P. 364 EDUCATION IN ILLINOIS
FIRST AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS—BASIS OF ILLINOIS SYSTEM—
PRIMITIVE SCHOOL HOUSES—
CONVENTIONS TO ENCOURAGE PUBLIC EDUCATION—
BEST FRIENDS OF THE CAUSE—STATE LAW OF 1855—
PRESENT SYSTEM OF PUBLIC EDUCATION.
FIRST AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
A public school was established in Connecticut as early as 1639. The law on that subject required “the selectmen of every town to have a vigilant eye over their brethren and neighbors to teach, by themselves or others their children and apprentices so much learning as may enable them perfectly to read the English tongue.” Pennsylvania was noted from the earliest times as the colony of “log colleges,” because she gave attention to public education, which was carried on very largely in log school houses. A charter granted by Penn to the settlers in 1711 contained the following preamble: “Whereas, the prosperity and welfare of any people depend, in a great measure, upon the good education of the youth, and their early introduction in the principles of true religion, and qualifying them to serve their country and themselves by breeding them in reading, writing, and learning of languages and useful arts and sciences, suitable to their sex, age and degree—which can not be affected in any manner so well as by erecting Public Schools for the purposes aforesaid, etc., etc.” Maryland in 1723 passed an act “for the encouragement of learning, and erecting schools in the several counties in this province.” North Carolina in 1776 provided that “a school or schools should be established by the legislature for the convenient instruction of youth, with such salaries to the masters, paid by the public, as may enable them to instruct at low prices; and that all useful learning shall be encouraged in one or more communities. It would not be difficult to show that all public men of the later colonial period and of the early constitutional period heartily favored popular education. The “elastic clause” of the Constitution recites that congress shall have power to provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States. The general welfare could not be provided for in any way so effectively as in founding systems of popular, free education. The third article of the “Compact” in the Ordinance of 1787 reads: “Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall be forever encouraged.” The Constitution and the Ordinance were made in the summer of 1787 and both breathe the spirit of an educated, patriotic citizenship. Thomas Jefferson was not a member of either the congress of 1787 or of the constitutional convention, but there can be little doubt that the generous attitude of both these great state papers toward the cause of popular education was in perfect harmony with his private and public utterances on this subject. On one occasion Jefferson said: “I lo to the diffusion of light and education as the resources most to relied on ameliorating the condition, promoting the virtue, and a cing the happiness of man. . . . A system of general instruction, which shall reach every description of our citizens, P 366 from the richest to the poorest, as it was the earliest, so it shall be the latest of all public concerns in which I shall permit myself to take an interest.’’BASIS OF ILLINOIS SYSTEM
The Enabling Act for Illinois which was drafted by Nathaniel Pope contained a clause which gave the state of Illinois the section numbered 16 in each township for school purposes. In addition the act granted one township to the state for a seminary of learning. And again three percent of the sale of all public lands in Illinois was given to the state for educational purposes. The proceeds of the sale of the 16th section in each township helps to make a permanent school fund for that township, while the income from the three percent of the sale of public lands goes into the state ‘s permanent school fund. But it will be profitable in this connection to have our minds directed to the very beginnings of education in Illinois. It will be remembered that the French were in control in this territory from the early days of Marquette and La Salle to the close of the French and Indian war. From the reports of the missionary priests we gather that there was a form of education practiced in the very earliest times in the French and Indian settlements. It is probably true that nothing beyond the requirements pertaining to the doctrines of the church was required. It is true also that tradition has been persistent in declaring that there was a college founded in Kaskaskia about 1720, and that it flourished till the outbreak of the French and Indian war in 1754. This college was controlled by the Jesuits, and when this order was suppressed in France in 1764, this property of the order was confiscated in this country. The college buildings, a brewery, and a well stocked farm at Kaskaskia were all sold to the highest bidder. There was no educational activity in Illinois during the British rule — 1765 to 1778. But among the soldiers of George Rogers Clark there were men of some education and it was from this source that the first schools in the truest meaning sprang up. Many of the soldiers with Clark were men of families. When the war was over these men moved from their homes in Kentucky, Virginia, or the Carolinas into Southern Illinois and settled. Others came with them and from that time forward there was a constant stream of immigration into this region. Reynolds’ Pioneer History says that John Seeley taught a school in New Design, in Monroe county, in an abandoned squatter’s cabin, as early as 1783. There was no floor in the cabin. Poles and logs flattened with the axe served as seats and desks. Afterwards Francis Clark and an Irishman by the name of Halfpenny taught in the same locality. John Clark a Scotchman, a preacher of considerable ability and education followed the above named teachers. The latter Clark taught the higher branches and was without doubt a college bred man. John Doyle who had been a soldier with Gen. Clark returned to Illinois and taught school at Kaskaskia in 1790 and the years following. A Mr. Davis, an old sailor, taught school in 1816 in an old fort in Baldwin precinct in Randolph county. Madison county had a school as early as 1804. It was located about where Collinsville is now situated. It was taught by Mr. John Bradbury who was characterized as “faithful but not learned.” John Atwater opened a school near Edwardsville about 1807. Mr. Atwater P 367 was a New Englander. John Messenger, a noted pioneer of St. Clair county, was a school teacher as early as 1804. He taught at Shilo, a settlement five miles northeast of Belleville. The first schoolhouse in St. Clair was probably the one built at Shilo in 1811. All these schools and scores of others of which there is no record were subscription schools. The teachers charged a small fee for each pupil per month or quarter. In addition it was generally planned that the teacher should board in the homes of his patrons. There was little attempt beyond reading, writing, spelling, and simple calculation in arithmetic. The first general assembly of Indiana Territory, which included Illinois as it is today, passed an act in 1806 creating a university. Jesse B. Thomas, afterwards a very noted Illinoisan, was Speaker of the House and Pierre Menard was President of the Council. The bill provided for the transfer to this university of the township which the general government had given the future state. The bill also provided that twenty thousand dollars cash might be raised by a lottery for the immediate use of the university, and empowered it to hold not exceeding one hundred thousand acres of land, and to receive gifts. The trustees were named in the act and Gen. William Henry Harrison was president of the board of trustees. The university was located at Vincennes and is still a flourishing institution of learning. The territory of Illinois was separated from the Indiana Territory in 1809 and the university of Vincennes became an Indiana institution. Another act of the Indiana legislature before the separation was to authorize the Courts of Common Pleas in the several counties to locate the school lands in each county for a period not to exceed five years. This law was in force in Illinois after the separation of Illinois from Indiana. In 1816 the Illinois territorial legislature passed an act locating the township which the government had agreed to give the state to support a seminary of learning. The township selected was T. 5 N., R. 1 W., of the 3d Principal Meridian. This township lay partly in the Kaskaskia valley and was afterwards thought to be of little value, and upon a request from Illinois the congress allowed the state to select thirty-six sections in lieu thereof. In the early part of 1818 the territorial legislature of Illinois asked Congress for permission to make a constitution preparatory to asking permission to come into the union. Nathaniel Pope was our delegate in Congress and was a member of the committee on territories. The prayer therefore of the Illinois legislature was referred to the committee of which Mr. Pope was a member. This committee out of respect to Mr. Pope asked him to formulate the enabling act. This he did. The original draft was amended but we may call attention to that part of the act which has to do with the matter of education in Illinois. The sixth section has four clauses and they all refer to the offer of the general government of lands to the state of Illinois. First—The section numbered sixteen in each township was given to the state of Illinois “for the use of the inhabitants of such township for the use of schools.”PRIMITIVE SCHOOL HOUSES
Their school houses and their construction have frequently been described by the early pioneers. They were invariably of logs, usually about sixteen or eighteen feet by twenty-four feet. The logs were seldom hewn. The men of the neighborhood would go into the timber and cut the logs, haul them to the school-house site, and on a designated day would meet and carry up the walls. It was covered with clapboards which were rived out of the oak trees by some patron of the school who had learned the art of making boards. The, boards were seldom nailed on, but were held in position by straight poles resting on the lower ends of each layer. These weights were secured by pins at each end of the P 370 pole set into the ribs of the roof, or by flat rocks resting on the roof just below the weight poles. The doors were frequently of sawn boards but now and then they were constructed of clapboards. The hinges were of wood and were home made. Windows were openings in the side of the room made by removing a log or two. Glass was not altogether unknown in these windows, but often the opening was filled with oiled paper or left open entirely. The furniture was of the crudest sort. Seats were of split logs with pins in the rounding side for legs. The split surface was made smooth with broad ax and plane. Desks were arranged around the side of the room of sawn boards or hewn slabs and were used for writing purposes only. The pupil usually stood while writing. Paper was scarce and costly and pupils often learned to write by using slates. The pens were made of goose quills, and the ink was home made. The fire place occupied one end of the building and was often lined with flat rock set up edgewise and held in place by mortar made of clay or lime and sand. Often the wooden fire place was protected against the fire by a liberal coating of clay plastered upon the inner side of the fire place. The fuel was wood from the timber nearby. It was furnished by the patrons of the school and was brought in the form of long poles and logs. The task of preparing it fell to the teacher and the larger boys. And this was the form of fuel long after stoves became common in the school-houses. The wood lay exposed to the rains and snows of the winter and often great difficulty was experienced in keeping the fires going with such fuel. Black boards were very few and very crude. One or two wide planks planed and painted served the purpose. The carpenter’s chalk served as crayon. It may be presumed however that the board was not considered a necessary adjunct of the schoolroom. Books were indeed scarce. Those in use were Webster’s Speller and McGuffey's readers. The advanced pupils used other books. In not a few schools the Bible was the text in reading. It was no uncommon thing to find about the home a board in the general form of a paddle with narrow handle and broad shovel like end. The board was smoothed on both sides and upon these smooth sides was written the multiplication table. A leather thong passing through a hole in the handle secured the device to the wrist or to the plow handle, and thus was always handy for the use of the learner. The writer has seen these paddles with the tables recorded with keel or lampblack. It was no uncommon thing in an early day to find a school conducted in a barn, residence, courthouse, or abandoned cabin.CONVENTIONS TO ENCOURAGE PUBLIC EDUCATION
In 1833 there was held in Vandalia a convention of those interested in public education. It was composed of those members of the legislature who were concerned about an efficient system of public schools, together with those public spirited citizens a few of whom were teachers. The burden of their effort was to gather information concerning education. A permanent committee was appointed consisting of some ten or fifteen of the most noted public men :—John Russell, of Greene county; O. H. Browning, of Adams; Henry Eddy, of Gallatin; Jeffrey Robinson, of Wayne; J. M. Peck, of St. Clair; Stephen Dewey, of Fulton; R. A. Peebles, of Fayette; Benjamin Miles, of JoDaviess; William H. Brown, of Fayette; John T. Stuart, of Sangamon; John Tillson, of Montgomery;|
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IN USE UNTIL RECENTLY |
P 371 Edward H. Piper, of Crawford; and W. L. D. Ewing, of Fayette. This committee was to make diligent inquiry in the several counties represented in order to arrive at the attitude of the public toward the subject of general education. The general assembly then in session did not enact any legislation upon the subject of education, but by resolution urged the above committee to gather information, as stated above.
A circular letter of explanation together with a list of twenty-two questions was sent out. The questions asked for the kind of school houses, number of months of school per year, number of pupils, qualifications of teachers, whether many children are in need of state aid and several questions on the character of the instruction given in the schools etc., etc. Without doubt this circular letter and these questions created a very general interest in the cause of education, because the members of the legislature elected in August, 1834, discussed the educational questions in the canvass. The Rev. John M. Peck, editor of the Pioneer and Western Baptist, suggested another educational convention in Vandalia sometime during the sitting of the legislature which convened in December, 1834. In response to this suggestion by the Rev. Dr. Peck there was held in Vandalia on Friday, December 5, 1834, “The Illinois Educational Convention.” Hon. Cyrus Edwards was made president and Hon. Stephen A. Douglas was made secretary. A committee of three was appointed to draft an address to the people of the state. This address was of considerable proportion and discussed at length the great need of a system of free schools, the revenues of the state, and the progress being made in educational matters in other states. There was also published a memorial to the legislature asking for certain amendments to the present law. The result of this address and memorial upon the legislature was that the Hon. William J. Gatewood, senator from Gallatin county offered a “Report on the Subject of Education” in which he outlined a law not altogether different from the Duncan law of 1825. He supported this P 372 measure with a strong appeal for the cause of the common schools. But all to no avail. The legislature was against an increase of taxation. The best the legislature could do was to provide for a distribution of the school funds of the state to the counties in proportion to the white population under twenty-one years of age, providing that not more than half of any teacher’s salary should be paid from the state funds, and provided also that all school buildings should be furnished by the patrons of the school.BEST FRIENDS OF THE CAUSE
In another place we shall consider the origin and growth of the colleges of the state. It may be said here that the best friends of the common schools were to be found among those connected with the cause of higher education. The Rev. J. M. Peck, Rev. John F. Brooks, Prof. J. B. Turner, Rev. Theron Baldwin, Prof. Sturdevant, and Dr. Edward Beecher and a score of others were faithful champions of the cause of the common schools. “The Illinois Teachers’ Association” was organized in the chapel of Illinois College on September 20, 1836. Several other meetings of this organization were held but the name soon changed and its identity was lost or at least becomes doubtful. From time to time efforts were made to enact a strictly free school system, but little if any real progress was made. By 1840 the public prints had become active in advocacy of a free school system. No doubt much that appeared in these public newspapers was written by teachers and others interested in the cause of the common schools. Not only was a liberal use made of the newspapers but educational journals began to make their appearance as early as 1847. Among the questions sent out in 1833 was this: “How would a circuit teacher do who should conduct four or five schools, visiting them once a week as teachers of singing do, and lecturing and explaining the branches taught.” This is a strange idea about the way to carry on the work of the common schools but out of this idea has come the position of county superintendent. At the various educational gatherings between 1833 and 1845 resolutions were passed recommending to the legislature many new features which eventually grew into law. In 1844. the county commissioner of school lands was made the county superintendent of schools, and in the same year the secretary of state was made the state superintendent of common schools. This officer was authorized to recommend text books, maps, charts, and apparatus. The county superintendent had the right to examine any one who desired to teach in his county. The public school funds could not be drawn without the teachers had “passed” before the county superintendent. The first educational meetings were of the nature of conventions to which men of ability and standing were invited. The common school teacher would have felt much out of place in these state conventions. But from these conferences sprang in an daily day what were called Institutes. These institutes were meetings of the rank and file, usually led by some distinguished educator. One such institute was held for three weeks in Ottawa in 1849. Others were held in other parts of the state. At these institutes very practical questions were discussed. P 373STATE LAW OF 1855
The general trend of educational movement up to 1855 was not very different from what has been described. In that year the school law was radically changed. The essential points of the Free School law of 1825 were incorporated in the law of 1855, namely: 1. A school system based on law. 2. A school free of all rates or charges against the children attending or their parents or guardians. 3. The defraying of all the expense of such a school by taxation of all the property in a predetermined district, except the part that might be met by the income of the various school funds of the state. This law of 1855 found a fairly well organized plan for general education in the several counties. In 1845 a law had made the Secretary of State ex-officio state superintendent. In 1854 the office of state superintendent was created and at the first election was filled by the selection of Ninian W. Edwards who had long been deeply interested in educational matters. The county commissioner of school lands was made ex-officio county superintendent of schools in 1845. Districts had been laid out in the several townships and school-houses had been constructed. The early schoolhouses were of logs, but by 1855 many frame buildings had been erected. The general plan was for one man to furnish the frame, another the shingles, another the weather boards, another the flooring, another the chimney, etc. Replies to the questions sent out by the state superintendent of public instruction published in the School Reports from 1870 to 1900 show that the school interests in many counties were at a low ebb. In 1883 the state superintendent of public instruction send out questions to be answered by the several county superintendents on general topics. Among these we note the following: Number of districts having no schools? twelve in Southern Illinois; sixty-four in the entire state. Number of log school-houses in the state 379; in Southern Illinois 305.PRESENT SYSTEM OF PUBLIC EDUCATION
At the present time the common schools of Southern Illinois are thoroughly organized. There are few districts if any where the term is less than six months, and in many the term is eight to ten months. The school-houses are neat structures, well furnished with patent seats, good maps, globes and blackboards. In most of the country schools are to be found well selected libraries, dictionaries, and encyclopedias. Much improvement has been made in recent years relative to lighting, heating, and ventilating. In quite a number of recently built rural schoolhouses, hot air furnaces have been installed. And jacketed stoves are quite common. Pictures, busts and other forms of art adorn the interior of many rural school-rooms. Opening exercises in which singing is a large and enjoyable part are held at regular periods. Drawing is regularly taught in a large majority of the schools. and “singing by note” is very common. The rural free delivery provides many schools with daily papers and magazines, and the discussion of current events is no unusual thing. Elementary agriculture and domestic science are taught in a few of the best rural schools. The Farmers’ Institute has a strong ally in the free public school. Boys often have patches of corn on the P 374|
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A BOYS CORN CLUB IN JOHNSON COUNTY |
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