The pioneer school; a history of Shurtleff college, the oldest educational institution in the West

Front matter

LIBRARY

OF THE

U N 1 VERS ITY

Preface

Much is said in our day of "the passing of the smaller college." It seems to be pretty well agreed among educjitors that the day of its usefulness is done. I can hardly bring myself to share such a view. Considering the commanding position and rapidly growing power of the great university establishments, the function of the denominational college cannot, in the very nature of the case, be one of very large influence or importance in the coming time. Nevertheless, as a centre for Christian activities, as a local rallying point for educational forces and ideals, and as a place of resort for students of slender means and limited opportunities, there certainly still remain for it a purpose and a mission.

Apart from these questions, however, the chief interest of the smaller denominational college consists in its heritage of honorable history. It was my privilege for a period of five years to direct the affairs of one of these worthy institutions. It is today neither heavily endowed nor completely equipped, yet it is a venerable institution, judged by the standard of age in the West; it has rich and fragrant associations for a multitude of old students, serving now in many places and in many professions; and during its three and seventy years of history it has numbered a host of rare and noble souls in the ranks of its teachers and friends. The story of this pioneer school I have written here.

The work has been a labor of love, for I have been deeply interested in the task of tracing through the records the developing life of the college. A very large amount of time has been spent in careful investigation of printed and written records, newspaper files, and letters and other documents, in order that the history might not only be complete in a general and super-

PREFACE.

ficial way, but that it might possess a real historic vahie for all friends of the College and of Christian education. I am indebted to the Reverend A. A. Kendrick, LL.D., the president of Shurtleff for more than twenty years, for his courtesy in reading and re-reading the manuscript, and suggesting certain changes and additions. Not simply in the compilation of this volume, but in many matters of administrative detail in the course of the last five years, I have been favored by Dr. Kendrick's helpful counsel, never obtrusively offered, yet always cheerfully given. The manuscript has also been carefully examined by Mr. H. M. Carr, of Alton, a student of Shurtleff in the sixties, and now a member of the board of trustees, and by Mr. John Leverett, the son of Professor Warren Leverett. Dr. Justus Bulkley read all of the earlier chapters a few weeks before his death, and gave me considerable information that I could have obtained from no other source. The kindness of these friends I have deeply appreciated. It is fitting that I should refer also to the recent action of the members of the board of trustees, indorsing the work by a cordial and unanimous vote, and making, most generously and unexpectedly, a large appropriation from their funds to assist in defraying the expenses of publication. This action is quite in keeping with the many other favors which I have enjoyed at their hands from time to time. The president of the board. Dr. Myron W. Haynes, of Chicago, has been especially kind, and has given me valuable aid in the work of compilation.

If those who love the little college by the Mississippi, if those who think of "old Shurtleff" tenderly, and speak her name reverently, will welcome this record as an aid to memory or a spur to loyalty, I shall be abundantly repaid for the labor of setting together the scattered narratives of her life-history.

Austen K. de Bi.ois.

Elgin, III., April 9, 1900.

CHAP. 1. Educational Beginnings in Illinois ii

Early settlements — Social and religious conditions — Pioneer preachers and churches — John Mason Peck — Establishment of the Western Mission — Mr. Peck's journey— St. Louis in 1818 — The First Baptist Church beyond the Mississippi — General work in education — Alton in 1819 — Mr. Peck's removal to Illinois — His mission to New England — The birth of the Pioneer School

CHAP. II. The Rock Spring Seminary, 1827-1831 29

The conference of organization — Building and preparing — The school opened — ^Joshua Bradley — The school and its scholars — Mr. Peck's varied labors — Rock Spring: a student's view — The seminary suspended

CHAP. III. The Alton Seminary, 1832-1835 48

Better prospects — A strategic location — Principal Hubbel Loomis — An important conference — Transfer of property — Beginning at Alton — John Russell — A charter with restrictions — Academic Hall — Bela Jacobs' report — Mr. Peck's proposal — The work of Alton Seminary

CHAP. IV. Alton College, 1835-1836 65

A new charter— Two schools with one head — Mr. Peck's embassy — In New York — In New England — A notable gift — Dr. Benjainin Shurtleff — The Pioneer's return — Lewis Colby — Washington Leverett — Unfulfilled plans

CHAP. V. The Early Years of Shurtleff College, 1836- 1841 78

The rise of other Baptist schools — The Illinois Education Society — The first faculty meeting— School routine — Wanted : a president — A lax official — Plans for a building— College and academy — Principal Warren Leverett — Two schools become one — The medical department — Found : a president — Gideon B. Perry and his ways

CHAP. VI. The Presidency of Adiel Sherwood, 1841-1845. 97 The new president — The college vvithout and within — A literary society — Degrees and honors — Hard times —

CONTENTS.

Death of Professor Newman — Failing numbers — Dr. Sherwood resigns

CHAP. VII. Times of Peril and Uncertaintv, 1845-1850. . 104 A small faculty — Removal of Dr. Edwards — Isaac D. Newell as college agent — The class of 1847 — Prosperous times — College societies — Rumors many and grave — A conference of enquiry — The skies clear

CHAP. VIII.. The Presidency of Norman N. Wood, 1851-

1855- 113

Dr. Wood: his life and character — Shurt'eff's increase in numbers — Its inner development — President Wood discovers Elijah Gove — The advent of rival schools — Ill-advised utterances — Faculty changes — The dormitory finished — A strict administration — College and people — Agency work — Trouble in the faculty — Theological complications— The "Northerners"

CHAP. IX. The Presidency of Daniel Read, 1856-1865. . . . 133 A strong staff of teachers — Dr. Peck's last board meeting — The adventures of Horace Pierce — Mr. Field as agent — Dr. Steenstra's tribute — The religious life — The war and its demands — Enlargement : spiritual and scholastic — Planning amid perils — An urgent appeal — Mr. and Mrs. Gove come to the rescue — Their noble gift

CHAP. X. The Presidency of Daniel Read, 1865-1870. . . . 154 A corner-stone — Repairs — Financial ups and downs — Agents many — Almira College — The education of women — Signs of progress — A resignation and a protest — The Leveretts' withdrawal — The "Band of Faith" — President Read resigns — His later life

CHAP. XI. Theology at Shurtleff, 1827-1839 172

Religious leaders in the pioneer days — Aims of the Rock Spring School — The battle for ministerial culture — The "hardshells" : their words and methods — A missionary convention formed — Its plea for an educated ministry — The Alton Theological Seminarj- — Mr. Colby's excellent work — The Illinois Baptist Education Society organized — Aid societies, ancient and modern

CHAP. XII. Theology at Shurtleff, 1839-1899 193

Lack of leaders in theological work — The Bible in the curriculum — Ruinous inactivitj^ — An embassy to Missouri— The period of silence — Dr. Read the champion

CONTENTS.

of theological instruction — Efifect of the new impulse — A strong school — Financial plans — An overturning— Dr. Pattison — Dr. Mitchell— Theology in later years

CHAP. XIII. Transition Years, 1870-1872 210

"Gove University" — Tokens of progress — Co-education — President Kendrick — The inauguration — The Commencement festivities of 1872

CHAP. XIV. The Presidency of Adin A. Kendrick, 1872- 1877 •• 219

The loss of two faithful friends— A notable class — Innovations—Kendall Institute — The enrollment grows— Chicago University — A lecture course — Renovations — Faculty changes — Spiritual blessings — The "Centennial offering" — Dr. Johnson and his great work

CHAP. XV. The Presidency of Adin A. Kendrick, 1877-

1889 241

The financial outlook— Hard-working teachers — Student government — Ups and downs — The school discipline — Town and gown — The new chapel — Deficits — Exit the Chicago University— The College Review— The library- Class da}'— The college band — Martha Wood Cottage

CHAP. XVI. The Presidency of Adin A. Kendrick, 1889-

1894 264

The Ladies' Education Society — Numerical growth — Washington Leverett — The Lcveretts and their work — A tragic event — Beginnings of a laboratory — The newgymnasium — Losses by death — The pro rata system — Orlando L. Castle — The "New Endowment"

CHAP. XVII. The Presidency of Austen K.de Blois, 1894-

1899 • • 278

State schools — Buildings and grounds — The Lend-a-Hand Society — Charles Fairman — Policy of the new administration—Financial readjustment — The faculty strengthened— The seventieth commencement — The teaching force — Chapel lectures — Athletics— Chicago Alumni Association— A financial campaign — History of Alpha Zeta — Bible study introduced — Success of "The Review" — Growth : scholastic and numerical — Justus Bulkley — Place and worth of the smaller college

Chapter I. Educational Beginnings In Illinois

Early Settlements — Social and religious conditions — Pioneer preachers and churches — John Mason Peck — Establishment of the Western Mission — Mr. Peck's journey — St. Louis in 1818 — The First Baptist Church beyond the Mississippi— General work in education — Alton in 18 19 — -Mr. Peck's removal to Illinois — His Mission to New England — The birth of the Pioneer School.

While the people of the East were contending to the death for larger rights and the boon of free and independent sovereignty, the West lay still untraversed and unknown. A few French families, whose ancestors had emigrated from Canada, were living in the squalid villages of Kaskaskia and Cahokia, in the southern portion of the country which afterward became the territory of Illinois. Disputes and battles between French and Indians, and French and English, alone marked the passage of the years for upward of a century. The Fourth of July has a double significance for every son of Illinois, for on that memorable day, exactly two years after the Declaration of Independence was given to the world, the gallant soldier, George Rogers Clark, captured the village of Kaskaskia, and, without losing a man or firing a gun, took possession of the Illinois country in the name of Virginia and the Republic. The fair and fertile land that lies between the Ohio and the Mississippi became then a part of the Northwest Territory.

In the years that followed a few scattered settlements were made by emigrants from Kentucky and Virginia. At the close of the Revolutionary War the population of

II this region was less than two hundred. The moral and social condition of tlie people was disheartening. The refining agencies of education and culture were unknown. The influence of religion was entirely absent. There were no Protestant churches and no Protestant Christians. In the United States at that time there were about fifty thousand Baptist church members, less than one-half as many as are resident today in the state of Illinois. There were only two Baptist churches in the entire valley of the Mississippi, and they were small and weak. In 1787 James Smith, a Baptist preacher, came over from Kentucky and made a tour among the settlements. His visit resulted in several conversions, and thus the foundations of Protestant Christianity were laid in this section of the country. Twice did Elder Smith return to the infant interest, and then he was captured by the Indians. The people to whom he had preached evinced a genuine gratitude by raising one hundred and seventy dollars and securing his release by payment of this amount as a ransom. Several years later the converts in Illinois were visited by another pioneer preacher from Kentucky, Elder Josiah Dodge, who baptized James Lemen, Sr., his wife, John Gibons, and Isaac Enochs, in February, 1794. On the twenty-eighth day of May, two years later, the New Design Baptist Church was organized with a membership of thirty-eight.

At the beginning of the present century the Northwest Territory, embracing the entire domain north of the Ohio river, had a population of fifty thousand, and the country now known as the state of Illinois contained about three thousand inhabitants. Not more than one hundred of these were communicants in Baptist churches, and only three regular churches existed, the largest being that at New Design. In 1807 five churches formed themselves into an association called the "Illinois Union." This body soon dissolved on account of disagreement with reference to the question of slavery. On all other points of doctrine and practice they remained in full accord v^ith each other for a time at least. Those who favored slavery reorganized themselves into the "Illinois United Baptist Association," the three associations which were hostile to the South assuming the title of "Friends of Humanity."

The growth of the churches was not rapid, for the condition of the country presented obstacles to every sort of progress. The strong tide of emigration from the South and East was just beginning to set in. The marauding spirit of the Indians, the large tracts of uncultivated land which separated the different communities, the lack of schools and general culture, and the thousand inconveniences of pioneer life, retarded the development of religious work among the people. In 1819 the United Baptist Association numbered ten churches and one hundred and ninety-four members, while the reports of the "Friends of Humanity" showed four churches and one hundred and eighty-six members within the boundaries of their organization. At this critical time, when many forces were co-operating to develop a distinctive type of social life and character, the power of a strong and splendid personality gave a new impetus to the work of the denomination in the West.

John Mason Peck was born in the town of Litchfield, in Connecticut, on the 31st of October, 1789. The days of his childhood and youth passed uneventfully. He attended the common schools and obtained there a scanty and superficial education. His parents and friends were Congregationalists, but at the age of twenty-three he united with the Baptist church at New Dunham in the state of New York, whither he and his young wife had just removed their residence. Immediately the idea of tlie ministry took possession of his thoughts and he soon began preaching to feeble churches in the vicinity of his home. His vigorous and somewhat restive disposition led him to undertake evangelistic tours, even while he was nominally a settled pastor, and gradually within his mind there grew and strengthened an intense desire for labor in a wider field. By contact and correspondence with that remarkable man, Luther Rice, he found fuel for inspiration. He felt keenly the need of careful training and thorough preparation for the service to which he had now resolved to dedicate his life. So though many obstacles opposed him he resigned his pastorate in order to enter upon a course of study. In the city of Philadelphia, under the guidance of the eminent Dr. Staughton, he carried forward an extended course of reading and study, residing in the home of his teacher, and giving his days, and even his nights as well, to an ardent and consecrated improvement of the opportunity which his own determined energy had created. In this embryo theological seminary he remained for exactly one year. During this time he enjoyed the friendship of many of the denominational leaders of the day, and came into immediate relations with new and suggestive influences. His zeal grew more intense and fervid, while his dreams of missionary service became more vivid and more real. His mind for several years had been to some extent occupied with the needs of the vast and newly-settled sections of his own country; and in the progress of that eventful year of study the decision was finally made, and he resolved to dedicate his entire life to labor in the West.

The Triennial Convention, which cared for the foreign missionary interests of the Baptist body in the United

States, met at Philadelphia in May, 1817. The records of this meeting will be noteworthy forever in the annals of American Baptists. During its sessions the matter of the establishment of a "domestic mission" in the Missouri territory came under discussion, largely as a result of the persistency of Mr. Peck and his friends. Before the adjournment a most important step was taken. The western mission was established, and Messrs. Peck and Welch, in answer to their own urgent request, were chosen as its pioneer missionaries. With special services of prayer and praise these men of God were given to the work. Among those who were present at the solemn exercises of dedication were Dr. Furman, the founder of Furman University, who preached from the text, "Separate me Saul and Barnabas for the work whereunto I have called them;" Rev. Jesse Mercer, the founder of Mercer University, who gave the charge to the young men ; and Luther Rice, the indefatigable secretary and financial agent of the Columbian University at Washington. Dr. Staughton of Philadelphia, Mr. Peck's counsellor and teacher, afterward president of the Columbian University, gave the right hand of fellowship to the candidates. Thus with prayer and admonition, in humility and faith, the Baptist missionary enterprise in the far West was inaugurated.

The work of education has always been linked by a bond indissoluble with the highest forms of missionary activity. The establishment of schools has been a part of the plan of every home or foreign missionary who has accomplished a large and successful work. In one of his earliest letters to Luther Rice, Mr. Peck wrote : "Is it contemplated to form a permanent mission station in the West?" and "Would it be best to have schools connected with our mission ?" He thus set forth clearly his own conception of the value of educational agencies and their intimate connection with missionary activities. Both of these queries Mr. Rice answered with an emphatic "Yes."

Although John M. Peck, at the age of eighteen, found it a laborious task to read or write, and although his acquaintance with academic and theological instruction was limited to the few months which he had spent under the tutelage of Dr. Staughton, he applied himself so devotedly to the acquisition of knowledge that in later years he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from Harvard University, the most venerable institution of learning in the country, in recognition of his distinguished attainments. He clearly apprehended the inestimable value of a higher education, and did not hesitate to express his strong convictions on the subject. In February, 1819, soon after his arrival in the West, he wrote : "It had been in our plan at first, even before we left Philadelphia for this region, to establish a seminary for the common and higher branches of education; and especially for the training of school teachers and aiding of preachers now in office, or who may hereafter be brought forth in the schools. The education of the ministry is of primary importance in all new countries." These sentences embody the worthy and workable ideals v^ath which the sturdy young warrior entered upon his life-long campaign."^

It was a period of intellectual quickening among the Baptists of the older States. Brown University was the only institution claiming college rank, but beginnings had been made in other parts of tlie Union. "The Literary and Theological Institution of jMaine" commenced regular instruction in July, 1818, under the direction of Professor Chapin. Just one year previous the Baptist

'See also American Baptist Maga'zine and Missionary Intelligencer, New Series ; Volume I, September, 1817.

EDUCATIONAL BEGINNINGS. T-7

Education Society in Philadelphia undertook the foundation of a classical and theological seminary, and Dr. Staughton was appointed principal of the institution. On the tenth of August, 1818, a meeting of the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions was held in the city of New York, called chiefly for the purpose of consulting "on the best measures to promote an institution for improving the education of pious young men who are called to the gospel ministry." This effort had its outcome in the establishment of the Columbian College at Washington.

Between the time of his appointment and the date of his departure for his future field Mr. Peck labored loyally in the interest of the Western Mission, visiting associations, addressing religious gatherings, soliciting subscriptions, founding mite societies, and' engaging in much personal work. It was the beginning of a heroic service which continued without cessation to the close of his long and self-denying life. Three months after his appointment, John Mason Peck bade farewell to the home and friends of his youth, and began his long journey to the Missouri territory, to him the land of radiant promise. As the July day drew on to its close a covered wagon rumbled out of the town of Litchfield in the state of Connecticut, bearing the missionary, his wife, and three children, to their new home in "the regions beyond." Their route carried them first to Philadelphia, then over the Alleghanies to Pittsburg, through Ohio to Chillicothe, across the Ohio river, down to Louisville in Kentucky, and north through Indiana, then rejoicing in the newly-given dignity of statehood. Long after the glories of the summer had departed, when the short and gloomy days drew on toward winter, on the evening of the sixth of November, the old caravan wagon, battered and mud-begrimed, recrossed the Ohio and entered the wretched village of Shawneetown, in the territory of Illinois. In this most unpromising locality the missionary was detained for several days by rains and floods, and at last made his way to St. Louis in a keel-boat, spending much of his time in the six-by-ten cabin, as the weather was alternately rainy, windy, and cold. On the first of December, after twenty-two days of river travel, he landed in the remote and unattractive French village of St. Louis. . Weariness and exposure had brought on a fever, and consumption threatened. Every house, indeed almost every room in the village, was occupied, but at last he and his family succeeded in renting a single room formerly used as a business office. Here amid the most miserable surroundings ]\Ir. Peck lay dangerously ill for two months. Such was his introduction to the scene of his future labors. In a half-humorous way he was accustomed to speak of himself as "the Pioneer," and in later years as "the Old Pioneer." The title was surely most appropriate ! The sufferings and trials of pioneer life did not long delay their coming.

Even before his complete recovery Mr. Peck, with his colleague Mr. Welch, established a school a;nd a church, and began the double service of teaching and preaching. This school in St. Louis was the beginning of Baptist educational work in the West. It was opened on the first of January, 1818, just one month from the time of Mr. Peck's arrival in the frontier town. The condition was anything but favorable, for St. Louis was "a land of darkness, one of the dark places of the earth, full of the habitations of cruelty." Vice of all kinds reigned without check or hindrance, while error and superstition controlled the minds of the more serious among the people. Nevertheless the school prospered.

Twenty-five pupils were enrolled on the first day. Each of these agreed to pay a fee of five or six dollars a quarter. The people were curious concerning the energetic movements of the new missionaries. Some were thoroughly interested, others were suspicious, the Catholic priests were jealous and hostile. Although the school required considerable attention and care the more vital concerns of the spiritual life were not neglected. On the eighth of February eleven persons entered into solemn covenant engagements as a regular church of Christ, the first Baptist church beyond the Mississippi. At the public examination of the school held on the twenty-seventh of March the "students performed remarkably well."^ The work of the missionaries was already commanding attention, and several gentlemen of the village were beginning to interest themselves in the cause. As the weeks went by the plans for the school were changed and enlarged. The power of system and the value of regular organization were appearing even thus early in the efforts of the pioneers.

The somewhat dignified title of "Western Mission Academy" was bestowed upon the infant institution, and three distinct departments were established. One of these was for "paid" scholars, who at the outset numbered forty. Another, limited to ten scholars, w^as for the children of poor French Catholic families and the tuition was free. In the third department, which was neither more nor less than an African Sunday-school, there were nearly one hundred pupils registered, their ages running the wide range from five to forty years. In this branch of the institution the principal object was religious instruction, although the rudiments of a solid English education w-ere also imparted.

^The Latter Day Luminary, May, 1818: Letter fron Messrs. Peck and Welch.

It soon became evident to the frugal and far-seeing missionaries that St. Louis was not the place for a permanent seminary of learning. The expense of living, the high rents, and the impossibility of purchasing and cultivating a large tract of land in the vicinity of the school buildings, led to the removal of the main school to the town of St. Charles. This was not the result of a momentary impulse or a hasty decision. Excursions were made to several points within a radius of fifty miles from St. Louis, and in the course of exploration the very locality which was afterward chosen as the site of Shurtleff College was visited. That Upper Alton and its surroundings were by no means charming or attractive in that early day appears clearly in the following account from the pen of Mr. Peck :

"The late Hon. Rufus Easton, of St. Louis, who liad become interested in the landed property, projected as the site of Alton city, exacted the promise that we should not decide on our location imtil we had visited and explored that site or rather the village now known as LTpper Alton, two and a half miles in the rear, and on elevated and healthy ground. . . .

"We (singly — not our colleague) left St. Charles on February 23, 1819, and rode down to the 'Point' toward Smeltzer's ferry, then located about three miles above the site of the 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 and under the clififs. Not far from the present site of the Alton House, there was a building, but whether a rough frame or 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. It was cloudy anti dark, but on emerging from the forest we found on every side the appearance of camp-tires. Log heaps, 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 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 in the ground, on which rough, newly sawxd 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 inquiring for the landlord, a shock-head, begrimed features, and soiled garment that appeared to belong to a 'human,' came in.

"It did not take many minutes to frame and carry into efilect a resolution to find better quarters. 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 rem^oved 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. . .

"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 toward bed time, 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.