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Full text of "Historical encyclopedia of Illinois"

PUBLIC LIBRARY 

IT WAYNE &. AtLCN CO.. mo. 



QENEALOGY COLLECTION 



% 



HISTORICAL 

ENCYCLOPEDIA 

OF 

ILLINOIS 

EDITED BY 

Newton Bateman. LL. D. Paul Selbv, A. M. 




AND HISTORY OF 



EVANSTON 

edited by 
Harvey B. Hurd, LL.D. Robert D. Shepfard, U.D. 



VOLUME II 



ILLUSTRATED. 



CHICAGO: 

MUNSELL PUBLISHING COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS. 

1906. 



W. M U N S E I^ L , 

J Librarian of Coii^ress 



I 



436-47S 

PREFACB 



An analysis of the motives which have induced Evanstonians to join in the fur- 
nishing of material for this record of local history would afford evidence, not only of a 
feeling of obligation to the past and present, but also to future generations ; and this, it 
is but just to say, has been the impelling force in the conception and preparation of this 
volume. 

Book-making is an expensive undertaking, and the limited sale which a work treat- 
ing of a small community would obtain, would inevitably involve heavy financial re- 
sponsibilities. The publishers of that excellent work, "The Historical Encyclopedia of 
Illinois," have deemed it practicable to produce a special Evanston edition of that 
work embracing, as a feature of added interest and value, a supplemental volume 
largely devoted to Evanston history, prepared and edited by Evanstonians. The busi- 
ness management of the enterprise rests with the publishers who have had a long and 
successful experience in the publication of works of this character, and to whom 
great credit is due for successfully financing the cost of production and carrying to 
a faithful completion this important work. 

This history has been written in the belief that it is needed ; that man's immor- 
tal instincts revolt at the thought of the good of the past being buried in oblivion — 
that the fruitage of lives which have accomplished results, epitomized in the word "his- 
tory," should be forgotten — that lessons of faithful doing, accompanied by self-sacri- 
fice, zealous faith and daring courage little short of the heroic, should fail of their 
highest accomplishment by inspiration and example, because no one has recorded them 
— that present and future generations should be deprived of these teachings, examples 
and educational forces, simply for the want of a proper and available published record 
of many facts now having an existence only in the memory of individuals who cannot 
long remain, and whose passing away will place the foundation facts of our history 
beyond the reach of those who come after them. 

Hence this history, with the imperfections and shortcomings always incident to 
human authorship, yet the results of the best thought and intelligent efforts of many 
accomplished writers and contributors who have produced, in concise but comprehen- 



sive form, a carefully prepared and faithful record of facts and events relating to the 
various topics assigned to them. Without attempting to enumerate all of them by name, 
I here wish to express my personal obligation to Robert D. Sheppard, D. D., as my 
Editorial Associate, and to each author for the faithful and intelligent service ren- 
dered in the preparation of this work, as well as the lasting debt of gratitude due 
to them from the home-loving and Evanston-loving people of to-day and the future. 

The conception that our city's history, together with the memoirs of its founders 
and builders, was deserving of record, received its first practical suggestion in the 
organization, about seven years ago, of the Evanston Historical Society, which is do- 
ing such noble work in its chosen field of research and collection of historical material. 
To the influence and labors of this association is due, not only the conception of the 
need of an authoritative published History of Evanston, but, in a large degree 
through the labors and co-operation of its members, the success which has attended 
the preparation of such a work. Believing that it will have a permanent value, not 
only to citizens of Evanston and Cook County, but to many others interested in State 
history, I herewith bring my labors in connection with the volume to a close, with 
thanks to my associates and co-laborers and hope that it will meet the expectation of its 
patrons and have for them an interest corresponding with the labor required in its 
preparation. 

^-- " /f\ c — ^^^ 



FOREWORD 



The preface to this work, written by the late Hon. Harvey B. Hurd, after the vari- 
ous manuscripts furnished by the many contributors were well in hand, quite fully 
sets forth the inception of this undertaking and the potent influences leading thereto. 
It is self-evident that the preparation of so extended a history of Evanston was a more 
formidable task than originally contemplated, and unavoidable delays were experi- 
enced incident to receiving the completed manuscripts from some of our friends con- 
tributing the same, and still further delays were occasioned by the sending to each 
author a copy of the printer's proof of his or her portion of the work. To do this was 
thought important in order, first, that each writer might thus have a last opportunity 
to correct and make more complete his or her department ; and, second, that each chap- 
ter might, by this means, receive any necessary additions extending its scope to a more 
recent period. 

Credit is due to the publishers for the pecuniary outlay which they necessarily 
have borne, and for the great care evidently taken by them in the preparation of the 
whole work and in placing it in completed form before its readers. 

I have every reason to believe that the various chapters, furnished by about forty 
special contributors to the city's history, have been prepared with great care ; that 
the completed work will constitute a valued addition to the library of all Evanstonians, 
and will be accorded a prominent place in the historical collections of Illinois. 






IN DEX 



CHAPTER I. 
INTRODUCTORY. 
The Evanston of 1905 — Seat of Learning and Gem Suburb of a Great Me- 
tropolis — Results Accomplished by Fifty Years of Development — 
Contrast Between Past and Present — First Township Organization 
Under Name of Ridgeville — Evanston Township Organized in 1857 
— The Milage Platted in 1854 — Later Changes in Township and 
Municipal Organization — Old Name of Ridgevilje Township Re- 
sumed in 1903, with Boundaries Identical with City of Evanston — 
Garrett Biblical Institute Precedes the University — City Govern- 
ment Organized in 1892 — Early Evanston Homes and Their Occu- 
pants — Advent of the First Railroad — Career of Dr. John Evans 15-20 

CHAPTER II. 
OUR INDIAN PREDECESSORS. 
The First Evanstonians — Indian Relics — Stone Implements and What 
They Indicate— Early Explorers— Joliet, Marquette, La Salle and 
Tonty — Early Indian Tribes — The Iroquois, Illinois, and Pottawat- 
omies — Ouilmette Reservation and Family — The Fort Dearborn 
Massacre — Home of the Ouilmettes — Treaty of Prairie du Chien 
— Indian Trails and Trees on the North Shore — Aboriginal Camps 
and Milages — Indian Mounds and Graves — Reminiscences of Ear- 
ly Settlers — Important Treaties — An Englishman's Story of 
the Treaty of Chicago in 1833 21-52 

CHAPTER III. 
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY. 
The Beginning — First Meeting of the Founders of the University — Prime 
Movers in the Enterprise — Resolutions and Draft of Charter Adopt- 
ed—The Legislature Acts— First Board of Trustees— Organization 
Effected— Search for a Site for the New Institution— The Present 
Location at Evanston Finally Selected — Acquisition of Lands — Val- 
uable Real Estate in Chicago Retained as Part of the Endowment- 
Election of a President is Decided Upon 53-59 



CHAPTER lY. 
INSTITUTION IN DE\'ELOPiMENT. 
Dr. Clark T. Hinman Chosen First President — Sale of Scholarships Begins 
— Career of the New President Cut Short by His Early Death — 
Town Site Platted and Named in Honor of Dr. John Evans — Gar- 
rett Biblical Institute Established — First Corps of College Profes- 
sors Elected — University Assets in 1854 — Four-Mile Anti-Liquor 
District Established by Act of the Legislature — Teaching Force of 
the University Increased — Dr. Evans' Land Policy — The Institution 
is Opened for Pupils — Some of the First Students 61-66 

CHAPTER V. 
CONDITIONS IN 1856-1860. 
Trustees Meet in First University Building — Dr. R. S. Foster Elected the 
Second President — The Faculty Enlarged — Absorption of Rush 
Aledical College Projected — Competitors Enter the Field — Professor 
Jones' "Fern. Sem." — President Foster X'isits the University, but 
Obtains a Year's Leave of Absence — He Joins the Faculty in 1857 
— The Assets of the Institution Increased to Nearly $316,000 — Re- 
inforcement of the Faculty — First Graduated Class in 1859 — Dr. 
Foster Resigns the Presidency and is succeeded by Dr. E. O. 
Haven 67-72 

CHAPTER VI. 
PERIODS OF DEPRESSION AND GROWTH. 
Changes of Faculty — Charter Amendments Adopted — Effect of the Civil 
War on Number of Students — Accessions to the Faculty — Univer- 
sity Land Debt is Liquidated — Orrington Lunt Land Donation for 
Benefit of Library — University Hall Projected — Accession of Stu- 
dents and Teaching Force Following the War Period — New Prizes 
Serve as a Stimulus to the Students — First Honorary Degrees Con- 
ferred — Corporate Name is Changed — Professors' Salaries Increased 
and Erection of University Hall Prosecuted — A "Gold Brick" Dona- 
tion — Encouraging Financial Development — Death of Acting Pres- 
ident Noyes 73-?^ 

CHAPTER VII. 

A DECADE OF CHANGE. 

Chicago Medical College Merged in the University — A "Town and Gown" 

Contest — Dr. Erastus O. Haven Enters Upon the Presidency — 

Women Admitted to College Classes — ■ Addition to the Faculty — • 

Greenleaf Librarv — Advent of Collef^e T'^urnali-m — .\nother 



Change in the Presidency — Dr. Haven Succeeded by Dr. C. H. 
Fowler — Increase of Students and Growth of College Catalogue — 
Co-Education Established and Miss Frances E. Willard Joins the 
Faculty — Gymnasium Erected — Financial Embarrassment — Presi- 
dent Fowler Retires and Dr. Oliver H. Alarcy Becomes Acting 
President^The University Wins on the Taxation Issue — Life-Sav- 
ing Station Established 79-85 

CHAPTER VIII. 
AN ERA OF PROGRESS. 
Dr. Joseph Cummings, the Nestor of Eastern Educators, Succeeds to the 
Presidency — Indebtedness Wiped Out and the Institution Enters 
Upon a More Prosperous Era — Munificent Gifts and Improvements 
— Changes in Faculty and Trustees— Illinois School of Pharmacy 
and School of Dentistry Added — Celebration of University Day 
Inaugurated— President Cummings' Successful Career and His 
Taking Away — Dr. Marcy Temporarily Assumes the Position of 
Acting President — Dr. Henry Wade Rogers Succeeds to the Pres- 
idency in 1890 — Other Changes and Improvements — Department 
Schools and Colleges — Real Estate Investments 87-91 

CHAPTER IX. 
SOME SIDE ISSUES. 
Athletics and College Societies — Women's Educational Associations — 
"The Settlement" and the University Guild — Dr. Rogers Resigns 
the Presidency in 1899, and is Succeeded by Dr. Bonbright as Act- 
ing President — Long List of Notable Friends of the University 
Who Have Passed Awa} — Tribute to Their Memory — Dr. Edmund 
J. James' Two Years' Administration — He is Succeeded by Dr. 
Abram W. Harris 93-98 

CHAPTER X. 
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL. 
Object of its Organization — Early Conditions and Methods of Medical 
Education — Dr. N. S. Davis Begins the Agitation for Graded In- 
struction and Longer Courses — Lind University Established in 1859 
— Institution Affiliated with Northwestern University in 1869 — 
Changes of Name and Location — Growth, Present Conditions and 
Methods of Instruction — South Side Free Dispensary — Hospitals: 
Mercy, Wesley, St. Luke's and Provident — Clinical and other Ad- 
vantages — Influence of the Founders of the School Shown in its 
Growth and Character of its Graduates — Positions Won by its 
Alumni 99-I03 



CHAPTER XL 
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL. 
Historical Sketch — -Law School Founded in 1859 — Hon. Thomas Hoyne 
Leads in Endowment of First Chair— Only Three Law Schools then 
West of the Alleghenies — First Faculty — Notable Faculty Members 
of Later Date — Union College of Law Result of Combination of 
Northwestern and University of Chicago — First Board of Mana- 
gers and First Faculty Under New Arrangement — • LTniversity of 
Chicago Suspended in 1866 — Northwestern Assumes Control of 
Law School in 1891 — Subsequent History — Changes in Require- 
ments of Supreme Court as to Law Course — Present Home and 
Conditions — Acquisition of Gary Collection — Present Outlook 105-108 

CHAPTER XII. 
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY DENTAL SCHOOL. 
Dental Education as a Distinct Branch of Professional Training — First 
Dental School Established in 1839 — Development Due to State Leg- 
islation — Dental Schools in Eastern Cities — Chicago College of Den- 
tal Surgery Graduates its First Class in 1885 — Dr. Thomas L. Gil- 
mer Leads Movement for Establishment of Northwestern LTniver- 
sity Dental School- — Consolidation with American College of Dental 
Surgery — Dr. Theodore Menges Chief Promoter — First Faculty of 
the Consolidated School — Present Condition — Finds a Permanent 
Home in Historic Tremont House Building 109-115 

CHAPTER XIII. 
UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF PHARMACY. 
Founding of School of Pharmacy in Connection with Northwestern Uni- 
versity — Promoters of the Movement — School Opened in 1886 — Its 
Extensive Equipment — Instruction Rooms and Laboratories — Num- 
ber of Students in Eighteen Years — They are Drawn from Practi- 
cally All the States and Territories^Present Location of the Institu- 
tion — Library and \'alue of Equipment — Annual Expenditures — 
Faculty of 1905 1 17-1 18 

CHAPTER XR-. 
THE WOMAN'S MEDICAL SCHOOL. 
Demand for Higher Education for Women — First Steps in Founding 
Woman's Medical College — Promoters of Movement in Chicago — 
"Woman's Hospital Medical College" Founded in 1870 — First Fac- 
ulty — Story of "The Little Barn" — Career of Dr. Mary H. Thomp- 
son, Drs. Bvford, Dvas and Others — Some Notable Graduates — A 



Period of Struggle — Institution Reorganized in 1877 as Woman's 
Medical College — President By ford Dies in 1890 — Institution Affil- 
iated with Northwestern University — • Is Discontinued in 1902 — 
Graduates in Foreign Missionary and Other Fields — Alumnje Or- 



I 19-129 



CHAPTER XV. 
UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MUSIC. 
Sphere of Music in Higher Institutions — Its Influence on Character and as 
the Hand-Maid of Religion — Higher Aspects of the Art — Its 
Growth in the Universities — History of its Connection with Ev- 
anston Educational Institutions — Northwestern Female College 
Merged into Evanston College for Ladies in 1871 — The Latter Be- 
comes a Part of Northwestern University in 1873 — Struggles, 
Changes and Growth of Later Years — Some Notable Teachers — In- 
crease in Roll of Pupils — Need of Ampler Buildings — Music Fes- 
tivals 131-148 

CHAPTER XVI. 
UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF ORATORY. 
Professor Cumnock as Founder — Growth and Standing Due to his Labors 
— First Class Graduated in 1881 — Its Aim and Branches Taught — 
Building Erected — Is Dedicated in 1895 — Location and Description 
— Advantage over Private Institutions of Like Character — Training 
in English Composition and Rhetoric — Enrollment According to 
Last Catalogue — Promising Outlook for the Future 149-150 

CHAPTER XVII. 
UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS. 
Evanston Life-Saving Crew — Tragic Fate of the Steamer "Lady Elgin" 
Leads to Its Organization — Its First Members — List of Notable 
Rescues — Service Rewarded by Issue of Medals to the Crew by Act 
of Congress — Baseball History — The Old Gymnasium — Tug of War 
Teams — Football Records — Athletic Field and Grand Stand — Track 
Athletics and Tennis Games 151-162 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
GARRETT BIBLICAL INSTITUTE. 
Historical Sketch — Origin of the Institute Due to the Munificence of Mrs. 
Augustus Garrett — Building Erected in 1855 and Institute Opened 
in 1856 — Additional Buildings Erected in 1867 and 1887 — The Re- 



publican "Wigwam" of i860 Becomes the Property of the Institute 
— Reverse Caused by Fire of 1871 — Disaster Averted in 1897 — 
Growth of the Institute — Personal History — Large Number of the 
Alumni in Missionary and Other Fields — Alembers of the Faculty 
and Board of Trustees 163-167 

CHAPTER XIX. 
EARLY DRAINAGE. 
First Steps in Organization of a Drainage System for Evanston — Natural 
Conditions — Early Legislation of 1855 — The Late Harvey B. Hurd 
Member and Secretary of First Board of Commissioners — Construc- 
tion of Ditches Begun — Drainage Amendment of the Present Con- 
stitution Adopted in 1878 — Extension of the System — Local Opposi- 
tion — A Tax Collector's Experience — A Flood Converts the Oppo- 
nents of the System 169-172 

CHAPTER XX. 
PUBLIC UTILITIES. 
Area and Topography of the City of Evanston — The Drainage Problem — 
A Period of Evolution — Municipal Development — Electric Light 
System Installed — Street Improvements — Parks and Boulevards — 
The Transportation Problem — Steam and Inter-urban Railway 
Connections — Heating System — Telephone Service — Evanston as a 
Residence City 173-180 

CHAPTER XXI. 
WATER SUPPLY— LIGHTING SYSTEM. 
Conditions Prior to 1874 — First Movement to Secure an Adequate Water 
Supply — Charles J. Gilbert Its Leader — Holly Engines Installed in 
1874 and 1886 — Annexation of South Evanston — The Consolidated 
City Incorporated in 1892 — Increase in the Water Supply in 1897 — 
Source of Supply — Revenue — Extent of System — Street Lighting 
by Gas Introduced in 1871 — Introduction of Electric Lighting in 
1890 — Installation of the Evanston-Yaryan Light and Heating Sys- 
tem 181-185 

CHAPTER XXII. 
EDUCATION. 
The Public Schools of Evanston — Day of the Log School House — Early 
Schools and their Teachers — Sacrifice of School Lands — Present 
School Buildings — Township High School — Preliminary History — 



School Opened in September, 1883— Prof. Boltwood its First Princi- 
pal — Present School Building — Manual Training — A Moot Presi- 
dential Election — Drawing Department — List of Trustees 187-200 



CHAPTER XXIII. 
EVANSTON AUTHORS. 
Establishment of N'orthwestern University the Beginning of Evanston Lit- 
erary Life — Effect of the Gathering of Professors, Instructors and 
Students— Growth of Literary Activity — Some Notable Authors — 
Edward Eggleston and Frances E. Willard Begin their Careers in 
Evanston — Miss Willard's "A Classic Town" — Miss Simpson's Cata- 
logue of Evanston Authors for 1900 — Growth of Nine Years — Al- 
phabetical List of Authors with Bibliography and Biographical Rec- 
ords '. 201-215 

CHAPTER XXIV. 
LIBRARIES— PUBLIC AND PRIVATE. 

Evanston's First Librar) Major Mulford the "Gentleman Pioneer of 

Evanston" — Some Specimens of His Library — First Sunday School 
Library — Private Libraries of Today — Unique Collection of Curios 
— History of Evanston Free Public Library — Edward Eggleston 
Prime Mover in Its Founding — First Step in Organization — Later 
History and Growth — Roll of Librarians and Other Officers — Cata- 
loguing and Library Extension — Internal Management and Condi- 
tions — Site for a Library Building Secured in 1904 — Carnegie Gift 
of $50,000 — Erection of New Building Commenced in June, 1906. . . 217-231 

CHAPTER XXV. 
UNIVERSITY LIBRARY. 
First Step in the Organization of a University Library — President Foster's 
Gift — Advance of Fifty Years — The Greenleaf Library — University 
Library is Made a Depository for Government Publications — Re- 
cent Notable Donations — Orrington Lunt Library Building is Dedi- 
cated in 1894 — The Orrington Lunt Library Fund — Internal Ad- 
ministration — List of Those Who Have Served as Librarians — 
Libraries of Garrett Biblical Institute and Professional Schools.... 233-236 

CHAPTER XXVI. 
EVANSTON NEWSPAPERS. 
The Newspaper as a Necessity — Introduction and Growth of Local Jour- 
nals — The "Suburban Idea," The "Evanston Inde.x" and Other 



Early Papers — Story of the "Evanston Press" — Advent of the 
Daily— Effect of the Chicago Printer's Strike of 1898 — Tem:.er- 
ance Organ — College Journals — A "Frat." and "Barb." Advertising 
Contest — Quarterly and Monthly Publications — High Standard of 
Evanston Journalism 237-243 

CHAPTER XXVH. 
MEDICAL HISTORY. 
(regular.) 
Primitive Sanitary Conditions — Freedom from Malarial Diseases — Some 
Old-Time Physicians — Sketch of Dr. John Evans — Drs. Lud- 
1am, Weller and Blaney — Dr. N. S. Davis the Nestor of Medical 
Education — An Early Drug Store — Sketches of Later Day Phy- 
sicians — Drs. Webster, Bannister, Burchmore. Brayton, Bond, 
Phillips, Haven, Hemenway, Kaufman, and others — Evanston 
Physicians" Club 245-254 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 
MEDICAL HISTORY. 
(homoeopathic.) 
First Case of Homoeopathic Treatment in Evanston — Successful Results 
— Early Homoeopathic Physicians — Dr. Havvkes First Local Prac- 
titioner — He is Followed by Dr. C. D. Fairbanks — Sketch of 
Dr. Oscar H. Mann — His Prominence in Local Educational, Of- 
ficial and Social Relations — Founding of the Evanston Hospital — 
Doctors Marcy. Clapp and Fuller — Roll of the Later Physicians and 
Surgeons 255-260 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

EVANSTON HOSPITAL. 
The Evanston Benevolent Society — First Steps in Founding a Hospital 
— Organization is Effected in 1891 — First Board of Officers — 
Medical Staff — Fund and Building Campaign — Enlargement of 
the Institution Projected — Munificent Gift of Mrs. Cable — Other 
Donations — The Endowment Reaches $50,000 — Hospital of the 
Present and the Future — Internal Arrangement and Official Ad- 
ministration — List of Principal Donors — Present Officers 261-274 

CHAPTER XXX. 
LOCAL MUSICAL ORGANIZATIONS. 
Evanston as it Existed in 1856 — Primitive Church Music — War Songs 
— A Commencement Concert — The Hutchinson Family — Jules 



Lumbard — O. H. Merwin Becomes a Choir Leader — Other 
Notable Musicians — Evanston's First Musical Club — Some Fa- 
mous Teachers and Performers — Thomas Concert Class Organized 
— Mrs. Edward Wyman — Musical Department of Evanston Wo- 
man's Club — Women's Clubs as a Factor in Musical Training — 
Evanston Musical Club — Maennerchor Organized — Programs — 
Officers 275-287 



CHAPTER XXXI. 
EVANSTON BANKS. 
History of Evanston Banking Enterprises — Effect of the Chicago Fire — 
First Private Bank Established in 1874 — Incorporated as a State 
Bank in 1892 — • First Officers of the New Institution — Growth of 
Deposits — It Successfully Withstands the Panic of 1893 — Pres- 
ent Officers (1906) — A First National Bank Venture — The Panic 
of 1893 Results in Disaster — The City National Bank of Evanston 
Established in 1900 — First Officers and Leading Stockholders — 
Its Prosperous Career — Condition in 1906 289-293 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

EVANSTON REAL ESTATE. 

Primary Geological Conditions — Early Roads — The Indian Trail — A 
Period of Growth — "The Path the Calf Made" — Influence of 
the LTniversity — Evanston Over-boomed — Effect of the Chicago 
Fire — Local Real Estate Rivalries — Notable Residences — The 
Transportation Problem — The Park System — Ta.xation — • Ev- 
anston Homes — Real Estate Values 295-302 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 
EVANSTON ARCHITECTURE. 
Historic Progress — Influence of the Architect on the City's Growth — 
The "Georgian" Style Follows the Log and Grout Houses — 
Churches and Private Residences — Advent of the Victorian Gothic 
Style — University Hall and Union Park Congregational Church 
— Architect G. P. Randall the Designer — Asa Lyons Evanston's, 
First Resident Architect — Others who followed him — Descrip- 
tion of Some Notable Buildings and their Designers — Public Li- 
brarv — Enumeration of Principal Private and Public Buildings.. 3<^3-309 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 
STREET NOMENCLATURE. 
Origin of Street and Avenue Names in Evanston — Village Platted in 
1853 and Named for Dr. John Evans — Postoffice Previous- 
ly Known as Ridgeville. and Still Earlier as Gross Point — Ev- 
anston Postoffice Established in 1855 — Street Names Derived 
from Prominent Methodists, Early Residents or Noted Statesmen 
— History and Biography thus Incorporated in Street Nomencla- 
ture — • System of Street and Avenue Numbering — List of Princi- 
pal Streets and Persons for Whom Named 311-316 

CHAPTER XXXV. 
THE FOUR-MILE LIMIT. 
Act Incorporating N^orthwestern University Amended — Prohibition Dis- 
trict Established — Sale of Spirituous Liquors Within Four Miles 
of the L^niversity Prohibited — Local Sentiment in Favor of the 
Law — Violations and Anti-Saloon Litigation — Citizens' League 
Organized — Supreme Court Decisions 317-321 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 
HOMES AND HOME-MAKERS— 1846-1870. 
Some of the Early Homes of Evanston — Men and Women Who Have 
Left Their Impress on the City's History — What Evanston 
Owes to Its Early Home Builders — Historic Names on the City 
Map — .\braham Lincoln and other Distinguished \'isitors — The 
Willard and Eggleston Families — Notable Workers in the Field 
of Religion, Education, Literature and the Arts Z^yZ2,9 

CHAPTER XXXVII. 
EVANSTON CHURCH HISTORY. 
Early Methodist Services in Grosse Point District — First Methodist Epis- 
copal Church Organized — Some of the Pioneer Preachers — Influ- 
ence of the Coming of Garrett Biblical Institute and Northwestern 
University — Notable Ministers of a Later Date — Central M. E. 
Church — List of Pastors — Norwegian-Danish and Swedish M. E. 
Churches — Hemenway, Wheadon and Emmanuel Churches — 
First Baptist Church — Its Founders and List of Pastors — History 
of Presbyterianism — ■ First and Second Presbyterian Churches — 
Pastors and Auxiliary Societies — St. Mark's Episcopal Church 
— List of Pastors — St. Matthew's Mission — St. Mary's Catholic 
Church, Schools and Related Associations— Congregational Church 



and Auxiliary Organizations — Bethlehem German Evangelical, 
Norwegian-Danish and Swedish Lutheran Churches — Evanston 
Christian Church and Its History — Church of Christ (Scientist). . 341-389 



CHAPTER XXXVni. 
YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION. 
Evanston Young Men's Christian Association — Organization EtTected in 
1885 — First Board of Officers — General History — Association 
Building Erected and Dedicated in 1898 ^ Gymnasium and Nata- 
torium Constructed — List of Former and Present Officers 391-393 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 
WOMAN'S CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNIONS. 
Women's Temperance Alliance — Evanston Woman's Christian Temper- 
ance Union Organized in 1875 — Working Departments — Enforce- 
ment of Four-Mile Limit Law — Industrial School — Children's 
Organization — Loyal Temperance Legion and Gospel Temper- 
ance Meetings — Miss Frances E. Willard and Other Noted 
Leaders — Manual Training School — The Evanston W. C. T. U. — 
Reiley and South Evanston Unions — Young Woman's Organiza- 
tion 395-404 



CHAPTER XL. 
CHARITABLE ASSOCIATIONS. 
Evanston Benevolent Society Organized • — Names of Its Founders and 
First Officers — Hospital Projected — New Society Takes the 
Name "Associated Charities" — Auxiliary Organizations — Moth- 
ers' Sewing School — St. Vincent de Paul Society— Needle Work 
Guild — Mothers' Club — Visiting Nurse Association — • King's 
Daughters — Camp Good Will — Its Service in Behalf of Poor 
Mothers and Children — Receipts and Expenditures 405-423 

CHAPTER XLI. 
SOCIAL LIFE IN A UMXERSITY TOWN. 
Transitions of a Half Century — ■ Social Life as It Existed in Early Days 
— The Building up of a Great Christian Institution as Its 
Dominant Motive — Reminiscences of Some of Its Early Factors 
— Influence of Hospitality on Student Life and Character — Some of 
Those W'ho Were Influential in Establishing Evanston's Reputa- 
tion as a Hospitable Center 425-431 



CHAPTER XLII. 
SOCIAL AND LITERARY CLUBS. 
A Reminiscence of Noah's Ark — Social Instincts of Evanstonians — 
Philosophical Association — Its Founders and Their Favorite Top- 
ics — The "O. R. Circle" Blossoms Out as the "Legensia" — Bry- 
ant Circle — Pierian Club — Woman's Clubs — The Fortnightly 
Succeeds the "Woman's Reading Circle" — Its Service in the Field 
of Charity and Philanthropy — The Coterie — Twentieth Century 
and Present Day Clubs 433-442 

CHAPTER XLIII. 
THE EVANSTON WOMAN'S CLUB. 
Origin of Evanston Woman's Club — Julia Ward Howe's Advice — Or- 
ganization and First Officers — • Club Programs — Auxiliary Or- 
ganizations — Work of the Traveling Library Committee — Field 
Day at Lake Geneva — Object of the Club Defined in Its Constitu- 
tion — Club Motto 443-447 

CHAPTER XLIV. 
THE EVANSTON CLUB. 
Promoters and Organizers of "The Greenwood Club" — First Members 
and Officers — Name Changed to "The Evanston Club" — Club 
Building Erected — First Reception — Changes in By-Laws and 
Membership — Value of Club Property — List of Officers 449-452 

CHAPTER XLV. 
EVANSTON COUNTRY CLUB. 
First Steps and Motives Prompting Organization — Names of Projectors 

— Organization Effected in May, 1888 — The New Club Finds a 
Home — Memories of the "Old Shelter" and Its First Occupants 

— The Club Formally Incorporated — First Board of Directors — 
New Quarters Dedicated in October, 1902 — New Year's Recep- 
tions and Children's Day Chief Functions — Lady Directors — Pro- 
motion of Branch Associations — Dramatic, Cycling, Musical 
Equestrian and Polo Branches — Banjo and Mandolin Association 

— Former and Present Officers — Present Membership 800 — 

List of Life Members 453-461 



PORTRAITS AND ILLUSTRATIONS 



Bassett, Jared 106 

Boutelle, Joshua P 114 

Bragdon, Merritt C 133 

Canfield, William J 134 

Carson, Oliver M . .: 140 

City Hall 174 

Clark Alexander 146 

Comstock, Charles 154 

Condict, Wallace R 160 

Crain. Charles 188 

Cummings, Joseph 194 

Ciirrey, J. Seymour 300 

Dawes, Charles G 206 

Dyche, William A 213 

Evans, John 21S 

Evanston Hospital 363 

Earwell, Simeon 234 

First Methodist Episcopal Church 343 

Foster, John J 230 

Foster, Volney W 338 

Gross Point Lighthouse 183 

Grover, Frank R 342 

Hinman, Clark T 366 

Hurd, Harvey B 15 

Isbester, Tunis 380 

Jenks, Chancellor L 286 

Jones, William H 393 

Kedzie, John H 300 

Kirk, John B 306 

Kline, George R 313 

Kline, Simon V 318 



Little, Charles J 324 

Lunt, Orrington 330 

Lyons, Joseph M 350 

Map— City of Evanstoii Facing Title Page 

Map — Ridgeville Township, 1851 173 

Mark, Anson 356 

Northwestern Female College SO 

Orrington Liint Home 336 

Orrington Lunt Library 234 

Orrington Lunt Library (Floor Plans) 234 

Pitner, Levi C 362 

Pool on the Campus 63 

Poole, Isaac 36S 

Poppenhusen, Conrad H 374 

President Roosevelt's Visit 94 

Raymond, Miner 380 

Residence of Aaron O. Auten 100 

Residence of Abraham C. Bird 110 

Residence of William L. Brown 128 

Residence of Mrs. Wallace R. Condict 116 

Residence of Lawrence G. Hallberg 246 

Residence of Francis A. Hardy 256 

Residence of the late Harvey B. Hurd 273 

Residence of Mrs. Charles H. Rowe 398 

Residence of Robert D. Sheppard 416 

Residence of Parke E. Simmons 456 

Residence of Charles A. Ward 434 

Ridgaway, Henry B 386 

Sargent, George M 404 

Schwall, Andrew 410 

South End of the Campus ' 63 

Stockton, William E 423 

The Old Oak 74 

Townsend, Adam F 423 

University Hall 54 

White, Hugh A 433 

Willard, Frances E 444 

Williams, John M 450 

Y. M. C. A. Building 393 



BIOGRAPHICAL 



Ahlberg, August 620 

Anderson, Frank Herbert 579 

Andrews, Wilbur J 643 

Anthony, Elliott 500 

Balderston, Stephen V 621 

Banks, Alexander F 620 

Barker, John T 635 

Barlow, Charles W 590 

Barnes, James Milton 5S0 

Bass, Myron H 584 

Bassett, Asahel 593 

Bassett, Jared 497 

Bates, Thomas 615 

Beebe, Thomas H 623 

Black, Carl Ellsworth 595 

Blake, Edgar Ovet 599 

Boltwood, Henry Leonidas 540 

Boring, Ezra March 641 

Borton, Frank Lynn 608 

Boutelle, Joshua P 517 

Bragdon, Charles C 606 

Bragdon, Merritt C 510 

Brainard, William Newell 596 

Brayton, Sarah H 580 

Bristol, Lewis Tabor 632 

Brown, Andrew J 565 

Brown, Walter Lee 640 

Brown, William Liston 543 

Browne, Vernelle Freeland 633 

Buntain, Cassius M. C 611 

Burns, Peter Thomas 613 

Butler, Henry 634 

Byrne, John G 634 

Calligan, John Brenton 610 

Camden, William J 614 



Canfield, William J 519 

Carney, John 609 

Carpenter, William Montelle 585 

Carson, Oliver M 519 

Catlin, Franklin Sexton 606 

Cermak, Jerome J 645 

Clark, Alexander 495 

Coe, George Albert 576 

Coe, Sadie Knowland 576 

Comstock, Charles 484 

Condict, Wallace Reynolds 518 

Grain, Charles 538 

Cummings, Joseph 489 

Cumnock, Robert iMcLean 530 

Currey, Josiah Seymour 530 

Damsel, William Hudson 627 

Davis, Nathan Smith, Jr 603 

Dawes, Charles Gates 509 

Deering, William 4S3 

Dixon, George William 617 

Dodds, Robert 611 

Dyche David R 608 

Elliot, Frank M 563 

Elting, Philip E 646 

Eversz, Ernest Hammond 643 

Farwell, Simeon 507 

Filer, Alanson 583 

Flinn, John J 625 

Follansbee, Mitchell Davis 627 

Forrey, Frank Myer 626 

Foster, John J 537 

Foster, Volney W 503 

Fox, George Thomas 645 



Gallup, Walter L 589 

Garland, James A 618 

Gerould, Frank Wheelock 629 

Gibson, John W 636 

Gooch, George E 636 

Greene, Benjamin Allen 563 

Griswold, William Morse 585 

Grover, Aldin J 535 

Grover, Frank Reed 536 

Hall, Winl^eld Scott 501 

Hamline, John H 553 

Hamline, Leonidas P 552 

Harbert, Elizabeth Boynton 559 

Harbert, William S 558 

Helm, Walter B 647 

Hemenway, Henry B 564 

Hempstead, Edward 616 

Herben, Stephen Joseph 546 

Herdien, Elmer .Forrest 633 

Herdien. Walter Laurance 633 

Hinsdale, Henry W 633 

Hitt, Isaac R., Jr •. . . . 594 

Hoag, Thomas C 555 

Hoag, William Gale 556 

Hoffman, John Raymond 650 

Holmes, Raynor Elmore 615 

Hoover, Judson Wilkes 617 

Hotch, Louis Grant 646 

Hungate, John H 588 

Hurd, Harvey B 474 

Ide, George Osman 628 

Isbester, Tunis 537 

Jenks, Chancellor Livingston 486 

Johnson, Richard R 618 

Jones, Albert R 550 

Jones, William Hugh 508 

Kedzie, John Hume 488 

Kimball, Dorr Augustine 573 

Kingsley, Homer Hitchcock 549 

Kirk, John B 506 

Kirkbride, Charles Neville 617 

Kline, Charles Gaffield 536 



Kline, George Romyne 535 

Kline, Simon Veder 535 

Knight, Newell Clark 549 

Lake Richard Conover 570 

Learned, Edward W 571 

Leonhardt, Susan 631 

Lindsay, Mary Boyd 599 

Little, Arthur W 544 

Loba, Jean Frederic 557 

Logan, Charles Lyford 645 

Loomis, Mason B 588 

Lorimer. Joseph M 582 

Lunt, Orrington 463 

Lutkin, Peter Christian 566 

Lyons, Joseph McGee 539 

Mann, Oscar H 578 

Marcy, Elizabeth Eunice 604 

Mark, Anson 548 

Mayo, Charles H 614 

Maxson, Orrin T 629 

McCallin, Sidney G 646 

McCleary, Wilbur Wallace 587 

Merrick, George Peck 547 

Meyer, Sidney Bachrach 585 

Miller, Humphrys H. C 521 

Moore, George Henry 638 

Murphy, Edward J 638 

Murphy, John C 637 

Nesbitt, George W 648 

Nichols, Roscoe Townley 613 

Oldberg, Prof. Oscar 596 

Parkes, William Beckley 630 

Persons, Albert D 647 

Piper, Charles Edward 644 

Pitner, Levi Carroll 511 

Plummer, Samuel Craig 646 

Poole, Charles Clarence 639 

Poppenhusen, Conrad Herman 534 

Raddin, Charles S 639 

Raymond, Frederick D 516 



Raymond, James Henry 601 

Raj-mond, Miner 513 

Remy, Curtis H 554 

Richards, Charles L 614 

Ridgaway, Henry Bascom 49S 

Sargent, George Myrick 493 

Schwall, Andrew 538 

Sheppard, Robert Dickinson 477 

Shutterly, Eugene E 601 

Shutterly, John Jay 600 

Smith, Amos A. L , 618 

Smyth, Hugh P 604 

Solenberger, Amos R 649 

Spencer, Claudius B 555 

Stevens, William Leon 648 

Stockton, William Eichbaun 527 

Stow, Nelson Lloyd 550 

Stringtield, C. Pruyn 619 

Sweet, Alanson 577 

Synnestvedt, Paul 648 

Tallmadge, Lewis Cass 574 

Terry, Milton S ■ .• 545 



Townsend, Adam Fries 520 

Trowbridge, Lucius A 572 

Tuttle, Ole Hansen 649 

Van Arsdale, John R 572 

Voje, John H 590 

Volz, George P. K 641 

Walcott, Chester P 568 

Waldberg, Benjamin 649 

Walworth, Nathan H 56S 

Watson, Thomas H 593 

Way, Charles Lyman 581 

Webster, Edward H 641 

White, Hugh Alexander 485 

Whitefield, George W 607 

Willard, Frances E 478 

Williams, John Marshall 522 

Winslow, Rollin Curtis 627 

Woodbridge, John R 598 

Work, Joseph Waters 631 

Young, Aaron Nelson 548 

Zipperman, Solomon W 613 




JvUrr-^^^ _J3^, ^JAa^ C^ 



CHAPTER I. 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



INTRODUCTORY. 



TIic Evanston of 1905 — Gem Suburb of a 
Great Metropolis and Seat of Learning — 
Results Accomplished by Fifty Years 
of Development — Contrast Betzveen Past 
and Present — First Township Organiza- 
tion Under Name of Ridgcville — Evans- 
ton Township Organised in 183/ — The 
Village Platted in 1854 — Later Changes 
in Township and Municipal Organization 
— Old Name of Ridgeville Township Re- 
sumed in 190^, with Boundaries Identical 
zvith City of Evanston — Garrett Biblical 
Institute Precedes the University — City 
Government Organized in 1892 — Early 
Evanston Homes and Their Occupants — 
Advent of the First Railroad — The Ca- 
reer of Dr. John Evans. 

The Evanston of 1905 is justification of 
an effort to unfold the story of its planting 
and its development. Gem of suburbs as it 
is, lying contiguous to the greatest of west- 
ern cities and the home of many of its 
most active men of affairs, it also occupies 
a commanding position as a seat of intel- 
ligence and learning. It has crowded into 
its short career so much of human interest, 
it has been the source of so many wide 
spreading and helpful influences, it is so 



endeared to the people who have found in it 
a home, that the narration of its fifty years 
of progress must be told. Like many an- 
other American city closely associated with 
a metropolis, it has attained its present 
proud position within the memory of men 
now living, among whom is included the 
general editor of the present work. It pos- 
sesses no ruins and no ivy-covered walls. 
Its oldest buildings bear the marks of re- 
cent construction, and its well paved streets 
have but lately passed from the hands of 
the contractor. Unlike some of the his- 
toric towns of the United States, whose 
history has been written covering two cen- 
turies or more, and which reflect the growth 
and history of the American people, this 
tidy suburban town has developed quickly 
within itself all the forces that make up our 
active, advanced American life, of schools 
and churches, of clubs and cabals ; in re- 
ligion, society, politics, philanthropy and 
pleasure it is an epitome of distinctly mod- 
ern progress. Numerous helpful hands have 
been employed to draw the composite pic- 
ture that is meant to convey a lasting im- 
pression of the facts and forces that make 
up the idea of Evanston. and placing them 
side by side, or mingling them in one's 



i6 



INTRODUCTORY 



thought, we have the resultant of as wide- 
awake, up-to-date, eager, intelligent, inter- 
esting and hopeful a community of men, 
women and youth as the world can furnish. 

Perhaps you have at some time paused 
to listen to the mingled din of a great city 
and, with a quick ear, analyzed the indi- 
vidual sounds that make up the hum of the 
city's life. That task has been ours. The 
hum is well nigh deafening to the ear, 
sensitized by attention even in a town which 
boasts few noises of factories or traffic. 
But its hum is not less real, of activities 
which employ the finer faculties of men and 
women. It will be told otherwheres how 
the particular region that now bears the 
name of Evanston came to be selected as 
the site of a college town. Delving into 
the political conditions that antedate the 
modern city, we find that Cook County, 111., 
in which Evanstonislocated, was, previous 
to 1849, under what is known in this State 
as County Government; that is, the county 
affairs were managed by a Board of Com- 
missioners, who supervised the community 
business of the neighborhoods that had not 
yet emerged into local government. Many 
of these were designated by a name which 
might later attach to a township, but there 
was no township government, though there 
were townships indicated in the United 
States Survey, and designated by numbers, 
which were used before 1849, and have 
been since used in connection with school 
purposes, as illustrating this condition. 

It is interesting to note that the records 
of Township 41 — in which Evanston is 
located — now in possession of the Evanston 
Historical Society, were begun in 1846, 
and that they record the election of Town- 
ship Trustees for school purposes four 
years before the first election of officers of 
the town of Ridgeville, which included 
Evanston; and, as throwing a little light 
upon the onerous duties of these early 



Trustees, we read from the minutes of their 
third meeting, held May 20, 1846, at the 
Ridge Road House: "It was ordered that 
we proceed to hire Miss Cornelia Wheadon 
to teach our school the present season, at 
one dollar and twenty-five cents a week. 
Also, it was ordered that the school house 
should be repaired as soon as possible, and 
furnished with a water-pail and dipper." 

Evidently Township 41 had enjoyed the 
blessing of a school house long enough for 
it to get out of repair, probably under the 
regime of County Commissioners. In the 
Code of By-Laws of the School Trustees, 
it was provided that, in case a patron of 
the school refused, or was not in position 
at the appointed time, to receive the teacher 
the required number of days, the teacher 
should select his or her own boarding place, 
and the board bill should be taxed with 
such patron's tuition bill. From such germs 
has Evanston's splendid school system de- 
veloped. 

Township Organization. — By the Con- 
stitution of 1848 the Legislature was re- 
quired to provide by general law for town- 
ship organization, which it did by Act of 
February 12, 1849. By this act the people 
were permitted to divide their counties into 
towns or townships, which were to conform 
as nearly as might be with the congressional 
townships. Commissioners were appointed 
for the purpose of dividing the county, and 
the people were permitted to select the 
names of the townships. When they could 
not agree, the Commissioners were author- 
ized to select the names for them. The 
people of fractional Town 41 North, Range 
14 East, chose the name of Ridgeville. This 
continued to be the name of the town until 
by act of the Legislature of February 15, 
1857, it was changed to Evanston, and the 
township was enlarged by the addition of 
a tier of sections taken from Niles Town- 
ship on the west and the Archange Reser- 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



vation and several sections in Township 42, 
taken from New Trier on the north. The 
language of the act reads: "The name of 
Ridgeville shall be changed to Evanston, 
and the Town of Evanston shall comprise 
all of fractional Township 41 North, Range 
14 East, Sections 12, 13, 24, 25 and 36, 
Township 41 North, Range 13 East, the 
Archange Reservation and fractional Sec- 
tions 22, 26 and 27, Township 42 North, 
Range 14 East, and the same shall form and 
constitute a township for school purposes 
and be known as Town 41 North, Range 
14 East." 

Dreary reading — perhaps, dry as dust — 
but thrilling none the less, because it is the 
record of a creative act of great importance. 
Under an enabling act, approved May 23, 
1877, and amended May 15, 1903, the ter- 
ritory embraced within the present limits 
of the city of Evanston has been formed 
into a township under the old name of 
Ridgeville, which makes the boundaries of 
the city and the new township identical and 
in eflfect consolidates the township and city 
governments. The new township as now 
constituted embraces what previously 
formed the southern part of New Trier 
Township and a small section from the 
northeast corner of Niles Township. The 
remainder of the former Township of 
Evanston now constitutes the northern por- 
tion of the City of Chicago, with a small 
section south of the Chicago city limits and 
west of the southern portion of Evanston, 
these two sections remaining under the old 
name of Evanston Township, though not 
embracing any part of the city of that 
name. 

Village and City Organization. — Such 
are Evanston 's present geographical and 
political relations to the county and the 
State. Under the loose system of county 
and township government it subsisted till 
1863. It had been platted as a town in 



1854, and outstripping all other sections 
of the township, and taking on exclusive- 
ness and individuality, it demanded a nar- 
rower and more intensive government of 
its platted territory. The agitation cul- 
minated in a meeting of voters on De- 
cember 29, 1863, when it was decided, in 
accordance with the law on the subject, to 
organize an incorporated town, and the 
decision was consummated by the election 
of five Trustees, January 6, 1864. The new 
town was bounded by Lake Michigan on 
the east, Wesley Avenue on the west, Crain 
and Hamilton Streets on the south, and 
Foster Street on the north. In 1869 a 
special act of the Legislature permitted the 
incorporation of the City of Evanston, but 
content with their simple form of gov- 
ernment, the citizens decided against its 
adoption by a vote of 197 to 82. Yet with- 
in three years they organized under the 
Act of 1872 for Cities and Villages, but 
continued their village form of government 
by Trustees selected from the village at 
large instead of by Aldermen from wards, 
with a Village President instead of Mayor. 
In 1872 new territory was annexed to the 
town on petition of property owners of 
the district lying north of Foster Street 
and east of Wesley and Asbury Avenues, 
and extending to the present limits of the 
city. On October 19, 1872, village or- 
ganization was adopted under the general 
City and Village Incorporation Act of 
April 10, 1872, and the first village election 
took place April 15, 1873. Further in- 
crease of territory was made January 7, 
1873, by the annexation, on petition, of the 
region bounded on the north by Grant 
Street, on the south by Church and Foster 
Streets, on the east by Wesley and Asbury 
Avenues, and on the west by Dodge Street. 
Then followed, during the same month, 
the accession of the region bounded on 
the north by Grant and Simpson Streets, 



i8 



INTRODUCTORY 



on the south by Church Street, on the east 
by Dodge Street, and on the west by Hart- 
rey and McDaniel Avenues. April 21, 
1874, the Village of North Evanston suc- 
cumbed to the acquisitive mood of its larger 
neighbor, and, in September of the same 
year, the territory lying between Hamilton 
and Greenleaf Streets, with the lake on 
the east and Chicago Avenue on the west, 
was included by petition. In April, 1886, 
the territory bounded by Church Street, 
Wesley Avenue, Crain Street and McDaniel 
Avenue, was likewise annexed on petition. 
Finally, on February 20, 1892, the important 
question of the annexation of South Evan- 
ston was submitted to the vote of both vil- 
lages and approved by a small majority. 

Thus the chapter of territorial expansion 
for Evanston was closed for the time be- 
ing. It had now outgrown the swaddling 
clothes of village government and de- 
manded the habiliments of a city. The' 
question of the adoption of city organiza- 
tion was submitted to the people on March 
29, 1892, and was adopted by a vote of 784 
to 26. The first city election took place 
April 19, 1892, when Dr. Oscar H. Mann 
became the first Mayor of the city. 

Physical Characteristics. — The physical 
characteristics of Evanston have changed 
but little in the progress of the years. Its 
main features, north and south, were the 
Lake Shore on the east, more wooded than 
now, with two ridges, one called the East 
Ridge, comprising the land purchased by 
the University, and the other the West 
Ridge, comprising the lands of Brown and 
Hurd, which were a part of the first town- 
plat. The latter ridge was some forty-five 
feet above the lake level. Between the 
ridges was a level valley, receptacle of the 
drainage of the ridges, often giving the 
impression of a swamp, but easily suscept- 
ible of being drained to the north or by 
ditches to the Lake. The trend of these 



ridges constrained the surveyors in the 
platting of the town, so that the streets 
running north and south paralleled the 
ridge roads, and the east and west bound 
streets crossed the former at right angles. 
The original plat comprised three hundred 
and fifty acres, purchased by the Trustees 
of the University from John H. Foster, in 
1853, and nearly two hundred and fifty 
acres, purchased about the same time, by 
Andrew J. Brown and Harvey B. Hurd, 
from James Carney. The tract was well 
wooded, especially along the shore of the 
Lake, chiefly with oaks, some few of which 
remain to give a hint of the noble forest of 
which they formed a part. The plat, which 
perished in the Chicago fire, bore the names 
of streets that kept fresh in memory some 
of the active spirits who were associated 
with the early days of the enterprise, such 
as Dempster, Hinman, Judson, Benson, 
Sherman, Davis, Orrington and Clark ; 
while to the west, such names of streets as 
Oak, Maple Grove and Ridge were a 
tribute to the conditions that then pre- 
vailed, and help the late-comers to picture 
the leafy shade, overlooked by the old-time 
thoroughfare that crowned the ridge; and 
still farther west, Wesley and Asbury 
Avenues flanked the town, testifying to 
the loyal Methodism of the settlers who 
dwelt within it. 

The Town Platted. — The purchases of 
the land were made in 1853, and, during 
that year, the town was staked out and 
streets thrown up, but the plat was not 
acknowledged till 1854, in which year a 
number of lots were sold, houses built and 
families settled. The plat made by the 
Northwestern University provided gener- 
ously, in its portion of the town, for public 
parks such as now beautify the town. The 
streets were spacious, and a constituency 
was appealed to such as might be attracted 
to an educational center. This was the 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



19 



chief magnet. The idea of the suburban 
residence had not yet emerged. The fam- 
ilies who came were chiefly those that 
were attracted by the idea of residence in a 
college town. Garrett Biblical Institute 
preceded the University on university 
ground, and John Dempster, at Old Demp- 
ster Hall, realized to the early students of 
the Institute, as Mark Hopkins did to the 
students of Williams College, how a very 
few facilities in the hands of such a master 
will serve to develop the minds and hearts 
of men eager for an education. Obadiah 
Huse early ministered to the physical wants 
of students at Dempster Hall in such man- 
ner that their slender purses might provide 
for a not too luxurious existence. Philo 
Judson was the advance guard of the Uni- 
versity, selling lots, vending scholarships, 
drumming up settlers and promoting the 
town. Hurd, Brown, Beveridge, Pearsons, 
Judson, Evans, Clifford and Ludlam were 
among the people who picked their way 
over the newly made thoroughfares of the 
new town to their new homes, with wet and 
muddy feet ofttimes, during the years 1854 
and 1855. And, until the summer of 1855, 
if they went to Chicago, they must do so 
by their own private conveyance. They 
were sturdy people; practical, religious, 
neighborly, genuine pioneers who could 
curry a horse, build a house, lead a class- 
meeting and finance a town and two in- 
stitutions of learning. On the West Ridge 
Road lived the Huntoons, the Crains and 
the McDaniels and Carneys, the Pratts and 
the Garfields, antedating the town. The 
home of John L. Beveridge was on Chicago 
Avenue, near Clark Street ; of John A. 
Pearsons on Grove Street, near Chicago 
Avenue ; of Philo Judson at Ridge Avenue 
and Davis Street ; of Judge H. B. Hurd 
in the same vicinity ; of G. W. Reynolds 
where the Avenue House now stands ; and 
Dempster Hall and the home of Dr. John 



Dempster on the Lake Shore fiorth of 
Simpson Street. The Snyders home was 
on Chicago Avenue, near Dempster Street. 

These were the scattered centers of life 
in the ambitious hamlet. They were soon 
reinforced by the families of the Professors 
of the University and Institute, and such 
families as the Willards, from which was 
destined to proceed that bright and shining 
light in philanthropy and temperance re- 
form, Frances E. Willard, probably the best 
known product of Evanston life, its his- 
torian in "A Classic Town," an orator and 
writer of rare power. George F. Foster soon 
took up his home on Chicago Avenue near 
Church Street — a shouting Methodist and 
social to his finger tips, whose house was 
a seat of hospitality and elegance. George 
W. Reynolds was on Davis Street, near to 
the corner of Chicago Avenue, on which 
corner the Reynolds House, still a part of 
the Avenue House, was built. We take ex- 
ception to him as a builder, for on one occa- 
sion at a caucus, or neighborhood meeting, 
the floor of his house suddenly collapsed, 
precipitating the company into the cellar, 
and the same performance was re-enacted 
at the house of George F. Foster, also built 
by Mr. Reynolds. There was no "Index" 
or "Press" in those days to note these 
happenings, but the survivors tell the tale 
with more laughter than they then ex- 
perienced. 

Church Street took its name from the 
donated site of what was to be the Cathedral 
Church of the town, the center of the relig- 
ious and social life of this God-fearing com- 
munity, chiefly of the Methodist persuasion, 
but broad-minded enough to welcome those 
of other communions in their worship, and 
disposed, when the time of separation 
should come, to give them a site on which to 
raise their own roof-tree, as the title deeds 
from the University to Trustees of the older 
churches of Evanston will testify — consid- 



INTRODUCTORY 



eration one dollar and other valuable bene- 
fits, such as good will and gladness at their 
coming, their loyalty and their prosperity. 

Advent of the First Railroad.— The 
Chicago and Milwaukee Railroad was be- 
ing located in 1853, and the Trustees of the 
University, by resolution of October 26, 
1853, requested the company to locate their 
road through the land of the University so 
as to strike the center, or within thirty-five 
rods south of the center of Section 19 of 
Township 41 North, Range 18, and offer- 
ing to donate the right of way and one acre 
of land for a depot, providing the railroad 
company would make such location and 
agree not to allow any establishment for 
the sale of liquor or gambling houses, or 
other nuisance, to be placed on such right 
of way or depot ground. March 28, 1854, 
the Trustees passed another resolution re- 
questing the railroad company to locate its 
station on a line west of Davis Street — 
which terminated at Sherman Avenue — on 
a small ridge on the Carney farm, or as 
near as may be expedient in the judgment 
of the agent, providing the owner of the 
Carney farm lay off suitable streets for the 
same. Mr. A. J. Brown, who held the title 
of the Carney tract for himself and others, 
conveyed the right of way and depot ground 
to the railroad company about the date of 
the resolution referred to, and it appears on 
the plat of the town. It was not, however, 
till the summer of 1855 that trains began 
running through the town. Two through 
trains and one accommodation train were 
all the facilities that were offered. Evan- 
ston seldom filled the single passenger car 
of the accommodation (or "Waukegan") 
train, as it was most familiarly known, 
and the grumbling railroad authorities 
threatened to take off the train, declaring 
that it did not pay and gave no promise 



of ever paying. But they took it out in 
grumbling. It did pay, and was destined to 
be their best paying piece of road through 
its suburban traffic, as a prosperous com- 
munity grew around the cheerful, hos- 
pitable nucleus that had grouped itself near 
to the Northwestern University and Garrett 
Biblical Institute. 

Such are some of Evanston's beginnings 
with which we introduce the reader to the 
more elaborate story, as told in detail by 
those familiar with it. One word more we 
cannot refrain from saying concerning Dr. 
John Evans, the man whose chief monument 
(though he has many others) is the 
Classic Town ; in whose brain was chiefly 
conceived the thought of this educational 
and home center, and by whose skill and 
suggestions and influence the plans were 
chiefly made to compass the acquisition of 
the land that should be the Northwestern 
University's chief source of endowment, 
and by whom the enterprise was financed 
for all the coming years. Close to him 
wrought Orrington Lunt, imbibing his zeal 
and supplementing his labors by his unsel- 
fish devotion and tireless energy. John 
Evans was as far-seeing a man as ever 
wrought in the formative days of cities or 
States ; a plain man who dreamed of large 
things, and whose heart kept pace with 
his swift moving intellect. The sphere of 
his activity was changed all too soon from 
the region that bears his name to a distant 
State, where he built railroads, planned 
Titanic enterprises, supervised the beginning 
of a great commonwealth and helped to 
found another University in the Far West. 
Evanston is honored in her name, as she 
honors the name of her founder. 

Kind reader, if you have read thus far, 
read on. 



CHAPTER II'. 



OUR INDIAN PREDECESSORS. 

FRANK B. GBOVEE. Vlce-Preeldent Evanston Historical Society.) 



The First Evanstonians — Indian Relics — 
Stone Implements and What They Indi- 
cate — Early Explorers — Joliet, Mar- 
quette. La Salic and Tonty — First White 
Visitors — Indian Tribes — The Iroquois, 
Illinois and Pottawatomies — Ouilmette 
Reserz'ation and Family — The Fort Dear- 
born Massacre — Home of the Onil- 
mcttes — Treaty of Prairie du Chien — In- 
dian Trails and Trees on North Shore — 
Aboriginal Camps and Villages — Indian 
Mounds and Graves — Reminiscenses of 
Early Settlers — Important Treaties — An 
Englishman's Story of the Treaty of Chi- 
cago in i8j^. 

Since the discovery of this continent the 
North American Indian has ever been the 
subject of constant study, discussion and 
contention. His origin, his traditions, his 
character, his manners and customs, his 
superstitions, his eloquence, the wars in 
which he has engaged, his tribal relations, 
his certain destiny, the wrongs he has done 
and those that he has suffered have, for four 
centuries, been favorite themes for the his- 
torian, the poet, the philanthropist, the eth- 
nologist. And yet, with all the countless 
books that have been written upon the sub- 



iCompiled from two papers; (1), "Our Indian 
Predecessors — The First Evanstonians," read before the 
Evanston Historical Society. November 2, 1901 : and (2) 
"Some Indian Land Marks of the North Shore," read be- 
fore the Chicago Historical Society, February 21, lOO.'j, 
with some supplemental notations by the writer. 



ject, there is still room for inquiry, for 
speculation, for historical research. 

Every political division of this country, 
from state to hamlet, has a mine of untold 
facts, which must ever remain undisclosed. 
Still, the diligent and the curious can, with 
all due regard to the limitations to truth 
put upon the honest historian, gather old 
facts that will in the aggregate be of inter- 
est as local history. With that end in view 
I wish to tell you what I have been able 
to learn of our Indian predecessors — the 
first Evanstonians. 

Stone Implements Found in This Vi- 
cinity and What They Indicate. — There 
is no more interesting field for historical re- 
search than that of the implements and 
weapons of the prehistoric Indian. There is, 
too, a later time of which there is no writ- 
ten history, before the coming of the Jesuit 
Missionary and his early successor, the In- 
dian Trader, who was the first vendor of 
steel hatchets and arrow points, that is of 
no less interest. 

Much of the Indian history of those times 
must of necessity remain forever undis- 
closed. Some of it has been gathered from 
credible traditions, some of it distorted by 
the frailty of human recollection and by the 
fragile partition that oft divides memory 
from imagination, and truthfulness from 
the inclination to boast of the prowess of 
Indian ancestrv. All of these factors, of 



OUR INDIAN PREDECESSORS 



course, result in endless confusion, and 
what the exact truth is must be left, for the 
most part, to uncertainty and speculation. 
But a portion of that history, as applied to 
the North Shore, is told as simply and 
plainly by the stone implements and weap- 
ons as though written in words on monu- 
ment or obelisk. The entrance to this field 
of inquiry opens, of course, more easily 
and widely to the man of science — the 
archaeologist — but the merest novice, if 
he be curious and diligent, will there find a 
mine of historic facts that are both interest- 
ing and reliable. 

One of the greatest orators of modern 
times has entertained thousands of his 
hearers and readers with the topic, "The 
man of imagination — what does he see?" 
And so the student, whether he has great 
learning or that next best substitute — in- 
dustry — when he finds the chippings of 
flint, chert or cobble-stone left in the work- 
shop of the ancient artisan of the North 
Shore, or when he sees the many finish- 
ing wares that have been worn and used 
and lost by the ancient customers of this 
ancient artisan, and then found again, can 
reproduce a reasonably accurate picture of 
the red man, who sat ages ago on the West 
Shore of old Lake Michigan, and, with un- 
told labor and deftness, prepared the ar- 
rows and spear-heads that his red brothers, 
in due time, hurled at deer, or bufifalo or 
dusky foe : and this student can, in fair 
and truthful speculation, follow these red 
brothers in all they saw and did through 
the forest and across the broad prairies, in 
the hunt and in the chase, to the wigwam 
and to the camp fire, on the war path and in 
their idle roamings from place to place. 

These implements may, for convenience 
in this discussion, be divided into two 
classes : first, those found along the lake 
shore near the beach, which are often im- 
perfect in form, consisting of "rejects" 



and chippings, and found in the aboriginal 
quarries and shops; and, second, the per- 
fect forms found farther from the lake, 
where they were in use. I will refer to them 
in the order named. 

It must be borne in mind that, from Wil- 
mette to Waukegan, there are high blufifs, 
reaching to the beach, so that in that locali- 
ty the remains of these shops or chipping 
stations have, to some extent at least, been 
obliterated by the waves. But, both north 
and south of these high bluffs, many of 
these shops have been located and clearly in- 
dicate that the Lake Shore, with its ready 
material among the gravel constantly 
thrown up by the waves, not only furnished 
an inexhaustible supply of material ready 
for use and easily accessible, but that it 
was resorted to in preference to the more 
laborious method of seeking and mining 
materials to the West. Indeed, it is quite 
probable, and a plausible theory, that the 
Indian population, for many miles to the 
west and for untold centuries, used the 
Lake Shore almost exclusively for the 
manufacture of stone implements and weap- 
ons. These shops, or chipping stations, 
have generally been found in the sand 
dunes or ridges immediately adjacent to 
the beach, where there was shelter from 
the wind and waves. Many, of course, have 
long since disappeared by the action of the 
lake : but at least four of them were located 
along the shore at Edgewater and Rogers 
Park, one immediately south of the Indian 
boundary line at the city limits. In the early 
days of Evanston and, to my personal 
knowledge, even as late as 1870, the chip- 
pings, rejects and broken arrow-heads, in- 
dicating one of the largest of these shops, 
could easily be found in Evanston extend- 
ing from what is now Main Street to 
Greenleaf Street, and about on a line from 
the Industrial School to the present Evans- 
ton residences of Messrs. John C. Spry, 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



23 



Charles E. Graves and Milton H. Wilson. 
This particular shop was not only the re- 
sort of the idle school boy in his quest for 
arrow points, but was, in the year 1884, the 
subject of scientific investigation by Dr. 
William A. Phillips, a member of the Ev- 
anston Historical Society (Science, Vol. 3, 
page 273, 1884), who made a collection at 
that time of the chert refuse, "illustrating 
the successive stages of the chipping or 
flaking work, beginning with the water- 
worn pebble from the beach and ending 
with the nearly completed, but broken, im- 
plement," which collection is now in the 
Aluseum of the Northwestern University at 
Evanston (Rep. Curator X. W. University 
Museum, 1884, Smithsonian Report, 1897 
— 1 161, pp. 587-600). 

At the present site of the Dearborn Ob- 
servatory, on the campus of the North- 
western University, was another of these 
shops, although a smaller one, which was 
partially obliterated in the construction of 
that building, and several others have been 
located at different times along the lake 
front of Rogers Park and Evanston. 

Indeed, the various collections of these 
implements, chippings and also of broken 
pottery would indicate not only an unusual 
Indian population, but that this industry 
was general along the lake shore, and much 
nearer the Chicago river than the sites just 
described. This situation can easily be dem- 
onstrated by the merest glance at the collec- 
tion of the late Karl A. Dilg, in possession 
of the Chicago Historical Society. 

Immediately north of Waukegan, east of 
the Northwestern Railway, and extending 
nearly to the Kenosha city limits, and be- 
tween the bluff that was formerly the shore 
line and the present lake front, are some 
1,200 to 1,300 acres of low sand dunes, all 
of which have, from time to time, consti- 
tuted the shore of the receding lake. This 
district is replete with shops and stations of 



this character, especially so at what was for- 
merly Benton, and now Beach Station, and 
extending from there north, a distance of 
about five miles, through Doctor Dowie's 
"City of Zion" to the state line. As early 
as 1853 this locality was also the subject of 
scientific investigation on this subject. 
( Prof. I. A. Lapham, Antiquities of Wis- 
consin, Smithsonian Contributions to 
Knowledge, \'ol. 7, page 6, 1885). 

These investigations have been further 
pursued by Dr. Phillips, assisted by -Messrs. 
W. C. Wyman and E. F. Wyman, of Ev- 
anston, and by Mr. F. H. Lyman, of Ke- 
nosha. In the district between Beach Sta- 
tion and the State line no less than thirty- 
two sites were located, and a new group or 
variety of implements found, viz. : weapons 
and utensils in endless variety, made of 
trap rock or cobble-stone, and which are 
now designated, "The Trap Flake Series." 
A very entertaining and instructive des- 
cription of this locality and these imple- 
ments, their uses and the method employed 
in flaking them, with plates and pictures, 
will be found in the Smithsonian Report 
for 1897, pages 587-600, in an able paper by 
Dr. Phillips, under the title, "A New Group 
of Stone Implements from the Southern 
Shores of Lake ^Michigan." 

The implements and weapons, made in 
these localities along the shore from the, 
Chicago River to Kenosha, represent ahnost 
unlimited varieties, from the ordinary ar- 
rowhead and the net weight or stone 
sinker used by the Pottawatomie fisher- 
man, or his ancient predecessor, to the 
finest of polished hatchets, spear-heads, 
and drills. 

It is not within the scope of this discus- 
sion to go further into the details of this 
lost art, in showing how these implements 
were made and for what they were used — 
that inquiry should be left to more able 
hands ; but the field for exploration is as 



OUR INDIAN PREDECESSORS 



boundless and unlimited as the enthusiasm 
of the archaeologist, and is full of interest 
even to the layman. 

The second class, in this subdivision of 
these implements, are the finished weapons 
and utensils that, in the long ago, left the 
work-shop of the artisan, on the beach and 
elsewhere, were placed in the hands of his 
warrior customer and have been scattered, 
used and lost on the land which we have 
designated the North Shore. Generally 
speaking, these implements are found in 
about the same variety and number as in 
any ordinary Indian country, with one or 
two remarkable exceptions that will re- 
ceive special attention. The materials used 
in their manufacture indicate the presence 
of Indians from remote parts of the con- 
tinent, or barter and exchange with remote 
tribes. They also indicate that the North 
Shore— especially for from three to six 
miles from the lake — was not only a great 
hunting ground, but that the western shore 
of the lake has been the scene of many 
a bloody battle between these red warriors 
of the olden time. They also further indi- 
cate, in one or two localities that will be 
mentioned, an extended Indian population 
during a long period of time. I am told by 
members of the Academy of Sciences and 
others, who have the best means of infor- 
mation, that it is hard to distinguish the 
particular peoples by these relics, as there is 
great similarity in manufacture among re- 
spective tribes— the distinguishing marks 
being more especially in the wooden handles 
or hafts, which, of course, cannot be found 
— and that some of these implements are of 
prehistoric origin. 

The nearest locality where these imple- 
ments are found in the greatest variety and 
number is what was formerly known as 
Bowmanville — being the vicinity of Rose 
Hill Cemetery and extending from there to 
the North Branch of the Chicago River and 



throughout the territory north of there, ex- 
tending to Forest Glen, Niles Center and 
High Ridge, where they have been found 
in such abundance that a great ancient vil- 
lage — and probably several such villages in 
that district, is a certainty — all of which will 
receive later mention when we consider the 
sites of the Indian villages. The locality 
west of Evanston, in the town of Niles, 
which is now a gardening district, has sup- 
plied many excellent specimens ploughed 
up by the farm hands, and it has been an 
easy matter, with a little patience and at- 
tention, to secure a good collection in these 
localities ; and there are many of them — 
notably the collection of William A. Peter- 
son, of the Peterson Nursery Company, 
gathered largely from the lands of that 
company at Rose Hill, the collection of Dr. 
A. S. Alexander, formerly of Evanston, 
gathered very largely in Evanston and the 
township of Niles ; also the interesting col- 
lection of Karl A. Dilg, already referred 
to, and that of Adolph Miller at Bowman- 
ville. Still another locality is the neighbor- 
hood of the Indian Village at Waukegan, 
and from there north to the State line, in 
the locality investigated and described by 
Dr. Phillips in his paper. 

These land marks — these bits of clay, 
and flint and cobble-stone — to which has 
been made but very scant and imperfect ref- 
erence, tell, as they have ever told, a per- 
fect, and yet an imperfect, story; perfect, 
because we know from that, in some far 
off day, the North Shore was, as it is now, 
a favorite abiding place ; perfect, too, be- 
cause the man of science can tell us in 
some measure of how these people lived 
and what they did ; imperfect, because we 
must rely to some extent upon theory and 
speculation and cannot open wide the door 
with what is understood by the term writ- 
ten history. 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



The Early Explorers.— All the writers 
upon the early history of the Northwest, 
of necessity describe, in more or less de- 
tail, the expeditions, exploits and adven- 
tures of the explorers and Jesuit mission- 
aries, who first saw the Indians, who were 
the first white men in Illinois, and who 
have been the greatest contributors to the 
history of the Indians of the Northern 
States. Among these the names of James 
Marquette, Louis Joliet, La Salle, Henry 
de Tonty, Hennepin and Claude Allouez 
are so prominent that the youngest student, 
who has read even the average school his- 
tory of the day, can give, with reasonable 
accuracy, an outline of where they went, 
what they saw and what they did. 

In most of their travels they were ac- 
companied by friendly Indians as guides 
and assistants, to whose fidelity and atten- 
tion we owe quite as much as to the ex- 
plorers themselves. Reference to the ex- 
tended travels of these daring and hardy 
men would be useless repetition, but it cer- 
tainly is of interest to know that such 
famous voyagers as Father Marquette, 
Joliet, La Salle, Tonty, and Fathers Hen- 
nepin and Allouez, with their Indian 
friends, all in their day and in their turn, 
visited the site of Evanston or coasted its 
shores in their canoes. To the circum- 
stances of some of these early visits to this 
locality, I briefly direct your attention. 

It was the month of June, 1673, over 
two hundred years ago, when Louis Joliet 
— educated as a priest, but with more love 
for exploration and adventure — and James 
Marquette — who longed to see and trace 
the course of the great river that De Soto 
had discovered over one hundred years be- 
fore, and who, godly man that he was. loved 
still more to carry the tidings of the Christ 
to the red man of the prairies — with five 
French companions in two canoes, started 
upon that long and toilsome journey through 



Green Bay, up the Fo.x River of Wiscon- 
sin, from thence into and down the Wis- 
consin and the Mississippi, and up the then 
nameless river to the Indian village of the 
Illinois, where they arrived late in the sum- 
mer and tarried until September. 

The first visit of a white man to Evans- 
ton, in September, 1673, 'S thus described 
by Francis Parkman in his life of La Salle 
and the "Discovery of the Great West": 
".An Illinois chief, with a band of young 
warriors, offered to guide them to the Lake 
of the Illinois, that is to say, Lake Michi- 
gan ; thither they repaired," via the Illi- 
nois, Desplaines and Chicago rivers, "and, 
coasting the shores of the lake, reached 
Green Bay at the end of September." 

The month of November the following 
year (1674) found Marquette again coast- 
ing the western shores of Lake Michigan, 
accompanied by two white men, "Pierre 

Porteret and Jacques " (Marquette's 

diary), a band of Pottawatomies and another 
band of Illinois — ten canoes in all — on his 
way from Green Bay to his beloved mission 
of the Illinois, to which he had promised 
the Indians surely to return. Frail and 
sick in body, but strong and rich in energy 
and religious fervor, he made this, his last 
voyage, from which there proved to be no 
return for him. Parkman (La Salle, pp. 67, 
68) describes the journey: "November had 
come ; the bright hues of the autumn foliage 
was changed to rusty brown. The shore 
wa;s desolate and the lake was stormy. 
They were more than a month in coasting 
its western border." 

Marquette's diary (brought to light 
nearly two centuries later) gives an inter- 
esting account of this journey, describing 
the land, the forest, the prairie, the buffalo, 
the deer and other game, the Indians they 
met, their camp fires at night on shore and 
their battles with the waves by day, and 
tells the story of their arrival at the Chicago 



OUR INDIAN PREDECESSORS 



River on December 4, 1674, and finding it 
frozen over; but what is of special interest 
to us, his diary shows almost conclusively 
that, on December 3, the day before, the 
party landed somewhere near the light- 
house within our present city limits. His 
notation is as follows : 

"December 3, having said holy mass and 
embarked, we were compelled to make a 
point and land on account of floating 
masses of ice." 

The only point of land within the day's 
journey shown upon our present maps, and 
even the maps of those days, including 
that of Marquette, is what is known to-day 
by the sailors as "Gross Point," where the 
Evanston light-house stands. 

Father Allouez made the same journey 
in the winter of 1676 and 1677, on his way 
with two companions to the Illinois coun- 
try, to take the place of Father Marquette 
in the Illinois mission. They encountered 
untold hardships, dragging their canoes for 
many weary miles over the ice-floes of the 
lake and the snow along its shores. 

Two years later is the date when white 
men were next here (November, 1679), 
when La Salle, Father Hennepin (the his- 
torian of the expedition), a Mohegan In- 
dian (La Salle's faithful servant and hunt- 
er), and fourteen Frenchmen in four large 
canoes deeply laden with merchandise, 
tools and guns, made the same voyage 
from Green Bay and to St. Joseph, Mich., 
then called Miami, on their way to the Illi- 
nois country, to build a fort and to further 
establish the trade and colonies of New 
France. They skirted the entire western 
and southern shores of the lake, while Ton- 
ty proceeded by the eastern shore. 

An interesting account of their adven- 
tures, hardships and meetings with both 
hostile and friendly Indians, can be found 
in Park-man's Life of La Salle (pp. 142- 
150). As the author says: 



"This was no journey of pleasure. The 
lake was ruffled with almost ceaseless 
storms ; clouds big with rain above, a tur- 
moil of gray and gloomy waves beneath. 
Every night the canoes must be shouldered 
through the breakers and dragged up the 
steep banks. . . . 

"The men paddled all day with no other 
food than a handful of Indian corn. They 
were spent with toil and sick with the wild 
berries which they ravenously devoured and 
dejected at the prospects before them." 

That they, too, may have camped at night 
or rested by noonday within the limits of 
our present city is entirely probable. 

"As they approached the head of the lake 
game grew abundant." Marquette verifies 
this latter statement, for in his diary (entry 
of December 4, 1674), he says: "Deer 
hunting is pretty good as you get away 
from the Pottawatomies." And his next 
entry (December 12), made after arriving 
at Chicago, is further verification. He says : 

"Pierre and Jacques killed three cattle 
(buffalo) and four deer, one of which ran 
quite a distance with his heart cut in two. 
They contented themselves with killing 
three or four turkeys of the many that were 
around our cabin. Jacques brought in a 
partridge he had killed, in every way re- 
sembling those of France." 

It was winter time a year later — 1680. 
La Salle had not returned from his memo- 
rable and heroic tramp from the Illinois back 
to Canada. His men had deserted ; his goods 
had been destroyed by mutineers and In- 
dians ; Hennepin was on the Mississippi. 
The Iroquois had dispersed and all but de- 
stroyed the Illinois, and all that remained of 
La Salle's party was his faithful lieutenant 
and friend, Henry de Tonty, and two fol- 
lowers — Membre and Boissondet. Tonty 
had failed to pacify the Iroquois, had been 
seriously wounded in battle by them, and 
he and his two surviving companions, 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



without food or shelter, fled for their lives. 
Sick, wounded and maimed, he reached the 
shores of Lake Michigan at Chicago, and he 
and his companions began their long 
northward journey on foot, along the dreary 
and ice-bound shores of the lake to old 
Michilimackinac. Parkman ("Life of La 
Salle," p. 220) thus describes their journey: 
"The cold was intense and it was no easy 
task to grub up wild onions from the frozen 
ground, to save themselves from starving. 
Tonty fell ill of a fever and swelling of the 
limbs, which disabled him from traveling, 
and hence ensued a long delay. At length 
they reached Green Bay, where they would 
have starved had they not gleaned a few 
ears of corn and frozen squashes in the 
fields of an empty Indian town." 

A volume could easily be written describ- 
ing the exploits of the later but still early 
white and Indian visitors to these shores. 
The western shore of the lake was the 
great highway between the Chicago port- 
age and Green Bay and Mackinac. We need 
not depend upon imagination to paint the 
picture of the white voyageur and his In- 
dian companion plying the paddle with 
steady stroke, keeping time to the notes of 
his boat song, while their birch bark ca- 
noes skimmed the surface of the lake, for 
the "Jesuit Relations" of those early days 
will supply the facts. 

[These travels along the shore of the 
lake call to mind the early maps, tracing 
the shore lines made by these explorers, 
and a fact of local interest is, that in all 
probability the shore line here at Evanston, 
in the seventeenth century, extended much 
farther into the lake — how much cannot be 
told from the maps, as they were not drawn 
to scale. This fact appears from a large 
bay shown on the maps immediately north 
of the site of our city, indicating that the 
shore to the south has since been washed 
away. The maps referred to are (i) one 



called Marquette's map, Hist, of Ills., by 
Sidney Breese, p. 78; (2) map copied by 
Parkman found in the "Archives of the Ma- 
rine" at Paris, dated 1683— "may, in fact, 
have been one drawn by Joliet from recol- 
lection" ; (3) Joliet's earliest map (1673- 
74). "Windsor's Geographical Discoveries 
in the Interior of North America"; (4) 
Haines' "American Indian," p. 344. 

On the map first mentioned Marquette 
locates a copper mine near Evanston. This 
was probably done from tales of the In- 
dians describing such mines as being to the 
north, and Marquette misunderstanding the 
distance.] 

Indian Tribes. — For two hundred 
years preceding the advent of the white 
man to Illinois — and for how much longer 
we do not know — the territory lying be 
tween the Mississippi and the Atlantic, and 
from the Carolinas to Hudson Bay, was oc- 
cupied by two great families of Indian 
tribes, distinguished by their languages. All 
this vast wilderness, with the exception of 
New York, a part of Ohio and part of 
Canada, was the country of the tribes 
speaking the Algonquin language and dia- 
lects. "Like a great island in the midst of 
the Algonquins lay the country of the Iro- 
quois." The true Iroquois, or Five Nations, 
often called the Six Nations, occupied Cen- 
tral and Western New York, and the re- 
mainder of this linguistic group contiguous 
territory to the west, in Ohio and Lower 
Canada. (The only exception to this gen- 
eral statement is the Winnebagoes of Dah- 
cotah stock, who were at Green Bay and 
in Southern Wisconsin, and a few scatter- 
ing bands of the Dahcotahs, who were at 
times on the eastern banks of the Missis- 
sippi.) 

All the Indians who have held and occu- 
pied this part of Illinois as their homes, so 
far back as history tells us, or can be ascer- 
tained during the past four hundred years, 



28 



OUR INDIAN PREDECESSORS 



were of the Algonquin family ; and while 
scattering bands of the Sacs and Foxes 
(Outagamies), Miamis, Ottawas and other 
Algonquin tribes, and also the Kickapoos, 
Shawaneese, Sioux and Winnebagoes, have 
at times, roamed over and, perhaps, for very 
brief periods, in roving bands occupied the 
lands lying along the western shores of 
Lake Michigan in this locality, the Indian 
ownership, as indicated by extended occu- 
pancy, was confined almost, if not entirely, 
to the tribes of the Illinois and the Potta- 
watomies. Therefore, to those two tribes 
and their eastern enemies, the Iroquois, 
who at times paid unwelcome visits to their 
western neighbors, I direct your attention. 

It must be borne in mind that Chicago 
was as important a point to the Indian as 
it has since been to the white man, partly 
on account of the portage leading to the 
Desplaines River, and. as the lake was the 
great water highway, so also was its west- 
ern shore an important highway for these 
Indian tribes when they traveled by land. 

[The early explorers and missionaries 
often mention a tribe called by them the 
"Mascoutins," and on some of the very 
early maps of this locality appears the name 
of such a tribe as occupying parts of north- 
ern Illinois. The better opinion is. there 
never was in fact such a tribe of Indians. 
This word — "Mascoutins" — in the Algon- 
quin language means people of the prairie 
or meadow country, and it was applied, it 
seems, indiscriminately to indicate the lo- 
cality from which the Indians it was ap- 
plied to had emigrated or were located. 
Haines' "American Indian." p. 151.] 

It is claimed by several reliable writers 
that, from 1700 or 1702 to 1770, the coun- 
try about Chicago had no fixed Indian pop- 
ulation, but that the only Indian residents 
were roving bands of Iroquois and "North- 
ern Indians." (See Andreas' "Hist, of Chi- 
cago," Mason's "Illinois.") 



The Iroquois. — The Iroquois have re- 
ceived the enthusiastic admiration of 
many writers ; the best, and some of the 
worst, traits of Indian character found its 
highest development among them ; they are 
designated by one enthusiast as "the In- 
dians of Indians." And they are well 
worthy of mention in our local history, for, 
after exterminating and subduing their 
nearest neighbors, including the Hurons, 
the Eries and other tribes speaking the 
same language, their thirst for conquest 
led them westward from their far away 
eastern homes ; their war parties penetrated 
the intervening wilderness of forest and 
pJain, navigated the western rivers and 
great lakes, and destroyed or drove their 
enemies in terror before them across the 
prairies of Illinois and along the western 
shore of Lake Michigan. Distance, hard- 
ships, winter and time expended in travel, 
presented no obstacles to them, and they 
scattered, and all but destroyed, the great 
and powerful Algonquin tribes of the Illi- 
nois, from which our State takes its name ; 
and, as early as 1660, they were known to 
have pursued their ancient enemies, the 
Hurons or Wyandots, across our State. 
(Mason's "Land of the Illinois," p. 4.) 

The Iroquois are thus described by Park- 
man ("Conspiracy of Pontiac," p. 7) : 
"Foremost in war, foremost in eloquence, 
foremost in their savage arts of policy, 
. . . they extended their conquests and 
their depredations from Quebec to the 
Carolinas, and from the western prairies to 
the forests of Maine. . . . On the west 
they exterminated the Eries, and Andastes, 
and spread havoc and dismay among the 
tribes of the Illinois. . . . The Indians 
of New England fled at the first peal of the 
Mohawk war cry. . . and all Canada 
shook with the fury of their onset. . . . 
The blood besmeared conquerors roamed 
like wolves among the burning settlements, 



HISTORY OF EVANSTOX 



29 



and the colony trembled on the brink of 
ruin. . . Few tribes could match them in 
prowess, constancy, moral energy or intel- 
lectual vigor." They, in turn, and within 
a quarter of a century (1650- 1672), exter- 
minated four powerful tribes, the Wyan- 
dots, the Neutral Nation, the Andastes and 
the Eries, and reduced the ancient and pow- 
erful Hurons, from whom the great lake 
takes its name, to a small band of terror- 
stricken fugitives; their ferocity and tor- 
ture of captives were revolting traits in 
their character ; they were the worst of con- 
querors and their lust of blood and do- 
minion is without parallel in Indian history. 

Mr. Mason says of them ("Land of the 
Illinois," pp. 113,114): "Though number- 
ing but 2,500 warriors, their superior weap- 
ons and experience in warfare had enabled 
them to defeat and finally exterminate all 
their neighbors. . . . They destroyed 
more than thirty nations ; caused the death 
of more than 600,000 persons within eighty 
years, and rendered the country about the 
great lakes a desert" — and Mr. Mason's 
statement had ample corroboration. 

Such were the Indians who were often 
transient residents of this locality before 
the coming of the white man, and their 
depredations furnish the basis for much 
of the historical references to the process 
of self-extermination of the Indian, by the 
wars among themselves in progress when 
the white man first saw the American In- 
dian. 

The French were never successful in gain- 
ing the friendship of the Iroquois tribes, 
as they were with almost all the other In- 
dians of the North and Northwest ; but the 
Iroquois were the friends of the English 
and Dutch. 

In Colden's "History of the Five Na- 
tions," printed in the old English style of 
that day (1750), the author, in describing 
one of the campaigns between the French 



and English, in 1693, where Peter Schuyler, 
a Major of the New York Militia, was in 
charge of the English and their Indian al- 
lies, the Iroquois, says : 

"It is true that the English were in great 
want of Provisions at that time. . . . 
The Indians eat the Bodies of the French 
that they found. Col. Schuyler (as he told 
me himself) going among the Indians at 
that Time was invited to eat broth with 
them, which some of them had ready boiled, 
which he did, till they, putting the Ladle 
deep into the Kettle to take out more. 
brought out a French Man's Hand, which 
put an end to his Appetite." 

The quaint humor in this record of an 
Englishman eating such French broth in 
the sev.enteenth century, or at any subse- 
quent time, for that matter, and losing his 
appetite, needs no comment; the author 
may unconsciously have offered a fair ex- 
planation of this circumstance, for he says 
in another connection, "Schuyler was brave, 
but he was no Soldier." 

The Illinois. — In the year 1615, five 
years before the landing of the Mayflower, 
Champlain reached Lake Huron. Upon his 
crude map of New France appears indica- 
tions that he then heard and knew of the 
far-away prairie land, in which dwelt the 
tribes of the Illinois— the land of the Buf- 
falo. (Mason, supra.) Jean Xicolet saw or 
heard of the Illinois again in 1638 and two 
young French explorers again in 1655 (Ma- 
son, Id.) October i. 1665, ten years later, 
the Illinois sent a delegation to attend 
an Indian Council at the Great Chippewa 
(Ojibway) Village, on Lake Superior, with 
reference to war with the Sioux, which 
Claude Allouez attended and there ad- 
dressed the many Northern tribes assembled 
in council, assuring them of the friendship 
and protection of the French, who would 
"smooth the path between the Chippewas 
and Quebec, brush the pirate canoes from 



3° 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



the intervening rivers and leave the Iro- 
quois no alternative but death and destruc- 
tion." (Brown's "History of Illinois," p. 
115.) There is abundant evidence to show 
that, during the preceding years, the Illi- 
nois had suffered greatly by wars with the 
Sioux from the West and with the Iroquois 
from the East. 

In 1673 Joliet and Marquette found the 
Illinois on the western bank of the Missis- 
sippi and on the Illinois River, where there 
were many villages; one village found by 
these explorers consisting of seventy-four 
cabins, each containing several families. 
In 1675 Marquette paid his second visit to 
the same locality and "summoned them to 
a grand council on the Great Meadow be- 
tween the Illinois River and the modern 
village of Utica. Here five hundred chiefs 
and old men were seated in a ring ; behind 
stood 1,500 youths and warriors and, be- 
hind them, all the women and children of 
the village. Marquette standing in the 
midst," told them the story of Christ and the 
Virgin (Parkman's "La Salle," 69) ; Al- 
louez visited them again in 1677. 

In 1680 Tonty and Hennepin found the 
lodges of the great Indian town, 460 in 
number, constructed of poles "in shape like 
the arched tops of a baggage wagon," cov- 
ered with mats of rushes, closely inter- 
woven ; each contained three or four fires ; 
the greater part served for two families. 
The population has been variously esti- 
mated at 2,400 families, 1,200 warriors and 
6,000 souls. "The lodges were built along 
the river bank for the distance of a mile, 
sometimes far more." (Parkman's "La 
.Salle," 156.) 

Among the varying estimates as to pop- 
ulation of the Illinois tribes (none of them 
very accurate), one early Jesuit writer 
(1658) describes their number at "about 
100,000 souls, with sixty villages and quite 
20,000 warriors." (Mason, Id., 4.) "Their 



great Metropolis, near Utica, in La Salle 
County, was the largest city ever built by 
northern natives." (Caton, "The Last of 
the Illinois.") Mr. Mason locates the vil- 
lage four miles below the present city of 
Ottawa. ("Land of the Illinois," p. 44.) 

These facts indicate not only a powerful 
and populous nation, but their cemeteries, 
traditions, implements and cultivated fields, 
a long residence in the same locality — how 
many the years or how many the centuries 
can never be known. 

Their most permanent homes were along 
the Illinois River, but they seem to have had 
entire control of all the northeastern por- 
tion of Illinois, as far back as any record 
can be found and to the time of the occupa- 
tion by the Pottawatomies. The Chicago 
portage seems to have been a frequent and 
popular rendezvous, and they were so iden- 
tified with this locality that Lake Michigan 
was generally known to the early explorers 
as the "Lake of the Illinois." 

The Illinois were a kindly people : hos- 
pitable, affable and humane ; and it was said 
of them by one of the Jesuit missionaries, 
"\\'hen they meet a stranger they utter a 
cry of joy, caress him and give him every 
proof of friendship." They lived by hunt- 
ing and tilling of the soil, raising great 
crops of Indian corn and storing away a 
surplus for future use; they were great 
travelers by land, but, unlike most northern 
Indian tribes, used canoes but little ; they 
had permanent dwellings, as well as port- 
able lodges ; they roamed many months of 
the year among the prairies and forests of 
their great country, to return again and 
join in the feasts and merry-making, when 
their whole population gathered in the vil- 
lages. These habits of travel indicate that 
they were frequently along the western 
shore of the lake. 

In September, 1680, soon after La Salle 
and Tonty reached the Illinois country, 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



31 



and while Tonty was still there, the Iro- 
quois from New York again attacked the 
Illinois. "With great slaughter they defeat- 
ed this hitherto invincible people; laid 
waste their great city and scattered them 
in broken bands over their wide domain. 
From this terrible blow the Illinois never 
recovered." (Caton, "Last of the Illinois"; 
Mason, Id., pp. 99-103.) 

During the succeeding century the Illi- 
nois — lovers of peace, who had welcomed 
the explorer and the missionary — broken in 
spirit, their courage gone, decimated by 
drink and disease and scattered by their 
enemies, struggled with waning fortunes, 
ending their existence in the historic trag- 
edy of Starved Rock, about the year 1770, 
from which but eleven of their number 
escaped. 

An Indian boy — a Pottawatomie — saw 
the last remnant of this once proud and 
powerful nation, brave warriors, their wo- 
men and little children, huddled together 
upon the half acre of ground that crowns 
the summit of Starved Rock ; saw the fierce 
and war-like Pottawatomies and Ottawas 
swarm for days around them, and perform 
by the torture of siege and starvation what 
they could not do by force of arms. When 
the little stock of food was gone, and de- 
spair drove the Illinois to make the last 
brave dash for liberty in the darkness of 
the stormy night, he heard the yells and 
clash of the fighting warriors and the dying 
shrieks of the helpless women and children. 
Years afterward, when this Indian lad 
(Meachelle) had grown to be the principal 
chief of the Pottawatomies, he related these 
incidents to Judge Caton. Let him who 
cares for tragedy read what the learned 
Judge says of this — the last of the Illinois. 

The Pottawatomies. — The Pottawato- 
mies were of the Algonquin tribes. Their 
power was severely felt by the British 
when at war with the French and in the 



later Indian war led by Pontiac. When 
Allouez and the other Jesuit Fathers first 
visited Green Bay, in 1670, the Pottawato- 
mies were living along its shores, and these 
Jesuits are probably the first white men who 
saw them in their homes. Green Bay at 
that time was their permanent abode, 
though they roamed far away and extended 
their visits over much of the territory 
around Lake Superior, where delegations 
of them were seen as early as 1665, and in 
1670, '71 and '72 by the Jesuit Fathers, 
whom they frequently visited and invited 
to their homes at Green Bay. In those days 
they were not known in this locality, for 
Joliet and Marquette, returning from the 
Mississippi and the Illinois country in 1674, 
met none of the Pottawatomies in this re- 
gion. 

The date when they left Green Bay is not 
certain, or whether they emigrated from 
there as a whole or in parties, but it is a 
matter of history that, early in the eigh- 
teenth century (authorities differ as to the 
date), they scattered to the south and east 
and, thereafter, occupied the Southern 
Peninsula of Michigan, Northeastern Illi- 
nois and the northern part of Indiana. 
Their advance into Illinois was sometimes 
accomplished with good-natured tolerance 
on the part of the Illinois tribes, and some- 
times by actual violence. This emigration 
divided the tribe into two rather distinct 
classes, so that we often find, even in re- 
cent Government reports, the Pottawato- 
mies of Michigan and Indiana designated 
as those of the Woods, and those of Illinois 
as those of the Prairie, or "The Prairie 
Band." 

The exclusive possession of this territory 
by the Pottawatomies dates from the siege 
of Starved Rock and the extinction of the 
Illinois. The Pottawatomies and Ottawas 
supposed that the Illinois were accessory to 
the murder of Pontiac, who was killed in 



32 



OUR INDIAN PREDECESSORS 



1769 by an Illinois Indian, bribed for the 
deed with a barrel of whiskey. They loved 
and obeyed this great Indian chieftain of 
the Oattawas and wreaked dire vengeance 
for his death upon the luckless Illinois, and 
the date of the massacre at Starved Rock 
and their permanent occupation of this ter- 
ritory is generally fixed as soon after Pon- 
tiac's death. No record of their permanent 
residence at Green Bay succeeds this date. 

The Pottawatomies were of commanding 
importance in this locality thereafter, and 
even before, for in 1763 they sent a delega- 
tion of 450 warriors to the Algonquin Con- 
ference at Niagara Falls, and, as we all 
know, they were the last Indians to yield 
their place in this State to the inevitable 
westward march of the white man, when 
the tomahawk gave way forever to the 
plowshare. 

As already stated, the Pottawatomies of 
the Woods became, in time, a different peo- 
ple than their western brothers ; they were 
susceptible to the influence of civilization 
and religion ; took kindly to agriculture to 
supplement the fruits of the chase. 

It was very different, however, with the 
Illinois Pottawatomies — the prairie In- 
dians. Judge Caton says of them: "They 
despised the cultivation of the soil as too 
mean even for their women and children, 
and deemed the captures of the chase the 
only fit food for a valorous people." They 
paid little attention to the religion of the 
white man. 

"If they understood something of the 
principles of the Christian religion which 
were told them, they listened to it as a 
sort of theory which might be well adapted 
to the white man's condition, but was not 
fitted for them, nor they for it. They en- 
joyed the wild, roving life of the prairie, 
and, in common with most all other native 
Americans, were vain of their prowess and 
manhood, both in war and in the chase. 



They did not settle down for a great length 
of time in a given place, but roamed across 
the broad prairies, from one grove or belt 
of timber to another, either in single fami- 
lies or in small bands, packing their few 
effects, their children, and infirm on their 
little Indian ponies. They always traveled 
in Indian file upon well-beaten trails, con- 
necting, by the most direct routes, promi- 
nent trading posts. These native highways 
served as guides to our early settlers, who 
followed them with as much confidence as 
we now do the roads laid out and worked 
by civilized man." 

Schoolcraft says they were tall of stature, 
fierce and haughty. 

The portable wigwams of the Pottawato- 
mies were made of flags or rushes, woven 
and lapped ingeniously together. This ma- 
terial was wound around a framework of 
poles, meeting at the top. Through a hole 
in the apex of the roof, left for the purpose, 
the smoke escaped from the fire in the cen 
ter; the floor was generally of mats of the 
same material spread around the fire. Their 
beds were of buffalo robes and deer skins 
thrown over the mats. The door consisted 
of a simple opening covered with a mat or 
robe. 

Chicago was an important rendezvous 
for them, as it had previously been for the 
Illinois. There they signed an important 
treaty with the United States in 182 1. ced- 
ing some 5,000,000 acres in Michigan and 
other treaties, which will receive later men- 
tion, and here they held, in 1835. immedi- 
ately preceding their removal to the West, 
their last grand council and war dance in 
the presence of the early settlers of Chica- 
go and 5,000 of their tribe. 

The Ottawas were the firm allies of the 
Pottawatomies. as were also the Chippewas 
(Ojibways) and all three tribes were close- 
ly related, not only as friends and allies, but 
by ties of blood and kinship, and they gen- 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



33 



erally joined in signing treaties ; some 
writers assert that they were formerly one 
nation. 

In the war of 1812 the Pottawatomies, 
at least in part, were against the United 
States, although they fought the British 
under Pontiac in 1763. In the Black Hawk 
War of 1832 they remained true to our 
Government, although it was with difficulty 
that some of their young warriors were re- 
strained from joining the Sacs and Foxes. 
They participated in the Battle of Tippeca- 
noe, and stamped their names forever upon 
the history of Chicago by the Fort Dear- 
born massacre. They were not only actively 
concerned in all the warlike transactions of 
their time, but among their numbers were 
some of the most noted orators of history. 

Ouilmette Reservation and Family. 
— The Ouilmette reservation and its for- 
mer occupants and owners have been the 
subject of much solicitude and investiga- 
tion, not entirely for historical purposes, 
but more especially that the white man 
might know that he had a good, white 
man's title to the Indian's land. The south- 
ern boundary was Central Street, or a line 
due west from the light-house; the eastern 
boundary the lake ; the northern boundary 
a little south of Kenilworth, and the west- 
ern boundary a little west of the western 
terminus of the present street-car line on 
Central Street, from which it will be seen 
that some 300 acres of the Reservation falls 
within the city limits of Evanston, while the 
remainder includes almost the whole of our 
nearest neighbor to the north — the Village 
of Wilmette. 

The reservation takes its name from its 
original owner, Archange Ouilmette, wife 
of Antoine Ouilmette, described in the or- 
iginal Treaty and Patent from the United 
States as a Pottawatomie woman. The 
name given the village — Wilmette — origi- 
nates from the phonetic spelling of the 
French name "O-u-i-1-m-e-t-t-e." 



There are many interesting facts regard- 
ing Ouilmette and his family, some of which 
I will mention : Antoine. the husband, was 
a Frenchman, who, like many of his coun- 
trymen, came to the West in early days and 
married an Indian wife. He was one of the 
first white residents of Chicago ; some of 
the authorities say that, with the exception 
of Marquette, he was the very first. He 
was born at a place called Lahndrayh, near 
Montreal, Canada, in the year 1760. His 
first employment was with the American 
Fur Company, in Canada, and he came to 
Chicago in the employ of that company in 
the year 1790. 

This striking figure in our local history 
is sadly neglected in most, if not all, the his- 
torical writings. Almost every one knows 
that the Village of Wilmette was named 
after its former owner ; many misinformed 
persons speak of him as an Indian chief ; 
a few of the writers merely mention his 
name as one of the early settlers of Chi- 
cago. And that has been the beginning and 
the end of his written history. 

Ouilmette's occupation cannot be more 
definitely stated than to say that, at one 
time, he was an employe of John Kinzie, 
and in turn Indian trader, hunter and farm- 
er. He was a type of the early French 
voyageurs, who lived and died among their 
Indian friends, loving more the hardships 
and excitement of the Western frontier 
than the easier life of Eastern civilization. 

If a detailed account of all he saw and 
did could be written we would have a com- 
plete history of Chicago, Evanston and all 
the North Shore during the eventful fifty 
years intervening between 1790 and 1840. 

It appears from a letter signed with "his 
mark," written and witnessed by one James 
Moore, dated at Racine, June i, 1839, that 
he came to Chicago in July, 1790. A fac- 
simile of this letter, which is addressed to 
Mr. John H. Kinzie, appears in Blanchard's 
History of Chicago (p. 574), and contains 



34 



OUR INDIAN PREDECESSORS 



some interesting facts, both historical and 
personal. He says: 
"I caim into Chicago in the year 1790 in July 

witness old Air. Veaux . . . and Mr Griano 
. . . These men ware living in the country Be- 
fore the war with the winnebagoes. Trading with 
them I saw the Indians Brake open the Door of 
my house and also the Door of Mr. Kinzie's 
House. At first there was only three Indians come. 
They told me there was Forty more coming and 
they told me to run. i Did So. in nine days all I 
found left of my things was the feathers of my 
beds scattered about The floor, the amount Dis- 
troyed By them at that time was about Eight 
hundred Dollars. Besides your fathar and me 
Had about four hundred hogs Distroyed by the 
Saim Indians and nearly at the Saim time, fur- 
ther particulars when I See you. I wish you to 
write me whether it is best for me to come thare 
or for you to come hear and how son it must be 
Done" 

"Yours with Respect" 

his 
Antone X Ouilmette" 

"Jas. Moore" mark 

Ouilmette owned and occupied one of 
the four cabins that constituted the settle- 
ment of Chicago in 1803. The other resi- 
dents were Kinzie, Burns and Lee (Kirk- 
land's "Story of Chicago," "Andreas" His- 
tory of Chicago," Mrs. William Whistler's 
letter, written in 1875.) 

Ouilmette had eight children, four sons 
and four daughters, viz.: — Joseph, Louis, 
Francis, Mitchell, Elizabeth, Archange, Jos- 
ette and Sophia; also an adopted daughter, 
Archange Trombla, who, on August 3, 
1830, married John Mann, who in early 
times ran a ferry at Calumet. (Authority 
John Wentworth and Sophia Martell, the 
only surviving daughter of Antoine Ouil- 
mette.) 

Ouilmette was in Chicago at the time of 
the massacre of the garrison of Old Fort 
Dearborn in 1812 by the Pottawatomies, 
and his family was instrumental, at that 
time, in saving the lives of at least two 
whites. Mrs. John H. Kinzie in her book, 
"Wau-bun" (the early day), describes the 
circumstances : 

"The next day after Black Partridge, the Pot- 
tawatomie Cliief, had saved the life of Mrs. Helm 
in the massacre on the lake shore (commemorated 



by the monument recently erected at the place), a 
band of "the most hostile and implacable of all the 
tribes of the Pottawatomies" arrived at Chicago 
and, disappointed at their failure to participate in 
the massacre and plunder, were ready to wreak 
vengeance on the survivors, including Mrs. Helm 
and other members of Mr. Kinzie's family. Mrs. 
Kinzie says ("Wau-bun" pages 235, 240J : 

"Black Partridge had watched their approach, 
and his fears were particularly awakened for the 
safety of Mrs. Helm (Mr. Kinzie's step-daughter). 
By his advice she was made to assume the ordi- 
nary dress of a French woman of the country. . 

"in this disguise she was conducted by Black 
Partridge himself to the house of Ouilmette, a 
Frenchman with a half-breed wife, who formed 
a part of the establishment of Mr. Kinzie, and 
whose dwelling was close at hand. . . It so 
happened that the Indians came first to this house 
in their search for prisoners. As they approached, 
the inmates, fearful that the fair complexion and 
general appearance of Mrs. Helm might betray 
her for an American, raised a large feather bed 
and placed her under the edge of it, upon the 
bedstead, with her face to the wall. Mrs. Bison, 
the sister of Ouilmette's wife, then seated herself 
with her sewing upon the foot of the bed." 

It was a hot day in August and Mrs. 
Helm suffered so much from her position 
and was so nearly suffocated that she en- 
treated to be released and given up to the 
Indians. "I can but die," said she ; "let them 
put an end to my misery at once." When 
they assured her that her discovery would 
be the death of all of them, she remained 
quiet. 

"The Indians entered and she could occasion- 
ally see them from her hiding place, gliding about 
and stealthily inspecting every part of the room, 
though without making any ostensible search, un- 
til apparently satisfied that there was no one con- 
cealed, they left the house. . . All this time 
Mrs. Bison had kept her seat upon the side of the 
bed, calmly sorting and arranging the patch work 
of the quilt on which she was then engaged and 
preserving the appearance of the utmost tranquil- 
lity. althfJiigh she knew not but the next moment 
she might receive a tomahawk in her brain. Her 
self command unquestionably saved the lives of 
all present. . . From Ouilmette's house the 
party proceeded to the dwelling of Mr. Kinzie." 

The Indians had just left Ouilmette's 
house when one Griffin, a non-commis- 
sioned officer, who had escaped and had 
been concealed among the currant bushes of 
Ouilmette's garden, climbed into Ouil- 
mette's house through a window to "hide 
from the Indians. "The family stripped him 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 4 cl (J 4 7 8 



35 



of his uniform and arrayed him in a suit of 
deer skin, with belt, moccasins and pipe, 
like a French engage," in which disguise he 
also escaped. 

After the massacre, when John Kinzie 
and all the other white settlers and their 
families fled from the place, Ouilmette and 
his family remained, and he was the only 
white resident of Chicago for the following 
four vears. i8i2 to i8i6. (Kirkland's "Story 
of Chicago" ; Hurlbut's "Chicago Antiqui- 
ties.") 

In 1814 Alexander Robinson (afterwards 
chief of the Pottawatomies) came to Chi- 
cago, and he and Ouilmette cultivated the 
field formerly used as the garden of old 
Fort Dearborn; they raised good crops of 
corn and sold the crop of 1816 to Captain 
Bradley, after his arrival at Chicago to re- 
build the fort. (.A.ndreas' "History of Chi- 
cago.") 

He was still in Chicago in 1821. (An- 
dreas', Id. : Kirkland, Id.) 

He had horses and oxen and other stock 
in abundance. In early days he kept a 
small store in Chicago and used to tow 
boats into the Chicago River with his ox 
teams. He also furnished the Fort Dear- 
born garrison with meat and fuel and car- 
ried on trading operations with the Indians 
along the North Shore and in Canada, 
where he frequently went. (Authority, 
Sophia Martell.) 

Mrs. Archibald Clybourne says that Ouil- 
mette raised sheep when he lived in Chica- 
go, and that her mother, Mrs. Galloway, 
used to purchase the wool of him with 
which she spun yarn and knit stockings for 
the Fort Dearborn soldiers. 

Ouilmette was a thrifty Frenchman. In 
1825 he was one of the principal taxpayers 
in Chicago and paid $4.00 taxes that year 
upon property valued at $400, as appears 
by an old tax roll, dated July 25th of that 
year (Blanchard's "History of Chicago," p. 



517), from which rate of taxation it would 
seem that the burden of "taxing bodies," of 
which we hear so much in these days, began 
very early in Chicago's history. With one 
exception, none of the fourteen taxpayers 
of that year owned property in excess of 
$1,000. John Kinzie's holdings appear on 
the same roll as worth $500, while those of 
John B. Beaubien are set down at $1,000; 
the lowest man on the list is Joseph La 
Framboise, who paid fifty cents on property 
valued at $50, and Ouilmette's taxes appear 
considerably above the average in amount. 
He also appears as a voter upon the poll 
book of an election held at Chicago on 
August 7, 1826, at which election it is said 
he voted for John Quincy Adams for Pres- 
ident (Blanchard, Id., p. 519), which is the 
last record I have been able to find of his 
residence in Chicago. 

The Treaty of Prairie du Chien, in de- 
scribing the boundaries of a part of the 
lands ceded by the Indians, and dated July 
29, 1829, begins the description as follows: 

"Beginning on the western shore of Lake 
Michigan, at the northeast corner of the 
field of Antoine Ouilmette, who lives near 
Gross Point, about twelve (12) miles north 
from Chicago, thence due west to the Rock 
River," which is the first evidence I have 
found of Ouilmette's residence in this vi- 
cinity, although he was married to Arch- 
ange in 1796 or 1797 at "Gross Point," or 
what is now Wilmette Village, this being 
the first North Shore wedding of which 
there is any history. (Authority, Sophia 
Martell.) 

Ouilmette was a Roman Catholic. In 
April, 1833, he joined with Alexander Rob- 
inson, Billy Caldwell, several of the Beau- 
biens and others, in a petition to the Bishop 
of the diocese of Missouri, at St. Louis, 
asking for the establishment of the first 
Catholic Church in Chicago. The petition 
(written in French) says: "A priest should 



36 



OUR INDIAN PREDECESSORS 



be sent there before other sects obtain the 
upper hand, which very likely they will try 
to do." The early enterprise of the church 
is demonstrated by the fact that the peti- 
tion was received on April i6th and grant- 
ed the next day. (Andreas' "History of 
Chicago.") 

From the foregoing facts it is evident 
that Ouilmette located in Chicago in 1790, 
and lived there for over thirty-si.K years, 
and that sor-e tir-? bc'^'pcn 1826 and 1829 
he located within the present limits of Ev- 
anston or Wilmette Village, and certainly 
within the Reservation. 

Mrs. Kinzie took Ouilmette's daughter 
Josette with her to the Indian Agency, of 
which her husband was in charge at Old 
Fort Winnebago in Wisconsin, on her re- 
turn from Chicago in 1831. She describes 
her C'Wau-bun," 300) as " a little bound 
girl, a bright, pretty child of ten years of 
age. She had been at the Saint Joseph's 
Mission School." Mrs. Kinzie, at the time 
of the Black Hawk war (1832) fled from 
Fort Winnebago to Green Bay in a canoe 
and took this same little Josette Ouilmette 
with her ("Wau-bun," 426). 

That Josette was a protege of the Kinzie 
family, and that they took a lively interest 
in her welfare, further appears from the 
treaty of 1833 with the Pottawatomies at 
Chicago. She is personally provided for, 
probably at the demand of the Kinzies, in 
the following words: "To Josette Ouil- 
mette (John H. Kinzie, Trustee), $200." 
The other children did not fare so well, for 
the Treaty further provides, "To Antoine 
Ouilmette's children, $300." 

Archange Ouilmette, wife of Antoine, 
was a squaw of the Pottawatomie tribe, be- 
longing to a band of that tribe located at 
the time she was married at what is now 
Wilmette Village, although the band were 
constant rovers over what is now Illinois, 
Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin. While 



Archange was of the Pottawatomie tribe her 
father was a white man, a trader in the em- 
ploy of the American Fur Company, a 
Frenchman, bearing the rather striking 
name of Francois Chevallier. Archange 
was born at Sugar Creek, Michigan, about 
1764 and died at Council Bluffs, Iowa, in 
1840. (Authority, Sophia Martell, daugh- 
ter, and Israel Martell, grandson of An- 
toine.) 

John Wentworth says in his reminis- 
cences that Ouilmette's daughter, Eliza- 
beth, married for her first husband en May 
II, 1830, Michael Welch, "the first Irish- 
man in Chicago." 

This wedding, with the son of Erin 
groom and the Pottawatomie bride, was 
celebrated in an old log cabin that stood 
until some two years ago (1903) on the 
east side of Sheridan Road, at Kenilworth, 
and about two blocks north of the Kenil- 
worth water tower. I secured a kodak pic- 
ture of this log cabin shortly before it was 
removed, copy of which appears on an 
adjoining page. This cabin was built 
by one John Doyle, who, considering his 
name and date of residence, may be safely 
designated "the first Irishman of the North 
Shore," for I am sure there are few who 
can successfully dispute my statement, nor 
do I see any reason why the North Shore 
should not have its "first Irishman" as well 
as Chicago. 

My authority as to this being the house 
where the wedding was celebrated is Mr. 
Charles S. Raddin, of Evanston, who se- 
cured the information some years ago from 
Mrs. Archibald Clybourne, who may have 
been present at the wedding, although Mr. 
Raddin neglected to ask her. Mr. Raddin 
was further neglectful in failing to get the 
name of the best man and the maid of hon- 
or, and whether they were Irish or Potta- 
watomie. The ceremony was performed by 
John B. Beaubien, a Justice of the Peace, as 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



37 



is shown beyond question by the records of 
Peoria County. 

Ouihnette and his family lived in this 
cabin at the time of this wedding, and for 
some time thereafter (authority, Sophia 
Martell, who also corroborates Mr. Raddin 
regarding her sister's marriage), although 
their most permanent abode was about a 
mile south of there, as will be shown later. 

The Treaty of Prairie du Chien with the 
Chippewas, Ottawas and Pottawatomies, by 
which the Reservation was ceded to Ouil- 
mette's wife, was concluded July 29, 1829. 
Among other provisions of land for In- 
dians and others, Article 4 of the Treaty 
provides as follows: "To Archange Ouil- 
mette. a Pottawatomie woman, wife of An- 
toine, two sections for herself and her chil- 
dren on Lake Michigan, south of and ad- 
joining the northern boundary of the ces- 
sion herein made by the Indians aforesaid 
to the United States. . . . The tracts 
of land herein stipulated to be granted shall 
never be leased or conveyed by the grantees, 
or their heirs, to any person whatever, with- 
out the permission of the President of the 
United States." 

The land was surveyed by the Govern- 
ment surveyors in 1842, and the patent 
therefor was issued October 29th of the 
same year. 

Site of Evanston Lands Acquired 
From the Indians. — This treaty is of 
special historical interest. By it the United 
States acquired title from the Indians to all 
of the land within the city limits of Evans- 
ton and great tracts to the west, bounded 
as follows : Beginning at the north line of 
Ouilmette's reservation, or a little south of 
Kenilworth on the Lake Shore, due west 
to the Rock River, thence down the 
river and east of it to the Indian 
boundary line on Fo.x River, estab- 
lished by the treaty of 1816; thence 
northeasterly on that line to Lake Michi- 



gan, thence north along the lake shore to 
the place of beginning. (The line men- 
tioned as running "northeasterly to Lake 
Michigan" is the center of the street in 
Rogers Park, known for many years and 
in our records as the "Indian Boundary 
Road," now unfortunately changed by di- 
rection of the City Council of Chicago to 
"Rogers Avenue." It is about half way 
between Calvary Cemetery and the Rog- 
ers Park depot; crosses Clark Street or 
Chicago Avenue at the site of the old toll- 
gate and Justice Murphy's birthplace on 
the opposite corner). 

There should be active co-operation in 
restoring the name "Indian Boundary" to 
this highway. I am informed that the name 
was changed at the solicitation of Mr. Rog- 
ers' family. He was, no doubt, a worthy 
pioneer, but his name seems to have been 
sufficiently perpetuated by the name Rog- 
ers' Park, which was the former village 
now annexed to Chicago. There is, too, a 
railroad station there of that name, and 
many real estate subdivisions also bearing 
his name. This Indian Boundary line is 
not only a great land mark, but the treaty 
which fixed it had great historical signif- 
icance in the development of Illinois. This 
line is referred to in many maps, surveys, 
deeds and conveyances, is in part the divid- 
ing line between the cities of Chicago and 
Evanston, runs in a southwesterly direc- 
tion, intersecting other roads and streets 
in such manner as to make it an important 
and distinctive highway, the importance of 
which will grow more and more as the 
years go by. The disinclination of the 
City Council to disturb historical land- 
marks by changing the names of old high- 
ways should surely have been exercised in 
this instance, and one of the aldermen of 
that ward. Mr. W. P. Dunn, assures me 
that he agrees with this sentiment. 

This treaty also included a vast terri- 



38 



OUR INDIAN PREDECESSORS 



lory lying between the Mississippi and 
Rock rivers in Illinois and Wisconsin, and 
was planned, it is said, with reference to 
the succeeding Treaty of Chicago in 1833, 
to finally clear Western Illinois and South- 
ern Wisconsin of the Indians. "By its pro- 
visions the Indians became completely 
hemmed in or surrounded. To use a com- 
mon saying in playing checkers, the In- 
dians were driven into the 'single corner' 
before they were aware of it." Haines, p 
554-) 

This treaty was the entering wedge, de- 
signed, as above stated, to eventually oust 
the Pottawatomies and other tribes from 
Illinois and Wisconsin, and the manner in 
which its execution was secured reflects 
no credit upon our nation. If the writers 
who have investigated the subject can be 
relied upon, hardly any treaty with the In- 
dians ever made is subject to more just 
criticism. 

Story of the Ouilmette Reservation. — 
It is claimed by Elijah M. Haines, au- 
thor of "The American Indian," that the 
two sections of land constituting the Ouil- 
mette Reservation, were given to Ouil- 
mette's wife and children as a bribe for the 
husband's influence in securing the execu- 
tion of this treaty. Mr. Haines, late of 
Waukegan, was for some years Speaker of 
the Illinois House of Representatives, and 
spent a portion of each year, for many 
years, among the Indians. In his book he 
devotes some ten pages (550-560) to "the 
ingenious work in overreaching the In- 
dians in procuring the execution of this 
treaty," from which it appears, if Mr. 
Haines is correct, that plans were laid in 
advance by the Government's agents to 
carry it through by electing chiefs to fill 
vacancies in the Pottawatomie tribe, who 
were not only friendly to the whites, but 
who were parties to a prior conspiracy to 
dupe the Indians. As the author says, "the 



jury being thus successfully packed, the 
verdict was awaited as a matter of form." 
Mr. Haines seems to have reached this con- 
clusion after careful investigation, includ- 
ing personal interviews with some of the 
principals, among whom was Alexander 
Robinson, one of the chiefs who was elected 
at the very time the treaty was signed. Mr. 
Haines sets out a personal interview be- 
tween himself and Robinson on the sub- 
ject, which is as follows: 

"Mr. Robinson, when and how did you become 
a chief?" 

"Me made chief at the treaty of Prairie du 
Chien." 

"How did you happen to be made chief ?" 

"Old Wilmette, he come to me one day and 
he say: Dr. Wolcott" (then Indian agent at Chi- 
cago, who Mr. Haines says, planned the deal) 
"want me and Billy Caldwell to be chief. He 
ask me if I will. Me say yes, if Dr. Wolcott want 
me to be." 

"After the Indians had met together at Prairie 
du Chien for the Treaty, what was the first thing 
done ?" 

"The first thing they do they make me and Billy 
Caldwell chiefs; then we be chiefs . . . then 
we all go and make the treaty." 

Chiefs Robinson and Caldwell were hand- 
somely taken care of, both in this treatv 
and subsequent ones, in the way of an- 
nuities, cash and lands, as were also their 
friends. Archange Ouilmette, Indian wife 
of the man designated by Chief Robinson 
as "Old Wilmette," and her children thus, 
according to Mr. Haines, secured the two 
sections of land constituting the Reserva- 
tion under discussion, and which seems to 
show that Ouilmette was, indeed, as al- 
ready stated, a thrifty Frenchman. 

There is ample ground, however, for 
disagreement with Mr. Haines in his volun- 
tary criticism of Ouilmette in this trans- 
action. It must be borne in mind that 
Ouilmette and his family were not only 
friendly to the whites during the stirring 
and perilous times at Chicago in the War 
of 1812, but they themselves had suffered 
depredations at the hands of the Indians, 
as shown by Ouilmette's letter to John H. 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



39 



Kinzie. Then, too, he was occupying this 
very land, then of Httle value, and consid- 
ering his fidehty to the Government, not- 
withstanding his marriage to a Pottawato- 
mie wife, it would seem that this cession of 
these two sections of land, under the cir- 
cumstances, was entirely right and prob- 
ably very small compensation for his 
friendly services. Then, too, it must be re- 
membered that he did not get the land, but 
it went to his Pottawatomie wife and her 
children. 

Mr. Haines says of this transaction and 
of Dr. Wolcott's and Ouilmette's connec- 
tion with it (p. 557) : "In aid of 
this purpose, it seems he secured the 
services of Antoine Wilmette, a French- 
man, who had married an Indian 
wife of the Pottawatomie tribe, one 
of the oldest residents of Chicago, and a 
man of much influence with the Indians 
and a particular friend of Robinson's." 

It is fair to say that Mr. Haines excuses 
both Robinson and Caldwell for their action 
in the matter, on the ground that they had 
long been friendly to the whites and were 
misled into believing that the integrity of 
their white friends was as lasting as their 
own (p. 556). It is to be regretted that 
Mr. Haines did not express the same views 
as to Ouilmette, for history clearlv demon- 
strates that he was richly entitled to it. 

Ouilmette was also on hand when the 
Treaty of Chicago (1833) was negotiated, 
as he was at Prairie du Chien, for the 
treaty not only provides for the donations 
already mentioned to Chiefs Robinson and 
Caldwell, to Ouilmette's children and 
others, but he secured $800 for himself, as 
the treaty shows. Whether this was com- 
pensation for his hogs that had been "dis- 
troyed" some thirty years before by the In- 
dians, or as further compensation for his 
prior services at Prairie du Chien or at 
Chicago in 1812, is not disclosed, but it cer- 



tainly is evidence of his desire to see that 
his finances should not suffer in deals made 
with his wife's relations. 

Joseph Fountain, late of Evanston, now 
deceased, father-in-law of ex-Alderman 
Carroll, says in an affidavit dated in 1871, 
"that when he first came here he lived with 
Antoine Ouilmette; that at that time he 
(Antoine) was an old man, about 70 years 
of age, and was living upon the Reservation 
with his nephew, Archange, his wife, being 
then absent. . . . That within a year or 
two thereafter the children returned and 
lived with their father upon the Reservation 
The children went away again and return- 
ed again in 1844. They were then all over 
lawful age, had usual and ordinary intelli- 
gence of white people and were competent 
to manage and sell their property. . . . 

That he was intimate with the children 
and their father and after their return as- 
sisted them in building a house to live in on 
the Reservation. That during the last 
twenty (20) years the Indian heirs have 
not been back there. . . . That in the 
years 1852 and 1853 the land was not worth 
over $3.00 per acre." 

I find by inquiry of Mary Fountain, Jo- 
seph Fountain's widow, a very old lady, in 
Evanston, still living in I90I^ and by like 
inquiry of Mr. Benjamin F. Hill" and 
others, that the house just mentioned was 
built of logs, situated on the high bluffs on 
the lake shore, opposite, or a little north of 
Lake Avenue, in the Village of Wilmette, 
and that the former site of the house has 
long since, and within the memory of old 
residents been washed into the lake, many 
acres of land having been thus washed 
away. Mr. Hill says that this house was 
at one time occupied by Joel Stebbins, who 
used it as a tavern. 



IMrs. Fountain died in Evanston February 17, 1905. 

-Benjamin F. Hill died in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Oc- 
tober 7. 19l).3 — his residence up ' to that time, however, 
having been m Evanston. 



40 



OUR INDIAX PREDECESSORS 



The affidavit of Mr. Fountain indicates 
that Ouilmette hved on the Reservation un- 
til 1838. His letter of 1839 indicates a 
residence at Racine, at which place he had 
a farm for several prior years, and while 
living in Chicago, or at least a tract of 
land where he frequently went. (Author- 
ity, Sophia Martell.) 

Mr. Benjamin F. Hill says that he knew 
him about the year 1838; that he was then 
a very old man, rather small of stature, 
dark skinned and bowed with age ; that 
about that year he went away. He died 
at Council Bluffs, December i, 1841. 

Mr. Hill says that Mr. Fountain omits 
in his affidavit one item concerning the 
acquaintance between Ouilmette and Foun- 
tain, viz. : a lawsuit, in which Ouilmette 
prosecuted Fountain and others for tres- 
passing upon the Reservation by cutting 
timber, which resulted unfavorably to Ouil- 
mette ; that there was a large bill of court 
costs which Fountain's lawyer collected by 
having the Sheriff levy upon and sell a pair 
of fine Indian ponies belonging to Ouil- 
mette, which were his special pride, and 
that it was immediately after this incident 
that Ouilmette left the Reservation never 
to return. 

(The value of the timber probably ac- 
counts for the selection of this land by 
Ouilmette when the treaty was drawn.) 

There are many other interesting remin- 
iscences among old settlers of Evanston re- 
garding Ouilmette. One from William 
Carney, former Chief of Police of Evans- 
ton and for many years a Cook County 
Deputy Sheriff, who was born in Evanston, 
is to the effect that Ouilmette often went 
through Evanston, along the old Ridge 
trail on which the Carneys lived, on foot 
and always carrying a bag over his shoul- 
der; that the children were afraid of him, 
and that Carney's mother, when he was a 
small bov, used to threaten him with the 



punishment for misconduct of giving him to 
"Old Ouilmette," who would put him in the 
bag and carry young Carney home to his 
squaw. Mr. Carney says, "Then I used to 
be good" ; and it is local history that, in 
later years, my youthful associates used to 
say something to the same effect about be- 
ing good after an interview with Mr. Car- 
ney himself, when he had grown to man- 
hood and become the first Chief of Police 
of Evanston, his brother John constituting 
the remainder of the force. In those days, 
too, "Carney will get you if you don't look 
out !" was a common parental threat in 
Evanston. 

As already shown, neither Archange 
Ouilmette nor her children could, under the 
treaty and patent, sell any of the land with- 
out the consent of the President of the 
United States. Consequently there is 
much data respecting the family, both in 
the Recorder's office of this county, in the 
form of affidavits and in the office of the 
Interior Department at Washington, es- 
pecially in the General Land Office and the 
office of Indian Affairs. To some of these 
documents I refer: 

By a petition dated February 22, 1844, 
to the President of the United States, 
signed by seven of the children of Ouil- 
mette (all except Joseph), it appears that 
Archange Ouilmette, the mother, died at 
Council Bluffs on November 25, 1840; that 
six of the children signing the petition then 
resided at Council Bluffs, and one (prob- 
ably the former little Josette) at Fort Win- 
nebago, Wisconsin Territory ; that in con- 
sequence of their living at a remote dis- 
tance, the land is deteriorating in value "by 
having much of its timber, which con- 
stitutes its chief worth, cut off and stolen 
by various individuals living near by," 
which would seem to indicate that people 
were not so good in those days in Evans- 
ton as they have been reputed to be in some 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



41 



later days, if the Chicago newspapers can 
be believed in this respect. The petition 
further says: 

"The home of your petitioners, with one 
exception, is at Council Bluffs, with the 
Pottawatomie tribe of Indians, with whom 
we are connected by blood, and that your 
petitioners cannot, with due regard to their 
feelings and interests, reside away from 
their tribe on said Reserve" ; also that 
they have been put to expense in em- 
ploying agents, whose employment has not 
been beneficial. 

The petition then asks leave to sell or 
lease the land, and the prayer concludes 
in the following words: 

"Or, that your Excellency will cause the 
Government of the United States to pur- 
chase back from us said Reserve of land, 
and pay us one dollar and twenty-five cents 
per acre therefor." 

"And your petitioners further show that 
they are now at Chicago on expense, wait- 
ing for the termination of this petition, and 
anxious to return home as soon as possible." 
and request action "without delay." 

As the result of this petition and subse- 
quent ones, Henry W. Clarke was ap- 
pointed a Special Indian Agent to make 
sale of the Reservation, or rather that part 
of it owned by the seven petitioners, so 
that a fair price could be obtained, and sale 
was made to real estate speculators during 
the years 1844 and 1845. I" the corre- 
spondence between the various departments 
of the Government with reference to the 
sale, appear the signatures of John H. Kin- 
zie, John Went worth (then member of 
Congress), William Wilkins, Secretary of 
War, President John Tyler, W. L. Marcy, 
Secretary of War ; also the signatures of 
Presidents James K. Polk and L'. S. 
Grant. ^ 



The south half of the Reservation, in- 
cluding all that is in Evanston (640 acres), 
sold for $1,000, or a little over $1.50 per 
acre. The north section was sold in sep- 
arate parcels for a larger sum. The cor- 
respondence tends to show that the seven 
Ouilmette children carried their money 
home with them, but as the Special Indian 
Agent had no compensation from the Gov- 
ernment and there were several lawyers en- 
gaged in the transaction, the amount that 
the Indians carried back to Council Bluffs 
can be better imagined than described. 

Joseph Ouilmette in the year 1844 took 
his share of the Reservation in severalty, 
deeding the remainder of the Reservation 
to his brothers and sisters, and they in turn 
deeding his share to him. The share that 
he took was in the northeastern part of the 
Reservation ; he secured the best price in 
making a sale and seemed inclined, not only 
to separate his property interests from his 
brothers and sisters, but to be more of a 
white man than an Indian, as he did not 
follow the family and the Pottawatomie 
tribe to the West for several years, but 
adopted the life of a Wisconsin farmer, re- 
moving later to the Pottawatomie Reserva- 
tion in Kansas. 

An affidavit made by Norman Clark, 
May 25, 1 87 1, states that Joseph Ouilmette 
was in 1853 a farmer, residing on his farm 
in Marathon county. Wis., "about 300 miles 
from Racine," and that the $460 he re- 
ceived for his share of the Reservation 
"was used in and about the improvement of 
his farm," upon which he lived for about 
seven years, and that he was capable of 
managing his affairs "as ordinary, full- 
blooded white farmers are" ; that from 
1850 to 1853 he carried on a farm within 
two miles of Racine, presumably on the 
land formerly owned by his father, An- 
toine. 

It appears from various recorded affi- 



42 



OUR INDIAN PREDECESSORS 



davits that all of the children of Ouil- 
mette are now dead. Such affidavits must 
have been made from hearsay and with a 
view of extinguishing upon the face of the 
records all possible adverese claims, for I 
find by investigation that a daughter of 
Ouilmette (Sophia Martell) is still (1905) 
living on the Pottawatomie Reservation in 
Kansas, at a very advanced age, but with a 
good memory that has served a useful 
purpose in supplying the writer with a few 
of the facts here noted. With this excep- 
tion, all of the children are dead, but many 
of their descendants are still living on this 
same Reservation, and several of them are 
people of intelligence and education, priz- 
ing highly the history of their ancestors. 

Mitchell Ouilmette, on May 2, 1832, (as 
John Went worth says) enlisted in the first 
"militia of the town of Chicago until all 
apprehension of danger from the Indians 
may have subsided" — probably referring to 
the Black Hawk War. Mr. Wentworth's 
authority is a copy of the enlistment roll, 
where, in transacting the copy, his name 
is stated as "Michael," an evident mistake 
in transcribing from the original signa- 
ture. 

While it is true that Captain Heald, of 
Fort Dearborn, was notified on August 7 or 
9, 1812, of the declaration of war against 
England by a message carried by the 
Pottawatomie chief Win-a-mac, or Win- 
nemeg (the Catfish), from General Hull at 
Detroit, warning Captain Heald that the 
Post and Island of Mackinac had fallen 
into the hands of the British, of the conse- 
quent danger to the Chicago garrison, and 
the probable necessity of retiring to Fort 
Wayne, still it is stated upon good author- 
ity that Louis Ouilmette, son of Antoint, 
learned the same facts from a band of In- 
dians on the North Shore, who had come 
either from Mackinac or from that vicin- 
ity, and at once carried the information to 



the garrison several days before the arrival 
of Win-a-mac. (Authority, data in hands 
of C. S. Raddin.) 

The only relic of Antoine Ouilmette in 
the hands of the Evanston Historical So- 
. ciety is an old chisel, or tapping gouge, 
used by him in tapping maple trees in making 
maple sugar on the Reservation, at a point 
a little west and some two blocks north of the 
present Wilmette station of the Northwest- 
ern Railway, immediately west of Dr. B. C. 
Stolp's residence. This chisel, or gouge, 
was secured by Mr. Benjamin F. Hill in 
this sugar bush soon after Ouilmette went 
away, and there is not the slightest doubt 
of its being the former property of Ouil- 
mette ; for Mr. Hill, who has been quoted 
frequently in this paper, is not only the 
John Wentworth of Evanston in the mat- 
ter of being an early settler (1836), with a 
great fund of authentic information, but 
he is a man of force and intelligence, of ex- 
cellent memory, unquestionable integrity, 
and always interested in historical sub- 
jects, as his many valuable contributions 
to the Evanston Historical Society abun- 
dantly show. 

Convincing evidence of the shortness 
of the span between the wigwam, the log 
cabin and the modern home, is presented 
when we consider that there are many liv- 
in Evanstonians who knew the Ouilmette 
family, and who saw their North Shore 
Reservation in all the primeval beauty of 
its ancient forest and towering elms. 

Indian Trails of the North Shore. — 
"Red Men's Roads" have of late been the 
subject of much investigation. Passing 
reference, therefore, to some of the Indian 
Trails of the North Shore will not be 
out of place here. My information is con- 
fined largely to Evanston and that imme- 
diate vicinity. For over a quarter of a 
century the Northwestern Railway has 
operated what the North Shore residents 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



43 



call "The Green Bay Train." A quarter of 
a century before that the white pioneer 
went to "Little Fort" or Waukegan on the 
"Green Bay Road," and before that 
old settlers say it was the "Green Bay In- 
dian Trail." Along this trail, in the 
year 1680, fled the wounded Henri de 
Tonty and his two or three follow- 
ers, in their historic flight from the 
blood-thirsty Iroquois, who time and 
again had also chased their red enemies in 
terror before them along this same Indian 
trail, and, in the later days, the white pio- 
neer saw, in the same trail, the tracks of 
many moccasined feet and of many Indian 
ponies wending their way to and from the 
treaty making councils at Fort Dearborn. 
Evanston historians have long been at 
loggerheads as to the location of this 
Green Bay Road. They all agree that it 
followed the line of Clark Street north, to a 
point opposite the north line of Rose Hill 
Cemetery, and there the trouble begins. 
Some insist that it went due north, follow- 
ing Clark Street and its Evanston exten- 
sion — called there Chicago Avenue — to a 
point a little north of the Evanston light- 
house, there reaching "the Ridge." Others 
claim that its divergence to 'the Ridge" was 
at the point of difference. Probably Both 
are right, each route being used, accord- 
ing to the wetness or dryness of the sea- 
son. At all events, there is no doubt — for 
old settlers all agree, from Benjamin F. Hill, 
who came to Evanston in 1836, to Frances 
E. Willard, author of "The Classic Town" 
in 1892 — that through Evanston there were 
at least two well-defined north and south 
Indian trails, one following "the Ridge" 
or the high ground that extends from the 
terminus of Lincoln Avenue at Bowman- 
ville, or Rose Hill, on the south, to the high 
blufif on the lake front to the north of 
Evanston, and the other trail was right on 
the bank of the lake shore. This latter 



trail, however, there is reason to believe, 
was a very ancient trail, leading to the 
chipping stations or shops already de- 
scribed; and, in the later days, when the 
settlers began to arrive, and when weapons 
were purchased of traders — and, therefore, 
no further use for the primitive article — 
this latter trail was used only in following 
the game that also used it. "The Ridge" 
trail ran to the south, along the high 
ground, through Rose Hill Cemetery, 
reaching both the ancient and the modern 
Indian Village somewhere in that vicinity — 
probably at or near the western limits of 
the cemetery or on the North Branch. 
There is abundant evidence to show that 
north of Evanston, this trail, which reaches 
the Lake Shore in the north part of Evans- 
ton, led to Milwaukee and even north of 
that, following generally the present line of 
Sheridan Road — with a branch around the 
south end of "The Skokie," reaching the 
North Branch of the Chicago River at or 
near its source, and in turn the Desplaines 
River and the Lake region to the north- 
west. One authority places the "Little 
Fort (Waukegan) Trail" six miles west of 
Evanston, on one of the sand ridges there. 
.As these ridges (of which there are sev- 
eral) lie generally alongside low, marshy 
places between the ridges, and as these 
ridges extend north and south, it is no 
doubt true, considering the Indian popula- 
tion and the important points both north 
and south, that there were well defined In- 
dian trails on all of them, with branches in 
varying directions, that would lead to Lit- 
tle Fort; but whatever may have been the 
name of this western trail, the most direct 
ones from Chicago to Little Fort were 
through Evanston. 

The existence and location of these 
Evanston trails is not left in doubt, for 
there are several living witnesses, both in 
Chicago and Evanston, who have seen them 



44 



OUR INDIAN PREDECESSORS 



and have traveled them. The Ridge Trail 
had been in such constant use that the path 
was worn more than a foot into the ground 
from constant travel. Major Mulford, one 
of Evanston's pioneers, had his home ad- 
joining his trail, immediately west of the 
present site of Calvary Cemetery, and was 
frequently visited there by his Chicago 
friends, among them Fernando Jones. The 
site of this trail is known as Ridge Boule- 
vard, in Evanston, and upon it live many of 
Chicago's leading citizens. 

Mr. B. F. Hill, in describing the Ridge 
Trail, says: "On each side of the Ridge 
and close to it, were two Indian trails, 
where the Indians traveled north and south. 
One was about where Ridge Avenue now 
is, and the other in the neighborhood of As- 
bury Avenue, or perhaps a little west of 
that. These trails were so much used that 
the path was worn more than a foot into 
the ground from the constant travel, show- 
ing that these trails had been used for 
many years." 

Indian Trees of the North Shore.— 
There are, at various places along the 
North Shore, and following closely the line 
of several of the old Indian trails, some 
curious trees that apparently have been 
broken, or rather bent and tied down while 
saplings by Indians to mark these trails; 
that custom has been followed in other lo- 
calities, among which, it is said, is the Brad- 
dock trail, several localities near Fox Lake, 
111., also in the vicinity of Mackinac, and it 
is entirely probable here. The trees are in- 
variably large and, if this convenient and 
plausible theory is correct, some of this work 
of so marking the trails must have been 
done a century and more ago, for many of 
the trees are white oaks of considerable size. 
These trees, and this theory, present also a 
most interesting field for inquiry and specu- 
lation. Photographs of some of these trees 
were taken by Mr. A. W. Watriss of Rog- 



ers Park, who, as well as Mr. C. S. Rad- 
din of the Evanston Historical Society and 
Vice-President of the Chicago Academy of 
Sciences, have taken great interest in this 
subject. One of these trees is located on 
the county line, beside the railroad tracks 
of the Northwestern Railroad at the south- 
west corner of the Highland Park Ceme- 
tery, and can easily be seen from passing 
trains ; and another at Calvary Cemetery, 
west of the railroad, can also be so seen ; 
and one of them long stood in the dooryard, 
at Davis Street and Hinman Avenue, of the 
late Dr. Miner Raymond, of Evanston, 
father of Messrs. Samuel, James and Fred 
D. Raymond. 

But some six years ago there were eleven 
of these trees in perfect alignment, leading 
from the site of the old Indian Village at 
Highland Park in a northwesterly direct 
tion for several miles. Most of them are 
still standing and can be easily identified; 
and what is particularly of interest is the 
fact that all of these trees are white oaks, 
while another old trail farther to the south, 
near Wilmette, are without exception 
white elms, indicating system in the selec- 
tion. Those in the City of Evanston were 
oaks, and supposed by the supporters of 
this theory to lead to the chipping stations 
or shops on the lake shore. Two or three 
of these trees were also located on the 
North Branch of the Chicago River, near 
the Glen View Golf Club, probably mark- 
ing the trail to one of the near-by villages. 
Another circumstance that gives color to 
this contention is, that where those trees are 
found was once a dense and heavy forest, 
where it is probable that an Indian trail 
would be marked, if marked at all. 

There is still another theory to the ef- 
fect that these trees were bent down when 
young saplings, and used in the construction 
of wigwams by covering them with mats — a 
common method among the Algonquins ; 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



45 



but as these trees generally stand alone, 
with no near-by duplicates, there seems to 
be little to warrant this contention. 

Another North Shore tree that has be- 
come historic on account of the attention of 
the modern newspaper reporter, is what 
was known as "the Pottawatomie tree," lo- 
cated about three miles west of Wilmette, 
on the farm of M. A. Kloepfer, who se- 
cures quite a revenue from its exhibition. 
This was a remarkable tree, but is now 
dead, having been partially destroyed by 
fire and cut off some thirty feet from the 
ground. It was said to be the largest 
tree in Illinois, a cottonwood, i6o feet high 
and eighteen feet in diameter, with a hol- 
low trunk that would hold thirty-one people. 
All sorts of Indian traditions, of the im- 
promptu variety, have been related with ref- 
erence to its Indian history, most of them be- 
ing about as reliable as the average historical 
novel, or the relation of an old settler in his 
dotage, who sometimes has been found to 
know many things that were not so. Still, 
it may be true that such a tree, towering so 
high above the surrounding forest, may, on 
account of being such a conspicuous land- 
mark, have been a place of Indian rendez- 
vous. 

Indian Camps and Villages. — .\ picture 
of an Indian country would be sadly dis- 
appointing and deficient without the In- 
dian camps and villages, and, therefore, I 
direct your attention to the sites of such 
camps and villages as I have been able 
to locate in Evanston and vicinity. 

The village near Bowmanville, already 
referred to, was designated by the late Karl 
Dilg, in an article published in "The Lake 
Mew Independent," as "Chicago's Great- 
est Indian Village," and it is quite certain 
that there is every reason for giving it that 
name. The vast number and variety of the 
weapons, utensils, chippings, bits of pottery 
and litter of many descriptions not only in- 



dicate an unusual population, but extended 
residence for a very long space of time. 
Some of these utensils are claimed to be 
pre-historic and very ancient, and the area 
covered by them, extending practically 
over the territory from Rose Hill Cemetery 
to the North Branch of the Chicago River, 
with like finds as far north as High Ridge, 
would indicate a very extensive village. 
Another populous village is said to have 
been at Niles Center, one at Forest Glen, 
or Edgebrook, and still another on the 
North Branch of the Chicago River, near 
the Glen View golf-grounds. One of these 
villages is, in all probability, the one re- 
ferred to in Marquette's diary as being six 
leagues (or some i8 miles) to the north. 
These locations by Mr. Dilg are further 
corroborated by Mr. Albert F. Scharf, who 
has made extensive personal examination 
of the ground, and has shown many of the 
locations upon a map, which not only seems 
to have been prepared with great care, but 
which is, in many instances that I could 
name, entirely corroborated by other inde- 
pendent investigations. Mr. Dilg locates 
also another village on the Ridge Trail at 
Rogers Park, which he says is practically 
a continuation of this Bowmanville village, 
"as there are chips everywhere" in this vi- 
cinity indicating this fact and such inhabi- 
tants to the Evanston City Limits on "the 
Ridge" ; and further claims that these vil- 
lages are of great antiquity, reaching back 
to the time of the Mound Builders, and cor- 
roborated, he says, by tht utensils found, 
some of copper, and by the further fact 
that there is no written history concerning 
any such population as must have lived for 
a long space of time in this locality. 

Whether Mr. Dilg be right or wrong in 
these conclusions, it is certain that these 
were populous villages in times of which 
there is no written history of this vicinity, 
and these same localities were in later times 



46 



OUR INDIAN PREDECESSORS 



favorite camping grounds and smaller vil- 
lage sites for the Pottawatomies, as is 
abundantly shown by the testimony of 
many early pioneers who saw them here 
along the North Branch of the Chicago 
River. 

j\Ir. Budlong. proprietor of the present 
extensive truck farm, or garden, at Bow- 
manville, very recently (1904) in excavat- 
ing a gravel-pit, unexpectedly opened and 
exposed to view an Indian grave of more 
than ordinary interest. The grave con- 
tained fourteen skeletons buried in a 
circle, the feet without exception pointing 
toward the center. Although apparently 
well preserved when uncovered, they soon 
crumbled to pieces after being exposed to 
the air. The site of this grave is about ten 
rods north of Foster Avenue, and of the 
center of Section 12 ; and, when California 
Avenue is opened, the site of these graves 
will be in that highway (authority, \\'i\- 
liam A. Peterson, who pointed out the lo- 
cation to the writer.) It is reasonable to 
suppose that these fourteen mute tenants 
of Mr. Budlong's gravel-pit were Potta- 
watomies, who were some of the later res- 
idents of the Bowmanville Indian Village. 

Two small villages are said to have been 
located at Rogers Park, on the Indian 
boundary line, and between Clark Street 
and the Lake, one of them within the pres- 
ent limits of Evanston (authority, Albert F. 
Scharf's map). The same authority lo- 
cates a small village at the foot of Demp- 
ster Street, in Evanston, which must have 
been done by the litter of a temporary vil- 
lage or camp that was there about the year 
1840, during the summer season, and oc- 
cupied by a small roving band of Potta- 
watomie fishermen, described by an Evans- 
ton pioneer, James Carney, who visited them. 
Still another small village was on the north 
side of Hill Street, in Wilmette, about 300 
feet east of Sheridan Road, on the north 



boundary of the Evanston golf-grounds, 
and one also at Gross Point, I am informed. 
In 1835, when the Carney family first 
came to Evanston, there was, at about the 
southwest corner of Davis Street and Wes- 
ley Avenue, in Evanston, a log hut, with 
roof of straw, that is said to have been 
constructed by Indians, and that was, in 
fact, inhabited by them (one or two fam- 
ilies), for quite a time while hunting in 
the vicinity. 

Immediately north of Sheridan Road, 
where it turns to the west, some two or 
three blocks north of the Evanston light- 
house, fronting the lake shore and on the 
property belonging to Mr. Charles Deering, 
was another Indian Village consisting of 
from fifteen to twenty wigwams. It must 
have been quite a permanent place of abode, 
for they had a cornfield there, and the 
mounds showing where the corn grew 
in rows could be seen but a few years 
ago. Mr. James Carney, of Evanston, vis- 
ited this village when a small boy, and has 
a vivid recollection of the wigwams built 
of rushes and mats, the Indians, their 
squaws, the children, the dogs, and espe- 
cially of five or six of the Indians who fol- 
lowed him home after one of his visits to 
secure a certain black pup to which they 
took a fancy, which Mrs. Carney, his 
mother, gave them, much to his disappoint- 
ment, for he, too, was fond of the dog. This 
was done while James was in hiding in a 
hay stack back of the house. 

In 1852 Dr. Henry M. Bannister and a 
companion, while hunting on the Lake 
Shore discovered the site of an Indian vil- 
lage immediately south of what is now 
Greenleaf Street and east of the present 
Sheridan Road and lying east of the shop 
or chipping station before described. The 
site was well defined, not only by the fire 
places, but by the litter of many kinds, in- 
cluding broken utensils and pottery. This 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



47 



discovery of Dr. Bannister's has received 
ample corroboration by other investiga- 
tions. 

StiU another village is thus described by 
Mr. B. F. Hill, of Evanston : 

"The Indians had winter quarters at Wil- 
mette and lived in wigwams made of poles 
and mats of rushes. The village was 
where the Westerfield place used to be, 
near the present intersection of Lake Ave- 
nue and Sheridan Road. It was their cus- 
tom to come there late in the fall and stay 
for the winter." (This village was com- 
posed, not only of Indians, but French and 
half-breeds, the Ouilmettes and some of the 
Beaubiens are said to have lived with them 
part of the time). 

A part of the same interview with Mr. 
Hill is also of interest in this connection. I 
quote from it as follows: "Evanston was 
quite a hunting ground for the Indians on 
account of the deer being plenty there. 
During the early years of my residence here 
Indians were coming and going all the 
time, traveling north and south from 
Chicago, Green Bay and other points, in- 
cluding the winter village at Wilmette, and 
to and from the lake on hunting expedi- 
tions. The last band that I remember of 
seeing was some time in the early for- 
ties ; they were camping temporarily on the 
side of the road and at about what is now 
the intersection of Lake Avenue and Eighth 
Street in Wilmette. 

"I remember seeing John Kinzie Clark, 
who had a ranch in Northfield, where he 
raised ponies, on one occasion, coming 
along through the Wilmette woods with 
three or four Indian ponies. He was a 
great hunter, and, on this occasion, had three 
or four deer tied onto the backs of the pon- 
ies. He was riding one pony and the pony 
to the rear had his bridle tied to the tail of 
the pony Clark was riding, and the whole 
string was thus tied together, Indian file or 
tandem fashion. 



"The Indians I have described were all 
Pottawatomies. Roaming bands frequent- 
ly camped near my father's house and 
would call and trade." ("Our Indian Pre- 
decessors," 23.) 

The wigwams of all these North Shore 
camps and villages have, like their builders, 
disappeared forever from the earth, but it 
is a pleasing reverie to think of them and 
of the forests and the ridges and the North 
Shore, as in those olden days they used to 
be. 

The Indian Mounds and Graves of the 
North Shore are also most interesting land 
marks. Indian graves have been found in 
Evanston in many localities along the lake 
front, one on the property of Dr. Robert D. 
Sheppard, by Mr. C. S. Raddin and Dr. 
William A. Phillips, two by my father, Al- 
din J. Grover, in the year 1866, in laying 
the foundation for "Heck Kail," the first 
building constructed on the Northwestern 
L^niversity campus ; two more about a block 
north of Mr. Charles Deering's residence, 
on the bank of the lake ; another in the ex- 
cavation for the foundation of James 
Rood's building on Davis Street, some ten 
years ago. 

The emblematic or totemic mound, in the 
form of a huge lizard that was under the 
present site of the Wellington Street Sta- 
tion of the Northwestern Elevated Rail- 
road, may well be classed among the North 
Shore landmarks, and I was informed its 
existence has been fully authenticated. An- 
other one used for burial purposes, and 
now also obliterated, was located near the 
Saint Paul Railway viaduct, at the intersec- 
tion of Ridge Boulevard in Evanston. This 
mound was excavated some fifty years ago 
by Evanston pioneers, Joel Stebbins, Paul 
Pratt and James Colvin, who found a col- 
lection of "war instruments and skeletons." 
(Authority, James Carney, of Evanston.) 

Another landmark that may well be 
classed under this heading is across the ra- 



48 



OUR INDIAN PREDECESSORS 



vine from the residence and on the premises 
of the late McGregor Adams, at Highland 
Park, which is circular in form, and about 
thirty feet in diameter, with a round eleva- 
tion in the center, and is said to have been 
the site of a huge wigwam used as a "coun- 
cil house," with trails leading to it from 
the west, marked by the trees elsewhere de- 
scribed. 

But to return to Evanston : there was an 
Indian cemetery beside the Green Bay or 
Ridge Avenue trail, some four or five 
blocks northwest of the Evanston light- 
house, and extending from the Evanston 
Hospital north to the lake, terminating 
about at the property now owned by Mr. P. 
W. Gates, and extending across the eastern 
edge of the Evanston golf-grounds. The 
last burial there is fully described in 
Frances E. Willard's history of Evanston, 
"The Classic Town" (page 21). The last 
burial in this cemetery is well authenticated 
by old settlers. 

"This Indian's coffin was made of poles 
or saplings, laid up like a log house and 
bound together at the corners with withes 
of bark, and the top was also of poles fas- 
tened in like manner. With him was bu- 
ried his gun and tomahawk and his dog. 
He was buried in a sitting posture, above 
ground, and facing the east." (See Mr. 
Hill's account of this in Miss Willard's 
"Classic Town.") 

Some old settlers (then boys) were kept 
awake many nights by visions of the grin- 
ning skeleton, which they saw by peeping 
through the cracks between the poles, 
which immediately preceded their flight in 
terror to their home. The tomahawk bu- 
ried with this Indian was found on the 
site of the grave of this identical Indian in 
1875. and is now the property of the Evans- 
ton Historical Society. The exact site of 
this burial is on the west side of Ridge 
Boulevard, a little north of the intersection 



of Sheridan Road and thirty to forty feet 
south of Joseph Nellessen's house, and it 
may be of interest to Evanston golf en- 
thusiasts, who pursue the game until the 
shadows of evening fall, to know that Hole 
or Green No. 9, of the Evanston Golf Club's 
course, is within less than fifty feet of this 
former sepulcher. (Authority. B. F. Hill, 
who saw, when a boy, the grave, procured 
the tomahawk and presented it to the Ev- 
anston Society, and who has described to 
the writer the exact location as deter- 
mined bv the modern landmarks just 
mentioned.) 

The many burials, so wildly scattered 
over Evanston, have an important signifi- 
cance in the respect that they indicate more 
than the ordinary scattering Indian popu- 
lation. 

Recollections of Later Settlers. — In 
later years and, even as late as 1870, single 
Indians and very small bands or families, 
came through Evanston, traveling to and 
from the north and Chicago, following the 
railroad and the lake. I have personal rec- 
ollection of such visitors on two or three 
occasions between 1866 and 1870, when 
they would camp and spend the night vn- 
der the oaks at the northeast corner of 
Sherman Avenue and Lake Street ; but 
these were not the wild prairie Indians of 
the olden time, and their character may be 
illustrated by an anecdote. A year or two 
ago I was visiting the summer home of a 
Kentucky gentleman on Lake Huron. His 
family had a colored cook — "Aunt Caro- 
line" — who had never before been in the 
North. My friend had in his employ, about 
his grounds, several half-breed Chippewas 
(Ojibways). The next morning, after 
■"Aunt Caroline's" arrival, one of the chil- 
dren of the family tried to alarm her by 
saying that the Indians were apt to scalp 
her, to which she replied: "Law no. hone\- ! 
them's pet Indians." 



HISTORY OF EVAXSTON 



49 



Five Great Treaties — Removal of the 
Pottawatomies. — I-"ive important treaties 
preceded and were effective in divesting the 
Pottawatomies of their title to this part of 
the land of the Illinois. The first was the 
treaty of Greenville, effected by William H. 
Harrison, as aid-de-camp to Major-General 
Anthony Wayne, August 3, 1795, by which 
the Indians ceded "one piece of land six 
miles square at the mouth of the Chikago 
River, emptying into the southwest end of 
Lake Michigan, where a fort formerly 
stood." 

The second was the treaty of Saint Louis, 
concluded August 24, 1816, and negotiated 
by Gov. Xinian Edwards, by which the In- 
dians ceded twenty miles of lake front, di- 
rectly south of Evanston, and a great ad- 
jacent territory lying to the west and south. 
The northern boundary of this cession (ten 
miles north of the Chicago River) is what 
has been known by Ridgeville and Evans- 
ton citizens, for some fifty years, as "the 
Indian Boundary line" and "Indian Boun- 
dary Road," above referred to. The south- 
ern boundary of the land ceded by this 
treaty began on the lake shore, ten miles 
south of the Chicago River. The Indians 
retained by the provisions of this treaty 
the right to hunt and fish, within the tract 
of land ceded, "so long as it may continue 
to be the property of the United States." 
The object of the Government in securing 
this land, was said to be "to construct a 
military road to facilitate the building of 
the proposed ship canal." (Blanchard, 
supra, 419.) 

The third of the treaties referred to was 
the Treaty of Chicago, concluded August 
29, 1 82 1, by which the Pottawatomies ceded 
some 5,000,000 acres of land in Michigan, 
and thus began the most important cessions 
of their large domain. It was at Chicago 
at this time that the Pottawatomie Chief 
Me-te-a made his eloquent and historical 



speech, so often quoted by Indian histori- 
ans. It is of interest to show the feeling of 
the Pottawatomies in regard to parting 
with their lands. The following quotations 
are from Samuel G. Drake's "Book of the 
Indians": 

"You know that we first came to this country 
a long time ago, and when we sat ourselves down 
upon it, we met with a great many hardships and 
difficulties. Our country was then very large; but 
it has dwindled away to a small spot, and you 
wish to purchase that. . . . We have brought all 
the warriors and the young men and women of 
our tribe that one part may not do what the oth- 
ers object to. . . . Our country was given to us 
by the Great Spirit, who gave it to us to hunt 
upon, to make our cornfields upon, to live upon, 
and to make our beds upon when we die, and He 
would never forgive us should we bargain it 
away. When you first spoke to us of lands at St. 
Mary's we said we had a little and agreed to sell 
you a piece of it ; but we told you we could spare 
no more. Now you ask us again. You are never 
satisfied. We have sold you a great tract of land 
already, but it is not enough. . . . V<iu are grad- 
ually taking away our hunting grounds. Your 
children are driving us before them. We are 
growing uneasy. What lands you have you can 
retain forever, but we shall sell no more. You 
think, perhaps, that I speak in passion, but my 
heart is good towards you. I speak like one of 
your own children. I am an Indian, a red-skin, 
and live by hunting and fishing, but my country is 
already too small, and I do not know how to bring 
up my children if 1 give it all away. . , . We 
speak to you with a good heart and the feelings of 
a friend. You are acquainted with this piece of 
land — the country we live in. Shall we give it 
up? Take notice it is a small piece of land, and 
if we give it away what will become of us? . . . 
If we had more land, you should get more, but 
our land has been wasting away ever since the 
white people became our neighbors and we now 
have hardly enough left to cover the bones of our 
tribe. You are in the midst of your red children. 
We all shake hands with you. Behold our war- 
riors, our women and children. Take pity on 
us and on our words." 

The fourth of the treaties in question was 
that of Prairie du Chien, concluded July 29, 
1829, ceding the lake front from Kenilworth 
to Rogers Park, including Wilmette and 
Evanston and lands to the west, fully men- 
tioned in references to Ouilmette, his fam- 
ily and Reservation. 

The fifth of the treaties mentioned was 
the final treaty of Chicago, concluded Sep- 
tember 26, 1833, by which the Pottawato- 
mies ceded to the United States all that 



OUR INDIAN PREDECESSORS 



remained of their lands in Illinois and Wis- 
consin ("supposed to contain," the treaty 
says, "about five million acres"), and which 
provided for and resulted in their removal 
from Illinois and west of the Mississippi. 

There is a very numerous class of Ameri- 
can writers who have little or no sympa- 
thy with the Indian or his supposed rights ; 
they look upon him and the land he has oc- 
cupied as not only the inevitable, but the 
just spoil of advancing civilization. It must, 
however, be a man with a heart of stone 
that could view, without some feeling of 
sentiment, this once proud and powerful na- 
tion, compelled by circumstance to which 
they had made no contribution, to desert the 
land of their fathers and terminate a resi- 
dence of more than a century and a half, at 
the demand of more powerful masters. 

Chicago in 1833 was an insignificant 
frontier village ; but it was then the scene 
of a great and historic drama, both pictur- 
esque and pathetic. At the time the treaty 
was concluded an English writer, a gentle- 
man of learning — Charles J. Latrobe — was 
making a tour of this country, and was in 
Chicago. In a book dedicated to Washing- 
ton Irving, entitled "Rambler," printed in 
London in 1835, he describes the scene from 
which I quote : 

"When within five miles of Chicago we came to 
the first Indian encampment; five thousand Indians 
were said to be collected around this little upstart 
village. 

"We found the village on our arrival crowded 
to excess, and we procured with great difficulty a 
small apartment, comfortless and noisy from its 
close pro.ximity to others, but quite as good as we 
could have hoped for. The Pottawatomies were 
encamped on all sides — on the wide level prairie 
beyond the scattered village, beneath the shelter 
of the low woods on the side of the small river, 
or to the leeward of the sand hills near the beach 
of the lake. They consisted of three principal 
tribes with certain adjuncts from smaller tribes. 
The main divisions are, the Pottawatomies of the 
prairie and those of the forest, and these are sub- 
divided into distinct villages under their several 
chiefs. . . . 

"A preliminary council had been held with the 
chiefs some days before our arrival. The princi- 
pal commissioner had opened it, as we learned, by 



stating that, 'as their great father in Washington 
had heard that they wished to sell their land, he 
had sent Commissioners to treat with them.' The 
Indians promptly answered by their organ 'that 
their great father in Washington must have seen a 
bad bird which had told him a lie, for that, far 
from wishing to sell their land, they wished to 
keep it.' The commissioner, nothing daunted, re- 
plied : 'That nevertheless, as they had come to- 
gether for a council, they must take the matter 
into consideration.' He then explained to them 
promptly the wishes and intentions of their great 
father, and asked their opinion thereon. Thus 
pressed, they looked at the sky, saw a few wander- 
mg clouds, and straightway adjourned sine die, 
as the weather is not clear enough for so solemn 
a council. 

"However, as the treaty had been opened, pro- 
vision was supplied to them by regular rations; 
and the same night they had great rejoicing — 
danced the war dance, and kept the eyes and ears 
of all open by running and howling about the 
village. 

"Such was the state of affairs on our arrival. 
Companies of old warriors might be seen sitting 
smoking under every bush, arguing, palavering or 
'pow-wowing' with great earnestness; but there 
seemed no possibility of bringing them to another 
council in a hurry. . . 

"Next in rank to the officers and commissioners, 
may be noticed certain store-keepers and mer- 
chants here ; looking either to the influx of new 
settlers establishing themselves in the neighbor- 
hood, or those passing yet further to the westward, 
for custom and profit ; not to forget the chance of 
extraordinary occasions like the present. Add to 
these a doctor or two, two or three lawyers, a ' 
land agent, and five or six hotel-keepers. These 
may be considered as stationary, and proprietors 
of the half a hundred clap-board houses around 
you. 

"Then, for the birds of passage — exclusive 
of the Pottawatomies, of whom more anon — and 
emigrants and land speculators as numerous as the 
sands. You will find horse-dealers and horse- 
stealers ; rogues of every description, white, black, 
brown, and red ; half-breeds, quarter-breeds, and 
men of no breed at all ; dealers in pig:s, poultry 
and potatoes ; men pursuing Indian claims, some 
for tracts of land, others, like our friend Snipe 
(one of his stage coach companions on the way), 
for pigs which wolves had eaten, creditors of the 
tribes or of particular Indians, who know that they 
have no chance of getting their money, if they do 
not get it from the government agents — sharpers 
of every degree; peddlers, grog-sellers, Indian 
agents and Indian traders of every description, 
and contractors to supply the Pottawatomies with 
food. The little village was in an uproar from 
morning to night, and from night to morning; for, 
during the hours of darkness, when the housed 
portion of the population of Chicago strove to ob- 
tain repose in the crowded plank edifices of the 
village, the Indians howled, sang, wept, yelled and 
whooped in their various encampments. 

"I loved to stroll out toward sunset across the 
river, and gaze upon the level horizon, stretching 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



51 



to the northwest over the surface of the prairie, 
dotted with innumerable objects far and near. 
Not far from the river lay many groups of tents 
constructed of coarse canvas, blankets and mats, 
and surmounted by poles supporting meat, moc- 
casins and rags. Their vicinity was always en- 
livened by various painted Indian figures, dressed 
in the most gaudy attire. The interior of the hov- 
els generally displayed a confined area, perhaps 
covered with a few half-rotten mats or shavings, 
upon which men. women, children and baggage 
were heaped pell-mell. 

"Far and wide the grassy prairie teemed with 
figures ; warriors mounted or on foot, squaws and 
horses ; here a race between three or four Indian 
ponies, each carrying a double rider, whooping and 
yelling like fiends ; there a solitary horseman with 
a long spear, turbaned like an Arab, scouring 
along at full speed ; groups of hobbled horses, In- 
dian dogs and children, or a grave conclave of 
gray chiefs seated on the grass in consultation. 

"It was amusing to wind silently from group to 
group — here noting the raised knife, the sudden 
drunken brawl, quashed by the good-natured and 
even playful interference of the neighbors; there 
a party breaking up their encampment, and falling 
with their little train of loaded ponies and wolfish 
dogs into the deep, black narrow trail running to 
the north. You peep into a wigwam and see a 
domestic feud ; the chief sitting in dogged silence 
on the mat, while the women, of which there were 
commonly two or three in every dwelling, and who 
appeared every evening more elevated with the 
fumes of whisky than the males, read him a lect- 
ure. From another tent a constant voice of 
wrangling and weeping would proceed, when sud- 
denly an offended fair one would draw the mat 
aside, and taking a youth standing without by the 
hand, lead him apart and sitting down on the 
grass, set up the most indescriable whine as she 
told her grief. Then forward comes an Indian, 
staggering with his chum from a debauch; he is 
met by his squaw, with her child dangling in a 
fold of her blanket behind, and the sobbing and 
weeping which accompanies her whining appeal to 
him, as she hangs to his hand, would melt your 
heart, if you did not see that she was quite as tipsy 
as himself. . . . 

"It is a grievous thing that the government is 
not strong-handed enough to put a stop to the 
shameful and scandalous sale of whisky to those 
poor, miserable wretches. But here lie casks of 
it for sale under the very eyes of the Commis- 
sioners, met together for purposes which demand 
that sobriety should be maintained, were it only 
that no one should be able to lay at their door an 
accusation of unfair dealing, and of having taken 
advantage of the helpless Indian in a bargain, 
whereby the people of the United States were to 
be so greatly the gainers. . . . 

"Day after day passed. It was in vain that the 
signal gun from the fort gave notice of an as- 
semblage of chiefs at the council fire. Reasons 
were always found for its delay. One day an in- 
fluential chief was not in the way; another, the 
sky looked cloudy, and the Indian never performs 
an important business except the sky be clear. At 



length, on September 21st, the Pottawatomies re- 
solved to meet the Commissioners. We were 
politely invited to be present. 

"The council fire was lighted under a spacious 
open shed on the green meadow, on the opposite 
side of the river from that on which the fort 
stood. From the difficulty of getting all together, 
it was late in the afternoon when they assembled. 
There might be twenty or thirty chiefs present, 
seated at the lower end of the enclosure, while the 
commissioners, interpreters, etc., were at the up- 
per. The palaver was opened by the principal 
Commissioner. . . . 

"The relative positions of the Commissioners 
and the whites before the council fire, and that of 
the red children of the forest and prairie, were to 
me strikingly impressive. The glorious light of 
the setting sun streaming in under the low roof of 
the council house, fell full on the countenances of 
the former as they faced the west — while the pale 
light of the east hardly lighted up the dark and 
painted lineaments of the poor Indians, whose 
souls evidently clave to their birthright in that 
quarter. Even though convinced of the necessity 
of their removal, my heart bled for them in their 
desolation and decline. Ignorant and degraded 
as they may have been in their original state, their 
degradation is now ten-fold, after years of inter- 
course with the whites; and their speedy disap- 
pearance from the earth appears as certain as 
though it were already sealed and accomplished. 

"Your own reflections will lead you to form the 
conclusion — and it will be a just one — that even 
if he had the will, the power would be wanting for 
the Indian to keep his territory, and that the busi- 
ness of arranging the terms of an Indian treaty — 
whatever it might have been two hundred years 
ago. while the Indian tribes had not, as now, 
thrown aside the rude but vigorous intellectual 
character which distinguished many among them 
— now lies chiefly between the various traders, 
agents, creditors and balf-breeds of the tribes, 
on whom custom and necessity have made the de- 
graded chiefs dependent, and the Government 
agents. When the former have seen matters so 
far arranged their self-interests and various 
schemes and claims are likely to be fulfilled and 
allowed to their hearts' content, the silent acqui- 
escence of the Indian follows of course; and till 
this is the case, the treaty can never be amicably 
effected. In fine, before we quitted Chicago on 
the 25th, three or four days later, the treaty with 
the Pottawatomies was concluded — the Commis- 
sioners putting their hands, and the assembled 
chief their paws, to the same." 

Thus, as so ably described by the English 
writer, was consiiinmated the transfer by 
which Illinois ceased to be the land of the 
Indian. The Indians received as compensa- 
tion for this vast grant $100,000 "to satisfy 
sundry individuals in behalf of whom res- 
ervations were asked, which the Commis- 
sioners refused to grant"; $175,000 to "sat- 



52 



OUR INDIAN PREDECESSORS 



isfy the claims made against" the Indians ; 
$100,000 to be paid in goods and provisions ; 
$280,000 to be paid in an annuity of $14,000 
each year for twenty years; $150,000 "to 
be apphed to the erection of mills, farm 
houses, Indian houses, blacksmith shops, ag- 
ricultural improvements," etc., and $70,000 
"for purposes of education and the encour- 
agement of the domestic arts." 

One remarkable feature of this treaty is 
the fact that, by its provisions, some five 
hundred to one thousand persons, most of 
them with no Indian blood in their veins, 
derived personal gain from the transaction ; 
the allowance and payment of individual 
claims ranging in amount from a few dol- 
lars to many thousands, and, as already 
noted, about one-third of the cash consider- 
ation was thus disbursed. Among the in- 
dividual beneficiaries also appear the follow- 
ing: Alexander Robinson, $10,000 cash 
and $300 annuity, "in addition to annuities 
already granted"; Billy Caldwell, $10,000 
cash and $400 annuity, "in addition to an- 
nuities already granted" ; John Kinzie 
Clark, $400; allowances to Ouilmette and 
his family, already noted ; "John K. Clark's 
Indian children $400" Qohn Kinzie Clark 
— see B. F. Hill's interview supra), and 
various allowances to the Kinzie family. 

The mere reading of the treaty demon- 
strates that the "birds of pasage," "land 
speculators," "men pursuing Indian claims," 
"creditors of the tribe," "sharpers of every 
degree," and "Indian traders of every 
description," so graphically described by 
the English tourist, constituted no small 



minority of the assembly at Chicago on this 
occasion, or of those who had to do with 
framing that part of the treaty that pro- 
vided for the payment of individual claims. 

Three years after the signing of this last 
treaty and in the years 1835 and 1836, the 
Pottawatomies — or at least the most of 
them — then some 5,000 in number, were re- 
moved west of the Mississippi, into Mis- 
souri, near Fort Leavenworth. They re- 
mained there but a year or two on account 
of the hostility of the frontier settlers, and 
were again removed to Council Bluffs, and 
in a few years again to a reservation in 
Kansas, where three or four hundred of 
their number still exist, while others are in 
the Indian Territory. Their history since 
leaving Illinois has been in the main that 
of all the Indian tribes — a steady dwindling, 
until less than what was one-fourth of 
their numbers in 1836 now remain. 

These transactions are all within the 
memory of many living citizens. A little 
more than half a century has rolled by since 
these children of the prairie and of the for- 
est took their farewell look at old Lake 
Michigan and crossed, for the last time, in 
their westward journey, the plains and 
woods and streams of the land of the Illi- 
nois. Their fathers entered here with strong 
and bloody hands; peacably, yet by still 
stronger hands, have they gone the way of 
all their race. They have caused the white 
man to hear and to speak of the last of the 
Illinois ; and soon — too soon — will the white 
man also hear of the last of the Pottawa- 
tomies. 



CHAPTER III. 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



The Beginning — First Meeting of the 
Founders — Prime Movers in the Enter- 
prise — Resolutions and Draft of Charter 
Adopted — The Legislature Acts — First 
Board of Trustees — Organization Ef- 
fected — Search for a Site for the New 
Institution — The Present Location at Ev- 
anston Finally Selected — Acquisition of 
Lands — Valuable Real Estate in Chicago 
Retained as Part of the Endozvnient — 
Election of a President is Decided Upon. 

Most American Universities that have 
attained to a position of strength and wide 
usefuhness have had humble beginnings, 
and have gathered volume and momentum 
through a long period of years. They have 
acquired, too, in that time, a style and a 
spirit, all their own, which it is difficult to 
portray in words. It needs the experience 
and interest of an alumnus to give life to 
what would be the dreary details of its 
progress ; yet these details are what we call 
history. They are the footprints of its for- 
ward march. What Northwestern Univer- 
sity is now, is — to most of us — the thing 
that makes the story of interest. This will 
be hinted at in the progress of this narra- 
tion, and will be told more fully by other 
writers. The period of the existence of 
Northwestern University has been under 
the close observation of men now living. 
One of its original founders — then a young 



man, now full of years — still tarries among 
us, and some of its earliest graduates are 
still in the vigor of life. Its records are all 
accessible, unfaded as if written only yes- 
terday. Its growth coincides with that of 
the town in which it is located and the 
neighboring city. It is a perilous task to 
deal with names so familiar as the names of 
the men who have chiefly wrought out its 
fortunes, or with events so recent. We can 
deal more bravely, and perhaps more freely, 
with men and events of a few centuries 
gone. 

First Meeting of the Founders. — It was 
on May 31, 1850, that a little company of 
men gathered by appointment in the dingy 
law office of Grant Goodrich, on Lake 
Street, between Clark and Dearborn, in the 
City of Chicago, over the hardware store 
of Jabez K. Botsford. That region was 
then the very heart of the business life of 
Chicago. These men were convened for 
the ambitious purpose of establishing a uni- 
versity at what they considered the Center 
of Influence in the Northwest, under the 
patronage and government of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. Chicago then had three 
Methodist Churches: Clark Street, the 
munificent Mother of Chicago Methodism, 
on the South Side ; Canal Street on the 
West Side; and Indiana Street Chapel on 
the North Side. The men present were 
representatives of those churches. The 



54 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



most positive an4 aggressive among them 
were Grant Goodrich and John Evans. The 
latter was most Ukely the leader, for he was 
a man who dreamed great dreams, and then 
set to work to realize them. The roll of the 
founders who disposed themselves in the law 
office that day were: Rev. Richard Haney, 
then pastor of Clark Street Church; Rev. 
R. K. Blanchard, Pastor of Canal Street 
Church; Rev. Zadok Hall, Pastor of In- 
diana Street Church ; Grant Goodrich, An- 
drew J. Brown, John Evans, Orrington 
Lunt, Jabez K. Botsford and Henr\- \V. 
Clark; three ministers of the gospel, three 
attorneys, one physician and two mer- 
chants evidenced that the future would 
not neglect the departments of Theology, 
Medicine, Law and, possibly. Commerce. 
These were devoted men, men of zeal, en- 
thusiastic Methodist Christians who had 
faith in the future and wished their church, 
in its educational work, to share in the op- 
portunities they believed the future had in 
store. There was, at that time, no institu- 
tion of college rank nearer than Galesburg, 
Illinois, where Knox College was situated. 
The only other colleges in the State at that 
time were Illinois College at Jacksonville, 
Shurtleff at Alton, and McKendree at 
Lebanon ; and inasmuch as Chicago was to 
be the metropolis of the Northwest and a 
great center of population, it should also 
be a seat of learning. 

The chair was taken by Grant Goodrich. 
The work of the meeting had been cut and 
dried. Brother Goodrich had a little paper 
in his pocket which he was prepared to read, 
explaining the purpose of their gathering. 
He was the Methodist attorney of Chicago. 
There were other Methodist lawyers in 
Chicago, but he over-topped them ; he was 
earlier in the field ; keen, combative, per- 
sistent, devoted to his clients and of stain- 
less honor, a man who wanted his own wa\' 
and fought for it. There were men in 



that company who would give Brother 
Goodrich good battle if he left any weak 
points exposed, notably Dr. Evans, who had 
a mind of his own and no hesitancy or lack 
of skill in expressing it. The scheme of 
Northwestern University bears the marks 
of his far-seeing mind, whose plans were 
uniformly bold and full of faith, and which, 
with the added element of time, have, in 
almost every scheme with whicli he was 
connected, achieved a splendid result. 

Steps Taken for Founding the Univer- 
sity. — The purpose of the meeting was 
briefly explained. Andrew J. Brown was 
made Secretary, and then the paper was 
produced — the first formal step in the 
establishment of the University. That 
paper read as follows : 

"Whereas. The interests of sanctified learning 
require the immediate establishment of a univer- 
sity in the Northwest, under tlie patronage of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church : 

"Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed 
to prepare a draft of a charter to incorporate a 
literary university, to be located at Chicago, to 
be under the control and patronage of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, to be submitted to the 
ne.xt General Assembly of the State of Illinois. 

"Resohed, That said committee memorialize 
the Rock River, Wisconsin, Michigan and North 
Indiana Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, to mutually take part in the government 
and patronage of said university. 

"Resolved, That a committee of three be ap- 
pointed to ascertain what amount can be obtained 
for the erection and endowment of said institu- 
tion." 

These resolutions were spoken to by 
Rev. Richard Haney, the foremost preacher 
in Rock River Conference, at that early 
day pastor of its leading pulpit, a man of 
commanding presence and persuasive 
speech, and very loyal to his church and all 
her agencies, against whom posterity has no 
charge to make that he did not labor tire- 
lessly or wisely, or plan broadly for the 
coming years, and a man who was destined 







F»^'?*vkr- ^-^Tas^ 


'^t^jjj^p^ 


K .^V^SL^'W^ 




5^^ 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



55 



to be associated with Northwestern Univer- 
sity, as a Trustee, till his death, and who, 
during that time, never missed an annual 
meeting of its Board of Trustees, save one, 
when sickness interfered. 

Then Dr. Evans spoke, with kindling eye 
and with the fervid speech of a great pro- 
moter. He saw the future in the instant. 
He would associate the cause of education 
with the inevitable growth of Chicago and 
the increase of values of property. Let 
men sacrifice something now, and the com- 
ing peoples would pay tribute to their de- 
votion and sagacity, was the burden of his 
speech. 

The resolutions were unanimously 
adopted. The two committees suggested 
were appointed: First, On the Charter — 
John Evans, A. J. Brown, E. G. Meek. A. 
S. Sherman and Grant Goodrich; Second, 
On Co-operation of Northwest Conferences 
—Rev. R. Haney, Rev. R. H. Blanchard 
and Dr. John Evans. They were requested 
to report in two weeks from that date, at 
three o'clock p. m., at the Clark Street 
parsonage. They meant business, and the 
committees went immediately about their 
work. Promptly at three o'clock of the 
day appointed, the brethren gathered in the 
parlor of Brother Haney 's parsonage on 
Clark Street, in the rear of the First Church. 
Dr. Evans reported for his committee the 
draft of a charter as follows : 

Form of Charter Proposed. 
Section I. — Be it enacted by the people of the 
State of Illinois, represented in the General .As- 
sembly : That Richard Haney. Philo Judson, S. P. 
Keyes and A. E. Phelps, and such persons as shall 
be appointed by the Rock River Annual Confer- 
ence of the Methodist Episcopal Church to suc- 
ceed them in the said office ; Henry Summers, 
Elihu Springer, David Brooks and Elmore Yo- 
cum, and such persons as shall be appointed by 
the Wisconsin .Annual Conference of said Church 
to succeed them ; four individuals, if chosen, and 
such persons as shall be appointed to succeed 
them by the Michigan .Annual Conference of said 



Church; four individuals, if chosen, and such 
persons as shall be appointed to succeed them by 
the North Indiana Annual Conference of said 
Church ; H. W. Reed, I. I. Stewart, D. N. Smith 
and George M. Teas, and such persons as shall be 
appointed to succeed them by the Iowa Annual 
Conference of said Church ; four individuals, if 
chosen, and such persons as shall be appointed to 
succeed them by the Illinois Annual Conference of 
said Church ; A. S. Sherman, Grant Goodrich, 
Andrew J. Brown, John Evans, Orrington Lunt, 
J. K. Botsford, Joseph Kettlestrings, George F. 
Foster, Eri Reynolds, John M. Arnold, Absalom 
Funk and E. B. Kingsley, and such persons, citi- 
zens of Chicago or its vicinity, as shall be ap- 
pointed by the Board of Trustees hereby consti- 
tuted to succeed them ; be and they are hereby 
created and constituted a body politic and corpor- 
ate, under the name and title of the Trustees of the 
Northwestern University, and henceforth shall be 
styled and known by that name, and by name and 
style to remain and have perpetual succession, with 
power to sue and to be sued, plead and be implead- 
ed, to acquire, hold and convey property, real, per- 
sonal or mi.xed, in all lawful ways ; to have and to 
use a common seal and to alter the same at pleas- 
ure; to make and alter, from time to time, such by- 
laws as they may deem necessary for the govern- 
ment of said institution, its officers and servants, 
provided such by-laws are not inconsistent with 
the Constitution and laws of this State and of the 
United States, and to confer on such persons as 
may be considered worthy such academical or hon- 
orary degrees as are usually conveyed by similar 
institutions. 

Section ^.— The term of office of said Trustees 
shall be four years, but that of one member of the 
Board for each Conference enjoying the appoint- 
ing power by this act, and (the) term of three of 
the members whose successors are to be ap- 
pointed by the Board hereby constituted, shall ex- 
pire annually, the term of each member of the 
Board herein named to be fixed by lot at the first 
meeting of said Board, which Board shall, in 
manner above specified, have perpetual succession, 
and shall hold the property of said institution sole- 
ly for the purposes of education, and not as a 
stock for the individual benefit of themselves or 
any contributor to the endowment of the same ; 
and no particular religious faith shall be required 
of those who become students of the institution. 
Nine members shall constitute a quorum for the 
transaction of any business of the Board, except 
the appointment of President or Professor, or the 



56 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



establishment of chairs in said institution, and the 
enactment of by-laws for its government, for which 
the presence of a majority of the Board shall be 
necessary. 

Section S- — Said Annual Conference of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, under whose con- 
trol and patronage said University is placed, shall 
each also have the right to appoint annually two 
suitable persons, members of their own body, 
visitors to said Universitj', who shall attend the 
examination of students, and be entitled to par- 
ticipate in the deliberations of the Board of 
Trustees and enjoy all the privileges of members 
of said Board, except the right to vote. 

Section 4. — Said institution shall remain located 
in or near the City of Chicago, Cook County, and 
the corporators and their successors shall be com- 
petent in law or equity to take to themselves, in 
their said corporate name, real, personal or mixed 
estate, by gift, grant, bargain and sale, conveyance, 
will, devise or bequest of any person or persons 
whomsoever ; and the same estate, whether real, 
personal or mixed, to grant, bargain, sell, convey, 
devise, let, place out at interest, or otherwise dis- 
pose of the same for the use of said institution in 
such manner as to them shall seem most beneficial 
to said institution. Said corporation shall faith- 
fully apply all the funds collected, or the proceeds 
of the property belonging to the said institution, 
according to their best judgment, in erecting and 
completing suitable buildings, supporting necessary 
officers, instructors and servants, and procuring 
books, maps, charts, globes and philosophical, 
chemical and other apparatus necessary to the 
success of the institution, and do all other acts 
usually performed by similar institutions that may 
be deemed necessary or useful to the success of 
said institution, under the restrictions herein im- 
posed : Provided, nevertheless, that in case any 
donation, devise or bequest shall be made for par- 
ticular purposes, accordant with the design of the 
institution, and the corporation shall accept the 
same, every such donation, devise or bequest shall 
be applied in conformity with the express condi- 
tions of the donor or devisor: provided, further, 
that said corporation shall not be allowed to hold 
more than two thousand acres of land at any one 
time, unless the said corporation shall have re- 
ceived the same gift, grant or devise ; and in such 
case they shall be required to sell or dispose of the 
same within ten years from the time they shall 
acquire such title; and, on failure to do so, such 
lands, over and above the before-named two thou- 



sand acres, shall revert to the original donor, 
grantor, devisor or their heirs. 

Section 5. — The Treasurer of the institution, 
and all other agents when required, before entering 
upon the duties of their appointment, shall give 
bond for the security of the corporation in such 
penal sums, and with such securities as the cor- 
poration shall approve, and all process against the 
corporation shall be by summons, and the service 
of the same shall be bj' leaving an attested copy 
thereof with the Treasurer, at least sixty days be- 
fore the return day thereof. 

Section 6. — The corporation shall have power to 
employ and appoint a President or Principal for 
said institution, and all such professors or teachers 
and all such servants as shall be necessary, and 
shall have power to displace any or such of them 
as the interest of the institution shall require, to 
fill vacancies which may happen by death, resig- 
nation or otherwise, among said officers and ser- 
vants, and to prescribe and direct the course of 
studies to be pursued in said institution. 

Section 7. — The corporation shall have power to 
establish departments for the study of any and all 
the learned and liberal professions in the same, to 
confer the degree of doctor in the learned arts and 
sciences and belles-lettres, and to confer such other 
academical degrees as are usually conferred by the 
most learned institutions. 

Section 8. — Said institution shall have the power 
to institute a board of competent persons, always 
including the faculty, who shall examine such in- 
dividuals as shall apply, and if such applicants are 
found to possess such knowledge pursued in said 
institution as, in the judgment of said Board, ren- 
ders them worthy, they may be considered gradu- 
ates in course, and shall be entitled to diplomas ac- 
cordingly on paying such fee as the corporation 
shall affix, which fee, however, shall in no case 
e.xceed the tuition bills of the full course of studies 
in said institution. Said Examination Board 
may not exceed the number of ten. three of whom 
may transact business, provided one be of the 
faculty. 

Section g. — Should the corporation at any time 
act contrary to the provisions of this charter, or 
fail to comply with the same, upon complaint 
being made to the Circuit Court of Cook County, a 
scire facias shall issue, and the Circuit Attorney 
shall prosecute, on behalf of the people of this 
State, for the forfeiture of this charter. 

This act shall be a public act, and shall be con- 
strued liberally in all courts, for the purpose 
herein expressed. 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



57 



The draft of the charter was approved 
as read, and it was agreed that the Legi'5- 
lature, at its ensuing session, should be 
asked to enact it into law. A memorial 
was framed at the same meeting to the dif- 
ferent conferences in the region of the 
Northwest, asking their participation. Min- 
nesota, Nebraska and the Dakotas were then 
unknown quantities in their conception of 
the Xorthwest, and were not included in 
the memorial. 

Organization is Effected — The charter 
became a law at the ensuing session of the 
Legislature, the act being signed by Sidney 
Breese, Speaker of the House, and Lieuten- 
ant-Governor William McMurtry, as Presi- 
dent of the Senate, and received the approval 
of Gov. A. C. French, January 28, 1851. On 
the 14th of June, next ensuing, the first 
meeting of the corporation was held for 
purposes of organization, and their first 
formal action was the election of Dr. \. S. 
Davis as Trustee, to succeed Eri Reynolds, 
one of the charter members, who had died. 
They accepted the act of the Legislature, 
divided the members into classes by lot, and 
adopted a plan of operations for the estab- 
lishment of the College of Liberal Arts, 
with a President who should be Professor 
of Moral and Intellectual Philosophy, a 
Professor of Mathematics, one of Natural 
Sciences, and another of Modern Lan- 
guages. A Preparatory School was like- 
wise contemplated in the City of Chicago, 
where there was not, at that time, even a 
high school, and steps were taken to raise 
money for these purposes. Beginning at 
the bottom, their thought was, first, to set 
the Preparatory School in operation. For 
this purpose twenty-five thousand dollars 
was needed. It was firmly resolved, "that 
no debts should be contracted or money ex- 
pended, without the means be first pro- 
vided," and Congress was to be memorial- 
ized for a grant of lands to the Northwest- 



ern LTniversity. Nothing ever resulted from 
this memorial, but the Trustees were not 
idle in other directions. They organized 
by the election of Dr. John Evans, the 
master spirit among them, as President; 
A. S. Sherman as Vice-President; Andrew 
J. Brown as Secretary ; and Jabez K. 
Botsford as Treasurer. These, with Grant 
Goodrich, George F. Foster and Dr. N. S. 
Davis, constituted the Executive Commit- 
tee of the Board. 

Seeking a Site. — The Committee on Site 
for the Preparatory School reported 
August 4, 1852, recommending the purchase 
of the property of the First Universalist 
Society in Chicago, which had a frontage 
of eighty feet on Washington Street, about 
the middle of the block east of the Clark 
Street Methodist Episcopal Church, at a 
cost of four thousand dollars, one-half cash 
and the balance in three years, at six per 
cent interest. On August 28th they raised 
their bid on this property to forty-eight 
hundred dollars, and started a subscription 
for the purpose of securing funds. Evi- 
dently there was a hitch in the negotiations, 
for the Board appointed Dr. Evans and 
Orrington Lunt to view other lots for the 
same purpose. That committee turned aside 
from the Universalist Church property, and 
recommended the purchase of a lot about 
two hundred feet square at the corner of 
LaSalle and Jackson Streets, from P. F. W. 
Peck. This situation was thought to be 
a little remote, but, the lot being larger, it 
was deemed more desirable for the pro- 
posed Preparatory School, and the purchase 
was consummated — a thousand dollars be- 
ing paid down, contributed by a few of the 
brethren. The title was taken in the name 
of John Evans, to be later transferred to 
the Trustees of Northwestern University. 
The consideration was eight thousand dol- 
lars. 



58 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



Erection of Building Authorized. — On 

September 22, 1852, the erection of a build- 
ing upon this property was authorized, to 
accommodate three hundred students, and, 
on the same date a committee was ap- 
pointed, consisting of S. P. Keyes, N. S. 
Davis and Orrington Lunt, to recommend 
a site for the Collegiate Department. The 
ambition and scope of these early founders 
is seen in a series of resolutions adopted 
at this meeting, appealing to the Methodist 
people of the Northwest not to multiply 
higher institutions of learning, but to con- 
centrate their effort upon a single institu- 
tion, viz., the Northwestern University, 
and to make it an institution of the highest 
order of excellence, complete in all its 
parts; and, further, they resolved to ask 
from the Legislature power to establish pre- 
paratory schools in different sections of the 
Northwest, and to affiliate preparatory in- 
stitutions already in existence. 

In the following October Rev. Philo Jud- 
son was appointed to solicit subscriptions 
for the new enterprise. He had been pastor 
of the Clark Street Church, was an accom- 
plished and influential preacher and a man 
of affairs, with just the make-up to 
appeal to the constituency of the new 
institution. His first duty was to obtain 
funds for the Preparatory School on La- 
Salle Street. 

Site for Collegiate Department Sought. 
— But the developments with reference to 
the site of the Collegiate Department were 
destined to turn the Trustees away from 
Chicago. The Committee on Site con- 
sidered a location at Rose Hill, strongly 
commended by William B. Ogden ; a farm 
near Jefferson was looked upon with favor ; 
then the Lake Shore in the region of Win- 
netka and Lake Forest. The region contig- 
uous to Chicago on the north, because it 
was swampy, was usually avoided in going 



north by taking what was known as the 
"Old Sand Road.'' This road veered to 
the northwest at a point half a mile west 
of the northern limit of Lincoln Park — at 
that time an old Chicago Cemetery — and 
struck the Ridge Road just north of what 
is now Rose Hill Cemetery, then known as 
Rose's Ridge. Thus, to the ordinary 
traveler, the region north of Lincoln Park, 
adjoining the lake, was a terra incognita. 
Orrington Lunt had casually visited that 
region and demanded, before a location was 
settled upon, that the Lake Shore be ex- 
plored. He delayed a decision upon the 
Jefferson property and arranged a tour of 
inspection of the Lake Shore. Andrew J. 
Brown recalls it as of the Fourth of July. 
1853. Disposed in various vehicles, the 
Trustees took the Sand Road, stopped for 
lunch at the Rose's Ridge Tavern, and 
pursued their way along the Ridge Road 
to what is the corner of Ridge Avenue and 
Clark Street ; thence following an old cow 
path easterly, over the slough in the region of 
Davis Street and Sherman Avenue, they 
found themselves in a splendid oak forest 
skirting the Lake Shore, the remains of 
which will help us to recall that scene of ex- 
ploration for a university site fifty years 
ago. To see it was to desire it. 
Three hundred and eighty acres lay 
in a single tract, owned by Dr. J. 
H. Foster. The price asked was twenty- 
five thousand dollars — far in excess of its 
value, as values were then estimated. The 
terms were easy; one thousand dollars 
down, the balance in ten years at six per 
cent interest. Releases might be given from 
time to time on payment of one hundred 
dollars per acre. The purchase was con- 
summated, and the college site and college 
town, made up of forest and swamp, was 
permanently located. 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



59 



It was decided that it was "inexpedient 
to erect a Preparatory School in -the City 
of Chicago at the present time" ; the chosen 
site for that building, however, was good 
enough to keep, and, in the years to come, 
as the site of the Grand Pacific Hotel, and 
later, of the Illinois Trust and Savings 



Bank, would furnish valuable endowment 
for the fledgling college. 

The Trustees decided likewise to elect a 
President of the institution, whose first duty 
should be to procure subscriptions and plan 
for the establishment of an endowment for 
the University. 



CHAPTER IV. 



INSTITUTION IN DEVELOPMENT 



Dr. Hinman Chosen First President — Sale 
of Scholarships Begins — Career of the 
New President Cut Short by His Early 
Death — Town Platted and Named in 
Honor of Dr. John Evans — Garrett Bib- 
lical Institute Established — First Corps 
of College Professors Elected — Universi- 
ty Assets in 1854 — Four-Mile Anti- 
Liquor District Established by Act of the 
Legislature — The Teaching Force In- 
creased — Dr. Evans' Land Policy — The 
Institution is Opened for Pupils — Some 
of the First Students. 

At the meeting of June 23, 1853, Dr. 
Clark T. Hinman was unanimously elected 
the first President of the University. He 
was thirty-six years of age, a Trustee from 
Michigan Conference and principal of Al- 
bion Seminary. He was a graduate of 
VVesleyan University, Connecticut, and had 
been principal of Newbury Seminary, in 
Vermont. He was a man of zeal and 
method. He laid hands upon one and an- 
other of the Trustees, .and took them out 
among their business acquaintances to give 
him an opportunity to present his cause. 
The scheme of raising money, which was 
adopted, and which Dr. Hinman was 
especially to present, was by the sale of 
scholarships. Perpetual scholarships were 
issued, which were to entitle to tuition the 
purchaser, his son or grandson and other 



descendants by will, and were sold for one 
hundred dollars ; transferable scholarships 
were sold for one hundred dollars, entitling 
the holder to five hundred dollars in tuition ; 
and scholarships were sold for fifty dollars, 
entitling the holder to two hundred dollars 
in tuition. A bond was issued on the first 
payment, and the scholarship was to be 
issued on the completion of payments with- 
in an allotted time. One-half of the funds 
from these sales was to be used for pur- 
poses of instruction, and the other half for 
the purchase of lands, not to exceed twelve 
hundred acres, as a site for the University 
and for the erection of buildings. The 
Trustees evidently thought that some tan- 
gible equivalent must be tendered for 
money spent for education in that early 
day. Scholarships certainly proved market- 
able ; and, if the same zeal had been exer- 
cised in the careful collection of the 
amounts pledged for them as was shown in 
their sale, the growth of the institution 
would have been more rapid ; for Dr. Hin- 
man disposed of them with great success 
among all sorts and conditions of men — on 
Water Street, among commission men and 
grain dealers : on Canal Street, to the lum- 
ber men; in town, to the merchants; and 
in the country, to the farmers. In the short 
period of his service he sold scholarships 
to the amount of $64,600, while others, under 
the stimulus of his activity, sold $37,000 



62 



NORTHWESTERX UNIVERSITY 



worth. He was dreaming, meanwhile, of 
the institution whose financial foundations 
he sought to lay, but death overtook him 
ere his dream had been realized. He died 
in 1854, one year before the formal open- 
ing of the institution in which he hoped to 
teach as Professor of ;\Ioral and Intellectual 
Philosophy. 

Town Platted and Named — Public Parks. 
— In the meantime, the land purchased by 
the Trustees from Dr. Foster, and some 
two hundred and forty-eight acres adjoining 
it on the west, which had been purchased 
by Andrew J. Brown and Harvey B. Hurd, 
was laid out into lots and blocks, and platted 
and named Evanston, in honor of Dr. John 
Evans. The University's part was bounded 
on the west by Sherman Avenue. What lay 
west of Sherman Avenue was in the Brown 
and Hurd tract. Many of the avenues and 
streets bear the names of the favorite 
friends of the University — as Orrington 
Avenue, named for Orrington Lunt ; Sher- 
man Avenue, for A. S. Sherman ; Hinman 
Avenue, for Dr. Hinman, the first President ; 
Judson Avenue, for Rev. Philo Judson; 
Davis Street, in honor of Dr. N. S. Davis. 
Six public parks were included in the 
plan to beautify the future Evanston, and 
the Lake Shore, from Davis Street to Uni- 
versity Place, east of Michigan Avenue, 
was dedicated to the same purpose. The 
contemplated campus extended from the 
projection eastward of the south line of 
Foster Street to the north line of University 
Place — a beautiful and spacious campus, 
respected Founders, but hardly enough for 
a university of so ambitious a title as yours. 
But Block I. to Simpson Street — so they 
thought — might be used as a campus in an 
emergency, and they still held lands to 
the north, unplatted, which might be used 
for the same purpose, but which, in their 
wildest dreams, they did not fancy would be 
needed for the campus of the institution 
they were founding. 



Garrett Biblical Institute Founded. 

— The scheme of a Biblical Institute had 
been started in Chicago by the same found- 
ers, and Eliza Garrett, by her will, had ar- 
ranged for the endowment of such an insti- 
tution ; but the beginnings of the institution 
were had in February, 1854. To them the 
Trustees of the University ofifered a site at 
a nominal rent. The ofi'er was accepted 
and an institution established on the campus 
that was destined to make splendid history 
in theological education. Streets were 
graded in the growing town; transporta- 
tion was furnished by the Chicago & Mil- 
waukee Railroad — now the JMilwaukee di- 
vision of the Chicago Northwestern — the 
right of way for which was given by Brown 
& Hurd. It is notable that this gift was 
coupled with the agreement that all pas- 
senger trains should stop at Evanston — an 
agreement that it would be difficult for the 
road to fulfill. 

Not content with their three hundred 
acres of ground, the Billings farm (con- 
tiguous to their first purchase) was bought, 
consisting of twenty-eight acres, for three 
thousand dollars. They chose to forget, for 
the time being, one of their earlier resolu- 
tions, viz. : "Resolved, That no debts shall 
be contracted or money expended without 
the means be first provided." It was a 
purchase on time, and time, they believed, 
was on their side. Values of their sub- 
divided property were advancing. They 
could soon open their school, possibly in 
1855. To this end they elected a small 
corps of professors in June, 1854: Henry 
S. Noyes, Professor of Mathematics ; W. 
D. Godman, Professor of Greek; and Abel 
Stevens, Professor of Literature. 

When the Treasurer made his report in 
1854, the assets of the University, in land, 
notes and subscriptions, were estimated at 
$281,915, with liabilities of $32,255.04. The 
Foster purchase had increased in value from 
$25,000 to $102,000; the Billings farm from 



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HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



^3 



S3.000 to $4,2CX); and the Peck purchase, 
from $8,000 to $43,400. Subscriptions to 
scholarships made up the remainder of the 
estimated wealth. 

Site of the University Described. — 
It was probably at the annual meeting in 
June, 1854. that the hopeful feeling and 
aggressive spirit of the Trustees of the 
institution were voiced in a report which 
was of the nature of a proclamation and 
formulation of their plans, as thus far de- 
veloped. They offered devout praise to 
God and their sincere thanks to the found- 
ers for the present success and the future 
prospects of the University. They described 
the location at Evanston in glowing terms, 
stating that. "On the shore of Lake Michi- 
gan, eleven miles north of the City of Chi- 
cago and on the line of the Chicago & 
Milwaukee Railroad — the site being large, 
beautiful and healthful, including some four 
hundred and forty acres of land, sufficiently 
elevated above the lake and the surrounding 
country to afford an extensive view of each, 
extending nearly two miles along the shore 
and about one-half of it covered with a 
young and thrifty forest in its natural state, 
affording the lovers of good taste every 
facility desirable for the most lovely resi- 
dence in the country — a town has been laid 
out and named Evanston. The University 
buildings will occupy the latitudinal center 
of the town and the highest point of land, 
covered with a beautiful grove, and inclin- 
ing at an angle of some thirty degrees 
toward the lake shore." They add that, 
"In respect of the motive in selecting the 
site of the University and establishing the 
institution, neither local prejudice nor a 
spirit of opposition to kindred institutions 
has had any place in the hearts of its 
friends, but rather a desire to meet ad- 
equately the growing need in the Northwest 
of a university of the highest grade, adapted 
to the country, to its increasing prosperity 



and the advanced state of learning in the 
present age. Its location makes it central 
for the entire Northwest; and the magni- 
tude of the enterprise, by developing the 
educational resources of the country on a 
large scale, and by stimulating a spirit of 
noble, generous rivalry, will benefit institu- 
tions of every grade. We very frankly, and 
we hope not ostentatiously, aver our design 
of making it an institution second to none, 
and worthy of the country in which it is 
located and its name, 'The Northwestern 
University.' " 

Teaching Features of the University. — 
They then jiroceed to state its distinctive 
features: Undergraduate courses of in- 
struction ; Post-Graduate courses ; a j\Ied- 
ical Department in the near future ; a Law 
School. P>ut immediate attention was to be 
given to the College of Literature, Science 
and the Arts, with a classical course of four 
years, a scientific course and an elective 
course of the same duration. The condi- 
tions of admission were to be the same as 
those of other colleges of the country, not 
excepting Yale or Harvard. The scheme 
of contemplated professorships numbered 
fourteen, among which were some not yet 
realized; as a Professorship of the Fine 
Arts and Arts of Design, a Professorship 
of Didactics, of Physical Education and 
Hygiene. Young men were had in mind for 
these various chairs, some of whom were to 
increase their efficiency by devoting a year 
or more to travel in Europe and to study in 
the best Eastern Universities, comparing 
their own modes of instruction and profiting 
by the society of the ripest scholars of the 
age. Abel Stevens, William D. Godman 
and Henry S. Noyes had been selected for 
Literature, Greek and Mathematics. The 
merits of these men were set forth in a 
manner that showed their confidence, as, for 
instance: "To speak of their qualifications 
is superfluous" ; and then, speaking of 



64 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



Abel Stevens, they say: "As a rhetorician 
and finished scholar in English Literature, 
Abel Stevens stands beside the finest writ- 
ers of the nation, and as a preacher, and 
particularly a platform speaker, is unsur- 
passed in America." The commendation 
was doubtless merited; but their expres- 
sions lead us to say, verily those founders 
knew how to blow the Northwestern trum- 
pet. 

They hoped to fill the remaining chairs, 
or such as were needed, at the subsequent 
session. They presented a tabulation of 
their net assets, showing the estimate of their 
resources in land and promises at $250,000, 
to which they proposed to add $150,000 by 
the sale of scholarships, and $100,000 by 
donations— the last for the purpose of erect- 
ing suitable buildings, including an observa- 
tory, and purchasing a library, cabinet, ap- 
paratus and other university fixtures. This 
report, or proclamation, was signed by 
Grant Goodrich, Chairman of the Commit- 
tee, attorney and special pleader for the in- 
fant University, and bears date July 4, 1854 
— the spirit of the day, no doubt, giving 
color to his rhetoric and a touch of ex- 
travagance to the document. But he was in 
earnest, and so were they all. 

When the Board met in June, 1855, Dr. 
Hinman, was no longer with them. That 
eager spirit had succumbed to the burden of 
his labors. He had undertaken to increase 
the endowment from the sale of scholar- 
ships to $250,000, and to secure the needed 
$100,000 for the erection of buildings. 
There is every probability that, with his 
rare faculty for influencing men, he would 
have accomplished even more than he had 
undertaken had time permitted. Fitting 
resolutions were passed, recounting the ser- 
vice which this gifted young man had 
rendered and the hopes that were enter- 
tained of him. Those inadequate resolu- 
tions have perished; at least, they are not 



of record. His monument is in the insti- 
tution he helped to found; and, while it 
lives, his name and his service will not be 
forgotten. They sought two years later to 
perpetuate his memory by some monument 
on the college grounds. It is, perhaps, well 
that they failed in this, for he partakes, with 
others, in the monumental character of the 
entire University enterprise to the devotion 
and sacrifice of its founders. 

At this session of the Board the liberal 
policy of the institution was signalized by 
the grant of a large lot for the Evanston 
public schools, and it was decided that the 
formal opening of the University should 
take place on November ist of the same 
year. A building was in course of erection, 
at the southeast corner of Block 20, on 
Davis Street, near Hinman Avenue, in 
which to house the infant college. Sub- 
scriptions, running through three years had 
been taken for this purpose. That building 
is with us still: the "Old College"' on the 
campus, a building about fifty feet in width 
and forty feet in depth, of three stories in 
height with an attic and a belfry. It con- 
tained six class-rooms, a chapel, a small 
museum and halls for two literary societies, 
with three rooms in the attic, where, with 
a little oat-meal for food, a few aspiring 
students might board themselves and com- 
pensate the University for their rent by 
ringing the college bell. The chapel fur- 
nished the meeting place of the Society of 
the First Methodist Church until they 
erected a church edifice of their own. 
Other meetings, political and social, were 
also held there. 

The liberal spirit of the founders was 
further evidenced at this meeting by the 
adoption of the report of the Committee on 
Professorships, which declared that, "In 
the election of Professors of Northwestern 
University, the Board of Trustees will have 
reference to character and qualifications 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



alone : that is to say, that a professor need 
not necessarily be a Methodist." 

The Anti-Liquor Limit Established. — 
It was at this meeting that an amend- 
ment to their charter, enacted at the last 
session of the Legislature, was accepted, 
two sections of which were fraught with 
tremendous issues for the future institution. 
Section ii provided that, "No spirituous, 
vinous or fermented liquors shall be sold, 
under Jicense or otherwise, within four 
miles of the location of said University, ex- 
cept for medicinal, mechanical or sacra- 
mental purposes, under a penalty of twenty- 
five dollars for each ofifense, to be re- 
covered before any Justice of the Peace in 
said County of Cook; provided, that so 
much of this act as relates to the sale of 
intoxicating drinks within four miles may 
be repealed by the General Assembly when- 
ever they think proper." This created a 
prohibition district, ostensibly for the pro- 
tection of the students against the tempta- 
tions of the saloon, and incidentally protect- 
ing the city that should grow up about the 
University from the evils of the liquor traf- 
fic: and against this prohibition, the arts 
and persistence of the traffic in ardent 
spirits were to be continuously exerted. 
The third section of the amendment or- 
ganized the University into a Trust Com- 
pany, presumably for its own benefit, but 
its language was broader than that. It 
said, "The said corporation shall have 
power to take, hold, use and manage, lease 
and dispose of all such property, as may in 
any manner come to said corporation, 
charged with any trust or trusts, in con- 
formity with such trusts and direction, and 
to execute all such trusts as may be confided 
to it." Section 4 conceded the public value 
of such an institution as the Northwestern 
University, and ordained, "That all prop- 
erty, of whatever kind or description, be- 
longing to or owned by said corporation. 



shall be forever free from taxation for 
any and all purposes. This act shall be 
public and take effect from and after its 
passage." It was signed by the Speaker 
of the House and President of the Senate, 
and approved by Joel A. Matteson, Gover- 
nor. February 14, 1855. 

On June 15th the chosen corps of teach- 
ers was sought to be increased by the ad- 
dition of Dr. J. V. Z. Blaney, to the pros- 
pective faculty, as Professor of Chemistry, 
of whom similar high praise could be given, 
as to fitness for the work upon which 
he was expected to enter, as to his colleagues 
in the notable pronunciamento of July 4, 
1854 ; but it was discovered that there was 
not a sufficient number of Trustees present 
to constitute a quorum for the election of 
professors, so the election was declared 
void, but, in 1857, he was duly elected to 
the chair of Natural Science. 

It was now apparent that it would be 
difficult to hold the entire territory of the 
Northwest to the policy of a single institu- 
tion, for the Trustees were requested to 
permit cancelling of notes taken in Iowa for 
the sale of scholarships, or to allow the 
notes and subscriptions to be transferred 
to the Iowa Wesleyan University. The 
request was not granted, but it gave evi- 
dence of a tendency which was sadly noted 
to localize interests in the matter of educa- 
tion in portions of the district, which had 
been chosen as the field for the University. 

In July, 1855, a movement was started 
by Dr. Evans, and strongly advocated by 
him, seeking to fasten upon the Trustees 
the policy of withholding its property from 
sale and reserving it exclusively for pur- 
poses of lease. That far-sighted man saw 
clearly the value of the property for pur- 
pose of endowment, but overlooked the 
practical difficulty of successfully maintain- 
ing possession of a large body of land 
within the limits of a corporation such as 



66 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



Evanston was destined to be, on such a 
basis. With their usual sagacity, the 
Trustees laid his resolution on the table, 
even though Dr. Evans urged it with his 
usual vigor and persistence. 

University Opened — First Students. — 
The frame building on Davis Street was 
completed for occupancy by November, 
1855, ^"d circulars had been sent out in- 
viting the Northwestern students to as- 
semble. Professor Noyes was on hand to 
teach mathematics, and Professor Godman, 
likewise, to teach the classics. Professor 
Abel Stevens did not appear ; nor was he 
greatly needed, for there were only ten 
students in all, and their requirements could 
be easily met by two instructors. Indeed, 
though Professor Stevens was announced 
for the following year, he did not even then 
appear; and the name of Abel Stevens, the 
gifted historian of Methodism, is connected 
with the fortunes of Northwestern only 
as a "Might have Been." The roll of pupils 
for that year will always be of interest, 
as the advance guard of that great com- 
pany that, in time, should be permanently 
enrolled as students of the University. 
There were Thomas E. Annis, Winchester 
E. Clifford, Samuel L. Eastman, J. Marshall 
Godman, Horace A. Goodrich, C. F. Staf- 



ford, Hart L. Stewart, Albert Lamb and 
Elhanon Q. Searle. There is one name 
lacking, but history has often to bewail that 
there are blanks that cannot easily be filled. 
These were, somehow, grouped in a Fresh- 
man Class — an awkward squad, I warrant, 
of unequal preparation ; but the professors 
had time to spend on individual cases, so 
that the awkward squad were drilled into 
the uniformity of a Freshman Class. A lit- 
erary society was organized and named in 
honor of the lamented Dr. Hinman. It 
inherited his library as a part of its equip- 
ment, and was assigned a room for its 
sessions in the northeast corner of the third 
story of the college building. Greek, Latin 
and Mathematics, with declamations on 
Saturday, formed the program of instruc- 
tion. Permits must be secured for absence 
from town, and church services must be 
religiously attended on Sunday ; such was 
the routine of that first college year. 
Tuition, when not covered by a scholarship, 
was forty-five dollars per annum, with 
other fees amounting to nine dollars. The 
price of board was from two dollars and a 
half to three dollars and a half per week, in 
homes of the early settlers. The college bell 
tolled out the hours of recitation and de- 
votion, and the beginnings of college life 
in Evanston were laid. 



CHAPTER V. 



COXDITIOXS IX 1856-1860 



Trustees Meet in Their Ozvn Building — 
Dr. R. S. Foster Elected the Second Pres- 
ident — The Faculty Enlarged — Absorp- 
tion of Rush Medical College Projected — 
Competitors Enter the Field — Professor 
Jones' "Fern. Sem." — President Foster 
Visits the University, but Obtains a 
Year's Leave of Absence — He Joins the 
Faculty in 1857 — The Assets of the In- 
stitution Increased to Nearly $ji6,ooo — 
Reinforcement of the Faculty — First 
Graduated Class in 1859 — Dr. Foster Re- 
signs the Presidency and Dr. E. 0. Haven 
Becomes His Successor. 

In June of 1856 the Trustees met under 
their own roof in the Httle chapel of the 
University Building. They had made a be- 
ginning. Two professors had been at work 
at salaries of fifteen hundred dollars per 
annum. An agent had been busy in the sale 
of lots and scholarships. Their land was 
assuming the character of a settlement. 
The frogs were still croaking in the low 
places, but drainage had been started by 
"The Drainage Committee," and the frogs 
were given notice to quit or, at least, to go 
as far south as Dempster Street. 

Dr. Foster Elected Second President. — 
The Board of Trustees thought they re- 
quired a President soon, to give direction 
and leadership and help them in acquiring 
the resources needful for their work. Two 



names were especially canvassed : Those of 
Randolph S. Foster and E. Otis Haven, 
both rising men of unusual talent. The 
election resulted in fifteen votes for Dr. 
R. S. Foster and nine for Dr. E. O. Haven. 
The election of Dr. Foster was made unani- 
mous, with but one dissenting vote. He was 
thirty-six years of age and had already 
acquired a brilliant reputation as a pulpit 
orator, and was then serving a prominent 
church in New York. He was to fill the 
chair of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy 
in connection with the Presidency. His 
salary was to be two thousand dollars a 
year. A thousand dollars was appropriated 
for books. The chair of Latin Language 
and Literature was filled by the election of 
Daniel Bonbright, a young man of great 
promise, then a tutor in Yale College. His 
service was not to begin at once, but he was 
to be allowed a year's absence in Europe be- 
fore taking up the work. 

Tentative steps were taken at this meet- 
ing to carry out the university idea, to 
which the Trustees tenaciously held, by 
requesting Rush Medical College, which 
was now in its infancy, and Garrett Biblical 
Institute, to unite with them in a University 
organization for the purpose of conferring 
degrees ; but the doctors and theologians 
preferred their single blessedness, at least 
for the present. They were willing to occupy 
a sisterly relation, but nothing more. There 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



was little use for a seal as yet on diplomas, 
but one was desirable in the execution of 
scholarships and real estate instruments of 
the corporation. For this purpose a design 
was chosen, consisting of an open book with 
radiating rays of light encircled by the 
words, "Northwestern University." This 
was to give place, later, to a somewhat 
more ornate design ; but it was destined to 
do duty for many years in the authorization 
of titles to land and scholarships, and upon 
the parchments of the early graduates. 

The minds of the brethren were deeply 
stirred over an incident that was brought to 
their notice at this time. They could not 
easily understand why Iowa Wesleyan 
University should spring up within their 
territory, but the matter was brought very 
close to them when Rev. W. P. Jones se- 
cured a charter for the Northwestern Fe- 
male College and Male Preparatory School, 
and flung out his banners within easy hail 
of the building where they were assembled. 
He had appropriated their name and func- 
tion ; he was aggressive and purposeful. 
They appointed a committee, on which was 
the shrewd attorney. Grant Goodrich, and 
the saintly Hooper Crews, to dissuade him. 
But neither the law nor the gospel were 
effective to divert the professor from his 
chosen name or purpose. Threats of prose- 
cution from the lawyer and persuasion from 
the preacher were alike futile. He even had 
the temerity to appear, later, before the 
Trustees and request the use of their build- 
ing until such time as his quarters should 
be ready for occupancy. It does not require 
historical or other imagination to picture 
the promptness with which Professor Jones 
was shown the door. However, the estab- 
lishment of what was known as the "Fem. 
Sem." was not similarly hailed by the 
students of the college. It was counted a 
boon, and often, I doubt not, when the as- 
siduous attention of college students by day 



and by night made life a burden to the said 
professor, he was led to wonder if, indeed, 
he had not committed an error in invading 
the territory of Northwestern University 
with his Northwestern Female College. 
However, it lived on, doing good work 
until it was merged in the institution whose 
Trustees it at first defied. 

In July, 1856, the President-elect ap- 
peared to look over his heritage and exhort 
the Trustees to larger undertakings. New 
and appropriate buildings he evidently 
thought necessary, for the Board immedi- 
ately resolved to prepare plans for perma- 
nent structures. He asked them to excuse 
him from entering upon his office for the 
period of one year, so that he might con- 
tinue for that time in the service of Trinity 
Methodist Episcopal Church of New York. 
His request was granted and the funds that 
otherwise would have been devoted to his 
salary were appropriated to the enrichment 
of the library. Evidently Dr. Foster came 
again in September to the opening of the 
college year, for the first recorded minutes 
of the faculty bear date, September 16, 
1856. It took place in the study of Pro- 
fessor Noyes. There were present: Ran- 
dolph S. Foster, President ; Henry S. 
Noyes, Professor of Mathematics ; and 
William D. Godman, Professor of Greek. 
It was agreed that, in the absence of the 
President for the ensuing year, the duties 
of the faculty should be divided as follows : 
Professor Noyes should assume the admir>- 
istration of discipline and act as Treasurer ; 
Professor Godman should be Secretary 
and Librarian. One other item of business 
is recorded: "Resolved, That a Bible class 
be formed and taught on the Sabbath day. 
Professor Noyes to teach it." The next 
meeting took place October 13, 1856, and 
its record is as follows: 

"In Faculty assembled. Resolved, That 
a student whose credit in recitations falls 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



69 



below the average for the term, shall fall 
out of his class to the next lower ; if a 
Freshman, his recitations are postponed for 
the year. W. D. Godman, Sec'y." 

Thus these two, in faculty assembled, 
carried on the interior legislation of the 
infant University during that year, col- 
lecting fees, attending to the library, doing 
all but the janitor work, which was dis- 
charged by some embryo statesmen who 
lived in the attic, at the munificent compen- 
sation of two dollars a week. 

Dr. Foster appeared on the 5th of June, 
1857, and then there were three. They were 
not so lonesome. They even held two 
faculty meetings in a month, and the records 
lengthen to a page and bristle with sug- 
gestions to the Trustees as to what should 
be done to push the fortunes of the little 
college. There had been twenty-two 
students in attendance during the year — a 
gain of over one hundred per cent. Among 
them I note the familiar names of Henry 
M. Kidder, W. A. Spencer, A. C. Linn, 
Homer A. Plympton, James W. Haney and 
I. McCaskey. There were two classes now. 
The library had grow-n to two thousand 
volumes. The museum had been begun 
under the enthusiastic labors of Robert Ken- 
nicott. They issued a circular in the sum- 
mer of 1857, promising three classes for 
the ensuing year, and a fourth, if students 
with advanced standing should make appli- 
cation; also an academic school, which 
should be a private enterprise where pre- 
paratory branches of study would be taught, 
students, partially prepared for college, be- 
ing permitted to spend a part of their time 
in college, the rest in the academy. They 
hesitated about the establishment of an 
academy under university auspices. They 
had not issued a catalogue as yet.. Professor 
Bonbright was given permission to remain 
abroad another year, and the working force 
cf the college was to be reinforced by the 



arrival of Dr. J. \'. Z. Blaney, Professor 
of Natural Science, and the sum of one 
thousand dollars was appropriated for the 
purchase of philosophical and chemical ap- 
paratus. 

Financial Conditions During 1857. — 
The sessions of the Trustees for 1857 
give out no sign of the embarrassment that 
was prevailing in the business world. They 
took careful account of their assets in va- 
rious schedules, and reported them as 
$315,845.30 in excess of their liabilities. 
The jubilant Financial Agent, in his fourth 
annual report, says: "Seldom, if ever, has 
it been the good fortune of an institution, 
unless endowed by very liberal bequests, to 
present in its infancy such a pecuniary 
basis as is shown by the exhibit herewith 
submitted. Four years since this institution 
was an experiment, and, by many, thought 
to be a visionary one. The entire capital 
consisted in whatever of profit or advantage 
might accrue from the ownership of six- 
teen lots in Chicago, which were held by 
Dr. Evans, and upon which a few in- 
dividuals had made advances of one 
thousand dollars, with the intention of plac- 
ing the investment to the account of the 
University. During that and the ensuing 
year, subscriptions to the amount of 
$22,440, payable in four equal annual in- 
stallments, were obtained. The site of the 
institution and that part of the now flourish- 
ing city of Evanston, constituting the 
original purchase — about three hundred and 
eighty acres — was bought of Dr. John H. 
Foster for $25,000, which sum, less one 
thousand collars, was to remain for ten 
years at six per cent interest. This pur- 
chase, and the sixteen lots in Chicago 
which were subsequently conveyed to the 
Trustees at the original cost of $8,000 and 
expenses, together with two parcels of land 
since purchased and sold at an advance, 
cimstitute the principal sources from which 



70 



NORTHWESTERN UNI\'ERSITY 



the present capital of the University has 
been derived. To the amount thus obtained 
add the proceeds of scholarships sold, and 
you have the assets above indicated." 

It is small wonder that Brother Judson 
was jubilant, and, with the rapid settlement 
of Evanston and sale of lots, could meet 
the hard times with a smile. The schedule 
of expenses shows to some extent the rough 
work that the University was called upon 
to do in order to provide for its educational 
plant. It is largely made up of items, such 
as surveying and platting, grading, clearing 
streets, ditching, chopping, fencing, bridg- 
ing, draining, grubbing, building break- 
waters — indeed, the whole vocabulary of 
the pioneer was taxed to describe their op- 
erations. Meantime, while the Trustees 
were grubbing ^nd chopping their way to 
the material enrichment of their institution, 
students and teachers were grubbing and 
chopping their way, under disadvantages, 
to the accomplishment of their ideals. One 
of the reported schedules of this year gives 
the names of purchasers of homesteads in 
Evanston — some eighty-five in number, all 
well known Methodist names— who were to 
make up the members left of the delightful 
company of old settlers, whose neighborli- 
ness and hospitality, whose simple kindliness 
and approachability, made Evanston a good 
place for a homesick boy to happen into. 
Most of these people purchased in blocks 
contiguous to University Place, usually a 
hundred feet front, and at prices ranging 
from five to ten dollars a foot. The cat- 
alogue of 1859 announced that there were 
twelve hundred inhabitants in Evanston. 
The desert and the solitary place were being 
made glad by habitation. The hard times 
were somewhat reflected in the financial re- 
port of the following year, when a gain of 
only about three thousand dollars was re- 
ported; and, though the purchase money 
on Evanston lands was not due until 1863, 



they passed a resolution setting aside fifty 
thousand dollars in securities, for the pay- 
ment of that debt and for the erection of 
buildings, provided no other resources were 
received for those purposes. 

Professor Bonbright was notified to ap- 
pear in Evanston and take up his work in 
1858. More students were expected that 
year, and arrangements were made to in- 
sure for them board with G. W. Reynolds, 
at $2.50 per week, including washing, light, 
fuel and room, and he was loaned five 
hundred dollars to assist in carrying out 
the difficult project. Surveying and leveling 
instruments were furnished Professor 
Noyes in connection with his work, which 
were to be procured "with the least possible 
outlay of funds." If the Trustees had 
known what good use he would make of 
them, and how much he would save them as 
a practical surveyor, they would not have 
been so niggardly in their grant. 

The year 1857 passed uneventfully in 
the little college. The faculty was reinforced 
by the service of a tutor, S. L. Eastman, 
whose duty it was to assist in preparatory 
classes. The library was increased and the 
foundations of the museum were growing, 
in the Northwestern class-room, under the 
skillful hands of Robert Kennicott. Thus, 
another year rolled round with Dr. Foster 
as President. There were twenty-nine 
students in all, and they were on the eve 
of sending out the first graduating class. 
On recommendation of the faculty, the de- 
gree of Bachelor of Arts was conferred 
upon Thomas E. Annis, Winchester E. 
Clifford, Samuel L. Eastman and Elhanon 
Q. Searles, and the degree of Bachelor of 
Philosophy upon Henry M. Kidder. These 
were to be the advance guard of the army 
of Northwestern graduates. In June of 
1859 the members of this class made their 
graduating orations and departed from the 
scenes of their scholastic training. These 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



71 



early graduating exercises were events in 
Evanston, when the men who had developed 
under the eye of the community took their 
leave of scenes that had become familiar. 
The people were interested in them, and 
thronged the little church to hear their 
orations. The farewell of the President was 
touching and personal, for he knew these 
men, had interested himself in them person- 
ally, and regarded their going away as a 
father regards the departure of his sons 
from the old home. The coming years 
might add the dignity of numbers to com- 
mencement occasions, but they would lack 
the sweet flavor of personal acquaintance 
and the inspiration of departure amid the 
regrets and tender farewells of a commu- 
nity who would watch the careers of the 
departing students with solicitude and hope. 

The Financial Agent, Rev. Philo Judson, 
had now resigned and Prof. Henry S. 
Noyes, in addition to his duties as professor, 
was appointed Agent of the University. 
He had previously looked after the financial 
affairs incidental to college expenses, tu- 
ition, etc., and now, in the most painstaking 
way, he was to carry, for a time, the burden 
of property management and business detail 
that was so vital to the institution. Though 
an excellent scholar and thorough mathe- 
matician, he was a man of affairs. He knew 
men and things as well as books, and was 
not niggardly of service of any sort that 
might advance the work that was dear to 
him. 

The Trustees were a little alarmed lest 
the expenses of the growing college should 
outstrip the receipts, and their alarm took 
the form of a resolution instructing the 
Executive Committee to bring the expenses 
of the institution within the available in- 
come. The budget showed expenses of 
five thousand dollars a year in excess of the 
income. It was truly alarming. They 
raised a subscription to lessen the deficit and 



arranged to pay teachers in land when other 
resources failed. 

Dr. Haven Succeeds to the Presidency. 
— By June. 1860, Dr. Foster had resigned 
the presidency; his library was added to 
the University library, and he returned to 
what was, to him, the more attractive work 
of the pastorate in New York City, leaving 
behind him memories of his genial and 
helpful presence and his inspiring eloquence 
that graced any occasion when he was the 
orator. Dr. E. O. Haven was elected in 
his place. His name had been turned down 
at the previous election ; this time the 
Trustees were turned down, and that all- 
round, indefatigable, and adaptable pro- 
fessor, Henry S. Noyes, was made Vice- 
President. Dr. Foster's departure was signal- 
ized by a resolution which voiced the deep 
regret over his going: "Resolved, That 
the intercourse of Dr. Foster with the Board 
has been that of the Christian minister and 
the Christian gentleman, and that his con- 
nection with the University has manifested 
his intelligence and earnest devotion to the 
cause of education, and that his influence of 
the members of the University was such as 
endears his memory to all the friends of 
the institution, and that the best wishes of 
the Board attend him to the avocation of the 
Christian ministry." They were still under 
the spell of his charming presence and en- 
gaging speech when they wrote that. And 
what opportunities those Trustees and 
students had in those days, to sit under the 
preaching of such men as Foster and 
Simpson and Dempster! — giants whom the 
moderns have hardly duplicated. But there 
were serviceable men to come. Professor 
Noyes, if not showy, was substantial and 
useful beyond many more brilliant men. 
In matters of discipline he was kind. 
Mischievous fellows used to hyphenate his 
name and called him Professor No-ves. But 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



they found to their sorrow that, when oc- 
casion demanded it, in matters of discipline, 
his Yes was Yea. and his No, Nay — and 
there was no appeal. He met the in-coming 
student with a warm greeting that dissi- 
pated his homesickness, and his lovely wife 
supplemented his labors with such graceful 
kindness as made the new-comer feel that 
Evanston was all right as long as these 
people were in town. 



There were thirty students in 1859-60, 
and the ranks of the graduates were in- 
creased by the names of A. C. Linn. W. A. 
Lord, H. A. Plympton, E. Q. Searles, M. 
C. Spaulding, B. A. Springer and H. L. 
Stewart, who received the degree of A. B., 
and W. H. H. Raleigh who received the de- 
gree of Ph. B. The Academy was now duly 
organized, with a principal of its own. War- 
ren Taplin being first called to that office. 



CHAPTER VI. 



PERIODS OF DEPRESSION AND GROWTH 



Changes of Faculty — Charter Amendments 
Adopted — Effect of the Civil War on 
Number of Students — Accessions to the 
Faculty — University Land Debt is Liqui- 
dated — Orrington Liint Land Donation 
for Benefit of Library — University Hall 
Projected — Accession of Students and 
Teaching Force Folloiving the War 
Period — Nezu Prises Serve as a Stimulus 
to the Students — First Honorary Degrees 
Conferred — Corporate Name is Changed 
— Professors' Salaries Increased and 
Erection of University Hall Prosecuted 
— A "Gold Brick" Donation — Encourag- 
ing Financial Development — Death of 
Acting President Noyes. 

In 1860-61 there had been forty-three 
students in College and forty-nine in the 
Academy, the library had been increased to 
over three thousand volumes, and the cur- 
riculum had remained the same, with its 
emphasis on Latin, Greek and Mathematics. 
Dr. Godman resigned his chair in Greek in 
i860, thereby reducing the teaching force 
of the college. The presumption is. that the 
burden of his work fell on the broad 
shoulders of Professor Noyes, who was al- 
ready carrying Mathematics and the Acting 
Presidency, besides acting as Secretary of 
the Board of Trustees and Financial Agent ; 
and, in view of his responsibilities, six 
hundred dollars was added to his salary 



over that of the other professors. It was 
an efficient and economical arrangement; 
but how about the not too strong Professor? 
He is weaving his life into his work with- 
out stint. 

A formal transfer of assets was now 
made to J. G. Hamilton, as Trustee, to the 
extent of $37,949, to meet approaching in- 
debtedness, and, as a result, he was ready 
to meet Dr. Foster, the mortgagee of the 
Evanston lands, when he called for pay- 
ment in 1863. Dr. Bonbright now takes his 
place as Secretary of the faculty, to keep 
its records almost continuously till 1873. 

In 1 86 1 amendments were added to the 
charter, regulating the number and work 
of Trustees appointed by the Annual Con- 
ferences, and providing that any chartered 
institution of learning may become a de- 
partment of this University, by agreement 
between the Boards of Trustees of both 
institutions. They are still coquetting with 
Rush Medical College and Garrett Biblical 
Institute, and have serious intentions as to 
a Law School. They had made some in- 
vestment in the property of Rock River 
Seminary at Mt. Morris, Illinois, probably 
in the neighborhood of five thousand dol- 
lars. A creditor had seized upon it and it 
was liable to be alienated. They were will- 
ing to relinquish their claim if it could be 
saved by local friends, but it passed from 
under Methodist control, and the first of 



74 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



their ventures in affiliated preparatory 
schools, as provided for by their charter, 
was a failure. 

The Civil War — Financial Conditions. 
— The existence of the War of the Rebel- 
lion was reflected in college life in 1862, 
in the resignation by Dr. J. V. Z. Blaney, 
of the Chair of Natural Science. He was 
parted with sadly, and the best wishes of 
the little college followed him in the patriotic 
service in which he engaged. Many of the 
students followed him in the service, among 
them being Plympton, McCaskey. Spencer 
and Haney, H. A. Pearsons, O. C. Foster, 
Charles F. Smith and M. C. Springer, and 
many others whose names are lost to us; 
and, from time to time, the Recruiting Ser- 
geant, with his fife and drum, found Evan- 
ston and its students a fruitful field for re- 
cruiting operations, seriously thinning the 
ranks and causing the faculty to invoke the 
authority of the distant parents as to 
whether or not their boys should be per- 
mitted to enlist. 

In consequence of the depletion of the 
faculty, Drs. Dempster and Bannister were 
called to assist in the work of instruction. 
Clark Street Methodist Episcopal Church 
ofifered in 1862 to open its church doors in 
Chicago for the commencement exercises — 
a proposition which was declined on the 
ground of the smallness of the class; so 
that, on that occasion, the rafters of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church at Evanston 
resounded with the eloquence of Robert 
Bentley, Isaac McCaskey, William T. Rose, 
David Sterrit and Bennett B. Botsford 
The number of students, all told, that year, 
had dwindled to eighty-nine. The Senior 
class of 1862-63 was reduced by enlistments 
to two persons, and one of these had no 
sooner doffed his scholastic gown than he 
put on the soldier's uniform and marched 
away to his country's service. Still, there 
was a gain of preparatory students that 



year, and the aggregate number on the col- 
lege roll was slightly increased. 

June 18, 1862, Oliver Marcy was elected 
to the Chair of Natural Science and 
Physics, to succeed Dr. Blaney, who was 
made Professor Emeritus. Professor 
Marcy had been teaching at Wilbrahani, 
Mass. He was an enthusiast in his work 
and a most genial and painstaking teacher, 
who was destined to a long and honorable 
service in his new relations. Rev. N. H. 
Axtell, later an honored member of Rock 
River Conference, was likewise added to 
the teaching force during the year as Prin- 
cipal of the Academy, assisted by A. C. 
Linn, a graduate of the class of i860, as 
Tutor in Mathematics and Latin — a sturdy, 
thorough-going teacher who was soon to 
enter the service of his country and lay 
down his life in her cause. 

The income of the University was now 
estimated by a judicious 'committee, con- 
sisting of Bishop Simpson, J. G. Hamilton 
and Prof. H. S. Noyes, at $5,594. and its 
W'hole property was valued at $225,000. 
Evidently there had been a great shrink- 
age from former valuations, or a strong 
desire to stimulate donations by putting an 
exceedingly conservative estimate upon the 
property. At any rate, the pressure was 
upon the Trustees to provide better build- 
ings and better boarding accommodations, 
in order to appeal to new students and to 
hold those already in attendance. From time 
to time the matter was earnestly discussed 
by the Trustees. A building known as the 
Club House, now located on Orrington 
Avenue, near Clark Street, capable of ac- 
commodating about twenty students, was 
the result of this agitation — the first experi- 
ment of the University in the matter of dor- 
mitories. Fifteen thousand dollars worth 
of scholarship notes was likewise set apart 
as a building fund, besides ten thousand 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



75 



dollars from prospective sales of University 
lands. The rest must wait upon donations. 

In November, 1863, James G. Hamilton, 
the University Treasurer, announced the 
fulfilment of his trust in the matter of the 
payment of the University debt, for which 
$39,000 of assets had been put in his hands. 
It was a happy consummation. It realized 
the forethought of the fathers and nerved 
them to still larger undertakings. A definite 
plan for locating upon the campus the build- 
ings that were sure to come with tlie prog- 
ress of time was now devised ; and the 
services of the eloquent Dr. Tiflfany were 
secured, as Financial Agent, to see if his 
powers of persuasion could not unlock the 
pursestrings of numerous patrons to the 
extent of providing funds for the projected 
buildings. The cost of the main building 
was to be one hundred thousand dollars, 
and some were sanguine enough to believe 
that, in the space of a few months, that 
silver-tongued orator could coin his speech 
into the needed amount. But the task was 
too difficult ; few contributions were secured 
by the gifted agent, and Rev. S. A. W. 
Jewett took up the task with little better 
success. 

Accessions to the Teaching Force. — 
In 1865 the name of Rev. Louis Kistler 
appears as a temporary appointment to the 
Chair of Greek and Principal of the Pre- 
paratory Department. This appointment 
was made permanent the following year. 
He was an animated instructor, full of ac- 
tion, and knew his subject well. His eccen- 
tricities were such as to interest his students 
and give rise to those mischievous pranks 
that students are wont to play where there is 
opportunity. He had his favorite pupils : 
among them a young Scot, fresh from the 
farm in Lake County, appealed to his 
partiality by his conscientious devotion to 
his work and his uniform excellence in his 
classes — Robert Baird, who was destined to 



write after his name, "Professor of Greek 
Language and Literature." Those of us 
who sat under Prof. Kistler will readily con- 
cede to him that, in the class-room, he put 
a spirit and fire into Homer's heroic lines 
that we were unable to acquire in the ordi- 
nary use of our lexicons. 

It was during the year 1865 that Orring- 
ton Lunt, upon whose heart rested heavily 
the educational work of the church, donated 
a tract of one hundred and fifty-seven acres 
of land in George Smith's Sub-division, ad- 
joining Wilmette, which was to be applied 
to library endowment. The conditions of 
this donation involved a few financial obli- 
gations on the part of the University, which 
were gladly met in view of the prospective 
value of this library endowment, and, stimu- 
lated by the gift, the Trustees set themselves 
afresh to the task of college buildings. They 
employed an architect — G. P. Randall, of 
Chicago — who designed the building that is 
now known as University Hall. It was 
a fascinating thing, when drawn on paper 
as it would be when drawn in stone, dom- 
inating the campus and sounding out the 
hours from its watch-tower to the genera- 
tions of coming students. But how to 
build it was the question which still re- 
mained unanswered. 

In 1865 and 1866 we note the name of 
George Strobridge as Principal of the 
Academy. He had returned from the war 
to the peaceful pursuit of pedagogy, and 
John Poucher was his assistant. 

In 1866 a new name was added to the 
corps of instructors — that of David H. 
Wheeler, Professor of History and English 
Literature — a genial and accomplished 
scholar and elegant writer, who had seen 
much of the world and was destined to 
make a marked impression while he re- 
mained in this corner of it. 

The items of Trustee business of these 
years are somewhat dreary reading — made 



76 



NORTHWESTERN UXIA'ERSITY 



up, as they were, of transactions concerning 
the property of the University, of repairs 
and improvements of one sort or anothjr, 
the discussion of the problem of shore pro- 
tection, and of various ways and means for 
the enlargement of property interests and 
the raising of funds. But all this is of 
exceeding importance, in order that the 
professors may be supported in their work 
and the students kept at their tasks with 
the increasing facilities that they require. 
And the work goes on. Evans, Lunt, Bots- 
ford, Hamilton, Cook, Noyes and Hoag — 
as the Executive Committee — did the busi- 
ness that must be done, held things together 
and hoped for improvement and growth. 

The increase of college students was not 
rapid, but the academy numbers had 
reached one hundred and five in 1866. with a 
roll of seven teachers, among them being the 
new names of John Ellis and Edmund \V. 
Burke — the Judge Burke, that is to be, 
though, to be honest, we did not then 
suspect it. The' catalogue of that year blos- 
soms out unexpectedly with the announce- 
ment of the Lunt Prize in Philology, the 
Haskin Prize in Mathematics, the Hurd 
Prize in Physical Science, the Kedzie Prize 
in Declamation and the Hamilton Prize in 
Composition and Reading. These prizes 
gave a marvelous stimulus to things. It all 
came out of the effort of John A. Copeland 
to start a prize declamation contest, a few 
years before, when a petition was presented 
to the faculty, which was duly discussed and 
about which there was much hesitation, 
though the petition was granted that a prize 
declamation contest be permitted. Tom 
Strobridge won the first prize and Will 
Comstock the second. The occasion aroused 
an interest such as the University had rarely 
known. The contestants had raised the 
funds for their prizes, but thereafter, as it 
appeared, kind friends would furnish them. 

One incident of 1866 shows how difficult 



it was for the Trustees to anticipate the 
future requirements of the University. A 
deed was given to the heirs of John Demp- 
ster for what was known as Dempster's 
Sub-division, which cut the campus in twain 
in the region of the deep ditch which runs 
from Sheridan Road to the Lake, north of 
Cook Street. This was the result of a pre- 
vious contract, executed at a time when the 
Trustees might have been forgiven for 
their lack of foresight. The Garrett Bibli- 
cal Institute had been located on the campus 
just south of the property described; and, 
to imagine that the remainder of the cam- 
pus would suffice for the needs of the grow- 
ing institution, was a fallacy that it required 
but little time to prove. In the same year 
the Presbyterians were given a site for a 
church. The Baptists and Congregational- 
ists were similarly treated, and when they 
had no house of worship, they were wel- 
come to the College Chapel. During the 
same year the corporate name of the Uni- 
versity was changed from "Trustees of the 
Northwestern University" to "Northwestern 
University." Other names were suggested, 
but the Trustees clung tenaciously to the 
idea with which they started, of a univer- 
sity for the Northwest. The Treasurer's 
report for that year showed assets to the 
amount of $419,751.50 and subscriptions 
to the University Hall amounting to 
$48,000. 

The first honorary degrees given by the 
University were bestowed in 1866, when 
George W. Quereau, George M. Steele, and 
George S. Hare were given the degree of 
Doctor of Divinity, and, upon Randolph S. 
Foster and Joseph Cummings were con- 
ferred the degree of Doctor of Laws. 

Professor Bonbright continued to act as 
Secretary of the Faculty till 1869, when 
Professor Marcy relieved him for a number 
of years. During this period the faculty re- 
mained unchanged. 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



77 



Increase in Salaries and Assets. — 

A strong desire was manifested in 1867 
to see the erection of University Hall 
pushed to completion. Matters were look- 
ing much more hopeful. The income from 
endowment had been found sufficient to 
warrant increasing the salaries of the pro- 
fessors from $1,500 to $2,000 per annum, 
and within a year the assets had increased 
over $40,000. The building was now under- 
taken in a very cautious manner. It was to 
be constructed of Athens stone, and, with, 
the discreetness that always characterized 
them, the Trustees proposed to stop and 
roof the building over when it reached a 
point beyond which their available funds 
would not enable them to proceed. H. B. 
Hurd proposed in this emergency — and the 
proposition carried — that the building be 
completed to the roof and enclosed before 
halting in the enterprise. Their hearts were 
gladdened by the announcement made 
by Prof. Louis Kistler, that one William 
Walker, of Kankakee, proposed to give the 
munificent sum of thirty thousand dollars 
for the completion of the building. It was a 
cruel disappointment when the discovery 
was made that Lord Walker's specialty was 
subscribing to various benevolent enter- 
prises. His benefactions, however, were of 
the "gold-brick" variety. The Trustees of 
Garrett Biblical Institute were treated to a 
similar experience at the dedication of Heck 
Hall. But there were those who promised 
and performed ; and in an emergency, a 
loan could be safely made, so the Llniversity 
Hall was assured. The building went on, 
giving marvelous stimulus to the work of 
the college, as voiced in the last report of 
Professor Noyes as Secretary and Financial 
Agent, made in June, 1868, in which he 
says : "The work of the new college build- 
ing is progressing with gratifying rapidity. 
Its erection has greatly inspired public con- 
fidence in the permanent growth of Evan- 



ston, and had a marked influence in en- 
hancing the prices of University property. 
It can no longer be doubted that the resolu- 
tion adopted at the last meeting of the 
Board, to proceed at once with the building, 
was a wise and prudent measure. The 
early completion of the edifice will hasten 
the day of its more complete and generous 
endowment." 

He reported the assets of the institution 
at $703,706.08, with a net income of nearly 
seventeen thousand dollars during 1866. 
The Snyder farm had been purchased, 
south of Dempster Street, running from 
Chicago Avenue to the lake, at a cost of 
$26,623.12, and, by June loth, sales and 
leases of that property, were made by Pro- 
fessor Noyes, amounting to $42,445, leav- 
ing a profit above the original investment 
of $15,821.88, to which should be added, as 
a conservative estimate, lots unsold to the 
value of $74,470, and all within the space 
of two years. Verily, if subscriptions to 
the new building were not forthcoming. 
they could turn aside to their old procedure 
of building up the University on the in- 
crease of land values. This transaction 
Professor Noyes carried through; sur- 
veyed and sub-divided the grounds, mar- 
keted the property up to 1868, and it has 
since proved one of the choicest of the 
University's holdings. His work was nearly 
done. His strength, never great, was break- 
ing under the load that he had carried and 
he needed rest and change. The Trustees 
complimented him for his fidelity as he laid 
down his tasks — all but his teaching and 
secretaryship of the Board. Miss Willard 
has well said of him: "No one ever con- 
nected with the institution has placed upon 
it a more skillful hand, or at a time when 
it was more plastic to his touch. To the 
last syllable of recorded time, his name 
should be associated with the Northwestern 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



University, and doubtless it will some day 
be permanently connected with some build- 
ing of the growing group upon the College 
campus." He relinquished his work in 1869 
and his secretaryship in 1870, and was ten- 
derly laid to rest, at Rosehill Cemetery, in 
1872. Professor D. H. Wheeler succeeded 
him in the Acting Presidency of the insti- 



tution. T. C. Hoag, the former Treasurer 
of the University, now succeeded to the du- 
ties of Agent, bringing to the task a large 
business experience and orderly habits in the 
conduct of affairs. For more than twenty- 
five years he was to continue in the dis- 
charge of that ofifice or of the treasurership, 
giving good account of his stewardship. 



CHAPTER VII. 



A DECADE OF CHAXGE 



Chicago Medical College Merged in the 
University — A "Tozvn and Gown" Con- 
test — Dr. Erastus 0. Haven Enters 
Upon the Presidency — Women Admitted 
to College Classes — Addition to the Fac- 
ulty — Greenleaf Library — College Jour- 
nals — Dr. Haven is Succeeded in the 
Presidency by Dr. C. H. Fowler — In- 
crease of Students and Growth of College 
Catalogue — Coeducation Established and 
Miss Frances E. IVillard Joins the Fac- 
ulty — Gymnasium Erected — Financial 
Embarrassment — President Fozvlcr Re- 
tires and Dr. Oliver H. Marcy Becomes 
Acting President — The University Wins 
on the Taxation Issue — Life-Saving Sta- 
tion Established. 

The Chicago Medical College had now 
become an integral part of Northwestern 
University, located on the corner of Prairie 
Avenue and Twenty-sixth Street, Chicago, 
in close conjunction with Mercy Hospital. 
The University aided in the erection of its 
building and felt great pride in the new 
connection, which was largely brought 
about through the agency of Dr. N. S. 
Davis, an early Trustee of the University 
and deeply interested in the cause of medi- 
cal education. The income of the Univer- 
sity had now been enhanced by returns from 
the La Salle Street lots, which had been 



leased to the Grand Pacific Hotel corpora- 
tion, and the future looked brighter. 

In the catalogue of 1868-69 there appears, 
for the first time, the name of Robert M. 
Cumnock, Instructor in Elocution, with 
the modest compensation of three dollars a 
week. His time as an instructor would 
command that much an hour a few years 
later. His services proved so acceptable 
that he was paid three hundred dollars the 
following year for such services as he ren- 
dered in connection with the College 
students. He was a rising man and has 
risen to be one of the fixed stars in the 
firmament of the University. The name of 
Robert Baird now appears, too, as Instruc- 
tor in Greek in the Academy. He, too, was 
a rising man, on his way to become a fixed 
star, so to speak, in the University constel- 
lation, but died deeply regretted during 
the year 1905. 

Town and Gown Contest — New Build- 
ings. — Most colleges have had their town 
and gown experiences and, growing up, as 
the Town of Evanston has done, under the 
shadow of the University, it would almost 
seem that experiences of hostility would be 
avoided; but the student body was con- 
stantly discovering that they were regarded 
as an element that had few rights at the 
hands of the native-born, and more than 
once they had rough treatment at the hands 
of the town boys. Nor is it to be wondered 



8o 



XORTHWESTERX UXI\-ERSITY 



at that the owners of melon patches, to the 
south and on the ridge, regarded the student 
community with some suspicion during the 
period when the juicy melon ripens on its 
vine. But the Trustees, too, had their 
troubles in 1869, when the Town vs. Gown 
spirit was manifested by a visitation of vil- 
lagers to the Trustees' Board on the subject 
of taxation. They were respectfully heard 
and were told that the Trustees had troubles 
of their own in maintaining an institution 
that would be a credit to all concerned, even 
with the subsidy given by the State in the 
form of exemption from general taxation; 
and, then, Grant Goodrich took the floor 
and informed the visitors as to what the 
University had done for the town, was do- 
ing and would continue to do, and what 
were its rights under its charter, and how 
the scheme of mutual benefits ought at once 
and forever to quiet the incipient murmur- 
ings on the subject of tax-burdens because 
of University exemption. He did not fully 
lay the ghost. It has since walked abroad 
and, perhaps, will never down, for there 
never yet was a college town but had its 
war 'twixt "town and gown." 

The lease of part of the campus to Gar- 
rett Biblical Institute was put in form, as 
it now exists, after long and tedious con- 
ferences — indeed, after Heck Hall had been 
erected — and the mutual relations were so 
adjusted that they might live ever after 
happily and helpfully, side by side. 

University Hall was now well-nigh com- 
plete and the formal dedication and occupa- 
tion was designed for 1870. It was con- 
sidered desirable that a President should be 
elected to begin service simultaneously with 
the occupation of this Hall, and thought 
turned again to Dr. Erastus O. Haven. He 
was then President of the University of 
Michigan — a man whose coming would give 
new dignity and prominence to the Univer- 
sity. 



Dr. Haven Assumes the Presidency. — 

The Trustees fixed his salary — iiiirabile 
dictiil — at $4,500 per annum, and elected 
him without a dissenting vote. President 
Haven was then forty-nine years of age. 
He had graduated from Wesleyan Univer- 
sity in 1842 ; had been Principal of Amenia 
Seminary ; had been Professor of Latin in 
Michigan University, and later of English 
Language, Literature and History; had 
been editor of "Zion's Herald" ; a member 
of the Massachusetts State Senate, and 
Overseer of Harvard University ; then 
President of the University of Michigan 
for six years before accepting the Presi- 
dency of Northwestern. He was a clear, 
earnest and logical speaker, and his long 
experience and eminent qualifications 
strongly commended him in his new re- 
lations. His first year was signalized by 
the admission of women to the college 
classes — ahnost a new departure among 
colleges in the United States, but a move- 
ment that he had championed and concern- 
ing which he had assurances before coming 
to Evanston. The working union with the 
Chicago Medical College was consummated 
in his first year, and there were added to 
the roll of University instructors the con- 
spicuous names of Davis, Andrews, John- 
son, Byford, Isham, HoUister, Roler and 
Bevan, with N. S. Davis — then in his prime 
— Dean of the Medical School. The sum- 
mary of names of University students 
counted three hundred and thirty-seven, of 
which two hundred and sixty-two were in 
Evanston. The curriculum had been greatly 
enriched. Julius F. Kellogg had entered 
the College Faculty as Professor of Civil 
Engineering — a splendid mathematician, an 
excellent teacher and well beloved. 

The north end of the third story of 
University Hall had been set apart as a 
library, in which the accumulated treasures 
of twenty years were installed, and to which 




x()RTh\vi:sti:rn" fkmalh coli.ec.k 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



was added the Greenleaf Library of twenty 
thousand volumes, rich in classics, in phil- 
osophy, in art and education, the private 
library of Dr. John Schulze, Minister of 
Education in Prussia. The funds for this 
rich and timely purchase were the gift of 
Luther L. Greenleaf, one of Evanston's 
large-hearted and well-disposed citizens, a 
friend and a Trustee of the University. 

The Advent of College Journalism. — 
College journalism began during the 
presidency of Dr. Haven, with the issue of 
"The Tripod" — a serious and well edited 
publication, whose columns represented the 
College and the Medical School. A rival 
entered the field in 1878, and, for three 
years, made matters interesting, as only 
rival papers with an inadequate constituency 
can. These papers were combined in 1881 
in the "Northwestern," the present college 
paper, which has held the field alone, ex- 
cept during a single year, when the "Barbs," 
who concluded that they were discrimi- 
nated against in the make-up of the editorial 
staff, entered the field of college journal- 
ism, in which Sidney P. Johnston won his 
newspaper spurs. The "Evanston Press," 
too, was an outgrowth of college journal- 
ism, bringing out the latent talent of Robert 
Vandercook and giving direction to the 
bent of Edwin L. Shuman, afterwards the 
accomplished literary editor of the "Chicago 
Tribune," and still later of the "Record- 
Herald." And what shall we say of the 
numerous reporters who have reported 
Evanston news for the Chicago press? 
Eager for news, they have sometimes 
created it, and very often magnified some 
trivial incident into a harmful sensation. 
Many of them have graduated into jour- 
nalism, however, and given a good account 
of themselves. For many years James W. 
Scott, of the "Chicago Herald," maintained 
the Herald Scholarship and Mr. H. H. 
Kohlsaat has continued it. A publication 



that has reflected much of the spirit of 
college life was the "Pandora," issued in 

1884 and published by the senior class. In 

1885 the name was changed to "Syllabus," 
and its publication was assumed by the 
fraternities. In 1893' the publication was 
undertaken by the junior class and so con- 
tinues. 

"Sketches in Purple" is a most creditable 
exhibit of literary work done in the classes 
of Prof. J. S. Clark, first published in 
1 90 1, with hope of an annual appearing. 

The list of prizes as stimulants to all sorts 
of intellectual activity had been increased by 
the addition of prizes for excellence in liter- 
ary composition, leading up to the Blan- 
chard Prize of one hundred dollars for the 
best English oration, and sundry prizes for 
excellence in debate and elocution. 

The Catalogue of 1869-70 is the most 
attractive issue of that periodical thus far 
published, and it impressed the founders 
that their hopes of Northwestern were 
reaching some fruitage. A cut of the new 
University Hall adorns its pages, giving the 
impression of amplitude of accommodation 
in which to do the college work. The joy 
of teachers and students in the spacious 
quarters, which contrasted so strongly with 
the stuffy quarters on Davis Street, 
amounted almost to intoxication. Then, 
too, the freedom of the splendid campus, 
with its oak-tree shade, its outlook on the 
open lake, were means of intellectual 
growth and culture that could not be over- 
rated. The museum, that was growing to 
splendid proportions under the loving care 
of Professor Marcy, was given spacious 
quarters in the lofty upper story of the 
building. The Preparatory School was 
given the cast-off garment of the College on 
Davis Street ; and it, too, took on new 
dignity and importance, with its little cam- 
pus all its own, where Preps, would no 
longer be over awed by the lordly airs of 



82 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



college men. Amos W. Patten, and Charles 
W. Pearson and E. P. Shrader, names that 
will figure more prominently by and by, 
were added to the teaching force of the 
Academy. Through Dr. Haven's efforts, 
the hospitality of the College was extended 
to the Evanston College for Ladies, and an 
opening made for the co-operation of the 
Scandinavians in the work of the College. 
Prof. H. S. Carhart, fresh from Middle- 
town, was added to the faculty in the Chair 
of Civil Engineering, while Professor Kel- 
logg assumed the Chair of Mathematics. 
Professor Carhart likewise took up the du- 
ties of Secretary of the Faculty, which Pro- 
fessor Marcy and Professor Bonbright had 
carried. Few colleges were then better 
equipped with bright, earnest men, or had 
a better share of hope and the stimulus of 
manifest progression. 

Another Change of Administration. — 
The administration of Dr. Haven was 
all too short. His ambitions were, no doubt, 
ecclesiastical. The General Conference 
called him away to the Secretaryship of 
the Board of Education, and he inclined to 
the summons. Gentle, loving persuasion 
was of no avail to divert him from this 
public call. In October, 1872, Dr. C. H. 
Fowler was elected President of the Uni- 
versity for the second time, he having de- 
clined an earlier election. His career, since 
1 86 1, when he graduated from Garrett 
Biblical Institute, had been in the adjacent 
City of Chicago, where he had acquired 
the reputation of a pulpit orator of the 
highest rank. His brilliant parts and large 
influence promised well for a splendid 
career at Evanston. He magnified his work 
and made it honorable and, with the stim- 
ulus of youth, he planned for large things 
in connection with his charge. He planned 
a School of Technology. A School of 
Music was established. The Evanston Col- 
lege for Ladies was merged in the Uni- 



versity, and a Law School was established in 
conjunction with the University of Chicago, 
which was destined to become exclusively 
the Northwestern University Law School. 
The catalogue, never larger than eighty 
pages in any previous issue, now became 
an imposing document of one hundred and 
eighty pages, with broadened curriculum, 
lists of professional schools and affiliated 
preparatory schools, and an enrollment of 
eight hundred and sixty-six students, to- 
gether with a double-page engraving of the 
campus and its buildings and the adjacent 
lake — enough to fire the prospective student 
with an eager desire to be a part of such 
a school. The succeeding catalogue is less 
ambitious, composed of one hundred and 
twelve pages, of lighter paper and smaller 
type. The President had doubtless heard 
from the business office as to the cost of 
printing and the matter of postage ; but the 
roll of students had increased to eight hun- 
dred ninety-one. 

Organization of Teaching Force. — 
Frances E. Willard hatl become asso- 
ciated with the University, as Professor of 
Esthetics, on the merging of the Evanston 
College for Ladies in the University. Her 
students came with her and the roll of the 
graduates of the Northwestern Female Col- 
lege, to which the Evanston College for 
Ladies succeeded, was included among the 
alumni of Northwestern University. That 
brilliant woman did not tarry long in educa- 
tional work. She was calculated for leader- 
ship rather than for service in the ranks. She 
chafed under the restraints of a conservative 
Board of Trustees. Her career was to be 
world-wide. As the President of the Wo- 
man's Christian Temperance Union she 
found her sphere ; she wielded her pen with 
the most polished grace, and she spoke as 
one inspired, when her theme involved the 
welfare of men and women. The College was 
proud of her, of her genius and of the sacri- 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



83' 



fice and devotion with which she applied it. 
Her successor, as Dean of the Woman's 
College, was Miss Ellen Soule, who be- 
came Mrs. Professor Carhart, and gave 
place, in turn, to Miss Jane M. Bancroft. 
With the merging of the College for Ladies 
a new element was introduced in the Board 
of Government by the election of three lady 
Trustees, one of whom, for a time, served 
on the Executive Committee — Mrs. Emily 
Huntington Miller having the distinction to 
be the first woman to take her place in the 
"Seats of the Mighty." 

A much needed improvement on the cam- 
pus was made in 1876 by the building of 
the Gymnasium by a stock company of 
students, with a bowling alley in the base- 
ment and a large room for exercise above, 
in size about forty feet by eighty. It was 
not adequate to the needs of the institu- 
tion, but it would do as a step towards bet- 
ter things, — a long step, perhaps, ere the 
new Gymnasium is to be erected — but the 
need was so great that students took hold of 
the enterprise, managing it by a Board of 
Directors. 

New names appear in 1876 as donors of 
prizes to stimulate various sorts of effort: 
the Easter Prize displacing the Blanchard, 
the Gage Prizes, the Mann Prize, the Phil- 
lips Prize, and others given by the Uni- 
versity. 

Prof. Herbert F. Fisk came to the Pre- 
paratory School in 1875, with the rank of 
Professor, and later became Professor of 
Pedagogics in the College. He had grad- 
uated early from Wesleyan University, and 
since his graduation had taught contin- 
uously in academies in the East. He was 
destined now to find a field of continuous 
labor, and to make a record as teacher and 
disciplinarian. The Old College Building 
had been enlarged and moved to the cam- 
pus, to serve, for a long series of years, as 
the scene of his labors where he should 



preside, a terror to evil-doers and a praise 
to them that do well. The discipline of 
that end of the campus was safe while Dr. 
Fisk was in town. 

Financial Situation — New Burdens. — 
It has already been indicated that 
President Fowler had started things at a 
more rapid pace than they had previously 
been going. Such movements require 
money. The absorption of the Ladies' Col- 
lege increased the debt and a dangerous 
deficit was piling up. One large subscription 
of twenty-five thousand dollars proved to 
be of the Walker variety and the Trustees 
were greatly disturbed. Some advocated 
the rapid sale of property and its use to 
diminish the debt and to defray the ex- 
penses upon which they had entered, rather 
than take a backward step. The records of 
1875 fairly reflect the earnestness of the 
controversy over the question of the policy 
to be pursued by the University with refer- 
ence to unproductive property. In the com- 
munications of Governor Evans, of T. C. 
Hoag, of W. H. Lunt and of Rev. Philo 
Judson on this subject, almost the last word 
was spoken on behalf of the respective pol- 
icies of holding for lease or selling out the 
residence property of the University, at go- 
ing prices to actual settlers, and investing 
the resultant funds. When this discussion 
again arises — as arise it will from 
time to time — the minutes of 1875 will 
prove an armory of weapons to the con- 
testants. Governor Evans wrote as one 
deeply interested in the institution, as hav- 
ing given to it with generous liberality and 
having put it under restraint to withhold 
from sale a certain portion of its property. 
Philo Judson wrote as one who met the 
actual situation in his work as Land Agent, 
and reached a height of eloquence and ar- 
gument in his plea for generous and un- 
restricted sales that seems unanswerable. 
If he or Governor Evans had never written 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



anything else than these two papers, these 
recorded documents of two of the founders 
of the institution would reveal to us of a 
later generation that they were men of 
keen intellectuality and good fighters. 

So far as the policy with reference to the 
sale of property is concerned, this discus- 
sion was without practical result. The lim- 
itations which Governor Evans placed upon 
the sale of property, by conditional grants 
to the University of sundry pieces of Chi- 
cago property, were revoked by a later in- 
strument. Indeed, the limitations agreed to 
by the Executive Committee in receiving 
gifts from Governor Evans were not ap- 
proved by the Board of Trustees, and the 
whole question of the sale of property, with 
a view to limitations, was referred to a com- 
mittee of three, in 187 1, the report from 
whom has never been called up. Rev. Philo 
Judson's communication on this subject was 
his last word to the University, and it is 
indeed a heritage. He died a few months 
later and a feeling tribute graces the record, 
describing him as "one of the founders of 
the institution" ; as "the first — and, for many 
years — Business Manager and Financial 
Agent, and later Trustee and Executive 
Officer, who has rendered long and efficient 
service to the University. To his intel- 
lectual force, sagacity, wisdom, integrity, 
unselfishness and fidelity, the cause of edu- 
cation is lastingly indebted." And much 
more to the same eflfect, which was inspired 
by a genuine appreciation of a man of most 
sterling and serviceable qualities. 

The Board started out upon the year 
1876 with a discouraging budget, showing 
a probable deficit of nearly sixteen thousand 
dollars ; but the end of the year was reached 
with a somewhat better showing, though, 
on the whole, not entirely satisfactory. A 
judicious Committee on Ways and Means 
was appointed to look matters in the face, 
and see if some remedy could not be devised 



to avoid a crisis. They could only figure 
out a probable deficit of $23,750 per annum. 
They reminded their brethren that, in their 
great desire for rapid development, they had 
forgotten the old adage, "Make haste slow- 
ly," and they recommended a return to the 
old ways of making no appropriations for 
salaries or other expenses in advance of cur- 
rent income. This policy, said they, must 
be adhered to rigidly, in the future, for we 
cannot aflford to mortgage the future use- 
fulness of the institution. 

Dr. Fowler having been elected editor of 
the "Christian Advocate" in New York, in 
May of that year, resigned his position, to 
the great regret of the Board, who passed 
resolutions of warm commendation of his 
work and his influence. The Chairs of 
English Literature and Chemistry were 
likewise vacated and the work distributed. 
Thus the ship was lightened and proceeded 
on its voyage with a better prospect of 
reaching port. Dr. Oliver Marcy was made 
Acting President — a work which, although 
not at all to his taste, he took up and admin- 
istered with the same fidelity and zeal that 
he gave to his own department, winning re- 
spect and confidence at every step and ad- 
ministering government and discipline 
with an even hand. 

A new menace came in 1876 to try the 
patience of the Trustees who were heroically 
struggling with the problem of finance, in 
the listing of their property by the assess- 
ors for taxation. The expense of testing 
the legality of the claim was appalling, and 
the possibly unfavorable outcome of litiga- 
tion was even more discouraging. But 
they stood firmly upon their chartered 
rights. The contest in the lower court of 
the State was adverse, as was expected. 
The decision in the State Supreme Court 
was similarly adverse, but not unanimous, 
there being two dissenting Justices. The 
case then went to Washington, with Grant 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



85 



Goodrich, Wirt Dexter and Senator M. H. 
Carpenter as attorneys for the University, 
and their efforts were crowned with the 
happy result of a reversal of the decision of 
the State Courts. The contention of the 
tax-collector was that, though the property 
of the University was exempted from tax- 
ation by the amendment to the charter in 
1855, a subsequent statute of 1872 limited 
this exemption to land and other property 
in immediate use by the school. The 
Supreme Court of the United States con- 
strued the charter in harmony with the 
powers granted to the Legislature under 
the Constitution of 1848, and, therefore, not 
limited by the new Constitution of 1870. 
We cannot say if any bonfires blazed on 
the campus when the decision was made 
known. It is quite certain that a new light 
gleamed from the faces of the surviving 
founders, and especially from the face of 
the surviving attorney. Grant Goodrich, 
who drew the charter amendment that had 
been controverted and which meant so 
much to the institution. 

Life Saving Station is Established. — 
During 1876 the Life Saving Station of 
the United States was established on the 
campus, manned by students and presided 
over by Captain Larson, an "old salt" who 
is the soul of discipline and fidelity, as de- 
vout as he is brave, whose influence upon 
his boys has been the very best. The work 
of life-saving at the station has been a 



source of honest joy and pride to the friends 
of the University. ' The lease of University 
grounds for this purpose was for twenty 
years, and in 1896 was renewed for fifty 
years, so that it has a future in connection 
with the institution. 

Without serious diminution in numbers, 
but on a more even keel, the LIniversity 
kept on its course under the wise admin- 
istration of Dr. Marcy, till 1881. Prof. 
Kistler had retired and his old-time pupil 
was made instructor in Greek. Charles W. 
Pearson, too, had risen to an instructorship 
in English Literature in place of D. H. 
Wheeler. New names were appearing in 
instructorships which will afterwards figure 
in connection with professorships in the in- 
stitution. The financial burden that had 
been much relieved was still oppressing, 
and the heroic method of reduction of sal- 
aries was applied, with the hope that it 
would not be for long. 

George F. Foster, one of the charter 
members of the Board of Trustees, passed 
away in 1878 and was memorialized in the 
records of the Trustees. He was a man of 
zeal and generous liberality ; a shouting 
Methodist, ardent in his temperament, 
earnest and persistent in the discharge of 
what he believed to be his duty. He was a 
warm and devoted friend, an open and hon- 
orable opponent. William Wheeler, too, 
had gone, and the ranks of the early Trus- 
tees were sadly thinning. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



AN ERA OF PROGRESS 



Dr. Joseph Cummings, the Nestor of East- 
ern Educators, Suceeeds to the Presiden- 
cy — Indebtedness Wiped Out and the In- 
stitution Enters Upon a More Prosper- 
ous Era — MunHicent Gifts and Improve- 
ments — Changes in Faculty and Trustees 
— Illinois School of Pharmacy and School 
of Dentistry Added — Celebration of Uni- 
versity Day Inaugurated — President 
Cummings' Successful Career and His 
Taking Away — Dr. Marcy Temporarily 
Assumes the Position of Acting Presi- 
dent — Dr. Henry Wade Rogers Suc- 
ceeds to the Presidency in 1890 — Other 
Changes and Improvements — Depart- 
ment Schools and Colleges — Real Estate 
Investments. 

Dr. Marcy was becoming weary of tasks 
that took him from his class-room and his 
beloved museum, and, in June, 188 1, Joseph 
Cummings, the Nestor of educators in the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, long-time 
President of Wesleyan University, an old 
man but full of vigor, was chosen for the 
Presidency. He was coming to his own ; 
for, had not the Northwestern, for years, 
paid tribute to Middletown in the filling of 
its chairs? There were Marcy, and Fisk, 
and Carhart, and Cumnock, and Morse, and 
there were others coming. Surely, the grand 
old man might take up his work with no 
sense of novelty in his new situation. He 



was a man of noble parts, full of dignity 
but full of gentleness, as devoted to his 
work as is the sun to shining. He was an 
ideal College President of the old school; 
great in the recitation room, great as a 
disciplinarian, strong in administration, a 
financier, an economist, a mighty man in 
the pulpit or on the -rostrum, able to do 
great things and small, considerate of his 
colleagues, no tyrant, but a believer in 
faculty government and, witliout coercion 
of their opinion, willing to abide by it. \\'hat 
a mighty man he seemed on commencement 
days, in his square Doctor's cap and silk 
gown, bidding candidates "ascendat," and 
conferring degrees in Latin without a slip, a 
task over which his successors stumbled. 
Before his work was done, two hundred 
thousand dollars of indebtedness from for- 
mer years had been cleared off. Governor 
Evans helped nobly : William Deering bore 
the lion's share : and one and another lifted, 
under the persuasive power of Dr. Cum- 
mings or Dr. Hatfield, till the work of liqui- 
dation of indebtedness was wrought, and 
then, relieved of burden, the college work 
went on more hopefully. New professors 
were secured, development took place in 
the line of true, logical growth under the 
hand of a master. His annual reports were 
and are still the strongest and most helpful 
papers ever submitted to the Board of Trus- 
tees, full of stimulus and suggestions. The 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



Fayerweather Hall of Science was secured, 
the gift, for a long time, of an unknown 
donor into whose ear Dr. Hatfield, at a time- 
ly moment, had dropped a word concerning 
Northwestern, and it resulted in this 
anonymous gift — and would result in more 
when his will should be opened — that helped 
mightily in the development of the work in 
Chemistry and Physics. Professor Carhart 
was tempted away to Michigan University 
just as he was about to enter into his 
heritage of the new building, to carry on 
the brilliant career of a physicist, which he 
had so well begun at Northwestern. 

Organization of New Departments. — 
Then, too, on the north campus arose the 
graceful pile of Dearborn Observatory, the 
gift of James B. Hobbs, equipped with the 
splendid instruments that were formerly in 
the old Dearborn Observatory at the rear of 
Chicago University. The gift was made 
without ostentation, after the manner of the 
princely giver that he is, and there was 
installed Prof. George W. Hough as astron- 
omer, to keep up his vigil over Jupiter, 
with whom he is so well acquainted, and to 
increase the list of double stars whose hid- 
ings he has such facility in finding out. 

Then, as a result of Dr. Hatfield's efforts, 
a dormitory was erected on Cook Street to 
house thirty young men, the second experi- 
ment of the University in that direction. 

The death of Robert F. Queal was chron- 
icled in 1883, one of the later most valuable 
Trustees of the institution, a man of grace 
and tact, and loyal to the core. In" 1886 
James S. Kirk, a stalwart, useful member of 
the Board was taken away; and, in 1887, 
Philip R. Shumway, who had given great 
promise of valuable aid in the counsels of 
the Executive Committee. 

In 1884 the Illinois School of Pharmacy 
became the property of the University, 
thereafter to be known as the Northwestern 
School of Pharmacy — this through the 



labors of Dr. D. R. Dyche, one of the most 
self-forgetful, public-spirited Trustees that 
ever helped to carry the burdens of the in- 
stitution. The School of Dentistry was like- 
wise taken on, to become one of the most 
flourishing departments by and by. 

The celebration of University Day was 
begun February 22, 1886, by the assembling 
of all departments in Evanston, who 
marched through the streets to the strains 
of martial music, and were addressed by 
representatives of the University culminat- 
ing in a collation and a reception at Willard 
Hall. This happy custom was continued 
into the administration of President Rogers, 
and fell at last into innocuous desuetude. 

The Passing away of Dr. Cummings. 
— For almost ten years, in the ripeness of 
his wisdom and powers, without dimness of 
vision or abatement of natural vigor, Dr. 
Cummings kept on his way as President of 
the University, with a broadening curricu- 
lum and increasing number of students, 
large graduating classes and a splendid fac- 
ulty that were harmonious and enthusiastic 
and united in honoring their chief and fol- 
lowing his leadership. Though disease was 
preying upon him, he gave out no sign of 
weakness. He called the regular meeting of 
the faculty to assemble in his room when 
the hand of death was upon him, and passed 
away as a soldier in battle, with his armor 
on. His name and character is a heritage 
to those of us who knew him well, stimu- 
lating to duty. Not less useful, on the social 
side of college life, in that eminently suc- 
cessful administration, was the influence of 
the queenly woman who presided in the 
home of the President. She was a woman 
of striking presence, of tact and sprightli- 
ness, with a keen eye to take in difficult 
situations and a skillful hand to relieve all 
embarrassments. These two were a mar- 
velous combination in a college community. 
I do not wonder that Middletown students 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



89 



are ready to bow down at the mention of 
their names. Northwestern students, be- 
tween 1880 and 1890, are ready to do Hke- 
wise. Dr. Cummings' last appearance in 
chapel was a scene long to be remembered. 
He would not be relieved of his accustomed 
task of leading the devotions, though his 
breath came quick and his utterance was 
choked. He read the hymn, 
"My Jesus, as thou wilt, 

Tho' seen through many a tear. 
Let not my star of hope 
Grow dim or disappear." 

A solemn stillness pervaded the little 
chapel. The broken voice that led the de- 
votions was speaking for the last time 
among us, and it spoke out in prayer and 
Scripture and hymn, as if conscious that it 
was a farewell, the keynote of a life attuned 
to duty, "My Lord, thy will be done." 
Cheerful and serene, though feeble from 
acute disease, he left the chapel that day 
amid faces sad with fear and eager with 
sympathy, and went home to die as brave- 
ly as he went to work. We carried him to 
his final rest a few days later, and enshrined 
him in our hearts as one of the few great 
men that we had known. He was not a 
writer of dreary pamphlets or a seeker after 
notoriety. He felt called of God to do the 
work of a Christian educator by character, 
example, precept and wise and prayerful 
administration, and he did it well, and 
thereon rests his abiding fame. 

Then Dr. Marcy was called once more 
to take up the task of administration till 
some new man could be found, with youth 
and strength and scope of vision, fit to take 
up the work that had developed somewhat 
after the hope of the founders. 

A new appraisal had taken place of the 
property on La Salle Street that had been 
clung to tenaciously during the vicissitudes 
of forty years, which resulted in an increase 
of income of more than fiftv thousand dol- 



lars per annum. It meant the accomplish- 
ment of much that had been dreamed of, 
and the long hoped for development. 

Dr. Rogers Called to the Presidency. 
— In September. 1890, Dr. Henry ^Vade 
Rogers was called to the Presidency of the 
institution. He had been Dean of the Law 
School of the University of Michigan, and 
entered most auspiciously upon his work at 
the most fortunate moment in the career of 
the University. 

In June, 1892, T. C. Hoag, having de- 
clined to serve longer as Treasurer and 
Business Agent, retired from the arduous 
duties of his office with an enviable record 
for fidelity and skill in the conduct of the 
aflfairs of the University, and Prof. R. D. 
Sheppard was invited to assume the busi- 
ness cares of the institution, in addition to 
his college work. The work of the decade 
was to be one of development on the mate- 
rial side, far in excess of any similar period 
in the history of the University, as the an- 
nual reports of receipts and expenditures 
will show. The spacious buildings on 
Dearborn Street, near Twenty-fourth, were 
erected for the proper housing of the Medi- 
cal School and School of Pharmacy, on 
land that had been purchased largely by 
the gift for that purpose of William Deer- 
ing, and an adjacent lot had been purchased 
for the prospective occupancy of Wesley 
Hospital. The Woman's Medical College 
on Lincoln Street, Chicago, was purchased 
at a cost of twenty-five thousand dollars, 
and it became an integral part of the Uni- 
versity, with a goodly list of alumnae and an 
eminent faculty. 

In 1892 the American College of Dental 
Surgery was combined with the North- 
western Dental School, with a student at- 
tendance of over five hundred and an equip- 
ment unsurpassed, over which presided 
Theodore Menges, a phenomenon of energy 
and tact in the organization and manage- 



90 



XORTHWESTERX UNIVERSITY 



ment of such an institution, whose untimely 
death, a few years since, left that school 
sadly orphaned but still vigorous and a 
monument to his energy and devotion. 

The Law School was reorganized and 
made one of the best of its kind, with better 
quarters and with an enriched curriculum. 

Orrington Lunt Library Dedicated. — 
On the campus the new Orrington Lunt 
Library was erected and named in honor 
of its principal benefactor, the genial, saint- 
ly Orrington Lunt, who walked among us 
in the evening of his days as the spirit of 
peace and benediction. Justin Winsor came 
on the dedication and spoke a splendid mes- 
sage, but the charming address of the 
founder of the library who, for so long 
had believed in books as a prime requisite 
of a student commimity, and who had 
manifested his faith by his works, was the 
great e\-ent of that dedicatory occasion. 

Then, too, the School of Music was 
housed in its own quarters, with a hall for 
recitals and rooms for instruction and prac- 
tice, presided over by Prof. P. C. Lutkin, 
whose skill and devotion have made it one 
of the important features of the University 
work. 

Then, too, in this favored time arose the 
Annie May Swift Hall, devoted to elocu- 
tion and oratory, the gift chiefly of 
Gustavus F, Swift, in honor of his 
daughter, who died during her career in 
college. It was the graceful tribute of the 
bereaved parent to a beautiful girl. Others 
contributed to this building at the solicita- 
tion of Professor Cumnock, but Mr. Swift's 
gift made it possible, and there its enthusi- 
astic Director has made a school unique in 
its character and unsurpassed anywhere. 

At last the Fayerweather bequest of 
one hundred thousand dollars came to hand, 
the result of Dr. Hatfield's timely sugges- 
tion to the generous leather merchant whose 
benefactions to American colleges have been 



one of the phenomenal things in the history 
of those institutions. 

Then Fisk Hall was constructed — the 
dream of Dr. Fisk for twenty years — 
crowning the labors of his devoted life. 
William Deering built it with a capacity to 
care for six or seven hundred students, with 
a chapel that is the best auditorium on the 
campus, and with all the appointments and 
equipment of an academy of the first rank. 

Woman's Hall was enlarged by the same 
generous giver, so that its capacity was 
almost doubled. 

Then the campus was fenced and the 
gateways were built, giving an air of indi- 
viduality and dignity to the college en- 
closure. William Deering did that; and 
one quiet afternoon, on his way to town, he 
left at the business office a package of 
papers that the dazed Business Manager 
found, .on inspection, to consist of over two 
hundred thousand dollars worth of securi- 
ties ; and, a little later, when Wesley Hos- 
pital was needed, not only for the charity 
work of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
but also an adjunct to the work of the 
Medical School, he dazed the same easily 
dazable Business Manager by the offer 
of fifty thousand dollars for that purpose, 
and property worth one hundred thousand 
dollars for the future endowment. Yet 
this was not all ; for, when Onarga Semi- 
nary was to be saved from loss and made 
an affiliated academy of Northwestern Uni- 
versity, Mr. Deering gave five thousand 
dollars to help that enterprise to a consum- 
mation : and, again, when the Tremont 
House was under consideration, his gift 
of twenty-five thousand dollars helped to 
acquire that splendid property. The chapter 
of his gracious deeds on behalf of the Uni- 
versity might be prolonged, but the histor- 
ian is not permitted to dwell over-much on 
the deeds of living men. Of the records 
and events of the last ten years — its men 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



and its transactions — he feels compelled to 
speak with cautious reserve. But these 
have been years of progress. 

Early in Dr. Rogers' administration, on 
the suggestion of David Swing, the annual 
commencement exercises were taken to Chi- 
cago and held in the Auditorium, where 
an oration was delivered by some orator 
of note before a magnificent assembly. Men 
like Theodore Roosevelt, Ex-Governor 
Chamberlain, Bishops Warren and Gallo- 
way, Drs. Xorthrup, Canfield, Day and 
Buckley have been numbered among the 
orators, and thousands of Northwestern 
graduates have ascended the stage and re- 
ceived their diplomas at the hands of the 
President of the University. Formerly all 
honorary degrees had been given on the 
recommendation of the Faculty of the Col- 
lege of Liberal Arts, and now that service 
was rendered by a University Council, con- 
sisting of representatives of the different 
departments, who, in addition to this func- 
tion, might recommend to the Trustees 
action upon such matters as were of general 
University interest. 



On the La Salle Street property of the 
University was erected a building, un- 
rivaled among the bank buildings of the 
world, for the use of one of the strongest 
institutions in the West, and leased for one 
hundred years at a rental that will be one 
of the principal supports of the University 
in beneficent work during that long period. 
It has improved the property on Kinzie 
Street, Chicago, donated by William Deer- 
ing. and leased it for fifty years to a strong 
corporation at a very satisfactory rental. 
It has acquired the Tremont House at a 
cost of five hundred thousand dollars, as 
the future home of the Law School, the 
Dental School and the School of Pharmacy, 
devoting to these schools a space as great as 
that comprised by any three of the buildings 
on the college campus, and has still re- 
served the old parlor floor of the Tremont 
House for general University purposes, of- 
fices, parlors, alumni headquarters, and a 
small assembly hall, while still retaining 
the first floor as a source of revenue. 



CHAPTER IX. 



SOME SIDE ISSUES 



Athletics and College Societies — IVo- 
men's Educational Associations — "The 
Settlement" and the University Guild — 
Dr. Rogers Resigns the Presidency in 
i8qp, and is Succeeded by Dr. Bonbright 
as Acting President — A Long List of 
Notable Friends of the University Who 
Have Passed Away — Tribute to Their 
Memory — Dr. E. J. James' Tzvo Years' 
Administration — He is succeeded by Dr. 
Abram W. Harris. 

And what shall we say of College Athlet- 
ics that have flourished during these ten 
years, in spite of the fact that the expected 
donor of a great gymnasium has not come 
to view? The old "Gym." has done a noble 
work, but it is confessedly a back number. 
Still, the students have made good use of 
it and the Athletic Field on the north cam- 
pus has been the scene of vigorous sport 
and rare athletic performances. It is largely 
within the last ten years that athletic sports 
have formed a prominent feature in the life 
of Western colleges, and during that period. 
Northwestern has often ranked with the 
best, and, even when defeated, has been 
undiscouraged ; and, in the trials of forensic 
and dialectic skill with the great institu- 
tions of the West, she has proved herself a 
foeman not to be desoised. 

Y. M. and Y. W- C. A.— Other Societies. 
— In the religious work of the college, its 



general conduct in these later years has been 
in the hands of the Young Men's and the 
Young Woman's Christian Associations. 
The responsibility has been largely on the 
students, with the sympathetic aid of mem- 
bers of the faculty. A house has been occu- 
pied by the young men as an Association 
headquarters ; secretaries have been em- 
ployed, with University aid, by both Asso- 
ciations : and the evangelistic spirit with 
marked results has attended both these 
associations. 

Greek Letter Societies have taken deep 
root in the University and detracted some- 
what from the vigor of the old debating 
societies that were of such educational 
value in the early history of the University. 
"Phi Kappa Psi" was founded in 1864, and 
the "Alpha Phi" in 1881. Now there are 
numerous other organizations, with their 
cliques and politics, and other redeeming 
features of good fellowship, that are among 
the pleasant recollections of college life. 

For a few years, beginning in 1893, the 
"University Record" was published, with a 
compendium of information of interest to 
the alumni and the public. Professor Cald- 
well and Professor Gray were editors, and 
performed their task well. The last issue 
was of June, 1895. The scheme will bear 
resurrection when some fit man with ade- 
quate support can give it attention. 

Collateral with the work of the Univer- 



94 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



sity, and springing out of it, has been the 
work of the Woman's Educational Aid 
Association, of which, for many years, Mrs. 
J. A. Pearsons has been President, and with 
whom have been associated such elect ladies 
as Mrs. Cummings, Mrs. Morse, Mrs. Gage, 
Mrs. Townsend, Mrs. CliflFord and others, 
in an efifort to furnish a home for young 
women during their college life, where they 
can board cheaply, assisting in the work, 
and yet be provided with the comforts and 
elegances that are so desirable from an 
educational point of view. With the aid of 
Dr. Pearsons they have sustained the Col- 
lege Cottage for many years, which has been 
once enlarged ; and now, by the timely gift 
of thirty thousand dollars from the same 
philanthropic source, they have under their 
charge the new Chapin Hall, which was 
dedicated in the fall of 1901 by its generous 
donor, and where sixty young women are 
housed as a happy fapiily in elegance and 
comfort. 

Another collateral institution has been 
that of "The Settlement," started and pre- 
sided over during her presence in Evanston 
by Mrs. Henry Wade Rogers, to minister, 
as such institutions do, to the life of the 
neglected poor in the Northwestern section 
of Chicago. There University graduates 
are in residence and University students 
help to carry on the various forms of life 
and service peculiar to the settlement. To 
carry on this work and erect their com- 
modious building, Mr. Milton Wilson gave 
the munificent sum of twenty-five thousand 
dollars, and the finished structure — with 
its perfect appointments, the property of 
Northwestern University — stands as a mon- 
ument of his interest in the welfare of his 
fellowmen. 

Another collateral institution founded by 
Mrs. Rogers was the University Guild, an 
association of women whose pursuit has 
been culture, and who, in a few years, have 



gathered together a beautiful collection of 
art treasures which are deposited in Lunt 
Library. These are now the property of the 
University, and may serve as the nucleus 
of an Art Museum, when these treasures, 
and those which Dr. Marcy gathered dur- 
ing his long career, are fitly housed. 

Resignation of President Rogers. — 
In 1899 Dr. Rogers resigned the Presi- 
dency of the University and returned to a 
law professorship at Yale University, and 
Dr. Bonbright was persuaded to take up the 
Acting Presidency during a brief inter- 
regnum, while the quest for a new presi- 
dent went on. The period ended in January, 
1902. It is not often in American life that 
a man is planted in a community to grow 
as a tree grows, from the sapling period 
to the period of advanced maturity, be- 
coming a landmark and a source of benefit 
to all passers-by. But all this is true of the 
Professor of Latin, Acting President of 
Northwestern University. Seized upon as 
a stripling tutor, rounded out in culture and 
methods by foreign study and observation, 
he has spent an ordinary lifetime in his 
chair ; devoted as a lover to a single love ; 
doing his part with a wisdom, thoroughness 
and grace that has left nothing to be desired 
as a teacher, gentleman, friend and inspirer 
of youth. 

From the very first date of graduations at 
Evanston he has seen the stream of students 
go by ; has known them all and taken a 
place in their memories as an integral part 
of their culture, their character and ideals. 
He has noted every step of progress, every 
movement of whatever sort that hds gone to 
make up the traditions of Northwestern 
University, so that his were safe hands in 
which to entrust for any length of time 
the discipline, the growth, the care of the 
institution, with the assurance that the ad- 
ministration would be without caprice or 
doubtful experiment. Eager to escape pub- 




PRKSIDKXT R()()SI-;\"KLT'S VISIT IX I"^'03 



HISTORY OF EVAXSTON 



95 



licity and diffident under public gaze, he 
took up his public cares with the easy grace 
of one born to the purple ; and, when pub- 
lic utterance was needed, he spoke with the 
charm of one accustomed to public address, 
with a play of fancy and with such aptness 
of illustration and vigorous marshalling of 
ideas, that we were made to wonder that 
these talents had been so long concealed. 
With all the honors that Northwestern 
could confer upon him, after the term of his 
Acting Presidency, he quietly returned to 
his class-room to preside with the same sim- 
ple dignity as of old, as if nothing unusual 
had happened in his career. 

Passing Away of University Founders. 
— The past ten years has been a time of 
harvesting of the ripened grain among the 
surviving toilers in the early years of Uni- 
versity history. John Evans, the first Presi- 
dent of the Board, at a ripe old age passed 
away in the distant State of Colorado, of 
which he had been Governor, and where he 
displayed the same enterprise and leader- 
ship in affairs that characterized him in 
Chicago and Evanston. He had been one 
of the University's chief benefactors, and at 
a time when gifts were most acceptable. 
Two principal professorships were named in 
his honor; and while he was in Evanston, 
the weight of his judgment was well-nigh 
preponderating in University counsels. He 
aided in founding another university in 
Denver, but the University at Evanston was 
the child of his youth and the pride of his 
old age. 

J. K. Botsford, too, passed away in this 
decade — the quiet hardware merchant on 
Lake Street, over whose store the meeting 
was held that launched the infant Univer- 
sity. -An unobtrusive man who built up a 
good competence in honorable trade ; who 
loved the Church and all her enterprises ; 
who talked little and thought much ; who 
sat quietly in Trustee meetings, made no 



long speeches, and always voted right. He 
was the soul of honor, a good man for 
Treasurer and serviceable in any situation 
that required prompt action, integrity and 
discreetness. 

J. G. Hamilton was another of the old- 
time Trustees whose name was added to the 
death roll : Treasurer, Agent, Secretary of 
the Board, a prosperous and useful man in 
his time — so useful that, when misfortune 
and feebleness seized upon him, and he was 
left alone in the world and without re- 
sources, his fellow Trustees pensioned him, 
and gave him the honorable consideration 
that was due to the valuable and unselfish 
service he had rendered to the cause of 
education. 

Richard Haney was another who came to 
the councils of the Trustees with each re- 
curring year, till he could come no longer. 
A giant in stature, with the heart of a child 
— under his eye the institution had grown 
for nearly fifty years. Children whom he had 
baptized in infancy were filling important 
chairs in the University and, like a fond 
father, he smiled with joyful benignity upon 
the large heritage that had come to him and 
his comrades, most of whom had gone be- 
fore him to their reward. It was one of 
the features of the Trustee meetings of 
later years to listen to his opening prayer — 
for that was his assigned part — and, when 
the meeting closed, it was with his benedic- 
tion and with a farewell word that spoke of 
the joy of his heart over what God had 
wrought at the hands of his servants, and 
the assurance to his brethren that he could 
not expect to meet with them often in the 
future, perhaps never. He was waiting daily 
for his summons to ascend. Such incidents 
pertain to a distinctly Christian institution. 
They lift the business side of education out 
of the region of ordinary business, and in- 
spire those who toil therein with the thought 
that they are doing a God-like work in the 



96 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



world that will beget sweet memories, such 
as kindled in the heart of the old founder 
when he looked back on his own labors and 
saw the work still going on, larger in vol- 
ume and with a far-reaching influence such 
as he had never dreamed it would attain. 
Then, too, Orrington Lunt, who suc- 
ceeded to John Evans as President of the 
Board, was another of the surviving group 
of founders that passed away, than whom 
no single man connected with the institution 
had given to the University more of his 
thought and attention, or sacrificed more for 
it. The library was his darling project, 
and to it, as already noted, he gave an 
endowment and a building. Without Or- 
rington Lunt, we cannot say what would 
have been done; but true it is, that the 
Trustees took no step in which he did not 
actively participate. No important com- 
mittee was complete without him. No dif- 
ficult negotiation could be carried on with- 
out his help. Wise, forceful, gentle, de- 
voted as he was, his colleagues caught his 
spirit and were braced by his example to a 
like fidelity and devotion. When disease 
prevented his meeting with them, they took 
their meetings to his home; and when the 
end came he summoned them, one by one, 
to a sunny farewell. He loved them in the 
bonds of a common labor of love. Verily, 
when wo speak of the endowment of the 
University, though the things that might 
seem most important may be lands and 
buildings and securities, wi must not over- 
look, among its chief assets, the undying in- 
vestment of the prayers, and love and labor 
of such choice spirits as are reckoned among 
the men whose names adorn our history, 
among whom there was no whiter soul than 
Orrington Lunt. 

Then there was another Trustee, who 
does not rank with the founders, but who 
took his place naturally among the later 
Trustees who efficiently labored in the up- 



building of the institution — Robert M. Hat- 
field. In his time, a peerless pulpit orator, 
with a diction unsurpassed, an intensity and 
fervor that enthralled and possessed men, 
and a mastery of scorn and invective that 
was a terror to all shams, injustice and de- 
ceit, his forceful speech and influence meant 
much for the University endowment. 

And there was David R. Dyche, who 
could drop his business cares any time to 
talk and plan for the University's good; 
who carried the burden of the four-mile 
limit on his heart ; who gave generously of 
his substance, as of his time and influence, 
and by his wisdom and his gentleness helped 
on the march of progress. 

And in March, 1899, Oliver Marcy, the 
grand old man who had been connected 
with the University for nearly forty years, 
finished his work. He had been twice Act- 
ing President ; had taught an immense 
range of subjects, and had become the most 
striking figure in connection with the in- 
stitution. He did not grow old. His body 
failed, but his keen intellect retained its 
edge; his love for the things of nature 
never failed ; he wrought to the last in his 
dear museum, fondling his specimens as of 
old. They spoke to him of the mighty 
universe of which they were a part. They 
disclosed chapters of flood and fire that 
ordinary vision could not see in them, and 
which he delighted to reveal to any in- 
terested listener. His daily walk made us 
love him and the things he loved. It spoke 
to us of duty and devotion and joy in learn- 
ing. He was called of God to be an educa- 
tor, and he fulfilled his calling. His career 
is a part of the LTniversity's richest endow- 
ment. 

Julius F. Kellogg, too, long time Profes- 
sor of Mathematics, faded away in this de- 
cade, and was borne to rest by the loving 
hands of his old comrades, who knew him 
as a thorough mathematician, an excellent 



HISTORY OF EVAKSTON 



97 



teacher and a simple hearted Christian. 
But I have played the role of Old Mortality 
long enough. These, and others of similar 
spirit, have served the University well, have 
gone to their reward and others have taken 
up their work. 

It would be difficult to reach an exact 
statement of the number of young men and 
women who have shared the educational 
opportunities furnished by the University 
since its organization. Like a stream rising 
in the mountains — a rivulet at first, then a 
river, with increasing tributaries and en- 
larging volume — so the stream of students 
has enlarged, from ten in number in 1855, 
to nearly three thousand in igoi. Very 
many, of course, have attended the insti- 
tution for a longer or a shorter course with- 
out graduating. Of those who have grad- 
uated, fifteen hundred have been from the 
College of Liberal Arts; eighteen hundred 
and forty-four from the Medical School; 
five hundred and fifty-nine from the 
Woman's Medical School ; eleven hundred 
and eighty-six from the School of Phar- 
macy ; sixteen hundred and five from the 
Law School ; and fifteen hundred and thirty- 
one from the Dental School — in all, eight 
thousand, two hundred and twenty-five men 
and women, who have given a good account 
of themselves in the varied walks in life, 
and some of whom have attained to conspic- 
uous positions and shed luster on their Alma 
Mater. 

College Administration of Today. — 
Little has been said of the labors of living 
men in connection with the history of the 
University, either in the faculty or the board 
of government. This much ought to be 
stated, however: that the body of teachers 
in the College of Liberal Arts are a de- 
voted, harmonious body of men and women, 
devoted chiefly to under-graduate work, and 
are hence confined largely to the work of 
instruction, though they do find time, now 



and then, to publish a volume in connection 
with their various specialties. 

In the large faculty of the College nearly 
every study that would be selected as a 
culture study is represented by a specialist 
who knows his work ; and, when they meet 
"in faculty assembled," according to the 
phrase adopted from Professor Godman of 
an early date, they are a distinguished body 
of men and women, keen in debate, deferen- 
tial to each other, and with a single eye to 
the interests of the youth committed to their 
care. 

And it is with unusual restraint that I 
refrain from writing of the labors of the 
men who have cared for the material in- 
terests of the institution, and who still carry 
on that work ; men as conspicuous, able and 
devoted as any who have toiled in former 
generations, and who have finished their 
work and gone to their reward. When Or- 
rington Lunt ascended, William Deering 
took his place as primus inter pares, ad- 
ministering his office with a dignity and dis- 
creetness that commends him to the con- 
fidence and affection of his colleagues, and 
with such a knowledge of the situation, such 
solicitude for progress, and such generous 
liberality as to constitute him easily the 
chief patron in our history. Beside him 
are eminent men who take up his work when 
absence or illness interferes. 

And the able Secretary and Auditor, 
Frank P. Crandon, who has carried for- 
ward the work of the secretaryship since 
J. G. Hamilton laid down his pen, has put 
the University under a debt of obligation 
for service which it can never adequately 
reward. The volume of University busi- 
ness has become so great and its tran- 
sactions so important — all of which pass 
through a central office and must be scru- 
tinized from week to week — that it makes 
demands upon this officer that few appre- 
ciate as do those nearest his work, but to 



NORTH\\"ESTERN UNIVERSITY 



which he addresses himself with a constancy 
and painstaking fidelity that are beyond 
praise. I have referred to endowments that 
are not expressed in lands and buildings or 
notes of hand ; such labors as his enter into 
this list, and swell the wealth of the favored 
institution that has commanded such ser- 
vices as his without fee or reward. 

The Executive Committee are busy men 
of large private interests, but they are al- 
ways about the Trustees' table when called ; 
and they are regularly and irregularly 
called, and, without haste and after full 
discussion, they give all the time that is 
needful, in committee and out of committee, 
to carrying on their trust, with generous 
gifts of valuable time and other resources 
as they are able. 

Dr. James Two Years' Administration. 
— From small beginnings, by careful man- 
agement and timely benefactions, the Uni- 
versity has acquired a property conserva- 
tively valued at six million dollars, and has 
done its work for fifty years with increasing 
vigor and enlargement as the years have 
advanced. In the summer of 1902, Dr. 
Edmund J. James was selected to fill the 
vacant Presidency, and for two years car- 
ried on the work with great vigor and 
promise, infusing fresh life into all depart- 
ments of the institution. But in 1904, the 
claims of the Illinois State University upon 
him were too strong for him to resist, and 
he resigned to be succeeded by Prof. 
Thomas F. Holgate, as Acting President. 



The service of Professor Holgate as Dean 
of the College of Liberal Arts has fitted him 
well for the duties that have been thrust 
upon him, while his familiarity with the 
history and traditions of the University 
justify the belief that, under his guiding 
hand, the institution will maintain its steady 
and healthy progress, growing as the tree 
grows, nourished by the kindly care of the 
men and women who stand forth as its rep- 
resentatives — its Trustees, its Professors, 
its Alumni, and the great Church in whose 
name it was founded, and whose zeal for 
Christian culture it expresses. 

The University Finds a New President 
—On February 1, 1906, the Trustees of 
Northwestern University closed their 
long quest for a successor to President 
James, by the election of Abram W. 
Harris, LL.D., of Tome Institute, Mary- 
land, to the Presidency. Dr. Harris was 
born in Philadelphia, November 7, 1858, 
graduated from the ^Vesleyan University, 
at Middletown, Conn., in 1880, and has 
followed an educational career since that 
time, except for a few years when he was 
in government service. His experience 
in University work and the secondary 
schools gives promise of great usefulness 
in his new field. His term of service was 
designated to commence July 1, 1906, un- 
til which time the interests of the Univer- 
sity are presided over by x^cting President 
Holgate. who has borne well the burdens 
and responsibilities of his office for near- 
ly two years past. 



CHAPTER X. 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL 

(By N. S. DAVIS, JR.. A. M., M. D.) 



Object of its Organization — Early Condi- 
tions and Methods of Medical Education 
— Dr. N. S. Davis BeginstheAgitationfor 
Graded Instruction and Longer Courses 
— Lind University Established in i8^g — 
Institution affiliated luith N orthzvestern 
University in 1869 — Changes of Name 
and Location — Growth, Present Condi- 
tions and Methods of Instruction — South 
Side Free Dispensary — Hospitals: Mercy, 
Wesley, St. Luke's and Provident — 
Clinical and other Advantages — Influence 
of the Founders of the School Shown in 
its Growth and Character of its Grad- 
uates — Positions Won by its Alumni. 

Northwestern L'niversity Medical School 
was founded to demonstrate the practica- 
bility of what were admitted to be good 
methods of teaching the art and science of 
medicine. So long as this country was 
sparsely settled and means of rapid transit 
were wanting, it was difficult for physicians 
educated abroad to find communities of suf- 
ficient size or of such character as to tempt 
them to settle here. It was equally difficult 
for those of our own people inclined to study 
medicine to obtain suitable opportunities. 
For many years most practitioners of med- 
icine received their training from others 
to whom they were apprenticed. For half 
a century after the Revolutionary War the 
medical colleges, which were established. 



were regarded as not essential to the mak- 
ing of physicians and surgeons, but as use- 
ful places for the review of studies pursued 
under a preceptor and for the prosecution 
of practical studies in anatomy. The annual 
course in these schools was from four to 
five months in duration. During this time 
all the students attended all the lectures. 
These courses they repeated a second year, 
when they were granted a diploma. It is 
evident that such schools in no sense sup- 
planted the work of preceptors or general 
practitioners who received apprentices, but 
supplemented it. The colleges contained no 
laboratories, and few were connected with 
hospitals or attempted clinical teaching. 
During the next twenty-five years a gradual 
evolution took place ; clinics were estab- 
lished in most schools and a better quality 
of teaching was done. By both practition- 
ers and laymen colleges were regarded as 
of more importance for the acquisition of 
the knowledge which medical men must 
have. 

In the second decade of the last century 
Dr. N. S. Davis began to agitate the need 
of graded instruction in medical schools 
and of longer courses. This he did in med- 
ical societies and by writing a small treatise 
upon medical education. Later, in order to 
further this end, he induced the leading 
teachers and practitioners of various States 
to assemble to form a National Medical So- 



NORTHWESTERN UXR'ERSITY 



ciety. He hoped that, by agitating the sub- 
ject in such a body, reforms might be in- 
augurated simultaneously in all the States. 
Although medical societies by numerous 
resolutions urged such reforms upon the 
colleges, they were not made. In 1859 a 
group of men, most of whom had been 
teachers in Rush College, Chicago, estab- 
lished a new school in that city, which was 
to demonstrate the feasibility of some of 
these long-needed reforms. Minimum re- 
quirements for entrance to the school were 
made; three years of study, at least two of 
which must have been in a medical college, 
were demanded for graduation, and the 
studies were graded so that the most ele- 
mentary were taught first and the others 
followed in logical order. Clinical teaching 
was made a prominent feature of the in- 
struction from the beginning. Surprising 
as it seems, considering the evident need of 
these changes, it was nearly ten years before 
any other college in the country followed its 
example, and many more before it was 
followed by all. 

Originally this college was not a depart- 
ment of Northwestern University. In 1859 
Lind University was established and Doc- 
tors Hosmer A. Johnson, David Rutter, 
Edmund Andrews, and Ralph Isham or- 
ganized a medical department of it. N. S. 
Davis, William H. Byford and numerous 
other leading physicians of this small city 
were invited to form its faculty. Lind Uni- 
versity soon went out of existence for want 
of sufficient financial support, but the med- 
ical school was re-organized under a charter 
of its own and was called Chicago Medical 
College. Under this name it made a per- 
manent reputation. In 1869 it was affiliated 
with Northwestern University, because it 
was thought that a university connection 
would enable it to stimulate students to pre- 
pare better for college and to maintain a 
higher grade of instruction itself. From 



this time until i8go the institution was 
known as "Chicago Medical College" — the 
Medical Department of Northwestern Uni- 
versity. In the latter year a close union 
with the University was effected, and the 
name was again changed, this time to 
Northwestern University Medical School. 

With each of these changes of title a 
change of location was made. Originally 
the college was housed in the Lind Block 
in the heart of the city ; later it moved into 
a building of its own on State Street near 
Twenty-second. In 1870 it was compelled 
to move, as its home was destroyed in the 
process of widening State Street. It then 
built anew at the corner of Twenty-sixth 
and Prairie Avenue, immediately adjoin- 
ing Mercy Hospital. Here it remained 
twenty years ; but the growth of the hos- 
pital in time necessitated abandonment of 
this site. New and entirely modern build- 
ings were constructed for its accommoda- 
tion in 1890 on Dearborn Street, between 
Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Streets ; 
and, in 1901, Wesley Hospital was built 
beside it. 

While in material possessions the insti- 
tution has grown, it has also steadily ad- 
vanced, and even led, in most of the re- 
forms in teaching which have taken place. 
In 1868 it demanded attendance upon three 
annual courses of instruction in the college 
for graduation, and lengthened each course 
to six months. By 1870 the number of de- 
partments of instruction had been increased 
from eleven to thirteen, and, during the 
next twenty years, to eighteen. In 1890 
the annual term was lengthened to seven 
months, and four years of study in college 
were required for graduation. For several 
years before these changes were made a 
fourth year was oflfered but not required. 
In 1894 the annual term was made eight 
months. In 1892 Latin and physics were 
added to the entrance requirements and. 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



lOI 



three years later, algebra, and in 1896 sev- 
eral other branches of a high school course. 
A year later the requirements for entrance 
to the medical school were made the same as 
those of the College of Liberal Arts. 

Laboratory and clinical teaching were 
conspicuous elements of instruction from 
the inception of this college. When it was 
established, the only laboratory teaching 
done in medical schools was in chemistry 
and anatomy. Some years later a labora- 
tory of histology was opened. In 1886 lab- 
oratory instruction was given to all students 
in pathology. Bacteriology was taught for 
several years as an optional study, but work 
was required of all students in the bacterio- 
logical laboratory in 1891. In 1894 lab- 
oratories of experimental physiology and 
pharmacology were opened, although for 
several years prior to this, instruction had 
been given in physiological chemistry ; still 
more recently those of clinical pathology 
were established. This kind of practical 
teaching has so grown that it now consti- 
tutes the largest part of the work done by 
students in their first two years of medical 
study. The development of this kind of 
teaching, which is largely individual, has 
necessitated the employment of numerous 
teachers who devote their entire time to the 
school. In the earlier history of this insti- 
tution, these branches were taught by prac- 
titioners of medicine who devoted only a 
few hours per week to the work, a practice 
which is still continued by many colleges. 

Clinical teaching bears to the studies of 
the last two years the same relationship that 
laboratory teaching does to the first. It 
practically illustrates all instruction in the 
various departments of medicine, surgery 
and the specialties, and brings students in 
personal contact with patients and teacher. 
As laboratories have multiplied so have 
clinics, and in each the amount of teaching 
has been increased and improved. A few 



clinics are introduced into the second year 
course to illustrate methods of examina- 
tion, a subject taught at that time in order 
to prepare students for the study of disease 
which completely occupies their attention 
during the junior and senior years. The 
senior year is given up almost exclusively 
to clinical teaching. Northwestern L'niver- 
sity oflJ'ers its students much more clinical 
instruction than most other schools do, and 
especially a large amount of bedside instruc- 
tion to small groups of them. The clinical 
laboratory enables students to applv all 
kinds of scientific methods of research to 
the examination of patients. In it they 
make blood examinations, sputa examina- 
tions and analyze the other secretions and 
excretions of the body. The aim of this 
school is not simply to afford students an 
opportunity to learn what is known of dis- 
ease, but to become intimately acquainted 
with it by contact with patients, to obtain 
experience by watching the course of dis- 
ease and the efifect of remedial procedures. 
The unusual clinical facilities of this col- 
lege are made possible by the South Side 
Free Dispensary— which is in Davis Hall, 
one of the University buildings — bv Mercy 
Hospital, St. Luke's Hospital, and by Wes- 
ley and Provident Hospitals. These hospi- 
tals together accommodate from eight hun- 
dred to one thousand patients. In the South 
Side Free Dispensary twenty-five thousand 
patients are prescribed for annually, and are 
treated, in many cases, by the best physi- 
cians, surgeons and specialists of the city. 
Rooms are arranged for the proper ex- 
amination and care of eye and ear, nose and 
throat, gynecological, skin, nervous, surgi- 
cal and medical cases, as well as of children. 
Trained nurses assist in several of these de- 
partments. This dispensary is not only an 
important educational institution, but one 
of the best philanthropies in Chicago. 
Davis Hall, in which the dispensary is 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



housed, was constructed for its accommo- 
dation. The building is a well planned and 
commodious out-patient hospital. 

Mercy Hospital, which is the oldest and 
one of the largest public hospitals in the 
city, has been intimately associated with 
this school ever since its founding. The 
hospital consists of a series of buildings, 
with a total length of six hundred feet. 
It is located on the corner of Twenty-sixth 
Street and Calumet Avenue, and covers 
nearly half a block of land. It owns prop- 
erty adjoining its present buildings, which 
will enable it to grow and ultimately to 
cover nearly a square of land. A part of 
this vacant property is an attractive garden, 
which is much frequented by convalescent 
patients during the summer. 

There has recently been completed an ad- 
dition to the hospital devoted to a large oper- 
ating and clinic hall, which will accommo- 
date four hundred students. This is one of 
the most attractive and perfect operating 
rooms in the city. In connection with this 
are num.erous small rooms for private opera- 
tions, for the care of instruments and sur- 
gical supplies, for preparing patients and 
for preparing operators and their assistants. 
These rooms are of the most modern and 
approved construction and contain f-he 
best equipment known. 

Alercy Hospital has also one of the best 
training schools for nurses in the city. In- 
struction and training is given them in the 
hospital by the staff, as well as by regular 
teachers devoting their time to the school. 

The attending stafT of physicians and 
surgeons is selected from the Faculty of 
Northwestern University Medical School. 
Eight resident physicians and surgeons are 
chosen annually from the graduating class 
of the college, and serve for eighteen 
months in the hospital. During the college 
year from one to four clinics are given 
daily in this institution. 



The most notable recent addition to the 
equipment of the ]\Iedical School is Wesley 
Hospital. It is located beside the college 
building, and is connected with Davis Hall 
by an enclosed bridge. Neither expense nor 
time has been spared to make this one of the 
best equipped hospitals in the world. It is 
the last built in Chicago and contains all of 
the newest improvements in hospital con- 
struction. 

With its laboratories for sterilizing and 
preparing dressings and instruments, its 
amphitheatre, its clinical and pathological 
laboratories, drug-room and morgue ; with 
its sun-baths and suites of private rooms, 
and with its commodious, light and well 
ventilated wards, this institution would seem 
to have reached the highest mark in hospital 
construction and equipment. The staff of 
this hospital is also selected from the faculty 
of the college. Four resident physicians 
and surgeons are chosen annually from the 
graduating class. It also has an excellent 
training school for nurses. 

The instruction given to the students 
in Wesley Hospital makes a very important 
portion of their clinical course. This is 
naturally consequent upon the close relation 
of the two institutions — the hospital stand- 
ing beside the College Building and con- 
nected with it by corridors. 

St. Luke's Hospital is situated on Indiana 
Avenue, near Fourteenth street. Owing to 
its central location, it receives a large num- 
ber of accident cases, and its surgical clinic 
is, consequently, an extensive one. Clinics 
are given regularly in Medicine, Nervous 
Diseases, Surgery, Gynecology, and Diseases 
of the Eye and Ear. The clinics and autop- 
sies of St. Luke's Hospital are attended 
principally by the third year students. 

Provident Hospital, located at the corner 
of Thirty-sixth and Dearborn streets, has 
recently been much enlarged. Besides its 
lOO beds, which can accommodate 800 to 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



103 



1. 000 patients annually, there is a large dis- 
pensary in which about 6,000 ambulatory 
patients receive treatment each year. 

The students of the Northwestern Uni- 
versity Medical School have an opportunity 
to attend clinics by the Medical Staff and 
operations by the Surgical Staff, and are 
assigned, in small classes, to ward visits in 
Surgery and Gynecology. 

The college possesses, in addition to the 
equipment of its laboratories and clinics, 
a fine collection of pathological and anatom- 
ical specimens. Its present museum is 
crowded and more space is needed. It also 
has an excellent reference library, which 
is in constant use by the students. This is 
in charge of a librarian who devotes her en- 
tire time to it. 



The inspiration which its founders gave 
thii school, to maintain in it the most thor- 
ough and complete instruction possible, has 
never been lost. Its success is shown by its 
growth and, best of all, by the character of 
its graduates. For a number of years past 
from one-third to one-half of each grad- 
uating class has received hospital appoint- 
ments, in which they obtain from a year to 
eighteen months of practical post-graduate 
training. Many of its alumni are filling im- 
portant professorships in colleges from the 
Atlantic to the Pacific coasts. They are 
found leaders in the communities in which 
they live and in the societies of their pro- 
fession. 



CHAPTER XI. 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL 

(By F. B. CBOSSLEY, LL.B.) 



Historical Sketch — Laiv School Founded in 
1859 — Hon. Thomas Hoyne Leads in 
Endowment of First Chair — Only Three 
Lazv Schools then West of the Alleghen- 
ies — First Faculty — Notable Members of 
Facidty of Later Date — Union College of 
Law Result of Combination of North- 
zvestern and University of Chicago — 
First Board of Managers and First 
Facidty Under Neiv Arrangement — Uni- 
versity of Chicago Suspended in 1866 
and Northwestern Assumed Entire Con- 
trol of Lazv School in i8gi — Subsequent 
History — Changes in Requirements of 
Supreme Court as to Law Course — 
Present Home and Conditions — Acquisi- 
tion of Gary Collection — Present Out- 
look. 

The present Northwestern University 
Law School was founded in 1859 through 
the generosity of the Hon. Thomas Hoyne, 
who contributed five thousand dollars to the 
original University of Chicago to endow 
a "chair of International and Constitutional 
Law" which contribution enabled the LTni- 
versity to establish a Law Department. 

At that time there were but three other 
law schools west of the Allegheny Moun- 
tains, and the need of an institution that 
could offer a better legal training than could 
be obtained in a law office, was becoming 



more and more apparent with the growth 
of the city. 

The School was first opened for instruc- 
tion in i860, with Honorable Henry Booth 
and Judges John M. Wilson and Grant 
Goodrich as professors. Dr. Booth was 
the first to be called as a professor and to 
serve as Dean, and continued in that joint 
capacity for thirty-two years, retiring as 
Dean Emeritus in 1892. The inauguration 
ceremonies of the School took place in Met- 
ropolitan Hall, the chief address being made 
by the Hon. David Dudley Field, of New 
York; the Chief Justice of the Supreme 
Court of Illinois, Sidney Breese, and sev- 
eral other Judges of prominence being 
present and assisting. 

The School was conducted continuously 
by the University of Chicago until 1873, 
becoming better known throughout the 
United States each year for the thorough 
character of its instruction and the high 
standard of scholarship set for its grad- 
uates ; and though the dominating control 
of the School has changed several times 
from the date of its organization, the policy 
outlined by Dean Booth and his co-work- 
ers has been followed, and at no time has 
the School lost in influence or prestige 
through any attempt by the different in- 
terests to lower the quality of its instruction 
or the standard of its scholarship. The 



io6 



NORTHWESTERN UNI\"ERSITY 



faith of these different interests in the pol- 
icy of its first Dean and his fellow-labor- 
ers is illustrated by the long tenure of 
office and the service on the Faculty of 
one of Evanston's best known citizens, the 
Hon. Harvey B. Hurd, who became a Pro- 
fessor in the Law School in 1862, and re- 
mained in active service until May 23. 1902, 
when he retired as Emeritus Professor of 
Law. 

In 1873, for the purpose of strengthening 
the School and adding a department of law. 
Northwestern University entered into an 
agreement with the University of Chicago 
whereby the Law School came under the 
joint control of the two Universities. By 
the terms of this agreement the School was 
placed under the direct management of a 
"Joint Board," "comprising an equal num- 
ber of persons from the Board of Trustees 
of each University," the announcement of 
the change setting forth that "it should not 
be overlooked by any of the graduates of 
the Law School of the University of Chi- 
cago, that this School is a legitimate off- 
spring and successor to its claims, and, as 
such, is entitled to receive all the honors 
and support of the large number of those, 
fast rising into professional eminence, who 
acquired the rudiments of their legal learn- 
ing within the walls of this School." The 
joint agreement provided that the School 
should be known as the Law Department of 
both Universities, "with full right to each to 
publish the same in all catalogues and cir- 
culars, as its law department ; that diplo- 
mas should be signed by the President and 
Secretary of both Universities, under the 
seal of each, and that, "as far as practicable, 
the graduating exercises of the law classes 
shall be held in the name of, and attended 
by, the Trustees, officers and Faculties of 
both Universities"; that, "for the purpose 
of placing said Law School upon a sure and 



substantial financial basis," each University 
should pay annually towards its support not 
less than two thousand dollars and, in case 
of default for six months, the party in de- 
fault should forfeit its interest and control 
in the School. 

Northwestern University was represented 
on the first Board of Management, as 
above provided for, by Hon. Grant Good- 
rich, Wirt Dexter, Esq., Robert F. Queal, 
and Rev. Charles H. Fowler, President of 
the University. 

The first Faculty under joint control of 
the two Universities was composed as fol- 
lows: Hon. Henry Booth, Dean and Pro- 
fessor of the law of Property and of Plead- 
ing ; Hon. Lyiiian Trumbull, Professor of 
Constitutional Law, Statute Law, and Prac- 
tice in the United States Courts ; Hon, James 
R. Doolittle, Professor of Equity Jurispru- 
dence, Pleading and Evidence; Van Buren 
Denslow, Esq., Professor of Contracts and 
Civil and Criminal Practice; Philip Myers, 
Esq., Professor of Commercial Law ; Hon. 
James B. Bradwell, Lecturer on Wills and 
Probate : Dr. Nathan S. Davis, Lecturer on 
Medical Jurisprudence. 

The School was now known as the Union 
College of Law, and was located at this 
time (1873) in the Superior Block, fronting 
the Court-House. Sixty regular students 
were registered during the year 1872-73 — 
and, after three years of joint management, 
one hundred and thirty students were en- 
rolled in one year. The requirements for ad- 
mission at this time were low in all law 
schools, this School requiring merely a com- 
mon school education, but recommending a 
college training, and during the year 1876 — 
or three years after Northwestern Univer- 
sity assumed partial control — almost one- 
third of the students in the Law School pos- 
sessed academic degrees. The course, as in 
nearly all the better schools, covered a pe- 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



107 



riod of two years and the diploma of the 
School admitted to the bar of Ilhnois. 

The joint management was continued 
until 1886, when the original University of 
Chicago ceased to exist actively, and later 
surrendered its charter. For a period of 
about five years (1886 to 1891) the control 
of the Law School was still exercised by a 
"Joint Board," but in 1891 Northwestern 
University assumed entire control and the 
School received its present name. The 
agreement under which the Northwestern 
University assumed exclusive control of the 
Law School was made July i, 1891, with 
the Union College of Law represented by 
Hon. Oliver H. Horton and William A'. 
Farwell ; Northwestern L^niversity being 
represented by Orrington Lunt. its \'ice- 
President. This agreement, among other 
provisions, set forth that the School should 
thereafter be known as Northwestern Uni- 
versity Law School, with the privilege to 
continue the name "L^nion College of Law" 
in brackets, and that "all persons who are 
alumni of L^nion College of Law are hereby 
made alumni of Northwestern L'niversity 
Law School." 

Since Northwestern L'niversity obtained 
sole control of the Law School, its position 
among the foremost in the country has been 
maintained and the School has led in all 
attempts to raise the standard of legal edu- 
cation and of the legal profession in the 
West. An academic training equivalent to 
that of a graduate of a high school was soon 
made a requirement for admission, and, in 
1897, the required period of study in the 
School of all candidates for a degree was 
extended to three years, although at that 
time the Supreme Court of Illinois required 
but two years' study for admission to prac- 
tice within its jurisdiction. This change in 
the requirements for graduation was soon 
followed by a new rule of the Supreme 
Court of Illinois, governing admission to 



the bar and requiring an academic training 
equivalent to that of a high school graduate, 
and three years' study of law of all appli- 
cants for admission to practice. A change 
was also made in the Law School in the 
method of instruction by the adoption of 
the case system instead of the text, the 
curriculum was greatly enlarged and the 
Faculty increased. 

The policy of the University toward the 
Law School has been, at all times since its 
assumption of executive control, one of 
commendable liberality, and because of it 
the School has been able to keep up its 
progress and maintain its prestige. To do 
this, because of the large gifts of money 
contributed in recent years to Universities 
throughout the country other than North- 
western, and the consequent increase in 
efficiency and equipment of their various 
departments, the University found it neces- 
sary, in 1902, to increase very largely its 
annual financial contribution to the Law 
School, and this was done by adding there- 
to the income from a quarter of a million 
dollars and, in addition, an appropriation 
of ten thousand dollars for the im- 
mediate increase of the library ; so 
that, when the School ceased its mi- 
gratory career and moved into its 
present permanent home in Northwest- 
ern University Building, purchased and 
equipped at a cost of nearly one million 
dollars by the University, as a home for its 
professional Schools other than Medical, it 
possessed a Faculty of six professors giving 
the whole or the substance of their time to 
the School, besides an excellent staff of in- 
structors and lecturers, and a library of over 
12,000 volumes. The present home of 
the School, in what was widely known for 
more than half a century as the "Tremont 
House," is well adapted to its needs. It 
occupies the entire third floor of North- 
western University Building, in the heart of 



io8 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



the business section of Chicago. The 
twenty-three thousand square feet of floor 
space is divided into well equipped library, 
lecture, study and court rooms, and offices. 
The library reading room will accommodate 
450 students at its tables. The students' 
assembly room provides pleasant quarters 
for rest and conversation. The walls of the 
School are hung with an interesting collec- 
tion of portraits of prominent Judges, and 
legal writers, teachers, and lawyers of all 
countries — a collection that is probably not 
equaled in the United States. The equip- 
ment throughout, aside from the library, 
was made possible by generous money 
contributions from alumni. Trustees and 
other friends of the School upon its removal 
to its permanent home. 

Through the generosity of Hon. Elbert 
H. Gary, '67, the School in 1903 acquired 
the Gary Collection of Continental Juris- 
prudence. This Collection, the most com- 
plete of its kind this side the Atlantic, 
comprises an extensive collection of the laws 
and jurisprudence of all the countries of 



Continental Europe. It is of incalculable 
practical value to Chicago and the North- 
west, and to students of the law in this coun- 
try interested in the study of comparative 
laws. Judge Gary has also made it possible 
for the School to greatly increase its collec- 
tion of English and American laws and 
treatises, and placed it (1905) in a position 
for the first time to compare favorably in 
this respect with the best law school 
libraries in the country. 

After forty-six years of existence the 
Law School stands for the best in legal 
training. During the past it has occupied 
constantly a high place as one of the best 
law schools, although greatly handicapped 
by lack of proper equipment and insuffi- 
cient financial support. Today, with its 
large body of alumni, many of whom are 
of State and National reputation, scattered 
over thirty-five States and Territories, with 
its excellent equipment and its increased 
financial support, the future of this depart- 
ment seems almost assured. 



CHAPTER XII. 



NORTHWESTERN UNI\'ERSITY DENTAL SCHOOL 

(By G. V. BLACK, M. D., D. D. S.. LL. D.) 



Dental Education as a Distinct Branch of 
Professional Training — First Dental 
School Established in i8^p — Development 
Due to State Legislation — Dental Schools 
in Eastern Cities — Chicago College of 
Dental Surgery Graduates its First Class 
in i88j — Dr. Thomas L. Gilmer Leads 
Movement for Establishment of North- 
7\.'estcrn University Dental School — Con- 
solidation with American College of 
Dental Surgery — Dr. Theodore Menges 
Chief Promoter — ■ First Faeulty of the 
Consolidated School — Present Condi- 
tion — It Finds a Permanent Home in 
Historic Trcmont House Building. 

In order to understand the conditions in- 
fluencing the growth of the Northwestern 
University Dental School, it seems necessary 
to intermingle with the more direct account 
of it, a brief explanation of some of the gen- 
eral conditions peculiar to dental education 
which have had so large an influence on its 
development. 

Dental education, as a distinct branch of 
activity in the development of science and 
art, began in 1839, when Dr. Chapin Harris 
and his colleagues, who had been teaching 
oral surgery in a medical school in Balti- 
more, withdrew and founded an independent 
school of dentistry, establishing the degree 
of Doctor of Dental Surgery as earned by a 
definite course of studv. The effort was so 



successful that since that time dental edu- 
cation in America has been on a separate 
basis from general medical education. Yet 
it has always been regarded as a branch of 
the healing art, having much in common 
with general medicine, and especially as 
requiring similar preparation in the funda- 
mental branches, viz: anatomy, physiology, 
histology, pathology and chemistry. Dental 
schools made slow progress, however, in the 
earlier years of their existence. It had 
been the custom that one desiring to engage 
in the practice of dentistry became a student 
in the office of a practitioner, and, when 
considered sufficiently proficient, entered 
upon the practice independently without 
question. So firmly fixed was this practice 
that, for a time, few students entered the 
dental schools ; though from year to year 
they increased in numbers and new schools 
were organized and operated successfully in 
several of the larger cities. 

About 1870 there was a general move- 
ment for the better education of dentists. 
The need for the better education of phy- 
sicians was being urged, and laws for the 
regulation of the practice of medicine, and 
incidentally requiring improvement in edu- 
cational qualification, were being enacted 
by the different State Legislatures. Den- 
tistry followed, and laws were also rapidly 
adopted regulating the practice of den- 
tistry. These laws have been sustained by 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



the sentimeilt of the people for whose bene- 
fit they were drawn, by the profession and 
by the courts of law. Those entering upon 
the practice of dentistry then found that 
the easier way to obtain an education that 
would satisfy the State Boards of Dental 
Examiners, was by attending the dental 
schools. This brought about a very rapid 
increase in the number of students, and also 
a similar increase in the number of dental 
schools. In 1870 there were eight dental 
schools in operation, from which were 
graduated 140 students. This, with the con- 
ditions of graduation then prevailing, would 
indicate a total attendance of but little over 
200 students. In 1901 there v/ere fifty-four 
dental schools and from these about 2.300 
students were graduated. This would indi- 
cate a total attendance of about 7,000 stu- 
dents. 

This seemingly extreme educational activ- 
ity in dentistry was also accompanied by a 
similar activity in the development of den- 
tal science and practice. Many active men 
were coming forward with new facts and 
with new thought for the betterment of the 
treatment of dental diseases. The people 
were gaining confidence in dental opera- 
tions and making larger demands on the 
dental profession, and increased numbers of 
dentists were required to satisfy these de- 
mands, thus giving substantial support to 
the educational impulse. Baltimore and 
Philadelphia were the earlier seats of dental 
educational work, though successful dental 
schools were being developed in other cities. 
In Chicago the first dental school in actual 
operation (some charters for dental schools 
were obtained earlier) was Chicago College 
of Dental Surgery, which graduated its 
first class in 1885. In the activity of the 
time many efforts failed, or were imperfect- 
ly organized and continued but a short 
time. 

Dr. Thomas L. Gilmer inaugurated, and 



was principally instrumental in carrying 
through, the initial movement which result- 
ed in the organization of the present North- 
western University Dental School. In 1890 
there were a number of men in Chicago 
who had obtained some prominence as 
teachers in dentistry who were not then en- 
gaged in teaching. Having noted this, and 
having carefully studied the conditions. Dr. 
Gilmer gave a dinner at the Leland Hotel, 
to which Drs. George H. Gushing, Edgar D. 
Swain, Edmund Noyes and W. V-B. Ames 
were invited, and to whom he opened the 
subject of the organization of a new dental 
school. There were at the time several den- 
tal schools in the city that were not doing 
well, and the question of the reorganization 
of some one of these was discussed, with 
the result that Dr. Gilmer was authorized 
to investigate the advisability of the pur- 
chase of the American College of Dental 
Surgery, then under the control of Dr. 
Clendenen. At a subsequent meeting Dr. 
Gilmer reported adversely to the purchase 
of that school. Chicago University was 
then in process of organization, and an in- 
terview was had with President Harper 
with reference to the organization of a 
dental school as a department of that uni- 
versity, but at the time they were not ready 
for such an undertaking. The discussion 
of various schemes continued from time to 
time until the resignation of the faculty of 
the University Dental College seemed to 
create an opening in that direction. 

The University Dental College was 
finally organized under a charter grant- 
ed from the State of Illinois in 1887. 
The first session was held in the win- 
ter of 1887-88, with a class of six students, 
the dental faculty consisting of W. W. All- 
port (Emeritus), L. P. Haskell, R. F. Lud- 
wig, John S. Marshall (Dean), A. E. Bald- 
win, Charles P. Pruyn, R. C. Baker and 
Arthur B. Freeman. An agreement was 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



effected between President Cummings of 
Northwestern University, Nathan S. Davis, 
Dean of Chicago Medical College, and the 
faculty of the new Dental College, by 
which the students should take lectures in 
anatomy, physiology, histology, materia 
medica, pathology and surgery with the 
medical classes ; but this agreement in- 
volved no further connection with the Med- 
ical College. Also the connection with 
Northwestern University was nominal and 
prospective only, the University assuming 
no responsibility for the Dental College. 

The new college was located on Twenty- 
sixth Street, Chicago, near the Medical Col- 
lege. The students were required to take a 
course of three years, of seven months 
each, before graduation. This was the first 
dental college to make this requirement, and 
this fact operated very much against its suc- 
cess in obtaining students ; so that its 
classes remained very small. There were 
only eleven students at the end of the sec- 
ond year. At the beginning of the third 
year the three-year course was made op- 
tional, and the students were allowed to 
elect to take a two years' course. At the 
end of the fourth year the class numbered 
nineteen. The college could not continue to 
meet its expenses on the income derived 
from this number of students and, at the 
end of the year, the Faculty resigned, as has 
been noted above. 

At that time Dr. Henry Wade Rogers 
had recently become President of North- 
western University, and was actively en- 
gaged in bringing the professional schools, 
which had previously but a nominal connec- 
tion with the University at Evanston, into a 
closer relationship. He was seen by Dr. 
Gilmer with regard to the reorganization of 
this college, and he actively favored it. 
After a number of conferences between the 
parties interested, which included especially 
Drs. Chas. P. Pruvn, I. A. Freeman, A. B. 



Freeman and A. E. Matteson, of the old 
faculty, the officers of Chicago Medical Col- 
lege, and Drs. T. L. Gilmer, E. D. Swain, 
Geo. H. Gushing, Edmund Noyes, W. V-B. 
Ames and others, an organization was ef- 
fected under the charter of Northwestern 
University, and the charter of the Univer- 
sity Dental College from the State allowed 
to lapse. In making this change the word 
college was dropped and the word school 
substituted, in accord with a policy of the 
University, in which the teaching organiza- 
tions under its jurisdiction are called 
"schools"' rather than colleges. The new 
school took the name Northwestern Univer- 
sity Dental School. The Chicago Medical 
College also came into closer relationship 
with the University and took the name 
Northwestern University Medical School. 
The new dental faculty was composed of 
Edgar D. Swain, Dean ; Edmund Noyes, 
Secretary ; G. V. Black, George H. Cush- 
ing, J. S. Marshall, Charles P. Pruyn, Isaac 
A. Freeman! Thomas L. Gilmer, Arthur B. 
Freeman, B. S. Palmer, W. V-B. Ames, 
Arthur E. Matteson, E. L. Clifford, G. W. 
Haskins, D. M. Cattell and H. P. Smith. 
Arrangements were made with the medical 
school by which the dental students took 
lectures on the fundamental subjects with 
the medical classes. The school was re- 
moved to more commodious quarters on 
Twenty-second Street, but near enough to 
be convenient to the Medical School, which 
was also moved to new quarters on Dear- 
born Street, near Twenty-fourth. In the 
summer of 1891 the National Association of 
Dental Faculties passed an order which re- 
quired all schools affiliated with it to ex- 
tend the course of study to three terms of 
not less than six months each, in separate 
years before graduation. This order was 
complied with at once, and the new organi- 
zation began its first 'session with a class of 
fifty-three students, only six of whom came 
from the old school. 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



The National Association of Dental Fac- 
ulties was formed in 1884, having as its ob- 
ject the improvement of the methods of den- 
tal education and harmony of action among 
the separate schools. The National Associa- 
tion of Dental Examiners had been formed 
a year earlier, having for its object the pro- 
motion of harmony of action among the 
separate Examining Boards of the different 
States. These associations, while remain- 
ing distinct, have, for the most part, 
worked in unison, both having for their 
prime object the better education and pro- 
fessional qualification of young men for the 
practice of dentistry, and their influence has 
been too important to be passed without 
some consideration. It must be understood 
that, before this time, dental schools were 
without law or rule other than such as each 
might adopt at will, and there was little 
harmony of action among them. Some were 
graduating students on a single course of 
six months. There was no standard of edu- 
cational requirement for matriculation, etc. 
The object of the Faculties Association was 
to bring about harmony and establish rules 
regarding all such matters. 

Perhaps the best definition of the objects 
and purposes of this organization will be 
expressed in its first official acts. It was 
agreed by the association at its first meeting 
that, after the close of the sessions of 1884- 
85, each college belonging to the Associa- 
tion would refuse to allow a candidate to 
come up for final examination who had not 
attended two full courses of lectures, the 
last of which should have been spent in the 
college where the candidate for graduation 
proposed to take the degree. A preliminary 
examination of all students not possessing 
an academic or high school education was 
also ordered to go into effect at the same 
time. It was ordered that an examination of 
junior students should take place at the end 
of their first course, and that certificates 



should be issued showing their fitness to en- 
ter the senior class of any one of the chain 
of colleges, and that no college belonging to 
the Association would allow a student to 
enter the senior class who did not exhibit 
such a certificate of qualification, and this 
class of legislation has since been continued. 
This organization quickly gathered into its 
membership all of the dental schools re- 
garded as reputable ; and, although a purely 
voluntary organization, it has attained such 
power through the general support of the 
dental profession that its edicts have the 
force of law. 

It was under these general conditions that 
the new school began its work. After two 
years in its location on Twenty-second 
Street, the school was moved into new build- 
ings erected on Dearborn Street, between 
Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Streets, 
and was housed with the Medical School ; 
each, however, having its own rooms, clinic- 
al outfits and laboratories. In this location, 
and with these arrangements, the school 
was fairly prosperous and the number of 
students increased so that, in the fall of 
1895, the whole number was one hundred 
and twenty-eight. With this number in the 
Dental School and the continued increase 
in the Medical School, the space was over- 
crowded, so that it became necessary to 
procure additional buildings outside for a 
portion of the laboratories of the Dental 
School. This arrangement proved very un- 
satisfactory, as it required much running to 
and fro, and it became clear that something 
else must be done in order to accommodate 
the increasing demands. The extension of 
the course to three years instead of two, as 
had been the former custom, had not served 
materially to diminish the number of appli- 
cants for matriculation. 

In the meantime the American College of 
Dental Surgery, previously mentioned, had 
been purchased bv Dr. Theodore Menges 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



and others, its equipment had been im- 
proved, it was being put in better condition 
for giving instruction and its classes were 
rapidly increasing in numbers. Dr. Menges, 
who was showing much energy and tact, 
especially in gaining students, proposed in 
the winter of 1895-96 the consolidation of 
these two schools. After numerous confer- 
ences usual in such proceedings, this was 
effected during the following spring on 
terms which, for the time, left the principal 
management of the school in the hands of 
Dr. Menges, but provided for the ultimate 
complete ownership by the University. The 
faculty was again reorganized, a part of 
each of the old faculties being retained. 
The new faculty at the beginning of 1896- 
97 was composed of Edgar D. Swain 
(Dean), G. \'. Black, George H. Gushing, 
Thomas L. Gilmer, J. S. Marshall (Emer- 
itus), B. J. Cigrand, A. H. Peck, E. H. 
Angle, Edmund Noyes, I. B. Crissman, W. 
E. Harper, G. W. Haskins, James H. Proth- 
ero, G. W. Swartz, William Stearns, 
Charles B. Reed, F. B. Noyes, T. B. Wig- 
gin, W. T. Eckley, L. B. Haymen, George 
Leininger, C. E. Sayre, V. J. Hall, with 
Theodore Menges as Secretary and Busi- 
ness Manager. The Dental School was re- 
moved to the building that had been occu- 
pied by the American College of Dental 
Surgery, on the corner of Franklin and 
Madison Streets, where it has since re- 
mained. In this 'building additional space 
could be had from time to time for indefi- 
nite expansion. In this arrangement the 
American College of Dental Surgery went 
out of existence, and, as its graduates would 
have no alma mater, it was agreed that those 
students who had graduated in l8gi and 
since should be made alumni of the North- 
western University Dental School. 

Northwestern University Dental School 
now undertook to teach all of the depart- 
ments, including the fundamental branches. 



by its own professors and instructors, thus 
separating it entirely from the Medical 
School. The work was now with much 
larger classes than had before been as- 
sembled in dental schools, and, as the year 
passed, it was seen that, while the general 
methods of instruction in vogue were well 
adapted, much improvement in the system- 
atization of the work of the teaching force 
was desirable. At the end of the year the 
Dean, Dr. Edgar D. Swain, resigned. Dr. 
G. V. Black was then appointed Dean, and 
was charged especially with the systemati- 
zation of the methods of instruction. Each 
of the departments of instruction was grad- 
ually brought under the control of a single 
responsible professor, who controlled the 
methods of presentation of the subjects in 
his field of work by those associated with 
him, and the courses of study were so 
graded that the classes of each year re- 
mained separate in the class room. Per- 
sonal teaching was provided for by the sep- 
aration of classes into sections and the ar- 
rangement of quiz-masters and demonstrat- 
ors for special duties, so that the individual 
student could, at any time, obtain a person- 
al answer to his question or the demonstra- 
tion of a technical procedure. 

In following out these arrangements, sub- 
jects that had been divided among different 
members of the faculty were grouped under 
one head and managed by a single profes- 
sor with the aid of assistants, so that the 
faculty was reduced in number and the as- 
sistant teachers, demonstrators and quiz- 
masters increased. In 1899-1900 the faculty 
was composed of Greene V. Black (Dean), 
Thomas L. Gilmer, John S. Marshall (Em- 
eritus), Adelbert H. Peck, Edmund Noyes, 
William E. Harper, James H. Prothero, 
Frederick B. Noyes, Twing B. Wiggin, 
William T. Eckley, Vernon J. Hall, George 
.■\. Dorsey. Theodore Menges (Secretary 
of the Faculty) and James N. McDowell. 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



This faculty was assisted by about thirty 
assistants, teachers, demonstrators and quiz- 
masters. 

Northwestern Dental College, a small 
school also located in Chicago, had given 
much annoyance on account of the similari- 
ty of name, especially in the confusion it 
caused in the delivery of mail. In 1898 this 
was purchased, the college closed, and its 
plant added to the Northwestern University 
Dental School. This arrangement included 
the recognition of the recent graduates of 
the Northwestern Dental College as alumni 
of Northwestern University Dental School. 
The school as thus organized prospered, 
and the classes steadily increased until, in 
1809-1900, they numbered six hundred stu- 
dents—the largest number ever collected in 
one dental school. Additional space in the 
building was obtained from time to time 
for new laboratories and class rooms. In 
1899 an entire floor was added to gain addi- 
tional space for necessary class rooms, lec- 
ture rooms and laboratories, and also to pro- 
vide space for a library, museum and read- 
ing room. It has been found particularly de- 
sirable that students should be provided with 
well-arranged space in the school building, to 
which they could go during any leisure hour 
for the purpose of reading and study, or 
which they could occupy at regular hours 
and where they could find books upon any 
topic in dentistry. The work of assembling 
a library and museum of comparative den- 
tal anatomy and dental pathology was act- 
ivelv undertaken, and the material has been 
rapidly brought together, so that, at the 
present time, these may be justly regarded 
as excellent and as quite fully supplying the 
needs of a dental school. To these members 
of the profession have contributed books, 
journals and specimens liberally, and have 
in this way very materially aided in the 
gathering of the collection. This work is 
still in progress. ]\Iembers of the profes- 



sion are also permitted to make use of this 
library and museum. 

On the first of June, 1900, Dr. Theodore 
Menges, Secretary and Business Manager 
of Northwestern University Dental School, 
died of appendicitis, after an illness of a lit- 
tle less than one week. He was thus cut off, 
seemingly before his time, in the midst of a 
robust manhood and mental vigor, while in 
the active prosecution of the work that 
seemed to have been allotted him to do. 
His sudden death threw a wave of grief 
over all connected with the school, upon its 
alumni, the dental profession and all who 
knew him and the work he was doing. He 
was an active, energetic and persistent 
worker, devoting his life to the upbuilding 
of the dental profession. 

With the death of Dr. Menges the dentai 
school became completely the property of 
Northwestern University. Dr. W. E. Har- 
per was appointed Secretary and the school 
went regularly forward with its work with- 
out other change in its faculty. Its a'umni 
now number about fourteen hundred. 

In 1901 the University purchased a new 
buildmg at a cost of half a million dollars, 
which two years since became the perma- 
nent home of the Dental School, as also of 
the schools of Law and Pharmacy. This 
building — formerly the "Tremont House," 
for more than fifty years one of the most 
widely known hostelries in the city of Chi- 
cago — IS located at the corner of Lake and 
Dearborn Streets, within the downtown loop 
of the elevated roads, is convenient of ac- 
cess from all lines of travel, both general 
and suburban, and furnishes especially com- 
modious quarters for the uses of the school. 
It has a frontage of 180 feet on Dearborn 
Street and 160 feet on Lake Street, and 
since it came into the possession of the Uni- 
versity, has undergone thorough reconstruc- 
tion, fitting it for the several departments 
there located. 




^y2/^,n^.:^ 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



:i5 



The several schools in this building are 
entirely separate and distinct from each 
other in their respective rooms, equipment 
and special work — as much so as if in sepa- 
rate buildings — so situated as to have a 
much closer community of interest and of 
helpfulness with reference to each other 
than had previously existed. The annual 
sessions of the Dental School are held in 
this new building, and there is every reason 
to believe that in its new and permanent 
home the Dental department has entered 
upon a new period of increasmg prosperity 
and usefulness. 

.\l)DEXDU.M 

Since the above was written Northwest- 
ern University Dental School has gone reg- 
ularly forward with its educational work. 
Dr. Elgin MaWhinney has been appointed 
to fill the place made vacant by the resigna- 
tion af Dr. A. H. Peck. A vacancy occur- 
ing through the resignation of Dr. E. H. 
Angle is filled by Dr. Ira B. Sellery. Sec- 



retary Dr. W. E. Harper resigned and his 
place was filled by the appointment of Dr. 
C R. E. Koch. Also three of the younger 
men who had been serving the school as 
Demonstrators and Lecturers, have been 
appointed Asistant Professors to the chair 
of Operative Dentistry and Bacteriology. 
These are Dr. E. S. Willard, in charge of 
Bacteriology ; Dr. F. W. Gethro, in charge 
of Dental Anatomy and Operative Tech- 
nics ; and Dr. A. D. Black, in charge of the 
Junior work in Operative Dentistry. 

The annual session has been lengthened 
to include thirty-two weeks e.xclusive of 
holidays, teaching six days per week, mak- 
ing the actual work of instruction equal to 
the full nine-months' academic course. The 
educational requirements for registration 
have also been advanced to graduation 
from a recognized high school or an equiv- 
alent preliminary education. 

The school continues in a prosperous 
condition. 



CHAPTER XIII 



UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF PHARMACY 

(By PBOF. OSCAK OLDBERO, Pharm. D.,Dean) 



Founding of the School of Pharmacy in 
Connection with Northwestern Universi- 
ty — Promoters of the Movement — School 
Opened in 1886 — Its Extensive Equip- 
ment — Instruction Rooms and Labora- 
tories — Number of Students in Eighteen 
Years — They are Drazcn from Practically 
All the States and Territories — Present 
Location of the Institution — Library and 
Value of Equipment — Annual Expendi- 
tures — Faculty of 1905. 

The Executive Committee of the Board 
of Trustees of Northwestern University, 
upon the motion of Dr. David R. Dyche. at 
its regular meeting April 10, 1886, adopted 
a resolution favoring the establishment of a 
School of Pharmacy and invited the co-op- 
eration of friends of sound pharmaceutical 
education in the project. Associated with 
Dr. Dyche in this movement were Messrs. 
Ezekiel H. Sargent, Theodore H. Patterson, 
Wilhelm Bodemann, Henry S. Maynard, 
Oscar Oldberg and John H. Long. The or- 
ganization of the school was completed and 
the addition of this department of the Uni- 
versity was formally approved by vote of 
the Board of Trustees in June. The new 
school was opened to students on the first 
day of October, i886, with a more extensive 
equipment than that of any other American 
pharmaceutical school existing at that time. 
In addition to its other instruction rooms 



the School of Pharmacy of Northwestern 
University provided four laboratories. One 
of these — and the first of its kind in the 
history of pharmaceutical education — was 
a special laboratory for systematic practical 
training in the work of preparing and dis- 
pensing medicines in accordance with phy- 
sicians' prescriptions. This "dispensing 
laboratory"' proved to be one of the most 
important and useful features of the new in- 
stitution. The other laboratories were a 
chemical, a microscopical, and a manufac- 
turing laboratory. 

During the first eighteen years of its ca- 
reer, from 1886 to 1904, the School of Phar- 
macy of Northwestern University has had 
an annual attendance averaging 215 stu- 
dents. These students have come from all 
the States and Territories of the United 
States except Nevada and Delaware. De- 
grees have been conferred by this school 
upon 1,516 graduates up to the end of the 
academic year 1903-1904. The number of 
students in attendance in 1903- 1904 was 
284. 

The School of Pharmacy is now housed 
in Northwestern University Building, cor- 
ner of Lake and Dearborn streets, Chicago, 
where it occupies all of the fourth and part 
of the fifth floor, the twenty-six rooms used 
exclusively by this school having a total 
floor space of about 27,000 square feet. It 
has now seven laboratories, with an aggre- 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



gate floor space of 10,780 square feet and 
provided with over 300 individual work 
tables, enabling that number of students to 
be concurrently at work. There are two lec- 
ture rooms, one capable of seating 184 pu- 
pils and the other 96. 

The library of this school contains about 
1.000 bound volumes, of an estimated value 
of not less than $3,400 (March, 1905). The 
museum contains over 2,000 selected speci- 
mens of drugs, pharmaceutical and chemical 
products, industrial materials, etc. 

The value of the furniture, fixtures, ap- 
paratus, instruments, books, museum speci- 
mens and other educational equipment and 
materials is not less than $26,500 ( Alarch, 
1905)- 

The annual expenditures, including sal- 
aries, furniture, apparatus, materials and 
other necessary current school expenses, 
amount to about $29,000. It should be re- 
membered that this sum does not include 
any rent. 

The teaching staff of the School of Phar- 
macy in 1905 embraced the following 
names : 

Thomas Franklin Holgate. Ph. D.. -Acting President of 
the University. 

Oscar Oldberg. Pharm. D.. Dean. Professor of Phar- 
macy and Director of the Pharmaceutical Laboratories. 

William Edward Quine, M. D., Emeritus Professor 
Physiology. Therapeutics and To.iicology. 

Harry Mann Gordin. Ph. D., (University of Berne. 
Switzerland). Professor of Organic Chemistry and Di- 
rector of the Organic Chemical Laboratory. 



Theodore Whittelsey, Ph. D. (University of Goettingen, 
Germany), Professor of Inorganic and Analytical Chem- 
istry, and Director of the Inorganic Chemical Labora- 

Raymond H. Pond, Ph. D. (University of Michigan), 
Professor of Botany, Microscopy, Pharmacognosy and 
Bacteriology, and Director of the Microscopical and 
Bacteriological Laboratories. 

Maurice .\shbel Miner, Pharm. M. (University of Mich- 
igan), Assistant Professor of Pharmacy, in charge of the 
Manufacturing Laboratory. Curator. 

Charles Waggener Paterson, Sc. B., Ph. C. (North- 
western University), Assistant Professor of Organic Ana- 
lytical Pharmaceutical Chemistry, in charge of the Or- 
ganic Chemical Laboratory. Registrar. 

Harry Kahn, Pharm. M. (University of Michigan). 
M. D. (Northwestern), Assistant Professor of Phys- 
iology and Materia Medica. 

David Charles Eccles. Sc. B., A. M. (Columbia Uni- 
versity), Instructor in Pharmacy, in Charge of the Dis- 
pensing Laboratory. Secretary of the Faculty. 

Gustave E. F. Lundell, Sc. B.' (Cornell University), In- 
structor in the Inorganic Chemical Laboratories. 

Gerhard H. Jensen, Sc. B. (Cornell University), In- 
structor in Botany and Pharmacognosy. 

John Ferd. Fischnar, Ph. C. (Northwestern), Assistant 
in the Pharmaceutical Laboratory. 

William Henry Harrison. Ph. C. (Northwestern), As- 
sistant in the Chemical Laboratories. 

Ernest Woollett, College Clerk, Instn 
keeping and Business Methods. 

Lee R. Girton. Ph. G.. Lecture Ass 



Book- 



All these teachers devote their time to 
the School of Pharmacy exclusively, with 
the exception of the Professor of Physiolo- 
gy and Materia Medica, who has no labora- 
tory courses under his charge. 

The professors are provided with private 
ofHces and laboratories for the effective per- 
formance of their duties under the most 
favorable conditions and for research work. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



THE WOMAX'S MEDICAL SCHOOL 

(By ELIZA H. ROOT, M. D.) 



Demand for Higher Education for Women 
— First Steps in Founding IVoman's Med- 
ical College — Promoters of Movement in 
Chicago — "IVoman's Hospital Medical 
College" Founded in 1870 — First Faculty 
— Story of "The Little Barn" — Career of 
Dr. Mary H. Thompson, Drs. Byford, 
Dyas and Others — Some Notable Gradu- 
ates — A Period of Struggle — Institution 
Reorganized in i8jj as Woman's Medical 
College — President Byford Dies in i8po 
— Institution Affiliated with Northivest- 
ern University — Is Discontinued in 1002 
— Graduates in Foreign Missionary and 
Other Fields — Alumnae Organization. 

About the middle of the nineteenth cen- 
tury there was a great awakening along 
lines of intellectual freedom. It spread like 
a tidal wave over the country, and it trav- 
eled into the frontier West in "the prairie 
schooner." The slave question became a 
burning one, and one that required courage 
to attack openly. Women caught the spirit 
of the times and began to enter their own 
claims for greater freedom. Equal suf- 
frage came to the front, enlistin,? men as its 
champions, and brought women before the 
public with a most unprecedented frequency 
and prominence. The question of a more 
liberal education for women became a ques- 
tion of fervent heat, permeating every walk 
of life. Women began to teach in our pub- 



lic schools and to plead for better prepara- 
tion for their work. 

No question, perhaps, has enlisted the 
championship of noble, free-minded men 
and women more than did the question of 
admitting women to our colleges and uni- 
versities on the same terms as men. Among 
the innovations of that time was the urgent 
appeal made to the medical colleges by wo- 
men seeking a medical training. There 
was no use in trying to evade the question : 
it was up and sides must be taken, and were 
taken. Men of noble stamp took the affirma- 
tive and advocated the right of women to a 
medical education. Men of equally noble 
stamp, but less liberal in their views, took 
the negative, and would lock all doors of 
learning against the importuning woman. 
In the eastern part of our country medical 
schools were approached, but no entrance 
was obtained until Dr. Elizabeth Black- 
well succeeded in gaining entrance to the 
Geneva Medical School in New York, from 
which she graduated in 1849. In Philadel- 
phia the movement met with an opposition 
that led to the founding, in 1850, of the 
Woman's Medical College of Pennsylva- 
nia, which is still a prosperous school of 
medicine. In the Middle West women were 
repeatedly asking for admission to the Med- 
ical Colleges of Chicago and elsewhere. 

In 1852 Emily Blackwell attended a 
course of lectures in Rush Medical College. 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



She was denied admission the second year 
and went to Cleveland, Ohio. 

There are very incomplete records of this 
case, but referring to this period of inqu'ry 
that led to the founding of the Alcdical Col- 
lege for Women in Chicago, the late Pro- 
fessor Charles Warrington Earle says: 
"This much, however, is known ; the Illinois 
Medical Society, saturated with the then 
prevailing prejudices against female medi- 
cal education, censured the college for ad- 
mitting women to its institution." 

Six or eight years after this Dr. Mary H. 
Thompson came to Chicago and entered 
upon practice. The city had poor hospital 
facilities at this time, and when the Civil 
War broke out between the North and the 
South, many women — soldiers' wives — were 
left with children helpless and nearly desti- 
tute. To meet the demands for medical care 
made by these women and their children 
and the poor generally, the Chicago Hospi- 
tal for Women and Children was founded 
in 1865. This hospital, founded on the basis 
of a charitable institution, soon won a cli- 
entele among the poor, its dispensary and 
wards being well patronized. The clinical 
advantages afforded by the hospital conse- 
quently provided the nearest approach to 
an institution for medical instruction that 
was open to women in the West seeking a 
medical education. Applications were made 
to the hospital for clinical instruction ; but 
while the hospital could furnish excellent 
clinical advantages, there was no place pro- 
vided for giving didactic instruction, and no 
properly organized body to bestow a medi- 
cal diploma when the course was finished. 

Dr. Mary H. Thompson, who took an 
active part in founding the hospital, asked 
at two different times for the admission of 
women into Rush Medical College and was 
refused. In the meantime she became ac- 
quainted with Dr. William Heath Byford, 
of the Chicago ^Medical College, which was 



then, as now, the Medical Department of 
the Northwestern University. Dr. Byford 
espoused the cause of the women who were 
asking for admission to medical lectures. 
He laid the matter before his Faculty, giv- 
ing the measure his hearty support. This 
college consented to admit women, but only 
four entered. The remainder of the appli- 
cants, pending the discussion and aware of 
the uncertainty of what the decision might 
be, had gone East to the Woman's Medical 
College in Philadelphia, to New York, or 
had given up the idea of studying medicine. 
The four women who entered the Chicago 
Medical College— one of the number being 
Dr. Thompson herself — attended lectures in 
that institution for one year. Dr. Thomp- 
son, already a graduate in medicine, re- 
ceived the diploma of the institution, which 
was granted, after some hesitancy and warm 
discussion upon the propriety of granting 
the degree of Doctor of Medicine to a wo- 
man. Dr. Thompson was thus the first and 
only woman, for years, to hold a diploma of 
the Northwestern University Medical Col- 
lege of Chicago. 

The following year "mixed classes" were 
found to be objectionable, and women were 
refused further admission. This refusal, to- 
gether with the increasing number of appli- 
cations, determined the founding of the 
Woman's Hospital Medical College in 1870. 

Once decided upon, the despatch with 
which this college started, notwithstanding 
the lack of money for the enterprise, is re- 
markable, and is characteristic of the ener- 
gy and push that existed among the citizens 
of a young and growing city. 

Dr. Byford was the instigator, by sugges- 
tion and generous aid, of the establishment 
of the new college. He was, in fact, its 
founder. 

"The first meeting," according to the rec- 
ords, "was held at Dr. Byford's office, at 
No. 60 State Street, Chicago, August 2, 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



1870." This meeting was held "for the pur- 
pose of considering the expediency of the 
organization of a Woman's Medical College 
in Chicago." There were eight physicians 
present at that first meeting: Drs. William 
H. Byford, Mary H. Thompson, Eugene 
Marguerat, R. G. Bogue, Norman Bridge, 
Charles Warrington Earle, Addison H. Fos- 
ter and T. D. Fitch. A Faculty was formed, 
in part, that night, and was composed of 
those present at the meeting, with Dr. Wil- 
liam Godfrey Dyas added to the list. Of 
this original number, only three are now liv- 
ing (March, 1905), Drs. Marguerat and 
Foster, both now weighted with years, and 
men who have followed an active pioneer 
practice that has been crowned with achieve- 
ments that have contributed to the making 
of modern methods in medical education 
and practice possible, and Dr. Norm3n 
Bridge, now of Pasadena, Cal., who has 
won an honorable and honored place in 
the medical profession and who is widely 
known as an authority on tuberculosis and 
climatology. 

At this same meeting — a most important 
one in its relation to the medical training 
of women in the West — committees were 
appointed for the purpose of procuring a 
place m which college work could be com- 
menced. 

A little band of nine physicians, without 
means and without professional sympathy 
or approval, was now a college without a 
home. But this difficulty was soon over- 
come. By October i, 1870, the faculty was 
completed and a home secured. 

The records are very meager in regard to 
this important event. But it is evident that 
some ceremony was observed, for Dr. By- 
ford was chosen on September 12, 1870, 
"for the opening address to be given in a 
public hall." At this same meeting a "time 
table" was adopted, and a committee on an- 
nouncement was appointed. 



The college was founded under the name 
of "The Woman's Hospital Medical Col- 
lege of Chicago," with Dr. Byford as its 
President. Drs. Byford, Thompson and 
Dyas (with his noble and high-minded 
wife, Miranda B. Sherwood Dyas) were 
active promoters of the new college and 
the hospital ; in fact, the hospital was more 
than once saved from rum by the energy, 
influence and faith in the cause by Mrs. 
Dyas. 

In an address delivered February 2.^, 
1879, Dr. Dyas said of the school's origm: 
"Whatever merit attaches to the project — 
whether in its inception, in its further- 
ance, or in its subsequent progress — can be 
claimed by no one to the same extent as by 
Professor Byford." Just and true as this 
tribute is, to one who gave so much of his 
life to this institution, it must not be for- 
gotten that Dr. Dyas himself, and his wife, 
took no small part in promoting the college, 
especially in its early history and its strug- 
gles against adversity, prejudice and hre. 

The first regular course of lectures began 
with seventeen students, and was given in 
the building occupied by the hospital re- 
ferred to above, then situated at 402 North 
Clark Street, Chicago. The session was a 
greater success than the most sanguine 
friends of the movement had dared to hope. 
The year closed with the first graduating 
exercises (1871). A class of three were 
given diplomas by the college. All three of 
these ladies had had a first year's course in 
some other college — two of the number — 
Mrs. Kent and Julia Cole-Blackman — hav- 
ing taken theirs in the Chicago Medical Col- 
lege the year before. 

A spring course, from April i to July 
I. 1 87 1, was held, and was attended by fif- 
teen students. The second session began 
October 3, 1871, in rooms fitted up at Nos. 
I and 3 North Clark Street, near the bridge, 
with the following named Faculty, which 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



was practically the same as that for the first 
year: William H. Byford, M. D., Presi- 
dent of the Faculty and Professor of Clin- 
ical Surgery of Women ; William G. Dyas, 
M. D., F. R. C. S. I., Professor of Theory 
and Practice of Medicine; A. Fisher, M. D., 
Professor Emeritus of Surgery ; R. G. 
Bogue, M. D., Treasurer of the Faculty and 
Professor of Surgery; T. D. Fitch, M. D., 
Secretary of the Faculty and Professor of 
Diseases of Women ; Eugent Marguerat, 
M. D., Professor of Obstetrics ; Charles G. 
Smith. M. D., Professor of Diseases of 
Children ; Mary H. Thompson, M. D., Pro- 
fessor of Hygiene and Clinical Obstetrics 
and Diseases of Women ; Samuel C. Blake, 
M. D., Professor of Diseases of the Mind 
and Nervous System; G. C. Paoli, M. D., 
Professor of Materia Medica and Thera- 
peutics : S. A. McWilliams, M. D., Profes- 
sor of Anatomy ; Charles W. Earle, M. D., 
Professor of Physiology; Norman Bridge, 
M. D., Professor of Pathology; A. H. Fos- 
ter, M. D., Professor of Surgical Anatomy 
and Operations in Surgery; M. Delafon- 
taine. Ph. D., Professor of Chemistry ; 
Samuel Cole, M. D., Professor of Ophthal- 
mology and Otology ; P. S. MacDonald, M. 
D.. Demonstrator of Anatomy. Six of this 
Faculty were clinical instructors at the Chi- 
cago Hospital for Women and Children 
and at the Cook County Hospital. The 
Board of Trustees was chosen fiom the 
Faculty and from the Hospital Board (see 
second annual announcement 1871-72), 
which united the two institutions, ostensibly 
in oneness of purpose, if not in harmony. 

The work of the young College was 
scarcely well begun when the Great Fire 
of October 9, 1871, swept away the college 
and hospital, with all their material belong- 
ings. The fire swept away the larger part 
of the city, including its entire business por- 
tion. Desolation and ruin were complete 
throughout the city. Although three- 



fourths of the Faculty had lost their homes, 
their offices and libraries, the members con- 
vened on the loth of October, amid the 
smoking ruins of a destroyed city, and de- 
cided that the College should be continued. 
The scattered students were notified and 
lectures were resumed on the West Side — ■ 
the only considerable portion of the city that 
had escaped the fire. A residence at .^41 
West Adams Street afforded shelter to the 
College, while the hospital was re-established 
at another residence, 600 West Adams 
Street, which is still standing. To this loca- 
tion the College was soon again moved. In 
1872 the College was moved again, this time 
to a home of its own, the first in its hither- 
to checkered existence. This home is known 
in the history of the institution as "The Lit- 
tle Barn." This barn was of mean propor- 
tions, situated in the rear of the lot occu- 
pied by the hospital — and on which the hos- 
pital now stands — on the corner of Adams 
and Paulina Streets. The barn, as it stood, 
was offered gratuitously by the hospital au- 
thorities to the Faculty for a college build- 
ing. Enough money was expended upon 
this shabby old barn, built of wood, to make 
a fairly comfortable and moderately con- 
venient Woman's Medical College. On the 
first floor was a small lecture room, which 
served as a library, faculty room and mu- 
seum. The second floor was used for prac- 
tical anatomy. 

There were five classes graduated from 
"the little barn," the members of which 
have attained to honor and able distinction 
in the medical profession. Among those 
most successful may be mentioned the fol- 
lowing : 

Dr. Julia Cole-Blackman, of Geneva, III, 
whose life has been devoted to matters per- 
taining to medicine, as the wife of one of 
the leading surgeons of Kane county. 111., 
and the only surviving member of her class. 
She was the first woman to become a mem- 




'AA^otC^ 




HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



123 



ber of the Fox River Valley Medical So- 
ciety, and has been an active and honored 
member for years. 

Dr. Rosa Engert. of the class of 1873 
(there was no class graduated in 1872), 
was of German birth and practiced medicine 
in Chicago for many years, when she re- 
tired to private life. She came to Chicago 
after receiving a training in a German 
school of midwifery. She was not satisfied 
with the limits to which this training con- 
fined her. so she entered the College and 
became one of its honored graduates. She 
was at one time attending surgeon at the 
Chicago Hospital for Women and Children, 
and connected with the College as instructor. 
She also established the Engert Prize for 
the best work with the microscope and 
maintained it for several years. Dr. Mar- 
garet E. Holland, of the same class, served 
the Chicago Hospital for Women and Chil- 
dren, as interne, for one year after gradua- 
tion, and then went to Houston, Texas, 
where she still is in practice. She has done 
praiseworthy pioneer work for the medical 
woman, winning the respect and confidence 
of the medical profession of a conservative 
Southern city and a practice that has 
brought her a fitting competency. She has 
served in various positions in which her 
work has promoted the public health and 
welfare. 

Of the class of 1874 Dr. Lucinda Corr, of 
Carlinville, 111., has won distinction as a 
physician of skill and as an active philan- 
thropist. She has always been an active 
member of the Illinois State Medical So- 
ciety, taking active part in its proceedings, 
and has won an honorable place in the 
ranks of the profession in Illinois, where 
she stood shoulder to shoulder with her 
husband, a broad-minded man of ability 
and endowed with an enterprising public 
spirit. Dr. Lettie Mason Quine, of the same 
class, was the first medical missionary sent 



to China from this College and the third 
medical woman sent to China by the Wo- 
man's Foreign Missionary Society of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. After her re- 
turn to America she became the wife of Dr. 
William E. Quine, of Chicago, and contin- 
ued active in missionary society work and 
never lost her interest in the medical mis- 
sionary. She died an honored and valuable 
member of the Northwest Branch of the M. 
E. Woman's Foreign Mission Board. 

Last, but not least of this class, may be 
mentioned Dr. Sarah Hackett Stevenson, 
who is widely known and who has won 
place and position in college, hospital and 
society excelled by none and equaled by few. 
After graduation in medicine with honors, 
she was appointed to the chair of Physiolo- 
gy in her Alma Mater, which slie filled un- 
til 1 88 1, when she resigned this chair to 
take that of Obstetrics, which she filled un- 
til 1894, when she resigned from the Fac- 
ulty. While a member of the Faculty she 
was, for a time, its Secretary. Fler vote 
on questions of standards is found record- 
ed in favor of the highest, even when ex- 
pediency demanded a medium policy. She 
founded the Chicago Maternity Hospital, 
an unique institution, in that it has con- 
nected with, it a training school for nursery 
maids. She was the first woman to secure 
membership in the /Vmerican Medical Asso- 
ciation. 

Of the class of 1875 Dr. Edith A. Root, 
of Denver, Colo., may be mentioned as the 
most prominent figure. She has practiced in 
Denver, where she first located over thirty 
years ago, and has done her share of pio- 
neer work in winning confidence for the 
medical woman. Of the class of 1876 Drs. 
Margaret Caldwell of Waukesha, \\' is., and 
Harriet E. Garrison of Dixon, 111., are 
both conspicuous examples of successful 
achievements attained by medical women. 
Leaving the alumnse of "the little barn" 



124 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



and returning to the history of the College 
proper, we approach a new epoch in the 
history of the institution. As early as 1873 
there began a growing dissatisfaction 
among students and Faculty regarding "the 
little barn" as a properly equipped college 
building. Many means of escape from the 
increasing dilemma were thought of, chief 
among which was a new building. Union 
with the Northwestern University was also 
discussed, and a committee was appointed 
as early as 1875 to confer with the Universi- 
ty regarding the matter. Nothing more than 
a report "of progress" ever came of this 
committee's eflforts. There was no money 
for University affiliation nor for the new 
building; still the idea of a new college 
building was not lost sight of by the more 
interested and progressive members of the 
Faculty who were anxious to put the Col- 
lege upon a more substantial footing. Dur- 
ing this same year several resignations from 
the Faculty took place; the office of Corre- 
sponding Secretary was created and Dr. 
Mary H. Thompson was elected to fill the 
position ; some amendments to the constitu- 
tion and by-laws were enacted for the pur- 
pose of improving the existing standard for 
entrance upon the study of medicine and 
for graduation, and Dr. Sarah Hackett 
Stevenson was appointed to the chair of 
Physiology. The new building remained a 
matter of prime importance in the minds of 
those who strongly favored the movement, 
while others as strongly opposed it, believ- 
ing it to be "an unwarranted venture." The 
prospects for further progress were cer- 
tainly not very encouraging ; finances were 
low, and some of the most desirable mem- 
bers of the Faculty were threatening to re- 
sign if the building was undertaken. As an 
indication of the financial standing we find 
these figures for the year 1874: "Receipts, 
$758; expenditures, $958, with but few as- 
sets and a debt on the present building." 



Notwithstanding these gloomy and discour- 
aging conditions, there were those on the 
Faculty who firmly believed that the means 
for a new building were within reach, if a 
proper plan could be agreed upon. While 
desirable progress must remain at a stand- 
still, for awhile at least, the college course 
must be provided for. Vacancies, caused 
by resignations, were filled ; the course 
(1874) was made to consist of twenty-one 
weeks ; holiday vacations were provided 
for and the summer courses were continued. 

During this period of the College history, 
Dr. William Godfrey Dyas was President 
of the Faculty ; he was elected in April, 
1873, and served until the year 1877, Dr. 
Byford meanwhile remaining President of 
the Board of Trustees and on the list of 
teachers. In 1876 finances were a little 
easier. The total receipts for that year 
were $1,105; expenditures, $893.93, with 
assets $533.57; liabilities, $555.50. This 
year the munificent sum of $25 was appro- 
priated for the Department of Chemistry, 
to which Dr. Plymon S. Hayes had been 
appointed to succeed Dr. Delafontauie, re- 
signed. The facilities for teaching were 
seriously affected by the financial stringen- 
cy, and students naturally complained. 
"The little barn" was uncomfortably small 
and wholly inadequate for proper class 
work. 

In May, 1876, a committee was appointed 
on a new building, progress was slow and 
conditions began to be desperate. At a 
meeting held early in 1877, we find it re- 
corded that, "Professor Earle delivered the 
same old speech on a New College." This 
year proved a revolutionary year in the 
history of the College. In February and 
March of this year of 1877, it became im- 
perative that something be done. The num- 
ber of students was falling off ; the restrain- 
ing conservatism of a large number of the 
Faculty, together with the half-hearted in- 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



I2S 



terest they took in the worK of "teaching 
women," blocked all progress. A commit- 
tee was appointed, composed of Professors 
Byford, Dyas and Bartlett, to investigate 
the institution in all its bearings upon 
medical instruction. This committee re- 
ported that, for the future life and progress 
of the school, it was indispensable to secure 
a better building and apparatus for teach- 
ing purposes, and that the poor attendance 
and half-hearted interest on the part of 
the Faculty was working great harm to 
the institution. To build or rent a building 
was now the question. The latter would 
involve a large expenditure of money and 
add little or nothing to the property hold- 
ings of the College. This step was advo- 
cated by some and opposed by others. The 
new building idea was strongly held to by 
a few devoted and progressive members of 
the Faculty, and it was strongly opposed 
by those who held illiberal and pessimistic 
views on the cause they had practically 
espoused. It was impossible to arrive at 
any agreement. Affiliation with the North- 
western University was again considered, 
but there were financial reasons on both 
sides that made affiliation impracticable. 

At a meeting held March 27, 1877, Dr. 
Byford spoke warmly of the lack of ap- 
paratus, and means of illustrating lectures, 
the tardiness and want of interest shown 
by the Faculty, and the extreme poverty 
of the College. Something must be done 
or close the College. At this meeting a 
committee of three was appointed with Dr. 
William H. Byford, Chairman, for the 
purpose of suggesting a name for a new 
College, to be reorganized "on some basis 
which would insure better facilities for 
teaching and a better place to teach in." 
A motion prevailed at this meeting that 
every member of the Faculty, except the 
committee on reorganization, resign. Res- 
ignations were handed in and Dr. Dyas 



vacated the chair, which was now occupied 
by the Chairman of the Reorganization 
Committee. 

The Faculty as reorganized consisted of 
William Heath Byford, A. M., M. D., Pres- 
ident and Professor of Obstetrics ; T. Davis 
Fitch, M. D., Secretary of the Faculty and 
Professor of Gynecology ; Charles War- 
rington Earle, A. M., M. D., Treasurer 
and Professor of Diseases of Children; 
Isaac Newton Danforth, A. M., M. D., 
Professor of Pathology; John E. Owens, 
M. D., Professor of Surgery; Henry M. 
Lyman, A. M., M. D., Professor of Theory 
and Practice of Medicine; Daniel Roberts 
Brewer, A. M., M. D., Professor of Ma- 
teria Medica, Therapeutics and Nervous 
Diseases ; Sarah Hackett Stevenson, M. D., 
Corresponding Secretary and Professor of 
Physiology; David Wilson Graham, A. M., 
M. D., Professor of Anatomy; Plymon S. 
Hays, M. D., Professor of Chemistry. Dr. 
Mary H. Thompson was invited to the chair 
of Clinical Medicine, but refused to accept. 
This was certainly a missed opportunity, 
for the doctor had absolute control of the 
clinical material at the Chicago Hospital for 
women and children, the one institution 
where women could or should have been 
able to receive bedside instruction — a priv- 
ilege decidedly limited in the men's colleges 
at that time. The new Faculty organized, 
it now became necessary to form a plan 
that would secure the means needed for 
building. 

This new organization began business 
with the sum of ten dollars in its treasury. 
Nothing daunted, it organized a stock com- 
pany, in June, 1877. under the name of the 
Woman's Medical College of Chicago, sev- 
ering all organized connection with the Chi- 
cago Hospital for Women and Children. 
A fair-sized modern residence, at ^^y and 
339 South Lincoln Street, was bought and 
remodeled into a very complete College 



126 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



building. This building contained two 
amphitheaters, a comfortable anatomical 
laboratory, and a fairly well equipped chem- 
ical laboratory. It was a vast improvement 
on the previous accommodations. Indeed, 
it placed the Woman's Medical College of 
Chicago among the recognized Colleges 
of Medicine. Classes doubled in size. The 
increase in requirements and demands for 
better opportunities soon made it necessary 
to erect a new and larger building, which 
was completed in 1890. The old building 
was remodeled for laboratory and dispen- 
sary purposes, and was connected directly 
with the new one. 

The new building had two amphitheaters 
with a seating capacity each of one hundred 
and fifty, new laboratories and other ad- 
ditional conveniences. From a poor, pen- 
niless and despised institution, the Woman's 
Medical College had grown to a well 
equipped institution with valuable property 
holdings, and its earnings allowed all run- 
ning expenses and a fair dividend rate on 
the money invested. The year that marked 
the completion of the second and entirely 
new building also marks the death of Dr. 
Bvford, which was a great shock to the 
College and to the profession at large. He 
died on May 21, 1890, after his life-work 
and hope had been realized. A noble, 
strong and practical friend had been called 
home, but another who had been equally 
devoted, and who had worked hard for 
the accomplishment of these results, re- 
mained to us, namely, Charles Warrington 
Earle, who was elected President by the 
Faculty, to succeed his life-long friend and 
co-worker. 

With the change that had taken place 
in public sentiment concerning the admis- 
sion of women to higher educational insti- 
tutions, and the high standing which the 
College itself had attained, it now seemed 
practicable, on the part of the Northwest- 



ern University and on the part of the Col- 
lege, that the two institutions should be- 
come allied. This question of alliance 
had been considered before, but was never 
taken up with the same seriousness of pur- 
pose as now. In 1892, the College was 
made a department of the University, and 
assumed the name "Northwestern Univer- 
sity Woman's Medical School." The for- 
mer graduates of the College, "by the ac- 
tion of the Universities Authorities, were 
made Alumnre of the University." The 
University made additions to the College 
building, at considerable expense, which 
were equipped as a chemical laboratory and 
commodious and convenient dispensary 
rooms. 

The school continued prosperous for a 
few years, when the number of students 
began to fall off in consequence of co-edu- 
cation being adopted in many of the lead- 
ing medical colleges of the country. As 
a financial investment it began to fall be- 
hind — there being a small deficit each year 
— and the University sold the property and 
closed the school in June, 1902. 

Dr. Byford served the College, except 
for an interval of about four years, from 
its organization in 1870 until his death in 
1890. He was succeeded by Dr. Charles 
Warrington Earle, first as President of the 
Faculty and later as Dean, serving until his 
death in November, 1894. Dr. I. N. Dan- 
forth was then appointed Dean by the Uni- 
versity authorities, and continued in office 
until 1899, when he resigned and was suc- 
ceeded by Dr. Marie J. Mergler, a graduate 
of the class of '79, who held the office until 
her death in May, 1901. Dr. Eliza H. Root, 
also a graduate of the school (class 1882), 
was appointed Dean by the University 
Trustees, and went out of office with the 
closing of the school. Dr. John Ridlon 
succeeded Dr. Mergler as Secretary of the 
Faculty and its Executive Committee, in 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



127 



1899, and continued in office until the school 
was closed. 

The school was built up, maintained and 
its welfare promoted at the expense of 
much energy, faithfulness and self-sacrifice 
on the part of its most interested friends. 
For many years it was necessary for the 
Faculty to assume large financial respon- 
sibility, which was, in fact, assumed chief- 
ly by Drs. Byford and Earle. The work 
accomplished by the school has not been 
a small or an insignificant work. 

Early in its history, missionary societies 
began to inquire for terms for the education 
of their students designed for the medical 
mission field in foreign countries. Fees 
were reduced one-half for these students 
when the institution needed money, and each 
member of the Faculty was doing the work 
assigned him or her without pay or price. 
The training which these students received 
made it a desirable and profitable measure 
for the missionary societies to establish 
scholarships for the education of their med- 
ical missionaries. 

In 1884 a scholarship — "The Grace 
Chandler Scholarship" — was created by 
Mrs. Chandler, of Detroit, Michigan, for 
the Woman's Presbyterian Board of Mis- 
sions of the Northwest. This scholarship 
was secured through the influence of Dr. 
Sarah Cummings-Porter, a graduate of the 
School and. for many years, medical mis- 
sionary in Japan, and Dr. D. W. Graham, 
a loyal friend of the institution from the 
time that he came onto the Faculty in 1877. 
Other scholarships were founded from time 
to time as follows : 

Xos. 2-3. "The Emily W. N. Scofield 
Scholarship." by Mrs. Scofield, of Elgin, 
111., for the Northwest Branch of the Wo- 
man's Foreign Missionary Society of the 
M. E. Church. 

No. 4. "The Woman's Board of Mis- 
sions of the Interior" (of the Congrega- 
tional church). 



No. 5. "The Woman's Presbyterian 
Board of Missions of the Southwest." 

No. 6. "The Elizabeth Skelton-Danforth 
Memorial Scholarship." 

This scholarship was founded by Pro- 
fessor I. N. Danforth, in memory of his late 
wife, and in recognition of her long and 
active interest in all that related to the edu- 
cation of women. 

The "Lucy S. Ingals Prize Scholarship" 
was founded by Professor E. Fletcher In- 
gals, long a member of the Faculty, and 
who served the institution as Treasurer 
for several years. This scholarship was 
founded for the purpose of encouraging or- 
iginal work in Medical Science and to 
promote higher medical education. It was 
conferred as a prize for excellent original 
work done in some branch pertaining to 
the Science of Medicine. 

Five of these scholarships were purely 
missionary, while another was at the dis- 
posal of other students when a missionary 
student was not offered as a beneficiary. 
Consequently, the Alumnae of this school 
have furnished some fifty women medi- 
cal missionaries who are working, or who 
have worked, in India, China, Japan, Ko- 
rea, Persia, Africa, Mexico and Alaska. 
China alone has been supplied with twenty- 
two women medical missionaries from this 
school. Dr. Lettie Mason-Quine, previous- 
ly mentioned, was the first one sent out 
from this school ; Dr. Anna D. Gloss, of 
Pekin, China, class of 1885, has been in 
the mission field since her graduation, and 
is still there doing heavy medical work. 
Dr. Gloss was sent out to aid Dr. Estelle 
Akers-Perkins, of the class of 1881, who 
is still in Pekin. Boxer uprisings, plague 
or famine have in no way deterred these 
women from the work in which they have 
engaged heart and soul. Of the number 
sent out, so far as we know to date, only 
two have died in the field: Dr. Anna Lar- 
son, in China, and Dr. Yasu Hishekawa, 



[28 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



in Japan. The latter was a native Japanese 
woman who was sent to America by one 
of the school's alumnae, a medical mission- 
ary to Japan, for the purpose of receiving 
a medical education in this school. Two 
have died since their return home. These 
medical missionaries are all in charge of 
hospitals where they practice general sur- 
gery and medicine and are training na- 
tive women as "helpers" in their work, 
caring for the sick and afflicted natives. 

Drs. Ellen M. Lyons, in Foochow, China, 
and Izilla Ernsberger, in India, are ex- 
amples of the faithful and persevering 
work that is being carried on by medical 
missionaries sent our from the Woman's 
Medical School by Methodist, Presbyterian, 
Baptist and other Foreign Missionary So- 
cieties. 

Turning from the foreign field to the 
home-workers, we find that a large per- 
centage of the graduates have filled, or 
are filling, hospital and college positions 
that involve responsibility and skill. 

The graduates of this school have been 
the first and only women, so far (1905), to 
secure, by competitive examinations, the po- 
sition of interne in Cook County Hospital. 
Dr. Mary E. Bates, now of Denver, Colo., 
was the first, receiving her appointment 
in 1881. She has been followed by seven 
others, all of whom filled their terms of 
service with credit. 

Positions in State and other institutions 
and in other States of the Union, have been 
won by these earnest women. Colorado, 
Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Texas, and Mas- 
sachusetts are among the States, outside 
of Illinois, where they are filling responsible 
positions in State institutions. One has 
been a member of the Colorado Legisla- 
ture and one was at one time Railroad Sur- 
geon for a road in the West, and the first 
woman to fill such a position. Others 
have been and are members of Boards of 



Health. The first woman to pass the exam- 
ination for the position of interne in the 
public institutions at Dunning, Cook Coun- 
ty, Illinois, was Marie J. Mergler, of the 
class of 1879. She passed with high credit, 
was recommended for appointment, but was 
never indorsed by the County Commission- 
ers because she was a woman. 

"We believe that nothing in the entire 
history of the College was so conducive to 
the high rank which it attained, as the 
persistent efforts on the part of the students 
to be given an opportunity to fairly test 
their ability by entering into the competitive 
examinations, and by insisting on equal 
privileges with the men in holding positions 
in their public institutions." (Dr. Mergler.) 

A total of 575 women were graduated 
from the school. The large majority have 
been and are successful members of the 
medical profession. Death has claimed a 
considerable number. Chief among these, 
we find the name of our lamented friend, 
Dr. Marie Josepha Mergler, who by means 
of persistent, hard and faithful work, won 
a place "among the foremost surgeons of 
the West, and who enjoyed the confidence 
of the medical profession. She stood high 
with her colleagues, and was an active 
member of local and State Medical Socie- 
ties. She began teaching in her Alma Ma- 
ter after she graduated, in the Spring 
Course. The following year she studied 
abroad, and further prepared herself to fill 
the chairs of Histology and Materia Medi- 
ca. Later she succeeded Dr. William H. 
Byford, at the time of his death in 1890, to 
the chair of Gynecology, which she held 
at the time of her death. She was Secretary 
of the Faculty from 1885 to 1899, when 
she was appointed Dean of the Northwest- 
ern University Woman's Medical School 
(her Alma Mater) by the Trustees of the 
University, on the nomination to the posi- 
tion by the Faculty of the School. She 



HISTORY OF EVAXSTON 



[29 



won a lucrative practice and left at her 
death a competent estate. Slie was prompt 
and faithful to duty and never betrayed a 
trust or confidence. During her lifetime 
she held several important hospital posi- 
tions, retaining them until her death. 

The writer, Eliza H. Root, matriculated 
in 1879, graduated in 1882, doing her first 
teaching in the school in the Spring Course 
of the same year. From the day of matric- 
ulation to the closing of the school, her 
connection with it was never severed. She 
served her Alma Mater as Assistant, Pro- 
fessor (State Medicine and Medical Juris- 
prudence, later on Obstetrics and Clinical 
Obstetrics) and as Dean. 



There is an organization of the Alumnae 
known as the Alumnae of the Woman's 
Medical School (nee College). This 
Association placed a portrait bust of 
Dr. Byford in the College building, 
founded a Charles W. Earle Memorial Li- 
brary that had accumulated over 600 vol- 
umes at the time of the school's closing. 
In 1896 it issued a history of the "Alumnae 
of the Woman's Medical College of Chi- 
cago — 1870 to 1896." The organization 
still exists and is the only organized body 
representing what was once one of the lead- 
ing and prosperous institutions of the City 
of Chicago and the Middle West. 



CHAPTER XV. 



UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MUSIC 

(By PROF. P. C. LUTKIN, Mus. D.) 



Sphere of Music in Higher Institutions- 
Its Influence on Character and as the 
Hand-Maid of Religion — Higher Aspects 
of the Art — Its Grozvth in the Universi- 
ties — History of its Connection zuith Ez'- 
anston Educational Institutions — North- 
western Female College Merged into 
Evanston College for Ladies in 18/I — 
Tzijo Years Later the Latter becomes a 
Part of the N orthzvestern University — 
Struggles, Changes and Grozvth of Later 
Years — Some Notable Teachers — In- 
crease in Roll of Pupils — Need of Ampler 
Buildings — Music Festivals. 

Universities and colleges have been 
rather tardy in recognizing the proper 
sphere and scope of music in the economy 
of intellectual and psychical development. 
It has been looked upon as a graceful ac- 
complishment and a more or less fascinat- 
ing and attractive art, but its far-reaching 
influence on character. i.ts importance to 
many of the practical relations of life, its 
complexity as an art, its discipline as a 
study, its manifold demands upon the intel- 
lectual, physical and spiritual faculties, and 
its vital relation to the emotions, religious 
and otherwise, are all matters that have 
been but little appreciated or understood. 

That music has a definite influence in 
molding and developing character there can 
be no doubt. Beginning with the cradle. 



the mother's lullaby soothes the restless 
babe, and the songs of childhood have a 
direct bearing on the ethics of the young. 
In the school-room, music lessens the te- 
dium of study and can be made the vehicle 
for inculcating good morals and awaken- 
ing a love for the beautiful, both in verse 
and music. An appreciation of the emo- 
tional qualities of music tends to keep alive 
the gentler states of feeling, and the finer 
intuitions of youth, which are only too 
often blunted, if not entirely destroyed, by 
contact with the selfishness and sordidness 
of social and commercial amenities in later 
life. Song is the core and essence of col- 
lege spirit, and the only concrete and ade- 
quate expression of that spirit. It is the 
only means by which unity of sentiment or 
feeling can be jointly and satisfactorily 
manifested. It heightens our joys and 
pleasures, lessens our griefs and sorrows, 
increases our afifections and incites to wor- 
thy endeavor. 

But it is principally as the hand-maid 
of religion that music has its greatest value. 
From the street-corner rally of the Salva- 
tion Army to an oratorio performance in 
cathedral walls, music voices and intensi- 
fies every shade of religious emotion. Here 
again it forms the one medium of expres- 
sion in which rich and poor, saint and 
sinner, join in common utterance of praise 
or supplication. It is hard to conceive of 



132 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



the services of the church without the aid 
of music. It is equally indispensable at 
the revival meeting or the most elaborate 
ceremonial, at the wedding, or at the fun- 
eral service, for the joy of Christmas or 
Easter, or for the sorrow of penitential sea- 
sons. Sermons can be preached with migh- 
ty eloquence in the musical settings of the 
Crucifixion, the Nativity or the Resurrec- 
tion, but no spoken sermon can replace the 
hymns of the church. 

In its higher aspects as an art, music 
is a world of unceasing delight to the ini- 
tiated, a world devoid of cares and anxie- 
ties and free from evil associations or sug- 
gestions. Far beyond the power of words 
it depicts the finest gradations of feeling 
and the subtlest shades of expression. It 
has logic, proportion, order and symmetry, 
in the highest degree. To infinitely more 
rhythmic possibilities than exist in poetry, 
it adds the warm color of painting, the 
beauty of outline and dignity of sculpture, 
and the structural principles of architec- 
ture. No other study combines, to the 
same degree, the esthetic and the mechani- 
cal, the spiritual and the physical. The 
science of music is an extremely complex 
and intricate matter. It has to do with 
elements that are inexhaustible in their 
rhythmic, melodic and harmonic combina- 
tions, even when confined to a single instru- 
ment, such as the piano or organ. When 
they are applied to works for chorus and 
full orchestra, the element of tone color is 
added with its infinite possibilities, and the 
command of all this material only comes 
after years of study involving harmony, 
counterpoint, form and instrumentation. 
Even if these are mastered, they count for 
little without the saving grace of artistic 
intuition and a keen sense of esthetic 
values. 

In the study of music as an applied art, 
totally different factors come to light. Phys- 



ical dexterity is a prerequisite and, to this 
foundation, a long and arduous schooling 
is necessary before the demands of a mod- 
ern technique are approximated. This rigid 
disciplining of brains and fingers in mus- 
cular and nerve control, often means the 
deliberate sacrifice of much that is attractive 
in the social or intellectual life, and gives 
rise to perplexing problems in the process 
of elimination. Be this as it may, the fact 
remains that the study of music alone, in 
any wide sense, is a liberal education in it- 
self, calling upon a fine perception of math- 
ematical niceties, logical development, ar- 
tistic symmetry and emotional expression. 

The study of music, theoretically, is rap- 
idly finding its way into all of our leading 
universities. For a number of years, 
courses in harmony, counterpoint, fugue, 
musical form and musical history have ex- 
isted at Harvard in charge of Professor 
John Knowles Paine. The result has been 
that Boston comes nearer giving us a dis- 
tinctive school of American composition 
than any other city in the country. Yale 
followed the example of Harvard by install- 
ing Horatio W. Parker in a chair of music, 
a few years ago. Professor Parker is un- 
questionably the greatest American com- 
poser of large choral works with orchestral 
accompaniment. His oratorios are given 
at the prominent English musical festivals, 
where they are most highly esteemed and 
considered quite on a par with similar pro- 
ductions from any living composer. Not 
only is credit allowed at Yale for theoreti- 
cal studies as at Harvard, but also for pro- 
ficiency in performing ability as well. An- 
other gifted American composer, Edward 
A. MacDowell, was appointed to the re- 
cently endowed chair of Music at Colum- 
bia College. Professor MacDowell has 
written some important orchestral composi- 
tions, but his fame lies principally in his 
works for the piano. In this regard he is 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



133 



a conspicuous figure among modern com- 
posers. His works possess a rare and dis- 
tinct personality, and his workmanship is 
characterized by extreme finish and deh- 
cacy. 

This tendency to make room for our most 
gifted tone-poets in our leading universi- 
ties is most commendable and is full of 
promise for the future. It is only through 
freedom from the harassing cares of the 
ordinary professional connection that a man 
can give himself up to the creation of the 
larger and more pretentious works of art. 
A generously endowed chair, with a limited 
amount of routine duties, gives opportunity 
for the necessary abstraction and concentra- 
tion, and the university environment will 
be an additional incentive to scholarly work. 

Under its cultured Professor of Music, 
Hugh A. Clarke, the University of Pennsyl- 
vania has won an enviable reputation with 
its theoretical courses in the higher mathe- 
matics of music. Professor Clarke has per- 
fected a system of instruction by mail that 
has largely extended his sphere of influ- 
ence. Cornell and Princeton have not as 
yet made official recognition of music, but 
Syracuse University has a finely developed 
School of Fine Arts, which not only em- 
braces music, but painting, sculpture and 
architecture as well. It ranks next to the 
College of Liberal Arts in numbers and im- 
portance, and each department has its own 
faculty. 

The University of Michigan maintains 
a chair of theoretical music, ably filled by 
Professor Albert A. Stanley, who is also 
Director of an affiliated "University School 
of Music," which supplies excellent instruc- 
tion in all branches of music. Professor 
Stanley has evolved and developed a series 
of May Festivals, which are the event of the 
college year at Ann Arbor, and which bring 
the masterpieces of musical art before 
large and enthusiastic audiences. His ex- 



ample is followed on a smaller scale by a 
number of Western State Universities, 
where provision for the study of music is 
made, both theoretically and practically. 

A school that has had a notable influence 
for good is the Conservatory of Music at 
Oberlin, Ohio. It is the largest and most 
widely known of the departments of Ober- 
lin College. It is finely housed in a hun- 
dred-thousand-dollar building, the gift of 
an Oberlin graduate who has since come 
to fame and fortune. Its success and pros- 
perity are almost entirely due to the fore- 
sight, good judgment and abiding faith of 
its late director, Professor Fenelon B. Rice. 

These facts are very encouraging, and 
all this artistic activity must have a direct 
and important bearing on our national de- 
velopment. We sadly need the counter- 
balancing influence of art in these days of 
intellectual and commercial expansion. It 
is the best antidote for materialism, realism 
and anaichy. The appreciation of the beau- 
tiful !S not a question of birth, of wealth, 
of social position or even of intellect or edu- 
cation. It is the common ground on which 
all innately refined and sensitive souls meet 
in a brotherhood of mutual love and kindly 
feeling. 

The first definite record of musical in- 
struction in connection with Evanslon edu- 
cational institutions is found in the cata- 
logue of the Northwestern Female College 
in the year 1865. Instruction in music had 
doubtless been given previously to this date, 
and in all probability from the founding 
of the College in 1855 ; but printed informa- 
tion to that effect is missing. In 1865 Nich- 
olas Cawthorne is mentioned in the annual 
catalogue as teacher of the piano, organ and 
voice. He was organist of the First Pres- 
byterian church in Chicago. He had an 
assistant instructor. James A. Doane. The 
following quotation from the catalogue will 
give an idea of the advantages offered : 



134 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



"The course of study in the Department 
is intended to furnish a solid musical edu- 
cation, both in practice and theory. In- 
struction will be given in the following 
branches: System of Notation, Harmony, 
Composition with reference to Musical 
Forms, and Instrumentation, Practice in 
Chorus singing, Pianoforte and Organ. A 
complete course of study will extend 
through four years, a new class openmg 
each term. Diplomas certifying proficiency 
and qualifications as artists or teachers will 
be given to those finishing the entire course. 
Each student receives two hours' instruction 
per week and has the use of a piano for 
private practice one and one-half hours 
daily. The rudiments of music are taught 
and chorus singing practised in classes. 

• PIANOFORTE COURSE. 

"First Year. — Richardson's Methods and 
piece> by Baumbach, Grove, etc. 

''Second Year. — Studies by Dnvernov 
and Czerny, and pieces like 'Monastery 
Bells,' Wely ; 'Carnival of \'enice,' Bel- 
lak. etc. 

"Third Year. — Czerny studies, Dr. Call- 
cott's Musical Grammar, Zundel's Har- 
mony, Overtures to Stradella and Der 
Freischutz. 

"Fourth Year. — Cramer studies, .Sonatas 
of Beethoven and Clementi, ]\Iarx ^Insical 
Composition." 

Mr. Cawthorne remained in charge for 
another year when he was succeeded by 
Oscar Mayo, who came highly recommend- 
ed from the Ohio Wesleyan Female Col- 
lege. With the advent of Mr. Mayo the 
following announcement was made: "The 
Music Department of the College offers ex- 
traordinary facilities to students of the Pi- 
ano, Organ or Vocal Music. The Depart- 
ment is under the supervision of Professor 
O. A. Mayo, an educated and scientific 
musician, a thorough teacher and a brilliant 



performer of classic as well as modern 
Piano and Organ music." Mr. Mayo was 
to appoint his own assistants and the fol- 
lowing courses were announced : 

Organ Course.— Zundel and Rink. 

Piano Course. — Rudiments, practice of 
easy exercises, Mason's Technics, Heller 
studies. Etudes of Chopin, Mendelssohn, 
etc. 

As assistant. Professor Mayo had Count 
Laurent de Fosso, who also taught French, 
Spanish, and Italian. Piano, organ, me- 
lodeon and guitar were the branches taught, 
and from sixty to seventy students took 
music. 

In 1871 the Northwestern Female Col- 
lege was merged into the Evanston College 
for Ladies, with Miss Frances Willard as 
President. Professor Mayo continued in 
charge of the Music Department, and there 
are evidences of an attempt to improve and 
enlarge the musical advantages. Only ten 
names appear as music students on the cata- 
logue this year, but these obviously studied 
music to the exclusion of other studies, 
while previous student lists included those 
who had taken music as a supplementary 
study as well. 

In 1873 the absorption ot the Evanston 
College for Ladies by the Northwestern 
University was announced, together with 
plans for the formation of a Conservatory 
of Music on the European plan. This went 
into effect with the completion of the present 
Willard Hall, and the top story was devot- 
ed to the study of art and music. An at- 
tempt was evidently made to secure a good 
faculty, as arrangements were made with 
some of the best known musicians of that 
date in Chicago. Professor Mayo remained 
at the head. Mr. Silas G. Pratt, a pianist 
and composer of attainments, who had re- 
cently returned from his studies in Berlin, 
appears to have been head instructor of the 
piano. Mr. Pratt organized the present 




/7-/.C^^ 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



135 



Apollo Club in the city, and was later chief- 
ly instrumental in promoting the movement 
which resulted in the Auditorium Building 
and the Orchestral Association. James 
Gill, who was for many years the most 
prominent baritone in Chicago, was en- 
gaged as instructor in voice culture, and 
Hans Balatka, the veteran chorus and or- 
chestral conductor, had charge of chorus 
and quartette classes. The following year 
Mr. Pratt's name disappeared from the cat- 
alogue and later Mr. Balatka's, their places 
being filled by musicians of less celebrity. 
Eighty-eight students appeared on the list 
after the installation of the Conservatory 
of Music, but catalogues of the succeeding 
three years are missing. In 1876 Professor 
Mayo was succeeded by Oren E. Locke and 
the Conservatory of Music appears for the 
first time in the University Catalogue. Pro- 
fessor Locke had been a student in both 
the Leipzig and Boston Conservatories, and 
introduced the so-called "Conservatory Sys- 
tem" into the school. The characteristic 
feature of this system was the teaching of 
piano, voice and orchestral instruments in 
classes instead of private individual instruc- 
tion. The University catalogue gives but 
thirty-three students in the Conservatory at 
the end of Professor Locke's first year, and 
the attendance increased but slowly for the 
three succeeding years. In 1880-81 mat- 
ters improved materially, one hundred and 
sixteen students being enrolled, and the 
number steadily increased until the maxi- 
mum of two hundred and thirty-one was 
reached in 1886-87. James Gill was the 
only faculty member left over from the 
previous regime. From time to time Pro- 
fessor Locke had associated with him E. S. 
Metcalf, voice instructor; Joseph Singer, 
instructor of violin ; Professor R. L. Cum- 
nock, instructor of elocution; Professor A. 
S. Carhart, lecturer on the laws of sound ; 
Warren Graves, instructor of piano and or- 



gan, and C. M. Hutchins, instructor of band 
instruments. In 1880 and 1881 the present 
Dean of the School of Music was instructor 
of piano and organ, prior to his departure 
for Europe for a three years' course of 
study in Berlin, Vienna and Paris. In 
June, 1884, Professor Locke, in a printed 
report to the Board of Trustees, makes 
mention of nine thousand lessons having 
been given during the year, of fifteen pianos 
being in use, and calls attention to the 
growth and future possibilities of the 
school. Three students were graduated this 
year and the following courses were in 
operation : 

Course i. Piano. 

Course 2. Voice. 

Course 3. Organ. 

Course 4. Orchestral Instruments. 

In the year 1887-1888 the numerical 
prosperity of the school declined and con- 
tinued to do so until 1890-91, when Pro- 
fessor Locke resigned, leaving the aflfairs of 
the school in a somewhat chaotic condition. 
There was a strong sentiment in favor of 
discontinuing the Conservatory of Music, 
but yielding to the wishes of Miss Nina 
Gray Lunt, an effort was made to continue 
the study of music in the University. At 
her suggestion Peter C. Lutkin, of Chicago, 
was put in charge, and gave a portion of his 
time to the reconstruction of the music de- 
partment. A faculty was hastily organ- 
ized, of which the principal members were : 
J. Harry Wheeler, a widely known vocal 
instructor, formerly a prominent member 
of the New England Conservatory of Mu- 
sic, Boston ; Allen Hervey Spencer, a well- 
known concert pianist and teacher of Chi- 
cago; Joseph Vilim, violin instructor, and 
William Smedley, choir-master of St. James' 
Church, Chicago, as instructor of choral 
singing and sight-reading. A Glee Club 
was organized for the first time in the 
LTniversitv, and also a Cecilian Choir for 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



the young women. Eighty-nine students 
attended during the year, and a creditable 
concert was given at its close in the First 
Methodist Episcopal Church, in which the 
advanced piano and voice students, the 
Glee Club, and the Cecilian Choir took part. 
Three students were graduated. 

This first year's work was looked upon 
as tentative and, at its completion, a formal 
proposition was made by the Director, 
which included a professorship in the Col- 
lege of Liberal Arts, and the severing of 
his city connections in order to devote his 
entire time and energies to the up-building 
of the music school. Largely upon the 
recommendation of Mr. James H. Raymond, 
the then chairman of the committee on the 
Conservatory of Music, the Executive Com- 
mittee accepted the proposition of Profes- 
sor Lutkin. The official appellation of the 
school was changed from "Conservatory 
of Music" to "Department of Music," and 
the courses were rearranged so as to mark 
a distinction between those studying as 
amateurs and those studying professionally. 
Diplomas were not issued at all and cer- 
tificates only to those completing the Pro- 
fessional Course. One hundred and twenty- 
eight students attended this second year and 
the income of the school increased about 
seventy-five per cent. 

The financial stringency of the year 1893- 
94 was felt to the extent that the attendance 
and income were practically at a standstill. 
Several changes were made in the faculty. 
Harold E. Knapp, who had recently re- 
turned from two years of study at the re- 
nowned Leipzig Conservatory of Music, 
succeeded Joseph Vilim as instructor of the 
violin. William H. Knapp, as instructor 
of voice and 'cello; William H. Cutler, as 
instructor of piano; and William Hubbard 
Harris, as instructor of piano and harmony, 
were added. A choral society, confined to 
students of the Universitv, had been organ- 



ized and gave two concerts at the Congre- 
gational Church. The works performed 
were Gaul's cantata of "Israel in the Wil- 
derness" and Haydn's "Creation." In both 
cases the solo parts were nearly all taken 
by members of the University. An impor- 
tant event was the formation of a String 
Quartette, of which the personnel was as 
follows : 

First Violin, Harold E. Knapp. 

Second \'iolin, Joseph Bichl. 

A'iola, Caspar Grilnberger. 

Violoncello, William H. Knapp. 

This orgaiiization permitted us to give 
five recitals of Chamber Music, which add- 
ed greatly to the interest of the school year. 
Sixteen recitals were given by the students 
and four were graduated from the Profes- 
sional Course. 

The year 1894-95 saw a large increase 
in the attendance and prosperity of the 
school. The number increased from one 
hundred and twenty-nine to two hundred 
and three, and the graduates from four to 
eight. Mrs. George A. Coe, who had re- 
cently returned from extended studies in 
Berlin under Heinrich Earth and Moritz 
Moskowsky, was added to the faculty as 
instructor of the piano, and instruction in 
wind instruments was provided for. Eigh- 
teen recitals were given by the students, and 
at the eight faculty recitals, many important 
works by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Dvorak, 
Schubert, Chopin, Goldmark and Weber 
were given with the assistance of the Uni- 
versity String Quartette. The Director 
gave a number of lectures analyzing the 
thematic structure of important works 
given by the Thomas Orchestra. 

As the attempt to establish a good choral 
society within the University had not been 
altogether successful, owing to the constant 
shifting of membership, Professor Lutkin 
assumed the conductorship of the Evanston 
Musical Club, in the hope that the larger 



HISTORY OF EVAXSTON 



137 



field would give more favorable results. In 
this he was not disappointed, and the history 
of that organization will be found elsewhere 
in these pages. Alembership in the Club 
has always been open to students of the 
University, and the privilege has been taken 
advantage of, more particularly by the 
members of the Department of Music. The 
theoretical courses were greatly extend- 
ed this year, and arranged on a four-year 
plan to conform to the courses in the Col- 
lege of Liberal Arts. The student recitals 
presented, in an e.xcellent manner, a higher 
grade of compositions than had ever been 
given before, notably piano concertos by 
Beethoven, Mozart and Mendelssohn. .\ 
small pipe organ was added to the equip- 
ment of the school, which greatly increased 
the study of that instrument. The Depart- 
ment had now reached a point where its 
self-maintenance was fully assured, ami it 
was sadly in need of larger and better quar- 
ters. 

In the following year (1895-96) the of- 
ficial title of the school was changed from 
"Department of Music" to "School of Mu- 
sic," thus putting it upon the same basis 
as the other professional schools of the 
University. Mr. J. Harry Wheeler was 
succeeded by Karleton Hackett as Director 
of the Vocal Department. Mr. Hackett had 
recently come to Chicago after three years' 
study with Vincenso Vannini, the famous 
voice instructor of Florence. He had for- 
merly studied singing with Cornelius Chen- 
ery of Boston, and theory under Professor 
Paine while a student at Harvard. Miss 
Carlotta M. Glazier was added as instructor 
of piano. The various courses were con- 
siderably strengthened, and the theoretical 
study of music was made the kernel of all 
graduating requirements. The theoretical 
studies embraced harmony, musical history, 
counterpoint, and musical form. The 
ground was taken that mere technical facil- 
ity, even when allied to distinct musical 



talent, was not sufficient to complete a 
course in a University school, but rather a 
comprehensive understanding of the na- 
ture and material of music, and the funda- 
mental principles of good art. The scholar- 
ly aspects of music are thus emphasized, 
and the endeavor is to graduate well- 
equipped musicians rather than superficial 
and showy performers. The same theoreti- 
cal studies are required of all candidates for 
graduation, be he pianist, organist, singer 
or violinist. 

Professor Lutkin was appointed Dean 
of the reconstructed school, the other 
members of the faculty ranking as Instruc- 
tors. As the Dean was also Professor of 
Music in the College of Liberal Arts, the 
theoretical classes in the School of Music 
were open to the College students as elec- 
tives in their various courses. Owing to 
the prevailing financial stringency there 
was but a slight increase in the attendance 
this year. The number of graduates re- 
mained the same. Fifteen student recitals, 
two student concerts with orchestra, eight 
chamber music recitals and four faculty 
concerts were given. A student or- 
chestra of twenty-five had been or- 
ganized, which gave very creditable per- 
formances. One of the chamber music re- 
citals was devoted exclusively to serious 
works by various members of the faculty, 
including a String Quartette by Harold 
Knapp, part of a Trio for Piano, Violin 
and 'Cello, by P. C. Lutkin, and songs by 
Hubbard W. Harris. Among important 
works brought out were the Brahm's Quin- 
tette for Piano and Strings, Op. 67, in 
which Mrs. Coe assisted the University 
String Quartette, the Dvorak Quintette, Op. 
81, and Quartettes by Schumann and Bee- 
thoven. Under i\Ir. Harold Knapp the 
violin department greatly increased in num- 
bers, and furnished an excellent nucleus for 
the school orchestra. 

In his annual report to the Board of 



138 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



Trustees, President Rogers called attention 
to the urgent need of providing a suitable 
building for the School of Music, adding 
that after the Academy — which had been 
provided for — it was the next most desir- 
able acquisition. The recommendations of 
President Rogers bore fruit more promptly 
than was expected. The lack of accommo- 
dations for the school in Woman's Hall, 
the poorly adapted rooms for instruction 
and practice, not to mention the unavoidable 
annoyance to college students by the inces- 
sant playing and singing, rendered it all but 
imperative that other quarters should be 
supplied. Although the finances of the Uni- 
versity were in a somewhat crippled condi- 
tion owing to the temporary loss of income 
from the Grand Pacific property, it was 
decided to erect a building for the special 
and exclusive use of the School of Music. 
A site was decided upon immediately to the 
north of Woman's Hall, and ground was 
broken during the summer of 1896. The 
building was completed during the following 
fall and winter, and taken possession of at 
the beginning of the spring term, in 1897. 
In Woman's Hall fourteen rooms had been 
in use by the school. Music Hall, as the 
new structure was named, provided us with 
nineteen rooms and a small recital hall, 
seating about three hundred. Seventeen of 
these rooms were at once put into service, 
and the year's records showed an increase 
from 207 to 218 students. The dedication 
of the new building was marked by two 
faculty concerts and a students' recital. At 
the first of them a chorus from the Evan- 
ston Musical Club and the School of Music 
Orchestra assisted in the following program, 
given on the evening of April 26, 1897 : 

Chorus, "The Heavens Are Telling" Haydn 

Prayer by President Henry Wade Rogers. 

Aria. "Rejoice Greatly" Handel 

Miss Helen Buckley. 
Address by Professor P. C. Lutkin. 

Overture, "The Marriage of Figaro" Mozart 

Orchestra. 



Andante for Violin and Orchestra P. C. Lutkin 

Mr. Harold E. Knapp. 
Songs. "The Broken Lyre," "Shepherd of 
Israel," "From the Bosom of Ocean 

I Seek Thee" Hubbard W. Harris 

Miss Buckley. 

Quartette for Strings, C major Harold E. Knapp 

The University String Quartette. 

Sanctus, from Messe Solonelle Gounod 

Mr. W. F. Hypes, Chorus and Orchestra. 

After the concert a reception was held 
and the building was thrown open for in- 
spection. On the following evening a 
Chamber Music Recital was given, in which 
Mrs. George A. Coe, pianist. Miss Mabel 
Goodwin, soprano, and the University 
String Quartette took part. The program 
was as follows : 

Trio for Piano, Violin, and 'Cello, Op. 97 Beethoven 

Songs, La Serenata Tosti 

Ecstasy Beach 

May Morning Denza 

Quartette for Strings, G Minor Grieg 

Nine students were graduated this year 
in the Normal Course, and one from the 
advanced, or Artist's Course. Twenty-four 
recitals and five concerts, with orchestra, 
were given by the students, and six chamber 
music recitals and four concerts by the fac- 
ulty. The student orchestra assisted the 
Evanston Musical Club in their perform- 
ances of Handel's Messiah and Haydn's 
Creation. In all directions the year showed 
substantial progress. 

The first complete year in the new build- 
ing (1897-98) found its capacity tested to 
the utmost. The attendance increased from 
218 to 293. The theoretical courses were 
extended by the addition of classes in 
Analysis and Sight-reading. The recita- 
tions in Musical History under the charge 
of Mrs. Coe were doubled. The classes in 
Sight-reading were thrown open to students 
of the Garrett Biblical Institute, and the 
latter part of the year was devoted to hymn 
music with the object of demonstrating the 
fundamental principles of good church 
music. A good pipe-organ, with two man- 
uals and pedals, and blown by a water- 



HISTORY OF EVAXSTON 



139 



motor, was erected in the recital hall. Miss 
Carlotta M. Glazier was succeeded by Miss 
Una Howell, a graduate of the advanced 
course of the school, and Mr. Franz Wag- 
ner of the Thomas Orchestra, succeeded 
Mr. W. H. Knapp in the University String 
Quartette, and was added to the faculty as 
Instructor of Violoncello. Mr. Walter 
Keller was also added as Instructor of 
Piano. The usual student and faculty con- 
certs were given and the commencement 
concerts presented a distinct advance on 
previous efforts, both in the selections and 
in the performance of the same. Twelve 
students were graduated from the Normal 
Course. Doubtless the added dignity and 
importance given to the school by being 
housed in its own building had much to 
do with the general prosperity. 

The succeeding year was a repetition of 
the previous experience, that a very decided 
gain in one year was followed by a slight 
reaction in the following. The scholastic 
year 1898-99 showed a decrease of nine stu- 
dents, but a gain of ten per cent in the in- 
come. The discrepancy between the loss in 
attendance and the gain in income meant 
that a larger percentage of students re- 
mained through the year, and that there was 
a corresponding decrease in the unsatisfac- 
tory patronage, composed, for the most 
part, of triflers who enter and remain but 
a term or two. 

The basement of Music Hall had been 
originally designed for a gymnasium for 
women, and the prospect of soon having a 
properly equipped plant was hailed w-ith 
much delight and enthusiasm by those in- 
terested. It was a keen disappointment to 
many when it was decided to sub-divide the 
ground floor to make space for the im- 
perative demands of the music school. The 
results of this change added ten practice 
rooms and a much-needed class room, seat- 
ing seventy-five, to the equipment of the 



school, and temporarily relieved the pres- 
sure for more space. 

The student recitals averaged one per 
week and evidenced a very good standard 
of attainment. Nine students were grad- 
uated from the Normal Course, and three 
from the Advanced Course. The usual 
series of chamber music concerts was in- 
terrupted by the loss of the viola player 
in the University String Quartette, owing 
to his departure from the city. 

The year 1899- 1900 exhibited an in- 
crease of about five per cent in the attend- 
ance (the total number being 297) and of 
fifteen per cent in the income of the school. 
The largest class in the history of the 
school was graduated, ten in the Normal 
Course and three in the Advanced Course. 
The most important event of the year was 
the rearrangement of courses, requiring 
four years for graduation. The theoretical 
requirements consist of ten terms of har- 
mony, four terms of musical history, four 
terms of sight-reading and musical dicta- 
tion, eight terms of counterpoint, two terms 
of musical form, eight terms of analysis 
and four terms of ensemble playing. In 
addition the candidate is required to show 
distinct talent as a performer in the Prac- 
tical School, or as a composer in the The- 
oretical School. In the former case, two 
programs are required of standard classical 
compositions. Students creditably finishing 
two years of this course are entitled to a 
certificate, but a diploma is given only for 
the longer course. These requirements are 
equaled by but few schools in the country. 

Mr. Arne Oldberg, who had recently re- 
turned from extended studies in Europe, 
was added to the faculty as Instructor of 
Piano. Mr. Oldberg studied piano in 
Vienna with Leschetitzky and, later, com- 
position in Munich with Rheinberger. His 
abilities, both as a pianist and composer, 
have attracted the favorable attention of 



I40 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



the profession in Chicago. Mr. Day Wil- 
Hams, one of the most gifted of local 'cel- 
lists, succeeded Mr. Franz Wagner both in 
the String Quartette and as instructor of the 
violoncello. Mr. Walter George Logan suc- 
ceeded Mr. Caspar Grilnberger as assistant 
in the violin department, and Mr. Frank 
Lee Robertshaw was put in charge of the 
sight-reading classes. The regular faculty 
of the school now consisted of fifteen mem- 
bers, of whom six taught piano, two violin, 
two voice culture, two organ, two theory, 
and one each, musical history, composition, 
violoncello, flute, clarionet, oboe, bassoon, 
cornet, French horn and trombone. 

The first decade of the music school 
under its present head was completed with 
the year 1900-01, and the event was 
marked by several matters of interest in the 
development of the school. A decided in- 
crease in attendance crowded the capacity 
of the building to the utmost, and forced 
many students to make arrangements for 
their practice at private houses. The total 
number of students for the year was 348 — a 
gain of fifty-one over the previous year. 
For the first time a fixed sum per term was 
charged for the regular courses, instead of a 
graduated scale depending upon the indi- 
vidual instructor. This charge was thirty- 
five dollars per term, and included private 
instruction from the principal instructors 
in instrumental or vocal music, and the 
privilege of attendance at the required 
classes. Considering the advantages of- 
fered and the quality of instruction given, 
the charge was put at a very reasonable 
figure. In fact, the results at the end of 
the year proved that the sum was hardly 
svifficient to cover the expenses of the 
course, and a recommendation to increase it 
to forty dollars per term was put into effect 
the following year. 

The record for the ten years showed an 
increase in attendance from eighty-nine to 



348, and, in income, of over 400 per 
cent. Six members of the faculty give 
their entire time to the school as 
against none in 1890-91. Extended and 
comprehensive courses have been developed 
and the reputation of the school is such as 
to bring a better class of students each year. 
Graduate students from the smaller music 
schools come to us and expect, as a matter 
of course, that much of their work is not up 
to our requirements. In fact, there are 
very few who are able to enter the second 
year's work. 

The following changes took place in the 
faculty: Walter G. Logan was succeeded 
by Lewis Randolph Blackman, a young 
violinist of excellent reputation in Chicago. 
Mr. John Harlan Cozine, an experienced 
and well known voice specialist and choral 
conductor, and Mr. Anthony Stankowitch, 
an instructor of the Clavier method, were 
added to the list of instructors. During the 
year an interesting series of historical reci- 
tals was given by various members of the 
faculty, beginning with a lecture on Primi- 
tive Music, with illustrations, by Mrs. Coe. 
This was followed by Bach, Mozart, Bee- 
thoven, Schubert, Schumann and Chopin 
programs, in which various members of the 
faculty assisted. The University Strmg 
Quartette had a number of outside engage- 
ments which brought forth a number of 
flattering press notices of their excellent en- 
semble work. This was notably the case at 
Cleveland, where Mr. Oldberg assisted in 
the performance of a new Trio of his own 
composition for piano, violin and 'cello. 
During the year the Dean of the school was 
honored with the degree of Doctor of Music 
by the Syracuse University. 

Some five years ago a Preparatory De- 
partment was formed for giving tho'-cugh 
and systematic instruction to beginners in 
music. The instructors are drawn from the 
more talented graduates of the school, the 




(Dx^^t^^ ^. (o 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



141 



present list including Mr. Louis Norton 
Dodge, Director; Mrs. Nina Shumway 
Knapp, Miss Elizabeth Raymond, Miss 
Mabel Dunn, Miss Edna Eversz, Miss Kath- 
erine Hebbard, Miss Laura Case Whitlock 
and Mr. Curtis A. Barry. This department 
has been very prosperous. It has its own 
solo classes and recitals which stimulate 
ambition and emulation, and it produces far 
better results than the usual private home- 
training of young children. It also prepares 
the more gifted ones for the regular courses 
and accustoms them to public appearances. 

The year 1901-02 was signalized by ad- 
vancing to professorships Mrs. Coe, Mr. 
Oldberg and Mr. Harold E. Knapp, in their 
respective specialties of piano and musical 
history, piano and composition, and violin 
and ensemble playing. In other regards the 
faculty remained the same, with the excep- 
tion of Miss Una Howell, who resigned at 
the middle of the previous year, and was 
replaced by Miss Margaret Cameron, a pupil 
of Leschetitsky, who has won an enviable 
position as pianist and teacher in the city. 
The registrations numbered 366 for the 
year, and the income exceeded that of 
the previous year by about 20 per cent. 
Some ten students completed the Certificate 
Course, while three were graduated from 
the Diploma Course. Of the thirty-five or 
more student recitals, thirteen were indi- 
vidual recitals, giving many important musi- 
cal compositions and, for the most part, the 
programs were memorized. Advanced 
students played the following concertos : 
For piano, the Beethoven C minor, Men- 
delssohn G minor, Rubinstein D minor, 
Grieg A minor and St. Saens G minor ; for 
violin, the Beethoven D major (first move- 
ment). Mendelssohn E minor and Vieux- 
temps A minor. 

Advanced classes have done very credit- 
able work in eight-part counterpoint, as well 
as in double and triple counterpoint, fig- 



ured chorals and fugue up to four parts. 
Many typical works by Bach and Beethoven 
have been analytically dissected and also 
concertos, chamber music and symphonies 
from full score. Capable students have as- 
sisted at the meetings of the musical section 
of the Woman's Club, the Thomas Orches- 
tral Class, local concerts, and have given bi- 
monthly Sunday afternoon entertainments 
at the University Settlement. Two impor- 
tant compositions of Professor Oldberg's 
have received their first performance at the 
faculty concerts, a Trio for piano, violin and 
'cello, and a String Quartette. This latter 
work was repeated at a concert of the Chi- 
cago Manuscript Society, of which Profes- 
sor Oldberg is President. Other numbers 
on the same occasion were the Finale from 
a String Quartette by Professor Knapp, and 
a sacred solo for contralto with violin obli- 
gato by Professor Lutkin. 

A matter of congratulation has been the 
steady increase in the interest and appre- 
ciation of the Chamber Music Recitals by 
our faculty. Works of this character are the 
most difficult to comprehend in all musical 
literature, and many of the greatest com- 
posers have confided their loftiest inspira- 
tions to this most refined form of composi- 
tion, calling, as it does, upon a company of 
individual artists for its proper representa- 
tion. The patience, devotion and zeal neces- 
sary to produce a good ensemble of con- 
certed instruments is something enormous, 
and the school and the community are very 
fortunate in having professional musicians 
of such high ideals and ambitions. For the 
sake of those interested, a list is appended of 
the works given during the past seven sea- 
sons, a number of which are but rarely per- 
formed : 

Bach. Concerto for two Violins. 

Bargiel, String Quartette No. 3, Op. 15. 

Trio for Piano, Violin, and 'Cello, Op. 6, No. 1 
Trio for Piano, Violin, and 'Cello, Op. 6, No. 3. 



142 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



Beethoven, String Quartette, Op. 15, No. 1. 
String Quartette, Op. 18, No. 2. 
String Quartette, Op. 18, No. 6 
String Quartette, Op. 59, No. 1. 
String Quartette, Op. 59, No. 3. 
String Quartette, Op. 18, No. 2. 
String Quartette, Op. 18, No. 4. 
String Quartette, Op. 95. 
String Quartette, Op. 74. 
String Trio, Op. 9, No. 3. 
Trio for Piano, Violin, and 'Cello, Op. 97. 
Serenade for Violin, Viola, and 'Cello, Op. 8. 
Serenade for Flute, Violin, and Viola, Op. 25. 
Septette for Clarionet, Bassoon, Horn, and 
Strings, Op. 20. 

(Four movements. The wind instruments 
supplied upon the organ.) 
Concerto for Violin, Op. 61. 

(First movement with Leonard Cadenza.) 
Sonata for Piano and Violin, Op. 47. 
Borodine, Serenade Espagnole for Strings. 
Brahms, Quintette for Piano, two Violins, Viola, and 
'Cello, Op. 34. 
Sextette for Strings, Op. 18. 
Chopin, Polonaise for 'Cello and Piano, Op. 3. 
Dvorak, String Quartette, Op. 51. 

Quintette for Piano, two Violins, Viola, 'Cello. 

Op. 81. 
Bagatelles for two Violins, 'Cello, and Organ, 

Op. 47. 
Bagatelles for two Violins, 'Cello, and Organ, 

Op. 95. 
String Quartette, Op. 96. 
Cesar Franck, Sonata for Piano and Violin. 
Foote, Arthur, Quintette for Piano, two Violins, Viola 

and 'Cello, Op. 38. 
Gade, Trio for Piano, Violin, and 'Cello, Op. 42. 
Godard, Trio for Piano, Violin, and 'Cello, Op. 72. 
Goldmark, Quintette for Piano, two Violins, Viola, and 

'Cello, Op. 30. 
Golterman, Concertstueck for 'Cello, Op. 65. 
Grieg, Sonata for Piano and Violin, Op. 45. 
Sonata for Piano and Violin, Op. 13. 
String Quartette, G. minor. 
Hubbard W. Harris, Sonata for 'Cello and Piano. 

(Second and third movements.) 
Handel, Sonata for Piano and Violin, A. major. 
Haydn, String Quartette, Op. 77, No. 1. 

Variations from Kaiser Quartette. 
HoflFmann, Sonata for Violin and Piano, Op^ 67. 
Harold E. Knapp, String Quartette in C major. 
Liadow, Scherzo for Strings. 

P. C. Lutkin, Trio for Piano, Violin, and 'Cello, Op. 1. 
(Second movement.) 
Andante for Violin and Orchestra. Op. 6. 
(Orchestral part arranged for strings and organ.) 
Mendelssohn, String Quartette, Op. 12, No. 1. 

Trio for Piano, Violin, and 'CelVo. Op. 66. 
Sonata for 'Cello and Piano. Op. 45. No. 1. 
Mozart, Quintette for Clarionette and Strings. 

String Quartette No. 14. 
Arne Oldberg, String Quartette, C minor. 

Trio for Piano, Violin and 'Cello, E minor. 
String Qu 



Rubinstein, Sonata lor 'Cello and Piano, Op. 18. 
(First movement.) 
Sonata for Violin and Piano, Op. 13. 

(First movement.) 
String Quartette, Op. 17, No. 3. 
Charles Schubert, Andante and Caprice for 'Cello. 
Schubert, String Quartette, Op. 29. 
(Two movements.) 
String Quartette, D minor. 

(Two movements.) 
String Quintette. 

Trio for Piano, Violin, and 'Cello, Op. 99. 
Trio for Piano, Violin, and 'Cello, Op. lOll 

Quintette for Piar 
Bass. Op. 114. 
Schumann. String Quartette. Op. 41. No 
Quintette for Piano, two Vi. 

'Cello. Op. 44. 
Quartette for Piano. Violin. Viola, and 'Cello, 
Op. 45. 
Saint Saens. Quintette for Piano and Strings, Op. 14. 
Svendsen, Allegro Scherzando. 
Tschaikowsky, String Quartette. Op. 11. 

Trio, for Piano. Violin and 'Cello. Op. 50. 
Wathall. A. G.. Suite for Strings. 
Weber. Concerto for Clarionet. Op. 7j. 

(Orchestral part arranged for Organ and Strings.) 
Weber. Josef Miroslav, String Qu 



Viola, 'Cello, and 



Viola, and 



It is with difficulty that the business of 
the School is properly attended to in its . 
present inadequate quarters. Thirty rooms 
with as many pianos, are in constant use for 
instruction and practice. Ten more would 
only relieve our immediate necessities. A 
concert hall, with larger seating capacity, 
and a good-sized organ are also much need- 
ed. That the conditions exist in Evanston 
for the development of one of the largest 
and most influential schools of music in the 
country, there can be no doubt. Students 
have been registered from China, East India, 
South America, Mexico, France, England, 
Newfoundland, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba 
and twenty-eight of the United States. Each 
year brings us a more talented and desirable 
class of students, as our reputation expands. 
\'ery capable students have been graduated 
and at least three prominent Chicago 
churches have been supplied by us with 
organists, where the duties are as exacting 
as any churches in the West. A gifted 
violin student, who has received his entire 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



training in the scliool, recently played for 
one of the most capable judges in the coun- 
try, and his work was most highly com- 
mended and a brilliant future for him pre- 
dicted. Alfred G. Wathall, one of our grad- 
uates in theory, has written the music to a 
light opera in conjunction with George Ade, 
and it has had an unprecedented run at the 
Studebaker in Chicago. Our piano grad- 
uates have appeared professionally with 
success and many have established good 
teaching connections and send capable stu- 
dents to us every year. Another has gone 
to Madison, Wis., where he is instructor in 
the University of Wisconsin, has the most 
important church position and conducts two 
choral societies, one of which he organized. 
These instances are cited to show some of 
the practical results of the School. 

A crying need in the musical education 
of America is a more thorough training in 
the theory of composition in music. With- 
out this we can never attain to artistic 
prominence in the world of art, as far as 
original work is concerned. The average 
American composer has a smattering of 
harmony and, possibly, a faint idea of strict 
counterpoint. With this limited equipment 
he rushes into print with the hope of meet- 
ing the popular taste and gaining notoriety 
and wealth. Of the exacting discipline that 
would place the material of musical com- 
position at his ready coniniand, the close 
study of the masters, the comprehension 
of the subtle laws of esthetics, of propor- 
tion, balance and contrast, of even the 
mechanical outline of musical forms, he 
knows little and cares less. 

A University School of Music should 
strive to supply this great lack and to estab- 
lish not only a high standard of musical 
learning, but of general culture as well. It 
should guard against the one-sided tenden- 
cies of professional education and add to 
it such elements as will serve to broaden the 



vision, enlarge the sympathies, and sharpen 
the intellect and understanding. Scholarli- 
ness and thoroughness should characterize 
its teachings and its faculty should stand for 
the highest ideals of art. Of equal, if not 
greater, importance should be its moral tone 
and influence. The sensitive and emotional 
nature associated with the artistic- tempera- 
ment should be safeguarded in every possi- 
ble way. In large cities there is, unhappily, 
a tinge of the moral laxity prevalent in 
European capitals among professional men. 
It is by no means confined to musicians. 
It is a most dangerous and pernicious en- 
vironment for the young in their formative 
years, and not infrequently ends most dis- 
astrously. Against these lamentable possi- 
bilities the wholesome surroundings of 
Evanston ofTer a marked contrast. Its 
churches and Christian associations, its 
freedom from saloons and questionable re- 
sorts, together with its educational facilities 
and attractive location, make it an ideal 
home for the pursuit of a musical educa- 
tion. 

Evanston, with its beautiful homes and 
cultured residents, should take a peculiar 
pride in the cultivation of the fine arts, and 
should loyally support all educational ef- 
forts in that direction. The School of 
Music has grown steadily from small be- 
ginnings and its one advertisement has been 
its own work. It has drawn to itself an able 
faculty thoroughly in accord with Univer- 
sity ideals. It has an unusual proportion of 
men actively engaged in composition of the 
better sort. It attracts talented students 
and holds them to such an extent, that, in 
several instances, the entire family have 
changed their mode of life in order to live 
in Evanston, so that the student could 
reap the full benefit of the advantages of- 
fered by continuous residence here. With 
its Preparatory Department it has given op- 
portunity to a number of its capable grad- 



144 



NORTHWESTERN UNH'ERSITY 



uates to make a start professionally. Its 
faculty and student recitals have been open 
to the public without charge, and they 
have formed, together with the concerts of 
the Evanston Musical Club, by far the 
larger and more important part of the musi- 
cal attractions in Evanston. Concert pro- 
grams that are arranged to please the aver- 
age audience are rarely of real educational 
value. The school has consistently and 
persistently held to the highest standards, 
and the value of such a rigid policy is not 
always readily recognized, but the wisdom 
of it has been amply justified by the steady 
increase in attendance and appreciation. 
There is no surer gauge of real refinement 
and culture than the measure of esteem in 
which good music is held in a community. 

But Evanston should not confine its 
ambition or interest to the welfare of a Con- 
servatory of Alusic. Great possibilities exist 
here for the development of the art outside 
the scope of a good music school. Music 
Festivals, after the plan of Cincinnati or 
Worcester, are quite feasible here. They 
are managed successfully, both from an ar- 
tistic and a financial point of view, at such 
small places as Ann Arbor, Mich., and 
Oberlin, Ohio, where they have but a frac- 
tion of our advantages or facilities. Still 
they contrive to have good choruses and 
orchestras and to engage really great artists. 
We are more fortunately situated here, in 
that we have better choral resources, and 
that an unsurpassed orchestra can be ob- 
tained without the great expense that is 
entailed by transportation and hotel accom- 
modations in places remote from large 
cities. The only essential lack in Evanston 
is a suitable hall. The rest is merely a 
matter of enterprise and ambition. 

The music festival presents peculiar con- 
ditions for the efifective performance of 
music — conditions that are almost a neces- 
sity for a satisfactory rendition of certain 
great works. These works require an enthu- 



siastic and responsive state of feeling as re- 
gards the audience, and this condition is 
difficult to arouse without the festival spirit. 
The stimulating atmosphere of excitement, 
the cumulative effect of successive perform- 
ances, the concentration of artistic talent, 
the relaxation from the ordinary daily 
pursuits, all tend to put the hearer in a 
receptive and appreciative attitude. All 
these elements react upon the performers 
and, as a consequence, results are realized 
which would be quite impossible at isolated 
concerts. 

The permanent establishment of annual 
or biennial festivals would give Evanston 
an artistic prominence obtainable in no 
other manner. With its great University 
and its superior moral surroundings, it al- 
ready enjoys a most enviable reputation as 
an educational center. Add to this the 
attraction and distinction of notable musi- 
cal festivals, and Evanston will be unique 
among the cities of the West as an artistic 
and literary community. .\nd the larger 
portion of gain would not be to the residents 
of our favored town, but to the student 
hailing from the farm or the country village. 
What an education it would be to him if, in 
the course of his college life, he would have 
the opportunity to hear the great inaster- 
works of music given under inspiring and 
uplifting conditions ! Coming, as they do, 
from all quarters of the Union, many of 
them would return to their homes as so 
many musical missionaries, fired with an 
ambition to do what they could for good art. 
Hundreds would go forth from us every 
year with their esthetic sense stirred 
and enlarged, with a wholesome respect for 
the great names in music and an apprecia- 
tive familiarity with the standard oratorios 
and orchestral works. The seeds of nuisical 
culture, thus sown, would bear fruit in 
scores of communities, and would play no 
small part in the higher development of our 
country. 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



t45 



Events of 1902-03. — The year 1902-1903 
was made notable by an increase of an 
even hundred students in attendance and 
of over six thousand dollars in income. 
Courses in English language, English 
literature and modern languages were 
added to the graduating requirements 
with the result of bringing to the Uni- 
versity a better class of students, as far 
as general education was concerned. A 
series of eight concerts, known as the 
"Artists' Series," was begun, given alter- 
nately by members of our own faculty and 
by visiting artists. The latter included 
Minnie Fish-Griffin in a song recital ; Ar- 
thur Hochman, of Berlin, in a piano reci- 
tal ; Bruno Steindel in a 'cello recital, and 
Glenn Hall, of New York, and Allen 
Spencer, of Chicago, in a joint song and 
piano recital. These concerts attracted 
a large attendance, both on the part of 
the students and the town people. 

Additional quarters for the kindergar- 
ten work of the Preparatory Department 
were acquired in the Y. M. C. A. building. 
and the school was unable to supply all 
the non-resident students writh pianos for 
their practicing. The graduating con- 
certs brought brilliant performances of 
the Schumann A minor, and the Rubin- 
stein D minor piano concertos, and the 
Pagannini concerto for violin. Four di- 
plomas and thirteen certificates were atlded 
to our list. 

Enlarged Attendance of 1903-04. — The 
year 1903- 1904, brought the attendance 
just over the five hundred mark and the 
income up to $35,000, with eight gradu- 
ates in the diploma course and eighteen 
in the certificate course. The first con- 
cert in the Artists' Series was a decided 
novelty in the way of a programme of 
chamber music for piano and wood-wind 
instruments, participated in by Messrs. 
Starke, Aleyer, Demare. and Kruse of the 
Thomas Orchestra and Professor Oldberg 



of our faculty. Later there was a song re- 
cital by Gwylim Miles, a violin recital by 
Leopold Kramer, concert-meister of the 
Thomas Orchestra, and a piano recital by 
Augusta Cotlou. As usual, the Univer- 
sity String Quartette, under Professor 
Knapp. gave four excellent concerts, while 
Miss Cameron, Miss Hull, Mr. Blackman, 
and Mr. Williams of the faculty all ap- 
peared on interesting programmes. Pro- 
fessor Stanley of the University of Michi- 
gan gave a most entertaining lecture on 
early Venetian opera, and Gustav Holm- 
quist gave a most artistic recital of Scan- 
dinavian songs. A further matter of in- 
terest was the first performance of an 
elaborate quintette for piano and string, 
by Professor Oldberg, which proved to be 
a work of unusual scope and worth. 

Five of the advanced students and grad- 
uates went to Europe at the end of the 
school year to continue their work in 
Leipzig, Berlin and Paris, and several of 
them at once won prominence by reason 
of their talents and the schooling they had 
received in Evanston. Over fifty student 
recitals were given during the year, and 
many hundred compositions for piano, or- 
gan, violin and voice were performed. A 
house opposite Music Hall was rented and 
filled with pianos for practicing purposes. 

Conditions of 1904-05. — The year 1904- 
1905 again showed a recoil in attendance 
after successive gains of the previous 
years, the enrollment dropping to 466. 
The loss in income was not relatively so 
great, as a large proportion of students re- 
mained through the year. As usual, a 
number of inquiring students failed to ap- 
pear upon learning that the official board- 
ing places could not accommodate them; 
as they or their parents objected to board- 
ing in town, principally upon the score of 
expense. The graduates were four in the 
graduate class and fifteen in the certifi- 
cate class. 



146 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



The Artists' Series of concerts was a 
notable one. With the co-operation of 
the Thomas Study class and the Evan- 
ston Musical Club, famous artists and or- 
ganizations appeared. The first of these 
was the celebrated Kneisel Quartette of 
Boston, who gave us a fine program, re- 
markable for its charm of tone, refine- 
ment of shading, and artistic interpreta- 
tion. This was followed by a song re- 
cital by Muriel Foster, the greatest con- 
tralto now upon the concert stage. On 
the evening previous to her recital. Miss 
Foster appeared with the Evanston Mus- 
ical Club in Dvorak's "Stabat Mater" 
and upon the same occasion Professor 
Oldberg played for the first time his new 
symphonic concerto for piano and orches- 
tra, a brilliant and most difficult work, in 
which he scored a great success both as 
composer and pianist. 

In February the Pittsburg Symphony 
Orchestra, under the magnetic baton of 
Emil Paur, gave Beethoven's Overture to 
Egmont, the same composer's Emperor 
Concerto for piano and orchestra with 
Mr. Paur at the piano, Tscharkowsky's 
Pathetic Symphony and Wagner's Vor- 
spiel to the Meistersaenger. The concert 
provoked the utmost enthusiasm, due to 
the energy and virility of Mr. Paur's con- 
ducting. 

The last concert by visitors was an 
evening of old-time music by Arnold Dol- 
metsch's party, performed upon the in- 
struments for which the music was orig- 
inally written, such as the spinet, harpsi- 
chord, dulcimer and viola of various 
kinds. In the four concerts given by our 
own faculty a number of standard classi- 
cal string quartettes were played, and a 
first performance of a Quintette by Ca?sar 
Franck, in which Mrs. Coe supplemented 
the University Quartette at the piano. 
With the assistance of Mrs. Lida Scott 



Brown as reader, Mrs. Coe gave a per- 
formance of her popular melodrama, 
"Hiawatha," before a large and apprecia- 
tive audience. The musical themes for 
this work are largely drawn from Indian 
sources, and are judiciously and effective- 
ly applied as a back-ground to the recita- 
tion of this famous poem. 

The Outlook of 1905-06. — The present 
year {1905-1906) bids fair to be the most 
prosperous of all in a material sense, and 
the school shows, in many ways, the 
benefits accruing from fifteen years of en- 
deavor to establish an institution for 
musical instruction upon a worthy aca- 
demic basis. A new department of Pub- 
lic School Methods was inaugurated in 
the fall, designed to fit candidates for the 
position of supervisor of music in the 
public schools. There is but one school 
in the West that specializes to any con- 
siderable extent in this branch of work, 
and it would seem that such a depart- 
ment, with the collateral advantages of a 
College of Liberal Arts and a well-equip- 
ped School of Music, would be very at- 
tractive. This department is in the very 
capable charge of Miss Leila M. Harlow, 
supervisor of music in the Evanston grade 
schools. 

The Artists' Series brought the Knei- 
sel Quartette for its second appearance 
here and a song recital by George Ham- 
lin, and will include a chamber music re- 
cital of wood-wind instruments, at which 
a new Quintette for piano, oboe, clari- 
net, French horn and bassoon of Profes- 
sor Oldberg's will receive its first pro- 
duction, and a piano recital by Emil 
Paur. 

That there is a coterie of ardent and 
sincere music lovers in Evanston is evi- 
denced by the increasing interest taken 
in chamber music. The concerts of the 
Kneisel Quartette have been patronized 




i/t^ ^ -t^/^^-VC^ y 



HISTORY OF EVAXSTON 



147 



to an extent which puts Chicago to the 
bhish. and the keen and discriminating 
appreciation for string quartette music is 
largely due to the unceasing efforts of 
Professor Harold Knapp in this direction. 
He has labored for the cause in season 
and out of season, with unflagging zeal 
and enthusiasm, despite discouragements 
and lukewarm interest, and it is pleasant 
to chronicle that his high ideals and abid- 
ing faith in the best in art have at last 
won recognition. His capable quartette 
has played repeatedly in the homes of our 
music lovers and chamber music in every 
sense of the term has come to its own. 
Professor Knapp's able colleagues are 
Messrs. Lewis R. Blackman, Charles El- 
ander and Day ^^'i^iams, 

Changes in Teaching Force, — The well- 
known contralto, Mrs. Eleanor Kirkham. 
was added to the vocal force of the fac- 
ulty and, upon her removal to New Ytirk, 
was succeeded by Mrs. Lillian French 
Read. Provision for the study of the harp 
was made by the appointment of Mrs. 
Clara Murray, who was succeeded by 
Walfried Singer of the Thomas orches- 
tra, Mr. Walter Keller and Mr. Anthony 
Stankowitch resigned, the latter to ac- 
cept charge of a large music department 
in a Southern school. Mr. Alfred G. Wat- 
hall, a graduate of the school who had 
been appointed instructor in harmony, 
and who played viola in the Lhiiversity 
String Quartette, resigned in order to pur- 
sue his studies in London, The Evan- 
ston Musical Club performed a very cred- 
itable cantata of Mr. Wathall's, entitled 
"Alice P.rand," for chorus, soli, and full 
orchestra. His undoubted ability as a 
composer has enlisted the active interest 
of Sir Villiers Stanford and Sir Frederick 
Bridge, of the Royal College of Music. 
London. 

John Skelton was succeeded by Charles 



S. Horn as instructor of band instru- 
ments, and also took charge of the Uni- 
versity Band. Mrs. Elizabeth Raymond 
Woodward, :Mrs. Nina Shumway Knapp. 
and Miss Bertha A, Beeman were ad- 
vanced from the Preparatory Department 
to the regular faculty. Mr. Irving Ham- 
lin was appointed Secretary of the school 
in 1902, and greatly improved the busi- 
ness relations of the school, which had 
formerly been in the hands of inexper- 
ienced students. 

The following names appear on the fac- 
ulty of the Preparatory Department 
since 1902: William E. Zench, Mrs. Car- 
rie D. Barrows, Grace Ericson, Elizabeth 
L. Shotwell, Mrs. Hila \'erbeck Knapp. 
Sarah :\Ioore, Juliet Maude Marceau, Nel- 
lie B, Flodin and John M. Rosborough. 
The last fi\-e mentioned are still upon the 
facidty. 

Necrology of the Year.— The sad duty 
remains of making record of the death 
of two who were intimately connected 
with the school — the one as teacher 
and the other as student. Mrs. Saidee 
Knowland Coe, Professor of Piano and 
Musical History, and wife of Professor 
George A, Coe, of the College of Liberal 
Arts, died at Alameda. Cal., August 24, 
1905. ^Irs. Coe was a member of the 
faculty of the School of Music for eleven 
years and performed her duties w-ith great 
fidelity and success. As a pianist, teacher 
and lecture recitalist Mrs, Coe had an ex- 
tended reputation, and she was particu- 
larly interested in bringing forward new 
or comparatively unknown works. The 
courses in the History of Music were 
greatl}' extended under her direction and 
compared favorably with those of our 
greatest schools and universities. Her lec- 
tures on the music of the American In- 
dians and on the Wagner music-dramas 
were especially noteworthy, Mrs, Coe 



148 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



had resigned her position in the School of 
Music and had been appointed as a spe- 
cial lecturer on music in the College of 
Liberal Arts. Her plans for a year's vaca- 
tion in Europe for recreation and study 
were rudely shattered by her sudden 
death. A large circle of friends and pupils 
mourn her loss and untimely end. 

Earle Waterous, for ten years a violin 
student under Professor Knapp, died at 
his home in Evanston November 15, 1905. 
Evincing signs of unusual ajjility as a 
mere child, he was given a thorough 



schooling and before he was out of his 
'teens had acquired a very unusual tech- 
nical mastery of his instrument. Inter- 
ested friends sent him to Europe and he 
immediately took a commanding posi- 
tion in the Leipszig Conservatory, elicit- 
ing the most flattering comments from the 
local press and winning predictions of 
high rank as a virtuoso from his teachers. 
With every promise of a brilliant career 
he was seized with a dread disease and 
barely reached his home ere he passed 



CHAPTER XVI, 



UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF ORATORY 



Professor Cumnock as Founder — Grouih 
and Standing Due to his Labors — First 
Class Graduated in 1881 — Its Aim and 
Branches Taught — Building Erected — Is 
Dedicated in 1895 — Location and Descrip- 
tion — Advantage over Private Institu- 
tions of Like Character — Training in 
English Composition and Rhetoric — En- 
rollment According to Last Catalogue — 
Promising Outlook for the Future. 

The existence, growth and high standing 
of the School of Oratory of the North- 
western University (generally known as the 
Cumnock School of Oratory), is largely the 
outcome of the life and labors of Prof. 
R. L. Cumnock. Entering the service 
of the University in the fall of 1868, he 
labored for ten years, doing the work as- 
signed him in the curriculum of the College 
of Liberal Arts. In the fall of 1878 an 
urgent demand for advanced work in vocal 
expression and interpretation resulted in 
the organization of a special department 
known as the School of Oratory. The first 
class was graduated in 1881. The special 
purpose involved in the organization of 
this new department was to furnish instruc- 
tion and training in three subjects, viz: 
Elocution, English and Physical Culture. 

The chief aim of the school was to pre- 
pare young men and women to teach these 
subjects in colleges, academies, high and 



normal schooli. For many years the stu- 
dents in this department were accommo- 
dated in the College of Liberal Arts. From 
1890 to 1894 the applications for admission 
to the school were so numerous that many 
could not be accepted by reason of the 
meager accommodations in University Hall. 
In the spring of 1894 Professor Cumnock 
secured from the Trustees a site on the 
L'niversity campus and assumed the entire 
responsibility of erecting a building for the 
special use of the School of Oratory. The 
building, with its equipment costing $30,- 
000, was, at its dedication on May 16, 1895, 
handed over to the President of the Univer- 
sity by Professor Cumnock, entirely free 
from debt. 

The building was named the Annie May 
Swift Hall, in memory of one of Professor 
Cumnock's former pupils, whose father, 
Gustavus F. Swift, of Chicago, generously 
contributed to its erection. It stands just 
northeast of the Liberal Arts Building, near 
the lake shore. Alany of the windows look 
directly upon the water, and from every 
point the view is beautiful. The building is 
of the Venetian style of architecture. The 
basement is of rock- faced Lemont lime- 
stone, and the upper stories are a buff-col- 
ored Roman brick and terra cotta. The 
roof is of red tile. There are three main 
entrances, the one on the south leading to 
the broad corridor that opens into the audi- 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



torium, and the other two on the east and 
west sides of the building. 

The auditorium, though not large, is the 
handsomest room in any of the University 
buildings. No pillars obstruct the view, 
as the roof is supported by iron trusses 
stretching from the roof girders. The floor 
has a gentle incline to the stage from the 
sides and rear of the auditorium, so that 
from every seat an excellent view may be 
obtained. This building gives the depart- 
ment the best facilities of any school of 
oratory in America, and enables it to ofifer 
special advantages to all students pursuing 
its course of study. 

The unique feature in the organization 
of the work of the school is the emphasis 
placed upon private training. Two private 
lessons in elocution are given, weekly, to 
each student during the entire course. Be- 
ing free from rent and taxes, which other 
schools of like character are compelled to 



pay, the management can afford to provide 
this personal training which other schools 
of oratory cannot, or do not, ofifer. 

In a large measure the same personal 
training is carried on in English composition 
and rhetoric. The number enrolled in the 
last catalogue of the school is 214, and the 
patronage is increasing slowly, but steadily. 
The graduates of the school are filling im- 
portant positions in many of the leading 
colleges and schools of the Middle West, 
while a flourishing school of oratory, named 
after the Director and managed by one of 
the former teachers of this Department, is 
located at Los Angeles, California. 

It is safe to say that the future of this 
Department is secure, and that students, as 
they come to learn the high grade and qual- 
ity of the work done here, will enroll them- 
selves, where the highest art in public 
speaking and writing are essential condi- 
tions for graduation. 



CHAPTKR XVII. 



UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS 

(By PROF. J. SCOTT CLARK, A. M., Lit. D.) 



Evanston Lifc-Saving Crczv — Tragic Fate 
of the Steamer "Lady Elgi}i" Leads to 
Its Organisation — Its First Members — 
List of Notable Rescues — Service Re- 
zvarded by Issue of Medals to the Creiv 
by Act of Congress — Baseball History — 
The Old Gymnasium — Tng of War 
Teams — Football Records — Athletic Field 
and Grand Stand — Track Athletics and 
Tennis Games. 

The noblest and the most interesting 
chapter in the history of athletics at North- 
western University grows out of the fact 
that its founders selected for the University 
a site near what had long been known to 
lake mariners as a dangerous point on the 
shore of Lake Michigan. As the determin- 
ation of this site settled the site of Evanston, 
so the configuration of the shore at this point 
inade it inevitable that, sooner or later, there 
should be established here a life-saving sta- 
tion. Long before the days of football 
teams, coaches, trainers, and tiie like — long 
before a gymnasium was even asked for, 
a volunteer band of Northwestern students 
made themselves immortal and won the 
praise of the nation by their heroic rescue 
of passengers from the ill-fated steamer, 
the "Lady Elgin." On the 8th day of 
September, i860, a merry company of four 
hundred souls set out from Chicago for an 



excursion trip. The story of the rapid de- 
struction of the steamer by fire and the 
death by drowning and otherwise of all but 
q8 of the passengers, is one of the tragic 
episodes in the history of Chicago. As the 
terrified victims came floating toward the 
shore line of the University campus, cling- 
ing to bits of the wreckage, only to be 
tossed cruelly back by the breakers, while 
horrified friends who lined the bluff 
shrieked in agony, several students, led by 
Edward W. Spencer, of the class of 1861, 
stepped out from the crowd, attached ropes 
to their waists, and plunged into the surf, to 
risk their lives in an effort to save drowning 
women and children. Again and again 
they made their way through the angry 
waves and deposited in safety some fainting 
victim of the disaster. It was only when 
their own strength gave out completely that 
thev desisted. Spencer was carried to his 
room in a fainting condition. He is still 
living (1903) in California, and it is as- 
serted on apparently good authority that 
his health, throughout his long life, has 
been seriously affected by his voluntary ex- 
posure in behalf of the victims of the "Lady 
Elgin" disaster. 

The wide interest excited by the action 
of the Northwestern students in connection 
with the burning of the "Lady Elgin" re- 
sulted in the organization, in October. 1872, 



[52 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



of a volunteer crew of five men from the 
Senior class of the College of Liberal Arts. 
The members of this crew have since be- 
come well known in high circles in the 
Central West ; they were L. C. Collins, 
George Lunt, E. J. Harrison, Eltinge El- 
more, George Bragdon, F. Roys, and M. D. 
Kimball. Soon afterward Dr. E. O. Haven, 
then President of the University, received 
from Commodore Murray, then in charge of 
the United States life-saving service, a pres- 
ent of a iine life-boat, and Dr. Haven com- 
mitted the boat to the care of the Senior 
class, from whose members the crew were 
selected. The boat was presented with the 
provision "that proper care will be taken of 
it and that it will be officered and manned 
by students, who will train themselves and 
do their best, if an emergency arises, to 
help any craft that may be in danger on the 
coast of the University." We find no record 
of any immediate provision for housing the 
boat; but, in 1873, the students petitioned 
that the life-boat be taken from the ex- 
clusive control of the Senior class and be 
placed in charge of a crew selected from all 
classes, according to their best physical and 
moral qualifications. No action seems to 
have been taken during 1874, but in 1875 
the boat was placed in the hands of such a 
crew as was called for by the petition. 

In December, 1876, it was announced that 
an agreement had been reached with 
the Federal Government, by the terms 
of which a life-saving station was to 
be immediately erected by the Gov- 
ernment on the University campus, and 
that a crew of five was to be selected 
from the student body, irrespective of 
classes, which was to be captained by an 
experienced seaman paid by the Govern- 
ment. 

In April, 1877, E. J. Bickell, 'j"], was ap- 
pointed captain of the new crew, and sixty 
other students applied for the subordinate 



positions. They were to receive $40 por 
month during the season and $3 extra for 
every wreck trip. In the followmg June the 
college faculty nominated as members of 
the crew: Warrington, 79; Hobart. '79; 
King, '79; Piper, '80; Shannon, '81: and 
AI. J. Hall of the Preparatory School, and 
these students were duly accepted by the 
Government. For a time the life-boat was 
housed in a temporary structure on the 
beach, but in 1876 the Government erected 
the eastern two-thirds of the present Life- 
Saving Station at a cost of about six thou- 
sand dollars. The site selected was on 
ground now covered by Fisk Hall. Prior 
to the erection of the latter building, in the 
summer of 1899, the station was removed to 
its present site on land then newly made 
near the water's edge. 

Since the formal organization of the 
Evanston life-saving crew, in 1877, as a 
regular part of the government service, over 
four hundred lives have been saved by its 
agency. The following tabular statement 
is taken from the records somewhat at ran- 
dom, and is typical of the work of the crew 
since 1883. To such rescues as these must 
be added scores of cases where vessels have 
been relieved from awkward or dangerous 
situations, but where it was not found neces- 
sary to remove either passengers or crews. 
Besides the aggregate of over four hundred 
lives the local life-saving crew has saved 
property amounting to millions in value: 





Name and No. Brought 


Date. 


Class of .\shore in 




Vessel Surf-boat. 


May 9, 1S8.3. 


Schooner, "Kate E. Howard." 8 


Sept. 19, 18S6. 


Schooner. "Sodus," 5 


June 19. 18S-. 


Schooner, "Sunrise," 7 


Nov. 24, 1SS-. 


Schooner, "Halstead," lU 


Oct. 22, 1889. 


Schooner, "Ironton." 8 


Nov. 28. 1889. 


Steamer, "Calumet," 18 


May IS. 1894. 


Schooner, "Lincoln Ball," 4 


May 26. 189.5. 


Schooner, "J. Emory Owen." 27 


Nov. 26, 1895. 


Steamer, "Michigan," 9 


Of these. 


the rescues from the vessels 


"Calumet," 


"Owen," and "Michigan," are 



HISTORY OF EVANSTON 



153 



the most noteworthy. By reference to the 
dates it will be seen that two rescues 
were made very late in November, nearly 
a month after the crews were off from reg- 
ular summer and autumn duty. In both 
cases the rescues were made in the teeth 
of fierce gales and blinding snowstorms. 
Both involved tremendous and heroic exer- 
tion on the part of the crew, in order to get 
the surf-boat launched at the points opposite 
the wrecks. The "Calumet" was stranded 
at the very unusual distance of one thousand 
yards from the shore. The aggregate value 
of the three vessels, with their cargoes, 
was over $252,000. Not a life was lost in 
any of the rescues enumerated in the fore- 
going table. ^Mention should also be made 
of the large number of persons who have 
been rescued from capsized row-boats and 
of the rescued children who have fallen 
from the piers. 

The present captain, Patrick Murray 
(1904), was appointed July 18, 1903, after 
having served as surfman seven years at the 
North Manitou Island station, two years at 
Muskegon station, and five years at Evan- 
ston. 

Captain Lawrence O. Lawson, who made 
such a worthy record for twenty-three years 
at the head of our station, was born in Swe- 
den in 1843. and began the life of a sailor 
at the age of eighteen. He came to Amer- 
ica in 1 86 1, and sailed on the Great Lakes 
during the following three years. He be- 
came a citizen of Evanston in 1864, engaged 
in fishing for a time, and was appointed Cap- 
tain of the crew in 1880. In addition to his 
services in aiding to save nearly five hun- 
dred lives. Captain Lawson originated the 
system of righting the Beebee-McClellan 
surf-boat, which has since been adopted by 
the Government for use by all the crews of 
the service. In rescuing the "Calumet," as 
already described. Captain Lawson and his 
crew manifested such courage and endur- 



ance that Congress awarded to each man a 
gold medal for "saving life from the perils 
of the sea." The medal consists of a gold 
bar from which hangs a broad ribbon sup- 
porting a golden eagle, sustaining in his 
beak a heavy disk of gold. The medal com- 
plete weighs about four ounces. In a circle 
on the face of the medal are the words 
"United States of America — Act of Con- 
gress, June 20th, 1874." In high relief is a 
representation of a crew in the act of saving 
a drowning person. On the obverse, in a 
circle, are the words : "In memory of heroic 
deeds in saving life from the perils of the 
sea." In relief is a tablet, surmounted by 
an eagle, with a woman's figure on the left, 
while on the right are an anchor and seals. 
Each medal is inscribed to its owner: "For 
heroic services at the wreck of the "Calu- 
met," Nov. 28, 1889." In addition to Cap- 
tain Lawson, the crew who thus honored 
Evanston in honoring themselves were : W. 
M. Ewing, F. M. Kindig, E. B. Fowler, W. 
L. Wilson, G. E. Crosby, and Jacob Loin- 
ing, all University students at the time. 



Little seems to have been done in the way 
of general college athletics during the first 
twenty-five years of Northwestern's exist- 
ence. In fact, systematic athletics were as 
yet undeveloped in this country. Lawn ten- 
nis had not been imported, track athletics 
were in an incipient stage, and the modern 
game of football was unknown. The village 
of Evanston was small, and the college was 
smaller. There was plenty of wood to saw, 
and there was now and then a citizen's cow 
to be pulled out of the slough that existed 
in all its depth along the present line of our 
railways. In such diversions as these did 
the early sons of Northwestern engage for 
the development of their physical strength 
and, incidentally, the repletion of their thin 
purses. With the incoming of the 'seventies 



154 



NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



baseball began to be called "the national 
game," and our boys, like all normal youths, 
soon caught the fever. 

As early as the spring of 1871, we read 
of inter-class games, and in June of that 
year a nine, of which Air. James Raymond 
was a member, placed on record the first 
publicly recorded score, which stood North- 
western 35, "The Prairies" (a local Chicago 
nine) 7. On the 4th of July, 1871, occurred 
a memorable series of events, no small part 
of which were athletic in character. This 
was the day when ten thousand people 
gathered from all the surrounding country 
in the campus grove; when the Ellsworth 
Zouaves paraded under General John L. 
Beveridge as Grand Marshal: when $10,- 
000 was raised to set the young University 
on its feet, and when the corner-stone of the 
"Evanston College for Ladies" (now \\"il- 
lard Hall) was laid. This was an indepen- 
dent school until June, 1873. Of the $10.- 
000 raised on this memorable day, $2,500 
was given by Governor Evans, whose nair.e 
our city bears ; several thousands were given 
by other friends of higher education, and r.n 
small sum was raised, as the college paper 
says, "by sales and exhibitions." These ex- 
hibitions seem to have consisted of what 
would now be called, in the parlance of 
track athletics, various "events," such as 
jumps, ball-throwing, tub-races, boat-races 
on the lake, etc.. etc. So we may say with 
much of accuracy that Northwestern's for- 
mal athletics began with a field day. Some 
features of this first field day are worth 
chronicling in detail. Here they are: 

"Baseball match between Ladies' College 
nine and Northwestern University : prize a 
silver ball ; score, 57 to 4 in favor of North- 
western." (What an ominous beginning 
for co-education!) 

"Regatta — -Yachts, six-oared barges, and 
sculls ; prize an ice-set and three flags." 



"Exhibition drill by the Ellsworth 
Zouaves." 

"Baseball match with the 'Atlantics" of 
Chicago." 

During the spring and fall of 187 1 the 
University nine played ten games with non- ^ 
college nines, including the afterward fa- 
mous White Stockings of Chicago, whom 
the college boys beat by a score of 18 to 12, 
and two with Racine College, in which 
each side scored but once. The highest 
recorded score of the season was 68 — a fact 
that speaks volumes as to the crudeness of 
the game and the players of those early 
(lays. Of the twelve games, our team won 
ten. 

During the next decade, and longer, the 
four colleges of what was then literally the 
Northwest were Northwestern University, 
Chicago University (the old institution, dis- 
continued in 1885), Racine College, and, 
later, Lake Forest University. The great 
State L'niversities that have since so largely 
dominated Western college athletics, were 
then either unborn or still in their infancy, 
and the custom of making long trips for in- 
tercollegiate games had not become estab- 
lished. We find no records for 1872 and 
1873. but during 1874 a team, which in- 
cluded John Hamline as short-stop and 
Charles Wheeler as center-fielder, played 
nine intercollegiate games. In the "final" for 
"the championship of the Northwest," Ra- 
cine won by a few points. As compared 
with "our ancient enemy." Chicago, the 
total score for the season was Northwestern 
University 42, Chicago University, 34. 

From 1875 to the present day the baseball 
records of Northwestern are chequered but 
not discreditable. In 1875 we won the silver 
ball and "the championship for the North- 
west," with Charles Wheeler as left-fielder.- 
W. G. Evans, 'jj, son of Governor Evans, 
and George Lunt, '72, were the leaders in 




^t^)v^^7c^^^^ 



HISTORY OF EVAXSTON 



155 



the L'niversity athletics of the early seven- 
ties. In 1876, at Waukegan, was formed 
the first intercollegiate baseball association 
in this section, and the games of the season 
transferred the silver ball and the champion- 
ship to Chicago. During this year batting 
records of the college nines began to be 
published. By the terms of the constitution 
of this intercollegiate association, each col- 
lege was to play two games with each of the 
other three institutions. In 1877 Chicago 
again won the championship. During 1878 
the colors white and brown were adopted 
by the Northwestern players, and a regular 
baseball diamond was laid out, "resodded, 
and rolled," on the site where the Orrington 
Lunt Library building now stands. It was 
during this year that the first efforts were 
made to check the already growing tendency 
toward professionalism. Before this year 
the custom seems to have been to use, as 
players on any college team, the best men 
obtainable, without much scrutiny as to their 
actual relation to the scholastic curriculum 
of the college. But in the constitution of 
the "Intercollegiate Baseball Association" 
that was in force during 1878, I find the fol- 
lowing article : 

"The captains of the respective nines must 
file with the secretary of the Association, be- 
fore April 20th, the names of their respec- 
tive nines and of the substitutes, together 
with a certificate from the secretary of the 
Faculty showing that the players have been 
in daily attendance at their respective insti- 
tutions for twenty days previous to the first 
announced league game." 

It will be seen that, while this action did 
not prevent a student from entering college 
for a course in baseball, it was the first step 
toward pure college athletics in the Central 
West. 

During 1878 the silver ball went to Ra- 
cine College. 



In 1870 our team defeated Racine once 
and Chicago twice. In 1880 the games of 
the Association resulted in a tie between 
Racine and Northwestern ; and, as Racine 
refused to play off the tie. thus retaining 
possession of the silver ball trophy. North- 
western withdrew from the association. 

Because of the disruption of the old 
league there seems to have been no inter- 
collegiate baseball here during 188 1, but 
in December of that year delegates from 
Racine College, the University of Wiscon- 
sin, the University of Michigan, Chicago 
University and Northwestern met in Chi- 
cago and formed a new league. The limits 
of our space forbid a detailed account of the 
baseball games from 1881 to 1903. Over 
our defeats it is fair to draw the mantle of 
oblivion : over our victories we have a right 
to rejoice. In 1883, when the University 
of Michigan had withdrawn