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WeLlesley
College

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WELLESLEY COLLEGE
WELLESLEY 81, MASSACHUSETTS

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

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THE EAKLY HISTORY OP
ROCKPORD COLLEGE

VOLUME I
A THESIS
Presented to the Faculty of Wellesley College

Hazel Paris Cederborg
B.A. Wellesley College, 1915

In partial fulfilment of the requirements

for the degree of
MASTER OP ARTS

June, 1926.

Miss Sill

from Portrait by Mr. George Robertson

Prof. Arthur Orlo Norton

Preface

Every writer of an historical account finds himself
face to face with a great mass of details, all of which
are interesting in one way or another, but only part of
which will meet the challenge of his subject squarely.
The attempt to compose from his material a volume which
will present a coherent and unified effect, is a diffi-
cult task. It is easy to wander into entertaining di-
gressions when he should be keeping to his subject. At
least I have found it so in compiling this early history
of Rockford College. It is difficult, too, to present
his facts so that his readers will catch the enthusiasm
his theme has engendered.

I have found difficulties, however, beyond those
presented in the organization of my material. The early
history of Rockford, or any other college for that matter,
should be written by one who has known it intimately. It
is well-nigh impossible for one so far removed in time and
experience to catch the fervor and earnestness of those
first years. All those with whom I have come into contact
have been so interested and helpful, however, that many
times when the task seemed almost hopeless, I have been
given assurance to go on with my work. It may be that
some of those who knew the early years will read this
history. Doubtless they will mentally red-pencil the mar-
gins with comments, queries, and exclamations. I hope,

however, that they will forgive its errors, if errors
there be, and consider only the interest and sympathy
which have inspired it, for after all they are the es-
sential attributes of a piece of writing. In fact they
seem to me a writer's only excuse for writing.

Hazel Paris Cederborg.
May, 1926.

CONTENTS
Chapter Page

Introduction^ 1

I Background and Founding 11

II The Coming of Miss Sill 33

III Miss Sill's Life to 1849 61

IV Miss Sili--Appearance and Character 71

V The Opening of "Miss Sill's School" 86

VI The Early Years of the Seminary 93

VII The New Seminary 108

VIIIThe Sixties - 149

IX The New College 180

X Miss Sill's Resignation and Last Years 213

Appendix

A. Supplementary Chapters

I The Trustees of "Miss Sill's School" 240

II Early Subscriptions 247

III Among the Early Teachers 249

IV Among the Early Trustees 262

V The First Meeting of the Chicago-RocEford
Association 276

VI Tributes fo Miss Sill 280

VII Activities and Social Life of the

Students 299

B.Documents Pertaining to. the History of the

Seminary

LCopy of Deed to Site- 329

2. Charter 330

3. Amendments fo Charter,! 837 333

4. Constitution 333

5. Certificate of Change of Name from Rockford

Female Sem.to Rockford Sem. 342

6. Certificate of Change of Name from Rock-
ford Seminary to Rockford College 344

C. Programs from Various Years 348

D. Papers of Interest in Connection with the

Alumnae -«

1 .Various Constitutions of the Alumnae

Association 365

2. Speeches at Alumnae Banquets 373

E. Papers of Interest in Connection with Student
Life

1. Report of Sedond Eamination Period 386

2. Valedictory, S.Adeline Potter 388

3. Letter of Co. A, 33d Reg't 111. Volunteers-- 396

4. Account of Exam. Period and Anniversary-- 398
5. Account of Entertainment of Pierian Union-40 3

6. Account of First Class Day Exercises-.—-- 40b

7. Account of First Junior Exhibition 409

F. Pertaining to Miss Sill

1 .Miss Sill's Request for Leave of Absence 415

2.Miss SillTs Letter of Resignation 416

3«Action of the Board on Miss Sill's Resigna-
tion 418

4. Miss Sill's Appointment as Principal Emerita-420

5. Announcement of Miss Sill's Dea^h 421

6. Resolutions of the Faculty at Miss Sill's

Death 4 22

7. Resolutions of the Trustees at Miss Sill's

Dea.h 423

Bibliography 425

vii

Introduction

Though we are always interested in the early his-
tory of an institution, we are interested, too, in what
an institution has become. And Rockford College has
progressed far from the little one-story building on
North First Street where on June 11, 1840, Miss Anna P.
Sill, with two assistants, opened her school.

The college today has a faculty of well-equipped
teachers, forty-one in number, besides those in the music
department, seven in number. It holds institutional mem-
bership in the North Central Association of Colleges and
Secondary Schools, membership in the American Association
of University Women, and the American Council on Edu-
cation. It is approved by the Association of American
Universities, and is in Class A of those colleges ap-
proved by the University of Illinois for graduate work.
It grants each year the baccalaureate degrees of A.B.
and B.S., and has the privilege by its charter of grant-
ing the degree of A.M.

The college campus consists of more than ten acres
of undulating and wooded land on a bluff overlooking the
Rock River. It is sufficiently large to provide for
tennis, field hockey, archery, baseball, and outdoor
dramatics. The resources of the city give opportunity
for even more extensive outdoor life, — picnicking, golf,
horseback riding, hiking and boating.

The buildings, except for Adams, Emerson, Osborn,
and Enders Halls, are grouped to inclose three sides of
a quadrangle. Middle Hall, the oldest, is connected on
the east with Chapel and on the west with Linden, the con-
nections themselves being four-story brick buildings.
They provide rooms for students, several public rooms,
offices, the library, the biology lecture rooms, the read-
ing room, the chapel, and the library, and two large in-
closed porches, one for the use of the faculty and the
other for the use of the students. The former is equipped
with a large serving room and kitchenette.

John Barnes Hall, opened in 1911, provides accom-
modations for more than one hundred persons. There is a
large recreation room for students at the northwest end,
and on the ground floor are the kitchen and dining rooms.

Lathrop Hall, completed in 1920, is being used for
three purposes. It provides dormitory space for fifty
people, and has six lecture rooms. In the basement, there
is a handsomely tiled swimming pool, sixty by twenty f€ t,
having adjoining dressing rooms and shower baths.

Sill Hall, which stands between John Barnes and
Lathrop, houses the music and the physical education de-
partments.

Emerson Hall was given to the college in 1891 by

William Talcott and Ralph Emerson, Sr., in memory of the
latterTs son, and was converted through the generosity
of Mrs. E. P. Lathrop and the other sistersybf Ralph

Emerson, into a dormitory in 1919. It and Enders and
Osborne Halls, are located slightly, off the campus, and
are used as freshman dormitories.

Adams Hall, which was built in the early nineties
through the generosity of the late Mr. J. Q. Adams, of
Wheat on, Illinois, has the physics, chemistry, and home
economics lecture rooms and laboratories, several reci-
tation rooms, the art studio, and several small rooms
furnished comfortably and attractively for the use of
town students. The textile and clothing lecture room
and laboratory are in Dorwin Cottage.

The social life of the students and the student
organizations are varied and interesting. As Rockford
College believes "that the first objective of the students
must be the accomplishment of tasks that will guarantee
self-disciplined minds and well-rounded characters, ---
provision is made for a variety of stimulating and in-
teresting experiences that will increase interest in the
courses offered and give fcreater opportunity for initia-
tive, more independent work and development of special
abilities."

The Glee Club gives a vesper carol service just be-
fore the Christmas recess, and a public concert each year.
There are various receptions, four promenades each year
by the students of the four classes and monthly informal
dances, and frequent lectures and recitals by members of
the faculty, and men and women from outside the college.
Students have an opportunity, too, to attend functions

and public performances in town. A dean of women lives
within the college, and supervises the life of the stu-
dents.

Aside from the Socratic Honor Society in which per-
manent membership is based on intellectual achievment and
is the reward of seniors who have proved themselves by
superior class standing worthy of special recognition,
there is no other organization to which any student is
not eligible through class membership or by virtue of
her special bent and ability.

The Tolo Club works through committees to organize
the social and recreative life of the students. Aside
from many informal affairs, it is responsible for three
formal parties, especially characteristic of Rockford,--
the Hallowe!en Party, the Washington Party, and the May
Party.

The Y.W.C.A. was organized in 1923, and provides
for the more adequate direction of the religious life of
the students through special chapel services and discus-
sion groups.

The Athletic Association has as its aim the purpose
of arousing greater interest in athletics. Field day at
the end of the autumn sports season when the interclass
hockey games are played, an indoor meet, a swimming meet,
basketball competition in March, a set of class tennis
and archery tournaments in the spring term, and the May
festival, are conducted under its auspices. The awards,--

as class numerals, felt nR'sw , and gold R.C. pins, — are
made at these times. There is also a Rockford College
chapter of the Women's Life Saving Corps of the American
Red Cross.

The departmental study clubs, conducted by the various
departments, are carried on by the students and are open
to upperclassmen who have satisfactory college standing and
to others under special conditions: the Quill .Club, the
French Club, the Classical Club, the Home Economics Club,
the Mathematics Club, the Debating Club, the Science Club,
the Social Service Club, and the International Relations
Club.

Every student is a member of the Student Self -Govern-
ment Association, which under the supervision of the presi-
dent and the dean of women, controls the life of the stu-
dents in the dormitory. Every student, upon entering col-
lege is honor-bound to co-operate with the organization and
the college authorities in maintaining the high ideals of
the college in its social and intellectual life.

The college publishes a weekly newspaper, The Purple
Parrot, a quarterly literary magazine, The Taper, and a
junior year book, The Cupola. The Alumnae Association
publishes a quarterly newspaper, The Rockford Alumna. The
college issues three official publications, — a catalogue,
a brief book, with illustrations of the buildings and stu-
dent activities, and a directory of graduates.

Few small colleges have such large funds available for

use. There is the John Barnes Memorial Fund of $46,599.99
in honor of Mr. John Barnes, Trustee, 1884-1916, Treasurer,
1898-1906, and President of the Board, 1917-1916. Three
professorships are endowed: --a Professorship of Sociology
and Social Service, established by the Rockford College As-
sociation of Chicago, to which the California and Minnesota
associations have also contributed, in honor of Jane Addams
of the class of 1B81, and two chairs, the occupants of which
are to be known as the "Professor of Botany on the Theodore
Buckbee Foundation" and the "Professor of Household Arts on
the Catherine Buckbee Foundation," endowed by Mr. John T.
Buckbee in honor of his. father and mother. There is also
the Sill Endowment Fund, raised during Miss Sill's life-
time, the interest of which was for her personal use and is
now available for part of the president's salary.

Friends of the college have been generous in their
provision for scholarships. Interest from a large number of
funds is available for the education of worthy young women .
who need aid* Aside from these funds four scholarships are
available for graduate study at the University of Chicago,
through the generosity of William A. and Fanny C. Talcott,
each yielding $150.00, and a fellowship is offered by Mrs.
Catharine Waugh McCulloch for a year's study at the Chicago
Commons. Each year the University of Illinois offers a
scholarship of $300.00, called the Rockford College
Scholarship, to a member of the senior class. The student
who is chosen by the faculty, is thus enabled to take the

A.M. degree at the University of Illinois in one year.

The college in 1925-1926 had enrolled 602 students,

distributed as follows:

Seniors -56

Juniors 55

Sophomores 123

Freshmen 184

Total matriculated in college 418

Number of students taking music only 107

Number of students in special courses

for city teachers 77

Total number of students in all departments 602

A few statistics about the city of Kockford will per-
haps add to the interest of this volume. The founders of
the Seminary could hardly have realized that the struggling
pioneer town would, in the course of three-quarters of a
century, become the busy center Rockford has become.

Kockford enjoys a favorable location. It is situated
on both sides of the Rock River, and the water power de-
rived from this stream has aided its growth materially.
It is ninety miles northwest of Chicago. Because of its
excellent transportation facilities, — railroad, interurban,
and state highways, --its influence as a commercial center
is felt throughout northern Illinois.

According to recent statistics its population is
83,000. It is the third largest city in Illinois.

While it is a big retail center for the surrounding
country and a big insurance center, it is important mainly
for its manufactures. It is the second industrial center
in the state, the value of its products being greater than
those of any city in Illinois except Chicago. The total

number of its industries is 358, the total number of em-
ployees approximately 26,000, and the value of its pro-
ducts is over $112,425,000 a year.

The list of made -in-Rockf ord products includes more
than 3,000 items. The furniture industry stands first
from the standpoint of the number of factories, thirty-
eight. It is also one of the largest and most progressive
cities in the manufacture of special machinery and special
tools in the United States.

Its educational facilities are excellent,— both public
and private schools. Two new public schools, --the Theodore
Roosevelt Junior High School, costing approximately ^800,000
and the J. Herman Hallstrom Grade School, costing $235, 000,
were completed in 1925. A second junior high school, the
Abraham Lincoln Junior High School, which will cost ap-
proximately $1,000,000, is now under construction. Aside
from the public schools there are the parochial schools,
several business schools, and an interesting private school,
the Keith Country Day School, one of the foremost progres-
sive schools in the country. It was founded in the autumn
of 1916 by Mrs. Darwin Keith, Wellesley, 1883-1885, and has
been since its beginning under the direction of Miss Annie
B. Philbrick, Wellesley, 1902.

Rockford is especially fortunate in its recreational
facilities. A total of 572 acres is controlled by the
Rockford Park District. There are, besides many smaller
parks, three large parks, — Sinnissippi , Black Hawk, and the

Lieutenant Clayton C. Ingersoll Memorial Park, the most
recent addition to the system. Sinnissippi has a nine-
hole golf course and Ingersoll an eighteen-hole course.
All are equipped with fire places and tables for pic-
nickers, and Black Kawk Park has a cabin ,( a replica of
a pioneer cabin), built by the late Mr. Ralph Emerson for
the use of groups in winter. A free tourist camp is also
maintained here. There are seven parks having tennis
courts, ten baseball diamonds, ten wading pools, nine foot-
ball fields, one a new swimming pool, while others are
provided with other recreational features. The first unit
of the Rockford High School stadium, with a seating capacity
for 4,110, has been completed, and other units are being
planned for the coming year.

The public organizations, the banks, the churches and
business establishments of all types, are co-operating con-
stantly with each other to make collective desires and ends
effective. The Chamber of Commerce all the while is sur-
veying "the community with a telescope to see the whole at
once and at the same time with a microscope to search out
the details." It is encouraging and co-ordinating the in-
dividual activities of the community.

Mrs. C. P. B razee, in commenting upon the city, said:
"it cannot well be otherwise than it is, --a city of home-
loving people with high aims. The ideals of its sturdy,

right-minded founders are still at work."

Note: The material for this introduction is drawn largely
from the catalogue of Rockford College for March,
1926, and from a pamphlet published by the Chamber
of Commerce, Rockford. The Forest City.

H.P.C.

CHAPTER I
Background arid Founding

It is seldom that a college on the seventieth anniver-
sary of its first commencement numbers' among its guests a
pupil who was present the day the institution was opened
and a teacher from the earliest period. Yet that is just
what did happen at Rockford College on June 11, 1925, at
the seventieth commencement exercises. The pupil was Mrs.
Caroline Potter Bra zee who was the youngest member of the
second graduating class and a teacher in the institution
from 1872 to 1883. She was a little girl of eleven when
she first w ent to ''Miss Sill's School." The teacher was
Mrs. E. L. Herrick, a teacher in the school from 1852 to
1855 and a close friend of Miss Sill through the years.
The presence of these two women both of whom caught a
glimpse of Miss Sill's vision-splendid and both of whom
have left the mark of their influence upon the institution,
was like a benediction.

It may have been, too, that that seventieth anniver-
sary on June 11 fell upon the day of the opening of the
school. The evidence is conflicting. We learn from the
Rockford Forum for May 30, 1849, that"l.Jiss A. P. Sill will
open a school in Rockford, Illinois, for the Eduction of
Young Ladies, Wednesday, June 6, 1849." The Forum for
June 6 sets the date as June 11. There are two bits of
evidence, however, ttiat the school may have been opened

1 2

July 11. Rev. Henry M. Goodwin, pastor for many years of

the First Congregational Church, the church which Miss

Sill attended, and trustee of the Seminary from 1853 to

1893, in his memorial volume published after Miss Sillfs

death in 1 889, quotes from her diary as follows:

"May 29. Sent my advertisement to the press. My
success is yet to be known, for!my times are in the
hand of the Lord.' I trust I am prepared for what-
ever cup He in His all-wioe providence may mingle,
may I but glorify God and serve humanity while I
live, and then go home.

"July 11. Today commenced school, and laid the
foundation of Rockford Female Seminary. Opened with
fifty-three scholars. 0 Lord, fit me for my work and
glorify thyself thereby.

" " 12. Today numbered sixty scholars. Oh,
the responsibility of teachers! 0 Lord, aid me.T,(1)

I have every assurance that Mr. Goodwin w*ts a careful
scholar. Julv 11 may be a printer's error.

The second bit of evidence .that July 11 is the date,
I get from the report of the first decade of the school,
appended to the catalogue of 1860-I86l,in all probability
written by Miss Sill, which states that "the institution
was opened July 11,1 849, by Miss Sill, assisted by Miss
Hannah Richards and Miss Eliza Richards." It may have
been that Miss Sill was delayed in opening from June 1 1
to July 1 1 .

(1) Go odwinf Memorial Volume f p.13»

Mr. C. A, Huntington was occupying the building for
his school, and may have been slow in moving. (1) If that
was the case, it is remarkable that she made no note of
the delay in her diary, (2) and, too, that she made no
entry between May 29 and July 11. Mrs. Brazee (still liv-
ing) unhesitatingly names June 11 as the day. An account
of the first examinations (in the Rockford Forum) which
were held on August 21 says that "though scarcely three
months have elapsed since this institution was established,
the exercises were very successful. This statement would
indicate June 11 as the day. Moreover, Founder's Day, w^s,
until recently, observed on June 11. It is possible, then,
that the seventieth anniversary fell upon the day of the
opening. However that may be, the occasion was full of
significance. The presence of Mrs. Herrick and Mrs. Brazee
turned our thoughts back seventy years and more, and gave
us a deeper understanding of the old Rockford, brought our
minds to bear upon the sacrifice and earnestness of those

(1) Rockford Daily Gazette, Dec. 16, 1886.

(2) i nave made every effort to find the diary. From a
statement made by Miss Elizabeth Herrick and Miss Kather-
ine Foote, I believe it was removed from the college
shortly after Miss Sill's death. Miss Sill's niece, Mrs.
Amelia Hollister Chapman, tells me that she knov/s nothing
about it. Mr. Goodwin's children know nothing beyond the
fact that he used many of Miss Sill's papers and returned
them to whomever had them in charge. Miss Jane A&dams,
who also contributed to the memorial volume, knows nothing
of the papers.

brave men and women who made possible the woman1 s college
of today.

When Rockford was founded, the higher education of
women was in its infancy. Towns had been slow in admit-
ting girls even to the privileges of elementary education.
It had required nearly two hundred years from the founding
of the first school to place 'iris on an equal footing
with boys. Family instruction, the dame school, and pri-
vate schools, and finally separate instruction under the
public schoolmaster during certain hours of the day, or
days of the week, or months of the year, were the steps
leading to the public instruction of girls. (1)

The advocates of any thing beyond elementary educa-
tion were few. Kiss Pierce Ts school in Litchfield, Connec-
ticut, with a curriculum overweighted wi th history, polite
French, the art of needlework, had flourished and died.
It was typical of the private school of the day. Its
claim to remembrance lies n the fact that Catharine
Beecher was brought up under its shadow and was a one-
time student there. She attempted in her school at Hart-
ford, Connecticut, founded in 1828, to give girls some-
thing worth keeping. She worked extensively in the Mid-
dle West, organizing a similar seminary in Cincinnati
and traveling a bout in the interest of

(1) Small, Early New England Schools, p. 289.

higher education for women. She oame to Rockford, but
made an impression not particularly favorable because of
her extreme masculinity, though the value of her work,
which was well known, was recognized. (1)

Then there was Emma Willard who had shown the way at
Middlebury, Vermont, in 1807, and at Troy, New York, in
1821.

Among these pioneers in the education of women the
name which stands out in the early history of Rockford
College is that of Rev. Joseph Emerson, of Byfield, Massa-
chusetts, and later of Wethersfield, Connecticut, the
inspired teacher of Mary Lyon and of Zilpah P. Grant,
(afterwards wife of the Hon. Joseph Bannister, of Newbury-
port, Massachusetts) . The name of the Emerson family
echoes and re-echoes through the history of the Seminary.
Miss Sill was profoundly impressed by the Rev. Joseph Emer-
son's work, with which she was thoroughly conversant.
When she came to Rockford she had in mind his ideals of
"female education. "( 2) The direct influence of the family
has been unbroken since 1852 when Prof. Joseph Emerson,
of Beloit, Wisconsin, became a member of the Board of
Trustees. He was a nephew of Rev. Joseph Emerson,

(1) Mrs. E. L. Herrick.

(2) Mrs. C. P. Brazee, 1855.

(1) of Byfield, and a son of Rev. Ralph Emerson, who wrote
a biography of his distinguished brother. Rev. Ralph
Emerson, himself, was a member of the Board from 1860 un-
til his death in 1863, and another of his sons, Ralph,
served in a similar capacity from 1870 to 1901. Rev.
Ralph Emerson was also the one-time teacher of Miss Grant
in Colebrook, Connecticut . The work which Joseph Emerson
did at Byfield and 7/ethersfield was of great significance
and had many ramifications. Prom Byfield came Miss Grant,
and the cultured gracious teacher then and later f=-when
Miss Lyon taught with her at Londonderry and. Ipswich;— had
an influence upon Mary. Lyon which was one of the deter-

mining factors of her life. (2)

(1) From The Life of Joseph Emerson by Rev. Ralph Emerson
and the Emerson Gene, lory, p. 219, we learn the following
facts about Kev. Joseph Emerson.

Joseph Emerson, the son of Daniel and Am? Fletcher Em-
erson, was born at Hollis, N. H., Oct. 13, 1777, and died
May 3, 1833. He was married three times, in each case (bo
a woman who was highly educated: to Nancy Eaton, of Fram-
ingham, once his pupil, in 1803; to Eleanor Reed, of
Northbridge, Mass., in 1805, and to Rebecca Hasletine, of
Bradford, Mass., in 1810. The latter was a sister of Mrs.
Ann Judson, wife of the misfeionary. Joseph Emerson was
graduated from Harvard in 1798. Between then and Sept.,
1893, when he was ordained and settled in the ministry at
Beverly, Mass., he tutored in Framingham, where he met
Nancy Eaton. In 1810 he brought out the E^LajageJJjial-
Primer , of which 201,000 copies were sold. In 1818 he
opened his school for young ladies at Byfield. It was
here that Mary Lyon first came under his influence and
under that of Miss Grant, then a teacher at Byfield. He
later taught at Wether sfield, Conn.

(2) Gilchrist, The Life of Mary Lyon, p. 80.

In turn the words of Joseph Emerson to Miss Grant
when she was fearful of accepting the call to Adams Acad-
emy (in Londonderry), on account of her health, "If you
can put into operation a permanent school on right prin-
ciples, you may well afford to give up jour life when you
have done it,"(l) had a profound influence upon both young
women. Miss Grant carried the words in her heart through
all the intervening years. The two friends at Ipswich
cherished the plan for a permanent institution. Miss
Grant never lost the vision, though Miss Lyon, young and
careless of permanence, cried "Never mind the brick and
mortar; only let us h;ve living minds to work upon. "(2)
When Mary Lyon went forth on the active work of gathering
funds for the new seminary at South Hadley, Miss Grant
stayed at Ipswich, always giving advice and encouragement.

And this seminary, too, was an inspiration to Miss
Sill, A Mount Holyoke in the west was her ideal; it was
her model. (3) She did not know Mary Lyon personally
though she knew of her work from various sources. Nor
did she ever visit Mount Holyoke on any of her eastern
trips (4) as would seem likely. Mrs. E. L. Herrick came

(1) Gilchrist, The Life of Mary Lyon, p. 170.

(2) Ibid, p. 171.

(3) Mrs. E. L. Herrick and Mrs. C. P. Brazee.

(4) Mrs. -E. L. Herrick.

to the Seminary in 1852. Though she herself was& .Leicester
Academy graduate, she had come indirectly under the in-
fluence of Mary Lyon, and was an ardent admirer of her.
She knew a great deal about her work from an older sister
who was a graduate of Mount Holyoke. This information she
passed on to Miss Sill.(l) The Holyoke influence was em-
phasized several years later when, in 1855, Miss Helen Car-
penter, of Sturbridge, Massachusetts, came to the Semi'nary
fresh from contact with many of the associates of Mary
Lyon. She had been graduated the previous June, and this
was her first teaching position. (2) Then, too, the air
was full of echoes of the work being done at South Hadley.

I mention all this because of the significance of the
influence of the East upon the West, because of the close
contacts of Rockford with the current educational forces
in the East. To read the annals of the early education of
women is to trace the delicate pattern of a Persian rug
where the motif is repeated and where lines cross and re-
cross .

Catherine Beecher of Hartford, came to Rockford;
Miss Sill was influenced hy Rev. Joseph Emerson and the
Emerson family has been since the beginning profoundly

(1) Mrs. E. L. Herrick.

(2) Alumnae Office, Mount Holyoke College

interested in the college; a Mount Holyoke in the West
was Miss Sill»s ambition; and Zilpah Grant (Mrs. Bannister)
was a good friend to Miss Sill and to the Seminary, giving
so lavishly to it in the early years that Linden, the
second hall, was named for her home in Newburyport.

This interest in the higher education of women in
the early nineteenth century, spread very rapidly to the
Middle West, which was settled largely by emigrants from
New England and New York. They brought the ideal of ed-
ucation in their hearts as they brought their choice old
pieces of furniture in their prairie schooners. In order
to appreciate the significance of this ideal and the sig-
nificance of the Rockford College of today, it is nec-
essary to have in mind something of the history of the
Rock River Valley and of Rockford.

The Black Hawk War, the last Indian War in this re-
gion, closed in 1832.(1) A year later John Phelps, with
a Frenchman, started from Mineral Point, Wisconsin, in a
canoe down the Pecatonica River and thence into the Rock.
He stopped at the mouth of the creek where in 1834 Ger-
manicus Kent and Thatcher Blake made the first settlement
in what is now the city of Rockford. (2) This was not the
first settlement in Winnebago County, however.

(1) The History of Winnebago County, p. 224.

(2) Church, The History of Rockford, p. 25.

Stephen Mack,* who saw that a speedy settlement of
the Rock River Valley would follow the war, had settled
in about the year 1829 at what he thought to be the stra-
tegical point, on a bluff at the junction of the
Pecatonica and Rock, the settlement afterwards being
called Macktown. The Pecatonica was then considered
navigable for one hundred miles and the Rock for one
hundred fifty. (1)

The defeat of the Black Hawk Indians, in the war of
1832, as has been stated, opened the way to the settle-
ment of the Rock River Country. There were, too, other
reasons for an influx of settlers: railroads were being
pushed westward; the establishment of stage lines beyond
the termini of the railroads, opened easy routes to the
west; the northwest east of the Mississippi River, was
well known, and offered wide opportunities, and Illinois
occupied a central position.

(1) The History of Winnebago County, p. 223.

■fr Ibid. Stephen Mack was an interesting person. A
native of Vermont and a one-time student at Dartmouth
College, he drifted West, through love, of adventure, and
took an active part in the Black Hawk War. He married
Hononegah, the daughter of a Pottawatomie chief, and after
her death a Mrs. Daniels, of Harrison, 111. He lived in
Winnebago County until 1850, taking an active part in af-
fairs and serving in different capacities. Mrs. Julia
Warren confirms the statement, so often made, that two of
his daughters by his first wife, Louisa and Mary, attended
the Seminary. As I can find no record of their attendance,
I assume that they attended between 1849 and 1854, of which
years there are no records.

The settlement of the Rock River valley at that
time was inevitable. It is an interesting fact, however,
that the first settlers came not from the East but from
the West. Germanicus Kent and Thatcher Blake, like
Stephen Mack, wer' New Englanders. Kent was born near
Suf field, Connecticut, in 1790. In early manhood he
went to New York, and in 1819 to the South. After some
time in Virginia and Alabama, he came to the home of his
brother in Galena, Rev. \ratus Kent, who later was com-
monly called "the Father of Rockford Female Seminary .,1 (1)
It was here that Germanicus Kent met Thatcher Blake. (2)
Blake, hearing that Kent wished to visit the Rock River,
sought hirn out and planned a trip with him. In June, 1834,
they accordingly started in a wagon from Galena up into
T isconsin, and reached the Pecatonica River about four
miles from "Hamilton's Diggings," operated by a son of
Alexander Hamilton. Here they procured a Canoe, and
proceeded down the Pecatonica to ?'in eshiek's Village, an
Indian village (now Freeport, Illinois.) From there they

(1) Church, The History of Rockford, 26-27.

(2) Ibid, p. 27. Th tcher Blake was born in Oxford
County, Maine, in 1809. In 1834 he started for the "far
,;est" to find his fame and fortune. In St. houis he met
soldiers of the Black Hawk campaign who gave interesting
accounts of the Rock River Valley and Galen'-. attracted
more by the mineral resources of the Galena region, he
made his way there.

continued on and into the Rock River until they came to
a small creek on the west side, now known as Kentfs
Creek, (1) directly opposite the present site of Rockford
College. The Rock was navigable "both north and south.
As the point was about half way between Chicago and Galena,
they called the settlement Midway. The Indians called the
point Rockford from the ledge of rocks ( just below the
present dam) where they could ford the river with their
ponies. Kent and ^lake returned to Galena by way of the
river to Dixon, some forty miles below Rockford, and then
overland. ( 2)

Their second trip was made overland in a wagon with a
single span of horses, and supplies. There were no roads,
nor even Indian trails. The trip took four days, and was
exceedingly difficult. On Sunday evening, August 24, 1834,
with a Mr. Evans and an unknown man, they reached Kent's
Creek. There was nothing romantic in the settlement.
Kent came to set up a saw -mill and Blake to farm. (3) The
consequences of their beginning could hardly have been
foreseen. Little could they have guessed that within
ninety years the settlement would become of one of the
busiest manufacturing centers of the Middle West and a
thriving city of 83,000.

(1) The History of Winnebago County, p. 225.

(2) Ibid.

(3) Ibid.

In this early Rockford there was a strong predominance
of New England characteristics and New England ideals.
Not all the settlers, but many of them, came from New Eng-
land. Some were from New York, and a small number from
other states. They impressed their traits upon the town,
--industry, thrift, temperance, and a high sense of per-
sonal integrity. It was a point of honor with them to
maintain their families and to pay their debts. Of course
not all were of the highest class; but those of the deter-
mining group held the finest ideals of culture and religion,
as is shown by their interest in education. (1)

This interest in education was not confined to the
settlers of Rockford, however. In many neighboring com-
munities efforts were being made to establish schools,
some of which were more successful than others. People
interested in education were coming to the section, think-
ing, it would seem, that it was fertile field for their
efforts. Some of those who came to the section at this
time, as Rev. Hiram Foote and Dr. A. W. Gatlin, (and doubt-
less others), were later interested in the Seminary. Two
grandsons of Dr. Gatlin are now( in May, 1926), associated
with the college: Dr. Sanford R. Catlin is one of the
physicians and Ir. Norman E. Catlin is a member of the
Board of Trustees.

(1) Church, The History of Rockford, p. 40.

Early educational enterprises in the vicinity.

As early as 1836 or 1837 a joint company was formed
at Bel vide re, then Squaw Prairie (some eighteen miles east
of Rockf ord) , to build and run Newton Academy. On March 4,
1839, Boone County gave over to John King, Hiram Water-
man, A. D. Bishop, William Dresser, and F. W. Crosby,
trustees of Newton Academy, and their successors, land
for the erection of an academy. (1) The school was built,
and passed through the hands of several teachers, among
them Arthur Fuller, the brother of Margaret Fuller. He
advertised in the Winnebago Forum for October 18, 1843,
that he was opening the school "on a permanent basis, n
and he proposed "to establish a Seminary of Learning on
a broad and liberal foundation and to give it such a
character as (would) secure the patronage and support
of the corn-unity at large." Mr. Fuller was graduated
from Harvard in 1843. His sister, Margaret Fuller, came
to Belvidere, and bought the property in person. (2)
Arthur Fuller remained about two years, and then turned
over the property to John K. Towner and Eben Conant.
It passed through several hands ,and served as both school
and church until 1852. At one time it was taught by
T. G. Bisbee, who had an A . B. degree and had had

(1) Church, The History of Rockford. p. 287.

(2) Ibid, p. 288.

experience as a teacher in Massachusetts. He advertised
in the Rockford Forum for October 13, 1847, to open the
school with three assistants, October 26, 1847.

In 1839, a seminary was founded at Mount Morris in
Ogle County, about thirty-two miles southwest of Rockford.
(1) Its history has been varied. In the forties it was
running under the name of Rock River Seminary. In 1843,
it advertised accommodations for forty-five students in
the Seminary boarding house and for a larger number with
families in the village. The staff numbered six: Rev.
D. J. Pinckney, A. B., principal; Rev. L. Catlin, pro-
fessor of mathematics; Miss R. R. Carr, preceptress; Mrs.
L. Catlin, female teacher; Mr. J. C. Parker, primary teach-
er, and Jonathan Mitchell, resident agent. There were
two courses--primary and seminary--and lessons in paint-
ing and drawing. (2) The seminary was for both sexes,
and was supported chiefly by the Methodists of the West.
(3) In 1878"- 1879 it was acquired by the Church of the
Brethren. It is now controlled by six state districts
from which are chosen the trustees, and is affiliated with
the Bethany Bible School of Chicago. In 1924—1925 there
were 31 members on the faculty, and 160 students enrolled

(1) Mount Morris College Bulletin, p. 15.

(2) Winnebago Forum, Apr. 28, 1843.

(3) Rockford Forum, Nov. 19, 1843.

for degrees. Besides courses leading the B. A. and B. S.
degrees the college offers work in art and music. (1)

A point near the junction of the Kishw&ukee and Rock
Rivers -»- was the seat of the next educational enterprise.
In February, 1838, Dr. A. M. Catlin came in a wagon to
Illinois from Western Reserve in Ohio. With him were
Rev. Hiram Foote, and Silas Tyler, all of New England
stock and all part of a movement to found an institution
in the region similar to Oberlin. The three Foote brothers,
Hiram, Lucius, and Horatio (all clergymen) were prominent
in this educational movement, and were more or less in-
fluenced by Rev. Charles G. Finney, a revivalist and the
founder of Oberlin. At about this time and through the
same influences, there came to Rockford Ira Baker, the Rev.
Louis Sweasy, James L. Morton, a Mr. Field, and others.
A building was erected by these missionary educators, but
it was never used, though Kishwaukee shortly had forty
dwellings, and Dr. Catlin moved there, and Mr. Tyler,
Mr. Field, and Mr. Johnson continued to live there. (2)

In 1839-40 George W. Lee platted a town on the west
side of the Kishwaukee River, some miles south of Rockford,
in what is now New Milford township--a town of some size,

(1) Mount Morris College Bulletin, pn. 15, 16, 34-38,
list of faculty and students.

(2) Church, The History of Rockford, p. 108.
•«- Now the seat of a consolidated school.

including two stores, a blacksmith's ship, and a large
building for a seminary. This building was inclosed and
partly finished, but never used.(l)

In 1843 an attempt was made to establish at Beloit
(on the Rock River, some twenty miles north of Rockford)
a female Seminary. The Winnebago Forum for May 12, 1843,
tells us that "after repeated solicitations from the
citizens of Beloit and vicinity," Miss Eliza D. Field
decided "to open a seminary for Young Ladies," on the last
Monday in May, 1843. The proposed curriculum included
"all those branches of the mental^ moral and natural sci-
ences" which were "taught in our Eastern Acadamies of the
first order; together with the French and Italian Lan-
guages, Instrumental Music, Embroidery, or any of the Or-
namental branches of Female Education." The subsequent
silence of the Forum in the case of this enterprise, as in

the coses of most of the others, would indicate that it was

were
not successful. The fact, however, that people/repeatedly

soliciting the establishment of schools and that schools

were being projected, was significant.

Early schools in Rockford.

In Rockford, from 1843 on, we find one enterprise

(1) Church, The History of Rockford, p. 105.

after another, all bearing directly or indirectly upon
the Seminary about to be founded.

In July 1845, there was established in East Rockford
the school of Miss Veronica Foote for the "instruction of
children and youth of both sexes." She laid out three
courses of study:

I. Orthography, Reading, Writing, the elements of
Geography, History, English, Grammar, and Arithmetic;

II. The above continued with Natural, Moral, and
Intellectual Philosophy, Botany, Geology, Geography, Geo-
graphy of the Heavens, the Philosophy of Natural History
and Philosophy;

III. Chemistry, Geometry, French, Needlework, Paint-
ing, and Embroidery.

While the "ornamental branches" were included, they
played a smaller part than in the curriculum of Beloit
Female Seminary. (1)

A little over a year later Professor and Mrs. S. S.
Whitman opened the Rockford Young Ladies School in their
home. (2) Professor Whitman * must have been a man of

(1) Winnebago Forum, June 23, 1843.

(2) Rockford Forum, Nov. 27, 1844,

* The office of the dean of the theological seminary
of Colgate University, Hamilton, Y. Y., furnished me
with the following data about Mr. Whitman: ( The state-
ment concerning his academic training is confirmed by
the record sent me from the Newton Theological Institution.)

parts; his name appears constantly in the records of the
time, — "as one-time teacher in Belvidere Academy, "( 1) as
one of the founders and the pastor of the First Baptist
Church, and as clerk of the circuit court. (2)

Mrs. Gif fordte Select School for Young Ladies seems
to have been the next educational venture in the town.
In 1845, according to the Rockford Forum of March 12,
1845, she was teaching, at West Rockford, the common Eng>
lish and higher branches, French, Drawing, and oil and
"a new kind of Dry Painting."

Mr. L. B. Gregory also conducted a school in Rock-
ford in 1845. From the newspaper reports and from the
testimony of those, who remember his school, it is evi-
dent that it was popular end successful. In April of

"Seth Spencer Whitman was born in Fairfield,
Vt., February 5, 1802. He entered the Hamilton
Literary and Theological Institution in 1820, but
did not graduate. He received his A. B. at Ham-
ilton College in 1825, was a student at Newton
Theological Institution, 1825-28, received hia
A.M. from Brown University in 1828. In 1828 he
was elected Professor of Biblical Interpretation
and Criticism. In 1835 Professor Whitman resigned
the Chair of Biblical Interpretation and Criticism,
having occupied the chair seven years. He was a
fine scholar and a most amiable Christian gentle-
man. He removed with his family to Belvidere in
Illinois, and for years exerted a conspicuous in-
fluence in the movements of the denomination in
that state, and died esteemed! and loved by all w?>o
knew him . "

(1) Church, The History of Rockford, p. 127.

(2) Ibid, p. 158.

that year he had an exhibition to which the Forum devoted
considerable space. There were over fifty performances,
including "declamations, colloquies, the reading of com-
positions by the female scholars, --and some excellent
singing by Messrs. Benjamin and Bronson of this town."
The audiences of the forties were evidently not given to
voiceless approbation or disapproval. Of course we of
today realize that a program of fifty pieces was somewhat
of an ordeal, and make allowances for the audience. The
Forum does not: it scores their "whistling, pushing,
shouting," and denounces their conduct as "more befiting
a mobocratic throng than a body of people proud of their
intelligence, their courtesy, and their character." The
offence was not unique.(l) The same paper rebukes in
similar terms a later Rockford Female Seminary audience.

Mr. Gregory was succeeded by Mr. Charles A. Hunt-
ington. From all reports and from the testimony of those
who knew him, he was "not only a man of moral integrity
and of engaging personality, but he was also an excellent
teacher, forceful and intelligent. "(2) It would seem that
of all these schools his was the most advanced and most
thorough .

(1) Rockford Forum, Apr. 9, 1845.

(2) Mrs. E. P. Catlin.

He came to Rockford with many years' experience in
eastern academies. In the autumn of 1845, he extended
an invitation to "Young Ladies and Gentlemen wishing to
acquire a thorough academic education" to avail them-
selves of the opportunity he offered. (1)

The school was first established in a block belong-
ing to William Peters, and it ran under the name of Rock-
ford Classical School. In 1848 the name was changed to
that of the Rockford English and Classical School. (2)

Mr. Huntington's curriculum was more ambitious and
more solid than the curricula of his predecessors. He
offered three groups of subjects:

I. Commercial English Education,

II. Higher branches of Mathematics and Natural
Science,

III. Latin or Greek Language.

This is the first time Greek or Latin was offered. (3)

As the school grew, Mr. Huntington had hopes that he
could make it a permanent institution and could establish
it in more comfortable quarters. He was many times dis-
couraged by the slowness of payment on the pert of his

(1) Rockford Forum, Oct. 1, 1845

(2) Ibid, Mar. 2, 1848.

(3) Ibid, Oct. 1, 1845

pupils. (1) He appealed to them at one time, through the
press, urging that those who were indebted for tuition
upon previous quarters, would pay immediately as his
tuition money was his only means of maintenance for his
family, and he was in immediate need of every dollar due.

(2)

Mr. Huntington seems to have had the support of the
townspeople to a degree which no previous teacher enjoyed.
On his examining committee in 1846 were Rev. L. H. Loss,
(a close friend of Miss Sill), Rev. Mr. Stone, Rev. Mr.
Heath, James Wigert, Esq., Dr. J. C. Goodhue, Dr. Haskell,
and Dr. A. G. Armour, "some or all of whom? were expected
to visit the school each week, and to "impart whatever of
counsel they (might) deem to be for the interest of the
school. "(3)

In January, 1847, Miss Elizabeth Weldon became a mem-
ber of the school faculty as assistant in the primary de-
partment, and Miss Clara A. White came from Goshen, Massa-
chusetts, (4) after successful teaching in the East and
South, to teach ornamental needlework, painting, and draw-
ing, music and French. (5) Miss White is said to have

(1) Rockford Forum, Aug. 12, 1846.

(2) Ibid, Aug. 18, 1847.

(3) Ibid.

(4) Appendix to Catalogue, 1860-61, Rockford Female Semin-
ary.

(5) Rockford Forum, Jan. 6, 1847.

taught afterwards under Miss Sill.(l)

1848 marks the last year of the Rockford Classical
and English School. Mr. Huntington had moved to the
building, — first used as a court house and then as a
meeting house by the Methodists( 2)--in which Miss Sill
opened her school. He himself says, "I gave the ground
to her (Miss Sill) , and she begon the foundation of what
is now Rockford Female Seminary, in the same old building
which I had used. "(3)

In October, 1849, he opened a small private school
for boys. (4) That same fall he was elected school com-
missioner of the village in which office he served success-
fully for eight years. (5)

His teaching it would seem was of the highest grade,
and his school of the most advanced type in the community.
Among his first pupils in Rockford were Gapt. E. E. Potter,
Carrol Spafford, Samuel Montague, Hiram R. Enoch, Sarah
Preston, Selwyn Clark, Clinton C. Helm, and Adeline Potter,
(afterwards Mrs. William Lathrop) , all of whom have been
friends, served the Seminary, or were in some way con-

(1) I find confirmation of this statement in the list of
teachers appended to the catelogue for 1860-61. She prob-
ably taught before 1854 (when the first catalogue was
issued) as her name does not appear in the catalogue of
that year or any later year.

(2) Mrs. Katherine Keeler gave me this information person-
ally.

(3) Rockford Daily Gazette, Dec. 16, 1886.

(4) Church, The History of Rockford, p. 276.

(5) Ibid.

nected with it. Mrs. La thro p was the valedictorian of
the first graduating class and the mother of Miss Julia
Lathrop and of Mr. E. P. Lathrop, st this time (1926)
president of the Board of Trustees. Lathrop Hall is
named for her.

A Miss Brown and a Miss Hyde, also conducted schools
in the village, Miss Brown having a school in 1847 on
West Main Street, where she taught primary and higher
studies, (1) and Miss Hyde one in the basement of the old
Baptist Church and later at the corner of Chestnut and
Walnut Streets where she taught similar courses. (2)

Miss Eliza Richards, who had known Miss Sill in New
York State and who became her assistant when she opened
her school, was also on the ground. During the summer
vacation of 1848 v/hen she and her brother had come west
to visit their sister and brother-in-law, Mr. and Mrs.
Lorenzo Dwight Waldo who lived in Rockford, she had been
persuaded to remain and open a private school for girls.
Mr. Asa Crosby" off ered a room in his hospitable New Eng-
land home" for the purpose. When Miss Sill decided to
come to Rockford, she asked Miss Richards "to give up her
school and join her in the new project." (3)

This brief review of the interest in education in the
com: unity and of the attempts to establish schools during

(1) Rockford Forum, Oct. 20, 1847.

(2) Ibid, Oct. 10, 1849.

(3) Mrs. Malinda Richards Hervey, sister of Miss Eliza
Richards and Mrs. L. D. Waldo. Miss Malinda suc-
ceeded Miss Eliza in "Miss Sill's School."

the early years, brings us to a consideration of the Sem-
inary, These schools were, for the most part, of lower
rank though they taught higher branches. Their founders,
however, seem not to have had the vision nor the firmness
of purpose of Miss Sill.

The founding of Rockford Female Seminary

As early as 1843 there began to be discussion of the
need for a seminary in the upper Rock River valley. This
discussion culminated in the founding of Beloit College
for men and Rockford Female Seminary. At the general con-
vention of the churches of the northwest held at Cleveland
in June, 1844, at which education received considerable
attention, it was decided that a college be founded in
southern Wisconsin and a seminary in northern Illinois. (1)
An invitation was given at this conference "to the friends
of Christian education in Northern Illinois, Wisconsin,
and Iowa to meet in convention at Beloit, on the sixth of
August of the same ye^r at 1 ofclock P. M.t?(2) In answer
to this invitation there were present four members from

(1) Church, The History of Rockford, p. 288.

(2) Records of Convention held at Beloit, Aug. 6, 1844.

Iowa, and twenty-five each, from Illinois and Wisconsin. (1)

wRev. Aratus Kent was chosen chairman and Jason Marsh,
Esq., Secretary. The Convention spent two days in the

(1) The members from Illinois were Rev. L. Benedict, of
Galena; Rev. E. Brown, of Twelve Mile Grove (now Seward);
Rev. N. C. Clark, of Elgin; Rev. M. Hicks, of Chicago;
Rev. Aratus Kent, of Galena; Rev. H. Marsh, of Galesburg;
Rev. 0. W. Norton, of Roscoe; Rev. R. M. Pearson, of Grand
de Tour; Rev. S. Smalley, of Amazon; Rev. H. Taylor, of
Rockton; Rev. C. Waterbury, of Freeport; Rev. R. N. Wright,
of Belvidere; Rev. A. P. Campbell of Galena; Mr. C. G.
Horsman, Mr. P. B. Johnson, Mr. J. Marsh, Mr. A. Marsh,
Mr. Anson S. Miller, Mr. E. H. Potter, Mr. H. L. Rood,
Mr. T. Talcott, Mr. W. Talcott, Mr. S. Taylor, Dr. A.
Thomas, all of Rockford, and Mr. V. Brent, of RocVton.
Those from Wisconsin were Rev. S, Bridgman, of Pewaukee;
Rev. C. H. Buckley, of Janesville, Rev. A. L. Chapin,
of Milwaukee; Rev. D. Clary, of Beloit; Rev. A. P. Clinton,
of Aztulan; Rev. H. Foote, of Racine; Rev. A. Gaston,
of Delevan; Rev. J. B. Heaton, of Mount Zion; Rev. E. W.
Hewitt, of Milton; Rev. H. Lawrence, of Elkhorn;
Rev. S. E. Miner, of Madison; Rev. J. J. Miter of
Milwaukee; Rev. C. Nichols, of LaPayette; Rev. S. Peet,
of Milwaukee; Rev. C. E. Rosencrans, of Platteville;
Mr. A. Field, Mr. L. G. Fisher, Mr. H. Hobart, Mr.
C. Olds, Mr. T. Tuttle, Mr. S. G. Tylor, all of Beloit;
Mr. J. Hopkins and Mr. C. Olds, of Waterloo; Mr. W.
M. Seymour, of Madison, and Mr. Thompson of Elkhorn.

There were present also two honorary members
"who took part in the deliberation: Rev. Theron Bald-
win, Secretary of the Society for Promoting Collegiate
Education at the West, --and Rev. L. H. Loss from Ohio."
(Mr. Loss was pastor of the First Congregational Church,
in Rockford, 1846--1849.)

Records of Convention held at Beloit, August 6, 1844.

Note: — The spelling of proper names in this. and the fol-
lowing lists, is kept as it w as in the records.

serious, earnest, and prayerful consideration of the
subject which had called them together," as a result of
which the following resolution concerning northern Ill-
inois and southern Wisconsin was adopted:

"Resolved that we deem that the exigencies of
Northern Illinois and Wisconsin require that there
be a college (for men) and a Female Seminary, of
the highest order, located in this region, and
that we commend that one should be in northern
Illinois, contiguous to Wisconsin and the other in
Wisconsin, contiguous to Illinois, and that a com-
mittee of ten be appointed to procure the requisite
information, with reference to the locations, and
report the same to a subsequent convention."

The committee thus appointed consisted of the Rev.

Aratus Kent, Rev. C. V/aterbury, Rev. Flavel Bascom,

Rev. E. Brown, Rev. 11. C. Clark, Rev. S. Peet, Rev. J.

D. Stevens, Rev. A. Gaston, Rev. H. Foote, and Rev. 0.

P. Clinton, three of whom, the Rev. f. Bascom, Rev. E.

Brown, and Rev. J. D. Stevens, were not present at the

meeting. (1)

Among the general resolutions adopted at this con-
vention was one concerning the higher education of women

"Resolved that permanent Female Seminaries
of the highest order, for the education of American
women, should have a prominent place in our educa-
tional system." (2)

A long step , this resolution, from the opposition
with which Mary Lyon met only a little more than a
decade before when she was trying

(1) Records of convention held at Beloit, Aug. 6, 1844.

(2) Ibid.

to launch Mount Holyoke.

A future convention was provided for,: this to meet
at Beloit "on the last Tuesday in October next at seven
o1 clock P. M." The group was f,to be composed of one
delegate from each of the Presbyterian and Congregational
churches, all the ministers of those churches in this
region. "(1)

This convention met according to plan with a goodly
number present, (2) and the sessions were opened with an
address on education by the Rev. L. H. Loss. The officers

(1) Records of convention held at Beloit, Aug. 6, 1844.

(2) Roll Call shows those present from Illinois to have
been the Hev. P. Bascora, of Chicago; Rev. S. Benedict,

of Rockton; Rev. E. G. Hazard, of Winslow; Rev. 0. Little-
field, (home not given); Rev. R. N. Pearson, of Grand de
Tour; Rev. S. Porter, of Rockford; Rev. H. Taylor, of
Rockton; Rev. C. Waterbury, of Belvidere; Mr. J. V.
Nichols, of Chicago; Mr. N. Rudd, of Rockton; Mr. J. D.
Twiner, of Freeport; Mr. J. S. Wright, of Chicago; Mr.
A. Clark, of Pewaukee; Mr. C. D. Clinton, of Prairie-
ville, and Mr. S. Hinman, of South Prairieville . From
Wisconsin there came the Rev. William Arms, of Aztulan;
Rev. H. H. Benson, of Beloit; Rev. E. G. Bradford, of
Fond du Lac; Rev. C". H. A. Buckley, of Janesville; Rev.
H. Foote, of Racine; Rev. A. Gaston, of Delevan; Rev. J.
E. Horton, of Mount Zion; Rev, L. H. Loss, Rev. S. Peet,
Rev. D. Pinkerton, and Mr. S. L. Fisher, and Mr. C. Haws,
all of Beloit; Mr. G. Cutler of Aztulan; Mr. C. D. Holton,
of Milwaukee; Mr. G. Humphrey, of Sugar Creek; Mr. J. Lay,
of Southport; Ur , A. B. Parsons, of Delevan; Mr. L. Red-
dington, of Geneva; Mr. C. C. Ryerson, of Mineral Point;
Mr. A. Smith, of Troy, and Mr. R. D. Turner, of Burlington.
Records of convention held at Beloit, Oct, 29, 1844.

chosen were Samuel Hinman, Esq., president; Rev, R. N«
Wright, vice-president; and Edward D. Hoi ton, Esq., and
Rev. L. Porter, secretaries.

The Committee of Ten appointed at the previous con-
vention reported, recommending Beloit as the seat of the
college and presenting a proposition from that village,
but making no provision for the female seminary. (1) The
girls could wait--and they did--until after their brothers
were cared for.

After a lengthy discussion of this report, resolu-
tions were adopted that this convention concur with the
resolutions of the previous convention to found a college
and a female seminary in southern Wisconsin and in north-
ern Illinois respectively. But these reverend gentlemen
were nettling if not slow and cautious. "Prior to final

action" "further measures" should be taken "to ascertain

the views of all the ministers and churches in this region."
A committee was appointed to visit the churches and to
acquaint them fully with the matter, and the Committee
of Ten was re-appointed, to continue its duties. (1)

During the sessions of the third convention,-"- held

(1) Records of convention held at Beloit, Oct. 29, 1844.
» The delegates to this convention from Illinois were
as follows: from the Ottawa Presbytery — Rev. L. Parnha:- ,
Rev. M. Hicks, Rev. S. Smalley, and Rev. R. N. Wright,
Mr. J. Walker, of Belvidere; from the Galena Presbytery
--Rev. E. H. Hazard, Rev. A. Kent, Rev. A. Littlefield,
Rev. C. Waterbury, and Mr. T. J. Turner, of Freeport, and

at Beloit on the last Tuesday in May, 1845, signs of hope
for the female seminary appeared. The Rev. Aratus Kent,
addressed the group during their deliberations on the
subject of female education, and I imagine, from all re-
ports of his personality, with considerable ardor. He

Mr. J. F. Magoon, of Galena; from the Fox River Union--
Rev. N. C. Clark, Rev. P. Eodith, Rev. G. J. Howe, and
Mr. S. Hubbard, of Elgin, and Mr. E. J. Town, of Batavia;
from the Rock River Association--Rev. E. Brown, Rev. G.
Grinnell, Rev. R. M. Pearson, Rev. L. Porter, and Mr.
D. Lewis, of Byron, and Mr. C. Foster, of Rockford.

From Wisconsin came the following delegates: from
the Milwaukee convention--Rev. L. Bridgman, Rev. A. L.
Chapin, Rev. H. Foote, Rev. J. k. Hart, Rev. H. Marsh,
Rev. J. J. Unter, Rev. C. Nichols, Rev. M. Wells, and
Mr. G. W. Arms, of Burlington; Mr. Geo. Barker; Mr. A.
Ely of Milwaukee; Mr. S. T. Derbyshire, of Pleasant
Prairie; Mr. S. Hinman, of S. Platteville; Mr. L. Jud-
son of Yorkville; Mr. J. Mitchell, of Pikefs Grove; Mr.
M. M. Pieville, of Racine; Mr. E. L. Purple, of Prairie-
ville; from the Beloit convent ion- -Rev. L. Benedict, Rev.
H. H. Benson, Rev. C. H. Buckley, Rev. Dexter Clary,
Rev. 0. P. Clinton, Rev. A. Gaston, Rev. J. G. Heaton,
Rev. E. Hewitt, Rev. M. P. Kinney, Rev. L. H. Loss, Rev.
M. Montague, Rev. S. Peet, Rev. D. Pinkerton, Rev. C. E.
Rosencrans, and Rev. S. M. Thompson; Mr. W. Arms, of
Aztalan; Mr. J. Chopin, of Geneva; Mr. J. Edwards, of
Troy; Rev. H. Holmes, of Milton, Rev. J. W. Keep, of
Beloit; Rev. Benjamin Morell, of Jsnesville; Rev. C.
Parsons of Delevan; Rev. N. P. Rudd, of Rockton; Rev.
H. B. Russell, of l/iount Zion; Rev. J. Spooner, of Sugar
Creek; from the Mineral Point Convention--Rev. E. J.
Bradford; Rev. Z. Eddy, Rev. J. Lewis, Rev. J. D.
Stearns, and Mr. Benjamin Kilburn, of Fairplay.

There were also a number of persons from abroad who
took part in the deliberations; Rev. J. Lindsley, D. D.,
president of Marietta College in Ohio; Rev. T. M. Hopkins,
of the Buffalo Presbytery; Rev. Reuben Smith of the Troy
(N. Y.) Presbytery; Rev. L. Graves, of the Illinois Asso-
ciation, and Rev. Josiah Town, also of Illinois.

The officers of this convention were; Rev. E. Water-
bury president; Rev. J. Spooner and Col. J. Walker, vice-
presidents; and J. M. Keep, Esq. and Rev. L. Farnham, sec-
retaries.

Records of convention, May (?), 1845.

seems, too, to have obtained results. After the subject
of the former conventions,— the establishment of the college
and female seminary, — had been presented again, and the dis-
cussion of it "earnestly and prayerfully carried through a
day and a half," and after the Beloit offer had been dis-
posed of, the committee continued from the previous con-
had
vention, was invited to report. They reported that they/

made no further progress toward the choice of a location
for a female seminary, and v/ere discharged, whereupon
resolutions were made that another committee of ten be
appointed to receive further proposals, and "consider
measures for the speedy establishment of a Female Sem-
inary of the highest order in Illinois contiguous to Wis-
consin." They were to report to a convention "to be called
within six months, by the committee on the College." The
members of the second committee on the Female Seminary
were as follows: Rev. E. Brown, Rev. D. Clary, Rev. L.
Porter, Rev. R. N. Wright, Rev. L. Benedict, Rev. C.
Waterbury, Mr. W. Talcott, Mr. T. J. Turner, Mr. A.
Clark, and Mr. J. Marsh. (1)

Among the resolutions passed at these sessions is
one of interest to us as expressing the attitude of the
founders:

(1) Records of the convention, May (?), 1845.

"That we thankfully recognize the special
supervision of God, manifested in the whole dis-
cussion, and in conducting us to so harmonious a
result, and that we commend the enterprise on
which we have entered, to the support and prayers
of the churches. "(1)

The earnestness of purpose of these men and the thorough-
ness and reverence with which they carried out their pur-
pose is characteristic of the times. Rockford and Beloit
Colleges were truly founded in prayer.

As the fourth convention, * held October 21, 1845,
more definite steps were taken in regard to the seminary.

(1) Records of the convention, May (?), 1845.
-* The delegates to this committee were as follows:
from the Galena Presbytery— Rev. Silas Jessup and Rev.
Aratus Kent; from the Ottawa Presbytery, Rev. H. Berson;
from the Rock River Association,— Rev. W. L. Parsons,
Rev. L. Porter, Rev. R. M. Pearson, and Mr. J. Marsh,
Esq.; from the Fox River Association— Rev. E. Evileth;
from the Milwaukee Association, --Rev. A. L. Chapin,
Rev. J. J. Miter, Rev. E. D. Seward, Mr. J. Drurnmond,
Mr. J. Rive, Mr. J. W. Vail; from the Beloit convention
--Rev. L. Benedict, Rev. C. H. Buckley, Rev. D. Clary,
Rev. C. P. Clinton, Rev. A. Gaston, Rev. E. W. Hewitt,
Rev. L. H. Loss, Rev. M. Montague, Rev. A. Montgomery,
Rev. A. Peet, Rev. P. H. Pitkin, Rev. L. A. Thompson,
Mr. L. G. Fisher, and Mr. W. Talcott; from the Mineral
Point convention— Rev. C. Warner and Mr. Hickox, Esq.

The officers of the convention were Rev. S« Peet,
president; Messrs. J. Marsh and G. W. Hickox, Vice-
presidents, and Rev. R. M. Pearson and Rev. C. A.
Buckley, secretaries.

Records of the convention, Oct. 21, 1845

The same persons constituting the board for the College, #
were appointed for the Seminary; and, after the report of
the committee named at the third convention, "on a lo-
cation and charter for a Female Seminary" had been dis-
cussed and accepted, it was resolved that "the location
of the Female Seminary be referred to the Trustees, for
the final action, and also that the Charter be referred
to the same Board for revision and final adoption. "( 1)

Within the next six months there were several meet-
ings of the Board, which except for slight changes (2)
remained as it was first appointed until 1850 when pro-
visions were made for a separate board. On October 23,
they met at Beloit, and appointed Rev. Aratus Kent, pres-
ident and Rev. D. Clary, Secretary pro tern.

The second meeting was set for the third Tuesday in
November. Rev. A. L. Chapin was appointed to give an ad-
dress on education; and Rev. Mr. Peet, Rev. Mr. Clary and
Mr. Fisher were appointed a committee to "revise the

(1) Records of the convention, Oct. 21, 1845.

(2) Mr. Goodsell declined to serv and Mr. Samuel Hale
was unable to serve. My. Samuel Hinman of Prairieville,
111., was appointed to the board.

* Board of Trustees: Rev, Aratus Kent, Rev. S. Peet,
Rev. A. L. Chapin, Rev. R. M. Pearson, Rev. Dexter Clary,
Messrs. -*Rev. F. Bascom, -»-Rev. J. D. Stevens, *Rev. C.
Waterbury,' and Messrs. -*E. H. Potter, *C. M. G-oodsell, and
■a-A. Raymond. Rev. Aratus Kent was chosen president, and
Rev. D. Clary secretary pro tern.

Records of the Board of Trustees, Not dated.

* Absent.

charter for the Female Seminary, and report at the next
meeting of the board. "(1)

At this meeting held at the Court House in Rockford
November 18, Mr. Jason Marsh presented in behalf of the
citizens of Rockford a proposition that the Female Sem-
inary be located there. The Board decided to discuss the
matter the following day, and adjourned until then when
they met at the home of Mr. E. H. Potter.

There were present at this session Rev. A. Kent,
Rev. S. Peet, Rev. A. L. Chapin, Rev. R. M. Pearson, E.
H. Potter, G. W. Hickox, and W. Talcott.(2)

The proposition of the people of Rockford, * which

(1) Minutes of the Board Meeting, Nov. 18, 1845. Records
of the Board of Trustees. (Not dated.)

(2) Ibid.

* The people of Rockford, according to the Rockford
Forum for Nov. 5, had met November 3, with Mr. Selden M.
Church presiding and Mr. L. B. Gregory a s secretary to a ct
upon the location of the Seminary in the town. Mr. C. P.
Huntington spoke on education, and Dr. J. C. Goodhue
"followed with remarks on female education." The resolu-
tions adopted at that meeting were significant and impor-
tant:

"Resolved: That while we recognize the great funda-
mental truth, that the general diffusion cf knowledge
is essential to the welfare of every community: we
regard the subject of education as having special
claims upon us who have made our homes in the West,
upon whom----rests the great responsibility of laying
the foundations of society upon such a basis as that
the immutable principles of truth, morality, and re-
ligion shall take deep root here.-—-"

is quoted in full, was then taken up:

"The undersigned hereby pledge to the Trustees
of the Female Seminary connected with Beloit College,
the sum of thirty- five hundred dollars (|3500) to be
apportioned for the erection of the building for
said seminary, in pursuance and according to the
terms of a subscription, signed by the citizens of
Rockford, dated November 19, 1845."

This pledge was signed by Jason Marsh, Anson S. Miller,

Daniel L. Haight, S. M. Church. J. S. S, Norton, and E.

H. Potter. (1)

(1) Records of Board of Trustees. (Not dated.)

* "Resolved: That in view of the already large
population (of Rockford; about 1200) and rapidly
extending settlement of Northern Illinois and Wis-
consin, we see even now before us a wide and invit-
ing field for labor in the great cause of Education,
that as parents, philanthropists, patriots, and Christ-
ians, resting under solemn obligations not only to
cherish and preserve our own most sacred interests,
but to act for the welfare of our children and future
generations, we hail this as an opoortunity.----"

A resolution was adopted that Rockford be offered
as the site of Seminary, and it was unanimously accepted.
A commitee of seven, Jason Marsh, George Haskell,
Willard Wheeler, Asa Crosby, Anson S. Miller, P. B.
Johnson, and Horace Foote, was appointed to circulate
a subscription.

The editor of the Forum, in commenting upon the meet-
ing, remarked that there were not so many present as there
should have been. Though he favored the proposed plan, he
was skeptical of its success; he found it 'difficult to
harmonize" it "with the general practice and well-known
parsimonious views of many----citizens" in regard to high-
er education, adding that in previous instances, when a
teacher had opened a school, no matter how low the rates
were, there was always criticism of him.

The committee appointed at the previous meeting
to prepare the charter reported. After the charter was
read it was adopted, and was approved "by the state,
February 25, 1847.(1) The question of the site, however,
was not settled, until the next day. The following morn-
ing when the Board met at Pecatonica, ( some fifteen miles
northwest of Rockford) after the election of officers, *
Mr. Wait Talcott "in behalf of the citizens of Pecatonica
offered, on condition that the Female Seminary should be
located at that place, thirty- five hundred dollars, to be
expended in erecting a building, an elligible site, and
two thousand dollars as a permanent fund. "(2)

The Board then discussed the location of the Semin-
ary, and "after full consideration of the subject and
uniting in prayer for the Divine direction, proceeded by
ballot, to obtain the opinion of the members." There
were eight votes for Rockford and two for Pecatonica,
"whereupon it was resolved without dissent, that the Fe-
male Seminary should be located at Rockford." The exec-
utive committee was instructed to secure a site for the

(1) See Appendix, pp. 330-33^ •

(2) Records of Board of Trustees, (Not dated.)

* Officers elected were Rev. A. Kent, president; Rev.
S. Peet, vice-president; Rev. D. Clary, secretary; Mr.
Benjamin Durham, Esq., of Beloit, treasurer; and Messrs.
S. Peet, D. Clary, L. G. Fisher, W. Talcctt, and E. H.
Potter, executive committee.

Seminary and titles to the land, and to report at the
next meeting which was set for the second Tuesday of
April, 1846.(1)

It would seem that, the site determined, there
never was any question as to the name of the seminary.
At the second meeting of the Board of Trustees it was
resolved that "the Institution to be located at Rockford
be denominated f Rockford Female Seminary.1" Although in
the early days it was called Forest Hill Seminary, from
the nature of the location, it officially bore the name
the trustees gave to it until 1887, when it became Rock-
ford Seminary. In 1892 it became Rockford College.

It was at the same meeting that the executive com-
mittee was instructed tc make plans for both the college
and seminary buildings, and "to make inquiry respecting
persons suitable to fill the offices of both Institutions."
And, too, a committee composed of Messrs. Raymond, Potter,
and Waterbury, was appointed to obtain a charter for the
seminary. This committee at the next meeting, A^ril 14
and 15, 1846, reported that the legislature had not been
in session, which circumstance would account for the delay
in granting the charter by the state, to February 25, 1847.

(1) Records of Board of Trustees. (Not dated.)

There is no further reference to the matter in the
records of the Board. (1)

At this and the next meeting the college seemed
to receive the almost undivided attention of the Board.
At the meeting on June 23, 1847, we find a committee
appointed, consisting of Messrs. Kent, Parscns, Fisher,
and Hinman, "to mature a plan and obtain an estimate
for a seminary building at Rockford." They reported at
the next meeting ("in part and were continued") that the
condition of affairs in the village was such that titles
could not be obtained that year. (2) This statement un-
doubtedly referred to the repeated destruction of "the
hydraulic works of the town which resulted in the crip-
pling of its improvement, and the embarrassment of all of
its business" and which delayed the plans for the seminary.
(3) No attempt was ever made to collect the subscriptions
amounting to thirty- five hundred dollars, pledged at the
second meeting of the board of trustees.

For nearly a year the subject of the Seminary was
not touched upon; then at a meeting of the Board on May
25, 1848, it was again introduced. Upon Rev. Aratus Kent
devolved the responsibility of inquiring of the citizens
of Rockford, concerning the probability of their being able

(1) Records of Board of Trustees, April 14-15.

(2) Ibid, June 23, 1847.

(3) Scrap Book.

"to carry out the proposition made for erecting a sem-
inary building." At the next board meeting, September
19, 1848, Ivlr. Kent reported, and the subject was post-
poned until the meeting of July 24, 1849, when "a Com-
mittee was appointed consisting of S. Peet, A. L. Chap-
in, to wham was committed the subject of (the) Female
Seminary, with instructions to report during the present
meeting of the Board," (1)

On the next day, July 25, the committee reported that
as the citizens of Rockford had "failed to fulfill the
proposition made by them for establishing a Female Sem-
inary" within the time specified, "the papers on the sub-

ject be. returned to the Committee, and the proposition

be no longer entertained." (2)

That the interest in the establishment of a seminary
for the education of young women was unflagging, is evi-
denced by the next resolution to the effect that the
.Trustees cherished "aa undiminished interest in securing
a Female Seminary of the highest order in this region,"
and that they were "bounded in deference to the instruc-
tions received from the body which appointed them to take
measures for this end." They expressed themselves as ready
to "receive new proposals, and take such other steps" as
might lead "to speedy action" "in this enterprise." (3)

(1) Records of the Board of Trustee?, July 24, 1849.

(2) Ibid, July 25, 1849.

(3) Ibid.

The next meeting held November 21, 1849, was devoted
to a consideration of the report of Messrs. Kent and Peet,
who had been appointed by the Executive Committee "to
make inquiries at Rockton and Rockford, relative to the
location of the Female Seminary. Unfortunately the
minutes of the Board contain nothing further than that the
subject was for a long time under discussion. It would be
interesting to know what was said.

After a recess, at the session the next day Messrs.
Kent, Bascom, Chapin, Pearson, Talcott, and Raymond were
appointed a committee to take into consideration further
plans for the Seminary, They were also authorized to re-
ceive proposals from any quarter for the location of the
Seminary. It was understood that the direction of the
Seminary be left with the Executive Committee, the major-
ity of whom were to be residents of the place where it was
located. ( 2)

Eight months later, July 25, 1850, the Board met
again, this time to consider the propositions received
by the Committee (for the location of the seminary) from
the citizens of Rockton, Rockford, and Freeport.(3)

Freeport sent subscriptions for $5,000 and the promise
of a site; Rockton for $4,600, a site, and a permanent
fund of $1,000, the interest of which was to be used for

(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, Nov. 21, 1849.

(2) Ibid, Nov. 22, 1849.

(3) Ibid, July 25, 1850.

maintenance. Rockford!s offer was for $6,215, $500 of
which was to be used for a site if necessary. The
opinion was expressed that sites would "be offered, but
that they might not be desirable. It might be necessary
to buy in order to get the best location. (1)

The Board after "full de libera :ion and prayer" and
after h-ving first decided th -t a majority should be
"requisite to a decistion," voted upon the three pro-
positions. Then the vote was counted, it was found that
the majority favored Rockton. Messrs. Peet, Talcott, and
Emerson were then appointed a committee to suggest further
plans for the organization of the institution. Before the
end of the meeting, "However, a motion was introduced that
the vote favoring Rockton be reconsidered. The minutes
tell us that "reasons were assigned in support of this
motion and being duly considered it was carried." Further
action on the location was deferred until the next meeting,
which was set for September 18, 1850.(2)

It would be interesting to have a record of the rea-
sons set forth against Rockton. One popularly assigned
is that Roekton was dangerously near Beloit, the seat
of the college. It would seem, however, the advantages
of Rockford were the deciding factors. newspaper of
the time in discussing the situation expressed the be-
lief that ockford would be preferred, not only "on the

■fc— — ■■ -— — a ni||

(1) Scrap Book.

(2) Records of the Board of Trustees, July 25, 1850.

pecuniary inducement," but also because of the fact that
there was "established there just such a school (Miss
Sill!s School) as they desired to build up." The clip-
ping goes on to state that it only remained for the
trustees "to accept the means subscribed, and with it
cast around that school whatever of patronage" they could
control. Miss Sill had been on the ground, the writer
believed, "long enough to test the experiment of such an
Institution in this region," and all that was necessary
"to place it in point of respectability and usefulness by
the side of the first Institutions of the kind in the
country, (was) the same expenditure of means providing
for its convenience, and the same public co-operation
which others (enjoyed) . "(1)

The supposition that Rockford would be selected as the
seat for the seminary, was correct. On September 18, after
"a season spent in prayer for Divine assistance," a vote
was taken, favoring Rockford. Messrs. Kent, Pearson, and
Parsons were appointed to consider further action neces-
sary to locate the Seminary. That evening they recom-
mended that a meeting be held the following morning to
organize under the charter. And after months of deliber-
ation, the Seminary seemed about to be realized. (2)

(1) Scrap Book.

(2) Records of Board of Trustees, Sept. 18, 1850.

CHAPTER II

The Coming of Miss Sill

V/hile this long discussion as the establishment of
a female seminary in Northern Illinois had been going on,
Miss Anna P. Sill had come to Rockford, and had opened a
school for young ladies (on June 11, 1849 ),(1) . which she
firmly believed to be the "foundation of Rockford Fe-
male Seminary," (2) That she was aware of the seriousness
of her enterprise and that she entered upon her task with
a spirit of consecration, is evidenced in the excerpts
from her diary which are quoted in full in chapter one.

It would seem that many people in Rockford and the
vicinity knew Miss Sill and that her coming was due to
the influence of many. For some time previous her thoughts
had been turned toward the West as she felt that it of-
fered her a wider field for service. Accordingly in 1843
she began a correspondence with Rev. Hiram Foote, (3) a
childhood friend in Burlington, Otsego County, New York, (4)
then in Racine, Wisconsin • (5) "After his graduation from
Oberlin, he came, with his bride, to Joliet, Illinois, as
pastor of the Congregational Church there, and after three

(1) This is the date commonly accepted,

(2) Memorial Volume, p,14, Quotation from her diary,
^uly (?),U.

(3) Memorial Volume, p. 12.

(4) Miss Katherine Foote (Mr. Foote fs daughter), 1879.

(5) Memorial Volume, p. 12.

years moved to Wisconsin, where he preached for nearly
forty years." Mr.Foote was a trustee of the Seminary
from 1852 until his death in 1889.

"I have thought, "she wrote to Mr.Foote, "perhaps I
might he useful as a teacher, and if possible establish
a female seminary in some of the western states. Pecuni-
ary considerations would have but little influence in

(2)
such an undertaking. My principal object is to do good."

As she did not receive a favorable reply, the time not
being ripe, she opened a seminary for young women at War-
saw, New YorkVOctober, 2,1843.(3)

Later correspondence with M±. Foote was more success-
ful. "It was while (he was ipastor of the Congregational
Church in Jane s vi lie, Wis cons in, *that Miss Sill wrote from
the East, asking what he thought was the outlook for a
Bchool for young women in Southern Wisconsin or Northern
Illinois. In reply my parents invited her to their home,
to look over the field for herself. She accepted, and my
parents used to say, 'Rockford Seminary was burn in our
little home in Janesville.1 On that trip Miss Sill planned

Miss Katherine Foote.
Memorial Volume. p. 13.
(3) Ibid.

^ Rev. Frank Scribner,of the Congregaoional Church in
Janesville, gives the following information aoout Mr.
Foote:

"Rev. Hiram Foote, who at the time was pastor of the
Congregational Church in Emerald Grove, was called to
the pastorate of tne Janesville Church in October,
1846. He began his work in this church in Novem-
ber of the same year, residing for tne time being in
Emerald Grove. In November, 1 84 7, he moved his fam-
ily to Janesville, but continued as pastor of both
churches. He was installed as pastor Nov. 4,1 848. He
closed his work in Janesville March, 1 , 1848 ."

and prayed and met the men of Rockford, and vicinity who
were most deeply interested in laying the educational
foundation of the West, which was then represented by the
states bordering on the Mississippi." ( 1) Miss Poote does
not remember the exact date of the visit, but she thinks
it was very soon after her parents moved to Janesville. It
must have been in 1849. We have no evidence that Miss Sill
came to the West before that year.

Miss Sill was of course known to Rockford through the
Waldo family, — Mr. Lorenzo Dwight Waldo and his brother,
Mr. Hiram Waldo. Mrs. L. D. Waldo was a sister of the
Misses Eliza and Malinda Richards, and a cousin of Miss
Hannah Richards. Miss Sill had been known to the Rich-
ards family through her connection with Cary Institute
(in Caryville, N. Y.) as its preceptress from 1846 to
1849. Mr. Benjamin Richards, the brother of the Misses
Eliza and Malinda, who was preparing for Yale, was the
second principal. Both sisters were educated there, and
it was he who came with Eliza in 1848 to visit the Wal-
dos. They "knowing Miss Sill's desire (to come West),
talked with some of the trustees, and also with Mr. Loss,
minister of the Congregational Church in Rockford(1846 to
1849), and they (the trustees) opened a correspondence
with Miss Sill. "(2)

(1) Miss Katherine Poote.

(2) Mrs. Malinda Richards Hervey.

Miss Sill's correspondence ( 1 )with various people in
the section covered a considerable space of time. The
Rockford Daily Gazette for June 18 , 188 9, mentions the
fact that she corresponded not only with ^r.Foote.hut
also with Judge Selden Id. Church, and Mr. E.E.Potter. This
statement is doubtless truetas both these gentlemen had
daughters to educate and were deeply interested in the
proposed seminary. That for. some time she was seeking: an
opportunity to come to this section, is evident from the
fact, stated above, that she began to correspond with Mr.
Foote as early as 1843.

It was in May, 1 849 that Miss Sill finally decided to
come to Rockford. In her Journal she says,"I listened

(1) Mrs.E.P.Catlin tells a delightful story of a letter
written to Miss Sill by one of the "trustees." It
was told to her by her mother with whom Miss Sill
boarded before the Seminary moved into its present
quarters.

"At the time that the trustees of the Seminary
were casting about foE a principal , the First Con-
gregational Church was looking for a pastor. Rev.
L.H.Loss came to look the ground over. After his
visit, the board of the church decided to take him.
Mr.Sanford who was on both boards, was delegated to
write two letters, — one to Mr. Loss, calling him to
the church and one to Miss Sill inviting her to 1he
Seminary. ^r.Sanford got the letters into the
wrong envelopes. Miss Sill's reply was that she 3m d
not applied for the pulpit, but that she would tate
it if she could have a year in which to prepare."

This incident must have occurred as early as l846,as
Mr. Loss came to Rockford that year. Inasmuch as Mr.
Sanforft wa^ not a member of the Board of Trustees of
"Miss Sill's School, "or of the Board of the Seminary,
the board to which Mrs.Catlin refers must have been an
earlier committee formed for the purpose of providing
a school for the girls of the community.

to the call and consented to leave long cherished friends

and go, I bade Careyville farewell May tenth. It is a

very dear spot.(l) With her came Miss Hannah Richards, a
cousin of Miss Eliza Richards who was already teaching in
the village and whom she asked "to give up her school and
join her in the new project. "(2) They arrived in Rockford
May 24, 1849.(3) "Miss Sill, with boundless ambition and
abiding faith, made the supreme venture, and on June 11,
1849, the Rockford Female Seminary was founded, and her
dream realized." (4)

The two ladies came to Jud^e Selden M. Church* s on
North First Street, opposite the Court House. There they
stayed until the boarding house in connection with the
seminary was made ready. (5) Both buildings are still
standing (in May, 1926), the Church home a low brick build*
ing with a broad porch across the front at 111 North First
Street, and the boarding house a brown frame building a
story and a half high with a wing on the south side, at
223 North First Street.

Mrs. Keeler in a speech prepared under the direction
of her mother, and given at the Alumnae Banquet in 1891,
tells of this arrival:

(1) Memorial Vdlume, p. 15. Quotation from her journal.

(2) Mrs. Malinda Richards Hervey.

(3) Memorial Volume, p. 15. Quotation from her journal.

(4) Mrs. Malinda Richards Hervey.

(5) Personal reminiscence of Mrs. Katherine Keeler, daugh-
ter of Judge Church.

"Incidents often repeated to children "become so
much afreality that they actually believe that they
can temember that such and such a thing happened, and
so I believe, although I was less than three years of
age, that a certain day in early June, when, dressed in
my Sunday gown, I stood on our front porejfo, awaiting the
arrival of the Chicago stage jbelieve I heard the noun
sound, the driver crack his whip, saw the four horses
and coach dash up to the door, and my father step
forward to assist a young lady to alight.

"How we had talked and speculated about this same
young woman, the elders as to her ability to be at the
head of the much needed school'*; the children as to her
face and the sweetness of her disposition, ^er first
words, a firm handclasp, set the fears of the elders at
restjher loving kiss and warm embrace won the hearts
of the children. "(1 )

Miss Sill has left us no account of what must have
been a long and tiresome trip from Chicago, nor of her
impressions of the prairie with its wealth of flowers,
its magnificent stretches of great trees, it myriads of
bright-colored singing birds. Mr. Dickerman, however,
described his arrival at Rockford five years earlier in
the following manner:

"To one who had lived among the Catskill Moun-
tains, the opening prairies had much of interest.
Garden Prairie (a little town about twenty-two miles
to the east )was very attractive. Mr.Corey(his
companion )would say: TWait until you see the Rock
River Country.1 The state road from Belvidere (some
eighteen miles east )was principally through wooded
land.

"As we came to Bela Shaw's place, -^unexpected
improvements appeared ;a row of thrifty young pop-
lars set in front, a half circle formed inside, with
an avenue from that to the dwelling; also an avenue
from the street to the barn.

"From Mr. ShawTs residence to the village there
were about one and a half miles of prairie which af-
forded a very extended view in all directions. The

(1) Document lent to me by Mrs.Katherine Keeler.
^fr Mr* Bela Shaw's home was one of the show places of

the village. It stood on North State Street.

high ground on the East was timberland, known as
big woods. South, West and North the outlook was
attractive. Stages in passing were often stopped
by the request of passengers to take in the beauti-
ful view. There were a few patches of cultivated
land and small dwellings, but nothing to obstruct
the view in any direction. !And now,' says Mr.
Corey, fThis is the part of the Rock River Valley
of which I have told you.T Truly I had never seen
a prettier picture." (1)

The stage which brought Miss Sill followed this
state highway into the village, past the stage company's
barn, near the location of the present watering trough
at the junction of Kishwaukee and State Streets, down
State Street, to the brick buildings on the corner of
State and First, and around the corner to the commodious
home of the Churches, the most comfortable in town, where
a warm welcome waited her.

Here she busied herself, preparing the school house
and the boarding house, sending her notices to the press,
interviewing trustees and parents, and meeting the child-
ren ?;ho had so long and eagerly looked forward to her
coming. We have a record of the impression made by her
at this time upon one little girl, Carrie Spafford, after-
wards Mrs. Brett, about whom a charming romance is woven.
Mrs. Brett was first engaged to be married to Colonel
Ephraim Elmer Ellsworth, the first soldier to be killed
in the Civil War. She writes:

(1) Church, The History of Rockford, pp. 236-237.

"My first remembrance of Miss Sill dates back
back more years than I care to state. When I was
a child of six summers (as she expressed it)# two
ladies called one day to see my mother, and I felt
called upon to entertain them, though perfect stran-
gers, until my mother should appear. Presently one
of the ladies asked me if I went to school. I re-
plied, 'No, Ma'am, I am waiting for Miss Sill to
come.1 She at once informed me that she was the one
for whom I was waiting and that her companion was
Miss Richards who was to have charge of the little
girls. This incident Miss Sill never forgot, and
she ever considered me her first scholar. (1)

The eagerness of this little child was indicative of
the attitude of the entire village. The Seminary which
was felt to be so necessary and for which five years had
been spent in planning was about to become a reality.
Before we consider it, however, we pause to make the
acquaintance of Miss Sill, — her background, her equip-
ment for the work, and her peculiar fitness for it.

(1) Document lent to me by Mrs. Brett's sister, Mrs. C.
H. Godfrey. Speech given at a meeting of Kockford
alumnae some years ago.
* Ifl pamphlet,— A Letter to Our Old Girls, p. 3.

CHAPTER III
Miss Sill's Life to 1849

Anna Peck Sill was born August I6,l8l6,in Burlington,
Otsego County, New York, the youngest of ten children. From
her father's side she inherited the qualities of a long
line of Puritan ancestors. The lamily was descended from
John Sill, of Engl and, who, with his wife, Jo anna, came to
Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1 647, eleven years after the
founding of Harvard College. (1)

In 1789 her paternal grandparents moved from Lyme, Con-
necticut,to Otsego -County, New York, in the vicinity of what
is now Burlington. Her grandfather, Deacon Andrew Sill, was
a prominent member of the Congregational Church in Lyme, and
served as deacon for thirty-one years. He was a soldier
in the Revolutionary War.

Her father, Abel Sill, was a quiet industrious farmer
who died at the age of fifty when little Anna was only
seven.

On her mother's side she came of equally good stock.
Her maternal grandfather was the Hon.Jedediah Peck, a man
of great influence and usefulness. He was a legislator,
a Judge, and also a teacher. In addition he was highly
versed (See following page)

f1) Memorial Volume fv. 6. The extracts are part of a his-
tory planned by Mids Sill. Unfortunately she wrote
only one chapter, that of her early life.

in the sciences of navigation and surveying. As a member
of the community, he was active and valuable. It was he
in New York state who first urged legislative action for
the establishment of common schools and the abolition of
imprisonment for debt.

Her mother was the oldest daughter of the family.
From her Anna P. Sill inherited her great energy and her
zeal for scholarship. Mrs. Sill had the reputation of be-
ing a good scholar, expecially in mathematics . (1) Her
daughter says of her: She was "a woman of piety, industry,
and taste, and trained her children in the homely virtues
of honesty, economy, industry, and strict moral and physical
integrity." At her husband1 s death she was left with the
care of nine children, (one having previously died), six
sons and three daughters, of whom Anna was the youngest. (2)

Little Anna1 s early life was free and happy. The sur-
rounding country was so beautiful as to awaken and develop
in the child an abiding love of nature. (3) The house
"stood on a high elevation, surrounded with hills and val-
leys, with the Cat skill Mountains in the blue east, a deep
valley on the south, and far beyond rose hill after hill
with curves of sky and changing cloud between." On the
west there were deep ravines, sheer rocky walls overhung

(1) Memorial Volume, p. 6.

(2) Ibid, p. 7.

(3) Ibid, p. 8.

with trees and bushes, and running under a rustic bridge,
a stream of sparkling water, (1)

The home, too, fostered the best ideals of thought and
conduct. "It was a house of industry, of early morning
hours, simplicity in living and the abode of health. In it
you could hear the loud buzz of the large spinning wheel
and the hum of the smaller one ©r the clack of the weav-
ing loom, and the flying shuttle and the varied occupations
of farm life." It was here that the daughters were taught
the various household tasks, — spinning, weaving, setting
cards for wool and tow. (2)

Through it all, however, the little girl found time
"to braid bonnets from June grass" and to embroider. (3)
She often went "rambling with her cousin along the wild
ravine to gather moss and ferns, wild flowers and winter-
green berries, stopping to catch the tiny fish with pin for
hook and angleworm for bait; or climbing a long steep hill
with a winding cowpath, through the meadow land and orchard
to the old mansion, with its sheds and barns, its long well-
sweep and oaken bucket, and nearby the trim and fenced gar-
den with its beds of pansies, bachelor buttons, pinks and
caraway, its gooseberry bushes and its vegetables of every
name . " ( 4 )

(1) Memorial Volume, p. 8.

(2) Ibid, p. 9.

(3) Ibid.

(4) Ibid, p. 8.

A simple wholesonm childhood in a gentle land, over-
flowing with milk and honey. It is in such lands that
poets and prophets are made. Wot often in teeming cities.
A deep reservoir of peace and beauty upon which in the
difficult years ahead she was so often forced to draw.

And then came, at four years of age, school with its
daily walk of a mile to the little red school house, in
all seasons, uphill and down, which she says made a deeper
impression upon her than the drill in Webster ^s spelling
book,MorseTs geography, and Murray's grammar, which she
"committed to memory from beginning to end with no thought
of its value or meaning . ,T ( 1 ) At thirteen she finished
D aboil Ts arithmetic with the aid of a key. She was
taught to do "reverence to teachers and to all strangers
by the way to and from school."^)

As her school years passed, there came a deeper spirit-
ual consciousness and an awakening of the intellect. "I
craved better school advantages ; my soul cried out for its
G-od. 1 groped in the dark but did not find him. "(3)

The achievments and conversation of her cousin? stim-
ulated her to more profound thinking, but to little speech;
she did not care to talk about her ideas and experien-
ces. Little was said to her about her new religious
consciousness. The religious atmosphere of the home,
however, was working (See next page)

O) Memorial Volumefp.8.
(<0 Ibid.
(3) Ibid.

its influence upon her.(l)

"I could not remember the time when I did not pray;
and in addition to !Now I lay me f I composed a prayer of
thanks to God for his care, including the petition that
God would make me a Christian before I died. Prayer seemed
innate to me and not to be taught by others. My father was
an Episcopalian in preference, and one of the first books
I remember to have read aside from the Bible in the Sunday
School was the Episcopal Prayer-book. There were but few
books in our library, and I was hungry for knowledge. "( 2)

Of that period of

"obstinate questionings

Of sense and outward things,
Fallings from us, vanishings,
Blank misgivings of a Creature
Moving about in worlds not realized,"

for which Vi/ordsworth raised

The Song of thanks and praise,

she wrote:

"I was conscious of being opposed to Godfs will.
I can now see that again and again the Spirit of God
came to me through the truth and urged an entire sur-
render of all to Christ, and I would promise myself
on some definite time named I would do so, and thus
delay. I felt quite willing, as I thought, to go on
a gainful pilgrimage, if that would make me a Christ-
ian, but to yield my heart to do all the duties of a
Christian and to be saved by Christ alone, I could not.
If I must be lost forever, then I will be rather than

do this. Thus I passed along until in my fifteenth

year, in the spring of 1831. "(3)

(1) Memorial Vol. p. 9.

(2) "rora:

(3) Ibid. p. 10. End of personal record.

It is probable (tind it was quite inevitable) that the
wide-spread revivals throughout the country, affected her.
The New England states were swept by them. She dates her
conversion from this time.

Of the years 1 83 1 to 1836 unfortunately we have no re-
cord. She probably spent these years at home, engaged in
domestic occupations and thinking through the religious
questions raised in the previous years. We find expressed
later a rare spiritual attitude and a desire for service
in His name which is unusual even in religious biogra-
phies. These years no doubt strengthened her deep spirit-
uality and her sense of consecration to her life work.

In 1836 when she was about twenty, she left home to
teach in a district school in Barre,near Alton, New York,
for about seven months, at the munificent salary ,we are
told, of two dollars a week. She did spinning and weaving
to add to her slender resources. Six weeks of this time,
during a school vacation, she went to school in Albion.
Mr. Goodwin does not state whether she attended Phipps
Union Seminary* at this time. It is probable that she did,
however, as the next year (in November )she was enrolled there
as a permanent scholar. *t was one of xhe first female
seminaries in the stated)

In l838,about a year after her entrance, she began a-

gain to teach school.. She probably studied at the same

(2)
time. For about five years she remained here. Her success

(1) Memorial Volume/p. 1 1 .

(2) Ibid.

'*' According to the State Dept.of Educat ion, Albany, N. Y. ,
this seminary was incorporated by the Regents, Feb. 1 1 ,
1840. It burned Mar. 21 , 1875, and was never rebuilt.

as a pupil and a teacher are shown not only by her high
rank but also by her Journal and letters during this per-
iod. (1)

"Her consecration and whole-souled devotion to the
tasks before her, and her prayerful labors for the spirit-
ual interests of her pupils are revealed in her diary, as a
sacred fire ever burning on the altar of her souljand she
records with tearful gratitude how one and another, during
a season of revival, were led by her earnest words to seek
and find the Savior, "writes ^r. Goodwin. ( 2) This is the
spirit of the later Anna P.Silljno longer is she groping.
So sure is she of herself that her overwhelming desire is
to lead others to that same peace by way of prayer and ex-
pression of faith.

During the early part of the last year at Albion, she

suffered a great deal of mental anguish as to her future

work. Since her early years she had desired to devote her

life to doing good. She had no definite idea as to what

the work would be beyond that it would be "to serve God in

serving and blessing humanity." At this time there came

anew the thought of the foreign mission field. In a letter

to her pastor, the Rev. G.W.Crawford, she says:

"I think it I know my own heart, the primary motive
which led me to acqire an education was that I might
lay it at the Savior .'s feet, and thus be of some service
to his cause. I have Hardly dared to ask my Heavenly

(1) Memorial Volume fp. 1 1 . (Mr. Boodwin had access to these.
I am sure that they are not extant today. )

(2) Ibid, p. 11.

Father so great a privilege, but have prayed that at
least I might be permitted after death to go as a min-
istering spirit and whisper sweet words of peace to
some poor heathen soul."(1)

What kept her from realizing this ambition, is not
known. It is said that a young missionary about to leave
for the foreign field/proposed marriage to ner,but that af-
ter enough time for acquaintance, "reflection and prayer
for divine guidance, "she refused the offer. (2) She cher-
ished the ambition to go the foreign field, however,
and when Miss finna All en, afterwards Mrs. F.A.Douglas, a grad-
uate in the first class from Rockford,went to India, her
joy was unbounded. She did more through the years for
foreign missions in preparing students to go out than she
could have done if she herself had gone. "She came to
Rockford a disappointed woman, but instead of sitting down
and whining j she threw all her religious zeal and romance
into the project (the Seminary) . (3 )

After many discouragements (among them the failure of
the attempt to come to the West), on October 2,1 843, we
find her opening a seminary for young ladies in Warsaw,
New York. Before the close of the year she had 140 schol-
ars. In a letter to Mr. Crawford, she expresses her satis-
faction at the success of the venture which wus greater
than she anticipated, and goes on to say that she was "ex-
ceeding entirely the most sanguine expectations of (her)
friends."

(1) Memorial Volume, r>. 1 2~

(2) Ibid.

(3) Mrs.C.P.Brazee.

After about two and one-half years, in March, 1846,
she closed the school for reasons not known. Mr. Goodwin
expresses the opinion that it surely was not because of
lack of material prosperity, but "probably (because of) a
want of spiritual sympathy in her higher religious and
educational aims."(l)

By this time report of her work had spread, and she was
receiving many colls. She was asked to take charge of the
seminary at Albion, to go to Leroy, Ne*- York, as principal,-*
which later opportunity she refused because she felt it her
duty to look "to the prospect of greater good." There were
other calls to Vermont, Michigan, Lockport (New York,) and
again to Leroy; but she long desired to work in a "more
destitute" field. If she could not go to the foreign field,
she was still hoping for an opportunity in the West. (2)

It was in August of this year, 1846, that she was asked
to Cary Collegiate Institute in Oakfield, (3) a few miles
from Batavia, New York. At this time she was still undecid-
ed as to the future, but she accepted the call to Cary,
where she remained until the spring of 1849.(4) This oppor-
tunity probably changed the course of her life for it was
here that she met the Richards family.

(1) Memorial Volume, p. 13.

(2) Ibid, p. 14.

(3) Ibid, p. 13.

(4) Mrs. Malinda Richards Hervey.

# The Le Roy Academic Institute, according to the State
Department of Education at Albany, was incorporated by the
Regents, Feb. 11, 1864. It was admitted to the Le Roy Union
School on Dec. 9, 1891. , The academy property was then trans-
ferred to the Union School, and the corporation was dissolved
June 21. 1893. The school was graded as Le Roy High School in
1898 .

Cary Institute was built and endowed by"a wealthy
bachelor, Mr. Alfred Cary, "who was"deeply interested in ed-
ucational affairs.,T(l )

Little is known of Miss Sil^s work there. The school
was reported to be in a prosperous condition. She had the
care "some of the time, of about eighty ladies "and "had
probably over two hundred different ones." During one
winter"a number was hopefully converted" in her Bible
class. (2) That she was highly successful in this work
there is no doubt. Mrs.Malinda Richards Hervey was deep-
ly impressed by her accomplishments.

Her regret at leaving Caryville when the Rockford
opportunity came we find voiced in her own words: "I lis-
tened to the call and consented to leave long cherished

friends and go. I bade Caryville farewell May 10. It

is a de«r spot. "(3)

She regarded the call to Rockford as a call of Prov-
idence in answer, it would seem, to her prayers. It opened
up a larger field of service to her than any yet occupied,
and she believed it to be missionary work. From 1 849
to her deauh,her life and the history of the Seminary
are one.

(1) Mrs.Malinda Richards Hervey.

(2) Memorial Volume. v. 1 3.

(3) Ibid, p. 15.

CHAPTER IV

Miss Sill- -Appearance and Character
This, then, was the intellectual equipment which she
brought to the new Seminary. There were other attributes,
important not only to the school but also to the strug-
gling little pioneer town, --an attractive personality ani
appearance, and firmness of characterTTfor those were days
that tried the staunchest souls ."(1)

Of her appearance it is possible to gain a cle^r pic-
ture. One who has studied Mr. George J.Robertson's fine
portrait, which hangs in Middle Hall at Rockford College,
cannot fail to carry away, a vivid impression. There is
about the whole of it a sense of serenity, poise. The
finely chiselled features, the deep brown eyes, the soft
brown hair drawn into a loose knot, the light on her coun-
tenance,and the simplicity and fastidiousness of her
dress, --all radiate her personality. ±*er dignity and her
poise were remarkable.

"I wish you could have seen her sitting up there
on the platform with her e&lm, Self-possessed face.
She was conscientious-~always conscientious. She was
a model woman and always set us an example. "(2)

"When I first knew Miss Sill in 18^2 she was a-
bout thirty-six years old, a woman of such splendid
physique and majestic beauty that any artist might
have rejoiced to find such a model for a Greek work
of art. "(3)

But those who 'knew her speak most often of her eyes

(1) Mr s.Mary Clark Wadsworth, 1884.

(2) Mrs. T.B.Wells, a student in the sixties.

(3) Miss Mary E.B.Norton, quoted by Mrs. Daniel Fish at
Alumnae Panquet, 1 9 1 ^> • Alumnae Notes P April. 1917.

and her radiant expression:

"Her personality was striking, The beautiful
dark brown eyes seemed to penetrate your thought aid
read your character. "( 1 )

"Her large soft hazel eyes would give distinc-
tion to any face, but when their owner was aroused
they could be sharp and severe in expression, and
make one feel like escaping to a far corner. "(2)

"I remember how her face showed the communion
with God the seriousness of days of prayer. "(3)

Mrs.E.P.Catlin says that the beauty of her hands

particularly impressed her childish mind:

"I think I never saw more beautiful hands —
slender and white, and yet bespeaking strength."

Too often the hands of the women of the community were
red and roughened with hard work to which many of them
were not acdustomed.

Of her fastidiousness and care in dress, too, much is
said. She set the young girls in the community an envia-
ble example of personal cleanliness and daintiness, going
so far at times as to send to mothers whose daughters need-
ed them, fine-toothed combs with the admonishment to use

them. (4) "Dress is the flowering out of character, "she

often said. (5)

Someone 9 (I have iorgotten who), has remarked that she
was always arrayed as daintily as a bride. §er clothes
were simple, but of the finest materials. Mrs.Brazee, re-
members her in the freshest and crispest of cambrics.

U)Mrs.±'.L. Woods, 1865.

(2)Mrs.G.E. Newman, 1884.

(3)Mrs.Mary Earle Hardy, 1877.

(4)Mrs.E.P.Catlin,a member of "Miss Sill's School", June 11,

1849.
(5)Rookford Alumna. May 15,1922.

Much of the time in the early years, she wore gray with
white collars and pink "bow at her throat, which must have
set off her soft pink cheeks, which Dr. Lucius Clark, re-
marked toward the end of her life, were as fresh as those
of any girl in the Seminary. (1) And slippers, always
slippers, even in the coldest winter weather. (2)

Her fondness of ribbons was marked, too. There were
always ribbons in her drawer for an emergency, which meant
much, particularly to the chidren. Mrs. Catline recalls
the day Miss White's long golden hair, when they were play-
ing a game in which she was the comet, became loosened,
and Miss Sill took from her desk a bit of ribbon of the
same hue, tied back the girl's locks, and they continued
the game.

As time went on, she seemed to love richer fabrics.
In the eighties i4irs. Gregory remembers her dressed in
"velvet waists with a hea^y gold chain;" Mrs. Mower "in
purple silk, with fine white lace caps and black silk for
dress up occasions."

She walked wi th a quick step f her skirts held

daintily in one hand, on fire wi th her splendid energy
which she had under perfect control. (3) In repose there
was a dignity, a calmness and peace about her that one
seldom sees. She cultivated repose, and admonished her

(1) Mrs. E. P. Catlin.

(2) Ibid.

(3) Mrs. Emma Cotton, a member of the Floral Bank in the
very early days.

girls to do so, "Young ladies, cultivate repose," (1)

Marked as was her appearance, it is her character that
16ft so indelible an impression upon those who knew her.
As a basis for this mental energy and strength, she had a
strong constitution and robust health, the result of her
early training and exercise. Up and down the land she went
on missions for her Seminary, never too tired to labor for
it. At home she taugiht , superintended the domestic depart-
ment, (2) had care for the physical and spiritual welfare
of the girls, entered into the life of the community, and
in the wee small hours, when she should have been resting,
she was writing hundreds of letters in behalf of the school.
Her business correspondence was of tremendous volume. Not
only letters in behalf of the school, but letter to alum-
nae, encouraging them in their work, intimate letters in
which she showed her love and solicitude for them, (3)

There must have been times, many times,, when she was
unutterably weary. But it was this same deep well of phy-
sical energy that drove her on to limitless accomplish-
ment, that kept her mind and heart open to inspiration.
In a letter written from Boston in 1865, she says:

(1) Ro ckf or d Alumna, May 15, 1922.

(2) Mrs, Wallingford, who was head of the domestic depart-
ment from 1865-1870, says she "made the rounds daily
with Miss Sill of everywhere," even inspected "whe-
ther the girls were paring the potatoes thinly,"

iZ) Mrs. E. L. Herri ck.

"Just fancy me in the fHub of the Universe, * the
center of all right motion, the sun of civilization,
enlightenment and refinement , and one of the ! Western
Beggars. T Do you envy me or do you pity me?- — - One
thing I am resolved to do, that is to make just as
much happiness and refreshment out of the effort as
may be, God has given me the safety valve in my tem-
perament of susceptibility to the ludicrous, and has
also made me hopeful. I find occasion for the facul-
ties,sometimes quite to my relief liice rays of sun-
shine coming through misty clouds." (1)

What amusement she must have had — a "Western Beggar" —
in her situ. ti on? She looked "as if a joke would die upon
her lips,"(2)but she did have an appreciation of the lu-
dicrous,and subtle wit. How she laughed when one Monday
morning her fresh gray dress came to a disastrous endl
The girls who were on duty in the laundry had the tubs of
bluing and rinse water on the stove. From somewhere below
there came the cry of "Firel " Miss Sill, always in fear
of fire, hurried downstairs, and as everyone seized pails
or kettles, she picked up a cullender, dipped it into the
bluing water, and ran upstairs, through the flails, and out-
doors, calling "Fire I" at the top of her lungs. It was
not until the scare was over (it was only a scare )that she
looked at the cullender in her hand and then down at her
dress. Ever after that she used her fear of fire as an
excuse to intercept mischief. With a twinkle in her eye,
she would knock on a door and burst into a room with the
remark, "I thought I smelled fire." (3)

Mrs. Catlin remembers two occasions when her rare

U) Memorial Vo3mmef,D. 24.
(2) Mrs. E. P. Catlin.
tj>) Ibid.

wit displayed itself. Her mother, as happily married wo-
men often are, was concerned about Miss Sill's spinster
state, and said to her with some feeling, "Anna Sill, you
should marry. You should accept one of these good chan-
ces."

Quickly as a flash came the answer, "Emily Robinson,
ITm not looking for a chance: I'm looking for an oppor-
tunity."

Then there was the time when she was in Boston, seek-
ing funds for the Seminary that she wrote back to %*.Asa
Sanford as follows:

"I am going to Providence tomorrow, hoping to get
something for the Seminary. I have always put my
trust in Providence, and I have no reason to doubt now. M

How discomfited Prof .Emerson must have been when in an

interview with her she suggested that at the anniversary

exercises, certain essays be read.

"But who will read the essays? "he asked.

"I don't know, "she answered.

"I might ."he offered.

(1)
"Prof. Emerson, the young ladies will read their own."

Coupled with real wit, as is so often the case, was a

deep and fine under standing, and, too, a deep longing for

sympathy, which voices itself in her letters. She asks her

correspondents to "write often." In the postscript of her

letter to the class of 1 865 (quoted in Chapter VIII )at

(1) Mrs.W.A.Talcott at the Chicago banquet , Dec. 2? , 1 924.
Mrs.Brazee thinks this incident happened at the Com-
mencement season, 1854. The Board was not in favor of
the young women reading their essays.

their graduation she voices this longing for contacts

"H.B.I shall treasure any individual response
to these farewell words as T Apples of Gold in Pic-
tures of Silver.' "

The whole letter in fact is indicative of this need for

human sympathy.

One student says: "You could not deceive her, and yet

she was so kindly and good you felt you could go to her

in trouble and find sympathy and help."(1) Another tells

of her kindness to motherless girls. The narrator was an

orphan, and did not have the kindnesses bestowed upon her

that other girls did, — letters, boxes. Miss Sill seemed

to sense her loneliness, and showed her little attentions.

There was at one time in the school a very beautiful girl,

the daughter of the founder of a great fortune who had

married an Indian woman. When his wife died, the man

brought the girl, then a little thing, to the Seminary to

put her under Miss Sill's care, where she remained for some

years. Miss Sill took a mother's interest in her, loved

her devotedly, and cared for her. (2)

Inflexible as she was in the matter of church go-
ing, she could show sympathy and tact with a teluctant
girl. A student on one occasionksked to be allowed to re-
main at home one Sunday.

"Are you ill, Miss Wright?"

"Ho, I am well;but I Just feel like staying at home."

( ! J Mrs1. P. L.Woods.

(2) Mr s.Julia Warren.

She scanned the girl doubtfully a moment, then patted
her shoulder, and said, "Well, perhaps you have been study-
ing too hard. You don't look well. It may do you good to
remain at home. And you may learr? the fifty-fifth chapter
of Isaiah, and repeat it to me this evening." (1)

Twq of the characteristics that the older alumnae
stress are her vision and her joy in progress. "She was
a woman of great vision as well as of active life." (2)

"She was a woman whose face was always toward the
front, and she saw many changes. Now abide th faith, hope,
and love, and the greatest of these is love, is what she
said to 1865. And it's what she would say to 1925." (3)

Her face was toward the front. This hope for the
Seminary, the great vision, constantly glorified the work
she was doing. While she appreciated the physical expan-
sion of the Seminary and took a woman's delight in the
new rugs and furniture and draperies, and rejoiced in the
installation of each new "modern improvement," she never
emphasized the material aspect. More students to her
meant not a mere increase in numbers, but an opportunity
for greater spiritual influence, her own spirit with which
she infused her girls that many more times multiplied.

"There comes before me a vision of the past,
then the present, and onward the future in a pan-

(1) Miss Mary Wright, 1871.

(2) Mrs. Loretta Van Hook, 1875.

(3) Mrs. Sarah F. Safford, 1865, at the Alumnae Banquet,
1925.

orama of light and shadows. There are extended land-
scapes of prairie land, towering moun tains, and deep
valleys, large cities, and beautiful villas, broad oceans
and grand islands ;and where can we look and not see
some of our old girls, near us ot in the dim distance?"

(1)
And these forty years at Rockford were years, too, of

great change. The impetus which the woman1 s college was
gaining and the newer modes of life which necessitated ,
changes in the form of education, she faced squarely. The
Seminary must aaapt itself. How to do it without violat-
ing the principles of its founding,. «as the question. For
Rockford Seminary w«a established for girls with little
money who earnestly desired an education. Braciually she
altered the curriculum until in 1 88 1 a four-year collegi-
ate course was evolved, but for those girls who could not
spend four years the three-year Seminary course, less ad-
vanced in mathematics ana the classical studies but more
extended and therefore better adapted to meet general needs,
was retained. In regard to this change she wrote to Mrs.
Van Ho ok, November 12,l88l,as follows:

"You will find (by perusing the catalogue )we have
progressed in some things, yes, in many things for1 not
to grow is to die.' We ar^ trying to increase the
missionary spirit."

But stronger than these attributes was her zeal for

the religious welfare of those under her. It was her

constant prayer that they would come to hope in Christ.

Her care for their spiritual welfare weighed heavily

(1) A Letter to Our Old Girls f p. 4.

upon her. Every avowal of faith was to her a blessing,

a confirmation of the work to which she had so reverently

consecrated her life,

"All the Senior Class are hopeful Christians.
During the past year there have been sixty cases of
conversion among the members of the Seminary. n (1)

"We are having a glorious work of grace in the
school. About fifty hope in Christ for the first
time, have made vows or a renewal of vows long brok-
en- -near ly all of the first class, however. The

senior class are all in the fold I trust, J C ,

g p $ and J K have not made a public pro-
fession. Miss L has become active, and row all

lead in prayer. The work is still going on. "(2)

"The work is still going on." What a glorious cryl
For her it could never cease. There was much in her of
the stuff which the old martyrs were made, --the strong
sense of duty, of consecration, the zeal, and the soul
power.

"Do your .duty. Young ladies, do right though the
sky falls." (3) How could they have heard that voice,
the girls of the 50' s and 60' s and 70 's and 80»s,and
failed? It rang out as a challenge through four decades,
and molded not only the Seminary but the lives of scores
of women. There is in their faces, as they come back to
the old halls, a light seldom seen, the light which was
reflected from her eyes.

"Pray for your native land," she wrote to a mission-
ary in Persia. "You have thought of us during the week

(1) Records of Board of Trustees, July 10, 1857.

(2) Letter of Miss Sill to Mrs. Van Hook, 1876.

(3) Mrs. Phoebe L. Woods.

of prayer, and tomorrow is the Day of Prayer for Colleges
and Seminaries, We are hoping for a blessing. Pray for
us daily that the missionary spirit may deepeni"(1) And
again to Mrs .Van Hook: "Pray for us constantly, daily,
that the fountain may "be kept pure and the streams make

glad the city of our G-od. The very "best place in which

to be, is where G-od would have us." (2) There is in that
last , it seems, a suggestion of complete resignation.

"She hath done what she could, "(3)was one of the mot-
toes which she had on the chapel wall. How true of her-
self , --though she little realized how great that what was1.
Even the littlest girls were influenced. Mrs. Warren
tells an amusing and interesting story of several of the
Floral Band. In the "Patch" (a poor district across the
river), there were two sisters who were not particularly
careful in their personal habits. Several of the young-
er girls saw a chance to apply the missionary princi-
ples their dear Miss Sill so earnestly preached, and they
went over, and cleaned the girls thoroughly, even their
hair. Then they dressed them (Carrie Spafford donated
her wool merino dress), and brought them to Miss Sill to
show the results of their efforts. Her smile, I am sure,
was full of tenderness and understanding.

That this intensity should have eventually been pro-

TTT Letter of Miss Sill to Mrs. Van Hook, Jan. 24, 1877.

(2) Ibid,Mar.l8,l880.

(3) Mrs. Phoebe L.Woods.

ductive of feep faith was inevitable. As the years wore

on, the fervor of attainment mellowed into a deep longing

for friendship and an abiding faith. In her letters she,

almost wistfully, urges her loved ones to write to her and

to pray for the Seminary, and she expresses a peace and

trust that "passethall understanding."

"How glad I was to learn that the way had cleared
and you felt so happy in going to Persia. You know
how my thoughts and heart will go with you, how I
shall think of you climbing those mountain heights.
I know the dear Savior will be with you by the way,
and I feel quite sure that a life of usefulness is
before you. "Whom the Lord loveth, He doth chast-
en,1 and he vail never leave you. Shadows may come,
but there is light on the cloud above the view. "(1)

And again:

"Oh, the lights and shadows of life. There is rest
above." (2)

But this spiritual zeal did not blind her to the af-
fairs of the world. She was aware too of what was going
on without her gates.

"Our political sky is dark — but we can only trust in
God." (3)

To the question which I put to the alumnae, "What in-
fluence did Miss Sill have upon you?" there came scores of
answers, of which I can quote only a few. They do not
eulogize her. There runs' through fehem all a strong note
of sincerity, and there is too a sense of having caught

(1) Letter of Miss Sill to Mrs. Loretta Van Hook,
Aug. 11, 1876.

(2) Nov. 19, 1876.

(3) Ibid, Jan. 24, 1877.

a glimpse of something beyond our ken. She did not stir
up those who came into contact with her for the moment
only. Nor was her zeal that of the religious fanatic.
It might have been, had she not been so intensely prac-
tical and so finely poised.

"She made me perhaps ready to do my best with
whatever I had to do, and find pleasure in simple
homely things," (1)

says one.

"Pleasure in simple homely things." Can we today in
our colleges meet that test?

Again a student stresses the practical wisdom learned

at her feet:

"My abiding impression of Miss Sill's administra-
tion are if lessons in punctuality, diligence, the
elements of science, and, above all, spirituality." (2)

Still another student speaks of the "stimulating
contact with her leadership" in the classroom, and of "the
immeasurable influence of class prayer meetings and morn-
ing and evening devotions in the dining room." (3)

"No one could come under the influence of her
teaching and living from day to day and not be con-
scious of her strong personality, her nobility of
character, and her high ideals. I should say first
of all she was a Christian woman of t he fine, strong
New England type, of indomitable courage and will.

"At the Chapel hour each morning she gave us a
verse of Scripture as a text for the day, and we weee
expected to memorize it so that if it was asked for
at the hour of any recitation or other assembly of
the day, we could repeat it. How deeply these verses

(1) Mrs. James F. Garvin, 1880.

(2) Mary P. Wright.

(3) Mrs. T. G. McLean, 1867.

sank, along wiih her worrs of admonition, she never
could, know; not did we realize, but she was content
to do the sowing. That they took root is shown in
the lives of the students who went from her class-
room to home and foreign fields for service, or
founded the "best type of American homes which have
become our bulwark as a nation today 1" (1)

A graduate who was older than the average girl when
she came to the Seminary and who, through the chastening
of bitter experience, had gained a deeper insight into
life and a broader perspective, sums up Miss Sill's char-
acter and influence in this telling passage:

"Miss Sill was a woman of choice character,
shown in her staunch adherence to truth and devo-
tion to v duty, in her passion for the development
of a true and cultivated womanhood in her pupils,
in her self-abandonment to the promotion of her
ideals which were never overshadowed by her long-
ings for their spiritual development. The re-
petition of terse sayings was a characteristic.
'Young Ladies, remember you are what your most cher-
ished thoughts make youf ,} reiterated untiD it be-
came an unforgetable admonition, has held many a
one, I am sure, to habits of right thinking. To
my own mind the words have returned again and a-
gain as the years passed by, and I, in turn, have
passed them on to my own school daughters.

"Her sympathies took in the whole world and
'Woman1 s Work for Woman' in every land had the sup-
port of her interest, activities, gifts and prayers.
Those who went out from the Seminary as foreign mis-
sionaries were ever in her heart, and their schools
and bible work, medical work and homes were objects
of her solicitous regard.

"Remaining after graduation for some weeks of
work at the Seminary, in the intimacy of sharing her
room, with a relaxation of formalities, I learned
that underneath an exterior somewhat severe in at-
titude and expression generally, there was a deep
sympathy, and interest in the romantic and e ven a
love of fun in her nature. Always avoiding showi-
ness or any ostentation of dress, she had a fine re-

(1) Miss Katherine Foote, 1879.

gard for appearance with great regard particularly as
to appropriate attire. "(1)

This spirit has become a part of the living Rockford,

to inspire and keep it safe, the spirit which "later girls,"

to quote Miss Jane Addams, "accepted as they did the camptE

(2)
and buildings, without knowing that it could be otherwise."

While there is kept alive the memory of those early
sacrifices and the spirit of love and consecration of its
founder and of those brave men and women who worked with
her, whatever storms may rock it, the institution is safe.

A verse found in an old scrap book, (the owner thinks
it was dictated by Miss Sill ) sums up her life more ade-
quately than I can:

"Such souls, whose sudden visitations daze the world,

Vanish like lightning;
But they leave behind a voice that

In the distance far away
Wakens the slumbering ages." (3)

Such a soul was hers.

(1) Mrs.Loretta Van Hook.

(2) Addams . Twenty Years at Hull House. v. 44.

(3) Mrs.Sarafc Safford.

Chapter V
The Opening of "Miss Sill»s School"

As has been said before, the history of the Seminary
and the life of Miss Sill, from the day she opened her
school in 1849 until her resignation in 1 884, were one.
It is impossible to separate events on paper or in the
minds of those who knew her.

One of her first pupils gives an account of the opening

day in the following paragraph:

"The scholars were drawn up in a row on the lawn
the first day, forming a gauntlet of happy faces, and as
the teacher passed through, each gave her name. After
they had entered the room Miss Sill made a few remarks
in which she said: ' Well, well, young ladies, this is like
the sunshine of this beautiful day, dropping light into
our hearts.1 She then remarked that it might seem
strange to them to find one from the East away out in
the West. She came there for a purpose, and that pur- (1)
pose was to establish a school in the wild Northwest."

But one of the littlest girls ,Mrs.E.P.C&tlin,was there

"even before the gauntlet was drawn up, "waiting"on the

lawn"with seven or eight others. As the group hurried

into the school toom in response to the bell,Miss]Sill

held up her hand, and "she had the most beautiful hand I

ever saw." There was absolute silence as she walked to a

table on which were her Bible, a iew books, and flowers (she

always had flowers), and laid down the bell. Then she sat

behind the table. There was no yielding nor bending

toward the students jneither was there any note of repel-

lence. She was merely waiting for absolute quiet.

( 1 )Memorial Volume P -p. 16.

The children were awed by her presence, and were afraid
of doing the wrong thing.

She then took the roll, and organized among the young-
est girls the Floral Band, giving to each the name of a

flower and a planet or star. Mrs. Catlin was called nLa-

(1)

verial" for the newest planet. Mrs. Sharratt who had long

golden hair was called "the Comet." This ceremony endeared
Miss Sill to the children.

The Floral Band existed for some years. The smaller
girls adored their t teachers and the older girls, and were
in turn petted by them. On one of the northeast windows
of the library, scratched into the glass, is an enduring
record of some of the earliest members — the names of Emma
C. Crosbie, Frankie Fitch, Sarah Evans, Esther Frowe,
Evan Horton. Further down on the pane are the names of
many of those of later dates.

"The building itself was a high one-story affair,
finished as an assembly room, facing east." (2) It was
fairly old, and had served many purposes before it became
the home of Miss Sill's School. The seats were low and

(1) Neptune. W. J. J. Leverrier published two reports (in
1845 and 1846) on Neptune. The question as to whether
he should receive sole credit for the discovery of this
new planet was warmly discussed. It was even sugges-
ted in France that his name be given to it.

(2) Letter from Mrs. C. P. Brazee to W. A. Maddox, June 4,
1924. The building stood in about the middle of the
second block on North First Street.

uncomfortable, and the sun came in through the uncurtained
windows, causing much complaint. (1) Miss Sill, however,
had unmeasured courage. She immediately opened a boardiijg
house for scholars "from abroad "which her sistes Mrs.Hol-
lister,came to Rockford to organize, ( 2 )and from the funds
thus derived, she bought curtains and books. She prevailed
upon the scholars to furnish desks. (3) So many were the
students for whom accommodations must be furnished that
neighbors took in some of the girls. C4) Miss Sill herself
lived with Mrs. Emily Robinson, the mother of Mrs.xJS.P.Cat-
lin. ?o some of the girls at least Mrs. Sarah Cook, who was
the first ma tron( 1849-1 85 2) , served meals in the Seminary
boarding house. Board at this time, an old newspaper
clipping in the Scrap Book tells us, might have been had
in"good private families from $1.00 to $1.50 a week."
Those who wished to hoard themselves might obtain rooms
very reasonably and furnish their own food, — Ha method
less expensive and much in favor in some of the Eastern
Seminaries. "

Of the fifty-three scholars who were present that open-
ing day,Mrs.E.P.Catlin and Caroline Potter Brazee,the youig-
est graduate in the class of 18 55, afterwards a teacher in
the Seminary (from 1 872-1 883) , are the only ones living.
Though the school opened with "a (See next page)

(1 )Mrs.E.P.Catlin. "~

(2)Mrs.E.L.Herrick. The house is now standing, and so far

as I can ascertain, it is unaltered.lt is at Z2J> North First

Street

(3)Mrs!E.P.Catlin.

(4 )Mr. E.L.Simpson, whose mother had several Seminary

• * I

Primary and higher department, the larger proportion of
pupils" were children "under ten years." (1) Still Miss
Sill cherished her ideal of a seminary. In her diary she
says that she "today commenced school and laid the founda-
tion of Rockford Female Seminary," and in her advertise-
ment she stresses the fact that "it is designed to make
this a permanent Institution, one in which the public may
safely rely for the Complete English and Classical Educa-
tion of Young Ladies." (2)

The higher course which Miss Sill offered was "a sys-
tematic English course as far as practicable, — pursued in
three regular classes, after the pupil (had) completed the
Elementary studies," The "Ornamental Branches and Modern
Languages" were also taught, (3)

The elementary course which preceded the higher, em-
braced the usual elementary subjects, Mrs, Brazee her
second year in the school began algebra. She remembers
particularly one early text book which she thinks she had
also in that year--Watts, On the Mind, too difficult a
book for a child in her early teens. But this Spartan
teacher rejoiced in what was difficult, and inured her
students to arduous tasks.

girls boarding with her,

(1) Report appended to catalogue for 1860-61, p, 30,

(2) Scrap Book,

(3) Ibid.

They studied "figures and the rudiments of grammar"in
which the emphasis was upon corrective work. For example,
they were taught to say T,Idid_it "rather than "I done it." ( 1)
Calisthenics "to the music of an old melodeon" gave many of
the children joy. The exercise could not be wicked be-
cause the melodeon could not be played fast. To Mrs. Call! n

it was not so pleasant. So dearly did she love to dance

(2)
that it was difficult for her to walk sedately afterwards.

That the health of the students would be safe-guarded
Miss Sill promised, as she promised the "discipline of the
intellect, the regulation of the moral feelings yand the care,
of the moral life. Wot only did she care for the health of
her students, but she directed a great deal of attention to
their appearance, constantly admonishing them and writing
frequent letters to their parents. She "was a stickler,
too f for fine manners, "and taught them to her charges by
precept and example. (3)

Every afternoon the whole school was "marshalled into "the
big room to attend the closing exercises of the day, there-
by fixing indelibly in their minds a remembrance of Miss
Sill, reading the Scriptures, leading the singing, and ear-
nestly praying for blessings upon the institution to
which she had already consecrated her life. "(4)

(1 )Mrs.E.P.Catlin.
(2). Ibid.

(3) Ibid.

(4) Mrs. Carrie Spafford Brett. An old sketch of the Sem-
inary recently loaned to me by her sister, Mrs. C.H.
Godfrey.

The charges for this instruction were unbelievably
low, A clipping in the Scrap Book, announcing the open-
ing, gives the following rates: tuition in the primary
department $2.00 a term and $7.00 a year; in the junior
class, S3. 00 and 811.00; in the middle class, $3.50 and
$13.00, and in the senior class, $4.00 and $16.00. Mu-
sic, painting, drawing, and French and German were extra
at rates that ran from $2.00 and $6.00 per term and year
to $8.00 and $30.00, the latter charge being for instruc-
tion in piano.

With Miss Sill enme Miss Hannah Richards who was in
charge of the little girls and later more or less in
charge of the domestic affairs. Miss Eliza Richards,
her cousin, was already in Rockford. The three divided
the work, Miss Sill of course in charge of the more ad-
vanced work. (1)

Within the year Miss Eliza became Mrs. Burden, of
Dubuque, and was succeeded by her sister, Miss Malinda.
Miss Sill gave her consent to Miss Eliza's marriage only
upon one condition, and that was that "she would per-
suade her younger sister, Malinda, to take her place." (2)
Miss Malinda was young and pretty and charming, and was
one of the belles in the community. Not only did she
have a knack with children, but she had many ideas new

(1) Mrs. E. L. Herrick, Mrs. C. P. Brazee, 1855, Mrs.

M. R. Hervey, and Beport appended to the catalogue or
1860-61, p. 30.

(2) Mrs. M. R. Hervey.

to the section. She was in charge of the Floral Band. So
popular was she, however, that within three years she went
to Dubuque as Mrs.Hervey. ( 1 ) She died in Dubuque in the
spring of 192%

The accounts of the number of students that first year
vary. That the school was well patronized from the begin-
ning is certain. Miss Sill states in her diary that on "the
second day she had sixty pupils. A newspaper clipping of
the time (in the Scrap Book)places the number at upwards
of seventy for the first term and two hundred forty for
the first year, ninety-two of whom were boarding students.
The primary department which made "quite as deep an im-
pression for good upon the community as any other depart-
ment , "usually numbered that first year from forty to fifijt

The success of the enterprise even within the first
three months "exceeded the most sanguine hopes of its
warmest friends." This comment was made by the editor of
the Rockford Fprum (August 29)in reporting the first ex-
aminations which were held late in August, 1 849. ihe
"classes in the upper departments , taught in the different
subjects of classicd.1, mathematical and natural science,
as well as music, and all the other arts which contribute
to a polite and finished education evinced to the ut-
most satisfaction of their examiners , the correctness and
thoroughness of the instruction." And even the"little girls
(1 )Mrs.C.P.Brazee.

did admirably." The essays read by various students gave
evidence "that the fields of literauu e(had) not b^en
gleaned in vain, or the mines of thought explored without
finding a gem." The editor's only adverse criticism was
of the "too great hasteT?of one reader, which he"attributed
to a slight embarrassment, having its origin in becoming
modesty. "

For the mus$e which "agreeably interspersed"the exer-
cises of the aiternoon,he had the highest praise, especial-
ly for those exercises 6f the primary department under the
direction of Miss Eliza Richards, whose work showed that
"those youngfimmortal minds were under the right sort of
moral and mental culture."

The Floral Band came in for further praise. Many of the
letters read by them, when the age of the writers w^s con-
sidered, "were really praiseworthy, whether regarded as spec-
imens of literature or of correct sentiment and feeling."
Especially delighted"!. was the writer with two "poetical col-
loquies (one sung and the other spoken )by four bright-eyed
little girls." "One was about the moon and the other about
the angels who attend us." Unfortunately these collo-
quies were not reported.

The press accepted the school as The Rockford Female
Seminary, "and pronounced it "an honor to the villuge"and
deserving of the patronage it was receiving.

A visitor to the school, probably late in this same
year,"on the day ef the week set apart for exercises in
vocal music, composition, reading, domestic sewing, col-

loquial recitations or declamation, et cetera", reported
that the recitations "were performed in a manner highly
creditable to both teachers and pupils," About one hun-
dred pupils were present.

The enterprise was successful from other points of
view. The personal influence of this young woman upon the
community was by no means small. Her sincerity and her en-
thusiasm were unbounded. Even "the children became im-
pressed with her earnestness. They realized that they
stood in the presence of a devout Christian woman. In
those days a person direct from the East commanded espe-
cial respect, . The fact that >this young woman came hundreds
of miles to do good had its effect upon them, and they went
to work with a will," (1)

The co-operation of the village and the accomplish-
ments of this first year must have been very gratifying
to Miss Sill, Hers was no small task, — to set up a per-
manent institution in this pioneer settlement. One school
after another had been established in the community, strug-
gled awhile, and quietly passed out of existence. In some
cases, too, the teachers had been interested in their ?/ork
and capable. Conditions had been too much for them. She,
however, was endowed with qualities which enabled her to
bring the Seminary safely through the most difficult times.

(1) Scrap Book. Tribute of one of her first pupils in
ne?;spaper.

CHAPTER VI
The Early Years of the Seminary,
1850 - 1852
The success ofwMiss Sillfs School" in its first year,
brought the community, it would seem, to accept it as the
basis of Rockford Female Seminary, The patronage of the
school was constantly increasing, the the buildings on North
First Street were small and crowded. The Seminary could
never become the permanent institution its friends hoped it
would, under the then existing conditions. Affairs began
to shape themselves, and plans were made for the future. On
September 19, 1850, more than three years after the Seminary
had been chartered, the Board had its first meeting. There
were present the Rev. Aratus Kent, president of the Board
from 1850 to his death in 1870; Rev. S. Peet, Rev. Dexter
Clary, Rev. Aaron Chapin, Rev. R. M. Pearson, Messrs. E.
H. Potter, L. G. Fisher, and Samuel Hinman, and Rev. J. D.
Stevens. The other members were Gen. George Hickox, A.
Raymond, and Wait Talcott. At the meeting they read and
adopted the charter. (1)

Financing the Seminary,
With the Board acting, plans for a site and building

began to be formulated and for the raising of money to se-

ll) Records of the Board of Trustees, Sept. 19, 1850.

Section 1 of the charter set the first meeting for the
first Monday in June 1847. For copy of charter, see
appendix, pp. 330-332.

cure them. The subscriptions of 1847 were never re-
deemed. Times which were especially hard were made even
more difficult by the repeated failures of the "hydraulic
works" to function properly. Mr. C. A. Huntington, in a
letter to the Rockford Gazette, December 22, 1886 de-

^^W— I ■■ ,i I^WII ■>—■■■■ a^— fcw^i

scribes that year (1847) most vividly. The summer and
autumn were known as the "sickly season." Within three
or four months there were fifty funerals in and around
Rockford. There were in the village only about twelve
hundred inhabitants. ( 1)

Wheat was the one cash article. Sometimes a farmer
got only forty cents a bushel. And he had had a hard
week's work, as his grain often had to be drawn one hun-
dred miles by a team. "Pat horses,, fat cattle, fat pigs
and poultry abounded," but there v/as no money. "Still
the country was full of hope, in prospect of the good
time coming, when the railroad would bring them (the
people of Rockford and vicinity) into connection with the
living world, and enrich them by giving value to land and
its production. "(2)

By 1850 conditions, while they were none too good,
had improved. The first subscription for the Seminary,
dated 1850, totalled $3915. There were eighty-3ix sub-
subscribers, and the amounts ranged from $5 to $400.

(1) Rockford Forum, Mar. 25, 1856.

(2) Mr. C. A. Huntington.

There were many gifts of $25, $30, and $50, several for
$100, and one for $200. As all were checked and as re-
ceipts for many are recorded, it is to be supposed that
the entire amount, or nearly all, was collected. (1)

It was at this time, when such strenuous efforts
were being made to secure $5,000 for a building that the
ladies of Rockford came forward and offered to donate the
site. A small group of women were meeting one Thursday
afternoon when they decided to raise the thousand dollars
necessary. By Monday noon it was pledged. (2) To pledge
was one thing, however; to procure the money another. All
sorts of sacrifices were made to raise the sum. The old
bonnet must be made to do another season; daughters frock,
so many times made over, must be renovated again. Enter-
tainments were given for which every one worked.

Mrs. Katherine Keeler tells of one of these enter-
tainments given in the old building, probably in 1850 or
1851. Mrs. Keeler does not remember the exact date.

"The ugly old assembly room was converted into
a perfect bower of bloom under the artistic hands of
teachers and pup:' Is. All was lovely save the bare
refreshments tables. Suddenly some one bethought
herself of Mrs. Church fs lovely china. A part of
her wedding outfit, it had taken the long journey
West by land and water of nearly a thousand miles
without a crack. How could she trust it to the hands
of giggling girls and careless young men? 3ut the
festival must be a success, and so she heroically
saw it depart and tremblingly awaited results.

(1) Record of subscriptions in an old book in Rockford
College.

(2) Rockford Register, May 30, 1874.

"The entertainment was over, the china safe.
All were gone save Miss Hannah Richards, who saw
it, and knowing how precious it was, resolved to
return it to its owner before she slept. Care-
fully she piled it on a salver. Cautiously she
tripped with her load across the street. The
house was dark, the family in bed. But what of
that? The pantry window was open, and a table
always stood beneath it. Carefully she stole
around, slipped the silver in — but the table
wasn't there !M(1)

Thus by dint of great effort and sacrifice, the money
was raised, and the site of eight acres which has been
little extended since, on the east bank of the rivep, was
bought from Buell G. Wheeler, October 22, 1850, for the
sum of $550.(2) The steep bluffs descended to the water's
edge, and were covered with grass and bushes and trees,
particularly red cedars. Just below, where the river
curves and broadens it is dotted with little islands. It
was a secluded spot, too, though it was just below the
ford (at which the present dam is built) where emigrants
going westward crossed with their covered wagons. Just
opposite on a little creek named for Germanicus Kent, was
a small settlement ,— a few houses and several years later,
a flour mill owned by James B. Agard.(3)

The deed to this land*- and the charter, remained in
the Spafford family until 1899 when they were given to
the college. Mr. Charles Spafford was county recorder at

(1) Paper read at Pounder's Day, June 11, 1891, lent to
me by Mrs. Katherine Church Keeler.

(2) Copy of deed given to me by J. A. Bowman, present
Recorder of Deed® of Winnebago County, 111.

(3) Mrs. Myrta Agard bartlett, ±878-1882.
* For copy of deed, see appendix, p.329«

the time of the purchase of the site and a trustee of

( 1)

the Seminary in the early f50fs. Unfortunately both
have been lost.

On Christmas day, 1850, at the second meeting of
the Board the fundamental principles governing the
Seminary were discussed and adopted. It was at this
meeting, too, that Miss Sill's plan for preparatory studies
was adopted, a really official recognition of her school
as the basis of Rockford Female Seminary. The course to
be pursued in the Seminary was referred to the Executive
Committee(2 ) , records of whose early meetings seem not
to be extant.

Principles governing the Seminary.
These principles are sufficiently interesting and
important to be related in full. They are still funda-
mentally sound, though years have passed, and fashions
have changed in education as in every thing else.

I. "The moral and religious influence of the in-
stitution shall be regarded as of prime importance
and no effort shall be spared to make this in-
fluence pure, elevated and efficient. But, while
the control and responsibilities of the Seminary
are of necessity in the hands of those who are of
one faith as Presbyterians and Congregationalists,
the Trustees shall aim to guard against a sectarian
spirit and to conduct this institution upon liberal
catholic principles.

(1) Mrs. C. H. Godfrey, Music Department, 18V9.

(2) Records of the Board of Trustees, Dec. 25, 1850.

100

II . "The standard of mental culture shall be set
and maintained at the highest practical point.
Provision shall be made for thorough instruction
in the solid and higher branches of learning, and
in due proportion for imparting those accomplish-
ments which adorn and grace the feminine mind.

It shall be an especial aim of the institution to
secure that discipline of mind which will develop
all its capacities in a balanced purport, adapted
to their practical application in the active ser-
vice of life. To secure this elementary character
to the Seminary a course covering (three)* years
shall be adopted, and none shall be received as
pup5.1s under (15)*- years of age or who have not
made some proficiency in the elementary branches
of knowledge, and a corresponding increase of age
and attainment shall be, as a general rule, neces-
sary to advanced standing.

III. "To secure that instruction of the pupils in
domestic duties and the useful arts which is in-
dispensable to the completeness of feminine edu-
cation, provisions shall be made uniting as many
as possible in connection with the teachers in
one family, the domestic service of which shall
be chiefly performed by the pupils under a
regular system. To promote this as well as the
other objects contemplated, it is esteemed
desirable that a large proportion of the pupils
have their home in the institution.

IV . "The whole economy of the Seminary shall be
so arranged as to reduce the expense of education
to the lowest point compatible with the maintenance
of its elevated character. It shall be the aim
of the Trustees to bring the advantages of the in-
stitution within the reach of all classes in the
community around. To aid in the accomplishment of
this, efforts shall be made to secure endowments,
at home and abroad.

U "As soon as the way shall be opened for a full
organization of the Seminary, a Principal and in-
structors shall be appointed who shall constitute
the Faculty and to whom shall be committed the
government and instruction of the institution sub-
ject to the regulations and approval of the Board
of Trustees. "(1)

(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, Dec. 25, 1850.
* Blanks filled in by the Executive Committee.

101

This organization, however, was not effected until
1852, and nearly two years elapsed between the meetings
of the Board and the completion of plans for the first
building and the laying of the cornerstone. In the
meantime the school, greatly handicapped by crowded
conditions and lack of equipment, labored on. Classes
and school exhibits, and public examinations were held.

School exhibits.
School exhibits in those days were great events,
and an immense amount of time and labor were expended to
plan something unique and interesting which was also
instructive. To Mrs. Keeler again, I am indebted for the
following account:

"One ambitious performance has been indelibly
impressed upon my memory. It was nothing more nor
less than a representation of the solar system by
bodies that revolved about the sun upon two legs.
The stage had to be somewhat pieced out to enable
the planets to revolve at all about the sun, to say
nothing of in their respective orbits, for they
were all there—Mercury, Venus, the Earth, Mars,
Jupiter, Saturn, while !_, the tiniest of the pri-
mary scholars,appeared as one of the satellites of
Hershel, otherwise Uranus. Over and over again I
was put through my lesson

!Six moons round Hershel rove, in perfect

orbit bound, !
et cetera. It was predicted by my father that in-
stead of circling round the planet as a good little
satellite should, I would spoil all by rushing
off stage and into my mother's arms. But Miss
Sill believed in me, and the solar system didn't
go to pieces through any fault of mine."

The examinations, which were held twice a year, in

February and June, were oral and of three days1 duration.

The board of examiners was composed of prominent and

102

learned men from the town. They heard the exercises,
and submitted a lengthy and detailed report, the full ac-
count of which appeared in the newspapers . (1)

By February of 1851 so great had the interest in the
exercises become that "throngs of visitors" were "in con-
stant attendance," and "the house was so crowded as to be
oppressive, the attendants being so eager to see and hear,
as to be even desperate and, in some instances, uncivil
and needlessly indecorous, somewhat an impediment to the
proceedings, a disturbance to others, and a reproach to
themselves ."(2)

Pupils were examined in the various subjects, the
exercises "being agreeably interspersed with music" (some-
times on the melodeon) and ending with the "colloquy"
which was the piece de resistance, as it were. That of
1852 as described was a most elaborate affair. The sub-
ject of it was: "The v/orld as it is, and will be, or a
contest between Truth and Falsehood." Fifteen traits of
character v/ere represented by fifteen young ladies: Piety,
Truth, Philanthropy, Freedom, Amiability, Decision, False-
hood, Fickleness, Distrust, Ignorance, .Mirthfulness,
Avarice, Pride, Tyranny, and Misery. Each discoursed at
length, setting forth the merits or evils of the trait

(1) See appendix, pp. 386-387.
(?) Scrap Book.

103

of character she represented. Of course it is urmeces-
sary to say that good triumphed. Unfortunately this col-
loquy seems not to be extant; nor was I able to find a
complete account of any other colloquy.

Of the performance the press spoke in most elaborate
terms:

"it chained the attention of the crowded and
comfortless audience for more than an hour, and
held it in profound silence. No excellence of
human virtue, or deformity of human weakness or
wickedness; no passion of soul or proud achievment
of intellect, but was here represented to the life.
Such familiarity with human nature, and with the
thoughts and dialect of human philosophy; such
lofty sentiments couched in language so chaste ; so
classical, so eloquent, and so original, -ere cer-
tainly unexpected in pupils of a school whose
foundation is scarcely laid, and whose name has
scarcely begun to be known as an institution." ( l)

Equally fluent praise was accorded the young author

of the piece.

The criticism of one group of examiners, Mr. Q. A.

is interesting

Huntington, Rev. L. Porter, and Rev. H. M. Goodwin, /in
revealing their attitude and, flowery as it is, in sug-
gesting also the high quality of the instruction:

"it is obvious here that no divorce is re-
cognized between the knowledge of God, and the
knowledge of his works, between the cultivation of
the intellect and the cultivation of the heart.
And nowhere did this last feature of the school
appear more obvious than in the primary department:
in the beautiful songs there so beautifully sung,
in the reading and recitations and finally in the
resolving of the whole into a miniature solar sys-
tem,* each little mass representing some one of the
heavenly bodies performing its revolution and re-

(1) Scrap book.

* It is doubtless this exercise which Mrs. Keeler
describes.

10*

peating, or rather chanting, as she moved, its
history, making it audible." (1)

Methods of teaching.
Their comment (in the same report) upon the methods
of teaching is as interesting. They stress the fact that
these pupils have been trained to think rather than
"taken through a given number of text books." The
examinations were so planned that students had to apply
what they learned. There was no attempt to conceal
"absolute imperfections behind unreal accomplishments."
This group of teachers they pronounced "in point of
scholarship, aptness for teaching, zeal and fidelity" as

"thoroughly furnished to the important work unto which

( )
they (were) called." The testimony on this last point

of one contemporary teacher of another and of students

of the time, would bear out these gentlemen.

The oral examinations were continued for many years,

and were conducted along similar lines. The last

exercises to be held in the old building were those of

February, 1853.

Curriculum ,
As there was no printed catalogue until 1854, it is
possible only to reconstruct the curriculum of the pre-
vious years from fragments.

(1) Rockford Forum, Apr. 14, 1852.

105

We know from the records of the Board of Trustees
that in 1851 a preparatory course was established, and
the course of study, presumably the Seminary course, was
left with Miss Sill and the Executive Committee.
Examinations of candidates for the regular courses were
to be conducted by the Board of Instruction. ( 1) The re-
port appended to the catalogue of 1860-1861, prepared
presumably by Miss Sill, states that "a full Preparatory
and College course of study was adopted" in this year.
Fifteen were "entered upon this course, T? and five were
graduated in the first class, 1854.

Mrs. E. L. Herrick, who taught arithmetic, algebra,
geometry, and trigonometry, from 1852 to 1855, thinks
that the course varied little during those years from
the course as set forth in the catalogue of 1854.(2)

We know from the reports of the examinations that
students were examined in English grammar, United States
history, Watts on the Mind, ancient geography, rhetoric,
French history, the science of government, English his-
tory, "intellectual arithmetic " (oral arithmetic), writ-
ten arithmetic, Latin grammar, Cornelius Ijepos, and al-
gebra. From the earliest days music and painting were
taught. Before there was a regular art teacher Mrs.
Salmon P. Weldon, of Freeport, came in to give instruc-

(1) Records of Board of Trustees, Apr. 9, 1851. This
course was outlined in File 1, which, so far as I
know, is not extant.

(2) See Appendix, photostat of course of studies 1854-
1855, p. 347.

106

tion when she was needed. In the very early days Miss
Eliza Richards taught music, (1)

Teachers.
In the year 1852-1853, the last year on North
First Street, there were eight teachers, including Miss
Sill: Miss Lucy D. Jones, of Spencer, Massachusetts,
afterwards Mrs. E. L. Herrick; Miss Harriet A. Stewart,
of Lockport, New York; Miss Malinda Richards, of Ben-
nington, New York, afterwards Mrs. William H. Hervey,
of Dubuque, Iowa; Miss Mary A. Holt, of Madison, Wis-

consin; Miss Prances M. Avery, of Belvidere, Miss Mary
A. Miles, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who came through
Mrs. Hiram Waldo and v/as a cousin of President Chapin ,
of Beloit, and Miss Catharine R. Moseley, of Byron. (2)
Miss Hannah Richards, who had come with Miss Sill, was
an assistant in the culinary department.

The site purchased and funds available for the new
building, conditions for the Seminary seemed more hope-
ful. Within an incredibly short space of time "Miss
Sill's School" had become an important factor in the life
of the community, and v/as exerting its influence in many
directions. It was the center of the social life of the
village. No function v/as complete without its quota
from the Seminary. The girls and faculty in large num-
bers graced the audiences of the best public entertainments

and lectures. Many exercises at the Seminary were

(1) Mrs. Julia Warren.

(2) List of teachers appended to catalogue of 1860-1861.

10 7

open to the townspeople. Numbers of desirable citizens
were drawn to the region because of the presence of the
institution. Its influence since the beginning has
been self -perpetuating through the many marriages of its
students and faculty to town men, for they, as well as
the Beloit students, appreciated the qualities of these
young women for successful wife-and motherhood. Rock-
ford gave lioerally to the Seminary; on the other hand
the Seminary for more than seventy years, has been a
quickening and refining influence in the community. It
has stood for the finest in academic attainments, and
moral and spiritual values.

108

CHAPTER VII

The New Seminary, 1852 to 1861

In 1852 Rockford began to show many sifens of in-
creasing prosperity. The livery stables and the team-
sters were unable to furnish transportation westward for
the groups of travellers coming into Cherry Valley, (some
eight miJes east of Rockford). (The Galena and Chicago
Union Railroad had been extended that far.) On one train
over one hundred emigrants were unable to get conveyances
to take them to Iowa and Minnesota. Besides private con-
veyances, there were six of Prink and Walker fs stages
running v/est. The highway, passing through Rockford,
wrought much trade to the village from emigrants on their
way to the west.

Many new stores v/ere being built, and "business of
all kinds" was increasing so rapidly as to give "the lie
to the evil predictions that the railroad would destroy
the business of the towns on its route.'1 There was talk
of railroad connections to Beloit and Rock Island.
"Buildings of all kinds, — frame, brick, and stone," v/ere
being erected "on both sides of the river" and "on all
sides." Multitudes of shanties sprang up.(l)

This era of prosperity no doubt accelerated the plans
for the Seminary building, though the project was by no
means easy of achievment.

In April of 1851, the Executive Committee of the

(1) Rockford Forum, May 19, 1852.

109

Board of Trustees, had oeen directed"to mature and carry-
out a plan of a building for the Seminary to be about
sixty-five by forty feet, of three stories, and to cost

not exceeding $8, 000, # to comprise rooms for lodging and

A (1)

domestic purposes and necessary temporary public rooms."

On July 15, 185 2, the cornerstone of this building ^^

was laid by the Rev.Aratus Kent, "that our daughters

may be as cornerstones, polished after the similitude of

a palace." (2)

(1) Minutes of the Executive Committee, Apr. (?) , 1851 .

(2) Miss Sill!s favorite motto.

# Itemized cost made by John Beattie. Document in col-
lege safe called for an outlay of $7,927,35.

*# This building now called Middle Hall, was originally
called Chapel Hall. For this account of the dedica-
tion I am indebted to Mrs.C.P.Brazee and the Rock-
ford Forum for July , 21 , 1854.

"It was a warm but lovely day. The school, headed
by the Rockford Band, marched from the old building.
It was a beautiful sight, and there was a large au-
dience.

The exercises, which were simple and dignified,
but fcather long, opened with a prayer by the Rev. Mr.
Savage. Then the Rev. Dexter Clary gave a summary of
the organization and "subsequent deliberations of the
Board."

After the band had played a selection, Prof •
Joseph Emerson, of Beloit, "spoke without premedita-
tion and desired that the simplicity of his thoughts
might chime with the better feelings of his audience.
That the sentiments of all hearts toward the comple-
tions of this structure might be breathed in one uni-
ted melody, which would avail more in rearing these
walls than the lyre of Ampheon in constructing the
walls of Thebes."

He was followed by Mr. Brewster and by PresChapin,
of Beloit, who made "some very extended remarks "on
education and on the relationship of the Seminary
and the (Beloit )College.

110

After an interlude by the band the Rev. Aratus Kent,
with the help of the builder laid the corner stone,
wherein were deposited

"circular and charter of Rockford Female Seminary,
"charter of the City of Rockford; last week's Demo-
crat and Forum; Chicago Daily Journal and Tribune;
a 12 cent, 1 cent and 3 cent piece; tne Bible ; a~~
Temperance medal by a volunteer lad; circular and
order of co^niencement exercises of Beloit College
for 1852; circular of the Wisconsin and Illinois
Education Society."

( What the purpose in including all the various articles
was, I do not quite see. As the original charter was in
the possession of the college until some fourteen or
fifteen years ago, the document deposited must have been
a copy. The statement that the chart r of the city was
deposited is, undoubtedly a misstatement, it, too, surely
was a copy. )

The exercises were closed with prayer by the Rev. Mr.
Pearson.

111

On this same day the Board of Trustees*- made the first
formal appointment to the faculty: they unanimously elec-
ted Miss Sill principal at a salary of "Two hundred dol-
lars per Annum and her maintenance in the Institution."(l)
She had proved to the eagerly alert community that she had
the ability, energy, and courage to carry on the perilous
enterprise, for by no means was its success assured.

As "the darkest time is just before day," so the
guardians of the new Seminary found the time before the
building was finished a particularly black time. Work
went on slowly, and money came in still more slowly.
That the inward grov/th was strong and healthy, was evi-
denced by the rapid increase in the number of students and

by their meritorious academic performances. But the means
for sustaining this grov/th were scant, and the resources
of Rockford were exhausted. All who could and would give,
had given to the limit of their capacity. Others were un-
willing to give.

(1) Records of Board of Trustees, July 15, 1852.
# There seems to be a conflict of opinion as to the

date when the Board of Trustees became separate from
that of Beloit College. There is no record of the
separation in the minutes of the meetings of the Board.
The date is commonly set as 1850. The Rockford
Seminary Magazine (Jan. 1873, p. 3) sets it as July 15,
1852 . It would seem from a perusal of the list of
trustees that 1850 is a more likely date: four mem-
bers of the Board, members, too, of the Beloit board, —
Rev.Plavel Bascom,Rev.C.Waterbury, CM. Goodsell,
Charles Hempstead, — are recorded as being elected
and resigning in that year. For many years, however,
members served on both boards.

112

The newspapers of the day set forth a plea for sup-
port, based not upon the chance of financial returns, but
upon the spiritual influence on the prosperity of the
town,

"it is not expected that this Institution is to
develop the business resources of the city and the
surrounding country; but it is, in a measure, to up-
hold and make useful the latent social and moral
character of this community. Its influence is now
felt not only here, but it is rapidly extending far
and wide. Such a school should be encouraged and

stimulated by the presence of their friends.-

Upon the friends of Rockford particularly rests
the responsibility of the prosperity and usefulness
of this Seminary. "(1)

Thus early was the ever-recurring question raised: What

does the institution mean to the city? There was on the

part of the trustees and other friends a deep realization

of the importance of the enterprise. No sacrifice was too

great. When the money could be raised in other way, the

Board was authorized (at two different times) to borrow

money on the homes of the trustees. (2) Further than this

(1) Rock River Democrat, Feb. 22, 1853; Rockford Forum Feb.
23, 1853.

(2) Records of the Board of Trustees: July 15, 1855.

"Resolved: That the Executive Committee be authorized
to borrow the sum of Three Thousand Dollars for a time,
not exceeding ten per cent per annum; and that the
President and Secretary of the Board are hereby author-
ized to execute a Bond and Mortgage on the lands and
Tenements of the Board of Trustees to secure the pay-
ment of said loan."
Records of the Board of Trustees, July 15, 1855.

"Resolved: That the President and Secretary of the Board
be authorized to execute a mortgage upon the Real Es-
tate of the Board of Trustees to secure the payment of
the loans heretofore authorized to be made."

113

the records are silent. Tradition tells us that it was in
the formative period that three of the trustees, Charles
Spafford, E. H. Potter, and Dr. Lucius Clark, mortgaged
their homes, and mentions only one such occasion. It
would seem that it was in 1853. The newspapers speak of
the difficulties encountered then. Moreover, while the
building was in a partial state of completion at the an-
niversary period in 1853, it* was not equipped or fur-
nished. (1) It is highly probable that money was raised
in this way to prepare it for occupancy in the autumn.

Just as silent as are the records were those heroic
men and women. It was not until many years after the
death of her parents that a daughter(2) of one of them
heard the story from a friend. She had never even heard
the episode mentioned by her father and mother. The wives
and children — even the smallest children— were obliged to
sign the papers. It was a courageous and far-sighted act

on the part of the parents. Their homes had been gained
at no small cost. There were families for whom they must
provide, and yet this ideal was one for which the trustees
and their wives were ready to risk even the safety of
those families.

Thus Miss Sill received support from her Board of
Trustees, far beyond their duty.

(1) Mrs. E. L. Herrick.

(2) Mr3. C. H. Godfrey, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles
Spafford. Mrs. Godfrey told me the story. Mrs. Brazee
told it to her some years ago.

114

The anniversary exercises of 1853 were held in the
chapel of the new building(l), July 14.. (2). The halls
were still littered with carpenters1 benches and tools,
sav/dust and shavings. The chapel which had been decorated
by the young men of the town, was crowded. (3) The Rev.
Mr. Waterman, of Galena, delivered the address. In the
evening there was a concert to which an admission of
twenty five cents was charged. The proceeds, $70, went
toward furnishing the rooms. (4)

Of this first public exhibition in the new building,
the newspapers, not only those of Rockford but also two
in Chicago, speak in a most commendatory fashion. The
Rock River Democrat for July 19, 1853, quotes Mr. Bross
of the Chicago Democratic Press as saying that he was
"agreeably surprised at the number of pupils and the
high degree of mental culture to which they had attained.'1
He rejoices that "we have a Female School in this part of
the state which we should be proud to compare with the
best Eastern Female Seminaries." The Chicago Congre-
gational Herald speaks in equally laudatory terms, and

(1) The first building, until the east wing was erected
in 1867, was called Chapel Hall. The east wing, be-
fore its erection, was conr only spoken of as Anniver-
sary Hall because it was planned to hold the "anni-
versary" ( commencement ) exercises in the chapel which

it would contain. The original building is now called
Middle, the east wing, Chapel „ and the west wing, Linden.

(2) Rockford Forum, July 20, 1853.

(3) Mrs. E. L. Herrick.

(4) Rockford Forum, July 20, 1853.

115

tells us that the school had five assistants, a primary

department of fifty children, and a collegiate department

with one hundred students,

"We have spoken of the Beloit commencement, and
design now to describe the other. And we will say
at the outset, that the latter was not a whit be-
hind the former in interest and in the display of
talent on the part of the pupils; in fact we must
say it was superior. We have never attended simi-
lar exercises which gave more evidence of thorough
training or natural talents, and the same remark
was made by others of extensive acquaintance with
eastern female institutions of learning. We suppose
it will be regarded incredible at the East that we
have such schools of learning at the West, but
this will bear comparison with those of New England."

The visitor was also impressed by the "strong re-
ligious influence exerted upon the pupils," and makes men-
tion of it.

. "The accomplished Principal is devoted to her
work, but does not forget that the heart demands
care as well as the head and that the formation
of a correct moral character is the first object
of attention. As a consequence there have been

numerous conversions during the year -and anxious

inquiries among the pupils, v/hile there was no
special interest in the village. Of the hundred in
the higher department, all but eight or ten left
at the close of the term as professed Christians," (1)

An editorial in the Rockford Forum, for July 6, 1853,

urges strangers to attend these exercises and see what is

known
being done. It states that the institution is becoming

abroad, and that all that is necessary to insure its suc-
cess is more financial aid. Money,— the ever-recurring

(1) Reprinted in the Rock River Democrat, Aug. 2, 1853.

116

plea for money I Yet despite the fact that every cent was
being used as quickly as it came in, the trustees fixed the
endowment of professorships at $5000 each. A building
barely completed and not yet furnished, urgent need for
another, and yet they looked to the securing of professor-
ships. (1)

Life in the new building*
Even after the nev/ seminary building was opened,
the discomforts of living were great. It was of course
no great hardship to live in uncarpeted rooms heated by
small stoves. Roommates, the catalogue of 1854 tells us,
could together carpet their rooms. Neither was it a
hardship to bring in one's own wood, or at niL;ht one's
own white pitcher of water from the well. Heating plants
and running water were unknown even to the girls who came
to the Seminary many years later. It was the greatly
crowded conditions and the poor food which were most dif-
ficult. In the fall that Linden was opened the day stu-
dents were studying in the basement, (2) and one room was
occupied by seven students. Mrs. Warren, who was then the
youngest child in the Seminary, slept here in a trundle
bed. (3) In many cases four were assigned to a room. Mrs.
Herrick, Miss Sill, and two other teachers slept in a small

(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, July 14, 1853.

(2) Mrs. E. P. Catlin.

(3) Mrs. Julia Warren.

117

room now occupied by the post office. In the next room
a girl began to practice on the piano at six o! clock in
the morning. When Mrs. Herri ck and Miss Sill moved to
the room now used as a student parlor, they felt they
were luxuriously situated. Under these conditions Miss Sill
kept her records and carried on a voluminous correspondence
well into the night. (1) Mrs. Herrick (Miss Jones) tells
of retreating into a small dark closet under the stairs
when she wanted to be alone and of hearing Miss Sill pass,
calling her and asking if any one knew where Miss Jones
was. It was the only place in the Seminary where she
could have any privacy.

These rooms, many of them small and poorly venti-
lated, all poorly lighted by lard lamps, worked actual
hardships. The nerves of the students, as well as their
health, suffered. They often had spasms, and there was
much illness. It is surprising there was not more. (2)

When Miss Sill went East in 1853, she left Mrs. Her-
rick in charge of the Seminary. One afternoon during Miss
Sillfs absence, a young woman in the middle class was
taken ill. As she was occupying a room with three other
students Mrs. Herrick took her into her own room. The
next morning the doctor pronounced the illness small-pox,

a severe case. There were eighty in the building, and of

(1) Mrs. E. L. Herrick.

(2) Ibid.

118

course all were vaccinated, though they were not quaran-
tined. Fortunately the disease did not spreadjthere
were no other cases. The girls met the situation with
the characteristic optimism of youth, and made verses on
it, ending each stanza with the line,

"All is safe with vaccination."

Added to the trials of congestion was the ever con-
stant fear of fire. On several occasions there were files,

once in the laundry, another time in Chapel Hall. Fortu-
nately they were put out before serious damage was done.
The food was very poor and poorly cooked. All the
cooking was done on a small wood stove in the basement,
preparaxions for breakfast were begun very early, and as
the buckwheat cakes were made, they were put into a huge
dish pan. The girls who get the bottom ones had cold
soggy ekes. The other meals were of necessity not
liberal. (1)

The work of the institution was done largely by
the students, each of whom devoted about an hour a day

to her household duties, a"portion of time so small

as not to retard porgress in study, "the catalogue of
1854-1855 tells us. On the contrary, it was felt that
the exercise had a "healthful and invigorating influ-
ence"and aided"in symmetrically developing character, by
keeping the scholar in the home sphere, and preparing her
for the practical duties of life. "Several "large fleshy
(1 ) Mrs.E.L.Herrick.

119

women" who were very strong did the cooking and the heav-
iest work.(l)

Progress of the work.
Despite these physical difficulties, life was going
steadily on. Nothing was allowed to interfere with the
intellectual progress of the school. Applications for
admission poured in, and students were continually turned
away for lack of room. It soon became apparent that un-
less the resources of the school were immediately in-
creased the enterprise would come to a standstill. It
was not possible then, any more than it is possible now,
to make the charges to students large enough to cover the
cost of their tuition and to provide for new buildings
and equipment. When it was evident that further help
could not be expected from the city, Miss Sill decided
to appeal to the East for aid. Her trip East in Decem-
ber, 1853, had a double purpose, — to secure funds and to
recuperate: her health had been seriously undermined by
the strain of overwork. She visited Boston and other
centers of wealth, and came back in the summer of 1854,
with $5,000.(2) Immediately work was begun on Linden.
It, too, was erected slowly and with great difficulty, and

(1) Mrs. H. W. Kimball, a student in the late fifties

(2) Memorial Volume, p. 22.

120

again money was borrowed to finish it.(l)

There were in the institution, in 1853, one hundred
in the collegiate course, divided into three classes.
Two of these students were over thirty, One had taught
three years "before coming to the Seminary. The influence
of these older women (and there were many of them in the
Seminary) upon the younger students was profound. They
emphasized the seriousness of the situation. Then, too,
they often took a personal interest in the younger girls. (2)
Mrs. Brazee, a member of 1855 and the youngest girl in
her class, tells of finding in her books slips with verses,
bits of prose, Biblical selections, placed there by
a© older Student. In this, and in various other ways,
she showed her interest in the child, and influenced her.
In July of 1854 the first class, seven in number, was
graduated. Among these first graduates was Mrs. Adeline
Potter Lathrop, the daughter of E. E. Potter, one of
the incorporators and a member of the first Board of the
Seminary. She was the first president of the alumnae as-
sociation and president again in 1884. Then there was
Mrs. Abby Palmer Buckbee, whose contributions to various

literary publications were varied and numerous. (5) Mrs.

( 1) Records of the Board of Trustees: The building of
Linden was authorized by the Board June 21,1854, and the
plans of Mr. John Milvain adopted, subject to such modi-
fications as the Executive Committee thought necessary,
The Board was authorized to borrow up to $5,000, if
necessary, to complete the building and furnish it. The
location, on the west side of Middle," so as to have the
line of buildings front north, according to the origi-
nal design of the building, "was decided upon July 14,1854.

(2) Mrs. C. P. Brazee.

(3) Jubilee Book; p. 29.

121

Marion Silsby Walker, Mrs. Abby Spare Mead, Mrs. Louise
Farnham Kent, all were active in the life of their com-
munities. They reared families, taught, did W.C.T.U. work,
club work of various kinds, were active in missionary and
church circles, and in social affairs. (1)

This class, too, to the great satisfaction of Miss
Sill, sent forth a missionary. It was a coincidence that
her first name was the same as that of Miss Sill. Miss
Anna Allen came to the Seminary after having taught several
years. When she finished, she was over thirty. Aside
from being Rockford's first missionary and a member- of her
first class, there is another distinction which belongs to
Miss Allen, --she was the first bride of her class. She
was married in the chapel (now the library) the night of
graduation, July 13, 1854, to Kev. P. Arthur Douglas, of
the Baptist Missionary Union of Boston, who was preparing
to sail for India in October. The reminiscences of the
wedding and its sequel are delightful. (2)

(1) Jubilee Book, p. 29.

(2) For the story of Miss Allen's wedding I am indebted
to Mrs. Herrick, Mrs. Warren, and the Jubilee Book,
p. 29.

Every one was a little flustered, and somewhat
dismayed at the thought of the bride going so far
from home. A member of the faculty found a group
of girls quietly weeping in a corner. "There, there,
girls. Stop crying. You know shefs so frail that
when the Board in Boston sees her, they'll never
let her go to India." And she set them at their
tasks. But the Board did not judge Mrs. Douglas
too frail. She sailed with her husband in October,
and remained in India for fifteen years. There in

122

The anniversary of 1854 was much like those of pre-
ceding years. Its special significance lay in the fact
that the first collegiate class was graduated. The chapel
was adorned, as was customary, with pictures and flowers
and mottoes, among them being the following:

"The liberal diviseth liberal things,"
"That our daughters may be as cornerstones, polished
after the similitude of a palace *"
"Science and Relifeion."
"Our Field the World."
"Altus etiam Alterior." (1)

There were the usual addresses and compositions, the
usual interested audience, "but the chief charm was that
host of daughters of beauty and their galaxy of laughing
eyes. "(2) Prof. Joseph Emerson, of Beloit, gave the ad-
dress, and Miss Adeline Potter, the valedictory, a frag-
ment of which is emoted below:

"They (the founders) saw the daughter of the

prairied '.'est thirsting, thirsting for cooling

•aughts from learning's spring, — then their hearts
were moved with true compassion, and they soon un-
sealed this crystal fountain. We have cuaffed the
soul -invigorating cup, as we took it dripping from

the course of the years she reared a family of nine,
and she became the grandmother of nineteen. V/hen she
returned from India, she became the^Honorable Director
of the Long Island Foreign Missionary Society, "in which
capacity she served for some years. She lived to come
back with her six classmates to their golden reunion in
1904, a truly memorable occasion. Hot often, surely,
does it ha>>pen that every member of a first graduating
class of an institution returns to the fiftieth reunion.

(1) The earlier graduates often speak of these mottoes.

(2) Scrap Book. Account of visitor from Beloit.

123

the sparkling waters, --and often as we drank, we
thanked the givers of the blessing; --but today
our hearts are welling up anew with gratitude, and
our souls are full, too full <3f thankfulness, to
express the half we feel. Yet their memory will
be held with the unforgotten treasures of the
past."(l)

The Seminary had in this year of 1854-1855, 253
students, distributed as follows: senior class 10;
middle class, 22; junior class, 30; preparatory depart-
ment, 60, and normal and English department, 131. They
came from a widely distributed area, --Illinois, Wiscon-
sin, New York, Arkansas, Minnesota, Michigan, Massachu-
setts, and Iowa.

Collegiate students were enrolled in the three re-
gular classes, --the junior, middle, and senior, and the
work was organized into "departments of study, as Mental
and Moral Philosophy, History and Belles Lettres,
Mathematics, Natural Sciences, and the languages." In
addition there were a preparatory and a normal and
English department.-"-

In connection with the last named department, a
class was organized in the fall and winter terms to re-
view the "Elementary Branches and also to give instruc-
tion- as to the best method of Teaching and Government."

(1) Quoted from the original document. See appendix

p. 388, for complete address.
* No course of study was outlined at this time for
the normal students.

124

There was, too, a fourth-year class for those qualified

and desirous of going further. These students were called
"resident graduates, n# and often assisted in the various
department s . ( 1 )

There were, including Miss Sill, who, in addition
to being principal, was head of the Department of Mental
and Moral Philosophy, twelve teachers: Miss Mary A, White,
of the Department of Natural Sciences; Miss Hannah Rich-
ards, of the Department of History and Belles Lettres;
Miss Lucy Jones and Miss Adeline Chase, of the Department
of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy; Miss Anristine
Waterbury, of the Department of Languages; Miss Hannah L.
Perry, teacher in the preparatory department and of
calisthenics; Miss Kate L. Moseley, teacher of drawing,
painting, and needlework; Miss Susan M. Grandgirard,
teacher of the French language, and the Misses Helen L.
Roe, Harriet L. Raymond, and Ella E. Langdon, teachers
of instrumental music. (2)

The expenses were as low as it w~s practicable to
set them. Tuition for each quarter of ten weeks ran from
$3.00 for the preparatory student to $6.00 for resident
graduates. Lessons on the piano, melodeon, and guitar

(1) Catalogue, 1854-1855.

(2) Ibid.

* For the course for resident graduates, see photo-
stat of the course of study for 1854-1855, appendix
p.347.

12$

were $8,00, in drawing and painting from $3.00 for water
colors to $6.00 for oils, in ornamental needle work $3.00
and for French German, and Greek, each $2.00. Board for
the school year was $70.00.(1)

Students might enter at the beginning of any term,
but they were expected to stay at least one term. As
there were more applicants than could be accommodated,
preference was given to those who intended to complete the
course. A thorough knowledge of the preparatory studies*-
was required for entrance to the "graduating course,"*
and students were admitted "by examination for the stand-
ing for which they (were) qualified." No student was ad-
mitted to the junior class under fifteen. Testimonials
of good moral character were required, and the first few
weeks were considered probationary. (2)

Although there were many girls from Rockford, a
large number were boarders. Their life, as well as that
of the day students when they were on campus, was most
carefully regulated. They shared "in the responsibili-
ties of the household as every wise parent would appoint
and every dutiful daughter perform." Students furnished

their own bedding, light, and fudl, and were cautioned
against leaving home "without a pair of India rubber

(1) Catalogue 1854-1855.

(2) Ibid.

•«■ For complete programs of study see appendix, p«347»

126

overshoes and an umbrella." Later each student was re-
quested to bring a Bible "for daily use." Unless parents
specified a church, the girls went with Miss Sill to the
First Congregational Church, (1) where she sang in the
choir. Two by two they marched down South Second Street.

The equipment was steadily being enlarged. In the
previous year (1853) there had been gifts to the library,
raising the total number of books to 1000. The Seminary
ov/ned, too, a collection of "Shells and Minerals, and a
Philosophical Apparatus — all donations of the friends of
education at the East." (2)

The statement of the trustees in the Hock River
Democrat of July 4, 1854, (a report of resolutions made
•at their annual meetings) (5) are of especial signifi-
cance. This indicates that though the financial strug-
gle was still a bitter one, there was no doubt in their
minds as to the permanency and worth of the institution.
Matters began to take on a more stable aspect, and every
step insured the future.

In their statement tr.e trustees first disclaimed any
connection with Beloit, except "a certain identity of
origin, of principles, and objects." The reason for
this step is not clear. The two Boards had become

(1) Catalogue of 1854-1855.

(2) Ibid.

(3) As this statement was signed by the Executive Com-
mittee, it probably was' recorded in the minutes

of that committee, complete records of which are
not extant .

127

separate two years earlier, though several men were mem-
bers of both boards. Second, they took "basic steps" to-
ward organizing the course of study, (this organization
was not completed for several years), and they stated as the
"one grand aim of the Institution" the education of "the
heart and character as well as the mind; hence the Bible,
the fountain light of moral action." Third, they ex-
pressed a wish that the advantages of the Seminary be
given to as many as possible, and they reiterated their
purpose to keep the tuition as low as they could. Fourth,
they valued the property of the Seminary at $12,000.
(There was a mortgage on it of $3,500.) The statement
in which the above points were set forth, ended with a
plea for $20,000, and was signed by the Executive Com-
mittee: E. D. Willis, Lucius Clark, E. H. Potter, T. D.
Robertson,C. H. Spafford, and H. M. Goodwin.

At their meetings held in June and July of that year
the Board was particularly active, and passed resolutions
which affected many phases of the Seminary life. Realizing
the need for an increase in the salaries of teachers, at
the earliest possible moment, they raised those of the
teachers in the collegiate department to $200 and Miss
Sill's to $300.(1) Furthermore upon Mr. Loss1 suggestion,
action was taken that her expenses while travelling for

the institution should be paid. (2)

(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, July 10, 1854.

(2) Ibid, July 10, 1854.

128

Three additions were made to the staff, — a matron
"and any other agency necessary" in the department of
domestic affairs, and a teacher of music. (1) The first of
these must have relieved Miss Sill greatly. Up to this
time she herself had either been in entire charge of the
domestic affairs, or had had inadequate assistance. The
appointment of a financial agent shows that the trustees
felt the growing need for a more systematic collection of
funds. During the early years there were several such
agents,— the Rev. E. D. Willis, 1854 to 1856; Rev. Hope
Brown, 1856 to 1870; John Edwards, Esquire, 1870 to
1871', /and later W. A. Dickerman, 1871 to 1885,(2)
all of whom did excellent work in securing support. The
Executive Committee and the principal were authorized
to get a music teacher. (3) There had been several tea-
chers who had taught music, but none who had been ex-
pressly prepared for the situation. In fact it was not
until 1858 when Mr. Daniel N. Hood came to the Seminary
that music received its proper share of attention. He
organized the conservatory, and laid the foundations for
the present strong department. During his thirty-seven
years of service, and since then, the standards of the
department and the quality of the work accomplished have

(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, July 10, 1854.

(2) Catalogues over a space of years.

(3) Records of the Board of Trustees, July 14, 1854.
(f) Died in service.

129

been exceptionally fine.

The publication of a catalogue by the Executive
Committee and the faculty "from time to time as they
deemed expediant" was al30 authorized. (1) The college
seal was adopted on July 14, 1854, and that same day it
was resolved "that certificates of graduation signed by
the Principal of the Seminary and the Secretary of the
Board be given to such pupils as shall have completed the
course of study, and been upon examination, recommended
and approved by the Board or Executive Committee." (2)

The first record of diplomas awarded appears in the
minutes of July 7, 1859. Those who received diplomas at
that time were:

Emma M. Abbe, of Belvidere; Mary Blodgett, of Jack-
sonville; Urania E. Coe, of Bloomingdale; Celia
C. Culver, of Hopkinton, New York; Mary T. Gilbert,
of Walworth, Wisconsin; Belle L. Pettigrew, of
Union, Wisconsin; Fanny W. Rowland, of Rockford;
Almira L. Stevens, of Bloomingdale, and Clarissa
Winter, of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. (3)
The graduates in the previous years received cer-
tificates of graduation, printed, and signed by Miss

Sill, and the president and secretary of the Board of

Trustees. When the diploma form was adopted, *-these
XT} Records of the Board of Trustees, June 21, 1854.

(2) Ibid, July 14, 1854.

(3) Ibid, July 7, 1859.

* Records of the Board of Trustees, July 8, 1858.

130

students were given diplomas . (1)

During the next six or seven years the institution
prospered. There was, of course, as there always is with
an institution, the ever-present need for money. The
project seemed, however, beyond the perilous stage, and
new problems had to be faced, and *#new ideas executed.

Among the problems were those of regulating student
life, of and to students, and of financial support for
the Seminary. With the increase in tuition and expenses,
it would seem that life in the Seminary was becoming
slightly more complex. Each young lady was asked to be
furnished "with a full supply of wardrobe, as frequent
shopping (was) not allowed." She was, moreover, warned
that she would be "required to present a weekly account
of her expend! tures."-*( 2) According to Section If Bylaw II,
of the Constitution, the faculty was "expected to exer-
cise a thorough and parental supervision of the habits
and deportment of the students." Such supervision was
easier to maintain that it would be today.

But even "calico girls" needed to be prodded on the
point of punctuality and unbroken daily attendance. The

young ladies were warned before entrance that "the loss
of a single lesson or even one Study Hour, (would) be

(1) Mrs. C. P. Brazee, 1855.

(2) Catalogue, 1857-58.

## See p. 139, following , for the new ideas.
* See the Report Book of Sarah T. Safford for 1865,
herewith.

131

felt for many weeks." The ever-recurring question of
going home during the term was settled (possibly) by
the statement in the catalogue. At least the young
ladies knew the attitude of the authorities upon the
subject. They were not expected to visit home* during
the term, unless to spend "the Recreation Day," nor
"to pass the Sabbath away from the Institution." (l)

But it was not these questions of internal dis-
cipline which were vexing the trustees; rather one of
greater importance: how to keep desirable students who

(1) Catalogue, 1857-58.

* That there were homesick girls in the fifties as there
now, the following poem printed in the Rockford
Register, May 23, 1857:

Lines By A Homesick Boarding School Girl

Crystal stream, on flowing,--

Ever singing, —
Gentle Winds, free blowing,--

Why am I doomed to stay,—
Why may not I too stray,

With ye, this heav'n born day,
Praises bringing?

Know ye some blessed spot,

Singing river,
Where boarding schools are not,

Tell me either?
Where never class bells ring,
Where girls may romp and sing,
And Momus be our King,

Laughter-Giver?

The chill winds blowing on,

Heed me, never,
Cold in the morning sun runs Rock River!

Ain't this a precious *-sell —
I'm mad enough to — well I
There rings the tardy bell!
Did you ever?
*- Cell? (The reporter's query.)

Rockford Female Seminary, May 4, (?1857).

132

could not meet expenses. For there were many. The story
is told of one who came to the Seminary ?/ith only one
dress, a brown print, which she always kept freshly laun-
dered, though none knew how she managed. (1) These were
the girls for whom the Seminary existed. The question of
student aid was faced early. In 1855 it was voted that
"Home and Foreign Missionaries "be allowed the privilege
of a Tuition Scholarship embracing the tuition of a
daughter through the course for the sum of Fifty dol-
lars." (2) At that same meeting of the Board, steps were
taken to provide for the establishment of scholarships. (3)
In 1857-58 there was an educational fund from which stu-
dents might borrow. It was created "by setting apart an-
nually from the Seminary funds or from monies contributed
for this purpose, the sum of $500." Students might bor-
row any sum up to $200, which must be returned within a
year after leaving school. There was no interest charged

(1) Miss Elizabeth Herrick, teacher 1887-1902, daughter
of Mrs. E. L. Herrick.

(2) Records of the Board of Trustees, July 13, 1855.

(3) Ibid.

For a perpetual tuition scholarship the sum of
$400 would entitle the donor to the tuition of one
scholar in the institution, and the sum of $100 would
entitle the donor to the tuition of one scholar for
three years, these to take effect within "twenty-
five years from the time of full pavment, the said
scholarship not to be transferable.

This act was amended June 25, 1867, to read $500
instead of $400 and four years instead of three years.
The clause concerning partial scholarships which
entitled the donor to keep a student in the Seminary
for three years by an annual payment of sixty dollars
(passed July 8, 1858) was rescinded at this time.

133

upon these loans. The beneficiaries were to be "in-
digent young ladies" who intended to complete the Semi-
nary course and who gave "promise of future usefulness,
especially in teaching." The fund was to be administered
by the Rockford Female Education Society, "already
existing in connection with the Seminary, together with
the Faculty — under the general superintendence of the
Trustees. "(1)

That same year in July the trustees fixed the board
and tuition for "daughters of Missionaries and clergymen
engaged in the active duties of their profession and of
deceased clergymen or missionaries" at $60 per year,
$40 under the usual charges. (2) And Miss Sill was allowed
the board and tuition of one young lady so long as she
remained principal of the institution. (3)

From Miss Sill!s own pen we are able to learn her
viev/s on the subject of student aid. The Rev. Mr. Good-
win in his Memorial Volume, pages 27-29, quotes some ex-
tracts from a paper, "A Memorial to the Rockford Female
Education Society, "(undated but e idently written at an
early date), which show not only her sympathy with these
indigent student but also the wisdom of her views on the
practical value of feminine education. As these paragraphs
sum up so admirably the attitude of the Principal and the

(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, July 8, 1858.

(2) Ibid.

(3) Minutes of the Executive Committee, Oct. 11, 1858.

134

trustees, I quote them in full:

"Prom the commencement of this Institution, I have
frequently met with those who are very anxious to be
educated but cannot command the means. With tearful
eyes they have repeated again and again — !I do want
an education, but I am poor;1 or fI want to do good;
it is all I want to live for, I have no one to look
to. What shall I do? Can you take me and wait un-
til I can teach?1 How could I say fNo! f How could
I turn away one thirsting for knowledge that she
might be fitted for more usefulness, when the tear
and sigh added to the eloquence of the appeal? I
say, how could I, with the Golden Rule before me?
I could only say to such, !You may be educated if
you will; go on, trust in God, and the way will
open before you.1 For two years I said nothing to
other-s, but aided this class of scholars as far as
practical, keeping all within my own heart, being
fully aware of the state of public opinion regard-
ing the importance of systematic, thorough female
education, and consequently that it would be dif-
ficult to obtain aid for those in indigent cir-
cumstances, and that our organization for this pur-
pose might not, and probably would not, meet with
as much public favor as other benevolent enter-
prises. I feel called upon, therefore to state
more fully my whole views to this point.

"Looking first at some of the objections which
may arise to this form of benevolence: It may be
urged that there is no need of so thorough and
systematic education of young ladies to fit them
for extensive usefulness unless they purpose to
make a business of teaching; that woman's sphere
is primarily in the domestic department, in the
family circle. I reply, woman's sphere is in the
home circle, truly, primarily so, and thaT is why
I would have her educated, thoroughly and systemat-
ically educated, for this her heaven-appointed
orbit, that she may be qualified to perform the
duties and to meet the responsibilities of this
sphere. Is not woman the presiding genius in the
family circle, the fixed center of attraction to
the family f solar system," controlling and
regulating the movement of all the planets; and
is it not necessary that her habits of thought
be such as will enable her to perfectly systematize
the family life? Who that has ever resided in a
family where order was wanting, each acting under
the impulse of the present moment, regardless of
the wants or wishes of others, has not been re-

133

minded of the chaos of nature when all things were
without form and void, and darkness v/as upon the
face of the deep? or perhaps of the tower of Babel,
after the confusion of tongues? Does not the guide
of a household need discipline to patient endurance,
that she may cheerfully meet the many petty trials
incident even to the best regulated families? Nov/
what will better induce the habit of order, or
better discipline the mind to patience, than a
systematic, thorough education, developing aright
all the powers of the mind? Do I hear you say, fI
have seen well regulated families without what you call
a systematic education of the mother?1 I reply, we
may differ upon the point as to what constitutes a
well-regulated family. Can that family be well-
regulated whose arrangements do not recognize the
whole of our nature, as physical, intellectual, so-
cial, and religious beings; where proper time is not
allotted daily to the cultivation of each department
of our being? Who has the power to give the facul-
ties right direction in the morning of life , as
the mother? How few realize the extent of the mould-
ing influence of the mother upon the maturing
character! Does she not daguerreotype her own
characteristics of mind and heart indelibly on the
plastic mind of childhood? Who is so well qualified
to make home a paradise as a well educated lady at the
head of the household?

"Again, though this is her peculiar sphere,
her province is not limited to the home-circle;
her influence will be felt in whatever circle she
may move, scattering around her the sunbeams of
virtue and cheerfulness and ever winning grace.
With her own mind expanded and liberalized, she is
prepared to guide others.

"Again, it is said, !If we educate all our young
women, where shall we find domestics? ! I reply,
if they be rightly educated, they will be better
fitted for the work of this department; and if they
are not educated for this department, their educa-
tion is radically deficient.- — --Do we not deny to
young women their lawful rights, when we do not
provide for their education? A young man who de-
sires to be good in the world, and needs a pre-
paratory mental discipline, is taken under the
fostering care of the Church of Christ and aided
by the Education Society. That is all rifcht —
just as it should be. And why, I ask, should
not the same privilege be granted to our own sex?

Especially when a young man can help himself to

136

means so much better than a young woman, whose
labor is valued so much less. Why? I again ask.
Is not the answer found in the estimate made of
educated female influence? But who makes the most
permanent impression on the youthful character, the
father or the mother? And the education of which
should be neglected, if either? I answer, not
that of the mother, who is emphatically the most
responsible teacher in the world.

"If I rightly understand the design of the
founders of the Rockford Female Seminary, it is
this. First — That an institution shall be built
up furnishing advantages to our own sex equal to
the College, or as that furnished to the other
sex. Second --To bring the expenses so low that
all classes shall be able to avail themselves of
its privileges. Third —That the property of
the Institution belong to the public; that it
be not local simply in its interests and influence,
but a public benefit. Fourth --That it shall be
founded by benevolent contributions from the
Christian public, consecrated to the work of doing
good to the world — an object for the prayers of
all who love the diffusion of truth in its highest
forms .

"Who would not rejoice to aid in hastening
that day when knowledge shall cover the earth as
the waters cover the sea?1 How much, then, is
yet to be done; and !the laborers are few.1 And
shall these few, now in the Seminary, who would
live for a world, be hindered for want of aid,
from doing the work they so much desired to do?

I can but trust in God that aid will come

from some quarter; and they who shall give a cup
of cold water to a disciple, in the name of Christ,
shall not lose' their reward."

The following year a scheme of "charatable education"

which had been worked out by the Executive committee was

adopted. The Faculty with the approval of the Committee

was "authorized to give aid from this fund to such young

ladies in the normal class" as they thought suitable

beneficiaries." (1)

(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, July 6, 1859.

137

Unfortunately there is no record of this scheme in the
minutes of the Board of the Committee. The following
year the Trustees resolved to extend the others who
"in the-'r judgment seemed worthy," the privileges given
to the daughters of home missionaries. ( 1)

Although the most difficult period in its financial
history had been passed, in 1857 the Institution found
itself sorely in need of funds. Presumably money had
been borrowed in July of 1856 to complete Linden and to
meet the indebtedness. (2) In July, 1857, the trustees
found themselves facing a debt of $13,000.(3) It
availed little that the anniversary speaker in his ad-
dress "expressed entire confidence in the management of
the Institution," and resolved "to raise $25,000 to
endow it properly." (4) Money was needed immediately.
There had been a drive in the fall of 1856 for $10,000.
The Board had pledged $4000 on condition that the city
would complete the sum. (5) The subscriptions from twenty-
two donors amounted to only $2244.01.(6) Accordingly an
earnest request for support signed by John Edwards, £•
H. Potter, Asa Crosby, Lucius Clark, Joseph Emerson, and
H. M. Goodwin, appeared in the Rockford Register. The ap-

(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, July 4, 1860.

(2) Ibid, July 11, 1856. The Executive Committee was
authorized to borrow such a sum.

(3) Rockford Register, July 18, 1857.

(4) Scrap Book.

(5) Rockford Register, July 18, 1857.

(6) Records of subscriptions.

138

peal was based upon the economic facts that the Seminary
was a business asset and that it had brought some of the
best citizens to the community. Moreover, Rockford was
"known at the East in its Seminary." Its social and moral
influence were too mainfest, the article went on, to be
dwelt upon. "True Godliness has been a prime object aimed
at in conducting the Institution, and the result must
be gratifying to every Christian heart."

Obvious as were the advantages of the Seminary, both
economically and spiritually, and fervid as was the appeal,
the drive failed, and in April 1858, the Seminary site and
buildings were mortgaged for $10,000 to Mr. C. R. Robert,
of New York, for three years with interest at ten per cent.
Among those who made themselves responsible for the tran-
saction, were two of the men who had previously mortgaged
their homes, Dr. Lucius Clark and Mr. Charles Spafford.
The others were Asa Crosby, Dr. Dexter Clark, and John
Edwards. (1) Three months later Rev. Hope Brown was em-
ployed for six months "to spend one half or more of his
time in collecting funds especially in the form of
scholar ships1,1 and the executive committee was "requested
to make such arrangements for raising further funds "as
they judged "expediant ."(2) During the next year the
indebtedness was reduced to $11,000, still an onerous

(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, April 14, 1858.

(2) Ibid, July 15, 1858.

13?

burden . ( 1 )

A letter of Mr. John C. Proctor, of Boston, to Miss
Sill came, evidently just before the anniversary season,
advising of a subscription of $1000 for the purchase of
apparatus for the Seminary." The Board sent their thanks,
and asked that Mr. Proctor send a likeness of himself at
their expense and a list of the names of the subscribers . (2)

Despite the strained financial situation, improve-
ments and additions to the equipment, demanded by the
healthy growth of the Seminary, were constantly being
discussed.* Plans were launched in November of 1858
for the building of a passage v/ay between Linden and
Chapel (now Middle) Halls. It was proposed to use for
this building money "collected on debts to the current
departments of the Seminary previous to last Anniversary"
as might not "be needed to defray the current expenses"
when enough was raised. (3) The contract was let to Mr.
Batchelder for $700,(4) and the proposed connection v/as
ready in the autumn of 1859. It was of three stories, —
the lower one being covered, the other two open, --with a
balustrade. (5) The remaining wing, which had been con-
templated for some time, could have well been used, as
TTJ Records of the Board of Trustees, July 6, 1859.

(2) Ibid, July 6, 1859.

(3) Minutes of the Executive Committee, Nov. 23, 1858.

(4) Ibid, August 26, 1859.

(5) Rockford Register, October 15, 1859.
*• New ideas. See note, p.130.

140

the capacity of the two buildings was taxed to the ut-
most. That summer the atrip of land lying west between
the Seminary lands arid the tracks now used by the Chi-
cago, Milwaukee and St. Paul, and Chicago Burlington,
and Q.uincy Railroads, was purchased from William and
Sarah Lathrop for $500.(1) Plans were also put under v/ay
for bringing water into the buildings and committees were
appointed to investigate plans for heating the buildings (2)
and lighting them by gas. (3) These last two improvements
did not come for some time.

So great was the attendance that the buildings were
overcrowded, and a number of young ladies were placed in
private families to board. (4)

These improvements in the plant were accompanied by
corresponding improvements in the equipment. The library
in 1859-1860 had reached 1600 volumes. Valuable additions
had been made to the chemistry apparatus, and more were
anticipated. (5) The Executive Committee had been authorized

(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, July r;, 1859, and
Minutes of the Executive Committee, July 6, 1859.
According to the copy of the deed in the office of the
County Recorder of Winnebago County (in Rockford) this
strip of land was "one-eighth part of that land known
as "land reserved for the water power." The "land
reserved for the water," according to the original
map of Rockford east of the Rock River, ran from the
present Bluff Street Bridge to Grove Street. The

map was made in 1843, and was attested by William
Hulin, recorder, on Nov, 0, 1845.

(2) Records of the Board of Trustees, July 6, 1859.

(3) Minutes of the Executive Committee, Oct, 17,. 1859.

(4) Ibid, Apr. 26, 1859.

(5) Catalogue, 1859-1860.

141

to take measures for filling up the Cabinet^(l) , thus
giving the natural science students an opportunity to
examine more specimens.

The curriculum, too, was steadily being shaped.
In 1855 a committee of three, consisting of the Rev.
Jos eon Emerson, Rev. H. M. Goodwin, both of Rockford,
and Prof. Joseph Emerson, of Beloit, was appointed to
act with the faculty "to consider the subject of the

(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, July "7, 1859.
* The Cabinet was a room in which shells, birds,
curios, etc, were kept. Mrs. Gregory tells me
that it was the delight of Miss Sill's heart. She
took great delight in showing it to visitors.

142

course of study." (1) The report of this joint committee,
presented at the next annual meeting of the Board of
Trustees, on July 11, 1856, was adopted in full. It pro-
vided

I ."That the course of instruction be distributed for
the present into four departments to be filled by
permanent appointments as soon as practicable and
to be entitled as follows:

1. The Department of Mental and Moral Science,

2. The Department of Mathematics and Natural
Science,

3. The Department of History and English
Language,

4. The Department of Ancient Languages.
Il"That arrangements be made to secure regular courses

of lectures on Science and Experimental Philosophy
from the professor having charge of those depart-
ments in Beloit College.
IIl"That the Department of Mental and Moral Science
be assigned to the Principal,- — that Miss Mary
White be appointed to the Department of Mathematics
and Natural Science and that permanent appointments
to other departments be deferred for the present.
IV"That temporary appointments be made by the Execu-
tive Committee on the nomination of the Faculty
to fill the vacant departments and assistant in-
structors.
V.MThat those now appointed and those who may be
hereafter appointed either temporarily or perma-
nently to the departments above named, constitute
the faculty, to whose joint counsels the interior
arrangement of domestic matters, instruction and
discipline be referred."

Though there had been a division of courses into depart-
ments earlier, there had never been any such definite
arrangement of work or statement of authority as this.

So far as I know there is no copy of the catalogue
for 1856-1857 extant. It is missing from the volume of

(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, July 13, 1855.

143

catalogues owned by the college. There are some changes,
however, in the announcement of courses for 1857-1858,
the next In the volume. It makes provision, as do the
previous catalogues, for three courses, — preparatory,
collegiate, and resident graduate. Instead of the sub-
jects for preparatory work being merely stated, a course
covering two years was outlined, and the name was changed
to "academic course." Reading, penmanship, drawing,
book-keeping, vocal music, "a compendium of general his-
tory," anatomy and physiology, "Worcester Ts Elements,"
and natural history were added, and the study of
"English grammar with an analysis of Prose and Poetry,"
was emphasized.

The changes in the collegiate course strengthened
it. To the first year were added physical geography,
rhetoric and composition; to the second, the history
of the middle ages. Chemistry was shifted from the
senior to the middle year, and French or German was
added to the middle and senior years. Criticism (pre-
sumably literary criticism), astronomy, English liter-
ature, and a review of the yearfs work,, were added to the
senior year. There was only one change in the course
for resident graduates: English literature was omitted.
The supplementary subjects, — penmanship, select reading
of prose and poetry, biographical and historical re-
hearsals, vocal music, and Biblical science, which ran
throughout the course, — were continued as he ret of oi^e.

144

In this year, too, the contents of the normal course
(this course had existed since the beginning) were
definitely formulated. The course included, the English
branches in the .academic and collegiate courses, leaving
the languages optional. Members were allowed to choose
any branch of study In the classes formed, and had the
privilege of reciting in all but the senior courses.
These students were given special instruction in "Teach-
ing, and also in government."

It was this same year that the possibility of pro-
viding scientific instruction came under consideration.
In July, 1858, the trustees set aside $200 "securing
apparatus; and $100 to defray expence of scientific
lectures for the current year."(l) The following year the
Department of Mathematics and Natural Science was divided,
and the new department was "constituted for instruction
in the Natural Sciences. "(2) It was not permanently filled
until 1861.(3)

With the coming of Mr. Daniel Hood in 1858 the
music department began to gain in strength. The cata-
logue of 1860-1861 calls attention to the superior
facilities for instruction in both instrumental and vo-
cal music. Mr. Hood from the beginning was a power in

(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, July 8, 1858.

(2) Ibid, July 7, 1859.

(3) Rockford Register, July 20, 1861.

143

the town and in the Seminary. Upon the art department
Mr. George J. Robertson, who became director in 1861,
exerted an equally potent influence. (See pages 1 39- 1 6 2. )

This same year, 1859, saw the change from a three-
term school year with eight weeks vacation in the summer,
to a two-term year.(l) The question arises as to v/hether
this change had any effect upon attendance which was slight'
ly lower than in 1858, though more students remained in
school. (2) Girls had come and stayed as long as their
money lasted. A third of a year would seem easier to
finance than a half. One might earn enough teaching for
two terms to attend one term while it would be difficult
to earn enough in half a year for the other half at school.
In either case the strictest economy would have to be
practiced--as it so often was.

There seems to have been an outburst of Intellectual
activity in this year. We find the first mention of a
missionary society and of a literary society. Both were
addressed separately at commencement . (3) One or both
of the literary societies, the Castalian and Vesperian,
had come into existence three years earlier. (4) They seem
to have been in their most flourishing condition in the
60 s and 70 s. An ambitious course of lectures was given

(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, July 7, 1859.

(2) Ibid, July 9, 1859.

(3) Rock River Democrat, July 17, 1859.

(4) 1856 is date commonly accepted.

146

for the benefit of the Seminary during the winter of
1859, with lecturers from Beloit, Galena, Chicago, and
other towns. (1) And the commencement address, very
appropriately, was on the H Rights of Women." The
speaker, Rev. J. M. Sturtevant, of Illinois College,
spoke flatteringly of the abilities of the fair sex and
their rights as educated women. In closing he expressed
the wish, however, that the Seminary would never become a
college, (2)

The commencement was a gala occasion, a fitting close
to a prosperous year, with which even the trustees ex-
pressed their complete approval. (3) The Sax Horn Band
played at the anniversary exercises. The pupils were
dressed in white with scarfs and sashes, the colors of
which identified them as to class. The graduates were
distinguished from the rest "by white sashes and gloves;
the normal class wore rose colored sashes and scarfs;
the middle class, blue; the Juniors, myrtle wreaths." (4)

It was a happy end to a difficult decade. There must
have been many hearts that rejoiced. In the attitude of
the trustees, however, it is possible tvo discern more
than joy; there is a deep sense of gratitude and a stern-
ness of faith that is Puritanic:

(1) Newspapers of 1859.

(2) Rock River Democrat, July 17, 1859.

(3) Records of Board of Trustees, July 9, 1859.

(4) Rock River Democrat, July 17, 1859.

147

wWe believe this Institution had its origin
in prayer, and that it will be carried forward and
build up in proportion as we labor and pray in faith,
and that we shall find 'an angel standing in the way1
of our progress if we do not acknowledge God every
step we take. Our trust is in Hirn, and we believe
He will carry forward the enterprise." (1)

In Miss Sill's report on the first ten years, pub-
lished as an appendix to the catalogue of 1860-61, we find
some interesting statistics. Fifteen hundred pupils and
forty-seven teachers had been connected with the institution.
Two hundred six had "entered courses including under-
graduates, "(that is, had been enrolled in courses as
candidates for the diploma), and eighty had been graduated.
There had also been six resident graduates. "All of the
graduates had expressed a Christian's hope in Christ,
and all but two (had) made a public profession of reli-
gion." Nearly all the graduates were engaged in teaching,
as well as"many from other departments." (2) Three pupils
and one teacher had entered the foreign mission field.

While Miss Sill was duly thankful for the success of
the Institution, she, v/ith her woman's sense of trying
ever to make both ends meet, saw the need of a practical
view-point, and in the conclusion to her report, set
down the hope that somehow greater means would be forth-
coming.

(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, July 9, 1059.

(2) Phrasing vague. Possibly students who had attended
but had not been graduated, or students in the normal
-course.

148

"The Institution has no endowments for the
Board of Instruction, and greatly needs funds to
enlarge its operations, by carrying out the plan
of buildings, increasing its Cabinet and Library,
and also to discharge a debt upon the present
buildings. To the Christian public we would say,
the Institution was founded in prayer, and we be-
lieve it has a mission in the advancement of the
Redeemer's kingdom on Earth, and that God has
placed His broad seal of approbation upon the
enterprise from its beginning, and v/e trust more
than three hundred of its pupils have experienced
renewing grace while within its walls. The In-
stitution has been made self-sustaining only by
economy and sacrifice on the part of the Teachers.
The donations received already are also the fruits
of self-denial, and 'Blessed are ye that sow be-
side all waters.1"

149

CHAPTER VIII
The Sixties

Civil War Days

Hardly had the decade opened when the guns of Sumter
began to thunder and the country was plunged into war. It
seems incredible that the Seminary should have accomplished
so much under such trying circumstances. While it inevit-
ably felt the effects of the war, it was not so deeply af-
fected as might be expected. The daily tasks went on, and
plans for buildings and endowment were made and carried
through with incredible efficiency and speed.

The examining committee in its report in February of
1862 commented most favorably upon the atmosphere of the
institution, and especially upon the quality of the work
done. It was their "solemn conviction that no term (had)
ever closed bringing richer fruits of severe labor." (1)

Attendance during the war.
The attendance seems not to have been influenced per-
ceptibly even in 1861 and 1862. The Rockford Register
for September 7, 1861, contained the announcement that
"the indications (were) that the school (would) be full
as usual." It was. According to the catalogue for
1861-1862, there were enrolled at various times 173 stu-

(1) Rockford Register, Feb. 8, 1862.

1^0

dents from eleven states and one foreign country, (1) and
the teaching staff was increased to sixteen members. The
following autumn so great was the rush that it was not
possible to accommodate all who applied. A frame house
was moved to the grounds, and prepared to house twenty-
students. (2)

In 1863 the Seminary opened with all the accommoda-
tions "engaged some time before" and nearly a hundred ap-
plicants beyond the number the officers could receive.
In the end most of these girls were accommodated in pri-
vate families. (3) The necessity of beginning work on
the East Wing (the present Chapel Hall) was seen to be
most pressing.

In 1864 all the rooms were filled a month before the
term opened. (4) That year 303 students attended the
Seminary, 267 of whom were "from abroad" and 46 from
Rockford. Of the first class 157 boarded in the Seminary
and 100 in private families. The largest number in the
Seminary at one time was 120; the smallest 103. (5) More
students, it seems, came for short periods.

(1) Wisconsin, Iowa, New Hampshire, Illinois, Michigan,
Ohio, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Cali-
fornia, Indiana, and Turkey.

(2) Rockford Register, Sept. 27, 1862.

(3) Ibid, Sept. 57~T§63.

(4) Ibid, Sept. 24, 1864.

(5) Miss Sill's report, Records of the Board of Trustees,
July 6, 1864.

1^1

In 1865 fifteen diplomas were awarded, four certifi-
cates in the normal department, and seven in the music de-
partment, (1) Among the latter was a certificate to Miss
Sill's niece, Miss Amelia Hollister, (now Mrs. Almon Chap-
man) a teacher in the music department from 1866 to 1873.

The letter which Miss Sill wrote to this class, holds
a great deal of interest for us. It has recently been
presented to the college by Mrs. Sarah Safford, who re-
turned to the college in 1925 to celebrate her sixtieth
reunion. The letter not only reveals Miss Sill's love
and care for her students, but it also reflects her at-
titude at the time.

"My dear Class of 1865,

"I need not say in response to your kind note,--
I would be glad to do any thing in my power, for your
happiness or for your benefit. I have borne you on
my heart, I have prayed and wept for you as I have
prayed and wept for no oth^r class, hence the teacher
tie is so sensitive, and vibrates so easily, I fear
however that a class meeting of the kind I antici-
pated would not now be possible.

"I will watch for the hour, and make an appoint-
ment, if the way shall open before us. I want to
thank you as individuals, for every expression of
love and gratitude you have manifested for your pri-
vileges, and for your prayers in my behalf and for
the Institution. I've put much of this class in the
service of Christ, in the service of our Country,

"No class going from us, ever had such respons-
ibilities resting upon it, in view of the times*

"As you go forth, remember you are witnesses as
to the value of the Institution. Cherish your Alma
Mater, as the old Homestead. Whatever may be the
lights and shadows of life, here you will find a

(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, July 5, 1865.

152

warm welcome. As to Mie past forget the weariness of
the ascent of the mount, but forget not the principles
of a true life learned by the way.

"Be always what you seem to be,

"Duty is one's, events are G-od's.

"Take the side of right though you stand alone.
Always live for the greater good to the cause of
truth, the cause of Christ.

"Cultivate that charity which delights in human
virtues and hides human faults. Strive to attain that
spirit of self sacrifice that makes unappreciated toil
sweet, because the 'Master praises!,

"It is my earnest prayer that you may all receive
the baptism of the Holy Spirit, before you go forth
and then remember, 'Freely ye have received freely
give.' You may forget my unworthy efforts, but for-
get not the Love of Jesus. 'May the love of our Lord
Jesus Christ--be with you all.'

"Your Loving Teacher,

"Anna P. Sill"

"N. B. I shall treasure any individual response to
these farev/ell ;vords as 'Apples of Gold in pictures
of Silteer.'"

"A. P. S. " (1)
From students who were present during those critical
years, it is possible to form a picture of the life. There
wece moments of beauty as well as long hours of wor]£, of
prayer; moments when girls then, as now, caught a bit of
inspiration which they have carried through life from the
lovely campus.

A student who came that first fall tells of her ar-
rival one beautiful autumn day when, with her father she

(1) See photostatic copy , Supplementary Volume, pp. 25-27 .

153

"rode up to the "buck entrance to Rockford Female Sem-
inary : "

"In the country school life of earlier years
my ambitions had been fired to attend this wonder-
ful school for girls, the only one of its kind in all
the surrounding Hew West. Its spacious grounds
were adorned only by Nature's groves of fijie trees,
but the location on the high banks of RocMliver was
much to be desired, commanding a fine view 'of city
and country. And then we reached the school build-
ing Others besides ourselves were arriving, each

girl with her trunk on top of which was strapped a
piece of carpet to help furnish her room. Miss SiU.
seemed omnipresent ;a real general to direct and man-
age her recmiits,with a smile of welcome to each
one of us."( 1 )

Another student tell of arriving in 1864, a shy coun-
try girl of sixteen, with her mother, one evening the
country was rejoicing in the election of Lincoln:

"My first view of the college was of a bril-
liantly lighted building, only one window of which
was dctrk and in which hung a little dried macker-
wl.#- Miss Sill met us in her gracious manner, and
first homesickness wa dispelled. "(2 )

War work.

Crowded as Miss Sill's time was to sustain the

school, she found time to work with the women of the city,

and served as secretary of the Soldi erTs Aid Society

which was organized August 27,1861. The organization

had 124 members, and did a great de^l of work. (3)

0 ) Mrs. P. L.Woods, 1865.

(2) Mrs. Daniel Fish,l867.

(3) Rockford Register, Jan. 4 , 1862.

^ Second election of Lincoln. McClellan had been de-
feated. Probably a student Ts prank. Similarity of
first syllables of mackerel and McClellan. State of
fish indicative of McClellan' s plight. Query: Was the
slang expressionTTpoor fish"in use then? Mrs.Brazee
feels sure that a student, not Miss Sill, was responsi-
ble for the display. Dried salt mackerel was fre-
quently served in the dormitory.

The autumn of 1861 the girls and teachers spent their
leisure time, preparing gifts for soldiers in different
regiments, (1) — books, mittens, socks, pin cushions, et
cetera, "the work of (their) own delicate fingers." These,
"together with other creature comforts were all neatly ar-
ranged and suspended from the houghs of a noble evergreen,
placed in the chapel of the Seminary at the foot of the
rostrum. The removal of the articles from the tree, and
the reading of the mottoes appended to them was inter-
spersed with charming msic from Mr, Hood and some of his
pupils, calculated to inspire patriotism in the dullest
heart." (2)

(1) Rockford Register, Jan. 4, 1862.

1, 1862
prepared and sent included:

(2) Rockford Register, Dec. 28, 1862,
The list of articles thus prei

" 104 Books especially prepared for the soldiers, such
as Christian Statesman, Christian Heroism, Life of
Captain Hedly Vicars, Life of General Havelock, Sol-
diers' Text and Song Book, Advice to Soldiers on
Health, etc,

"12 Packages for the hospital consisting of Tea, Sago,
Rice, Dried Fruit and 6 prs. of Slippers for sick and
wounded,

"270 small parcels of reading matter appropriate to
the soldier, enclosed in patriotic envelopes of various
devices, most of them directed to individuals in the
army for the city of Rockford.

"18 pairs of mittens, 14 pairs of socks.

"5 small boxes containing cake, dried fruit, & jelly,
a variety of small articles, pin cushions, needle
books, penwipers, etc."

In addition the girls had sent fiftv pairs of socks,

(Continued on following page.)

ten pairs of mittens, one hundred needlebooks,f ive
hundred sixty magazines "prepared with durable covers,
pasted and firmly stitched," Some of the mittens and
socks were "ornamented with the National Flag and
Shield inwrought in the fabric •" Then there were two
cakes; one to the Farnsworth Cavalry, on the frosting
of whish was the address of the company, the name of
thf regiment and a wreath, and the other to the Rock-
ford Band. The latter was accompanied by an original
poem in tribute to the music of the band and to many
a moonlight serenade:

"Oft in the stilly night,

Ere slumber Ts chain had bound us,"
Rose soft as the moonbeamTs light,
Sweet music stealing around us.

We loved rich Ingleside:

Its notes were light and fleetest,
But best of all beside

The Home Sweet Home was sweetest.

Still glad may your music fall,

Far down in the Dixie regions,
March on, at your country Ts call,

Pipe loud for the pacing legions.

But "oft in the stilly night,"

While the moonlight gleams around you,

Remember the bygones bright,

And where that moonlight found you.

Then play The Home Sweet Home.

TTis precious to those that wander,
Life hastens and Death may come.

There's a Home Sweet Home up yonder*

1^6

Prom Company A of the Thirty-third Regiment, Illinois,
came most amusing letter in appreciation of some of these
gifts, especially noting the housewives and mirrors. ( See
appendix, pp. ,5?6-397»)

But life held more than the making of "bandages and
gifts, trips to the station to see volunteers off, and let-
ters from adoring and thankful soldiers. Those were days
that were full of anguish.-"-" The little reading room was
much frequented. Girls who in the past had never read the
papers, now vied with each other for the first possession. (1)
And why not? There were accounts of "battles and skirmishes,
of fathers, brothers, lovers, and friends. The city was
in mourning. Some of its prominent sons had fallen or
were taken prisoners.. Perhaps they were sick in hospi-
tals or camps* Surely a dark cloud hung over our school.
Miss Sill moved calmly vith sympathy and always with prayer
where needed." (2)

HEach day at four o'clock the entire school assembled
in the chapel to hear Miss Sill read the latest news from
the front. The girls were allowed to work on the fancy
articles which they were preparing for a fair to raise

(1) Miss Minnie B. Penwick, 1865.

(2) Mrs. P. L. Woods.

-"- Miss Minnie B. Fenwick writes: "It surprises me when
I think of it that as far as I can remember not one of
the girls was called home on account of the death of
a relative (in the war.)."

money for extra supplies for the soldiers." (1)

Sometimes the .7 "marched down two and two" to the- hall

in town to hear the many speakers of note who came to Rock-

fordr-Theodore Tilt on; Henry Ward Beecner; Chaplain KcCabe,

"whose singing and story of life in Libby Prison were

wonderful;" Anna Dickinson, who "attracted much attention

because she was a woman." Of her Miss Sill disapproved.

She remarked later that "she hoped none of her girls would

appear on the lecture platform." (2)

From the pen of a member of 1865 we have an account

of Lee's surrender. This same student went to Chicago to

view Lincoln's remains. She thinks she was the only girl

in the Seminary to go,

"The day the announcement of Lee's surrender was
made, all business stopped and the day was given over

to hilarity. I think i t was a Latin class -that I

was in when the door opened and some one announced
the news. We did not wait for the formality of be-
ing dismissed. Every one rushed out to the campus
which was air' ady filled. Dignified men, lawyers
and doctors, marched through the streets, beating
tin pans and making every kind of noise imaginable.
In the evening the town was illuminated. Of course
there were nothing but candles and lamps for 'lights,
but some houses had a candle in every window.

"Having friends in Rockford, I was given per-
mission to accompany them to Chicago to view Lin-
coln's remains. This was a most imposing sight as
miles and miles of mourners stood all night in driz-
zling rain in order to pass through the grand hall
at the Court House where the rernai ns^lay in state.
The entire place was shrouded in black with silver
stars on the ceiling. I shall always remember how
peaceful and happy the face of the president looked.
As you entered the Court House over thr door in

(1) Mrs. Sarah Safford, 1865.

(2) Miss Minnie B. Fenwick.

158

large letters was the motto, 'Illinois clasps to her
bosom her slain but glorified deaa. ! I. still have
a small tin type that was part of the mourning badge
we all wore at t ha t time • " ( 1 )

All through these years daily chapel services and
church services were conducted perhaps with greater zeal.
Chapel was at nine each morning. Sometimes a minister
from the city would be present to lead, "A Bible verse
was always selected at this time for the day!s motto, and
repeated at the evening devotions in the dining hall, either
in concert or by some individual who might be called upon.
If one had forgotten to learn the verse there was fear and
trembling lest her name be called. Arrangements were made
so that each young lady had a half hour alone in her room
for private devotions if she chose So to employ the time. (2)
On Sunday each girl was obliged to go to church and to
Sunday school. The classes had their weekly prayer meet-
ing at vhich attendance was voluntary and every Wednesday
secular books were laid aside, and the Bible was the text
book." Miss Sill did not lose sight of the missionary
ideal, and "endeavored in every way to leave her pupils
interested in the great missionary movements of the day."
She even planned to raise "quite an offering in the school"
to which each girl should contribute money which repre-
sented some self-denial," (3)

■■ ■■—■ — ^— — — ■ — ii ■■■■ ■ ■ ■■■■pi ■« i i Hini— ,— ^— i ■ i— mi ■ i ■ i — ^i^— —iim^»»— p,i^^»i— Wii ■■■ ■ m i i n- ■■ mi^-—

(1) Miss Minnie B. Fenwick..

(2) Mrs. Sarah Safford.

(3) Ibid.

•

159

Laden with anguish as her heart was and Itard- pressed
by the demands upon her time and strength, Miss Sill pre-
served a calmness of spirit -that affected the entire in-
stitution. Here, too, her strong sense of the practical .
values of life asserted itself. She prayed ifoen prayer
was most needed, (Indeed she did all things prayerfully),
hut her fingers were even, "busy, knitting socks# keeping
records; her mind was ever active, devising means for sus-
taining and improving life in the Seminary,

Development of the curriculum:

1. Changes in the music department •
Despite the heavy anxieties and burdens laid upon the
trustees and officers of the Seminary by the times, they
made a definite effort daring this decade to develop the
curriculum.. It was in the early sixties that the music
and art departments were entirely re-organized and their
aims stated anew. Up to the 1861-1862 there had been a
Department of Fine arts. This was separated into a Depart-
ment of Music and a Department of Art, (1) In 1862 the
Board of Trustees authorized the faculty "to organize a
more complete department of music, and to receive pupils
for that department alone, on condition of their attend-
ance on the general exercises of the school, and to confer
such testimonials for attainments in this department as
they (might) judge best by this action" (2) It was de-

(1) Catalogue, 1861-1

(2) Records of the Board of Trustees, July 2, 1862.

160

signed to make the department self-sustaining. Any surplus
was to go to securing "increased facilities . " That this
organization was undertaken is assured by the announcement
in the catalogue of 1862-1863.

That same catalogue sets ib rth the aims of the depart-
ment:

1. "To aid in forming a pure and elevated taste in

regard to usic,

2. "To give it its true place in the formation of

character which can only "be done by thorough
instruction in its principles and practices."

All were urged to cultivate their voices for the sake
of their health, as such cultivation gives "strength to the
lungs, expansion to the chest and flexibility to the voice,
in speaking and reading aloud."

Courses in theory, piano, organ, snd voice were offered,
and a certificate was given to those who completed the re-
quired work. The Board took action upon this point in 1864,
leaving the form of certificate, the time and rranner of
presentation with the faculty and executive committee. (1)
The certificate is now, (1926) presented at the commence-
ment exercise s when the B. A. and B. S. degrees are award-
ed.

^•Changes in the art department..
The art department offered admission to students under
the same conditions. It, too, enlarged the scope of its

(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, July 6, 1864.

161

162

work. Courses were offered, in "Drawing, and Landscape
Painting in oil colors, and designing or sketching from
Nature." (1) Students were urged to elect art because
of the benefits accruing from it — -in cultivating the
habit of observation, in refining the taste, and increas-
ing the love for the beautiful in Nature, thus lifting
the heart upward with devout reverence for the Creator,
who made the beautiful for our admiration, and to sym-
bolize to us the perfect and unattained. in the spiritual
life," (2) Attention was given, a s in the Music depart-
ment, to prospective teachers,

3. Changes in collegiate course,-
In 1863 the Trustees decided to unite into one the
academic and normal departmen ts. under a permanent and re-
sponsible head who should have general oversight and care

of the pupils in said departments. She was to receive

(3)

the same compensation as did the other heads of departments.

The next year it was decided to make certain changes
in the organization of the courses. The preparatory course
was to be discontinued, and the courses of the present
first year were to be required for entrance to the reg-
ular Seminary course, which was to be "extended to four
years, denominated Junior, Senior Middle, Junior Middle,

(1) Catalogue, 1862-1863.

(2) Ibid.

(3) Records of the Board of Trustees, July 1, 1863.

163

and Senior,"*- the studies of the second preparatory year
being moved p.p into the junior year.d) These changes
went into effect in 1863.(2)

4 .Changes in the course for normal students.
In July of that year changes were made in the curri-
culum of the normal department "so as to include mainly
only such branches as (were )required for the state certi-
ficate foroeaching in Illinois and Wisconsin." The course
covered two years with an optional year. The first records
of certificates for teaching, given in this department, we
find in the minutes of the Board of Trustees for July 2,

l862;these dertificates were given to Emma L.Hall, of Ash-

(3)
field, Massachusetts, and Alice L.Thompson, of Hudson, Ohio.

It would seem that these changes did not meet with

the approval of some. There were those who felt that too

much was crowded into the course and that the course should

be lengthened, "though Rocicford Seminary, take it all in

all, is one of the best places in the world for obtaining

(1) Records 0f the Board of Trustees, July 6,1864.

(2) Minutes of the Executive Committee, May 1 6, 1964. For
curriculum for 1865-I866,see appendix pp. 348-3^2.

•* Records of the Board of Trustees^July 13,1863.

According to Miss Sillfs report at the annual meeting
of the Board of Trastees, (Records of the Board, July
13 > 1863), the collegiate course, including six normal
students in the senior class, had 85 students dis-
tributed as follows : seniors, 16 ; senior middle, 13;
junior middle, 14, and junior, 48. In the other depart-
ments there were 124 students: 42 in the normal, 49 in
the preparatory, and 33 taking only music or drawing.

164

such an education as will develop a true woman. Both
teachers and students (were) 'sicklied ofer with pale
cast of thought,* indicating too much mental effort and
not enough attention to physical culture," (1)

One wonders if this "pale cast" were not the result
partly of too strenuous social life. Or perhaps the very
wise resolution of the Board several years previous,
"that the Executive Committee and faculty be instructed to
devise and provide some method for securing a greater
degree of physical exercise and recreation on the part of
the pupils," (2) had not been carried out. Again the
condition might have been due to a combination of too
much work and play. It i s interesting to know, however,
that the question of the physical condition of the student
was discussed early.

Examination s.
In 1866 the system of examinations was changed, re-
quiring nuarterly examinations of each class by the faculty
and eliminating the public examination at mid-years. The
public examination at the end of the year was retained.
The anniversary was changed to the last Wednesday in
June. (3)

(1) Rockford Register, July 22, 1865. Reprinted from
WTsco ns in Stat e J ou ma 1 .

(2) Records of the Board of Trustees, July 4, 1860.

(3) Ibid, July 5, 1866.

165

Student activities.

Activity along mental lines was not limited to the
trustees and faculty, however. The students commenced in
1860 to publish a sixteen-page monthly, Leaves from Forest
Hill. How long it existed is uncertain. It was the fore-
runner, however, of The Rockford Seminary Magazine which
had such a happy and fortunate existence in the seventies,
and of the later magazines, including the present Taper,
whose flame "burns more bright ly each year. The editors
were Libbie W. Ballard and Fanny C. Jones, afterwards
Mrs. '..'. A. T°lcott, one of the first women to bo elected
to the Board of Trustees. In commenting upon its first
issue, the Rockford Register for November 7, 1860, says
that "the talent displayed in the getting up of The
Leaves is highly creditable to them, (the young ladies)
and to the institution." The prose articles were well
written, and there were "several metrical gems." There
was "enough of spice in the items and local clippings to
ke©p good its motto "We gather the fresh and the fra-
grant.1" What the fate was of The Leaves it is hard to
say. It seems to have passed out of existence after a
few numbers.

In 1867 the class in geolog:/ formed a club called
the Dana Club. This, too, was apparently short-lived. (1)

(1) Ro c kf or d Regi s te r , Nov. 9, 1867.

166

Financial problems of the 60fs;the building of Chapel
Hall; other changes.

It is hardly remarkable that the financial situation
was strained at this time. It had never been easy, al-
though sometimes improved over others. The entire country
was suffering. In two cases the records show that land
was offered in payment of tuition, one in 1859 by a gentle-
man in ChicagoO) and the second time in 1862 by a home
missionary in Minnesota for the education of two half-
breeds. (2) The daughter of this gentleman entered the
Seminary that same autumn. In August she had escaped an
Indian outbreak. (3)

In i860 a mortgage of $1,000 was taken on the site
and buildings to pay C.R.Robert. (4 ) It seems that the
buildings were never free. Three years later a second
mortgage, this time of $10 ,000, was taken to repay this
same gentleman, (j? ) To help meet expenses board was in-
creased ten per cent, an advance necessitated by the "de-
preciation of the currency and the enhanced price of all
articles of consumption." (6) How welcome must have been
the Christmas gift of $1 ,500 from an unknown New York
man! (7)

(1) Minutes of the Executive Commit tee, April 4,1859»

(2) Ibid, June 9, 1862.

(3) Information from Mrs .H.E.Warner, herself , 1 865.

(4) Records of the Board of Trustees, July 4,1860.
(5)Ibid,July 1 ,1863.

(6) Ibid.

(7) Rockf ord Regist er f December r 28 . 1 864 .

167

Plans for Chapel Hall.
In 1862 Miss Sill laid before the Executive Committee
plans for a "new building or hall for anniversary occa-
sions, including also a Daily Chapel or School Room and
rooms for music and painting. "( 1 ) Nothing seems to have
been done toward the furtherance of this place until the
following year when one of the Trustees, Mr .T.D.Robertson,
relinquished his scholarship and subscribed five hundred
dollars to the* new building. (2) This gift followed di-
rectly upon Miss SillTs statement of the situation and her

(3)
question to the Executive Committee, "What shall be done?"

A month; later in December, 1 8 63, the trustees (through
the Rockford Register for December 19 )f made a public ap-
peal to the citizens of Rockford, stating the needs of the
Seminary and outlining their purpose. The debt, (incurred
by the building of Linden), was very heavy as many of the
subscriptions of 1837 which would hate covered it, had not
been paid. The interest paid on it already equalled
half the principal. Though the student body had greatly
increased, there had been no expansion of the plant. There
were still accommodations for only eighty. "By using pub-
lic rooms for dormitory and teachers1 rooms for recitations
and crowding three and four into rooms designed

(1) Minutes of the Executive Committee, Oct. 1?, 1862.

(2) Ibid, Nov. 24,1863.

(3) Ibid, Nov. 19,1863.

168

only for two," one hundred twenty pupils were "being cared
for in the Seminary and seventy in private hemes. Within
the year there had been two hundred applications.

e plan of the trustees was to raise as the least
sum for the payment of the debt and the erection of the
East Wing, §25,000. The Board asked Rockford for |10,000,
stating that if this sum was raised they had "pledges of
further aid from the friends of Christian Education at
the East."

The appeal was signed by the members of the Execu-
tive Committee, --H. M. Goodwin, T. D. Roberts, Asa Crosby,
Charles Williams, E. D. Willis, and John Edwards.

The week before Mr. Foote had been asked by Miss Sill
to come to Rockford to engage in the task of soliciting
funds. (1)

He came early in the new year from the pastorate of
the Congregational Church in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and with-
in a short time began to report progress. In March, Mr.
. S. Gilman gave $1,500 on condition that Mr. Dickerman
would relinquish his scholarship. (2) The press tells
us that strenous efforts were made to pay off the debt.

By April, |5,500 of the $10,000 had been cancelled. (3)
In June the subscriptions were reported to be increasing,

(1) Minutes of Executive Committee, Dec. 14, 1853.

(2) Rockford Register, Jan. 16, 1864.

(3) Ibid, Apr. 16, 1864.

169

and the Rev. Mr. Poote 77 as described as "an energetic
worker accompli shing large results." (1)

T e money for this drive cane more easily that it
had for the previous ones. In 1864 the records show that
$13,711 had been raised, including eighty acres of land
listed at §800. (2)

In January, 1865, Miss Sill and Messrs. Foote and
Brown were authorized to call a meeting of the citizens
of Rockford "to consult respecting the best method of
raising funds for the enlarging of the accommodations of
the Seminary." (3) Shortly after the teachers pledged
#1,000 on the condition that Rockford would raise $8,000.
Later in view of their efforts and of Miss Sill T s en-
feebled health, they were released from §375. (4) She
had made herself personally responsible for tie sum, and
had pledged $455. (5)

In autumn of that year she was given leave of ab-
sence (6) and was granted two hundred dollars to go East
to secure funds. (7) Her reports within a few months
were most favorable. (8) $10,173 had been raised by
April in New York, New Jersey, Hartford, Connecticut J

(1) Rockford Register, June 4, 1864.

(2) Subscription Book.

(3) Minutes of Executive Committee, Jan. 31, 1865,

(4) Ibid, Feb. 5, 1869.

(5) Records of pledges in college safe.

(6) Minutes of Executive Committee, Oct. 28, 1865.

(7) Ibid, Nov. 9, 1866.

(8) Ibid, Apr. 9, 1866.

170

Providence, Rhode Island; and Massachusetts. (1) Fif-
teen thousand in the East was the goal, according to the
New York Independent which contained glowing account of
the Seminary and the drive. (2)

That sane year Rockford, including the $1,000 given
by the teachers, contributed .$8,300 to the fund. Am org
these were many large subscriptions, including one from
the ministers of the town for $600. The amounts ranged
from $50 to $1,000. (3)

In 1866 a Mr. Gilman gave a quarter section of land
in Champaign County, Illinois, on condition ihat the Trus-
tees "guarantee to bring $1280 toward the $10,000 fund. "
This gift was accepted. (4)

In July of that year the trustees took rather dras-
tic action to expedite the collection of the fund. They
passed a resolution that "an immediate effort be made to
raise the sum of $25,000 to complete and furnish Chapel
Hall (the East Wing) and to provide heating apparatus and

(1) The subscriptions recorded (in the book of subscrip-
tions) are as follows: r. John C. Baldwin, $1,000;
Hartford, Conn., $555; New York City, .§2340 and Brook-
lyn, N. Y. $501.00; Providence, R. I., $1410; Boston,
$4,000. To this sum, Mr. Henry Fowle Durant, the
founder of Wellesley, and Mrs. Walter Baker, of Dor-
chester were donors. There is recorded another small
subscription from Amherst, Massachusetts, amounting

to $50.00, the gift of a Mr. John Smith.

(2) Reprinted in Rockford Register, Mar. 3, 1866.

(3) Book of Subscription s.

(4) Minutes of Executive Committee, Feb. 10, 1866.

171

gymnasium." They also decided to procure an agent, and
put hirn to work as speedily as was practicable. (1) Ac-
cordingly the Rev. Mr. George B. Rowley, a Congregational
minister in Monroe, Wisconsin, was engaged as travelling
agent for one year at a salary of $1200. (2) He remained
in this capacity until his resignation in the spring of
1869, and was extremely active in his efforts. The
Executive Committee, at his resignation "Cheerfully
(testified) that (they esteemed) him a self-denying
servant of Christ and a true friend of Christian educa-
tion." (3)

That Mr. Rowley's work, vhich was local, was fruit-
ful is evidenced by the fact that between April 1 and
December 31, 1867, he collected $2229,50 in notes, thir-
teen scholarships amounting to §1300, and $262.50. (4)

!:hin the next three years, 1867 to 1869, there were col-
lected from Rockford arid the surrounding towns,-"- many of

(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, July 12, 1866.

(2) Minutes of Executive Committee, Mar. 25, 1867.

(3) Ibid, Apr. 5, 1869.

(4) Ibid, Jan. 7, 1868.

«• A list of there towns includes Monroe, Wisconsin,
Roscoe, Shirland, Rockton, Harrison, Pecatonica,
Seward, Hale, Byron, Elida, Ridot, Garden Prairie,
New Milford, Kilbuck, Kishwaukee, Lynville, White
Rock, Scott, Malta, Sada, Percent, Rochelle, Paine1 s
Point, Willow Creek, Caledonia, Sterling, Lee Center,
Polo, Elkhorn, Wis., Apple River, Nova, Lena, Wins-
lc innebago, Hollenbek, Sov/ark, Durand, and St.
Charles.

Y\d.

them only small groups of dwellings, ^4285, $250 of 13a is
being in nursery plants. (1) In 1868 Rev. Mead Holmes
gave $1000.00 for "a perpetual scholarship for the bene-
fit of Congregational and Presbyterian Ministers." (2)

As the records of this drive are fragmentary, (they
are for the most part jotted down in two notebooks and
on pieces of paper, and occasionally entered in the re-
cords of the Board,) it is impossible to say what the
total subscription was and w hat part of it was paid. That
the Seminary was in need of money we know from two entries
in the records of the Executive Committee: Mr. Brown was
authorized, on May 5, 1868, to borrow $1000.0ofcor sixty
days to meet current expenses, and on June 18, 1868, to
borrow $3000.00 for the same purpose. In 1869 the pro-
perty was again mortgaged, this time for $10,000.00.(3)

That the situation was difficult for everyone is
certain. The money came slowly, and no wonder* In fact
it is remarkable that in view of post-war conditions it
was obtained at all. So great was the need for economy
that Mr. Townsend, who was retired, undertook to direct
the building of Chapel Hall, (4) Miss Sill again began
to feel the strain of her position, and in 1868 was grant-
ed temporary leave of absence. (5)

(1) Subscription book.

(2) Records of the Board of Trustees, June 23, 1868.

(3) Ibid, June 29, 1869.

(4) Mrs. Mabel Clark Wadsworth, 1884.

173

Despite these heavy 'burd ens and difficulties, the
spirit of the trustees and faculty was indomitable. They
planned great things for the Seminary. Miss Sill had felt
the need of Anniversary Hall (the East Wing), and had been
urging its erection since the early years of the decade.
In 1864 the plans for the building were submitted by the
Executive Committee to the Board, the Board being given
power to make any alterations it deemed necessary* (i)
Nothing further was done until the following year. As
fifty to one hundred students vrere living out each year,
it was necessary that measures be taken to accommodate
them. It : therefore decided to put in the found tion
in autumn, and to proceed with the erection of the build-
ing as fast as means could be obtained, "not incurring a
debt aeyond the amount of the available subscriptions." (2)
Rev. Aratus Kent remarked a t the anniversary exercises
that July that he hoped all there would "carry away pains
of sitting and standing in such narrow accommodations as
to be ready to give lib eral ly to provide a larger build-
ing." (3) That September Mr. Town send was authorized to
draw &68.00 "from the building fund to pay for excavating
the grourd for the East wing of the Seminary." And so
Anniversary (now Chapel) Hall and the connection between
it and Chapel Hall (now Middle) was begun. It was finished
in 1867. and dedicated June twentieth "by appropriate ex-

(1) Records of the Board o>t Trustees, July 6, 1864.

(2) Ibid, July 5, 1865.

(3) Rock ford Register, July 15, 1865.

174

ercises, including addresses from Rev. Messrs. Goodwin
and Williams, Judge Church, and others." (1) The records
of the Board include a significant entry for June 25, 1867.
■'1500.00 had been paid out, and $500*00 was due. In the
minutes of this same meeting is recorded a vote of thanks
to i-r. W. H. Town-send "for his very efficient and success-
ful aid in superintending the erection of the new "build-
ing." (2) It was while Mr. Town send was thus engaged thfet
he suffered a sunstroke which ultimately caused his death. (3)

The completion of Chapel Hall marked an important
point in the physical history of the Seminary. Not only
was more dormitory space provided, but opportuni ty was
given for enlarging the activities of the Seminary. The
three-story brick connection with Middle provided room in
the basement for a gymnasium, which had been badly needed.
On the first and second floors, were music rooms and
students1 rooms, and on the third floor an art studio.
The main building contained a Chapel, capable of accom-
modating abouJ- five hundred people, on the ground floor. (4)
The upper floPra were given over to dormitory space, each
roor:1 being "provided with the drawers and closets So ne-
cessary for the disposition of the multifarious articles

(1) nutes of the Executive Committee, Sept. 26, 1865.

(2) Records of the Board of Trustees, June* 25, 1867.

(3) Mrs, Mabel Clark Wadsworth, his daughter.

(4) Rockford Register, July 6, 1867.

173

that constitute a young lad.y!s wardrobe." (1)

Alterations and improvements in the plant*
Aside from this new building, many improvements were
made in the plant. In 1864 the corridors of the Linden
Connection were inclosed. (: ) The present brick connec-
tion was built in 1871. (3) The year that Chapel was
opened, 1867, the upper part of Middle was remodeled, the
old Chapel being divided into four rooms, --the southwest
fo^ the keeping of the Cabinet and the southeast f o r a
chemical laboratory and recitation room. The remaining
space was divided between the library and philosophical
apparatus. (4) A woodhouse was erected and two large
cisterns were installed. (5) Although the trustees were
contemplating the advisability of installing steam heat-
ing and gas, (6) these improvements did not come until
later.

The campus.
The campus, too, came under consideration. In 1866
the Executive Committee was directed "to arrange the di-
vision with the other owners, of the strip of land be-
tween the Seminary grounds and the railroad known as 'land
reserved for water power1 of "hi ch land the Seminary own(ed)

(1) Rockford Register, Sept. 5, 1867.

(2) Minutes of Executive Committee. Sept. 12, 1864

(3) Rockford Seminary Magazine. Jan., 15 7 ., p. 3.

(4) Rockford. Register, Aug. ~, 1867.

(5) Ibid, Sept. 5, 1867.

(6) These questions were brought up at almost every meet-
ing of the Board.

176

an individual share." Upon "such division the President
and Secretary of the Board" were authorized to "make the
necessary conveyances and carry out the sane." The com-
mittee was also instructed to take any "measures practic-
able without embarrassing other interests of the Seminary"
to get the piece of land south of the Seminary grounds. (1)
There is nothing further in the records concerning this
first strip of land. The second piece", three and one-
half acres south of the Seminary was purchased the fol-
lowing year from Mr. Sanford for $2200, on favorable
terms. (2) A local paper tells us feat the campus now
comprised about fifteen acres. A suitable place was
"set apart for croquet grounds and other healthy out-
door amusements, combining pleasure wi th exercise." (3)

The following year, in May, 1868, Mr. Moses Bart-
lett gave to the Seminary a strip of land west of the
lot belonging to the Seminary. (4) This strip was "sixty-
six feet wide, more or less." It was the strip of land
along, the river v/here the railroad now runs. (5)

Though the plant had been greatly enl-rged and im-
proved, there was still need of further accommodations.
These improvements were not made at the expense of the in-
tellectual and spiritual welfare of the institution, how-

(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, July 5, 1866.

(2) Minutes of Executive Committee, May 31, 1867.

(3) Rockford Register, Sept. 5, 1867.

(4) Minutes of Executive Committee, May 29, 1868.

(5) Copy of deed in office of Winnebago County Recorder,
Rockf ord.

177

ever. Realizing the need for an adequately equipped
teaching staff and realizing that staff must be paid,
the salaries of all the permanent teachers was increased
§100. (1) Though the salaries seem ridiculously low,--
they ran from B250 to §600 with board and room,-::---it must
be remembered, that the institution was in no way self-
supporting. Indeed it was constantly in debt to meet
current expenses. These women knew their work to be a
labor of love. The endowment of the principalship was
placed at $10,000 and that of other departments at
3,000. (2)

Though these accomplishments had been gained at the
cost of tremendous effort and self-sacrifice, it would
seem that the evils of posslfc-war conditions were begin-
ning to permeate the Seminary. In view of this fact in
1868 a circular (issued July 18), most explicit in its
requests, was sent to incoming s tudents. It requested th&t
all jewelry be left at home and that all clothing except
the gymnasium suit viiich wouftd be made at the Seminary,
"be made at home, that students may not have their time
and thoughts diverted from imperative school duties and
also to save expense." A dire warning that "a dress-
maker's bill may be twice as much at Rockford as at home,"
was appended to this statement.

(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, June 25, 1867.

(2) Ibid.

-"- Permanent: 0.00 to ?J600.00,* assistants, $100.00
to $200.00.

178
It was stated that few dresses were needed, and these
"should be plain and unexpensive,and so made as to re-
quire "but little labor in repairing :Two dresses for school,
a third when the day!s work is done, another for Church
and public days in the Institution such as would be suit-
able for a quiet home gathering, and a plain white dress
for Anniversary." Each young lady should equip herself
with"a warm sacque or breakfast shawl, a dressingUown and
slippers for use in sickness, — two domestic aprons cover-
ing the entiEe dress, also flannels, a waterproof cloak,
India rubber overshoes, and an umbrella."

The circular goes on to say that the authorities "have
been thus explicit because (they) feel that the present
tendency to extravagance in dress and style of living is
pernicious in many ways, and that Christian Institutions of
learning should see to it that they do not foster evil
that is so seriously affecting health and the intellect,
social and moral character of the women of America."
The matter of dress during the Seminary years was deemed
to be "important in its influence upon character and fu-
ture usefulness . "

frothing was said about the fashion of short heir
which was so distinctly in vogue at the time. Evidently
it was accepted, Perhaps it would not have been had it
been known that girls sat up in bed after the retiring
bell rang to do their hair up in curl papers.O)

( 1 )Mrs. Albert Durham.

179

Pernicious as these evils of extravagance might be,
the institution was exertinda beneficent influence in
spite of them. Though it was deeply in debt, it was un-
doubtedly firmly established. The plant was in good con-
dition, the faculty well established, and there were more
applicants each year than could be accommodated.

The Rockford Register for September 5 , 1867, speaks
thus of its accomplishments:

"In these times of progress and of free discussion,
we talk and hear mueh of 'Woman's Influence,1 of its
circumscribec4limits,and small results. But we think
that Rockford1 Female Seminary is of itself a most
tangible evidence of what the influence of woman may
do, when energy of purpose and capacity af mind are
united.

"Who can tell the good that this noble Institution
has accomplished. Through it the fame and name of our
Forest City has been spread far and wide. Fuom the
East, where the peaceful Hudson flows, to the wild West
where flows the Or eg on, graduates of this Institution
have gone to act their part in life's great drama
and rear up the future rulers of this great land.
And not (of) this country alone, but others also. Onl.y
a few months since, a lady spoke in a leading Church
who went straight from the Seminary to 'India's Coral
Strand T_to tell the story of the Cross. And this is
not a solitary instance, as many of our patrons know.
We are proud of the fact that one of the most deserv-
ing Institutions of Learning in the West, is located
at Rockford, and earnestly hope that the Female Semi-
nary may continue to prosper in a manner commensurate
with its merits."

Flowery as the language is, the praise is not too
eloquent as any one who has known the history of the col-
lege can attest. The fact remains that from its begin-
ning the Seminary has exerted a powerful influence in the
community.

180

CHAPTER IX
The New College, 1870 to 1884

The n^xt period in the history of the Seminary, from
1870 to 1884, the year of Miss Sil^s resignation, was ex-
tremely important and fraught with difficulties. The in-
stitution had come safely through the Civil -War period,
hut it seemed as if it had exhausted every resource to do
so. The plant had "been greatly enlarged and improved.
Changes had been made, slowly to be sure, to build up the
course of study. More students than could be accommodated
were applying for admission. To take care of them the con-
nections between Middle and Linden Halls was built in 1871.
The situation, however, was serious. How serious, it is
difficult to realize. Or rather it would be had we not a
letter of Miss Sill's to the Trustees which illuminates
it for us.

"July 8, 1871.

"To Messrs. Emerson, Robertson, and Sanford,

"I accept the situation, with its marked sig-
nificance. I beg leave to ask one question,

M|Has Rockford done more for the Seminary,
than the Seminary for Rockford?*

"Will the Executive Committee please accept
two facts for prayerful consideration.

"First, The rising di s sati sf act ion of our
young ladies at the thought of the Railroad cros-
sing our grounds is an index, and unless there
shall be more marked improvement in our halls and
on our grounds, during the vacation, than I have
dared suggest, we may as well close our doors in
the Pall.

"Second, The present Faculty is a Unit, and
we .have too great interest in the Seminary to stay
and see it die, !for not (to) grow is to die*, •

181

"I will defer publishing the circular for the
present.

"This Institution has a history which is sa-
cred, whether or not appreciated or' whatever may"~be
its future.

"Your Principal claims to have done her duty
and therefore leaves events with God."

There is scarcely need for comment, so succinctly has
Miss Sill stated the case. Nor is it necessary to linger
upon the pain it must have caused her. It rings out in her
words, --"we have too great an interest in the Seminary to
stay and see it die." Through this crises, as through
every other, her deep faith supported her. "Your Principal
claims to have done her duty and therefore leaves events
with God."

That the situation was not improved directly and that

there was concern over it outside the immediate circles of

the institution, is evidenced "by a comment in one of the

local papers two years later:

r-r "we now come to say that in the opinion of

the faculty, trustees and friends of the institution,
a crisis has been reached in its history, where it

must speedily advance or it will retrograde,

Shall Rockford Seminary advance and keep pace with
the progress of the age, or shall its doors be closed
and it live only in past history?" (])

It would seem that this last query implied undue a-
larm. The doors of the Seminary never were closed, Jtar is
there any other indication that they might have been closed,
though such procedure was frequent in small pioneer col-

(1) Rockford Register, May 30, 1874.

182

leges in the Mid-West. Miss Sill, whatever her colleagues
might have done, would scarcely be the one to allow them
to be closed without making a strenuous effort to keep
them at least ajar.

The railroad to which the young ladies were so op-
posed, did go through the Seminary grounds at the foot of
the bluff on the edge of the river. The Executive Committee
had, on the day before Kiss Sill's letter, acted favorably
on the petition of the Rockford Central Railroad to build
the tracks along the river, conditioning that the company
would construct their culverts under the track so that
the bank would not wash away, would maintain the slopes
in good order, and construct and maintain forever "a
close board fence six feet high which (should) not be
above any part of the Seminary grounds. "(1)

What the railroad paid the Seminary for this privi-
lege, is not recorded. It could not have been a great
deal. Miss Sill's displeasure, expressed in her letter to
the trustees, can be explained in this way. The railway
company had the legal right, which it threatened to exer-
cise, (2) to take the property by "eminent domain" pro-
ceedings, and to accept in return the award of a jury as
to the sum to be paid the college therefor. It v/ould
seem from the records that what actually happened was that
the trustees made a somewhat loose agreement to let the

road to through without "eminent domain" proceedings In
TT) Minutes of the Executive Committee, July 8, 1871.
(2) Mrs. C. P. Brazee, 1855.

183

the court, and that they failed to receive proper compen-
sation at the time. , However dissatisfied any one
might "be, the trustees probably could not have prevented
the road from ultimate success in getting the right of
way; but they certainly could have put up more of a fight
than they did. There was a great deal of bitterness among
members of the Board itself, and between the Board and
others connected with and interested in the Seminary, (1)
The "marked significance" of the situation to which
Miss Sill refers lies probably in the fact that the action
of the Board was contrary to not only her wishes, but to
the wishes of many others. One might surmise — it would
be difficult to prove — that her question: "Has Rockford
done more for the Seminary, than the Seminary for Rock-
ford?" was the outcome of an argument in the Board that
the Seminary ought to do something for the town by help-
ing the railroad into the city. There were those on the
Board who held that opinion. (2)

In the first two years of the next decade the question
of the railroad came up again. In June, 1880, the Execu-
tive Committee was instructed "to confer with the pro-
prietors (as soon as it shall be settled who such pro-
prietors are) concerning the conditions upon which a right

(1) Mrs. C. P. Brazee, 1855.

(2) Ibid.

184

of way would be granted," the road having changed manage-
ment. (1) After two years of unsuccessful conferences, (2)
during which the committee was instructed to take legal
proceedings to enforce the rights of the Seminary, the mat-
ter was at last settled, (3) and the Chicago and Iowa Rail-
road (now the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy ), then us-
ing the ground, paid the Seminary $1000. (4)

Financing the Seminary.
In order to maintain the advances the Seminary must
make to keep "pace with the progress of the age," it was
necessary that money he raised to finance them. The fi-
nancial needs of the institution were "becoming steadily
greater and more complex. The trustees were faced with
the fact that a hitherto -undreamed-of sum of money must
be forthcoming to carry on the work of the institution.
In 1873 they went on record as attempting "during the pre-
sent year a more full endowment of the institution and
most earnest efforts (were) to be made by the Executive
Committee to secure $50,000 for this purpose as formerly
inaugurated." (5) Though some years passed before this
objective was accomplished, the goal was constantly be-

(1) Records of Board of Trustees, June 22, 1880.

(2) Ibid, June 10, 1881.

(3) Ibid, June 21, 1881.

(4) Ibid, June 20, 1882.

(5) Ibid, June 24, 1873.

185

fore the group. In 1874 Miss Sill appeared before the
Executive Committee, and expressed the opinion that "a
good liberal amount must be secured in Rockford before
any encouragement (could) be expected abroad even among
personal friends of the Institution." (1) It would seem
that the community was not responding so generously to
the appeals of this drive as they had previously. An
article in the Rockford Register for July 4, 1874, hint-
ed that the Seminary should be self-supporting, that the
management was poor. The charge was, of course, absurd.
Educational institutions are seldom self-supporting. The
fees in the Seminary, moreover, were extremely low. (2)
The institution has never departed from its original poli-
cy, --that it was founded to give worthy young women of
limited means an opportunity to secure a higher education
at the lowest possible charges. Every thing possible was
done to aid these young women. Loans and scholarships
were always available. A young woman was allowed a reduc-

(1) Records of Board of Trustees, June 24, 1873.

(2) Minutes of Executive Committee, May 12, 1874, set
board as $170 per year; $110 for ministers' daughters.
Records of Board of Trustees, June 23, 1874, allow ed
$30 reduction for domestic duty. Mrs. L. C. Jones,
1878, says that "the domestic duties, which were
systematized, and divided among the girls, consisted
of sweeping the halls, ringing the bells, washing the
dishes, caring for the silver, making bread or cake

or pies. Each of the duties was assigned to one girl
or, where necessary, to a group. The heavy work was
done by paid employees."

186

tion of #30 for domestic duty in the industrial depart-
ment, a reduction on laundry of twenty-five cents per
dozen pieces if she did her own ironing, (1) a reduction
of $10 for not using tea and coffee. (2)

Fortunately all were not of the opinion voiced in the
press. In 1873 the Department of Natural Sciences re-
ceived a gift of $1000 "from a gentleman who though emi-
nent in the busine?s circles of the country, yet finds
time for the delightful labors of the Scientific." And
there was another gift of $900 from an unnamed friend,
Mr. E. N. Blatchford, "a considerate friend and trustee,"
presented the Institution with a valuable set of Zell!s
Encyclopaedias. (3)

In the spring of 1875 the Rev. Hiram Foote was en-
gaged by the Seminary (4) at a salary of -$500 for six
months to raise money for the endowment. (5) He had been
interested in the institution from the date of its incep-
tion, and had been a member of the Board since 1852. Mr.
Foote had wide influence in the section. He had scarcely
begun his work before he made an address to the Congrega-
tional Association of Illinois at its annual convention,
and made known to the members the mombers the needs of the
Seminary. (6)

(1
(2

(3
(4
(5
(6

Catalogue, 1873-1874, p. 29.

Catalogue, 1874-1875, p. 27.

Rockford Seminary Magazine, Oct. 1873, p. 37.

Records of Board of Trustees, Apr. 2, 1875.

Minutes of Executive Committee, Apr. 15, 1875.

Rockford Register, June 4, 1875.

187

Though money came very slowly, it came steadily. It
is impossible to trace the growth of the funds as there
seerr to have been no records kept. Until 1381 no great
interest was shwwn in the endowment. That year the teach-
ers subscribed $1000 "toward the erection of an Art
Hall." (1) This offer seamed to stir up matters. The
communication was referred to the Executive Committee
which was to consider it "and do what (could) be done to
meet the needs of the institution." (2)

What, if anything, was done, is doubtful. At the an-
nual meeting of the Board three year sVater (1884) a report
was made that the subscriptions already received amounted
to $20,707. "More or less promise of other sums (was) not
included in this statement." It was voted at this meet-
ing that "some agency for a general effort to secure the
full $50,000 contemplated" be employed. The Executive
Committee was authorized to "hypothecate subscription
notes or to mortgage a part or the whole of the Seminary
property to secure funds for use as (might) be needed. (3)

It would seem that about this time Mr. W. A. Talcott
was infusing the project with new life. The Rockford Re-
gister for June 21, 1884, of tho time speaks of him as
working the matter up and of having accomplished a great
deal. In the college safe there are scores and scores of

(1) ecords of Board of Trustees, June 10, 1881.

(2) Ibid, June 21, 1881.

(3) Records of 3oard of Trustees, Annual meeting, (not
dated), June 1884.

188

letters written by him during this time, asking for aid
and for recommendations as to the worth of the Seminary,
and following up possible contributors, letters written a
little later, advising Miss Hillard as to the best means
of securing funds and introducing her to people or* means.
He gave without stint of his time and energy. With this
new impetus the financial safety of the Seminary was as-
sured. The institution could not, with these resources
at hand, fail to expand.

Changes in aspects of the Seminary*
Difficult as these years were, however, the Seminary
was gradually taking on the aspects of a college. Far-
reaching changes were being made in the -"-curriculum, -"-stu-
dent activities were becoming more organized and of a more
significant character, and most important of all the#-x-alum-
nae were becoming conscious of themselves as a group and
aware of their influence.

Indeed, too, the very word college, or at least the
idea, began to creep into the minds of those associated
with the institution. The Rockford Register (June 6, 1874),
in discussing the needs of the Seminary and. exhorting the
citizens of Rockford to support the $50,000 campaign in-
augurated some time pre ious, ventured the question: Why
not make the Seminary a college. Two years later, in a
meeting of the Executive Committee, Miss Sill spoke about

-;:- See appendix, pp. 308-327.
•*#See pp. 198-208.

189

changing the name and the course of study. (1) Within
the next month a committee composed of Messrs. Robertson,
S-nford, and Lathrop, was appointed "to examine and re-
port upon the legality and expediency of changing the
name 'Semi nary1 to * College.1 " (2)

This idea seems not to have matured rapidly. What
the deliberations of the committee were, v/e are unable to
say as their subsequent records, as well as those of the
Board, are silent. The change in name from Rockford Fe-
male Seminary to Rockford Seminary, however, was not ef-
fected until June 21, 1887. (3) This document was sub-
scribed and sworn to, it i s interesting to note, before
Miss Julia C. Lathrop, notary public, daughter of the Hon.
William Lathrop and Adeline Potter Lathrop, of the class
of 1854. And the change to Rockford College was not made
until December 6, 1892. (4)

Despite the disfavor with which many looked upon the
name tco liege , the change was inevitable. Vassar had
adopted the obnoxious term from its beginning, January 18,
1861, though the term ,£ej2iale, equally obnoxious to us to-
day, was retained in the name. (5) Welle si ey, although

(1) Minutes of the Executive Committee, May (?.), 1876.

(2) Records of the Board of Trustees, June 21, 1876.

(3) Certificate of Change of Name from. Rockford Female
Seminary to Rockford Seminary. Copy of original §&£.3Hd
cument, sworn to by Secretary of State. See Appendix, pp.

(4) Certificate of Change of Name of Corporation from Rock-
ford Seminary to Rockford College. Copy of Original
document sworn to by Secretary of State. See Appendix, pp.

(5) Monroe, Cyclopaedia of Education, Vol. V, p. 706. ^h-w

190

chartered as Wellesley Female Seminary in 1870, by a special
enactment of the legislature of Kassachusetts, had its name
changed to Wellesley College. (1) The connection between
Rockford and these two institutions was strong.

The Curriculum: the degree of A. B.
In commenting upon the new course of study inaug-
rated by the trustees in the spring of 1871, the Rockford
Register (for October 7, 1871), speaks of its similarity
"to that of Vassar College." The distinctive features
of this new course were the enlargement of opportunities
for the study of modern language and the discontinuance
of the normal course as a distinct course. For those who
wished to prepare themselves for teaching a normal class
was provided. (2) The changes which were made in the- col-
legiate course strengthened it. In the junior year French
and German were offered as optional studies, French was re-
quired in the junior middle year, German in the senior middle
year, and French or German in thefeenior year. The number
of courses in mathematics, English, and Biblical history
was increased. The work in Biblical history was more de-
finitely outlined, and there was more emphasis on English
literature. Astronomy was offered as an elective in the
senior middle year, and Greek was required in the last two

(1) Monroe, Cyclopaedia of Education, Vol. V, p. 758.

(2) Records of Board of Trustees, June 27, 1871.

1?1

years of the course, (1)

These changes were only the beginning of far-reaching
ones. In 1876 again a committee was appointed, composed
of the president of the Board, Miss Sill, and the Rev.
Wilder Smith "with the authority to make such, changes as
they deem(ed) advisable." (2) The effect of these changes
was favorably commented upon early in the autumn term by
the Rockford Register (November 9, 1877), Though there
was about the usual number of students enrolled, they were
thought to be of "a more advanced standing than in for-
mer years." Then, too, a significant bit of progress was
noted: the senior class was "much larger that for several
years past." The article went on to praise "the wisdom
of the trustees shown in the recent change and the ad-
vances in the course of study, corresponding to the in-
creasing demand both East and West, for a complete college
education for young women."

There is the crux of the whole situation, — " bhe de-
mand for a complete college etducation for young women."
Not only was the seminary forced to meet the changed
situation, but it was forced to do so immediately. Stu-
dents had been going East to Vassar for their last two
years because at Rockford they could not get the courses

(1) Catalogue, 1871-72. During the next several years,
while this new course was being tried out, there were
minor changes. See program for 187' -77, appendix, pp.

(2) Records of Board of Trustees, June 27, 1876.

1?2

they wanted. If the Seminary were to remain strong through-
out the four years, these students must be held "by the at-
tractions of courses equivalent to those given elsewhere
and the granting of degrees.

The Rockford Seminary Magazine (for October 1877), in
commenting upon the situation mn a slightly humorious vein,
brings home to us the glamor that the Eastern institutions
cast around their attendan ts, which perhaps was somewhat
responsible for students leaving:

"Goldsmith's picture of gazing Trustics ranged
about; T to ad ire the village teacher because his
wee1 small head could carry all he knew,1 will grow
dim on our campus compared with the picture we draw
in our ^ind's eye of the return to our midst of a
brace of scholastics from the classic halls of Vas-
sar and Wellesley."

Among these returned "scholastics" were Julia Lathrop,
Vassar, 1880; Agnes HealJ, Vassar, 1881, and Adeline
Emerson, Wellesley, 187?.

Under the changed conditions, the matter of granting
degrees was realized to be of the utmost importance, and
was fully threshed out. The catalogue of 1880-1881 car-
ries the statement that "those completing either of the
full courses of study, including optional studies and a
sufficient n mber of electives, will receive the degree
of A. B." The courses were the literary and the scien-

"Gl I 1 Cb«

On June tenth, l88t, there was a special meeting of
the Board to discuss the question of increasing the time
and the amount of study to warrant the granting of de-

193

grees. The special committee on the subject reported that
they advocated "an increase of one year in (the) prepara-
tory department, (making three years) and three elective
courses, --the Classical, Scientific, and Literary, and the
granting of the degree to those who completed any one of
them," This report was unanimously adopted. It was also
voted to call the four years of the course the freshman,
sophomore, junior, and senior years. (1)*

The Rockford Register, the next morning, June 11, 1881,
expressed the opinion that these changes placed the insti-
tution on a par with Eastern colleges. The committee had
spent two years working out the courses.

The first degrees were awarded the following June.
The degree of Bachelor of Arts was conferred upon the Misses
Julia Evangeline Gardiner, of the class of 1882, Harriet
Elizabeth Wells, 1882, Catharine Waugh, 1B82, Laura Jane
Addarns, 1881, Helen M. Harrington, 1881, Mary E. Holmes,
1868, and Laura Isabel Rose, 1872. The degree of M. A.
(honorary) was conferred upon Miss L. M. Smith, 1867;
Miss Caroline A. Potter, 1855; Mrs. Marie Thompson Perry,
1863, and Mrs. Fannie Jones Talcott, 1860. (2) The fol-
lowing June Miss Mary E. B. Norton, a teacher in the Sem-
inary from 1859 to 1875, and Miss H. A. M. Reed, of the
class of 1859, were also given honorary Master's degrees. (3)

(1) Records of Board of Trustees, June 10, 1881.

(2) Ibid, June 20, 1882.
(5) I id, Jums 21, 1883.

* &ee course of studies for 1880-81, appendix, pp.

194

This departure was important in enabling Rockford to take
its place with other degree -granting institutions.

Then, too, there was another aspect to the occasion.
Mrs. Brazee told me when I last talked with her, that just
before Mrs. Talcott's death in the spring of 1925, she and
Mrs. Talcott were speaking of this particular commencement.
Both were of the opinion that Miss Sill felt the granting
of these degrees a r alization of her aims for the Seminary.
When the time came that she considered the institution
ready to grant degrees, she looked about her, and she de-
cided that these four graduates of the Seminary had mea-
sured up to the standard she had set for the M. A. de-
gree. During her course Mrs. Brazee had done a great
deal of uro rk beyond that required for the Seminary diploma,
and she had taught in the Seminary for some years.

While the trustees and faculty had been giving their
attention to the academic side of the institution, the
students and alumnae had been active in other directions, ■*
the undergraduates in organizing student activites and the
graduates in extending their influence for the improvement
of the Seminary.

Changed character of commencement..
It would seem, too, that during these years the clos-
ing exercises were changing in character. The old term,

■k- 6ee supplementary chapter, "Activites and Social Life
of the Students."

195

"anniversary " gradually fell into disuse, and passed from
the Seminary vocabulary toward the last of the seventies,
its place being taken by the term "Commencement," in vogue
in other institutions.

The tedious character of the exercises was commented
upon in 1873 by the daily press. "The protracting of the
exercises at the Seminary Wednesday from early morning to
near two in the afternoon, with a march meantime some
blocks to a church, when the mercury in some shaded places
was already over one hundred and when the young ladies
were already worn out by a long succession of addresses,
examinations, rehearsals and the entertainment of guests,

is sharply criticized. The friend? of the eloquent

speaker, whose strong words were almost thrown away upon
a thinned and exhausted audience, before whom he was re-
quired to begin his work later than the usual dinner hour,
feel as though a wrong was done to any man who is invited
to address those who gather on these occasions, with op-
portunity only to be voted a bore. It has been bad enough
in former years. The intensifying of the fatigue, and of
the obscuring of the speaker of the day that grew out of
this year's excessive heat, will doubtless lead to reform,
and if an address must be made an afternoon or an evening
will probably be devoted to it." (1)

(1) Rockford Daily Register, July 4, 1873. Reprinted
from the Chicago Journal.

196

Indeed these programs must have been arduous for par-
ticipants, who must "pack trunks and hurry away for their
homes" to "the care of nursing mothers, who doubtless be-
gin to think that hard study is ruinous to health." (1)
There were public examinations of the preparatory*"and
collegiate departments, (2) the latter consuming two days,
Monday and Tuesday, on Sunday morning the baccalaureate
sermon, and orpunday evening the address before the Society
of Missionary Inquiry; Tuesday evening was given over to
the alumnae meeting and supper, and on Wednesday were held
the closing exercises with another address. (It was not
until 1882 that the public examinations were dispensed
with by a vote of the faculty. (3) ) Each of these -events
was lengthy and elaborate.

In 1876 the conservatory concert was added to the
events of the season. It was held in the Second Congre-
gational Church, and was elaborate in character. This
commencement was significant as it marked the twenty-
fifth anniiversary of the Seminary.

Three years later the date of the exercises was changed.
to the second Wednesday before the fourth of July. (4)

(1) Rockford Daily Register, July 4, 1873. Reprinted from
the Chicago Journal.

(2) Rockford Seminary" Magazine , June 1873, p. 36.

(3) Records of Board of Trustees, June 29, 1882.

(4) Ibid, June 25, 1879.

# These were held Sunday afternoon.

197

This change would greatly reduce the strain on all con-
cerned if the weather were seasonable.

The commencement exercises of 1881 perhaps merit a
word. As one reviews the anniversaries of preceding years,
they seem very much alike. The only differences lie in
the names of the speakers; for even their themes were sim-
ilar. It would seem that the Class of 1881 was unusually
progressive. The exercises were invested with a new qual-
ity.

It may have been that this class had felt more strong-
ly than preceding classes the bond that held their together.
It may have been that the changing character of the woman
student, was revealed in these graduates. In the chal-
lenge which Jane Addams, Rockford's most distinguished
alumna, throws out, there is a rephrasing oT the meaning
of Rockford:

"If you are tempted to flag and grow weary of
'bread-giving,1 remember the sixteen girls of T81
who believe ana expect high things of you. We stand
united today in a belief in beauty, genius, and
courage, and that these can transform the world. If
you each are true to these beliefs and never lose con-
fidence in your possibilities, then the class of '81
will be undivided throughout their lives. Then old
class loyalty and helpful friendships will never be
withdrawn. So to you, my friends, I will only say,
!God be with us,* which is an older and better form
of 'good bye'". (1)

"We stand united today in a belief in beauty, genius,

and courage and that these can transform the world," Jane

Addams and countless other Rockford Seminary girls have

(1) Rockford Daily Gazette, June 22, 1881.

198

shown the power of this belief in their own lives. Miss
Sill builded even better than she knew.

In Miss Addams* plea to the trustees for the new col-
lege there is the same high note:

"Rockford Seminar;/ from its organization has pos-
sessed a legal cherter, but has never yet been dis-
tinctly recognized as a college, nor its alumnae re-
ceived as college graduates. Do not now, we beg of
you, stint this ewly awakened life through want of

encouragement or funds. And in your future appeals

to your alumnae for assistance and support, may you
never find the class of !81 disloyal to their alma
mater."

It may be added here that Miss Addams returned to her

alma mater in 1882 to receive her A. B. degree, the first

year the degree was granted.

Alumnae activities.

This newly awakened life "so joyously felt by the
undergraduates was animating the alumnae. They, too, were
beginning to organize, and before 1883 there were t*wo
strong local associations, the one in Chicago-* and the
other in Minneapolis. The Chicago group from the begin-
ning was imbued with the idea of service. "The asso-
ciation was formed solely for the purpose of making us
stronger to do something r — We never met without expecting
to make a return to our beloved school," writes one of
the charter members. (1)

Even those ??irls who were not graduates felt the

(1) Mrs. Mary G. Wells, a student in the early sixties.
-;:- See appendix, pp. 276- 279 •

199

serious purpose of the group, and became earnest workers.
They had learned of the sacrifices of Miss Sill, and were
inspired by her example. (1)

In the early years of its existence the association
devoted its meager proceeds to the library and the art
department. (2) At the first -eeting Mrs. Claflin gave
$100 toward the endowment fund. (3) Early in its history
the association raised the scholarship fund which now sup-
ports a Chicago student, and is known as the Chicago -Rock-
amount
ford College Association Fund. (4) The principal today /

to ?i700C, This was a difficult task, and took some time.
Several entertainments were given "to swell the fund. At
the time it was intended for the use of the daughter of
a minister. (5)

Since its organization the association has maintained
the custom of the annual banquet. (6) On December 29, 1924,
it celebrated its fiftieth anniversary at the Great Northern
Hotel in Chicago. Several of those present had been at
that first meeting, and greetings came from many others, as
well as greetings in person or by letter from all but one
of the living presidents. The group has always shown a
lively interest in the college, and has responded generous-

(1) Mrs. Mary ..'Cr» Wells, a student in the- early sixties.

(2) Mrs. Mary Wells and Mrs. W. E. Smith.

(3) Rockford Daily Register, Jan. 8, 1874.

(4) Mrs. Mary Wells.

(5) Ibid.

(6) At the 10th reunion, in Keb., 1884, the Rockford Re-
gi ster tells us, a committee was appointed to draft
a" "constitution and by-laws.

2QQ)

•ly to every demand made upon it.

Although forced somewhat later, the founding of the
Minneapolis Association falls in this period. The group
had been meeting informally for some time, and on June
eleventh, 1883, a permanent organization was formed. Up-
wards of 500 former students of the college were living in
Iowa and Minnesota. Mrs. Nathan Ford was chosen the first
president, and the other officers were Mrs. Robert Hagar,
first vice-president; Mrs. A. F. Foster, second vice-pre-
sident; Miss Mary Carson, secretary, and Mrs. T. A. Bart-
lett, treasurer. Miss Sill end Miss Lucy Smith, a member
of the faculty, were present at this meeting. (1)

While these local groups were forming, the alumnae
as a body were becoming more closely affiliated. They had
met at intervals for reunions, and had been in the habit
of coming back in June . Early, how early I am unable to
say except that it was after 1864, a constitution had been
drafted for the Forest Hill Alumnae Association. ■» So far
as I know, this is the first constitution drawn up by the
alumnae. It is in long hand on a piece of letter paper
with an impressed "A" at the top of the first sheet, and
it is signed by Miss Mary Ashmun, a graduate of the Sem-
inary in 1864. The paper has lain untouched in the col-
lege safe for many years.

(1) Rockford Daily Gazette, June 15, 1883.
* For a copy of this dodument and other documents per-
taining to the Alumnae Association, see appendix, pp.

365-374.

201

Constant references to the alumnae in the Rockford
papers in the 1870* s point to increasingly strong organi-
zation and influence. Within a decade, from 1872 to
1882, the alumnae accomplished two important objects: first,
they inaugurated and completed the Sill Endowment Fund;
secondly, through their influence women were admitted to
membership on the Board of Trustees, heretofore restricted
to men.

In 1872, at the annual meeting of the alumnae asso-
ciation, it was

"Resolved, That the Alumnae of Rockford Female Sem-
inary endeavor to raise the sum of $10,000 before
June 24, 1876, as an endowment fund for the Princi-
palis chair in said institution; the income to be,
devoted to the personal use and benefit of the pre-
sent Principal during her life time." (1)

Work was immediately begun on the fund, and at the
next mnnual meeting, June 24, 1873, $2,000 had been sub-
scribed toward the fund. (2)

The efforts of the alumnae along this line received
considerable attention from the press. Two Chicago pa-
pers, the Alliance and the Standard, aside from the many
references in the Rockford papers, commented upon the pro-
ject, and especially upon the unusual character. "So far
as we are informed, this is the first effort of the kind
undertaken by a school distinctively for women* --In order
to make the Alumnae Association financially responsible,

(1) Rockford Seminary Magazine, Jan., 1875, p. 71.

(2) Rockford Daily Register, Tune 25, 1873.

202

it has been incorporated-,-"- and every dollar paid toward

the endowment is made to pay interest immediately, and thus

rapidly swell the fund." (1)

June, 1876, saw the pledges completed, At the annual

meeting the following resolution was adopted:

"Resolved; That the members of the Alumnae Association
return their heartfelt thanks to the many friends who
have so kindly expressed their interest and good will,
and so generously contributed to the Sill Endov/nent
Fund, May they receive in their own souls a hundred-
fold for what they have done," (2)

The treasurer's report at the annual meeting of the
association, held June 28, 1877, shows that the amount col-
lected and loaned at ten per cent (interest semi-annual)
was $7921.61; individual notes of subscriber s--a few of
which were drawing interest--amounted to $1887. Besides
these sums the association owned four lots of land, three
in Rockford and one in Charles City, Iowa. There were al-
so on the books $327 in unpaid subscriptions most of them
made since the starting of the project. It was the plan
of the Association to transfer the funds to the trustees
as soon as the full amount had been accumulated. (3)

At the commencement exercises in 1878, after the
diplomas had been awarded, the fund was presented in be-
half of the alumnae by Mrs. Seely Perry to Prof. Joseph-
Emerson who received it in behalf of the Board of Trus-

(1) Chicago Alliance, reprinted in Rockford Gazette, Jan. 2, 1875#
(2)Records of Alumnae Association, June 28, 1876.
(3)Records of Board of Trustees, July 1, 1877.
-«- See appendix, pp. 3^7-368.

203

tees, to be held by them In trust. The complete list of
the monies and properties transferred is recorded in the
minutes of the Board. The total amount, including unpaid
subscriptions of $130, was $12,012/16.

The principal of the fund was to be kept "intact

and at interest loaned upon good security real or personal."
Except for such sums as might be necessary to pay taxes
on the properties involved, the income of the fund was to
be paid each year, to Miss Sill, "the honored founder and

Principal during her life, as an expression of the high

esteem and tender love which her former pupils and friends
bear toward her for her long years of self-sacrificing de-
votion to the interests of Rockford Female Seminary and to
the education of the many women who have been under her
charge during these years;" and after her death the income
of the entire fund was to be "devoted to the support of the
Principal's chair" of the Seminary. (1)

The trustees, through their president, Prof. Joseph
Emerson, expressed their "high appreciation of the Alumnae
Association in thus showing their love and respect for one
to whom they owe(d) so much." (2)

No sooner was the Sill Endowment Fund completed than
the alumnae began to turn their thoughts in another direc-
tion. At the business meeting of the alumnae association

(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, June 25, 1878.

(2) Ibid, June 26, 1878.

104

in 1880, held after the alumnae banquet (which was con-
fined strictly to the alumnae) two resolutions were passed,
the one to raise $300 to beautify the seminary grounds and
the second, which was so startling in character, to appoint
a committee to confer with the Board of Trustees, asking
for an alumnae trustee. The committee appointed consisted
of three ladies whose husbands were on the board, --Mrs. Wil-
liam Lathrop, Mrs. D. S. Clark, and Mrs. Clara Sanford.
Despite the fact of their nearness to the Board, the pro-
posal of these ladies did not meet with the hearty response
one mi:2ht expect. (1) In due time the Board was approached,
and at the annual meeting of the trustees, on June 10, 1881,
the communication from the alumnae "reoue sting the appoint-
ment of one or more ladies on the board of trustees," was
referred to a special committee composed of Mr. Lathrop and
Mr. Foote. (2)

The communication in question requested the presence
of these ladies on the board "in view of the practical in-
terest taken by the women of this generation in the general
cause of education, evidenced by their large donations and
bequests to both male and female colleges, and by their un-
wearying labors in every department of educational work;
in view of the fact that our own Alma Mater owes its life
to the strong heart and brain of a consecrated womanhood

(1) Records of Alumnae Association, June 23, 1878.

(2) Records of the Board of Trustees, June 10, 1881.

203

and that its ideal is that of a school where woman shall

be fitted for every place in life." This letter is not

recorded in the minutes of the Board, (1)

At the meeting of the Board a little more than a week
later, June 21, the Hon. William Lathrop brought in a re-
port for the special committee, composed of himself and
Mr. Poote, recommending that as there were "no legal ob-
stacles to women's occupying the position of trustees,
and inasmuch as the institution is solely for the education
of women, your committee thinks that there is an eminent
propriety in giving women such representation and would
recommend that three discreet and competent members of the
alumnae be selected to fill existing vacancies on the
Board." (2)

The recommendation, from, all reports, precipitated
and earnest discussion. There were some who favored the
measure and others who were bitterly opposed. The discus-
sion is not included in the minutes of the Board. One
hears fragments of it, however, even now from still in-
dignant alumnae.

On the motion for adoption, a substitute motion was

proposed:

"Whereas, the settled policy of this institution has
been to commit the educational work, the training
and discipline of its pupils and its internal ad-
ministration and government to the faculty of teach-

(1) Rockford Register, June 11, 1881.

(2) Records of the Board of Trustees, June 21, 1881.

206

ers, constituted of women, and to leave its business
arrangement to a board consisting of men, (1)

"Resolved; That the Secretary of the Board be instruct-
ed to acknov.rledge the receipt of the communication, re-
lative to the appointment of ladies on the board and
to inform them that, s s their request involves an im-
portant change in the policy of the Seminary, the Board
have deemed it best to defer final action upon the mat-
ter until our next annual meeting," (2)

This resolution was adopted. It was not easy to change
the policy of more than thirty years, and presumably it was
not easy for some of the members to witness the admission
of women to the Board, The question must be given "deli-
berate consideration" and the Board come "to a harmonious
conclusion,." (3)

When the decision of the Board was communicated to the
alumnae, they resolved that the receipt of the communica-
tion be acknowledged,

"They disdain( ed)-»- any desire for a change in the
membership of the board as (should) in any degree im-
pair the harmonious and efficient action of all the
members of the board of trust, and of the patrons of
the institution in carrying on the work as success-
fully in the future as in the past, and therefore
(did) not desire to make any change in said member-
ship unless there (could) be perfect unanimity among
the board itself." (4)

The alumnae had the best interests of the Seminary at

heart and would not under any circumstances imperil the fu-

(1) Rockford Daily Gazette, June 23, 1881.

(2) Records of the Board of Trustees, June 21, 1881,

(3) Rockford Daily Gazette, June 23, 1881.

(4) Ibid.

* Common expression at this time, Mrs. Brazee tells me.
It was, however }as used by the alumnae, changed with
feeling.

207

ture of the institution "by their presence on the Board,

It is plain to "be seen that they did not consider that

there was any grave danger in their admission.

After a year!s deliberation, serious deliberation we

are to assume, a new query it would seem though the special

committee had brushed aside the question, occurred to a

certain group. The point raised concerned the legality

of electing women to the Board. A compromise was reached

by the members whereby women were to be elected honorary

members. The following resolution was adopted June 20, 1882

"Whereas, serious doubts exist in the minds of some
of the board as to the legality of electing ladies
• to this board: Therefore,

"Resolved: That the Alumnae be invited, in response
to their communication, to nominate such a number
of ladies as they think proper, to act in connec-
tion with the principal as Honorary Members of the
Board, to be present at its meetings and aid us by
their counsel, co-operation, and influence." (1)

It was then voted that the Executive Committee be
given power to act for the board in "confirming such no-
minations as (might) be made by the Alumnae to honorary
membership in accordance with the above invitation." (2)

Though the "above invitation" was far from being
spontaneous and though"Honorary Member ship" did not give
any real power, as it withheld the privilege of voting,
the alumnae had gained a wedge.

Another year went by before the action of the Board

(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, June 20, 1882.

(2) Ibid.

208
bore fruit. Three years had elapsed since the movement
was initiated. On May 10, 1883, there were present at a
special meeting of the Board as honorary members, five
"discreet and competent" ladies, --Miss Sill, Mrs. Seely
Perry, Miss Jane Addams, Mrs. David Keyt, and Mrs. V/. A.
Talcott.(l) Mrs. Talcott remained a member until her
death. They had been nominated by the alumnae, and their
nominations had been confirmed by the Executive Committee
of the Board. So helpful was the "counsel, co-operation
and influence" of these good ladies and their successors
that there is now no question as to the advisability and
legality of the membership of the "female persuasion."

The importance of the work of organization being done
by undergraduates and graduates alike during this period,
cannot be too highly stressed.

Improvements in the plant, 1870-1884.
During these years, the Seminary, though not enjoying
a period of expansion, was not retrogressing in any de-
partment. Except for the connection between Middle and
Linden Halls, no new buildings were erected. Prom the
tone of Miss Sill's letter to the trustees in 1871 (quoted
earlier in this chapter) there was pressing need for at-
tention to the plant. That this letter produced results
is evidenced by the action of the Board in voting "that
the Executive Committee be instructed to take into con-
(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, May 10, 1883.

209

sideration the improvements necessary for the physical com-
fort of the Institution, with power to act according to
the necessities of the case and the means at command." (1)

Though changes were made slowly during the next de-
cade or more, probably because of lack of funds, the plant
was greatly improved. In the summer of 1871 the Executive
Committee was authorized to borrow a sum not exceeding
$4000 to ©rect the west connection between Middle and Lin-
den Halls and to make repairs, the bonds and monies of the
scholarship fund being put up as collateral. (2) The next
year it was decided that as soon as money could be secured
for that purpose "porticoes for the buildings" be erected
and the grounds fenced in. (3) The question of lighting
and heating was referred to the Executive Committee. (4)
That autumn, gas was installed in the public rooms and halls,
and the day students were provided with pleasant rooms,
thus, "obviating a long standing objection" that they did
not have a suitable place to study. (5)

During the summers of 1875 and 1877 extensive improve-
ments were made. From the Seminary Magazine, (for November
1875, page 186), we gain an idea of the impression the
changes of that summer made upon the returning students:

(1) Minutes of Executive Committee, July 22, 1871.

(2) Records of the Board of Trustees, June 25, 1872.

(3) Record of subscriptions.

(4) Records of the Board of Trustees, June 25, 1872.

(5) Rockford Register, Aug. 31, 1872.

210

"In the large connection rooms are nicely ar-
ranged bath rooms. Peeping inside we see a toilet
stand, mirror, chair, and most essential a bath tub
of the latest style. Passing into the kitchen we
note the absence oi1 the tanks of old time terror;
their places being taken by easily working faucets.
The carpenters, with their noisy hammers, are just
finishing the new walks and outside repairs.

,f,0 come to Middle Hall,1 says one, 'to see the
school-room; ! but who would recognize the old recita-
tion room in these tinted walls, bright carpets and
dark double doors. Prof. Hood's old room we find to
be the second reception room, his office now being
in the new south room; Miss Hood has removed to the
room next; the bright sunny atmosphere will doubtless
act as a brooding Orpheus.

" 'But where are the day scholars to be?1 we ask,
and for answer are led to the cottage, (on the west
side of the campus); of which the lower part is fit-
ted up for their use.

"Good news for the gymnasts. The gymnasium is
to be renovated with fresh paint, paper, curtains,
et cetera, so as to make a much pleas a^ter place for
our exercises. Under our enthusiastic teacher, the
practice is entered into with much enthusiasm and no
little amusement. And when the bright new suits make
their appearance, we shall doubtless enjoy the hour
even more. "

It would seem that putting the day students in the

cottage was not the wisest course. Three years later the

trustees were disturbed as to the best way to provide for

them. It was decided that as their studies needed "to be

pursued under the watch and care of a teacher, the best

plan "would be to make a school room in the cottage by

throwing tiro or perhaps three rooms together." (1) The

day students were required, whether or not their classes

were over, to remain for late afternoon chapel. It would

(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, June 26, 1878.

211

seem that they occupied the interval between their last
academic appointments, and the chapel hour, — and some times
that hour itself , --in more or less hilarious pastimes and
often in candy -making. As the main buildings were too far
removed for the noise to carry, the authorities for some
time remained in ignorance of much that was happening. (1)

In 1880 the buildings, although much had been done,
were evidently in a sad condition. The Executive Commit-
tee was instructed "to erect new steps to the west build-
ing with a suitable porch on the north side, to provide
room for the necessary storage, to provide blinds where
they (were) needed on the chapel, and to see that the drains
were in good order, at the earliest moment (they could) see
their way clear." They were also instructed "to appropriate
two rooms on the lower floor back of the parlor f'or the
use of the library." (2)

That summer extensive repairs and changes were made.
The main entrance was altered, and the walls and ceilings
plastered and hard finished, the wood work was painted,
and new carpets were laid on the first floor. The second
and third floors were entirely renovated. On the rear
of the third floor, recitations rooms were made. The cab-
inet, "filled with rare and valuable cages of stuffed
birds, cases of shells, and valuable geologieal specimens,"

(1) Mrs. Myrta A. Bartlett, 1878-1882.

(2) Records of the Board of Trustees, June 22, 1800.

212

was removed to a room on the front of the "building. There
was kept "the French manikin, which was purchased especial-
ly for the institution in Paris." The west wing and the
chapel were entirely renovated, water was carried to the
attic, additional bath rooms were installed in the connec-
tion between Main and Linden Halls, and fire escapes, giv-
ing four exits on each hall 9 were provided. (1) But the
greatest achievement of all was the class parlors, request-
ed by the class of 1881. (2) What innovations that class
made I It would seem that there was no end to them. The
parlors which were on the north side of the Linden connec-
tion, were luxuriously furnished. The floor was covered
with a "handsome Brussels carpet" in which were "quite
prominent the class color--poppy red, and little of the

gold of the Juniors. -The walls were hung with rich

dark paper, sprinkled with the sheaves of the * 3read-
givers.'" There were a large chair, a library table, "a
very handsome article of furniture, the gift of Miss Sill,"
ottomans, smaller chairs, and a sofa. Soft and rich cur-
tains hung at the windows, and the room was heated by a
large coal stove. (3)

The following year the alumnae went on record as ready
to co-operate with the Board in raising funds for a science

(1) Rockford Daily Gazette, Sept. 10, 1880.

(2) Records of the Board of Trustees, June 22, 1880.

(3) Rockford Seminary Magazine, Nov., 1880, p. 36.

211

building , (1) and that same year the faculty pledged
$1000 toward its erection. (2) This project was accom-
plished early in the nineties, and was named Adams Hall,
in honor of Mr. John Quincy Adams, of Wheaton, Illinois,
who gave so generously to it.

In 1882 a steam heating plant for the entire build-
ing was installed, paid for by "the $1000 paid by the
railroad (for the light of way along the western edge of
the campus) with such o ther sums as" the trustees were
"able to command, including what might be able to borrow
on real estate security." The plant cost $5500. This
improvement had been under consideration for some years. (3)

Additions to tiie equipment, 1870-1884.
Aside from these improvements in the plant, additions
were made to the equipment. The library was constantly
being enlarged by donations and purchases. It had been
begun in 1850 with the proceeds of a fair held by the
girls. Mrs. Zilpah Grant Bannister, Mr. Abner Kingmarj,
and Mr. John C. Proctor, made large gifts to it. (4) In
1882 Miss Jane Addams gave $1000 to be used fbr the li-
brary, "with the stipulation that it be spent for scien-
tific books." It was the first gift she made from the

(1) Records of Alumnae Association, June 22, 1881.

(2) Records of the Board of Trustees, June 10, 1881.

(3) Ibid, June 20, 1882.

(4) Historical Sketch f p. 9.

214

money inherited at her father's death the year she was
graduated. (1) The cabinet, too, had "been greatly aug-
mented. It had been began in the early days by the gift
of a few duplicate specimens sent by Beloit College and a
special donation from the state, illustrating the geology
and paleontology of Illinois, Here again Mrs. Bannister
had been a generous donor. In 1876 it comprised 900
geological and zoological specimens and 1000 botanical,
native and foreign. (2) The class of 1875 was the first
to have an individual outfit for chemistry. (3) In 1880
a valuable addition was made to the mathematics department
in the form of "a Macivar Tellurian Globe," a working
model of the earth in relation to the sun. (4)

Teachers' salaries.
During the period the salaries of the teachers came
twice under consideration. In April, 1875, the Board
raised the question of the practicality of increasing
salaries, "especially of those (teachers) residing in
the building." It was hoped at this time that the fi-
nancial resources of the Seminary would stand the add-
ed strain. (5) At the annual meeting of the Board in

(1) Addar.s, Twenty Years at Hull House, p. 62.

(2) Historical Sketch, p. 9^

(3) Mrs. Loretta Van Hook, 1875.

(4) Rockford Register, January 9, 1880.

(5) Records of the Board of Trustees, April 2, 1875.

215

July Miss Sill was given a $100 increase, and the salaries
in the departments of natural science, mathematics, and
ancient languages were raised to $500. (1) The records
do not say whether board in the institution was allowed,
but it is probable that it was. Three years later the
salary scale was revised. To the principal was given the
income of the Sill Endowment Fund, board, and $500, The
salaries of the heads of the departments of ancient lan-
guages and mathematics were placed at $500 with board, and
the teacherships of English literature and history, and of
French and German were placed at $500, "the contract in the
last two not to include a turning over to the Seminary of
the proceeds of teaching outside the institution." The
teachership of rhetoric and English language was fixed at
$5300 and board, and that of the natural sciences at $400
and board. The sanitary department was discontinued, and
the duties of the position were assumed by the teachers in
the halls in lieu of cash reductions in their salaries, (2)

Scholarships .
The catalogue of 1883-1884 contains the first refer-
ence to a scholarship, offered by the institution. Indi-
gent students had been aided hitherto by funds from the
Student Aid Society, scholarships given by individuals,
and loans from Miss Sill. The scholarship to cover board

(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, July 8, 1875,

(2) Ibid, Apr. 2, 1875.

216

and tuition, was offered "to encourage a full course of
study," and it was "to be given to the student who (passed)
the "best examinations for admission to the freshman class
in either course for a degree in September, 1884." A se-
cond prize was offered, — one year's instruction in instru-
mental music. In September, 1884, a similar prize of a .
year's board and tuition was to be offered "to the one do-
ing the best work in Latin, Greek, and mathematics in the
freshman year of the classical course." These "prizes"
were offered not only to help worthy students but also to
stimulate a deeper and more serious interest in the work.

Music department*
During these years the music department which had been
re-organized in 1875 in "conservatory form," was progress-
ing rapidly. Three years later an effort was made to in-
crease its influence in the town. A statement was ordered
published by the Board that both male and female students
were received in the department. (1) At that same meet-
ing it was voted that the musical graduates hereafter
should receive diplomas from the conservatory of music,
signed by "the President, Principal, and the Director of
the Conservatory." (2) The first of these two changes en-
larged the work of the department, and the second set a
stamp of value upon the work.

(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, July 8, 1875.

(2) Ibid.

21?

The period closed with a new spirit inspiring the in-
stitution. It i s true that the plant had not been greatly
improved that there had been no marked growth in atten-
dance, that the resources had not been materially increased.
There had been, however, a far more significant change.
Although the institution still bore the name Seminary, it
had passed from the seminary to the college stage. There
had been important changes in the curriculum and the aims
which had enabled it to take its place with Vassar and
Mount Holyoke and the newly founded Wellesley. It was a
woman's college with all that the term connotes of breadth
of view and the splendor of high idealism--a woman ? s col-
lege with its roots reaching deep into a glorious past, a
past in tftiich sacrifice, faith, and vision were the sus-
taining powers.

218
CHAPTER X

Miss Sill's Resignation and Last Years

On January 30, 1884, Miss Sill tendered her resig-
nation to the Board of Trustees, (1) She had asked for
leave of absence in 1883, and though she had not been
away continuously the first semester that year, she had
gone at intervals to missionary meetings, alumnae gather-
ings, and on visits to her niece in Ridgeland for much
needed rest. Miss Sarah A. Jenness had come from Abbot
Academy at Andover, Massachusetts, to relieve her of some
of the duties of the principalship. (2)

That her resignation had for some time been contem-
plated we know from her letter of resignation:

"I have for a long time past contemplated
severing wholly my connection with this institution
over which I have presided, laying down the re-
sponsible and honorable work you have committed to
me, and have only delayed doing so in hope of see-
ing it on a better financial basis before leaving
it. "(3)

She felt the strain of the work becoming heavier, and she

wanted freedom so that she might devote her time to other

interests .

After "a long and full conference" the Board took

action on the letter, accepting her resignation to take ef-

(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, February V, 1884.

(2) Rockford Register, November 14, 1883. According to the
records of the Abbot Academy Alumnae Association, Miss
Jenness was a graduate of Abbot in 1864 and of Boston
University School of Medicine in 1889.

(3) Records of the Board of Trustees, February V, 1884.

219

feet at the end of the semester or the end of the year.(l)
Later she was asked to "retain the personal charge of
the Senior class studies" until the end of the year, which
she did.

It is interesting to note that one of the last steps
she took before her resignation, was to place before the
Board of Trustees, at a special meeting on June 10, 1883,
her views on the condition of the Seminary, and these
viev/s had largely to do with its financial condition. (2)
Unfortunately her stat merit is not recorded. As a result
a conference was held immediately, and it was voted

1. "That there i shall "be a reduction of terms to
students for board and general tuition,

2. "That we have a public meeting in behalf of
the Seminary, if circumstances will justify it,
and that the ladies who are honorary members of
board be appointed to ascertain that fact, by
seeing leading persons of the town and by getting
them committed to the movement (to raise the
$50,000 contemplated) so far as speaking and
co-operation is concerned." (3)

The first action was designed to keep the oppor-
tunities open to girls who could not afford a college
education but who would benefit by it. In regard to the
second point nothing was done, Mrs. Seely Perry reporting
at the annual meeting on June 24 that the time was not

auspicious for a public meeting. From this time on, how-
ever, it seems that the endowment v/as pushed v/ith greater

(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, February 7, 1884

(2) Ibid, June 10, 1883.

(3) Ibid.

^20

vigor.

The alumnae banquet of 1884, held directly after
the commencement exercises, was an occasion of great
significance. The alumnae must have felt strongly what
Mr. Goodwin has so fittingly remarked in his Memorial
Volume (page 31) as being true of Miss Sill v/hen she

resigned:

■■

'"it is said of one of England's greatest men
that 'nothing so became his life as the leaving
of it.!"(l)

After thirty-five years of labor, years in which her
whole life had been a part of the Seminary, she was
leaving it, and yet leaving it with the dignity and
grace with which she did all things. The work was by no
means finished, but finished it never could be. And her
part in it was not small. She had set upon it the seal
of years lived in earnest work and prayer, and as her in-
fluence had moulded it, so it was to go on — giving, as she
had given of her life, its best to each generation. Few
women are privileged to leave so mighty a monument.

After the dinner was over, Mrs. William Lathrop in-
troduced Miss Sill, who spoke for the last time as their
beloved principal, to the alumnae:

"Mrs. President and Dear Friends:

"There are times when silence speaks with a
greater power than words. There are occasions
when the heart is too full for utterance, yet

(1) Macbeth, Act I, sc.4, 1.8.

221

gratitude and love must unseal the lips. As I
have taken the hand of each and looked into your
faces once more, the years have vanished, and you
are the same dear girls as when you met in my
room. It is true some of you left the old home-
stead some time ago to do the work given you to
do, and you have won laurels for your alma mater,

nYou have been remembered at the family
altar, and we gladly welcome you home again,
laden with sheaves. You have 'fought a good
fight J and have grown strong. Others of the
younger daughters have but a shadow of care upon
their faces. You are eaually welcome, and es-
pecially welcome our younger girls, who are so
often the pets of the household.

"Changes you see for the better, changes you
know must be made, and we may not lift the veil
of the future. God has mingled the contingent
and certain in all human affairs to lead us both
to act and to trust. Whatever may be the changes,
let your love for the Seminary which gave you
fostering care be unchanged. Duty sometimes has
a stern voice, and calls for sacrifices to bring
about the greater good, and they must be made.
Through death comes life. I have labored to secure
the Seminary permanency; have tried to lay well
the foundation, keeping ever in view a high ideal
to be some time reached; and working toward such
an end through all these years. There has been
precious fruit by the way, and through lifcht and
darkness, through storm and sunshine, the burden
has been lightened, because the work has been a
labor of love, which saw great possibilities for
good. Love for the cause of Christian education
of young women, and you know love is its own re-
ward.

"Through all the past the alumnae have been
my strength and support in many ways, and today I
thank you in my heart of hearts in a deeper sense
than words can express. The endowment fund was an
expression of love in a two-fold sense — love for the
institution and love for your teacher, and every
token of love and affection has brought me comfort,
and given me sometimes, as it seemed to me, a new
lease of life, and often filled my eyes with tears.

"Wherever I may be I cannot be separated from
Rockford Seminary. Think of me as always here, for
'wherever the treasure is, there will be the heart
also.1 Once more I say love unites, and so I cannot

222

be separated in spirit from the institution any
more than I can from you. Love and deep interest
annihilate time and space, and must be an eternal
bond of union. Come home then annually, to mark
the onward progress of your Alma Mater, and ever
pray that the Divine presence may always abide
here, giving true wisdom to all.w(l)

After Miss Sill's speech there were toasts, and a
purse of $200 was presented to her. At the alumnae
business meeting the association resolved to raise
§5000 within the next five years, the interest of which
was to be applied to the principal's salary. (2) In the
evening there was a large reception for Miss Sill in the
Seminary parlors. And so the Commencement of 1884 closed.

On August 12 a special meeting of the Board of
Trustees v/as called to elect a successor to Miss Sill,
and Miss Martha Hillard was unanimously elected principal.
Miss Hillard was well fitted by temperament and training
for the task. (3) The daughter of a Connecticut clergy-
man(4) and a near relative of Professor George Hillard
"whose school books (were) in use all over the land, and
whose authority in educational matters (had) never been
questioned, outranked only by the late Horace Mann in the
old Bay State," (5) she came of a family of strong scho-
lastic traditions. She was educated at a New England
academy, and went to Vassar, from which institution she

(1) Rockford Daily Register, June 26, 1084.

(2) Records of Alumnae Association, June 26, 1884.

(3) Records of the Board of Trustees, August 12, 1884.

(4) Jubilee Book, p. 18.

(5) Rockford~DaTly Gazette, June 28, 1884.

223

was graduated in 1878. She had taught three years in

the common schools, and for an equal number of years

had been an assistant in mathematics at her alma mater.

The future of the seminary looked very bright under Miss

Hillard. And indeed her administration proved to be as

successful as the friends of the Seminary anticipated, (l)

her personal magnetism and intellectual strength making

her beloved by all. (2)

It was no easy task for Miss Sill to retire, but she

met the situation with dignity and fortitude. Mr. Goodwin

in his Memorial Volume (page 32) comments upon her attitude

in the following paragraph:

"That this retirement from the activities and
occupations of a life-time, though unavoidable and
voluntary, should be a severe trial to Miss Sill
was inevitable from the constitution and quality of
her mind. She, whose life was labor and whose joy
was imparting and doing good, to find herself with
nothing to do; she whose mind and will had been the
directing and moving force of the Institution which
she had founded and built up, to quietly resign her
place to others; she who had taught for more than
forty-five years, and had lived surrounded by a
circle of admiring and devoted pupils, to live
henceforth outside the circle, a passive spectator,
and no longer the center, of this young and growing
life — was perhaps the hardest and severest trial of
her life. But she met it with rare fortitude and
serenity. She accepted the situation, as she had
all others where Providence had placed her, as that
which her Heavenly Father had appointed, and there-
fore what was best . But her interest in the Semi-
nary, as the child of her love and care, suffered
no abatement, and she still sought diligently to
know how she could best promote its welfare and do
good to the young minds and hearts she could no
longer control and teach."

During the next five years she did much "for the

school" in various waysr-by keeping in touch v/lth the
TD Jubilee Book, p. 18. .

(2) Mrs. E. L. Herrick.

224

alumnae, helping with the work of the Student Aid and
Missionary Societies, and "beginning the art collection. ( 1)
She wrote "hundreds and hundreds of letters to the alumnae
binding their hearts to her and the Seminary, interesting
them and acquainting them, and many other friends besides,
with the needs of the institution, and she visited many
of the alumnae in their homes. "(2) Her visits to alumnae
associations were always eagerly anticipated. The year
after she resigned she was present at the January meeting
of the Chicago association. (3 ) At this meeting the group
was organized as the Rockford Seminary Reunion Associa-
tion, with as its purpose "the continuance of interest in
the oeminary and in each other." There were to be offi-
cers who would arrange the reunions, and provisions were
also made for a yearly banquet in Chicago on the third
Friday of January. (4) Miss Sill talked on The Old Home-
stead and Miss Hi Hard on Tomorrow the Child of Yester-
day. In November, 1887, she,with Miss Hillard,Miss Sarah
Anderson, and Prof .Hood, was present at the organization
of the Iowa Association in Cedar Rapids and of the Free-
port, Illinois, Association. At this time she visited
many of the alumnae in Iowa.(j?)

(1) Letter of Miss Sill to Mrs. L. Van Hook, June 17,188?.

(2) Mrs.Liary Clark Wadsworth, 1884.

(3) Rockford Daily Register, Jan. 17, 1885.

(4) PampMet in college safe.

(3) Letter of Miss Sill to Mrs. L. Van Hook, Mar. 3, 1 888 .

22^

In June, 1888, she appeared before the alumnae for
the last time. She had returned to the Seminary from
Ridgeland just before commencement. "Every heart throb-
bed as they heard again her voice telling of the hidden
history of the Seminary, its aims, its trials, its
triumphs; and heard her plead that, as the workers
changed from time, each alumna should do her full duty
in making real that high ideal of intellectual culture
coupled with purest and truest moral and Christian
growth." (1)

In 1885 a new organization was formed, the Student's
Aid Society. This was an outgrov/th of the old organiza-
tion, the Rockford Education Society, whose purpose, too,
was to aid worthy but needy students. All the money
raised or given to this society was to be used for stu-
dents; the expenses were to be borne by the Seminary.
The officers were Mrs. W. A. Talcott, president; Miss
Sill, corresponding secretary; Miss Sarah Anderson,
treasurer, and Mrs. D. S. Clark, recording secretary i
Besides these officers there were several vice-presi-
dents, one in charge of the work in each state, and a
Board of Managers, composed of five members, by whom,
with the officers, the society was governed. A great
part of Miss Sill's correspondence pertained to the work
of this organization. (2)

(1) Rockford Register, June 24, 1888.

(2) According to the Rockford Weekly Gazette, June 20,
1887, twelve students had been assisted to the
amount of §862. 78 and $1200 had been invested.

226

Aside from assisting with, the home missionary so-
ciety, she often represented the Seminary at the meetings
of various larger organizations. Her missionary zeal,
even after a space of more than forty years, seemed to
have abated not a whit. While she was exceedingly
interested from an art point of view in the art gallery
which she had begun "with photographic views at Rome of
the- old masters of statuary, architecture, and painting, n

there was the hope, she wrote Mrs. Van Hook, that
these collections might have a secondary effect. (l)
She goes on in this same letter to tell her that she has
views from the Sandwich Islands and India, the gifts
of former students in the missionary field, and is hoping
for some from Japan, Turkey, and Persia, remarking that
"these are especially of missionary interest to the
girls'." At the time Mrs. Van Hook was in Persia.

It would seem that her health, none too robust,
must have suffered acutely from the demands upon her time
and health which these various activities made. It must
have been her wonderful spirit and her interest in people
which kept- her buoyed up*

That her spirit was as beautiful as ever, --hopeful,
sympathetic, interest edy-we know from her few letters

v/hich have' survived. There was in them always an alert

(1) Letter of Miss Sill to Mrs. L. Van Hook, June 14,1387.

227

interest in what was going on in the Seminary; she was

constantly thoughtful of the affairs of others. While

she was in fact removed from her own work, it would

seem that she never felt really apart from it. The habits

of thought of the teacher were still a part of her. In

a letter again to Mrs. Van Hook, March 3, 1888, she says:

"Do not' all teachers feel alike in many things?

How can they but feel a deep interest in the souls
being developed for time and eternity? It is a
glorious work and we influence by what we are."

This power to project herself into the lives of others,

always so strong in her, sustained her.

But greater than her interest in the art gallery,

the alumnae, foreign missions, even the Seminary itself,

was her interest in little Robert Sill Chapman, the

son of Mrs. Amelia Hollister Chapman, her sisters

daughter, who had been like an own daughter to her. After

her retirement she spent a good deal of time in Ridgeland

with this niece, — Minnie, she affectionately called her, —

as Mrs. Chapman was not well. There are constant references

in her letters to her and to little Robert, who was born

February 2,. 1884. His development was a constant source

of wonder to her. Every childish prank as he grew into

babyhood further endeared him to her. Those years must

have been hapoy ones, now in Ridgeland and now at the

Seminary, where she was loved by those who knew her and

reverenced by the new girls as she moved silently through

the halls. It was a momentous occasion when a student was

asked to her rooms and shown her collection of curios or

228

told about the old seminary.

And as the years passed, she saw many changes which
must have been highly gratifying to her who had always
looked into the future with such strong faith. The plant
was greatly improved. At her resignation about $25,000
of the $50,000 contemplated had been raised. That fall
a new brick addition had been built, plumbing installed,
electric bells, a post office, and telephone and tele-
graphic connections. ( l) The following year aside from
other improvements, the chemistry laboratory was moved to
the basement into larger and better quarters, and a
physics. laboratory was prepared. (2)

She had always been greatly interested in physical
education, and she lived to see Sill Hall built, in
which was a gymnasium furnished with all the best and
latest equipment for the work and under the care of a
specially trained director, presumably a Sargent School
graduate as she worked on Dr. Dudley A. Sargent's prin-
ciples and used his apparatus • (3)

Sill Hall, which was begun in August, 1886,(4) was
dedicated January 14, 1887, with a banquet and public
exercises, ( 5) the program of which was as follows:

(1) Rockford Daily Register, Aug. 1, 1885.

(2) 'Rockford Daily Gazette, Sept. 22, 1885.

(3) Rockford Daily Register, Dec. 14, 1886.

(4) Ibid, Aug. 14, 1886.

(5) Ibid, Jan. 11, 1886.

22?

Prayer Rev. Hiram Foote

Hymn

Dedicatory Address Prof , Joseph Snerson

Piano Solos Miss Elizabeth Blake

The Hon oral) leness of

Our Pa&t Mrs. George Pratt

Songs Glee Club

Piano Solo Mary Roxy Wilkins
A College Education

for Our Girls Dr. F.A.Noble, of Chicago

The new hall, which was pronounced "perfect in every
detail, "contained besides the gymnasium "whose apparatus
and appointments (were )as complete as any of the Eastern
gymnasia, "^practice and recitation rooms for the music
department and several music studios. It was lighted by
gas and heated by steam. ( 1 )

The Seminary was now generally considered as being
established as/college. In 1886 the first class to en-
ter and to complete the four-year college course since
the practice of giving diplomas had been adopted, was
graduated. There were eight graduates, five of whom were
given degrees, and eight in the music course. (2) Dr. Lyman
Abbott gave the commencement address. (3)

In 1888 the Seminary awarded the only two M. A. de-
grees ever given for work, to Miss Catharine Waugh(now
Mr s.Frank H.McCulloch) ,of the class of 1 88 2, and Miss

(1) Rockford Daily Register, Jan. 1 5 T 1887.

(2) Rockford College Bulletin, 1 921-1 922.

(3) Rockford Weekly Gazette. June 30,1886.

The exercises were held in the chapel, which was beau-
tifully decorated: "on one side was a bark under fulx
sail, its mast and sail adorned with blossoms. An arhh
of daisies was sprung over the center of the stage,
and from it hung suspended the figure '86, made from
pansies. "
■% The story is told of a gentleman from Texas who wanted

230

Mabel Hurd Walker (now Mrs. Charles E. Herrick), of the
class of 1886. Both Mrs. McCullOfcJs, and Mrs. Herrick
are at present members of the Board of Trustees. whether
the requirements as set for these young women were made
to fit the individual cases, it is impossible to say.
There seems to be no record beyond the fact that the de-
grees were granted. Mrs. McCulloch had been graduated
from the Union College of Law (in Chicago) in 1886, and
had b ■■- n admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of
Illinois that year. She offered her lav/ training, two
years of professional work, special work in economics, and
a thesis, Woman's Wages, and she took an examination. ( 1)
Mrs. Herrick did special work with the teachers of Greek
and German, wrote a thesis, and took an examination.
Her thesis and examination paper were sent to Beloit, and
were corrected by a committee there. (2)

Most important of all, however, was the work done for
the endowment fund. As has been said before, Mr. \7. A.
Talcott was indefatigable in his efforts for the fund.
Miss Hillard went East on trips to secure money. Her work
was well systematized; she kept records of possible donors,
classifying them carefully as to their ability to give and

to choose a school for his daughter where the best ad-
vantages for bodily training were given. He went to
Boston, and there consulted the late Dr. Dudley A. Sar-
gent, founder of the Sargent Normal School for Physical
Education, who recommended hockford.

(1) Mrs. Catharine waugh McCulloch

(2) Mrs. Charles E. Her 'dele.

231

the probability of their giving. She secured and re-
corded letters of recommendation from many prominent
people; Mr, Shelby M. Cullom, United States Senator
from Illinois; Mr. Benjamin R. Sheldon, a member of the
Supreme Bench of Illinois; Rev. Washington Gladden, of
Columbus, Ohio; Rev. David Swing, of Chicago; President
A. L. Chapin, of Beloit College; Mr. Alexander Kerr, of
Madison, Wisconsin; Mrs. Charlotte Emerson Brown, of
East Orange, New Jersey. Appeals were made to individuals
who were known to be philanthropic . (1) Editorials were
published in New York and Chicago papers. All this pub-
licity bore fruit. It is sad to think that Miss Sill
could not have known of the biggest gift. Just after
her death, in June, 1889, through the efforts of Miss
Jessie Spafford, a teacher in the Seminary, Mr. John
Quincy Adams, of Wheat on,- Illinois, gave to the Seminary
the sum of $15,000 on condition that the city would raise
a like sum, for a science building. Later Mr. Talcott
persuaded Mr. Adams to will $50,000 to the Seminary. (2)
When the matter was put to the alumnae, that June they

(1) An appeal was made to John D. Rockefeller for $1000.
A letter from him in the college safe carries the
message that he regrets not being able to help the
fund. It is interesting to know that since then
the Rockefeller Foundation has made extensive gifts
to the college, one to the recent endowment fund for
v135,000.

(2) Miss Emma Enoch, financial Secretary, Rockford College

232

resolved to raise one-fifth of the amount set for Rock-
ford, and before the meeting adjourned, they had pledged
$845.(1) The end of the $50,000 campaign was in sight.

In the spring of 1888 Miss Hillard after a successful
administration, resigned to become,. on August 22, the wife
of Mr. Andrew McLeish, of Chicago. (2) Since her resig-
nation, she has always been interested in the college, and
at one time served as a member of the Board of Trustees.

Her place was filled by Miss Anna Bordwell Gelston,
the daughter of a Presbyterian clergyman in Michigan.
She was principal from 1888 to 1890. Miss Gelston had
been graduated in 1881 from Michigan in the scientific
course, and had been recommended for the position by Pres.
Angell. She had taught at YJ'ellesley, and had been offered
the chair of English Literature there, but had refused
it. When she came to Rockford, she had just returned
from England where she had been studying for tv/o years
at Oxford. The trustees were highly impressed by her
qualifications. (3) .During her tv/o year!s service, she
lived up to their expectations and to the glowing reports
of her in the press.

So during the five years of her retirement, Miss
Sill saw the principalship pass from Miss Hillard to Miss

(1) Rockford Morning Star, June 27, 1889.

(2) Rockford Daily Register, Aug. 23, 1888.

( 3 ) Rockford Daily Register, Rockford Daily Gazette,
May, 14, 1883.

233

Gel st on, both finely endowed and equipped women who
carried on her work to the best advantages of the Semi-
nary,

In the spring of 1889 Miss Sill!s last surviving
brother, his wife, and two children died, within a few
weeks of each other. The anxiety and shock undoubtedly
shortened her life. She was with Mrs. Chapman at the
time, and was attacked by the same disease, pneumonia.
Careful nursing, however, pulled her through, and she
seemed to be regaining her strength when suddenly little
Robert was snatched away after an illness of a few days.
This second shock was too much for her. The doctor
advised her to return to Rockford as soon as she was
able. This she did about the middle of May. Though she
was calm and cheerful as always, the lightness was gone
from her step and the life from her eyes. She went about
the halls as usual, drove a few times with friends, and
saw callers at the Seminary. About ten days before her
death she became confined to her room. Founder's Day
came and went, and she saw no one. To her great disap-
pointment none of the old friends came to her. She could
hear them in the halls and about the grounds, (there was
a reception for the townspeople), and she lay there,
thinking that she was forgotten. She did not know that
the doctors had given orders that she see no one. They
realized that the end was near. She was strongly
desirous of recovery, and when she asked their frank

234

opinion regarding her condition and they gave it to her,
she received it calmly and silently. She gave no
directions as to her funeral or natters in which she was
interested. (1)

The few remaining days of her life she spoke little.
It seemed as if her mind had already been released. On
Tuesday, June 18, about six-thirty, she slipped quietly
away. (2)

The funeral services*in the chapel on the twentieth
were simple as she would have wished. There was no note
of sadness about them as there were none of her immediate
family to mourn her, only a sister of advanced years in
New York State. It was not as if she were leaving some

(1) Mrs. E. L. Herrick.

(2) Announcement to Alumnae and Friends of Rockford
Seminary, Miss Anna B. Gelston.

# Mrs. E. L. Herrick, and Rockford Daily Register,
June 21, 1889, and June 14, 1889.

The services in the chapel were composed of two
selections from the scriptures by Dr. Barrov/s, two
hymns by the congregation, a solo, Asleep in Jesu3 ,
a simple prayer by Rev. Mr. Goodwin, whose church
Miss Sill had attended and who had been a trustee
of the Seminary since 1853. At the grave there was
an equally simple service: her favorite hymn,
Father, Whate'er of Earthly Bliss, a selection from
the scriptures by Dr. W.M. Barrows, and the bene-
diction by the Rev. W. W. Leete.

The bo$y was interred in the West Side cemetery
in a grave lined with flowers. For the brief time
of the services, the clouds of the morning lightened,
and the rain ceased. It had been first suggested
that her burial place be on the campus ; but that
plan was not pursued. The trustees bought a lot
in the West Side Cemetery, known as the Seminary

235

one dependent upon her. Those who attended felt that
they were privileged to witness a ceremony in which all
the beauty and the dignity of her life were expressed.
It was alrost as if already she "belonged to the a&es."
The chapel platform was banked with flowers. On the
casket v/ere two sago palms, emblematic of victory, and
on her vacant chair which stood in its accustomed place*
a wreath of white flowers. There were present scores
of people, --friends, alumnae, trustees, students. (1)

Within a short time a fund of $1000, the records

(2)

of which are in the college safe, was started to erect

a monument over her grave in the West Side Cemetery.

A simple shaft of Montello granite (from Wisconsin) marks

her resting place. The inscription reads:

"Anna Peck Sill

Pounder of
Rockford College
Born
August 9, 1816
Died
June 18, 1889."

At a luncheon and memorial service held by the

alumnae on June 19, plans v/ere made to raise a memorial

fund which v/ould be given to the Student Aid society. (5)

lot. The pall bearers were Messrs. T. D. Robertson,
G. A. Sanford, D. N. Hood, r. h. Tinker, Seely Perry,
William Lathrop, Henry Freeman, and Dr. D. S. Clark;
Mesdames E. L. Herrici, E. H. Baker, David Mead, Caro-
line Potter Brazee, E. T. Cleveland, E. P. Thomas,
Stephen Caswell, and Miss Mary E. Preston. The alumnae
were present in a body, and acted as honorary pall bearers.

(1) Mrs. E. ». Herrick

(2) Erected in 1894. $928* 14 contributed. Miss Mary
E. Holmes , treasurer, and then Mrs. Clarai G. Sanford.
Correspondence and bills in the college safe.

(3) Rockford Daily Register, June 19, 1889.

236

The commencement exercises were only, a week away.
It was a question as to what should be done in regard
to them. Finally it was decided that she would like
them to go /as if nothing had happened; only the class
'play was omitted. (1) The baccalaureate services were
held on June 23, at which Mr. Goodwin delivered an ad-
dress on woman suffrage, and commencement day was on the
twenty-fifth.

At the commencement exercises the largest class since
the Seminary had been raised to collegiate rank was grad-
uated, fifteen in number. Seven bachelor's degrees were
awarded. (2) That evening at the alumnae dinner a memo-
rial service took the place of the usual toasts. Among
those who spoke were Mrs. C. A. Brazee of the class of
1855; Mrs. Seely Perry, 1863; Mrs. Dexter S. Clark;
Mrs. George Pratt, 1860, and Miss Adelaide Olmsted, 1889.
Mrs. E. T. Cleveland, 1858, read a memorial poem written
by Mrs. Jennie G. Forbes, 1858.(3)

Each year on alumnae day a simple service is held
at the grave of Miss Sill, and the alumnae renew their
pledge of faith to her and to the college. Those who
knew and loved her are growing fewer in number as the

(1) Miss Ama Taylor, 1889.

(2) Rockford College Bulletin, 1921-192^,

(3) Rockford Morning Star, June 27, 1889,

237

years go by, but their loyalty is undimmed by the
passage of time. When they come back to the old halls
and mingle with the gay commencement throngs, it is
as if she were sending a message to us down the long
years. What a privilege it is to touch lives with
them, --these students of the old Rockford who caught
a glimpse of her vision-splendid, and are passing on to
us the precious memory of it! It is for us to catch
the gleam and keep it in our hearts. So long as we do,
the old Rockford will live in all the glory of its
early days, and give of its precious heritage to the
new Rockford.

APPENDIX

A. SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTERS

240

Chapter I
The Trustees of "Miss Sill»s School"

Although "Miss vSillfs School" was begun as "an in-
dependent enterprise/! (1) it had the earnest support as
well as the patronage of the village. The Board of Trus-
tees, several of whom had been present at some or all of
the conventions to found Beloit College and the Seminary
and were among the incorporators of the Seminary, was com-
posed of the Rev. L. H. Loss, Rev. J. C. Parks, Jason
Marsh, Bela Shaw, S. M. Church, Anson Miller, T. D. Ro-
bertson, C. A. Huntington, E. H. Potter, Asa Crosby, and
Dr. George Haskell. (2)

An interesting group, and a picturesque one, too,
were these men. The Rev. Mr. Loss came to Rockford to be
pastor of the First Congregational Church when the new
building was erected on the corner of South First and

Walnut Streets. Here he remained until he left the vil-
lage in the autumn of 1849 (3) to go to Joliet. (4) In
1850 we find him occupying the pulpit of the Third Pres-
byterian Church, of Chicago, and expressing pronounced
views in favor of abolition. (5) Mr. Church speaks of
him as a "man of ability and thorough education." He
died In Marshalltown, Iowa. (6)

That Miss Sill depended upon him for advice and
spiritual comfort we know from what she wrote at Mr.
Loss1 departure:

"I feel that I shall indeed be shut up to the
faith, and left to trust in God alone ror tne pro-
secution of this work. And thus it has always been
when I began to lean on earthly props. T feel that
God would discipline me to faith. My desire for
usefulness is an insatiable thirst which increases
as the field widens before me. It seems to nerve
every energy of my being, but how shall I attain
the desired object? Oh, for more holiness of heart,
for entire consecration to Godl What can I, a
feeble finite creature do? I feel in want of all
things. How much wisdom, prudence, zeal, tem-

(1) Eeport appended to Catalogue of 1860-61, p. 30.

{2 ) Church, The History of Rockford, p. 94.

(3) ibid, p.-gr;

(4) Moses and Kirkland, The History of Chicago,
vol. II, p. 332.

(5) Ibid, p. 17.

(6) Church, The History of Rockford, p. 94.

<■ »

241

pered with moderation, is requisite to fill my sta-
tion! I do see and feel the leading, guiding hand
of my heavenly Father reached down to help, and this
does sustain me. I am sure of this--yea, as sure
as though it were visible to the senses. Then what
need I fear though he take away all earthly sup-
port? Only, 0 God, extend my influence for good,
make me more prayerful, more and more devoted to
humanity." (1)

The Rev. J. C. Parks was another of the incorpora-
tors; but no data concerning him are available.

Mr. Jason Marsh was born in Woodstock, Vermont, in
1807. Y/hen he was sixteen, he moved to Saratoga, New
York, (2) and eight years later, he was admitted to the
bar and began to practice in Adams, Jefferson County,
New York. He was the brother-in-law of the three Spaf-
ford Br others, --Charles, Amos, and John, all of whorn
were good friends to the Seminary, --and came with them
to Rockford in 1839.

Here he was a valuable and active member of the com-
munity, taking an interest in various civic enterprises
and social activities. He served in the Civil War, and
was wounded at the battle of Missionary Ridge. (3)

That he was, as Mr. Church has said, Ma bold, daring
man, a fluent speaker, ready for any emergency, and well
adapted to a new country,11 is proved by his action at the
mob trial of David and Taylor Driscoll, frontier bandits
and the murderers of John Campbell, the Captain of the
Regulators. When the arrangements for the executions had
been made, Mr. Marsh proposed to Mr. Charles Latimer, who
was in charge of affairs, that he be allowed to defend the
prisoners. (4) We have the testimony of Mr. Ralph Chaney,
who was present, "That he did himself credit, and full jus-
tice to the prisoners." (5)

Mr. Marsh spent the later years of his life on a
farm in Durand, Illinois, and died in Chicago in 1881.(6)

(1) Goodwin, Memorial Volume, p. 16-17.

(2) Church, The History of Rockford, p. 91.

(3) Ibid, p. 119.

(4) Ibid, p. 88.

(5) Ibid, p. 179.

(6) Ibid, p. 179.

^42

Judge Bela Shaw, who came to the community in 1038,(1)
also took a prominent part in its affairs. His home on
East State Street was one of the most imposing in the vil-
lage. He was born in Dighton, Bristol County, Massachu-
setts, and died in Rockford May 31, 1865, at the age of
s'eventy-eight . He went early to Windsor County, Vermont,
and then to Canada, where he was involved in the troubles
of the Patriot War. To escape these he came to Rockford,
where he made a place for himself, serving as judge of
the probate court and for some years as first supervisor
from Rockford after the organization of the county under
the township organization laws. To this office he was
re-elected several times without opposition. (2)

Another of these trustees was Anson Miller, (son of
Luther Miller, of Connecticut ), (3) a prominent lav/yer
and politician not only in Rockford but in New York State
whence he had come. He was postmaster under Lincoln, a
probate judge, (4) and in 1864 one of the presidential
electors, and a member of the state legislature. (5) Mr.
Church describes him as "one of the old-time characters,
dignified, slightly pompous, with a fund of good stories
which he could relate ad libitum". (6)

In 1871 he went to California, where he died twenty
years later at the s ge of eighty-two. (7)

Mr. T. D. Robertson was another substantial citizen
who took an active part in the affairs of the community.
His early life was full of color and romance. Born in
Scotland in 1818, he moved to London when he was small,
and went to school on the Island of Sheppey. With his
brother he subsequently published a magazine, known as
The Mechanic's Magazine.

He came to Rockford in 1838, and studied law there
and at Madison, Wisconsin. He was admitted to the bar,
and became a prominent practitioner and business man.
With John Holland he opened the first banking house in the
city. This was in 1848. Prom then on he gradually re-
linquished his law practice, and devoted his time to bank-

(1
(2
(3
(4
(5
(6
(V

Church, The History of Rockford, p. 130.
Rockford Register, June 5, 1865.
Rockford Forum, "Aug. 14, 1844.
Church, The History of Rockford, p. 206.
Ibid, 206.

Ibid, 206
Ibid, 169
Ibid, 206

243

ing and real estate, (1) He was a trustee of Rockford
Seminary from 1850 to 1901, and, for many years, of Be-
loit College also.

Mr, C. A. Huntington came to Rockford from Racine in
1845, and on November 5 of that year opened his academy,
which he conducted until 1849. He and Robert Barnes, that
same year, established the first book store in the city.
From 1850 to 1857 he served as school commissioner * for the
town. He remained in the town until 1864 when he moved to
the Par West. (2)

Among families whose members have continued their ac-
tive interest in the Seminary and the College down to the
present, was that of Mr. E. Hubbell Potter. His daughter,
Mrs. Adeline Potter Lathrop, was valedictorian o f the
first class. Her daughter, Miss Julia Lathrop, attended
the college, and has served as a trustee, and her son,
Mr. Edward Lathrop, is now president of the Board of Trus-
tees.

Mr. Potter was a native of Fairfield County, Connec-
ticut. When he was about seventeen years old, he ,vent
with his parents to western New York State. At Medina he
met Samuel D. Preston with whom he subsequently came to
Rockford and went into business. His interest was not con-
fined to the foundation of the Seminary, though in this,
particularly as he had daughters to educate, he was vital-
ly interested. He was active in church and civic affairs,
too, and served the town in various capacities. (3)

When Dr. Goodwin prepared a memorial address on the
fiftieth anniversary of the First Congregational Church,
(Mr. Potter became a member in 1837, the year it was or-
ganized), he spoke in the highest terms of Mr. Potter, re-
ferring to him as "indeed a pillar both of the church and
the community whose firmness and solidity of character no
force of circumstances or the opinions of others could
shake." (4) Rockford was fortunate in having Mr. Potter
and other men of hi s type in the days when the foundations
of the city were being laid.

The Hon. Selden M. Church was a native of New Eng-
land. The year that he was born, 1804, his father moved
to New York State. Most of his boyhood and young manhood

(1) Church. The Hie forv of Rockford* p. 121.

(2) Ibid, 275.

(3) Ibid, 48.

(4) Ibid, 287.

244

he spent in farming. When he was twenty-four years old,
he became a teacher in the public school system of Cin-
cinnati, one of the first teachers after the system was
organized. The next year he returned to New York state,
to Rochester, where he engaged in the mercantile busi-
ness in which he continued. (l) In 1835 he came to Chi-
cago with a team. Prom there he went to Geneva, Illinois,
and the next year, in the autumn of 1836, came to Rock-
ford. (2)

The first few years in the town he spent in getting
out logs and disposing of them to the mill men, and in
clerking for Germanicus Kent. (3) In 1839 he was appoint-
ed county clerk, and in 1840 postmaster. Prom then on he
took an active part in the life of the town. (4)

Mr. Asa Crosby, who was one of the earliest settlers,
lived in Rockford for many years, and was known as a good
citizen. On May 19, 1837, two weeks after it was organ-
ized, he became a member of the First Congregational
Church. (5) Pie served, as juryman at the first court ses-
sion, held at the home of Daniel Haight on the East Side. (6)
Dr. Goodwin spoke of Deacon Crosby in his address on the
fiftieth anniversary of the church as "one of those si-
lent, modest, thoughtful and steadfast souls whose power
lies in their character rather than in what they say and
do."

About Dr. George Haskell there is a mantle of ro-
mance; he is immortalized as the schoolmaster in Whit-
tier's Snow Bound.

His home was on the west side of the river, on a rise
of ground sloping to the 'west, south, and east, with an
unobstructed view of the surrounding country. Here he
planted mulberry trees and bred silk-worms, the first silk-
raising venture, I dare say, in the section. Mr. Church
describes a visit to the Haskell home, when he found Mrs.
Haskell and her daughter knitting silk stockings for
themselves from silk which they had prepared. (7)

(1) The History of Winnebago County 1877 p. 472.

(2) (jhurch, The History of Rockford, p. 41.

(3) The History of Winnebago County p. 472.

(4) Church, The History of Roclcford, p. 87.

(5) Ibid, p. 100.

(6) Ibid, p. 100.

(7) Ibid, p. 115.

245

Dr. Haskell was the son of Samuel Haskell, of Har-
vard, Massachusetts, and later of Waterford, Maine. He
was born in Harvard in 1799. After his graduation from
Phillips Exeter Academy, he entered Dartmouth College in
1823, where for two years he studied for an A. B. degree.
He then transferred to the medical school from which he
was graduated in 1827.(1)

During his college course, he taught school (as was
the custom with so many Dartmouth students.) One term he
was in East Haverhill, and had as a student John Green-
leaf Whittier. So great was his impression upon the poetr
in-embryo that Whittier afterwards made him the hero of a
poem that was destined to be read at every fire-side and
learned by children for generations.

Samuel T. Pickard in Volume I, page 34, of his Life
and Letters of John Greenleaf Whittier, alludes thus to
Dr. Haskell:

"Until near the end of Mr. Whittier1 s life, he
could not remember the name of this teacher whose
portrait is so carefully sketched, but he wl.s sure
he came from Maine. At length he remembered that
the name was Haskell, and from this clue it has been
ascertained that he was George Haskell, and that he
came from Waterford, Maine."

In a later chapter ,( page 41, ) Mr. Pickard quotes the
poet as saying that "only two of the teachers who were em-
ployed in that district during his school days were fit
for the not very exacting position they held."

Dr. Haskell began his medical practice in East Cam-
bridge, Massachusetts, in 1827. In 1831, after a year in
East Cambridge and two in Ashby, Massachusetts, he came
to Illinois where he lived, first in Edwardsville, then
in Alton and Rockf ord, until 1866 v/hen he moved to New
Jersey. In Alton he was active in the founding of Shurt-
leff College, and was a trustee and treasurer.

In 1857 Dartmouth conferred upon him the degree of
A. B. as of the class of 1827. He died in Vineland, New
Jersey, in 1876.

His nephew, Rev. Dr. Samuel Haskell, of Kalamazoo,
Michigan, characterizes his as "a man of scholarship, and
enthusiasm, a friend of struggling students, many of whom
he befriended in his home and with his means. "(2)

(1) Church, The History of Rockf ord, p. 115.

(2) Pickard, Life and Letters of Whittier, pp. 34-35.

246

Mr. Church says that from the time of his arrival in
Rockford (He was forced to leave Alton because of his
strong anti-slavery opinions)*- to his removal twenty-eight
years later, he was "a broad-minded representative man of
affairs." His various activities in the religious and
civic enterprises of the city would bear out that state-
ment.

These then were the men who co-operated with Miss
Sill in her new and momentous enterprise. Practical,
wise, and God-fearing — it is no wonder that they builded
wisely and substantially. That they did is attested by
the fact that the college has endured through more than
seventy years, always true to the ideals they held^--
a broad cultural course of collegiate standards for
the women of the "northwest."

Pickard, Life and Letters of Whittier. pp. 34-35.

247

Chapter II

Early Subscriptions

.» Among the records of Rockford College is an old blank
book. Its jjages are yellow and brittle, and much of the
writing is so dim thai it is illegible. It is, however, one
of the most valuable documents in the possession of the
college, for it contains a record of the early subscriptions

The first subscription is dated 1850. It totalled
$3915. The amounts given ranged from $5 to $400. There
were many gifts of $25, $30, and $50, and several for $100,
and one for $200. As all are checked and receipts for
many are recorded, it is to be assumed that all or nearly
all the money, was collected .

The second subscription is not dated, but as the third
subscription was for the second builaing, Linden, begun in
1854, it must have been for the first building. There were
eighteen subscribers, and the amounts ranged from $10 to
$600. Whether the full amount pledged, $21 95, came to the
Seminary or not is uncertain.

The first ladies1 subscription to be recorded must have
been about 18^4, as one of the donors was a teacher who
was at the Seminary only that year. Gifts came from all
the nearby towns, — Belvidere, Ottawa, Elgin, Joliet, Chicago,
Galena. Sewing circles contributed generously, and so did
the teachers. It seems that they must have turned back in-
to the institution the greater part of the meager salaries •
Miss Sill»s gifts reached amazing totals .( 1 )

A perusal of the old records is reveali_.g,not only as
bearing evidence of the personal concern of Rockford for
the project, but also as suggesting the wide-spread inter-
est of 6ther sections. One set of subscriptions from
Masschusetts amounted to $6695.44. There were donors from
Boston, Amherst, Springfield,Newburyport, Manchester, Salem,
Spencer,Andover, Mount Ho lyoke, Cambridge, Worcester, West-
f i exd , Wes tboro , Long Meadow , Enf i eld , Oxford , Emery , Ware , and
Bradford. The Bannisters, --Mrs. Zilpah Grant Bannister,
her husband, and his family, — gave generously of money auu
u>jks and specimens for theTtcabinet,so generously in fact
that the second building was named for their Newburyport
home, Linden Hall. "(2)

(1) A small book in the college safe records the gifts
of the teachers.

(2) Historical Sketch, 1876, p. 7*

248

There were contributions, too , from New York State, from
Rhode Island where the ladies collected $190, from New Jer-
sey, Ohio (a gift again from the ladies, this time of $220),
frog* Maine, and from Wisconsin. A gift of "sundry subscrip-
tions, "amounting to $11 7*59, came from Miss Nancy Emerson
in Virginia. It would be interesting to know if she were
the daughter of Rev. Joseph Emerson ,of Byfield,and later
of Saugus, Massachusetts, and Wethersfield, Connecticut.
His daughter( 1 )was a teacher, and from the letters quoted
in Rev. Ralph Emersonfs life of his distinguished brother,(2)
we learn that she was a migratory sort of person. She
taught not only in her father's school, but at various oth-
er places. We find her in Ipswich; in Boonville.New York;
in Bath,Maine;in Saugus, Massachusetts.

Later donors whose names are well known were Mrs. Walter
Baker, of Dorchester, Massachusetts, and Mr .Henry Fowle
Durant,the founder of Wellesley. Miss Sill's faith in
Providence, Rhode Island, was justified by a gift of $1410
in 1865. A year later a gentleman in East Orange, New
Jersey, gave $1000, up to that time the largest single
gift.

All these years the people of Rockford were giving
more liberally than their means, in some cases too scanty,
would seem to permit, and practicing the strictest econ-
omy to do it. By 1864 the records show that $13,711
had been raised in Rockford. Included in these figures
were eighty acres of landdisted at $800)given by W.H.
Towns end.

Here the record stops. So far as I know there are no
other reoords of subscriptions from those early days.
The amounts seem small to us who are used to thinking of
college "drives "in terms of millions. Most of these gifts,
however, meant some personal sacrifice, and many of them
meant the utmost self-denial, for Rockford was still a
pioneer town.

(1)Nancy Emerson, daughter of Joseph and Eleanor Reed

Emerson, 1806-1864. Emerson genealogy.!). 219.
( 2 )Emer son. Re v.Ralph f The Life of Joseph Emerson.

249

Chapter III

Among the Early Teachers

Important as are endowment and buildings, it goes with-
out saying that the teaching staff of an institution is of
greater importance, Rockford had little of money in those
early days and the equipment was most meager ;but she had
a faculty endowed with intellectual keenness, sympathy,
belief in their task, and an indomitable spirit , without
which the finest plant architects c^n conceive and the
millions indulgent patrons can bestow are nothing. If you
have ueen privileged to know some of these early teachers
or talk to the alumnae about them, you can not fail to be
impressed by their earnestness ;you catch something of the
fire, reflected though it is, at which those early students
so long ago received their inspiration. Without them
Rockford could not have endured.

With Miss^Sill came Miss Hannah Richards whom she had
known in ^ew *ork State, and in Rockford already, as has
been said before, was Miss Eliza Richards, a remarkable
teacher of little children. (1) The latter had almost tone
entire control over the primary department. When she be-
came Mrs .Holmes within the first year, her younger sister,
Malinda came to take her place. Although the Richards
"girls" were well known and loved in the community, it was
of Malinda that we know most. She was, as were her sister
and her cousin, educated at Carey Female. Seminary, where
she met Miss Sill. The little girls loved this pretty
young teacher who brought so many new ideas and ways of
doing things. (2) She was popular in the community, too,
where she was considered quite a belle. (3) In 1 8^2 she
left the Seminary to become Mrs. William Hervey. Through
all the years, she kept in touch with Mrs.E.L.Herrick and
with the Seminary, Mrs'.Herrick was one of her colleagues
and closest friends.

At her death in the sprindof 1?2^ one of the Dubuque
papers said of her:

"She was always young, always ready to absorb
new ideas. She wrote gracefully of herself, and many
of her charming poems reflect her serenity of soul,
her joy in nature, her love for others, and her spirit-
ual beauty . "

Mrs. E.L.Herrick came to Illinois in 18^T with her
sister and brother-in-law who was dftiome missionary to
Twelve-Mile Grove (now Seward ), Illinois. She met Miss
Sill who asked her to come to the Seminary to teach math-
ematics. This she did at the munificent salary of $4.U0pg

\ll Mrs. Katharine Keeler.

(2) Mrs. Caroline Potter Brazee.1855.

(3) Mrs.E.L.Herrick.

2^0

week and board. After three years she returned to the
East, and the following January she came back to Rockford
ao the bride of Mr. E.L. Herrick. ( 1 ) Since then she has
lived in the neighborhood of the college, and has been
closely identified with it in many ways. Her daughter,
Miss Eliaabeth Herrick,was a. teacher of French for many
years. Mrs.Herrick was a close friend of Miss Sill until
the latter1 s death.

Mrs, Herrick was born in Spencer, Massachusetts, in 1828,
and was reared there. When she was sixteen years of age,
she went to Leicester Academy, where she was graduated. ( d)

She was Mrs. Warrens first teacher, and one of Mrs.
Brazee's early teachers. Of her ^rs.Brazee says: "She had
great power to lead her pupils out." Once in a geometry
class she gave Mrs.Brazee a problem to demonstrate. -Mrs.
Brazee went to the board, and when she finished, Mrs.Herrick
said to her, "Well, you got there, but by no route that I
ever heard of." Always wise in her methods of correctiilg,
patient with students in their difficulties, and ever sym-
pathetic, she won the love of all who knew her. Her inter-
est in the college, her capaeity for friendship with this
present student body, and her genial personality, h«ve made
her part of the living Rockford. I cannot express the
debt of gratitude I owe Mrs.Herrick for her friendship,
her sympathy, and her interest and help in this piece off
v/ork.

From Masschusetts,too,Sturbridgetin 18^5-18^6, came
Miss Helen m. Carpenter, a graduate 6"f Mount Holyoke. It
was her first teaching position. (3) &er coming was made
much of by the press. Why she stayed only the one year
we do not know. Fresh from contact with many of the asso-
ciates of Mary Lyon, she brought new ideas and inspiration,
Holyoke Wets held in high esteem.

Closely associated with Miss Sill were Miss Caroline
Bodge, of Rochester, N.H.,( 1855-1863) and ms3 ^^ L-
Crowell, of Essex, Massachusetts, ( 1837-1 863). When Miss
Bodge left to become principal of Fox Lake Seminary ^-Caf-
*terwards Downer College )Miss Crowell went with her. (4)
Miss Crowell came to the Seminary in April, 1837, to teach
history and English language .( 3 ) . Miss Bodge taught
mathematics and natural philosophy, and was in charge of
the £>atin department.

(1 ) Mrs. E.L. Herrick.

(2) Ibid.

(3) Letter from the Mount Holyoke Alumnae Office, Aug. 18 ,

1924.

(4) Scrap Book.

(3) Records of the tfoard of Trustee , Apr. 14, 1 837.
-ft- Jubilee Book. p. 55.

* •

2^1

Within less than a year after she left Miss Bodge
died, March, 30, 1863. A clipping in the scrap book speaks
of her was a Christian woman. Her religion was the re-
ligion df principle. It was the feeling of all her co-
laborers, of all under her care, of all who knew her, that
she meant to do right ;to be just fin little things as well
as great; * .just to all,— and to be uniformly governed by
Christian principles. She was a self-reliant woman in a
good sense, and had faith in God. What she saw for her to
do, she did with her might, and the rest she was willing to
leave with God."

A former student, Mrs. Phoebe L. Woods, of the class
of 1865, writes of Miss Bodge as follows:

"She had a strong personality, honesty, justice
stamped on her face. Love also was there longing to
be reciprocated. Stern and cutting was her look when
a pupil shirked her work or duty, but to my girlish
mind she was unspeakably adorable when she gave a word
or look of approbation. Then the light in her plain
face brought out a winsome beauty. Like Miss Sill she
had a great soul, and was a natural leader. It was not
not strange that such a woman, in time, should find a
place to exercise her ability. She accepted an offer
to become president or principal of Pox Lake Seminary,
a new girls' school located at Pox Lake, Wisconsin.
She took two or three of our teachers. I think one
was the quiet and refined Miss Crowell, another Miss
Clara Strong, a graduate in the music department,
later married to a Micronesian missionary, Rev. Doane,
through the introduction and influence of Miss Sill
who delighted to have any of her girls enter foreign
mission work. Spending one summer in a Wisconsin town
near Pox Lake. I attended the commencement exercises
of Miss Bodge 's school, and learned that she had found
her right place."

Miss Mary White, of Grand Haven, Michigan, a cousin
of Pres. Chapin, of Beloit,(l) who "had been for some
months a teacher in the institution}1 was in July, 1854, ap-
pointed to the Department of Mathematics and Natural
Science. (2) She is said to have been "a friend and former
associate of Mrs. Bannister and Mary Lyon." (3) Mrs. Woods
remembers her as an older woman, a sweet gentle lady of
great refinement." prof . Joseph Emerson said that she
"gave the Seminary the benefit of her rich natural gifts,
and of a culture and experience intellectual and spiritual,
from the circle which gave Mary Lyon to the world. "(4)

(1) Mrs. E. P. Catlin.

(2) Pres. Lucius Chapin1 s address, 1861; Mrs. E. L. Herrick;
Rockf ord Agister, July 20, 1861.

(3) Scrap Book.

(4) Quarter Centennial Address, Joseph Emerson, p. 13.

2^2

When she resigned from the Seminary in 1864 the Board
passed the following resolution:

"Resolved, That in accepting Miss Mary A, White's
resignation, of her two-fold trust in Rockford Female
Seminary ,(Miss White was accountant and teacher^, the
Board of Trustees record their high appreciation of
the exceedingly valuable services which she has ren-
dered this institution during the ten years of her
connection with it, and their regret at the necessity
which constrains her now to withdraw from this field
of labor.

"Admitting the force of the reasons given for taking
this step, and also grateful for all that her faithful,
self-sacrificing efforts have done for the cause of
Christian female education here, our best wishes and
prayers will follow her, in whatever sphere she may
spend her future years of life.n(l)

In 1858 Mr. Daniel N. Hood, the first male member of
the faculty, came to the Seminary. He was head of the
music department until 1895 when he resigned and returned
to the East. Under his leadership the department became
exceptionally strong. Mrs. Chandler Starr in her address
at the seventy-fifth anniversary of the granting of the
charter to the Seminary, February 25, 184V, attributed the
fact that Rockford is known as a musical center to Prof.
Hood. The charter members of the Mendelssohn Club, founded
in 1884, were mostly his pupils.

Not only was he popular at the Seminary but also in
town. Of a genial disposition and a pleasing personality,
he made friends easily, and was at home in any sort of
company. It was one of his jokes that Miss Sill had him
on this entirely female faculty because "she liked to have
a man around .w He had many town contacts both in and out-
side of musical circles. He was of a small group which
met and studied contemporary literature. He directed fre-
quent concerts and operettas for charitable purposes, he
was director in 1875 of the Rockford Musical Association. (2)
But greatest of all was his interest in church music. At
one time he was director of a choir of forty-five voices
in a Chicago Church, which Prof. J. A. Butt erf ield, who
was said to be at the head of his profession in the West
as a conductor and drill master, pronounced the best choir
in Chicago. (3)

Prof. Hood was ninety-two years old in September,
1925. Until 1924 he enjoyed very wonderful health. At

(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, July 6, 1864.

(2) Rockford Register, Nov. 5, 1875.

(3) Ibid, Nov. in, 1^/5.

253

his ninetieth, birthday party he played the piano beauti-
fully. He displayed unusual talent in early childhood.
At six he could read music, and he played the organ in
St, Peter's Church in Salem, Massachusetts, when he was
fourteen. His father was a clergyman, and although he
was very musical himself, he put many obstacles in the way
of his son's adopting music as a profession, saying he
would as soon see him a dancing master.

He came to Rockford because of ill health. The
doctor feared trouble with his lungs, and advised that he
seek a drier climate. He was in New York, studying and
playing the organ, where he had a splendid position and un-
usual prospect 3. wHe played in Dr. Storr's church before
he was eighteen. His career would have been very dif-
ferent if he had remained in the East." As it was, he
has always felt "that he has helped a little in raising the
taste for good music" in this section, (1)

Mrs, Brazee speaks of Prof. Hood as a "sensitive
musician, with a keen appreciation of the power of music
to express emotion." His complaint in recent years has
been of the decline of church music.

Another dearly beloved teacher was Miss Mary E. B.
Norton who came to the Seminary in 1859. Except for brief
periods when she was granted leave of absence for her
health(2) and for a trip to Europe with a class of young
ladies, (3) she remained there until 1875. In 1886 she
went to the Pacific coast, and before any textbook in the
flora of that region had been written, did extensive study
in botany. For a number of years until her resignation in
1916, she was curator of a "small but fine museum that
she had been instrumental in starting and developing. "(4)

Miss Norton was "beloved of all, the friend and
intercessor of every wayward girl. Her natural history
classes were so stimulating that her enthusiasm was con-
tagious." Her students took a great deal of interest in
their herbariums, and were always eager to take long v/alks
to get specimens. (5) A student who was long in foreign
countries speaks of the pleasure that her work with Miss
Norton gave her, of the habit she formed under Miss Norton
of noticing the flowers about her. (6) she was not only
a superior teacher in botany and science, "But her high (7)
ideals as shown in her daily life made her influence great."
She was greatly loved.

(1
(2

(4
(5

(6
(7

Mrs. Jeremiah Campbell, his daughter.

Records of the Board of Trustees, June 25, 1867.

Rockford Register, July 2, 1875.

Mrs. Sarah Anderson Ainsworth, 1869.

Mrs. T. G. McLean, 1867.

Mrs. Loretta Van Hook, 1875.
Mrs. Martha Howard Wells, 1866.

254

Mrs .Martha French G-oodwin was a member of the faculty
at two different periods , before her marriage in 1 854-1 8.5.5
and afterwarus in 1874-1875. In November, 1 B7 5, she resigned
to go to Olivet , Michigan, ( 1 )as Dr. Goodwin had been elected
to the presidency of Olivet College. Mrs. Goodwin, the daugh-
ter of a physicial,was born in New Hampshire, in 1826, and
received her education in -New England. On account of frail
health in 1851 she want to Mobile, Alabama, where she taught
for three years in a iuuiily school. In 1853 she came to
Rockford as instructor in music. There she met and mar~
ried Dr. Goodwin. Later from 1872 to 1 874 she was in Eu-
rope. Upon her return she was elected to the college fac-
ulty to teach literature, history, and art. (2)

During the intervening years she had been in close touch
with the Seminary. She loved Rockford and "everyone in it,
— the very stones of the street are dear to me; "she said on
leaving to go to Olivet. (3) But her time there was short,
for the next March she died . -tier body was brought back to
Raokford for burial, and the funeral was held in the Semina-
ry chapel. (4)

Mrs. Goodwin was dearly beloved as a teacher and a friend
Miss Sill in the history of the Seminary which she pre-
pared for the United States government in 1 876, spoke of her
"rare and dazzling "powers as a conversationalist ,her wide
social lifether busy intellectual life, her brilliance, and
her "powerful intense nature. "(5 )As a teacher she was unus-
ually successful. She never used a text book; she depended
upon "infusing enthusiasm and ideas. "(6) One student, in
commenting upon her pedagogical powers, spoke of her abili-
ty to arouse in her students permanemt interest:

"Mrs. Goodwin had personal charm which endeared
her to every one. She was my teacher in the history
of art, and the first time I was in London a trip to
Kensington Museum to see the Cartoons of Raphael I re-
garded as my most important sightseeing expedition.
In Florence a pilgrimage to Santa Maria Novello to look
upon Cimabue s Madonna was inspired by the same mo-
tive,and an enthusiasm which became a restful recrea-
tion in periods of relaxation and led me into byways
as well as to centers of art in crossing and recrossing
Europe, began with trying to see with my own eyes what
she had taught was to be found in pictures. "( 7 )

(1) Minutes of the Executive Committee, Nov. (?), 1875 •

(2) Historical Sketch. 1876. pp. 21 5-21 7.
(3)Ibid,p.222.

(4) Rockford Register fMay 24,1876.

(5) Historical Sketch, l876f p. 219.

(6) Ibid, p. 220.

(7) Mrs.Loretta Van Hook, 1875.

253

In his quarter-centennial address (page 131 )Prof. Joseph
Emerson made the most significant remark concerning her I
have round or heard;

"Mrs. Martha Goodwin. Surprising as is the record of
the amount and effectiveness of the work done by her,
we must still question if she were not worth more by
what she w*s than by what she did."

Among the teachers of sixties were Miss Siffie D. Strong,
the sister of Miss Clara who left the Seminary to go with
Miss Bodge and Miss Crowell to Fox Lake. She, too, was a
graduate of the Seminary, in the class of '62, and taught for
four years after graduation. She married Rev. Jerome Davis,
and went to Japan with him as a Missionary. ( 1 )

Then there was Miss Mary Ashmun,of Rural, Wis cons in, pro-
gressive and original in her ideas and teaching methods,
with a large and loyal following among the girls. (2) She
was a teacher in the normal and preparatory departments
from 1864- 18 66, and instructor in mathematics from 1 866—
1868. ^

But the two outstanding teachers of the decade were
the Emerson sisters, Charlotte and Elizabeth. They lived
in town, and drove over to the Seminary so that they were
not in so close contadt with the girls. (3) Charlotte was
the dauglrteriof Ralph and Eliza (Rockwell ) Emerson, and the
sister of Prof .Joseph Emerson, of Beloit. She was born in
1838 at Andover, Massachusetts, and waa educated at Abbott
Academy in Andover, She later taught at a seminary in
Montreal.P.Q,.,(4)and from 1865 to 1869 at Rockfprd, (3 )
and again from 1877 to 1879. French and German after sever-
al years of study abroad. (6) July 27,l880,she married Rev.
William Bryant Brown, of -New York, Secretary of the Ameri-
can Congregational Union. (7)

Her talents were varied. As a teacher she was excep-
tionally successful. One of her students, Mrs. Martha
Howard Well, speaks of her as follows:

"She was my elocution teacher, and drilled us for
our commencement appearance. It was then the custom
to have students deliver their own papers. This tea-
cher was a talented, a brilliant woman. She was elec-
ted the first president of the General Federation of

(1) Mrs.T.S.Mc Lean, l867;Mrs. A. D.Adams, 187®.

(2) Mr s.T.G. McLean.

(3) Mrs. Martha Howard Wells, 1 866.

(4) Emerson Genealogy^. 325.

(5) Rockford catalogues.

(6) Ibid.

(7) Emerson Genealogy, ft. 3 23.

2^6

Women's Clubs, a position sne held four years."

Elizabeth Emerson who was on the faculty two years,
1863 to 1865, later married Rev. Humphrey, of Oak Park.(l)
She, too, was the teacher of Mrs. Wells, who says,

"She was my instructor in literature, a person of
great refinement and culture, from a long line of
distinguished ancestors. She was well read, and had
such a wealth of knowledge from which to draw. In
the formative condition of our taste for reading we
could not have had a better teacher. She also taught
history."

Another member of the Emerson family was Elizabeth
Haven who taught in the normal and preparatory department
from 1867 to 1871. She was the daughter of Joseph and
Mary (Emerson) Haven, and the granddaughter on her mother's
side of Ralph and Eliza (Rockwell) Emerson. Her mother
had been a pupil of Joseph Emerson . in Weathersf ield,
Connecticut, and of Mary Lyon and &ilpah P. Grant in
Ipswich, probably when the family was living at Newbury -
port. She herself was a graduate of Chicago High School. (2)

The seventies and early eighties hold a wealth of names
for us. There was the brilliant superintendent of schools
in Winnebago County, Mrs. Mary L. Carpenter who taught in
the normal department, "especially the art and theory of
teaching. "(3) She had been trained for the work through
her experience as principal of various girls' schools and
her experience in supervising. Then there was Miss Sarah
Clapp, of the class of 1877, who left in 1880 to go to
Kalgan, China, between Peking and Kiahta.(4) She later
married Rev. Chauncey Goodrich, and remained in China until
her death in 1923. And Miss Kate and Miss Lucy Smith,
"strong souls both of them. "(5) It is of the latter that
we hear the more. She was both teacher and nurse. "Tall
and slim, clad in black" one student remembers her moving
about the Seminary, administering, in the frequent cases
of hysteria with which young ladies were afflicted in those
days, hyocyanus, which the girls called "Have mercy upon
us." (6) She v/as loved by all though she would not always
excuse the girls from church and meals. (7) "Her mild
loving reproof was often more effective than Miss Sis stern-
ness."(8)

(1
(2

(3
(4
(5
(6
(7
(8

Mrs. Martha Howard Wells.

Emerson Genealogy, p. 318.

KocKrora Journal," Aug. 22,1874.

Letter from Miss Sill to Mrs. Van Hook, March 18, 1880,

Mrs. Mary Wadsworth Clark, 1884.

Mrs. T. G. McLean.

Mrs. Albert Durham, 1870.

Mrs. C. L. Jones, 1878.

231

Miss Helen S. Norton wao twice at the Seminary during
this period, once in the early ' 70fs for two years and a-
gain in 1880 At that time Miss Sill wrote to Mrs. Van Hook
of her as an experienced teucher and a graduate of Mount
Holyoke. -^ut she goes on to say, "I doubt if she stays with
us. per heart is in Turkey, ana she may go as a mission-
ary next fall."(1) It is doubtful if she did go, though she
was deeply interested in missionary work, and travelled
widely. In a letter written from Lansing, Michigan, May 17,
18 76, which I found in the college safe, she speaks of her
life at the Seminary and of her attachment for Mrs,
Goodwin.

Miss Norton was born at Dexter, Michigan, May 28, l839,and
died at Howell, Michigan, February 29,1923. When she was a
child, her family moved to a farm in ^rion township. She
attenued school at Buffalo and at Alexander, New York, ana
she later attended and graduated from Mount Holyoke. -*She
taught in Howell, Michigan, and Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. For
five years she was a missionary in Hawaii, and for a number
of years she was a representative of the missionary board
among the colored churches in the south. (2) She was wide-
ly travelled, and and made several trips abroad and one a-
round the world, always bringing back interesting stories
of her experiences. (3)

Another teacher whom the students loved for her kind-
ness and sympathy was Miss Catherine Dorr, of Dansville,New
York, who rounded the out a full decade of service, from
1868 to 1878. Learning of the financial difficulties of
one young woman, she lent her money for clothes for com-
mencement. The amount was not large, but a "white gown,
sash, gloves, and a fan were indispensable "to the student. (4)
Another student tells of her admiration for Miss Dorr, "an
excellent teacher of mathematics, "because she was "informed
of her contributions to the Atlantic Monthly. "(3)

(1) Miss Sill to Mrs. Van Hook, Mar. 18 ,1880.

(2) Newspaper clipping lent to me by a grand-niece, Miss
Ruth Yerkes,a student at Rockford, 1 924-23.

(3) Miss Ruth Yerkes.

(4) Miss Mary P.Wright.

(5) Mrs.Loretta Van Hook.

# The office of the Mount Holyoke Alumnae Association
gives the following information about Miss Norton:

"Helen S. Norton, Mount Holyoke, 1863. M.A.1901,
Wheaton College; student 1879 University of
Michigan. 1892-93 University of Wisconsin; tea-
cher 1866-68 wheaton College, 1870-72, 1079-80,
Rockford College ; clerk Auditor General's Office
1873-76 Lansing, Michigan ;principal 1880-84
Kawaiahao Seminary, Ho no lulu, Hawaii ;prof essor
1905-09 Presbyterian College, Florida. Died 1923
at Howell, Michigan."

2^8

Miss Mary Holmes, whose name has come down to us as
being an enthusiastic teacher of science, is credited with
having a Ph. D. degree. (1) Whether or not that is true,
she did have an excellent reputation as a scientist. Her
classes in chemistry seem to have been unusually well con-
ducted, and her methods advanced. She lectured in and
around Rockford, and in 1889 she was elected a fellow of
the Geological Society of America. (2) Thirteen years
earlier the Seminary Magazine spoke of hers and Miss Mary
E. B. Norton's attainments. Her researches, they said,
"find appreciation beyond the limits of Rockford. In a
catalogue of Illinois plants, published this year by Harry
N. Patterson, her name stands third upon the list of bo-
tanical authorities, no other lady's name appearing except
that of Miss E. B. Norton. "(3)

Miss Sarah P. Blaisdell, of Lebanon, New Hampshire,
the sister of Mr. James J. Blaisdell, one of the early
teachers at Beloit,(4) was one of those most dearly loved.
Stern, with a strong sense of justice, and with deep sym-
pathy, she made an enviable position for herself. It is
possible to quote only a few of the tributes of the alum-
nae to her:

"She had the wonderful endurance of the pioneers." (5)

"She was most feared, but by those who knew her
intimately, greatly beloved. She was strict in ad-
ministering rules, although she did not believe in
having them-* — She v/as very just and impartial in
her rulings. "(6)

"Miss Blaisdell was another teacher whose ideal
was perfection. Not an a or a the could be dropped
or changed in place in tEe long scripture lessons to
be committed to memory by her classes, and Latin
translations must be made with the same exactness, but
her criticisms though unsparing were kindly unless
the error was manifestly the result of indolence or
negligence, and she could stimulate industry as well
as weed out faults. With those who v/ere ready to put
their shoulder to the wheel she was ready to lift, and
her help retained its lifting power on through the
years. She too enjoyed a joke, and had love and sym-

(1) Rockford Daily Gazette, June 21,1888; Rockford Morning

star> May 26, 1889. I : ~^

(2) Ibid.

(3) April, 1876.

(4) Mrs. A. D. Adams.

(5) Mrs. Mary Clark Wadsworth.

(6) Mrs. C. L. Jones.

2^9

pathy which many of her pupils and friends prized
highly. "(1)

"And how can I sound the praises of Miss Blais-
dell — perhaps just the opposite from Miss Norton — with
her strict sense of justice, the disciplinarian of the
faculty, hut respected and loved by all who knew her
best. It was to her we had to take our monthly report
books to be examined. These report books were the
despair of the girls, especially the younger and more
careless ones. But if the system of checking up ex-
penditures has been of as much value to others as to
the writer, all the petty details involved will be
forgiven." (2)

Miss Blaisdell resigned on account of ill health in
1881. The Board passed a resolution on her "ability as a
teacher and as a Christian lady," and "her unselfish bear-
ing in her intercourse with her associates, her excellent
influence over the young ladies, her faithfulness in the
discharge of all the duties placed upon her. "(3)

Miss Jane Addams in her valedictory spoke of her
as follows :

"You are about to sever your connections with
Rockford Seminary, and crowned with your seventeen
years of work, to go forth with our class. To you
is due the highest meed of our praise. For if in
future years any of us stand firm where it would be
easier to fall, if we are moved by principle while
those around us are swayed by impulse, in short
if we are in any degree true to your teachings and
at length attain the character you have so care-
fully trained us in and so constantly shown us —
to you will redound the glory of that character.
With' the hard lessons in Latin and Greek, y6u have
taught us the harder lessons of thoroughness and
uprightness." (4)

Among the women of Rockford who have been influential
in the community over a long period of years is Mrs.
Caroline Porter Brazee, a member of the teaching staff
for eleven years, from 1872 to 1883. She has been prom-
inent in educational circles, and active as a leader and
founder of literary clubs. She has been a member of the
Monday Club for many years, and in 1892 she founded the
Literature Departments of the Illinois Federation of
Women1 s Clubs and of the Rockford club. As a teacher
she had marvellous gifts. "It was not the ma s sin g^ J3f__
TT) Mrs. Loretta Van Hook.

(2) Mrs. T. G. McLean.

(3) Records of the Board of Trustees, June 21, 1881.

(4) Rockford Register, June 22, 1881.

260

bare facts for which she strove but the mental evolution,
the knowledge that comes from thoughtful investigation and
individual development . "(1) She was not only a teacher
but a student as well, with a student1 s inspiration and ex-
alted viev; of life, and with a Puritanic conception of her
•Tork.

Mrs. Brazee was born in Rockford, the daughter of
a Presbyterian clergyman. She was one of Miss Sill's
earliest pupils, being present the day Miss Sill opened
her school, and was graduated in the second class, the
youngest girl in the group. At this time, April, 1926,
she is the oldest living graduate of the Seminary.
Before coming to the Seminary to teach, she had had ex-
perience in Joliet and Missouri, and had prepared herself
with especial pains to teach history and literature.
She came to the Seminary with sympathy and understanding
for Miss Sill's aims, and with a splendid equipment.
Popular always with her associates and students, she
was equally sought in the town for her intellectual and
social gifts. She was a frequent lecturer at both for-
mal and informal affairs. She resigned in 1883, and the
next year became the wife of Col. C. M. Brazee.

Mrs. G. E. Newman, of the class of 1884, says of her:

"She W'^s a vital part of the Seminary when I
was her pupil, and though I have not seen her for
many years, I love her still and should feel it a
privilege to live hear her."

And Mrs. Mary Wadsworth of the same class speaks
thus :

"She was one of the strong-.- st spirits Miss
Sill ever had to aid her. A born teacher and mol-
der of minds, always bringing out the best in every
girl and making her ancient history so vivid and
real that we never knew what time meant in her
classes, only that the hour was all too short.
Even now more than forty years after, the things
Miss Potter said to me come to me over and over

again when I need them most. She like Miss Sill

never lost her vision."

She never lost her vision. The same comment might
be made of many of the others. Of course it would be
absurd to assume that all Rockford Seminary teachers
were endowed with patience, a love of their task, vision.
They were not. A discouraging number came and went
yearly. Often there was lack of sympathy as well as
inefficiency. Pioneer conditions were difficult. Many
(1) Alumnae Notes, Mar. 15, 1924.

261

had not the hardihood to stand them. But there were

enough of these staunch souls through the years, enough

with the precious gift of imagination, to keep the dream
alive.

262

Chapter IV
Among the Early Trustees

On February 25, 1847, the charter of Rockford Female
Seminary was passed upon by the legislature of the state.
By that act of incorporation "Aratus Kent, Dexter Clary,
S. Peet, Flavel Bascom, C. Waterbury, S. D. Stephens,
A, L. Chapin, R. M. Pearson, G. W. Hickox, A. Raymond,
C. M. Goodsel, E. H. Potter, L. G. Fisher, W. Talcott,
Charles S. Hemstead, Samuel Hinman' :.' were "constituted a
body politic and corporate" with "all obligations and pri-
vileges incumbent upon a board of trusteesf" including
that of conferring on those whom they mignt deem worthy
all such honors and degrees as are usually conferred in
similar institutions." (1)

A history of Rockford Female Seminary would be incom-
plete without a brief account of some of these gentlemen
and others of the early trustees. Some were clergymen
and others laymen, an equal division on this first Board.
All, however, were bent on the same purpose --that of pro-
viding for their daughters and the daughters of the re-
gion, the educational advantages they would have had had
their families not moved westward. And their standards
of female education were high.

Pres. Chapin, in speaking of the founders in his
quarter-centennial address, delivered at Rockford on
Founder's Day, 1874, said:

"This Seminary was founded in prayer and faith
and Christian sacrifice, with the earnest desire that
it might help to form noble Christian women, with
cultivated minds, pure hearts, refined manners, and
an enlarged view of Christian benevolence."

It is significant to note 1hat in the beginning the
active part of the women in this enterprise was an incon-
spicuous one. They came forward, however, when they were
needed. But it was the men who attended almost countless
conventions, travelled hundreds of miles in good weather
and bad under the most difficult and discouraging cir-
cumstances.

Different is the early history of this Seminary from
that of Mount Holyoke whose founder with her old green
carpet bag travelled up and down New England to gather
her initial fund of $2,000. It came slowly, and often in

(1) An Act to Incorporate the Female Seminary, Sec. 1.

pennies, for the most part from the women who shaved their
household expenses as thin as they could to do their hit.
The men sat back and smiled, or scoffed, a bit terrified
perhaps as to the possibility of going without their pud-
dings and pies if the women took to "book larning#T.T
There were some to be sure, splendid soulsl who had faith
in Mary Lyon and her project.

How different these good gentlemen of the Northwest I
Rockford Female Seminary was an expression of the ideals
of the community." Mrs. Caroline Potter Brazee in speak-
ing at the alumnae banquet in June, 1925, told of a young
eager girl who had a short time before come to her to hear
the old? old story of the early days. When Mrs. Brazee
told it, the girl!s eyes were shining as they well might
have been.

"Why, Mrs. Brazee, your fathers and mothers were do-
ing just what ours are doing, --giving you the best they
knew."

Quite incomprehensible it was to her that mothers and
fathers have not changed. Neither do ideals when they are
the finest. "The ideals of Rockford College are the same
today as they were seventy years ago," said the speaker.
And this to a table of sweet girl graduates, the class of
f25: "We are giving our daughters the best we know."

Most prominent among the incorporators was the Rev.
Aratus Kent, a brother of German! cus Kent, the first set-
tler of Pockford, and often called the Father of Rock-
ford Female Seminary, "for to him more than to any other
man, it owes its inception and development." He was born
January 15, 1794, the son of John Kent, a merchant of
Suffield, Connecticut, and of the family of the famous
Chancellor Kent, of iMew York. He fitted for college at
Westfield Academy, and at nineteen entered the sophomore
class at Yale. At this time there was unusual religious
interest among the students. Within a few years the famous
Yale Band under the leadership of Rev. Theron Baldwin
came to southern Illinois to do their work. Mr. Kent
united with the church under Pres. Dwight, August 15,
1815. The next year he was graduated from Yale, and sub-
sequently spent four years in New York, pursuing his theo-
logical studies. The twentieth of Xpril, 1820, he was li-
censed to preach by the presbytery of New York. From
1822 to April, 1823, he studied at Princeton Theological
Seminary, and he was ordained January 26 at Lockport,
New York.

Shortly after this he applied to the American Home
Missions Board for "a place so hard that no one else would
take it," and he was sent to Galena, a mining town in

264

western Illinois, where he worked most effectively. On
October 23, 1831, he organized the Presbyterian Church
there. (1) We find him active, too, outside the immed-
iate community. He was one of the most active of the
founders of Beloit and Rockford Colleges, and was the
president of the Board of Trustees of the Seminary until
his death. In 1853, May 26, we find him occupying the
pulpit of the inchoate Presbyterian Church in Chicago,
Tradition has it that he chose for his text verses 24 to
26 of the Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews. It was the se-
cond Presbyterian service in Chicago, and was held within
the stockade. (2) Two years later, in June, he conducted
a religious service at the home of his brother, the first
held in Winnebago County. It i s said that every soul in
Rockford was present. (3)

In 1868 while he was on a missionary trip to Minne-
sota, he was exposed to a severe rain and wind stormf and,
being tired, he was taken ill with pneumonia, and died
November 8, 1869. He was the first pioneer missionary
in Illinois north of the Illinois River. (4)

The Rev. G. P. S. Savage, D. D, at the semi-centen-
nial anniversary at Beloit, said of Mr, Kent:

He was a "man of unbending integrity and of un-
yielding principles; a strict economist, yet pub-
lic-spirited, generous and self-sacrificing f or t he
good of others."

pass

At his death the Board of Trustees of the Seminary
ed the following resolution:

"It having pleased divine Providence since our
last meeting to remove by death Rev. Aratus Kent, the
honored President of the Board, and one of the Ba-
thers and Pounders of this Institution, we desire to
place on record our profound sense of the loss which
the Seminary has sustained in this removal of its
Official Head, and our appreciation of the wisdom,
fidelity, and untiring devotion which have character-
ized his relation to it for so many years of its
history. We bless God for the many prayers, coun-
sels, and self-denying labors given by him in its
behalf; and that he was permitted to witness, as
well as to contribute so largely to its growing suc-

(1) Clipping in Scrap Book; Church, The History of
Rockford, p. 294.

(2) Moses and Kirkland, The History of Chicago, p. 374.

(3) Thurston, Early Days in Rockford, p. 63.

(4) Rockford Gazette, Dec. 31, 1868; Ibid, Nov. 18, 1869.

263

cess and prosperity.

"And we hereby tender to his afflicted family our
heartfelt sympathy in their bereavement, mingled with
our congratulations in the blessedness of the rest into
which he has entered, and the abundance and precious-
ness of the works that do follow him." (1)

From Galena, too, came C. A. Hempstead, a lawyer of
some prominence during the early days. He was active in
the boundary conventions which were so numerous in the
early forties, and was president of one of the meetings. (2)

Beloit had three representatives on the Board, --Rev.
Dexter Clary, Mr. L. G. Fisher, and Rev. A. L. Chapin.

The Rev. Mr. Clary was born i n Concord, Massachusetts,
in 1798. Shortly afterwards his parents moved to Jeffer-
son County, New Yor]£, where he grew up. As an evangelist,
he took a prominent part in the great revivals of 1830-
1840, and he brought West with him the fervor and enthu-
siasm of those days. (3) He was a member of the Congre-
gational council about 1849, and was a clergyman in Beloit
for any years. (4) With the founding of both the Col-
lege and the Seminary he was closely identified, serving
on the Board of the latter institution from 1850 to 1856.
For twenty jrears he was superintendent of home n\ s,

giving always "wise and untiring service" here as every-
where. Father Clary, as he was affectionately called,
died June 18, 1874, just at the commencement season. Many
were the tributes at his death. The Seminary Magazine
says he was "courteous at all times to all classes of
people; he was a rare specimen of the old school Chris-
tian gentleman. (5) Ar. old newspaper clipping in the
college scrap book speaks of him as an "efficient worker
and an earnest preacher, a man of deep and positive con-
victions." He had had a thorough business training and
seemed to be unusually successful in every thing he un-
dertook. The "fullnessV)f his sympathy, the overflowing
kindness of his heart, "^his deep tenderness with children,
-were other characteristics remarked by those who knew him.

In' his semi-centennial adress at Beloit College,
Rev. G. F. S. Savage in speaking of the founders of Be-

(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, June 28, 1870.

(2) Church, The History of Rockford, p. 29.

(3) Rockford Seminary Magazine, July, 1874, p. 38.

(4) unurcn, The history or KocTford, p. 308.

(5) Rockford seminary .Magazine, July, 1874, pp. 39 and 56.

266

loit refers to Mr. Clary in the following paragraph:

"With conscientious fidelity and promptness did
he discharge the responsible duties devolved upon him,
and in manifold ways to the extent of his ability
did contribute essentially to its (Beloit fs) growth
and prosperity,"

Mr. L. G. Fisher, "to whose influence, gifts, and
personal sacrifices, the College (Beloit) is largely in-
debted for its location, and whose valuable services as
a trustee were continued to the end of his useful life,"(l)
was spoken of in the baccalaureate sermon at the semi-
centennial of the College as a -an of influence in the
community. Before the first building was finished the
boys recited in his house down by the river. (2)

Of the three gentlemen, however, Rev. Aaron Lucius
Chapin was the best-knovm. As president of Beloit for
thirty-seven years, he stood in the same relationship to
the College in which Miss Sill stood to the Seminary. He
was born February 6, 1817, in Hartford, Connecticut, the
son of Laertes and Laura (Colton) Chapin, After his
graduation from Yale in 1837, he went to Union Theologi-
cal Seminary. Subsequently he was a professor in the
New York State Institution for Deaf Mutes, (3) and clergy-
man of the First Presbyterian Church in Mi 1 wake e. (4) He
came to Beloit in 1849. As editor for many years of the
Congregational Review, (5) at one time one of the editors
of the ChristiarT^eraid, (6) and author of The First
Principles of Political Economy, (7) he gained a more than
sectional reputation.

He died July 22, 1892, in Hartford, Connecticut, (8)
at which time he was still a member of the Board of Trus-
tees of Rockford Seminary.

Of fine parts, gracious personality, integrity, and
moral earnestness, Dr. Chapin won the love and respect
of all who knew him. In his address at the unveiling of

(1
(2
(3
(4

(5
(6
(7

Semi -Centennial Document, p. 4.

Horace White, Semi -Centennial Address.

Chapin Book. Vol, I, p. 931.

Apple ton, Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. I,

p. 579.

Chapin Book, Vol. I, p. 931.

Moses and Kirkland, History of Chicago, Vol. II p. 27.

Chapin Book, Vol. I, p. 931.

- ' l , - . : - .

267

the bust of Dr. Chapin at the semi-centennial exercises
at Beloit, Prof. Joseph Emerson, speaks of his eminent
colleague with high praise:

"For forty years, Dr. Chapin was a part of the
best life of this community; for forty years the Col-
lege was his life-n--His devotion was supreme and
exacting. He never spared himself when duty called."

The Rev. Flavel Eascom, a Congregational clergyman in
Chicago, was another of the incorporators. He was born
June 8, 1804, at Lebanon, Connecticut. His childhood and
youth until he was seventeen were spent on a farm. He was
prepared privately for Yale, from which institution he was
graduated in 1828. The follOY^ing year he was principal of
an academy in New Canaan, Connecticut. From 1831 to 1833,
he was a tutor at Yale, and in the latter year he became
a member of the Yale Banfi, and came to Illinois under the
Home Missionary Society. For five years he did pioneer
work, mainly in Tazewell County, though two years he was
in Northern Illinois as a home missionary agent, explor-
ing new settlements, organizing churches, and introducing
home missionaries. For ten years, 1839 to 1849, he was
pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Chicago, and for the
next seven years he was in charge of the First Presby-
terian Church at G-alesburg. For the fourteen years suc-
ceeding until his resignation in 1870 from the church in
Hinsdale, he served in various churches. After 1870 he
was engaged in filling vacancies and helping destitute
and weak churches. N

His interest in education was not confined to the work
he did at Beloit on whose board he served for some years
and in recognition of which service, Beloit in 1869, con-
ferred upon him the degree of D. D. He was also a trus-
tee of Knox College, in Galesburg, Illinois, for twenty-
five years. (1)

Dr. Bascom was a man of more than ordinary promi-
nence. He was one of the editors of the Western Herald
in 1853. (2) He gave the sermon at the organization of
the Plymouth Church i n Chicago, December 1, 1852 (3)
and before that, in 1833, he had preached at Fort Dear-
born. (4)

In his semi-centennial address at Beloit the Rev. Mr.

(1) Andreas, The History of Cook County, p. 245.

(2) Moses and Kirkland, The Hi storyor^Chicago, vol.11
p. 27.

(3) Ibid, p. 339.

(4) Ibid, p. 339.

268

Savage spoke of him, Calvin Waterbury, Jedediah Stevens,
and Ruel M. Pearson as "efficient, genial, wise-hearted
man, who contributed much by their cousels, prayers and
influence to the success of the enterprise (Beloit)."

Among the most interesting of the group is Rev. Ste-
phen Peet, beside whose sick-bed in a stateroom aboard
the steamer Chesapeake on their return journey from Cleve-
land in 1844, according to Pres. Chapin at the induction
of his successor, Pres. Eaton, the group met and "com-
muned together," and it was there that the College was
conceived. He has been called the "chief founder of Be-
loit." (1) That he was influential in the early history
of the College we know from tradition and history. At
the time that the site was chosen, he secured two gifts,
one from a New York gentleman of flOOO and the second
from a Connecticut gentleman for $510,000. Both were in
western lands. (2)

He too was a Yale graduate, (3) and was led to Illi-
nois by the prospects of a wide field for service. As
deep as his interest in the founding of the College and
the Seminary, was his interest in the plans for the Chi-
cago Theological Seminary. 1854 saw him installed in a
pastorate in Batavi&r , Illinois, and devoting a great deal
of time to the new enterprise. (4) He was the first agent
of the Board of Directors and Visitors. Unfortunately he
was not privileged to see the completion of his plans.
He died suddenly of a fever , followed by pneumonia in
1855. (5) He had also served in 1853 as one to the edit-
ors of the Western Herald. (6)

Of his work and character his colleagues had the high-
est praise. He is mentioned in the semi-centennial vol-
ume of Beloit College as a pioneer of "practical saga-
city." He had visions, but he was not visionary. The Rev,
Mr. Savage referred to him as "a man of Cod, fertile in
plans and resources and characterized by sound judgment,
good common sense, and executive ability."

Another of the incorporators was Mr. E. H. Potter, a
trustee of "Miss Sill's School." His life has been
touched upon in the chapter, "The Trustees of Miss Sill's
School," He was a member of the Board of the Seminary

(1) Dunning, Congregational! st s in America, p. 373.

(2) Pres. Chapin, Address at the Induction of Pres. Eaton.

(3) Prof. R. C. Chapin, Semi -Centennial Address at Beloit.

(4) Illinois Society o f Church History, p. 121

(5) Punchard, History of Congregationalism, Vol. V, p. 291.

(6) Moses and Kirkland, The History of~5nTcago, Vol. II
p. 27.

269

and treasurer of the Board until his resignation in 1858.

Mr. Samuel Hinman who was the superintendent of the
first building at Beloit in 1847, at a yearly salary of
$500, on which he had to support a family of ten children,
was another of the incorporators. He married a Mrs. White,
in 1845, and in 1847 they came back to Beloit from Wauke-
sha, Wisconsin, where they had been on Mr. Hinman1 s
farm. (2)

Prom Rockton came the Hon. Wait Talcott, the son of
William Talcott of Hebron, Connecticut. He was born in
1807, and came to Rockton in 1838. In 1854 he removed to
Rockford where, with his brother, he became interested in
the develppment of the resources for water power which
the Rock River offered and which have contributed large-
ly to its growth as a manufacturing center. He was pro-
minent in the affairs of the community, serving in 1854
as senator from the district and for five years as com-
missioner of internal revenue for the second Congression-
al district to which post he was appointed by Lincoln,
August 27, 1862. (3) Mr. Talcott resigned from the
Board in 1857. (4)

Arnon^ other early trustees was Dr. Lucius Clark, who
was much at the Seminary in the very early days, and was
for many years the physician. He was greatly beloved in
the community not only for his skill as a physician but
also for his fatherly kindness and benevolence. Those
who knew him speak especially of his social qualities:
"his social nature overflowed and infected all other
natures." He was "abounding with humor," and was "steeped
always in love and tenderness." There was deep sincer-
ity, too, in his religious life. Dr. Clark was one of
five sons in a family of seven who became physicians. An-
other brother, Dr. Dexter, practiced in Rockford and was
a good friend of the college. (5)

Dr. Lucius Clark was born in Amherst, Massachusetts,
June 10, 1813, and was e due p. ted there. His medical train-
ing he received at Berkshire Medical College (in Massa-
chusetts) and Geneva (New York) Medical College. He re-
ceived the first diploma given by the latter institution.

(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, Apr. 14, 1858.

(2) Semi -Centennial Address at Beloit, Horace White,
his stepson.

(3) Church, The Hi story o f Rockford , p. 554.

(4) Records of the Board of Trustees, July 9, 1859.

(5) Mrs. Mary Clark Wadsworth and others.

270

For ten years he practiced in western New York, at
Marion and other places, and he came to Rockford in 1845.
He ranked high here in his profession, and was a member
of the American Medical Association and the Illinois State
Medical' Society* He was a member of the Board of the Semi-
nary until 'his death November 5, 1878, and was vice-presi-
dent from 1875 to then. (1)

Mr. John S. Coleman was elected to the Board July 8,
1858, to fill the place left vacant by Mr. Wait Talcott. (2)
Prom then until his death ir- 1864 he served as treasurer
of the Seminary. (3) Mr. Coleman was a native of Delaware
County, New York, and came to Rockford in 1851. (4) He
was a partner of Melancthon Starr in Robertson, Coleman
and Company, a private banking concern. (5)

Mr. John Edwards who died while still a member of the
Board in June, 1871, came to Rockford in 1851, and in 1855
was elected a trustee. He, as were so many of the citizens,
was a New Englander, born in Acton, Massachusetts, in 1800.
He was a brother-in-law of Dr. Haskell. Mr. Edwards was a
man of the finest principles, "an upright and worthy gentle-
man*" As a business man, he was progressive and success-
ful. (6) He was the first pine lumber dealer in the city,
and he was one of those who constantly urged the develop-
ment of the water power. The last year of his life he was
the agent for the Seminary. (7)

Then there was Prof. Joseph Emerson, of Beloit Col-
lege, who became a member of the Board in 1854, and served
until his death in 1901. At the death of Rev. Aratus
Kent in 1870 he was elected president of the Board. Prof.
Emerson was a nephew of the Rev. Joseph Emerson, the teach-
of Mary Lyon, and a son of the Rev. Ralph Emerson, the
author of the Rev. Joseph Emerson's biography. He was
born in Norfolk, Connecticut, ±n May, 1821, and was pre-
pared for Yale, where he was graduated in 1841, at Andover.
He taught in New London, Connecticut, and studied the-
ology at Andover and Yale. Prom 1844 to 1848 he was a
tutor at Yale, and in 1848 he was elected professor of
Latin and Greek at Beloit. In 1856 he was elected pro-
fessor of Greek, in v/hich capacity he served the college

(1) Rockford Weekly Gazette, Nov. 13, 1878.

(2) Records of the Board of Trustees, July 8, 1858.

(3) Ibid, July 6, 1864.

(4) Church, The History of Rockford, p. 543.

(5) Ibid, p. 276.

(6) Minutes of the Executive Committee, June 22, 1871.

(7) Church, The History of Rockford, p. 280.

271

until his death. He held the degrees of D. D. from Yale
and LL. D. from Beloit. (1)

The fiftieth anniversary of Prof. Emerson's appoint-
ment to Beloit was observed in May, 1898, That year at
commencement a building was erected for the women's de-
partment. In accordance with the wishes of the donor, it
was named Emerson Hall. Dr. D. K. Pearson said at the
presentation:

"I name ii is building Emerson Hall. The Emerson
family were friends of Mary Lyon in her days of strug-
gle and triumphs for female education, and Prof. Emer-
son for whom this building is named has been connect-
ed with Beloit Collage for fifty years, and has given
the strength of his noble manhood for the upbuilding
of this college, and to him we dedicate this building
as a slight acknowledgment of his great service and
worth to Beloit College. May the Mary Lyons and the
Frances Willards of the future receive their high
ideals from this seat of Christian education. I pre-
sent this building to the use of the women of the
Northwest."

Prof. Emerson was twice married, the first time in
1852 to Mary Cordelia North, a native of New Britain, Con-
necticut. She died in Beloit in 1879. His second mar-
riage in July, 1884, was to Miss Prances Helen Brace, of
Rochester, New York, who, it is interesting to note, re-
ceived part of hor education Phipps Union Seminary where
Miss Sill at one time taught. She also attended 3araboo
Seminary and Milwaukee College, Wisconsin, where Mary
Mortimer did such excellent pioneer work. Miss Brace
taught history and art in Milwaukee College, and art and
literature in Gannett Institute in Boston, and was pro-
fessor of English Literature at Wellesley College. She
was the founder and organizer of the art department and
gallery at Beloit. (2)

Prof. Joseph Emerson's father, Rev. Ralph Emerson,
came to Rockford in 1859, and served as a member of the
Seminary Board from 1860 to his death in 1863. He was
born in Hollis, New Hampshire, August 18, 1787. He was
graduated from Yale in 1811, and studied theology at An-
dover from which institution he was graduated in 1814.
Three years later he married Eliza Rockwell, of Cole-
brook, Connecticut. They subsequently lived at Norfolk,
Connecticut, Andover and Newburyport, Massachusetts. (3)

(1) Emerson Genealogy, pp. 319 — 320.

(2) Ibid, p. 530.

(3) Ibid, p. 220.

272

In 1830 they went to Andover (1) where for the next twenty-
five years he taught at the Theological Seminary. (2)
While he was in Norfolk, he taught Miss Zilaph Polly Grant,
and. at Andover he taught the Rev, Stephen Peet. (3)

At his death the Board passed the following resolu-
tions:

"Resolved, That we deplore in common with the
friends of Christian Education throughout the country
the decease of this eminent and good man; and that
we record our grateful appreciation of the kindness
and wisdom which characterized his intercourse wL th
us and the warm paternal interest which he ever mani-
fested towards this Institution." (4)

Another son was Ralph Emerson, Jr., a member of the
Board from 1870 to 1901. He was horn in Andover in 1831*
In September of 1858 he married Miss Adeline Elizabeth
Talcott, daughter of the Hon. Wait and Elizabeth Anna
(Norton) Talcott, a native of Oneida, New York. Mrs. Emer-
son had been graduated from Rutger's in 1856, and had
taught in Rockton and Rockford before her marriage. The
Emerson Genealogy says of her,

"By reason bf her culture, catholic spirit, and
executive ability, she had been repeatedly called
upon to occupy, for long periods of time, positions
of great importance in philanthropic, patriotic and
social organizations, not only in the city, but in
the state and national organization s, representing
some of them as delegate at international conven-
tions in Europe and elsewhere."

Mr. Emerson taught in New England before coming in
1851 to Bloomington, Illinois. He continued the study
of law which he had previously begun. At this time he
met Abraham Lincoln, upon whose advice to enter business
he came to Beloit, and in 1852 to Rockford. Here he was
the first hardware merchant in the town. Later he became
a manufacturer. At his death one of the city papers made
the comment that he had been connected with forty dif-
ferent enterprises, and commented upon him in the fol-
lowing manner:

"Old citizens remember who it was that rescued
the ebbing infant industries of Rockford during the

(1) Memorial Volume of Prof. J. Emerson, p. 18.

(2) Rockford Register, Dec. 17, 18751

(3) Memorial Volume of Prof. Emerson, p. 18.

(4) Records of the Board of Trustees, July 1, 1863.

273

fifties, when they seemed likely to be crushed out
by wealthy rivals in other places; nor have residents
forgotten how, while other concerns have dropped in-
to oblivion, every enterprise, fortunate to have
Ralph Emerson for its directing spirit, weathered every
financial storm," (1)

Rev. Joseph Emerson, the son of Rev, Daniel Emerson,
a cousin of Ralph Emerson, of Rockford, and a second cous-
in of Ralph Waldo Emerson, was a member of the Board for
six years, from 1854 to I860. He was born in 1808 at Dart-
mouth, Massachusetts, and died in 1885 at Andover, Massa-
chusetts. He received his education at Dartmouth and
Yale Colleges, spending two years in each institution.
He was graduated from *ale with the class of 1830, and
from Andover Theological Seminary five years later. He
was ordained in 1836 at Francestown, New Hampshire, and
entered the service of the American Education Society,
He continued in this work until 1849, when he engaged
with the Western College Society. He resigned from this
organization, and in 1854 came to Rockford as pastor of
the Second Congregational Church, where he preached for
five years. Prom 1859 to 1871 he was secretary of the
American and Foreign Christian Union, and from 1871 to
1875 secretary of the American Board of Christian Foreign
Missions,

The class of 1830 at Yale spoke of him in 1871 as
follows:

"His labors have been eminently successful in
these various posts of usefulness, and he has reaped
a rich reward in the advancement of education and of
religion throughout the country and the world, through
the agencies and instrumentalities which he has set
to work. He has in this accomplished great good and
secured most important results," (2)

The Rev, Hiram Foote, who served the Seminary as trus-
tee from 1852 to his death in 1889 and at various times as
financial agent, came west in 1837, and was deeply inter-
ested in the project of the Seminary from the beginning.
Comment upon his >/ ork and his relationship to Miss Sill
has been made in earlier chapters. Aside from his in-
terest in Rockford and Beloit, he was deeply interested in
the founding of Chicago Theological Seminary, (3) and was
one of the incorporators, (4) His work for Rockford

(1) Emerson Genealogy, p, 321.

(2) Ibid, pp. 315—316.

(3) Illinois Society of Church History, Congregational, p. 13.

(4) Ibid, p.22.

274

Seminary was very successful, both because of his per-
severance and his wide acquaintanceship. In 1864 the
Board passed the following action:

"That this board recognize with thankfulness
the favor of Providence thus far shown to the ef-
fort for the enlargement and endowment of the Sem-
inary under the charge of Rev. Hiram Foote, and ap-
prove of the earnest prosecution of the effort under
such arrangements as shall be adopted by the Exe-
cutive Committee ." (1)

Charles H. Spafford, who with Mr. Potter and Dr. Lu-
cius Clar£, mortgaged his home for the Seminary, was on
the Board from 1851 to 1856. The son of Dr. John and Lucy
(Moore) Spafford, he was born at Adams, Jefferson County,
New York. He received his college education, that of a
lawyer at Castleton, Vermont, and in 1839 came to Rock-
ford. He was active in community affairs, serving in
various capacities, as postmaster, circuit clerk, and re-
corder. He also was a member of the banking firm of
Spafford, Clark and Ellis. Miss Sill had the utmost con-
fidence in his judgment, and seldom took a step of im-
portance in the early days without consulting him. His
little daghter. Carrie, was one of the first pupils in
the school. (2)

Rev. Henry M. Goodwin, the husband of Mrs. Martha
French Goodwin who was a member of the faculty, "a most
remarkable man, far in advance of his time," (3) was a
trustee for forty years, 1853 to 1893. He also was a
graduate of Yale, and came to Rockford in 1850, to the
First Congregational Church, his first charge. (4) A
firm friend of the community and the Seminary through
all those years, his influence was wide and deep. He
"helped greatly to make the Seminary the great power it
was, and as a college, it will be." Mrs. Mary Earle
Hardy, of the class of 1867, in speaking of Mr. Goodwin
said, "I have seen a light on Rev. Henry M. Goodwin1 s
face as he went up the aisle to his pulpit that was more
of heaven than of earth."

Another of the trustees, Mr. Charles Williams,
mayor of Rockford from May 2, 1864, the only mayor to
be re-elected four times, and the war mayor, (5) was

(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, July 6, 1864.

(2) Mrs. C. H. Godfrey, Music Departement, 1879.
(3)Mrs. Mary Clark Wadsworth.

(4) Mrs. E. L. Herrick,

(5) Church, The History of Rockford, p. 315.

2r5

a member of the Board from 1861 to 1876. He was a native
of Massachusetts, and had come to Rockford in 1855. He
was in the hardware business with his son, Lewis. (1) On
account of his onerous duties in the community, he re-
signed from the Board in 1864, but was asked to reconsider
his resignation. (2)

It is interesting to note that the incorporators
were eight laymen and eight ministers, Congregational and
Presbyterian. The denominatinnal distribution (four were
Congregationalists and four Presbyterians), was accidental.
The geographical distribution on the other hand was care-
fully studied. There were eight gentlemen from Illinois,
and eight from Wisconsin. (5) All these men, as were the
many other trustees, were men of high principles, and men
whose standards for the Seminary were the finest. More-
over their interest was personal. Busy men in the lay or
clerical affairs of the community as they were, they gave
unsparingly of their time and energy. What an alumna
said of one of them, may be said of all: they "greatly
helped to make the Seminary the great power it was, and
as a college, it not only will be, but has been."

(1) Church, The History of Rockford, p. 362.

(2) Records of the Board of Trustees, July 14, 1864.

(3) Prof. R. C. Chapin, Beloit Semi -Centennial.

276

Chapter V
The First Meeting of the Chicago-Eockford Association

Although for some time there had )een gatherings of

the Greater Chicago girls to maintain the contacts made
at the Seminary, the first formal meeting- of the group
was not held until earl2/ in January, 1874. (1) From Mrs.
.. !. Smith, of the class of 1865, a charter member of
the association, we have the story in part of that me3t-
ing:

"The recollections of the preliminary arrange-
ments for that first meeting are very vivid in my
mind, even after a lapse of fifty years. Tt was in
the winter of 1874 that I hannened to be a luncheon
guest at the home of Mrs. 3. G. Mitchell, wife of
Dr. E. 0. Mitchell, of the Divinity School of the
old Baptist University of Chicago. Dr. Mitchell and
his wife had been residents of Eockford during- my
girlhood, and he had been pastor of the State Street
Baptist Church.

!rAt this luncheon I was the only representative
of the college. Mrs . Mitchell turned to me and asked
me. if I knew that Miss Sill and Miss Norton, one of
her teachers, were spending the holidays in Chicago,
and said, 'Wouldn't it be interesting to gather all
the old Seminary girls that could be reached in the
city or suburbs, and entertain them at the home of
some member"1' The idea arsneale:! to me, and I volun-
teered to notify all that T could re ch, and carry
out the suggestion.

"The next day I drove around and secured the as-
sistance of Mrs. Horace Too art (Emma Hastings), and
we srent nearly the whole day in conference with Mrs.
Oren Taft (Kittie Schlosser), Mrs.' P. F. Pettibone
r Talcott ) , Mrs. Charles Earl (Ssnnie Brundy),
and Mrs. ! ^oley (Emma Sdwards ) •

"The interest increased with every call, and we
five constituted ourselves a committee of arrange-
ments, e list of invitations was to include every
available name of former pupils, as well as Luates,
and precluded the entertainment in any one home, so
our committee overstepped the conventions of the day
by assuming the prerogative of our college biethren, (2)

'• 1 ) Mrs . Mary ^ . ..'ells , 1:66 , a charter memoer of the

association .
(2) The Beloit boys a short time before had held a oan-

ouet in a hotel.

277

and astonished the proprietors of the Grand Pacific
Hotel by boldly enp-apinf? the narlors and dining room
of that famous hostelry and ordering a sumptuous
banquet for 'Ladies only.1 It was the first -public
dinner for a woman's college held in this country--
or any other so far as I know. — Cur husbands and
male escorts were kindly permitted to call for us and
enjoy a social hour, at the concl is ion of the oan-

iet , a nrivilege not wholly appreciated we afterwards
learned .

"By six o'clock on the aus icious evening- aoout
thirty or thirty-five enrer interesting 'women were
settled at the banquet table. Mrs. Chetlain, wifa of
Gen. Chetlain, was hostess, with Miss bill and Miss
Forton. as the honored guests, T forgot who was
toast mistress, but I remember quite well with what
•perturbation one diffident member contributed her
maiden effort at public sneakir 9 novelty of the
occasion loosened the tongues of many gifted women
present. Reminiscences of college days were freely
indulged in, and startling episodes of daring ee-
capades w ere unolushingly revealed for the first
time in the -presence of the distinguished guests. To
their credit, be it said, they received this belated
evidence of the nerfidy of the former model students
with more lenience--even enjoyment — than would have
been possible if discovered earlier."

An account in a newspaner (1) takes ur» the narrative
•//here Mrs. Smith leaves it. There were sneeches by va-
rious members of the group, --Mrs. S. J. Humphrey, Mrs. Ghet
lain, Miss Mary :^varts, (Z) Mrs. Gertie Ohamoerlain Smith,
"the oldest nunil of the Seminary present," her mother,
Mrs. Pettibone, Miss Mitchell, Miss Sill, (3) and Miss
rorton.

(1) Rockford Daily Register, Jan. 5, 1874. Reprinted from
Chicago Tribune.

(2) A pupil of Miss Sill's at Phimns Union Seminary, New
York.

(3) The Rockford Seminary Magazine for February, 1874,

f -page 67) gives two fragments from Miss Sill's speech:

"The ideal of Rockford Seminary has not yet oeen
attained; out it seems to me, the inspiration gained
from this hour will give it new -possiDilities . There
remains much to be done to 'widen its influence as a
College for .'/omen.

"Rockford Seminary, in the future, must be what
its pupils and friends will make it under God. My
life is largely in the past, and my feet will soon
falter; but a glorious ace of work is opening for wo-

278

"The toast, 'The 3abies; God Bless Them,1 was
proposed, to oe answered by the lady possessing the
greatest numoer of those jewels. The Cornelia of
Rockford Seminary, with seventeen children, respond-
ded in a very funny manner, (l)

"Miss Norton then read a noera (2) corn-nosed for
the occasion by Dr. Charlotte Wedgewood, and the hap-
ry meeting was closed by singing, "Shall 7/e Gather at
the River."

Before the social hour, however, the alumnae hnfl
"formed themselves irto a permanent organization," (3)

man--for you here--and I sometimes long for a fresh lease
of life that [ may enter more extensively into its suolime
possibilities. Cherish the Institution --by your prayers,
by your efforts, as a fountain of good. May it ever oe a
pure, perennial fountain, whose streams shall water the
earth, even its desert places, and make glad the City of
Our Ood . May it oe said of each, when the Master calls,
'She hath done what she could.'"

fl) Rockford Daily Register, Jan. 5, 1874. Reprinted from
the Jhicago Tribune.

(2) Peace to all who gather here,
Teachers and alumnae dear,

3e to each a glad New Year!

Changeful days have been for all
Since v/e answered to the call
Of roll in Char>el Hall.

Since the bells disturbed the rare
Sweetness of the morning air,
Since we knelt in evening prayer.

Happy New Year, friend, to thee,
Here beside the inland sea,
Tn this city, great and free.

■» •» tm

We the "old pirls" here tonight
They "the girls" just out of sight,
Waiting where there is no night.

Greet our teacher all the same;
Every country hears her fame,
And the angels know her name.

Long for us a leader still

In the strife of good with ill;

May she stand at Forest Hill.

Rockford Daily Register, Jan. 8, 1874.

(3) Mrs. V/. t.. Smith, 1865.

279

and had elected the following officers for 1874: Presi-
dent, Mrs, Gen. Chetlain; secretary, Mrs, W. E. Smith, and
treasurer, Mrs, P. F. Pettibone. (1)

It is difficult to know just who attended this first
meeting, but from the newspaper accounts of the banquet
and from the material contributed by former students and
alumnae, at least a partial list can be made: Miss Anna
P- Sill, Miss Mary E, B, Norton, Miss Sarah Anderson,
Mrs. S. J, Humphrey, Mrs, E, C. Mitchell, Miss Mary Evarts,
Mrs. Annie M. Chetlain, Mrs, Isaac Claflin, of Lombard,
Illinois, Mrs. Walter Talbot, Miss Kate L. Smith, Mrs. P.
B. Shaw, of Lawndale, Illinois, Mrs. George S. Wood, Mrs.
W. E. Smith, Mrs. Edwin B. Newton, Mrs. H. T. Wooley,
Mrs. P, F. Pettibone, Mrs. Albert Durham, Mrs. Joseph Lan-
don, Mrs. 0. B. Taft, Miss Ellen Pettibone, Mrs. D. K. Mead,
Miss E. Fannie Pierce, Mrs. Horace R. Hobart, Mrs. M. L.
Swiney, Miss M. A. Hollister, Miss Celia C. Gilbert,
Mrs. C. M. Earle, Mrs. Chamberlain, Miss Roland, Mrs. Mary
A. Wells, and others.

(1) Rockford Daily Register, Jan. 8, 1874.

280

Chapter VI

Tributes to Miss Sill

This chapter, "Tributes to Miss Sill," scarcely needs
an explanation. The expressions of love and appreciation
it contains have been gathered from many sources extending
over many years. They are concerned with her appearance,
her character, her power as a teacher, her influence over
students, but most important of all, it seem, are those
which spea.k of her rare spiritual power and the meaning
of the Seminary, for it was she who gave the Seminary
meaning. Though Rockford is the expression of the commu-
nity, founded and given material existence b,ythe community,
it was Misspill who breathed into it a life-giving spirit.

"Some of us like to remember that she never
failed in the external ladyhood. Burdened with a
thousand responsibilities, perpetually giving out of
her small salary, she always beautifully and appropri-
ately dressed from a wardrobe which though far from
elaborate, was in its least detail finished as exqui-
sitely as a bride's, strength and honor were the gar-
ments of her soul, and her outward adorning shadowed
them forth. "(1)

"The influence of her character and the source of
her power and influence were her great and lofty faith.
Strong will, if it be not mere wilfulnesses the energy
of a great soul inspired by a lofty idea and purpose,
and sustained and re-icforced by the spirit of God, the
only true source of all spiritual power. Hence, those of
loftiest faith, have the strongest and most indomita-
ble will, able to do and endure more than ordinary persons,
though they be the gentlest and humblest of men, because
this will is sustained and strengthened by divine
springs, and so partakes of the divine power.

"This soul power in Miss Sill was shown in the
glow of her countenance, the thrilling yet gentle tones
of her voice, the fervor and force of her whole being.
You felt at once that here was one alive all through and
all over, able to quicken life in all minds capable of
being quickened. "(2)

"The combined financial and executive burdens

(1 )Mr~s\ E.T.Clark, Memorial Exercises, June 26, 1 889 ;MejaoxiaI

Volume. p# 62.
(2)lScerpt from Funeral Address r Rev. H.M. Goodwin -.Memorial

Volume .p. 50*

281

which were laid upon her in the pioneer days of Rock-
ford Seminary deprived her of the leisure for schol-
astic work toward which her tastes drew her, but she
felt it her duty to take up the work which lay near-

HI-

est her hand, and this she carried forward with an
energy, cheerfulness and persistence rarely excellev

"Her moral worth and Christian ideals and teach-
ings; her great dignity and a personal magnetism, as
pure, as it was powerful, swayed the minds of her pu-
pils in a wonderful manner, while the warm regard in
which she held them, and the genial welcome always
given to those who returned, drew them to her by the
ties of strong affection and reverence . " (2)

"Endowed with an energy of will that rose super-
ior to all obstacles, a resoluteness of purpose which
no difficulties could daunt, and a faith that could
remove mountains, and above all and under all and
through all as an illuminating and guiding light, an
ideal of the end to be attained, Miss Sill entered
on the -'Tork of building Rockford Female Seminary
when female education of a high order was almost a
novelty r— True the idea had been born, or rather
conceived simultaneously with that of Beloit College,
as a twin-sister of that noble institution; but the
embodiment of this idea in visible and tangible form,
its nurture and growth as a living thing, had all
to be undertaken and carried on, without resources,
and almost wiSshout precedent, by the wisdom and
energy, the faith and patience and perseverance of
one woman. —

"For years, she was the animating soul, the or-
ganizing force, the controlling mind and will of the
institution. When means and resources failed, and
others were discouraged, she was never disheartened,
but bravely put forth nev/ exertions, devising new
measures, and resolutely pushing the enterprise a-
long the upward grade her skillful and engineering
mind had laid for it." (3)

"Miss Sill had a generous heart, overflowing
with love for all who would receive it. She made

(1) Miss Mary E. B. Norton, Memorial Volume,
pp. 68-69.

(2) Ibid,

(3) Excerpt from Funeral Address of Rev. H. M. Good-
win; Memorial Volume, p. 48.

282

companions of her girls, and was in sympathy with
all their interests. During the long summer vaca-
tion she visited those whom it was possible to visit,
in their homes. She always held out a helping hand
which reached even to foreign lands through the mis-
sionaries whom she inspired." (1)

"What supreme consecration was that of our dear
dead we know full well, "but her zeal was never fan-
atical. Her life was symmetrical, rounded, developed
on all sides-* --"From the days in the first flush of
early womanhood

fWhen all her hope and all her pride,
Were in her village school, f

to those later ones when she knew her lines had gone
out into all the earth, and her influence unto the
ends therof , she never forgot that while a teacher,
she was yet a woman, and owed womanly duty to so-
ciety, the church, the world. "(2)

"Miss Sill was our ideal, — so kind in all her
corrections, so quick to see any worthy endeavor and
to speak of it. She would always speak of a becom-
ing dress. Yet she carried that far away pose and
look as though wondering about the future develop-
ment of the school. 'T (3)

"Prom that year, 1352, until her retirement
from active duties in 1884, hers was a constancy of
devotion, a steadfastness of endeavor, and an un-
swerving belief in the greatness of her calling that
has seldom been equalled. A simple soul so far as
the world goes, unsophisticated and uninformed as to
many temporal matters, yet in her line of work there
was heart, brain, enthusiasm and sincerity that were
well-nigh unapproachable. In her every action there
was a gravity that was almost solemn. She could not
overestimate the importance of her charge, the far-
reaching results of the Seminary training upon the
character of the young ladies who came under its
care. And yet there was a sweetness to her smile,
a grace to her measure, a kindliness diffused from
her whole being that won all hearts and made one
happier for coming into her beneficent presence.

(1) Mrs. P. L. Woods, 1865.

(2) Mrs, S. T. Clark, Memorial Exercises, Jure 26, 1889;
Memorial Volume, p. 61—62.

(3) Mrs. A. D. Adams, 1870.

283

"She taught many branches, especially those of
the senior classes for years, but far above and be-
yond all the training that they received from text
books was the ineffable influence of her beautiful
life and example, the high moral plane to which she
exerted every energy to elevate her loved charges,
the purity and womanliness which her teachings in-
culcated— these were the tests of her nobility and
beauty of character, and the fragrance of such mem-
ories of their dead preceptress hundreds of women,
mothers of families, teachers of culture and high men-
tal endowment, maidens holding positions of merit and
distinction — a multitude of cultivated women, call
her blessed as the years roll by."(l)

"Those v;ere days that tried the staunchest souls.
If ever there was a brave, devoted, consecrated woman,
entirely forgetful of self, in a place of public trust,
Miss Sill was that woman. "(2)

"Her work as a teacher, and the influence she
exerted over the mind and character of her pupils was
no less remarkable and successful. In this work and
influence several characteristic qualities may be
mentioned.

"First, a pure and ardent love of knowledge, of
knowledge for its own sake and in all its departments.
I remember once hearing her say that she was not con-
scious of any preference for one science above another.
All knowledge and all truth was attractive, satisfied a
want and craving in her ever open and inquisitive mind.
United with this v/as a deep and strong sympathy with
the minds of her pupils in all their varied charac-
ters and experiences and a sympathy no less with their
trials and difficulties. A bond of attachment v/as
thus formed between teacher and pupil, deeper than in-
tellectual sympathy or that which mere instruction
creates, v/hich knit the heart of one to the other in
a spiritual union.

"Noticeable also, v/as the maternal element of
feeling which embraced all her pupils in an impar-
tial love. The motherly care and tenderness with
v/hich she brooded over her numerous charges often
reminded one of the scriptural simile, 'As a hen
gathereth her chickens under her wings;1 and if any es-

(1) Rockf ord Daily Register, June 18, 1880.

(2) Mrs. Mary Clark Wads worth, 1884.

284

caped her shelter and protection, it was not for want of
love, but because the wings were not large enough to pro-
tect them all.

"I must not omit to mention her supreme regard to
the spiritual and religious welfare of her pupils.
This was the one essential point of culture to which all
others were secondary'; rightly deeming a true Christian
education to be a culture of the heart as well as of the
intellect, and that faith in Christ and obedience to His
commands, is the foundation of all right and pure and no-
ble character. Hence, the Bible was made a text-book
out of which lessons were daily learned, and its truths and
principles enforced by both precept and example. As a
consequence, nearly all her pupils were disciples in the
school of Christ, or became so through her influence and
tender personal counsel. T,( 1 )

"The secret of her power as a teacher lay in her per-
sonal power and influence; in the outflow of her spirit and
character, and its inflow into the mind and heart of those

open to receive it.

"This personal power or the power of inspiration
which belongs to genius, was in Miss Sill inseparable
from the moral power seated in the conscience and heart.
Loyalty to duty r as it was given her to see it, consecra-
tion and steadfast fidelity to the work given her to do,
this seemed to be the law and life of her character, and
in the light of this principle all her acts and duties
were performed. With such a purpose steadily pursued,
with such a difficult work and such manifold and often
incongrous and intractible elements to deal with, it could
not be but that criticisms would arise and harsh Judg-
ments be formed and sometimes uttered; and, moreover, even
such a woman had her weaknesses and imperfect ions, because
she was human. 1f sometimes she was more tenacious of
forms and precise technical rules of conduct than some
would deem it necessary, it was the tenacity of a conscience
wholly set in the ways of right, and fearing to let down
the high standard of duty to which she clung. If her
method of discipline sometimes was of a more legal than
spritual order, and followed the letter of the law father
than the spirit of the gospel, it was because the law of
duty was supreme, and must be enforced outwardly by pre-
cept and commandment until it becomes an inward

( nExffPrptfl -evnm FutiptoI AftrJT»Pflfl ,Rftv.H.M. Goodwin, Memorial
Volume. pp. 49- 50. 51-5 2.

285

law of the heart. If she some times seemed actuated by-
policy and expediency, leading to management rather
than simplicity in the attainment of ends, it was the
wisdom of the serpent, which if not the highest wis-
dom is often as needful in this world as the harmless -
ness of the dove, and without which the highest aims
and the purest and best endeavors would fail by be-
ing impracticable. That she recognized and owned a
wisdom higher than expediency, and obeyed a law more
supreme than policy, is evinced by the maxim often
heard from her lips — ,Duty is ours, results are
God's.*" (1)

"She won for herself an enviable reputation as
an able and accomplished teacher, and at the same time
an uncommon tact at managing and governing those un-
der her care, possessing the faculty of controlling
those committed to her care, while the pupils did not
seem to realize they were being controlled." (2)

"Miss Sill as a woman, and as a teacher commands
our admiration and respect. The responsible position
assigned her in life, she filled with the highest
credit, by unselfishly yielding all her powers for
the well-being of others. In her work and in the
familiar intercourse of daily life, her aim was to
make manifest whatever of good there was and to give
opportunity for the fullest development of true
character in those who came under her influence." (5)

"We used to smile at her oft repeated truisms,
but they moulded and shaped us. Her f Whatever is
worth doing at all, is worth doing well,* has many a
time and oft redeemed our work. —

"That plain, straight-forward, character-making
assertion that 'We are what our most cherished
thoughts make us,1 has penetrated and renewed many a
life to the core? 2nd urged it forward toward the
ideal ewr just beyond. Her strength as a teacher
lay not in tex+r-book lore and the ability to com-
municate it to others, but rather in the spirit in-
fused into her pupils.

"She planted in them the deep conviction that

(1) Excerpts from Funeral Address, Rev. H. M. Goodwin;
Memorial Volume, pp. 49-50, 51-52.

(2) A former student in New York, Memorial Volume, p. 24.

(3) Miss Martha Lathrop, Memorial Exercises, June 26, 1889;
Memorial Volume, p. 66.

286

true education was a life growth, for whose strength
and vigor each one was. responsible; and this thought

like the root in the rifted rock, T was so firmly
set, that adverse winds and limitations of circum-
stances only served to deepen it in the hearts of her
girls. Find them wherever you may, with few, if in-
deed any exceptions, they are growing as best they
can — pushing out a lateral branch here, shooting up
a terminal bud there, onward and upward — forward not
backward. "(1)

"To the grandest woman I ever knew, I owe my
chance of completing my course of study. I had the
desire and ambition, and she gave me the opportunity,
and I owe her a debt of gratitude I can never forget.
She certainly was and is my highest ideal of a grand,
noble woman, never to be forgotten. Her character
impressed itself upon all who came in contact with
her. "(2)

MI was barely sixteen, young for my years (hav-
ing never been before away from home) when one gloomy
night in November (with my mother) I came up the walk
to Rockford College. What was our surprise to see a
lighted candle in every pane of the windows ^r. I iddle
and Linden Halls. One window only was darkened with
just enough light to display a little dried mackerel,
for the joyful news had just been received that Lin-
coln had been elected and McClellan defeated. As we
entered the hall, Miss Sill came to meet us, and ne-
ver shall I forget the impression her kindly royal
womanhood made upon me. The graciousness with which
Miss Sill dispelled my homesickness, and the ease
and love with which she ruled our girlish empire
keeps her in my mind as an example of noble, royal
womanhood. Again I think of her, as we seniors
listened to her lectures on Mental and Moral Philo-
sophy, Evidences of Christianity, Butler's Analogy,
and so forth, which were a fitting close to the four
years of daily instruction of our duties to God and
man. I would call her an unusually successful teach-
er. But these pictures fade compared with one that
comes to my mind of her seated before a grate fire
in our home in Minneapolis. The v/ay in which she
held my infant daughter and cuddled the dear baby in
her arms, gave me a new impression of my beloved Princ-
pal as a perfect mother. True, no children of
her own were given to her, but she has mothered
thousands of girls during the formative period of

their lives. So to Miss Sill I would like to pay

JT) Mrs. Seely Perry, Memorial Exercises, June 26, 1889;

Memorial Volume, p . 59 .
(2) Mrs. Daniel Pish, 1867, at Alumnae Banquet, 1916.

287

the tribute of being a noble, royal woman, a pre-emi-
nently successful teacher, and a perfect mother," (1)

"Those who knew her in the early days, when the
little prairie town greatly needed such formative in-
fluence, well remember what a social power she was;
how her presence at church and prayer service was an
unfailing inspiration to her pastor, and how skill-
ful an organizer and leader she proved in any under-
taking she entered upon." (2)

"\7e of those earlier days owe much to Rockford and
have tried to make good use of all the worthy influence
exerted there. "(3)

"I had no parents to send me boxes, and I expect
sometimes I was envious of the girls who received them.
Miss Sill knew I was rather lonely. She so often
seemed to take especial pains to have a little talk
with me, and I always came from her room happier for
her many kind words. "(4)

"In my affection Miss Sill has a dearer place than
even a beloved teacher, and it is very gratifying to
know that there is a channel opened whereby we can ex-
press our love in a tangible form. "(5)

"We are almost hushed to silence when v/e try to
conceive what may be your thoughts as you behold this
Seminary, founded by your. faith, nourished by your
prayers and self-denial, when today you sit as twenty-
five years ago you sat to listen to the adieus of
your first class, --and now your latest graduating class.
We indeed cannot realize the darkness of the nights
through which you have guided this enterprise, the sacri-
fices you made with such devotion, not alone by sleepless
nights and days of toil. And if on this glad anni-
versary which ought to be the proudest our alma mater
has ever seen, she can look with a mother !s pardonable
pride upon her children, we can return thanks for all
this but to you. And as we go forth from your care
(perhaps forever), we would remember your many kind-
nesses, and would hope that in your memory of the
class there may be that which shall be, in

(1) Mrs. Daniel Pish, 186V, at Alumnae Banquet, 1916.

(2) Mrs. E. T. Clark, Memorial Exercises, June 26, 1889;
Memorial Volume, p. 62.

(3) Mrs. A. D. Adams, 1870.

(4) Mrs. Albert Durham, 1870.

(5) Letter of S. Madole to Clara Goodall, at the time of
the raising of the Sill Endowment Fund. Not dated.

288

part, a reward for the service of these years," (1)

"Miss Sill, our honored Principal, your life has
been one of constant endeavor and wise planning for
others. By the mysterious lav; of culture which comes
from giving each year, you have had more to give,
richer blessings to bestow. Hence, we, your latest
class, have received from your hands, not only the
teaching and training which was our individual due,
but we have come into the fullness of your life*
Whenever we see how freely and how much you have
given us and remember that we are but one class out
of the thirty classes you have sent forth, then we
gain a faint conception of the magnitude and worthi-
ness of your life work. Bearing with this rich
legacy the daily remembrances of noble purpose, the
class of '81, the youngest of your many daughters,
go forth, perchance to pay back again to the world,
the much good they have done you." (2)

"During our years here, Miss Sill has often been
among us, and though we never knew her as a teacher,
her kindly face and cordial greetings have ever been
an inspiration. We feel grateful for the interest
she took in us, who cannot claim the dear relation-
ship of pupil. We always found a warm welcome when-
ever we entered her room, and her calls upon us were
esteemed a rare favor.

"On one such occasion but a few months ago, I
was especially impressed with her gentle words of ad-
vice, and as she left my room, I wrote down a few
sentences on the £Ly leaf of the book I was studying,
thinking to preserve them as a memento of my senior
year, not dreaming that they would be her last words
to me. I can think of no more fitting tribute than
to give these few words of her own, even though they
lose half their force when separated from her quaint
expression, and the loving spirit which shone from
her face. She appeared to me the very embodiment of
the thought which she told me had been the Seminary
motto since its start :--'Decus 6t Veritas-1- 'Grace
and Truth.'

"The three brief sentences with which our talk

(1) Valedictory, Florence E. Hyde, 1876; Rockford Sem-
inary Magazine, Jan. 1877, p. 31.

(2) Kiss Jane Addarns, Valedictory Address, 1831; Rock-
ford Register, June 22, 1881.

289

may be summed up, seem to me a key to the inner life
of the one who spoke them:

'Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it.
'What the Lord wants you to do, He will give you
power to do. ..

'Let His Spirit be in you, and He will direct you.'(l)

"She fills this, her home , today, and will con-
tinue here an "inspiration and a benediction, and not
here alone will her presence be felt, for who shall
say that her freed spirit has not a wider range and
more exalted service from the Master in influencing
the hearts and lives of those still this side the
veil, engaged in the warfare against ignorance and
evil." (2)

"The devotion and lasting reverence and affection
of her pupils was one of the best proofs of her ster-
ling character and sympathy. However they may have
esteemed her when under her supervision, after grad-
uation, their esteem ripened into reverence and love.
And this love came back from far and near, wherever in
the wide world they might be scattered, and settled
like a crown of glory upon her head." (3)

"Her power over her pupils was rare and marvelous.
Day after day, by word, look, ani act, she forged the un-
seen chain that at last she rivetted around them. The
impatience of youth might seek to shake it off and
break it; the pleasures of life and the dictum of the
world might strive to undo its fastenings, but sooner
or later, dislpyal legions would wheel into line and
do valiant service in the cause of truth and right.— —
It is not too much to say that her influence belts
the earth; for it stirs in the heart of China, lives
and thrills in the new life in Japan, does Zenana
work in India, seeks to lighten the darkness of
Persia., Turkey and the isles of the sea, dwells in

(1) Miss Adelaide Olmstead, 1889, Memorial Exercises;
Memorial Volume , p. 65.

(2) Miss Martha C. Lathrop, Memorial Exercises;
Memorial Volume p. 66.

(3) Excerpt from Funeral Address, Rev. H. M. Goodwin;
Memorial Volume, p. 52.

290

England, France and Germany, and stretches across our
own "beloved land from north to south and from ocean
to ocean." (1)

In her religious strmdard of faith and practice
she held much to the Puritan ideals, and by some was
she felt to magnify the law above the gospel Had she
liv-d in the time of Savonarola, she would doubtless,
in her younger days, have been a devoted follower of
the great Florentine." (2)

"We shall find the secret of her success in her
single-hearted, untiring devotion to one great cause,
in the giving of her all even as the candle gives
forth itself in light; and as we walk among these
dear old places, hallowed by her prayers and love,
this thought is inseparable from them — TA life has
been builded into these walls,1 and they will hence-
forth be eloquent to us of heroic courage, grand en-
deavor and the 'faith that can move mountains;*" (3) ■

"The work of Miss Sill, in connection with Rock-
ford Female Seminary was two-fold, requiring a two-
fold, or rather manifold endowment of character.
First--The outward and visible work of organizing,
building up and establishing the Seminary on a solid
and permanent basis. Secondly — The invisible, spiri-
tual and moral work of teaching, of training and mould-
ing the mind and character of the pupils. Few are en-
dowed with the qualities requisite for both kinds of
work--with the executive and administrative ability
needful for the first, and the intellectual and moral
endowments necessary for the s econd?--None but those
who have witnessed or borne a part in the first be-
ginnings of a College or Seminary in a new western
community, without endowment and with few friends oi»
patrons, can appreciate the difficulties of the en-
terprise, and only such can rightly estimate, the
qualities of mind and heart able to meet and overcome
them." (4)

(1) Mrs. Seely Perry, Memorial Exercises, June 26, 1889;
Memorial Volume, p. 59.

(2) Miss Mary E. B. Norton, Memorial Volume, p. 69.

(3) Mrs. Seely Perry, Memorial Volume, p. 58.

(4) Excerpt from Funeral Address, Rev. H. M. Goodwin;

Mrs. Seely Perry, Memorial'
Excerpt from Funeral Addre
Memorial Volume, p. 47-48.

291

"For a young woman of brilliant talents and rare
personal charm to consecrate herself to such an aim
and ideal as this, is no slight commendation. That
she realized this ideal in its perfection, would be
too much to affirm, but that "she held it continually
before her, resisting all temptations to lower or
abandon it, that Rockford Female Seminary became what
it was and is under her guidance and fostering care,
is her enduring praise and memorial." (1)

Next to the trial of relinquishing a position,
long held, of high and honorable trust, is the at-
tendant one of witnessing new methods and new ideas
superseding those to which onefs life has been de-
voted; of standing silent by, while the new age and
its young and bold spirit irreverently rushes past
the old--a trial which not only educators, but men
of all professions who have lived for fifty years,
are called to experience, --which is indeed the Pro-
vidential law of growth and progress. Yet the same
meekness of wisdom which submitted gracefully to the
former, accepted silently without a sign of impatience
or irritation the new regime with whatever of change
it might bring. Her faith was so steadfast, her con-
fidence so serene in the Divine guidance of the In-
stitution in all its previous history, an'd in/the
principles on which it was founded, that she could
still trust it in His hands for its future career.
Moreover, her silent and benignant presence, and the
spirit of calm, sweet dignity and venerable repose
that streamed from her, with all that it suggested
of tried experience and matured wisdom, was itself
a conservative power, the more potent because of its
gentle and unobtrusive character. All felt the
softening, subduing and hallowing power of her un-
conscious influence, and deemed it a privilege to
minister in any way to the wishes of happiness of
one so worthy of their reverence and love." (2)

"The interest in missions, so characteristic of
her was by no means fostered merely by the knowledge
that such an interest is greatly educative, and was
of inestimable value to her students, but grew na-
turally from her world-wide sympathies, and from
that ! enthusiasm for humanity1 which always possessed
her, and, when at last, her long service ended, she
laid down her work, with what marvelous adaptability
she entered household life for the first time in many
years, and proved herself the ever ready helper, the

(1) Rev. H. M. Goodwin, Memorial Volume, p. 19.

(2) Ibid, p. 33.

292

nobly tender friend of childhood, the thoughtful
nurse and care-taker, and ah J supreme test of
character, the ever gracious and graceful guest in
that large household where fb r five and thirty years,
her will was law, her word control . " (1)

"She never lost her eager love of knowledge, and
in later years gave much of her scant leisure to
study of the history of Art. She was fond of travel,
and an eagerly anticipated guest in many homes from
the Atlantic to the Pacific coast, but latterly had
postponed any long trip until her little Roteert should
be older, Ahi she las gone on the fairest journey
of all, and the little child she loved so well is
with her forever," (2)

"She was a teacher born. From girlhood her im-
pulses were all toward helpfulness--toward upbuilding.
Consecrated to a cause was not mere talk with her.---
To build up Rockford Seminary, to make it a center
where young women, poor in everything but courage and
ability, could find that mental and spiritual food
and stimulus indispensable to their higher useful-
ness, was her one thoughts— -The school was her child,
her hope, her joy, her all.

"Though her power as an organizer is often dwelt
upon, and her great executive ability always recog-
nized, her pupils wuld be reluctant to admit that
anywhere but in her personal influence lay her
mightiest work. Surrounded .by -aft atmosphere of
simple dignity, which would effectually repel undue
familiarity, she was in the class room, and in in-
dividual intercourse, companionable and entertain-
ing. She loved to teach, to come into -that direct
communication with" her students for which the class-
room affords the best opportunity, and burdened as
she was by administrative affairs, she was never will-
ing to relinquish the duties of instructress, declar-
ing that this work freshened and heartened her for
all the rest,

"There was that about her which seemed to com-
pel not only obedience, comparatively an easy mat-
ter, but that answer of the soul to her desire which
only an absolutely strong self -poised nature can
draw forth. No one in the school but felt her

(1) Mrs. E. T. Clark, Memorial Exercises; Memorial Volume,
p. 63.

(2) Mrs. E. T, Clark, Memorial Exercises, June 26, 1889;
Memorial Volume, p. 63,

293

through and through.

"With all this virility of mind and soul, she was
truly womanly. She loved pictures, flowers, and
children most of all. Her fondness for her little
nephew, Robert Sill Chapman, was something exquisite,
and the child's death doubtless hastened her own." (1)

"More than thirty years ago, when a half grown
boy, I sojourned for a while in Rockford, and I came
very directly under the influence of a teacher to
whom I looked up with a boy's reverence and grati-
tude. Here was the first human voice that ever, made
a direct and personal appeal to me, seeking to turn
my steps on the heavenward way. The school in which
her services began, has prospered and increased in
resources and power. It has been a signet ring on
the hand of God, stamping its seal upon thousands
of human characters. In myriads of happy homes, in
places of honor and power, ;in lonely mission stations,
in the darkened lands, this teacher's influence has
been silently doing its beneficent work, through
the hands and voices of a multitude who are today
ready to rise up and call her blessed. And now, as
wearied with the life march, she lays down the bur-
den, borne so faithfully and so long, seeking rest
and quiet for a little while before coming to the
white-winged reaper, we can all of us look back
across the years and say, 'Surely, judging by the
standards of results achieved and harvests gathered,
no life can be more noble or more fruitful than
that of the teacher, who works in the love and
spirit of the Master.'" (2)

"A just estimate of the work that Miss Sill
has accomplished would involve a full history of
the Seminary of which she was practically the found-
er, and for so many years, the honored Principal,
and with which the' greater part of her life is
identified. This is her monument; with this her
name and memory will be as inseparably associated,
as the name of Mary Lyon is associated with Mount
Holyoke, its New England prototype." (3)

(1) Mrs. D. S. Clar£, Rockford Daily Register, June 18, 1889.

(2) Prof. Henry B. Norton, at that time "of the State
Normal School of California, at the commencement
exercises, 1884; Rockford Register, June 25, 1884.

(3) Excerpt from the funeral Address of Rev. H. M. Good-
win, Memorial Volume, p. 47.

2?4

"I cannot close without a recognition of the
kindly Providence of God in the time and place of
her death. What place so sacred and so fitting in
which to die, as here, in the sanctuary of her own
room where she had so often communed with God in
prayer; amidst these quiet rural shades, where she
had often heard the voice of the Lord God walking
in the garden in the cool of the day; and where
the angels of God had met her and brought strength
to her fainting heart when sinking under its bur-
dens. And if we saw them not as they descended to
receive her parting soul, they were visible to her
enraptured vision, and she went forth gladly with
them along and up the shining pathway of the skies.

"What time, too, so fitting as this annivers-
ary season, when the brightness and beauty of sum-
mer is in the air and over all the earth, and the
gladness of youthful enthusiasm is in all hearts;
this coronal season which she had so often graced
and honored with her presence and benedictions?

"This event comes not as a shadow to darken
and throw a gloom over this festive season, but as
an aureole to hallow and glorify it, and shed over
its festivities the sanctity of a celestial light
and joy. Henceforth the presiding genius of the
place will be not a visible presence but a guardian
angel, whose benediction will be felt, not heard,
and whose name will live not only in the se halls
and rustic walks, and not alone in the marble monu-
ment that shall cover her grave, but in the hearts
and memories of her children and her children1 s
children to the latest generation.

"Do we realize what a privilege we have today,
that of contemplating a crowned life? Most work-
ers who live even the allotted three score years.,
and ten, pass over to the other side leaving much
unfinished, little of results which they can see
and from which they can gain satisfaction. Our
revered friend had the exceedingly rare privilege
of seeing her work a success, of knowing she had
builded like an immortal. We hold a memorial ser-
vice today, but if sad at all it is because we
bring ourselves into it.

"We say justly that the woman whom we delight
to honor founded this Institution, and by her pe-
culiar abilities as a pioneer, she led it up near-
ly to where it now stands. With pride we mention
notable facts of self-sacrifice and energy; we re-
call what she did toward raising money, her efforts

293

to call in pupils, to maintain a corps of teachers,
and in many other directions by which a school is
built up and sustained. But the Institution is
something more than these things. You may throw down
these walls so that not one stone shall lie upon
another, you may scatter her art-stores, her library,
her furniture to the winds; you may send her pupils
far and wide into other halls of learning; you may
set each teacher at work a thousand miles from this
spot, still there will exist in the world Rockford
Seminary.

"It is a correlation of forces derived from the
lives which have been given here. Each of us, sisters

of the alumnae, is a part of this life. I believe

there was a residue of life force left by us and
experienced by each and all who come after us. Each
pupil and teacher has given some life tov/ard this
other force which we name the Institution. The
strong life, the self-devoted life, the entire life
which Miss Sill gave to the school makes her share
in the Institution greater than any of ours. She
gave it tone, and form and character, but we must
ingore or forget our own share in it. It is dif-
ficult in words to realize the actual existence of
this force which is simply a spiritual entity. It
exists in and with this school; but, again I
say, if it were possible to destroy this school,
still the Institution must forever remain a power.
She who held the largest share in the Institution
gave it to us. Do you remember how she said many
time, 'My dear children of the Alumane, this In-
stitution is yours; in the future, it must be what
you make it . ,n (1)

"Rockford Seminary has an endowment which few
people who come in contact with her fail to perceive,
but which no one realizes so vividly as her own

children. All that is necessary is to voice what

the Alumnae have in common; to articulate what I
myself have felt more or less clearly since I was
six years old v/hen on a momentous day I took my pen-
nies from my tin bank and solemly gave them to my
sister Alice, that she might put them into a carpet
for the new chapel. It was the green carpet for
the new chapel. Blessings on its memorv 1

HWe are all sensible of constantly looking for
the distinctive trait, --the trend, the meaning of an
institution. The mere congregating of people for

(1) Mrs. C. P. Brazee, Memorial Exercises; Memorial
Volume, pp. 56-57.

296

study, the mere exhibition of talent and learning,
fail to impress us. The accumulation itself, the
result of a college course, is a mountain of mere
straw and stubble, unless it is fused and held to-
gether by a moral purpose. It must have an animus
to keep it from reverting, from going back into the
mere classics and mathematics of text-books. It i s
not easy to establish such a thing. It can by no
means be adventitious. It cannot be forced or im-
ported. It must represent the strong convictions
of at least one person, and the need of many others."'

"The first students of Rock ford Seminary in-
herited from their fa the rs and from the new country,
the ambition and training to overcome difficulties.
They came here to get so me thing --to add to their
power, that they might have more to use. They were
almost never impelled in those earliest years, by
mere ambition, and even when moved by the pure love
of study and desire for self -improvement, it was
soon modified by more practical and beneficent mo-
tives. It is interesting to trace this earliest
characteristic under widely changed conditions. I
have met my sisters in Dresden, in London and Chi-
cago, still actuated by the primitive Seminary
energy, curiously distinct and recognizable."

"The early school stood for the intellectual
certainly, not only professedly but vitally, when
Rockford Seminary was the only institution in the
vicinity which furnished to women the higher ad-
vantages, and w hose corps of teachers, from that
vague region, !the East,1 gave to many a girl her
first glimpse of the larger life. But with the
intellectual and religious was constantly combined
the stirring, practical character, born of the
condition of the country itself. The yearning of
its young people to fulfill the lav? of mutual ser-
vice, to yield to the strong impulse calling them
to work was always recognized. It feave us from the
first that balance in development \*iich the fore-
most educators of England and America are now urg-
ing. We have instinctively recognized this, and
endeavored to keep it. From our scanty means we
have put up a gymnasium, elaborate, out of propor-
tion to other equipment, that the talk of manual
labor which she urged upon students so long ago
might well be continued after the best methods, our
primitive energy still fostered. We are among the
few colleges to have a night school (though many
others are fast following) that the students may
confirm by the deed those dreams of sacrifice and
unselfish devotion of which young heads are full,

297

and that they may test the practical religion and
philanthropy which young people crave, and which,
if they are allowed to live out freely, may "bring
an answer to some of our most vexed social problems,

"We believe that our scholarship is each year
more thorough and fine. It is advancing, as it has
always done, in proportion to our character, and is
made a part of that. Dear friends, it may be that
this is our one opportunity, our road to distinction. •
We are Rockford Seminary with a history of forty
years with our own characteristics, finer that any
thing imitation can give* — It may be that our po-
verty has preserved us from many good things-- se-
cond-rate things — only that we might be able to cher-
ish the best, that we might preserve our endowment.
We have been too poor for much building. We shall,
perhaps, never have a dining room with plate glass
windows looking out upon the river and a huge side-
board glittering with cut glass and silver.

"We can be thankful for this, that we have
never been buried under the second best, - an accum-
ulation of merely good things. We have not been
stuffed with a content and shallow pride; we have
escaped the curse of self-satisfaction."

"What is, after all, the office — the function
of an institution like this, of the local college?
Is it not to hold out to the eager young people of
the vicinity its draught of water--rto give them to
drink? The cup which has been given us to hold is
plain and unadorned. What matters i t so that the
water itself is pure? Colleges to the east and west
of us may stretch forth a finer goblet, but they
contain at best nothing better than what we may
have,' and if the liquid they hold is contaminated
by one drop of self -conceit or of worldly ambition
which shall dazzle the drinker and turn his head
with a sense of his own attainment, it matters
little of what stuff the cup is made- -the plainer
the better. I should really 'despair if this should
be our fate. Nothing short of this can turn our
future black."

"From the very first we owe to her whom we
mourn today with heavy hearts, the highest grace
any institution can possess. Miss Sill gave it
that strong religious tone which it has always re-
tainedy--The spiritual so easily speaks over all
other voices it arrests us at once. — -We are bound
by the tenderest ties to perpetuate this primitive
spiritual purpose--Miss Sill!s life motive. It will

298

be easy to do this — we cannot otherwise; it is as-
sociated with this spot "by her long life and made
bright by her gentle death. Why did Thackeray put
dear old Col. Newcome into the Charter House School
to die, but that he wished to give to his Alma Mater
the most exquisite finish, the most consummate grace
his genius could devise--to associate with it for-
ever the passing from the earth of a gentle, unself-
ish spirit whose work was finished? Providence has
granted us this grace and whatever the future may
hold for us. nothing can be finer than that we al-
ready have." (1)

(1) Excerpts from the alumnae essay of
Addams; Memorial Volume, pp. 70-75.

f 1889, Miss Jane

29?

Chapter VII

Activities and Social Life of the Students

One of the questions most often put to me, especially
"by the undergraduates of the college, is: What did the
girls useg to do for recreation? Did they ever have any
good times? When I assure my inquirers that the girls of
the !50fs, 60 fs, 70*3, and !80fs were very much like
girls of today, and relate to them some of the stories
the alumnae have told me, they are rather disconcerted.
Some of them seem to wish they had been at the Seminary
then— especially when they learn of the popularity of the
"Sems" in town, and with their Beloit brethren.

It goes without saying that life was much harder in
those days. There were no conveniences, but the "students
were not martyrs; they didnft have conveniences at home."
The food was simple and often poor. The problem of
cooking for so large a number on a primitive wood stove,
was not easy to solve. (1) They always had the same thing
for the same meal on each day of the week. At each of
the long tables in the dining room (which was in the base-
ment of Linden) there were twelve girls with a teacher
at each end who used to "dish up.* "it was not much
work, for we were never asked what we would have. They
simply gave us our allowance, and the girls passed it
along at the table, and all was well," writes a student
in the sixties. (2) At bed-time the lines "with pitchers
and permission, filed out to the well for water, and a
drink from those thick white pitchers was the most re-
freshing of all drinks. "(3) The mail didn!t come until
about noon. It was brought by the Rev. Mr. Adams who
"used to drive an old horse, and had a rickety old buggy."
The letters were delivered from a table in the upper
story of Middle, and "a crowd of girls was always there
waiting for him" (4) — just as now.

Simple the life was to be sure, but the girls who
came to the Seminary did not mind' the scantiness. They
had not been reared in luxury. Furthermore, as one
graduate put it, they "were there for higher things. "(5)
The student body was drawn from small towns and prairie
homes. Indian girls were often present, and children
of American parents born abroad. To many the Seminary
simple though it was, offered refinements of living be-
yond any thing to which they had been accustomed. "( 6)

Loretta Van Kook, 1875.

H. W. Kimball.

Loretta Van Hook.

H. W. Kimball.

A. D. Adams, 1870.

Loretta Van Hook.

(1)

Mrs

(2)

Mrs

(3)

Mrs

(4)

Mrs

(5)

Mrs

(6)

Mrs

300

A poem written by Mrs, Abby Spare Evans, 1860, and
read at the alumnae banquet in 1910, gives us a picture
of this busy life:

"Hark, my sisters, can you hear the calls

Of the morning bells at half past five

In the good old days of forty-nine?

Girls, take out your shovels to get hot coals,

And hurry to bathe in the closet so small.

Move over, my dear, there's room for all.

There were dishes to wash and halls to sweep

And smoky lamps to fill.

No time for gossip, no time to sleep."

The half past five rising bell called the girls who
helped with the breakfast.

Discipline was very severe. Those late for break-
fast had to report to Miss Sill on Fridays. "Had we been
guilty of tardiness to meals or classes or been out of
bounds without permission, or broken any rule, we were
supposed to confess, and be excused, or if our excuse
was not accepted, suffer a demerit," writes one alumna. (l)
Each student had a little book*- into which were written
the rules which she was to obey, and in which were re-
corded offences and demerits for them. The girls also
had to hand in accounts of their "personal expenditures,
properly balanced. One student refers to this system
"as a peculiar kind of honor system," and says it was
called The Confessional.

Mrs. Phoebe L. Woods speaks of the rules and the
attitude toward discipline in the following terms:

"It was against the rules to speak or even
whisper during study hours, and our report books
were weekly sent in and examined by the teachers.
We had to report if these rules*- with any others
were broken. Some of them I fear were mis re-
ported, but a device to keep silence for study
hours was necessary.

"Oh, all this discipline! At times it was
terribly hard, and even some of the "Good Girls"
rebelled, broke rules, and did not report, put
"Sundries" in their report books when they could
not balance their accounts. They stole into
chums1 rooms in study hours, whispered, and
abused the faculty, especially Miss Sill. But at
heart they were good girls, were only tired out
with months of wearing work and never-ending re-
straint. We didn't know then how very necessary

(1) Mrs. C. L. Jones, 1878.
* See the book of Sarah P. Safford, herewith.

301

all these regulations were to operate this little
new and poor struggling institution in its efforts
to live and become a great beacon light in the
country where we were to live. Although as we
left school and entered that of life's hard and

strenuous discipline, although we forgot our
Latin, mathematics and other studies, these hard
struggles had prepared the way to overcome harder
ones that must come to most of us. Ten years ago,
when last I visited Alma Mater, I was pleased to
note how the honor method had superceded the old-
time government of rules and regulations, and
thought if Miss Sill were alive and able to be
at her old post, this new method of rule would
be her way, for she always placed moral culture
above the intellectual* Her rule commenced in
primitive times. She used the wisest and best
ways for the conditions. With Time's progress,
better ways have come, thus showing our
educators are doing their part in keeping pace,
and credit should be given them"

But girls will have their fun, whatever the age and
however serious their thoughts and earnest their intents.
"I was never in disgrace, but I had lots of fun," writes
one alumna. (1) And still another:

"There were two distinct make-ups in our
class. One group never swerved to right or left
from study, scholarship or obedience. The rest of.
us never flunked or did any thing contrary to
rules openly, yet we had many a good time on the
sly." (2)

This same student felt that the greatest hindrance
to good times was the custom of putting new girls in
with older girls. The older girls were afraid the later
comers would tell on them. "When we were caught in any
delinquency, we had to appear in Miss Sill's room one
at a time, and answer charges, and we were given a
psalm to learn. My children wonder at my knowledge
of the scriptures."

They had jolly good times together, and they had
many town contacts which later later students were not to
enjoy when the town grew. It would seem as we review

(1) Mrs. A. D. Adams.

(2) Mrs. George Dowman, 1867.

302

the social life of the day that the resolution of the
Board, "That the Executive Committee and the faculty be
instructed to devise and provide some method for se-
curing a greater degree of physical exercise and re-
creation on the part of the pupils* TT. (1) was unneces-
sary. Perhaps there was lack of exercise (girls were
required to exercise only one-half hour a day) , but of
recreation it would seem there was a superabundance.

In the very early days the social life of the town
centered around the Seminary. No town function was
complete without its quota of HSems" and faculty. When-
ever there was any public affair, the girls were be-
sieged with invitations. (2) A member of the faculty tells
of the Ole Bull concert in the early fifties. A certain
young man in the village asked her to attend with him.
As his was her third invitation, she had to refuse him.
She knew of a girl in the Seminary, however, who had
not been invited, and suggested that he take her. When
he did not respond with alacrity to the suggestion,
she was puzzled and a little vexed. She understood,
however, when shortly afterwards he asked her to marry
him. (3)

Ole Bull made several visits to the village.
Adelina Patti came, too. Then there were many concerts
by people less well known, and concerts of purely local
interest. Sometimes the Seminary girls assisted at
those in town, and often townspeople gave their services
to the Seminary. This interchange of services, which
was brought about largely by Prof. Hood, strengthened
the bond between the institution and the village. His
was no small influence in either place. Of gracious
personality and social charm, he exerted an influence
which it is hard to measure. It is not extravagant
praise to say that what Rockford is today musically,
it owes largely to Prof. Hood.

One of these concerts, The Flower Queen, deserves
especial mention. It was given in the early days of
Prof. Hood's long regime. That it was a most ambitious
affair, and that it was highly successful, there is no
doubt. The press of the day describes it in the
journalistic style of the times:

(1)

Records of the Board

(2)

Mrs. E. L. Herrick.

(3)

Ibid.

of Trustees, July 4, 1860.

303

"The impression of that group of youthful,
graceful fair ones is too vivid, the echo of their
sweet voices rings too clearly in our ears to allow
a cold dissecting criticism. The stage was decorated
with oaks and pines to represent a sylvan retreat;
festoons and flowers adorned the curtains, walls,
and chandeliers. The young ladies were elegantly
dressed in costumes suited to the different floral
characters they represented.

"The Queen was Miss Kent, of Galena, as a
rose, tastefully attired in a white muslin dress,
with double skirt looped at the side with white
roses. Her crown was handsomely gotten up, and
was worn with true queenly grace. The singing
was most delightful, filling the hall with clear
gushing rivers of melody, and the solos showing
many fine well-cultivated voices in the setting
of beautiful music to the delight of the
audience." (1)

Mr. Hood was extravagantly praised, as were Mr.
Baldwin and Mr. Custard, the assisting artists, al-
though of course it was the young ladies who received
most of the reporter's attention.

Lectures were quite as much in vogue as concerts.
Often there were series of lectures, given by local men
for the benefit of the Seminary. The professors from
Beloit were frequent visitors, as were friends from
Chicago, clergymen from the community, and other well
known men. Sometimes they came from greater distances--
from Madison, Wisconsin, the University of Iowa, and
often from the East. Rockford, it seems, knew the best:
Prof. Sanborn Tenney, of Williams College, who had
given the Lowell Institute lectures in 1873, Bayard
Taylor, Horace Greeley, Horace Mann, Starr King, Henry
Ward Beecher, Bronson Alcott, Dwight L. Moody, Oscar
Wilde, nicknamed "the Wild Wilde." Miss Sill fore-
stalled criticism of Mr. Moody "by telling (the students)
what he said when she asked him to speak, --that he was
uneducated and unaccustomed to addressing young ladies
and feared that his slips in pronunciation (would)
prejudice them against his message." Miss M. P. Wright,
who told me of Mr. Moody's visit ,says he was enthusi-
astically received.

These lecturers brought messages of all sorts. They
told of the latest discoveries in the sciences, of their
work in the foreign mission field, of the wonders of
the far corners of the world. They talked on problems

(1) Rockford Register „ June 11, 1859.

304

of the day, on various cultural and ethical topics.
And they often appealed directly to the students them-
selves,— "The Ideal College Student, " "Schools and
Libraries," et cetera. Bronson Alcott gave a talk
on "Methods of Study, 7 illustrated by the education
of his ov/n four daughters. And, to the delight of the
students, he told of many of Louisa's experiences.

It is said that Bayard Taylor was favorably im-
pressed by Rockford, and the Seminary, too. It is
highly probable that he did not quickly forget his re-
ception when he came to lecture there. Accompanied
by Mr. Chapman, he came to the Seminary to pay his
respects to Miss Sill. As she was out, he was re-
ceived by one of the younger members of the faculty.
Ascertaining through the introduction and preliminary
remarks that Mr. Chapman's companion had come from the
river town below where Bayard Taylor had lectured the
previous evening, the young woman asked him if he had
heard Mr. Taylor. (She had not caught the stranger's
name.) He said, "No, he hadn't." She said that it was
a pity to have missed him. "No great loss," remarked
the gentleman, "is that so? You know Mr. Taylor
then?" was her query. At this point, to Miss Jones's
embarrassment, Mr. Chapman interrupted. "Miss Jones,
surely you don't understand. This _is Mr. Taylor."
Miss Jones's eyes opened wide as she regarded her
distinguished visitor, and stammered an apology. A
few days later Mr. Taylor called, to make amends for
his deception, and presented her with a poem in
manuscript, dated March 11, 1854.(1)

Besides the more or less formal contacts with
the town people, there was a delightful informal re-
lationship. Seminary girls were welcome guests in
many homes for occasional family meals, soirees when
groups (as whole classes) were entertained, and out-
door affairs in the lovely gardens. A later student
tells of a reception for Gen. Grant to which a group
was invited. One girl became the envy of her mates
because she had the opportunity of shaking hands with
one of his aides. Even so slight a contact with the
great man was considered an honor. (2) Often the whole
Seminary was entertained by a group of townspeople at
a sleigh ride, or, in the spring, at a carriage ride
or boat trip. River trips were very popular. Some-

(1) Mrs. E. L. Herrick, the young woman herself, told
me the story. See Supplementary Volume, p. 21.

(2) Mrs. J. Garvin, 1880.

305

times the Beloit boys would be guests at these affairs,
but oftener not. It was customary, however, to enter-
tain together the seniors of both institutions. Then
there were church socials which were always eagerly
anticipated. At one of these an alumna tells of
"transgress (ing) the laws of the Medes and the Per-
sians in letting a worthy young man walk to the stile
with (her). For this (she) was put under restrictions
and told (she) could go nowhere without a chaperone
for a definite time." Not only that. She had to ex-
plain her misdeed, have a "big zero" put down in her
report book, and no chaperone was given her.(l)

Life inside the Seminary, too, contained, it would
seem, plenty of diversion. There were receptions to
the townspeople, "reunions for which the Seminary (was)
celebrated." Often lectures were prefaced by these
"reunions," and Pounder's Day was similarly observed.
There was a social hour, and then at six o'clock a
bounteous collation in the dining room where the young
ladies served, and as the Register once put it, (2)
"did honor to themselves and charmed all present, not
only by their grace and beauty but by every polite and
familiar manner that was displayed in waiting on the
guests." After tea there was more social intercourse,
followed by the entertainment of the evening, --a
lecture, a concert, an open meeting of the Pierian
Union, the joint organization of the two literary
societies, the Castalian and the Vesperian.

Pleasant as these occasions were, they were
probably not so eagerly anticipated as the evenings
when the girls had callers. In the very early days
Friday evening was set aside as a social evening.
The young men called, and the older girls entertained
them in the parlors which were always full. There
were no games; the evening was spent in conversation,
but apparently it was pleasantly spent, and all con-
cerned were satisfied by the unexciting diversion. (3)
There are, ho?/ever, tales toldAnder the breath by
alumnae which it ishardly well to repeat,— tales of
girls descending from upper stories in clothes baskets
for forbidden boat rides, of young men who haunted the
edges of the campus for a glimpse of beloved ones and
were taken to task for being hangers on. One such

story has become part of the Seminary tradition. A
certain young woman was out one evening, without
chaperone or permission. She returned to the dormi-
tory by her usual route — not the conventional way,

(1) Mrs. A. D. Adams.

(2) Rockford Register, Feb. 4, 1860.

(3) Mrs. E. L. Herrlck.

306

by the front door; rather by the kitchen window. The
kitchen was in the basement of Linden, and the distance
from the window sill to the floor being short, the
descent was easy. She had forgotten, however, that a
fresh tub of apple sauce had been made that day, and
left uncovered under that very v/indow. The result was
that for the next week the faculty ate apple sauce, but
the girls did not.

Though at times Miss Sill frowned upon the attentions
of certain town swains, it seems that she always en-
couraged the Beloit brethren. There is no doubt that
she favored them. If any were embarking upon missionary
careers and wanted wives, they came to Rockford, and in-
variably they got them.(l) It would seem, from the
frequency of their visits, they were all bent on ser-
vice in the foreign field. They were invited to parties,
they came upon the invitation of town friends, and some-
times they came without invitations. Many romances were
the result of these contacts. One member of f70 tells
of meeting her husband at her own graduation exercises--
a narrow squeak certainly--when the senior boys from
Beloit attended in a body. (2)

Mrs. Herrick tells of one occasion when the boys
braved the wrath of their own particular gods to come
to the Seminary:

"In the early days of the Seminary it was
the custom for the junior class of a nearby col-
lege to come to Rockford Seminary for an evening
of games and refreshments. It was the outstand-
ing social event of the season, and was greatly
anticipated by both schools. For days before the
girls worked to make the bare walls more attrac-
tive; there were committees appoint fid to make
refreshments, and other committees for entertain-
ment worked In secret session. The boys rented
great sleighs, and spent the day decorating them
so that they might arrive in state.

"For many years the custom was carried on.
Then one year on the day planned for the party,
the president of the boys' school called the
junior class together, and announced that for his
own reasons he did not wish the boys to go down
to Rockford as they had planned. The astonishment
of the class could hardly be imagined. There
had been no rumor that this was to come, and for
some time there v/as considerable confusion. The
sleighs had been ordered, and the plans were al-
most completed. What were they going to do?

(1) Mrs. Julia Warren, and Mrs. T. J. Mclean, 1867.

(2) Mrs. Albert Durham, 1870.

307

"Then followed a hurried and quite unexpected
meeting of the junior class. With almost unanimous
vote they decided to go as they had planned, even
at the risk of being expelled as the president had
threatened.

"So they came down in gaily decked sleighs, with
jingling bells and much merriment. There never had
been such an evening, such delightful young ladies,
such inducing refreshments. Finally the evening came
to a close. After lingering goodnights, the boys
drove off home — to expulsion. But v/hat was their
astonishment when the president met them at the
gate with a twinkle in his eye. *I just wanted to
find out how much spunk you lads had--and I found
out. Ifm proud of your courage.1"

The press in speaking of this "ancient and
honored custom,! tells of the "jovial load" coming first
to the Holland House, "where rubbers were doffed, shirt
collars straightened up, hair perfumed, and whiskers
combed before the boys fled along First Street with
gladsome cheer to the home of the fair nymphs." After
one or two hours of social intercourse in which "soft
eyes looked love to eyes that spake again, each im-
mortal junior seized his partner and made a bee line for
the dining room," where supper was served by "the young
nymphs in commendable style." There followed "a brisk
promenade, a lively chat, and a hearty shake of the
hands, with an occasional fAnd now farewell! fTis hard
to give thee up! f" — The interview closed, and "the
gallant juniors turned their backs in flight"-- — "to
the Holland House where at twelve they indulged in
another supper." (1)

Occasionally the Seminary shared in one of these
romances. In her address at the alumnae banquet in
1910, Mrs. W. A, T"&Icott tells of one of these Beloit-
Rockford weddings:

"In the evening the Seminary Levee was held
in the chapel, which was very largely attended and
one of the pleasantest gatherings of its kind ever
held in the institution. A very great additional
interest was created by the marriage during the
evening, a member of the graduating class (1860)
being one of the parties. The proper announcement
would be as follows:

(1) Rockford Register, Jan. 2, 1864,

308

Married. — By the Rev. 0. P. Curtis, of
Emerald Grove, Wisconsin, Rev. Watten
Taplin, Graduate of the Theological
Institute at Evanston, and Miss Julia
Avery, of Emerald Grove, Wisconsin,
Graduate of Rockford Female Seminary.

Our class stood up with this bride when
she was married, and the Beloit brethren were
our escorts on that occasion. It made a very
pretty wedding party." (1)

Though most of the students were at home or visit-
ing on holidays, there was plenty of fun for those left
at the Seminary. Independence Day (the college was
for some years still in session in July) v/as a gala
day in town, and one of the features of it was a parade.
Young ladies, two from each church, singing patriotic
songs, rode on one of the "floats." Miss Sill had the
privilege of choosing the two from the first Congre-
gational Church, and she left the choice to the Floral
Band. One year Mrs. Warren was one of the happy and
fortunate girls chosen. (2)

Thanksgiving evenings the girls who were left had
a candy pull in the kitchen. That of 1878 must have
been a jolly affair. The class of 1879, after various
preparations, put on a stunt which they called in Miss .
Sill to see. They had "dressed up," and they intro-
duced themselves as 1879 in 1910. "Such a transfor-
mation! All shades and gradations of social life were
there exhibited. That fair haired studious girl had
become a staid presiding elder's wife, and she showed
in every movement that she had settled down to her
fate with becoming resignation. That advocate and
speaker on dress-reform, proclaimed her mission with
much zeal. The German Professor's wife had much trouble
keeping her dignity as old memories clustered around
her, but with a little watchfulness she succeeded; the
tiny blue bow which peeped out of her pocket led them
all to fear that her marriage to that good old broad
brim had failed to make her renounce entirely the
pomps and vanities of this life. Mrs. John converted
the group by her devotion to John and all his wishes,
and sang touching ballads for the entertainment of the
guests. Whatkrust have been Miss Sill's feelings to
find that one of her flock had so far forgotten her for-
mer teachings as to become an actress! Tell it not!
One of the 'never married' related a touching narrative
of her narrow escape, and received sympathy from all.
Two had gone as missionaries and were prevented from
attending the reunion. The appetite with which the

(1) Alumnae Notes. June 1910.

(2) Mrs. Julia Warren.-

309

ancient ladies partook of the dainties prepared for
them, reminded one of "Auld Lang Syne11 at the Sem-
inary." (1)

Then very early there arose the custom of cele-
brating Washington's birthday, today the most elaborate
indoor party of the year. We find the first mention of
it in 1876 though it probably was observed earlier. The
press carries the announcement that it was "expected that
the young ladies would appear in costumes characteristic
of the times and persons, etc., to be represented in the
different parts of the program." The party was in charge
of the Pierian Union, and it was open to the public at
an admission fee of twenty-five cents. The chapel was
filled. The girls at the door were dressed in blue with
white caps, and the walls were decorated with pictures
pertaining to the history of the country. The program
consisted of music and literary numbers. In fact it was
the usual Pierian program. (2)

As the years passed, the celebration became more
elaborate. Some years the program varied slightly in
character. In 1881 there was a lecture in the chapel by
the Rev. A. S. Gardiner, of Lena, Illinois, on "Wash-
ington and the Constitution." That year pictures of
Martha and George Washington, the hatchet and the cherry
tree combined with flags were used as decoration, chang-
ing somewhat the emphasis. (3)

By 1884 the occasion was one of great festivity;
the press pronounced it "an unwonted sight." The
entertainment was more social in character; it took the
form of a reception. "Fresh young faces looked out from
under mob caps, puffs, and powdered hair of a hundred
years ago; gaunt robes patterned after great-grand-
mothers ," contrasted with star-bespangled tarletons,
while a liberal sprinkling of black coats of modern
cut showed that the present generation had not entire-
ly fallen out of favor." The senior president as
Martha Washington, received; Prance, the statue of
liberty, and "the immortal thirteen were there, appro-
priately lettered, "and pages in pink and white. The
decorations were of the stars and stripes, plants, small
hatchets, and in chapel there was a huge fire-place with
a crane and steaming kettle, and a flax wheel, A light
repast of fruits was served. The day students presented
Miss Sill with a basket of flowers. About a hundred
guests were present, among whom were members of the

freshman and senior classes at Beloit who had been en-

(1) Rockford Register, Dec. 6, 1878.

(2) TbTT.

(3) Rockford Weekly Gazette, Mar. 2, 1881.

310

tertained at tea by the Seminary seniors. So engrossed
were they in the festivities that the warning bell had to
be repeated several times before the guests left.(l)

Of the informal good times which college girls so
enjoy there were many. They used to make candy in boxes
they had made out of foolscap paper. "If Miss Sill had
known it, she would have been furious ." (2) Friday nights
were gala times. The students congregated in each others*
rooms, and ate popcorn, "or perhaps some smuggled sweets
or a treat from home." (3) Sometimes there were parties
in the gymnasium with games, and "a few square dances
taught in calisthenics class, or the more daring would
even waltz if some one would play for them." When a group
was thus indulging, word would be passed about that some
one was coming. Instantly the music would change, sets
for a square dance would form. "Dancing at that time was
looked upon with disfavor, and Kiss Sill was especially
particular that no one should waltz. Some times she
read---a poem in chapel the last line of each stanza of
which ended with fprett; dancer, adieu. '"(4)

These girls, too, tradition tells us, were not
above playing pranks, one of the best known of which
is the peppery-prayers one. Thus particular peccadillo
found its way into the newspaper.

"Some of the Seminary young ladies have been
indulging In a practical joke. Last week Thursday
was appointed as a day of prayer for schools and
colleges, and in accordance therewith it was an-
nounced that divine service would he held in the
chapel, to which the public were invited. James placed
the room in readiness and built up a good rousing fire,
early in the morning, and left it to gain headway.
During his absence two of the frisky damsels, the
secret of whose names shall be forever sealed away in
our heart of hearts, entered the chapel and quietly
flavored the fire with a goodly sprinkling of pepper.
When the audience began to arrive, it was astonishing
what colds nearly all seemed to be suffering with.
The dominies on the platform joined in the cough-
ing chorus, while occasionally some louder voice
would carry a solo obligato. The mystery was
first solved by Rev. W. A. Spencer, who remarked
that if this were a boys1 academy, he should cer-

(1) Rockford Re gist r, Feb. 23, 1884.

(2) Mrs. T. B. Wells, a student in the !60's.

(3) Mrs. G. L. Jones, 1878.

( 4 ) Mr s . J . E . Newman .

311

tainly believe some one had "been dosing the stove
with pepper. The meeting proceeded, but the in-
fectious coughs, which would die away into muf-
fled smothered hems and haws and then swell into
a volume that would drown the voice of the speaker,
rather dampened the ardor of the disciples,

"It was scarcely a commendable trick, but it
was so ludicrous that the reverend gentleman who
let the cat out of the bag was compelled to in-
dulge in a hearty laugh at the affair. The of-
fenders were discovered, or rather confessed under
the pain of a guilty conscience, but what penalty
they were compelled to suffer has not been learned." (1)

The second prank seems to have belonged to every de-
cade. Some graduates of the sixties claim it, while
others say it was an old story when they came. Again
there are those in the seventies who were sure that it
happened in their time. It is known as the butter
episode, and has been used in the Rockford College film.
Butter in those days came in large wooden firkins, and
sometimes it was rather strong. One tub which was less
fresh than others and continued to be served despite
the fact, incited a group more daring than the rest to
action* Late at night they made their way to the kit-
chen, dragged the heavy tub out, and rolled it down
the river bank into the water. Though the incident
caused quite a commotion at the time, the offenders
were never found out. Mr. E. P. Catlin who was a boy
at the time, fished out the butter and sold it for
soap grease. (2)

The week-ends were spent in various ways. If
Saturday was all too short, Sunday it would seem was
too long. But let a pupil of 1865 describe the week-
ends:

"Saturday! I wonder sometimes how we would
ever have caught up the odds and ends of our week-
ly life without it. There was the room to clean,
the individual hour allotted every inmate for the
weekly bath (bathrooms were then as unknown as
the automobile or airplane), the mending (this must
be reported), the home letter, and then the ever-
pursuing two week's essay. If shopping was de-
sired, a teacher was assigned to accompany such
girls to the commercial center and back again.

(1) Newspaper clipping lent to me by Mrs. Amelia Hol-
lister Chapman.

(2) Mrs. E. P. Catlin. She places it in the !50fs.

312

This was not so long a procession or so imposing as
that of Sundays when each girl was required to at-
tend at least one service and Sunday School at her
church. Sunday was a long day— such a long day.
Up at the usual rising hour, breakfast, domestic
and room duties, then preparations for church, and
retirement hour for each pupil alone in her room
in religious preparation for the day (during- the
expulsion from her room the rendezvous sought was
usually the library, the reading room, halls or
chapel) and then the march for church began, after
what seemed a week of hours since the rising bell.
The return in the same marching order, was fol-
lowed by dinner. We took our allotted places at
the table with pit-pat in our hearts, for soon
the examination would begin to determine our at-
tention at church and the receptivity of our minds.
We nudged our next companion (if she had attended
church; to help us out on the text, and we did
hope the senior at the table would be called on
first to give a synopsis of the sermon so that
when it came our turn we could say, nI can add
nothing to what has been given," for the minister
at our church gave such profound discourses, that
to our undeveloped minds it was like reading
hieroglyphics. We had much Sunday sickness, over-
come by Monday morning, however, without medical
attention or medicine — only a toast diet in our
rooms. The school nurse was a wise and kind per-
son. I think she fully understood our cases and
was sympathetic !"(1)

The late !70fs and the early 80 fs brought several
new forms of recreation,— the "class bum1,* the chemistry
soiree, and the Minnie R. Alogy rites, which seem not to
have persisted long, interesting as they were. We find
the first mention of the "class bum" in the Historical
Sketch (pages 228 and 229) prepared by Miss Sill in 1876
at the invitation of the federal government:

"The little box stove being filled to its ut-
most capacity with kindling donated by the generosity
of the revellers, and the room heated until the
thermometer stands at !99 degrees in the shade, we,
satisfied, begin our fe"te. Newspapers cover the
tables, and a sheet is placed artistically beneath,
a la crumb cloth. Pure (stone) wash bowls stand at
either end of the table, waiting expectantly, the
one for popcorn, the other for candy which we now
begin to manufacture. On one side is placed a huge

(1) Mrs. Phoebe L. Woods.

313

jar of jam and some very tempting cake over which
Minn keeps a protecting eye, but no one knows
whence it came. Yonder in a retired? nook sits
our pensive Em, soap dish in hand eagerly picking
the dainty particles from the mammoth bones of
sardine with a crochet hook. Near the stove, Pan,
one of our most worthy accomplices, stirs the
mysterious mixture with a tea spoon, and while so
doing the spirit of Shakespeare seems to hover
around, and she mutters,

f Double, double, tail and trouble,
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.1

"At last the damsel declares the substance
candy, and cries, 'Flavoring, flavoring!1 Tine
and Clara rush frantically from the room. Soon
Clara returns crestfallen and empty-handed. Fan
still cries, 'Flavoring!1

"At this moment Tine enters, shouting,
'Eureka, eureka!' and bearing triumphantly in her
hands a bottle of paregoric! We look aghast; but
Fan, not observing the label seizes the bottle
with avidity and pours the contents into the
seething mass. Epletives abound for the next five
minutes, but candy we must have.

"The corn popping over the gas, having been
brought to a state of quietude by persevering Ida,
nuts already cracked, are passed by the determined
Lu, who at the same time "with smile that is child-
like and bland," offers to each one a new and shin-
ing hairpin.

"We thirteen ( 'Alas! 'whispers Hat, 'an unlucky
number!') now gather round the festal board. But
a rustling is heard.

The patter comes nearer, we jump to the floor,

We say, 'Nov/ we hear her, 'as she taps at the door.

She tells us quite plainly we've not counted

the cost,
We plead; but vainly, --our good name is lost."

The "class bum" was a festivity belonging to the
senior class, and was a custom observed for a good many
years. The alumnae speak fondly of it as one of the
favorite larks.

The chemistry soiree had its beginning in 1879.
The first year it v/as a demonstration of the work done in
the course. Hydrogen and carbonic acid gases were manu-
factured and explained. The characteristics of chlorine,
sulphur, soda, cream of tartar, baking powder, and other

314

chemicals were discussed, and illustrated. The young
ladies showed the process of etching on glass for the
admiring audience. The exercises ended with an essay-
on petroleum and other oils. The entire performance was
spontaneous; nothing had been prepared before hand. (1)
The next year t^e affair assumed more elaborate pro-
portions. The Seminary Magazine describes it at length,
and speaks of the elaborate dinner in the dining room as
a "new departure." There followed a social hour, after
singing and praying, in the parlors, and then in chapel
a long program. Many experiments were done, all of
which were successful except the manufacuture of oxygen;
its "failure being due to depending upon an ordinary gas
jet to heat the retort, instead of a Bunsen burner. (2)

The ceremony which seizes one's imagination, how-
ever, was the cremation of Minnie R. Alogy,"a most im-
pressive affair. Funeral ceremonies were held in one
of the parlors in the evening — very little light, every
effort made to produce somber and lugubrious effects by
the use of black." This ceremony was in charge of the
junior class. They invited the sophomores to attend.
Each guest as she entered was given a program, long and
impressing. There was a song by the junior class after
which the junior president addressed the sophomore presi-
dent, "resigning her honors and trials and dropping her
mantle upon her successor, figuratively speaking." The
"junior privates" then addressed the "sophomore privates, n.
and the master of ceremonies initiated the "sophs" into
the mysteries of juniordom. With their hands on a skull,
the sophomores swore to many propositions--that they
would learn every verse in Hebrews, give a junior ex-
hibit, be reverential to seniors, learn the system,
cleavage, and specific gravity of each crystal mentioned
by dear departed Minnie." Headed by the pallbearers,
"a mournful procession was formed, and, chanting a dirge,
it moved through the halls and out to the gravel walk.
There the beare'rs deposited the sad burden upon an im-
posing funeral pyre which made quite a spectacular bon-
fire in a circle about it, to do the last honors to
Minnie and look for the last time upon her countenance.
The undertaker then stepped forth, and delivered the
funeral oration, saying among the many other things,
'Minnie R. Alogy has told us of blow-pipe reaction until
we wonder if she will decrepitate with a blue flame, or,
fusing with alliaceous fumes, will yield a white globu-
let to haunt us forever. ' Amid the groans and sighs of
the juniors, the undertaker 'applied the torch, and the
Pont if ex Minor delivered a poem enumerating the virtues

(1) Rockford Register, Feb. 4, 1879.

(2) Rockford Seminary Magazine, Mar. 1880, p. 88

315

of the deceased, dwelling upon her great learning, her
noble character, et cetera." (1)

This ceremony was similar in character to collegiate
ceremonies in many other institutions,— as "Math" burning,
forensic burning, et cetera, whatever the hated subject.
It seems that college life, in the passing of many time-
honored customs, has lost much of its savor. There are
none that take their places. Harmless these "stunts"
are, perhaps a bit juvenile; but they do afford whole-
some fun.

It would seem, too, that these years brought a
broader student life, and that student activities began
to be more highly organized. We hear of the first field
day in 1880, held on a Friday evening in the gymnasium.
Groups and individuals took part, and prizes were given
to the successful participants. The program was as
follows:

Tug of war

Hurdle race

Twenty yards walking race

Twenty yards running race

Twenty yards running backward

race
Throwing (Kohl) hammer
Hop, skip, jump
Sacque race
Crack the whip
Rope walking (1-g- inches above

ground)
Prisoner's base
Ring-round-the-rosy

Base ball match

Chorus
Presidents
Selected
Selected

Selected
Selected
Selected
Selected
Chorus

Selected
Chorus
Section of

classes
Chorus

of classes

the

This in comparison to the modern indoor meet seems very
simple. It must be remembered, however, that work in
physical education was in its infancy. Girls were sup-
posed not to be able to do strenuous stunts, nor was it
considered quite ladylike even to want to do them.
The tennis tournament in 1889 must have been an event
of the utmost novelty. To us it is a hopeful sign,
ridiculous as it would seem if we could witness it in the
light of today's contests. (2) The presence of the
"Sems" at a baseball game for the benefit of the hos-
pital, however, is beyond all belief. This extraordi-
nary event occurred in 1889.(3)

(1) Mrs. E. B. Dodds, 1881.

(2) Rockford Daily Gazette, June 8, 1889.

(3) Rockford Morning Star, May 28, 1889.

316

Although the theater was still frowned upon in
1882, we find girls in great numbers attending the
opera, a performance of the Chicago Church Choir Com-
pany and Orchestra, in The Bells of Corneville.(l)
The theater as an amusement was bound to come, however.
In 1880 at the Tinker home Miss Charlotte Emerson's
French classes gave a program which smacked of the
dramatic. A play in French, Le Bracelet, was given
in the mansion house. Then the company went across
the suspension bridge to the Swiss chalet where Les
Femmes Savants was given, and a second play by several
gentlemen. TEe evening ended with French songs. (2)
These productions, however, did not seem to break down
the tradition immediately. It was not until at least
several years later that girls appeared in plays which
contained men's parts. Then the Vesperian society gave
The Spanish Student by Longfellow in Sill Hall. As
the authorities were unwilling that the wmenM should
wear male garb, they appeared in divided skirts that
stopped at the knee.(3^he way was being paved, however,
for the dramatic club of the present which is doing so
much in the way of experimental work with the problems
of stage craft and the production of the best modern
plays. '

Another important activity of the 70 's and early
80 !s was the Rockford Seminary Magazine, which was
published from January 1873. to December, 1883.
was the forerunner of today's two publications,
Purple Parrot, which appears weekly and carries
college news, and The Taper, a monthly literary
magazine. That it was papular in town we know from
the constant references to its appearances and to
its contents in the local papers. It was on sale in
down town book stores and "found a place in many
homes side by side with periodicals which make more
pretensions to literary merit, but in some cases have
much less. "(4) At various times the magazine was
published once a month, once in six weeks, and
quarterly. It was sponsored by the Pierian Union
and was edited by Miss Caroline Potter, a member of
the faculty.

The literary societies, the Castalian and the
Vesperian, which were largely responsible for the
social life of the institution, were organized in 1856,
and were abandoned in 1883. They were supplanted in the

(1) Rockford Register, Mar. 7, 1883.

(2) Mrs. Corirme Williams Douglas, 1880.

(3) Ibid.

(4) Rockford Register, Dec. 26, 1874.

317

seventies by various organizations, and it would seem
were no longer needed. The Rockford Seminary Magazine
for March, 1883, comments in the following fashion on
their passing:

"No more can the Catalogue say, 'The students

maintain two literary societies.1 So long as the

memory of the Seminary remains, so long will their
memory live."

nnd their memory does live in the hearts of their
members. In almost any gathering of the older alumnae,
there are flashes of the ancient rivalry. Where did you
belong? in one of the first questions ]put to an unknown
newcomer, anr" upon the answer depends, one way or another,
the standing of the one challenged.

The meetings of the societies were held Friday
evenings . There were debates upon subjects which would
astound even the most skilled debater, for there was
no common ground on which to meet; there we^e literary
programs, and there were those memorable occasions when
the two societies joined, and gave a public entertain-
ment to which the town was invited. There were musical
numbers, recitations, selections from the poets, and
more music. It is not necessary to say that the young
ladies did exceedingly well, and their pictures in the
old secretary in Middle Hall, so carefully collected
by Miss Sill, and so dearly cherished by her, are proof
beyond words that they were pretty and charming. We can
see the town audience well represented even on stormy
nights, leaving the Seminary on foot or in their car-
riages, well satisfied with the evening. And we can
hear a sigh of mingled feeling, as the last performer
turns low the wick in her lamp, relieved that the evening
is over and happy that it went so well. Lay the memory
of the Pierian Union, and the dear girls who belonged
to it, whether Castalian or Vesperian, never fade! The
place of the two societies is now taken by the organiza-
tion into two groups of the freshman and juniors, and
the sophomores and seniors. These groups share the
responsibility of the more important college functions.

The zeal for missionary work which Miss Sill was so
ardent to stimulate,* found expression in the Society

# in A Letter to Our Old Girls, printed in 1882, Miss
Sill speaks about those who had feone into missionary
work as follov:s:

"Let us survey their various fields of labor. We

count one in Jamaica, West Indies, one in Egypt, five

318

of Missionary Inquiry, reorganized November fourth, 1875.(1)
This association not only studied the problems connected
with missionary work, but its members also expressed them-
selves in practical ways. In the first year of its new
existence they gave $162.30 to various worthy causes and
sent three barrels of good clothing to the Nebraska suf-
ferers. The work of this group has been expanded into
that done 'by the several departments of the Young Woman's
Christian Association.

Pounder's Day which had been observed from the
beginning and had been a more or less public affair to
v/hich interested people in town were invited, had been
gradually becoming more elaborate. There were music
and speeches by prominent people, a reception in the
evening followed by a banquet. Those who wished might
inspect the plant in groups led by students. (2)

It remained, however, to the class of '78* v/hich
seems to have been an unusually energetic group, to
change the character of this day slightly, and to in-
stitute class day. (3) The chapel was elaborately
decorated, and the program, which was lengthened by
selections by the Rockford Band, was interesting and
varied. (4) Tne innovation met with distinct approval.
It was "after the manner of celebrating the day in male
colleges," and placed "the Seminary on a footing with
other collegiate institutions in respect to their
closing exercises," the press felt. (5)

in India, two in Burmah, including a teacher, four in
China, two in Japan, one in the Micronesian Islands,
three of our teachers in the Sandwich Islands, one in
the New West educational field in Colorado, three among
the Indians, and eight who are or have been among the
Free dm en in the South, making the entire number thirty-
seven. Seventeen of this number are graduates. Be-
sides all these there are those who are wives of home
missionaries in western frontier life, toiling with the
same missionary spirit as on heathen ground. These all
call for our sympathy and help."

(1) Rockford Seminary Magazine, Nov. 1875, p. 316.

(2) Rockford Register, June,~X8, 1878.

(3) Mrs. C. L. Jones.

(4) For full account, see appendix, pp. 406-409.

(5) Rockford Register, June 14, 1878.

V: It was they7 too, who rebelled against the con-
ventional white dress for graduation, and after
arguments with the faculty won their point— that
they wear what they choose and what they could
afford.

319

In line with class day was the junior exhibit,
out of which undoubtedly grew junior day, now observed
with elaborate ceremonies. It was the invention of the
class of 1881 which seemed to have a genius for in-
vention, and was celebrated April 20, 1880.*-

The chapel was decorated with evergreen and stands
of blooming plants. There were evergreen sprays over
the doors and above the chandeliers which were "gay with
tiny scarlet flags bearing the sacred symbol, !81; a
silken banner with the same numeral was draped above
the painting resting on an easel twined with ears of
wheat, while a sheaf of the queen of cereals stood
on one side of the rostrum, erect in its own perfect grace,
and the class motto(l) (Breadgive^s) on a background of
arbor vitae shone in the same golden grain."

At eight the entire class, seventeen in number,
with the exception of 1863 the largest to be graduated
up to that time, ranged themselves on the platform and
sang the class song. The class marshall then intro-
duced the president, Jane Addams, who delivered the ad-
dress of welcome, (quoted in part below) "every word of
which (was) pitched to the key-note of the true intel-
lectual progress of the time:

"Friends and citizens of Rockford:

"The class of 1881 has invited you this even-
ing to the first Junior Exhibition ever given
v/ithin the walls of Rockford Seminary. The fact of
its being the first seems to us a significant one,
for it undoubtedly points more or less to a move-
ment which is gradually claiming the universal
attention. We mean the change which has taken
place during the last fifty years in the ambitions
and aspirations of women; we see this change most
markedly in her education. It has passed from
the accomplishments and the arts of pleasing, to
the development of her intellectual forces and
her capabilities for direct labor.-

"But while on the one hand as young women
of the nineteenth century we gladly claim these
privileges, and proudly assert our independence,
on the other hand we still retain the old ideal
of womanhood--the Saxon lady whose mission it

was to give bread unto her household. So we have

( 1) Miss Jane Addams, a member of 1881, in Twenty Years
at Hull House (p. 48) comments thus upon this motto:
"Y;e took for a class motto the early Saxon word for
lady (hlaefdige), translated into breadgiver, and thus
we took for our class color the poppy, because pop-
pies grew among the wheat, as if nature knew that
wherev r there was hunger that needed food there
* See program and libretto herewith. Full account,

pp. 409-41 3-

320

planned to be 'bread-givers f throughout our lives,
believing that in labor alone is happiness, and
that (as; the only true and honorable life is one
filled with good works and honest toil, we have
planned to idealize our labor, and thus happily
fulfill woman's noblest mission. "(1)

The high purpose voiced in Miss Addams' address
had permeated the Seminary from the beginning. In her
chapter on the college in Twenty Years at Hull House,
she speaks of the "atmosphere of intensity." The in-
spiration gained from their participation in the new
movement of full college education for women, un-
doubtedly spurred on this group of impressionable young
women. Then, too, they were deeply influenced by the
widening of the opportunities offered to women in the
way of careers. It is significant that from this
period two have achieved national recognition: Miss
Addams herself and Miss Julia Lathrop, '76 to '78.
Mrs. Catharine Waugh McCulloch, as a practicing
lawyer in Chicago and as former vice-president of the
National American Woman Suffrage Association and
its legal adviser, has more than a sectional reputation.
And there are others of the same period who have done
excellent work, wherever they have found themselves.

In the early '80's another important student
activity had its birth, — the oratorical contest. This not
only prepared the way for the later debating clubs
(an important activity today), but it also brought
the Seminary into contact with other institutions and
before a wider public.

In May, 1881, the Seminary was invited to send
delegates to the College Press Association meeting
at Jacksonville with the Interstate Oratorical
Association. (2) This they did. We are fortunate to
have an account of the experience of these delegates
from the pen of Miss Jane Addams who was the orator
of the occasion:

would be pain that needed relief. We must have found
the sentiment in a book somewhere, but we used it
so much that it finally seemed like an idea of our
own, although none of us had ever seen a European
field, the only page upon which Nature has written
this particular message."

(1) Rockford Register, Apr. 21, 1880.

(2) Rockford Daily Gazette, May 22, 1882.

321

MIn line with this policy of placing
a woman's college on an equality with the
other colleges of the state, we applied for
an opportunity to compete in the intercol-
legiate oratorical contest of Illinois, and
we succeeded in having Rockford admitted as
the first woman's college. When I was
finally selected as the orator, I was some-
what dismayed to find that, representing not
only one school but college women in general,
I could not resent the brutal frankness with
which my oratorical possibilities were dis-
cussed by the enthusiastic group who would
allow no personal feeling to stand in the
way of progress, especially the progress of
Woman's Cause. I was told among other things
that I had an intolerable habit of dropping
my voice at the end of a sentence in the
most feminine, apologetic and even deprec-
atory manner which would probably lose Wo-
man the first place.

"Woman certainly did lose the first
place and stood fifth, exactly in the dreary
middle, but the ignominious position may not
have been solely due to bad mannerisms, for
a prior place was easily accorded to William
Jennings Bryan, who not only thrilled his
hearers with almost prophetic anticipation
of the cross of gold, but with a moral ear-
nestness which we had mistakenly assumed
would be the unique possession of the
feminine orator.

"I so heartily concurred v/ith the de-
cision of the judges of the contest that it
was with a care-free mind that I induced my
colleague and alternate to remain long
enough in "The Athens of Illinois," (Jack-
sonville),, in which the successful college ,>
(Illinois College), was located, to visit
the state institutions, one for the Blind
and one for the Deaf and Dumb. Dr. Gil-
lette was at that time head of the latter
institution; his scholarly explanation of
the method of teaching, his concern for his
charges, this sudden demonstration of the
care the state bestowed upon its most un-
fortunate children, filled me v/ith grave
speculations in which the first, the fifth,
or the ninth place in an oratorical contest
seemed of little moment.

322

"However, this brief delay betv/een our
field of Waterloo and our arrival at our
college turned out to be most unfortunate,
for we found the ardent group not only ex-
hausted by the premature preparations for
the return of a successful orator, but
naturally much irritated as they contem-
plated their garlands drooping discon-
solately in tubs and bov/ls of water. They
did not fail to make me realize that I had
dealt the cause of woman !s advancement a
staggering blow, and all my explanations of
the fifth pla^e were haughtily considered
insufficient before that golden Bar of
Youth, so absurdly inflexible." (1)

In June, shortly after the return of the Jackson-
ville delegates, there was a preliminary contest to see
who would be the representative if the Seminary was ad-
mitted to the state contest, and in October Miss Minnie
Marks, 1882, Miss Mary Waddell, 1883, and "Miss Kittle
V/augh, orator," 1882, went to Bloomington. At a busi-
ness meeting Rockford and three other colleges were re-
jected, but the Seminary girls would not take no for an
answer, and after a reconsideration, Rockford was ac-
cepted by a vote of nine to twelve. (2) Of one of these
young women (Mrs. Catharine V/augh Mc Culloch) who brought
the group to terms, Miss Addams speaks as follows:

"My companion in all these arduous labors
(referring to advanced study in mathematics)
has since accomplished more than any of us in
the effort to procure the franchise for women,
for even then we all took for granted the
righteousness of that cause into which I had
at least merely followed my father's conviction.
In the old-fashioned spirit of that cause I
might cite the career of this companion as an
illustration of the efficacy of higher math-
ematics for women, for she possesses singular
ability to convince even the densest legis-
lators of their legal right to define their
own electorate, even when they quote against
her the dustiest of state constitutions or
city charters. "(3)

The following May, in 1882, there was another1 con-
test at the Seminary, this time to see who v/ould go to

(1) Addams, Twenty Years at Hull House, pp. 54-56.

(2) Rockford" Daily Gazette, May 22, lg82.

(3) Addams, Twenty Years at Hull House, p. 54.

323

Chicago in the autumn, against the boys. The affair ex-
cited lively interest both in the Seminary and in the
town. Prizes were given, and the speeches were inter-
spersed with music. The four competitors who ranked
highest were, in order, Miss Carrie Hewitt, Miss May
Brown, Miss Etta Hathaway, and Miss Helen Gregory. The
judges were Miss Julia Lathrop, Rev. Wilder Smith, and
Prof. A. W. Burnett. (1)

The intercollegiate contest took place in Central
Music Hall in Chicago. There were delegates from the
Industrial College at Champaign, the University of
Chicago, Lincoln University, Knox College, Monmouth,
and Wesleyan University at Bloomington. Miss Carrie
Hewitt, speaking on Our Duty to the Indians, represented
Rockford. (2)

In a letter to the Rockford Daily Gazette (October
10), a Seminary girl describes the affair. This letter
is quoted only in part:

"So Thursday morning at ten (October 5)
seventeen energetic young women, all in bright
array went to Oak Park as the guests of Miss
Minnie Marks, f82. We made quite a lively
party when all assembled, for five members of
the class of f32 who always have the Seminary
in a warm corner in their hearts, and three
teachers, and the girls that came in at dif-
ferent times made a delegation of thirty."

It would seem that the girls were treated royally,
A reception was given for them on Thursday at the
university rooms, and the committee attended to their
every want. The writer in a most naive fashion goes
on to say that "indeed they could not have found a
better place for their attentions, for when we were all
fixed up in our white dresses, with the blue shoulder
knot representing our school, we ourselves thought we
were a pretty good looking set of girls, and some of
the other folks thought so, too."

Miss Mary Waddell, the vice-president of the as-
sociation, on account of the illness of the president,
presided at an impromptu business meeting. "It v/as
quite an honor to have our girl preside in such a place.
The two delegates, the Misses Lizzie Stanbridge and May
West, called forth many complimentary remarks for their
action in the business meeting."

(1) Rockford Daily Gazette, May 22, 1882.

(2) Rockford Register, Oct. 7, 1882.

324

Of the fate of Miss Carrie Hewitt's plea for the
Indians, the writer says nothing. It is to be sup-
posed that Rockford went down to defeat against the male
opponents. However that may be, it was a glorious af-
fair for all concerned, and an important one for the
Seminary, for it was voted that the next contest be held
in Rockford.

Accordingly the next autumn the masculine members
of the association, came to Rockford. The Rockford Re-
gister for October first tells us that two hundred were
expected, and nine colleges were to compete for prizes
of $75 and $50. The winner was to represent the state
in the interstate college contest. The convention took
on a more or less social character. In addition to the
contest itself at the Opera House on October 5, there
was a baseball tournament, (four colleges competing),
morning and afternoon. The Seminary seniors gave a ban-
quet to the guests at the Holland House, on which to
their dismay and to that of the town, they came out,
$125 short. It was hoped by the press that the men
would not allow their fair hostesses to bear this bur-
den. Evidently they did, for only by heroic measures-
fairs and other social functions— was enough raised to
meet it.

The Rockford Register reports the event in the
journalistic style of 1883:

"This morning (Thursday, October 4) the
streets began to assume a very dudeish ap-
pearance. Slickly attired young men, tagged
labelled and sealed 'college boys1 with plu&
hats down under the nose and fly canes made
themselves numerous on the streets and took
in the sights afforded by the city."

Including the baseball players there were sixteen
from Knox. They did not look as if they could do much
upon the diamond, the account goes on the say, but ap-
pearances might be deceptive. They looked like "soft-
handed college students."

The banquet, despite the rain was a triumph. The
gay group rode to Holland's in "chartered omnibuses",
and laughed out of the windows at the drizzling drops."
Happy were the "female persusasion" with their gallant
escorts, escorts of all kinds, "tonnily togged students"
and those who were "pigeon-toed." On the whole, however,
they were "good-looking and we 11 -behaved."

For two hours the young people enjoyed social talk
in the parlors, and at the fashionable hour of ten, they

325

sat down to "tables tastily spread with white table
linen and a glittering array of good things. Great heaps
of tropical fruits, palatable dishes garnished with green
sprigs, fancy figures in ice cream, beauteous results of
the pastry cook's art, and high standards bearing pyra-
mids of fruits, candies, nuts and tissue caps done up in
a fancy shape."

The Seminary did nothing by halves, as the menu
shows: escalloped oysters, chicken mayonnaise, shrimp
a la Tartare, lobster a la Amerique, sandwiches, cold
ham, chicken, and buffalo tongue, five kinds of cake,
six of fruit, wine jelly, ice cream, biscuit glace,
pineapple ice, nuts, raisins, candy, coffee, and choco-
late. One wonders that the deficit was only $125.

One hundred were present. The guests were greeted
by Miss West, president of the Oratorical Society, and
the toastmaster was from Knox. After the banquet came
the toasts, --toasts to the Seminary, to the contestants,
to the various colleges. Among the cleverest was Mr.
Sisson's, of Knox, to the base-ball team of his alma
mater.

"May their diamonds never be wanting, may
they never meet a base man; may their work ever
be in the right field; their Knox bring them
good luck and their game of life end in a tie."

The gay affair did not end until one in the morn-
ing. The reporter's comment on the behavior of the
girls assures us that the evening was entirely pleasant
and successful: they "appeared to be doing their pret-
tiest and improving each shining hour."(l)

The next evening, (another drizzling one) though
highly important as the reason for this gathering must
have been an anti-climax, it seems. The contest took
place in the Opera House. There was music by Dedrick-
son's Orchestra (which appears to have supplanted the
Rockford Band, so popular in the early days) and a
male quartet. Prayer was offered by the Rev. J. K.
Fowler; and J. E. Browning, of Knox, presided. The
colleges competing were Illinois College, Lincoln
University, Knox College, The University of Chicago,
Champaign College, Wesleyan, Monmouth, and Rockford,
whose representative, Miss Anna Baume, 1885, was the
only girl. She had been slightly ill, and was not
looking her best. (One does not wonder when one con-
siders the dissipation of the previous evening.)
"Attired in a becomingly arranged white satin dress,

(1) Rockford Register, Oct. 5, 1883.

326

red satin waist and a bit of lace about the throat,
she .nade a favorable, not to say heart -crushing ap-
pearance, and certainly proved that she was fully as
accomplished as fair."(l) Her speech, To What End?,
had won a prize of $25 at an open meeting at the
Seminary in May, 1883.(2) There was profound si-
lence during her "telling delivery." "The reveren-
tial almost fearful manner in which the doubting lips
wailed out the !Wherefore?, Wheref ore?, f was excep-
tionally good; her carriage on the stage was easy
and graceful, and her gestures quite perfect." But
the judges awarded her only second prize. Knox car-
ried away the first. (5)

For the next year or so the society seems to have
been in a flourishing condition. Meetings were held in
chapel at four o1 clock on alternate Thursdays, The pro-
grams included orations and essays. (4) It would seem
that the organization went to pieces when the sopho-
mores withdrew in April, 1884, though it is said that
the meeting was a success in spite of this fact. (5)

Short-lived as the activity was, it had its
merits. It not only stimulated an interest in public
speaking, bul3it also brought the Seminary into contact
with other institutions in the state. It is not to be
supposed that clear and logical, or rapid thinking
were developed, as in the debate. The speeches were
prepared and were, for the most part, stilted and stereo-
typed. The exercise, however, seems to have been a
great advance over the old Pierian essay and oration.

During this time there were two other organizations
which should be mentioned. The fact that even the pre-
paratory girls had a club, shows the tendency toward
the organization of student activities as being es-
pecially strong. The Crescent Club came into being in
1883. It was in the nature of a literary society, and
held its meetings alternate Friday evenings. It was
active for two years. (6)

The Glee Club which had sung from time to time
during the preceding years, (it seems never to have had
a prolonged existence at any period), was re-organized
in the spring of 1884, and sang at the Easter services
at the close of the winter term, again at Sunday de-

(1) Rockford Register, Oct. 6, 1883.

(2) T5I3Z

(3) Ibid, Oct. 6, 1882.

(4) Ibid, Nov. 23, 1883.

(5) Ibid, Apr. 17, 1884.
(6( Ibid, Nov. 23, 1883.

327

votions,(l) and at the Oratoricals, April 10.(2) Ex-
cept for brief intervals of inactivity, it has been an
important part of the college life since. Today its
aim is that of the best college glee clubs, to produce
only the best choral music.

Another college custom universal today is the ob-
servance of the day of prayer for colleges. We find
the first mention of its observance in the Seminary,
January 29, 1876. Nearly all the pastors of evangelical
churches in the city were there to participate. (3)

Simple, and somewhat tedious as it may seem to us
today, student life in the early days had its merits.
The Seminary girls did not live in an age of elaborate
pleasures, nor in an age when speed was the byword.
Their carriage rides, gymnasium parties, Minnie R.
Alogy rites, chapel entertainments, et cetera, seem to
the modern college girl unexciting, --quaint, one of
them expressed it. It was a life, however, in which
good fellowship, and loyalty, and friendship played a
large part.

(1)
(2)

(3)

Rockford Register, Apr. 17, 1884.
Rockford Daily Gazette, Apr. 17, 1884.
Rockford Register, Feb. 4, 1876.

B. DOCUMENTS PERTAINING TO THE HISTORY OF THE

SEMINARY
LCopy of Deed of Site

2. Charter

3 .Amendments to Charter, 1857

4 ♦Constitution

5. Certificate of Change of Name from

Rockford Female Seminary to Rockford Seminary
6. Certificate of Change of Name from Rockford

Seminary to Rockford College

329

Copy of Deed of Site of
Rockford Female Seminary

Buel G. Wheeler )

to )

Trustees of Rockford)

Female Seminary )

This indenture made this twenty
third day of October in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and fifty Between Buel, G.
Wheeler and Harriet L. Wheeler his wife of the Town of
Rockford County of Winnebago and State of Illinois of
the first part and the Trustees of the Rockford Female
Seminary of the Town County and State aforesaid, of
the Second part Witnesseth that the said party of the
first part for and in consideration of the sum of five
hundred and fifty dollars to them in hand paid the re-
ceipt of which is hereby acknowledged have granted
bargained sold conveyed and confirmed and do hereby
grant bargain sell convey and confirm unto the said
party of the second part and to their successors in
Office forever all those tracts or parcels of land sit-
uate and being in the Town of Rockford County of Win-
nebago and State of Illinois and known and described
as follows to wit; South Park Lots No, eight and nine,
and the west one and three fourths acres of south Park
Lots No. ten all of said lots being on the east side
of Rock River in said Town of Rockford, Together with
all and singular the appurtenances thereunto belonging
or in any wise appertaining, To have and to hold the
above described premises unto the said party of the
second part and to their successors forever and the
said party of the first part for themselves and their
heirs executors and administrators does covenant and
agree to and with the said party of the second part their
successors and assigns that they are well seized of the
premises above conveyed as of a good and indefeasible
inheritance in the law in fee simple and that the said
premises are clear of all incumbrances whatsoever.
And the said party of the first part the aforesaid
premises unto the said party of the second part and their
successors against the claim or claims of all and every
person whomsoever do and will warrant and forever de-
fend by these presents. In Witness whereof the said
parties of the first part have hereunto set their hands
and seals on the day and year first above written.
Executed in presence of

C, H, Spafford Buel G. Wheeler (Seal)

Harriet L. Wheeler (Seal)

Acknowledged by C. H. Spafford, Clerk of the Circuit Court
the 22nd day of October A. D. 1850

330

An act to incorporate the Rockford
Female Seminary (1)

Sec. !• Be it enacted by the People of the State of
Illinois represented in the General Assembly, that from
and after the passage of this act, A. Kent, D. Clary, S.
Peet, P. Bascom, C. Waterbury, S. D. Stephens, A. L.
Chapin, R. M. Pearson, G. W. Hickcox, A. Raymond, C. M.
Goodsel, E. H. Potter, L. G. Fisher, W. Talcott, Chas. S.
Hemstead, Saml, Hinman and their successors be and they
are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate to be
styled the board of "Trustees of the Rockford Female
Seminary," and by that name to remain in perpetual suc-
cession with full powers to sue and be sued, plead and be
impleaded, to acquire, hold and convey property real and
personal, to have and use a common seal, to alter and
renew the same at their pleasure, and shall be in law
capable of holding by purchase, gift, grant, devise, be-
quest, or otherwise, and of selling or leasing any estate,
real or personal, to make and alter from tire to time
such by-laws as they may deem necessary for the good
government and success of said institution, officers and
servants. Provided such by-lavs are not inconsistent with
the constitution and lavs of the United Spates and of this
State, also to have power to confer on those whom they may
deem worthy all such honors and degrees as are usually con-
ferred in similar institutions.

Sec, 2, That the said institution shall be located
in the Town of Rockford and shall be erected with accommo-
dations sufficiently extensive to afford instruction in
the liberal arts and sciences adapted to the highest or-
der of female education.

Sec. 3, That the board of Trustees shell have power
to appoint a President, Vice-President and Treasurer and
such agents as they may deem necessary, and shall fill all
vacancies that, may occur in their own board, by resig-
nation, death or neglect for more than one year to attend
to the duties of the trust, also to appoint such officers,
professors and teachers as the instruction and government
of the institution shall require, and prescribe their
duties and to remove any of them for sufficient reasons,
also to prescribe and direct the course of studies to be
pursued in the institution, and its departments.

(1) The charter is copied into the records of the Board of
Trustees, that volume in which the minutes of the - meetings
to found the Seminary and Beloit College are recorded. The
entry i s not dated. The originial charter given to the
Seminary in 1847 was lost some time ago. iss Emma Enoch
tells me that it was sent to Washington with an application
for permission to use alcohol in the chemistry laboratory,
and was never returned. Repeated efforts to find i t were
made, not only at the time but for several years afterwards,

331

An act to incorporate the Rockford
Female Seminary
( continued)

Sec. 4. That the board of Trustees of said Female
Seminary shall consist of sixteen members with power to
increase their number to twenty-four, any seven of whom
shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of busi-
ness. Said board of Trustees shall hold their first
annual meeting in the Town of Rockford, on the first Mon-
day of June in the year eighteen hundred and forty seven,
and afterwards they shall meet on their own adjournment,
but in case of emergency, the President with the concur-
rence of two Trustees may call a special meeting, or any
five members may call such meeting by giving notice to
each member at least ten days before the time of said
meeting.

Sec. 5. The Board of Trustees shall faithfully ap-
ply all the funds by them collected or received accord-
ing to their best judgement in erecting suitable buildings,
supporting the necessary officers, instructors, and ser-
vants, in procuring books and apparatus necessary to
insure the success of said Seminary. Provided neverthe-
less that in case any donation or bequest shall be made
for particular purposes which accord with the designs of
the Institution, and the corporation shall receive and ac-
cept the same. Any donation or bequest thus made shall
be applied in conformity to the conditions or designs ex-
pressed by the donor.

Sec. 6. That the Treasurer of the Institution shall
always and all other agents when required, before entering
upon the duties of their appointment, give bonds for the
security of the corporation upon such conditions and in
such penal sum, and with such securities as the board of
Trustees shall approve, and that all process against the
Corporation shall be by summons and the service of the
same shall be by leaving an attested copy thereof with
the Treasurer of the Institution at least thirty days
before the return thereof.

Newton Cloud, Speaker of the House of

Representatives .
Josepn B. Wells, Speaker of the Senate.

Approved Feb. 25, 1847
Aug. C. French.

The college has certified copies of this document and of
the certificates of change of name from Rockford Female
Seminary to Rockford Seminary, and from Rockford Seminary
to Rockford College.

332

An act to incorporate the Rockford
Female Seminary
(continued)

UNITED STATES OP AMERICA

State of Illinois

SS Office of SECRETARY OF STilTE

I, WILLIAM H. HIKRICHSEN, Secretary of the State of
Illinois, do hereby certify that the foregoing is a true
copy of An Act entitled An Act to incorporate the Rock-
ford Female Seminary, Approved, February 25th, 1847,
the original of which is now on file in this office.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I hereto set my
hand and affix the Great Seal of State,
at the City of Springfield, this 25th
day of November, A.D. 1893,

Seal of the State W. H. Hinrichsen,

of Illinois Secretary of State.

Aug. 6th, 1818

333

An act to amend an act entitled An Act to incor-
porate the Rockford Female Seminary (1)

Sec. 1, Be it enacted by the people of the State of
Illinois represented in the General Assembly, that the
board of trustees of the Rockford Female Seminary (a body
corporate and politic) may, and they are hereby author-
ized to borrow such sum or sums of money as may be neces-
sary, upon such terms, for such time, and at such rates of
interest not exceeding ten per cent per annum as they may
find necessary to the wants of said Seminary, or desirable
and useful for said Seminary to borrow to carry into ef-
fect the object of the same,

•

Sec. 2, The said beard of trustees are hereby author*
ized to issue such personal securities, by way of promis-
sory notes, bills of exchange, bonds of obligations in
evidence of such loans; or of any present or future in-
debtedness of the said corporation as they may find reces-
sary in that behalf; and to secure the same by way of
mortgage or mortgages, trust deed or trust deeds upon any
of the lands of real estate or interest in lands or real
estate of said corporation, as they may judge proper and
as they may find necessary or proper in that behalf,

Saml. Holmes, Speaker of the House of Rep.
John Wood, Speaker of the Senate.

Approved Jan. 50, 1857
Wm. H. Bissell.

(1) This act is copied into the records of the Board of
Trustees, that volume in which the minutes of the meetings
to found Beloit College and the Seminary are recorded.
The entry is not dated. The amendments were accepted by
the Board July 9, 1857, according to the records.

334

UNITED STATES OP AMERICA

State of Illinois

SS Office of the SECRETARY OF

STATE

I, WILLIAM H. HINRICHSEN, Secretary of State of the
State of Illinois, do hereby certify that the foregoing
is a true copy of An Act to amend an Act, entitled An Act
to incorporate the Rockford Female Seminary. Approved,
January 30th, 1857, the original of which is now on file
in this office.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I hereto set my
hand to affix the Great Seal of
State, at the City of Springfield,
this 25th day of November
A. D. 1893,

W. H. Hinrichsen,
Secretary of State

Seal
of
Aug,

of the State
Illinois
6th, 1818.

335

TEE CONSTITUTION OP TH£ KOCEFOED

IE SEMINARY (1)

Article 1.

This institution shall he known by the name of
"The Rockford Female Seminary",

Article 2. Obj ect.

The object of the institution i s to unite the
sympathies and efforts of the friends of christian educa-
tion especially in the Presbyterian and Congregational
connections of Wisconsin and Northornllllir.ois, in the work
of providing an enlarged literary, scientific and christian
education for young ladies.

Article 3. Of the Board of Trust.

Section 1. The supervision of the institution shall
be vested in a Board of Trustees representing
equitably the two sections of country and the

o christian denominations united, in the enter-
prise. The Board shall consist of sixteen mem-
bers with power to increase their number to
twenty -four.

Section 2. Any seven members present at any meeting
regularly convened shal 1 be a quorum for the
transaction of business except a change in the
constitution or the removal of permanent members
of the faculty vh ich shall require an affirma-
tive vote of a majority of the Trustees provided
that new members of the Board shall be elected
only at an annual meet: ng.

Section 3. The Officers of the Board shall be a

President, a Vice-president, a Secret ry and a
Treasurer annually elected by a ballot "Those
duties shall be prescribed by the by-la-_s and
an Executive Committee whose duties shall be
prescribed by the constitution.

Section 4. The Board shall have power to raise, hold,
manage and disburse the funds of the Seminary at
their discretion; to fill all vacancies in their
own Board, to appoint such officers, instructors

(1) opted by the Board July K , 1857, thirteen i -embers

voting. Records of the Board of Trustees, July 10, 1857.

336

and. agents as the interests of the Seminary
may require: to prescribe their duties and to
remove "any of them for sufficient reasons; to
regulate the terms, vacations, and. course of
study and instruction in the Seminary; to make
and alter by-laws, and in general to adopt such
measures not inconsistent with the constitution
or act of incorporation a s in their judgement
will promote the interests of the Seminary,

Section 5. The Board shall annually elect by ballot
from their own number ar Executive Committee
nf not less than three --'hose -quty it shall he
to exercise a general supervision over the af-
fairs of the Seminary, and to take measures for
the advancement of its interests during the re-
cess of the Board, They shall have power to
transact all business except the appointment or
removal of permanent officers or incumbering or
alienating site of the institution. A majority
of the Executive Committee shall constitute a

iiorum for the transaction of business and they
shall appoint a chairman and secretary and keep
a record of their proceedings and report the
same to the Board at their annual meeting.

Section 6, The Board shall meet annually on the day
of the anniversary of the Seminary, and at such
other times as may be designated by their own ad-
journment, or by the President with the concur-
rence of two trustees, or by any five members
upon notice given to each member of the Board at
least ten days before the time of such meeting.

Article 4, Of the Faculty.

Section 1, The instruction, internal government and
discipline of the Seminary shall be under the
charge of a faculty consisting of the Principal
and teachers of the four departments of instruc-
tion— together with such other teachers as may
at any time be fully employed in the institution
of the Seminary,

337

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE ROCKFORD
FEMALE SEMINARY
(continued)

Section 2. The instruction of the Seminary shall be
distributed into the following four departments,
each of v/hich shall be in charge of a permanent
instructor with such assistance as may be re-
quired, viz., 1. Mental and Moral Philosophy;
2. Mathematics and Natural Science; 3. History
and English Literature; 4. Languages.

Article 5, Of amendments to Constitution.

This Constitution may be changed by vow of a ma-
jority of all the members of the Board, provided that no
such change shall be made except at an annual meeting, and
after notice of such proposed change shall have been given
either at a previous meeting or in writing to each member
at least ten days before the time of the annual meeting. (1)

By-Laws (2)

Chapter I. Duties of the Officers of the Board.

Section 1. It shall be the duty of the President and
in his absence of the vice-president to preside at all
meetings of the Board: to affix his name to all the di-
plomas, obligations, contracts or other instruments is-
sued by the Seminary, and perform such other duties as u-
sually devolve on the President of a Corporate body.

Section 2. It shall be the duty of the Secretary to
keep a true record of all meetings of the Board; to affix
his name and the seal of the Seminary to all the public pa-
pers of the institution; to issue the call for all regular
meetings of the Board, and to read at each annual meeting
the proceedings of the meeting previous.

(1) Adopted July 10, 1857. Records of the Board of Trus-
tees, July 10, 1857.

(2) The committee v/hich drew up the by-laws consisted of
Prof. Joseph Emerson, Rev. H. M. Goodwin, Miss A. P.
Sill, and Miss Mary A. White. According to the re-
cords of the Board of Trustees, they were appointed
<July 11, 1856. The by-laws were accepted by the Board
and referred to a committee consisting of Rev. H. M.
Goodwin, Rev. Joseph Emerson, T. D. Robertson, and
the faculty on July 10, 1857.

338

THE CONSTITUTE ON OP THE ROCKPORD
FEMALE SEMINARY
(continued)

Section 3, -It shall be the duty of the Treasurer
to keep an accurate account of the debts incurred and of
all dues, credits, and other property of the institution,
together with the current receipts and expenditures of
each year, and report the same to the Board or to the Ex-
ecutive Commit te whenever called for. He shall have power
to take all measures necessary for collecting debts, con-
veying property, investing funds subject to the advice and
control of the Executive Committee, He shall have a gener-
al over-sight and care of all the property of the Seminary,
and shall give security in such sum as the Trustees shall
appoint for the faithful discharge of his duties.

Chapter II. Duties of the Faculty,

Section 1. It shall be the duty of the faculty faith-
fully to instruct the pupils in the different departments
of Science and Literature committed to them severally by
the Trustees,

Section 2, The faculty are expected to exercise a
thorough and parental supervision of the habits and deport-
ment of the pupils, to inculcate lessons of morality and
piety, and discipline example and moral influence, to stim-
ulate them to the best and highest development of mind and
character, and in general they may adopt such rules for
the government and discipline of the pupils in accordance
with the laws of the Seminary as the good of the pupils and
the best interests of the institution may require.

Section 3, The faculty shall hold stated meetings to
consult together for the good of the Seminary, at which
the Principal shall preside, and in her absence the sen-
ior teacher present. No decision of the faculty shall be
deemed valid unless made by vote and accorded.

Section 4. The faculty shall present to the Trustees
an annual report in writing of the general state of the
Seminary, and also make such suggestions concerning all
matters pertaining to the general interests of the Sem-
inary as may appear to them suitable.

Section 5. The faculty shall cause to be kept suit-
able books in which shall be registered the name and age
of each pupil with the name and residence of the parent
or guardian, also the time of her entering and leaving
the Seminary, her failures in attendance upon Seminary
exercises and such censures as she may incur. They shall
also keep a record of the scholarship of each pupil.

339

THE CONSTITUTION OP THE ROCKFORD
FEMALE SEMINARY
(continued)

Section 6. It shall be the duty of the faculty to
communicate with the parents or guardian of the several
pupils whenever cases arise which in their judgment call
for such communication.

Chapter III. Of the admission and dismission

of pupils .

Section 1. No person shall be admitted to the re-
gular collegiate course under fifteen years of age; nor
to an advance standing without a proportionate increase
of age.

Section 2. Candidates for admission to the Seminary
shall present satisfactory testimonials of good moral
character, and candidates for the collegiate course shall
sustain an approved examination before one or more of the
faculty in the studies pursued in the academical depart-
ment.

Section 3. Persons accepted on examination shall be
considered as on probation for six weeks. If the deport-
ment of a pupil during this period is unsatisfactory the
faculty may extend her time of probation, or terminate
her connection with the Seminary at their discretion.

Chapter IV. Of the Courses of Instruction.

Section I. The course of instuction in the Sem-
inary shall be distributed into three departments, em-
bracing

1. A preparatory or academic course embracing
two years of study and thorough train-
ing in the elementary branches.

2. A collegiate course extending for the pre-
sent through three years of study in the
classical and higher branches usually em-
braced in a collegiate education for young
ladies.

3. A Normal or English course (Unclassified)
designed for those who are unable to pursue
the regular collegiate course; for those too
who wish to qualify themselves as teachers of
grammar schools. The studies in this depart-
ment are for the most part optional, and re-
cited in connection with those of the re-
gular classes.

340

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE ROCKFORD
FEMALE SEMINARY
(continued)

Pupils belonging to this department on leav-
ing the institution may receive testimonials
according to their advancement, and amount
of study pursued.

Section 2. The course of instruction in the Seminary
shall embrt ce the following branches of study, viz: The
English and Latin languages, Orthography, Geography (An-
cient and Modern), Mathematics, Natural Philosophy and
Physiology, Chemistry, Botany, Geology and Astronomy, His-
tory, Logic, Rhetoric, Criticism, Intellectual and Moral
Philosophy, Natural Theology and the Evidences of Chris-
tianity, Instruction may also^be given in the Greek,
French and German languages; in Music, drawing and paint-
ing, and other branches of learning as the interests of
the Seminary and the good of the pupil may require •

Section 3. The selection of text books, mode of in-
struction, arrangement of the course of study, and . the
appointment of all the exercises of the course shall be
under the direction of the faculty, subject to the gener-
al supervision of the Trustees.

Section 4* At the close of the second term there
shall be a public examination of each of the classes in all
the studies of the two terms. At the close of the third
term there shall be a public examination of all the classes
in the studies of the summer term.

Section 5, A committee of competent persons, not less
than five, shall be annually appointed by the Trustees or
Executive Committee to attend the examination at the close
of the year, and report its character and results. If any
person appointed shall fail of being present, the faculty
may appoint someone to supply the vacancy.

Chapter V, Of the Deportment of Pupils.

Section 1, The behavior of the students in the various
relations which they sustain as pupils, class and roommates,
members of the family and instruction at large, is to be
regulated by the plain rules of propriety, morality and
christian courtesy.

Section 2. As it is the general design of the Semi-
nary to secure the highest degree of mental and moral im-
provement by means of study and appropriate discipline,
whatever in the deportment or habits of a pupil tends to
defeat this design shall be deemed properly within the con-
trol of the officers of the institution.

341

Section 5. Any damage done to the furniture of
rooms or table, or to any part of the building of the in-
stitution, is to be reported without delay, and charged
in the bills of the pupil causing such damage.

Section 4* All transgressions of the laws and
omissions of duty, including all culpable failures in at-
tendance upon exercises, shall be carefully noted and re-
gistered by the faculty, and in general such course of
discipline pursued as the faculty may judge proper.

Section 5. No pupil shall be permitted to con-
tract debts without a written permission from her parent
or guardian.

342

Certificate of Change of Name of the corporation or-
ganized under the act of the Legislature of Illinois, ap-
proved February 25, 1847, and entitled, "An Act to in-
corporate the Rockford Female Seminary" from Board of
"Trustees of the Rockford Female Seminary", to "Rockford
Seminary , *T

STATE OF ILLINOIS
Winnebago County

I, Joseph Emerson, President of the Board of Trustees
of the Rockford Female Seminary, do hereby certify that
at the regular annual meeting of the Trustees fore-said
corporation, (for the year 1887) this day held at its
school building in the City of Rockford, Illinois, the
question of changing the name of the corporation from
Board of "Trustees of the Rockford Female Seminary" to that
of "Rockford Seminary" was duly submitted by a vote of
the Trustees, a quorum being present and that thereupon
more than a majority of all the Trustees of the corporation
voted in favor of such change of naree, and then and there
the name "Rockford Seminary" was adopted as the name of
the corporation.

In Testimony Whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my
name, and caused to be affixed the seal of the corporation.

Done at Rockford, Illinois, this 21st day of June
A.D. 1887.

Joseph Emerson, President

(Seal) Seal of corporation

Attest. Frank P. Woodbury, Sec'y.

STATE OF ILLINOIS:

: SS
Winnebago County :

Joseph Emerson being first duly sworn upon oath
says that he is President of the Board of Trustees of the
Rockford Female Seminary, and that the foregoing certifi-
cate by him subscribed is true in substance and in fact.

Joseph Emerson

Subscribed and sworn to before me, at Rockford, this
twenty-first day of June A.D. 1887.

Julia C. Lathrop, Notary Public

(Seal)

Filed June 24, 1887
Henry D. Dement,
Secretary of State

343

UNITED STATES OP AMERICA
State of Illinois

Office of the SECRETARY
OP STATE

I, WILLIAM H. HINRICHSEN, Secretary of State of the
State of Illinois, do hereby certify that the foregoing
is a true copy of the certificate of change of name from
Board of Trustees of the Rockford Female Seminary to
Rockford Seminary. Piled June 24, 1887, the original of
which is now on file in this office.

Seal of the

State of
Illinois
Aug. 6th, 1818

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I hereto set my
hand and affix the Great Seal of
State, at the city of Springfield,
this 6th day of December A.D. 1893.

W. H. Hinrichsen,

Secretary of State

344

CERTIFICATE
of change of name of corporation
from Rockford Seminary to Rockford College

STATE OP ILLINOIS :

: SS
Winnebago County :

I ^Goodyear A. Sanf ord, Vice-President and acting
President of the Board of Trustees of the Rockford Seminary,
do hereby certify that "Rockford Seminary" is the present
name of the corporation organized and existing under the
act of the Legislature of Illinois, approved February 24,
1847, and entitled, "An act to incorporate the Rockford
Female Seminary , and I further certify that at the
regular annual meeting of the Board of Trustees of said
Corporation, held at its school building in the City of
Rockford, Illinois, June 14, 1892, the question of chang-
ing the name of said Corporation from Rockford Seminary to
that of Rockford College was duly submitted to a vote of
the Trustees of the corporation more than a quorum being
present, and that thereupon it was unanimously voted by
the Trustees present that the name of the corporation be
changed from "Rockford Seminary" to "Rockford College. ,f

In Testimony Whereof , I have hereunto subscribed my
name and caused to be affixed the seal of the corporation.
Done at Rockford, Illinois, this fifteenth day of June,
1892.

Goodyear A. Sanf ord—

Vice-President
Attest: William A. Talcott— Secretary
and Seal of Corporation (Seal)

STATE OF ILLINOIS :

: SS
Winnebago County :

Goodyear A. Sanf ord of said County and State, being
first duly sworn, upon oath sayst that he was at the date
of the foregoing instrument and still is the Vice-President,
and acting President of the Board of Trustees of said
corporation, and that the foregoing certificate of change
of name by him subscribed is true in substance and in fact.

Goodyear A. Sanf ord

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 17th day of
September, 1892.

George L. Woodruff, Notary
(Seal) Public

Filed Sept. 22, 1892
I. N. Pearson,

Secretary of State.

345

CERTIFICATE
of change of name of corporation
from Rockford Seminary to Rockford College

(continued)

UNITED STATES OP AMERICA

State of Illinois

I, WILLIAM H. HINRICHSEN, Secretary of State of the
State of Illinois, do hereby certify that the foregoing
is a true copy of the certificate of change of name from
Rockford Seminary to Rockford College. Piled, Sept. 22,
1892, the original of which is now on file in this office

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I hereto set
my hand and affix the Great Seal
of State, at the city of Spring-
field, this 6th day of December
A.D. 1892.

W. H. Hinrichsen,
Seal of the State of Secretary of State.

Illinois.
Aug. 6th, 1818.

C. PROGRAMS FROM VARIOUS YEARS,

Showing changes in the course of study from 1854 to
1884. There were no changes of importance from 1 88 1
to 1885. These progaams are taken direotly from the
catalogues, a set of which , beginning with that of
1854-1855. is in the possession of the college.

347

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Photostatic Copy of Course of Instruction, 1 8^4-1 855

COURSE OF INSTRUCTION

1865-1866

COLLEGIATE COURSE

348

First Series

Second Series

First Series

Second Series

First Series

Second Series

Junior Year

Latin

Constitution of U.S.
Physiology
History of England

Latin

Ancient Geography
History of Greece
History of Rome

Junior Middle Year

Latin

Latin Brpse Composition

Algebra, (U. Ed.)

Rhetoric

Latin

Latin Prose Composition
Natural Philosophy
Natural History

Senior Middle Year

Chemistry
History of France
Astronomy
Geometry

Latin

French or German

Botany

Caesar
Mansfield
Hitchcock
Student's Hume

Sallust
Mitchell
Smith
Liddell

Virgil
Arnold
Robinson
Quackenbos

Virgil
Arnold
Wills
Ware's Smellie

Youman ' s
Olmsted

Cicero
Wood

Geometry and Trigonometry Davies' Legendre
Senior Year

First Series

Second Series

Mental Philosophy Haven

Moral Philosophy Haven

English Literature Botta
French or German

Evidences of Christianity Hopkins

Analogy Butler

Geology Wells
French or German

349

First Series

Second Series

COURSE FOR RESIDENT GRADUATES

English Language

Natural History

Conic Sections

French, German, or Greek*

Fowler

Ruschenburg
Loomis

M e nt al Phi 1 o s o phy

History of Civillzati' Guizot

Astronomy (College Edition)

Church History

French or German

*0r McCosh on the Divine Government.

Penmanship, Composition, Rehearsals, the Critical Reading
of the English Poets, Vocal Music, and Bible His to it, are
pursued throughout the Course. The Bible is made em-
phatically the Text Book, from which are drawn daily
lessons of Moral and Religious instruction.

PREPARATORY STUDIES

Reading, Orthography, Penmanship, Mental Arithmetic,
Written Arithmetic, Modern Geography, English Grammar
and Analysis, History of the United States, Punctuation
in Quackenbos* Rhetoric, Physical Geography, Elementary
Algebra.

First Series

NORMAL ENGLISH COURSE
Junior Year
Review of Modern and Physical Geography
with reference to Teaching
ap Drawing
Review of Arithmetic

Second Series

Review of English Grammar and Analysis

Of Erg - 3h Language
Review of History of United States
Constitution of United States and

Illinois

First Series

Second Series

First Series

Senior Year
A.lgebra
Elements of Mental and Moral

Philosophy
Anatomy and Physiology

Anatomy and Physiology continued

Botany

Geometry

Optional Course
Chemistry
Astronomy
Geology

350

NORMAL ENGLISH COURSE
(continued)

Second Series Zoology or Botany continued

Natural Philosophy
Hi gher Ma themati c s

Special attention will be given throughout the Course
to the Theory and Practice of Teaching, and the School
Laws of Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa, A thorough drill
in Penmanship and Elocution will also he had, together
with Composition, Rehearsals, Critical reading of the
Poets, Vocal Music and Biblical Instruction. The text
books in the branches pursued are the same as those in the
Collegiate Course, with "the exception of Mental and
Moral Philosophy. Those completing this course of In-
struction will receive a Diploma to that effect, having
the signatures of the Officers of the Institution.

Commercial Book-keeping

A regular Course of Instruction in Commercial
Book-keeping is also given to all who desire, without
extra charge .

Lectures

This is a regular Course of Lectures upon Chemistry,
Natural Philosophy and the Natural Sciences designed to
be given, also occasional Lectur s upon other interesting
topics.

DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC

This Institution furnishes superior facilities for
a thorough Musical Education. This department is under
the charge of Prof. Daniel N. Hood, an experienced teacher,
whose continued success evinced his eminent qualifi-
cations for the position. Special attention is given to
such as are desirous of preparing themselves to become
teachers, the necessary qualifications, being well
trained hands, a knowledge of the formation of the hand,
and the correct method of developing the fingers; and
such theoretical knowledge as shall enable the pupil to
dissect properly the study of the piece used, that she
may thoroughly understand the work to be accomplished.
The absence of either of these requisites seriously impairs
the capability of a teacher.

That there is a lack of properl ; qualified Teachers in
the Northwest, there can be no question. The design of
the Musical Course i s to prepare those desiring to teach,
in such a manner that they may be able to labor intel-
ligently, and consequently efficiently.

The course of instruction will include Organ, Piano
and Guitar Music, the Cultivation of the Voice, Thorough
Bass, and Musical Composition.

351

DEPARTMENT OP MUSIC
(continued)

It is the airr, of the Institution, in making per-
manent such a Department, to aid in forming a pure
and elevated taste in regard to music, to give it its
true place in the formation of character which can only
be done by thorough instruction in its principle and
practice. Music thus becomes a mental discipline, and is
not only a source of pleasure, but a means of refinement
and elevation.

In the course of study will be used —

For the Piano
Richardson's New Method

Velocite Studies, Etudes, &c, by Czerny
Studies by Concone

n * Moschelles
w H Cramer

With a judicious use of such pieces as are cal-
culated to elevate the taste and to cultivate a good

style in playing.

For the Organ
Rinks1 & Schneider's Schools.

For the Voice
Bassini's Method and Concone fs Exercises.

Musical Theory, Thorough Bass, and Composition

Knorr's Guide

Marx's Theory of Music

Weber's * * *

The Department is furnished with Steinway & Son's
and other celebrated Pianos, and one of Mason & Hamlin's
largest Organ Harmoniums, with two Manuals, twelve stops,
and Pedal Bass, giving every requisite for acquiring the
touch and use of the Organ for church service.

Advanced Pupils can become regular members of the
Musical Course of the Institution, without pursuing the
Collegiate or Normal studies, but they will be required to
attend to all the general exercises of the School,
Rhetorical and Biblical, and to conform to its rules
and regulations. All such are requested, if possible, to
bring their own pianos.

Those who complete the entire Course of Instruction,
and are qualified as Teachers of Music, will receive a
Diploma to that effect, signed by the Officers of the
Institution.

DEPARTMENT OF DR ING AND PAINTING

Excellent advantages are also afforded in this
Institution for Drawing and Landscape Painting in Oil
Colors, end designing or sketching from Nature. This
Department is under the care of George J. Robertson, an
Artist of known reputation. Pew perhaps realize the
benefit of this Art, in cultivating the habit of the observa<
tion, in refining the taste, and increasing the love for
the beautiful in Nature.

Special attention will be given to those preparing to
Teach, and Pupils may enter this Department as in Music,
without pursuing the Collegiate and Normal studies, and
will be subject to the same regulations.

353

COURSE OF INSTRUCTION
1876-1877

PREPARATORY COURSE
Junior Year

LATIN — Latin Grammar and Reader, Latin Prose Composition

(Harkness ).
MATHEMATICS— Practical Arithmetic (Robinson )from percent-
age ; Elementary Algebra (Robinson ) .
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY— (Warren) --Grammatical Analysis of the
English Language, Composition Exercises and. Elo-
cution.
GERMAN andFRENCH-40ptional.)
BIBLE HISTORY— Continued.

Senior Year

LATIN — Caesar and Latin Prose Composition.

MATHEMATICS— Higher Arithmetic (Robinson) .

HISTORY — General Outlines ; Zoology, (Tenney). American Lit-
er^ ture,Kord Analysis. Composition Exercises and
Elocution.

GERMAN ana FRENCH— (Optional ).

COLLEGIATE STUDIES
First Year
First Seties Second Series

Latin, Virgil, Aeneid and Latin, Virgil, Eclogues and

Eclogues. Georgics.

Latin Prose Composition. Continued

Natural Science — Physiology . (Wood)

and Hygiene (Hut chins ) Natural Science — Botany
with lectures. Mathematics --University

Algebra.
Civil Government (Towns end ) Rhe'toric— Literature,

Critical Reading oi' the
poets .continued.

Greek, French or German Continued

(Optional).
Ancient History OLabberto^s

Outlines )
Literature, Critical Reading —

Selections from Goldsmith,

Wordsworth and Tennyson (weekly )
Bible History--Genesis, Exodus, and Continued
the Gospels.

Second Year
Latin, Cicero, Orarions and Mathematics — Geometry

Essays. (Elective ), Trigonometry

(Olney), Natural Phil-
Latin Prose Composition. osopny.
Mathematics- -Geometry (Loomis ) Greek.French or German

(Elective).

354

COLLEGIATE STUDIES
(continued)

Second. Year
(continued)

Natural History (Elec-
tive ) .

Greek, French or German
(Elective).

History of English Language —
Critical Reading of
selections from Shake-
speare, Macauiay -i other
standard writers.

T'odern History (Labberton* s
Outlines) ,

Literature, Critical Read-
ing of Shakespeare, etc.

Bible History — Acts of the
Apostles with reference
to Ecclesiastical Historv.

Bible Hi story- -Joshua, Judges
and Monarchy to the death
of Solomon.

Junior Year

First Series

Latin, Cicero, DeAmicitia. Latin
Prose. ~i

Natural Science — Chemistry
(Eliot & Storer's) with'
Lectures.

i:he;:atics--Trigonometry
and Calculus, Olney
(Elective) .

Greek, French or German
(Elective) .

Literature--English Lit-
erature , Anglo Saxon,
1 (Elective ) , Griti cal
Reading of selections from
Milton, Young, Spen-
ser, and other Poets.

Second Series

Horace, Latin Prose Com-
position.

Chemical Analysis, Miner-
alogy, Astronomy or
Botany(Elective) .

Continued.

Rhetoric, Literature, con-
tinued.

Bible History — Monarchy from
the death of Solomon to
the dispersion of the
Jews, Romans or Hebrews.

Continued.

355

COLLEGI STUDIES
(continued)

Senior Year

Latin, Tacitus (Elective ) .

French, German or Greek
(Elective) .

Mental Phi lo so phy (Haven ) ,
Evidences of Christ-
ianity (Hopkins) •

Literature — Ancient Lit-
erature, with Critical
Readings of English
Dramatists, and Trans-
lations, from the Clas-
sics.

Bible Historv — Jewish His-
tory, Prophecy of the Old
Testament, Book of Reve-
lation, References to
Church History,

Ex e " c 1 s e s i n Engl i sh C om -

position extend throughout
the course.

Moral Phi losophy (Haven ) .
Continued.

Analogy (Butler) .

Reading from the Poets, con-
tinued, Comparative Lit-
erature of Modern Europe
(Elective).

Continued

356

Greek, French and German Courses of Study

Greek Course

First Year

Greek Lessons (Crosby)
Greek Grammar (Crosby)
Anaba s i s— Ken ophon
Exercises in Composition

Third Year

Greek Grammar (Crosby)

Demosthenes

Greek Drama

Exercises in Composition

Second Year

Herodotus

Memorabilia— Xenophon
Iliad— Homer
Continued

Fourth Year

Plato

Continued
Continued

First Year

French Course

Second Year

Grammar (Otto)

C or inn e( Mme.de Stael)

Selections

Dictations, Conversations

Third Year

Continued

La France Litteraire,Herrig

and Bungay
Continued

Fourth Year

Grammaire Francaise de Boniface, Continued
Modern Authors 9 Classic Authors,

Formation de la Langue Francaise, Conversation, Essays, etc.
Histoire de la Litterature
Francaise.

German Course

First Year

Grammar- - ( Ott o ) ,
Ma rchen- -Anders on ,
William Tell— Schiller,
Dictation, Conversation, etc.

Third Year

Pralitscher Kursus der

Deutschen Sprache— Heidner,
Wallenstein's Tod— Schiller,
Iphigenie auf Tauris— Goethe,
Egmont - -Goethe ,
Selections.

Second Year

Continued

Nathan der Weise— Lessing,
Die Piccolomini — Schiller,
Poems— Goethe, Uhlan d, etc.
Translations from English
into German.

Fourth Year

Faust— Goethe,

History of German Literature,

Selections.

357

COURSE OP INSTRUCTION
1830-1881
PREPARATORY DEPARTMENT
First Year

Latin--Grammar and Reader, Latin Prose Composition(Harkness) ♦
Mathematics-- Arithmetic (oiney) .

Hi story--Hi story of the United States (Barnes) ; Physical Geog-
raphy (Warren) ; Grammatical Analysis of the English
Language and Composition Exercises.

Bible Study- -Patriarchal Period, Genesis, Outline of Christ »s

Life.

Second Year
Latin--Caesar, Virgil (Aeneic) and Latin Prose Composition.

Greek, French, or German (Optional).

thematics — Algebra (01ney! s Complete) .

History — General Outlines of History; Composition Exercises.

Bible Study — Israelites in Bondage, Deliverance and Wandering

(Exodms and Numbers), Miracle s of the Gospels.

Third Year
Latin--Virgil, Bucolics, Georgics and Cicero1 s Orations,
Latin Prose Composition.

Greek, French, or German ( Opti o nal ) .

Mathematics--Plane Geometry (Olney) four books.

Natural Science — Physiology and Hygiene with Lectures,

Zoology(Tenney) .

History and Literature — Civil Government (Town send) #

Rhetoric and A: erica.n Literature — Composition Exercises.

Bible Study — Entrance and Conquest of Canaan, Deuteronom:/-

and Joshua, James1 Epistle.

CLASSICAL COURSE

Freshman Year
rst Semester Second Semester

Latin — Cicero's Orations, Latin Livy (Optional).

3^8

CLASSICAL COURSE
(continued)

First Semester
(continued)
Prose Composition.

Greek, French, or German

(Optional).
Mathematics — Plane Geometry,
Solid G-eometry ( Optional )

Hisiory and Literature —
Ancient History, Critical
Reading—Selections from
Goldsmith , Wordsworth , and
Tennyson.

Bible Study--(Rule of the
Judges ) Judges ,Ruth,
First Samuel, Acts.

Natural Science --Botany
(Wood).

Second Semester
(continued)

Continued

University Algebra, (01-
ney) (Third part)

Continued -

Continued

Sophomore Year

First Semester

Second Semester

Latin — Cicero .De Senectute.
Latin Prose.

Greek, French, or G-erman.

Mathematics — Natural
Philosophy.

Continued

Plane Trigonometry and
S^etio.&llFrigonometry,
and Calculus,

History and Literature —

Modern History;
Critical Reading from

Shakespeare ,Macaulay

and other standard

writers.

Bible Study-- (Kingdom), First
and Second Samuel, Kings
and Chronicles, Parables
of Our Lord.

Junior Year

First Semester

Greek, French, or German

Mathematics — Astronomy,

Analytical G-eometry ( Optional )

Continued

Second Semester

Higher Astronomy (Elec-
tive)

5>59

CLASSICAL COURSE
(continued)

Junior Year (continued)

First Semester

Natural Science — Chemistry.

History and Literature—Rhetoric
(Bain), Critical Reading from
Milton , Young , Spenser , etc •

Bible Study— (Captivity )Ezra,
Nehemiah, Leviticus and
Hebrews,

Senior Year

First Semester

Mental Philosophy, Logic, Evi-
dences of Christianity.

Latin--Tacitus (Optional )

French or German,

Literature- -Ancient Litera-
ture, Critical Reading of
Dramatists and Translations
from the Classics,

Bible History and Prophecy
of the Old Testament,

Second Semester

Mineralogy , Chemical
Analysis, or Higher Bo-
tany (Elective)

Mediaeval History or
Anglo -Saxon

Continued

Second Semester
Moral Philosophy,

Continued
Continued

Continued

Natural Science-
Geology .

Exercises in composition throughout the course.

360

SCIENTIFIC COURSE
Freshman Year

First Semester

Latin or French (Optional)

Mathematics — Plane Geometry,
Solid Geometry and Calculus.

German ( Opti onal )

History and Literature —
Ancient History

Critical Reading — Goldsmith,
Wordsworth and Tennyson,

Second Semester

University Algebra (Third
Part)

German or French

Continued

Bible Study— Rule of the

Judges, Judges, Ruth, First
Samuel, Acts,

Natural Science—Botany
Sophomore Year
Mathematics- -Natural Philosophy Plane Trigonometry, Spher-
ical Trigonometry, Cal-
culus,
French or German Fr or German

Natural Science --Chemistry

Modern History, Critical Read-
ing—Shakespeare ,
Macaulay, etc.

Chemistry (Optional)
Continued

Continued

Bible — Kingdoms — First and

Second Samuel, Kings and

Chronicles, Parables of

Our Lord.

Junior Year
Mathematics— Astronomy, Analytical Higher Astronomy (Optional')

Geometry (Optional).

French or German,

Natural Science — Higher Physiol-
ogy (Optional)

History and Literature— Rhetoric
Critical Reading

Bible Study, (Captivity)Ezra, Ne-
hemiah, Lev:i ticus and Hebrev/s.

French or German

Mineralogy, Higher
Botany ( Opti onal )

Mediaeval History or
Anglo-Saxon

Continued

361

SCIENTIFIC COURSE
(continued)

Senior Year

First Semester

Mental Philosophy --Logic, Evidences
of Christianity.

German or French

Literature--Ancient Literature,
Critical Reading of Dramatists
and Translations from the
Classics.

Bible Study — History and Pro-
phecy of the Old Testament
and Book of Revelations

Second Semester

1 oral Philosophy
An al o gy ( Bu 1 1 er )

Continued

Natural Science--
Geology

Continued

Exercises in Composition throughout
the year

LITERARY COURSE

Freshman Year

Cicero's Orations(Optional)

Mathematics — Plane Geometry
and Solid(Optional)

History and Literature —
Ancient History

Critical Readings --Goldsmith,
Wordsworth, and Tennyson.

Bible Study-- (Rule of Judges)
J udge s , Ru th , I Samue 1 , Acts.

Latin and French (Optional)

University Algebra, Third
Part (Elective)

Rhetoric

Continued

Natural Science--Botany

German

Sophomore Year

Mathemat i c s — Natural Phi lo sophy

History and Literature--Modern

History
Critical Reading of Shakespeare,

Macaulay and other standard

writers.

Plane and S pheri.QgO. Trigono-
metry (Optional ) and Calculus

History of English Litera-
ture.
Continued

LITERARY COURSE
(continued!

Sophomore Year
(continued 1

362

Fir st Semester

German or French,

Bible Study-- (Kingdoms)
I and II Samuel, Kings
and Chronicles, Para-
bles of Our Lord.

Sedond Semester
Continued
Continued

Junior Year

Natural Sciences —
Chemistry: Higher Phil-
osophy (Optional ).

Mathematics --Astronomy.
(Elective).

Chemical Analysis, Min-
eralogy, and Higher
Botany.

History and Literature —
Rhetoric.

Critical Reading — Milton,
Young , Spens er , etc •

Mediaeval History, An-
glo -Saxon , His tory
of Art by Lectures,

Continued,

French or German.

Bible, Captivity. Ezra,
Nehemiah, Leviticus ,and Hebrews.

Continued
Continued

Senior Year

Mental Philosophy — Haven. Evi-
dences of Christianity ( Hop-
kins).

Moral Phi losphy, But-
lers Analogy.

French or German.

Continued

History and Literature —

Ancient Literature,
Critical Reading tff the Daam-

atists and Translations from

the Classics.

Comparative Liter-
ature of Modern Eu-
rope by Lectures.

Continued.

LITERARY COURSE
(continued)

36}

First Semester

Senior Year
(continued )

Bible Study — Jewish History and
Prophecy of the Old Testament,
with the Book of Revelations.

Second Semester

Natural Science-
Geology.

Continued

Exerciese in English Composition throughout the Course,

D. PAPERS OF INTEREST IN CONNECTION WITH THE ALUMNAE

1 . Organization of the Alumnae as a Body

a. Constitution of Forest Hill Alumnae Association
(Copied from original document in college safe.)

b .Application for Charter

(Copied from alumnae records,)

c. Charter

(Copied from alumnae records.)

d. Constitution, June 22, 1 88 1 .

(Copied from alumnae records.)

e.Constitution(revised)not datedjafter 1890.
(Copied from alumnae records.)

2. Speeches at Alumnae Banquets

a. Poem by Mr .Horace Hobart,Beloit, i860

(Delivered June 186?)
b. Toast by Miss i«ary Ashmun,June 1 874

( -Copied from original document in college safe.)

CONSTITUTION OF FOREST HILL ALUMANE ASSOCIATION.

Article 1.
Article 2.

Article 3.

Article 4.

Article 5.

Article 6.

Article 7.

Article 8.

Article 9.

Article 10.

The name of this organization shall be,
The Forest Hill Alumnae Association.

The object of this organization shall be
to strengthen the bond of sympathy be-
tween its members and keep fresh in their
hearts their affection for their Alma
Mater.

The Officers of this Association shall be
a President, Vice-President, Secretary
and Treasurer, and a Committee on member-
ship.

The duty of the President shall be to pre-
side at all regular meetings of the
Association.

It shall be the duty of the Vice-President
to take the place of the President in case
of the absence of the latter.

The Officers of Secretary and Treasurer
shall be combined in one person whose duty
it shall be to take care of the money be-
longing to the Association and keep an
accurate account of receipts and expendi-
tures of the same and do all other writing
necessary to the Association.

The
shall

acting

members of this Association
be the graduates and present Faculty
of Rockford Female Seminary".

The Honorary members of this Association
shall be the husbands of the Alumnae , for-
mer or present teachers in Rockford Female
Seminary, (not members of Faculty) , who
shall be constituted by a vote of the
majority of the active members present.

Acting members shall be required to pay an
annual fee of in order to defray the
necessary expenses of the Association.

The meeting shall be the evening
each year.

366

Article 11. The place of meeting shall be the of

Forest Hill Seminary.

All this is respectfully submitted by the com-
mittee chosen for drafting a Constitution.

Mary Ashmun (1864)

P. S. -

Article 12. The constitution shall be adopted and all

amendments made by a vote of three-
fourths of the acting members present.

367

APPLICATION FOR CHARTER.

State of Illinois
Town of Rockford
County of Winnebago

We, the undersigned, being citizens of the
United States, desiring to form an association not for
pecuniary profit, pursuant to an act of the General
Assembly of the State of Illinois, entitled "An Act Con-
cerning Corporations," approved April 18th, 1872, do
hereby certify that the following is a true statement of
the name or title by which such association shall be
known in law. The particular business and object for
which it is formed, the number of its managers, and the
names of the same selected for the first year of its
existence, viz: Name, The Alumnae Association of
Rockford Seminary. Particular business and object, to
strengthen the bond of sympathy between its members and
keep fresh in their hearts an affectionate interest in
their Alma Mater.

Number of Managers - Ten: Names of managers
selected for the first year. Mrs. Kate Kerr, Mrs.
Martha Fitch, Mrs. Fanny Sabin, Mrs. Delilah Buckley,
Mrs. Susie Campbell, Miss Marie Thompson, Miss Emma
Spafford, Mrs. Eva Townsend Clark, Miss C. A. Potter and
Mrs. Mary Hinman.

(Mary E. B. Norton
Signed by three private members - (Lucy D. Lyman

(S. Adeline Lathrop

State of Illinois
Town of Rockford
County of Winnebago

I, H. N. Baker, Notary Public in and for Rockford,
in said County in the State aforesaid, do hereby certify
that Mary E. B. Norton, Lucy D. Lyman and S. Adeline
Lathrop, personally known to me as the same persons whose
names are subscribed to the foregoing certificate, appear-
ed before me in person^and acknowledged that they signed
said certificate in writing for the uses and purposes
therein set forth.

Witness my hand and seal this 29th day of
December, 1873.

Signed - H. N. Baker, Notary Public.

(SEAL)

368

CHARTER
STATE OF ILLINOIS
Department of State
George H. Harlow, Secretary of State

To all whom these presents shall come, Greeting:

Whereas, a certificate, duly signed and
acknowledged, having been filed in the office of the
Secretary of State, on the 31st day of December, A. P.
1873 for the organization of

ALUMNAE ASSOCIATION OF ROCKFORD SEMINARY.

under and in accordance with the provisions of "An Act
Concerning Corporations," approved April 18, 1872, and
in force July 1, 1872, a copy of which certificate is
hereto attached.

Now, therefore, I, George H. Harlow, Secretary
of State, of the State of Illinois, by virtue of the
powers and duties rested in me by law, do hereby certify
that the said

ALUMNAE ASSOCIATION OF ROCKFORD SEMINARY

is a legally organized corporation under the laws of
this state.

In testimony whereof, I hereto set my hand and
cause to be affixed the Great Seal of State.

Done at the City of Springfield, this 31st day
of December, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight
hundred and seventy-three and of the Independence of the
United States the ninety-eighth.

George H. Harlow,

Secretary of State.

j*6?

CONSTITUTION
of the
ALUMNAE ASSOCIATION
of
ROCKFORD FEMALE SEMINARY.

PREAMBLE .

Whereas, we, the undersigned, have voluntarily,
formed ourselves into an association, and, as in all or-
ganizations it has been found to be the dictate of wis-
dom, to adopt certain principles for the government of
the members, and for an understanding of their respective
duties and privileges; therefore, do we cheerfully sub-
scribe to the following CONSTITUTION:

Article 1

Article 2

The name of this organization shall be

"The Alumnae
Seminary. M

Association of Rockford

The object of the association shall be to
strengthen the bond of sympathy between
its members, and keep fresh in their
hearts an affectionate interest in their
Alma Mater.

Article 3.

Its members shall be the graduates of the
Institution with their teachers, and such
others as may be constituted members by a
vote of the Association.

Article 4.

Article 5.

Article 6.

Article 7.

The officers shall consist of a President,
Vice-President, Corresponding Secretary,
Recording Secretary and Treasurer, and a
Committee on members, which officers shall
be chosen annually, by a vote of two-thirds
of the members present.

The President shall preside at its meetings
and in her absence the Vice-President shall
take her place.

The Corresponding Secretary shall take
charge of the correspondence of the
Association.

The Officers of Recording Secretary and

370

Treasurer shall be combined in one person,
whose duty it shall be to take care of the
money belonging to the Association, to
keep an account of its receipts and ex-
penses, and to make a record of all its
business transactions.

Article 8. The Committee on members shall present

such persons for membership as are proper-
ly included in the design of the organiza-
tion.

Article 9. The Officers of the Association shall con-
stitute a Committee of arrangements to
decide upon the time and place of the
annual meeting and to transact other neces-
sary business.

Article 10. All who become active members, shall sign

the Constitution and pay an annual fee of
twenty-five cents, to be increased at the
discretion of the association, and any per-
son may become an Honorary Member, at any
regular meeting, by a vote of two-thirds
of the members present, but all such mem-
bers have no vote.

Article 11. It shall be the duty of all active members

to attend its annual meetings, or instead
to write a letter to the association,
addressed to the corresponding secretary,
to labor to promote the interest of the
organization, and especially that of
Rockford Seminary.

Article 12. The President shall have power to call

extra meetings, whenever in her opinion,
and with the advice of the other officers,
it shall seem necessary.

Article 13. This Constitution may be amended at any

annual meeting, by a vote of two-thirds of
the members present.

Amendment to There shall be one president and seven
Article 4. Vice-Presidents, one of whom shall reside

in Rockford, a Corresponding Secretary, a
Recording Secretary, and Treasurer and a
Committee of Membership.

371

Amendment to
Article 9.

Amendment to
Article 3,

The Officers of the Association shall
constitute a Board of ten managers to de-
cide upon the time and place of the annual
meeting, and to transact other necessary
business ♦

Section 1. All graduates of the Colleg-
iate Course of Rockford Seminary shall be
considered members of the Association.

Section 2. All other persons who have pre-
vious to this date, June 22, f81, been
made members by vote of the Association,
shall be continued in this membership.

572

CONSTITUTION (Revised)

of the
ALUMNAE ASSOCIATION
Of
ROCKFORD COLLEGE

Article 1st.

Article 2nd.

Article 3d.

President.

Vice-President.

Corresponding
Secretary.

(Name and Object) - Section 1. The name
of this organization shall be the
Alumnae Association of Rockford College.

Section 2. The object of the Associa-
tion shall be to strengthen the bond of
sympathy between its members, and keep
fresh in their hearts an affectionate
interest in their Alma Mater.

(Membership) - Section 1. The member-
ship of the Association shall consist of
the graduates of the institution, and all
who were members of the Association pre-
vious to June 22d, 1881.

Section 2. All active members shall sign
the constitution,

(Officers, election and duties) -
Section 1. The officers shall consist of
a President, three Vice-Presidents, one
of whom shall be from Rockford, Corres-
ponding Secretary, Recording Secretary,
Treasurer and Auditor.

Section 2, These officers shall be
chosen at the annual meeting by vote of
two-thirds of the members present.

Section 3. The duties of the President
shall be to preside at all meetings of
the Association, and to call special meet-
ings when so desired by any three active
members of the Association.

Section 4. The
form the duties
absence.

Vice-President shall per-
of the President in her

Section 5. The Corresponding Secretary
shall take charge of all the correspond-
ence of the Association.

373

Recording
Secretary.

Treasurer.

Auditor.

Article 4th.

Article 5th.

Section 6. The duty of the Recording
Secretary shall be to keep a correct
record of all the business transactions
of the meetings of the Association, and
perform other duties usual to this
office.

Section 7. The Treasurer shall receive
all monies of the Association, shall
keep an account of receipts and expend-
itures, and submit her report at the
annual meeting.

Section 8. The duty of the Auditor
shall be to audit the accounts of the
treasurer.

(Time of Meeting) - The regular meeting
of the Association shall be held
annually in connection with the Com-
mencement exercises.

(Amendments) - This constitution may be
amended at any annual meeting, by vote
of two-thirds of the active members
present; notice of proposed change hav-
ing been given at the previous annual
meeting.

BY-LAWS

1. There shall be an executive committee, consisting of
five members who with the officers as ex officio members,
shall make all necessary arrangements for the annual
meeting.

2. An annual fee of twenty-five cents shall be required
of all members.

3. A quorum to transact business shall consist of ten
active members.

J. Amanda Moore

Lucy D. Jones Herri ck

M. Marion Walker

Abbie 0. Mead

S. Adeline Potter Lathrop

Fanny Jones Talcott

May Brown Buckbee

Mrs. E. Spare Evans

Eliza Rose Cleveland

Myrtle Atkins
Sarah F. Blaisdell
Mamie L. Wiggin
Gertrude Felker
Sarah N. Anderson
C. L. Robinson
Mary E. Preston
Marie Thompson Perry
Charlotte E. Wood

374

Elizabeth Stanbri&ge Thiers

Carrie Cleveland Gardner

Grace D. Welty

Mary E. Lowry

Nellie M. Rose

Camilla W. Fitch

Louise Frisbie

Eva Helm

Marie P. Upson

Frances Peck Burrows

Mary P. Blount

Mary I. Beattie

Genevieve L. Welty

Rose Marie Gyles

Ama S. Taylor

Emma L. Bushnell

Mabel Walker Herrick f86

Eva Townsend Clark f 68

Bertha R. Early

Mabel Thomas

E. Katherine Foote

Alice May Dob son

Caroline Potter Brazee

Susanne Orton

Carrie B. Blake

Martha W. Nye '88

Mary Roxy Wilkins '88

Mary F, Howe '90

315

Poem(l)

Along a dusty, weary way

A traveller plods one summer day.

The sun is sinking toward the west,

Hinting of night and home and rest;

The path is winding, rough and steep,

Tall woods encompass shadows deep,

And the fair fields, late left behind,

He fears he ne'er again shall find;

When, gaining a commanding crest,

The traveller turns, with swelling breast,

And lo! adown the distant slope.

A sight that kindles joy and hope!

For, pictured through the quiet air,

He sees his native village fair,

And home, so sadly left, appears

More lovely through the starting tears.

Then, resting from the sultry heat,

His thoughts revert in fancies sweet;

He treads the wonted paths once more,

And lives again the days of yore.

So we, climbing lifefs toilsome way,

Stop and look backward here today.

The misty curtain of the past

Uprolls, and youth returns at last:

We tread the school-day paths again,

We see the forms, familiar then,

We talk of youthful hopes and joys,

And once again are girls and boys.

Ages ago, when we were young

And roamed the classic shades among,

We from Beloit oft came down

To visit you of Rookford town.

As Freshmen gay o$ Sophs so bold,

As Juniors spruce ot Seniors bold,

Though suns did beat or storms did rage

We made our frequent pilgrimage.

w Qua drupe dan te put rem sonitu quatit ungula campum."

So sang the poet of old

Chanting the praise of his hero;

(1) This poem was delivered to the alumnae of Rockford
Female Seminary in June, 1869, and was printed in a
local paper. The clipping was sent to 'me by Mrr .
Amelia Hollister Chapman. It contained besides the
poem a letter of thanks signed by Miss Sill, the
teachers, and the alumnae, and a comment by the poet
to the effect that the poem was written "hastily—
largely in a single evening — and was not intended
for the press."

So roared the college boys bold,

With the mercury down to zero.
Steeds from the livery stalls

Whose ribs plead mutely for corn,
Vehicles lately the roost

Of poultry now rendered forlorn, —
Carried by these in state

The class gallantly whirls
Southward over the prairie,

Bound to visit the girls.
Oh, how the wind used to sweep

Over that eighteen-mile path,
Making our delicate forms

The merciless sport of his wrath;
And how we whistled and laughed

As we urged our steeds along,
And startled the wondering rustics

With snatches of old Latin song..
How the frost nipped with glee

At the tips of our innocent noses,
Making them look, so to speak,

Like beautiful, blushing roses.
But stout were our hearts, and the glow

That the thought of your glances fed,
Kept out the cold from the breast

Though it sometimes got to the head.
So we thundered up to the door

Of the Holland House, over the river,
And feasted and beautified there

And thawed out the wintry- shiver.
And hither to Paradise came,

And its doors opened wide to receive,
And the girls met the boys with a smile,

And they chattered you may v/ell believe.
Again in the summer we came

When the July sun beat hot,
For it was Anniversary time-
Could it ever be forgot?
Then the white-robed maidens sat

In the chapel, amid a throng,
And their voices charmed our ears

With essay, and poem and song,
Till our hearts leaped out of our vests,

As they looked so fair and good,
And we longed here forever to dwell

Like happy Professor Hood.
And so the years rolled away,

Till our classes, yonder and here,
Finished their courses together

And parted sometimes, with a tear,
And we broke away from our moorings

1Neath Beloit and Rockford's lee,
And, spreading our sails to the wind,

Drifted out to the unknown sea.

377

I wonder if the girls today-
Resemble Rockford girls of old;
Or if they frown on college boys,

And, like ice Bream, are sweet, but cold?
The times are changed of late, I know,

And woman sigheth for herTTsphere; "
But she can still coquette, I think,

And heave a sigh and drop a tear.
Those good old girls — I pardon crave;

The girls are never, never old--
Haa no anxiety to vote

As all the girls have now I'm told;
And many of them have become

The willing slaves of "tyrant man,"
And, daily, in their quiet homes,

They wash the Jlfcte and scour the pan,
And yet they were not weak of mind,

If old reports can be believed,
For once a well-filled butter jar

Into the river's depths they heaved.
Though it was powerful f thev .more strong,

Thus vindicated woman's right
To rule the kitchen and the roost,

Or else if she is able--fight.
Those girls of old, I'm sure, were dressed

According to the latest style,
And yet their garments, donned today

Would make a modern school-girl smile.
The bonnets which they used to wear

Would quite eclipse your bit of lace.
Their curls, I'm told, were all their own,

And, oft, the color on the face'.
They --.new the long-forgotten arts

Of how to bake and how to mend,
And, honestly, I don't believe

They ever had the Grecian bend.

I wonder if the moonlight streams

As brightly through the lovely grove,
As yetirs ago, when girls ana boys

Within its shadow used to rove;
I wonder if the stars look down

Upon the quiet earth as soft
As when we sat and talked and sang

Within the cupola aloft;
If still pianos by the score,

Jangle tumultuous through the ha^ls,
And still peremptory, the bell

To hourly recitation calls?
Still on the peaceful air of night

Do serenaderspour their strains,
While white robed angels dimly seen,

With soft applause reward their pains?
0 songs of old'. still in our ears

Your well-remembered music floats,
And manly forms and J: aces fair

Come from the distance on your notes.

378

Ev'n now a flood of memories sweet

Comes, till the eyes grow strangely dim

When, in the quiet eve is heard
This sacred and familiar hymn—

"Silently the shades of evening
Gather round my lonely door;
Silently they bring before me
Paces I shall see no more."

Where are those sweet-voiced singers now?

Though scattered far, still swells the song;
Do its soft notes evfn strike their ears

Who chaunt amid the seraph throng?
Ah! well I know, that time and space

Can forge no fetters for the soul;
That ofer the waiting spirit oft

The surges of the past will roll,
And well I know, when death is nigh,

And faint the sounds of air I hear,
Those strains, so full of faith and hope,

Will echo on my failing ear.
And who shall doubt that angel choirs,

Hymning throughout the eternal year,
Take up, sometimes, the sacred strains

That cheered their struggling moments here?

We're having tonight a reunion

With those who used to come down
From their bachelor dens in Beloit

To seek wives in Rockford town.
At least I know some of them did it,

And they courted successfully, too;
For I'm told that full ten pairs were married*

Young ladies, there's comfort to you!
If this is the kind of "reunion"

Miss Sill has intended tonight,
I am glad I was invited

These rambling verses to write-* -
For it gives me occasion to mention

To the boys who lead bachelor lives
That, judging from observation,

Her young ladies make excellent wives.
I know practice is better than precept,

And that here I'm sadly behind;
But all the girls were so enchanting,

That I couldn't make up my mind,
A diligence truly surprising

The record of1 Rockford. shows,
For among the two hundred alumnae

Full a hundred are wives, I suppose.

379

The Beloit boys have been less successful,
And, indeed, I have one class in view,

Whose years out of college are nine,
But whose Benedicts only two.

I don!t know what was the reason

That such excellent fellows as we
Never seemed to create an impression

On the ladies we came to see;
But it may be they wildly expected

More excellent bargains to find;
Poor things I I rather imagine

That they afterwards changed their minds!

Well, what have become of the hundreds
That yonder and here came to learn!
What work did they choose for their mission,

Which way did their footsteps turn?
What joys have their pathway illumed?

What good have they scattered around?
What heights of success have they mounted?

What trials and toils have they found?
If tonight we could join in a meeting

With those hundreds known and unknown,
What mem'ries would throng in that greeting,

Of seasons forever flown!
Come out of the distance and darkness,

0 friends, whom we long to see!
Come again to this spot familiar,

To the days that used to be!
I see them troop together

Prom the corners of the land,
Prom the islands of the ocean,

Prom the tropics * golden strand.
Yet these are not the faces

That our memory looked to find,
For we miss the youth and freshness
That the years have left behind.
These men so bronzed and bearded,

Are not our college boys!
These matrons, mature and sober,

Have forgotten their school-girl joys!
0 time! why have your fingers

Furrowed these brows with care?
0 years! why have you shadowed

These faces that once were so fair?
Turn backward your dial a moment,

And again bring those seasons so bright
When earth was a play-ground only,

And our hearts were young and light.

380

Ere we knew of the toil and trouble,

Of the sorrow and strife,
Of the bitter disappointments

That must come into every life.
Bring back! 0, bring back! the loved ones

Who slumber beneath the sod,
Who folded their hands so meekly

And gave up their souls to God,
See! from the quiet village church-yards,

Prom the bloody fields of war,
They troop forth in slow procession,

They gather from afar,
And their mild eyes look upon us,

And their cold hands clasp in ours
As they charge us to be faithful

And treasure the passing hours.
For life, they say, is fleeting,

And our worthiest works appear,
Only too small and feeble

When the final hour is near.
Yet they urge no useless sighing.

They forbid not cheerful mirth.
For the light heart best endure th

The needful ills of earth.
Only, they say, be earnest,

Whatever your work may bej
Labor for your God and your fellows

And the harvest you shall see.
Yet but few, and we thankfully own it,

Of our numbers have passed away.
And most are cheerfully doing

Their varied work today.
Some are beloved pastors,

And some are pastors' wives;
Some to the art of healing

Have given away their lives;
Some teach the young idea

In its feeble attempts to shoot,
And some will assist you, with pleasure

In getting into a suit.
In the newspaper treadmill are others

Tramping their wearisome round;
Some wade in political puddles,

Or in mercantile currents are found.
Mid the roar of the mighty city

Some struggle to succeed,
And others across their broad acres,

Scatter the harvest seed.
Some are bachelors crusty

And carry their families , under their hats;
And a few of the girls are beginning

To care only for tea and for cats.
Some for years have been staid, married couples,

And some have just learned to rejoice

381

In the pleasure of waking at mid-night

To the sound of a still small voice;
Not a few dwell quiet and happy;

Their native homesteads by;
And some in the Orient answer

The Macedonian cry,
Still bearing the heat and the burden

With praise and with prayer,
And leading her willing pupils

To the fields of knowlege fair.
Here one whom we honor labors

With a zeal that few can know,
Where she took up her whole life-work

Pull a score of years ago.
Her work is a work for the ages,

Her mission a mission of love.
And many souls shall glitter

In her diadem above.
As the circles on the water

Stretch out to the farther shore,
So her influence still shall roll onward,

V/hen her earthly toils are o'er.
The faces of other teachers

Look in Son our mem'ries tonight,
And a host of happy meetings

Come back with the pleasant sight.
A few still here sway the scepter

As they did ten years ago;
But others have gone, and are teaching

Their own little schools, you know.

So, scattered the wide world over,

We gather the bitter and sweet,
And I know that on this side the river

We can never hope to meet.
But I read of a great reunion,

Where the scattered dust shall arise
Prom the earth's remotest corner,

At the trumpet from the skies.
And I hope that they who before us

And with us have gathered here
And the hosts who are yet to follow

Through many a rolling year.
May all at last assemble

On the great Commencement Day,
At the call of the Higher Teacher,

Nevermore from His School to stray.

Mr. Horace Hobart,(l) Beloit College 1860

(1) Mr. Hobart married Miss Emma Hastings, a student at
the Seminary in the 1860 fs.

382

Rural, Wise.
July 11, 1874.

My dear Miss Potter:

Enclosed you will please find the toast and
the reply as nearly as possible in the words of the
original.

I did not preserve either in writing; so that
I give them entirely from memory. I have an impression
that the second "place" in the toast should be "put."
I hope you are well and enjoying your rest after the
severe labors of another school year. I am not remark-
ably well and strong.

Goodbye. With love, I am

Yours very truly,

Mary Ashmun.

383

TOAST I

Jerusha Jane Jones J May she not only find
her place; but may some 19th century Solomon be found
to place her in it.

REPLY.

Jerusha Jane Jones! Heaven help her! For
nearly six thousand years she has been wandering discon-
solately up and down with this pathetic appeal upon her
lips — MIf there is a realm where woman can walk uncriti-
cised, may some Solomon arise to show her what and where
it is; for I, Jerusha Jane Jones, would go to the ends of
the earth to be able to rise up and sit down, to put on
my hat and take it off, to ride and walk, to read and
talk, without having it continually sounded in my ears,
"You are out of your sphere," or "You are not fulfilling
the high destiny for which you were created." But all
the Solomons in all their wisdom and in all their glory
have been unable to solve the problem satisfactorily;
and so in the middle of this 19th century Jerusha Jane
Jones has changed her tactics, and in a fit of despera-
tion has ceased to call upon the Solomons at all, but
with the cry "Make way for liberty," has rushed into
the field of action. When loi the clowds of Solomons
on the right hand and on the left have parted before
her oncoming footsteps, and gallantly lifting their
hats, have made a place for her in their very midst. To
be sure, it was not without some struggle that they have
seen her working quietly by the side of her brother
physicians in the hospital and in the dissecting room,
with scalpel and knife in hand. And some have groaned
in very anguish of soul as they have seen her ascending
the rostrum and have heard her speak of "Righteousness,
temperance and judgment to come," while others more
emotional have, like Isaac when he saw his coming wife
approaching, "lifted up their voices and wept" as she
has thrown aside the domestic needle and has wielded the
sword of the spirit from the sacred desk.

But the struggles are dying away, the groans
are vanishing into thin air, and the^voice of weeping is
changing into shouts of joy as it is acknowledged^ that
she does these things as well as some menl And now what
is there left to be desired? Surely any reasonable be-
ing ought to be satisfied. Jerusha Jane is permitted to
teach, to preach, to practice law and medicine, and to
be at the head of business firms. What can she ask for
more? But Jerusha Jane Jones is irrepressible, and, the

384

Haman at the court of Ahasuerus, none of these things
will pacify her as long as the Mordecai of the right of
suffrage refuses to do homage. But inasmuch as the
radius of her "sphere" has been constantly increasing
in proportion as she has shown a capacity to fill a
gradually enlarging space, let her not doubt but that
the privilege of voting will soon be thrust into her
outstretched hand. And this the question of the ages —
"What is woman's sphere?" shall be satisfactorily an-
swered by the reply. Her sphere is any sphere that she
can show that she has a capacity to fill.

E. PAPERS OF INTEREST IN CONNECTION WITH STUDENT LIFE

1 .Report of Second Examination Period, Feb. , 1 8^0
(Copied from Rockford Forum, Feb. 1 3. 185QJ

2. Valedictory, S. Adeline Potter

(Copied from original document in possession of col<
lege. )

3. Letter of Company A, 33d Regiment Illinois Volun-
teers to the Seminary girls, 1862
(Copied from Rockford Register. Jan. 1 1 . 1862. )

4. Account of Examinations and Anniversary Exercises,
1864

(Copied from Rockford Register .July 14,1 864 • >

5. Account of Entertainmet Given by Pierian Union,
1878

(Copied from Rockford Register. Feb. 8 . 1878 . )

6. Account of First Class Day Exercises, 1 878
(Copied from Rockford Register, June 12,1 878 • )

7. Account of First Junior Exhibition

(Copied from Rockford Register f Apr. 21 r 1 880. )

386

THE SEMINARY EXAMINATION.

At the late examination of the Rockford Female
Seminary, a committee whose names are subscribed to the
following Report, officiated by request as an Examining
Board. Their report as the chairman remarked upon read-
ing it, is summed up in a few words to give a conven-
ient form for publication. Remarks more at length were
made respecting the examination, by individual members
of the committee, all of which were highly complimentary
both to teachers and pupils. The examination continued
three days, concluding on Wednesday evening with one of
the most chaste, lucid and forcible addresses upon the
subject of Female Education, that it has ever been our
pleasure to hear. The tone and character of the address
would have done honor to the President of an older college
in an older and richer community. We rejoice at the
spirit which has been aroused through the agency of the
indefatigable exertions of those who have the superin-
tendence of the Seminary; and we believe that this exam-
ination is the beginning of greater things for this
school.

REPORT.

The Board of Visitors, called to attend the
Examination of the Rockford Female Seminary, held on the
4th, 5th and 6th of February, 1850, takes pleasure in
making the following report:

The examination in the several departments of
study was full and thorough. It was conducted by the
teachers with marked ability, and was sustained by the
pupils in a manner highly creditable to themselves, and
gratifying to the Board.

We remarked particularly the admirable order
exhibited in every department of the Seminary, clearly
indicating a superior system of discipline.

In the course of the examination, it became
very evident, from the ready and practical knowledge,
evinced by the pupils, that they had not only been dili-
gent but had performed an unusual amount of hard labor
in study, under judicious and energetic training.

We were especially gratified in observing
Moral culture everywhere harmoniously blended with the
Intellectual — a feature more noticeable, because,
unhappily, so rare.

Deeming extended remarks on the details of the

387

examination unnecessary, we conclude our Report with
hailing this Institution as an efficient auxiliary in
the great cause of education, and by recommending it to
public confidence and patronage.

John 0. Downer
A, Kent

0. A. Huntington
Jason Marsh
Anson S. Miller
S. G. Armour.

388

NOW AND THEN WITH THE VALEDICTORY.

Dream-land! All have visited that fairy realm,
and have often walked within its borders. We have enter-
ed it when weary, full of sorrow, full of tears, and have
laved the soul in joy and beauty, till its youthful
freshness was restored. Every step of silent progress
opened new and brighter scenes. Perhaps 'twas first an
airy palace that spell-bound us — then, this melting in
the ether was replaced by something real — love's most
holy centre — birth-place of our finest joys — the living
home of each childhood and the mother whom it sheltered.

Soon this too has vanished, and another curtain
raised. This view is a winter landscape — stainless in
its snowy splendor — radiant in the streaming sunlight
with most brilliant, flashing diamonds — 'tis but frost-
work, and it disappears. Quickly comes a summer Eden,
seeming perfect as the one of old, but too closely follow-
ing its model, it shrinks from us, and is gone when we
seek to pluck its tempting fruit.

All these pass in quick succession, for in
Dream-land time is measured by swift moments, not by
hours. Happy dream life! Would each waking scene as joy-
ous as thou art! Though sometimes thy gayest moods seem
quite forgotten and thou wear'st a sombre shade — then,
we think, 'tis but a dream, that soon is past. Thus thou
art ever changing — we behold thee in thy varying forms,
and call thee a kaleidoscope — and in this thine archtype
is Nature. What a chameleon robe she wears! See her in
her ever changing lights and shades! Now, she is calm
and peaceful — her sunny, cheerful face, wearing a loving
smile — her voice soft and mellow with the hum of busy in-
sects and the song of a thousand birds. Suddenly a deeper
stillness reigns — the voice is hushed — the brow is dark-
ened— Nature seems breathless-expiring — then there comes
a slight murmuring sound like a last-drawn sigh. It
rises and swells, and we listen, but in vain, for the
cadence. Higher, and still higher, rises the strain, till
it is a wail, a shriek, a blast, a tempest. Nature still
lives and from the myriad eyes, pour floods of sorrow
down, bathing the world in grief, and all the trees, and
every leaf and tiny flower weeps tears of sympathy. But,
see! — the storm-cloud passes now — smiles take the place
of tears, tears that resting on the cheek are shining
pearls in the clear sunlight. Earth, fresh, from its
baptism, rejoices in its almost pristine purity. Thus
the shadows ever chase the light away, and the light suc-
ceeds again the twilight shades, for "no night so dark
but hath its morn.1'

389

The seasons, too, proclaim how suitable are all
things here, for winter's binding chains of ice and snow
are loosened by the soft and genial touch of spring and
summer's flower — wreaths are soon ripened into autumn
fruits. Nor is it days, or months and years, alone, that
mark the fickleness of Nature — the hours, the moments,
tell upon her every feature. Aurora never wakes to find
a single flower, or blade of grass, unaltered from its
form and hue of "yester-night."

Just so, with man, his name is mystery — one
which the greatest of his fellows hath not solved; nay,
even to himself, he is unknown, incomprehensible. A part
of Nature's self, he imitates her closely in her general
variations, nor is he less the changeful in the hidden
working of his inner, real life. fTis there the elements
are found to which, if some untoward breeze, fresh from
the distractions of the outer world, find access, they
are soon commingled, and the flame thus found increases
in its power, till the whole vision is agitated with con-
suming passions; — but when the south wind blows, it
quickly soothes these angry spirits, by its magic — "Peace
be still" — and their possessor drives them back to their
dark home, deep in his heart. Oh! that he would ever
strive to cast them out; just as he would from his pres-
ence fling the fiery serpent, that was winding its huge,
deceitful coils, close round some object that he dearly
loved.

Man is not, nor can he, from his very constitu-
tion, be other than a changeful being. Each precious,
golden moment as it drops into his hand, finds him not
the same as when its predecessor was received; for that
was either wasted, perhaps worse than wasted, or else well
improved, and this is moulded, colored — by the form and
hue which was on that impressed. The laws of mind re-
quire a constant progress; the law of sight demands that
progress should be upward, still, and onward, — "we must
keep abreast of truth". If we violate the moral precepts,
still advancement we must vknow, but the path is backward,
downward; not the noble climbing upward, which our destiny
would justify. Man, the inexplicable mystery, chooses be-
tween right and wrong, truth and error; makes this choice
his watchword, leading motto and governing principle of
life; though not always conscious of direct volition, for
'tis often done by more neglect of truth — by wandering
thoughtlessly, slowly, but too surely, from the path of
rectitude. He whose course in life is guided by the polar
stars of sight, ever pressing onward with that star in
view — he can partly estimate his rapid progress, and the
bearing every footstep hath — looking at some point of
past experience, he can trace the white and silvered line

390

that his barque of life hath left, winding 'mong the
shoals and quicksands of time's broad, deceitful sea —
he discerns its steadily increasing brightness, as it
cometh.

'Tis the blessed gift of memory that enables
us to look upon the portion of our life that's gone, but
'tis judgment, reason's province to apply that knowledge
now, and in the future. The past, perhaps, was a bright
vision of pleasures unalloyed; of constantly expanding
intellect, of the development of sensibilities, pure, and
refined — victorious conflicts for the right, of frequent
triumphs over wrongs; the present wears a dark and
threatening aspect, so stem that one would scarcely
seek to lift the future's veil, but for the strong and
earnest hope of a chance view beyond. Set in that future,
and none can tell how far hence 'tis removed, therewith
a reward sure and unfading for all who will attain the
prize. He who thinketh, doth it now — today; but the
recompense is then, when the strife is at an end, when the
goal at last is reached, then he wears the crown eternal.

Many of our friends assembled here today, who
have been longer on the battlefields of life, with others,
far away, saw and felt how much of needed wisdom and of
fortitude — how much that's necessary to promote the high-
est destiny of man, could be acquired, and best acquired
by proper early culture.

The man, the world has given his boasted sight
an educational pre-eminence; but to woman, though her
sphere of influence is not less broad, yea — even more ex-
tended— it is deemed "less education is required, indeed,
none at all, except as she may be more useful, or pleas-
ing with some culture, than with any empty head, and un-
formed manners." But those whom now we greet as friends,
formed to this rule an exception, noble in its single-
handed charity. They saw the daughters of the prairied
West thirsting, thirsting for codling draughts from
learning's spring, — then their hearts were moved with
true compassion, and they soon unsealed this crystal
fountain. We have quaffed the soul-invigorating cup as
we took it dripping from the sparkling waters; — and often
as we drank, we thanked the givers of the blessing; — but
today our hearts are welling up anew with gratitude, and
our souls are full, too full of thankfulness, to express
the half we feel. Yet, their memory will be held most
precious — numbered with the unforgotten treasures of the
past. And we give thern now a cordial welcome to this
spot, where they behold the fruits of their benevolence;
not that we think their work is altogether finished for
many yet see only from afar the water gleaming in the

391

sunlight, hear but the faint echo of their fallings; and
hearts and wealth once opened, labors of love will not
soon cease.

But in our search for wisdom we were not left
to grope our way alone — guiding spirits walked before us
and beside us — led us fmong the varying paths of science —
aided in developing our mental powers — bade us cultivate
the flowers of feeling — warned us of the guise temptation
wore — pointed up to that far heaven we may hope to gain
at last.

The first ray of light that glimmered on our
pathway was reflected from a star that has ever since
shone with undimmed lustre. , ' Tis she — that star — who
spoke to us the first grateful words of kind encourage-
ment who gave her hand with proffered aid, removing
obstacles to constant progress. 'Tis she who has ever
gone before us, been our friend, our counsellor, and
guide — she has opened stores of knowledge that before we
knew not to exist — she has wakened in our souls those
latent feelings, roused those unformed desires that im-
pelled us to go forward in the search for hidden truths,
when perhaps we should have fainted, fallen in the way
by the weight of trials we met. Nor has she forgotten to
inculcate moral precepts to show that 'tis the Bible
brings to woman her so large a share of influence, of
education; and she has ever striven to awaken in our
hearts emotions of true gratitude to God — the Author of
our lives.

We know, that though sometimes "amid her lassi-
tude of toil" she may have thought "'twas all in vain,"
the hour will come when "He, whose wisdom cannot err,
shall give to her the recompense of toil, that was, and is,
and is to come."

Other choice spirits have from time to time gath-
ered round her, and each "has opened wide the coffers of
her intellect, and given to eager minds the gleamings of
her earlier years." The pioneers — the first companions
of our honored principal, were only two in number, "but
we loved them so." One has long since left our sorrowing
land for a bridal home, but relentless death, envying her
happiness, hath named her widow — and later still, hath
made her childless — all alone. Memory loves to linger
round her joyous past — but her present, dark, and drear,
bids us shed the tear of sympathy. The other departed
for a time, but we have recently been gladdened by the
presence and invaluable teachings. All who have succeeded,
and those now with us, have won a share of love, of con-
fidence, and of esteem, and we can leave them, one and all,

392

with many heartfelt thanks for all we owe to them, with
earnest wishes for their best, their highest happiness
and welfare.

Those who in after years pursue a course of
study in this Institution, may be favored with a body of
Instructors, greater in number, and of whom the world
may know more, of whom the clarion voice of fame may have
spoken in a louder tone than of the names whose memory
we cherish, but never will they find a band of teachers
more noble, zealous and self-sacrificing than we have
known. Years have they spent of patient, uncomplaining
toil, regretting only, that the soul so strong in pur-
pose, possessed so frail a power to do its bidding, but
their reward is sure — 'tis that which "comes unasked to
those, who, being good, do good, and trust in God."

And now, "alas, the hour of parting casts its
shadow o'er our band!" Many sweet and tender friendships,
many lasting loves, and true, have been wakened, have
been strengthened through these years of study, years of
joy and sorrow too. Every term hath brought new scholars,
both from far and near — East and West and North and
South have been linked together here — hands have clasped
in gaining knowledge, hearts have joined in doing good —
friends have met and smiled — and wept — and parted, some
dear ones have wandered onward to their home above the
skies, where they dwell with God, their Father, Christ,
their Saviour, Elder Brother. Others now are well ful-
filling life's great destiny — laboring with true benev-
olence in the world's broad harvest-field.

But the year that ends today, breathes a fuller,
richer strain. Its commencement found us here, where the
clouds which had so long and darkly lowered rolled away
and the sunshine, whispered to our hearts, in tones of
pride, and joy, and love, touching here a cloud of sad-
ness, bringing tears to every eye; yet perchance, some
notes of gladness mingle with the parting sigh. "As
angel-winged, how quickly sped those hours so passing
bright," each one leaving on its outspread pinion some
rich offering to our minds; but, "like meteor joys, too
bright, on earth to last, their treasured memories
linger with the past" — for, e'er many days had flown,
one who had read with us from wisdom's hallowed page,
bade her sorrowing sisters all farewell, and now, we
trust, is resting on the plains immortal, waiting,
watching for our coming. Sisters, thought you not when
standing round her grave, if you had lain there, how the
shadows would have deepened, had you felt that when those
last, sad parting words were spoken — you should die — to

393

be forgot! Then let us keep her memory ever fresh within
our hearts, that if her spirit hover o'er us, she may-
know we strive to keep the links remaining, unsullied in
this mortal strife, to join with her in heaven, forming
there a perfect chain. With chastened hearts, and
saddened spirits, we returned from her grave, tread more
softly our accustomed haunts, where we missed her laugh-
ing step and love-lit eye.

Again the hours sped on — time wrought his
changes as of old — the winter came — its first month
passed, and brightly dawned the morning of the glad New
Year. Scarce thirty suns had rose and set ere darkness
settled down upon our school. It seemed Egyptian night—
so black — so hopeless, cheerless, rayless was the gloom.
Pestilence arrayed itself in one of its most hideous
garbs and stole into our very midst, fastened itself on
one by all much loved, and scattered our happy band,
following all with its fearful shadow. Long did life
seem hanging by a brittle thread, but the crisis came,
it passed — and she was spared to us. God had heard those
earnest prayers in her behalf and stayed the power of the
destroyer. Gladly we hailed the hour of our return, and
when we came, many tears of sorrow and of joy mingled
with our greetings — the joy of grateful hearts.

Soon the spring breathed fresh upon the earth-
then summer came, and with her magic touch opened the
buds of spring to a more perfect beauty; it had its sul-
try days, dragging so wearily, and casting their shadows
on the hearts that anticipated the coming of this day.
And it has come, and so far gone, and now the hour is
here, when we, the class of fifty-four, would give to
those who shall succeed us, one friendly word of coun-
sel, and kindly as 'tis spoken, so kindly we trust that
it will be received.

Many errors we've committed, many idle words
have spoken, many idle thoughts indulged, many trifling
deeds have done — moments priceless as precious pearls,
we have wasted, — so we look back upon them now, deep
regrets our hearts are filling, and we each would warn
you, with a sister's earnestness, to be guarded, ever
watchful, lest some kindred, fault should lure you, and
by strong temptation you be overcome. Cherish a true
friendship for each other — let no jealousy creep in
among you— bear always a constant apprehension of your
time — of the privilege which you enjoy. Ever keep in
mind, and let it be the promptor of each act, the watch-
word of this Institution — "Excelsior." Lights and
shadows .both have fallen on our pathway, but in leaving
we would ask for you the sunshine only.

394

And now, our brother-students we would welcome
here today. Many glimpses have they taken into wisdom's
labyrinth — they have known the joys and sorrows which a
student life doth bring, and we feel we need not ask from
them their sympathy — their presence here assures us it is
ours.

And now, dear sisters, precious classmates, we
would not go without expressing our deep grief that one
who had walked with us these years, and who had longed
to be among us now, was called at the commencement of
this term, to watch beside the sick bed of a much loved
father. Sorrowing she left us — still, we hoped that
stern disease would relinquish soon its hold, and with
returning health and vigor to that father, she, our
sister, would return to us. But, alas! we waited for
her coming, long in vain — then the sad, the mournful
tidings reached us, and we knew that she was fatherless,
an orphan child— and the world is cold and dark to such.
When she came among us first, a stranger, sorrow had
been filling then her cup — for her name was written
Motherless — now, indeed, it is o' erf lowing, life must
seem robbed of all its joy — very desolate must be that
once so happy home. Still, as she looks upon its
vacancy, and out upon the dreary earth, may she inly
feel "There's nothing true but heaven, TT and may her
heart be there, where, we trust her choicest treasures
are.

All of us have doubtless often wished to see
and know the future of our lives — perhaps have marked
out for ourselves a history, and have been moulding
every present hour, so as best to aid in filling the un-
written, but imagined pages of that future, nor has it
been done with an unholy or ambitious thought, but with
the firm conviction, that those whose life best answers
life's great end, must ever keep that end in view — as a
fixed, a constant purpose.

One, we know, has long been looking at the
mission field. When a child, her heart was moved with
deep compassion toward the worshipers of wood and stone
and daily, hourly, the desire has strengthened in her
soul to tell the heathen mother on the Ganges and the
devotee of Juggernaut, how freely Jesus will forgive.
And thus she came to us, the prayer of her heart diffus-
ing itself throughout her every action. With such a
spirit in our midst, how could we fail to be inspired
with like emotions, with the wish to go forth hand in
hand, with her, to fulfil so glorious a mission. And we
feel that she would ask, must go alone] Are there none
of these, my classmates, friends, who will go forth as

395

the blessed Saviour bade them, bear His image, and His
cross, where the idol gods are worshipped, save the
souls which He hath bought, and be content to feel their
reward in the knowledge that angels rejoice in heaven
even over one sinner that repent eth, and, that their
labors are adding jewels to the Saviour's crown?

Whatever shall betide her in the future, may
she rest assured, through life's varied changes, our
hearts will remain ever true to her we now so dearly
love, and though she leave us here, she carries with her
our sympathies and a deep interest in her welfare and
highest happiness which years will not abate.

Duty calls us all, and though we know the
voice must be obliged, yet we fain would linger here,
for

"Swift have passed the happy hours,

In this garden of the heart;
We have culled the choicest flowers —
May their fragrance ne'er depart."

The past had sorrows, rendering its joys the
brighter for contrast, and the cup the present offers
to our lips seems to us too full of sadness — but "in the
misty future, the bow of hope is bright." The school-
girl's flowers lie faded. "Woman's lot is on us now,"
and ftis hers to scatter richest flowers in the pathway
to Heaven, to remove the hidden thorn, and place a
wreath of roses in its stead, and we must have you to
perform her richest mission. Though widely may our
paths of life diverge, yet if all point toward the
Celestial City — we may meet at last, around the
Saviour's throne, each with the jewels she has brought
to gem His crown.

"Dear companions, now we leave you,

All we would, we could not tell;
Days of gladness, days of beauty,

Cherished scenes, a long farewell;
Wandering through life's varied stages,

With our hearts still firm and true,
We will trace on memory's pages,

This our last, our fond 'adieu'."

S. Adeline Potter.
Rockford, July 13th, 1854.

396

HONOR TO THE YOUNG LADIES OF ROOKFORD
FEMALE SEMINARY.

We cheerfully give place to the following let-
ter, which speaks loudly in praise of the young ladies
of Rockford Female Seminary. Since the commencement of
the unnatural rebellion now raging in our land, their
patriotism has often demonstrated itself in a manner like
that recorded below, demonstrating their devotion to the
cause, and carrying blessings to our soldiers in arms.

Arcadia Seminary, Mo.)
Dec. 16th, 1861. )

To the Ladies of the Rockford Seminary:

Ladies: The members of Co. A, 33d Reg!t. 111.
Vol. , having been the recipients of many tokens of re-
gard at your hands, would respectfully tender their sin-
cere thanks for your kindness. The mirrors and "house-
wives" (hussif s) , are just what many of us — we might say
all of us — needed. Ah, ladies, you have no idea of the
scarcity of "housewives" in Mo. The mirrors not only
enable us to "see ourselves as others see us," but by
their aid we can combine the mien of the true soldier
with the dignity of the schoolmaster. The Socks made
glad the "souls" (soles) of many of our number. "Uncle
Sam's" will, we fear, be worn with feelings akin to dis-
gust, at least while your donation is among "The things
that are." We assure you, ladies, that the knowledge of
their being knit by your own hands jLoubly increases
their value. But we believe the most valuable part of
your donation to us, was the library. Save a few news-
papers, there is an almost entire absence of reading
matter in camp. When off duty, we must do something.
Our strolls through the country are almost entirely cut
off, thanks to the marauding parties which infest the
country, always on the alert for stray soldiers, and the
advent of such an amount of valuable literature among us
was the source of a great amount of pleasure and profit.
If you could have seen the eagerness manifested to obtain
a volume when their arrival was announced or if you could
take a peep into our quarters and witness the evident sat-
isfaction manifested in the countenance of those who
daily forget the toils and hardships of camp life while
perusing some of those well known pages, you would, we are
sure, feel amply repaid for your trouble. We would not
forget, among other things, to mention the excellent cake,
made, as the note said, "by willing hands, but in haste."

397

We concluded at once, from the quality of the cake, that
it had better always be made in haste. Once more we
would tender our sincere thanks, and be assured, ladies,
that we shall ever hold the Rockford Seminary and its in-
mates in the most grateful remembrance. Such tokens as
we have received at your hands, enable us when almost
discouraged at the prospect before us — almost sorry that
we ever "enlisted" — to resolve to press on in the sacred
cause in which we are engaged, knowing that our friends
still care for us, and are interested in our success. To
repay you, ladies, as far as lies in our power, we would
pledge ourselves to stand by our glorious banner to the
end, whether that end be victory or death.

Permit us to subscribe ourselves ever your well-
wishers.

0. E. Wilcox,
H. J. Dutton,
G. Hyde Norton.

For the Company.

398

EXAMINATIONS AND ANNIVERSARY

The opening service of the anniversary was the
Bacculaureate Sermon on Sabbath evening, at Westminster
Church, by Rev. R, H. Williamson, which was a very able
and appropriate address, practical in its teaching and
pleasant in its delivery. On Tuesday an address was
given before the Ladies Literary Society at the First
Congregational Church, by Rev. Wm. Merriman, President of
Ripon College, Wis., which we did not hear, but it is
well spoken of.

The examination commenced on Monday morning and
the young ladies of the Seminary have again reflected the
highest honor upon the Institution and themselves. Where
all was so well done it is difficult to single out the
superlatively excellent. Miss Sill and her able assist-
ants do not, evidently, favor the old system of parrot-
like verbatim recitation. The answers were some of them
of great length, usually given in language clear, con-
cise and well chosen, while a quiet, self-possessed
dignity of manner distinguished every recitation. The
questions being drawn by lot just previous to recitation,
gave no chance (if desired) for unfairness, yet with very
few exceptions the greatest readiness was evinced on the
part of the pupils. We are especially pleased with the
prompt and skillful replies to questions in a number of
instances volunteered by visitors, in one or two instances,
drawing forth irrepressible applause from those present.
The class in Butler's Analogy disposed of some knotty
theological questions in a very logical manner, and
evinced throughout a thorough acquaintance with the mas-
ter mind of their author, and revealing a familiarity
with profound philosophical discussion and nice meta-
physical distinction which would do credit to the bar or
pulpit.

The review of Ancient and Modern History by the
Junior and Middle Classes, on Monday and Tuesday, showed
a perfection of training in that department which justly
won the admiration of all. While ancient dynasties,
heroes and events seemed familiar as nursery tales, the
present times was subject to. most searching criticism.
The class seemed perfectly at home in the news and poli-
tics of the day, animadverting freely upon the policy of
the Emperor Napoleon placing Maximilian upon the Mexican
throne , commenting upon recent hasty departure of
Garibaldi from the Albion shores, and the knotty Schleswig-
Holstein question, of which a contemporary jocosely re-
marks, but one man, a German Professor, ever reached the
bottom, and then went instantly mad.

We cannot express too highly our approbation of

3?9

the plan pursued of critical Bible analysis, for we
remember that, rightly used, this knowledge is not only
to subserve the highest good of the young ladies, in the
fleeting life so brightly opening out before them, but is
destined to weave for them the fadeless crowns of an
immortal life. In Natural science, its students appeared
not like those pursuing a task, but with evident relish,
a delightful theme. The recitations in the languages and
higher departments of mathematics served only still fur-
ther to illustrate the admirable system of training pur-
sued by our home institution. The exercises throughout
were appropriately interspersed with music, calisthenics,
rehearsals, and compositions. The musical department,
under the supervision of Prof. Hood, evinced a high degree
of excellence.

The compositions were all of them creditable,
and deserve something more at our hand than we are able
to give — a passing notice. Some of them are not unlikely
the forerunners of what, emanating from the same minds,
shall constitute in part, at least, our future litera-
ture. We should like to speak of them more at length,
were it not that the editor's possibilities bounded by so
narrow limits.

The programme of essays by the Senior class,
read on Wednesday and Thursday, was as follows:

WEDNESDAY A.M.

1. True Heroines scatter shining seeds for coming genera-
tions to harvest; Laura A. Bliss, Constantinople,
Turkey.

2. Mysterious; Francis A. Wi swell, Rockford.

3. Marvels of Life; Mattie D. Anderson (Normal)
Bloomfield, Iowa.

4. Only Waiting; Eva F. Munson, Winchester, Tenn.

5. The Fates lead the willing and drag the unwilling;
Julia A. La Framboise (Normal) , Little Rock, Minn.

6. Catch the Sunshine; Fanny E. Moss, Belvidere.

WEDNESDAY P.M.

1. Come and Gone; Maria Dearborn (Normal), Beloit, Wis.

2. Wings for the Azure, but Boots for the Pavement;
Sarah H. Bradley, Richland, Mich.

400

3. What o'clock is it? Francis E. Schlosser (Normal)
Freeport, 111.

4. List to the Wind; Flora A, Wheeler, Dodgeville, Wis.

5. We roam o'er boundless Ocean, have we a Guide? Mary
B. Stevens (Normal) , Elmwood.

6. God J Grant! Victory! Emma A. Allen, St. Louis, Mo.

7. He only deserves a Monument who needs none; Ellen
Pettibone, Rockton.

ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES — THURSDAY A.M.

1. Greeting; Mary Jessup, Rockton.

2. We weave the web of our own Destiny; Libbie 0. Watson,
Loda.

3. A Poem — The Dying Patriot's Vision; Mattie M. Caswell,
Rockford.

4. Annual paper.

5. Night brings out Stars; Francis A. Peck, Richland,

Minn.

6. True Merit hath a Coronation Day; Mary A. Bliss,
Constantinople, Turkey.

7. Voices of the Times, with the Valedictory; Mary Ashmun,
Rural, Wis.

Music - Parting Song.

The chapel on Thursday morning was densely
crowded, as usual on such occasions. As heretofore, also
it was tastefully ornamented with evergreens and pict-
ures. On the west side was the motto encircling a
beautiful National Flag, "In God is our Trust. "~ The
other mottoes were the same as heretofore. The services
were opened by the students reading a psalm in concert,
followed with a chant, and prayer by Rev. A. Kent, Presi-
dent of the Board of Trustees. Reading of Essays, inter-
spersed with music followed in the order above indicated.
On Wednesday we were only able to be present a portion of
the afternoon, but listened to several fine Essays. "The
Greeting" on Thursday morning was a fine production, in-
troducing items of local interest, and briefly read.

4 V

401

No. 2 conveyed high moral sentiments, worthy
of life-practice.

No. 3 was a poem, smoothly following and of
decided merit, showing a fine poetic imagination on the
part of the writer.

No. 4 was the annual paper read in a clear;
vigorous style "by Miss Pettibone and Miss Bradley. Its
articles were as follows: Editorial Introduction:
"Lily's Death"; "Our trip to Beloit which did not take
place;" "A tribute to the memory of Hon. Owen Lovejoy;"
this was a poem — a fine production, doing credit to the
writer and was a just tribute to that noble friend and
advocate of human rights. "Letter dated Constantinople,
July 4th;" "In Memoriam," in which a touching allusion
was made to the death of loved students; "Oapt. Semmes,"
in which he was treated as a pirate, and the fervent
prayer uttered that the fate of the Alabama might be a
symbol of the fate of the Southern Confederacy. "Another
one has Fallen," a brief poem in honor of our late fellow
citizen John S. Coleman, a trustee of the Seminary. This
closed the Annual Paper.

No. 5 "Night brings out Stars," was a choice
Essay, admirably read; some prominent names were men-
tioned which had shone out in our past national history
and in the history we are now making.

No. 6 was well read, and a fine religious
spirit pervaded it.

At this point Rev. Mr. Kent presented Diplomas
to the Graduates in Music Department, prefacing the pre-
sentation with a few appropriate remarks. The names of
the Graduates are as follows:

Fanny L. Bundy, Beloit, Wis.
Mary E. Daniell, Milwaukee, Wis.
Lizzie C. Tucker, Monmouth, 111.

No. 7 "Voices of the Times," with the Valedic-
tory, was read with a voice slightly tremulous, but in a
calm impressive manner, and was marked by strength of
thought and elegance of language. The Valedictory was
full of feeling and especially appropriate, a deep
religious spirit pervading it.

We regret our space does not permit more large-
ly writing out the notes we took of the Essays read. The
same excellence was apparent in their reading which we
have observed on former Anniversary occasions at this
Institution, indicating cultivation in this important
and most difficult branch of education. There was in
most of the readers a self-confidence and clearness of
enunciation at once gratifying and creditable, and the

402

thoughts were closed in terse and vigorous language.

At the conclusion of the exercises at the
Chapel a procession was formed which marched to the West-
minster Church, where the closing oration was delivered
by Rev. W. S. Curtiss, President of Knox College. His
subject was "Beauty and Culture," and his address was in
itself a gem of aesthetic excellence well adapted to the
time and place. He showed the mutual dependence of
beauty and culture the one upon the other, critically
defined the terms, from Colo the original of culture,
drawing a fine analogy of the development of the germ of
beauty in the mind, calling the well cultivated mind a
conservatory of fine arts. The essence of beauty he
said existed in the mind, external beauty being but the
embodiment of the internal thought. It was character-
ized throughout by unusual purity of style and diction
and should in some permanent form be given to the public,
but space forbids further review.

At the conclusion of the address the President
of the Trustees presented the members of the Graduating
Class whose names appear in the order of exercises above
with their diplomas. The Benediction was then pronounced
and the Anniversary Exercises closed.

In the evening a Re-Union Sociable was held at
the Seminary, which was largely attended, and was a very
pleasant occasion.

The Catalogue of the Seminary, just issued,
shows a total list of students for the year of 303 — a
larger number than in any preceding year. A vacation
will now be had until September 22nd.

403

PIERIAN
Wooing of the Muse at the Seminary Last Night.

The members of the Pierian Union could not
have made a finer evening for their entertainment yester-
night if they had had the doing of it themselves. The
chapel was well filled with spectators. Conspicuous in
the space before the rostrum was a little oval table, on
which was a bouquet of pansies. Surrounding this table,
and nearly covering it up with their bent and hovering
bodies, were the three heavy reporters of the city, who,
having become so weary with the arduous duties of their
vocation, were obliged to charter a hack as a means of
reaching the Seminary, while the representative of the
Register, fresh and vigorous with a virtuous life,
economically footed it, and when arrived took his place
modestly among the common citizens. It was cheerful to
see those three heavy reporters bend to their work over
that little oval table. They must have taken notes
enough for a six-hundred page volume. When they became
out of breath from the violence of their effort they
would thrust their beaks into the bouquet before them
and refresh from its perfume. When these gentlemen of
the press had got their legs properly adjusted under the
little oval table, and had sharpened their pencils,

THE EXERCISES

began.

First there was music by Misses Spafford and
Tanner, who rendered Dorn's "Rayon du Soliel" with
pleasing effect. The essay entitled "The Picture of our
Lives," by Ellen G. Starr, was a carefully written and
well read production. After music, by Lizzie L. Allen,
there was an

ORIGINAL COLLOQUY,

which discussed the "influence of literary style." It
was participated in by Misses Ellen G. Starr, Kitty M.
Dick, Corinne Williams, Lizzie W. Pomeroy, Jennie L.
Addams, Kate L. Hitchcock, Lizzie A. Wright, Hat tie S.
Leach, Laura Keeney and Laura J. Rezner. The colloquy
was written by one or more of the students of the
Seminary and was a thoughtful, critical production, and
evinced a careful study of the authors discussed, includ-
ing Carlyle, Emerson, Victor Hugo, and others. The dis-
quisition upon Hugo was practically appreciative. The

404

young ladies who engaged in the colloquy represented a
tea-party, and while the conversation was in progress,
refreshments were passed, and the representation moved
off with becoming ease and naturalness.

After a piano interlude "by Miss Lilly G. Beek-
man,

THIRTEEN YOUNG LADIES

filed into the chapel and on to the rostrum to the time
given by the piano, and proceeded to give a gymnastic
exercise. They were all dressed in loose frocks gather-
ed at the waist, and hanging to the ankles. They were
well-formed, vigorous bright-eyed young ladies, and evi-
dently enjoyed the exercise in gymnastics. The muscular
movements are intended to strengthen the arms, the body
and the lower limbs, and are most excellently designed
for this most excellent purpose. The young ladies who
attend the Rockford Female Seminary are certainly in no
danger of growing weak and puny for lack of exercise, so
long as this admirable system of physical culture is a
part of the school !s discipline. And the personnel of
the institution evinces the benefits of the system, for
the beauty and bloom and vigor of the "seminary girls"
are the envy and admiration of the town. "The Benefits of
Imitation" was another carefully prepared essay, written
by Miss Stella E. Foote. Then came a song, "Beautiful
Venice," by Misses Allen and Longley, which elicited

ROUND AFTER ROUND OF APPLAUSE,

and the two young ladies were persuaded thereby to repeat
the musical gem.

A drama came next, the parts in it being taken
by Misses Kitty L. Tanner, Helen M. Butcher, Hat tie M.
Ellwood, Addie M. Smith, Mary K. Wykoff , Mary A. Baker
and Nettie Leonard. It represented a longing, sighing
seeker after happiness, who was ministered unto by the
other members of the company, under various guises,
offering her everything that earth can afford, including
love itself, but she rejects them all until Religion,
beauteous in pure white and resplendent with stars and
buoyant with wings, comes to her and crowns her with
immortal happiness. (She crowned somebody else, but the
reporter here has dropped a stitch in his reportorial
knitting work) . A beautiful feature of the drama was a
Cupid, with darts and wings, represented by little Mamie
Potter.

405

This drama closed the entertainment, which was
very select, well executed, and highly pleasing to the
audience.

406

R0CKF0RD SEMINARY.
Class Day Exercises

The 25th class of the Rockford Seminary intro-
duced a new feature yesterday by inaugurating their
class day with its prophecies, presentations, poems and
the like, after the manner of celebrating the day in
male colleges. The chapel was tastily decorated with
evergreens and flowers, with an arch in front of the
rostrum, a shield and anchor, hanging from the center
with the class motto, "True to Everything," inscribed
thereon.

A goodly number of visitors gathered in the
chapel and awaited the opening of the exercises.
Dedrickson's band gave an opening overture, after which
the class marshall, Miss Kate A, Oarnefix, introduced
the class president, Miss Lizzie V. Ide, who gave a
short and appropriate address of welcome. The class
historian, Miss Carrie Carpenter, was next introduced
and many interesting extracts were read from their his-
tory during the four-years course, with a number of in-
teresting statistics, a few which we give: The age of
the youngest member is 18 years 7 months, the oldest 23
years 6 months, average 20 years 1 month; entire age 241
years. Weight of the heaviest young lady 145 pounds;
the lightest 98 pounds, average weight 120£ pounds, and
entire weight 1443 pounds. Height of tallest 5 feet 7
inches; shortest 5 feet 1 inch; total height of all 63
feet 3 inches. One Foote has been added to the class,
which, strange as it may seem, increased its stature 5
feet. The class poem was then read by Miss Stella E.
Foote, and was an excellent effort. Miss Kate L. Smith
and Carrie A. Longley then favored the audience with a
pleasing vocal duet, "The Lonely Bird."

The presentation of relics and trophies to the
Societies, with a strikingly sarcastic and humorous ad-
dress, was made by Miss Julia E. Officer, the President
of the Pierian Union. A storm beaten piece of rope with
a wonderful history was the first relic. It landed at
Plymouth Rock with our Pilgrim Fathers, was used to bind
poor Captain John Smith. Pocahontas treasured it among
her faded flowers and souvenirs of love until it was
brought again to America by a Puritan emigrant. An
aristocratic old Knickerbocker bought it at an immense
price, because of its blue blood, and for years, it swung
from the ceiling over the oaken table, holding the well-
remembered lump of sugar which was passed from mouth to
mouth. It next was found doing service as a tether rope

407

for young Abe Lincoln's pet calf, and finally was used
to rescue Kate Olaxton from the last fire. Truly a won-
derful relic, and to be cherished most fondly. Letters
accepting honorary membership to the society from
Josephus Cook, Jeff Davis, Mrs. Brigham Young, No. 17,
the Queen of the Sandwich Islands and others were also
presented. The Scientific Society received several
choice botanical specimens from the Pacific Coast, and a
fragment of the celebrated Colorado petrified giant.

To the dissecting club was presented a cele-
brated Batrachian specimen or Horned Frog on a stick,
alive and kicking. Miss Officer's entire address was
replete with sharp and humorous allusions and was re-
ceived with much amusement by the listeners.

Miss Lillian G. Beckman appeared in the role
of the mystic class prophetess, and rolled away the
veil of the future, disclosing to the astonished vision
of each member of the class her future lot and destiny.
Upon going to the authorities, that is the young ladies
themselves, the prophetess learned that each and every
one were determined upon a life of single blessedness,
to be devoted to the elevation and bettering of the
entire race of mankind. One fear alone arose in the
mind of the fair soothsayer lest they break their vow
of celibacy and be like another one of the frail sex who
"sighing and saying she would ne'er consent, — consented."
As the scroll of the future unfolded itself before the
vision of the Pythian oracle, the futurity of Miss Julia
Officer was first revealed. She will

RUN FOR THE SENATE

will actually condescend to button-hole the potent ones
for their influence; will be elected, will aspire to the
speakership immediately, and will keep the members wait-
ing fully five minutes for their speaker at every session
of the Senate. Miss Lizzie Ide will devote herself
closely to the pursuit of science, will take a trip to
the North Pole, which she will discover to be

A HOLE

instead of a pole, extending through the earth. With her
customary tendency to rush to extremes, she will of
course fall in and drop through space to the South Pole
where she will telegraph her friends. In 1919 she will
be cremated by a new and beautiful process, all in the
interest of science. One young lady is destined for a
celebrated phonographic prima donna. Miss Cora Shepard,

408

distinguished now for her rigid Oalvanistic principles,
will become a noted Universalist preacher. Miss Kate L.
Smith will turn Quakeress and become Principal of a
Seminary. The fates of the others were in like manner
revealed, but interesting as the subject is, we have not
space to dwell upon them. Miss Kate L. Smith gave the
mantle oration to the Juniors, and gracefully elevated
the mantle upon the shoulders of the tallest Junior in
the class.

After which the audience repaired to the cam-
pus and surrounded a newly planted maple tree, and the
class stone of 1878, while Miss Carrie A. Longley
delivered the

TREE ORATION,

which was full of careful thought and beautiful senti-
ments. The speaker dwelt upon women* s mission and power,
quoting the lines from Lucile.

"The mission of women on earth! to give birth
To the mercy of Heaven descending on earth.
The mission of women; permitted to bruise
The head of the serpent , and sweetly infuse
Through the sorrow and sin of earth's registered

curse,
The blessing which mitigates all;
Born to soothe and to solace, to help and to heal
The sick world that leans on her."

The entire exercises were of such an interesting
character, and moved so quietly and smoothly that we wish
a much larger number could have witnessed them. This
new departure, and the enterprise of the class of f78 in
introducing it, deserves the highest praise and encour-
agement. It places the Seminary on a footing with other
Collegiate institutions in respect to their closing
exercises, and we hope this new feature, which has been
so wisely and so well inaugurated by the present class,
may become a fixed institution, and the celebration of
class-day may occur among the final exercises of each
graduating class in the future.

409

"BREAD GIVERS".
THE CLASS OF 1881 OF ROOKFORD SEMINARY
CELEBRATE THE FIRST JUNIOR
EXHIBITION.
A Delightful Programme, Replete with Able
Essays, Addresses and Music.

"I would have all women desire and claim the
title of lady, provided they claim not merely the title,
but the office and duty signified by it." — Ruskin.

In response to the graceful invitation issued
by the Junior class of Rockford Seminary, a large
audience gathered in the chapel last evening to attend
the exercises of the first Junior exhibition ever held
within the walls. The hall, spicy with evergreen, and
bright with stands of blossoming plants, never looked
better, the decorations being fitting and tasteful, with-
out any overcrowding or ostentatious display. The ever-
green arches over the doors, and sprays above the chan-
deliers were gay with tiny scarlet flags, bearing the
sacred symbol, '81; a silken banner with the same
numeral was draped above the painting resting on an
easel twined with ears of wheat; while a sheaf of the
queen of cereals stood on one side of the rostrum, erect
in its own perfect grace, and the class motto on a back-
ground of arbor vitae shone out in the same golden
grain.

Promptly at eight o'clock the class, numbering
seventeen, ranged themselves in a semi-circle on the
platform, and sang the class song which was printed on
the dainty little programme, after which the class mar-
shal, Miss Elwood, introduced the president, Jane Addams,
who delivered the following address, every word of
which is pitched to the key-note of the true intellect-
ual progress of the time.

FRIENDS AND CITIZENS OF ROCKFORD— -The Class of
1881 has invited you this evening to the

41U

FIRST JUNIOR EXHIBITION

ever given within the walls of Rockford Seminary. The
fact of its being the first, seems to us a significant
one, for it undoubtedly points more or less directly to
a movement which is gradually claiming the universal
attention. We mean the change which has taken place
during the last fifty years in the ambitions and aspira-
tions of women; we see this change most markedly in her
education. It has passed from accomplishments and the
arts of pleasing, to the development of her intellectual
force, and her capabilities for direct labor. She wishes
not to be a man, nor like a man, but she claims the same
right to independent thought and action. Whether this
movement is tending toward the ballot-box, or will gain
simply equal intellectual advantages, no one can predict,
but certain it is that woman has gained a new confidence
in her possibilities, and a fresher hope in her steady
progress.

We, then, the Class of 1881, in giving this
our Junior exhibition, are not trying to imitate our
brothers in college; we are not restless and anxious for
things beyond us, we simply claim the highest privileges
of our times, and avail ourselves of its best opportuni-
ties.

But while on the one hand, as young women of
the 19th century, we gladly claim these privileges, and
proudly assert our independence, on the other hand we
still retain the old ideal of womanhood — the Saxon lady
whose mission it was to give bread unto her household.
So we have planned to be "Bread-givers" throughout our
lives, believing that in labor alone is happiness, and
that the only true and honorable life is one filled
with good works, and honest toil, we have planned to
idealize our labor, and thus happily fulfil

WOMEN lS NOBLEST MISSION.

But if at any time we should falter in our
trust, if under the burden of years, we should for the
moment doubt the high culture which comes from giving,
then may the memory of this evening when we were young
and strong, when we presented to our friends a portion
of the work already accomplished, and told them of the
further labor we had planned for the future, then, I say,
may the memory of our Junior exhibition come to us as an
incentive to renewed effort. It may prove to us a vow
by which we pledged ourselves unto our high calling; and
if through some turn of fortune we should be confined to

411

the literal meaning of our words, if our destiny through-
out our lives should be to give good, sweet, wholesome
bread unto our loved ones, then perchance we will do even
that the better, with more of conscious energy and innate
power for the memory of our Junior exhibition.

Martha Thomas next gave

THE LATIN ORATION,

"Magnus Imperator," with admirable pronuncia-
tion, easy gesture, and a sympathetic expressiveness
which almost deluded the unlearned unto the belief that
they knew what she was talking about. After instrumental
music on the grand new Decker piano, by Misses Huey and
White, Miss Phila Pope came to the front in a most grace-
ful and self-possessed manner with the Scientific Oration
on "Mountains as a Means Toward Development." For the
influence of mountains on character we naturally but mis-
takenly are apt to look at the people who dwell within
their shadow, and we find among them, as illustrated by
the Swiss, not creative genius, not sublime endeavor, or
mighty executive power, but a calm not unlike torpor,
ennobled by the homely virtues of frugality, courage,
endurance, and a steadfast fidelity; but it is the man
who lives beyond the depressing influence of their awful
loneliness and sterile heights who catches the true inspir-
ation of the mountains. It is the French and Germans who
have crossed the Alps into Italy. The earlier civiliza-
tions found room enough in little Greece and Italy, but
when luxury and wealth had wrought in them their strong
though subtle deteriorating work, over the mountains
swept the barbarian hordes full of that vital energy
which was to transplant the glory of art and literature,
and life, fast dying out of its early home, to make fruit-
ful for ages that vast northern plain of which, at that
time, the world first felt its need.

TO STAND STILL IS TO RETROGRADE;

the fundamental idea of civilization is progress, and to
that progress mountains seem to have not a hindrance
but an aid.

Miss Atkinson then read an essay on Marie
Antoinette, in French, "as it had been her mother tongue,"
with strikingly smooth and elegant pronunciation, followed
by a tripping little French song, "Bal d'Enfants," by Miss
Ella Huey. Next came the Ethical Oration on "Old Dreams
Realized" by Miss Harrington. Though the old supersti-
tious dreams have vanished, although no Pythagorean
philosopher listens longer for the music of the spheres,

412

and the Alchemists have ceased to search for the fabled
elixir, yet we still have the ideal, and we can seek that
higher enlightenment by which we may understand the
riches already ours.

Miss Browning then read a criticism on "Das
Nibelungenlied," and Miss Adele Smith rendered a selection
from Lysberg with grace and spirit. Miss Sidwell next
gave a sparkling and witty essay on the "Reminiscences of
a Junior," which was delightfully received by the audience
Miss Kate Tanner, of Rockford, sang a fine selection,
"Waiting Heart," and Miss Addams delivered the Greek
Oration on

"THE POWER OF CHIMERA."

The last oration of the evening, the Philosoph-
ical was delivered by Eleanor Frothingham, on the "Last
Great Empire."

After a rapid historical survey of the great
Empires of ancient and modern times, she went on to speak
of the spirit of individualism that marks the present
stage of progress. The British Empire is the last great
attempt of the ages at the centralization of power, and
its days are already numbered. Great Britain will find
that gain of territory is often loss of strength, and
that the mistress of the seas herself must bow before
that perfect freedom whose dawn already breaks.

The address, both in substance and delivery,
was one of the most able efforts of the evening. After
music by Misses Smith and Thomas the benediction was
pronounced by Prof. Emerson, of Beloit College. The
audience repaired to the parlors where the class held an
informal reception and received the congratulations of
their friends upon the

TRULY BRILLIANT SUCCESS

of the first Junior Exhibition of Rockford Seminary.

Rockford society cannot but be interested in
these talented, self-possessed and self-respecting young
women who, in dress, carriage and deportment, speak
volumes for the value of the higher education, and when
we learn , as we have done , from the faculty that the
class originated and carried out their own plans without
any assistance whatever, and that no one of them had ever
attended a similar exhibition, our admiration deepens
to surprise that everything should have passed off so
delightfully. We trust that a custom so pleasingly

413

inaugurated will live long, and after laughing over the
saucey, witty and Sophomoric "mock programme," of last
evening, shall look forward with pleasant curiosity to
the Junior Exhibition of the class of f82.

F. PERTAINING TO MISS SILL

I.Miss SillTs Request for Leave of Absence, 1 883
(Copied from Records of the Board of Trustees, )

2. Miss' Sill *s Letter of Resignation, 1884

(Copied from Records of the Boaxd of Trustees.)

3. Action of the Board on Miss Sill's Resignation
4 .Miss Sil^s Appointment as Principal Emerita

5. Announcement of Miss Sill's Death
(See Supplementary volume, p. 48 . )

6. Resolutions of the Faculty at Miss Sill's Death

7. Resolutions of the Trustees at Miss Sill's Death

415

Miss Sill's Request for Leave of Absence, 1 883 • ( 1 )

To the Trustees of Rockford Female Seminary, Gentlemen:

Within the last eighteen years this board has at two
different times, voted to give me one year's absence with
salary continued ;but the rest of vacation so far restored
my health that each time I continued my work. I have
not been absent, save for a few days at a time, during thir-
ty-four years, except when in agency for the Seminary ;and
I faave never been away for Commencement exercises. I have
been teaching more than forty-five full years ,and for
nearly forty I have had charge of a seminary as principal,
thirty-four years in Rockford. May I then ask the favor
of an absence, at my pleasure, one half of the next school
year, and a freedom from the cares of vacation that I may
seek rest and refreshment. If I may be allowed this
privilege, then some one must be provided to do the cor-
respondence of vacation and take up the department of Men-
tal and Moral Philosophy for the time I am away and to
aic! the faculty in general care that I may, for the time
being, be quite free from responsibilities incident to
my position.

All of which I would respectfully ask as a favor.

With sincere regards,
Anna P. Sill.
Rockford Female Seminary, June 19,1883.

Copied into the Records of the Board of Trustees.

416

Miss Sill's Letter of Resignation (1)

Rockford Seminary, Jan. 30, 1884

To the Board of Trustees of Rockford Seminary.

Gentlemen: I have for a long time past contemplated
severing wholly my connection with this institution over
which I have presided, laying down the responsible and
honorable work you have committed to me, and have only
delayed doing so in hope of seeing it on a better finan-
cial basis before leaving it. I have now come to the con-
clusion that it is best that you commit the charge of this
college for women to another presiding officer; and I do
hereby resign to your honorable body all responsible connec-
tion v/ith it, this resignation to take place February 13,
1884, or June 25 of this same year, as may be the pleasure
and according to the wisdom of your board. I heartily
thank you for giving me one half year's absence at my
pleasure which privilege I have taken as far as circum-
stances would allow. If my labors close at the half year
of connection with the Seminary, I shall be at liberty
to travel and take some time for refreshment without having
any responsibility of the institution. If you prefer the
later date as named, I am ready to take up my entire for-
mer work, or to take it up in part as it may seem to you
best. Should you deem it wise to inaugurate an effort to
raise funds for the better equipment and endowment of the
institution without which it cannot advance to full suc-
cess, I am ready to aid in such work until 1h e time above
named. In leaving the Seminary to enter upon other use-
ful work, let me sincerely thank you for all of your kind
forbearance with my mistakes. I can only s ay I have given
myself wholly to the work, not sparing time, strength or
salary in order to take forward the interests of the
Seminary; and I have endeavored to use with economy all
the means furnished. I have aimed to keep my motives pure
for the advancement of Christ's Kingdom. I need not say
to you that I leave the dearest spot to me on this earth,
where so many prayers have been offered, where I have
passed through lights and shadows, struggles and conquests,
where so many bright hopes of promise have been fulfilled
in the lives of those who have been under my care, where
in my room so many have consecrated their hearts to the
Savior and found peace in believing, Aere so many have
left their hallowed influence, who have entered into these
labors; students, teachers, and trustees, and have now
gone to their final reward above. No art gallery of
portraits can recall such precious memories. May I be al-
lowed in closing, to ask to keep this Seminary intact as
a college for young women, and that 7/ou will see to it

(1) Discussed at special meeting. Records of the Board
of Trustees, Feb. 7, 1884.

417

that ixs teachers have nut only cultivated intellects "but
consecrated hearcs to Christ, that xhere may never be writ-
ten on its wallsTMy glory hath departed.' This institu-
tion was founded in prayer ;and prayer must give it vital
life hereafter.

Yours with sincere regard,
Anna P. Sill.

418

Action of the Board on Miss Sill's Resignation (1)
Whereas:

Miss Anna P. Sill, the honored and only principal of
Rockford Female Seminary, from July 15, 1852, to the
present time, has notified the Board of Trustees that
she has for s long time past contemplated the step of
severir ho&ly her connection with this institution
and -that she now resigns all responsible connection
with it, this resignation to take effect either Feb-
ruary 13, 18S4, or June 25.

Whereas:

Miss Sill's labors in teaching for more than forty-
five full years, over forty of which have been spent
in the arduous and responsible position of a Sem-
"nary principal, and nearly thirty-t"?o years in the
service of the institution, entitle her to the re-
lief from care and responsibility which she thus re-
quests, therefore

Pie solved:

That we, the trustees, of Rockford Female Seminary,
hereby accept Kiss Anna P. Sill's resignation of the
principalship of said institution, to take effect
at the time of the annual meeting of the trustees,
June 24, 1884. (Changed to June 25, 1884.) (2)

Resolved:

That in behalf of the interests of the Christian Edu-

tion of woman, to which this institution is organ-
ically and historically devoted, we tender Miss Sill
our earnest thanks for the self-denying industry, the
fidelity and the unfaltering constancy with which she
has devoted herself throughout her long, active and
laborious career, this great end.

Resolved:

That we hereby place on record our high estimate of
the services to this cause, in carrying on the work of
this seminary, in advancing its standing to a college
basis, in building up its various interests by an un-
sparing expenditure of her time, means, and personal
effort both as a teacher and principal and also by her
variou. and onntinuous endeavors in its behalf in
every possible direction throughout the whole of its
past history.

(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, February 7, 1384.

(2) Miss Sill was afterwards asked to "retain the personal

419

Action of the Board on Miss Sill!s Resignation

(continued)

Resolved:

That we cordially and gratefully appreciate her zeal
for the religious welfare and progress of the Sem-
inary, and, at her request, pledge ourselves that it
shall be kept intact as a college for young women,
founded in prayer and devoted to the spiritual as well
as the intellectual training of its students.

Resolved:

That we wish to express our appreciation of the loving
work of the Alumnae Association and their friends in
providing the Sill endowment fund of $12,000, the
whole income of which is sacredly devoted to the use
of Miss Sill during her life as an expression of the
high esteem and tender love which her friends and her
former pupils hear towards her for her long years of
self-sacrificing devotion to the interests of Rock-
ford Female Seminary and to the education of the many
women who have been under her charge during these
years.

Resolved:

That this action of the board of trustees be spread
upon its official records and communicated to Miss Sill
by the secretary.

charge of the Senior studies, which she had hitherto
had in charge, until the end of the year.

420

Miss Sill, President Emerita
Letter Authorized by the Board of Trustees (1)

Miss Anna P. Sill,

Principal of Rockford Seminary,

Dear Madam:

In view of your many years of service in behalf of the
cause of the Christian education of woman as represented
in the founding and carrying ch of the ork of Rockford
Seminary from its inception to the present time, the trus-
tees of the Seminary desire to testify to their grateful
and cordial appreciation of what you have done for the in-
stitution and of the relation you have thus far sustained
towards it as its first and only Principal.

Therefore, inasmuch as you have resigned the active
principal ship in order to carry out (as you inform us)
your purpose "for a long time past contemplated, of sever-
ing connection wholly with the institution," the trustees
would notify you that you have been elected Principal
Emerita of Rockford Seminary, the appointment to take
place at the close of your term of active service.

The trustees would also tender you the occupancy of
the two apartments in which you have so long resided to-
gether with your board and other incidental home expenses,
during the term time, so long as such an agreement may be
found agreeable to you and the board.

The trustees would be glad to receive such co-operation
as you may be willing to render towards improving the finan-
cial basis of an educational fund, the need of which has
been sorely felt, and in the general enlargement of
pecuniary resources. But they do not wish you to feel
under any obligation whatever in this direction, but to be
perfectly Tree "from care and responsibility of every kind,
to take the rest which your long continued and arduous
labors entitle you to command.

Hoping that this action will command itself to your
favorable consideration and acceptance, I am, in behalf
of the Board of Trustees of Rockford Seminary,

Yours very respectfully,
Frank Woodbury,
Secretary,

(1) Records of the Board of Trustees, June 25, 1884.

421

Letter of Miss Anna B. Gelston, Principal of
Rockford Seminary at Mi3S Sill's Death (1)

Alumnae and Friends of Rockford Female Seminary:

After her long and useful life, our honored friend,
ANNA P. SILL, has gone from us. At the Seminary in the
room so dear to her by many associations reaching back
forty years, she entered upon that part of her life v/hich
though hidden from us, will go on throughout the eternal
years.

Miss Sill died at half -past six o1 clock Tuesday morn-
ing, June eighteenth, and will be buried from the Seminary
Chapel on Thursday morning, June twentieth, at half past
ten o'clock.

Although having laid down her duties at the Seminary
five years ago, she has since been an ever welcome guest
with us, and with her saintly and dignified presence has
been an inspiration to teachers and students alike. Her
interest in the Seminary has never waned, and her prayers
and efforts are a part of our richest treasure.

It has been a beautiful ending of her life, that her
death should be here where v/ork has been. She has gone
to her rest and her works do follow her. "Whosoever shall
lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall
save it." "They that be wise shall shine as the bright-
ness of the firmament; and they that turn many to
righteousness as the stars forever and ever."

Anna B. Gelston.

Rockford, Illinois, June 18th, 1889.

(1) Copy of letter printed and sent to the alumnae and
friends of the Seminary.

422

Faculty Resolutions on Miss Sill's Death (1)

Since in the death of our former principal, Anna P.
Sill, our Heavenly Father has called to himself a faith-
ful servant and removed from our midst a noble life, we,
the present faculty of Rock ford Seminary, wish to express
our high appreciation of her character, and her long, ear-
nest and far-reaching work.

In the founding and building up of this seminary she
showed great faith and strength of purpose, and recognized
the responsibilities such a work imposed. In the affec-
tionate regard of the alumnae for her we see the result
of that strong personality which none who knew her could
fail to recognize.

Acknowledging the inspiration of her faith and cour-
age, and realizing our privilege and responsibility in be-
ing permitted to carry on her work, we would make this ex-
pression of our esteem*

ANNA B. GELSTON,
SARAH F. ANDERSON,
LUCY A. BUSHEE,
Committee of the Faculty.

(1) Rockford Morning Star, June 19, 1889.

423

Resolutions of the Board of Trusties at
Miss Sill's Death

It having pleased Almighty God in his all-wise Providence
to call home to her rest and reward Miss Anna P. Sill, the
true Alma MaterPor foster mother of this Seminary, and for
nearly 40 ye^rs its honored and beloved Principla,it is
due to her memory and the Institution to which her life
was aevottd to put on record the followin^pesolution.

Resolved. that in the work Miss Sill has wrought for
Rockford Seminary we recognize with devout gratitude the
wisdom and ordaining purpose of G-od in raising up such a
woman, and endowing her so amply with the abilities and
qualification requisite for so great and important an en-
terprise. We also recognize with high appreciation the
eminent intellectual ability, the earnest faith and devo-
tion, the indefatigable patience,perserver.nce, moral ener-
gy and distinguished success with which she prosecuted
the work given her to do, in laying securely the foundations,
intellectual, moral and spiritual ,of this Institution and
in carrying it forward to its present advancement.

While we mourn the great loss to this Seminary and the
whole Community of her benignant presence and potent in-
fluence, we acknowledge the good Providence of God in so
long sparing her life and permitting her in its later years
of retirement and release from labor, to enjoy in some
measure the reward of her toil, and at last to die witnin
the waXis of her beloved Seminary, surrounded by the friends
and scenes and memories of the p^st. Truly it may be
said of her,,TShe hatn done what she could--" She rests
from her labors and her works do follow her.

Resolved that a copy of this resolution be transmitted
to the family and relatives of the deceased.

Rockford Seminary, June 25 1b8?

Copied from oirginal document in college Sc.fe.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

4*5

Bibliography

This early history of Rockford College grew indirectly
out of a research course in the history of education which
I took with Prof .A. 0. Norton, at Harvard, in the summenr of
1921. I then investigated a number of early educational
projects for the higher education of women, — Miss Pierce's
School, Mount Holyoke,the work of Joseph Emerson. When I
went to Rockofrd College in the autumn 01 that year, Mr.
Norton oug&tsted that I study the Rockford case, and I
have been gathering material for this manuscript ever
since.

It is impossible for me to name all those who have
helped me in the writing of this thesis, but there are
three to whom I am particularly indebted: — Mrs.E.B.Her-
rick,who,as she herself said, has "told every thing"she
knows about the Seminary;Mrs.C.P.Brazee,who has cleared
up many points for me, and Miss Emma Enoch, for thirty

years connected with the college, who has aided in me in
my search for original manuscripts and has turned up
many that are valuable.

To all the others, too numerous to mention, who have
helped me I here express my gratitude and appreciation:
men and women who knew Miss Sill personally and were in-
terested in tne early Rockford, members of their families,
their children and grand children, alumnae and former stu-
dents dJf the Seminary, teachers, and people having no affil-
iation with it, — librarians, public officials, newspaper
editors, and private individuals. I have met with a spi-
rit of co-operation at every turn.

Tnere is only one published history of the Seminary, —
a report prepared by Miss Sill in 1 876 at the request of
the United States government. It contains a brief hio-
oorical sketch, excerpts grom the Seminary magazine, and a
list of the early subscribers. I have used for background
material various local histories, histories of education,
genealogies and biographies, encyclopaedias and gazeteers.
I have examined the Rockford newspapers from 1843 to 1889.
The files in the Rockford Public Library are nearly com-
plete. In some instances I have referred to the files in
the various newspaper offices. I have read all manu-
scripts bearing indirectly or directly upon the subject,
but it is not unlikely that some writings have escaped
me. I have also written to or interviewed scores of grad-
uates and former students, besides many friends of tne
Seminary. I was especially fortunate in having access
to the material which is in the college. There is much
extant, — the records of the Board of Trustees, incomplete
records of the meetings of the executive committee, letters,
notebooks, an old book containing the early subscriptions,
a scrap book kept by Miss Sill, containing newspaper clip-
pings, programs, letters, et cetera, photographs, files of the

4^6

Seminary Magazine, four volumes of valedictories, et cetera.

The sources for this history are classixied below.
This bibliography does not take into account the great
mass of manuscript material in the Rockford College ar-
chives and elsewhere. So far as I know the list is com-
plete though I may have inadvertently overlooked some
sources.

Biographies and Genealogies

Addams. Jane .Twenty Years at Hull House. New York,Macmil-
lan Company, 1910.

The Chapin Book of Genealogical Data. with Brief Biograph-
ical Sketches of the Descendants of Deacon Samuel Chapin.
compiled by Gilbert Warren Chapin. Hartford, Conn. pub-
lished and copyrighted by the Chapin Family, 1924.

Emerson. The Ipswich Emersons .A. D. 1636-1 900. Compiled by
Benjamin Kendall Emerson, assisted by Capt, George A. Gor-
don, secretary of the Hew England Historic Genealogical
Society. Boston, Press of David Clapp and Son,1900.

Emer son. Rev. Ralph f The Eife of Joseph Emerson. Boston,
Crockett and Brewster, 1834.

Fiske. Fidelia. Recollections of Mary Lyon. Boston, Ameri-
can Tract Society, 1866.

Gilchrist, Beth Bradford.: The Life of Mary Lyon. Bos-
ton and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 19 10.

Goodwin, Rev. H.M., compiler and editor. Memoria] a r>f Anna P.
Sill. First Principal of Rockford Female Seminary. 1 849-1889 .
Rockford, 111., Daily Register Electric Print, 1889.

Nor ton, Minerva Brace. A True Teacher :Mary Mortimer. New
York, Chicago, and Toronto, Fleming H.Revell Compny, 1094.

Pickard , Samuel .The Life and Letters of John Greenleaf
Whittier , Vol . I . Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Com-
pany, 1894.

Histories , Encylopaedias , etc .

Andreas. A. T.f The HiotorY_of Cook County r Illinois. Pub-
lished by A.T.Andreas

,1884.

AppletonTs Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Wilson, J. G.
and Fiske, John, editors. New Y0rk,D.Apjjleton, 1891 •

Church, Charles A.. The History of Rockford and Winnebago
County, 1834-1861 . Rockford, 111., New England Society of
Rockford, 1900.

Dunning, Albert E.fThe Congregationalists in America.

427

Boston and Chicago, Pilgrim Press, 1 894.

The Historioal Encyclopaedia of Illinois and the History
of Winnebago County. Chicago.Munsell Publishing Company,
T$TT.

A History of Winnebago County f Illinois, Its Past and Pres-
ent. Chicago, H.F.Kett and Company, 1877.

Illinois Society of Church History: Congregational* ChicagD,
published vy the Congregational Society, (press of David
01iphant),l895.

Monroe .Paul, editor. Cyclopaedia of MuccToion. Vol.1. New
York,Macmillan,1911 .

Mo s es, Hon, John, andlxirkland, Major Joseph. The History of
Chicago. Illinois f Vbi. II. Unsell and Company, 1895.

Punchard , George rThe History of Congregationalism from
A.D.250 to the Present TimefVol.V. Boston, Congregational
Publishing Society, 188 1 .

Reference and Ye^r Book of Winnebago County. Illinois.
Compiled June 1,1 925, by Howard W. Short, County Clerk.

Small, Walter Herbert. Early Hew England Schools. Boston,
Ginn and Company, 1914.

Thura ton. John. Early Days in Rocki'ord. Koo*iora.,Ill. ,
Press of the Daily Republican.

Newspapers

Rockf ord Forum, Jan. 15.1 845-Feb . 4 . 1 846 : Jan. 3 . 1 847-Dec .51.
1849; Sept . 24 , 1 §5 1 -Dec .28,1853-

Rockf ord Gazette. Nov. 22. 1866-Nov. 26. 1868 :Nov. 28 . 1868-Dec.
1 6,1 869 j Dec. 23, 1869-Dec, 29,1 970; Jan. 5, 1871 -Dec. 28, 1871;
July 25 , 1 8 72-Dec . 26 , 1 872 : Jan . 7 , 1 875-Dec . 30 , 1 875 ; Jan. 6 ,
1876-Dec.21 , 18 76; Jan. 4, 1877-Dec. 27, 1877 ;Peb. 16 , 1873-Bec.
25, 1878; Jan. 1 ,1879-Dec.31j880;jan.5,l88l-Dec.30,l88l;
Jan.3,l882-Dec.30,l882;Jan.3,l883-Dec.31 , 1883; Jan. 2, 1884-
Dec.31 ,l884;Jan.2,l885-Dec.31,l885;Jan.6.l886-Dec.31jil88£5
Jan,1887-Dec.31 , 1 887; Jan. 3, 1888-Dec .31 , 1 888; Jan. 2, 1 889-
June 29,1889.

Rockford_Journal.Jan.4.l873-Dec. 27.1873 and Jan. 3, 1874-
Dec.26,1874.

Rockf ord Morning Star f July 1,1888-June 30,1889.

RockfordRegister .Feb. 21 , 1 857-Feb. 13, 1858 ;Feb. 20, 1858-
Feb.12,l859;Feb.19,l859-Peb.11,l860;Feb.l6,l86l-Feb.8,l86^;

428

Feb. 1 6,1 862-Feb. 7, 1863 ;Feb. 14,1 863-Feb. 6,1 864 ;Feb. 13,1 864-
Feb.3,l866;Feb.lO,l866-Feb.8,l868;Jan.1,l87o-Jan.20,l872;
Jan.6,1.Q73-i)ec.31,l875;Jan.6, 1876-Dec. 29, l876;Jan.5, 1877-
Nov.30, l877;Dec.7, 1877-Dec.31 , l879;Jan.2, 1880-Dec.31 ,1880;
Jan. 3,1 88 1 -Dec. 31,1 88 1; Jan, 3.1 88 2-Dec. 30, 188 2; Jan. 2,1 883-
Dec.3l,l883;Jan.2,l884-Dec.31,l884;Jan.2,l885-Dec.31 ,1885;
Jan.30,l8R6-Dec,31,l886;Jan.3,1 )87-Dec.31 , l887;Jan.3 , 1888-
Dec. 31 ,1888, and Jan. 2, 1889-June 29,1889.

Rockford Republican. Jan. 3 , 1855-Sec 23, 1858, and Jan. 8,1859-
July 24,1862.

Rock River Democrat, June 8 , 1 852-Dec.30 , 1856 and Jan.3,1857-
Dec.31,1860.

Winnebago Forum. Feb . 24 . 1 843-Dec .30.1 846. Name changed
to Rockford Forum. Feb. 21 . 1844.

Publications of Rockford Female Seminary

and
Rockford College

Alumnae ^otes. Published by Rockford College, Eockford, 111.
December, March, June, 1915; June, 1916 ;April, 1917, and April,
1925.

The Jubilee Book .compiled by Harriet W.Hobler, 1 882;Caro-
line Potter Brazee, l8S5;Nellie R.Caswell, 1 38 0; Catharine
Waugh Mc Culloch,M.A.T888;Mabel Walker Herrick,M.A.,l88P.
Rockford, 111. ,Binner Wells Company, print ers, 1 9 04.

Rockford College Bulletin. 1921 -1922. Alumnae Register,
Vol. IV, No. 65. Published by Rockford College, Rockford, 111.

Rockford College Brief Book. 1908. Published by Rockford
College , Rockford , 111 .

Rockford SeminaryfA Historical Sketch of. Prepared in
compliance with an invitation from the Commissioner of
Education rrepresenting the Department of the Interior in
Matters Relating to the National Centennial of 1876.
Rockford, 111. , Register and Company, printers and binders,
1876.

Rockford Seminary Magazine, published by Rockford Female
Seminary, Jan. ,1873-Nov. , 1883. Edited by Caroline Potter,

1855.

Sill, Anna P.. A Letter to ^ur Old Girls. Chic ago, A. Chapman,
printer, 1882."

Interviews and Correspondence with the Following

People:

Mrs. Sarah JEnderson Ainsworth, 1 869, principal of Rockford

* ■>

•

4 29

Seminary, 1890-1896;Mt. J. A. Bowman, Recorder of Deeds, Winne-
bago County, 111. ;Mrs. Jeremiah Campbell, daughter of Mr.
Daniel Hood jMrs.G.L. Castor, daughter of Mr. H.M.Goodwin;
Miss Emma Enoch, financial secretary, Rockford College ;Miss
Anna B. Gels ton, principal of Rockford Seminary, 1888-18^0;
Mrs. E.L.Herrick, teacher, Rockford Female Seminary, 1 8 j? 2-
l855;Miss Elizabeth Herrick, daughter of Mrs. E.L.Herrick
and teacher, Rockford Seminary and College, 1887- 1902 ;Miss
Mabel Johnson, secretary to the president, Rockford College;
Mrs.Malinda Richards Hervey, teacher, Roukford Female Semi-
nary, 1 85 0-1 852 ;Mrs. Andrew McLeish, principal of Rockford
Seminary, 1884-1 q88 ;Mr. Frank Scribner, pastor, Congregational
Church, Janesville, Wisconsin ;Mrs. Henry D. Wild, daughter of
Mr^H. M. Goodwin ;Miss L.M.Wingate, former resident of Rock-
ford;Mrs.A.D.Adams,l870;Mrs.Myrta Agard Bartlett, 1878-
1882;Mts. A.H. Blair, 1876;Mts. Caroline Potter ?razee,l855,
and teacher in the Seminary, l872-l883;Mrs.E. P. Satlin, a
student in the early days and present the day Miss Sill
opened her school ;Mrs.Almon Chapmon(MissSill' 3 niece),
l865;Miss L0rena Church, 1905, registrar of Rockford Col-
lege and associate professor of English ;Miss Katherine
Dickerman, l887;Mrs.E.B.Dodds, 1881 ;Mrs. Andrew Dunlap, 1 875 ;
Mrs. Albert Durham, 1 870 ;Miss Minnie B.Fenwick, 1865 ; Mrs.
Daniel Fish, i 867 ;Miss Katherine Foote, 1 879 , (daughter of
Rev. Hiram Footei ;Mrs. James F.Garvin, l880;Miss Caroline
Godfrey, granddaughter of Mr. Charles Spaf ford; Mrs. Charles
Godfrey, daughter of ^r. Charles Spaf ford, graduate in music,
l879;Mrs.Mattie Green, 1 88 1 , teacher and resident graduate,
l88 2-l882;Mrs.Mary Earle Hardy, 1 867 ;Mrs .Mabel Walker Her-
rick,l886,M.A.,l888;Mrs,Carrid£ong-ley Jones, 1 878 ;Mrs. Kath-
erine Keeler, daughter of Judge Selden Church, and a member
of the kindergarten department in the early days ;Mrs.H.W.
Kimball, a student in the early sixties ;Miss Mary.E.Lowry,
l886;Mrs. Catharine Waugh McCulloch, 1882,M.A. , 1888 ;Mrs.
T. G. McLean, l867;Mrs. G.E. Newman, l884;Miss Emma Pearson, 1872;
Mrs. Sarah ^afford, 1 865 ;Mrs. B.W.Smith, 1872;Mts. Fanny Jones
Talcott,1%2;Miss Ama Taylor. 1 889 ;Ifes* Loretta Van Hook,
1875; Mrs .Perry C.Wadsworth. 1884 ;Mrs. Marie Tichenor Wads-
worth, 1 8 73; Mrs .Mary Allen Warren, a student in the fifties;
Mrs. T.B.Wells, a student in the sixties ;Mrs. J. E.Whitesells,
1881 ;Mrs. Phoebe L.Woods, l865,and Mios Mary -fage Wright, 1 871-

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