illinois;
Lucy Leverett Greene, Upper Alton; Edward George Hill, Liberty
Prairie; Valentine Hites, Ferry, Iowa; Harry Eugene Lemen, Upper
Alton; Manning Mayfield, St. Louis; Harry Clendenin Reynolds, Upper
Lake, California; Fitz Warren Thompson, Lakeport, California.
The day was perfect, the rain of the previous evening having laid
the dust and tempered the heat. The Baptist Church, in which the
exercises were held, was crowded with the audience that had been
assembling since an early hour. At 9:30, the students, faculty, and
trustees, escorted by the pupils of Wyman Institute and headed by
the Shurtleff cornet band, marched from the college chapel to the
church, where the exercises of the morning were opened by an
invocation by Rev. Dr. Cook, president of LaGrange College,
LaGrange, Missouri.
Mr. Reynolds delivered naturally and easily his oration entitled
“The Genesis and Growth of the State,” in which he traced and
discussed the process by which, out of primal forms, through a
series of evolutions and revolutions grew the modern republican
government. Mr. Reynold’s manner is modest, and perhaps lacking
somewhat in the fire that warms the audience as well as the orator,
but is happily free from the slightest taint of affectation.
At the close of the exercises Thursday morning, the Osborn
scholarship medal was conferred upon Miss Lucy L. Greene, and the
Mills Rhetorical medal upon Miss Manning Mayfield. In the evening
occurred the alumnae levee at the residence of President Kendrick,
which was largely attended.
SHURTLEFF COLLEGE GRADUATES
Source: Alton Telegraph, June 11, 1891
Nature smiled on Shurtleff College today, and from the stormy
weather of last night came a radical change. Brightest sunshine
beamed forth, and the air was redolent of the perfume of flowers.
The Baptist Church in Upper Alton was crowded to overflowing with
friends of the graduates. A procession, headed by the college band,
formed on the campus and marched to the church, followed by the
Wyman Institute boys, the students of the college, the young ladies
of the annex, and the faculty of the college. Exercises were
commenced by the invocation being asked by Rev. H. C. First. Miss
Lauretta E. Murphy delivered the salutatory address. It was
delivered in Latin, and as the Telegraph reported failed to provide
himself with a Latin dictionary, most of the beauty of thought was
wasted on the desert air, so far as the reporter was concerned. The
Valedictory was delivered by Miss Anna Taggart. The degree of A. B.
was conferred on Miss Anna Taggart, and the degree, Ph. B., on the
other members of the class by President A. A. Kendrick. Misses May
Van Hooser and Alwine Mueller were given certificates of graduation
from the music school, and Miss Emily Judd was declared graduated
from the school of art. Miss Judd is the first graduate from this
department.
SHURTLEFF COLLEGE
Source: Alton Telegraph, September 10, 1891
We are glad to say Shurtleff College has had a very auspicious
opening this season, the number of pupils now in attendance being
280, about eighty of whom are new. The accommodations in the college
for ladies has been taxed almost to their full capacity, there being
room for but two more. Thursday of next week has been set for the
formal opening of the musical department, at which time Professor
Armstrong will be assisted by Miss Griswold, assistant director,
Mrs. C. B. Rohland of Alton, and others. The date was fixed thus
distant that there might be no possible necessity for a
postponement.
SHURTLEFF COLLEGE – 56th GRADUATION
Source: Alton Telegraph, June 8, 1893
For the 56th time, Shurtleff College has graduated a class of
students, and each year adds new lustre to the college as an
educational institution which under able directors has become an
institute of which Illinois is proud. The day dawned clear and
beautiful, extending an invitation which was accepted by a throng of
people who congregated in the Baptist Church. The directors and
faculty occupied positions on the stage, and promptly at 10 o’clock
the graduates appeared. The program was opened with a prayer by Rev.
R. Crosby. Prof. W. D. Armstrong then rendered an organ solo from
Beethoven in a masterly manner.
The Salutario was delivered in Latin by Miss Lucy E. Smith, with a
grace and beauty of language that showed not only her persistent
labors as a student, but a high order of mental attainments. Mr. J.
I. Owen delivered the Valedictory address. He bade farewell to his
classmates and teachers in a most beautifully worded speech.
President Adin A. Kendrick conferred the diplomas on the graduates,
and addressing them said, “The watch word of life is duty. The end
of your college career is but the commencement of the stern
realities of life. Life is obedient to duty, and the persistency
with which you follow the duties which you are to commence will mark
your success. Whatever you undertake, do not fail to accomplish for
want of persistency, although your cherished ambitions you may not
reach.” Dr. Kendrick then wished them a happy future, the largest
and fullest success, and conferred the diplomas. Degress were
conferred as follows: Bachelor of Arts: J. I. Owen, J. J. Roach, J.
H. Coulter. Bachelor of Philosophy: Alice M. Zearing, Lucie E.
Smith, C. C. Titcomb. Master of Arts: Lucy L. Green, Harry R. Lemen.
Doctor of Philosophy: J. Z. S. Havwood. Certificates of graduation
from the School of Art were given to Misses Cora Conn, Sophia
Sanner, and Emma Louise Hardick. A certificate of graduation in
vocal music was given to Miss Cora Conn, and certificates from the
theological department were given to Jerome Campbell and J. V.
Carter. The Osborne medal for the highest standing was awarded to
Mr. J. I Owen, and the Castle Rhetorical medal for the highest
scholarship in Rhetoric was awarded to Mr. J. H. Coulter. A
benediction followed, and concluded the program.
SHURTLEFF COLLEGE
Source: Alton Telegraph, September 14, 1893
Shurtleff College threw open its doors Thursday for the ensuing
year, which promises to be very successful. The opening exercises
were held in College Chapel, to which the many friends of the
institution in Alton and Upper Alton were invited. All the
departments are well filled.
The Business College is in charge of Professor M. W. Blankinship,
recently of Decatur Business University. Under his able tutelage,
the students have increased facilities for securing excellent
business educations.
The School of Music, another of the special departments, is in
charge of Professor W. D. Armstrong, whose talent need no commenting
upon. Miss Crilla McDearmon has been secured as Instructor in Vocal
music. She has been very successful in voice culture, and those who
are trained in this branch will be assured of receiving instruction
of high order.
Professor Paul E. Harney of Upper Alton will have charge of the Art
Department. Mr. Harney, as an artist, is gaining fresh laurels each
season, and the students in this branch of the institution will
receive excellent instructions. Everything points an unusually
successful year.
SHURTLEFF COMMENCEMENT
Source: Alton Telegraph, June 14, 1894
Made to order was the universal comment as anxious eyes were turned
toward the smiling morn. Surely no fairer day, nor more propitious
was ever launched upon the ____ of time – for a dozen young men and
maidens the “day of days” – the day for which all other days were
made. The air cooled and cleared by the recent rains was fragrant
with the breath of flowers, while the imagination needed hardly a
tension to suggest to the ear “the murmur of low fountains that gush
forth in the midst of roses.”
A procession led by the cadets of the Western Military Academy,
fifty strong, came to the Baptist Church from the old college across
the street. Radiant in their shiningly be-buttoned uniforms of
regulation color and cut. Following their brisk military step came
the students, faculty, and trustees of Shurtleff. The exercises were
introduced by an organ solo by Professor W. D. Armstrong. After the
invocation, Mr. W. H. Fuller greeted the immense audience which had
crowded behind the procession, filling the large auditorium to its
utmost capacity, in a Latin Salutatory, which may have been full of
invective, but whose courteous tone and pleasant delivery impressed
his hearers delightfully. Rev. W. W. Boyd, D.D., of St. Louis,
delivered the address of the day, giving a graceful tribute to the
President Rev. Dr. Kendrick. Mr. W. J. Beaven’s valedictory was a
choice bit of composition, viewed either from a literary or an
artistic standpoint.
The graduates from the literary department were: H. R. Chapman,
Hoopston, Illinois; H. R. Greaves, St. Louis; W. H. Fulton, Lake
Geneva, Wisconsin; A. G. Mizell, New Burnside, Illinois; C. N.
Kendrick, Upper Alton; H. A. Titcomb, Brooklyn, New York; and Miss
Anna E. Wempen, Alton.
The graduates from the scientific department were: W. J. Beaven,
Tacoma, Washington, Miss Nellie G. Scott, Payson, Illinois; and F.
H. First, Upper Alton.
SHURTLEFF COLLEGE NEWS
Source: Alton Telegraph, September 27, 1894
Shurtleff College dormitory, chapel, and ladies’ dormitory are being
wired for incandescent lights. The dormitory will be heated by
steam, proposals for that change being now under consideration by
the Executive Committee.
The dilapidated fence around the college campus is soon to be
replaced by a neat rail of gas pipe.
SHURTLEFF COLLEGE
Address by Prof. J. Archy Smith
Source: Alton Telegraph, September 19, 1895
The sixty-ninth year’s work at the college began Thursday. The
opening exercises were held in the Chapel Hall. Dr. DeBlois occupied
a few minutes in calling attention to the new plans for this year’s
work. After this, the speaker of the morning, Prof. J. Archy Smith
of the University of Chicago, and Professor of Mathematics this year
at Shurtleff, was introduced. The subject of his inaugural address
was “The History and Mission of Mathematics.” He spoke of
mathematics not in relation to modern appliances, but as the builder
of thought. The first real school of mathematics was founded by the
Greeks. The most noted of its members was Thales. The next noted
school was that of Pythagoras, consisting of two departments, the
listeners and mathematician. In the year 420 B.C., the school at
Athens was founded, but the greatest school was that founded at
Alexandria by Ptolemy in 300 B.C., with a library of 600,000 rolls
within forty years. No other important advancement was made in
geometry for 1800 years. The last school of note was the Hypatian at
Alexandria. The school of Constantinople then became the center of
learning and remained so for 800 years.
CLASS RIVALRY AT SHURTLEFF
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, December 8, 1900
Class rivalry has been at white heart at Shurtleff the past week
between the Freshmen on one hand and the Sophomores and Seniors on
the other. The Freshmen had the audacity, according to the views of
the other classmen, to float a flag from the lightning rod on the
belfry of the dormitory, after infinite trouble and the danger of
breaking the necks of the boys who placed it there. The other
classmen vowed it should come down, and the Freshmen defended it by
several of them sleeping on the trap door leading to the belfry and
guarding it by day. Yesterday the two older classes attempted to
remove the flag and they took it down, but in a struggle with the
Freshmen were compelled to restore the flag to the Freshmen.
President McKay took a hand and has ended the rivalry.
GHOST DANCERS OUT IN FULL FORCE LAST NIGHT
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, September 26, 1901
The ghost dancers from the dormitory were out in full force last
night and succeeded in "making night hideous" for various members of
the Shurtleff faculty and cottage girls. They even made a call of
the Western Military Academy, sounding the call for fire on the
bugle, and after rousing a number of people over there, they gave
the college yell and departed.
DEATH OF DR. ADIN A. KENDRICK
Former President of Shurtleff College
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, April 7, 1902
Dr. Adin A. Kendrick, one of the best-known college men of the West,
former President of Shurtleff College, and at the time of his death
honorary dean of the theological school, died at 3:45 o'clock this
afternoon at his home in Upper Alton. Death was probably due to
apoplexy, from which he had been a sufferer over one year. He was in
the home, and no one but Mrs. Kendrick was with him. Mrs. Kendrick
found him lying on the floor of a back room of the house, where he
had fallen a few minutes before. Dr. Kendrick became President of
Shurtleff in 1872, and continued as President of the school until
1894, when he resigned and was succeeded by Rev. Dr. Austen K.
DeBlois, who is now in Elgin. Dr. Kendrick has ever since been an
adviser of the institution, and was dean of the theological school
until he was stricken with apoplexy. His health made retirement
compulsory, but he remained the nominal head of that department. His
last year was passed in quiet and rest. Dr. Kendrick was in his 67th
year. He came to Shurtleff as president after closing a successful
pastorate of the Beaumont street Baptist church of St. Louis. When
he gave up the presidency, he resumed preaching and went to the
Emmanuel Baptist church of St. Louis, where he remained five years.
He leaves besides his widow, five children: A. J. Kendrick of Fort
Smith, Arkansas; C. J. Kendrick of Waverly, Illinois; E. A. Kendrick
of Buffalo; Mrs. R. C. Dennison of Janesville, Wisconsin; and Miss
Mary Kendrick, who is now in Boston.
Tribute of a Friend and Co-Worker in Shurtleff's Cause
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, April 8, 1902
Adin A. Kendrick was born in Ticonderoga, N. Y., January 7, 1830.
His father and grandfather were physicians, the latter, Dr. Adin
Kendrick, in Poultney, Vermont. The family in its various branches
embraced many representatives of prominence in the professions of
medicine, law and theology; among them were Rev. Clark Kendrick of
Vermont, Rev. Ariel Kendrick of New Hampshire, Rev. Nathaniel
Kendrick, D. D., one of the founders and the first President of
Madison (now Colgate) University at Hamilton, N. Y., and Prof. A. C.
Kendrick, D. D., the noted Greek scholar, for many years a member of
the faculty of Rochester University. Dr. Kendrick's early education
was received at Granville Academy, Washington county, N. Y. His
tastes for intellectual pursuits were developed at an early age.
When twelve years old he was amply fitted for college, and was only
delayed from entering by ill health. His college training was
received at Middlebury College, Vermont, where he graduated with
honor. Having chosen the profession of law, he was admitted to the
bar, and practiced one year in Wisconsin and one year in St. Louis.
White at the latter place, he became convinced of his duty to devote
his life to the gospel ministry, and although the practice of law
was a delight to him, he deliberately turned from it, and entered
upon a theological course at Rochester University. Graduating here
in 1861, he went to Chicago as pastor of the North Baptist church.
In January 1865 he accepted the appointment of assistant pastor of
the Second Baptist church, St. Louis. A year and a half later, he
assumed pastoral charge of the Beaumont street Baptist church of
that city, where he continued until his election to the Presidency
of Shurtleff College in June 1872. Dr. Kendrick's life was one
devoted to the Master, whose cause he had espoused at the early age
of 14 years, at which time he united with the Baptist church in
Granville, N. Y. This devotion was shown in the abandonment of his
first choice for a profession, and the touchstone of his life has
ever been the call of duty. While attaining eminence as an orator,
an educator and an administrator of many and varied trusts, Dr.
Kendrick was above all a preacher. He never lost sight of his duty
in this regard; nor for a moment laid aside his work of preaching
the gospel, even in the midst of duties both exacting and
distracting. And those who have heard his sermons will long remember
the marvelous clearness of statement that characterized them,
revealing a mind of legal trend directed to the proclamation of
divine truth. Dr. Kendrick's tenure of the Presidency of Shurtleff
College covered a period of twenty-two years. To this institution he
gave the best of his life, and surely he accomplished a magnificent
work. His labors while here were not only productive of much
physical good to the college in respect of equipment and growth, but
his life was a constant inspiration to the hundreds of young people
who came under his touch and learned to love him. Feeling a drawing
towards active pastoral work once more, Dr. Kendrick resigned the
Presidency of Shurtleff in June 1894, accepting a call to the
pastorate of the Immanuel Baptist Church, St. Louis. After five
years of service in this field, he returned to Shurtleff in
September 1899 as Dean of the Theological Faculty, a position which
he has held till the present time. During the vacancy of the
presidential chair between the administrations of Dr. De Blois and
Dr. McKay, Dr. Kendrick was Chairman of the Board of Control. He has
been for thirty years intimately identified with every hour of
Shurtleff's life, and many of her sons and daughters will mourn his
loss as that of a father, while his associates will sadly miss his
valued counsel. Possessing a mind of peculiar powers of analysis, he
was quick to plan, and always ready to embrace the opportunity for
progressive action. It was a peculiarity of his that no emergency
found him unprepared. He planned not only for the probably, but as
well for the possible advantage of the interests under his
direction. Dr. Kendrick was among the foremost theologians and
educators of the West, with the modesty of true greatness, but
fearless in defense of the right. His uniform courtesy won him the
esteem of all, and those who best knew the man will mourn most
deeply the death of the scholar. The educational world has lost an
accomplished instructor; the church has lost a faithful exponent of
God's truth; the State has lost a citizen of honor and prominence;
but these, his neighbors and associates, have lost a friend - one
who has let slip no opportunity so to prove himself during the years
of his life among them. No bells will be rung at Shurtleff College
until after Dr. Kendrick's funeral, and the college will be in
mourning. Tuesday morning President McKay spoke at the chapel
services, taking for his subject Dr. Kendrick's life and career. A
memorial service will probably be held Sunday, in which the public
may be invited to join. Mrs. Kendrick desires that the funeral be as
unostentatious as possible, as she believes Dr. Kendrick would have
so desired it, but owing to his prominence as a public man it is
probably that there will be a large outpouring of his old friends
and young ones too. The time of the funeral is not definitely set,
but it may be held Thursday afternoon.
In His Last Long Slumber
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, April 10, 1902
In the sleep into which he peacefully and quickly fell last Monday
afternoon, Adin A. Kendrick, Baptist minister, president of
Shurtleff for nearly a quarter of a century, scholarly gentleman and
consistent follower of his Master, was laid away this afternoon in
Oakwood, to sleep until the advent of the great day which he has so
confidently preached the greater part of his lifetime. His leaving
this earth was just as he would have wished, cut down while he was
closing his period of active usefulness. The funeral was the
occasion of a gathering of notable people of the college alumni and
friends of Dr. Kendrick. The funeral services of Dr. A. A. Kendrick
were held this afternoon at the family home at 2 o'clock and at the
Upper Alton Baptist church at 3 o'clock. Only the family and
intimate friends attended the services at the home. Rev. L. M.
Waterman conducted this service, taking for his text Proverbs 27:9,
"Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart, so doth the sweetness of a
man's friend." Mr. Waterman made a beautiful application of this
text to the life and character of Dr. Kendrick. At 3 o'clock the
funeral party reached the Baptist church, where a large company of
people were assembled. President S. A. McKay of Shurtleff conducted
this service. He took for his text: 2nd Samuel 3:38: "Know ye not
that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel?"
Many present remembered that Dr. Kendrick used this same text when
he preached the funeral sermon of Dr. Charles Fairman, for many
years a Professor in Shurtleff College, and they were reminded of
the fact that many of the men with whom Dr. Kendrick was associated
had passed on before him. Dr. McKay's eulogy of Dr. Kendrick was
both eloquent and thoughtful. The students and faculty of Shurtleff
marched in a body to the church, where they formed in line and
waited for the funeral party to pass in. The music was under the
direction of Prof. W. D. Armstrong, who presided at the organ. The
music was by a double quartet composed of Mrs. Thomas, Mrs.
Waggoner, Mrs. Neff, Miss Cushing, Prof. Ray, Messrs. Worley,
Wightman and Edwards. The floral offerings were beautiful. A large
number of friends from a distance attended the services. Among them
were Mr. and Mrs. Justin Kendrick and two daughters, of Webster
Groves; William Watson and Mrs. William Nolte of St. Louis; Rev.
George Steele of Ironton, Mo., of the theological class of 1884; Mr.
Neece and daughter, Miss Minnie, of Waverly; M. W. Weir of
Belleville; Rev. and Mrs. S. A. Bemis, Rev. Dr. W. W. Boyd, of St.
Louis; Rev. H. H. Branch of Carbondale. The funeral was the largest
ever known in this vicinity, and the general expressions of personal
grief best showed the feeling of bereavement which has befallen the
Shurtleff College circles, and the entire community in the death of
Dr. Kendrick.
LETTER WRITTEN BY STUDENT IN 1848 FOUND IN CEILING ABOVE DORMITORY
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, August 15, 1902
The work of repairing the college dormitory has brought many
interesting facts to light about former habituer of the dormitory,
but the most interesting find this season was made the other day. A
new ceiling is being placed in the room now used by the Commercial
Department, and as the workmen were tearing the old lath and
plaster, they found a glass bottle tightly corked which held a
paper. The bottle was turned over to President McKay, and when
broken, was found to contain the following bit of ancient history:
"This is in memory of ancient times. Be it known to all persons who
may happen to light on this Mss., that I, S. G. Russell, did write
this in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and
forty-eight. And, be it known, that I am at college; that I inhabit
Green County, Bluffdale, State of Illinois, and that James K. Polk
is President of the United States, and that there has been a
revolution in France, and that all Europe is in arms for Liberty;
that I am a Whig and so is a majority at this college, and that
Henry Clay is now the supposed candidate for the presidency,
although some surmise Z. Taylor. The war with Mexico is over,
General Shields has been in town and county. S. G. Russell, Onho
Domini, 1848."
The paper on which the above was written is rather heavy, blue
tinted paper with an anchor entwined with snakes on the upper
left-hand corner. The bottle that held it had Sand's Sarsaparilla
[soft drink] in raised letters, which is said to have been a popular
medicine of that time. It is probable that no one here now remembers
S. G. Russell, but reminiscences from him, if he is alive, would
certainly be interesting.
ANDREW CARNEGIE TO GIVE $15,000 FOR LIBRARY
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, March 5, 1907
Andrew Carnegie, who says it is a crime to die rich, has promised to
give Shurtleff College $15,000, which will be half the cost of a
proposed library building. The college must raise $15,000 and
Carnegie will give the remainder. The promise to give this sum to
Shurtleff is the result of long correspondence which began last
April. Andy Carnegie, the canny Scot, had one objection to giving
any money to Shurtleff. He had heard that the college was educating
too many students free of charge, and with the thrift characteristic
of his people, Carnegie entered a vigorous protest against it. He
told college President Riggs, who has been carrying on the
correspondence, that he did not believe in educating anyone free of
charge, as he seemed to believe Shurtleff was doing with most of its
students, and he expressed a belief that the students should pay.
President Riggs had considerable difficulty in persuading Carnegie
that the system being followed by Shurtleff with regard to divinity
students who were unable to help themselves, or students of any
other denomination than Baptists, was perfectly proper and was doing
a good work among a class of young men who would have something to
show for their advantages and benefactions later on. Carnegie at
last agreed to waive his objections, and the sum will be forthcoming
as soon as Shurtleff can raise her share.
Dr. Riggs said that he is confident that the college will have an
endowment fund of $150,000 to announce by commencement season.
Another attempt will be made to get something from Rockefeller, who
is giving large sums to Baptist colleges. Rockefeller, it is said by
a former trustee of Shurtleff, formed a bad opinion of Shurtleff
College through an incognito visit he made there many years ago. He
is said to have registered at the Madison Hotel as "John Davis," and
then went to Shurtleff College to make a personal inspection. He
found the president of the institution, at that time, working as a
day laborer. It was the practice of the then president to get some
physical exercise by doing hard work to keep his health in good
trim. "John Davis," as he was then, snorted, sniffed and turned
around and left the place. It has been a very difficult task to
remove the hasty impression he gathered through that incognito
visit. It is hoped, however, that it will be possible to remove the
bad impression by showing that it is not the custom of the college
president to earn his salary by doing a day laborer's work, and that
the president of Shurtleff College is very much like other college
presidents.
NOTES:
Shurtleff College in Upper Alton was founded by Rev. John Mason Peck
in 1832. He first founded Rock Spring Seminary on his farm near
O’Fallon, Illinois, and moved his college to Upper Alton in 1832,
calling it first Alton Seminary. The name changed to Shurtleff
College after a large financial donation was made by Benjamin
Shurtleff, who lived in the East.
Andrew Carnegie was a wealthy Scottish philanthropist, who made his
money in the steel industry. During the last 18 years of his life,
he gave away $350 million (about $65 billion in 2019 dollars) to
charities, foundations, and universities, which amounted to almost
90 percent of his fortune. The new library at Shurtleff College,
named Carnegie Library, was erected in 1912, and still stands at the
corner of College and Seminary in Upper Alton. It is now part of the
SIUE Dental School.
ROBERT T. LINCOLN ASKS FOR COPY OF FATHER'S PAINTING
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, August 8, 1910
Robert T. Lincoln, son of Abraham Lincoln, has written to the
regents of Shurtleff college for a photographic copy of a large oil
painting of his father, which has hung for many years in Shurtleff
college chapel. The painting was made from life, evidently before
the day when Lincoln was president, by A. J. Conant, now living or
supposed to be alive in New York City. Mr. Conant belonged to a
family which formerly lived in Upper Alton, and it is said that
Lincoln sat for the picture at Springfield. It shows Lincoln without
the beard. The son had evidently heard of the picture being in
Shurtleff college, and he wants to see a copy of it. Dr. Ray will
have a photograph made and will send it to the only son of Abraham
Lincoln. Mr. Conant was prominent as an artist and was connected
with Shurtleff college fifty years ago. The painting is fully fifty
years of age. It is believed to have been made about the time of the
Lincoln-Douglas debates.
NOTE: In 1860, Alban Jasper Conant was commissioned to paint Abraham
Lincoln's portrait at Springfield, Illinois, a few weeks prior to
elections. Entering Lincoln's office, he saw Lincoln standing at the
far end of the room, surrounded by friends and enjoying a pleasant
conversation. Up to this time, Conant had seen only newspaper
pictures and poor photographs which exaggerated Lincoln's rugged
features. Conant decided then and there to do his upmost to paint
the beaming expression of a smiling Lincoln.
The next morning at the appointed time for the painting, Conant
found Lincoln sitting at a table with a large quantity of mail,
writing and dictating to his secretary. His appearance was no longer
smiling, but somber. Conant took time to talk to Lincoln, mentioning
the debate with Stephen Douglas, his store keeping experiences, and
how he became a lawyer. Conant was helped by frequent visitors who
sat behind him, keeping up the animated conversation. Following the
completion of Lincoln's portrait, Mrs. Lincoln was very pleased. She
stated, "O that is excellent, the best that has been taken, he looks
there as he does when he has his friends about him. I hope that he
will look like that after the second of November (Election Day)."
The portrait, called "Smiling Lincoln," hung at Shurtleff College,
and later became the property of the Southern Illinois University,
Edwardsville, when the college purchased Shurtleff for their dental
school, although this was done in mistake as the painting was not
included in the sale.] Source: St. Louis Arts and Artists
FIRE DESTROYS HOME OF CO-EDS AT SHURTLEFF
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, November 29, 1912
Fire destroyed the Martha Wood Cottage, the home of the Shurtleff
College co-eds, Thanksgiving afternoon. The cause of the fire is not
thoroughly established, and it is attributed to the heating plant,
although there was practically no fire in it, the building having
been vacated by all its tenants for the holiday. President Potter
said that he believed the furnace did start the fire, but that the
flames must have long smoldered before breaking out. The peculiar
feature of the fire was that the furnace is in one corner of the
building and the flames burst forth in the corner diagonally
opposite, showing the fire had traveled a long distance before
making itself manifest. The building, which was erected by private
subscription in 1888, was of brick, two stories in height, and
although there was nobody in the place, the girls had left much of
their clothing in the building while they went away to spend
Thanksgiving. The loss to students will be heavy.
PAINTER OF LINCOLN PORTRAIT, WHICH HANGS AT SHURTLEFF COLLEGE, IS
DEAD
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, February 6, 1915
Press dispatches have carried news of the death of Alban Jasper
Conant, in the 94th year, at his home in New York Thursday. The
death of Mr. Conant is of unusual interest to Alton people, in that
he lived here many years ago, and one of his most celebrated
paintings, the portrait of Abraham Lincoln, now hanging in Shurtleff
College, is known to many Alton people. Mr. Conant has lived with
his daughter, Mrs. Carrie Conant Smith in New York. A few years ago,
when failing eyesight caused him to give up painting, the daughter
of the old man sent for Paul Harney of Alton, to go east and paint
some pictures the aged man was vainly trying to make. There was
nothing but hideous daubs to show on the canvass where the old
painter was trying to put the results of what he believed was his
old-time skill. To make the pictures presentable, the Alton artist
was employed and he finished them. He had painted many historic
pictures as well as portraits of famous men. The picture of Lincoln
hanging in Shurtleff college is one of the few paintings from life,
and is of great value. Mr. Conant was a student of archaeology, and
in the early days he made many researches in the vicinity of Alton
to bring to light long buried relics. He wrote a book on the subject
"Footprints of Vanished Races of the Mississippi Valley." Conant's
death was unexpected, as he was around as usual the day before the
end came. Beside his daughter he leaves one son, A. J. Conant Jr.
OLDEST COLLEGE IN THE WEST WILL BE 92 YEARS OLD
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, December 30, 1918
Shurtleff College, founded by John M. Peck, will be 92 years old on
Wednesday - New Year's Day. The college was organized at Rock
Spring, Illinois, and the first board of trustees for the
institution was formed on New Year's Day, 1827. The college
continued in existence five years from that date, and was then moved
to Upper Alton, where it has continued ever since. The 92nd
commencement of Shurtleff College will be held next spring.
SHURTLEFF SCHOOL OF MUSIC
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, September 7, 1900
First term begins Monday, September 17. A high standard of
instruction will be maintained by the management, and the different
courses of study broadened and extended. Mr. William Dawson Armstrong,
President of the Illinois State Music Teachers' Association, will
continue to have charge of the department. The following
testimonials will show the standing of the school:
"One of the well-known schools of the West," Music Review, Boston,
Massachusetts.
"Mr. W. D. Armstrong is a musician of exceptional ability; his
compositions have won great celebrity." The Etude.
"An excellent organist, one of Dr. Garrett's pupils." London Musical
Times.
"Interesting and effective performer and composer." Mr. Clarence
Eddy, Paris, France.
"A composer and organist of note." Chicago Tribune.
"An eminent teacher and pianist." Mr. Charles Kimball.
JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER VISITS SHURTLEFF COLLEGE INCOGNITO
Source: Utica, New York Observer, March 7, 1907
College President Refused to See Him When He Called Incognito
Andrew Carnegie's conditional gift of $15,000 to Shurtleff College
in Upper Alton, Illinois, has revealed the fact that John D. Rockefeller
had previously visited the school, incognito, while efforts were
being made to obtain a donation from him. The gift of Carnegie is
expected to cause Rockefeller to contribute again. He gave Shurtleff
$15,000 a year ago. His later denial of support to Shurtleff, which
is a Baptist Institution, is believed to have been due to his
experiences while inspecting the school. When Rockefeller visited
Alton, he registered at The Madison Hotel as "John Davidson," using
his middle name for the last. He rode to Shurtleff College and asked
to be shown through the buildings. The president was busy and didn't
greet Rockefeller or accord him an interview. None learned until
long afterward that the quiet man, whom they had regarded as a
curious visitor, was the millionaire. Rockefeller's identity was
learned through a letter that came to the host addressed to John D.
Rockefeller.
SHURTLEFF COLLEGE
Source: Alton, Illinois - Reid's Brochure of a Notable American
City, by James Allan Rein, 1912
Shurtleff College was the outcome of promptings, principally, of the
heart and brain of the Rev. John M. Peck, one of those hardy,
courageous pioneer preachers who came West early in the last
century. He was an ardent Baptist who knew from personal experience
the desirability of a collegiate training in equipping one for
either a theological or other phase of professional life. To aid him
in his cherished desire he "went up and down the country" - to the
East a number of times on "horseback" - and succeeded finally in
establishing the college, after a temporary existence in St. Louis,
permanently in Upper Alton in 1836. It was named in honor of Dr.
Benjamin L. Shurtleff, a wealthy Boston physician, who subscribed
liberally towards it financing. The College is doing fine work, and
has had among its students many who have in after life been
distinguished, Gen. John Pope, a famous corps commander in the Union
Army, among them. It is conducted on the same general principles as
Brown, Yale, and Harvard in the East, the theological being an
elective and not a necessity in its curriculum.
SHURTLEFF COLLEGE
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, January 20, 1912
Shurtleff College in Upper Alton had its origin in a “theological
high school” known as Rock Spring Seminary, established in 1827 by
John Mason Peck, a man who was in many respects one of the most
remarkable men in the early history of Illinois. Leaving Litchfield,
Connecticut on July 25, 1817, he completed the 1,200-mile trip in a
small covered wagon, entering the Illinois Territory on November 6,
1817. From that date, until his death April 12, 1857, his mind and
pen and his rugged physique were all brought under tribute in the
interests of education. He was a mighty preacher, a far-seeing
business man, a convincing solicitor, and a devoted missionary. But
beyond this, he was an ardent advocate and untiring helper in the
cause of education.
During the forty years of his life in this region, he did much to
influence legislation in educational matters by editorial writing,
voluminous correspondence, and by his person work. He maintained the
conviction that “one prime essential for the religious welfare of
the West was the establishment of a seminary of a comprehensive and
unique character, where the elements of a good, thorough English
education should be open to all on very economic principles, and
where teachers of common schools could receive better instruction
than many of them had enjoyed, but especially where ministers of the
Gospel might be trained” for the work so much needed in this
rapidly-filling Illinois country.
The privilege was finally given him to see his conviction realized,
after he had spent nearly ten years in the service of God in varied
labors. In 1827, Rock Spring Theological High School was opened in
St. Clair County, to both male and female. The land, which was
donated by Mr. Peck, was located 18 miles east of St. Louis, on the
stage road to Vincennes and Louisville. The school began with an
attendance of 25, which in a few weeks increased to 100 pupils.
Nearly everything connected with the enterprise rested upon his
shoulders, and he was constantly performing the usual work of two or
three men, besides his preaching and mission agency, Bible and Tract
Society, and Sunday School work.
Early in September 1827, a boarding house was erected, and on
November 01, 1827, the Seminary was opened for the admission of
pupils. This was really the birth of Shurtleff College. Peck
surrounded himself with a corpse of teachers sufficient for the
demands of the school. An act of the Legislature incorporating the
infant seminary readily passed the lower house, but was defeated in
the Senate by the vote of a single anti-mission Baptist minister.
The first principal of Rock Spring Seminary was Rev. Joshua Bradley,
an honor graduate of Brown University, who gave a long life to the
establishment of schools and churches. On June 20, 1831, Dr.
Jonathan Going of Worcester, Massachusetts, who had been associated
with Mr. Peck in New England, arrived at the latter’s home in
Illinois. The two men devoted themselves for the next three months
to canvassing the problem of finding the most efficient way to
promote the work of home-evangelization. They traveled through
Illinois and contiguous States, and before they parted at
Shelbyville, Kentucky, in September, they agreed on the plan of the
American Baptist Home Mission Society. The two men also discussed
the future of the Seminary, and decided a site in Upper Alton would
be a good place to build a new and more imposing institution. During
the following year, the site was purchased. Dr. Benjamin F. Edwards,
who was later a member of the governing board of Rock Spring
Seminary and Alton Seminary, commented that “Rock Spring Seminary
was removed to Upper Alton, and there continued as Alton Seminary.”
Rev. Hubbel Loomis, a native of Connecticut, a man of liberal
education and scholarly tastes, had come to Illinois a few months
previous to the Seminary being moved to Upper Alton, and had
established a flourishing school in Kaskaskia. There, Mr. Peck met
him, and recognized his qualifications for the principalship of the
Alton school, and in 1832 Peck visited Loomis to persuade him to
close his Kaskaskia School and undertake the establishment of one in
Upper Alton. Mr. Loomis closed his school, and in April, moved his
family to Upper Alton. This preparatory school thus began in Upper
Alton, and was operated under the direction of Mr. Loomis for over a
year.
In 1831, Dr. Going visited Mr. Peck, and made the proposition to
remove his school from Rock Spring to Alton. The proposition was
accepted, but the exact date of the removal of Rock Spring Seminary
to Alton is unknown, and its merging with the Alton Seminary is not
of record. The Rock Spring Seminary was moved to Upper Alton and
combined with the Alton Seminary, consisting of some $300 or $400
worth of property, including the library of Rock Spring Seminary. In
1834, Mr. Peck wrote in his journal that he should go to the
Atlantic States, and collect funds for the Alton Seminary.
On June 4, 1832, a meeting was held at the dwelling house of Mr.
William Manning in Alton, attended by Messrs. Benjamin F. Edwards,
Hubbel Loomis, Enoch Long, Alvin Bailey, William Manning Jr., and
Stephen Griggs, “to take into consideration the establishment of a
Seminary as the foundation of a college.” Dr. Benjamin F. Edwards
was chosen Chairman, and Stephen Griggs, Secretary. Messrs. Long and
Edwards were authorized to negotiate for the purchase of a tract of
122 acres of land, which included the present college campus.
On July 7, 1832, Messrs. George Smith and Cyrus Edwards subscribed
to the articles of association previously subscribed by the seven
men attending the June meeting. These nine men each donated $125 in
cash for the use of the Seminary, and arranged to borrow, upon their
joint note, a sum sufficient to pay for the land.
In March 1833, the State Legislature granted a charter,
incorporating the seven men as the Trustees of Alton College of
Illinois. The charter provided that no Professor of Theology could
ever be employed at said college, nor any theological department be
in any way connected therewith, without rendering the act null and
void. The charter was not accepted. Measures were adopted to raise
$25,000 for buildings, salaries of professors, and the aid of
beneficiary students. The trustees proceeded to lay off streets,
town lots, and a college campus, and appointed and commissioned
agents to solicit funds and to enlist the cooperation of friends of
advanced education in the Eastern, Middle and Western States.
In the 1834-5 session of the Legislature, a new charter was granted
which, although not entirely satisfactory, was accepted on March 6,
1835. Hubbel Loomis was chosen President of the board, and William
Manning Jr., Secretary. John M. Peck, George Haskill, and Alfred W.
Cavarly were added to the Board of Trustees. Fifty acres of land
having been reserved to be held in trust, the remainder of the lands
of the Alton Seminary was transferred to the college.
In the meantime, Peck was representing the college in New York and
New England. He traveled almost 6,000 miles in eight months – nearly
the entire trip on horseback. Progress was slow, and his success was
varying, but increasing. On October 7, 1835, he wrote from Boston
that he had on the previous day an interview with Dr. Benjamin
Shurtleff of Boston, in which he had received a proposition for a
donation of $10,000 – one half for building purposes, and one half
to establish a professorship of rhetoric and elocution. Dr.
Shurtleff was a man of scholarly tastes – a graduate of Brown
University and Harvard Medical College.
In January 1836, the charter of the college was amended by changing
its name to “The Trustees of Shurtleff College of Alton, Illinois.”
In February 1841, the trustees were authorized to organize
additional departments for the study of any of the liberal
professions. Soon after this, all the property belonging to the
Seminary was transferred to the theological department of Shurtleff
College. Thus was the work of Mr. Peck at Rock Spring, of Mr. Loomis
at Kaskaskia, and of both at Alton.
At the preliminary meeting held on June 4, 1832, among other items
of business was the appointment of a committee to report a plan of
an academic building, at a cost of $800. This was later modified to
read $1,200. This building was made tenantable by the opening of the
1833-4 school year, but the upper story was not completed until
later. The building was later changed by the removal of the upper
floor. It was used as a Chapel for many years, and later a library.
The second building was the boarding house – a stone building
located opposite the campus, built in 1835-6. It served its
purposed, and passed out of the hands of the college before 1912.
During the Civil War, it was occupied for a time by the Government
as a recruiting headquarters. Later, it was purchased by Professor
O. L. Castle, who removed the old building and built a handsome
residence in its place.
On April 24, 1839, the trustees decided to erect a large building
that would serve the growing needs of the college for many years.
With the help of the experience of Dr. Peck, the four-story brick
building, containing 64 rooms, was erected. Mr. Zephaniah Lowe was
the contractor. In later years, hot water heating was added, which
replaced individual fireplaces or stoves. Bathrooms were added, and
the tall chimneys were removed. The old 8x10 glass in the windows
were replaced. An old bell, which used to swing over a popular
Mississippi River steamer, was hung on the building.
In about 1872, Shurtleff college was opened to young woman. In later
years, the chapel, gymnasium, girl’s dormitory, Martha Wood Cottage,
boarding hall, and science annex were erected as demands were met.
The new Carnegie Library was erected in 1912, and one building used
as a lady’s department for some years passed into other hands.
Shurtleff College ceased to exist on June 30, 1957, when it became
part of the Southern Illinois University. The students enrolled at
the time were allowed to continue their education, and the last
Shurtleff students (28 in number) graduated in 1958.