Skip to main content

Full text of "The life of Jesse W. Fell"

See other formats 


UNIVERSITY  OF 

ILLINOIS  LIBRARY 

AT  URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 

STACKS 


CENTRAL  CIRCULATION  BOOKSTACKS 

The  person  charging  this  material  is  re- 
sponsible for  its  renewal  or  its  return  to 
the  library  from  which  it  was  borrowed 
on  or  before  the  Latest  Date  stamped 
below.  You  may  be  charged  a  minimum 
fee  of  $75.00  for  each  lost  book. 


inutllof  ton/  ono  UFtoorlininfl  of  books  oro  rca&ons 
for  disciplinary  action  and  may  remit  In  dismissal  from 
the  University. 

TO  RENEW  CALL  TELEPHONE  CENTER,  333-B4OO 
UNIVERSITY   OF    ILLINOIS    LIBRARY   AT   URB  ANA-CHAMPAIGN 


APR  0  8  1993 


When  renewing  by  phone,  write  new  due  date  below 
previous  due  date.  L162 


ff 


..,, 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS  STUDIES 

IN   THE 

SOCIAL  SCIENCES 

VOL.  V  JUNE,  1916  No.  2 


BOARD  OF  EDITORS 

ERNEST  L.  BOGART  JOHN  A.  FAIRLIE 

LAURENCE  M.  LARSON 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 

UNDER  THE  AUSPICES  OF  THE  GRADUATE  SCHOOL 

URBAN  A,  ILLINOIS 


COPYRIGHT,  1916 
BY  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


The  Life  of  Jesse  W.  Fell 


FRANCES  MILTON  I.   MOREHOUSE,  A.M. 


507532 


FELLS  OF  DALTON  GATE 


FELLS  OF  LONGLANDS 


FELLS  OF  SWARTHMORE  HALL 


COATS  OF  ARMS  OF  THE  FELL  FAMILIES 

Jesse  W.  Fell  was  a  direct  descendant  of  the 
Fells  of  Longlands 


FOREWORD 

There  are  few  men  in  any  generation  who  see  their  lives 
in  relation  to  the  accomplishment  of  that  generation.  Few 
realize,  altho  all  profess  to  believe,  that  appraisal  of  worth 
must  be  according  to  the  proportion  of  a  man's  part  in  the 
advance  of  his  day;  and  that  all  honors  and  distinctions  fall 
away  from  men  when  they  stand  before  the  bar  of  years,  to  be 
judged  in  the  stark  light  of  truth  as  to  character  and  service. 
All  men  acknowledge  this  true,  but  the  men  are  rare  indeed 
who  apply  it  to  their  own  lives,  and  make  it  the  basis  of  their 
individual  schedule  of  values.  Many  men  assert  the  immortal- 
ity of  the  soul,  but  few  can  conceive  themselves  in  any  scheme 
of  time  which  transcends  the  limits  of  their  own  lives;  or  con- 
tent themselves  to  labor  without  reward,  because  they  believe 
that  in  the  fulness  of  time  all  souls  must  find  full  compensation. 

In  writing  the  story  of  a  man  whose  part  in  the  life  of  his 
generation  might  in  itself  bring  him  some  meed  of  remem- 
brance, I  am  nevertheless  most  anxious  that  his  rare  quality  of 
indifference  to  such  rewards  as  men  might  give,  of  steadfastness 
to  ideals  hot  generally  held  in  his  day,  of  faith  in  ultimate 
things,  should  stand  out  as  the  true  reason  for  his  being  brought 
as  fully  as  possible  before  men.  Here  was  one  who  steadily 
ignored  or  refused  honor  and  fame,  who  despised  no  quiet  and 
unrecognized  labor,  who  was  not  turned  aside  from  his  steady 
aim  by  the  pressure  of  circumstance;  in  short,  whose  belief  in 
the  future  was  interpreted  in  all  the  doings  of  his  busy  life. 
This  is  the  sufficient  reason  for  writing  a  life  of  Jesse  W.  Fell. 

FRANCES  M.  MOEEHOUSE. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.     Early  Years,  1808-1836 9-21 

II.  Business  Ventures  and  Home  Life,  1834-1856 22-35 

III.  The  Journalist,  1836-1858 36-38 

IV.  Founding  the   Normal   School,   1853-1860 39-40 

V.     Political  Activities,  1840-1860 50-62 

VI.     The  Years  of  the  Civil  War 63-72 

VII.     Public  Service  After  the  Civil  War 73-84 

VIII.     Railroads  85-91 

IX.     The  Religious   Liberal 92-95 

X.     Local  Political  Activities 96-105 

XL     The  Tree  Planter 106-111 

XII.     Last   Years 112-118 

Bibliography  119-121 

Index  _ 123 


CHAPTER   I 

EARLY  YEARS,  1808-1836 

The  Fell  farm  in  New  Garden  Township,  Chester  County, 
Pennsylvania,  lay  mainly  upon  a  high  ridge,  which  was  known 
by  the  Indian  name  of  Toughkenamon,  or  Fire  Brand  Hill.  It 
is  a  region  rich  in  historical  associations,  not  far  from  Brandy- 
wine  battlefield.  The  house  was  built  of  stone,  and  in  later 
years  was  remodeled  into  a  handsome  country  residence.  Here 
Jesse  W.  Fell  was  born,  November  10,  1808.  His  parents  were 
Friends,  of  ancient  and  honorable  English  lineage,  but  of  lim- 
ited means  and  simple  tastes.  His  father  was  a  hatter,  his 
mother  a  preacher  of  the  Hicksites.  Because  he  had  much  skill 
in  song,  his  father,  when  he  later  united  with  the  Methodists, 
became  a  choir  leader;  and  he  sometimes  turned  his  resonant 
speaking  voice  to  account  in  crying  sales.  There  was  a  large 
family;  Jesse,  named  for  his  father,  was  the  third  child. 

When  he  was  eight  years  old,  the  family  moved  to  another 
town  in  New  Britain  Township,  and  subsequently  to  Downing- 
ton.  In  the  country  Jesse  attended,  with  his  brothers  and  sis- 
ters, the  neighborhood  subscription  schools  maintained  among  the 
Friends  of  Pennsylvania;  for  there  were  then  no  public  schools 
in  the  state.  These  schools,  within  the  limited  scope  of  their 
courses  of  study,  were  usually  good,  and  the  Fell  children  re- 
ceived a  solid  foundation  in  the  elementary  subjects.  The  elder 
brothers  were  apprenticed,  upon  reaching  the  proper  age,  to  a 
blacksmith  and  a  wheelwright  respectively.  As  Jesse  was  not 
a  robust  lad,  the  parents  and  other  relatives  thought  it  best  to 
apprentice  him  to  a  tailor,  and  cast  about  for  a  skilful  master 
who  might  teach  him  this  trade.  But  the  boy  himself  objected 
so  strenuously  that  the  plan  was  abandoned.  He  "would  learn 
a  better  business, ' '  he  declared ;  and  his  parents,  not  wishing  to 
coerce  him,  waited  for  some  definite  talent  or  liking  to  appear, 
which  might  guide  their  son  in  deciding  upon  his  vocation.  As 
yet  the  boy  had  no  plan,  save  that  of  becoming  wiser  than  he 
was.  He  wanted  to  go  to  some  school  that  would  teach  him 
more  than  the  country  subscription  schools  offered. 

9 


10  JESSE   W.   FELL  [274 

Joshua  Hoopes  conducted  a  boarding  school  for  boys  in 
Downington  at  the  time,  which  was  the  best  school  in  that  part 
of  Pennsylvania.  It  was  remarkable  in  that,  at  a  time  when 
the  classics  formed  the  core  of  instruction  in  almost  all  sec- 
ondary schools,  it  emphasized  the  natural  sciences.  The  master 
was  an  enthusiastic  botanist,  a  popular  lecturer  on  astronomy, 
and  sufficiently  adept  at  mathematics  to  win  the  admiration  of  his 
community.  These  subjects  he  had  mastered  by  dint  of  sys- 
tematic application  of  his  really  brilliant  mind  to  printed  treat- 
ises, and  by  giving  rein  to  an  originality  which  the  higher 
schools  of  those  days  did  not  greatly  encourage.  Free  from 
the  traditions  of  schools,  this  village  schoolmaster  gave  to  his 
boys  a  type  of  education  destined  to  become  popular  afterward, 
but  in  other  places  practically  unknown  to  his  own  day.  He 
taught  of  plants  and  animals,  of  husbandry  and  astronomy,  of 
literature  and  mathematics,  with  a  wealth  of  practical  applica- 
tion which  linked  books  with  life  and  study  with  pleasure. 

Jesse  Fell  wanted  to  attend  this  school  but  lacked  funds. 
He  applied  for  admission,  however,  offering  to  pay  for  his  tui- 
tion by  any  kind  of  work  that  he  could  do.  An  arrangement 
was  made  by  which  Jesse  was  to  work  in  the  master's  kitchen- 
garden  and  help  about  the  house  in  return  for  his  board  and 
tuition.  The  work  was  hard,  but  not  unpleasant.  His  master 
introduced  him  to  the  joy  of  intelligent  gardening,  took  him 
for  long  tramps  in  the  woods,  and  allowed  him  the  freedom  of 
his  library.  The  books  were  a  mine  of  riches  to  the  boy,  and 
Joshua  Hoopes'  enthusiastic  love  of  plant  life  stirred  to  re- 
sponse a  kindred  feeling  in  the  heart  of  his  pupil.  There  grew 
out  of  this  pleasant  period  in  the  life  of  the  boy  that  love  of 
trees  which,  in  the  man  grown,  was  to  give  so  richly  to  the 
prairies  of  the  "West.1 

That  West  continually  called  him.  The  idea  of  going  into 
the  new  country  beyond  the  mountains  grew  in  him  during  the 
two  years  of  his  stay  at  Joshua  Hoopes'  school.  When  he  had 
finished  the  course  of  study,  Friend  Hoopes  wished  him  to  enter 
into  a  partnership  with  him  in  a  vineyard  enterprise  which  he 
was  then  planning.  Jesse  Fell  declined,  not  being  willing  to 
relinquish  his  dreams  of  a  larger  career  in  a  new  country ;  and 
Friend  Hoopes  abandoned  the  scheme  "for  want  of  a  suitable 
partner."  To  further  his  plan  of  going  west,  Fell  taught  school 
for  a  period  of  about  two  years,  from  1826  to  1828.  The  schools 

1Richard  Edwards,  Jesse  W.  Fell,  3. 


275]  EARLY   TEARS  11 

he  taught  were  near  his  home,  at  "Buckingham,  Colerain, 
Brown's,  and  Little  Britain.  As  he  understood  surveying  and 
other  branches  of  higher  mathematics,  he  was  able  to  command 
a  higher  salary  than  the  customary  one  of  two  dollars  per  quar- 
ter in  cash.  In  the  intervals  of  teaching  he  "kept  store"  for 
Issachar  Price  of  Callaghersville,  while  that  country  merchant 
was  away  crying  sales ;  and  in  all  his  spare  time  he  was  reading 
diligently. 

The  two  years  of  teaching  were  a  time  of  growth  and  devel- 
opment for  the  slim,  blue-eyed  Quaker  boy.  He  tested  his 
powers,  enlarged  his  knowledge,  broadened  his  interests.  Altho 
he  later  considered  himself  "but  an  indifferent  pedagogue,"  he 
was  thought  very  efficient  by  those  who  employed  him,  except 
at  Colerain.  This  was  an  extremely  rigid  Presbyterian  com- 
munity, with  a  school  in  which  the  New  Testament  had  been 
the  sole  text  in  reading  for  a  long  time.  Mr.  Fell  suggested  that 
his  pupils  bring  other  books  that  the  reading  might  be  varied, 
whereupon  he  was  denounced  from  the  local  pulpit  as  a  Hick- 
site  who  had  "expelled  the  Bible  from  his  school."  Without 
denying  the  first  part  of  this  charge,  which  was  true,  Jesse  Fell 
asked  that  the  second  accusation  might  be  inquired  into  offi- 
cially, and  when  it  was  repeated  without  investigation,  he  closed 
the  school,  very  hurt  and  very  indignant. 

It  was  while  teaching  that  he  had  his  first  great  lesson 
in  the  uses  of  force  and  diplomacy.  A  school  bully,  larger  than 
himself,  had  defied  him  and  had  been  whipped.  After  the 
whipping  he  administered  a  lecture,  so  tinctured  with  kindness 
and  well-directed  flattery — "what  all  men  like  if  skilfully  ap- 
plied," said  Mr.  Fell  in  telling  afterward  of  this  experience — 
that  the  boy  resolved  to  reform  his  ways.  He  became  later  a 
Methodist  Episcopal  minister  of  fine  character  and  widespread 
influence. 

At  this  time,  also,  Fell  began  to  speak  in  public,  and 
especially  to  debate  whenever  opportunity  offered.  At  the  little 
country  school-houses  there  were  held  political  debates,  as  well 
as  other  neighborhood  meetings;  and  at  these  debates  Fell, 
when  he  was  only  seventeen  years  of  age,  made  for  himself  a 
name  as  a  speaker,  particularly  upon  the  tariff,  that  subject  so 
dear  to  the  Pennsylvanian.2 

2The  principal  source  of  information  for  Fell's  early  life  is  the  un- 
finished manuscript  biography  begun  by  Richard  Edwards  from  notes 
dictated  by  Mr.  Fell,  and  already  noted.  It  is  among  the  Fell  MSS.,  as 
are  all  papers,  not  otherwise  placed,  in  the  following  pages. 


12  JESSE   W.   FELL  [276 

In  the  fall  of  1828,  having  saved  a  little  money  and  bor- 
rowed more  from  his  brother  Joshua,  Jesse  Fell  started  for  the 
West.  He  was  twenty  years  of  age,  still  slight  and  rather  frail 
in  physique,  and  unacquainted  with  the  world.  He  was  going 
to  seek  his  fortune  in  an  unknown  country,  with  no  definite 
trade  or  profession  as  an  asset.  His  family,  with  a  helpful 
confidence  in  his  ability  to  do  what  he  wished  to  do,  bade  him 
godspeed.  He  spent  the  last  night  before  starting  for  the  West 
with  a  dear  friend,  R.  Henry  Carter,  with  whom  he  talked  far 
into  the  night,  of  old  days  and  days  to  come.  In  the  morning 
he  set  out  for  Pittsburg.  A  young  man  by  the  name  of  Drum- 
mond,  from  Washington,  started  with  him,  but  soon  became 
discouraged  and  returned  to  his  home.3 

This  first  stage  of  the  journey  was  accomplished  on  foot, 
except  for  a  few  miles  at  the  end,  when,  very  footsore,  Fell 
wavered  in  his  resolve  not  to  spend  his  money  until  he  was 
started  upon  the  farther  pilgrimage.  He  entered  Pittsburg 
upon  the  deck  of  a  little  canal  boat.  This  city  was  then  the 
clearing  house  of  all  western  enterprise,  the  gateway  to  the  new 
land,  and  a  center  for  securing  employment.  Here  Jesse  Fell 
met  a  Mr.  Reese,  who  employed  him  as  a  book  agent.  He  was 
to  take  orders  for-  Malte  Brun's  Geography,  Rollin's  Ancient 
History,  Josephus'  works,  and  one  other  book,  the  name  of 
which  Mr.  Fell  afterward  forgot.  Armed  with  this  means  of 
defraying  expenses,  he  boarded  a  steamer  for  Wheeling,  where 
he  soon  fell  in  with  a  certain  Mr.  Howell,  the  publisher  of  the 
Eclectic  Observer,  Mr.  Howell  conceived  a  fancy  for  the  young 
Quaker,  and  wished  to  interest  him  in  his  paper.  This  was  a 
journal  of  protest  against  slavery,  capital  punishment,  and  any 
other  institution  which,  in  the  eyes  of  the  editor,  deserved  cen- 
sure. Jesse  Fell  again  decided  against  the  half-gods;  he  was 
bound  for  the  newer  and  greater  West. 

While  canvassing  Wheeling,  however,  he  found  time  to 
write  his  first  contribution  to  a  periodical.  The  subject  was  one 
upon  which  he  had  often  grown  eloquent  in  the  country  school 
debates  of  Chester  County:  "The  Abolition  of  Imprisonment 
for  Debt."  Howell  was  delighted  with  its  force  and  fervor. 
Here  was  material  worth  the  working — what  an  abolitionist  he 

3R.  Henry  Carter  to  E.  J.  Lewis,  Mar.  8,  1887.  Grace  Hurwood  to 
Fannie  Fell,  Mar.  16,  1913.  The  latter  includes  notes  of  facts  related  to 
Miss  Hurwood  by  Mr.  Fell.  Franklin  Price  in  the  Fell  Memorial  (MS.), 
9-10. 


277]  EARLY   YEARS  13 

would  make !  He  offered  him  an  assistant  editorship.  But  Fell 
declined,  and  went  on  with  his  own  plans.  They  carried  him, 
with  his  books,  over  the  National  Road,  opened  at  that  time 
as  far  as  Zanesville.  He  met  interesting  people  on  the  road, 
notably  the  Honorable  Benjamin  Ruggles,  United  States  senator 
from  Ohio  from  1815  to  1833. 

But  the  people  along  the  National  Road,  being  busily  en- 
gaged in  making  homes  in  the  wilderness,  had  no  great  thirst 
for  Josephus  and  Rollin.  Mr.  Fell  perceived  that  the  business 
of  selling  books  would  give  him  no  very  speedy  or  considerable 
help  in  winning  his  way  to  the  "West.  An  illness  took  his  small 
savings.  Consequently,  as  the  winter  of  1829-30  drew  near, 
he  made  his  way  back  to  Wheeling,  where  he  spent  the  cold 
months  in  Mr.  Howell's  office,  setting  type,  writing  for  the 
Eclectic  Observer,  and  learning  the  tricks  of  a  literary  trade. 
At  this  time  he  asked  his  father  for  money  to  invest  in  a  part 
interest  in  the  Amulet,  for  which  he  had  been  agent.  Very 
fortunately,  as  he  himself  said  afterward,  his  father  was  not 
able  to  help  him  at  that  time,  and  the  idea  of  this  partnership 
was  given  up. 

When  the  spring  returned,  he  set  off  again  with  his  books 
under  his  arm,  up  the  Ohio  and  toward  the  north,  through  the 
counties  of  Jefferson  and  Columbiana  (where  were  people  of 
his  own  religious  faith,  upon  whose  friendly  interest  he  might 
confidently  depend),  and  back  to  Pittsburg,  the  headquarters 
of  his  book  house.  Throughout  the  journey  he  had  kept  a  note- 
book, which  was  later  lost.  The  uncertain  fortunes  of  a  travel- 
ing agent,  his  illness  of  the  year  before,  and  the  knowledge  of 
the  world  which  his  experience  was  giving  him,  crystallized 
what  had  before  been  but  a  vague  ambition  into  a  settled  deter- 
mination. He  would  prepare  himself  for  a  profession,  which 
in  those  days  even  more  generally  than  at  the  present  time,  led 
to  honor,  influence  and  power.  He  would  be  a  lawyer.4 

With  this  resolution  in  mind,  but  with  his  agent's  para- 
phernalia still  in  hand,  he  turned  his  face  westward  again  in 
the  spring  of  1830.  He  had  gone  as  far  as  Steubenville  when 
the  event  occurred  which  was  to  prove  the  means  of  accomplish- 
ing his  desire.  Walking  along  the  sidewalk  with  an  agent's 
ready  eye  for  a  possible  buyer,  he  espied  a  young  man  busily 

4Elwood  Brown  to  Jesse  W.  Fell,  Dec.  20,  1829.  Jesse  Fell  to  Jesse 
W.  Fell,  Jan.  16,  1830.  Hannah  Fell  (an  aunt)  and  Rebecca  Fell  (his 
mother)  to  Fell,  Feb.  6,  1830. 


14  JESSE  W.   PELL  [278 

chopping  wood.  He  looked  not  averse  to  good  reading,  and  the 
agent  approached  him  in  the  interests  of  Josephus,  Bollin,  and 
Fell.  But  the  woodchopper  was  as  poor  as  Fell  himself,  and 
the  two,  finding  a  common  interest  in  their  common  situation, 
fell  to  discussing  ways,  means,  and  prospects.  The  woodchopper 
was  studying  law,  he  said,  in  the  office  of  a  local  firm  of  excel- 
lent reputation.  He  would  like  to  buy  books,  but  needed  every 
cent  he  could  make  for  bare  living  expenses.  After  he  had  been 
admitted  to  the  bar,  he  was  to  pay  for  his  tuition ;  and  then  he 
would  need  all  surplus  funds  for  his  law  library.  There  was  a 
place  for  one  more  student  with  Stokeley  and  Marsh,  and  he 
would  introduce  Fell  to  the  firm.5  • 

Fell  soon  made  arrangements  for  his  law  course.  He  was 
to  pay  his  way  in  part  by  doing  office  work  for  the  firm,  and 
partly  by  such  odd  jobs  as  he  might  find  to  do  in  that  frontier 
community,  where  there  was  usually  work  for  all.  His  two 
elder  brothers  helped  him  from  time  to  time  as  their  limited 
means  permitted.  Stokeley  and  Marsh  soon  came  to  value  him 
very  highly,  while  he  regarded  both  the  partners  with  the 
greatest  affection.  About  a  year  after  beginning  his  studies  in 
their  office,  he  made  a  visit  to  his  old  home,  and  was  present  at 
the  wedding  of  his  brother  Joshua,  on  January  16,  1831.  On 
the  return  journey  his  father  brought  him  as  far  as  Shippens- 
burg,  a  point  some  forty  miles  west  of  Harrisburg. 

For  another  year  the  law  lessons  in  the  office  of  Stokeley 
and  Marsh  went  on.  The  young  men  in  the  office  had  practice 
in  public  speaking,  for  they  were  eligible  to  membership  in  The 
Forum,  a  society  whose  object  was  the  improvement  of  its 
members  "in  speaking  and  general  culture".  Jesse  Fell  made 
his  first  speech  before  this  body  upon  his  old  theme  of  the 
abolition  of  imprisonment  for  debt.  The  presiding  officer,  a 
Mr.  Wright,  who  had  been  a  congressman  and  was  later  a  judge, 
praised  his  speech;  and  Fell  tried  again.  Mr.  Stokeley  was  a 
local  leader  in  the  ranks  of  the  Whigs,  who  were  at  that  time 
actively  opposing  Jackson.  There  were  innumerable  stump 

BFell  to  Jesse  Fell,  June  26,  1830.  The  story  as  told  by  Edwards 
implies  that  the  idea  of  becoming  a  lawyer  did  not  occur  to  Fell  until 
the  time  of  his  interview  with  the  woodchopper.  But  a  letter  to  his 
parents,  dated  June  6,  1830,  indicates  that  the  idea  had  been  with  him  for 
some  time;  while  Franklin  Price  states  (Fell  Memorial,  9)  that  he  had 
read  Blackstone  while  still  in  Chester  County. 


279]  EARLY   YEARS  15 

speeches  to  be  made,  and  Mr.  Stokeley  gave  to  Jesse  Fell  his 
share  in  the  work.  The  younger  man  conceived  a  great  admi- 
ration for  Henry  Clay,  which  guided  his  political  opinions  and 
activities  while  Clay  lived.  A  youth  working  in  Trumbull's 
bookstore,  and  at  that  time  a  Clay  enthusiast  with  the  rest, 
became  his  friend.  This  boy  was  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  afterward 
secretary  of  war  under  Lincoln. 

The  autumn  of  1832,  when  Jesse  Fell  was  preparing  for 
his  bar  examination,  was  an  especially  busy  season.  He  took 
these  examinations,  with  three  other  aspirants,  on  the  first  of 
October,  passed  them  successfully,  was  admitted,  and  started 
on  foot  for  the  West  about  a  fortnight  later.6  It  was  a  some- 
what risky  enterprise,  for  the  payment  of  his  debts  took  most 
of  his  money,  leaving  very  little  for  the  outfit  and  for  traveling 
expenses.  His  family  helped  him  as  they  could,  but  this  was 
not  much.  Mr.  Marsh,  regretting  to  lose  a  youth  who  gave  so 
great  promise,  had  offered  him  a  partnership  if  he  would  stay 
with  him,  his  own  partnership  with  Mr.  Stokeley  having  recently 
been  dissolved.  Again  Fell  chose  to  answer  the  call  of  the  ulti- 
mate mission.  His  plan  was  to  travel  through  parts  of  Ohio 
which  he  had  not  yet  visited  and  through  Indiana  and  Illinois. 
He  seems  not  to  have  thought  of  settling  at  once,  as  he  suggested 
to  his  father  at  the  time  that  he  "might  return  by  steamboat 
from  St.  Louis,  as  this  may  be  done  with  little  expense."  He 
seems  also  to  have  left  with  Mr.  Marsh  the  idea  of  possibly  re- 
turning to  enter  into  a  partnership  at  a  later  time. 

Traveling  on  foot  through  Ohio  and  Indiana,  Mr.  Fell  came 
to  Eastern  Illinois  in  November,  1832.  The  presidential  election 
had  been  held  the  day  before  he  entered  the  state.  At  Danville 
he  met  Judge  McBoberts,  a  prominent  citizen  of  those  days,  who 
told  him  of  a  village  then  but  lately  founded,  named  Blooming- 
ton.  Its  location  Judge  McRoberts  thought  good ;  it  was  a  ' '  com- 
ing" town.  In  Decatur,  the  next  considerable  place  which  Fell 
visited,  this  report  of  Bloomington  was  repeated.  At  Jackson- 
ville, Judges  Lockwood  and  Smith  made  out  for  him  his  certifi- 
cate of  admission  to  the  bar  of  Illinois.7 

In  Springfield  Fell  was  to  talk  to  John  T.  Stuart,  to  whom 
he  had  letters  of  introduction,  and  whose  advice  he  wished  be- 

'Certificate  of  admission  to  Ohio  Bar  (James  Ross  Wells,  clerk), 
dated  Oct.  13,  1832.  Fell  to  some  member  of  his  family,  Sept.  23,  1832. 
Jesse  or  Rebecca  Fell  to  Fell,  Sept.  2,  1832. 

7Nov.  I,  1832.     This  certificate  is  also  among  the  Fell  MSS. 


16  JESSE  W.   FELL  [280 

fore  deciding  upon  a  location.  At  sunset  of  a  warm  day  in  late 
November,  he  arrived  in  the  city  which  was  afterward  to  be  the 
capital  of  Illinois.  John  Todd  Stuart  was  sitting  before  the  door 
of  his  house  when  Fell  approached,  carrying  the  stout  stick  and 
carpet-bag  which  were  his  worldly  possessions.  Many  young 
men  so  accoutred  trod  the  streets  of  the  new  cities  of  the  West 
in  those  days,  and  Stuart  with  a  characteristic  friendliness  spoke 
cordially  to  this  newcomer  and  asked  him  what  he  might  do  for 
him.  Fell  answered  that  he  was  looking  for  John  T.  Stuart,  and 
would  like  to  be  directed  to  his  house.  Upon  learning  that  he  was 
speaking  to  Mr.  Stuart,  Fell  produced  a  letter  from  one  of  Stu- 
art's clients  in  Philadelphia,  introducing  the  Pennsylvanian  and 
asking  the  favor  of  advice  and  help  for  him.  The  two  men  sat 
down  then  and  there  to  discuss  the  question  of  location  and  op- 
portunity.8 

Mr.  Stuart  spoke  especially,  as  had  Fell's  previous  advisors, 
of  the  new  county  of  McLean,  lately  created  by  the  legislature, 
and  its  county  seat  of  Bloomington.  It  was,  he  said,  a  very  new 
town,  and  he  was  quite  sure  that  there  was  no  lawyer  there  as 
yet.  With  the  quick  decision  which  was  one  of  his  characteris- 
tics, Fell  determined  to  go  at  once  to  Bloomington,  and  rose  to 
depart.  Stuart  invited  him  to  stay  the  night,  but  so  eager  was 
Fell  to  reach  his  destination,  that  he  declined  the  proffered  rest 
and  entertainment,  and  trudged  that  night  many  miles  on  his 
way  to  Bloomington.  At  New  Salem,  pausing  for  food  and  rest, 
he  first  heard  the  name  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  when  the  townspeo- 
ple told  him  of  the  company  they  had  sent  to  the  Black  Hawk 
"War.  From  there  he  went  to  Pekin,  and  then  sixteen  miles 
farther  to  Dillon,  since  called  Delavan,  in  Tazewell  County.  Here 
he  stopped  to  visit  at  the  home  of  William  Brown,  members  of 
whose  family  he  had  known  in  Pennsylvania.  He  was  almost 
without  money,  but  came  "carrying  a  knapsack  and  feeling  as 
big  as  King  Solomon  in  all  his  glory, ' '  and  full  of  that  buoyancy 
and  faith  in  the  future  which  made  him  both  representative  and 
leader  in  his  day  and  place.9 

William  Evans  built  the  first  house  in  Bloomington  in  1826. 
Four  years  later,  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  December,  1830,  McLean 
County  was  created.  The  first  sale  of  town  lots  was  on  July  4, 

8These  facts  were  related  to  the  writer  by  Judge  James  Ewing  of 
Bloomington,  Dec.  4,  1912.  Mr.  Stuart  had  himself  told  them  to  Judge 
Ewing.  See  also  Fell  to  David  Davis,  Dec.  16,  1885. 

9Joshua  Brown  to  E.  J.  Lewis,  Dec.,  1896. 


281]  EARLY   YEARS  17 

1831.  At  the  close  of  1832  the  town  numbered  about  one  hun- 
dred people,  while  the  neighboring  settlement  of  Blooming  Grove 
had  fully  two  hundred  and  fifty.  General  Gridley,  lately  re- 
turned from  the  Black  Hawk  War,  was  the  leading  citizen. 
When  Jesse  Fell  arrived,  William  Evans  had  but  lately  sold  his 
house  to  James  Allin,  who  opened  a  store  in  it,  and  laid  out  the 
town  in  lots.  There  was  no  resident  clergyman  at  that  time,  no 
newspaper,  and  no  lawyer. 

Fell's  survey  of  the  situation  satisfied  him  that  there  existed 
a  favorable  opening  for  him,  and  he  returned  to  Delavan,  where 
William  Brown  offered  him  employment  for  the  winter  as  a  tutor 
to  his  children.  Mr.  Brown  was  the  great  man  of  his  locality — 
a  man  who  had  glass  panes  in  the  windows  of  his  cabin,  whose 
family  had  "come  west"  in  a  carriage,  and  who  employed  a 
teacher  to  instruct  his  children.  He  had  brought  his  family  from 
Pennsylvania  in  1828.  Later,  he  became  known  in  central  Illi- 
nois as  "Joseph,"  because  in  a  year  of  crop-failure  he  had  sold 
his  good  crop  of  corn  for  a  dollar  a  bushel,  the  normal  price  of 
grain  in  early  days  in  Illinois.  People  for  many  miles  around 
came  to  him  for  food  and  seed.  His  home  was  a  social  center. 
From  it  the  young  people  started  on  long  rides  to  lectures  or 
parties  at  Pekin  or  at  distant  farmhouses  and  settlements.  The 
eldest  son,  Joshua,  was  the  leading  spirit  among  the  younger 
men.  Eliza,  the  eldest  of  the  sisters,  was  a  girl  of  rare  loveli- 
ness and  ability,  whose  early  death  a  few  years  later  brought 
great  sorrow  to  the  whole  neighborhood.  The  children  of  two 
other  families  attended  Jesse  Fell's  classes  that  winter.  In  the 
Brown  home  he  found  congenial  friends,  encouragement,  and 
good  counsel,  as  well  as  the  material  help  he  needed.10 

When  the  spring  came  he  went  back  to  Bloomington,  and 
opened  his  office  in  a  small  brick  building  at  the  northeast  cor- 
ner of  Main  and  Front  streets.  The  small  legal  library,  which 
Mr.  Marsh  had  agreed  to  send  him  when  he  was  located,  to  be 
paid  for  when  practice  gave  him  means,  arrived  during  the 
spring,  after  a  long  journey  down  the  Ohio  and  up  the  Missis- 
sippi and  the  Illinois  to  Pekin,  whence  it  was  carted  overland  to 
Bloomington.  Fell  boarded  with  James  Allin,  who,  in  addition 
to  his  other  activities,  kept  the  only  inn  of  that  locality,  at  what 
came  afterward  to  be  known  as  ' '  the  old  Stipp  place. ' ' 

With  the  growth  of  population  and  the  inevitable  troubles 

10E.  M.  Prince,  "Hester  Vernon   (Brown)  Fell",  in  Historical  Ency- 
clopedia of  Illinois  and  History  of  McLean  County,  II,  1024-27. 


18  JESSE  W.   PELL  [282 

in  adjusting  titles  and  claims  to  lands,  there  came  legal  business 
in  plenty  to  Bloomington 's  first  lawyer.11  On  the  second  of  May, 
1833,  he  made  his  initial  appearance  in  an  Illinois  courtroom. 
This  was  at  the  third  session  of  the  Circuit  Court  in  McLean 
County,  which  sat  for  three  days,  and  disposed  of  several  cases. 
Fell  was  attorney  in  two  of  these  cases,  securing  favorable  judg- 
ment in  both  by  default.  At  the  next  session,  in  September,  he 
had  a  number  of  cases,  which  he  managed  so  well  that  his  posi- 
tion and  clientele  were  henceforth  assured.12 

John  T.  Stuart  continued  to  be  his  friend,  furnishing  him 
letters  of  introduction  and  recommending  him  to  clients.  He  be- 
came known  as  a  good  judge  of  land,  and  located  innumerable 
farms  for  his  clients,  making  the  entries  at  the  land  office  in  Dan- 
ville. Before  long  he  began  to  acquire  land  for  himself,  and  to 
exhibit  the  outward  and  visible  signs  of  prosperity.  He  bought 

"John  T.  Stuart  told  Judge  James  Ewing  that  when  he  attended 
court  in  Bloomington  six  months  after  Fell  had  settled  there,  Fell 
told  him  he  was  worth  about  $60,000  above  all  debts.  The  statement  is 
manifestly  inaccurate,  as  to  the  time  of  the  occurrence ;  but  it  gives 
some  idea  of  the  rapidity  with  which  fortunes  were  built  up  in  the  pros- 
perous days  of  the  early  land-exchange.  Fell  was  "worth  $60,000"  in  1837. 

The  first  professional  card  used  by  Mr.  Fell  gives  as  references  the 
following  lawyers  :  Richard  Dorsey,  Baltimore ;  William  Dorsey,  Richard 
Sturgeon  and  Amos  Jeans,  Philadelphia ;  William  P.  Dixon,  New  York ; 
Willis  Hall,  Albany,  New  York;  D.  B.  Leight  and  Company,  Louisville; 
Hon.  John  C.  Wright  and  Hon.  Samuel  Stokeley,  Ohio ;  and  Hon.  John 
T.  Stuart,  Illinois. 

12The  first  session  of  Circuit  Court  in  McLean  County  was  held 
Sept.  22,  1831,  at  Mr.  Allin's  house,  but  with  no  docket;  at  the  second, 
held  Sept.  27,  1832,  the  jury  tried  one  appealed  case,  dismissed  several 
on  the  docket,  and  continued  one.  Record  I,  Circuit  Court,  McLean 
County,  1-14.  Fell  to  his  parents,  Nov.  17,  1833. 

An  incident  related  by  Fell  to  Miss  Grace  Hurwood,  and  repeated 
from  her  notes  in  the  letter  of  March  16,  1913,  referred  to  elsewhere, 
goes  to  show  that  although  a  Quaker,  Fell  was  not  averse  to  defending 
himself  in  traditional  ways.  He  and  another  young  lawyer  became  en- 
gaged in  an  altercation  in  which  his  opponent  accused  him  of  lying.  "I 
told  him  that  would  have  to  be  settled  outside  the  courtroom,  so  when 
court  adjourned,  we  promptly  went  out  to  settle  it  in  the  time-honored 
way.  Neither  of  us  gained  much  advantage  over  the  other,  as  while  he 
was  the  stronger,  I  was  the  quicker,  and  we  were  parted  before  we  could 
finish.  We  had  fought  hard  enough  however  to  be  willing  to  shake  hands. 
In  the  morning  we  were  indicted  for  fighting  'to  the  disturbance  and 
alarm  of  the  people'.  My  defense  was  that  nobody  was  at  all  alarmed, 
much  to  Lincoln's  amusement,  and  the  indictment  was  quashed." 


283]  EARLY   YEARS  19 

his  first  horse,  McLean,  on  which  he  took  those  long  night  rides 
to  Danville,  Springfield,  Urbana  and  Vandalia,  that  soon  began 
to  tell  sadly  upon  his  health.  His  restless  energy  responded  to 
the  insistent  demands  of  a  growing,  changing,  developing 
country.  Some  prophetic  idea  of  its  possibilities,  and  much  boy- 
ish eagerness  to  realize  his  dreams  speedily,  urged  him  to  an  ac- 
tivity which  was  the  continual  wonder  of  all  his  friends.  He  was 
interested  in  everything  that  promised  to  help  the  country  of  his 
adoption,  and  developed  early  that  loyalty  to  Bloomington  and 
McLean  county  which  characterized  him  in  so  much  that  he  did. 

An  instance  of  this  loyalty  to  Bloomington  occurred  early 
in  his  career.  In  1834  an  effort  was  made  to  take  from  McLean 
County  its  territory  west  of  the  third  principal  meridian,  and 
add  it  to  Tazewell  County.  This  would  have  made  the  western 
boundary  line  of  McLean  County  scarce  eight  miles  from  Bloom- 
ington, thus  changing  its  central  location  to  a  western  one,  and 
so  furnishing  a  possible  reason  for  removing  the  county  seat  to 
another  town  at  some  future  time.  Mr.  Fell  opposed  the  move- 
ment valiantly  from  the  first.  Fearing  that  its  friends  might 
push  the  measure  through  the  legislature  if  that  body  were  left 
unguarded,  he  spent  most  of  the  winter  of  1834-35  in  Vandalia, 
where  his  efforts  and  influence  were  such  that  the  project  failed 
of  realization.  McLean  County  owes  to  him,  consequently,  and 
to  those  who  worked  with  him,  the  distinction  of  being  the 
largest  county  in  the  state.13 

The  winter  in  Vandalia  had  results  other  than  the  preser- 
vation of  the  territorial  integrity  of  McLean  County.  John  T. 
Stuart  of  Springfield  and  Abraham  Lincoln  of  New  Salem  were 
both  at  that  time  members  of  the  legislature  from  Sangamon 
County.  The  two  men  roomed  together,  and  Jesse  Fell  lived  in 
the  same  house.  These  men  were  very  interesting  to  the  east- 
erner, who  noted  the  sharp  contrast  between  Stuart's  attractive 
person  and  polished  manners  and  Lincoln's  big-boned,  angular, 
wrinkled  face  and  direct  ways.  Stuart  introduced  Fell  to  Lin- 
coln, and  the  two  became  almost  at  once  great  friends,  for  there 
was  in  them  a  fundamental  likeness  which  transcended  all  dif- 
ferences of  creed,  training  or  destiny.  The  friendship  of  the 
trio  lasted  to  the  death  of  the  president  in  1865,  and  was  ce- 
mented by  much  mutual  service.  In  1838,  when  Stuart  was  a 
candidate  for  Congress  against  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  both  Fell 

13Fell  to  David  Davis,  Dec.  15,  1885.  Lewis,  Life,  3.  Lawrence 
Weldon,  "Memorial  of  Jesse  W.  Fell"  in  Fell  Memorial. 


20  JESSE   W.    FELL  [284 

and  Lincoln  exerted  themselves  to  the  utmost  to  insure  his  elec- 
tion. Douglas  and  Fell  also,  in  spite  of  the  vigorous  opposition 
of  the  latter  on  this  and  other  occasions,  were  good  friends, 
serving  each  other  in  many  ways  with  the  greatest  cordiality.14 

Mr.  Fell  almost  immediately,  in  spite  of  his  youth  and  inex- 
perience, seems  to  have  become  a  leading  citizen.  This  was 
partly  due,  of  course,  to  the  fact  that  he  was  Bloomington 's 
first  regularly  trained  and  capable  lawyer ;  but  it  must  also  have 
been  largely  owing  to  innate  qualities  of  leadership  and  to  that 
singular  charm  and  adaptability  to  which  many  of  his  generation 
have  borne  witness.  In  1833,  Benjamin  Mills  wrote  to  him  ask- 
ing for  support  for  his  candidacy  to  represent  the  third  con- 
gressional district  in  the  next  Congress.  He  interested  himself 
in  securing  a  mail  route  from  Bloomington  to  Springfield,  con- 
cerning which  Governor  Joseph  Duncan  wrote  encouragingly  in 
the  spring  of  1834.  He  was  in  requisition  for  Fourth  of  July 
orations,  citizens '  mass  meetings,  and  debating-clubs.  In  1834 
he  became,  by  appointment,  commissioner  of  school  lands  for 
McLean  County.  The  county  records  of  that  and  the  succeeding 
year  show  many  mortgages  which  he  drew  up  with  the  school 
money,  both  for  town  lots  and  for  farms.  The  last  of  these  was 
made  in  October  of  1835.15 

Early  in  that  year  the  state  legislature  chartered  the  State 
Bank  of  Illinois,  of  which  Mr.  Fell  became  an  agent.  This  insti- 
tution consisted  of  a  "parent  bank"  at  Springfield,  with 
branches  scattered  over  the  state,  and  had  a  capital  of  one  and 
a  half  million  dollars.  During  1835  and  1836  the  bank  made 
seventy-seven  mortgages  in  the  city  and  vicinity  of  Bloomington, 
to  most  of  which  Fell's  name  is  signed  as  witness  to  instrument. 
The  bank  passed  out  of  existence  in  February,  1842,  having  sus- 

14Fell  to  Lincoln,  July  20,  1838.  Lincoln  to  Fell,  undated,  about  July 
25,  1838.  Douglas  to  Fell,  March  21,  1844. 

15School  money  in  Illinois  was  at  this  time  unappropriated  to  its 
ultimate  use.  Benjamin  Mills  to  Fell,  Feb.  22,  1833.  (Mills  was  opposed 
in  this  election  by  W.  L.  May,  another  personal  friend  of  Fell.)  Joseph 
Duncan  to  Fell,  Apr.  4,  1834.  The  manuscript  of  a  Fourth  of  July  ora- 
tion, delivered  in  1833  or  1834,  is  interesting  in  that  it  contains,  besides 
the  usual  congratulatory  and  patriotic  sentiments,  a  strong  plea  for  free 
public  schools.  Fell  delivered  this  same  oration  again  in  Clinton  many 
years  later,  at  which  time  he  noted  the  presence  of  two  or  three  Revo- 
lutionary soldiers. 


285]  EARLY   YEARS  21 

pended  specie  payment  in  May,  1837,  with  its  bills  at  fifteen  per 
cent  discount.16 

The  records  of  these  and  other  enterprises  show  that  by  1840 
Fell  had  become  a  man  of  position  and  prominence  in  Central 
Illinois.  He  was  known  chiefly  for  his  dealings  in  real  estate, 
and  of  these  it  is  meet  to  speak  more  fully. 

16N.  H.  Ridgley  to  Fell,  Oct.  30,  Nov.  2,  Nov.  6,  Nov.  13,  1835;  May 
3,  1836.  E.  J.  Phillips  to  Fell,  May  10,  1836.  Ridgley  to  Fell,  Oct.  11,  Oct. 
29,  Nov.  18,  1836.  Phillips  to  Fell,  Nov.  26;  Ridgley  to  Fell,  Oct.  26 
and  29,  1836.  See  Thompson,  "A  Study  of  the  Administration  of  Gov- 
ernor Thomas  Ford,"  in  Governors'  Letter-Books,  1840-1853^  xii'-l, 
(///.  Hist.  Col.  VII)  ;  Ford,  History  of  Illinois,  191  ff. 


CHAPTER  II 

BUSINESS  VENTURES  AND  HOME  LIFE,  1834-1856 

The  preemption  law  of  1830,  practically  reenacted  in  1834, 
provided  that  when  two  men  settled  on  the  same  quarter-section 
of  government  land,  each  of  them  might  preempt  an  additional 
eighty  acres  anywhere  in  the  same  land  district.1  These  claims 
were  called  "floats."  Many  poor  men  were  induced  by  capital- 
ists to  lend  their  names  for  floats,  later  to  sell  the  claims  so  ac- 
quired for  enough  to  pay  for  the  land  they  lived  on.  In  this 
way  many  hard-pressed  pioneers  were  enabled  to  gain  a  title  to 
their  farms,  while  such  land-buyers  as  were  shrewd  enough  and 
had  the  requisite  ready  money,  secured  much  fine  land  in  Illi- 
nois during  the  '30 's.  Mr.  Fell,  who  first  visited  the  village  of 
Chicago  late  in  1833,  afterward  remarked  to  friends  that  land 
in  that  locality  might  be  secured  in  this  way,  and  that  it  would 
be  a  paying  investment,  as  a  great  city  would  eventually  stand 
on  the  lake-front  at  that  point.  His  friends  laughed  at  him,  as 
much  of  the  land  for  which  he  prophesied  immense  future  values 
was  covered  with  water  during  most  of  the  year. 

But  one  man  in  Bloomington,  William  Durley,  declared  that 
he  believed  Fell  right  in  his  estimate  of  Chicago's  future,  and 
loaned  him  money  for  real-estate  operations  there.  He  de- 
manded a  high  rate  of  interest  as  compensation,  or  if  he  pre- 
ferred it  when  the  time  of  settlement  came,  half  of  the  land. 
With  this  money  Fell  secured  four  floats  in  the  fall  of  1834,  the 
land  being  within  the  limits  of  the  present  city.  When  the  notes 
were  due,  Mr.  Durley  chose  half  the  land  as  his  share.  Part  of 
the  two  "eighties"  which  came  to  him,  Fell  laid  out  in  town 
lots.2  The  rest  of  the  land  he  sold  to  David  Davis,  Dr.  John  An- 

12ist  Cong.  Sess.  I.,  Acts  of  the  United  States,  Chap.  209,  §2.  (May 
29,  1830.)  23rd  Cong.  Sess.  I.,  Acts  of  the  United  States,  Chap.  54,  §§  2-3. 
(June  19,  1834.)  Treat,  The  National  Land  System,  1785-1820,  306,  386. 
Fell  to  his  parents,  Nov.  17,  1833. 

2Lewis  states  {Life,  26)  that  they  comprised  "Fell's  addition  to  Ca- 
nalport".  The  property  lies  between  26th  and  3ist  streets,  and  west  of 
the  tracks  of  the  former  Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago  R.  R.  (now 
part  of  the  Pennsylvania  System). 

22 


287]  BUSINESS   VENTURES   AND   HOME   LIFE  23 

derson,  James  Allin,  M.  L.  Covell  and  O.  Covell  for  eight  thou- 
sand dollars,  taking  their  notes  for  the  amount.  After  the  crash 
of  1837  he  took  back  the  land  and  surrendered  the  notes  at  the 
earnest  entreaty  of  the  purchasers.  His  purpose  was  to  hold  the 
land  for  the  advance  which  he  knew  would  follow  when  better 
times  had  restored  confidence.  But  altho  he  held  out  against 
the  storm  longer  than  many,  his  liabilities  were  such  finally 
that  he  had  to  sacrifice  even  this  resource.  He  mortgaged  the 
*' eighties"  for  eight  hundred  dollars  each,  the  mortgages  being 
foreclosed  by  David  Davis  and  others.3 

While  he  owned  land  in  and  around  Milwaukee,  Fell  was 
much  interested  in  the  development  of  that  city  and  of  the 
state  of  Wisconsin.  Governor  John  Reynolds,  writing  to  him 
from  Washington  in  1836,  sent  the  pleasant  news  of  assured  fed- 
eral aid  for  a  lighthouse  in  Milwaukee  harbor,  a  survey  of  the 
harbor,  and  a  "road  to  start  from  that  point  running  west  to 
the  Mississippi."  William  L.  May,  having  been  elected  to  the 
National  House  of  Representatives,  attempted  at  Fell's  earnest 
solicitation  to  secure  a  post-office  at  Chippewa,  but  failed,  be- 
•cause  Chippewa  was  then  still  in  the  Indian  country.  Fell 
owned  lands  "up  the  river  from  Cassville"  in  Wisconsin,  in 
1837,  and  made  an  inspecting  tour  among  the  Indians  in  "the 
pine  country"  in  the  autumn  of  that  year.4 

But  these  operations  in  real  estate  in  places  far  distant  from 
his  own  home,  were  insignificant  when  compared  with  Fell's 
part  in  the  development  of  Central  Illinois.  Gaining  a  reputa- 
tion as  a  judge  of  land  in  connection  with  his  business  of  locat- 
ing tracts  for  settlement  and  investment,  and  becoming  thor- 
oly  acquainted  with  the  topography  of  the  country  and  with 
land  values,  through  his  work  of  loaning  school  funds  and  State 
Bank  funds,  he  entered  early  into  extensive  operations  in  Illinois 
lands  for  himself  and  others.  He  had  great  faith  in  land.  When 
a  boy,  spending  unhappy  hours  picking  the  stones  from  the 
rocky  farm  in  Pennsylvania,  he  had  dreamed  of  the  prairie,  and 

3Lewis,  Life,  25-27.  Fell  was  at  this  time  unable  to  borrow  money 
of  Eastern  capitalists,  while  Davis  had  friends  from  whom  he  secured 
the  funds.  William  L.  May  to  Fell,  Feb.  28,  1838. 

4 John  Reynolds  to  Fell,  June  28  and  July  6,  1836.  (Reynolds  was 
financially  interested  in  the  lands  dealt  in  by  Durley  and  Fell.)  Fell  to 
Hester  Vernon  Brown,  July  30,  1837 :  "from  the  Plain  River,  Cook  County, 
"Wisconsin."  Fell  to  Wm.  Brown,  Aug.  24,  1837. 


24  JESSE  W.   FELL  [288 

wished  that  he  might  own  farms  in  the  land  where,  travelers 
said,  there  were  no  stones  in  the  fields.  He  was  in  a  position,, 
during  those  halcyon  years  between  his  arrival  in  Illinois  and  the 
great  panic  of  1837,  to  satisfy  this  early  ambition.  He  did  so  on 
a  scale  which  only  the  low  land  values  and  the  easy  speculation 
of  the  day  made  possible.  He  was  one  of  a  generation  of  men  of 
large  faith  and  far  vision,  who  believed  in  their  states,  who  fore- 
saw the  empire  of  the  West  that  was  to  be,  and  who  supported 
their  faith  by  generous  investments.  There  were,  besides  men  of 
such  a  stripe,  any  number  of  mere  adventurers,  wildcat  specula- 
tors, who  also  contributed  to  the  false  feeling  of  security  and  pros- 
perity that  preceded  the  panic  of  1837.  The  General  Assembly,  in 
1836  and  1837,  entered  into  an  ambitious  series  of  internal  im- 
provements, which  while  it  saddled  the  state  with  a  debt  of  more 
than  fourteen  million  dollars,  was  nevertheless  a  strong  stimu- 
lant to  progress.  The  period  was  one  of  rapid  development. 
Merely  to  have  been  upon  the  market,  to  have  been  bought  and 
sold,  to  have  a  price,  gave  value  and  prominence  to  the  western 
lands  and  to  western  enterprise.  When  in  addition  to  this  towns 
were  founded  and  eastern  people  settled  upon  the  prairie  farms, 
when  mail  routes  and  railroads  were  projected  and  built  across 
the  wastes  that  separated  the  frontier  cities,  when  schools  and 
churches  and  shops  gave  to  western  life  an  approximation  of 
conditions  ''back  East,"  the  goal  of  the  builders  of  the  West 
seemed  in  sight.6 

In  this  work  of  nation-building  Jesse  Fell  had  no  small  part 
in  that  region  which  he  adopted  for  his  home.  He  worked  mainly 
in  Central  Illinois,  with  Bloomington  as  a  center,  but  branched 
out  wherever  opportunity  offered.  Clinton  was  among  the  first 
towns  in  which  he  became  interested.  He  founded  the  town, 
with  James  Allin,  in  1835,  naming  it  for  DeWitt  Clinton.  Mr. 
Fell  had  entered  a  goodly  amount  of  land  about  the  site  of  his 
proposed  town  before  laying  it  out,  and  made  a  handsome  profit 
from  the  sale  of  town  lots.  The  town  owes  to  him,  as  did  all  the 
places  where  he  had  a  chance  to  plant,  its  early  growth  of  trees. 

Fell  did  not  escape  paying  the  price  for  what  he  accom- 
plished. His  restless  energy  led  him  to  overwork,  and  in  June, 

5Mail  routes  were  established  by  Congress  in  response  to  petitions 
from  citizens  of  the  localities  to  be  served.  In  1838,  for  instance,  the- 
people  of  McLean  and  Tazewell  counties  asked  for  a  mail  route  from 
Bloomington  to  Lacon.  It  was  not  granted  at  once,  but  came  after  some 
delay.  Richard  M.  Young  to  Fell,  Feb.  21,  1839. 


289]  BUSINESS   VENTURES   AND   HOME   LIFE  25 

1835,  he  became  very  seriously  ill.  He  was  in  Chicago  at  the 
time  of  his  seizure,  on  the  twenty-third  of  the  month,  and  started 
on  the  next  day  for  Bloomington,  hoping  to  reach  his  friends  be- 
fore the  malady  developed  into  one  requiring  constant  care.  He 
succeeded  in  reaching  the  home  of  Dr.  Gaylord  at  Oxbow  Prairie 
in  Putnam  County,  where  he  was  taken  in  and  cared  for  while  he 
lay  helplessly  ill  for  three  weeks.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he 
was  placed  in  a  carriage  and  taken  to  Bloomington,  not  without 
further  injury  to  his  health,  and  was  unable  to  attend  to  his  us- 
ual duties  until  about  the  end  of  July.  Early  in  August,  how- 
ever, he  made  a  long  trip  to  St.  Louis,  stopping  at  the  Brown 
home  in  Delavan  on  the  way.  He  himself  attributed  his  illness 
to  exposure  and  overwork,  explaining  to  his  family  that  in  the 
six  months  preceding  it  he  had  ridden  not  less  than  five  thou- 
sand miles,  going  sixty,  seventy,  eighty,  and  even  eighty-five 
miles  a  day.  These  journeys,  he  further  pointed  out,  he  had  made 
in  every  kind  of  weather,  hot  and  cold,  wet  and  dry,  swimming 
his  horse  through  streams  and  afterward  riding  in  wet  clothes 
for  hours,  and  making  long  rides  at  night.  But  the  end  for 
which  he  had  endured  these  hardships  was  by  that  time  gained, 
and  he  registered  a  vow  never  again  to  abuse  his  health  and 
strength  in  this  manner.  He  had  made,  he  said,  not  only  what 
he  himself  needed,  but  also  a  surplus  with  which  to  aid  those 
who  had  long  aided  him.6 

Having  thus  earned  a  rest,  in  the  autumn  of  that  year  he 
went  back  to  his  old  home  for  the  first  time  since  settling  in  the 
West,  stopping  on  the  way  for  a  visit  at  the  home  of  his  brother 
Thomas  in  Lancaster,  Ohio.  In  Pennsylvania  he  suffered  a  re- 
turn of  his  former  illness,  lying  ill  at  his  brother  Robert's  in  Lit- 
tle Britain  for  over  a  month.  In  the  spring  of  1836,  however,  he 
was  back  in  Bloomington,  not  only  looking  after  his  own  inter- 
ests, but  planning  for  his  brother  Kersey.  He  had  entered  land 
for  his  brother  Joshua  during  the  preceding  year,  and  this  was 
deeded  to  him  in  May,  1836.  Kersey  Fell,  after  a  period  of 
clerkship  for  Covell  and  Gridley,  was  made  clerk  of  the  newly 
erected  DeWitt  County  with  power  to  organize  it.  He  was  later 
admitted  to  the  McLean  County  bar  and  practised  for  many 
years  in  Bloomington.  Thomas  left  Ohio  for  the  same  place  af- 
ter his  brother's  visit  in  the  autumn  of  1835.  Rebecca  Fell,  a 

6Fell  to  some  member  of  his  family,  Aug.  3,  1835.  When  Kersey 
Fell  arrived  in  Bloomington  the  next  spring,  he  was  told  that  his  brother 
was  "one  of  the  richest  men  in  town".  Lewis,  Life,  25. 


26  JESSE   W.   FELL  [290 

favorite  sister,  was  being  educated  at  Kimberton  Boarding 
School,  and  later  became  a  teacher  in  McLean  County.7  In  1837 
all  of  Fell's  family  who  were  not  already  in  the  West  came  to 
Bloomington,  where  they  made  their  home  subsequently. 

Two  years  after  his  family  had  followed  him  to  Illinois,  Mr. 
Fell  married  Hester  Vernon  Brown,  a  daughter  of  that  home 
which  had  first  welcomed  him  to  the  West.  She  had  been  "fin- 
ished" at  a  boarding  school  in  Springfield  since  the  days  when 
Fell  had  been  tutor  in  the  Brown  home.  Rev.  Nathaniel  Wright  of 
Tremont,  a  Universalist  clergyman,  performed  the  marriage  cere- 
mony, for  both  bride  and  bridegroom  had  become  somewhat 
liberal  as  to  Quaker  ways  and  Quaker  customs.8  The  wed- 
ding day  was  January  26,  1838.  Mr.  Fell's  parents  were  not 
present,  but  his  sister  Rebecca  and  his  brother  Kersey  attended, 
and  his  close  friend  David  Davis  was  best  man.  Joshua  Brown, 
brother  of  Hester,  who  was  also  a  friend  much  valued,  came  to 
the  wedding  from  his  home  in  Edwards  County,  and  afterwards 
helped  to  move  the  household  goods  into  the  cottage  that  Mr.  Fell 
had  built  in  Bloomington.  This  cottage,  later  enlarged  by  many 
additions,  was  on  the  land  which  Fell  subsequently  sold  to  David 
Davis.  In  the  accomplishments  of  Jesse  Fell  his  wife  had  no 
small  part.  She  was  a  notable  "manager,"  in  the  comprehen- 
sive sense  in  which  that  word  is  used  in  speaking  of  housewives. 
She  was  courageous,  capable,  and  independent.  In  her  own 
home  and  in  the  community  she  seconded  the  efforts  of  her  hus- 
band with  sympathy  and  ability.  Outliving  him  by  twenty 
years,  she  was  privileged  to  carry  out  some  of  the  plans  which  he 
himself  had  left  unfinished;  and  in  the  same  time  she  demon- 
strated the  force  of  her  own  personality,  which  for  so  many  years 
she  had  chosen  to  make  second  to  his. 

After  the  first  few  years  in  Bloomington  Fell  neglected  his 
law  practice  in  favor  of  the  more  congenial  work  of  buying  and 

7 McLean  County  Historical  Society  Transactions,  II,  35.  Fell  to 
Hester  V.  Brown,  Feb.  28,  1837.  Rebecca  Fell  to  Fell,  Nov.  20,  1836. 
In  this  letter  Fell's  sister  expresses  the  greatest  love  for  and  gratitude 
to  him.  It  is  finely  written  and  quaintly  composed,  but  unbends  in  places 
to  a  degree  of  childish  carelessness  and  even  to  one  faint  suspicion  of 
slang.  Other  letters,  models  of  an  art  carefully  taught  in  girls'  board- 
ing schools  of  that  day  and  showing  both  strength  of  character  and  an 
irrepressible  sense  of  humor,  are  dated  June  10,  Sept.  25,  Oct.  23,  and 
Christmas,  1836. 

8Rachel  Sharpless  (a  great-aunt)  to  Hester  Brown.  Undated,  but 
about  1836. 


291]  BUSINESS   VENTURES   AND   HOME   LIFE  27 

selling  land.  In  1836  he  sold  out  both  books  and  practice  to 
David  Davis,  altho  he  continued  to  use  the  same  office  with 
him  for  some  time.  Davis  had  come  from  Maryland  in  the  au- 
tumn of  1835,  and  settled  in  Pekin.  The  chills  and  fever  of  the 
early  prairie  days  so  sapped  his  strength  that  he  had  about  de- 
cided to  leave  Illinois,  when  Jesse  Fell,  alert  for  a  good  lawyer 
to  whom  he  might  turn  over  his  now  burdensome  practice,  per- 
suaded him  to  go  to  Bloomington.  He  offered  his  own  books, 
office  and  whatever  financial  aid  might  be  necessary,  as  an  in- 
ducement ;  and  kept  through  a  long  life  his  promise  of  friendship 
and  help.  With  the  practice  and  office,  Fell  sold  him  several  hun- 
dred acres  of  land,  at  the  prevalent  price  of  eight  dollars  per  acre, 
and  this  land  became  the  nucleus  of  Davis'  subsequently  consid- 
erable fortune.9 

His  real  estate  and  other  business  took  Fell  frequently  to 
the  eastern  cities.  In  1841  he  made  such  a  trip,  of  which  inter- 
esting details  are  to  be  found  in  various  letters.  Bidding  his 
wife  good-bye  at  Pekin,  whence  she  went  to  her  father's  home 
with  her  son  Henry,  to  stay  until  her  husband's  return,  he 
boarded  the  Glaugus  for  St.  Louis.  There  he  waited  from 
Monday  until  Wednesday  for  a  boat  to  Cincinnati,  taking  then 
the  Goddess  of  Liberty,  which  he  declared  "  a  splendid  boat," 
and  which  reached  the  city  on  Sunday  evening.  On  Monday 
morning  he  took  passage  in  the  Tioga  for  Wheeling,  thence  by 
stage  to  Baltimore,  where  he  arrived  June  20,  1841.  Two  days 
later  he  was  in  Washington. 

In  that  city  he  met,  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  his  old 
preceptor  and  friend,  General  Stokeley  of  Steubenville.  He  in- 
terested Stokeley  in  the  manuscript  of  a  book  he  had  with  him, 
which  had  been  copyrighted  in  March;  and  the  two  men  ar- 
ranged for  its  publication.  It  was  a  digest  of  laws  and  forms 
relative  to  real  estate,  evidently  intended. to  be  used  as  a  refer- 
ence or  text  book.  No  further  reference  is  made  to  it  after  1841, 
and  it  was  never  published.  Fell  wrote  to  his  -wife  at  the  time 
that  he  had  secured  favorable  attention  from  some  of  the  best 

9The  Bloomington  Observer  and  M'Lean  County  Advocate  of  April 
22,  1837,  contains  the  professional  card  of  "David  Davis,  Attorney  and 
Counsellor  at  Law.  .  .  Office  on  Front  street,  with  J.  W.  Fell,  Esq.  .  ." 
The  same  newspaper  contains  the  card  of  Thomas  Fell,  vendue  crier. 
Fell  in  the  Pantograph,  June  29,  1886. 


28  JESSE   W.   FELL  [292 

lawyers  in  the  country  concerning  it.  ' '  We  think  we  shall  be  able 
to  make  some  money  out  of  it, ' '  he  added.10 

Jeremiah  Brown,  a  member  of  the  House,  was  another  old 
friend  whom  it  was  a  pleasure  to  greet.  The  Westerner  found 
much  entertainment  in  visiting  sessions  of  Congress,  and  wrote 
his  wife  faithful  accounts  of  what  he  saw  there.  Clay  had  intro- 
duced his  bank  bill,  which  many  thought  would  pass,  "  although 
some  fear."  Fell  heard  him  make  a  strong  plea  for  it,  which, 
he  wrote  home,  was  ' '  a  great  effort ; "  he  still  thought  Clay  a  very 
great  man,  but  had  decided  that  noted  men  are  in  general  like 
others — ' ' distance  lends  enchantment  .  .  . "  "I  yesterday  vis- 
ited the  President  and  Post  Office  Department — and  had  a  cou- 
ple of  local  postmasters  dismissed.  The  President  [Tyler]  is  a 
clean,  good  sort  of  man — but  'ugly  as  sin.'  '  He  predicted  the 
creation  of  a  national  bank,  the  repeal  of  the  sub-treasury  law, 
the  distribution  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  public  lands, 
a  slight  modification  of  the  tariff — events  that  any  loyal  Whig 
might  easily  persuade  himself  that  he  saw  upon  the  political 
horizon. 

From  Washington  he  returned  to  Baltimore,  and  took  pass- 
age in  a  steamboat  down  Chesapeake  Bay  to  the  eastern  shore  of 
Maryland,  where  he  visited  Frank  Brattan,  an  old  Bloomington 
friend.  Returning  to  Baltimore,  he  went  the  next  day  to  Phil- 
adelphia, noting  the  fact  that  it  required  but  five  hours  to  go  a 
hundred  miles.  In  Philadelphia  he  was  most  impressed,  to  judge 
by  the  space  given  to  the  matter  in  one  of  his  punctiliously  fre- 
quent letters  to  his  wife,  by  a  new  "  bonne tt"  being  worn  by  the 
Quaker  girls  of  that  city.  "I  have  concluded,"  he  wrote  her, 
' '  when  I  get  ready  to  start  home  to  buy  thee  a  Bonnett,  if  I  can 
muster  money  enough  to  spare — of  a  very  pretty  fashion  lately 
introduced.  If  I  get  one  I  will  get  the  materials  to  make  some 
more  of  the  same  kind.  ...  I  have  almost  fallen  in  love  with 
the  Quaker  bells  of  Chestnut  Street  on  account  of  their  pretty 
bonnetts.  Not  perhaps  entirely  on  account  of  their  bonnetts 
either — but  because  they  are  in  the  first  place  in  themselves  very 
pretty — and  secondly  because  their  dress  and  deportment  is  so 

10The  complete  title :  Digest  of  the  Statute  Laws  of  the  States  and 
Territories  of  the  United  States  concerning  the  promissory  notes  and 
bills  of  exchange — the  limitations  of  actions — the  conveyance  of  real  es- 
tate and  the  appropriate  modes  of  authenticating  deeds,  devises,  letters 
of  attorney,  etc.  Copyright  Office  Records,  U.  S.  D.  C.  MISC.,  March 
6,  1841 ;  District  of  Illinois.  Fell  to  his  wife,  June  22  and  July  6,  1841. 


293]  BUSINESS   VENTURES    AND   HOME   LIFE  29 

neat  and  modest.  Of  all  the  city  girls  in  the  world  commend 
me  to  the  Philadelphians. "  He  promised  his  son  Henry  books 
and  toys  in  the  same  letter. 

During  his  stay  in  Philadelphia,  besides  attending  to  the 
business  which  had  taken  him  to  the  East,  he  visited  a  close 
friend,  Joseph  J.  Lewis,  at  Westchester.  The  return  trip  was 
made  by  way  of  New  York  City  and  the  Great  Lakes.  Fell  ex- 
pected to  reach  his  home  by  the  first  of  August  or  thereabouts; 
there  is  no  record  of  the  exact  date  of  his  return.  The  details 
of  this  trip  to  the  East  have  been  given  with  some  degree  of  ful- 
ness, not  only  because  they  serve  to  illustrate  many  of  Fell's  in- 
terests, but  because  this  was  the  first  of  many  similar  journeys; 
for  until  old  age  forced  him  to  limit  his  activities,  he  made  one 
or  two  trips  to  the  Atlantic  seaboard  each  year. 

The  real  estate  business,  indeed,  entailed  far  more  absence 
from  home  than  suited  Fell,  but  it  also  took  him  much  into  the 
open,  which  was  with  him  a  strong  consideration.  Its  financial 
returns  were  greater  than  those  of  law  practice,  and  it  brought 
him  into  constant  contact  with  many  men,  and  with  the  very 
heart  and  spirit  of  the  growth  of  the  West.  But  the  panic  of  1837 
put  a  stop  to  real  estate  operations,  as  to  all  other  business.  Fell 
lost  all  that  he  had  gathered  together,  and  was  compelled  to  take 
benefit  of  the  bankruptcy  law  of  1841.  Surrendering  all  his  lands, 
he  was  discharged  from  his  indebtedness  (which  was  later  en- 
tirely repaid),  and  began  again,  as  penniless  as  when  he  first 
came  to  Illinois  in  1832.  As  the  bankruptcy  court  offered  much 
business  for  lawyers,  he  took  up  his  old  profession  again,  re- 
luctantly but  with  marked  success.  The  sessions  were  held  in 
the  United  States  court  at  Springfield,  and  the  work  brought  Fell 
again  into  his  old  strenuous  habits.  He  invariably  prepared  his 
cases  in  Bloomington,  that  he  might  be  with  or  near  his  family 
as  much  as  possible ;  then  leaving  his  home  at  sunset,  he  would 
appear  in  court  the  next  morning,  ready  after  his  all-night  drive 
to  prosecute  the  business  of  the  day.11 

"Certificate  of  admission  to  the  Illinois  District  Court,  Feb.  10,  1842. 
In  an  interview  with  Richard  Edwards  long  afterwards,  Fell  explained 
his  dislike  of  law  by  saying  that  he  wished  to  be  able  to  use  his  powers 
of  persuasion  where  conviction  urged,  and  not  for  money  from  clients; 
and  that  he  disliked  to  live  indoors.  "A  few  years  later,  having  accu- 
mulated some  property,  he  voluntarily  paid  all  his  indebtedness,  although 
not  legally  liable."  E.  M.  Prince,  "Jesse  W.  Fell;"  Lewis,  Life,  34. 


30  JESSE   W.   PELL  [294 

But  the  practice  of  law  was  as  irksome  to  him  as  it  had  been 
before,  and  he  planned  to  escape  from  it  as  soon  as  possible.  Since 
real  estate  offered  no  means  at  that  time,  he  resolved  to  try  farm- 
ing, and  for  that  purpose  moved  in  1844  to  a  new  home,  which 
was  known  then  and  for  many  years  after  as  Fort  Jesse.  Some 
people,  appalled  at  its  distance  of  four  miles  from  the  town, 
called  it  Fell's  Folly.  It  had  been  entered  for  Joseph  J.  Lewis, 
and  was  far  from  any  other  habitation,  having  but  one  house 
between  it  and  Bloomington.  There  was  a  stream  upon  the 
place,  which  in  rainy  seasons  of  the  year  became  too  swollen  to 
be  forded.  Here  Fell  made  a  cabin,  and  broke  the  virgin  prairie 
in  very  real  pioneer  fashion.  He  rejoiced  in  the  opportunity  to 
plant  trees,  and  put  out  many  of  the  black  locusts  which  were  re- 
garded at  that  time  as  particularly  well  fitted  to  Illinois  condi- 
tions, since  they  grew  rapidly  and  produced  a  very  hard  and  dur- 
able wood.  The  borer,  which  makes  the  black  locust  an  enemy 
to  all  other  trees  and  a  nuisance  in  a  community,  had  not  then 
appeared.12 

The  life  of  the  Fells  at  Fort  Jesse  was  the  life  of  a  typical 
pioneer  family.  Nightly  there  burned  in  their  window  the 
candle  which  pioneer  custom  prescribed  as  a  guide  for  travel- 
ers; and  nightly,  there  howled  around  it  the  prairie  wolves. 
Henry  Clay  Fell  relates  an  incident  which  illustrates  the  condi- 
tions under  which  the  prairie  farm  became  a  home.  Mr.  Fell 
and  his  wife  had  gone  to  Bloomington,  and  while  they  were  ab- 
sent a  storm  had  swollen  the  stream  so  that  it  became  impass- 
able. Two  children,  Henry  and  Eliza,  had  been  left  at  the  farm, 
and  at  the  coming  of  the  storm  they  became  much  frightened. 
While  they  crouched  in  a  corner,  a  big  grey  wolf  thrust  in  his 
head  at  the  window,  where  a  pane  of  glass  had  been  broken  out. 
Henry,  altho  then  but  seven  years  of  age,  had  the  courage  of 
pioneer  children,  and  threw  a  footstool  at  the  wolf's  head,  which 
frightened  him  away.  The  pet  deer,  which  the  children  had 
brought  into  the  cabin,  and  which  attracted  the  wolves,  was  later 
given  to  a  son  of  General  Gridley.13 

In  1845  Fell  bought  a  farm  of  one  hundred  acres  near  Pay- 
son,  Adams  County,  to  which  he  moved  from  Fort  Jesse  that  au- 
tumn. About  forty  acres  of  the  farm  were  in  timber ;  and  thirty 
acres  of  that  under  cultivation  were  set  out  to  trees,  Fell's  inten- 
tion being  to  establish  a  nursery  which  should  cater  to  the  mar- 

12Jacob  Spawr  in  Pantagraph,  July  I,  1881.    Lewis,  Life,  35. 
13Lewis,  Life,  35.     Interview  with  Henry  Fell,  May  31,  1913. 


295]  BUSINESS   VENTURES   AND   HOME   LIFE  31 

ket  afforded  by  the  increasing  settlements  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Quincy.  The  nursery  business  did  not  meet  his  expectations, 
altho  he  sold  enough  fruit  to  make  the  venture  a  paying  one. 
The  farm,  which  was  about  a  mile  and  a  quarter  northwest  of 
the  village,  was  known  as  Fruit  Hill.  As  Quincy  afforded  him 
his  nearest  large  market,  Fell  set  to  work  to  have  a  good  road 
made  to  that  town.  He  succeeded,  largely  through  his  own  exer- 
tions, in  securing  a  straight  road  of  twelve  miles  which  passed 
through  his  farm.14 

During  this  period  he  found  time  to  take  an  interest  in 
various  public  affairs,  and  particularly  in  education.  He  spoke 
at  teachers'  institutes,15  and  was  much  concerned  for  the  wel- 
fare of  the  local  Methodist  church,  of  which  he  became  a  member. 
When  he  moved  to  Fruit  Farm  there  was  only  a  private  school 
at  Payson,  but  during  his  residence  a  "seminary,"  kept  in  such 
a  way  as  more  fully  to  serve  the  needs  of  the  community,  was 
opened.  Farming  did  not  prevent  an  active  interest  in  state 
and  national  affairs,  as  a  letter  from  Lincoln  at  this  time  shows. 
As  an  orthodox  Whig,  he  strongly  disapproved  the  management 
of  the  Mexican  War,  and  wrote  to  Lincoln,  then  serving  his  state 
in  Washington,  to  ask  him  to  present  a  petition  for  a  speedy 
peace.  Lincoln  promised  to  do  so  at  the  proper  time,  but  added 
that  there  was  in  Washington  a  feeling  that  the  war  was  over 
and  that  the  treaty  sent  in  would  be  endorsed.16  v 

In  1849  a  number  of  the  citizens  of  Quincy,  led  by  John 
Wood,  afterward  governor,  resolved  to  go  to  California,  where 
the  gold  fields  were  attracting  people  from  all  parts  of  the  world. 
Fell  was  asked  to  join^the  party,  and  made  preparations  to  go, 
altho  it  was  necessary  to  borrow  money  for  the  expedition.  He 
went  to  Bloomington  and  bade  his  friends  good-bye,  but  at  the 
last  minute  failed  to  raise  the  funds  necessary  for  an  outfit,  and 
gave  up  the  project. 

In  1851  he  arranged  to  return  to  Bloomington  by  trading 
his  Payson  farm  to  his  brother  Robert  for  a  farm  of  two  hun- 
dred forty  acres  near  Bloomington.  Robert  Fell  disposed  of  his 
nursery  stock  to  F.  K.  Phoenix,  who  came  to  Bloomington  from 
Delavan,  Wisconsin,  at  Jesse  Fell's  earnest  solicitation.  Start- 
ing with  Robert  Fell's  stock  of  trees,  Phoenix  in  time  developed 

14Lewis,  Life,  37.    Fell  to  Rachel  Brown,  Oct.  i,  1848. 
"The  report  of  one  such  address,  given  before  the  Adams  County- 
Institute,  is  in  the  Western  Whig  of  July  20,  1850.    Lewis,  Life,  36. 
"Lincoln  to  Fell,  Mar.  i,  1848. 


32  JESSE   W.   FELL  [296 

one  of  the  most  famous  of  the  nurseries  for  which  Normal  was 
later  notable. 

Upon  his  return  to  Bloomington  Fell  first  engaged  in  news- 
paper work,  of  which  mention  is  made  elsewhere  more  particu- 
larly. He  soon  gave  that  up,  however,  to  reenter  the  field  of  real 
estate,  which  was  again  becoming  a  source  of  profit.  Having  lit- 
tle money  of  his  own,  he  made  a  trip  to  New  York  and  Boston 
in  the  autumn  of  1852,  for  the  purpose  of  interesting  eastern 
capitalists  in  Illinois  land.17  In  this  he  was  very  successful,  and 
during  the  decade  following  he  bought  and  sold  great  tracts  of 
land  throughout  Central  Illinois,  founded  several  towns,  and  en- 
larged others.  Pontiac,  Lexington,  Towanda,  Clinton,  LeRoy, 
El  Paso  and  other  towns  were  among  those  in  which  he  was 
largely  interested.  He  made  additions  to  Bloomington  and  De- 
<?atur,  and  dealt  in  town  lots  in  Joliet  and  Dwight.  North  Bloom- 
ington, later  Normal,  was  first  planned  in  1854.18 

"With  the  founding  of  these  towns  came  the  need  of  means  of 
communication  and  transportation.  In  road-building  of  the 
primitive  sort  which  served  Illinois  for  years,  Fell  did  his  part. 
He  secured,  for  instance,  the  surveying  of  a  wagon-road  parallel 
to  the  railroad,  from  Bloomington  to  Towanda,  altho  he  did 
not  succeed  in  having  it  extended  to  Lexington.  He  was  active  in 
making  a  similar  road  from  Lincoln  to  Minonk.  Early  in  his  life 
he  had  learned  surveying,  and  this  stood  him  in  hand  later  in 
many  ways.  His  ability  to  measure  land  and  determine  lines 
saved  time  and  money  in  numberless  instances.19 

17Fell  to  his  wife,  Sept.  26,  1852. 

^Pantograph,  Sept.  i,  1899,  Nov.  28,  29,  and  Dec.  i,  1902.  Bloom- 
ington Intelligencer,  Aug.  10,  1853.  The  first  plats  of  North  Bloomington 
(undated,  probably  1854)  were  lithographed  by  Latimer  Brothers  and 
Seymour,  15  Nassau  st.,  corner  of  Pine,  N.  Y.  Mr.  Fell's  interests  in 
Pontiac  came  very  near  ending  disastrously.  An  addition  to  the  original 
town  was  made  on  land  bought  from  a  youth  whose  father  sold  it  as 
his  guardian.  Later,  the  Supreme  Court  made  a  decision  in  a  similar 
case  which  would  have  invalidated  the  Fell  title  and  all  subsequent 
titles,  had  not  an  astute  lawyer  of  Pontiac,  R.  E.  Williams,  been  able 
to  prove  that  the  young  man  had  accepted  his  guardian's  arrangements 
and  receipted  him.  The  Supreme  Court  upheld  the  Fell  title. 

For  an  account  of  an  unsuccessful  attempt  at  town-founding,  see 
J.  O.  Cunningham,  History  of  Champaign  County,  672  ff.  Judge  Cun- 
ningham quotes  Peck's  Gazetteer  (1837),  which  mentions  "Byron,  a  town- 
site  in  Champaign  County",  on  page  168.  Bloomington  Observer,  Nov. 
17,  1838.  Pantograph,  Aug.  24,  1901,  and  Nov.  29,  1902. 

"Interview,  Henry  Fell,  May  31,  1913. 


297]  BUSINESS   VENTURES   AND   HOME   LIFE  33 

Going  farther  afield,  in  1855  he  bought  timber  lands  in 
Southern  Illinois,  and  built  a  lumber  mill  at  Ullin,  where  the 
Illinois  Central  railroad  crosses  the  Cache  Eiver  about  twenty 
miles  north  of  Cairo.  Lyman  Blakeslee  was  his  partner  in  this 
mill,  and  his  brother  Kersey  in  another  at  Valley  Forge,  which 
was  operated  by  Elijah  Depew,  an  old  neighbor  in  Bloomington. 
E.  J.  Lewis,  who  was  employed  by  Fell  for  about  six  months  at 
Ullin,  records  that  the  winter  of  1855-56  was  an  unusually  cold 
one  in  Southern  Illinois,  the  thermometer  often  falling  to  eight- 
een degrees  below  zero.  Armed  with  stout  sticks  and  a  compass, 
Fell  and  Lewis  tramped  over  the  frozen  swamps,  personally  in- 
specting the  low  lands.  The  growth  was  cypress  for  the  most 
part,  and  the  strange  "knees"  (root  protuberances)  greatly  im- 
pressed the  two  Pennsylvanians,  to  whom  growths  so  fantastic 
were  entirely  new.  The  mill  at  Ullin  was  kept  busy  sawing  out 
logs,  for  the  unusual  amount  of  ice  in  the  rivers  did  great  dam- 
age to  the  steamboats  on  the  Mississippi  and  the  Ohio,  breaking 
wheels  and  injuring  hulls.  Putting  into  Cairo,  they  secured  oak 
and  other  lumber  for  repairs  from  Ullin  by  rail. 

The  brisk  business  of  that  winter  led  Fell  to  put  great  faith 
in  the  Ullin  venture,  and  in  the  autumn  of  1856  he  moved  his 
family  to  that  place.  But  the  normal  demand  for  lumber  in 
Southern  Illinois  was  not  sufficient  to  guarantee  a  prosperous 
business,  and  in  the  spring  the  family  returned  to  North  Bloom- 
ington. The  mills  not  having  fulfilled  their  initial  promise,  Fell 
again  turned  his  attention  chiefly  to  real  estate,  which  had  not 
been  neglected  during  his  residence  at  Ullin.20  In  1856  he  adver- 
tised for  sale  "about  5000  acres  of  land"  in  Livingston,  McLean, 
and  Vermillion  counties,  and  about  three  hundred  fifty  town 
lots  in  various  parts  of  Illinois.21  In  the  autumn  of  that  year  he 
conducted  at  least  one  auction  sale  of  lots  (at  Towanda)  and  this 
method  of  sale  was  repeated  on  a  considerable  scale  in  the  fall  of 
1857.  Late  in  the  decade  his  holdings  became  very  large,  while 
records  in  the  abstract  offices  show  that  he  drove  a  lively  business 
in  transferring  property. 

It  was  during  the  summers  of  1856  and  1857  that  Fell  built 
the  house  at  Fell  Park  in  North  Bloomington,  which  became  aft- 
erward one  of  the  landmarks  of  Normal.  The  house  still  stands 
(1916),  altho  removed  from  its  original  site.  It  was  a  roomy 
square  wooden  structure,  with  a  cupola  atop,  and  verandas  built 

2°Lewis,  Life,  44. 

^Pantagraph,  July  2,  1856.    Tax  list,  May  14,  1859. 


34  JESSE  W.   PELL.  [298 

around  three  sides.  It  stood  upon  a  knoll  which  Mr.  Fell  had 
selected  more  than  twenty  years  before  as  a  good  place  for  his 
final  residence.22  Here  he  secured  about  eighteen  acres  on  the 
edge  of  the  town,  and  planted  the  land  to  trees  and  shrubs  ac- 
cording to  the  plans  of  William  Saunders  of  Philadelphia,  a  land- 
scape gardener  of  reputation.  A  herd  of  deer  was  added  later, 
and  the  park  was  frequently  opened  to  the  public.23  Men 
great  in  the  history  of  Illinois  and  the  nation  were  entertained 
there ;  it  became  a  famous  meeting-place  of  notable  people.  Love- 
joy,  Bryant,  Lincoln,  Davis,  Swett,  and  other  leaders  were  fre- 
quent visitors.  The  Fell  children  entertained  their  friends  there 
freely;  it  was  a  center  of  social  life.  The  master  of  the  house, 
himself  usually  absorbed  in  business,  liked  to  have  people  about 
him  enjoy  themselves.  In  the  town's  first  years,  this  was  the 
only  private  house  in  Normal  in  which  dancing  was  permitted. 

The  years  at  Fell  Park  were  so  full  and  so  pleasant  that  one 
likes  to  linger  upon  the  story  of  its  life.  There  Mr.  Fell's  chil- 
dren grew  to  maturity,  busy  with  many  tasks  and  very  happy. 
Here  his  elder  daughters  Eliza  and  Clara  were  married,  the  for- 
mer to  "W.  0.  Davis,  for  many  years  editor  of  the  Pantagraph, 
and  the  latter  to  Lieutenant  James  B.  Fyffe,  an  officer  of  the 
Thirty-third  Illinois  Volunteer  regiment.  Here  the  older  chil- 
dren went  to  school,  with  their  cousins  and  neighbors,  in  a  small 
building  used  temporarily  as  a  carpenter  shop  during  the 
building  of  the  house.  This  was  a  district  school,  but  as 
it  failed  to  meet  all  requirements,  Mr.  Fell  employed  Miss  Mary 
Daniels,  lately  graduated  from  Mt.  Holyoke,  to  teach  his  own 
children,  their  cousins,  and  the  McCambridge  children  in  his 
own  home.  This  private  school  was  continued  until  the  "model 
school ' '  at  the  Normal  School  opened.24 

The  master  of  the  house,  who  never  grew  away  from  the 
simple  ways  of  living  in  which  he  had  been  bred,  directed  the  in- 
dustries of  the  home  group.  He  was  himself  a  man  busy  with  his 

22In  1833,  when  riding  over  the  prairie  with  a  neighbor  named  Kim- 
ler,  Mr.  Fell  remarked  that  the  roll  in  the  prairie  would  be  an  ideal 
place  for  a  home ;  whereupon  Kimler  had  replied  that  probably  no  one 
would  be  fool  enough  to  build  so  far  from  the  timber.  Grace  Hurwood 
to  Fannie  Fell,  Mar.  16,  1913.  Captain  J.  H.  Burnham,  in  his  "Our 
Duty  to  Future  Generations,"  an  Arbor  Day  address  delivered  at  the 
I.  S.  N.  U.  on  April  21,  1905,  relates  the  same  incident. 

23J.  D.  Caton  to  Fell,  Aug.  9,  1866. 

24William  McCambridge,  My  Remembrances  of  Jesse  W.  Fell.    (MS.) 


299]  BUSINESS   VENTURES   AND   HOME   LIFE  35 

hands,  where  other  men  of  his  interests  would  have  had  manual 
labor  done  by  others.  He  pruned  his  own  trees  and  supervised 
personally  the  planting  of  shrubs  or  the  erection  of  new  build- 
ings. All  this  workaday  enterprise  was  not  conducive  to  an  ap- 
pearance of  immaculate  grooming.  His  wife,  and  more  especially 
his  daughters,  tried  to  look  after  him  to  keep  him  fresh  and  trig. 
His  friends,  driving  to  Fell  Park  to  consult  him  on  business  or 
politics,  found  him  perspiringly  industrious  on  the  warmest  sum- 
mer days.  Distinguished  company,  received  in  the  parlor,  waited 
while  Mr.  Fell  was  being  hunted  through  field  and  orchard.  ' '  The 
girls"  waylaid  his  path  with  the  paraphernalia  of  refreshment. 
Somewhere  between  the  back  porch  and  the  front  parlor,  a  hasty 
scrub,  a  brushing  and  a  clean  collar  must  be  administered.  He 
submitted  to  this  loving  supervision  good-naturedly;  he  loved  to 
be  ' '  fussed  over ' '  by  his  daughters,  and  he  himself  was  a  man  of 
fastidious  personal  habits.  "It's  all  right,  girls,  it's  all  right," 
he  would  say.  No  amount  of  feminine  emphasis,  however,  could 
persuade  him  that  one's  personal  appearance  was  a  matter  of 
great  moment;  he  was  interested  in  bigger  things.  The  happi- 
ness of  generations  to  come  was  the  enterprise  of  men  such  as 
he,  and  in  view  of  that  a  dusty  coat  or  work-soiled  hands  could 
matter  little.25 

25Mrs.  L.  B.  Merwin  (a  grand-daughter),  interview,  Nov.  29,  1912. 
Dr.  Sweney,  the  family  physician,  related  a  story  which  shows  Fell's 
indefatigable  energy.  A  refractory  horse  had  kicked  him  until  he  was  a 
mass  of  bruises,  and  the  doctor,  being  called  to  repair  the  damage,  had 
swathed  him  in  bandages  and  soaked  him  in  liniment  and  left  strict 
orders  that  he  was  to  be  kept  quiet.  The  next  day,  calling  to  redress 
the  bruises,  the  distressed  and  apologetic  family  had  to  "chase  after 
father"  down  to  the  edge  of  the  place,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  and 
bring  him  up  for  examination  and  admonition. — John  Dodge,  "Concern- 
ing Jesse  W.  Fell,"  in  the  Fell  Memorial. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  JOURNALIST,  1836-1858 

In  the  very  early  days  of  Bloomington,  General  Gridley  made 
a  yearly  trip  to  the  East  to  buy  stock  for  his  general  store.  In 
the  autumn  of  1836,  Jesse  Fell  and  James  Allin  intrusted  to  him 
the  important  commission  of  purchasing  the  equipment  of  a 
printing  establishment,  and  of  finding  a  man  to  edit  and  print  a 
newspaper  for  McLean  County.  Gridley  induced  two  men, -na- 
tives of  Philadelphia,  to  return  with  him :  William  Hill  and  W. 
B.  Brittain.  Hill  had  been  employed  for  some  time  upon  the  St. 
Louis  Democrat,  and  was  acquainted  with  Western  ways  and  con- 
ditions. Brittain  came  directly  from  Philadelphia,  having 
shipped  the  press  and  type  by  way  of  New  Orleans.  The  two 
men  arrived  in  October,  but  Brittain  became  discouraged  and 
went  back  to  Pennsylvania  before  the  coming  of  the  outfit.  Hill 
stayed,  and  setting  up  his  press  in  a  room  in  the  court  house, 
brought  out  on  January  14,  1837,  the  first  number  of  the  Bloom- 
ington Observer.  About  twenty  numbers  were  printed  before 
the  paper  suspended  publication.  It  was  well  edited  and  well 
printed,  for  a  frontier  paper;  but  in  the  little  struggling  town 
it  found  insufficient  support,  despite  its  spirited  interest  in  all 
that  concerned  the  welfare  of  the  place.1 

Fell  and  Allin  were  sadly  disappointed  at  the  fiasco.  Al- 
tho  his  finances  were  then  at  a  low  ebb, — or  possibly  because 
of  that — Fell  bought  what  he  did  not  already  own  of  the  sus- 
pended Observer,  and  began  to  edit  it  himself  in  January,  1838. 
This  venture  was  somewhat  more  successful  than  the  first  one, 
as  the  paper  continued  to  appear  for  over  a  year,  until  condi- 
tions caused  by  the  hard  times  forced  Fell  again  to  stop  its  pub- 
lication. The  last  number  appeared  in  June,  1839,  after  which 
time  Bloomington  had  no  paper  for  several  years.  Fell  sold  the 
printing  outfit,  which  tradition  says  was  moved  to  Peoria.2 

The  recovery  from  the  severe  depression  of  1837  seems  to 
have  been  especially  slow  in  McLean  County,  where  land  specu- 

iPantagraph,  Jan.  14,  1857.    Interview  with  Henry  Fell,  May  31,  1913. 
Scott,  Newspapers  and  Periodicals  of  Illinois,  27. 

2The  Democratic  Press  was  established  there  in  February,  1840.   Scott, 
Newspapers  and  Periodicals  of  Illinois,  278. 

36 


301]  THE   JOURNALIST  37 

lation  had  been  very  brisk.  Not  until  1845  was  there  found  a 
man  who  had  the  courage  to  undertake  to  publish  a  newspaper 
there.  In  that  year  E.  B.  Mitchell  started  the  McLean  County 
Register,  but  shortly  gave  it  up  to  Charles  P.  Merriman,  who  es- 
tablished a  weekly,  the  Western  Whig.  He  associated  R.  H. 
Johnson  with  him  late  in  1849,  and  early  in  1850  Johnson  and 
I.  N.  Underwood  became  proprietors  and  editors.  They  asso- 
ciated Merriman  with  them  again  somewhat  later  for  about  six 
months.  This  arrangement  terminated  on  November  19,  1851, 
at  the  end  of  the  fifth  volume  of  the  Western  Whig,  when  Mr. 
Fell  and  Mr.  Merriman  undertook  the  joint  management  and 
editorship  of  the  paper.  A  new  outfit  of  type,  brought  up  the 
Illinois  River  and  carted  over  from  Pekin,  was  purchased  and  the 
name  of  the  publication  changed  to  the  Bloomington  Intelli- 
gencer. This  partnership  was  in  turn  dissolved  on  March  17, 
1852,  when  Mr.  Fell  became  sole  editor  and  publisher.  He  man- 
aged the  paper  until  the  end  of  that  volume,  November  17,  1852, 
and  then  retired,  being  succeeded  by  Mr.  Merriman  as  sole  owner. 
Mr.  Merriman  was  a  classical  scholar  of  some  repute,  and 
changed  the  name  again  to  the  Pantagraph,  a  name  under  which 
it  has  become  well  known  and  very  influential  throughout  Central 
Illinois.3 

Fell 's  connection  with  the  Pantagraph  did  not  cease  with  the 
termination  of  his  official  editorship.  His  name  appeared  as 
late  as  February  9,  1853,  as  contributing  editor  of  the  Intelli- 
gencer. As  a  medium  for  moulding  public  opinion,  he  found  it  a 
useful  ally,  and  wrote  for  it  often.  Its  editors  and  managers 
found  him  a  constant  source  of  helpful  suggestions,  and  seem  to 
have  consulted  with  him  on  questions  of  business  policy. 

For  many  years  after  disposing  of  his  partnership  in  the 
Intelligencer,  his  newspaper  work  was  of  this  occasional  and  un- 
official nature.  During  the  Civil  War,  his  interest  in  reform  cen- 
tered in  the  struggle  then  waging,  but  after  its  close  he  cher- 
ished the  hope  of  establishing  at  Normal  some  kind  of  journal 
which  might  become  the  mouthpiece  of  various  reform  move- 
ments then  more  or  less  before  the  public.  Interesting  some  of 
his  friends,  he  purchased  an  outfit  for  publishing  a  paper,  and 
was  rapidly  completing  plans  for  its  appearance  when  he  learned 

3Lewis,  Life,  38.  The  issue  of  the  Western  Whig  for  Dec.  u,  1847, 
is  No.  6,  Vol.  II.  It  was  published  at  No.  3  Brick  Row,  Front  street.  The 
inventory  of  the  printing  outfit  of  the  Western  Whig  (no  date,  probably 
Nov.,  1851),  is  among  the  Fell  MSS. 


38  JESSE  W.   FELL  [302 

that  Scibird  and  Waters,  then  proprietors  of  the  Pantagraph, 
were  seeking  a  buyer  for  their  paper.  He  had  already  carried 
negotiations  for  an  editor  for  his  proposed  paper,  through  corre- 
spondence with  Greeley  and  others,  almost  to  the  point  of  engag- 
ing a  certain  Dr.  Weil.4  But  as  the  Pantagraph  had  already  a 
wide  circulation  and  a  considerable  influence,  it  was  far  more 
valuable  to  a  man  with  a  propaganda  than  any  newly  estab- 
lished sheet  could  be,  and  Mr.  Fell,  with  James  P.  Taylor  and  his 
son-in-law  William  O.  Davis,  made  haste  to  secure  it.  This  was 
in  August,  1868.  , 

The  Pantagraph  was  a  Republican  organ  of  moderate  parti- 
zanship.  Mr.  Fell  abandoned  the  idea  of  making  Mr.  Weil  edi- 
tor, deciding  to  fill  that  post  himself.  He  entered  into  editorial 
duties  with  zest,  perhaps  remembering  his  experience  with  the 
ultra-ethical  Eclectic  Observer.  Mr.  Davis  became  business 
manager.  Fell  was,  however,  a  somewhat  impractical  chief,  by 
far  too  idealistic  for  the  environment  of  a  newspaper  office. 
Moreover,  the  confinement  of  office  life  was  as  irksome  as  ever. 
After  a  few  months,  he  gave  up  the  editorial  management,  which 
was  taken  over  by  his  old  friend  Dr.  E.  R.  Roe,  in  June  of  1869.5 
Mr.  Fell  retained  his  connection  with  the  paper  until  late  Octo- 
ber, 1870,  when  he  sold  out  his  entire  interest  to  his  son-in-law. 
Mr.  Taylor  also  disposed  of  his  share  to  Mr.  Davis,  leaving  the 
latter  entirely  responsible.  Mr.  Fell  thereafter  confined  his 
newspaper  work  to  occasional  editorials  and  to  special  articles 
upon  the  subjects  which  engaged  his  interest. 

4T.  Tilton  to  Fell,  Nov.  24,  1868.  In  this  letter  Dr.  Weil,  "long  .  .  . 
known  to  Mr.  Bungay  and  Mr.  Greeley,"  is  recommended  for  the  editor- 
ship. 

5Dr.  Roe  had  entered  the  Federal  army  as  "a  bitter  Jackson  Demo- 
crat," but  came  back  "a  Black  Republican."  He  was  in  every  way  the 
man  to  carry  on  Fell's  dream  of  a  popular  newspaper  advocating  reform. 
He  was  very  popular,  having  been  advanced  to  a  colonelcy  in  the  army 
from  the  ranks.  Upon  his  return  to  civil  life  he  was  elected  a  deputy  in 
the  circuit  clerk's  office  to  follow  Luman  Burr.  Luman  Burr  in  the  Daily 
Bulletin,  July  6,  1913.  Bloomington  Democrat,  Sept.  30,  1864;  Panta- 
graph, Oct.  i,  3,  1864;  Aug.  12,  1868;  Nov.  i,  1870;  Mar.  13,  Oct.  23,  1871. 


CHAPTER  IV 

FOUNDING  THE  NORMAL  SCHOOL,  1853-1860 

The  advocates  of  free  public  schools  in  Illinois  secured  a 
law  authorizing  but  not  establishing  them,  as  early  as  1825.  This 
law  was  so  amended  as  practically  to  annul  it  two  years  later, 
which  means  that  Illinois  had  no  public  school  system  until  1855. 
The  desire  for  an  effective  public  school  law  took  definite  form 
^fter  an  impromptu  conference  at  Bloomington  of  three  men 
who  realized  the  need  of  the  state  and  were  disposed  to  take 
measures  to  relieve  it.  These  men  were  J.  A.  Hawley  of  Dixon, 
H.  H.  Lee  of  Chicago,  and  Daniel  Wilkins  of  Bloomington. 
They  issued  a  call  to  all  friends  of  free  schools  for  a  meeting  to 
be  held  at  Bloomington  on  December  26-28,  1853.  The  call  was 
signed  by  the  secretary  of  state,  who  had  charge  of  all  educa- 
tional affairs  in  those  days,  by  the  presidents  and  faculties  of 
two  of  the  leading  colleges  of  the  state — Shurtleff  and  Illinois 
Wesleyan — by  the  clergymen  of  Bloomington,  and  by  others 
who  were  interested.  E.  W.  Brewster  of  Elgin  was  made  presi- 
dent of  the  conference,  which  was  large  and  enthusiastic.  Every 
man  who  had  a  solution  to  offer  for  the  educational  problems  of 
the  state  was  there  with  his  resolutions,  his  friends,  and  his  ar- 
guments.1 

Several  of  the  principles  embodied  in  the  resolutions  passed 
•at  that  meeting  were  afterward  incorporated  in  the  state  law, 
and  have  been  largely  instrumental  in  shaping  the  educational 
policy  of  Illinois.  They  included  a  plan  for  a  State  Teachers' 
Institute,  afterward  the  State  Teachers'  Association,  which  was 
-carried  out  immediately  and  has  been  in  operation  ever  since. 
Another  called  for  a  state  superintendent  of  schools,  who  should 
-devote  all  his  time  to  the  interests  of  education.  Authorized 

1State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  Reports,  I,  127-138.  Illi- 
nois Teacher,  I,  321-328.  The  convention  here  mentioned  was  not  the  first 
-of  an  educational  nature  in  the  state,  but  the  first  that  concerned  itself 
especially  with  the  common  school  system.  Illinois  Teacher,  I,  328-336. 
.J.  H.  Burnham,  "Educational  Convention  of  1853"  in  School  Record  of 
McLean  County  (McLean  County  Historical  Society;  Transactions,  II), 
•118-127. 

39 


40  JESSE  W.  PELL  [304 

by  a  new  state  law,  Governor  Matteson  appointed,  on  February  9, 
1854,  Ninian  W.  Edwards  as  the  first  superintendent  of  schools 
in  Illinois.  A  third  resolution  was  in  favor  of  a  journal  de- 
voted to  education.  This  periodical,  called  the  Illinois  Teacher, 
was  started  after  the  Peoria  meeting  of  1854,  with  a  curious 
scheme  of  editorial  management  by  which  a  different  man  was 
made  responsible  for  its  contents  each  month.  The  result  of  this 
division  of  labor  was  an  uncertain  quality  of  content  and  finan- 
cial disaster.  After  a  year's  trial  of  the  plan  Mr.  Charles  E. 
Hovey  of  Peoria,  one  of  a  valiant  group  of  New  Englanders  who 
were  then  the  educational  leaders  of  the  state,  was  made  editor 
and  manager.  He  was  vigorous  and  able,  and  put  the  publica- 
tion speedily  and  effectively  upon  its  feet.2 

Then  there  came  up  a  question  which  was  bound  to  cause  a 
discussion,  for  it  involved  the  fundamental  differences  of  men 
whose  training  and  ideals  gave  them  widely  diverging  concep- 
tions of  the  needs  and  the  consequent  policies  of  the  state.  This 
was  the  question  of  the  establishment  of  some  institution  for  the 
better  training  of  teachers.  All  were  agreed  that  such  a  school 
was  a  vital  need;  scarcely  any  two  were  agreed  as  to  just  what 
type  of  school  could,  in  this  new  and  growing  country,  accom- 
plish the  end  sought  in  the  best  way.  Jonathan  B.  Turner,  from 
whose  fertile  brain  came  the  vast  and  comprehensive  scheme  re- 
sulting finally  in  the  founding  of  the  great  state  universities  of 
the  Middle  and  Far  West,3  was  trying  to  awaken  enthusiasm  for 
a  combination  school  to  include  agricultural,  industrial,  and  nor- 
mal school  departments.  The  friends  of  the  already  established 
denominational  colleges,  who  feared  the  results  of  separating 
education  and  religion  by  the  founding  of  state  schools,  wished 
to  add  normal  departments  to  Shurtleff,  McKendrie,  Knox,  and 
"Wesleyan.  A  third  group,  armed  with  the  record  of  the  normal 
schools  of  Massachusetts,  strongly  advocated  a  separate  and  "un- 
trammeled"  training-school  exclusively  for  teachers.* 

Jonathan  Turner  had  organized  the  State  Industrial  League^ 
a  society  working  for  a  state  industrial  college,  and  numbered 
Mr.  Fell,  who  was  director  of  the  McLean  County  division,5 

2State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  Reports,  I,  146.  Illinois' 
Teacher,  I,  8-18. 

8E.  J.  James,  Origin  of  the  Land  Grant  Act  of  1862,  25-27  (Univer^ 
sity  of  Illinois  Studies,  IV,  No.  i). 

*Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  Reports,  II,  52. 

5Organized  Feb.  9,  1854. 


305]  POUNDING   THE   NORMAL  SCHOOL  41 

among  his  sympathizers  and  helpers.  Fell  was  eager  to  see  the 
industrial  college  founded,  but  knowing  that  a  normal  school  was 
both  more  popular  and  more  immediately  needed,  was  willing  to 
wait  for  the  realization  of  the  more  comprehensive  plan.  With 
Turner  he  bent  his  energies  toward  uniting  educational  forces 
for  the  accomplishment  of  some  one  definite  object. 

The  various  schemes  were  further  discussed  and  worked 
over  at  a  meeting  held  in  Peoria  in  December  of  1854.  At  the 
third  meeting  in  Springfield  it  became  plain  that  the  advocates 
of  a  separate  normal  school  were  strongly  in  the  majority,  and 
the  next  year  in  Chicago  they  secured  the  passage  of  a  resolution 
to  the  effect  that  the  Association  did  not  wish  "to  discuss  any 
university  question,  but  occupy  themselves  with  the  interests  of 
common  schools  and  Normal  schools."  Mr.  Turner,  whose  vis- 
ions of  the  future  did  not  blind  him  to  immediate  demands  and 
practical  methods,  yielded  his  own  larger  plan  with  a  grace 
made  possible  by  his  great  faith  in  its  ultimate  realization :  and 
the  Association  passed  a  resolution  which  called  for  an  appro- 
priation for  "the  immediate  establishment  of  a  State  Normal 
School  for  the  education  of  teachers."6 

The  legislature,  which  had  already  (in  1855)  established  a 
free  school  system,  passed  the  desired  law,  and  Governor  Bissell 
signed  it  on  February  18,  1857.  The  law  designated  the  members 
of  the  state  board  of  education,  who  were  in  charge  of  the  af- 
fairs of  the  school,  but  did  not  state  its  location,  which  was  to  be 
decided  by  competitive  bids. 

It  was  after  the  passing  of  this  law  that  Fell's  interest  iu 
the  normal  school  became  intensified  by  the  hope  of  securing  it 
for  Bloomington.  Long  before  this  he  had  hoped  to  see  an  insti- 
tution of  learning,  the  exact  nature  of  which  was  not  then  clear 
to  himself,  in  the  town  of  North  Bloomington.  Upon  his  return 
from  Payson  he  had  become  a  member  of  the  first  incorporated 
board  of  trustees  of  the  "Wesleyan  University,  serving  until  1857.7 
Now  he  saw  in  the  projected  normal  school  an  opportunity  of 
realizing  quickly  his  dream  of  making  North  Bloomington  a 
school  town,  and  so  attracting  to  it  the  class  of  citizens  he  wanted 

'Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  Reports,  II,  53ff.  Illinois 
Teacher,  I,  254. 

7His  greatest  service  to  the  institution  lay  in  his  influence  in  changing 
its  location  from  Seminary  Avenue  near  the  present  Chicago  and  Alton 
shops,  in  the  outskirts  of  Bloomington,  to  the  central  site  which  it  occupies. 
James  Shaw  in  Fell  Memorial,  4;  John  F.  Eberhart,  ibid.  19. 


42  JESSE  W.  FELL  [306 

it  to  have.  The  block  for  the  ' '  Seminary ' '  had  long  been  selected, 
but  he  abandoned  it  in  favor  of  a  larger  tract  farther  removed 
from  Bloomington.  Other  people  had  other  ideas  as  to  what  was 
the  best  site.  Five,  besides  the  one  favored,  were  offered.  The 
other  five,  however,  had  less  in  the  way  of  subscription  attached 
than  the  one  he  advocated.  This  was  part  of  the  Parkinson  farm 
of  three  hundred  fifty  acres,  owned  at  that  time  by  Dr.  Joseph 
Payne  and  Meshac  Pike,  who  had  recently  bought  it.  David  Da- 
vis and  E.  W.  Bake  well  each  added  about  forty  acres,  which 
made  the  tract  about  a  quarter-section. 

Mr.  Fell  carried  on  the  work  of  securing  subscriptions,  aided 
by  others  who  reported  to  him  regularly.  The  amount  of  the 
subscription  was  kept  out  of  the  newspapers,  and  very  little 
said  of  the  matter  where  rival  towns  might  hear  of  it.  Any- 
thing that  could  be  used  was  solicited;  and  land,  cash,  notes, 
even  nursery  stock  and  freight  donations,  were  given.  Friends 
of  popular  education  outside  the  state  were  appealed  to  by  some, 
altho  few  if  any  responded.8  As  is  often  the  case,  many 
of  the  offers  were  saddled  with  embarrassing  conditions.  One 
set  of  offers  stipulated  that  the  site  should  be  within  a  mile  of 
Bloomington ;  another,  that  it  must  be  within  three-fourths  of 
a  mile  of  the  railroad  crossing  at  North  Bloomington;  still  an- 
other, within  three  miles  of  Bloomington.  Mr.  Fell's  site  satis- 
fied all  these  conditions. 

Meantime  other  towns  had  not  been  idle.  Batavia  offered 
a  ready-made  plant  in  the  grounds  and  buildings  of  the  Batavia 
Institute  and  fifteen  thousand  dollars  in  cash.  Washington,  in 
Tazewell  County,  offered  the  buildings  and  grounds  of  Washing- 
ton Academy  and  cash  to  the  amount  of  twelve  hundred  dollars. 
Peoria  was  known  to  be  piling  up  a  large  subscription,  but  no 
one  in  Bloomington  could  find  out  just  how  formidable  this  rival 
was.9 

It  was  at  this  point  that  John  F.  Eberhart  gave  substantial 
help.  He  was  a  teacher  who  had  been  forced  by  ill-health  to  give 
up  regular  classroom  work,  and  who  spent  much  time  in  holding 

8Among  these  was  Alexander  Campbell,  the  founder  of  the  Church 
of  the  Disciples.  He  seems  to  have  been  favorable  to  the  project  at  first, 
but  later  declined  to  help.  Thirty  years  after,  Fell  attributed  this  to 
Campbell's  statement  that  "Mr.  Bakewell  and  wife  had  done  enough." 
Bakewell  had  married  Campbell's  daughter.  Campbell  (Bethany,  Va.)  tp 
Fell,  1857. 

Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  Reports,  II,  286-291. 


307]  POUNDING   THE   NORMAL   SCHOOL  43 

institutes  throughout  the  state.  This  gave  him  an  opportunity 
to  know  conditions  thoroly,  and  his  knowledge  of  conditions 
made  him  greatly  interested  in  the  projected  normal  school.  He 
met  Mr.  Fell  first  when  attending  an  educational  meeting  in  1855 
or  1856,  when  he  was  entertained  at  the  Fell  home.  The  two  men 
became  fast  friends,  and  when  Eberhart  found  out  how  keenly 
Fell  wanted  the  normal  school  for  his  own  town,  he  was  minded 
to  give  all  possible  aid.  This  resolution  was  strengthened  by  his 
own  dislike  for  Peoria,  which  he  considered  undesirable  because 
it  was  ' '  a  river  town  and  a  whiskey  town. ' '  He  entered  into  the 
contest  for  Fell  and  Bloomington,  even  as  Simeon  W.  Wright 
was  entering  it  as  a  champion  of  Hovey  and  Peoria.  For  about 
three  months  he  worked  with  Fell  in  McLean  County,  a  guest  at 
his  home  and  party  to  all  his  plans.10 

About  a  week  before  the  final  decision  was  to  be  made,  Eber- 
hart made  a  trip  to  Peoria  to  see  clearly  just  what  the  situation 
there  might  be ;  and  chanced,  fortunately  for  his  purpose,  upon 
a  friend,  a  teacher,  who  in  his  enthusiasm  told  him  the  amount 
of  the  subscription  already  secured.  Returning  at  once  to  Bloom- 
ington, he  told  Fell  that  it  would  be  necessary  to  raise  the  Bloom- 
ington subscription.  Fell  asked  him  if  a  ten  thousand  dollar  ad- 
vance would  be  sufficient,  and  Eberhart  replied  that  it  would 
have  to  be  more  than  that.  Fell  suggested  fifteen  thousand,  but 
Eberhart  repeated  that  it  must  be  still  more.  Fell  inquired  if 
twenty  thousand  would  do,  and  received  the  same  reply.  But 
when  he  was  asked  if  twenty-five  thousand  would  cap  Peoria 's 
bid,  Eberhart  replied  that  such  a  bid  would  secure  the  normal 
school.  Fell  vowed  that  Bloomington  would  raise  the  money. 

But  he  wanted  to  see  for  himself  just  how  things  were  at 
Peoria,  since  Eberhart 's  sense  of  honor  prevented  him  from  tell- 
ing details.  He  knew  that  a  powerful  stimulus,  combined  with 
knowledge  of  the  real  situation,  would  be  necessary  if  his  towns- 
men were  to  be  persuaded  to  raise  their  already  generous  bid. 
Eberhart  had  brought  him  the  news  from  Peoria  on  Friday,  May 
3,  1857.  At  Fell's  request,  he  set  off  at  once  for  Chicago,  to  in- 
terview the  three  members  of  the  board  resident  there,  in  the  in- 
terests of  the  Bloomington  location.  If  these  men  were  at  all  un- 
friendly, they  were  effectively  won  over  by  Eberhart  during  the 
week-end  he  spent  in  Chicago. 

Meantime,  having  seen  Eberhart  off,  Fell  harnessed  Tom  to 
the  buggy  and  set  off  for  Peoria,  where  he  knew  there  was  to  be 

10John  Eberhart,  in  Fell  Memorial,  23. 


44  JESSE   W.   FELL  [308 

a  citizens'  mass  meeting  that  night.  He  covered  the  forty-five 
miles  in  time  to  attend  the  meeting,  and  was  observed  in  the 
audience  by  Hovey.  No  attempt,  however,  was  made  to  keep 
secret  the  amount  of  the  subscription  at  this  meeting.  The  jubi- 
lant committee,  sure  that  in  the  short  time  left  no  competitor 
could  equal  their  offerings,  were  not  alarmed  even  at  the  sight 
of  their  rival's  appearance — an  apparition  that  would  have 
meant  more  to  them  had  they  know  him  better. 

It  was  late  when  the  meeting  adjourned,  but  early  the  next 
morning  Fell  was  back  in  Bloomington,  briskly  presenting  to  the 
leading  citizens  the  somewhat  appalling  dictum  that  an  addi- 
tional twenty-five  thousand  dollars  must  be  subscribed.  He  be- 
gan by  raising  his  own  cash  subscription  to  two  thousand  dollars, 
with  seventy-five  hundred  dollars  in  Jackson  County  lands,  worth 
about  five  dollars  an  acre.  Others  caught  his  enthusiasm  and 
added  to  their  subscriptions  until  the  individual  pledges,  already 
totalling  fifty  thousand  dollars,  amounted  to  seventy-one  thou- 
sand. The  county  commissioners,  who  had  before  subscribed  for 
the  county  a  sum  equal  to  the  private  subscriptions,  now  added 
to  the  swamp  lands  already  promised,  enough  to  bring  the  whole 
amount  raised  to  one  hundred  forty-one  thousand  dollars.11 

The  meeting  of  the  board  was  to  be  in  Peoria  on  the  seventh 
of  May.  A  tour  of  inspection  to  the  proposed  site  at  ' '  the  Junc- 
tion,"  as  Normal  was  commonly  called  then,  preceded  the  meet- 
ing. The  weather  had  been  very  rainy  and  the  bare  prairie  about 
Bloomington  was  a  hopeless  swamp,  not  liable  to  make  a  favor- 
able impression  upon  critical  visitors.  Mr.  Fell  went  over  the 
ground  carefully  the  night  before,  found  every  mud-hole  and 
every  dry  ridge,  and  mapped  out  a  course  for  the  carriages  in- 
tended to  minimize  the  danger  of  being  mired  in  a  bottomless  pit 
of  Illinois  mud.  When  the  board  made  its  tour  of  inspection, 
Fell  rode  in  the  first  carriage,  and  personally  directed  the  driver 
over  the  uncharted,  soggy  ground.  The  drivers  of  the  other 
carriages  had  orders  to  follow  the  first  undeviatingly  on  pain  of 
losing  life  and  wages,  and  on  no  account  to  allow  the  horses  to 
become  mired.  So  conducted,  the  board  made  a  safe  trip  and 

"The  three  county  commissioners  who  risked  their  popularity  and 
tenure  of  office  to  secure  the  normal  school  (for  the  pledge  had  to  he 
made  without  recourse  to  a  vote)  were  A.  J.  Merriman,  Milton  Smith, 
and  Hiram  Buck.  They  were  reelected  that  fall,  but  were  superseded  by 
a  board  of  supervisors  which  ratified  their  action  in  May.  Superintend- 
ent of  Public  Instruction,  Reports,  II,  Appendix  22,  37iff. 


309]  FOUNDING   THE   NORMAL   SCHOOL  45 

was  returned  to  the  station  without  accident.  The  young  trees 
planted  along  the  streets  of  North  Bloomington  made  a  good  im- 
pression upon  the  members,  it  is  recorded.  From  the  proposed 
site  they  went  to  the  station,  where  they  were  to  board  the  train 
for  Peoria.  Some  half  a  dozen  Bloomingtonians  and  a  reporter 
accompanied  them.12 

At  Peoria  there  was  a  similar  inspection  of  the  site  offered, 
after  which  the  board  sat  publicly  at  the  court  house.  The  Bloom- 
ington bid  was  accepted,  with  conditions  attached  to  secure  the 
somewhat  precarious  county  subscription,  which  had  to  be  guar- 
anteed by  citizens.13  Over  eighty  prominent  Bloomingtonians 
signed  this  guarantee,  Abraham  Lincoln  drew  up  the  bond,  and 
the  pledges  were  all  met.14 

Bloomington  was  exultant  when  Fell  and  his  friends  brought 
back  to  them  the  news  that  they  had  won  the  new  school,  and 
plans  for  the  town  that  would  in  time  grow  up  around  it  were 
rampant.  Ground  for  the  building  was  broken  promptly,  the 
cornerstone  being  laid  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  September  with 
all  due  ceremony.  Fell's  address  on  that  occasion  revealed  hi* 
own  conception  of  the  future  of  the  school.  He  hoped  in  time  it 
might  become  what,  for  reasons  of  financial  expediency,  it  was 
then  called :  a  university.  Especially,  he  hoped  that  an  agricul- 
tural school  with  an  experiment  farm  would  eventually  become 
part  of  the  school,  and  that  courses  in  mechanical  studies  might 
be  added  as  opportunity  offered.15 

The  question  of  the  principalship  was  a  lively  issue.  Fell, 
who  was  a  warm  personal  friend  of  Horace  Mann,  had  long  cher- 
ished in  his  heart  the  hope  of  securing  his  services  for  the  need- 
ful West.  When  planning  the  "seminary"  which  was  to  have 
been  located  on  the  east  side  of  the  present  Broadway  in  Nor- 

12This  reporter  was  Edward  J.  Lewis,  later  editor  of  the  Pantograph, 
and  Fell's  lifelong  friend.  The  account  given,  with  many  incidents  not 
here  noted,  is  found  in  his  manuscript  Life  of  Fell.  Weekly  Pantograph, 
May  27,  1857.  Lincoln  Weldon,  interview,  July  12,  1913. 

"Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  Reports,  II,  359-364. 

"7Wd,  II,  373-378. 

15The  new  school  was  to  be  financed  from  the  income  of  the  college 
and  seminary  fund,  then  about  ten  thousand  dollars  per  year,  which  was 
permanently  diverted  for  this  purpose.  Many,  not  without  good  ground, 
objected  to  this  diversion,  and  it  was  to  answer  their  representations  that 
the  singularly  inappropriate  name  of  the  Illinois  State  Normal  "Univer- 
sity" was  used,  a  name  which  has  been  retained  even  after  the  founding 
of  the  state  university.  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  Re- 
ports, I,  123 ;  II,  276 ;  Illinois  Teacher,  III,  395. 


46  JESSE  W.   PELL  [310 

mal,  he  had  corresponded  with  Mann  and  others  relative  to  its 
constitution,  scope  and  curriculum.  He  now  asked  the  great  edu- 
cator if  he  would  consider  the  presidency  of  the  proposed  nor- 
mal school.  Mr.  Mann  was  favorably  disposed,  and  before  the 
location  of  the  school  had  been  actually  secured,  a  subscription 
list  signed  by  Bloomington  citizens  promised  material  aid  in 
raising  the  salary  of  Horace  Mann  were  he  to  become  the  head 
of  the  new  institution.16 

The  meeting  of  the  board  at  which  a  ' '  principal ' '  was  to  be 
elected  was  held  in  Bloomington.  Shortly  before  the  time  of 
meeting,  a  prominent  friend  of  the  Peoria  faction  came  to  John 
F.  Eberhart,  who  with  Fell  led  the  pro-Mann  party,  and  told  him 
that  it  was  a  matter  of  political  necessity  that  an  Illinois  man 
be  elected  to  the  position.  "If  you  elect  Mann  we'll  kill  him," 
said  this  advocate  of  local  sovereignty ;  and  he  further  intimated 
that  nothing  but  the  appointment  of  a  Peorian  could  satisfy  the 
disappointed  politicians  of  that  city.  When  the  situation  be- 
came known  to  Horace  Mann,  he  telegraphed  to  Eberhart  that 
he  would  not  be  a  candidate  for  the  place  if  there  were  to  be  any 
fight  connected  with  it.  Since  Fell  was  equally  opposed  to  dis- 
sensions at  this  critical  time  and  realized  thoroly  the  need  of 
united  support  for  the  principal  of -the  struggling  institution,  the 
plan  of  securing  Horace  Mann  was  reluctantly  given  up  by  his 
friends,  and  the  Middle  West  lost  the  strength  which  might  have 
accrued  to  this  school  through  the  leadership  of  the  greatest  edu- 
cator of  his  day.17  After  Mann,  Mr.  Charles  Hovey  was  gener- 

1<5The  subscription  list,  dated  May  I,  1857,  was  signed  by  Jesse  W. 
Fell,  K.  H.  Fell,  W.  H.  Allin,  C  W.  Holder,  Jos.  Payne,  John  Magoun, 
F.  K.  Phoenix,  John  Dietrich,  E.  Thomas,  McCann  Davis,  and  amounted 
to  $750.  Mr.  Mann  had  agreed  to  accept  the  presidency  at  $2500.  John 
F.  Eberhart,  in  Fell  Memorial,  24,  and  interview,  June  20,  1913.  Mann  to 
Fell,  June  23,  1856.  President  F.  Wayland  of  Brown  University  to  Fell, 
Jan.  29,  1853.  Illinois  Teacher,  III,  107. 

17It  has  been  said  that  the  liberal  religious  views  of  Mann  were 
largely  responsible  for  that  disapproval  which  resulted  in  the  vigorous 
opposition  to  his  presidency,  the  powerful  Methodist  faction  in  the  state 
considering  him  a  dangerous  leader  of  the  young  in  spite  of  his  ability. 
Certain  it  is  that  his  abolitionist  leanings  aroused  antipathy  among  that 
large  number  who  sympathized  with  slavery  or  feared  to  have  the  ques- 
tion agitated.  Pro-slavery  advocates  especially  remembered  a  speech  of 
Mr.  Mann  in  which  he  had  vigorously  assailed  Daniel  Webster  and  the 
Compromise  of  1850.  These  considerations,  combined  with  the  fact  that 
Hovey  was  able  to  command  powerful  forces  in  support  of  his  own  can- 
didacy, were  quite  sufficient  to  defeat  the  large-visioned  plan  of  FelL 


311]  FOUNDING   THE   NORMAL   SCHOOL  47 

ally  considered  the  best  man  for  the  position,  although  Eberhart, 
who  declined  the  nomination,  and  a  Mr.  Phelps  were  also  con- 
sidered. On  the  final  vote,  Hovey  was  elected  by  a  bare  majority. 

Once  elected,  Hovey  set  to  work  with  great  energy  and  abil- 
ity to  make  the  normal  school  a  success.  The  task  was  a  hard 
one.  School  opened  in  the  historic  Major's  Hall,  perched  atop 
a  grocery  store  on  Front  street  in  Blopmington.  There  were 
twenty-nine  pupils  on  the  opening  day,  October  5,  1857,  and 
more  followed  soon,  the  total  enrollment  for  the  year  being  one 
hundred  twenty-seven.  There  were  two  assistants,  and  a  "model 
school ' '  for  observation  and  practice. 

The  troubles  of  the  normal  school  began  with  the  panic  of 
1857.  Many  of  the  men  who  had  led  in  the  subscriptions  found 
themselves  unable  to  pay  what  they  had  promised,  and  the  com- 
missioners were  unable  to  sell  the  swamp  lands  that  had  been 
counted  upon  so  confidently.  Even  the  title  to  these  lands  was 
found  to  be  uncertain,  and  Fell  made  a  trip  to  "Washington  to 
secure  the  complete  and  formal  deed,  in  order  that  the  lands 
might  be  available  in  case  buyers  appeared.18  He  returned  early 
in  November,  with  word  that  the  official  confirmation  would  be 
sent  to  Springfield.  New  complications  arose,  however,  after  he 
had  left  Washington,  and  the  patents  for  the  thirty  thousand 
acres  were  not  issued  until  January,  1858.  The  last  payment  on 
the  pledge  from  the  county  lands  was  paid  in  October,  1864. 

The  uncertainty  of  realizing  money  from  the  county  grant, 
with  the  scarcity  of  money  in  general  and  the  unwillingness  of 
one  or  two  of  the  wealthy  land-owners  to  turn  over  their  prom- 
ised acres  at  the  time  when  they  were  most  needed,  made  it  im- 
possible to  make  the  first  payment  to  the  contractors,  and  work 
was  suspended  in  December  of  1857.  Of  all  the  thousands  sub- 
scribed, not  even  six  or  seven  could  be  collected  for  immediate 
use.  The  ingenious  expedients  of  Charles  Hovey  during  the  dark 
days  that  ensued  included  every  possible  scheme  for  making 
something  out  of  nothing.  The  school  was  without  money,  with- 
out established  credit,  and  without  that  public  support  which 
comes  with  the  tradition  of  success.  Some  of  its  opponents  began 
to  suggest  that  a  failure  so  apparent  be  abandoned.  A  few  stanch 

18In  August,  1855,  being  himself  unable  to  go,  Fell  had  sent  his  son 
Henry,  now  grown  to  manhood,  to  Washington  to  look  after  the  school 
warrants  for  Illinois,  W.  F.  M.  Arny  being  then  in  the  patent  office.  He 
(Henry  Fell)  remained  until  the  last  of  October,  and  was  moderately 
successful  in  his  mission. 


48  JESSE   W.   FELL  [312 

friends  upheld  the  hands  of  the  determined  president  at  this 
time,  risking  their  own  property  by  signing  the  notes  it  was 
necessary  to  make.  These  men  were  Charles  and  Richard  Holder, 
and  Jesse  and  Kersey  Fell.  Dr.  George  P.  Rex  and  S.  "W.  Moid- 
ton  also  helped  by  giving  personal  notes.  The  merchants  of 
Bloomington  stood  loyally  by  the  school,  furnishing  materials  on 
credit  upon  the  basis  of  the  faith  of  the  friends  and  guarantors 
that  the  next  legislature  would  make  appropriations  to  cover  all 
debts.  This  was  done  at  the  next  session,  and  work  upon  the 
building  was  resumed  in  the  spring  of  1859.  The  school  moved 
into  its  new  quarters  in  the  autumn  of  1860,  and  on  October  5 
of  that  year  the  last  brick  was  laid,  with  short  speeches,  cheers, 
and  a  free  picnic  lunch  for  all.19 

It  seemed  to  Fell  and  to  other  friends  of  the  normal  school, 
that  a  formal  dedication  of  the  building  would  call  attention  to 
the  institution,  and  gain  it  friends  and  influence.  It  was  a  time 
of  great  anxiety  and  uncertainty,  and  there  were  some  who  hesi- 
tated to  take  time  and  expense  for  such  an  occasion  during  a 
period  of  national  peril.  The  dedication,  however,  which  was  on 
January  30,  1861,  not  only  gained  the  end  for  which  it  was 
planned,  but  afforded  a  relief  from  the  tense  anxiety  of  the  time, 
a,  comforting  assurance  of  at  least  one  great  good  accomplished, 
which  gave  heart  and  encouragement  to  all  who  attended  it.  Mr. 
Fell  worked  indefatigably  to  make  the  occasion  successful.  In- 
vitations were  sent  to  all  the  prominent  men  in  the  state,  and 
great  crowds  attended  from  Bloomington  and  the  nearby  towns. 
It  was  one  of  the  first  normal  schools  built  west  of  the  Allegha- 
nies,  and  the  first  state-endowed  educational  institution  in  Illi- 
nois. Governor  Yates  and  Ex-Governor  Bebb  of  Ohio  were  there, 
and  many  lesser  stars.  The  speeches  were  given  in  the  great  hall 
of  the  new  building,  and  the  feast  which  crowned  the  occasion 
was  in  Royce's  Hall  in  Bloomington.  Mrs.  Fell  and  her  cousin, 
Mrs.  Holder,  planned  and  managed  the  banquet,  at  which  the 
mayor  presided  and  Mr.  Fell  was  toastmaster.20 

Fell's  interest  in  the  school  continued  always,  and  for  many 
years  was  actively  shown.  He  attended  the  public  meetings,  en- 
couraged the  literary  societies,  and  while  a  member  of  the  board 
of  education  superintended  the  planting  of  the  campus,  of  which 

"Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  Reports,  II,  99-103. 
20Newspaper  clippings,  undated,  in   the  Scrapbook.    Illinois  Teacher, 
VII,  78. 


313]  FOUNDING  THE  NORMAL  SCHOOL  49 

more  in  another  chapter.21  Through  the  years  of  its  gradual 
growth  and  establishment  he  was  regularly  the  man  who  secured 
the  necessary  appropriations  at  Springfield. 

21G.  B.  Robinson,  secretary  of  the  Wrightonian  Society,  to  Fell,  April 
30,  1861.    Mr.  Fell  became  an  honorary  member  of  this  society. 


CHAPTER  V 
POLITICAL  ACTIVITIES,  1840-1860 

The  strong  admiration  which  Fell  had  for  Henry  Clay  led 
him  to  take  a  prominent  part  in  local  politics  during  the  first 
three  years  of  his  residence  in  Bloomington.  He  was  never  of 
those  who  consider  politics  so  inherently  and  ineradicably  evil 
that  honest  men  can  have  no  part  in  them.  Politics  interested  him 
in  an  absorbing  way  at  times.  He  used  the  machinery  of  govern- 
ment as  a  means  of  securing  good  ends,  and  also  probably  with 
a  keen  appreciation  of  the  fun  of  the  game.  And  he  was  one  of 
the  few  men  who  do  not  ask  or  receive  material  compensation  for 
their  participation  in  public  affairs.1 

Until  1840,  his  political  activities  seem  to  have  been  mainly 
along  the  line  of  securing  various  favors  for  the  districts  in  which 
he  was  interested,  and  in  urging  the  election  of  men  who  fa- 
vored internal  improvements.  In  that  year  he  was  much  in  de- 
mand for  stump  speeches  throughout  Central  Illinois,  where  the 
campaign  lacked  none  of  that  picturesqueness  which  character- 
ized it  in  the  country  as  a  whole.  On  one  occasion  a  monster  pro- 
cession was  organized  in  Bloomington,  to  go  to  Peoria,  forty 
miles  away.  The  chef-d'oeuvre  of  the  expedition  was  a  great 
cannon — Black  Betty — drawn  by  twelve  horses,  and  with  twelve 
veterans  of  the  War  of  1812  upon  it.  The  procession  stopped  at 
Mackinaw,  Tremont,  Washington,  and  other  towns  on  the  way 
for  meetings.  At  Washington,  after  Fell  and  others  had  spoken, 
General  Gridley  was  called  upon  for  a  speech,  and  responded 
acceptably.  The  possibility  of  entering  political  life  appealed  ta 
General  Gridley,  and  that  fall  he  was  nominated  and  elected  to 
the  lower  house  at  Springfield.  Fell  advised  him  the  next  year 
to  study  law,  and  had  afterward  the  pleasure  of  seeing  him  very 
successful  in  this  profession.  The  friendship  between  these  two 
men  was  cemented  by  mutual  service  and  sacrifice,  for  part  of 
the  debts  for  which  General  Gridley  filed  a  petition  in  bankruptcy 
in  1842  were  contracted  as  security  for  Fell  and  others  in  enter- 

1James   Ewing,  Memorial  Address  to  Bloomington  Bar  Association,. 
1887.    Manuscript  in  Fell  Papers. 

50 


315]  POLITICAL   ACTIVITIES  51 

prises  in  which  both  were  interested.2  Fell  was  able  later  amply 
to  compensate  his  friend  for  his  devotion,  but  he  never  forgot  the 
service  rendered  at  the  time  of  the  great  panic. 

Besides  the  stump  speaking,  Fell  reached  the  people  by 
means  of  a  circular  letter,  dated  January  20,  1840,  which  set 
forth  the  evils  of  the  Jackson  regime  and  the  necessity  for  re- 
form in  the  person  and  under  the  leadership  of  General  Harri- 
son. This  document  is  couched  in  somewhat  pompous  phrase- 
ology, but  direct,  pointed,  and  dignified — the  latter  a  character- 
ictic  rare  enough  to  be  appreciated  in  the  Western  campaign  lit- 
erature of  that  day. 

Fell's  position  on  the  question  of  repudiation  is  worthy  of 
comment.  The  financial  panic  of  1837  was  of  unequaled  sever- 
ity throughout  the  Middle  "West,  and  its  effects  lasted  well  into 
the  next  decade.  Men  who  were  able  to  weather  the  first  months 
of  the  long  depression  went  under  after  brave  resistance,  when 
the  depression  had  continued  until  their  hoarded  resources  were 
exhausted.  One  after  another,  they  took  benefit  of  the  bank- 
ruptcy law  passed  by  a  special  session  of  Congress  called  by  Har- 
rison. Land  depreciated  in  value  until  the  best  tracts  were  sold 
for  a  song,  and  then  were  offered  vainly  to  buyers  at  any  price.3 
Not  only  were  individuals  ruined  by  the  panic  and  hard  times; 
it  was  many  years  before  the  state  of  Illinois  recovered  from  the 
effects  of  1837.  The  State  Bank,  as  has  been  noted,  suspended 
payment  in  1837,  and  failed  in  1842.  The  state's  internal  im- 
provement scheme  did  not  collapse  until  about  1840,  when  the 
legislature  repealed  the  law.  The  construction  of  the  Illinois 
and  Michigan  Canal  had  stopped  in  1839,  and  was  not  resumed 
for  some  years.  Interest  on  the  state  debt  was  paid  regularly, 
however,  until  1841,  when  payments  were  suspended  until  July, 
1846.  The  state  became  so  seriously  involved  that  many  recom- 
mended the  extreme  means  of  practical  repudiation  of  the  state 
debt.  This  proposal  aroused  the  more  thoughtful  of  the  men  of  Ill- 
inois to  a  strong  protest,  and  none  opposed  the  suggestion  more 
vigorously  than  Jesse  Fell.  He  published,  in  1845,  an  open  letter 
to  the  Senate  and  House  of  Illinois,  which  was  widely  copied  and 

2The  petition  was  made  under  the  law  of  1841,  and  bears  date  of  Feb. 
10,  1842.  The  schedule  of  debts  amounts  to  $52,999.42.  See  Fell's  sketch 
of  Gridley  in  Duis,  Good  Old  Times  in  McLean  County,  262-276. 

3So  late  as  1848,  Robert  Fell  was  offered  eighty  acres  near  the  farm 
of  his  brother  close  to  Bloomington  for  $3  per  acre.  Lewis,  Life,  27. 


52  JESSE  W.   FELL  [316 

probably  had  a  considerable  influence  upon  the  public  opinion  of 
the  day  regarding  repudiation.  He  recommended  the  imposition 
of  a  slight  tax,  which  he  said  the  people  would  gladly  pay,  and 
which  would  recognize  the  moral  obligation  of  the  state.  In  ad- 
dition to  the  primary  motive  of  common  honesty,  he  urged  that 
the  passage  of  such  a  law  would  relieve  the  state  of  the  responsi- 
bility for  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal,  which  the  bondhold- 
ers would  then  take  off  its  hands.4 

During  these  years  Fell  remained  a  loyal  Whig,  working  in 
the  party  councils  when  occasion  required,  but  steadily  refusing 
to  accept  office.  In  1850  the  Whigs  of  the  neighborhood  of 
Quincy — it  will  be  remembered  that  this  was  while  he  lived  at 
Payson — urged  him  to  stand  for  representative.  "  [Your  views] 
on  the  really  important  question  of  the  times — the  non-extension 
of  slavery,  will  not  only  meet  the  approval  of  the  entire  Whigs 

4Copy  of  a  Letter  upon  State  Repudiation,  Jesse  W.  Fell  to  the  Sen- 
ate and  House  of  Illinois,  1845.  The  following  quotations  will  serve  to 
show  his  position,  which  was  that  of  the  more  conservative  thinkers  in  the 
state  generally : 

"...  We  stand  as  on  the  verge  of  a  precipice,  and  one  false  step 
may  precipitate  us  to  a  depth  of  dishonor  and  infamy  from  which  we  may 
never  recover.  ...  In  such  a  contingency  [practical  repudiation]  our  credit 
and  reputation  as  a  state  will  not  only  be  gone  but,  it  is  feared,  past  re- 
demption ;  practical  repudiation  will  have  received  your  sanction,  and, 
in  return,  will  consign  the  State  to  a  depth  of  infamy  from  which 
she  can  never  hope  to  emerge;  .  .  .  Where,  let  me  ask,  is  the 
distinction,  in  morals  or  common  honesty,  between  the  man  who  boldly 
proclaims  he  will  not  pay  a  debt,  which  he  alleges  was  illegally  contracted, 
though  based  on  a  valuable  consideration,  and  him  who  acknowledges  that 
he  justly  owes,  has  the  means  of  making  restitution,  but  refuses  to  make 
the  first  effort  to  do  so?  ... 

"Let  us  inquire,  in  the  next  place,  what  will  be  the  practical  effect, — 
what  the  objects  to  be  attained  by  this  tax,  light  tho'  it  be.  If  no  other 
object  was  attainable,  that  of  merely  paying  the  amount  of  what  we  justly 
owe  would  of  itself  be  all-sufficient,  and  should  impel  us  to  a  prompt  and 
cheerful  performance  of  the  act.  But  this  is  not  all.  By  so  doing  you 
will  practically  extinguish, — you  will  relieve  the  people  of  $6,000,000  of 
their  public  indebtedness.  Our  bond  holders  stand  pledged,  in  the  event 
of  the  passage  through  your  bodies  of  a  revenue  law,  imposing  a  light  tax 
for  the  purpose  of  paying  a  part  of  the  accrueing  interest  on  our  debt,  to 
take  the  Michigan  and  Illinois  Canal,  with  its  attendant  burdens,  off  our 
hands,  and  prosecute  it  to  completion  within  a  given  period.  Thus  reliev- 
ing us  of  about  one  half  of  our  immense  State  debt." 


317]  POLITICAL  ACTIVITIES  53 

of  the  county,  but  will  I  believe  tend  to  secure  a  strong  vote  from 
the  free-soilers,  who  probably  in  this  county  and  certainly  in  the 
congressional  district,  hold  the  balance  of  power,"  wrote  a  local 
Whig  leader  to  him  at  the  time.5  Fell  refused  the  nomination. 

A  little  later  he  found  in  the  columns  of  the  Intelligencer  a 
means  of  influencing  public  opinion  which  was  practicable  even 
when  his  private  affairs  kept  him  busiest.6  He  was  untiring  in 
his  efforts  for  his  friends,  and  seems  in  all  cases  to  have  given  ad- 
vice which  subsequent  events  justified.  Again  in  1854  there  was 
a  demand  that  he  be  a  candidate  for  the  legislature,  and  another 
refusal.  He  was  wont  to  remark  to  his  friends,  indeed,  that  after 
1852  his  interest  in  politics  was  buried  in  the  grave  of  Henry 
Clay.  That  interest  experienced  a  prompt  and  complete  resusci- 
tation, however,  upon  the  passage  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Act. 
In  common  with  most  Friends,  the  Fell  family  had  long  been 
abolitionists,  and  when  it  became  clear  that  the  new  Bepublican 
party  was  to  be  organized  about  the  central  idea  of  opposition  to 
the  extension  of  slavery,  they  united  with  it  eagerly.7 

The  party  was  organized  in  Illinois  on  the  29th  of  May, 
1856,  in  Major's  Hall  in  Bloomington,  altho  several  prelimi- 
nary meetings  had  been  held  and  the  leaders  were  already  well 

5N.  Bushnell  to  Fell,  Aug.  23,  1850. 

6For  instance,  Richard  Yates,  in  a  letter  dated  Nov.  17,  1852,  explains 
his  methods  of  winning  the  election  of  1852,  and  thanks  Fell  for  his  de- 
fense of  him  in  the  Intelligencer,  and  for  his  help  for  several  years  past. 
Yates'  account  of  the  campaign  is  very  interesting.  He  wrote  letters,  of 
which  he  had  150  copies  made,  to  send  to  Whigs  of  influence,  both  known 
and  unknown  to  him.  After  ten  days  he  went  through  each  county  in  the 
district,  "had  a  little  night  meeting  in  each  (this  is  what  the  Register 
called  my  still  hunt)  and  at  the  end  of  that  time  I  commenced  speaking 
at  the  various  county  seats  on  a  run,  and  in  twenty  days  the  whole  Whig 
columns  from  center  to  circumference  were  moving  in  solid  phalanx  and 
shouting  victory  all  along  the  line — Calhoun  was  cowed — his  friends 
alarmed — Judge  Douglas  and  Shields  and  Gregg  and  Harris  &c  were 
brought  to  the  rescue — lying  handbills  and  malignant  falsehoods  were 
brought  in  requisition,  but  in  vain — I  went  to  bed  the  night  of  the  election 
conscious  of  victory." 

7Jesse  Fell  to  his  son,  Jesse  W.  Fell,  June  16,  1832.  In  this  letter 
Fell's  father  tells  of  his  mother's  activity  and  interest  in  meetings  held  to 
express  sympathy  for  the  colored  people.  Mrs.  Fell  the  elder  was  an  ad- 
mirer of  Mrs.  Mott  and  cooperated  with  her  in  her  efforts.  E.  M.  Prince 
states  in  the  Fell  Memorial  that  the  senior  Fell  operated  a  station  of  the 
Underground  Railroad. 


54  JESSE  W.   FELL  [318 

united.8  The  convention  held  at  that  time  was  supposed  to  be 
composed  of  one  delegate  for  each  six  thousand  people,  which 
gave  three  delegates  to  McLean  County;  but  others  besides  dele- 
gates participated  freely  in  its  business,  especially  as  there  seems 
to  have  been  practical  unanimity  concerning  what  was  to  be 
done.  People  came  in  crowds  from  all  parts  of  the  state,  and 
there  was  great  enthusiasm,  which  reached  its  highest  pitch  when 
Lincoln  gave  the  famous  ' '  Lost  Speech. ' '  Local  tradition  places 
Fell  among  the  many  speakers  whose  efforts  were  entirely  lost 
sight  of  in  the  splendor  of  that  matchless  oration ;  but  his  charac- 
teristic activity  at  such  times,  it  may  be  remarked  in  passing, 
was  rather  the  framing  of  resolutions  and  the  urging  of  progres- 
sive measures  privately  among  his  friends,  than  the  making  of 
speeches. 

By  1856,  Illinois  people  had  come  thoroly  to  realize  that 
the  Whig  party  had  ceased  to  be ;  but  the  character  and  policy  of 
its  successor  was  not  altogether  clear.  In  no  state,  perhaps,  was 
the  Republican  party  made  up  of  elements  more  diverse  than 
composed  it  in  Illinois.  The  third  congressional  district,  for  in- 
stance, comprised  in  1856  thirteen  counties.9  The  southern  coun- 
ties, still  largely  influenced  by  their  southern  antecedents,  abomi- 
nated abolitionists.  The  northern  counties  had  been  settled 
mainly  by  New  England  and  Ohio  people,  who  brought  with  them 
very  decided  anti-slavery  views.  Fifty-five  delegates,  represent- 
ing the  thirteen  counties,  met  in  convention  July  2,  1856,  and 
nominated  Owen  Love  joy,  altho  McLean  and  all  the  southern 
counties  had  been  instructed  for  Leonard  Swett.  Love  joy  was 
known  to  be  an  abolitionist,  an  ex-member  of  the  Liberty  party. 
Moreover,  the  southern  counties  had  long  yielded  the  nomination 
to  those  of  the  north,  and  thought  that  a  sense  of  fairness  should 
have  granted  them  the  nomination  when  they  urged  so  able  a 
candidate  as  Leonard  Swett.  Because  of  these  things,  the  dis- 
gruntled counties  held  another  convention  on  the  sixteenth  of 

8Major's  Hall  was  the  third  story,  now  demolished,  of  a  building  still 
(1916)  standing  on  Front  street  in  Bloomington.  Pantograph,  June  4, 
1856.  Joseph  Medill,  "Lincoln's  Lost  Speech,"  in  McClure's  Magazine, 
Sept.,  1896.  For  an  account  of  attempts  at  Republican  organization  before 
1856,  see  J.  H.  Burnham,  History  of  Bloomington  and  Normal,  109-114. 

9Kendall,  Will,  Grundy,  La  Salle,  Bureau,  Putnam,  Kankakee,  Iro- 
quois,  McLean,  DeWitt,  Champaign,  and  Vermillion,  of  which  the  present 
Ford  County  then  formed  a  part. 


319]  POLITICAL   ACTIVITIES  55 

July  at  Bloomington,  and  nominated  Judge  T.  L.  Dickey  of 
Ottawa.10 

Fell  had  been  in  the  East  during  the  first  convention,  at  Ot- 
tawa, but  he  was  known  to  be  strongly  in  favor  of  Swett.  He 
had  gone  on  private  business,  but  hoping  to  attend  the  latter  part 
of  the  Republican  convention  at  Philadelphia,  a  hope  which  was 
frustrated  by  delay  in  his  business  affairs.  He  returned,  how- 
ever, in  time  to  attend  the  great  ratification  meeting  in  the  square 
in  Bloomington,  on  the  evening  of  the  convention  day.  After 
the  "bolters"  had  spoken,  some  one  called  on  Love  joy,  who  had 
appeared  upon  the  scene.  He  came  to  the  front  and  delivered  a 
speech  so  powerful  that  he  won  the  unfriendly  crowd  completely. 
It  was  a  wonderful  victory  for  the  abolitionist,  and  for  the  prin- 
ciples of  freedom  and  equality  which  he  advocated.11 

On  the  second  evening  after,  another  mass  meeting  was  held 
on  the  square,  at  which  Fell  offered  resolutions  in  favor  of  Love- 
joy.  The  crowd  was  again  carried  away  with  enthusiasm,  and 
readily  adopted  them.  Lovejoy  sentiment  grew  from  day  to  day. 
Judge  Dickey  later  withdrew  from  the  contest,  and  Lovejoy  was 
elected  by  a  large  majority.  It  was  during  this  campaign  that 
there  sprang  up  the  warm  friendship  between  Fell  and  Lovejoy, 
which  was  to  last  until  the  death  of  the  latter  in  1864. 

During  the  campaign  that  followed  Mr.  Fell  made  many 
speeches.  The  Republican  organization  in  Illinois  was  rapidly 
completed,  and  the  party  pushed  its  campaign  so  energetically 
that  it  won  the  governorship,  altho  the  Democrats  were  suc- 
cessful in  the  general  elections.  During  the  summer  the  Bloom- 
ington Democratic  and  Republican  clubs  exchanged  speakers, 
Mr.  Fell  being  invited  to  represent  his  party  before  the  Demo- 
cratic Club.12  He  was  active  in  the  county  nominating  conven- 
tion in  September.  Throughout  the  summer,  however,  he  seems 
studiously  to  have  confined  himself  to  local  activities. 

Among  the  forces  that  were  powerful  in  shaping  public 
opinion  in  Illinois  after  1853,  were  the  Kansas  Aid  Committee 

10Pantagraph,  June  11,  July  2,  9,  23,  1856;  April  II,  1868. 

"Brush,  The  Political  Career  of  Owen  Lovejoy  (manuscript  thesis, 
University  of  Illinois),  12.  Prince  says  (Historical  Encyclopedia  of  Illinois 
and  History  of  McLean  County,  1029)  that  this  appearance  of  Lovejoy 
had  been  planned  by  Mr.  Fell,  who  thought  it  the  best  way  of  reconciling 
discordant  elements  in  the  party.  Burnham,  History  of  Bloomington  and 
Normal,  114. 

12Adlai  Stevenson  in  Fell  Memorial,  4pff. 


56  JESSE  W.  PELL  [320 

and  its  allies.  General  W.  F.  M.  Arny,  a  West  Virginian  who 
lived  in  North  Bloomington,  was  a  leader  in  the  work  of  helping 
Northern  men  in  Kansas.13  The  big  barn  at  his  home  was  a  depot 
of  supplies  for  Kansas  families  sent  in  by  sympathizers  from  far 
and  near.  The  town  was  a  recruiting  station  for  immigrants 
bound  for  Kansas.  The  Fells,  being  anti-slavery  people,  helped 
in  the  work.  In  1856,  at  the  national  convention  of  the  society 
held  in  Buffalo,  Abraham  Lincoln  was  appointed  on  the  National 
Kansas  Aid  Committee.  He  declined  to  serve,  however,  alleging 
other  pressing  duties,  and  recommended  Fell  as  a  substitute. 
General  Arny  wrote  at  once  to  Fell  offering  him  membership,  as 
representative  for  Illinois,  and  asking  him  to  attend  the  meeting- 
in  Chicago  on  July  30.  Fell  in  turn  declined,  recommending 
Arny  himself  for  the  post,  to  which  in  due  time  he  was  ap- 
pointed, and  served  with  marked  ability.14 

After  1856  Fell's  interest  in  politics  did  not  flag.  His  map 
of  Illinois,  with  the  senatorial  districts  carefully  inked  in,  and 
the  party  vote  for  each  district  for  1858  written  in  the  margin, 
shows  how  closely  he  kept  track  of  conditions  and  tendencies.  He 
was  close  to  the  people,  and  knew  their  ideas  and  their  heroes. 
He  was  close  to  the  leaders,  knowing  their  ambitions  and  their 
motives.  He  was  interested  in  all  public  affairs,  concerned  with 
the  growth  of  the  country,  solicitous  for  the  right  solution  to  na- 
tional problems.15  In  1857  he  was  commissioned  by  the  state 
central  committee  as  corresponding  secretary  to  visit  different 
parts  of  Illinois  for  conferences  with  leaders.  He  knew  the  pulse 
of  the  state  as  no  one  else  could. 

As  has  been  noted,  Fell  met  Lincoln  in  1834-5,  when  Lincoln 
and  Stuart  were  serving  in  the  state  legislature.  At  circuit  court 
sessions  they  were  more  or  less  closely  associated  while  Fell  con- 
tinued to  ride  the  circuit,  and  after  he  had  given  up  law  for  real 
estate  their  friendship  continued.  In  the  campaigns  of  1840  and 
1844  they  were  active  and  friendly  Whig  partisans.  They  called 
each  other  by  their  Christian  names,  and  it  was  noted  with 

13Wm.  M.  McCambridge,  "My  Remembrances  of  Jesse  W.  Fell,"  man- 
uscript. Pantograph,  June  25,  July  2  and  23,  1856. 

14Arny  to  Fell,  July  22,  1856.  Chicago  Tribune,  same  date.  The  Pan- 
tograph of  July  23,  1856,  says  that  "A.  Lincoln  is  a  member  of  the  na- 
tional committee."  The  facts  were  related  by  Fell  himself  in  a  letter  to 
a  newspaper,  Oct.  3,  1881 ;  Scrapbook. 

"Dept.  of  Interior  to  Owen  Lovejoy,  May  25,  1858.  Lovejoy  to  Fell; 
undated. 


321]  POLITICAL   ACTIVITIES  57 

amusement  by  their  common  acquaintances  that  Fell  never 
called  Lincoln  ''Abe"  after  the  easy  fashion  of  most  Illinoisans. 
It  was  one  of  the  Quaker  characteristics  which  gave  him  a  gentle 
dignity  which  all  men  respected,  that  he  did  not  use  nicknames. 
Lincoln  was  often  at  the  Fell  home  in  Bloomington,  and  the  two 
men  seem  to  have  carried  on  a  friendly  correspondence  whenever 
there  was  public  business  upon  which  they  might  cooperate. 

John  F.  Eberhart  says  that  Jesse  W.  Fell  and  his  brother 
Kersey  were  the  first  men  to  suggest  Mr.  Lincoln  as  presidential 
timber.16  Be  this  as  it  may,  there  is  no  question  that  the  idea  of 
joint  debates  between  Lincoln  and  Douglas  originated  with  Jesse 
Fell  and  was  repeatedly  suggested  until  the  debates  became  a 
reality.  They  were  first  proposed  by  Mr.  Fell  in  September  of 
1854  on  the  occasion  of  a  speech  by  Senator  Douglas  in  Bloom- 
ington. Mr.  Fell's  request  was  then  based  on  a  general  desire 
of  people  to  hear  the  two  together.  Douglas  declined  to  debate, 
and  Lincoln  goodnaturedly  agreed  to  postpone  his  own  talk  until 
"candlelight".17 

There  was  no  doubt  among  the  Republicans  of  Illinois  as  to 
their  choice  for  senator  in  1858.  They  wished  to  make  the  nomi- 
nation at  the  state  convention,  a  proceeding  until  then  unheard- 
of.  In  the  McLean  County  convention,  held  June  5,  Fell  offered 
resolutions  '  '  that  Lincoln  is  our  first,  last  and  only  choice  for  the 
vacancy  soon  to  occur  in  the  United  States  Senate  ;  and  that  de- 
spite all  influences  at  home  or  abroad,  domestic  or  foreign,  the 
Eepublicans  of  Illinois,  as  with  the  voice  of  one  man,  are  unalter- 
ably so  resolved  ;  to  the  end  that  we  may  have  a  big  man,  with  a 
big  mind,  and  a  big  heart,  to  represent  our  big  state."16  The 
resolutions  were  read  amid  shouts  of  approval,  and  were  adopted 
with  rounds  of  applause.  Throughout  the  state  the  feeling  was 
the  same.  At  the  state  convention,  held  in  Springfield  on  the 
16th,  practically  the  same  resolutions  were  adopted.19  It  was  at 


Memorial,  26.   J.  R.  Rowell  in  ibid. 

"Stevenson,  Something  of  Men  I  Have  Known,  8.  Lawrence  Weldon, 
"New  Lincoln  Stories"  in  Chicago  Tribune,  Feb.  9  and  Pantagraph,  Feb. 
10,  1902.  Fell's  own  account  is  in  Oldroyd,  Lincoln  Memorial  Album,  468- 
472.  James  T.  Ewing  tells  it  in  his  contribution  to  the  Fell  Memorial. 

^Pantograph,  June  I  and  7,  1858. 

19The  comment  in  the  Democratic  organ,  the  Illinois  Statesman,  of 
June  3,  1858,  besides  furnishing  a  typical  example  of  the  attitude  of  non- 
Republicans  toward  Lincoln,  refers  to  a  "secret  caucus"  of  the  night  be- 
fore. Probably  the  presentation  of  the  resolutions  was  carefully  planned 
by  the  leaders  at  this  meeting. 


58  JESSE   W.    FELL  [322 

the  evening  session  of  this  convention  that  Lincoln  delivered  his 
"House  Divided"  speech.  To  trace  the  courses  of  speeches  and 
replies  that  followed,  as  Lincoln  and  Douglas  pushed  their 
rivalry,  would  be  to  repeat  a  story  that  has  already  been  well  and 
fully  told.  Of  especial  interest  here  is  the  journey  of  Fell 
through  the  states  north  and  east  of  Illinois,  during  the  time 
when  the  debates  were  taking  place  in  Illinois,  and  later.  He 
visited  all  the  New  England  states  but  Maine,  and  New  York, 
New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Michigan,  and  Indiana.  Every- 
where he  found  Eepublicans  who  were  interested  in  the  debates, 
and  who  were  eager  to  hear  about  the  man  who  was  successfully 
defying  and  answering  Stephen  A.  Douglas.  As  he  sounded  the 
praises  of  his  friend,  the  conviction  grew  in  him  that  in  a  still 
larger  field  Lincoln  might  become  the  successful  rival  of  the 
great  Douglas.20 

When  he  returned  to  Bloomington,  Fell  proposed  to  Lincoln 
that  he  should  be  the  next  Republican  candidate  for  president. 
This  was  in  his  brother  Kersey's  law  office.  The  story  of  that 
conversation,  which  Mr.  Fell  afterward  substantially  repro- 
duced, is  well  known.  Lincoln  professed  to  think  it  a  very  fool- 
ish idea,  and  declined  to  write  the  autobiography  for  which  his 
friend  asked,  that  he  might  acquaint  people  in  the  East  with 
Lincoln's  personal  history.21  Nevertheless  Fell  quietly  pursued 
the  realization  of  his  ' '  big  idea, ' '  which  other  f oresighted  Repub- 
licans shared  with  him,  through  1859.  He  was  secretary  of  the 
state  central  committee  for  his  party,  and  in  that  capacity  he 
kept  a  sensitive  finger  on  the  pulse  of  the  state.  He  found  occa- 
sion, moreover,  in  perfecting  the  state  organization,  to  visit  most 
of  the  counties,  where  the  people  as  a  rule  were  eager  to  see 
"Abe"  Lincoln  a  presidential  candidate.  There  was  no  need, 
apparently,  to  urge  Lincoln's  name  to  Illinoisans.  It  was  in 
other  states  that  the  Lincoln  propaganda  must  be  pushed. 

Lincoln  himself  began  to  think  seriously  of  running  for 
president  during  the  summer,  and  especially  after  visiting  Kan- 
sas and  Ohio  in  the  fall.  On  December  20,  when  Fell  repeated 
his  request,  Lincoln  gave  him  the  famous  autobiography.  With- 
out waiting  to  copy  the  paper,  Fell  sent  it  at  once  to  his  friend, 
Joseph  J.  Lewis,  in  Westchester,  Pennsylvania.  Mr.  Lewis'  use 

20Lewis,  Life,  64;  Oldroyd,  Lincoln  Memorial  Album,  472-478. 

21Oldroyd,  Lincoln  Memorial  Album,  477  (Fell's  own  account).  Ar- 
nold, Life  of  Lincoln,  155.  Tarbell,  Life  of  Lincoln,  II,  128-130.  Bloom- 
ington Eye,  March  6,  1887. 


323]  POLITICAL   ACTIVITIES  59 

of  it  forms  one  of  the  most  interesting  chapters  in  the  story  of 
Lincoln's  rise  to  the  presidency.22 

During  all  the  years  since  leaving  Pennsylvania,  Fell  had 
never  suffered  himself  to  lose  touch  with  public  affairs  in  his  na- 
tive state.  Through  correspondence  and  through  many  return 
visits,  even  after  all  his  family  had  removed  to  Illinois,  he  kept 
himself  well  informed  of  tendencies  and  opinions  in  Pennsyl- 
vania.23 He  knew  that  that  state  had  already,  in  1859,  become  a 
stronghold  of  the  new  party,  with  opposition  to  slavery  extension 
and  high  tariff  for  the  backbone  of  its  platform.  He  knew  that 
Seward,  who  held  the  unswerving  allegiance  of  New  York,  was  not 
popular  in  Pennsylvania.  He  knew  that  Lincoln,  popular  in  the 
West,  needed  the  support  of  the  East  also,  if  he  were  to  win 
from  Seward  the  Republican  nomination  in  1860;  and  that  the 
influence  of  Pennsylvania,  direct  and  indirect,  would  be  an  im- 
portant factor  in  the  coming  national  convention.  Pennsylva- 
nia, if  won  for  Lincoln,  must  know  about  him. 

22Arnold,  Life  of  Lincoln,  14.  Joseph  J.  Lewis  to  Fell,  Mar.  28,  1872. 
Lewis  to  J.  R.  Osgood,  same  date.  This  autobiography,  with  the  letter 
from  Lincoln  which  accompanied  it  (dated  Dec.  20,  1859,  and  now  in  the 
Oldroyd  collection),  was  later  the  subject  of  a  prolonged  controversy  be- 
tween Mr.  Fell  and  his  family  and  Mr.  Oldroyd,  who  made  a  notable  col- 
lection of  Lincolniana.  The  manuscript  was  returned  by  Lewis  to  Fell, 
and  was  later  loaned,  with  the  letter,  to  Mr.  Oldroyd.  Mr.  Oldroyd  re- 
turned the  autobiography,  but  has  never  returned  the  letter.  Memoranda 
among  the  Fell  Papers,  and  letters ;  from  O.  H.  Oldroyd  to  Fell,  April  3, 
1882;  Shelby  M.  Cullom  to  Lawrence  Weldon,  Aug.  30,  1887.  A  facsimile 
of  the  autobiography  was  published  in  1872  with  an  introduction  by  Mr. 
Fell. 

23Issachar  Price  to  Fell,  Downington,  Pa.,  Sept.  24  1838.  In  this  let- 
ter, one  of  the  most  interesting  in  the  Fell  collection,  Mr.  Price  gives  a 
rather  pessimistic  view  of  political  conditions  in  Van  Buren's  administra- 
tion. "Ritner  cannot  be  elected ;  he  is  the  most  prevaricating  shuffling  tool 
that  ever  set  on  a  throne,"  he  says ;  "promise  one  thing  today  and  go  right 
to  the  contrary  tomorrow ;  this  he  has  done  in  20  instances  to  my  own 
knowledge  &  his  great  drill  Sargeant  Thad  Stevens  is  the  most  barefaced 
impudent  scoundrel  now  unchained  and  running  at  large  in  the  state." 
This  estimate,  from  which  doubtless  Fell  deduced  his  own  more  charitable 
conclusions,  is  followed  by  a  prophecy  of  the  vote  in  the  coming  election. 
Speaking  of  national  politics,  this  Pennsylvania  village  postmaster  pre- 
dicts :  "Abolition  will  entirely  swallow  up  antiism  in  fact  anti-masonry 
is  defunct — abolitionism  takes  its  place  &  the  party  that  adopts  it  as  a  test 
is  destined  to  growl  in  a  glorious  minority  for  many  a  year  to  come  &  this 
will  be  the  end  of  the  great  and  talented  Whig  party  in  the  U  States." 


60  JESSE   W.   FELL  [324 

Joseph  J.  Lewis  was  a  prominent  Republican  who  wrote 
persuasively,  and  who  was  personally  influential  in  Eastern 
Pennsylvania.  He  took  care  to  inform  himself  rather  minutely 
concerning  the  Westerner  before  he  prepared,  from  the  auto- 
biography and  from  other  material  which  Fell  furnished,  an  arti- 
cle which  introduced  Lincoln  to  the  people  of  his  part  of  the 
state.  This  article  .appeared  first  in  the  Chester  County  Times 
of  February  11,  1860.  It  was  widely  copied  throughout  the 
state  and  beyond  it,  and  together  with  the  personal  work  and 
speeches  of  Lewis  and  others  whom  he  interested,  served  to  ac- 
quaint the  Pennsylvanians  with  the  career  and  character  of  Ab- 
raham Lincoln.2* 

It  is  interesting  to  note  how  the  two  men  who  planned  Lin- 
coln's introduction  to  Pennsylvania  selected  from  the  material 
at  hand  those  elements  which  they  knew  would  count  for  most 
with  the  people  with  whom  they  dealt.  He  was  "certainly  not 
of  the  first  families,"  said  Mr.  Lewis.  His  ancestors  were 
Friends — a  circumstance  with  which,  it  is  safe  to  say,  very  few 
Ulinoisans  were  acquainted.  They  had  gone  from  Berks  County, 
Pennsylvania;  but  in  Illinois  no  one  traced  the  Lincoln  family 
back  of  its  Virginia  antecedents.  Descendants  of  the  same  stock, 
Mr.  Lewis  continued,  still  lived  in  Eastern  Pennsylvania.  He 
had  been  a  strong  Whig  leader,  a  friend  of  Henry  Clay,  a  great 
worker  in  the  campaign  of  1844,  and  was  master  of  "the  princi- 
ples of  political  economy  that  underlie  the  tariff"  question. 
Pennsylvania  was  especially  assured  that:  "Mr.  Lincoln  has 
been  a  consistent  and  earnest  tariff  man  from  the  first  hour  of 
his  entering  public  life.  He  is  such  from  principle,  and  from  a 
deeply  rooted  conviction  of  the  wisdom  of  the  protective  policy ; 
and  what  ever  influence  he  may  hereafter  exert  upon  the  govern- 
ment will  be  in  favor  of  that  policy."25  Lewis'  account  of  Lin- 
coln's sacrifice  of  his  own  chances  of  election  to  the  Senate  in 
1854,  when  he  asked  his  friends  to  vote  for  Trumbull  rather  than 
risk  the  election  of  Governor  Matteson,  a  Nebraska  Democrat, 
must  have  had  its  intended  effect  with  the  anti-slavery  Repub- 
licans of  Pennsylvania.  He  attributed  Douglas'  success  after  the 
debates  of  1858  to  an  "old  and  grossly  unequal  apportionment 
of  the  districts." 

As  the  time  for  the  national  Republican  convention  drew 

24J.  J.  Lewis  to  Fell,  Jan.  30,  1860.    Vickers  Fell  to  E.  J.  Lewis,  June 
3,  1896.    Daily  Local  News  (Westchester,  Pa.),  Apr.  9,  1883. 
25Blaine,  Twenty  Years  in  Congress,  I,  196-207. 


325]  POLITICAL   ACTIVITIES  61 

near  Lincoln's  friends  realized  that,  barring  the  chance  of  one 
of  those  tricks  of  fate  which  sometimes  change  the  course  of 
events  at  political  meetings,  his  only  serious  rival  was  Seward. 
Cameron  and  Bates  had  only  local  support,  and  were  not  greatly 
feared.  Leonard  Swett,  David  Davis,  and  Jesse  Fell  were  the 
three  Illinoisans  most  active  in  their  efforts  for  Lincoln.  Fell 
had  declined  to  be  secretary  of  the  Republican  state  committee 
again,  that  he  might  have  more  time  for  field  work.  In  the 
spring  of  1860  he  had  endeavored  to  secure  full  lists  of  names 
from  the  entire  state  for  the  documents  sent  out  by  the  Repub- 
lican national  committee.  Nothing  that  could  aid  in  preparing 
Illinois  to  play  her  part  in  the  coming  drama  was  omitted.28 
Financial  support  was  assured  through  a  well-organized  system 
of  county  assessments,  collected  in  1859  to  be  ready  for  campaign 
purposes.  It  was  planned  that  a  great  delegation  should  go 
from  Central  Illinois  to  Chicago  to  support  Lincoln.27 

26Fell,  in  Duis,  Good  Old  Times  in  McLean  County,  280.  Circular  let- 
ter of  the  Republican  State  Central  Committee,  June  23,  1860.  This  letter 
was  issued  by  the  secretary,  Horace  White,  who  succeeded  Fell.  Circular 
letter  from  Fell  to  chairmen  of  county  central  committees,  May  8,  1860. 
Both  of  these  latter  circulars  show  the  methodical  business  administra- 
tion by  which  Fell  secured  an  unusual  degree  of  unity  and  assured  re- 
sources for  the  great  campaign. 

27The  account  of  the  convention  has  been  told  many  times.  There  is 
a  story  of  the  events  of  the  meeting  which  because  of  its  connection  with 
Mr.  Fell  may  be  repeated  here.  It  is  unsupported  by  any  sort  of  docu- 
mentary evidence  but  persists  among  the  older  citizens  of  Bloomington  to 
an  extent  which  at  least  warrants  its  repetition.  It  is  to  the  effect  that 
the  Illinois  leaders  discovered  that  the  tickets  of  admission  issued  to  dele- 
gates and  visitors  to  the  convention  were  almost  monopolized  by  the 
large  delegations  from  the  East  which  supported  Seward.  The  Lincoln 
contingent,  having  gathered  with  great  enthusiasm,  was  suddenly  reduced 
to  the  depths  of  despair  by  the  announcement,  on  the  morning  of  May 
18,  that  all  the  tickets  had  been  given  out,  and  that  they  would  therefore 
have  to  content  themselves  with  standing  outside  the  Wigwam.  The  West- 
ern leaders  gathered  quickly  for  a  conference,  because  the  popular  enthu- 
siasm for  Lincoln  of  the  delegations  from  Indiana  and  Illinois  was  an  as- 
set upon  which  they  definitely  counted  in  the  session  to  come.  Fell  prom- 
ised a  solution,  and  made  good  his  promise  by  securing  another  set  of 
tickets,  similar  to  the  first,  which  he  had  hastily  printed.  These  were 
fairly  distributed  to  the  leaders  of  the  various  delegations,  including  the 
Seward  men,  who  distributed  them  to  their  adherents.  During  the  morn- 
ing the  Seward  men,  feeling  secure  of  their  seats  in  the  Wigwam  because 
of  the  tickets  they  held,  organized  a  monster  parade  for  Seward,  led  by 


62  JESSE   W.   FELL  [326 

Joseph  Lewis,  with  other  delegates  from  Pennsylvania,  did 
valiant  work  for  Lincoln,  and  nominated  Lewis '  old  friend,  John 
Hiekman,  for  the  vice-presidency.  General  Stokeley  was  a  dele- 
gate from  Ohio  who  gave  substantial  aid.28  The  Pennsylvania 
contingent,  returning  full  of  enthusiasm  to  its  own  state,  pushed 
the  campaign  vigorously,  Lewis  keeping  in  close  touch  with  Lin- 
coln through  his  -correspondence  with  Fell.  In  order  to  bring  to 
Pennsylvania  some  of  the  enthusiasm  of  the  Western  men,  Lewis 
tried  to  secure  Davis  and  Swett  as  campaign  speakers  for  his 
state,  but  failed  to  convince  the  central  committee  of  the  advis- 
ability of  this  plan.  Davis  and  Swett,  of  course,  were  well  oc- 
cupied in  Illinois.  Owen  Love  joy,  candidate  for  the  House,  con- 
ducted a  lively  campaign,  guided  in  his  methods  by  the  advice 
of  Fell,  who  had  become  his  close  friend  and  hearty  supporter. 
Fell's  own  campaign  notebook,  filled  with  newspaper  clippings 
and  notes  for  comment  and  reply,  has  been  preserved,  and  shows 
a  collection  of  indictments  of  slavery,  Southern  commendations 
of  Buchanan  (with  caustic  comment  very  belligerent  for  a 
Quaker)  and  clippings  about  "Bully"  Brooks.  The  summer  and 
autumn  were  for  him,  as  for  many  Illinoisans,  one  long  effort  to 
make  Lincoln  the  head  of  the  nation.29 

the  band  which  had  come  with  them  from  New  York.  Returning  to  the 
hall,  they  found  the  Western  men  already  admitted  in  large  numbers,  and 
ready  to  shout  for  Lincoln,  while  other  crowds  filled  the  streets  for 
blocks  in  every  direction. — Henry  Fell  in  the  Fell  Memorial,  12.  Horace 
White  considers  the  story  improbable.  Horace  White  to  the  writer, 
April  30,  1914.  A  good  account  of  the  convention  from  the  standpoint  of 
an  Illinoisan  is  found  in  a  letter  by  Leonard  Swett  to  the  Hon.  Josiah  H. 
Drummond  of  Portland,  Maine,  and  dated  May  27,  1860.  Published  in 
the  Moline  (III.)  Mail,  and  later  in  the  Pantograph  of  Jan.  8,  1909. 

28J.  J.  Lewis  to  Fell,  May  28,  1860.  Gen.  Stokeley  to  Fell,  Dec.  21, 
1860. 

29Concerning  the  campaign  in  Pennsylvania :  Lewis  to  Fell,  May  28, 
June  17,  July  9,  Sept.  i,  Sept.  25,  Oct.  I,  Oct.  21,  1860;  John  G.  Nicolay  to 
Fell,  July  19,  1860;  Lincoln  to  Fell,  Oct.  5,  1860.  Concerning  Owen  Love- 
joy:  Lovejoy  to  Fell,  May  28,  June  27,  July  21,  Sept.  II,  1860. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  YEARS  OF  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

Following  his  election  Lincoln  stood  the  fire  of  a  brisk  siege 
of  office-seekers.  Joseph  J.  Lewis  was  actively  corresponding 
with  him  and  Fell  during  this  time,  not  only  because  he  hoped 
to  receive  some  sort  of  reward  for  his  services  in  Pennsylvania, 
but  also  because  a  man  whom  he  had  cordially  disliked,  and  of 
whose  loyalty  to  Lincoln  during  the  campaign  he  had  the  strong- 
est doubts,  seemed  destined  to  receive  a  cabinet  appointment. 
This  man  was  Simon  Cameron.  Stimulated  by  Lewis'  represen- 
tations concerning  the  character  and  ability  of  Cameron,  Fell 
visited  the  president-elect  and  told  him  what  Lewis  had  written 
him.1  Lyman  Trumbull  and  others  also  told  Lincoln  of  Camer- 

1Lewis  to  Fell,  Dec.  17,  1860;  Jan.  15,  1861.  In  view  of  Cameron's 
subsequent  record  as  secretary  of  war  it  is  interesting  to  note  Lewis'  un- 
qualified condemnation.  "At  Harrisburg  I  found  but  one  sentiment  prev- 
alent, and  that  was,  of  extreme  satisfaction  that  the  incarnation  of  the 
idea  of  public  corruption  was  not  to  enter  the  cabinet.  Men  spoke  out 
who  had  before  been  restrained  by  fear,  and  the  feeling  was  one  of  great 
relief.  When  we  were  informed  that  the  place  of  secretary  of  the  treas- 
ury was  offered  to  Cameron,  and  accepted  by  him,  the  information  pro- 
duced grief,  and  mortification.  I  felt  mortified  and  humbled.  I  hap- 
pened to  enter  a  few  nights  after  a  room  where  a  number  of  leading 
Republicans  were  assembled  discussing  the  subject.  'Is  this  the  man,' 
said  one  of  them  to  me,  'that  you  promised  us,  had  such  an  instinctive 
horror  of  corruption  that  it  could  not  be  suffered  to  come  near  him? 
What  will  you  say  when  you  find  all  the  banality  of  Albany  and  Harris- 
burg  combined  transferred  to  Washington  and  pervading  all  the  highest 
places  in  the  government?'  I  was  urged  to  undertake  in  company  of 
Henry  C.  Casey  a  mission  to  Springfield  to  disabuse  the  mind  of  the 
president-elect,  and  relieve  it  from  its  delusion.  I  had  but  to  answer  that 
Mr.  Lincoln  had  but  to  know  that  he  had  been  imposed  upon  &  he  would 
certainly  retrace  his  steps — that  it  was  hard  for  a  man  in  his  position  to 
resist  the  pressure  upon  him  from  unexpected  quarters  and  from  men 
who  possessed  his  confidence  and  that  it  was  our  duty  to  make  the  truth 
perfectly  clear  and  apparent  to  his  mind  so  that  he  might  discover  it  even 
through  the  mist  which  the  hopes  of  personal  favor  or  the  fears  of  per- 
sonal resentment  had  raised  to  obscure  it.  When  the  news  came  that  Mr. 
Lincoln  had  become  informed  and  had  acted  on  that  information  the  joy 

63 


64  JESSE  W.   FELL  [328 

on's  reputation  and  record.  The  president-elect  seems  to  have 
given  up  the  idea  of  appointing  him  to  the  portfolio  of  war  by 
early  January,  but  afterward  again  altered  his  plans ;  and  Cam- 
eron's  name  appeared  with  the  other  appointments  in  March. 

In  the  case  of  Norman  B.  Judd,  who  made  the  nomination 
of  Lincoln  for  the  Illinoisans,  Lincoln  was  more  effectively  coun- 
seled. No  paper  "left  by  Mr.  Fell  illustrates  better  his  sound  po- 
litical judgment  than  the  letter  of  January  2,  1861,  in  which  he 
discusses  with  Lincoln  the  possibility  of  a  cabinet  appointment 
for  Judd  or  Davis.  After  speaking  of  his  own  high  regard  for 
Judd,  he  said  that  in  the  state  there  was  much  bitterness  toward 
him,  particularly  in  the  Whig  element  of  the  party.  The  causes 
of  this  included  his  opposition  to  Lincoln  in  his  first  contest  for 
the  senatorship,  which  was  still  remembered  in  a  way  to  make 
his  appointment  "a  bitter  pill  to  many  of  your  old  and  tried 
friends."  The  Republicans  of  Whig  antecedents  wanted  to  see 
David  Davis  in  the  cabinet;  and  of  his  loyalty  and  devotion 
there  could  be  no  question.  But  Fell  thought  it  unwise,  since 
Illinois  had  the  presidency,  to  make  any  first-class  appointments 
there.  He  begged  Lincoln  not  to  increase  the  feud  between  the 
two  elements  of  the  party  (just  then  at  its  height  because  of  the 
imminence  of  the  slavery  conflict)  by  appointing  the  leader  of 
either.  Indiana  and  Pennsylvania  should  be  given  cabinet  ap- 
pointments, but  by  avoiding  the  gift  of  any  in  Illinois  friction 
could  be  allayed.  Davis  had  agreed  with  these  sentiments  in 
October;  nor  did  Fell  add,  what  was  probably  patent  to  him, 
that  Davis  might  have  changed  his  mind  since  then.  He  ex- 
pressed a  strong  hope  that  his  friend  might  be  given  a  "first- 
rate  second  class  appointment." 

Joseph  Lewis  would  gladly  have  accepted  a  foreign  post. 
But  this  was  not  forthcoming,  nor  was  any  other  federal  ap- 
pointment until  March,  1863,  when  he  was  appointed  commis- 
sioner of  internal  revenue,  a  position  for  which  Lincoln  had  been 
considering  him  for  about  a  year.2  Fell 's  friends  confidently  ex- 
pected to  see  him  appointed  to  some  place  of  importance,  but 
such  an  appointment  was  as  distasteful  to  him  then  as  at  any 
other  time  in  his  life.  The  circumstances  of  Lincoln's  elevation 
did  not  alter  his  own  fixed  plans,  principles,  and  preferences, 

was  great.     Many  felt  that  a  step  had  been  taken  which  would  save  the 
nation  from  disgrace  and  the  Republican  party  in  Penna  from  shame  and 
confusion  .  .  ."    See  White,  Life  of  Lyman  Trumbult,  142-152. 
2Lewis  to  Fell,  Mar.  i  and  27,  1862;  Mar.  13,  1863. 


329]  THE   CIVIL   WAR  65 

which  seem  to  have  been  to  bring  about  what  he  considered  desir- 
able events  and  results,  through  personal  influence  rather  than 
by  personal  administration.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  he  was 
offered  a  place  as  assistant  quartermaster,  with  rank  of  captain. 
This,  with  probably  other  similar  offers,  he  declined,  and  con- 
tinued for  a  time  to  carry  on  his  regular  business  as  usual.3 

When  the  certainty  of  war  was  clear  to  everyone,  at  the  fall 
of  Sumter,  men  who  felt  the  responsibility  of  leading  public 
opinion  bent  their  energies  toward  uniting  the  country  in  sup- 
port of  the  government.  The  friends  of  Lincoln  in  Central  Illi- 
nois wished  especially  to  hold  up  the  hands  of  the  president  by 
assuring  him  of  popular  support.  On  the  day  after  the  fall  of 
Fort  Sumter,  Mr.  Fell  hurriedly  gathered  together  a  group  of 
the  leading  men  of  Bloomington,  both  Republicans  and  Demo- 
crats, in  an  upper  room  on  Washington  street.  He  had  resolu- 
tions ready  as  usual,  which  were  voted  for  by  everyone  except 
Mr.  Snow,  who  sympathized  with  secession  and  had  the  courage 
to  say  so  in  an  overwhelmingly  loyal  community.  Being  united 
among  themselves  these  local  leaders  next  turned  their  attention 
to  building  up  popular  union  sentiment.  They  had  handbills 
printed  and  distributed  announcing  a  mass-meeting  to  be  held 
in  Phoenix  Hall  that  night;  and  before  separating,  agreed  upon 
a  long  program  of  speakers  upon  whose  sentiments  they  could 
rely,  that  there  might  be  no  time  for  possible  dissenting  volun- 
teers from  the  audience.4  Mr.  Spencer  presided  that  evening, 
and  one  prominent  man  after  another  addressed  the  people.  A 
great  flag  draped  across  the  platform  gave  the  keynote  of  loy- 
alty. The  people  cheered  it  enthusiastically,  and  sang  patriotic 
songs.  The  resolutions  were  presented  by  Rev.  C.  G.  Ames,  who 
called  upon  those  "who  in  their  hearts  swore  to  the  sentiments 
therein  expressed"  to  hold  up  their  right  hands  in  voting.  "A 
response  like  thunder  came  up  from  the  densely  packed  audience, 

3Fell  to  Richard  Yates,  Aug.  21,  1861.  This  letter  has  been  lost,  but 
is  on  record. 

4Among  those  who  attended  were  C.  P.  Merriman  and  Dr.  David 
Brier,  Republicans;  Hamilton  Spencer,  T.  P.  Rogers,  Allen  Withers,  Dr. 
E.  R.  Roe,  and  H.  P.  Merriman,  Democrats — the  last  two  of  the  Demo- 
cratic Statesman;  and  D.  J.  Snow  of  the  Times.  The  speakers  of  the 
evening  meeting  included  James  S.  Ewing,  Col.  W.  P.  Boyd,  Dr.  T.  P. 
Rogers,  Dr.  E.  R.  Roe,  Rev.  C.  G.  Ames,  Harvey  Hogg,  and  E.  M. 
Prince.  The  resolutions  are  given  in  the  Lewis  Life,  68,  and  in  the 
Pantograph,  Apr.  17,  1861.  Dr.  Roe's  account  of  the  meeting  is  in  the 
Pantograph  for  July  29,  1871. 


66  JESSE   W.   FELL  [330 

and  a  thousand  hands  flashed  in  the  light  above  the  sea  of  heads, 
like  the  drawing  of  myriad  swords."  This  meeting,  the  first  of 
its  kind  in  Illinois,  was  followed  by  many  in  other  towns  all  over 
the  region,  and  is  a  type  of  the  means  by  which  the  people  were 
stirred  to  loyal  support  of  the  administration. 

As  the  friend  of  Lincoln,  Mr.  Fell  found  himself  more  in  de- 
mand as  a  political  power  than  he  had  ever  been.  His  old 
friends  found  him  responsive  as  formerly;  new  friends,  called 
to  his  attention  by  the  circumstances  of  the  times,  found  him 
ready  and  anxious  to  help  where  help  was  needed.  Owen  Love- 
joy  called  upon  him  freely  for  aid  and  advice ;  Governor  Yates 
and  Lyman  Trumbull  asked  and  received  suggestions  from  him. 
He  united  with  Love  joy  to  urge  Davis'  appointment  to  the  su- 
preme bench.5  Yates,  who  met  determined  and  influential  op- 
position, largely  upon  personal  grounds,  especially  appreciated 
his  loyal  support.  Opposition  to  the  governor,  at  a  time  when 
every  element  in  Illinois  should  have  been  united  in  support  of 
the  administration,  seemed  very  foolish  and  wrong  to  Jesse  Fell, 
and  he  used  his  pen  and  his  personal  influence  to  gain  better  co- 
operation for  the  governor.' 

Fell's  relations  to  Owen  Love  joy,  whom  he  greatly  admired, 

5Owen  Lovejoy  to  Fell,  Apr.  i,  1861 ;  Fell  to  Yates,  Apr.  8,  June  12, 
1861 ;  Lyman  Trumbull  to  Fell,  Feb.  i,  June  7,  1861 ;  Yates  to  Fell,  Aug. 
13,  1864. 

Among  the  letters  of  this  period  is  one  from  Fell  to  Governor  Yates, 
dated  Aug.  18,  1864.  It  called  Yates'  attention  to  the  fact  that  there  was 
no  practical  farmer  among  those  appointed  to  suggest  an  application  of 
the  funds  accruing  to  Illinois  under  the  Morrill  Act,  and  suggested 
George  W.  Minier  of  Tazewell  County,  a  successful  farmer  and  a  forci- 
ble writer,  as  a  member  of  this  committee.  Letters  concerning  the  ap- 
pointment of  Davis  are  not  now  available,  but  Fell's  article  in  the  Panto- 
graph of  Apr.  n,  1868,  contains  a  statement  of  his  agency. 

An  undated  petition  to  Lincoln  in  behalf  of  Jesse  Bishop  of  Marion, 
111.,  who  had  suffered  at  the  hands  of  secession  sympathizers,  belongs 
to  this  period.  It  is  signed  by  Thomas  I.  Turner,  Jesse  W.  Fell,  Richard 
Yates,  W.  Bushnell,  Richard  Oglesby,  S.  M.  Cullom,  and  others.  Kersey 
Fell  seems  especially  to  have  interested  himself  in  helping  those  upon 
whom  the  burdens  of  the  war  were  heavy.  A  set  of  letters  from  him  to 
Governor  Yates,  dated  from  Sept.  21,  1861,  to  Dec.  27,  1864,  are  filled 
with  requests  for  passes,  money,  or  permits  to  all  sorts  of  folk  who 
needed  help.  ( Yates  MSS.) 

6Richard  Yates  to  Fell,  June  7,  1862. 


331]  THE   CIVIL   WAR  67 

were  especially  close  during  the  war.7  Love  joy  at  Washington 
and  Fell  in  Illinois  and  other  states  of  the  Middle  West  found 
many  ways  of  helping  each  other;  and  they  liked  to  compare 
notes  and  opinions.  Writing  to  his  friend  early  in  October,  1862, 
Fell  said:  "Can  it  be  possible  that  the  Almighty,  (who  will 
pardon  my  presumption)  is  so  poor  a  general  as  to  suffer  this 
war  to  come  to  a  close  without  sweeping,  as  with  the  besom  of 
destruction,  that  damning  sin  that  has  thus  culminated  in  civil 
war.  We  will  trust  not — and  will  pray  not ;  at  least  till  the  '  old 
cuss'  shall  be  'placed' — as  Honest  Old  Abe  expressed  it — 'in 
process  of  final'  and  may  we  justly  add  'speedy  extinction.'  ' 
Love  joy  replied,  "My  trust  is  in  God  for  the  nation."8 

Among  the  friends  of  Mr.  Fell  who  by  no  means  shared  his 
own  Quaker  aversion  to  war,  was  the  "Fighting  Schoolmaster," 
Charles  E.  Hovey,  the  normal  school  president  who  led  the  Thir- 
ty-third Illinois  out  of  the  schoolroom  into  the  field.  Without 
having  had  technical  training  in  tactics  he  proved  an  able  com- 
mander. But  he  was  never  able  to  qualify  his  outspoken  New 
England  anti-slavery  sentiments,  nor  did  he  find  any  common 
ground  with  the  West  Point  officers  with  whom  he  was  asso- 
ciated, and  who  were  able  to  understand  the  point  of  view  of 
Southern  men.  He  asked  and  received  Mr.  Fell's  aid  in  enter- 
prises for  which  he  needed  an  agent  in  civil  life,  while  Fell  ap- 
preciated the  opportunity  of  keeping  in  close  touch  with  field 
operations  through  a  man  whom  he  knew  to  be  trustworthy. 

His  own  participation  in  the  war,  until  now  delayed  by  the 
pressure  of  private  business  and  a  distaste  for  military  life,  be- 
gan in  1862.  He  had  gone  with  Hovey  to  Washington  in  late 
June,  1861,  to  see  Lincoln  about  the  organization  of  the  normal 
school  regiment,  and  to  observe  the  situation  there  for  himself. 
With  Hovey  he  went  out  with  the  crowds  which  followed  the 
army  to  the  disastrous  battle  of  Bull  Run.  After  the  battle, 

7Lovejoy  to  Fell,  Dec.  /,  1862;  Fell  to  his  brother  Vickers  Fell,  Oct. 
7,  1862. 

8Lovejoy  selected  Fell  to  prepare,  after  his  death,  such  a  memoir  as 
might  seem  suitable.  In  April,  1864,  therefore,  his  daughter  wrote  to 
Fell  asking  him  to  do  this  last  service  for  his  friend.  Fell  was  also  among 
those  who  raised  money  for  the  erection  of  a  monument,  and  he  seems 
to  have  secured  payment  to  Lovejoy's  heirs  of  money  owed  him.  Lucy  I. 
Lovejoy  to  Fell,  Apr.  6,  1864.  Circular  letter  from  Princeton,  signed  by 
John  H.  Bryant,  C.  C.  Mason,  and  F.  Bascom,  May  10,  1864;  Bryant  to 
Fell,  Nov.  18,  1865. 


68  JESSE  W.   FELL  [332 

while  Hovey  surveyed  the  field  and  interviewed  spectators,  Fell 
found  congenial  employment  in  helping  about  the  hospitals  which 
had  been  hastily  improvised.  He  found  there  a  certain  Captain 
McCook  lying  mortally  wounded.  He  was  able  to  help  many, 
and  remained  with  Captain  McCook  and  his  father  until  the 
death  of  the  former.  Returning  from  Washington  impressed  with 
the  magnitude  of  the  coming  struggle,  the  sense  of  his  own  obli- 
gation to  bear  a  part  in  it  grew  as  time  passed.  In  the  second 
year  of  the  war  he  arranged  his  nursery  and  real  estate  busi- 
nesses for  a  long  absence,  and  offered  his  services  to  the  presi- 
dent. Knowing  that  his  talents  were  not  military,  and  that  he 
had  passed  the  age  when  he  might  have  been  trained  into  a 
fighting  man,  he  accepted  gladly  the  position  of  paymaster,  to 
which  the  rank  of  major  was  attached.  The  appointment  seems 
to  have  been  a  pet  project  of  Lincoln,  as  his  letters  on  the  sub- 
ject attest.9 

He  accepted  the  appointment  on  the  19th  of  July,  1862,  and 
began  his  duties  soon  afterward  at  Louisville,  Kentucky.  He 
took  with  him  as  a  clerk  William  0.  Davis,  who  was  betrothed 
to  his  daughter  Eliza.10  As  a  friend  of  the  president,  he  was 
received  among  his  colleagues  with  unusual  interest,  which  gave 
place  soon,  as  Rodney  Smith  bears  witness,  to  deep  respect  and 
admiration.  His  habit  of  going  about  unarmed — the  expression 
of  a  fixed  principle  of  trusting  men — was  regarded  as  a  fool- 
hardy concession  to  these  ideals  by  his  colleagues ;  but  there  is  no 
record  of  any  attack  upon  him  during  the  entire  time  of  his  serv- 
ice. He  employed  himself  first  in  mastering  the  intricate  red- 
tape  of  the  service,  after  which  in  August  he  was  sent  to  Indian- 
apolis to  pay  the  Sixty-ninth  Indiana  Infantry.  From  there  he 
went  to  Springfield,  Illinois,  which  was  his  headquarters  while 
he  paid  the  Illinois  troops  then  being  hurried  to  the  front.  Ma- 
jor William  Smith,  a  more  experienced  paymaster,  took  Mr.  Da- 

9Lincoln  to  the  secretary  of  war,  Dec.  23,  1861,  Mar.  29,  1862.  "I 
really  wish  Jesse  W.  Fell,  of  Illinois,  to  be  appointed  a  Paymaster  in  the 
Regular  Army,  at  farthest,  as  early  as  the  1st  of  July,  1862.  I  wish  noth- 
ing to  interfere  with  this;  and  I  have  so  written  as  much  as  two  months 
ago,  I  think." — Adjutant  General's  Office,  War  Department,  Washington, 
File  No.  F-290-C.B.  1863.  See  also  O.  H.  Browning  to  Fell,  June  26,  June 
30,  1862. 

10Rodney  Smith  to  Captain  E.  J.  Lewis,  July  15,  1897.  The  letter  is 
copied  in  full  on  pages  73-78  of  Lewis'  Life.  Mr.  Davis  was  later  trans- 
ferred to  the  office  of  Internal  Revenue  at  Washington,  there  to  serve 
under  Fell's  old  Friend  J.  J.  Lewis.  Davis  to  Fell,  Oct.  18,  1863. 


333]  THE   CIVIL  WAB  69 

vis  into  his  personal  employ,  giving  Fell  Rodney  Smith,  an  ex- 
perienced clerk,  who  had  been  in  the  service  for  some  time. 
Smith  remained  with  him  during  the  time  of  his  service,  and  at 
his  request  then  became  his  successor. 

The  official  records  of  Mr.  Fell's  service,  which  lasted  about 
eighteen  months,  show  that  he  remained  in  Illinois  until  late  in 
September,  when  he  made  a  trip  to  Fort  Donelson  to  pay  the 
Eighty-third  Illinois  Infantry.  After  returning  to  Illinois,  he 
went  to  Camp  Morton  in  Indiana  in  November,  then  spent  six 
months  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  going  from  Paducah  to  Cin- 
cinnati about  the  first  of  August,  1863.  In  the  spring  of  that 
year  he  had  a  short  leave  of  absence.  Eemaining  in  Ohio  after 
his  return  to  work  but  a  short  time,  he  returned  to  Kentucky, 
to  Covington  and  Camp  "Wild  Cat.  His  last  payment  was  made 
to  the  Forty-eighth  Pennsylvania  near  London,  Kentucky,  on 
September  18,  1863.  The  condition  of  his  private  affairs  was 
such  at  that  time  as  imperatively  to  demand  his  attention,  and 
knowing  that  there  were  others  who  were  capable  of  doing  the 
work  without  loss  to  the  service,  he  resigned  at  Christmas  time. 
The  resignation  was  accepted,  and  Fell  hurried  from  Washing- 
ton to  Normal,  to  look  after  an  accumulation  of  both  private  and 
public  business.11 

Scarcely  had  he  arrived  at  home  when  his  friends  began  to 
urge  him  to  enter  politics.  The  first  public  request  was  a  "sug- 
gestion" in  the  Pantagraph  of  December  26,  1863,  that  he  be 
sent  to  the  next  Congress  as  representative  for  the  eighth  dis- 
trict. In  an  editorial  on  January  26  his  name  was  suggested 
again,  with  a  repetition  of  the  arguments  in  the  first  article.  He 
replied  at  once  that  the  public  work  he  had  already  done  had  en- 
tailed a  sacrifice  of  personal  interests  which  he  felt  he  could  ill 
afford  to  make,  and  added,  "while  the  district  can  boast  of  a 
Leonard  Swett,  my  consent  to  be  placed  in  such  a  position  would 
indicate  a  recklessness  of  the  public  weal,  not  to  say  vanity,  that 
I  trust  I  cannot  be  capable  of. ' '  Some  of  his  friends  refused  to 
consider  this  answer  final,  and  made  out  a  petition,  signed  by  a 
long  roll  of  names,  begging  him  to  accept  the  nomination.12  Al- 

"Major  William  Cumback  to  Fell,  Feb.  4,  1864.  Fell  to  his  wife,  Oct. 
19,  1862,  Feb.  23,  1863.  Receipts,  1863. 

12Mr.  Fell,  in  his  endorsement  upon  this  paper,  says  he  declined  it 
"as  incompatible  with  proper  attention  to  my  private  affairs  ...  &  for  the 
further  reason  that  I  had  solicited  another  and  a  better  man  to  become 
a  candidate — To  wit  Leonard  Swett."  No  date;  about  Feb.  I,  1864. 


70  JESSE   W.   FELL  [334 

exander  Campbell  paused  in  his  advocacy  of  the  "True  Ameri- 
can System  of  Finance"  long  enough  to  urge  Fell  to  run  for 
Congress ;  John  H.  Bryant,  projbably  feeling  with  Campbell  that 
Fell  might  take  the  place  of  the  sadly  missed  Love  joy,  begged 
him  not  to  decline.  But  Fell  was  firm  in  his  determination  not 
again  to  enter  public  life.  Shelby  M.  Cullom  was  nominated  at 
the  convention,  and  elected  over  John  T.  Stuart  by  a  large  ma- 
jority. It  may  be  mentioned  here  that  Fell  was  again  asked  to 
stand  for  Congress  in  1866,  and  once  more  refused.13 

Throughout  the  war  his  support  of  Lincoln,  with  that  of 
many  other  of  the  president's  old  friends  in  the  "West,  was  un- 
swerving and  practical.  The  partial  emancipation  message  of 
March  6,  1862,  drew  from  him  a  burst  of  loyal  and  affectionate 
congratulation,  which  reveals  the  whole-heartedness  of  his  faith 
in  Lincoln,  at  a  time  when  even  Illinois  was  rife  with  criticism. 
He  took  the  stump  again  in  the  campaign  of  1864,  speaking  with 
E.  M.  Prince  at  a  series  of  meetings  in  country  schoolhouses  and 
village  halls.  But  he  declined  the  post  of  secretary  of  the  state 
central  committee.1* 

The  news  of  the  assassination  of  Lincoln  came  with  a  pecul- 
iar shock  to  the  Illinois  towns  in  which  he  had  been  a  familiar 
figure,  and  in  which  there  were  scores  of  his  personal  friends. 
Fell  heard  of  it  as  he  returned  from  a  business  trip.  Hurrying 
home,  but  not  stopping  to  have  old  Tom  unharnessed  from  the 
buggy,  he  told  his  wife  the  sad  news,  and  then  started  back  to 
Bloomington  to  verify  the  report  and  have  further  particulars. 
On  the  way  he  met  his  son  Henry,  took  him  into  the  buggy  with 
him,  and  begged  for  details.15  The  day  after,  the  McLean 
County  people  expressed  their  sorrow  at  a  great  public  meeting 

13Alexander  Campbell  to  Fell,  Apr.  2,  1864.  Bryant  to  Fell,  May  14, 
1864.  Fell  in  the  Pantograph,  Apr.  u,  1868. 

14The  Pantograph  of  May  23,  1862,  has  an  account  of  a  public  meet- 
ing held  the  night  before,  at  which  Fell  spoke  warmly  in  defense  of  the 
presidential  policy,  then  much  criticized.  In  August  another  great  meet- 
ing of  the  same  sort  was  held.  Fell  to  Lincoln,  Mar.  17,  1862.  Panto- 
graph, Oct.  5  and  Oct.  n,  1864.  Lewis,  Life,  80.  Telegram  from  Thomas 
J.  Turner  to  Fell,  July  11,  1864.  Lincoln  to  Fell,  Oct.  5,  1860. 

15Henry  C.  Fell,  "When  Lincoln  Visited  Normal,"  in  Normalite,  June 
7, 


335]  THE   CIVIL  WAR  71 

held  in  the  court  house  square,  at  which  Fell  presided  and 
spoke.16 

A  very  dramatic  episode  gave  to  the  days  that  followed  a 
lively  interest,  and  may  be  related  here  because  it  illustrates 
a  prominent  trait  of  Fell's  character.  Eev.  Charles  Ellis,  the 
pastor  of  the  Free  Congregational  Church,  was  a  New  Englander 
of  strongly  abolitionist  views.  In  his  sermon  of  April  23,  1865, 
he  essayed  to  speak  upon  the  subject  of  the  assassination  and  its 
causes.  His  audience,  which  numbered  many  personal  friends 
of  the  dead  president,  was  perhaps  as  keenly  sensitive  to  the  es- 
timate placed  upon  Lincoln  as  any  audience  could  have  been. 
Mr.  Ellis  began  by  saying  that  he  believed  that  before  God 
Adams,  Jefferson  and  Washington  were  more  to  blame  for  the 
murder  than  Booth,  for  they  had  admitted  slavery  at  the  time 
when  the  constitution  was  made.  He  then  blamed  Lincoln  for 
so  long  supporting  a  constitution  which  protected  slavery,  and 
said  that  "he  had  not  the  moral  courage  to  step  forth  like  a 
strong  man  in  his  might  and  do  what  his  better  nature  told  him 
was  his  highest  duty.  He  sacrificed  the  demands  of  God  that  he 
might  not  offend  a  political  party  in  the  land, ' '  with  much  more 
to  the  same  effect. 

In  attributing  the  murder  of  Lincoln  to  his  own  fault  in  no 
uncertain  terms,  Mr.  Ellis  aroused  the  indignation  of  the  Bloom- 
ington  people  to  fever  heat.  Members  of  the  congregation  were 
so  angered  that  they  were  scarcely  restrained  from  creating  a 
disturbance  in  the  church.  Mob  violence  was  not  unknown  in 
Bloomington  during  the  war,  as  the  Snow  brothers  could  tes- 
tify.17 A  meeting  of  the  members  of  the  church  was  held  a  few 
days  later,  for  the  purpose  of  demanding  the  immediate  resigna- 
tion of  the  pastor.  Mr.  Fell,  however,  spoke  so  forcibly  of  the 

16On  the  day  after  the  assassination  President  Edwards  called  a 
meeting  to  be  held  in  the  assembly  hall  of  the  normal  school,  at  which 
Fell  presided  and  spoke,  it  is  said,  with  singular  eloquence  of  his  old 
friend. 

17These  two  brothers,  with  their  sister,  the  president  of  the  Bloom- 
ington Ladies'  Library  Board,  were  considered  to  be  among  the  finest  peo- 
ple in  the  town,  but  were  extremely  unpopular  because  of  their  frank 
sympathy  with  the  South.  On  one  occasion,  when  recent  recruiting  had 
aroused  patriotic  feeling  to  fever  heat,  a  crowd  of  men  and  boys  bom- 
barded the  office  of  the  Times,  and  destroyed  it.  They  were  not  satisfied 
until  "the  crude  little  press  and  all  the  types  were  scattered  on  the  street 
below."  The  Snows  sued  for  damages,  but  could  get  no  conviction.  Lu- 
;man  Burr,  interview  in  Bloomington  Bulletin,  July  6,  1913. 


72  JESSE  W.   FELL  [336 

fundamental  principle  upon  which  that  church  had  been 
founded — the  principle  of  free  speech — that  he  dissuaded  the 
congregation  from  a  step  which  would  have  denied  it.  The  Con- 
gregationalists  adopted  instead  a  set  of  resolutions  which  he  of- 
fered, in  which  they  refused  to  censure  the  sermon,  asserting  the 
right  of  any  man  to  express  his  ideas  untrammeled  in  their 
church;  and  reproved  the  "mob"  which  had  caused  the  disturb- 
ance on  the  Sunday  before.18  Although  thus  formally  vindi- 
cated, Mr.  Ellis  found  public  opinion  so  against  him  that  his  use- 
fulness in  the  community  seemed  at  an  end,  and  he  resigned 
within  a  few  days. 

™Pantagraph,  May  6,  1865.  It  is  said  that  Dr.  McCann  Dunn  paid  for 
printing  of  the  sermon,  that  all  might  know  exactly  what  was  said,  since 
highly  colored  reports  concerning  Dr.  Ellis'  words  were  promptly  circu- 
lated. John  W.  Cook  says  of  this  occurrence :  "This  community  has 
often  had  occasion  to  feel  a  sense  of  pride  in  the  citizenship  of  Mr.  Fell,, 
but  on  this  occasion  he  illustrated  a  degree  of  fidelity  to  a  cherished  prin- 
ciple that  lifted  him  to  the  serene  heights  of  supreme  manhood.  His. 
heart  was  heavy  because  of  the  national  calamity  and  he  mourned  the 
loss  of  his  honored  friend,  but  the  principle  of  free  speech  could  not  be- 
violated  without  his  indignant  protest."  A  Western  Pioneer  (MS). 


CHAPTER  VII 

PUBLIC  SERVICE  AFTER  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

Altho  keenly  interested  in  national  affairs,  it  was  al- 
ways for  the  concerns  of  his  community  that  Mr.  Fell  found 
deepest  pleasure  in  planning  and  execution.  In  1864  the  people 
of  the  township  in  which  he  lived  resolved  to  correct  an  old 
wrong  that  had  caused  great  confusion  and  expense  for  many 
years.  The  corner  marks  usually  set  up  by  government  survey- 
ors could  not  be  located  in  Normal  township,  and  people  came 
finally  to  the  conclusion  that  only  the  outside  boundaries  had 
ever  been  properly  run.  Judge  Davis,  C.  R.  Overman,  and  Mr. 
Fell  addressed  a  meeting  on  the  first  of  October,  1864,  and  Mr. 
Fell  secured  the  adoption  of  a  set  of  resolutions,  which,  after  re- 
citing the  conditions,  recommended  legislative  action  to  secure  a 
resurvey  and  an  adjustment  of  all  difficulties  between  those 
whose  boundary  lines  conflicted.  A  petition  was  signed,  a  com- 
mittee appointed  to  circulate  it,  and  Mr.  Fell  was  commissioned 
to  present  it  at  Springfield.  He  did  this  effectively,  and  the 
necessary  bill  was  passed  on  February  16,  1865.  A  case  in  chan- 
cery was  instituted  accordingly,  the  next  September,  and  a  de- 
cree for  the  resurvey  secured,  the  commissioners'  report  being 
confirmed  by  both  lower  and  supreme  courts.1  The  decisions 
which  were  thus  reached  in  the  most  friendly  and  united  spirit, 
doubtless  saved  endless  expensive  law  suits  and  hard  feelings. 
Perhaps  no  service  of  Mr.  Fell  to  his  community  required  more 
tact,  foresight,  and  hard  work  to  accomplish  than  this  achieve- 
ment of  the  resurvey  of  the  township,  or  meant  more  to  the  peo- 
ple among  whom  he  lived  and  worked. 

On  the  same  day  on  which  he  signed  the  resurvey  bill,  Gov- 
ernor Oglesby  also  approved  a  bill  changing  the  name  of  North 
Bloomington  to  Normal.  Under  that  name  it  was  incorporated 
February  25,  1867,  with  a  charter  which  embodied  a  perpetual 

1Samuel  Colvin  et  al  vs.  Kersey  H.  Fell  et  al.,  40  Illinois  Reports  418. 
The  petition  signed  at  the  meeting  is  among  the  Fell  MSS.  It  contains 
about  twenty-five  names,  with  subscriptions  for  the  expense  involved,  of 
from  twenty  to  twenty-five  dollars.  Pantograph,  Oct.  6,  1864.  Private 
Laws  of  Illinois,  1867,  III,  628-631 


73 


74  JESSE   W.    FELL  [338 

no-saloon  clause.2  In  making  the  deeds  of  sale  to  lots  in  Normal 
(and  there  is  little  land  in  the  town  which  was  not  at  some  time 
owned  by  Mr.  Fell)  he  had  always  stipulated  that  no  intoxicat- 
ing liquors  should  be  sold  upon  the  premises.  Others  who  owned 
land  were  in  sympathy  with  his  ideas,  and  it  was  understood 
from  the  first  that  Normal  should  always  be,  as  Bloomington  was 
in  1854  and  1855,  a  prohibition  town.  In  1866  the  growing  town 
required  a  charter  and  its  people  wished  it  to  include  a  clause 
guaranteeing  the  continuance  of  this  policy.  The  legislature  of 
Illinois  was  not  so  ardently  temperate  as  Normal;  and  interests 
which  hoped  to  gain  advantage  from  the  change,  tried  to  induce 
it  to  omit  the  prohibition  clause  from  the  proposed  charter.  Hear- 
ing of  this,  Mr.  Fell  called  a  citizens'  meeting  at  the  Baptist 
Church  on  November  22,  1866,  at  which  the  people  discussed  the 
situation  and  adopted  a  set  of  resolutions,  ready  to  hand  as  us- 
ual.3 At  the  suggestion  of  John  Dodge,  a  close  friend  of  Fell 
and  a  man  thoroly  in  sympathy  with  his  ideas,  the  people 
present  signed  the  resolutions,  and  other  signatures  were  se- 
cured before  an  adjourned  meeting  held  on  December  6.  At  this 
subsequent  meeting  a  thoro  canvass  was  reported,  in  which 
President  Edwards  of  the  Normal  School  had  cooperated  by  se- 
curing the  signatures  of  the  students.  Over  nine  hundred  names 
appeared  on  the  petition,  the  names  it  is  said  of  every  man, 
woman  and  child  of  six  or  over  in  the  town.  William  A.  Pennell 
was  appointed  to  go  with  Mr.  Fell  to  present  it  to  the  legislature, 
which  granted  the  charter  with  the  desired  clause.4 

Mr.  Fell  had  been  able  by  careful  attention  to  his  affairs 
largely  to  free  himself  of  debt  by  this  time,  and  so  felt  free  to 
give  some  time  to  furthering  the  political  prospects  of  his  friends, 
and  to  take  a  rest  which  he  felt  that  several  years  of  unremitting 
labor  had  earned.  Early  in  July  of  1865  he  received  an  invita- 
tion from  General  Thomas  Osborn,  who  was  in  charge  of  the 
Twenty-fourth  Army  Corps  at  Richmond,  to  visit  that  city  as 
the  guest  of  the  corps.  He  accepted  this  invitation,  and  while  in 
the  East  went  to  New  York  and  had  an  interview  with  Henry 
Ward  Beecher.  Upon  his  return  he  was  busied  with  the  test  case 

^Private  Laws,  1867,  III,  321-336.  The  seal  was  affixed  to  the  char- 
ter Mar.  4,  1867. 

3The  resolutions  are  given,  with  an  account  of  the  meeting,  in  the 
Pantagraph,  Dec.  19,  1866.  Fell,  letter  published  in  the  Normalite,  Mar. 
26,  1908. 

4Lewis,  Life,  57. 


339]  PUBLIC    SERVICE   AFTER   THE   WAR  75 

for  securing  the  resurvey,  spoken  of  before,  and  with  efforts  to 
facilitate  the  discharge  of  certain  Illinois  regiments.5 

During  the  years  following  the  close  of  the  war  Mr.  Fell  de- 
voted much  time  and  effort  to  the  building  up  of  Bloomington 
and  Normal.  He  planted  trees  indefatigably,  procured  grants 
that  improved  and  enlarged  the  normal  school,  and  encouraged 
every  enterprise  which  could  bring  desirable  citizens  or  increased 
wealth  to  the  sections  in  which  he  was  interested.  No  public  en- 
terprise asked  his  aid  in  vain,  it  is  said ;  certainly  the  list  of  his 
interests  is  a  long  one.  During  the  first  few  years  of  his  resi- 
dence in  North  Bloomington,  he  planned  to  develop  the  new 
town  as  a  manufacturing  place  as  well  as  a  school  town.  In  1857 
he  was  much  interested  in  the  production  of  sorghum,  for  which 
people  then  predicted  a  great  future.  He  planted  it  generously, 
set  up  a  mill,  with  press,  vats  and  reducing  pans,  and  put  his 
product  upon  the  market.  There  was  not,  however,  an  encour- 
aging demand  for  it,  and  farmers  generally  declined  to  trouble 
themselves  with  the  crop,  which  required  an  outlay  of  labor  in- 
commensurate with  returns.  Mr.  Fell  after  a  time  abandoned 
the  experiment.6 

At  about  the  same  time  he  secured  the  location  of  a  foundry 
at  North  Bloomington,7  but  this  enterprise,  after  a  career  of 

5C.  Macalester  to  Fell,  Nov.  7,  1864.  Thomas  O.  Osborn  to  Fell,  July 
i,  1865.  J.  H.  Bryant  to  Fell,  Nov.  18,  1865.  Lyman  Trumbull  to  Fell, 
Dec.  27,  1866.  Stephen  A.  Douglas  to  Fell,  Mar.  21,  1866.  Gov.  Oglesby 
to  Fell,  Sept.  16,  1865.  Fell  to  E.  J.  Lewis,  July  26,  1865,  quoting  a  letter 
from  himself  to  Secretary  Stanton.  (Lewis  letters,  in  MSS  of  the  Mc- 
Lean County  Historical  Association.)  These  last  letters  referred  to  one 
published  substantially  in  the  Pantograph  of  July  13,  1865,  from  Lewis, 
in  which  he  complained  of  being  compelled  to  lie  idly  in  camp  with  all 
his  men,  after  all  action  had  ceased.  Lewis  could  have  been  relieved  at 
any  time,  but  did  not  like  to  leave  camp  (at  Meridian,  Miss.)  without  his 
men. 

6In  1842  and  1843,  he  had  been  interested  in  some  experiments  look- 
ing toward  the  making  of  sugar  from  Indian  corn.  No  written  account 
of  these  experiments  remains.  His  conclusion  was  that  the  thing  was 
possible,  but  not  commercially  profitable.  Interview  with  Henry  Fell, 
May  31,  1913. 

7One  Blakesly,  his  partner  in  this  enterprise,  built  the  foundry,  and 
also  the  huge  boarding-house  which  was  to  accommodate  the  workmen. 
Addison  Reeder,  a  skilled  mechanic  and  inventor,  was  brought  from  Lay- 
town  to  be  foreman  and  manager.  Some  cast  iron  fixtures,  used  in  the 
construction  of  the  normal  school  buildings,  were  turned  out  before  the 
enterprise  had  to  be  given  up,  largely  because  of  the  impossibility  of  find- 


76  JESSE   W.    FELL  [340 

many  vicissitudes,  was  also  given  up,  Mr.  Fell  deciding  that  Nor- 
mal was  destined  not  to  become  a  manufacturing  town.  This 
was  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  in  1867  two  coal-shafts  had  been 
sunk,  and  had  found  coal,  in  or  near  Bloomington.  Mr.  Fell  was 
financially  interested  in  that  one  which  was  located  near  the  Chi- 
cago and  Alton  tracks,  and  which  has  been  operated  successfully 
to  the  present  time.  One  business  venture  which  was  a  success 
from  every  point  of  view  was  the  large  hotel  in  Normal  which 
he  built  in  partnership  with  William  A.  Pennell.  It  was  a  four- 
story  Mansard-roofed  structure,  with  spacious  rooms  and  wide 
verandas,  and  a  ballroom  that  made  it  the  social  center  of  both 
towns.  Good  hostelries  were  rare,  and  this  one  became  a  land- 
mark. It  was  burned  in  1872,  some  time  after  Mr.  Fell  had  dis- 
posed of  his  share  in  the  ownership. 

No  enterprise  upon  which  the  state  entered  after  the  close 
of  the  war  was  of  greater  importance  than  the  establishing  of 
the  state  university.  It  has  been  noted  that  from  the  first  ef- 
forts, sidetracked  for  the  normal  school  and  later  deferred  dur- 
ing the  struggle  between  North  and  South,  its  friends  hoped  to 
have  eventually  one  many-sided  institution,  wherein  training  of 
many  kinds  might  be  had.  No  sooner  was  the  war  well  over, 
than  the  project  was  again  urged  upon  Illinois.  In  Bloomington 
interest  was  especially  keen,  for  there  people  thought  that  now 
the  time  was  come  for  the  expansion  of  the  normal  school  into  a 
real  university.  The  funds  made  available  by  the  Morrill  Act 
would  provide  for  the  industrial  university  of  which  Turner  and 
Fell  had  long  dreamed.8 

ing  efficient  workmen;  and  Mr.  Fell  became  liable  for  the  greater  part  of 
the  loss  of  the  venture.  The  plant  was  used  about  1877  for  the  manufac- 
ture of  a  patent  furnace,  by  one  Ruttan,  a  Canadian,  who  was  the  in- 
ventor of  a  once-popular  ventilating  system.  Neither  the  furnace  nor 
the  stoves,  which  then  and  later  were  turned  out  of  the  same  factory, 
found  a  very  good  market.  William  McCambridge  in  the  Pantograph, 
Mar.  16,  1910. 

8John  F.  Eberhart,  in  his  contribution  to  the  Fell  Memorial,  tells  of 
an  interesting  but  unsuccessful  attempt  to  establish  a  great  state  univer- 
sity, early  in  the  decade  following  the  passage  of  the  Morrill  Act.  There 
was  to  be  a  central  school  in  Chicago,  "with  affiliated  institutions  through- 
out the  state,  especially  at  Normal.  .  .  .  Our  plan  was  to  get  donations 
of  $100,000  from  each  of  ten  different  men  in  the  state  and  to  have  in- 
corporated into  the  constitution  of  the  state  at  the  constitutional  conven- 
tion in  1870,  a  provision  for  the  maintenance  of  the  university.  The  $i,- 
000,000  had  been  duly  pledged.  Mr.  Fell,  himself,  pledged  $100,000,  and 


341]  PUBLIC    SERVICE   AFTER   THE   WAR  77 

The  first  legislative  action  for  the  school  was  a  bill  author- 
izing its  establishment,  and  throwing  open  its  location  to  bids. 
The  bill  was  introduced  in  1865,  but  was  defeated.  A  similar  bill 
was  introduced  two  years  later,  providing  for  elections  in  coun- 
ties or  cities  upon  the  question  of  raising  money  wherewith  to 
make  a  bid  for  the  location  of  a  state  university.  This  bill 
passed,  and  was  approved  by  Governor  Oglesby  on  January  25, 
1867.9  In  the  meantime,  however,  other  forces  were  at  work  to 
locate  the  school  definitely  at  Urbana.  After  President  Buch- 
anan had  vetoed  the  Morrill  Bill  in  1859  and  before  Lincoln  ap- 
proved it  in  1862,  Dr.  Charles  A.  Hunt  of  Urbana  conceived  the 
idea  of  securing  a  state  school  for  his  own  town.  A  "seminary" 
building  was  being  erected  then  at  the  north  end  of  what  is  now 
Illinois  Field,  and  Dr.  Hunt's  plan  was  to  use  it  for  a  larger  and 
better  endowed  school  than  could  be  had  by  merely  local  support. 
He  therefore  wrote  a  memorial,  which  was  signed  by  a  large 
number  of  Urbana  citizens,  and  which  was  presented  to  the  leg- 
islature in  January,  1861.  This  memorial  pleaded  for  agricultur- 
al education  on  the  two-fold  basis  of  the  elevation  of  labor  and 
of  public  economy.  The  time  was  unpropitious  for  such  an  en- 
terprise, however,  and  the  memorial  came  to  no  immediate 
success.10 

No  sooner  was  peace  restored  than  the  citizens  of  Urbana 
set  themselves  anew  to  secure  the  industrial  university,  as  it  was 
then  called.  Jonathan  Turner,  long  the  leader  of  the  movement, 
hoped  that  when  it  materialized  this  school  would  be  at  Jackson- 
ville. Jesse  Fell  wanted  it  at  Bloomington,  a  rounding  out  of 
the  university  which  had  been  begun  with  the  normal  school  ten 
years  before.  Several  other  communities  in  the  state  hoped  to 
gain  it,  and  made  generous  offers  for  it.  But  the  Urbana  people 
were  both  earliest  in  the  field,  and  most  resourceful  in  expedi- 

had  found  six  other  men  in  the  state  who  pledged  $100,000  each.  I 
also  pledged  $100,000  and  found  two  other  men  besides  myself  ..." 
John  Wentworth,  upon  whom  the  two  leaders  had  relied  to  push  the 
project  in  the  convention,  grew  cold  in  the  cause,  however,  and  it  was 
given  up.  Probably  Turner's  plan  to  put  the  state  university  upon  a  con- 
stitutional basis  appealed  to  Fell  as  a  better  idea. 

^Public  Laws,  1867,  122. 

10The  "Urbana  and  Champaign  Institute"  was  incorporated  by  an  act 
approved  Feb.  21,  1861.  Private  Laws,  1861,  24-26. 

Dr.  Hunt  entered  the  army  as  a  surgeon  and  died  at  the  hospital  at 
Mound  City  in  July,  1863.  Joseph  O.  Cunningham,  in  the  Times  (Cham- 
paign, 111.)  of  May  21,  1910. 


78  JESSE   W.   FELL  [342 

ents.  They  introduced  a  bill  definitely  locating  the  institution  at 
Urbana,  providing  the  offer — therein  recited — of  the  people  of 
Champaign  County  were  made  good.11  Other  towns  were  indig- 
nant at  this  method,  since  it  gave  them  no  chance  to  compete. 
Bloomington  felt  especially  aggrieved,  for  the  success  of  the  Ur- 
bana bill  meant  for  them  the  death  of  a  hope  long  cherished; 
and  Jacksonville  was  hardly  less  angry,  because  it  had  supported 
Turner  through  the  long  years  of  his  unsuccessful  efforts.  Not 
a  little  heroic  sacrifice  had  entered  into  the  generous  donation  of 
Bloomington  in  1857,  made  when  hard  times  were  threatening 
and  war  seemed  imminent.  One  of  the  arguments  most  used  by 
those  who  had  raised  the  money  then  was  that  in  time  other 
schools  might  be  added  until  a  real  university  were  founded.12 

Mr.  Fell's  own  conception  of  the  educational  system  of  the 
state  was  a  comprehensive  one,  involving  a  university  compris- 
ing every  necessary  technical  and  cultural  school,  at  the  head  of 
a  system  of  common  schools  which  included  industrial  training  in 
their  curriculum.  Teachers,  he  said,  would  profit  by  the  breadth 
gained  by  coming  into  contact  with  those  who  were  in  turn  train- 
ing for  other  kinds  of  work ;  and  as  education  was  a  field  as  dig- 
nified as  that  of  any  other  calling,  it  was  practicable  to  make  the 
normal  school  one  of  the  colleges  in  the  university.  To  supple- 
ment this  theoretical  justification,  he  set  to  work  to  raise  a  sub- 
scription which  should  rival,  if  not  exceed,  that  of  Urbana. 

His  efforts  were  now  even  more  earnest,  if  that  were  possible, 
than  they  had  been  ten  years  before.  He  wrote  a  memorial  pre- 
senting the  claims  of  Bloomington,  which  was  received  by  the 
legislature  about  the  first  of  February,  1867.  He  and  a  number 
of  others  went  to  Springfield  to  use  what  influence  they  might  to 
assure  the  acceptance,  or  at  least  the  consideration,  of  the  bid. 
The  decision  hung  fire  during  the  greater  part  of  February, 
while  the  lobbies  of  Champaign,  McLean,  Morgan  and  Logan 
Counties  pushed  their  respective  claims.  The  people  of  Cham- 
paign County,  knowing  the  manner  of  men  they  had  to  deal  with 
in  Turner  and  Fell,  had  elected  to  the  legislature,  especially  for 
the  purpose  of  pleading  their  cause,  a  man  who  was  almost  if 
not  quite  Fell's  equal  in  powers  of  persuasion.  This  was  Clark 

^Public  Laws  of  Illinois,  1867,  123-129. 

^Illinois  Industrial  University:  Report  of  the  Committee  (pamphlet, 
no  date)  ;  circular  letter,  Jan.  25,  1866;  J.  B.  Turner,  "Industrial  Univer- 
sity" in  Jacksonville  Journal,  Feb.  8,  1866;  subscription  lists.  All  in  the 
Turner  Manuscripts. 


343]  PUBLIC    SERVICE   AFTER   THE   WAR  79 

R.  Griggs.13  He  was  successful  in  his  mission;  Champaign 
County  won  the  Industrial  University.  An  inconsequential  sop 
was  thrown  to  the  defeated  parties  in  the  shape  of  a  supplemen- 
tary bill,  passed  March  8,  which  provided  that  the  trustees  might 
locate  the  school  in  McLean,  Logan  or  Morgan  Counties  if  Cham- 
paign County  failed  to  fulfill  its  contract,  a  contingency  which, 
of  course,  never  arose. 

The  new  institution  was,  at  first,  scarcely  more  of  a  univer- 
sity than  the  normal  school  had  been.  It  was  small,  poorly  en- 
dowed, limited  in  curriculum  and  service.  Its  friends  wanted  to 
see  it  really  fulfill  the  purpose  for  which  it  had  been  created. 
The  Northern  Illinois  Horticultural  Society,  meeting  in  Bloom- 
ington  on  March  2,  1870,  besides  criticizing  the  struggling  insti- 
tution roundly,  passed  a  resolution  which  showed  its  kindlier  at- 

18Petition  to  the  legislature,  signed  by  Jesse  W.  Fell  and  fifteen  others 
of  Bloomington  and  vicinity.  Illinois  State  Journal,  Jan.  17,  1867.  The 
subscription  as  given  in  the  petition  was  $500,000;  the  Pantograph  put  it 
at  $550,000.  (Lewis,  Life,  89).  Mr.  Fell  gave  $15,000  of  this,  the  largest 
single  subscription  except  that  of  Judge  Davis.  There  was  a  site  of  140 
acres,  and  many  smaller  cash  subscriptions.  Both  this  and  the  offer  of 
Jacksonville  exceeded  that  of  Champaign  County. 

No  shadow  of  reproach  attaches  to  the  methods  used  by  Clark  R. 
Griggs  in  winning  friends  for  the  Urbana  location.  There  were  open  ac- 
cusations of  bribery  at  the  time,  however,  which  involved  some  members 
of  the  Urbana  lobby.  E.  M.  Prince,  in  his  contribution  to  the  Fell  Me- 
morial (p.  42)  tells  the  story  of  the  proposal  of  a  bribe  to  the  Blooming- 
ton  men.  He  went  one  morning,  he  says,  to  Mr.  Fell's  room,  where  Fell 
was  making  plans  for  the  day  for  the  Bloomington  contingent.  He  went 
over  the  names  of  the  members  of  the  legislature,  speaking  of  the  char- 
acteristics of  each  and  of  the  kind  of  argument  that  would  probably 
prove  effective  in  each  case.  One  man  "said  that  Urbana  had  contributed 
quite  a  large  amount  of  money  to  influence  the  members  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, but  said  that  he  thought  a  few  hundred  dollars  from  McLean  County 
would  give  it  to  them,  as  the  members  preferred  McLean  to  Champaign. 
Mr.  Fell  immediately  spoke  up  and  said,  'I  am  willing  to  procure  a  sub- 
scription that  will  be  conceded  to  be  the  greatest  of  any  of  the  towns, 
but  I  will  not  contribute  a  dollar  to  influence  any  member  of  the  Legisla- 
ture to  vote  for  us.  I  will  throw  the  whole  thing  up  before  I  will  have 
anything  of  the  kind.' "  See  Prince's  article  in  the  Pantograph  of  June 
7,  1007. 

See  also  affidavits,  Jan.  25,  1867;  G.  W.  Minier  to  Turner,  Feb.  10,, 
1867 ;  History  of  the  Champaign  "Elephant"  by  One  of  the  Ring,  broad- 
side, dated  in  pencil,  Mar.  21,  1867 ;  certificate  of  expenditure  by  Henry 
E.  Banner,  Apr.  2,  1867.  All  in  the  Turner  Manuscripts. 


80  JESSE  W.   FELL  [344 

titude  toward  it.  This  was  that  the  constitutional  convention 
then  in  session  should  endow  it  by  a  constitutional  provision.14 
But  Fell  had  anticipated  this  action.  Representing  the 
State  Teachers'  Association,  he  had  addressed  a  memorial  to  the 
convention  on  the  last  day  of  January  preceding,  which  ex- 
pressed his  ideas  of  possible  means  and  measures.  It  did  not  dic- 
tate an  exact  scheme  of  support  and  management  for  the  univer- 
sity, altho  it  suggested  several.  It  appealed  to  state  pride, 
urging  that  eight  surrounding  states  had  already  established  uni- 
versities. It  contained  also  a  vivid  prophecy  of  the  service  now 
actually  rendered  the  state  in  the  study  of  soils,  entomology, 
engineering,  agriculture,  chemistry,  mining  methods,  and  the 
use  of  waste  by-products.  But  he  adds:  "To  accomplish  these 
grand  results,  however,  we  must  have,  not  a  university  in  name 
— another  pretentious  high  school — but  what  has  not  yet  been 
fully  organized  upon  this  continent,  a  University  in  fact ;  a  grand 
and  comprehensive  school,  equal  in  its  scope  and  power  of  devel- 
opment to  our  present  and  future  greatness,  and  in  harmony 
with  the  advancing  civilization  of  the  age.  Anything  that  falls 
short  of  this,  at  least  in  its  scope  and  constitution,  is  alike  un- 
worthy of  us  as  a  people,  and  of  the  age  in  which  it  is  our  privi- 
lege to  live.  The  day  of  small  endeavors  in  enterprises  of  this 
kind,  and  with  people  like  ours,  has  passed  away,  never  to 
return.  WE  WANT  THIS  OR  NOTHING."15  Then  follows  a  very 

14Both  Turner  and  Gregory  were  at  this  meeting.  The  latter  invited 
the  members  to  visit  Champaign  and  see  for  themselves  what  was  being 
done  at  the  university.  Turner's  acceptance  marked  the  beginning  of  his 
personal  friendship  for  Gregory,  and  his  hearty  cooperation  with  him  in 
building  up  the  institution.  Carriel,  Life  of  Jonathan  Baldwin  Turner, 
227-231.  Joseph  O.  Cunningham,  interview,  May  10,  1914. 

15Saying  that  its  friends  were  not  urging  any  special  plan  for  pro- 
viding it  with  funds,  Fell  mentions  that  fact  that  "some"  propose  to  use 
for  the  university  the  five  per  cent  of  the  Illinois  Central ;  but  another 
plan,  if  more  acceptable,  would  be  considered  by  the  university  party. 
"In  view  of  the  general  desire  to  perpetuate  the  present  relations  of  the 
State  with  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  in  regard  to  the  fund  referred 
to,  and  of  a  morbid  sensibility  in  the  public  mind  in  reference  thereto, 
whenever  any  measure  affecting  the  same,  however  remotely,  is  proposed, 
it  may  be  wise,  should  you  determine  to  provide  for  such  an  institution, 
to  abstain  from  making  even  any  allusion  to  that  fund,  and  in  lieu 
thereof,  to  provide  that  the  one-tenth  part  of  the  two  mill  tax,  or  its 
equivalent  one-fifth  of  one  mill,  shall  be  set  apart  to  that  object,  after 
the  extinguishment  of  our  present  state  indebtedness.  ...  By  the  impo- 


345]  PUBLIC    SERVICE    AFTER   THE   WAR  81 

earnest  reply  to  the  chief  argument  being  urged  against  such 
a  plan — that  the  state  was  too  poor  to  afford  it.  The  plea  was 
an  eloquent  one,  but  it  failed  to  gain  its  point  with  the  consti- 
tution-makers, who  declined  to  saddle  the  state  with  any  such 
"burden". 

Besides  writing  this  plea  for  the  teachers  of  the  state,  Fell 
traveled  much  in  the  interests  of  the  effort,  and  wrote  many 
letters.  A  draft  of  the  proposed  constitutional  provision  is 
found  in  a  set  of  resolutions  passed  by  the  State  Teachers' 
Association.16 

sition,  in  this  or  some  other  way,  of  a  slight  tax,  equal  to  the  fiftieth 
part  of  one  per  cent  and  by  deferring  the  collection  of  even  that  till 
our  present  bonded  indebtedness  is  fully  paid  off,  would  seem  to  obviate 
all  reasonable  objections ;  and  though  it  postponed  for  a  few  years  a 
work  already  too  long  delayed,  the  friends  of  this  measure  hope  by  this 
concession,  as  to  time,  to  receive  not  only  your  approval,  but  that  of  the 
people  to  whom  your  work  is  soon  to  be  submitted. 

.  .  .  "We  not  only  have  nothing  of  this  kind  within  our  limits,  but 
we  are  surrounded  by  six  states,  to  wit:  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Iowa, 
Missouri,  Kentucky,  Indiana,  to  say  nothing  of  two  still  younger  States, 
Minnesota  and  Kansas — all  of  which  have  State  Universities.  True, 
Ann  Arbor  only  has  at  present  any  just  claims  to  this  high  rank;  but 
may  we  not  reasonably  hope  and  expect,  .  .  .  that  in  time  some,  possibly 
all,  of  the  States  referred  to  may  have  their  Universities  in  fact  as  well 
as  in  name?  .  .  ." 

.  .  .  "What  we  mean  by  the  term  'University',  in  that  broad  and 
comprehensive  sense  used  to  designate  these  the  highest  institutions  of 
learning  known  in  the  world,  is,  in  the  language  of  Webster,  'An  assem- 
blage of  colleges  established  at  any  place,  with  professors  for  instructing 
students  in  the  sciences  and  other  branches  of  learning,  and  where  de- 
grees are  conferred.  It  is  properly,'  he  continues,  'a  universal  school, 
in  which  are  taught  all  branches  of  learning,  including  the  four  profes- 
sions of  Theology,  Medicine,  Law,  and  the  Arts  and  Sciences.'  To 
Americanize  such  an  institution  we  should,  perhaps,  in  present  condi- 
tion, at  least,  and  acting  for  the  State,  have  to  drop  the  first  of  the 
professions  above  named,  and  incorporate,  more  thoroughly  than  is 
usually  done,  what  is  known  as  the  elective  principle — a  principle  largely 
adopted  at  Cornell  and  elsewhere,  and  which  enables  the  student  to  strike 
out  in  any  given  direction  he  may  desire,  and  thus  fit  himself  for  the 
active  duties  of  life.  .  .  ." 

16Notes  indorsed  by  Fell  upon  an  envelope  containing  a  copy  of  the 
Memorial.  Henry  Wing  to  Fell,  Jan.  3,  1870;  Pantograph,  Feb.  I,  1871; 
"'State  University' — To  the  Members  of  the  Illinois  Constitutional  Con- 
vention", reprint  from  the  Pantograph  and  the  Illinois  State  Journal,  in 
Illinois  Teacher,  XVI,  65. 


82  JESSE  W.   FEkL.  [346 

In  connection  with  the  constitutional  convention  of  1870 
one  other  occurrence  is  worthy  of  mention.  Joseph  Medill,  a 
member  of  the  convention,  wishing  to  procure  the  strong  influ- 
ence of  Governor  Palmer  in  favor  of  the  proposed  change, 
asked  Fell  to  call  on  the  governor  for  an  expression  of  opinion. 
This  Fell  did,  in  a  letter  published  in  May.  About  a  month 
later  the  governor  answered  in  a  long  letter  which  was  a  strong 
plea  for  the  new  constitution.  This  reply  was  widely  published, 
and  doubtless  had  much  to  do  with  the  subsequent  vote  of  the 
people.17 

Altho  his  efforts  for  the  location  and  endowment  of  th& 
university  failed,  in  another  direction  Fell  succeeded  better. 
The  legislature  in  1865  authorized  the  erection  of  a  soldiers' 
orphans'  home,  which  was  to  be  located  by  a  commission.  Fell, 
deeply  disappointed  at  the  failure  to  build  up  the  longed-for 
university  at  Normal,  set  briskly  at  work  to  secure  this  smaller 
institution  for  his  own  community.  There  was  an  initial  appro- 
priation of  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  made  by  the  state,  to 
which  he  secured  an  addition  of  fifty  thousand  in  local  sub- 
scriptions, heading  the  list  with  a  generous  donation.  Rock 
Island,  Decatur,  Irvington,  and  Springfield  competed  for  the 
home,  but  the  Normal  subscription  was  the  largest  and  the 
commissioners  decided  unanimously  in  its  favor,  May  5,  1867.18 

Mr.  Fell's  connection  with  the  Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home  did 
not  end  with  its  location  at  Normal.  Saying  that,  as  homeless 
and  almost  friendless  children,  they  would  have  mainly  to  depend 
upon  their  own  exertions  for  a  livelihood  after  their  dismissal 
from  the  Home,  he  claimed  that  it  was  both  wisdom  and  obliga- 
tion in  the  state  to  give  to  its  charges  not  only  a  shelter,  but  a 
training  that  would  make  them  self-supporting  upon  reaching 
maturity.  In  other  words,  he  wanted  the  school  which  was  con- 
ducted at  the  Home  to  be  a  trade-school.  But  vocational  educa- 
tion was  at  that  time  almost  unknown  in  the  United  States,  and 
was  looked  upon  with  disfavor  as  a  dangerously  paternal  institu- 
tion. No  trades  were  taught  at  the  Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home, 

17 Palmer  to  Fell,  June  18,  1870. 

18A  characteristic  story  is  told  of  this  canvass,  concerning  Fell  and 
Davis.  Seeing  his  friend  as  he  approached  the  office,  Judge  Davis  de- 
clared to  Lawrence  Weldon,  who  tells  the  story  (Fell  Memorial,  p.  40)  — 
"There's  Fell.  I  reckon  he  wants  me  to  subscribe  more  money.  I  won't 
do  it.  I  won't  do  it.  Reckon  I'll  have  to,  though."  Fell  did  indeed  induce 
him  to  increase  his  already  generous  subscription. 


347]  PUBLIC   SERVICE   AFTER   THE   WAR  83 

and  Mr.  Fell  was  thereat  much  disappointed.  ' '  Don 't  call  it  my 
school,"  he  is  said  to  have  rejoined  when  a  friend  asked  him  how 
"his  school"  prospered.  "It  is  not  what  I  wanted  it  to  be." 
Thirty  years  after  its  founding,  those  features  which  he  had 
sought  in  vain  to  incorporate,  were  added  to  the  Soldiers'  Or- 
phans' Home  school.19 

A  somewhat  similar  project  under  private  management 
failed  to  materialize.  This  was  the  "College  for  Soldiers  and 
their  Sons"  which  was  to  occupy  the  buildings  of  Western  Un- 
ion College  and  Military  Academy  at  Fulton,  Illinois.  Mr.  Fell 
held  some  stock  in  the  company  advocating  this  scheme,  but  seems 
never  actively  to  have  pushed  it. 

Shortly  after  the  dedication  of  the  Soldiers '  Orphans '  Home, 
a  competition  for  a  state  reform  school  was  opened.  Mr.  Fell 
started  a  subscription  in  Bloomington,  which  reached  a  total  of 
over  sixty  thousand  dollars.20  There  was  at  that  time,  however,  a 
strong  opposition  to  the  policy  of  concentration  which  he  advo- 
cated. The  state  was  still  imperfectly  unified,  and  state  institu- 
tions were  regarded  as  the  perquisites  of  citizenship,  to  be  dis- 
tributed as  equally  as  possible.  The  interests  of  the  institution 
were  a  secondary  consideration.  The  prejudice  against  the  pol- 
icy of  concentration  was  so  strong,  in  fact,  as  to  persuade  Mr. 
Fell  of  the  wisdom  of  abandoning  his  efforts  to  locate  the  new  in- 
stitution in  Normal.  He  did  this  the  more  willingly,  perhaps,  be- 
cause the  people  of  another  town  in  which  he  was  interested  be- 
gan to  hope  that  they  might  win  it.  This  town  was  Pontiac, 
where  Mr.  Fell  had  owned  land  for  many  years.  He  found  en- 
thusiastic response  when  he  started  to  raise  a  subscription  there, 
and  was  able  to  induce  the  township  to  vote  bonds  to  the  amount 
of  twenty-five  thousand  dollars,  to  which  the  board  of  supervisors 
added  twice  as  much  in  county  bonds.  He  and  his  brother  Ker- 
sey offered  the  site  for  the  buildings,  sixty-four  acres  lying  close 
to  the  town.  The  total  subscription  of  over  ninety  thousand 
dollars  won  the  location  of  the  school.21 

19E.  M.  Prince  in  Fell  Memorial,  41. 

20Based  on  the  "Classification  of  the  Normal  Bids  for  the  State 
Industrial  Reform  School"  among  the  Fell  MSS,  and  exclusive  of  five 
subscriptions  dependent  upon  a  particular  location.  Lewis  says  (Life, 
99)  that  the  subscription  was  $35,567. 

21Pantagraph,  July  8,  1869.  The  Fell  Papers  include  the  subscription 
list  and  map  used  in  the  campaign.  Comments  by  Mr.  Fell  are  to  the 
effect  that  "we  did  not  regard  such  an  institution  as  a  junior  penitentiary, 


84  JESSE  W.   PELL  [348 

The  last  state  institution  for  which  Fell  and  the  Bloomington 
community  made  a  strong  effort,  was  the  Eastern  Illinois  Insane 
Asylum.  The  location  of  this  institution  was  before  the  people 
in  1877.  Mr.  Fell,  chairman  of  the  committee  appointed  to  di- 
rect the  efforts  of  the  Bloomington  people,  made  a  report  of  the 
advantages  of  location  there,  which  was  printed  in  the  Panta- 
graph  of  August  3,  1877.  Its  chief  interest  for  us  lies  in  its  ad- 
vocacy of  advantage  to  the  state  as  a  whole  rather  than  to  any 
one  region — his  old  argument  of  "concentration  versus  scattera- 
tion."  Modern  ideas  of  efficient  and  economical  management 
counted  for  so  little  at  the  time,  however,  when  opposed  to  sec- 
tional jealousy  and  local  ambition,  that  the  really  excellent  in- 
ducements offered  by  Normal  were  declined  in  favor  of  the  town 
of  Kankakee.  Probably  the  same  reasons  accounted  for  the  fact 
that  a  committee  composed  of  Jesse  Fell,  Lawrence  "Weldon,  and 
Hamilton  Spencer,  appointed  in  1885  to  investigate  the  chances 
of  Bloomington  for  securing  the  projected  home  for  the  feeble- 
minded, did  not  make  a  campaign  for  the  institution. 

but,  as  the  name  implies,  as  a  reformatory  institution."  Fell  presented 
to  Pontiac  the  land  for  a  city  park,  which  was  named  for  him  in  1915. 
Pantograph,  June  7,  1915,  quoting  from  Pontiac  Leader. 

In  1871  occurred  one  of  those  movements  for  changing  the  capital 
which  often  take  place  in  states  in  which  the  center  of  population  is  still 
shifting  and  uncertain.  In  March  of  that  year,  Peoria  made  an  effort 
to  have  the  capital  moved  to  that  place.  The  discussion  evoked  many 
statements  of  the  shortcomings  of  Springfield,  and  when  it  became  evi- 
dent that  the  idea  was  to  be  thought  of  seriously,  Bloomington  people 
had  a  meeting  in  their  court  house  "to  consider  the  question  of  making 
an  effort  to  have  the  capital  brought  here".  After  the  explanatory 
speeches  a  committee,  of  which  Mr.  Fell  was  a  member,  was  appointed 
to  prepare  an  appeal  to  the  legislature.  The  committee  probably  made 
inquiries  before  doing  the  bidding  of  the  townspeople,  for  nothing  further 
came  of  it.  Lewis,  Life,  101. 

No  account  of  Mr.  Fell's  service  to  his  community  could  be  com- 
plete without  mention  of  his  unremitting  efforts  for  the  colored  people 
of  Normal.  He  secured  work  for  them,  employing  many  himself,  and 
then  showed  them  how  to  save  and  invest  their  earnings  in  homes,  en- 
couraging them  to  educate  themselves  and  their  children,  and  constituting 
himself  advisor  and  friend  in  their  struggle  for  betterment.  Largely  as 
a  result  of  his  interest  in  them,  the  colored  people  of  that  community 
have  become  as  a  class  self-respecting  and  property-owning  citizens.  Notes 
on  interview  with  George  Brown,  May  15,  1916. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

RAILROADS 

Mr.  Fell's  active  efforts  in  behalf  of  railroads  for  Central 
Illinois  seem  to  have  begun  in  1835,  when  General  William  L.  D. 
Ewing  sent  a  number  of  Bloomington  men  a  request  for  their  co- 
operation in  building  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad.  This  docu- 
ment was  addressed  to  the  leading  men  of  Bloomington,  "Gen. 
Covell,  J.  W.  Fell  Esq.,  Jno.  W.  S.  Moon,  Esq.,  Doct.  Miller  &C."1 
It  apprised  them  that  General  Ewing  proposed  to  present  at ' '  the 
called  session  of  our  General  Assembly"  a  bill  for  a  railroad 
from  ' '  Ottawa,  or  some  other  suitable  point  on  the  Illinois  river,, 
through  Bloomington,  Decatur,  Shelbyville,  Vandalia,  and  thence 
to  the  mouth  (or  near  it)  of  the  Ohio  river  on  the  most  practica- 
ble and  convenient  route. ' '  He  asked  their  opinions  on  the  mat- 
ter, and  indicated  a  willingness  to  appreciate  the  cooperation  of 
McLean  County  people.  Nothing  came  of  this  early  project.  A 
little  later  Fell  became  one  of  the  incorporators  of  the  Pekin, 
Bloomington,  and  Wabash  Railroad,  which  was  to  unite  the  Illi- 
nois and  Wabash  rivers.2 

The  Illinois  Central  Railroad  became  the  backbone  of  the 
elaborate  internal  improvement  bill  of  1837,  was  taken  up  by  the 
Great  Western  Railway  Company  in  1843,  and  was  the  especial 
care  of  Senator  Sidney  Breese  during  1843-1850.  Senator  Doug- 
las finally  succeeded  in  endowing  it  by  a  grant  of  public  lands, 
in  September,  1850,  and  construction  began  December  23,  1851.8 
In  the  congressional  grant,  the  termini  of  Galena  and  Cairo  were 
stipulated,  but  the  course  of  the  road  between  these  two  points 
was  left  open.  Powerful  influences  were  endeavoring  to  change 
it  from  E wing's  proposed  route  eastward  and  westward,  and 
particularly  to  Peoria  and  to  Springfield.  Fell's  candidate,  Gen- 
eral Gridley,  elected  to  the  state  senate  in  1850,  worked  untir- 
ingly to  maintain  the  original  route  through  Bloomington,  and 
finally  succeeded  in  securing  a  clause  in  the  act  of  incorporation 
with  this  provision.  This  was  in  February,  1851.  The  railroad 

aOct.  20,  1835. 

^Private  Laws  of  Illinois,  1836,  8-12.   E.  M.  Prince  in  Fell  Memorial,  43. 
3Brownson,  History  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  18-48. 

85 


86  JESSE  W.   PELL,  [350 

was  to  pass  through  Clinton  and  Decatur,  towns  in  which  Mr. 
Fell  was  much  interested,  as  well  as  through  Bloomington.  In 
the  spring  of  1852  the  road  was  started  northward  from  Bloom- 
ington to  meet  the  line  already  begun  from  LaSalle  southward. 
Regular  traffic  on  the  completed  road  began  May  23,  1853.4 

On  the  day  when  ground  was  broken  near  David  Davis' 
home  for  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad,5  engineers  were  locating 
an  extension  of  the  Chicago  and  Alton  (then  called  the  Alton 
and  Sangamon)  from  Springfield  to  Bloomington.  "Work  pro- 
gressed so  rapidly  that  trains  were  running  on  this  road  just 
five  months  from  the  date  of  location.  Passengers  from  St. 
Louis  could  change  at  Bloomington  to  the  Illinois  Central  and 
again  at  LaSalle  to  the  Rock  Island  route,  and  so  to  Chicago. 
At  Bloomington  there  was  no  direct  connection  for  many  years 
between  the  Chicago  and  Mississippi,  of  which  the  Alton  and 
Sangamon  was  a  branch,  and  the  Illinois  Central.  The  transfer 
was  by  cabs  and  omnibuses. 

In  1853  Fell  secured  the  right  of  way  for  the  Chicago  and 
Mississippi  from  Bloomington  to  Joliet,  and  work  began 
promptly.  Fell,  who  had  lands  along  this  route  from  which  he 
hoped  to  reap  a  profit,  also  secured  from  O.  H.  Lee,  who  had 
charge  of  the  building  of  the  extension,  a  contract  for  himself 
and  his  brother  Thomas,  to  furnish  ties  and  cord-wood.  The 
sale  of  lands  in  and  around  Pontiac,  Lexington,  Towanda,  Nor- 
mal, and  Joliet,  of  course  netted  him  handsome  returns  for  the 
investment  of  time  and  money  for  the  Chicago  and  Alton.  In- 
deed, the  dove-tailing  of  enterprises,  the  working-together-for- 
good  of  all  the  forces  that  made  for  prosperity,  was  an  accom- 
plishment for  which  he  had  a  peculiar  talent.6 

In  the  meantime,  ten  and  a  quarter  acres  of  ground  had 
been  conveyed  to  the  Chicago  and  Mississippi  for  the  depots 
and  shops  which  have  since  helped  to  make  Bloomington  in  a 
small  way  an  industrial  center.  Many  citizens  wanted  the  sta- 
tion-house of  the  new  road  built  close  to  that  of  the  Illinois  Cen- 
tral, with  the  point  of  intersection  near  the  present  site  of  the 
"Wesleyan  University.  But  Fell,  with  an  eye  to  the  founding  of 
a  suburban  town  at  the  intersection  of  the  two  roads,  at  a  point 
farther  west  where  he  and  others  had  secured  land,  stood  for 
its  location  at  a  considerable  distance.  The  Bloomington  station 

^Bloomington  Intelligencer,  May  25,  1853. 

5May  15,  1852. 

6O.  H.  Lee  to  Fell,  July  4,  1853.    Pantograph,  Apr.  18,  1908. 


351]  RAILROADS  87 

was  located  about  a  mile  from  the  Illinois  Central  station,  and 
the  intersection  formed  a  center  for  the  new  town  of  North 
Bloomington.7  On  August  4,  1854,  the  Pantagraph  announced 
that  trains  were  running  from  Alton  to  Joliet,  the  full  length  of 
the  Chicago  and  Mississippi.8 

Central  Illinois  needed  in  addition  an  east-and-west  road. 
In  1853  Fell  and  others  organized  a  company  to  realize  a  pro- 
jected "Wabash  and  Warsaw"  railroad.9  On  the  third  of  May 
he  addressed  a  meeting  at  Carthage  favoring  a  proposed  road 
from  LaFayette,  Indiana,  through  Bloomington,  Pekin,  and  other 
Illinois  towns  to  Warsaw.  Bloomington  citizens  subscribed  fifty 
thousand  dollars  to  the  stock  by  the  middle  of  June,  and  the 
county  court  ordered  a  vote  on  a  county  subscription  of  a  hun- 
dred thousand.  The  fifty  thousand  dollars,  however,  were  rejected 
later  on  technical  grounds,  and  the  order  of  the  court  was  revoked 
accordingly.  The  enthusiasm  that  had  been  so  general  died  out 
suddenly  at  this  rebuff,  and  was  reawakened  later  with  some  dif- 
ficulty. 

Mr.  Fell  had  much  opposition  during  this  period  from  those 
who  would  not  be  served  by  a  road  of  the  proposed  route.  A 
Pekin  paper  questioned  his  motives  in  advocating  a  road  through 
towns  in  which  he  had  holdings.  The  Bloomington  Times  also 
attacked  him  vigorously,  but  was  answered  by  Mr.  Fell  himself 
in  the  Intelligencer.10  He  had  by  this  time  become  the  local  di- 
rector of  the  proposed  road.  In  September  he  urged  the  sub- 
scription of  the  fifty  thousand  dollars  at  a  meeting  at  the  court 
house,  and  the  subscription  of  a  like  amount  to  another  proposed 
road,  the  Quincy  and  Bloomington.  He  then  entered  into  an  ac- 

7John  H.  Burnham,  Our  Duty  to  Future  Generations.  An  address 
-delivered  Apr.  21,  1905,  at  the  I.  S.  N.  U. 

8The  tracks  of  the  Chicago  and  Rock  Island  were  used  from  Joliet 
to  Chicago  until  March  18,  1858,  when  the  road  transferred  to  its  own 
tracks.  Lewis,  Life,  42. 

9The  Intelligencer  of  Mar.  23,  1853,  gives  the  names  of  the  corpo- 
rators of  "The  Bloomington  and  Wabash  Valley  R.  R.  Company1'  as 
follows :  David  Davis,  Isaac  Funk,  James  Miller,  A.  Gridley,  E.  H. 
Didlake,  R.  O.  Warriner,  John  W.  Ewing,  W.  H.  Temple,  Wm.  T.  Major, 
John  Moore,  John  E.  McClun,  Jesse  W.  Fell,  J.  H.  Robinson,  A.  Withers, 
Wm.  T.  Flagg,  W.  H.  Holmes.  The  issue  of  April  27  has  an  account 
of  the  meeting  at  which  Mr.  Fell  was  sent  "to  the  western  part  of  the 
route"  to  interest  people  in  the  venture.  See  also  issues  of  May  18, 
July  20,  Aug.  10,  Aug.  24,  1853;  Pantagraph,  Apr.  26  and  June  28,  1853. 

^Intelligencer,  Aug.  3,  Aug.  24,  Sept.  12,  1853. 


88  JESSE  W.   FELL  [352 

tive  personal  campaign  to  secure  the  money.  The  city  voted  it 
almost  unanimously  on  October  15.  Large  subscriptions  had 
been  made  in  Tazewell  County,  Keokuk,  and  LaFayette,  so  that 
the  total  amount  by  December  14  was  over  a  million  dollars.11 

Despite  all  these  efforts  the  road  was  not  built.  In  March, 
1854,  it  was  announced  that  steps  had  been  taken  to  let  the  con- 
tract of  construction ;  but  construction  did  not  follow.12  In  the 
winter  and  spring  of  1855-56  more  meetings  were  held  in  the 
towns  along  the  proposed  route,  and  Mr.  Fell  with  others  again 
circulated  the  ready  subscription-list.  But  people  were  tiring  of 
the  subject,  and  there  was  little  success.  A  new  company  was  in- 
corporated in  1855,  for  the  building  of  the  Bloomington,  Kanka- 
kee,  and  Indiana  State  Line  Railroad,  with  Mr.  Fell  as  a  lead- 
ing stockholder  and  worker.13  It  also  failed  to  secure  popular 
support.  Then  in  1857,  when  the  panic  had  added  to  the  usual 
chariness  in  giving  to  public  enterprises,  a  futile  attempt  was 
made.  At  the  November  election,  a  proposal  that  the  county 
should  subscribe  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  was  defeated  by  a 
vote  of  1570  to  1166. 

The  east-and-west  road  was  not  again  actively  advocated 
until  1866,  when  a  number  of  Danville  people  began  to  push  the 
project.  There  were  several  groups,  each  urging  a  different 
route,  as  usual ;  but  those  who  proposed  a  road  from  Danville  to 
Bloomington  through  Urbana  and  LeBoy  were  most  active.  An- 
other projected  road  passed  directly  from  Bloomington  to  La- 
Fayette, through  Cheney's  Grove.  The  Tonica  and  Petersburg 
line  of  the  Chicago  and  Alton,  already  partly  constructed,  might 
be  deflected,  urged  Mr.  Fell  and  others,  to  Bloomington.  Fell 
spoke  in  favor  of  this  scheme  at  a  meeting  on  December  29,  1866, 
using  a  map — a  favorite  device — to  show  his  meaning.14  The 
resolutions  he  offered  at  the  close  of  his  speech  were  adopted. 
They  endorsed  the  idea  of  the  road  and  appointed  a  committee  to 
sound  the  community  concerning  the  hundred  thousand  dollar 
subscription.  It  proved  to  be  very  difficult  to  secure  pledges, 
partly  because  many  people  believed  that  the  road  would  come  in 
any  case,  and  the  spending  of  so  much  money  was  therefore  use- 

™>Intelligencer,  Dec.  14,  1853. 

^Pantograph,  Man.  15,  1854. 

^Private  Laws  of  Illinois,  1853,  342-346.  At  about  the  same  time 
Mr.  Fell  and  others  incorporated  the  Bloomington  Gas  Light  and  Coke 
Company.  Ibid.,  1855,  650. 

^Pantagraph,  Dec.  29  and  31,  1866. 


353]  RAILROADS  89 

less.  An  accusation  was  made  against  Fell  and  Gridley,  touching 
their  disinterestedness  in  the  matter,  to  which  Fell  replied  by 
publishing  a  letter  from  T.  B.  Blackstone,  the  president  of  the 
Chicago  and  Alton ;  and  the  canvass  went  on.  President  Black- 
stone  convinced  Mr.  Fell  that  the  new  road  would  be  built 
through  Washington  were  the  money  not  subscribed  at  Blooming- 
ton.15  In  April,  Fell  succeeded  in  securing  a  joint  appropriation 
of  seventy-five  thousand  dollars  from  the  township  and  the  city. 
In  June  the  township  voted  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  each  to 
the  "LaFayette,  Bloomington  and  Mississippi"  and  to  the  "Dan- 
ville, Urbana  and  Pekin"  roads. 

Then  followed  busy  days  in  Bloomington,  for  there  were 
three  railroads  being  built.  The  one  from  Jacksonville  was  com- 
pleted for  traffic  on  August  14,  1867.16  The  Danville  road  from 
Bloomington  to  Pekin  was  completed  in  1869,  and  to  Covington 
on  September  2,  1870,  giving  railroad  communication  between 
Indianapolis  and  Peoria.  The  other  east-and-west  road,  of  which 
General  Gridley  was  president  and  Fell  an  active  director,  was 
less  fortunate.  Financial  support  was  hard  to  find,  but  work 
began  in  spite  of  this  in  October,  1869.  The  contractors,  Howard 
and  Weston,  had  promised  to  finish  the  road  to  the  Indiana  line 
by  January  1,  1871;  but  the  company  failed  early  in  1870.  A 
new  contract  was  let,  but  it  was  only  partly  fulfilled.  The  Wa- 
bash  company  finally  finished  the  road,  which  established  regular 
service  on  July  13,  1872.  So  at  last,  after  efforts  extending  over 
twenty  years,  east-and-west  communication  by  rail  was  realized. 
It  was  not  in  a  form  so  direct  as  Mr.  Fell  and  his  colleagues  had 
hoped  to  have  it,  but  it  has  proved  practicable  and  helpful. 

It  has  been  noted  that  the  Chicago  and  Alton  Railroad  estab- 
lished shops  at  Bloomington  soon  after  entering  the  town.  These 
shops  were  largely  destroyed  by  fire  on  November  1,  1867.  Al- 
most at  once,  it  was  proposed  to  rebuild  them  in  Chicago,  or  some 
other  city  where  labor  might  more  easily  be  had.  The  loss  to 
Bloomington  would  have  been  very  great,  and  Mr.  Fell  with 
some  friends  set  himself  to  find  the  means  of  making  their  reten- 
tion sure.  Judge  David  Davis,  General  Gridley  and  Mr.  Fell  in- 
duced R.  E.  Williams,  then  local  attorney  for  the  road,  to  go 
with  them  to  Chicago  for  an  interview  with  President  Black- 
stone.  The  latter  assured  the  trio  that,  altho  feeling  for  re- 

15Blackstone  to  Fell,  Dec.  13  and  28,  1866,  Jan.  i,  1867. 
16This   road   was  leased  to  the  Chicago  and  Alton   for  99  years  in 
June,  1868. 


90  JESSE  W.  PELL  [354 

moval  was  strong  in  the  company,  he  himself  favored  the  reten- 
tion of  the  shops  where  they  had  been,  if  only  additional  land 
for  needed  extension  could  be  secured.  This  reasonable  request 
surprised  the  Bloomington  men,  who  had  expected  to  be  asked 
for  a  bonus  in  money.  Returning  to  Bloomington,  the  matter 
was  presented  to  the  people  at  a  mass-meeting  on  November  26. 
General  Gridley  and  Mr.  Fell  spoke ;  the  latter  had,  as  usual, 
resolutions  to  be  adopted  and  a  definite  plan  for  raising  the 
money.  Many  in  the  audience  signed  the  guarantee  that  night, 
and  within  a  few  days  the  number  of  guarantors  reached  740. 
After  much  negotiation,  the  citizens  agreed  to  give  about  thirty 
acres  of  land,  some  of  which  had  to  be  gotten  by  condemnation 
proceedings.  The  railroad  company  advanced  the  money  to  pay 
for  it,  at  the  usual  rate  of  ten  per  cent.  The  new  shops  were 
larger  and  better  than  the  old,  and  correspondingly  more  valu- 
able to  Bloomington.17 

One  other  enterprise  of  a  similar  nature  remains  to  be  re- 
corded. In  1867  a  number  of  people  began  to  discuss  the  build- 
ing of  a  street  railway  from  Bloomington  to  Normal.  A  member 
of  the  board  of  education  who  lived  in  southern  Illinois  objected 
that  the -noise  of  cars  would  disturb  the  scholastic  quiet  of  the 
community,  but  people  in  general  thought  it  a  good  idea.18  A 
company  was  incorporated,  to  which  was  given  a  franchise  to 
build  the  railway  through  Bloomington,  Normal,  and  the  cam- 
pus. It  was  operated  at  first  by  a  dummy  engine,  later  by  horse 
and  mule  power.  The  cars  ran  every  forty  minutes  until  nine 
o'clock  at  night. 

The  purpose  of  presenting  the  somewhat  detailed  accounts 
of  enterprises  in  which  Jesse  Fell  was  interested,  which  have 
filled  the  pages  of  this  chapter  and  the  preceding  one,  has  been 
to  show  by  what  means  the  leaders  of  the  era  of  settlement  in  the 
Middle  West  managed  to  achieve  results  which  appear  marvelous 
in  whatever  light  they  may  be  seen.  Fell  was  but  one  of  a  host 

17To  raise  the  money  required,  the  Bloomington  constituency  framed 
a  bill  authorizing  an  issue  of  bonds.  It  passed  the  General  Assembly, 
but  was  vetoed  by  Governor  Palmer  on  grounds  of  unconstitutionality. 
A  committee  from  Bloomington  visited  Palmer,  and  after  explaining  the 
situation  to  him,  received  his  promise  not  further  to  oppose  the  bill. 
They  worked  to  secure  a  repassage,  succeeding  only  after  much  lobbying 
in  the  senate.  The  bonds  were  paid  duly,  with  no  question  of  their 
validity. 

18P.  G.  Roots  to  Messrs.  Hatch  and  Fell,  May  23,  1867. 


355]  RAILROADS  91 

of  workers  who  changed  the  wilderness  into  a  land  of  settled  in- 
stitutions within  the  measure  of  a  generation.  Few  men,  per- 
haps, united  so  many  qualities  of  leadership  as  he  possessed ;  but 
the  difference  between  him  and  other  men  in  this  respect  was 
one  of  degree  rather  than  of  kind.  It  was  a  period  rich  in  social 
service,  altho  "social  service"  had  not  then  become  so  much 
of  a  conscious  slogan  as  it  has  been  since.  It  was  a  period  when 
people  were  closer  to  the  government  than  they  are  now,  when 
living  was  simpler,  when  the  machinery  of  civilization  was 
formed  by  popular  effort,  in  a  more  direct  way  than  has  been 
the  case  in  later  years ;  when  men  of  limited  means  and  many  in- 
terests laid  the  foundation  for  economic  and  political  achieve- 
ment carefully  and  solidly,  knowing  what  structure  they  reared 
and  conscious  that  what  they  wrought  would  shape  in  great 
measure  the  future  of  their  commonwealth.  It  is  as  a  type  of 
such  men  that  Jesse  Fell  has  real  significance  for  the  people  of 
the  Middle  West. 


CHAPTER  IX 
THE  RELIGIOUS  LIBERAL 

The  Unitarian  movement  in  New  England  had  its  parallel 
among  the  Quakers  in  the  Hicksite  schism,  begun  in  1827  by 
Elias  Hicks,  a  brilliant  and  influential  Friend.  He  denied  the 
deity  of  Christ  and  the  special  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures, 
tenets  held  by  the  orthodox  Friends.  Rebecca  Fell,  Jesse  W. 
Fell's  mother,  was  a  warm  friend  and  admirer  of  Elias  Hicks, 
and  followed  him  into  the  sect  which  he  established.  The  father, 
however,  while  he  left  the  orthodox  meeting  at  the  same  time,  did 
not  become  a  Hicksite,  but  united  with  the  Methodists,  whose 
creed  agreed  more  nearly  with  his  own  personal  belief.1  The 
father  became  an  exhorter  in  his  new  church  home,  the  mother  a 
preacher  among  the  Hicksites.  The  harmony  of  the  family  was 
in  no  wise  disturbed,  for  both  parents  were  tolerant  and  not  dis- 
posed to  exaggerate  differences.  Some  of  the  children  followed 
the  father,  some  the  mother  in  their  religious  faith.  Jesse, 
whose  special  privilege  it  was  to  accompany  his  mother  to  meet- 
ing on  First  Days  and  Fourth  Days,  came  closely  to  sympathize 
with  her  in  her  religious  ideas ;  and  his  activity  as  a  leader  of  lib- 
eral religious  thought  in  his  community  in  after  years,  may 
largely  be  attributed  to  the  influence  of  his  mother's  teaching 
and  example.  She  was  a  woman  of  vigorous  mentality,  altho 
of  but  rudimentary  education,  as  were  most  of  the  women  of  her 
time.  With  her  husband,  she  centered  the  training  of  her  chil- 
dren about  the  necessity  of  uncompromising  honesty,  universal 
freedom,  and  fidelity  to  conviction.2 

After  removing  to  Bloomington  in  1837,  the  Fell  family  con- 
tinued to  hold  meetings  after  the  fashion  of  Friends,  altho 

*At  this  time,  the  simplicity  of  dress  and  manners  of  the  Methodists 
was  very  like  that  of  the  Friends,  and  such  a  transition  was  easily  made, 
entailing  little  change  of  accepted  doctrine  or  custom. 

2Jesse  Fell  to  Fell,  Sept.  2,  1832.  This  letter  shows  the  intensely 
religious  nature  of  Jesse  W.  Fell's  father.  It  describes  a  camp-meeting 
in  which  he  had  taken  part  with  great  pleasure  and  profit,  and  expresses 
the  tenderest  wishes  for  his  son's  spiritual  welfare.  Another  letter  of 
Fell's  father,  dated  Jan.  6,  1835,  shows  similar  characteristics. 

92 


357]  THE   RELIGIOUS   LIBERAL  93 

there  were  few  of  their  faith  in  the  town.  The  meetings  were 
held  on  Sunday  afternoons  at  the  house,  and  the  attendance  was 
such  as  often  to  crowd  the  rooms.  John  Magoun,  beloved  by 
everyone  who  knew  him  and  an  especial  friend  of  the  Fells,  came 
to  these  Quaker  gatherings.  The  elder  Mrs.  Fell's  voice  was 
often  heard  in  admonition,  and  her  husband's,  altho  he  was 
totally  blind,  in  song.  In  his  youth  Jesse  Fell  the  elder  had  been 
a  famous  singer  in  his  community,  and  in  his  old  age  his  voice 
was  still  sweet. 

Under  such  influence,  it  was  inevitable  that  Mr.  Fell's  relig- 
ious faith  should  be  both  simple  and  strong.  Wherever  he  was, 
at  appropriate  times  and  places  he  joined  people  of  many  denom- 
inations and  shades  of  belief  in  their  worship ;  and  in  all  his  life 
there  appears  no  word  of  intolerance  for  the  beliefs  of  others. 
His  temporary  connection  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church 
at  Payson  has  been  mentioned  on  another  page.  Upon  his  return 
to  Bloomington  he  did  not  uite  with  any  church,  altho  he 
attended  the  "West  Charge"  Methodist  church,  then  under  the 
care  of  James  Shaw.3 

It  is  significant  of  the  character  of  the  people  of  Blooming- 
ton  that  there  were  in  the  town  a  great  many  of  differing  views 
but  tolerant  dispositions,  who  during  the  early  years  were  drawn 
together  for  purposes  of  worship.  Westerners  were  usually  af- 
filiated, when  they  had  religious  affiliations  at  all,  with  the  more 
radically  evangelical  denominations.  In  Bloomington  there  had 
been  a  Congregational  church  of  abolitionist  leanings  for  many 
years,  and  Baptist  and  Methodist  churches  which,  altho  they 
contained  many  families  from  the  South,  were  for  the  most  part 
opposed  to  the  extension  of  slavery.  In  1855  the  more  radical 
element  in  the  Presbyterian  church  had  separated  itself  from  the 
mother  church,  and  formed  the  Second  Presbyterian  church. 
Thus  clearly,  during  the  decade,  the  political  and  sectional  prej- 
udices held  by  people  generally  affected  their  church  affiliations.4 

On  the  evening  of  the  tenth  of  July,  1859,  a  group  of  people 
who  were  interested  in  forming  a  religious  organization  to  which 
Christians  of  differing  creeds  might  belong,  met  in  the  office  of 
Kersey  Fell.  There  were  about  twenty  in  attendance.  Eliel 
Barber  was  chairman,  Jesse  Fell  secretary.  The  result  of  the 

3James  Shaw  in  Fell  Memorial,  4. 

4Dr.  John  W.  Cook,  A  Western  Pioneer.  Address  at  the  semi- 
centennial of  the  founding  of  the  Unitarian  Church  in  Bloomington,  Oct. 
3,  1909.  (Manuscript  in  possession  of  the  author.) 


94  JESSE   W.   FELL  [358 

conference  was  that  the  secretary  was  directed  to  write  to  Rev, 
Charles  G.  Ames,  of  Boston,  asking  him  to  come  to  Bloomington 
to  look  the  field  over.  He  came,  preached  a  series  of  eight  ser- 
mons, and  visited  the  people  who  were  interested  in  the  possibil- 
ity of  forming  a  new  church.  He  made  his  home  with  the  Fells 
while  in  Bloomington,  and  became  a  very  dear  friend  of  that 
household.5 

A  church,  known  at  first  as  the  Free  Congregational  Society,, 
was  organized  on  the  seventh  and  eighth  of  August.  Many 
shades  of  Protestant  belief  were  included.  There  were  Universal- 
ists,  Friends,  Campbellites,  Baptists,  Episcopalians,  Congrega- 
tionalists  and  Spiritualists  among  the  members.6  The  resident 
clergymen  of  Bloomington  were  invited  to  preach  for  them  until 
the  new  pastor,  Mr.  Ames,  could  take  up  his  work. 

Phoenix  Hall  was  used  for  the  services  of  the  new  church  for 
almost  ten  years.  Here  the  pastors,  for  the  most  part  New  Eng- 
land men,  nurtured  anti-slavery  sentiments  and  fostered  devo- 
tion to  the  federal  union.  Rev.  Ichabod  Codding,  the  fourth  pas- 
tor, was  a  fearless  abolitionist,  and  spoke  boldly  his  progressive 
views.  During  his  pastorate,  which  like  those  of  most  "Western  pas- 
tors was  a  short  one,  the  society  dedicated  its  house  of  worship, 
on  March  15,  1868.  Other  ministers  succeeded  Mr.  Codding — 
free  and  fearless  speakers  and  thinkers  for  the  most  part,  reform- 
ers rather  than  pastors,  intellectual  guides  whose  brief  stay  in 
the  community  served  to  waken  thought  and  to  deepen  religious 
faith.  Two  of  them,  Rev.  C.  C.  Burleigh  and  Rev.  J.  F.  Thomp- 
son, a  New  Englander  and  an  Englishman,  became  strong  friends 
of  Mr.  Fell.  Mr.  Burleigh,  a  friend  of  the  poet  Whittier,  was  a 
quiet  man  of  great  spiritual  force,  but  a  man  who  gained  no  de- 

5Ames  to  Fell,  July  15,  1859.  Ames  to  E.  M.  Prince,  Sept.  23,  1899. 
Vickers  Fell  to  Fell,  Mar.  4,  1862.  J.  J.  Lewis  to  Fell,  Mar.  2,  1862.  It 
was  Mr.  Ames,  a  radical  New  England  abolitionist,  who  preached  the 
famous  sermon  known  as  "the  funeral  sermon  of  John  Brown".  It  was 
delivered  on  Sunday,  Dec.  4,  1859,  was  printed  in  the  local  press,  and 
afterward  in  a  pamphlet  which  had  wide  distribution.  His  personal  esti- 
mate of  Mr.  Fell  is  given  in  the  letter  to  Mr.  Prince  just  cited.  C.  G. 
Ames,  in  the  Christian  Register,  Mar.  18,  1909. 

6At  a  meeting  held  at  the  close  of  the  regular  service  on  the  seventh 
of  August,  attended  by  about  fifty  people,  Fell  presented  a  set  of  resolu- 
tions looking  toward  the  organization  of  the  church.  He  and  Kersey 
Fell,  Mr.  Phoenix,  Mr.  Stillwell,  and  others  talked,  after  which  the 
resolutions  were  adopted.  Thirty-two  people  entered  the  society  the  next 
night,  twenty  more  on  August  14.  Dr.  J.  W.  Cook,  A  Western  Pioneer^ 


359]  THE   EELIGIOUS   LIBERAL  95 

gree  of  popularity  in  the  hustling  "Western  town  in  which  his  lot 
was  for  a  short  time  cast.7  Mr.  Thompson,  who  followed  him, 
was  on  the  other  hand  most  acceptable  to  Bloomington,  and  later 
became  immensely  popular  in  Los  Angeles.  In  speaking  of  the 
friendships  which  came  to  Fell  through  his  church  relations,  it 
is  meet  here  to  mention  Robert  Collyer,  with  whom  he  often  con- 
sulted and  who  became  a  valued  personal  friend.8 

During  the  years  after  its  founding  the  church  gradually 
lost  its  composite  congregational  character,  and  became  more 
homogeneous  in  belief.  Unitarian  doctrines  came  to  be  the  pre- 
vailing opinion  of  the  congregation.  The  name  was  therefore 
changed  on  December  9,  1885,  to  that  of  the  "Unitarian  Church 
of  Bloomington."  Mr.  Fell  remained  an  active  member  and  con- 
stant attendant  of  this  organization  as  long  as  he  lived. 

7"Give  him,"  wrote  Robert  Collyer  to  Fell  in  1873,  in  introducing  art 
English  clergyman  who  was  viewing  the  sights  of  America,  "if  you  can, 
a  chance  to  meet  Charles  Burleigh.  He  may  not  otherwise  see  one  of 
the  Old  Ironsides."  Rev.  Burleigh  had  preached  in  Pennsylvania  many 
years  before  upon  the  subject  of  slavery,  and  the  Fells  had  known  of 
him  then.  "...  last  third-day  evening  we  all  (a  few  excepted)  re- 
paired to  the  Meeting-house  where  we  heard  a  very  interesting  and1 
eloquent  speech  delivered  by  Charles  Burleigh  on  the  subject  of  immediate 
emancipation.  He  is  employed  by  the  anti-slavery  society  of  Philadel- 
phia to  deliver  lectures  on  that  subject;  he  is  the  most  profound  reasoner 
I  ever  heard.  And  if  dignity  of  manners,  eloquence,  and  sound  reason 
can  do  anything  to  promote  the  cause,  he  is  well  adapted  to  the  office."' 
Rebecca  Fell  to  Fell,  Christmas,  1836. 

8Robert  Collyer  to  Fell,  July  3,  Sept.  18,  Nov.  8,  1866;  June  7,  1870; 
Sept.  15,  1873.  A  spirited  letter  upon  "Broad-Gauge  Theology",  contain- 
ing a  clear  defense  of  his  liberal  beliefs,  appeared  in  the  Pantograph  of 
February  15,  1868. 


CHAPTER  X 

LATER  POLITICAL  ACTIVITIES 

The  congressional  campaign  of  1868  was  one  of  especial  in- 
terest to  Mr.  Fell.  In  March,  an  editorial  in  the  Pantagraph 
had  again  proposed  his  name  as  a  candidate  for  Congress,  a  pro- 
posal which  received  the  usual  short  shrift  from  him.1  The  pub- 
lic request  was  repeated,  and  again  declined.  The  Republicans 
of  McLean  then  asked  General  Giles  A.  Smith  to  be  their  candi- 
date, and  he  accepted.  Fell,  however,  thought  this  a  false  and 
foolish  move,  inasmuch  as  Shelby  M.  Cullom,  the  member  then 
sitting,  was  a  tried  and  proved  man.  There  followed  a  lively 
controversy  between  the  Cullom-Fell  party  and  the  Smith  ad- 
herents, waged  both  in  the  newspapers  and  in  all  public  and  pri- 
vate places  where  Republicans  gathered  for  council.  The  county 
committee  called  a  mass-meeting  for  the  purpose  of  selecting  and 
instructing  delegates  to  the  district  convention.  It  met  on  the 
eleventh  of  April,  but  was  so  tumultuous  a  gathering  that  little 
lousiness  could  be  transacted.  General  Smith  seems  to  have  had 
control  of  the  party  machinery,  but  the  machine  was  so  power- 
fully opposed  by  Fell  and  his  colleague  Gridley,  that  none  of  the 
routine  business  decided  upon  could  be  forced  through.  A  dele- 
gate county  convention  was  therefore  called,  to  meet  on  the 
twenty-seventh  ;  and  the  war  between  Smith  and  Fell  continued. 
The  friends  of  Smith  published  a  vigorous  attack  entitled  "The 
Other  Side,  '  '  to  which  Fell  replied  as  vigorously.2  When  it  met, 
the  second  county  convention  proved  more  tractable  than  the 
first  had  been,  and  nominated  Smith  as  McLean's  candidate. 
Fell  continued  his  exertions  throughout  the  district,  however, 
and  on  the  fourth  of  May  the  friends  of  Cullom  were  gratified  by 
a  vote  of  five  counties  to  two  in  his  favor,  at  the  district  conven- 
tion. He  was  elected  by  a  large  majority  in  November. 

The  story  of  this  congressional  struggle  in  McLean  County 
illustrates  a  condition  of  division  which  was  fairly  typical  of  the 


is,  Life,  92. 

2Pantagraph,  Apr.  9,  10,  n  for  the  notice  of  the  mass  convention; 
Apr.  ii,  article  by  Fell  answering  attack  in  "The  Other  Side";  other 
interesting  matter  in  issues  of  Mar.  25-30,  1868. 

96 


361]  LATER   POLITICAL   ACTIVITIES  97 

situation  of  the  Republican  party  in  Illinois  after  the  war.  The 
unity  which  only  a  great  common  purpose  can  give,  had  passed 
away  with  the  coming  of  peace.  Discontent  with  the  extreme 
congressional  reconstruction  policy,  altho  not  then  so  decided 
as  later,  had  begun  to  appear;  Johnson's  foolish  blunders  had 
complicated  the  situation.  Locally,  many  men  aspired  to  the 
honors  which  the  Republicans  had  to  distribute.  The  struggle 
for  the  nomination  to  the  governorship,  for  instance,  was  unus- 
ually sharp.  Robert  G.  Ingersoll,  who  had  expected  to  be  a  candi- 
date for  attorney  general,  upon  the  report  of  the  withdrawal  of 
Palmer  decided  to  try  for  this  higher  office.3  In  the  convention, 
however,  Palmer  took  the  nomination  away  from  him  and  also 
from  Jesse  K.  Dubois  and  S.  W.  Moulton.  Governor  Palmer's 
advocacy  of  states'  rights  divided  the  Republican  ranks  to  some 
extent,  and  finally  resulted  in  his  leaving  the  party  in  1872,  with 
some  adherents. 

In  1870  a  bitter  quarrel  arose  between  Mr.  Cullom  and  Mr. 
Fell,  which  resulted  in  Cullom 's  defeat  in  his  race  for  reelection. 
The  cause  of  this  difference  was  Cullom 's  appointment  of  John 
F.  Scibird  as  Bloomington 's  postmaster.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  the  firm  of  Scibird  and  Waters  sold  the  Pantagraph  to  Davis 
and  Fell  in  August,  1868.  Scarcely  was  the  sale  made,  when 
Scibird  and  Waters  began  to  plan  the  publication  of  a  rival  Re- 
publican paper,  which  appeared,  under  the  name  of  The  Leader, 
the  next  December.  Fell  and  Davis  regarded  this  as  a  breach  of 
faith  in  their  rivals,  inasmuch  as  they  had  purchased  the  Panta- 
graph with  the  understanding  that  they  were  buying  the  Repub- 
lican paper  of  Bloomington;  and  the  two  newspapers  soon 
worked  up  a  rivalry  as  spirited  as  usually  develops  under  such 
circumstances.  Added  to  this  circumstance  were  other  consid- 
erations which  gave  Fell  a  much  stronger  reason  for  resenting 
Cullom 's  appointment. 

3Ingersoll  to  Fell,  Mar.  25,  1868.  Another  letter,  dated  four  days 
later,  establishes  Fell's  position  as  favoring  first  Moulton,  then  Corwin, 
and  last  Ingersoll  himself.  "In  the  meantime,"  says  the  irrepressible 
Peorian,  "dear  friend,  stick  to  your  tree  planting.  There  is  nothing  like 
agriculture  and  horticulture.  Stay  in  the  beautiful  fields.  Hear  the 
birds  sing  praises  to  Corwin  and  Moulton.  I  would  rather  the  birds 
would  do  it  than  to  have  you.  I  know  that  you  will  enjoy  yourself  a 
great  deal  more  working  in  the  garden  than  meddling  about  the  governor 
question."  There  is  more  of  the  same  tenor,  and  finally  this  postscript: 
"Now  is  the  time  to  plant  trees.  All  should  be  planted  before  the  6th 
of  May." 


98  JESSE  W.   FELL  [362 

General  Gridley  had  asked  in  return  for  the  assistance  he 
had  given  Fell  in  supporting  Cullom  in  1868,  Fell's  influence  in 
favor  of  the  retention  of  Gridley 's  brother-in-law,  Dr.  Cromwell, 
as  postmaster.  Dr.  Cromwell  was  a  good  postmaster,  but  his  ap- 
pointment by  Andrew  Johnson  was  with  difficulty  confirmed  by 
the  senate,  as  were  many  other  appointments  by  that  unpopular 
president.  Mr.  Fell,  seeing  no  good  reason  for  opposing  his  re- 
appointment,  urged  it  upon  Cullom,  and  received  what  Fell  un- 
derstood to  be  his  promise  that  he  would  retain  him.  But  for 
some  reason  Cullom  changed  his  mind,  and  after  Grant's  elec- 
tion Scibird  was  given  the  appointment.  Added  to  this  was  the 
fact  that  Fell  had  urged  Cullom 's  renomination  in  1868  with  the 
understanding  that  he  was  not  to  run  again.  These  considera- 
tions put  Fell  in  the  position  of  a  man  who  must  either  vindicate 
his  own  honor  or  impeach  that  of  others,  and  he  took  a  course 
calculated  to  clear  himself  of  suspicion. 

Cullom  repeatedly  acknowledged  at  the  time  that  he  owed 
his  nomination  in  1868  to  the  efforts  of  Fell  and  Gridley.  The 
equally  vigorous  opposition  which  the  Pantagraph  and  its  guiding 
spirit  evinced  two  years  later,  made  his  prospects  hopeless  in  Mc- 
Lean County,  and  doubtful  throughout  the  district.  McLean  de- 
clared for  General  John  McNulta,  but  the  district,  after  a  bitter 
struggle  lasting  through  the  summer,  nominated  Colonel  Jona- 
than Merriam  of  Tazewell.  Mr.  Merriam  was  a  man  of  fine  char- 
acter but  comparatively  unknown,  and  was  defeated  in  Novem- 
ber by  the  Democratic  candidate,  James  C.  Robinson.  The  fact 
that  the  division  among  the  Republicans  had  resulted  in  Repub- 
lican defeat  did  not  tend  promptly  to  heal  the  wounds  among  the 
factions.  Nevertheless  Fell  and  Cullom  found  that  mutual  ex- 
planations removed  the  cause  of  their  personal  differences,  and 
they  became  again  the  best  of  friends.4 

Although  his  informal  and  unadvised  ways  of  doing  things 
were  distinctively  Western  and  might  have  been  expected  to  win 
a  degree  of  approval  in  that  section  of  the  country,  the  four  years 
of  Grant's  first  administration  seem  to  have  aroused  as  much  crit- 
icism in  his  own  state  as  in  any  other.  There  was  in  Illinois  a 
strong  Southern  element  which,  altho  it  had  not  made  the 
state  disloyal  during  the  great  struggle,  still  felt  much  sympathy 
for  the  subdued  states,  subjected  to  the  indignities  of  military 

*Mr.  Fell's  own  account  of  the  controversy  to  that  date  is  in  the 
Pantagraph  of  July  22,  1870.  Shelby  M.  Cullom  to  the  writer,  Mar.  15, 
1912. 


363]  LATER   POLITICAL   ACTIVITIES  99 

and  carpet-bag  rule.  Sunmer,  toward  whom  Grant  had  behaved 
with  what  most  people  considered  inexcusable  injustice,  was  no- 
where more  beloved  than  in  the  Middle  West,  where  he  had  long 
been  a  popular  hero.  And  the  best  men  everywhere  were  dis- 
satisfied with  the  position  of  the  party  leaders  upon  the  civil 
service  question. 

Carl  Schurz  was  the  guiding  spirit  of  the  Liberal  Republi- 
can movement  of  1872,  and  its  strongest  adherents  were  in  those 
states  where  his  influence,  and  that  of  his  friends,  was  strong. 
His  election  to  the  senate  in  1869  was  the  first  sign  of  the  tri- 
umph of  a  new  set  of  ideas  in  the  Republican  party.  Tariff- 
reform  Republicans  joined  hands  with  the  reconstruction-reform 
men,  but  as  tariff-reform  men  were  comparatively  few  in  most 
of  the  states  where  the  insurgents  hoped  to  gain  a  following,  this 
issue  was  kept  in  the  background.  The  passage  of  the  Ku-Klux 
hill  in  1871  was  so  actively  opposed  by  Schurz  and  Trumbull  as 
to  cause  these  two  leaders  to  draw  together  and  to  gather  around 
them  the  more  liberal  elements  in  the  party ;  and  this  group  was 
further  unified  by  the  New  York  Custom  House  affair.  Never- 
theless, as  late  as  in  December  of  1871  neither  Trumbull  nor 
Schurz  had  openly  planned  to  oppose  Grant's  reelection.5 

Early  in  January  the  movement,  which  as  yet  had  appeared 
only  as  a  division  in  Congress,  began  to  take  on  a  more  popular 
aspect.  In  Missouri  and  in  Southern  Illinois,  where  the  South- 
ern element  was  strong,  there  was  a  great  deal  of  fighting  among 
the  people  in  support  of  Schurz,  Trumbull,  and  Sumner.  The 
Missouri  Liberal  Republicans  held  a  convention  in  January,  and 
issued  a  call  for  a  national  mass  convention  in  May.  Preconven- 
tion  speculation  as  to  the  presidential  candidate  of  this  seceding 
Republican  gathering  centered  at  that  time  about  two  men,  Ly- 
man  Trumbull  and  Charles  Francis  Adams.  The  people  of  the 
southern  third  of  Illinois,  as  well' as  many  throughout  the  state 
who  remembered  Trumbull 's  service,  were  very  hopeful  concern- 
ing his  chances.  Governor  Palmer  and  the  influential  Jesse  K. 
Dubois  were  his  leading  supporters.  Adams  was  probably  better 
known  in  the  nation  than  Trumbull,  and  had  proved  his  ability  in 

5Horace  White,  Life  of  Lyman  Trumbull,  269-271,  quoting  an  inter- 
view published  in  the  Louisville  Courier-Journal,  Dec.  3,  1871,  and  New 
York  Times,  Dec.  6.  A  letter  from  Trumbull  to  W.  C.  Flagg,  among  the 
Flagg  MSS,  dated  Jan.  10,  1872,  however,  shows  that  at  that  date  Trum- 
bull was  contemplating  open  opposition  to  Grant  in  the  Republican  party. 
Flagg  was,  according  to  his  own  statement,  Trumbull's  only  confidant  at 
this  time. 


100  JESSE  W.   PELL  [364 

the  difficult  position  of  minister  to  England  during  the  Civil 
War. 

Just  when  Trumbull  's  prospects  were  brightest,  Judge  David 
Davis  decided  that  he  would  be  a  candidate  for  the  nomination. 
Leonard  Swett,  the  famous  criminal  lawyer,  long  an  associate 
and  close  personal  friend  of  Judge  Davis,  became  his  manager, 
and  enlisted  the  services  of  Fell  in  arousing  the  people  of  Mc- 
Lean County  and  Central  Illinois  to  the  support  of  a  citizen  of 
their  own  community  for  the  nomination.  Fell,  from  the  first  an 
advocate  of  a  milder  reconstruction  policy  and  for  that  reason 
thoroly  in  sympathy  with  the  Liberals,  had  been  a  Trumbull 
adherent  until  Davis  made  his  decision,  when  he  changed  to  sup- 
port an  old  and  dear  friend.6  By  the  first  of  April,  then,  he  was 
being  consulted  as  to  the  plans  for  the  Davis  campaign  at  Cincin- 
nati. Swett,  ingenious  and  indefatigable,  estimated  the 
strength  of  the  Trumbull  faction,  and  proposed  that  to  counter- 
act it  a  train  load  of  Davis  supporters  should  go  to  Cincinnati, 
that  they  might  influence  the  nomination  there  as  the  Illinois 
delegations  had  in  1860.  McLean,  Tazewell,  Livingston,  Logan, 
DeWitt,  Champaign,  Ford,  Iroquois  and  Vermillion  counties  were 
strongly  in  favor  of  Davis,  and  from  these  counties  Swett  drew 
the  delegations  upon  which  he  mainly  depended.7  Peoria 
County,  and  especially  the  German  population  (the  strength  of 


6Fell  to  Lyman  Trumbull,  Mar.  4,  Apr.  11,  1872.  (Trumbull 
Library  of  Congress.)  Trumbull  to  Fell,  Mar.  9,  1872.  Mr.  Fell's  sym- 
pathy for  the  once  oppressed  black  man  did  not  blind  him  to  the  shame 
of  the  existing  oppression  of  white  men  in  the  South.  A  letter  to  James 
G.  Elaine,  written  Mar.  3,  1885,  but  possibly  never  sent,  shows  plainly 
his  ideas  upon  the  subject,  and  contains  some  very  entertaining  com- 
ments. After  referring  to  the  failure  of  Republican  reconstruction,  he 
says  :  "Unfortunately  the  Democracy  of  this  country  neither  learns  nor 
forgets  much,  and  without  outside  aid,  I  have  slender  hopes  in  that  direc- 
tion." He  thinks  reform  must  come  through  some  liberal  leader.  "As 
possibly  you  may  know,  I  was  quite  intimately  acquainted  with  Abm. 
Lincoln,  &  in  a  feeble  way  did  something  in  1858,  9  and  60  in  bringing 
him  before  the  people  as  a  presidential  candidate.  In  the  enclosed  I  have 
ventured  to  say  what  were  some  of  his  views  touching  the  matter  in 
hand  —  reconstruction.  Had  he  lived  doubtless  they  would  have  been 
modified.  .  .  .  Whilst  you  are  not  where  many  of  us  would  have  you, 
are  you  not  in  a  position  where  you  can  be  almost  as  influential?  Your 
2nd  vol.,  in  which  you  will  discuss  this  very  question,  is  yet  to  be  pub- 
lished. Why  not  give  this  matter  your  patient,  very  best  thought?" 

7  Swett  to  Fell,  Apr.  I,  1872. 


365]  LATER   POLITICAL   ACTIVITIES  101 

the  Republican  party  there),  would  accept  any  man  who  might 
be  nominated,  in  the  opinion  of  Robert  Ingersoll.8 

Early  in  April  a  number  of  disaffected  Republicans  met  at 
the  home  of  Horace  White  in  Chicago,  and  agreed  to  issue  a  call 
for  the  Cincinnati  meeting,  signed  by  as  many  influential  men 
as  might  be  induced  to  join  the  movement.  As  this  followed  the 
one  already  issued  by  Missouri  (and  was  copied  from  the  one  is- 
sued in  New  York),  it  was  called  a  "Response."  It  appeared 
first  in  the  Chicago  Times,  April  17,  1872.  Thirty-eight  men,  in- 
cluding Gustav  Koerner  and  Horace  White,  Dubois,  Miner, 
Jayne,  and  Fell,  signed  the  call  as  first  published,  and  within  a 
few  days  a  longer  list  appeared,  comprising  the  names  of  hun- 
dreds of  Illinois  Republicans.9  Palmer,  at  first  inclined  to  favor 
the  Regulars,  decided  in  March  to  espouse  the  new  cause,  and  de- 
clined the  Regular  Republican  nomination  for  the  governorship, 
which  was  accepted  by  Oglesby.10 

Trumbull  kept  Fell  informed  of  the  trend  of  affairs  *in  Wash- 
ington, while  Fell  wrote  him  of  the  local  situation.11  Trumbull 

8The  letter  from  Robert  Ingersoll  to  Mr.  Fell,  dated  Peoria,  Apr.  6, 
1872,  expresses  with  remarkable  frankness  that  would-be  statesman's 
resentment  of  his  rejection  by  the  people  of  Illinois.  "You  must  not 
expect  me  to  make  a  speech  at  Cincinnati,"  he  says.  "I  am  done.  I  can 
conceive  of  no  circumstances  under  which  I  would  make  a  political 
speech.  If  ever  in  this  world  a  man  was  thoroughly  sick  of  political 
speaking,  I  am  that  man.  Understand  me,  I  am  an  admirer  and  a  friend 
of  Judge  Davis.  I  want  to  see  him  president  of  the  United  States  and 
I  believe  he  will  be.  And  what  little  I  do  will  be  done  for  him.  I  am 
going  to  take  no  active  part  for  anybody.  For  some  reason,  the  leaders 
in  politics  are  not  my  friends,  and  never  have  been.  My  only  ambition 
is  to  get  a  living  and  to  take  good  care  of  my  family.  The  American 
people  have  lost  the  power  to  confer  honor.  .  .  .  Leonard  Swett  wrote 
me  upon  the  subject  of  going  to  Cincinnati.  I  wrote  him  that  I  was 
sick  of  politics.  By  the  way,  if  his  letter  had  been  about  one-tenth  as 
long,  it  would  have  been  infinitely  better.  His  letter  is  good ;  but  too 
much  of  it.  All  his  points  could  have  been  made  in  one  column.  A 
letter  never  should  be  so  long  as  to  require  an  index." 

9White  to  Fell,  Apr.  10,  1872.  Fell  to  Trumbull,  Apr.  8.  Chicago 
Times,  Apr.  17,  and  Pantograph,  Apr.  19,  20. 

™Carlinville  Democrat,  Apr.  17.  Pantograph,  Apr.  18.  On  the  23d 
of  April,  Palmer  delivered  a  very  influential  anti-Grant  speech  at  Spring- 
field, which  served  greatly  to  strengthen  the  forces  of  the  Liberals. 

"Fell  to  Trumbull,  Apr.  8,  II,  1872.  (Trumbull  MSS,  Library  of 
Congress.)  Trumbull  to  Fell,  Apr.  u,  16,  1872.  Trumbull's  letter  of 
April  u  spoke  of  the  Cooper  Union  meeting,  at  which  Trumbull  and 


102  JESSE   W.   FELL  [366 

would  give  no  formal  consent  to  the  use  of  his  name  before  the 
convention  until  late  in  April,  apparently  with  an  unselfish  de- 
sire not  to  hamper  the  success  of  the,  reform  wave  by  introduc- 
ing personal  factions.  Indeed,  he  tried  to  impose  on  other  lead- 
ers an  entirely  impracticable  policy  of  entire  silence  with  regard 
to  candidates  until  the  meeting  at  Cincinnati. 

Meantime  the  Davis  group  was  vigorously  pushing  its  candi- 
date in  the  only  region  in  which  he  could  command  much  sup- 
port ;  for,  being  a  jurist  and  not  a  political  leader,  and  being  but 
little  known  throughout  the  country,  his  strongest  claim  to  rec- 
ognition lay  in  his  having  been  the  personal  friend  and  appointee 
of  Lincoln, — a  claim  that  amounted  to  little  except  in  Illinois. 
Since  men  with  even  less  fame  have  succeeded  in  winning  nomina- 
tions from  the  lottery  of  convention  chance,  Swett  and  Fell  had 
lively  hopes  that  with  a  good  delegation  of  local  supporters  they 
might  carry  the  day  in  Cincinnati.  The  Democrats,  strong  in 
Illinois,  were  rallying  to  his  support.  Among  these  was  Adlai 
Stevenson,  a  man  of  considerable  influence  and  a  neighbor  of 
Judge  Davis,  who  with  his  adherents  formed  part  of  the  Davis 
party  at  the  convention.  Swett  was  a  skilful  manager,  and  by 
convention  time  had  gained  half  the  Illinois  forces  for  Davis. 
The  Labor  Reform  party  had  already  nominated  him  for  presi- 
dent in  February.12 

Returning  from  a  tree-planting  expedition  to  his  Iowa  lands 
just  before  the  convention,  Fell  preceded  by  a  few  days  the  dele- 
gation which  started  from  Bloomington  at  five  o'clock  on  April 
29.  Judge  Davis'  generosity  in  providing  facilities  for  the  at- 
tendance of  his  supporters  made  the  following  a  large  one ;  con- 
temporary accounts  say  it  was  also  a  very  noisy  and  confident 
one.  About  550  men  from  Bloomington  and  vicinity  went  to 
Cincinnati;  the  entire  Illinois  contingent  numbered  over  a 
thousand.13 

The  Davis  party,  ensconcing  itself  early  at  headquarters  and 
marshalling  its  forces  in  well-organized  companies  which  gave  a 
strong  impression  of  confidence  and  success,  seemed  to  lead  all 
others  before  the  convention  opened.14  There  was  an  under- 

Schurz  both  spoke  to  an  immense  audience,  and  said  that  the  movement 
had  attained  such  proportions  that  no  one  faction  could  then  control  it. 

12Stanwood,  History  of  the  Presidency,  336. 

13Pantagraph,  Apr.  10,  13,  17,  19,  27,  30,  and  later  issues. 

14"It  is  obvious  that  the  Davis  crowd  is  the  calmest,  the  most  confi- 
dent, and  the  best  organized  and  disciplined.  They  pitched  their  tents 


367]  LATER  POLITICAL  ACTIVITIES  103 

standing — in  which  it  is  natural  to  suspect  the  old  combination 
of  Lewis  and  Fell — that  Davis  should  have  first  place,  and  Gov- 
ernor Curtin  of  Pennsylvania  second;  an  arrangement  which 
Curtin's  own  ambition  to  head  the  ticket  brought  to  naught. 
Adams,  by  far  the  most  able  and  best  prepared  of  all  possible 
candidates,  was  unpopular  in  the  "West  because  of  the  very  quali- 
ties which  made  his  strength — his  distinguished  ancestry,  his 
long  and  successful  diplomatic  service,  his  thoro  education 
and  statesmanlike  qualities.  His  opponents  reviled  him  as  an 
* '  aristocrat ; "  to  which  his  friends  answered  by  inquiring  with 
asperity  if  it  were  in  the  Constitution  that  the  president  had  to 
•come  from  Illinois? 

The  "hordes"  from  that  state  had  but  a  fictitious  strength, 
for  they  were  divided  into  three  factions,  supporting  Palmer, 
Trumbull  and  Davis  respectively.  On  the  twenty-ninth  of  April 
there  was  waged  an  all-day  fight  among  the  Illinois  leaders,  who 
could  arrive  at  no  kind  of  agreement.  Swett  and  Fell  found 
themselves  pitted  against  White  and  Bryant,  the  capable  Trum- 
Imll  managers.  On  the  thirtieth — Tuesday— the  leaders  decided 
to  divide  the  Illinois  vote  among  the  three  candidates.  They 
called  a  meeting  at  three  o'clock  in  Greenwood  Hall.  Dr.  Jayne 
of  Springfield,  a  •  Trumbull  supporter,  issued  the  call.  Fell  pre- 
sided, and  the  secretary  was  a  Palmer  man.  About  a  thousand 

the  earliest,  and  have  worked  up  in  detail  all  the  strong  points  of  their 
candidate  and  all  the  weak  points  of  his  rivals. 

"It  is  claimed  that  Davis  is  the  only  man  in  the  crowd  who  is  per- 
sonally popular.  Adams  is  aristocratic,  Brown  belongs  to  the  'hurrah' 
school,  but  has  few  warm  friends ;  Trumbull  is  cold  as  a  fish ;  Cox  is 
phlegmatic  and  Greeley  is  pudgy  and  eccentric.  'But  Davis,'  says  Jesse 
Fell,  'is  a  man  who  is  beloved  by  those  who  know  him.  I  have  known 
him  personally  and  intimately  for  thirty  years,  as  I  knew  Lincoln,  and 
Tie  is  just  such  an  honest,  faithful,  straightforward,  incorruptible  man; 
and  he  possesses  the  same  personal  magnetism.  He  would  give  us  the 
same  enthusiastic  campaign  and  the  same  overwhelming  victory.  All 
of  those  who  were  old  Abe's  associates  before  1860  are  now  asking 
Davis'  nomination.  He  now  lives  in  Central  Illinois,  and  has  made  two 
million  dollars  in  fair  dealing,  and  he  hasn't  an  enemy  in  all  that  region, 
nor  in  the  world.  The  last  two  times  he  was  elected  Judge  without  a 
single  dissenting  vote  from  either  party.  [']  This  is  the  way  his  friends 
talk;  and  Fell  is  one  of  the  sincerest  of  men,  and  his  moderation  gives 
weight  to  his  words.  Davis  seems  ahead  at  this  hour.  Curtin  is  to  get 
the  second  place,  in  consideration  of  giving  Pennsylvania's  vote  to  Davis 
ior  the  first." — Chicago  Post  of  Apr.  28,  quoted  in  Pantograph. 


104  JESSE   W.   PELL  [368 

Illinoisans  attended  the  meeting,  and  came  to  an  agreement  con- 
cerning the  division  of  the  votes.15  There  was  a  street  procession 
for  Davis  after  the  meeting,  and  great  enthusiasm.  In  the  even- 
ing an  adjourned  meeting  was  addressed  by  Judge  Wentworth 
and  John  Hickman,  the  latter  from  Pennsylvania. 

In  spite  of  all  these  well-laid  plans  Davis  was  foredoomed 
to  failure,  the  leaders  in  the  party  being  uncertain  both  of  his 
ability  to  attract  the  popular  vote  and  of  his  interest  in  the  par- 
ticular reforms  they  advocated.16  Starting  with  a  vote  of  ninety- 
two  and  a  half,  he  lost  steadily,  retaining  only  six  in  the  final 
ballot.  His  supporters  were  scarcely  less  disappointed  than  was 
Schurz  at  the  failure  to  nominate  Adams  or  Trumbull,  both  men 
far  more  likely  to  carry  the  Liberal  banner  to  victory.  The 
"Gratz  Brown  trick"  by  which  Greeley  won  the  nomination  in 
spite  of  his  eccentricities,  his  extreme  views,  and  the  lack  of  con- 
fidence of  his  colleagues,  seemed  to  stun  the  party  leaders  every- 
where. 

Governor  Palmer  was  among  the  first  to  recover  from  the 
shock  and  to  shape  a  definite  program.  Assuming  that  despite 
personal  disappointment  the  Davis  supporters  would  rally  to  the 
ticket,  he  wrote  to  Fell  asking  for  a  survey  of  the  field  in  his- 
county  and  estimates  of  Liberal  strength,  and  asking  his  support 
for  Greeley.17  Palmer  was  personally  much  attached  to  Greeley, 
who  had  befriended  him  in  the  Tribune  the  winter  before,  and 
was  therefore  the  more  willing  to  urge  the  disgruntled  into  self- 
forgetting  efforts  for  the  cause.  A  state  convention  was  to  be  ar- 
ranged for,  and  -strong  efforts  would  be  necessary  to  popularize 
the  erratic  editor  of  the  Tribune,  against  whom  the  Middle  West 
still  remembered  his  harsh  criticisms  of  Lincoln.  With  Adlai 
Stevenson,  leader  of  the  Democrats,  Fell  arranged  a  mass-meet- 
ing to  ratify  the  nomination.  This  was  held  on  May  12.  Fell 

"Twenty-one  were  to  go  to  Davis,  eleven  to  Trumbull,  and  ten  to* 
Palmer.  Cincinnati  Commercial,  May  I ;  Chicago  Times,  May  I ;  Panto- 
graph, May  2. 

16Horace  White  attributes  the  failure  of  Davis  to  "the  editorial  fra- 
ternity, who,  at  a  dinner  at  Murat  Halstead's  house,  resolved  that  they 
would  not  support  him  if  nominated,  and  caused  that  fact  to  be  made 
known."  Lyman  Trumbull,  380-381.  A  letter  from  one  of  the  McLean 
County  delegates  to  the  Pantograph  of  May  3  says  that  "It  is  believed, 
and  is  doubtless  true,  that  Belmont's  visit  here  resulted  in  buying  every 
Cincinnati  paper  as  well  as  those  of  Louisville,  to  oppose  Davis  at  all! 
hazards."  This  letter  is  dated  1 :3O  p.  m.,  Thursday. 

"Palmer  to  Fell,  May  8,  1872. 


369]  LATER   POLITICAL   ACTIVITIES  105 

presented  the  ratification  resolutions  with  a  speech,  which  was 
followed  by  speeches  by  Adlai  Stevenson,  General  Gridley,  Major 
Sterlein  (speaking  for  the  Germans),  Dr.  Rogers,  and  others. 
A  letter  from  Governor  Palmer  was  read.  By  the  end  of  the 
meeting,  it  is  fair  to  assume  that  the  leaders  themselves  were  al- 
most persuaded  that  they  wanted  Horace  Greeley  to  be 
president.18 

Horace  White  of  the  Chicago  Tribune,  stanch  Trumbull  man 
that  he  was,  entered  heartily  into  the  Greeley  campaign  through 
loyalty  to  a  cause  which  he  did  not  feel  justified  in  abandoning  be- 
cause of  poor  leadership.  He  wrote  to  Fell  in  late  May  to  tell 
him  that  it  had  been  agreed  at  the  state  convention  (which  Fell 
did  not  attend)  that  the  Illinois  member  of  the  national  executive 
committee  was  to  be  Jesse  Fell.  This  appointment  was  declined, 
Mr.  Fell  doubtless  feeling  that  he  could  not  effectively  serve  a 
man  of  whose  fitness  for  the  presidency  he  was  not  sure.19 

Nevertheless  his  personal  relations  with  Greeley  during  the 
summer  and  autumn  of  1872  continued  to  be  friendly,  and  while 
in  New  York  late  in  November,  he  was  granted  one  of  the  last 
interviews  which  that  sadly  disappointed  and  broken  man  could 
have  given  to  any  of  his  friends.20  Fell  himself  gradually  with- 
drew from  active  participation  in  politics  after  the  Cincinnati 
meeting,  feeling  that  the  day  of  his  service  in  that  field  was  past. 

**Panta,graph,  May  7,  1872,  for  Fell's  declaration  in  favor  of  Greeley ; 
May  9,  call  for  a  ratification  meeting;  May  13,  account  of  the  meeting. 

"White  to  Fell,  May  28,  1872. 

20Greeley  to  Fell,  Nov.  23,  1872.  The  note,  in  Greeley's  altogether 
inimitable  scrawl,  is  very  characteristic : 

Dear  Sir : 

Call  at  the  Tribune  office  at  4  P.  M.   (Sunday,)   second  floor 
on  the  south  side.    Knock  and  it  shall  be  opened. 

Yours, 

Horace  Greeley. 
Mr.  Fell,  of  Illinois,  Astor  House,  city. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  TREE-PLANTER 

It  was  J.  A.  Sewall  who,  when  the  etherialized  earthiness  of 
Elizabeth  Stuart  Phelps'  Gates  Ajar  had  set  every-one  to  discuss- 
ing his  idea  of  heaven,  replied  to  a  young  woman  who  had  asked 
him  if  he  thought  there  were  trees  in  heaven:  "I  really  don't 
know,  but  if  Jesse  Fell  gets  there  and  finds  none,  he  will  hunt 
around  and  find  some  somewhere  and  plant  them."1 

The  remark  shows  the  extent  to  which  Mr.  Fell  and  tree- 
planting  were  associated  in  the  minds  of  those  who  knew  him.  It 
was  his  great  passion,  perhaps  more  than  anything  else  his  life- 
work,  to  set  trees  in  the  bare  prairie  and  watch  them  make  of 
it  a  garden.  From  his  first  months  in  the  new  land,  when  the 
bleakness  of  its  prairie  struck  his  eyes  with  especial  force,  used  as 
they  were  to  the  rolling  wooded  stretches  of  Pennsylvania  and 
Ohio,  he  looked  forward  to  the  planting  of  trees.  That  there 
were  no  trees  except  along  the  streams  was,  to  him,  the  one  dis- 
advantage of  the  prairie.2  Therefore  he  planted  trees  in  the 
towns  in  which  he  owned  land.  He  lined  the  streets  of  Lexing- 
ton, Clinton,  Pontiac,  and  other  places  with  rows  of  maples  and 
elms.  Wherever  he  held  a  block  of  lots,  there  clumps  or  rows  of 
trees  marked  the  land  that  Fell  owned. 

But  at  no  other  place  did  Mr.  Fell  plant  trees  with  quite  the 
loving  enthusiasm  which  he  gave  to  that  work  in  Bloomington 
and  Normal.  In  the  summer  of  1856,  when  visiting  in  West 
Philadelphia  and  Germantown,  he  was  especially  impressed  with 
the  beauty  of  the  streets  there.  Germantown  was  shaded  by 
stately  old  trees,  but  West  Philadelphia  was  a  new  town,  al- 
ready beautified  by  careful  and  extensive  planting.  Vowing  that 
he  would  make  his  own  town  in  Illinois  as  lovely  as  West  Phil- 

1J.  A.  Sewall  to  Fannie  Fell,  March  15,  1909. 

2Fell  to  his  parents,  Nov.  17,  1833.  The  settlements  were  built  in  the 
edges  of  the  groves,  he  says,  in  some  places  extending  two  miles  into 
the  plain.  "As  the  settlements  move  out  into  the  prairie,  people  will  turn 
their  attention  to  the  cultivation  of  the  forest  trees.  This  in  some  neigh- 
borhoods has  already  been  done."  A.  W.  Kellogg  in  Pontiac  Sentinel, 
Aug.  29,  1889. 

106 


371]  THE   TREE-PLANTER  107 

adelphia,  Fell  planned  a  comprehensive  planting  campaign, 
which  he  began  to  put  into  effect  the  next  year.8 

His  first  move  was  to  secure  a  special  act  from  the  legisla- 
ture to  permit  the  fencing  of  young  trees  planted  hi  open 
streets,  for  their  temporary  protection.4  His  desire  was  to  plant 
double  rows  along  all  the  streets,  with  something  like  the  spa- 
cious prodigality  of  Hadley,  Massachusetts.  But  North  Bloom- 
ington  streets  were  not  surveyed  upon  so  generous  a  scale,  and 
so  only  a  few  streets  could  have  double  rows.  Even  so,  twelve 
thousand  trees  were  set  out  in  Normal  before  a  single  house  was 
erected.5  The  stimulus  and  example  so  given,  together  with  the 
ease  of  acquisition  afforded  by  the  nurseries,  made  planting  a 
fashion.  People  vied  with  each  other  in  making  their  private 
grounds  beautiful.  They  quoted  Mr.  Fell's  version  of  an  old 
couplet — 

"He  who  plants  a  tree  (and  cares  for  it) 
Does  something  for  posterity," 

and  acted  upon  its  suggestion.  Bloomington  had  already  be- 
come known  as  the  ' '  Evergreen  City, ' '  and  Normal  came  to  share 
in  the  name.  But  evergreens  do  not  attain  a  permanent  growth 
in  prairie  soil,  and  of  late  years  the  greater  part  of  the  conifers 
so  enthusiastically  planted  by  that  generation,  have  given  way 
to  the  more  adaptable  maples  and  elms.6 

Many  of  the  trees  planted  were  from  Mr.  Fell's  own  nurser- 
ies. Unsold  lots  were  utilized  as  branch  nurseries,  and  the  noble 
Fell  Park,  with  its  groves,  lawns,  drives  and  gardens,  set  an  ex- 
ample of  beauty  and  gave  Normal  a  place  of  recreation.  Mr. 
Fell  personally  supervised  all  planting,  and  it  is  due  to  his  great 
and  loving  care  that  of  the  trees  suited  to  Illinois  conditions, 
scarcely  one  has  died  in  the  half  century  since  their  planting. 
The  original  twelve  thousand  trees  were  increased  to  thirty-five 
thousand  before  many  years.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  long  before 
the  transplanting  of  large  trees  became  a  common  feat,  Fell  in- 
vented a  variety  of  huge  cart  which  could  be  used  for  this  pur- 

3Lewis,  who  tells  this  anecdote  of  Mr.  Fell  (Life,  54),  was  with  him 
during  the  drive  through  West  Philadelphia  when  this  resolution  took 
form. 

*Laws  of  Illinois,  1857,  I,  509.    Approved  Feb.  13,  1857. 

5  Pantograph,  May  27,  1857;  July  26,  1865.  Raymond  Buchan  in 
Pantograph,  Mar.  16,  1898. 

6Henry  Shaw,  "Evergreens,"  in  Pantograph,  July  19,  1854. 


108  JESSE   W.    PELL  [372 

pose,  and  full-grown  trees  were  transplanted  in  Normal  to  beau- 
tify the  homes  of  those  who  wanted  results  quickly.7 

From  the  first,  Mr.  Fell  assumed  the  responsibility  of  look- 
ing after  the  grounds  of  the  Normal  School.  He  wanted  to  have 
planted  upon  its  campus  every  tree  that  would  flourish  in  Central 
Illinois,  that  the  studies  of  botany  and  forestry  might  be  pur- 
sued there  to  advantage.  He  insisted,  at  a  time  when  expert  ad- 
vice upon  aesthetic  matters  was  not  highly  valued,  that  the 
grounds  should  be  planned  by  a  professional  landscape  gar- 
dener, and  secured  the  services  of  William  Saunders  of  Phila- 
delphia, who  had  planned  his  own  grounds  at  Fell  Park,  for  this 
purpose.8 

The  rather  elaborate  plans  of  Saunders  were  not  carried  out 
by  the  board  of  education  during  the  first  hard  years,  when  the 
school  was  struggling  for  life.  Year  after  year  passed  indeed, 
and  the  campus  remained  almost  as  bare  as  in  the  beginning. 
Finally,  to  secure  the  realization  of  his  hopes  and  plans,  Mr. 
Fell  became  a  member  of  the  board  of  education  in  1866,  contin- 
uing until  1872.  He  secured,  with  the  cooperation  of  interested 
friends,  the  passage  of  a  law  which  went  into  effect  February  28, 
1867,  relative  to  the  planting  of  the  campus.9  This  act  included 
an  appropriation  of  three  thousand  dollars,  and  with  the  pros- 
pect of  this  cash  assistance  he  set  to  work.  The  entire  campus 
was  subsoiled  and  plowed  during  the  spring  and  summer  of 
1867.  Before  his  official  work  had  begun,  Mr.  Fell  had  planted 
some  trees  upon  the  grounds ;  in  1868  he  set  out  1740,  and  107 
more  the  next  year.  Saunders'  plan  was  followed  as  closely 
as  circumstances  permitted.  In  1870,  patches  of  oats  and  pota- 
toes yielded  a  small  income  for  use  in  defraying  the  expense  of 
this  planting.  Even  with  this  help,  the  appropriation  was  in- 
sufficient, and  the  work  had  to  be  completed  at  Fell's  own  ex- 
pense. Having  finished  as  nearly  as  was  then  possible  the  work 
which  he  regarded  as  peculiarly  his  own,  he  resigned  from  the 
hoard. 

7Lewis,  Life,  55.  Raymond  Buchan,  of  Osman,  Illinois,  set  out  most 
of  the  trees  under  Fell's  direction.  "He  was  the  best  man  I  ever  knew," 
said  Buchan  of  him.  Pantograph,  May  27,  1857.  John  Dodge,  "Concern- 
ing Jesse  W.  Fell,"  in  Fell  Memorial. 

8Saunders  to  Fell,  Oct.  15  and  29,  1858.  Saunders  advised  that  a 
nursery  be  started  upon  the  grounds,  a  plan  which  was  carried  out  in  a 
small  way.  The  planting  plans  (for  which  Saunders  charged  $65)  are 
among  the  Fell  papers. 

^Public  Laws  of  Illinois,  1867,  21. 


373]  THE   TREE-PLANTER  109 

In  1885  he  became  interested  in  the  efforts  of  Dr.  Stennett 
of  the  Northwestern  Railroad  to  induce  railroad  companies  to 
plant  trees  for  ties.  The  more  scientific  control  of  the  supply  of 
wood  for  railroads  had  been,  years  before,  a  hobby  of  his  own.10 
Mr.  M.  G.  Kerr  of  St.  Louis,  also  interested  in  the  project,  asked 
him  to  write  for  the  forthcoming  report  of  the  bureau  of  forestry, 
which  Kerr  hoped  to  make  of  commercial  value.  So  far  as  known, 
this  article  was  never  written,  probably  on  account  of  the  condi- 
tion of  Mr.  Fell's  health.11 

His  interest  in  trees  led  to  his  friendship  with  Henry  Shaw 
of  St.  Louis.  For  Jesse  Fell  alone,  it  was  said,  would  this  rigid 
Presbyterian  Puritan  open  his  famous  garden  on  the  Sabbath. 
Then  the  two  men  would  walk  around  together,  admiring  new 
or  particularly  fine  specimens,  and  discussing  varieties  and  cul- 
ture. Sometimes  Mr.  Fell  took  his  son  Henry  with  him  on  these 
week-end  trips  to  St.  Louis.12 

Mr.  Fell's  last  extensive  venture  in  real  estate  was  so  essen- 
tially a  tree-planting  enterprise  that  it  may  best  be  related  here. 
In  1869  a  number  of  Bloomington  men  became  interested  in  Iowa 
lands.  As  the  representative  of  this  group  of  men,  Mr.  Fell  went 
to  Iowa  that  summer,  and  selected  a  tract  of  about  forty  sections 
— more  than  twenty-five  thousand  acres — in  Lyon  County  in  the 
northwestern  corner  of  the  state.  Even  in  its  unimproved  state 
this  section  of  the  country  was  exceedingly  attractive.  "In  thir- 
ty-two of  the  thirty-seven  states  comprising  our  union, ' '  said  Mr. 
Fell  in  describing  it,  "I  have  never  beheld  so  large  a  body  of 
surpassingly  beautiful  prairie  as  is  here  to  be  found.  There  is 
absolutely  no  waste  land,  and  scarce  a  quarter-section  not  af- 
fording an  admirable  building-site." 

The  plan  of  the  proprietors  was  to  survey  a  town  in  the  cen- 
ter of  their  holdings,  and  to  start  the  work  of  improvement  on 
each  farm  by  breaking  a  few  acres  of  land,  and  by  planting  trees 
and  willow  hedge.13  The  town  was  named  Larchwood,  and  the 

10O.  H.  Lee  to  Fell,  July  4,  1853. 

11M.  G.  Kerr  to  Fell,  Sept.  22,  1885.  The  letter  is  accompanied  by 
"A  Circular  addressed  to  presidents  of  Railways,  with  the  request  that 
you  may  express  to  me  your  views  and  experience  on  the  uphill  road 
of  interesting  Railroad  men  in  matters  of  Forest  Culture,"  a  set  of 
"Inquiries  addressed  to  Railway  Managers,"  and  a  circular  from  the 
Department  of  Agriculture. 

12Henry  Fell,  interview,  May  31,  1913. 

13Lewis,  Life,  104.  The  original  company  included,  besides  Mr.  Fell, 
Charles  W.  Holder,  John  Magoun,  R.  E.  Williams,  A.  Burr,  E.  H.  Rood, 


110  JESSE   W.   PELL,  [374 

settlement  came  to  be  known  as  the  Larchwood  Colony.  For 
many  years  Mr.  Fell  devoted  much  time  each  spring  and  fall  to 
personal  supervision  of  the  improvements  there.  As  in  Normal  and 
other  places  in  Illinois,  he  did  not  trust  the  work  to  employees, 
but  superintended  the  setting  of  the  trees  himself,  sometimes 
helping  with  the  actual  labor.  The  improvements  accomplished 
were  unusual.  In  May,  1873,  Fell  set  out  a  hundred  thousand 
trees  and  cuttings,  distributed  through  eight  sections  of  land.  At 
that  time  a  hundred  fifty  thousand  trees  had  already  been  set 
out,  and  a  tract  of  forty  acres  in  the  center  of  a  number  of  sec- 
tions insured  a  "start"  of  ten  acres  of  broken  ground  to  every 
immigrant  who  bought  a  quarter-section.  Larchwood  farms  at 
that  time  were  selling  at  from  four  to  six  dollars  the  acre.14 

The  history  of  Larchwood  serves  to  illustrate  one  of  Jesse 
Fell's  notable  characteristics.  General  Gridley,  who  knew  him 
well,  was  wont  to  say  of  him  that  he  was  never  mistaken  in  his 
estimate  of  the  ultimate  value  of  a  piece  of  land,  but  that  his 
eager  nature  greatly  discounted  the  length  of  time  which  would 
elapse  before  that  value  was  realized.  Imaginative  and  enthusi- 
astic, full  of  faith  in  the  development  of  the  West,  he  calculated 
upon  an  increase  in  value  far  more  rapid  than  the  actual  rate 
of  settlement  justified.  What  he  thought  would  be  an  accom- 
plished fact  in  ten  years,  the  slow  moving  forces  of  development 
realized,  perhaps,  after  thirty  or  forty.  Larchwood,  with  its  un- 
usual advantages,  did  not  grow  as  its  promoters  hoped  it  would,, 
and  about  1880  the  Illinois  owners  decided  to  sell  what  was  left 
of  the  tract.15  An  Englishman,  Richard  Sykes,  who  dealt  exten- 

Richard  Edwards,  Milner  Brown,  and  Daniel  Brown.  The  willow  hedge 
was  planted  because  it  would  grow  quickly,  and  later  furnish  fuel.  Fell, 
To  Hon.  George  D.  Perkins,  Commissioner  of  Immigration  for  the  State 
of  Iowa,  June  27,  1880.  (A  printed  letter.) 

14An  account  of  a  settler  appeared  in  the  Pantograph,  Apr.  12,  1872. 
One  by  a  settler  in  a  neighboring  vicinity,  ibid.,  Apr.  25,  1872. 

1BAt  that  time,  there  were  about  fifty  miles  of  willow  hedge  outlining 
the  farms,  and  many  of  the  trees  were  from  twenty  to  thirty  feet  high. 
White  willow,  box  elder,  white  maple,  white  ash,  cottonwood,  basswood,, 
black  walnut,  honey  locust,  chestnut,  European  and  American  larch,  white 
and  Scotch  pines,  osage  orange,  arbor  vitae,  Norway  and  native  spruces, 
were  among  the  trees  and  shrubs  then  growing.  The  catalpa  speciosa> 
Mr.  Fell's  favorite  protege,  was  a  feature  of  the  village  planting.  See 
Dr.  John  A.  Warder,  American  Journal  of  Forestry  for  Oct.,  1882.  (Also 
reprinted  as  a  circular.) 

Captain  Henry  Augustine,  long  a  prominent  nurseryman  of  Normal* 


375]  THE   TREE-PLANTER  111 

sively  in  American  lands,  purchased  the  Larchwood  farms,  and 
came  to  America  with  his  brother  and  a  party  of  friends  in  April, 
1882,  to  see  the  estate  that  he  had  acquired.16  He  had  previously 
brought  out  a  pamphlet  con'cerning  Larchwood,  and  after  in- 
specting the  farms  took  up  the  work  of  further  development  with 
enthusiasm.  He  sent  George  E.  Brown,  an  experienced  forester 
from  Scotland,  to  take  charge  of  the  groves,  and  sent  saplings 
for  planting.  Delighted  to  find  a  successor  so  in  sympathy  with 
his  ideas,  Fell  long  kept  up  friendly  relations  with  Mr.  Sybes 
and  various  Larchwood  residents.17 

has  told  of  his  first  meeting  with  Mr.  Fell  and  of  his  championing  of 
the  Speciosa.  A  shy,  awkward  German  boy,  seeking  his  fortune  in  the 
new  country,  Mr.  Fell  called  him  in  from  the  road  one  day,  and  had  a 
long  talk  with  him  in  his  office.  Finding  that  he  loved  trees,  Mr.  Fell 
explained  to  him  the  difference  between  the  worthless  and  harmful  varie- 
ties of  the  catalpa,  and  the  useful  Speciosa.  He  showed  him  the  slight 
difference  in  the  seed  which  is  the  only  distinguishing  mark  in  appear- 
ance. Mr.  Augustine  in  later  years  himself  became  an  extensive  grower 
and  dealer  in  the  Speciosa.  Henry  Augustine,  interviews.  Fell  in  the 
Pantograph,  Dec.  30,  1882. 

16The  sale  took  place  in  1881.  Sykes  to  Fell,  Nov.  26,  1881 ;  March 
10,  19,  1882;  March  10,  1884;  Aug.  4,  1886.  Close  Brothers  to  Fell,  Jan. 
26,  1882.  Newspaper  clipping  of  Jan.  19,  1881,  in  Scrap  Book. 

17As  late  as  1886,  Fell  was  still  corresponding  concerning  titles  to 
Larchwood  property.  Sykes  to  Fell,  Aug.  4,  1886. 


CHAPTER  XII 
THE  LAST  YEAES 

His  unsuccessful  efforts  for  David  Davis  were,  as  has  been 
said,  Fell 's  last  important  active  participation  in  politics.  After 
that,  altho  still  interested  in  the  issues  of  the  day,  he  did 
no  campaigning,  save  for  some  local  projects  in  which  he  was  in- 
terested. He  continued  to  correspond  with  men  who  were  in  the 
field,  and  occasionally,  upon  request,  expressed  his  opinions  in 
the  press.1  Logan,  engaged  in  1874  with  the  formulation  and 
passage  of  the  Resumption  Act,  wrote  to  him  upon  finance; 
Wentworth  and  Murray  discussed  the  election  of  1876  with  him.* 
As  the  faithful  friend  of  Judge  Davis,  he  seems  to  have  arranged 
for  his  election  to  the  Senate  in  1877.  He  induced  Palmer,  the 
incumbent  at  that  time,  to  withdraw  from  the  race,  and  to  throw 
the  weight  of  his  influence  to  the  side  of  Davis.  Logan  was  de- 
feated, and  Cullom  became  governor  of  Illinois.3  Any  injustice 
still  called  forth  a  spirited  defense  of  the  person  wronged,  as  in 
the  case  of  S.  W.  Moulton,  who  was  accused  by  political  enemies 
of  having  had  secession  sympathies ;  and  in  the  campaign  against 
severe  corporal  punishment  at  the  Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home, 
waged  in  1877.4  With  his  brother  Kersey,  he  induced  William 

1Note,  for  example,  the  undated  newspaper  clipping,  quoting  a  letter 
of  Fell's  dated  Sept.  20,  1880,  at  Larchwood,  giving  reasons  for  support- 
ing Garfield. 

2Logan  to  Fell,  Feb.  16,  1874;  Jan.  n,  1875.  Wentworth  to  Fell, 
July  3,  1876.  Bronson  Murray  to  Fell,  Dec.  18,  1876. 

3Fell  to  Palmer,  Jan.  15,  1877.  Endorsement  by  Fell.  Later,  Fell 
was  active  in  a  movement  for  erecting  a  bust  to  Judge  Davis.  H.  C. 
Whitney  to  Fell,  Jan.  23,  1887. 

*Moulton  to  Fell,  Jan.  9,  1884.  Davis  to  Fell,  Feb.  4,  1882;  Jan.  22, 
1885.  Oglesby  to  Fell,  Mar.  17,  1884;  Sept.  18,  1886.  J.  B.  Foraker  to 
Fell,  Jan.  26,  1887.  This  last  letter  is  in  reference  to  an  abortive  attempt 
to  secure  the  nomination  of  Robert  T.  Lincoln  for  president  in  1888. 
Pantagraph,  Jan.  4,  1884.  Fell,  "Oglesby  and  Logan,"  in  Chicago  Tribune, 
Jan.  13,  1879.  Bloomington  Leader,  July  23,  1877. 

112 


377]  THE  LAST  YEARS  113 

A.  Allin  and  David  Davis  to  give  Franklin  Park  to  the  city  of 
Bloomington.5 

Business  was  not  by  any  means  given  up.  Altho  he  had 
always  made  money  easily,  he  had  lost  as  well,  and  had  given 
much  away.  He  was  no  hoarder;  money  in  itself  was  nothing 
to  him.8  Withdrawing  from  the  larger  enterprises  of  his  prime, 
in  his  old  age  Mr.  Fell  bent  his  energies  toward  securing 
property  which  might  be  depended  upon  to  yield  an  income  to 
his  family  after  his  death.  Some  land  he  owned  in  the  out- 
skirts of  Normal  was  planted  to  strawberries  and  larger  fruit, 
and  from  this  he  derived  an  incalculable  amount  of  pleasure  and 
a  satisfactory  return  in  money.  Fell  Park  was  sold  to  a  syndi- 
cate, which  after  his  death  divided  it  up  into  city  lots.  Its  great 
beauty  became  but  a  memory  to  the  people  of  Normal,  altho 
some  of  the  fine  trees  still  shade  that  part  of  the  town.7 

He  kept  in  close  touch  with  friends,  among  whom  Jonathan 
Turner,  Richard  Edwards,  Lawrence  "Weldon,  John  H.  Bryant, 
and  Charles  G.  Ames  were  perhaps  nearest  to  him.8  His  grand- 
children, who  lived  very  close  to  his  home,  were  a  source  of 
great  pleasure  to  him,  and  he  took  the  keenest  interest  in  their 
education.  When  not  in  school,  these  children  were  usually  at 
their  grandfather's,  "keeping  store"  in  the  playhouse  he  had 
built  years  before  for  his  own  children,  or  listening  to  him  as 
he  sang  to  them  or  told  them  stories,  working  as  he  did  so 
among  his  trees  and  shrubs.  They  took  long  drives  with  him 
into  the  country,  and  planned  with  him  wonderful  things  to  do 
in  the  future ;  for  when  he  was  an  old  man,  Jesse  Fell  retained 
that  fresh  and  buoyant  forward-looking  which  had  made  him 
strong  to  accomplish  in  his  youth,  and  passed  it  on  to  those  who 
had  their  lives  still  before  them.  And  with  these  family  ties  he 
kept  up,  later  than  any  secular  activity,  his  church  work  and 
church  attendance.  A  new  movement  to  which  he  gave  some 

5Franklin  Price  in  Pantograph,  May  10,  1900,  and  Normal  Advocate, 
Apr.  21,  1894. 

6He  told  Eberhart  once  that  he  liked  to  make  it,  and  enjoyed  spending 
it  for  the  benefit  of  other  people,  many  of  whom  didn't  know  how  to 
take  care  of  themselves.  The  remark  shows  his  somewhat  paternal 
attitude  toward  society,  and  explains  many  of  his  projects. 

7Pantagraph,  Mar.  18,  25,  1888.  Thomas  Slade  in  Bloomington  Leader, 
Mar.  2,  1877.  Bloomington  Eye,  Mar.  25,  1888. 

8Turner  to  Fell,  Jan.  i,  1879.  Bryant  to  Fell,  Feb.  25,  1885.  Ames  to 
Fell,  Mar.  20,  1883. 


114  JESSE  W.   FELL  [378 

time  and  attention  and  his  unqualified  assent,  was  that  of  woman 
suffrage,  then  in  the  days  of  its  greatest  struggle  for  a  hearing. 
When  Susan  B.  Anthony  debated  with  President  Hewitt  of  the 
normal  school,  it  was  he  who  introduced  the  pioneer  suffrage 
advocate,  and  in  his  home  she  was  entertained.9 

Some  time  was  spent  in  travel.  In  1872  he  made  his  first 
trip  to  the  Pacific  coast.10  In  1873  he  paid  a  visit  to  his  old  home 
in  Pennsylvania,  and  treasured  until  his  death  the  memory  of 
drinking  water  again  at  the  spring  in  the  milk-house,  sitting  by 
the  fire-side,  and  having  tea  with  the  hospitable  people  who  had 
bought  his  father's  old  farm.  He  spent  the  night  with  B.  Henry 
Carter,  as  he  had  the  last  night  before  starting  for  the  "West 
in  1828.  In  later  years  he  took,  with  various  members  of  his 
family,  trips  through  the  farther  West,  which  seemed  to  him  a 
wonderful  new  world.  He  was  planning  a  winter  in  California 
when  overtaken  by  his  last  illness.11 

In  ripening  years  a  keen  sense  of  humor,  which  during  his 
more  strenuous  days  was  either  subordinated  to  more  important 
things,  or  forgotten  by  others  in  the  memory  of  accomplishment, 
found  frequent  expression.  It  crept  into  conversation,  bright- 
ened letters,  even  led  to  gentle  Quaker  jokes.  These  he  could 
take  as  well  as  give,  as  two  newspaper  notices,  quoted  by  Mr. 
Lewis,  prove.12  The  first  appeared  on  January  28,  1874,  and 
read — "J.  W.  Fell  mourns  the  loss  of  an  umbrella,  left  in  the 
court  room  yesterday.  He  would  be  pleased  if  the  finder  would 
leave  it  at  the  Pantagraph  office."  The  sequel  came  the  next 
day:  "J.  W.  Fell  desires  to  return  thanks  for  the  generous 
supply  of  umbrellas  left  for  him  at  the  Pantagraph  office  yester- 
day in  answer  to  his  advertisement  of  one  lost.  Altho  most  of 
these  offerings  are  better  adapted  to  dry  weather  than  wet,  Mr. 
Fell  is  not  disposed  to  look  a  gift  horse  in  the  mouth,  but  accepts 
the  varied  assortment  with  the  feeling  that  it  is  pleasant  to  be 
remembered  in  the  hour  of  one's  distress." 

9Fell  to  Sarah  E.  Raymond  (Mrs.  S.  R.  Fitzwilliam),  Nov.  22,  1886. 
10Leonard  Swett  to  Thomas  A.  Scott,  Sept.  6,  1872. 
"Newspaper  clipping  in  the  Scrap  Book,  Sept.  8,  1884.    Bloomington 
Leader,  Feb.  18,  1887. 
12Lewis,  Life,  104. 


379]  THE  LAST  YEARS  115 

It  was  a  few  years  later  that  a  young  girl  invited  him  to 
a  dance.    The  reply  was  as  follows:13 
Miss  Florence  Richardson: 

The  fair  invites !  and  so,  you  bet, 

Your  invitation  I'll  accept. 

But  I  must  tell  you  in  advance 

My  Quaker  foot  it  will  not  dance. 

A  thousand  times  I  have  lamented 

That  Fox  and  Penn  were  so  demented 

As  to  proscribe  what  all  can  see 

With  half  an  eye,  is  poetry; 

If  not  in  words,  in  what  is  better, — 

In  motion,  life,  spirit,  letter. 

Yes,  if  I  could,  I'd  skip  and  prance 

In  all  the  ecstacy  of  dance; 

For  I  am  young,  and  supple  too, 

I'm  not  quite  three-score  ten  and  two. 

But  what's  the  use?    My  education's 

So  neglected  I'd  scare  the  nation ! 

So  goodbye  dance,  it's  not  for  me, 

As  you  and  all  can  plainly  see. 

But,  what  of  that?    I  shall  propose 

To  play  a  game  of  dominoes ; 

And  if  perchance  you're  so  inclined 

Will  play  a  game  of  mind  with  mind, 

Holding  to  each  other's  view 

The  things  of  life,  both  old  and  new; 

The  ups  and  downs,  the  weals  and  woes 

That  follow  man,  where'er  he  goes. 
Meet  at  the  hotel?    Very  well, 

There  you'll  find  Yours, 

J.  W.  Fell. 

These  instances  will  suffice  to  show  the  quality  of  the  humor 
in  which  he  met  the  days  of  declining  strength.  His  last  years 
were  happy  as  they  were  busy.  "I  was  glad  to  know,"  wrote 
John  H.  Bryant  to  him  in  1885,  "that  you  had  got  beyond  all 
fears  of  the  future,  that  terrible  burden  that  weighs  down  with 
gloom,  misery,  and  wretched  forebodings  so  many  of  our  race, 
and  especially  innocent  children  who  are  reared  under  orthodox 
instruction."1* 

In  the  winter  of  1885-86  he  suffered  a  severe  illness,  begin- 
ning with  an  attack  of  pneumonia  in  December,  from  which  his 

13Jan.  24,  1880.     Newspaper  clipping  in  Scrap  Book,  and  manuscript. 

Normal,  Jan.,  1880. 
"Bryant  to  Fell,  Feb.  25,  1885. 


116  JESSE  W.   PELL  [380 

convalescence  was  very  slow.  At  times  his  family  despaired 
of  his  recovery.  He  did  rally,  however,  and  grew  stronger  dur- 
ing the  summer,  so  that  people  hoped  he  might  be  spared  for 
several  years.  But  when  cold  weather  came  again,  there  was  a 
relapse.  He  became  really  ill  in  January,  but  refused  to  stay 
closely  at  home.  In  February  he  spent  two  days  in  Chicago, 
attending  to  business  for  the  Normal  School  which  urgently 
demanded  attention.  He  returned  to  his  home  in  a  very  serious 
condition,  made  worse  perhaps  by  worry  over  school  affairs, 
then  at  a  most  critical  juncture.  The  family  physician,  in  con- 
sultation with  others,  pronounced  it  a  case  of  anaemia  of  the 
brain.  For  a  week  he  lay  in  a  comatose  sleep.  Bousing  himself 
finally,  he  spoke  to  members  of  the  family,  repeated  Pope's 
"Universal  Prayer",  a  favorite  poem,  and  the  "Now  I  Lay  me" 
which  he  had  said  since  boyhood.  His  death  occurred  on  Feb- 
ruary 25,  1887.15 

The  usual  marks  of  respect  and  regret  at  the  death  of  a 
prominent  and  beloved  citizen  were  paid  him.  Telegrams,  let- 
ters, and  flowers  were  sent  from  far  and  near.  Newspapers 
printed  eulogies  and  reviewed  his  life  and  work.  Town  councils, 
the  Bloomington  Bar  Association,  churches,  schools,  passed  reso- 
lutions of  respect.16  The  funeral,  on  the  twenty-eighth  of  Feb- 
ruary, was  held  in  the  large  assembly  hall  of  the  Normal 
School;  no  church  could  have  held  the  crowds  that  attended. 
The  public  schools  were  closed.  Business  in  Normal  was  sus- 
pended.17 Special  cars  were  run  from  Bloomington  to  Normal, 
to  accommodate  the  people  who  wished  to  pay  the  last  honors 
to  Jesse  Fell.  The  aisles,  corridors,  and  stairs,  and  the  steps  of 
the  building  were  filled  with  silent  mourners  who  could  not  find 
room  in  the  hall.  Eev.  Eichard  Edwards,  his  old  friend  and 
neighbor,  preached  the  funeral  sermon.  Mr.  Fell  had  selected 
him  for  this  duty,  pledging  him  to  the  briefest  possible  account 
of  his  accomplishment,  a  pledge  which  Dr.  Edwards  kept  at  the 
cost  of  some  criticism  from  those  who  did  not  understand  the 
circumstances. 

^Chicago  Tribune,  Feb.  26,  1887.  Pantograph,  Mar.  7,  15,  19,  1887. 
Richard  Edwards  to  Fell,  Feb.  4,  1887. 

16A  lodge  of  Knights  of  Pythias,  shortly  after  organized  in  Bloom- 
ington, was  named  for  him,  altho  he  himself  was  never  a  member 
of  any  such  organization. 

i-1  Bloomington  Leader,  Feb.  26,  1887.  California  (Missouri)  Demo- 
crat, Mar.  3,  1887,  quoting  from  St.  Louis  Republican  of  Feb.  26,  1887. 


381]  THE  LAST  TEAES  117 

The  service  over,  the  procession  formed  for  the  long  drive 
to  the  cemetery  at  Bloomington.  No  tribute  could  have  been 
more  eloquent  than  the  appearance  of  the  funeral  procession. 
The  country  roads  were  as  bad  as  Illinois  country  roads  can  be 
in  spring,  but  carriages,  carts  and  heavy  farm  wagons  had  come 
in  from  all  the  surrounding  country.  Shabby  and  smart  vehicles 
alternated  in  the  line  that  followed  the  hearse;  and  the  proces- 
sion was  so  long  that  when  the  last  mourners  were  leaving  the 
Normal  School,  the  first  ones  had  reached  the  court  house  in 
Bloomington.  The  Bloomington  school  children  joined  those  of 
Normal  at  this  point.18 

There  was  sincere  mourning,  for  in  death  men  pay  eager 
tribute  to  qualities  which  are  accepted  without  appreciation,  or 
quite  ignored,  in  life.  Mr.  Fell  had  not  been  unappreciated  in 
life.  He  had  won  from  men  the  only  thing  he  asked  of  them, 
a  trust  and  goodwill  answering  to  that  he  bore  them.  It  is  doubt- 
ful if  those  among  whom  he  lived  had  any  adequate  idea  of  the 
part  he  had  played  in  public  affairs  for  many  years,  and  few  of 
them  understood  the  magnitude  of  the  work  of  development 
which  he,  and  others  like  him,  accomplished  for  the  Middle  West. 
But  those  personal  qualities  which  distinguished  him  among 
men,  all  men  saw  and  honored.  "  It  is  a  good  thing, ' '  said  Judge 
James  Ewing  of  him,  in  voicing  this  appreciation,  "to  have 
known  one  man  whose  life  was  without  spot  or  blemish ;  against 
whose  honor  no  man  ever  spoke;  who  had  no  skeleton  in  his 
closet;  whose  life  was  open  as  the  day  and  whose  death  comes 
to  a  whole  community  as  a  personal  sorrow."  And  John  W. 
Cook,  who  knew  him  well,  said  of  him  at  the  memorial  service 
held  in  his  own  church  on  the  sixth  of  March  :19 

"In  that  picture  gallery  of  the  soul  that  we  call  memory, 
there  will  always  be  a  gracious  presence.  The  personality  is 
vivid ;  the  outlines  are  sharply  defined ;  the  face  is  full  of  earnest 
purpose ;  every  line  is  suggestive  of  tireless  energy  and  the  rad- 
iance of  hope.  A  simple,  honest,  unostentatious  man;  yet 
wherever  he  has  gone  good  deeds  have  marked  his  footsteps.  As 
if  by  magic,  stately  trees  have  sprung  from  the  path  over  which 

18The  telephone  was  then  just  coming  into  use,  and  the  one  connect- 
ing the  court  house  with  the  Normal  School  was  used  on  this  occasion 
by  Henry  Augustine,  who  had  charge  of  arrangements,  and  who  related 
the  details  given  to  the  writer. 

19James  S.  Ewing  in  the  Fell  Memorial.  Pantograph,  Mar.  7,  1887; 
Mar.  27,  1890;  June  20,  1892. 


118  JESSE  W.   FELL  [382 

he  has  walked.  In  their  gracious  shade  generations  yet  unborn 
shall  mention  his  name  with  gratitude.  Institutions  whose  only 
aim  is  helpfulness  to  man  record  his  generosity  and  public 
spirit." 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

I,  MANUSCRIPTS. 

The  Fell  Manuscripts. — A  collection  of  letters,  memoranda,  drafts, 
and  other  documents,  in  the  possession  of  the  Misses  Alice  and  Fannie 
Fell,  of  Normal,  Illinois.  Unless  otherwise  indicated,  all  references  to- 
manuscripts  are  to  parts  of  this  collection.  Transcripts  in  the  Historical 
Survey,  University  of  Illinois. 

The  Lewis  Life  of  Jesse  W.  Fell. — A  manuscript  biography  by  Ed- 
ward J.  Lewis,  a  friend  of  Mr.  Fell,  written  about  1900.  It  was  prepared 
from  facts  gained  by  long  personal  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Fell,  from 
access  to  sources  in  the  Fell  Manuscripts,  and  from  notes  by  Richard 
Edwards.  In  the  possession  of  the  Misses  Fell.  Referred  to  as  the 
Lewis  Life. 

Notes  by  Richard  Edwards,  in  the  possession  of  his  daughter,  Miss 
Ellen  S.  Edwards,  of  Bloomington,  Illinois.  These  are  contemporary 
notes  of  interviews  with  Mr.  Fell  regarding  events  extending  down  to 
about  1840. 

The  Fell  Memorial. — A  collection  of  sketches  and  appreciations  of 
Mr.  Fell  by  various  personal  friends.  In  the  possession  of  the  Misses 
Fell.  The  page  references  to  the  Memorial  in  this  thesis  refer  to  the 
abridged  transcript  in  the  Illinois  Historical  Survey,  University  of 
Illinois. 

Flagg  Manuscripts. — Transcripts  in  the  Illinois  Historical  Survey, 
University  of  Illinois. 

Photostatic  reproductions  of  letters  from  Fell  to  Trumbull,  from  the 
Trumbull  Papers  in  the  Library  of  Congress,  Washington.  The  repro- 
ductions are  in  the  Illinois  Historical  Survey. 

Transcripts  from  Records  of  the  War  Department  and  Copyright 
Office,  Washington,  in  the  possession  of  the  author. 

Brush,  Elizabeth  P.  The  Political  Career  of  Owen  Lovejoy.  Manu- 
script thesis,  University  of  Illinois,  1912. 

II.  PERIODICALS. 

Files  of  the  Bloomington  Observer  and  McLean  County  Advocate, 
the  Western  Whig,  the  Intelligencer,  the  Pantagraph,  in  the  McLean- 
County  Historical  Society  Collection,  Court  House,  Bloomington. 

The  Illinois  Teacher. 

McClure's  Magazine. 

Clippings  from  newspapers.  A  collection  of  these  in  a  book,  in  the 
possession  of  Miss  Alice  Fell,  of  Normal,  is  referred  to  as  the  Scrap 
Book. 

119 


120  JESSE  W.   PELL.  [384 

III.  DOCUMENTS. 

United  States  Congress,  Statutes  at  Large. 

Illinois,  Session  Laws. 

Illinois  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  Reports. 

IV.  MISCELLANEOUS. 

Arnold,  Isaac  N.     The  Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Chicago,  1891. 

Elaine,  James  G.  Twenty  Years  of  Congress.  Norwich,  Conn. 
1884-6. 

Browne,  Robert  H.  Abraham  Lincoln  and  the  Men  of  His  Time. 
z  vols.  Chicago,  1907. 

Brownson,  Howard  G.  A  History  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad 
to  1870.  Urbana,  1915.  University  of  Illinois  Studies  in  the  Social  Sci- 
ences, IV. 

Cunningham,  Joseph  C.  (editor).  History  of  Champaign  County, 
with  Newton  Bateman  and  Paul  Selby's  Historical  Encyclopedia  of  Illi- 
nois. Chicago,  1905. 

Duis,  E.    Good  Old  Times  in  McLean  County.    Bloomington,  1874. 

Ford,  Thomas.     History  of  Illinois.    Chicago,  1854. 

Herndon,  William  H.,  and  J.  W.  Weik.  Lincoln,  the  true  story  of  a 
great  life.  3  vols.  Chicago,  New  York,  and  San  Francisco,  1889. 

Hill,  Frederick  Trevor.     Lincoln  the  Lawyer.     New  York,  1906. 

History  of  McLean  County,  Illinois.     Chicago,  1879. 

James,  Edmund  Janes.  Origin  of  the  Land  Grant  Act  of  1862. 
University  of  Illinois  Studies,  IV,  No.  7. 

Lamon,  Ward  H.    The  Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln.    Boston,  1872. 

Lapsley,  Arthur  B.  (editor).  The  Writings  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 
New  York,  1905. 

McLean  County  Historical  Transactions.     Bloomington,  1809. 

Moses,  John.  Illinois,  Historical  and  Statistical.  2  vols.  Chicago, 
1892. 

Newton,  Joseph  Fort.  Lincoln  and  Herndon.  Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa, 
1910. 

Nicolay,  John  G.,  and  Hay,  John.  Abraham  Lincoln :  a  History.  10 
vols.  New  York,  1800. 

Oldroyd,  Osborn  H.    Lincoln  Memorial  Album.     Springfield,  1882. 

Peck,  John  Mason.     Gazeteer  of  Illinois.    Jacksonville,  Illinois,  1834. 

Portrait  and  Biographical  Album  of  McLean  County.     Chicago,  1887. 

Prince,  Ezra  M.,  and  John  H.  Burnham.  History  of  McLean  County, 
in  Newton  Bateman  and  Paul  Selby's  Historical  Encyclopedia  of  Illinois. 
Chicago,  1008.  2  vols. 

Scott,  Franklin  W.  Newspapers  and  Periodicals  of  Illinois,  1814- 
1879.  Springfield,  1910.  Illinois  Historical  Collections,  VI. 

Stevenson,  Adlai  E.  Something  of  Men  I  Have  Known.  Chicago, 
1009. 

Tarbell,  Ida  M.  The  Early  Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  New  York, 
1896. 


385]  BIBLIOGRAPHY  121 

Tarbell,  Ida  M.  The  Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  2  vols.  New  York, 
1900. 

Thompson,  Charles  M.  A  Study  of  the  Administration  of  Governor 
Thomas  Ford.  Springfield,  1911.  Illinois  Historical  Collections,  VII. 

Weldon,  Lawrence.  "Reminiscences  of  Lincoln  as  a  Lawyer,"  in 
Abraham  Lincoln,  Tribute  from  his  Associates.  Pp.  237-255.  New  York, 
ca,  1889. 

Whitney,  Henry  C.  Lincoln,  the  President.  2  vols.  New  York, 
1908. 


INDEX 


Abolition  movement,  54,  55,  93. 

Adams,  Charles  Francis,  99. 

Allin,  James,  17,  22,  24,  36. 

Allin,  William  A.,  113. 

Alton  and  Sangamon  R.  R.,  86. 

Ames,  Rev.  Charles  G.,  65,  94,  113. 

Amulet,  13. 

Anderson,  Dr.  John,  22. 

Anthony,  Susan  B.,  114. 

Arny,  W.  F.  M.,  47,  56. 

Barber,  Eliel,  93. 

Batavia  Institute,  42. 

Beecher,  Henry  Ward,  74. 

Bishop,  Jesse,  66. 

Bissell,  Gov.,  41. 

Black  Betty,  50. 

Blackstone,  T.  B.,  89. 

Blakeslee,  Lyman,  33. 

Bloomington,  16,  19,  32,  106. 

Bloomington,  Kankakee  and  Indiana  State  Line  R.  R., 

Bloomington  and  Wabash  Valley  R.  R.,  87. 

Boyd,  Col.  W.  P.,  65. 

Brattan,  Frank,  28. 

Breese,  Sidney,  85. 

Brewster,  E.  W.,  39. 

Briar,  Dr.  David,  65. 

Brown,  Daniel,  HO. 

Brown,  Eliza,  17. 

Brown,  Ellwood,  13. 

Brown,  Hester  Vernon,  26. 

Brown,  Jeremiah,  28. 

Brown,  Joshua,  16,  26. 

Brown,  George  E.,  in. 

Brown,  Milner,  no. 

Brown,  Rachel,  31. 

Brown,  William,  16. 

Brown's,  n. 

Bryant,  John  H.,  34,  70,  103,  113,  115. 

Buck,  Hiram,  44. 

Buckingham,  u. 

Burleigh,  Rec.  C.  C,  94. 

123 


124  JESSE   W.    FELL  [388 

Burr,  A.,  lOQ. 
Byron,  Illinois,  32. 

Cabinet  appointments,  1860-61,  63. 

Cameron,  Simon,  63. 

Campbell,  Alexander,  42,  70. 

Carter,  R.  Henry,  12,  114. 

Caton,  J.  D.,  34. 

Charter  of  Normal,  73. 

Chippewa,  Wisconsin,  23. 

Clay,  Henry,  15,  28. 

Clinton,  Illinois,  20,  24,  32,  106. 

Colerain,  Pennsylvania,  II. 

College  and  Seminary  Fund,  45. 

Cook,  John  W.,  117. 

Covell,  M.  L.,  22,  85. 

Covell,  O.,  22. 

Cullom,  Shelby  M.,  70,  96. 

Cunningham,  J.  O.,  32. 

Daniels,  Mary,  34. 

Banner,  Henry  E.,  79. 

Danville,  Urbana  and  Pekin  R.  R.,  89. 

Davis,  David :  buys  Chicago  land  of  Fell,  22 ;  serves  as  best  man  at 
Fell's  wedding,  26 ;  takes  Fell's  law  practice,  27 ;  a  guest  at  Fell 
Park,  34 ;  a  Lincoln  supporter  in  1860,  61 ;  considered  for  a  cabinet 
position,  64;  urged  by  Fell  for  supreme  bench,  66;  urges  resurvey 
of  Normal  Township,  73 ;  interested  in  retention  of  Chicago  and 
Alton  shops,  89;  decides  to  try  for  presidential  nomination,  1872, 
100;  elected  to  Senate,  1877,  112;  gives  part  of  Franklin  Park  to 
Bloomington,  113. 

Davis,  W.  O.,  34,  38,  68. 

Decatur,  Illinois,  32. 

Delavan,  Illinois,  16. 

Depew,  Elijah,  33. 

Dickey,  T.  L.,  55. 

Digest  of  State  Laws,  etc.,  28. 

Dodge,  John,  35,  74. 

Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  19,  20,  85. 

Downington,  Pennsylvania,  9. 

Dwight,  Illinois,  32. 

Dubois,  Jesse  K.,  97,  99,  101. 

Duncan,  Gov.  Joseph,  20. 

Dunn,  Dr.  McCann,  72. 

Durley,  William,  22. 

Eastern  Illinois  Insane  Asylum,  84, 


389]  INDEX  125 

Eberhart,  John  F.,  42,  46,  76. 
Eclectic  Observer,  12,  38. 
Edwards,  Ninian  W.,  40. 
Edwards,  Richard,  n,  29,  74,  no,  113,  116. 
Ellis,  Rev.  Charles,  71. 
El  Paso,  Illinois,  32. 
Evans,  William,  16. 
"Evergreen  City",  107. 
Ewing,  James,  16,  18,  65,  117. 
Ewing,  William  L.  D.,  85. 

Fell,  Clara,  34. 
Fell,  Eliza,  30,  34,  68. 
Fell,  Hannah,  13. 
Fell,  Henry  C,  27,  30,  47,  70,  109. 
Fell,  Jesse,  Sr.,  9,  53,  92. 
Fell,  Kersey,  24,  26,  33,  48,  83,  93,  112. 
Fell,  Rebecca,  13,  24,  26,  92. 
Fell,  Robert,  24,  31,  51. 
Fell,  Thomas,  24,  27. 
Fell  Park,  33,  107,  113. 
"Floats,"  22. 

Grant,  U.  S.,  98. 
"Gratz  Brown  Trick,"  104. 

Great  Western  R.  R.  Company,  85. 

Greeley,  Horace,  38,  104,  105. 

Gregory,  John  Milton,  80. 

Gridley,  Gen.  Asahel:  Bloomington's  leading  citizen,  1832,  17;  goes  to 
the  East  for  goods,  36;  begins  his  political  career,  50;  attitude  toward 
Illinois  Central,  85;  accused  of  self-interest,  89;  works  with  Fell 
against  Smith,  96;  wishes  to  retain  Dr.  Cromwell,  98;  endorses 
Horace  Greeley,  1872,  105. 

Griggs,  Clark  R.,  79. 

Harrison  Campaign,  1840,  50. 

Halstead,  Murat,  104. 

Hawley,  J.  A.,  39. 

Hewett,  C.  E.,  114. 

Hickman,  John,  62,   104. 

Hicksites,  92. 

Hill,  William,  36. 

Hogg,  Harvey,  65. 

Holder,  Charles  and  Richard,  48,  109. 

Hoopes,  Joshua,  10. 

Hovey,  Charles,  40,  46,  47,  67. 

Hunt,  Dr.  Charles  A.,  77. 

Hurwood,  Grace,  12,  18,  34. 


126  JESSE  W.  PELL  [390 

Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal,  51. 

Illinois  Central  R.  R.,  85. 

Illinois  Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home,  82,  112. 

Illinois  State  Normal  University,  45,  108,  116. 

Illinois  State  Reform  School,  83. 

Illinois  State  Teachers'  Association,  80. 

Illinois  Teacher,  40. 

Illinois  Wesleyan  University,  41. 

Industrial  University,  78. 

Ingersoll,  Robert  G.,  97. 

Johnson,  R.  H.,  37. 
Joliet,  Illinois,  32. 
Judd,  Norman  B.,  64. 

Kansas  Aid  Committee,  55. 
Kansas-Nebraska  Act,  53. 
Kimberton  Boarding  School,  24. 

LaFayette,  Bloomington  and  Mississippi  R.  R.,  89. 

Larchwood,  109. 

Leader,  97. 

Lee,  H.  H.,  39. 

Lee,  O.  H.,  86. 

LeRoy,  Illinois,  32. 

Lewis,  E.  J.,  16,  33. 

Lewis,  Joseph  J.,  29,  58,  60,  63,  64. 

Lexington,  Illinois,  32,  106. 

Liberal  Republican  Movement,  99. 

Lincoln,  Abraham:  in  the  Black  Hawk  War,  1832,.  16;  meets  Fell,  19; 
with  Fell  works  for  Stuart,  1838,  20;  Fell  writes  him  about  Mexican 
War,  31 ;  a  guest  at  Fell  Park,  34;  draws  up  bond  for  I.  S.  N.  U., 
45;  the  Lost  Speech,  54;  appointed  on  Kansas  Aid  Committee,  56; 
nominated  for  Senate,  1858,  57;  autobiography,  58;  introduced  to 
Pennsylvania,  60 ;  Cameron,  63 ;  Judd,  64;  appoints  Fell  paymaster, 
68;  assassination  of,  70. 

Lincoln-Douglas  debates,  suggested  by  Fell,  57. 

Lincoln,  Illinois,  32. 

Little  Britain,  Pa.,  11. 

Livingston  County,  33. 

Lockwood,  Judge,  15. 

Logan,  John  A.,  112. 

Love  joy,  Owen,  34,  54,  62,  65,  66. 

McCambridge,  William,  34. 

McCook,  Captain,  68. 

McLean  County,  16,  18,  20,  24,  33,  70,  78,  96,  100. 


391]  INDEX  127 

McLean  County  Register,  37. 
McNulta,  Gen.  John,  98. 
McRoberts,  Judge,  15. 
Magoun,  John,  93,  109. 
Major's  Hall,  47,  53. 
Mann,  Horace,  45. 
May,  W.  L.,  20,  23. 
Merriam,  Col.  Jonathan,  98. 
Merriman,  A.  J.,  44. 
Merriman,  Charles  P.,  37,  65. 
Merriman,  H.  P.,  65. 
Mexican  War,  protest,  31. 
Mills,  Benjamin,  20. 
Milwaukee,  23. 
Minier,  George  W.,  66. 
Minonk,  Illinois,  32. 
Mitchell,  R.  B.,  37. 
Moon,  John  W.  S.,  85. 
Morrill  Bill,  77. 
Moulton,  S.  W.,  97,  112. 

New  Salem,  Illinois,  16. 

Normal,  Illinois,  32,  74,  106. 

North  Bloomington,  Illinois,  32,  41,  45,  86. 

Northern  Illinois  Horticultural  Society,  79. 

Oglesby,  Gov.,  73,  77,  101. 
Oldroyd  controversy,  59. 
"Other  Side,  The,"  96. 
Osborn,  Gen.  Thomas,  74. 
Overman,  C.  R.,  73. 

Palmer,  Gov.,  82,  90,  97,  99,  101,  104,  112. 

Panic  of  1837,  47. 

Pantagraph,  37. 

Paymaster's  service,  68. 

Payne,  Dr.  Joseph,  42. 

Payson  Farm,  30. 

Pekin,  Bloomington  and  Wabash  R.  R.,  85. 

Pennell,  William  A.,  74,  76. 

Pennsylvania  campaign,  1860,  62. 

Phillips,  E.  J.,  20. 

Pike,  Meshac,  42. 

Phoenix,  F.  K.,  31. 

Pontiac,  32,  83,  106. 

Preemption  laws,  22. 

Price,  Franklin,  14. 


128  JESSE  W.   PELL  [392 

Price,  Issacher,  11,  59. 
Prince,  E.  M.,  17,  29,  65,  70. 
Public  school  law,  39. 

Quincy  road,  31.  .' 

Real  estate  operations,  32,  86,  109. 

Reeder,  Addison,  75. 

Republican  party  in  Illinois,  53,  61. 

Repudiation  in  Illinois,  51. 

Resurvey  of  Normal  Township,  73. 

Rex,  Dr.  George  P.,  48. 

Reynolds,  Gov.  John,  23. 

Richardson,  Miss  Florence,  115. 

Ridgley,  N.  H.,  20. 

Robinson,  James  C,  98. 

Roe,  E.  R.,  38,  65. 

Rogers,  T.  P.,  65. 

Rood,  E.  H.,   109. 

Ruggles,  Benjamin,  13. 

Saunders,  William,  34,  108. 

Schurz,  Carl,  99. 

Scibird  and  Waters,  38,  97. 

Sewall,  J.  A.,  106. 

Seward,  unpopular  in  Pennsylvania,  59. 

Sharpless,  Rachel,  26. 

Shaw,  Henry,  109. 

Shaw,  James,  93. 

Smith,  Gen.  Giles  A.,  96. 

Smith,  Milton,  44. 

Smith,  Rodney,  68. 

Snow  Brothers,  71. 

Snow,  D.  J.,  65. 

Sorghum,  75. 

Spawr,  Jacob,  30. 

Spencer,  Hamilton,  65,  84. 

Stanton,  Edwin  M.,  15. 

State  Bank  of  Illinois,  20,  51. 

State  Industrial  League,  40. 

Sterlein,  Mayor,  105. 

Steubenville,  13. 

Stevenson,  Adlai  E.,  102,  104. 

Stokeley  and  Marsh,  14,  17. 

Stokeley,  Gen.  Samuel,  27,  62. 

Stuart,  John  T.,  15,  18,  70. 

Sumner,  Charles,  99. 


393]  INDEX  129 

Swamp  lands,  McLean  County,  47. 
Sweet,  Leonard,  34,  54,  61,  69,  100,  102. 
Sykes,  Richard,  no. 

Taylor,  James  P.,  38. 

Tazewell  County,  19,  24,  88. 

Thompson,  Rev.  J.  F.,  94. 

Towanda,  32. 

Trumbull,  Lyman,  66,  99. 

Turner,  Jonathan  B.,  40,  77,  80,  113. 

Tyler,  President,  28. 

Ullin,  Illinois,  33. 
Underwood,  I.  N.,  37. 
University  of  Illinois,  45,  77. 

Vandalia,  19. 
Vermilion  County,  33. 

Wabash  and  Warsaw  R.  R.,  87. 

Washington  Academy,  42. 

Weldon,  Lawrence,  19,  84,  113. 

Wentworth,  Judge  John,  104,  112. 

Western  Whig,  37. 

White,  Horace,  62,  101,  103,  105. 

Whittier,  John  G.,  94. 

Wilkins,  Daniel,  39. 

Williams,  R.  E.,  32,  89,  109. 

Withers,  Allen,  65. 

Wood,  Gov.  John,  31. 

Wright,  Rev.  Nathaniel,  26. 

Wright,  Simeon  W.,  43. 

Yates,  Gov.  Richard,  Sr.,  48,  53,  66. 

Young,  Richard  M.,  24. 


Jesse  W.  Fell  Memorial  Gateway 


MONDAY,  JUNE  FIVE 
ONE  THOUSAND  NINE  HUNDRED  AND  SIXTEEN 

at  three  o'clock 
ILLINOIS  STATE  NORMAL  UNIVERSITY  CAMPUS 


DEDICATORY  SERVICES 


OF  THE 


Jesse  W.  Fell  Memoriel  Gateway 


MONDAY,  JUNE  FIVE 
ONE  THOUSAND  NINE  HUNDRED  AND  SIXTEEN 

at  three  o'clock 
ILLINOIS  STATE  NORMAL  UNIVERSITY  CAMPUS 


EDITORIAL  COMMENT 

THE  FELL  MEMORIAL 

It  would  be  difficult  to  overestimate  the  real  significance  of  the 
simple  yet  beautiful  exercises  that  wer  held  on  the  campus  on  the 
afternoon  of  June  5,  1916,  in  connection  with  the  dedication  of  the 
Jesse  VV.  Fell  Memorial  Gateway.  Mr.  Fell  had  finisht  his  life  work 
more  than  twenty-nine  years  before,  but  the  perspective  that  these 
years  had  lent  to  the  events  of  his  life  had  servd  but  to  bring  their 
meaning  into  bolder  relief  and  to  show  with  greater  vividness  the 
bredth  of  his  vision  and  the  sterling  qualities  of  his  character.  What 
to  him  in  his  life  had  been  an  inspiring  vision  had  now  become  a  living 
reality  whose  value  to  the  people  of  the  state,  the  simplest  observer 
can  appreciate.  It  is  indeed  a  fortunate  thing  that  the  good  women 
of  the  Women's  Improvement  League  of  Normal  caught  the  signifi- 
cance of  Mr.  Fell's  life  work  and  sought,  through  the  aid  of  friends,  to 
bild  an  enduring  monument  of  stone  to  his  memory,  which  wil  catch 
the  eye  of  every  one  of  the  thousands  of  students  who,  during  the 
years  to  come,  wil  seek  training  and  inspiration  in  the  institution  he 
lielpt  to  found. 


The  Alumni  Quarterly 

OF  THE  I.  5.  N.  V. 
Volume  V  AUGUST,  19i6  Number  3 

DEDICATION  OF  JESSE  FELL  MEMORIAL  GATEWAY 

JUNE  5,  1916 
The  following  words  of  welcome  were  extended  by  Col.  D.  C.  Smith,  president  of  the  day. 

Fellow  Citizens: 

The  large  numbers  in  which  you  have  gathered  here  this  afternoon 
in  memory  of  Jesse  W.  Fell,  who  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century 
ago  passed  into  the  "quiet  haven  of  us  all,"  testify,  as  words  cannot, 
that  he  was  far  more  than  an  ordinary  man. 

And  the  fact  that  his  many  friends  throughout  the  state  and  else- 
where, through  the  signal  aid  of  the  Women's  Improvement  League  of 
Normal,  have  caused  to  be  erected  the  "Jesse  W.  Fell  Memorial  Gate- 
way" that  we  have  met  to  dedicate,  is  evidence  of  their  abiding  love 
for  his  memory  and  their  continued  gratitude  for  his  simple,  earnest 
life,  of  which  we  shall  presently  hear  from  some  who  knew  him  best. 


THE  DEBT  OF  NORMAL  UNIVERSITY  TO  JESSE  W.  FELL 
DAVID  FELMLEY 

It  is  always  an  interesting  study  to  trace  the  influence  of  early  en- 
vironment upon  the  subsequent  careers  of  notable  men  and  women, 
for  we  usually  find  that  the  associations,  the  interests,  and  the  activ- 
ities of  youth  and  early  manhood  determine  the  trend  of  one's  entire 
life. 

In  the  opinion  of  many  American  writers,  the  best  body  of  immi- 
grants from  England  settled  not  on  the  banks  of  the  James  nor  on 
the  shores  of  Massachusetts  Bay  but  in  the  five  southeastern  counties 
of  Pennylvania.  It  was  from  this  stock  that  Jesse  W.  Fell  was  de- 
scended. In  early  life  he  showed  unusual  aptitude  for  study  so  his 
parents  sent  him  to  the  best  schools  available.  After  reaching  the 
age  of  eighteen  he  taught  school  for  two  years,  then  turned  his  atten- 
tion to  law,  studying  for  two  years  with  a  law  firm  at  Steubenville, 
Ohio.  This  firm  offered  him  a  partnership,  but  he  had  heard  won- 
derful stories  of  the  fertility  and  beauty  of  Central  Illinois.  In  the 
fall  of  1832,  with  carpetbag  and  walking  stick,  he  came  into  the  little 


2  THE  ALUMNI  QUARTERLY 

village  built  in  the  hazel  brush  that  skirted  the  northern  margin  of 
Blooming  Grove  and  stretched  off  to  the  prairie  to  the  north.  Mc- 
Lean county  was  less  than  two  years  old,  Bloomington  scarcely  eigh- 
teen months.  He  was  Bloomington's  first  lawyer,  but  if  he  had  de- 
pended upon  law  alone  he  would  have  had  little  to  do.  Immigration 
was  active,  real  estate  in  demand,  so  we  find  young  Mr.  Fell  locating 
claims,  buying  lands  for  his  eastern  friends,  making  shrewd  invest- 
ments for  himself.  On  one  of  his  trips  to  the  country  in  1833  he 
stopped  on  the  ridge  now  just  south  of  the  Alton  railroad  between 
Broadway  and  Fell  avenue.  Behind  him  to  the  south  and  southwest 
lay  Blooming  Grove  and  Major's  Grove.  To  the  west,  north,  and  east 
lay  the  billowy  swell  of  the  prairie,  not  a  tree  in  sight,  hardly  a  set- 
tler's cabin.  Here,  he  said  'to  his  companion,  some  day  I  shall  build 
my  home. 

Lands  rose  rapidly  in  value.  In  1836  he  was  already  esteemed  a 
wealthy  man.  Then  came  the  crash  of  1837  with  failure  and  bank- 
ruptcy in  its  train.  The  real  estate  business  was  dead.  Mr.  Fell  re- 
sumed his  law  practice  for  a  few  years,  but  in  1844  he  definitely  and 
finally  abandoned  it.  There  is  no  doubt  that  with  his  industry,  his 
clearness  of  vision,  and  his  rare  powers  of  persuasion  he  would  have 
made  a  success  of  the  law,  but  it  was  altogether  too  narrow  a  field 
for  him.  It  is  an  old  maxim  that  the  law  is  a  jealous  mistress.  He  who 
is  to  attain  a  high  place  in  this  profession  early  learns  that  it  is  not 
conducive  to  the  development  of  many  of  the  finer  qualities  of  the 
human  soul.  Jesse  Fell  preferred  to  do  things,  to  mold  the  physical 
world,  to  civilize  this  raw  country,  to  convert  the  wilderness  and  the 
prairie  into  the  garden  and  the  city  and  to  aid  in  developing  the  in- 
tellectual and  social  life  that  are  the  chief  elements  of  civilization. 

In  1851  began  the  most  active  period  of  his  life.  The  Federal  land 
grant  had  been  made  for  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  but  the  location 
of  the  road  had  not  been  finally  established.  A  powerful  faction 
was  determined  to  carry  the  road  not  directly  north  from  Cairo  to 
LaSalle,  but  to  carry  it  from  Vandalia  to  the  northwest  through 
Springfield  and  Peoria  to  Galena.  General  Gridley  was  then  the 
state  senator.  It  was  through  his  efforts  and  Fell's  that  the  final 
location  of  the  road  was  made  through  Decatur,  Clinton,  and  Bloom- 
ington. After  May,  1853,  trains  were  running  regularly  through 
Bloomington. 

Meanwhile  the  Chicago  and  Alton  railroad  was  creeping  up  from 
the  southwest.  Mr.  Fell  was  an  intimate  friend  of  E.  P.  Morgan,  the 
chief  engineer  of  the  road,  and  of  Mr.  Blackstone,  its  president  and 
chief  operator.  He  helped  secure  the  right-of-way  from  Bloomington 
to  Chicago  and  laid  out  Pontiac,  Dwight,  and  other  towns. 

Early  in  1854  it  was  definitely  settled  that  the  route  through  Bloom- 
ington should  be  half  a  mile  to  the  west  of  the  public  square  and  that 
the  crossing  point  should  be  two  miles  to  the  north.  This  distance 
made  it  possible  to  locate  a  new  town  at  the  junction.  So  Mr.  Fell 
immediately  bought  a  large  tract  of  land  around  the  intersection  and 
began  to  lay  it  off  in  city  blocks. 


DEBT  OF  NORMAL  UNIVERSITY  TO  JESSE  W.  FELL     3 

In  1856  he  began  the  erection  of  his  residence  on  the  site  that  he 
had  selected  twenty-two  years  before,  the  house  now  standing  on  the 
southeast  corner  of  Irving  and  Fell  avenue  and  occupied  by  Mrs.  J.  W. 
Heckethorn.  There  was  then  only  one  house  within  the  present 
limits  of  Normal,  the  cottage  occupied  by  the  station  agent.  Mr.  Mc- 
Cambridge. 

From  the  first  Mr.  Fell  had  planned  to  make  something  more  of 
North  Bloomington  than  the  ordinary  prairie  village.  He  wished  to 
build  a  town  that  would  be  noted  for  its  morality,  sobriety,  and  good 
society,  and  was  already  planning  the  establishment  of  a  college  or 
seminary  of  learning,  when  in  1857  the  legislature  passed  the  Act  es- 
tablishing the  Normal  University. 

Although  occasional  suggestions  of  a  normal  school  for  Illinois 
were  made  from  time  to  time  in  newspaper  articles  and  addresses 
after  the  founding  of  the  first  Massachusetts  Normal  Schools  in  1839, 
it  was  not  until  1854  that  an  organized  movement  really  began.  At 
the  second  meeting  of  the  State  Teachers  Association  held  at  Peoria 
in  1854,  the  proposition  was  made  to  use  the  College  and  Seminary 
funds,  about  $216,000,  lying  idle  in  the  state  treasury,  for  founding  a 
normal  school. 

There  were  two  counter  propositions.  One  by  Jonathan  Turner  to 
use  the  funds  for  an  Industrial  University;  the  other  by  the  old  col- 
lege men  who  feared  a  divorce  between  religion  and  education  to  dis- 
tribute the  funds  among  existing  denominational  colleges.  Mr.  Fell 
was  with  Turner  in  the  early  stages  of  the  discussion,  for  he  was  a 
life-long  advocate  of  vocational  and  industrial  education,  but  his  ex- 
perience as  a  teacher  and  school  official  brought  him  in  1856  and  Tur- 
ner also  to  the  support  of  the  normal  school,  and  the  bill  creating  this 
institution  became  a  law  on  February  18,  1857.  The  Board  was  author- 
ized to  fix  the  permanent  location  of  said  Normal  University  at  the 
place  where  the  most  favorable  inducements  were  offered. 

Mr.  Fell  began  at  once  to  secure  subscriptions  of  land  and  money 
to  induce  the  Board  to  fix  the  location  at  North  Bloomington.  He 
pleaded,  argued,  persuaded.  If  we  can  believe  contemporary  accounts 
he  soon  had  Bloomington  as  thoroughly  aroused  as  Chicago  seems  to 
be  on  the  "preparedness"  proposition.  On  April  8,  1857,  appeared  in 
the  Bloomington  Pantagraph: 

"The  advantages  to  be  conferred  by  such  an  institution  upon  the 
place  of  its  location  are  too  obvious  to  need  enlarging  upon.  Richly 
endowed  from  a  government  fund,  collecting  within  its  walls  every 
year  the  flower  of  the  youth  of  every  part  of  the  state,  and  organized 
with  a  full  corps  of  the  ablest  instructors,  the  Normal  University  will 
doubtless  take  rank  among  the  noblest  institutions  of  learning  in  the 
country,  and  give  to  the  town  which  contains  it  a  degree  of  promin- 
ence at  home  and  abroad  scarcely  second  to  that  enjoyed  by  the  state 
capital  itself." 

To  the  individual  subscriptions  of  land  and  money  the  county  com- 


4  THE  ALUMNI  QUARTERLY 

missioners  were  induced  to  add  $70,000  of  the  fund  derived  from  the 

sale  of  swamp  lands.     The  subscription  totalled: 

Swamp  lands  $70,000 

Other  lands   38,000 

Cash  33,725 

In  all $141,725 

Jesse  Fell's  subscription  of  $9,000  was  the  largest  single  subscrip- 
tion from  cash  subscribers. 

When  the  bids  were  opened  Bloomington's  total  was  so  far  above 
Peoria's  the  Board  of  Education  agreed  to  locate  the  institution  in 
Bloomington,  provided  that  suitable  security  should  be  given  to  guar- 
antee the  swamp  land  funds.  Abraham  Lincoln  drew  up  the  bond,  and 
Jesse  Fell  and  his  brother,  Kersey  Fell,  headed  the  list  of  bondsmen 
Thus  was  secured  for  McLean  county  the  State  Normal  University. 

With  the  location  of  the  Normal  University  on  May  7,  1857,  the  trou- 
bles of  the  Board  had  just  begun.  George  N.  Randall,  of  Chicago,  was 
secured  as  architect,  the  main  building  planned,  the  contract  let  for 
$83,000,  and  work  started.  By  fall  the  foundation  was  up.  Then  burst 
the  financial  panic  of  1857  and  progress  was  stopped  for  eighteen 
months.  Almost  every  bank  in  the  state  suspended  payment.  Central 
Illinois  was  hit  very  hard.  Money  could  not  be  had,  there  was  no 
market  for  the  swamp  lands  whose  sale  was  to  provide  funds  for  the 
building.  The  wealthiest  and  most  eminent  of  all  the  subscribers  de- 
clared that  he  would  not  pay  his  subscription  until  the  building  was 
finished,  that  is,  until  it  was  no  longer  needed.  There  were  trying 
times.  President  C.  E.  Hovey,  charged  by  the  Board  with  the  duty  of 
realizing  upon  the  subscription,  was  aided  at  every  turn  by  Jesse  W. 
Fell.  The  building  was  completed  in  1861,  though  with  serious  shrink- 
age in  some  of  the  subscriptions.  The  legislature  came  to  the  rescue 
with  two  appropriations  aggregating  $100,000  to  lift  the  mortgage  and 
complete  the  furnishing  and  equipment  of  the  institution. 

In  1858  the  name  of  the  settlement  at  the  junction  was  changed 
from  North  Bloomington  to  Normal.  In  1867  when  the  population  had 
grown  to  several  hundred  Mr.  Fell  secured  from  the  legislature  a 
special  charter  under  which  the  town  is  now  governed.  It  provides  that 
no  intoxicating  liquors  shall  ever  be  sold  within  its  borders.  In  fact 
Mr.  Fell  had  previously  provided  in  many  title  deeds  for  lots  that  no 
liquor  should  ever  be  sold  upon  the  premises.  It  is  notable  that  the 
petition  to  the  legislature  for  the  prohibition  clause  was  signed  by 
every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  Normal  over  six  years  of  age. 

By  this  provision  of  the  charter  many  desirable  citizens  have  been 
attracted  to  Normal.  Parents  have  felt  that  the  absence  of  the  saloons, 
of  the  pool  rooms  that  accompany  them,  of  the  undesirable  citizens 
that  so  frequently  haunt  them,  make  Normal  a  much  safer  place 
of  residence  for  their  sons  and  daughters  while  off  at  school. 

In  his  boyhood  Mr.  Fell  had  as  a  teacher  Joshua  Hooper,  a  famous 
schoolmaster  of  Chester  county,  Pennsylvania,  one  of  the  best  botan- 
ists of  his  day.  Jesse  Fell  was  more  than  a  pupil.  He  became  a  com- 
panion of  his  master,  and  under  him  developed  a  life-long  interest 


DEBT  OF  NORMAL  UNIVERSITY  TO  JESSE  W.  FELL      5 

in  trees  and  flowers.  It  was  in  the  early  forties  that  Mr.  Fell  began 
to  manifest  his  passion  for  tree  planting.  A  year  spent  on  the  open 
prairie  northeast  of  Bloomington  probably  hastened  the  conviction 
that  nothing  was  more  necessary  to  the  taming  of  the  prairie  than  to 
plant  it  with  trees.  At  first  the  black  locust,  with  its  rapid  growth  and 
durable  wood,  finely  adapted  for  fencing,  attracted  his  attention. 
When  the  borers  attacked  the  young  locust  groves,  he  tried  other 
trees  in  our  prairie  soils,  hard  and  soft  maples,  ash  and  American  and 
British  elm,  linden,  catalpa  speciosa,  tulip  tree,  European  larch, 
and  many  evergreens  were  planted  in  great  numbers  by  him.  It  is 
said  that  13,000  trees  had  been  planted  by  him  along  the  streets  of 
Normal  and  in  the  grounds  about  his  residence  when  there  were 
still  hardly  a  dozen  houses  in  the  present  town.  He  brought  to 
Bloomington  Mann,  Overman,  Phoenix,  and  other  men  who  made 
Bloomington  one  of  the  largest  nursery  centers  in  the  country. 

Furthers  the  Work 

In  1867  Mr.  Fell  was  appointed  the  local  member  of  the  Board  of 
Education,  the  position  now  held  by  Mr.  Capen.  He  at  once  secured 
an  appropriation  of  $3500  from  the  legislature  for  the  proper  planting 
of  the  campus,  a  project  that  had  always  been  near  his  heart.  Wil- 
liam Saunders,  the  foremost  landscape  gardener  of  the  day,  had  been 
brought  on  from  Philadelphia  eight  years  before  to  make  a  suitable 
plan.  The  planting  was  done  under  Mr.  Fell's  personal  management, 
many  fine  trees  being  transplanted  from  his  own  private  grounds 
known  as  Fell  Park.  The  original  plantings  in  the  campus  included 
almost  every  species  that  would  flourish  in  this  soil  and  climate. 
After  the  losses  incident  to  storm  and  sleet,  the  ravages  of  borers 
and  to  the  removal  of  trees  to  make  way  for  new  buildings,  we  still 
had  in  1901,  940  trees  of  forty-one  species.  The  great  storm  of  June  10, 
1902,  destroyed  many  of  these,  but  later  plantings  have  more  than 
replaced  the  losses  in  numbers  and  variety. 

The  six  years  which  Mr.  Fell  sat  upon  the  Board  of  Education 
were  years  of  rapid  development  of  the  Normal  University.  It  was 
then  everywhere  recognized  as  the  leading  normal  school  of  the 
United  States  in  the  extent  of  its  revenue,  the  value  of  its  building 
and  grounds,  the  number  of  students  and  the  ability  and  reputation  of 
its  faculty. 

The  Home  and  School 

In  1865  Jesse  Fell  headed  a  movement  to  establish  a  home  for  the 
orphans  of  the  soldiers  of  the  Civil  war.  Normal,  under  his  leader- 
ship, raised  a  large  subscription  and  secured  the  location.  This  in- 
stitution has  for  fifty  years  served  its  purpose  in  an  admirable  way. 
With  the  passing  of  the  veterans  of  the  Civil  War,  the  institution  has 
been  converted  into  a  State  Home  for  dependent  children.  It  must 
be  a  source  of  gratification  to  the  friends  of  Jesse  W.  Fell  that  the 
two  institutions  in  Normal  to  which  he  gave  so  much  are  now  brought 
into  organic  union. 

Beginning  with  September  the  school  at  this  Home  will  become  a 
part  of  the  training  school  of  the  State  Normal  University. 


6  THE  ALUMNI  QUARTERLY 

The  Man  HimseM 

In  summing  up  the  services  of  Jesse  W.  Fell  to  the  Normal  Univer- 
sity we  do  not  forget  that  the  best  part  of  it  has  not  yet  been  told. 
In  viewing  this  memorial  that  his  friends  have  erected  we  are  not 
unmindful  that  its  highest  values  are  not  those  of  the  mason  or  of 
the  brass  founder,  nor  are  they  to  be  found  in  the  taste  and  skill  of 
the  architect  who  plans  the  work,  or  of  the  artists  who  have  designed 
the  bronzes.  They  are  to  be  found  in  the  character  of  the  man  whose 
name  this  memorial  bears  and  whose  services  it  commemorates. 

The  character  of  a  people  is  measured  by  the  type  of  man  it  honors. 
Every  country  has  its  heroes  who  embody  the  national  ideals,  every 
town  its  distinguished  citizens  who,  through  personal  excellence  and 
public  service,  win  universal  esteem  and  are  held  in  memory  long 
after  they  are  passed  away.  Normal  is  singularly  fortunate  in  the  man 
who,  by  common  accord,  is  ranked  as  its  founder  and  most  distin- 
guished citizen.  As  a  friend  he  was  loyal,  true,  self-sacrificing,  and 
obliging.  But  his  love  did  not  stop  with  the  companion  into  whose 
eyes  he  might  look  or  whose  hand  he  might  grasp.  The  breadth  of 
his  sympathy  and  affection  embraced  men  of  all  faiths,  of  all  races, 
and  of  generations  yet  unborn.  As  a  man  of  Quaker  birth  and  breed- 
ing he  loved  and  practiced  the  arts  of  peace.  As  a  lawyer  he  was  a 
potent  force  in  the  political  life  of  the  state.  As  a  promoter  of  rail- 
road building  he  took  an  active  part  in  the  industrial  development  of 
the  state.  When  the  steady  encroachment  of  the  slave  power  made  it 
clear  to  every  lover  of  human  liberty  that  the  friends  of  freedom 
must  stand  together,  he  was  a  leader  in  the  formation  of  the  Repub- 
lican party.  He  saw  the  greatness  of  Lincoln  and  was  most  zealous  in 
securing  his  nomination  for  the  presidency.  He  was  a  lover  of  trees 
and  planted  them  by  the  thousand.  He  valued  education  and  with 
characteristic  energy  persuaded  the  people  of  McLean  county  by 
generous  subscriptions  of  land  and  money  to  establish  the  State  Nor- 
mal University  within  its  borders.  He  saw  the  degradation  wrought 
by  alcohol  and  secured  for  his  new  town  a  charter  that  forever  forbids 
the  sale  of  intoxicants  within  its  borders. 

But  Jesse  Fell  was  not  merely  great  in  the  excellence  of  his  charac- 
ter, in  his  honesty,  his  unselfishness,  his  kind  heartedness,  his  patriot- 
ism as  abstract  qualities;  he  was  pre-eminently  a  man  of  action.  We 
honor  him  for  what  he  did,  both  for  the  kind  of  enterprises  he  under- 
took and  the  spirit  in  which  he  wrought.  Mr.  Fell  had  faith  in  the 
future.  He  saw  the  great  city  of  Bloomington  in  the  strangling,  un- 
kempt country  village  of  eighty  years  ago;  he  saw  in  Normal  the  seat 
of  a  great  educational  institution;  he  saw  in  Illinois  a  real  empire 
state,  great  in  its  natural  resources,  greater  still  in  intellectual  and 
moral  worth,  and  he  shaped  his  life  in  accordance  with  these  visions. 
Some  men  called  him  visionary.  Like  all  other  seers  he  merely  lived 
in  advance  of  his  generation.  His  only  mistakes  seemed  to  have 
been  in  underestimating  the  amount  of  time  needed  for  the  realiza- 
tion of  his  hopes. 

The  greatest  indebtedness  of  the  Normal  University  to  Jesse  Fell 
is  the  example  of  his  life,  his  character  and  his  worth.  It  is  difficult 


DEBT  OF  NORMAL  UNIVERSITY  TO  JESSE  W.  FELL      7 

to  summarize  in  a  few  words  the  character  of  Jesse  W.  Fell.  I  have 
read  the  estimates  placed  upon  him  by  more  than  a  score  of  his  con- 
temporaries, the  men  who  knew  him  well  and  were  abundantly  able 
to  set  forth  their  estimate  of  his  character.  They  all  testify  to  his 
superlative  worth  as  a  man  and  as  a  citizen.  Yet  it  seems  that  no  two 
have  viewed  his  life  from  the  same  angle  nor  have  caught  the  same 
radiant  light  from  the  soul  within.  His  most  conspicuous  quality 
seems  to  have  been  his  energy.  While  other  men  thought  and  planned 
and  talked,  Jesse  Fell  brought  to  pass.  He  possessed  a  genius  for 
accomplishment,  tireless  energy,  undaunted  courage,  and  a  persist- 
ence that  was  rarely  unsuccessful.  He  was  a  born  leader,  skillful  in 
plan,  to  organize,  to  enlist  aid  and  sympathy,  to  convince  and  to  per- 
suade, to  subdue  opposition,  to  kindle  in  others  the  flame  of  his  own 
enthusiasm.  He  was  a  born  advocate,  skillful  yet  fair  to  his  oppon- 
ents, more  anxious  to  persuade  them  than  to  overwhelm  them. 

Others  who  knew  him  personally  will  speak  at  length  of  his  per- 
sonal characteristics.  For  me  it  is  enough  to  say  in  closing,  that  this 
memorial  has  been  erected  in  order  that  we  may  show  to  our  children 
and  to  our  children's  children  the  type  of  man  that  we  delight  to 
honor,  the  citizen  of  whom  we  are  justly  proud. 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES 
JOHN  W.  COOK 

Memorial  structures  are  the  efforts  of  a  grateful  people  to  celebrate 
in  imperishable  material  the  virtues  of  those  who  have  wrought  well 
for  their  kind.  They  are  an  endeavor  to  keep  active  and  beneficent 
in  the  lives  of  men,  those  wholesome  and  regenerating  principles  that 
were  the  springs  of  action  of  the  characters  in  whose  honor  and  whose 
memory  they  are  erected. 

We  are  here  today  to  give  meaning  to  this  graceful  entrance  to 
these  beautiful  grounds.  If  the  words  we  shall  say  could,  by  some 
art  of  magician,  be  an  open  book  for  the  passer  by,  its  significance 
would  be  for  the  aspiring  and  sensitive  mind  an  evangel,  for  we  are 
to  tell  the  story  of  a  man  whose  supreme  ambition  was  to  promote 
justice  throughout  the  land.  He  sought  the  freedom  of  the  slave 
from  the  cruel  tyranny  that  gave  the  lie  to  our  fundamental  political 
principle.  He  championed  the  cause  of  freedom  and  toleration  in  re- 
ligious belief.  He  defended  the  sacred  privilege  of  freedom  of  speech 
when  the  cause  that  he  regarded  as  the  noblest  in  annals  of  mankind 
was  attacked.  He  fought  the  battle  for  the  care  of  the  orphan  of  the 
man  who  had  given  his  life  for  his  country.  He  built  about  the  com- 
munity of  his  love  the  high  wall  of  protection  against  the  tempting 
devil  of  drink.  He  fostered  with  liberal  hand  the  institutions  that 
make  for  the  rule  of  reason  in  the  world.  He  fought  with  relentless 
energy  corruption  in  high  places  and  in  all  places.  He  sought  no 
public  recognition  and  aspired  to  no  place  of  honor.  He  was  content 
to  fight  for  the  good  cause  in  his  own  way  with  no  ulterior  end  to 


8  THE  ALUMNI  QUARTERLY 

subserve.  Such  a  character  is  rare  enough  to  merit  especial  recog- 
nition and  to  have  dedicated  to  his  memory  a  perpetual  reminder  of 
his  virtues. 

Life  Full  of  Incident 

In  anticipation  of  this  event  my  mind,  of  late,  has  been  dwelling 
with  fond  recurrence  upon  its  memories  of  Mr.  Fell.  Indeed,  brief 
have  been  the  periods  that  I  have  not  recalled  some  familiar  incident 
of  his  noble  life,  in  all  of  the  intervening  years  since  I  last  looked 
upon  his  face.  Again  I  have  been  reading  the  rich  material  that  I 
eagerly  gleaned  from  all  available  sources  and  carefully  treasured 
nearly  thirty  years  ago.  Through  it  all,  like  the  call  of  a  melodious 
bugle,  in  the  still  air  of  the  quiet  morning  rings  the  one  insistent,  in- 
spiring, engaging  note.  Men  seemed  striving  with  each  other  in  an 
all-accordant  chorus,  to  swell  the  voice  of  appreciation  of  the  ines- 
timable worth  of  this  modest,  self-forgetful  man,  whose  eyes  always 
were  seeking  the  welfare  of  his  fellow  men.  I  have  slight  need  to 
go  afield  for  what  I  have  to  say  today.  The  brief  minutes  will  permit 
only  a  scanty  clipping  from  what  would  require  far  more  time  than  is 
at  my  disposal  in  even  a  hasty  telling. 

Under  His  Own  Trees 

And  first  of  all  I  wish  to  say  that  I  know  of  no  place  more  fitting 
for  his  memorial  than  here.  Beside  this  ever  flowing  and  inspiring 
spring  of  life,  where  youth  is  breaking  the  seals  of  futurity  and  fore- 
casting high  destiny  and  striving  for  its  ample  realization,  let  an  in- 
destructible reminder  of  his  career  defy  the  ruthless  hand  of  time.  As 
the  years  shall  come  and  go  and  the  long  processions  of  the  young 
shall  pass  through  this  noble  gateway,  let  them  receive  a  new  and 
perpetual  baptism  of  that  generous  spirit  which  is  aptly  character- 
ized by  his  immortal  friend — "With  malice  toward  none;  with  charity 
for  all."  And  let  there  be  a  fitting  volume  writ  in  simple  phrase  that 
shall  tell  of  him  and  of  his  gracious  life,  and  on  each  recurring  birth- 
day of  the  institution  that  he  did  so  much  to  found  and  foster,  let  his 
name  be  spoken  so  those  who  go  out  to  help  to  make  the  new  and 
better  commonwealth  shall  keep  his  spirit  in  the  transforming  energy 
of  their  lives. 

His  First  Acquaintance 

Although  I  became  a  student  at  the  Normal  School  in  1862  I  had  no 
personal  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Fell  until  some  two  years  later.  His 
name  was  a  household  word  among  the  students  but  it  would  have 
been  an  honor  beyond  our  most  ardent  expectations  to  be  recog- 
nized by  a  man  so  widely  known  and  so  universally  esteemed.  The 
time  came,  however,  when  I  had  the  coveted  privilege  of  winning  his 
attention  although  I  have  forgotten  the  occasion.  After  that  the 
going  was  delightful  and  as  the  years  slipped  by  the  intimacy 
increased. 

A  Pen  Portrait 

You  would  like  to  know  about  his  personal  appearance.  He  was  of 
medium  height,  spare  of  figure,  and  with  a  face  full  of  intelligence  and 
light.  You  have  become  familiar  with  it  as  it  is  portrayed  by  his 


THE  JESSE  W.  FELL,  HOMESTEAD 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES  9 

picture  that  hangs  in  the  reception  room  of  the  main  building.  He 
was  the  most  industrious  of  men  and  Judge  Davis  declared  him  to  be 
the  most  energetic  man  that  he  had  ever  known.  With  this  estimate 
I  am  in  entire  agreement.  Even  in  his  walk  there  was  a  slight  in- 
clination forward  as  if  he  could  not  keep  his  body  apace  with  the 
plans  which  his  busy  brain  was  ever  organizing.  He  it  was  who 
carried  out  the  original  plans  for  the  decoration  of  the  campus.  It 
was  a  treeless  plain  before  he  began  his  work  upon  it.  There  could 
not  have  been  found  in  all  its  area  a  riding  whip  for  a  horseman.  He 
prepared  for  it  by  circling  the  root  of  the  superb  evergreens  with 
which  his  home  place  was  crowded  and  when  the  clump  of  solidly 
attached  earth  was  ready  for  removal  he  personally  superintended  the 
transfer  of  these  great  trees  to  the  already  prepared  field.  He  had 
zealously  cultivated  it  the  preceding  year  so  that  everything  was  in 
readiness.  At  this  task  he  worked  with  more  physical  energy  than 
any  of  his  helpers.  I  never  heard  of  one  of  the  transplanted  trees 
that  disappointed  him.  In  consequence,  the  campus  was  transformed 
in  a  single  year  from  a  bare  prairie  to  a  place  of  beauty. 

Mind  and  Body 

Indeed,  so  intense  was  his  physical  activity  that  he  found  it  difficult 
in  his  more  advanced  life  to  induce  his  body  to  take  the  requisite 
amount  of  sustenance  to  keep  the  fires  burning  hot  enough  for  his  de- 
mands, and  I  recall  a  conversation  in  which  he  related  his  annoyance 
that  the  machinery,  upon  which  he  had  been  accustomed  to  rely  with 
such  complete  confidence,  would  not  steam  in  harmony  with  his  ex- 
pectations. And  this  physical  energy  was  but  the  concomitant  of  his 
mental  energy.  He  was  afire  with  enthusiasm.  He  subordinated  all 
of  his  fine  endowment  to  the  leadership  of  his  splendid  will.  And  all 
who  came  within  the  range  of  his  influence  caught  the  contagious 
inspiration.  Was  he  a  visionary?  It  never  seemed  so  to  me,  for  his 
large  plans,  with  few  exceptions,  rounded  to  noble  consummation.  I 
am  quite  convinced  that  the  one  disappointment  of  his  life  was  the 
failure  of  the  plan  to  secure  at  Normal  the  location  of  the  University 
of  Illinois.  It  has  always  been  my  understanding  that  the  offer  of 
this  county  far  surpassed  that  of  any  other.  What  it  was  that  de- 
feated his  undertaking  I  have  never  learned.  I  well  remember  that 
historic  contest  and  the  alternating  hopes  and  fears  that  filled  the 
minds  of  our  people. 

An  Old  School  Gentleman 

Mr.  Fell  is  aptly  described  by  the  familiar  phrase,  "A  gentleman  of 
the  old  school."  By  this  is  meant  that  he  was  characterized  by  a 
courtliness  of  manner  quite  unusual  in  these  less  chivalrous  days. 
He  was  a  careful  observer  of  the  canons  of  etiquette  and  employed 
them  in  his  relations  to  others  with  strict  impartiality.  Politeness 
has  been  defined  as,  "the  ceremonial  form  in  which  we  celebrate  the 
equality  of  all  men  in  the  substance  of  their  humanity."  To  be  a 
human  being  was  to  win  his  respect  and  to  receive  the  homage  which 
he  conceived  to  be  due  a  human  being.  I  have  seen  him  rise  in  a 
crowded  street  car  and  offer  his  seat  to  a  poor  negro  woman,  with 


10  THB  ALUMNI  QUARTERLY 

the  irresistible  grace  that  was  his  wont.  That  she  was  a  woman  was 
enough  to  win  his  recognition  as  entitled  to  the  conventional  cour- 
tesies of  polite  society.  And  with  him  they  were  far  from  being 
formal  ceremonies  for  there  was  always  shining  through  them  the 
knightly  spirit  of  the  true  cavalier.  His  kindness  of  heart  was  always 
evident  and  he  was  scrupulously  careful  lest  he  should  inflict  pain 
when  dealing  with  the  humblest. 

His  Gift  in  Writing 

As  a  writer  he  was  unusually  engaging.  He  had  the  art  of  speech 
when  his  pen  was  in  his  hand.  When  I  knew  him  he  shrank  from 
public  addresses,  but  earlier  in  his  life  he  was  a  rapid,  terse  and  force- 
ful speaker.  His  letters  best  illustrated  his  gracefulness  of  expres- 
sion. Our  relations  were  not  of  a  character  to  invite  correspondence, 
yet  I  carefully  preserved  the  two  that  I  received  from  him.  They 
exhibited  a  grace  of  expression  that  lifted  them  out  of  the  ordinary, 
and  although  one  of  them  was  only  a  request  for  an  interview  upon  a 
matter  of  mutual  interest,  it  was  so  charmingly  rendered  as  to  invite 
many  readings  before  it  was  put  among  my  epistolary  treasures. 

One  cannot  but  linger  fondly  over  these  memories,  and  before 
turning  to  other  aspects  of  his  rich  and  varied  life  I  must  be  permitted 
to  quote  briefly  from  his  loving  friend  of  many  years,  former  Presi- 
dent Richard  Edwards.  In  the  address  which  Dr.  Edwards  delivered 
at  the  funeral  in  Normal  Hall  he  said:  "Let  me  begin  by  saying  that 
Mr.  Fell  was  an  honest  man.  He  had  so  many  other  high  qualities 
that  we  are  in  danger  of  not  observing  this  *  *  *.  *He  who  has  been 
through  the  intensest  activities  of  life,  through  those  scenes  where 
selfishness,  duplicity,  corruption  are  most  apt  to  have  full  sway,  and 
who  has  come  out  of  it  all  with  a  maiden  sensitiveness  to  anything 
like  unfairness  or  dishonesty,  deserves  our  esteem  *  *  *.  He  kept  his 
hands  clean  and  his  heart  pure.  He  committed  no  false  or  foul  act. 
He  entertained  no  debasing  or  unworthy  thought.  So  sensitive  was 
Mr.  Fell  to  this  principle  of  rigid  honesty  that  I  have  known  him  to 
insist  upon  making  good  pecuniary  losses  sustained  by  his  friends 
through  the  dishonesty  of  other  men,  because  he  had  been  the  means 
of  making  the  parties  acquainted  with  each  other." 

His  Forceful  Character 

To  this  testimony  of  Dr.  Edwards  I  may  add  that  any  indirection 
on  the  part  of  men  in  public  life  made  hot  his  indignation.  He  would 
have  none  of  them  henceforth.  There  are  men  still  living  in  Bloom- 
ington  who  are  members  of  a  political  convention  held  there  on  a 
day  almost  fifty  years  ago,  in  which  instructions  were  sought  for  the 
county  delegation  to  assist  in  the  renomination  of  a  public  official.  I 
may  add  that  I  was  the  candidate's  cordial  supporter  as  I  was  during 
his  long  subsequent  official  career.  Mr.  Fell,  however,  believed  that 
he  had  broken  faith  with  some  of  his  friends  and  opposed  him  with 
such  vigor  that  he  succeeded  in  securing  the  adjournment  of  the  con- 
vention after  a  scene  that  defies  description.  His  opposition  defeated 
the  desired  renomination  and  resulted  in  the  temporary  retirement  of 
the  candidate  from  public  life.  Prominent  in  that  historic  struggle 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES  tl 

were  a  few  whose  names  are  household  words  in  this  community. 
Their  number  was  small  but  under  the  rallying  enthusiasm  of  Mr. 
Fell  their  effectiveness  was  irresistible. 

Words  of  His  Friends 

In  further  view  of  this  aspect  of  Mr.  Fell's  character  Honorable 
James  S.  Ewing,  at  the  memorial  meeting  of  the  Bloomington  Bar 
Association,  in  an  exquisite  tribute  to  his  memory,  said:  "It  is  a  good 
thing  to  have  known  one  man  whose  life  was  without  spot  or  blem- 
ish; against  whose  honor  no  man  ever  spoke;  who  had  no  skeleton  in 
his  closet;  whose  life  was  as  open  as  the  day  and  whose  death  comes 
to  a  whole  community  as  a  personal  sorrow." 

Similarly  Honorable  Joseph  W.  Fifer:  "Jesse  Fell  was  one  of  these 
moral  heroes;  he  was  the  product  of  our  free  institutions,  and  I  am 
proud  he  was  an  American  citizen.  His  pure,  exalted  and  unselfish 
life  will  help  teach  the  world  the  great  lesson  that  the  indispensable 
basis  of  all  true  greatness  is  integrity  of  character,  and  that  the  only 
way  to  be  happy  in  this  life  is  to  make  others  happy." 

Brave  words  these.  They  ring  the  recurring  sentiment  of  every 
utterance  of  that  memorial  occasion. 

His  Ancestry 

And  now  that  I  have  tried  in  these  brief  minutes  to  tell  you  some- 
thing of  his  personality,  you  will  anticipate  his  political  alignment. 
As  another  will  tell  you  he  came  from  a  family  that  had  been  identified 
with  the  Society  of  Friends  from  its  origin  about  the  middle  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  That  he  would  ally  himself  with  the  anti-slavery 
party  was  thus  a  foregone  conclusion.  Like  men  of  his  kind,  he  was 
an  ardent  admirer  of  Henry  Clay,  with  whom  he  became  personally 
acquainted  and  whose  name  he  perpetuated  in  his  own  family  by 
conferring  it  upon  his  only,  son.  Few  of  the  present  generation  can 
imagine  the  ardor  with  which  the  followers  of  the  great  Commoner 
attached  themselves  to  his  cause.  His  failure  to  achieve  the  place  for 
which  he  repeatedly  strove  was  a  heart  breaking  experience  to  vast 
numbers  of  his  adherents.  My  father  once  cautioned  me,  with  quiv- 
ering lip,  against  ever  attaching  myself  to  any  political  leader  whose 
defeat  I  could  not  contemplate  with  comparative  equanimity.  We  had 
been  talking  of  his  political  idol,  Henry  Clay. 
His  Stand  in  Politics 

Although  bitterly  opposed  to  slavery,  Mr.  Fell  had  not  indentified 
himself  actively  with  the  Abolition  party.  Unconsciously  he  was 
waiting  for  the  evolution  of  a  political  party  that  should  incorporate 
the  slavery  question  in  some  of  its  multifarious  aspects  in  its  plat- 
form. Time  was  to  give  him  his  ample  opportunity.  The  Kansas- 
Nebraska  Bill  so  solidified  the  anti-slavery  sentiment  as  to  make  the 
creation  of  the  Republican  party  a  logical  necessity.  As  soon  as  it 
appeared  he  was  one  of  its  active  adherents. 

And  now  I  am  going  to  make  a  claim  for  Mr.  Fell  that  I  have  not 
thus  far  come  upon.  I  cannot  resist  the  conviction  that  there  orig- 
inated with  him  an  idea  that  made  him  an  historic  character  and  thus 
identified  him  personally  and  potentially  with  tremendous  events 


12  THE  ALUMNI  QUARTERLY 

that  were  world  wide  in  their  consequences.  I  do  not  claim  for  him 
the  far  vision  that  might  have  foreseen  what  followed  from  the  forces 
that  were  set  in  motion.  Short-sighted  creatures  of  a  day,  we  may, 
nevertheless,  release  energies  that  by  the  natural  accumulation  of  in- 
ertia may  precipitate  catastrophies  that  rock  a  world,  bury  old  wrongs 
in  the  ruins  of  the  castles  they  have  built  for  their  own  preservation, 
and  thus  make  possible  a  new  day  of  freedom  for  mankind. 

Here  are  some  statements  whose  correctness  is  amply  verified  by 
Hon.  Owen  T.  Reeves,  Hon.  A.  E.  Stevenson,  and  Hon.  James  S. 
Ewing. 

On  the  twelfth  day  of  September,  1854,  Senator  Stephen  A.  Doug- 
las came  to  Bloomington  to  make  a  public  address.  He  stopped  at 
the  old  National  Hotel,  at  the  corner  of  Front  and  Main  streets. 
Lawrence  Weldon,  then  engaged  at  the  practice  of  the  law,  at  Clinton, 
came  up  to  hear  the  speech  and  went  with  Mr.  Ewing  and  Dr.  Stev- 
enson to  call  upon  the  senator.  Shortly  after,  Mr.  Lincoln,  who  had 
probably  come  up  from  Springfield  for  the  same  purpose,  came  in  to 
pay  his  respects  to  the  honored  guest.  After  a  brief  conversation 
Mr.  Lincoln  withdrew.  Shortly  after,  Mr.  Fell  entered  the  room  and 
was  cordially  greeted  by  Judge  Douglas,  for  they  were  old  acquaint- 
ances. The  tide  of  conversation  ran  along  in  the  usual  way  for  a 
time,  but  Mr.  Fell  had  an  especial  purpose  to  subserve.  He  therefore 
said  to  the  Judge  that  there  was  much  feeling  over  the  question  of 
the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill,  and  that  many  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  friends 
would  be  greatly  pleased  to  hear  a  joint  discussion  between  himself 
and  Mr.  Lincoln  on  these  new  and  vital  questions  that  were  so  vitally 
interesting  the  people. 

Judge  Douglas  seemed  much  annoyed  and  after  hesitating  a  mo- 
irent  said:  "No!  I  won't  do  it.  I  come  to  Chicago.  I  am  met  by 
an  old-line  Abolitionist;  I  come  to  the  center  of  the  state  and  am  met 
by  an  Administration  Democrat.  I  can't  hold  the  Abolitionists  re- 
sponsible for  what  the  Whigs  say;  I  can't  hold  the  Whigs  responsible 
for  what  the  Abolitionists  say,  and  I  can't  hold  either  responsible  for 
what  the  Democrats  say.  It  looks  like  'dogging'  a  man  over  the  state. 
This  is  my  meeting.  The  people  came  here  to  hear  me  and  I  want  to 
talk  to  them."  Mr.  Fell  said:  "Well,  Judge,  perhaps  you  may  be  right; 
perhaps  some  other  time  it  may  be  arranged."  And  so  it  was  that  Mr. 
Fell  did  not  carry  his  point  for  that  'meeting. 
The  Joint  Discussion 

But  Mr.  Fell  did  not  give  up  the  idea  of  the  joint  discussion.  It 
was  his  pertinacious  following  of  the  scheme  that  gave  to  the  country 
that  memorable  series  of  illuminating  addresses,  unsurpassed  in  all 
the  annals  of  debate  in  which  the  supreme  question,  the  question  of 
fate,  in  the  forum  of  a  nation,  was  held  up  to  the  reason  and  the  con- 
sciences of  men. 

Who  doubts  for  a  moment  the  effect  of  those  debates  upon  the 
destiny  of  Abraham  Lincoln?  It  would  be  the  most  violent  of  as- 
sumptions to  assert  that  he  would  have  been  nominated  for  the  presi- 
dency of  the  Republican  party  in  1860  without  the  prominence  they 
gave  him.  He  took  his  logical  place  thereafter  at  the  front  of  the 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES  13 

champions  of  the  anti-slavery  movement,  for  he  had  proved  himself 
more  than  equal  to  the  most  redoubtable  protagenist  of  the  pro- 
slavery  movement.  I  cannot  resist  the  conclusion  that  this  remark- 
able train  of  sequences  logically  followed  Mr.  Fell's  resolute  purpose 
as  foreshadowed  in  the  brief  incident  that  I  have  related. 

His  Part  in  Debate 

But  again.  After  the  first  debate  at  Ottawa,  Lincoln  came  to 
Bloomington  for  a  conference  with  friends  from  all  parts  of  the 
state.  Judge  Reeves  is  responsible  for  the  statement  that  Mr.  Fell 
was  present  at  that  conference,  as  we  should  fully  expect.  At  the 
Ottawa  meeting  Judge  Douglas  had  propounded  to  Mr.  Lincoln  a 
number  of  questions  to  be  answered  at  Freeport.  Mr.  Lincoln  told 
his  friends  what  answers  he  should  give  to  those  questions,  and  he  also 
told  them,  he  proposed  to  propound  certain  questions  to  Judge  Doug- 
las at  that  meeting.  Among  them  was  this  one:  "Can  the  people  of  a 
territory,  in  any  legal  way,  against  the  consent  of  any  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  exclude  slavery  from  a  territory  prior  to  its  admission 
as  a  state?" 

The  members  of  the  conference  saw  clearly  that  if  Judge  Douglas 
should  answer  this  question  in  the  affirmative  he  would  certainly  be 
elected  to  the  Senate,  for  there  were  many  Republicans  favorably 
disposed  to  him  because  of  his  opposition  to  the  attitude  of  the  admin- 
istration. It  was  believed  that  he  would  so  answer.  Lincoln  saw  that, 
although  such  an  answer  would  close  his  hope  for  the  coveted  sena- 
torship,  the  South  would  never  nominate  so  uncertain  a  candidate 
in  1860.  In  consequence,  the  conference  therefore  protested  against 
the  submission  of  such  an  interrogative  and  voted  against  it  with  a 
single  exception.  That  exception,  I  need  not  say,  was  Mr.  Fell.  Did 
his  stand  in  the  premises  account  in  any  way  for  Lincoln's  reply  to 
the  conference — "Judge  Douglas  may  indeed  defeat  me  for  the  Senate 
but  he  will  at  the  same  time  defeat  himself  for  the  presidency  in  1860, 
and  that  is  a  far  greater  issue." 

Shaped  the  Result 

Prophetic  words!  They  were  verified  to  the  letter.  Did  Jesse 
Fell's  support  of  Lincoln's  plan  fall  into  the  causal  series  again? 
Who  can  answer?  The  logic,  if  so,  is  firmly  knit — Mr.  Fell's  sugges- 
tion of  the  joint  debate;  the  consequent  nation-wide  fame  of  Lin- 
coln; the  consequent  nomination;  the  fatal  question;  the  two  Demo- 
ocratic  candidates  in  1860;  the  triumphant  election  of  Lincoln;  the 
abolition  of  slavery;  the  indissoluble  reunion  of  the  states;  one  flag! 
One  common  destiny! 

Did  this  modest  man  ever  allow  himself  to  trace  the  conclusions 
of  the  successive  syllogisms  to  the  final  conclusion?  Dr.  Edwards 
besought  him  to  write  a  frank  and  free  autobiography  and  he  really 
began  it,  but  his  modesty  soon  got  the  better  of  his  resolution  and 
he  gave  it  up,  declaring  that  he  could  not  bring  himself  to  the  task. 
If  he  had  only  been  willing  to  write  a  book  of  "Recollections"  what 
revelations  we  might  have  had! 


14  THE  ALUMNI  QUARTERLY 

Champion  of  Liberty 

I  said,  a  few  minutes  ago,  that  he  championed  the  cause  of  free- 
dom and  toleration  in  religious  matters.  This  he  did  especially  in  the 
part  he  took  in  the  organization  of  what  was  long  known  as  the  Free 
Congregational  Church  of  Bloomington. 

Which  of  two  of  the  major  differences  that  formerly  drove  sharp 
lines  of  social  cleavage  among  men  arouses  the  bitterer  controversies, 
icligion  or  politics?  We  oi  the  present  know  little  of  the  implacable- 
ness  of  the  hostility  which  formerly  existed  between  men  who  were 
in  separate  political  camps  and  who  affirmed  belief  in  separate  relig- 
ious creeds.  At  the  same  polling  place  we  interrupt  a  friendly  con- 
versation to  deposit  our  several  ballots  and  resume  the  cordial  inter- 
change of  thoughts  as  we  again  go  together  on  our  common  way. 
The  spirit  of  conflict  over  religious  differences  has  quite  folded  its 
wings  and  shed  its  sharp  talons  and  taken  on  the  semblance  of  the 
dove  rather  than  that  of  the  hawk.  There  was  a  time,  however,  and 
it  was  not  long  ago,  when  the  bitterness  engendered  by  the  rise  of 
differing  sects  was  the  death  of  friendships,  the  divider  of  families 
and  the  destroyer  of  community  peace.  And  this  conflict  over  creeds 
often  appeared  to  be  a  minor  difference  of  doctrine  or  an  inconse- 
quential variation  in  ceremonial  observance,  but  the  hostility  was 
none  the  less  intense. 

In   Church   Organization 

Imagine,  then,  the  introduction  into  the  institutional  life  of  Bloom- 
ington of  an  organization  that  seemed  to  be  indifferent  to  a  body  of 
doctrine  that  was  regarded  by  the  great  majority  of  men  and  women 
in  the  west  as  indispensable  to  give  validity  to  any  rightful  claim  to 
the  name  religion.  Such  a  phenomenon  appeared  in  July,  1839.  I 
have  not  time  now  to  trace  its  history.  Of  course,  the  Fells,  Jesse 
and  Kersey,  were  there.  Let  it  suffice  to  say  that  an  organization  was 
effected  and  that  Charles  G.  Ames,  predestined  to  a  notable  career, 
was  called  to  conduct  the  Sabbath  services  of  The  Free  Congrega- 
tional Society.  On  another  occasion  I  tried  to  tell,  with  some  degree 
of  fullness,  the  history  of  the  first  half  century  of  the  life  of  this 
pioneer  society.  Its  rank  represented  many  shades  of  opinion,  both 
theological  and  political.  Of  course,  its  personnel  had  at  least  one 
common  point  of  agreement;  all  were  committed  to  the  idea  of  entire 
freedom  of  religious  belief  and  of  speech. 

Of  course  Mr.  Ames  would  speak  his  mind  on  the  slavery  question. 
He  did  so  and  some  of  his  parish  were  so  offended  that  they  with- 
drew. But  Mr.  Ames  was  incapable  of  bitterness.  While  he  pre- 
ferred that  they  should  stay,  he  could  not  deprive  himseli  of  freedom 
of  speech  to  retain  them,  for  freedom  was  the  principle  upon  which 
the  society  was  founded. 

Before  his  nomination  Mr.  Lincoln  dined  with  Mr.  Ames.  The 
"Irrepressible  Conflict"  was  thoroughly  discussed,  Mr.  Ames  taking 
very  advanced  grounds.  Upon  leaving,  Mr.  Lincoln  said,  "I  am  as 
strong  an  anti-slavery  man  as  you  are,  but  I  recognize  some  practical 
difficulties  in  dealing  with  it  that  you  do  not  seem  to  see." 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES  15 

Some  Intimate  Details 

After  the  execution  of  John  Brown  Mr.  Ames  preached  his  funeral 
sermon.  Having  been  a  member  of  his  choir  in  old  Phoenix  Hall  I 
had  enjoyed  some  acquaintance  with  him  and  therefore  felt  free  to 
write  him,  some  seven  years  ago,  with  regard  to  this  famous  address. 
I  quote  briefly  from  his  reply: 

"On  the  last  Sunday  of  November,  1859,  I  gave  notice  that  on  the 
following  vSunday,  if  the  telegraph  brought  the  news  of  the  execution 
of  John  Brown,  I  should  preach  his  funeral  sermon.  The  Society  was 
in  no  mood  to  lay  restrictions  on  freedom  of  speech,  but  there  were 
those  who  said  'we've  just  launched  our  little  bark  in  troubled  waters 
and  now  Mr.  Ames  will  blow  us  sky-high.'  Phoenix  Hall  was  none 
too  large  for  those  who  came  and  there  was  great  seriousness  and 
perfect  attention  through  the  full  hour's  discourse.  The  next  morn- 
ing came  the  request  for  a  copy  for  publication  which  was  granted. 
*  *  *  oh,  those  were  great  days.  I  wonder  if  you  live  them  over 
with  such  palpitations  as  come  to  me."  I  regard  this  quotation  as 
germane  to  my  theme  as  Mr.  Fell  was  one  of  those  who  were  called 
upon  to  stand  behind  Mr.  Ames  in  those  troublous  times. 

I  am  deeply  conscious  of  the  need  of  brevity  but  I  must  be  per- 
mitted to  relate  a  single  additional  incident  in  this  connection.  One  of 
the  successors  of  Mr.  Annes  was  Mr.  Ellis  whose  pastoral  relations 
were  very  abruptly  discontinued.  He  was  a  strong  abolitionist  and 
was  so  extreme  as  to  have  been  one  of  those  who  volunteered  to  at- 
tempt to  rescue  John  Brown  from  his  Virginia  captors.  On  April  23, 
1865,  when  the  country  was  speechless  with  grief  over  the  tragic 
ending  of  the  life  of  the  great  president,  M)r.  Ellis  preached  a  sermon 
in  Phoenix  Hall  in  which  he  took  occasion  to  criticise  Mr.  Lincoln 
in  severe  terms. 

A  Startling  Incident 

It  is  easy  to  imagine  the  effect  upon  the  Bloomington  audience  of 
such  an  address  and  especially  at  such  a  time.  In  the  Hall  were 
many  of  Lincoln's  personal  friends,  men  who  were  bound  to  him  not 
alone  by  political  ties,  but  also  by  the  bonds  of  warm  affection.  Here 
and  there  were  soldiers  recently  from  the  front,  whose  veneration 
for  the  murdered  chief  magistrate  was  greater  than  for  any  other 
character  in  American  annals.  Here  was  Mr.  Jesse  Fell,  the  man  to 
whom  in  1860  Mr.  Lincoln  had  addressed  his  autobiography,  and  one 
can  possibly  imagine  how  his  heart  must  have  been  wrung  by  so 
ruthless  and  so  utterly  foolish  a  violation  of.  the  canons  of  the  most 
ordinary  common  sense.  The  speaker  was  hissed  and  hooted  and 
escaped  by  the  back  stairs  to  a  drug  store  near  by,  from  which  he 
was  rescued  by  Mrs.  William  Lewis,  a  present  resident  of  Blooming- 
ton,  and  taken  to  her  home.  On  the  succeeding  Monday  the  address 
was  published  in  full  and  may  be  found,  as  may  Mr.  Ames'  funeral 
sermon,  in  the  files  of  the  Pantagraph.  An  opportunity  was  thus 
offered  to  read  exactly  what  Mr.  Ellis  had  said. 

But  nothing  could  induce  Mr.  Fell  to  do  violence  to  his  principle  of 
free  speech  and  a  free  pulpit.  At  the  next  meeting  of  the  Society  he 


1 6  THE  ALUMNI  QUARTERLY 

offered  a  series  of  resolutions  denouncing  the  interference  with  the 
speaker's  explicit  right  to  be  heard,  however  unpalatable  his  utter- 
ances might  be.  This  single  illustration  of  his  fidelity,  under  the 
most  trying  circumstances,  to  a  principle  which  he  regarded  as  a 
fundamental  necessity  in  a  free  country  lifted  him  in  my  esteem  to 
the  serene  heights  of  supreme  manhood. 

His  Philanthropy  and  Zeal 

No  time  remains  to  give  other  illustrations  of  those  qualities  which 
mark  him  off  so  distinctly  and  so  superbly.  Yonder  on  the  hill  is 
the  home  of  those  wards  of  the  state  who,  orphaned  by  their  fathers' 
devotion  to  the  country  were  deprived  of  that  parental  care  which 
is  the  due  of  every  child  of  our  common  humanity.  It  is  there  be- 
cause of  his  philanthropy  and  patriotic  zeal.  Here  rise  the  noble 
buildings  of  an  institution  to  which  thousands  of  grateful  hearts  turn 
with  the  most  tender  emotions.  He  wrought  the  deed,  far  more  than 
any  one  else,  that  brought  it  here.  We  walk  between  these  double 
rows  of  trees  that  he  planted.  One  day  he  told  me  why  he  was  im- 
pelled to  adopt  this  particular  plan.  It  was  because  he  had  happened 
to  be  in  old  Germantown,  Pennsylvania,  in  the  heat  of  a  summer  day. 
As  he  walked  beneath  the  over-arching  branches  that  met  above  his 
head,  he  determined  to  go  to  his  new  home  and  imitate  the  thought- 
fulness  of  an  unknown  benefactor. 

That  I  knew  him,  and  had  at  least  some  modest  share  in  his  regard, 
has  been  one  of  the  great  gratifications  of  my  life.  Among  my  treas- 
ures is  a  memento  which  he  ordered  sent  to  me  as  he  lay  upon  his 
couch  of  pain  from  which  he  realized  he  should  never  rise.  Thank 
God  for  all  of  His  heroes.  They  lift  the  world  to  the  arching  sky 
and  leave  an  open  door  between  the  earth  and  the  heavens.  He  was 
one  of  that  great  company  and  lived  his  life  of  simple  devotion  here  in 
our  own  little  comrrtunity.  Great  souls  need  no  hilltops  for  their 
homes  in  order  that  they  may  be  singled  out  as  the  benefactors  of 
mankind. 

His  memory  is  a  precious  treasure  and  as  the  new  generations  come 
and  go  this  memorial  structure  will  retell  the  inestimable  worth  of 
this  simple,  unostentatious  man. 


VALUE  OF  MEMORIALS 

EDMUND  J.  JAMES 

It  was  a  little  over  fifty-three  years  ago  that  I  first  saw  Jesse  W. 
Fell.  It  was  on  the  occasion  of  a  visit  of  my  parents  to  the  Illinois 
State  Normal  University  who,  in  looking  for  a  place  to  buy  a  farm  and 
"settle  down  permanently,"  as  they  expressed  it,  were  especially  con- 
cerned about  the  schools  of  the  neighborhood.  They  had  examined 
one  or  two  farms  north  of  Normal  and  so  wished  to  see  whether  the 
educational  facilities  offered  by  this  school  met  their  desires  as  to  the 
opportunities  for  their  children.  I  was  tagging  as  a  lad  8  years  old 


VALUE  OF  MEMORIALS  17 

after  my  mother  as  she  went  into  the  primary  room,  then  conducted 
by  Miss  Hammond,  who  afterwards  became  the  wife  of  W.  L.  Pills- 
bury.  As  we  came  out  on  the  porch  on  the  south  side  of  the  Normal 
University  building,  Dr.  Edwards,  who  was  kindly  showing  us  about, 
stretched  his  arm  out  in  a  sweeping  way  towards  the  south  campus 
and  said:  "The  trees  you  see  here  have  all  been  planted  by  the  Hon- 
orable Jesse  W.  Fell.  And  there  he  is  now,  planting  still  others," 
he  said,  as  he  pointed  toward  a  man  superintending  the  planting  of 
certain  shrubs  or  sm,all  trees.  "He  is  sometimes  called,"  Dr.  Ed- 
wards remarked  to  my  mother,  "Jesse  the  tree  planter." 

My  parents  purchased  a  farm  immediately  north  of  Normal,  where 
for  ten  years  I  lived  and  from  which  for  six  years  I  trudged  back  and 
forth  to  school  while  I  was  preparing  for  college  in  the  grammar  and 
high  school  departments  of  the  Normal  University.  Mr.  Fell  was  a 
favorite  of  mine,  as  he  was  of  all  the  children,  so  far  as  I  know. 
He  was  kind  to  us  and  let  us  play  without  disturbance  wherever  he 
was  working,  provided  we  did  not  interfere  too  much  with  the  pro- 
gress of  the  work,  and  sometimes,  I  think,  even  when  we  did.  I 
remember  my  mother's  saying  once  that  Mr.  Fell  was  a  real  public 
benefactor,  and  I  wondered  what  that  was  and  asked  her  what  she 
meant.  "A  public  benefactor  "  she  said,  "is  a  man  who  is  doing  things 
for  the  benefit  of  other  people  all  the  while  and  especially  for  the 
benefit  of  the  community  in  which  he  is  living." 

I  think  there  could  be  better  descriptions  of  Mr.  Fell  and  his  work 
than  this.  I  need  not  make  any  extended  reference  to  the  life  and 
services  of  Mr.  Fell.  They  will  be  fully  discussed  and  presented  by 
persons  better  able  to  treat  that  subject  than  I.  I  only  desire  to  add 
my  testimony  to  that  of  all  the  others  to  the  fact  that  Mr.  Fell  was 
a  man  of  power  and  influence  in  many  different  directions  in  the  com- 
munity in  which  he  lived,  and  that  in  every  direction  this  power  and 
influence  when  exerted  were  exerted  for  the  public  good,  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  common  interest;  and  in  this  respect  he  was  a 
model  citizen,  a  man  after  whom  his  fellow  citizens  could  well  pat- 
tern their  own  conduct,  and  to  whom  the  teachers  and  preachers  and 
mothers  of  the  community  could  point  with  pride  as  one  whose  life 
and  activity  were  worthy  of  emulation  by  the  children  of  the 
community. 

I  should  like  to  emphasize  on  this  occasion  the  service  which  this 
community  is  rendering  to  itself  by  this  formal  recognition  of  the 
great  work  which  Mr.  Fell  did  for  it  and  for  the  successive  genera- 
tions which  will  make  up  this  community  in  all  the  years  to  come. 

We  have  been  very  much  concerned  just  at  the  present  time  with 
the  question  whether,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  we  are  at  all,  in  any  proper 
sense  of  that  term,  a  nation. 

We  had  a  most  astonishing  illustration  more  than  fifty  years  ago  of 
how  loose  were  the  bonds  which  held  us  together  as  a  people  when 
the  country  suddenly  divided  into  two  great  sections.  These  sec- 
tions flew  at  each  other's  throats  with  all  the  ferocity  and  bitterness 
and  energy  which  have  been  displayed  in  the  great  war  now  going  on 
beyond  the  seas.  And  many  things  have  since  happened  and  some 


1 8  THE  ALUMNI  QUARTERLY 

things  have  happened  lately  that  have  rather  called  our  attention  to 
the  fact  that  we  do  not,  all  of  us  at  any  rate,  who  live  within  the 
confines  of  the  American  Republic,  think  as  Americans,  think  in  the 
terms  of  the  nation;  but  that  we  are  still  in  some  respects  only  an 
aggregate  and  not  a  thoroughly  organized  life  unit.  We  are  a  collec- 
tion of  states  and  territories,  of  people  from  different  races  and  differ- 
ent faiths  and  different  histories — not  yet  melted  and  unified  into  a 
single  people  of  uniform  texture. 

There  is  little  hope  of  this  ever  being  accomplished  until  the  nation 
has  become  a  true  organic  instead  of  an  aggregate  unit. 

The  comparison  has  often  been  made  between  the  "body  politic"  and 
the  "body  physical"  and  there  are  some  lessons  which  may  be  learned 
by  us  from  the  comparison.  The  body  physical,  according  to  modern 
theories  of  biology,  is  made  up  in  essence  of  cells  which  are  the  last 
and  final  units  out  of  which  all  portions  of  the  body,  and,  finally  the  en- 
tire body,  are  composed.  In  these  cells  is  the  center  of  life  and  activ- 
ity,' the  center  of  bodily  health  and  bodily  weakness  and  disease  and 
death.  If  the  cells  function  as  they  ought  to  do,  all  of  them,  each  in  its 
own  way,  we  may  be' sure  that  the  body  as  a  whole  will  be  vigorous  and 
strong  and  effective.  If  the  cells,  however,  become  weak  and  anaemic 
and  ineffectual,  we  may  expect  to  see  the  body  dry  up  and  disappear. 

So  I  should  think  of  the  nation  as  constituted  of  cells,  not  the 
individual  human  beings,  but  the  ultimate  or,  if  you  please,  the  primal 
unit  of  organization,  namely,  the  comm,unity.  If  the  community  is 
of  the  right  composition,  if  it  is  organized  in  a  healthy  and  vigorous 
way  and  performs  its  duties  in  a  healthy  and  vigorous  way,  and  all 
the  communities  do  this,  then  we  may  expect  to  see  a  perfect  national 
life  as  the  flower  and  fruitage,  so  to  speak,  of  this  perfect  community 
life,  and  unless  this  community  life  is  of  the  right  type,  it  is  vain 
indeed  that  we  build  upon  the  tower,  so  to  speak,  upon  the  roof  of 
this  great  structure  when  the  foundation  elements  are  decayed.  If 
the  civic  life  of  the  community  is  conducted  on  a  low  level,  we  have 
in  so  far  as  it  is  a  part  of  the  nation,  a  weak  element  which  itself  may 
become  the  source  of  disease  and,  like  a  cancer,  by  spreading  its 
influence  in  the  surrounding  tissue,  may  ultimately  undermine  and 
develop  a  running  sore  which  may  seriously  hamper,  if  not  ultimately 
destroy,  the  organism  of  which  it  is  a  part. 

Those  communities  in  the  United  States  in  which  education  is  neg- 
lected, in  which  the  health  of  the  community  receives  no  attention,  in 
which  moral  and  religious  influences  are  not  cultivated,  in  which  a 
low  type  of  civilization  prevails,  are  communities  which  may  become 
centers  of  disease,  stretching  far  and  wide  through  the  body  politic. 
This  is  something  we  do  not  always  realize.  In  a  large  way,  we  have 
a  classic  example  in  our  own  history.  When  the  people  of  certain 
communities  thought  it  was  a  good  thing  to  import  the  black  man 
from  Africa  and  make  him  a  slave,  the  foundation  was  laid  for  infinite 
trouble,  not  so  much  for  the  slave,  for  in  many  cases  his  condition 
was  really  improved  over  that  in  the  native  wildness  from  which  he 
-.vas  taken,  but  the  masters  and  the  life  of  the  master's  wife  and  chil- 


VALUE  OF  MEMORIALS  19 

dren  and  the  life  of  the  community  which  was  made  up  of  the  masters 
of  these  black  slaves. 

In  the  course  of  time  as  the  country  became  industrially  part  slave 
and  part  free,  it  became  perfectly  plain  to  far-seeing  men,  even  of  the 
time  of  the  Revolution,  nearly  a  hundred  years  before  the  struggle 
finally  came,  that  no  community  could  endure,  no  body  politic  could 
continue  to  live,  in  which  one  part  of  the  body  was  made  up  of  cells 
depending  for  their  industrial  development  upon  the  institution  of 
human  slavery  and  another  part  of  the  body  was  made  up  of  cells 
whose  industrial  life  was  based  upon  a  system  of  free  and  independent 
labor.  It  took  a  long  time  for  this  cancerous  growth  of  slavery  to 
make  such  headway  as  to  finally  threaten  the  destruction  of  the  en- 
tire nation.  But  it  came,  just  as  inevitably  as  the  sun  rose  and  set, 
and  it  finally  had  to  be  cut  out  in  all  its  ramifications — we  have  not 
completed  the  work  yet  by  any  means — by  a  process  which  for  a 
time  threatened  to  destroy  the  entire  organism. 

So  today  any  community  which  permits  its  children  to  grow  up  in 
ignorance,  which  does  not  cultivate  and  organize  and  develop  the 
various  elements  which  enter  into  a  complete  and  well-rounded 
education,  is  a  cell  full  of  danger  to  itself  and  to  the  larger  commun- 
ities and  the  body  politic  as  a  whole. 

We  have  com'munities  in  the  United  States  today — and  they  are  not 
all  in  one  part  of  the  country,  either — communities  which  are  so  de- 
based as  to  form  real  centers  of  danger  to  the  health  of  the  common- 
wealth and  the  nation. 

Now  the  process  of  civilization  is  not  by  any  means  an  easy  one, 
and  every  higher  civilization  is  brought  forth  in  pain  and  tears,  and 
the  human  race  tends  steadily  to  fall  behind  unless  efforts  are  con- 
tinually put  forth  which  involve  blood  and  sweat.  History  has 
shown  that  in  nearly  every  country  and  in  nearly  every  time  this 
work  of  standing,  in  season  and  out  of  season,  for  the  forces  which 
make  for  the  uplift  of  the  community,  this  standing  for  the  right 
against  the  wrong,  for  the  light  against  the  darkness,  for  freedom 
against  slavery,  for  justice  over  against  injustice,  for  equal  oppor- 
tunity for  all  over  against  monopoly  and  slavery,  has  been  the  privi- 
lege and  the  burden  of  comparatively  few  members  of  the  commun- 
ity, those  men  whom  we  call  leaders,  those  men  to  whose  call  to  ad- 
vance we  respond,  those  men  whose  leadership  we  recognize  and 
follow. 

Jesse  W.  Fell  was  one  of  these  men,  and  this  community,  thanks  to 
his  leadership  and  that  of  men  like  him,  thanks  to  the  original  consti- 
tution of  the  community,  made  up  of  many  different  elements  from 
many  different  parts  of  the  country,  has  moved  forward  steadily  to  the 
ever  completer  life  as  one  of  those  fundamental  cells  of  national 
existence. 

Next  to  working  out  in  a  direct  and  immediate  way  through  com- 
petent organs  of  action  the  welfare  of  the  community,  the  element 
which  has  added  most  to  civilization  is  the  public  spirit  of  private 
individuals,  men  of  far-seeing  vision  like  the  man  whom  we  honor 
today.  Next  to  leading  itself  in  all  these  respects,  a  group  of  people 


20  THE  ALUMNI  QUARTERLY 

shows  its  fitness  as  an  element  in  civilization  by  its  willingness  to 
follow  the  leadership  of  men  like  Mr.  Fell.  And  in  that  respect  Nor- 
mal has  shown  a  wise  capability. 

I  am  greatly  pleased  to  see  that  this  community  recognizes  the 
great  significance  of  an  event  like  this — namely,  the  erection  of  a 
memorial  in  honor  of  the  men  who  have  done  things  worth  while  in 
the  community,  especially  in  honor  of  the  men  who  saw  the  best 
things  that  were  possible  to  the  community  and  stirred  up  and  spur- 
red it  on  to  realize  these  best  things.  It  was  not  merely  the  work 
Mr.  Fell  did  himself  directly  in  planting  these  trees,  in  urging  the 
improvement  of  the  schools,  in  bringing  one  after  another  of  the 
public  agencies  into  more  efficient  action,  but  it  was  his  work  in 
stimulating  other  people  to  emulate  his  example.  And  one  of  the 
evidences  that  you  have  done  that  is  not  only  to  be  seen  in  the 
external  evidences  which  we  see  around  us  in  improved  schools,  in 
paved  streets,  in  improved  water  supply,  and  in  enlarged  and  im- 
proved churches,  in  adequate  drainage,  etc.,  etc.,  but  one  sees  it  also 
in  this  willingness  to  acknowledge  an  indebtedness  to  the  men  who 
are  wise  enough  to  lead  such  enterprises. 

I  have  often  said  to  members  of  the  Illinois  Legislature  when  pre- 
senting to  it  the  claims  for  the  support  of  the  institution  which  I 
have  the  honor  to  represent  today,  that  the  people  of  Illinois  have 
vested  for  the  time  being  in  them  the  trusteeship  for  determining  the 
level  upon  which  the  community  shall  move.  The  business  of  a  leg- 
islator is  not  simply  to  do  what  his  constituents  want  him  to  do,  but 
to  do  the  thing  which  his  constituents  ought  to  do  and  to  throw  the 
full  impetus  of  his  power  and  strength  into  compelling  the  state  to 
undertake  the  tasks  which  the  interests  of  society  demand  it  should 
undertake.  The  duty  of  your  local  member  in  the  legislature  and  of 
every  other  member  in  the  Illinois  Legislature  is  not  merely  to  see 
how  little  money  he  can  give  to  the  building  up  of  this  great  Normal 
University,  of  which  we  are  all  so  proud,  but  to  discern  if  possible 
what  the  function  of  this  institution  ought  to  be  and  then  by  every 
means  in  his  power  help  to  the  realization  of  that  function.  In  fact 
the  member  of  a  board  of  trustees  should  be  a  prophet.  He  should 
have  visions  and  these  should  be  visions  of  the  higher  life  of  the  com- 
munity and  the  higher  level  upon  which  the  community  may  walk, 
and  the  fundamental  purpose  of  his  trusteeship  is  that  he  shall  help 
the  community  up  to  those  higher  levels  and  hold  it  steadily  and  true 
to  its  higher  levels.  This  was  the  work  as  Mr.  Fell  conceived  it,  and 
to  which  he  gave  unsparing  industry  and  absolute  devotion,  and  be- 
cause you  recognize  that  end,  because  you  recognize,  even  though 
in  large  part  unconsciously,  that  somehow  or  other  this  is  your  in- 
terest projected  in  this  large  way  by  this  seer  and  prophet,  you  are 
willing  to  honor  him  by  this  beautiful  memorial.  He  cares  nothing 
about  it,  of  course.  His  family  in  a  few  years  will  care  nothing  about 
it.  It  will  not  be  long  until  everyone  will  have  passed  away  who  ever 
saw  Mr.  Fell  or  who  ever  saw  anybody  who  ever  saw  him,  or  spoke 
to  him,  and  the  personal  element  will  disappear  as  the  years  go  on, 
but  this  monument  will  ever  stand  here  to  remind  the  boys  and  girls 


VALUE  OF  MEMORIALS  21 

of  this  community  as  they  play  about  its  foundation,  and  the  men 
and  women  who  pass  by,  that  here  was  a  man  who  deserved  well  of 
his  community,  and  they  will  be  led  by  the  existence  of  this  monu- 
ment to  ask  what  he  did  and  why  and  how,  and  the  story  will  ever 
again  be  told  to  bring  new  inspiration  and  new  life  into  each  suc- 
ceeding generation. 

I  have  a  friend,  a  most  competent  and  brilliant  and  highly  edu- 
cated woman,  who  declared  to  me  when  she  saw  the  monument 
erected  to  her  father,  who  was  one  of  the  greatest  Americans,  that  no 
man  deserved  a  monument,  no  man  had  ever  done  so  much  as  to 
really  deserve  in  any  proper  sense  that  his  memory  should  be  kept 
alivq,  that  none  of  us,  no  matter  how  hard  we  labored,  could  perform 
any  work  of  supererogation,  and  that  therefore  it  was  an  idle,  nay 
an  immoral  act,  this  erection  of  monuments  in  honor  of  men  and 
women  who,  no  matter  how  much  they  have  accomplished,  have 
fallen  far  short  of  their  duty  to  their  day  and  generation.  There  is, 
of  course,  something  to  be  said  for  this  point  of  view,  and  I  am  sure 
that  no  man  or  woman  ever  performed  any  service  for  the  com- 
munity of  any  great  value  who  did  not,  in  the  bottom  of  his  heart, 
feel  that  it  was  such  an  infinitely  slight  service  that  he  should  be 
almost  ashamed  of  thinking  of  it  as  a  service  to  his  fellowmen. 

But  monuments  of  this  sort  are  erected  not  to  flatter  living  men, 
but  to  call  the  attention  of  the  boys  and  girls  of  each  successive 
generation  to  the  things  that  are  most  worth  while  in  the  lives  of 
members  of  their  own  community,  to  the  things  that  men  will  be 
m>ost  grateful  for,  to  the  things  upon  which  the  community  will  lay 
the  most  weight,  to  the  things  that  men  will  think  about  after  one 
has  passed  out. 

This  people  will  remember  Andrew  Carnegie,  for  example,  not  for 
the  fact  that  he  accumulated  a  great  fortune  of  millions  of  dollars, 
not  that  he  was  one  of  the  great  industrial  figures  in  the  day  and  gen- 
eration in  which  he  lived,  not  that  he  was  one  of  the  captains  of  in- 
dustry who  shaped  the  course  of  men's  occupations,  in  many  different 
directions,  but  because  he  devoted  this  money  which  he  accumulated 
in  this  way  to  what  he  conceived  to  be  good  purposes,  and  even 
though  he  should  be  mistaken  in  the  form  of  its  application,  and  even 
though  the  gifts  he  made  should  produce  harm  rather  than  good,  yet 
the  motives  of  the  man  will  be  the  things  that  are  remembered,  and 
if  the  American  people  should  decide  that  his  motives  were  unworthy, 
that  he  gave  this  money  not  for  the  purpose  of  accomplishing  good, 
from  a  sincere  wish  to  do  it,  but  simply  for  the  purpose  of  magnifying 
his  own  name,  they  will  forget  him  or  they  will  blame  him. 

Monuments  of  this  sort  help  us  to  teach  in  a  concrete  and  direct 
way  to  our  children  what  are  the  really  worth  while  things  in  the  de- 
velopment of  a  community  and  a  nation,  and  so  I  have  always  been 
in  favor  of  seeing  them  erected  in  honor  of  men  who  have  done 
really  great  and  useful  things.  It  is  an  honor  to  Mr.  Fell  that  the 
people  of  this  generation,  that  you,  standing  about  here,  few  of  whom 
knew  him  personally,  few  of  whom  could  really  have  had  any  con- 
ception of  the  largeness  of  the  man's  mind  and  activities,  erect  this 


22  THE  ALUMNI  QUARTERLY 

monument  to  him.  It  is  a  much  more  significant,  much  more  helpful, 
and  to  my  mind  much  more  useful  service  which  this  memorial  will 
do  by  virtue  of  the  fact  that  it  is  an  honor  to  the  community  which 
has  raised  it,  for  you  honor  yourselves  far  more  than  you  honor  him 
in  the  events  of  this  day. 

Let  every  citizen,  no  matter  how  humble,  take  new  heart  in  view  of 
these  facts.  We  are  sometimes  inclined  to  despair  of  the  Republic 
when  we  see  so  many  difficulties  in  life,  communal,  state  and  national. 
We  sometimes  hang  our  head  in  shame  at  the  events  which  have  oc- 
curred within  the  limits  of  the  great  Republic  without  any  adequate 
reaction  in  the  direction  of  national  or  local  uplift.  But  in  the  life 
of  every  man  who  has  fixed  before  himself  as  a  goal  the  ideal  of  ren- 
dering public  service,  we  get  a  new  inspiration,  a  new  outlook,  a 
new  hope. 

From  the  contemplation  of  this  gateway,  let  the  little  boy  and  girl 
learn  the  humble  lesson  of  picking  up  the  papers  and  other  rubbish 
which  are  flying  over  the  streets,  which  they  perhaps  have  themselves 
thrown  there.  Let  the  citizen  living  in  a  humble  cottage  with  a  few 
square  feet  about  it  realize  that  as  he  keeps  that  lot,  as  he  improves 
that  lot,  he  is  doing  a  duty  by  his  community  and  by  his  fellowmen 
that  will  help  raise  the  standard  of  life  in  the  community  as  a  whole. 
Let  every  man  of  influence  and  power  and  wealth  and  resources  in  the 
community  recognize  that  it  is  a  part  of  his  business  to  work  to  im- 
prove these  conditions  under  which  the  life  of  this  community  must 
be  carried  on,  that  it  is  a  part  of  his  business  to  see  that  the  schools 
are  improved,  that  the  churches  are  supported,  that  the  public  insti- 
tutions of  all  kinds  are  made  as  efficient  for  their  purpose  as  they 
can  possibly  be  made.  Let  the  member  of  the  city  council  have  borne 
in  upon  him  the  conviction  that  a  public  office  is  a  public  trust  and 
that  the  man  who  violates  in  any  way  the  interest  of  the  community 
for  any  purpose  whatever,  whether  it  is  in  violation  of  the  law  or 
not,  is  a  scoundrel,  is  an  unworthy  citizen,  one  who  ought  not  to  walk 
in  the  shadow  or  come  into  the  same  street  where  a  monument  has 
been  erected  to  such  a  man  as  Jesse  W.  Fell.  With  such  a  spirit,  with 
such  a  life,  we  may  be  sure  that  this  prime  cell  of  our  great  Republic 
can  give  an  example  in  its  local  health  which  all  other  similar  cells  of 
the  nation  might  follow. 


A   PHILANTHROPIST    OF   MIGHTY   VISION 

J.  H.   BURNHAM 

Jesse.  W.  Fell  was  a  lover  of  mankind,  a  man  of  mighty  vision.  He 
loved  his  family  and  was  never  happier  than  when  in  their  midst, 
planning  and  working  for  their  future  welfare.  He  wisely  planned 
for  the  benefit  of  his  adopted  town,  for  the  county  of  McLean,  for 
the  state  of  Illinois,  for  the  nation,  for  the  freedom  of  the  slave,  and 
always  labored  for  the  good  of  all  mankind. 


*N   - 


Vt 


Wv 


~s-;i 

N.r^ 


A  PHILANTHROPIST  OF  MIGHTY  VISION  23 

As  early  as  1834,  when  for  two  years  he  had  lived  in  Bloomington 
as  its  first  lawyer,  he  spent  nearly  a  whole  session  of  the  Illinois 
Legislature  at  Vandalia,  and,  almost  unaided,  prevented  the  western 
tier  of  townships  from  being  sliced  off  from  McLean  county  in  the 
interest  of  a  new  county  seat.  His  clear  vision  told  him  that  only 
thus  could  the  new  town  of  Bloomington  retain  its  prestige  and  the 
new  county  of  MfcLean  preserve  its  grand  outline,  and  the  service  he 
then  performed  has  never  yet  been  sufficiently  appreciated. 

The  new  county  of  McLean  was  tolerably  well  established  by  this 
time  but  Mr.  Fell  was  exceedingly  anxious  that  its  future  should  be 
provided  for,  and  so  became  one  of  the  prime  movers  in  the  pioneer 
effort  to  start  a  newspaper.  The  first  issue  of  "The  Bloomington 
Observer"  started,  mainly,  by  the  personal  efforts  of  Mr.  Fell,  was 
dated  January  14,  1837.  After  going  through  the  vicissitudes  inci- 
dent to  a  newspaper  in  a  new  county,  we  find  its  successor,  "The 
Bloomington  Intelligencer"  in  the  sole  ownership  of  Mr.  Fell  on 
March  17,  1852.  The  paper  passed  the  next  year  to  the  ownership 
of  Mr.  C.  P.  Merriman  and  then  became  the  well  known  Pantagraph. 
This  newspaper  has  been  published  the  most  of  the  time  as  a  daily. 
However  it  was  believed  by  Mr.  Fell  and  his  friends  to  be  scarcely 
up  to  the  requirements  of  the  town  and  county.  Being  resolutely  re- 
solved upon  making  this  newspaper  of  more  service  to  the  public, 
Mr.  Fell,  in  company  with  his  son-in-law,  Mr.  Wm.  O.  Davis,  pur- 
chased a  controlling  interest  in  1868,  and  the  two  entered  most  ener- 
getically upon  their  chosen  labor  of  developing  the  journal  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  needs  of  this  intelligent  community.  Fortu- 
nately, Mr.  Davis  had  the  necessary  financial  means,  and  experience 
soon  proved  that  he  also  possessed  a  remarkable  aptitude  for  news- 
paper management.  Its  growth  has  been  of  the  most  substantial 
character,  and  the  descendants  of  Mr.  Davis,  now  owning  the  news- 
paper, are  proVing  themselves  true  to  the  tradition  of  their  ancestors. 

In  1845  when  the  state  of  Illinois  was  in  imminent  danger  of  re- 
pudiating its  enormous  bonded  indebtedness,  and  was  about  to  be 
driven  into  hopeless  bankruptcy  by  incompetent  leaders,  Mr.  Fell 
published  an  open  letter  to  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives, 
boldly  advocating  the  imposition  of  taxes  and  he  eloquently  urged 
the  policy  of  re-establishing  the  state's  financial  credit  upon  a  sound 
and  reliable  basis.  The  plan  which  he  recommended  was  followed  in 
the  main,  and  his  influence  at  that  early  day  is  said  to  have  been  very 
powerful.  His  vision  told  him  that  this  state's  magnificent  agricul- 
tural domain  could  only  thus  be  put  in  the  way  of  its  subsequent 
wonderful  development. 

In  the  various  periods  of  railroad  building  in  1838  to  1881  he  was 
always  a  vigorous  leader.  He  was  either  a  projector  or  a  railroad 
official  in  every  scheme  for  a  north  and  south  or  an  east  and  west 
railroad  in  this  vicinity.  He  secured  a  large  portion  of  the  right-of- 
way  for  the  Chicago  and  Alton  railroad  from  Bloomington  to  Joliet, 
was  the  chief  agent  in  the  donation  of  the  machine  shop  site  in  1853 
and  thus  secured  for  Bloomington  the  immense  advantages  which 
have  followed,  and  which  will  no  doubt  permanently  continue. 


24  THE  ALUMNI  QUARTERLY 

While  we  are  considering  some  of  these  almost  marvelous  achieve- 
ments of  this  great  man,  we  may  reflect  that  no  doubt  his  active  and 
vigorous  mind  contemplated  many  a  project  which  was  never  carried 
to  a  successful  issue.  His  vision  was  so  broad  and  his  mind  dwelt  so 
intensely  on  benefiting  his  fellow  men  that  we  can  well  conceive  that 
he  must  often  have  felt  the  want  of  practical  co-operation  in  some 
of  his  most  heartfelt  projects. 

Mr.  Fell  once  told  me  that  at  a  very  early  day  when  wearily  riding 
on  Horseback  along  the  line  of  the  present  Illinois  Central  railroad 
in  company  with  General  Gridley,  they  discussed  the  possible  im- 
provements likely  to  be  enjoyed  by  future  travelers  along  the  iron 
rails  which  they  fondly  hoped  would  follow  their  route.  How  pleas- 
ant must  have  been  his  reflections  in  after  life  when  all,  and  more 
than  all,  that  his  prophetic  vision  had  predicted,  actually  came  to 
pass  in  the  lifetime  of  this  earnest  and  brilliant  railroad  advocate. 

The  present  generation  needs  to  be  told  on  this  and  other  appro- 
priate occasions,  of  Mr.  Fell's  almost  superhuman  exertions  in  be- 
half of  all  suggestions  and  plans  for  the  advancement  of  the  religi- 
ous, educational,  moral,  agricultural  and  community  development  of 
his  neighborhood,  the  county,  the  state,  the  nation  and  the  whole 
world  in  which  he  lived,  but  this  paper  can  touch  only  a  few  of  his 
characteristic  efforts  in  the  directions  indicated. 

The  man  who  planned  our  Normal  campus,  who  planted  with  his 
own  hands  many  of  its  grandly  spreading  trees  upon  a  broad  and 
almost  desolate  prairie,  which  I  well  remember,  and  who  planted 
thousands  of  others  in  the  streets  of  Normal — twelve  thousand  of 
them  before  Normal  was  anything  but  North  Bloomington — no  doubt 
had  a  vision  of  what  their  noble  grandeur  would  be  in  fifty  to  sixty 
years,  and  perhaps  believed  that  some  of  them  would  survive  for 
centuries  and  in  their  final  enormous  growth  in  this  rich  soil  would 
carry  forward  to  future  observers  some  remembrance  of  their  origin. 
But  the  same  man  in  giving  names  of  trees  to  no  less  than  thirteen 
of  the  streets  of  Normal  perhaps  never  realized  in  his  own  modest 
mind  that  he  was  thus  preserving  for  all  time  a  most  beautiful  and 
touching  reminder  of  his  affectionate  love  for  the  town  he  had 
founded.  Normal  is  truly  indebted  to  the  charming  visions  which 
must  have  occupied  the  founder's  thoughts  during  this  labor  of  love 
for  coming  generations. 

In  the  early  part  of  1867,  when  the  grand  effort  was  being  made  in 
this  county  to  secure  the  location  of  the  Industrial  University,  which 
is  now  the  Illinois  State  University  at  Champaign,  Mr.  Fell's  efforts 
were  little  short  of  miraculous.  I  was  one  of  the  workers  in  the  cause 
and  had  opportunity  to  become  acquainted  with  the  man  and  ob- 
serve his  methods  of  action,  and  I  have  never  forgotten  how  ably, 
earnestly,  enthusiastically,  eloquently  and  persuasively  Mr.  Fell  pre- 
sented his  arguments  which  resulted  in  an  offer  of  five  hundred  and 
thirty  thousand  dollars  for  the  coveted  prize.  Most  of  this  was  in 
eight  and  ten  per  cent  county,  town  and  city  bonds  voted  by  McLean 
county,  the  township  and  city  of  Bloomington  and  by  Normal  town- 
ship and  village. 


A  PHILANTHROPIST  OF  MIGHTY  VISION  25 

Very  few  of  us  realized  the  actual  possibilities  of  the  university 
idea,  but  from  the  success  which  had  then  already  been  exhibited  at 
the  Michigan  State  University  at  Ann  Arbor,  it  is  evident  that  Mr. 
Fell  had  in  mind  almost  a  complete  vision  of  what  is  now  to  be  seen 
at  Urbana  and  Champaign.  Had  that  institution  been  located  here 
and  had  it  been  properly  fostered,  what  a  boon  Normal  real  estate 
would  have  secured!  That  it  would  have  been  fostered  here  was 
proved  by  the  fact  that  nothwithstanding  Mr.  Fell's  bitter  disap- 
pointment, which  it  took  years  to  heal,  he  nobly  seconded  the  effort 
made  in  1870  to  induce  the  State  Constitutional  Convention,  then  in 
session,  to  provide  in  the  new  instrument  for  very  liberal  permanent 
assistance  to  be  given  to  the  great  institution.  Mr.  Fell  grandly  and 
magnanimously  took  the  lead  in  this  effort  through  a  memorial  from 
the  Illinois  State  Teachers'  Association  to  the  convention,  and  he 
thus  nobly  proved  that  his  early  efforts  in  behalf  of  that  institution 
as  well  as  in  aid  of  Normal,  were  based  as  much  on  his  desire  for 
general  educational  advancement  as  for  his  own  pecuniary  profit. 

We  ought  to  give  a  brief  notice  of  Mr.  Fell's  efforts  to  have  this 
state  adopt  the  Maine  Liquor  Law  at  the  June  election  in  1855,  and 
we  must  not  forget  the  remarkable  steps  he  took  in  1867  to  perpetually 
prevent  the  sale  of  liquor  in  this  town  of  Normal. 

We  shall  also  find  that  there  has  been  running  through  all  of  Mr. 
Fell's  life  efforts  a  never  ending  thread  of  elevated  thought  and  action 
in  behalf  of  great  public  questions.  He  never  forgot  the  poor  and 
needy  and  by  his  wise  advice  and  counsel  he  placed  many  a  poor 
man  in  the  way  of  future  comfort  and  competence.  Some  of  these 
were  ex-slaves  for  whom  he  had  a  peculiar  sympathy,  and  he  entered 
heartily  into  plans  for  their  future  welfare.  Nothing  appeared  to 
give  him  more  pleasure  than  to  witness  the  progress  these  once 
down-trodden  people  began  to  make  at  oncei,  in  their  new  environ- 
ments, and  to  the  very  last  he  eagerly  watched  their  advancement  in 
all  parts  of  the  nation.  From  the  very  first  he  was  active  in  his  op- 
position to  slavery,  and  gave  most  effective  aid  to  the  great  cause  of 
freedom  through  his  wonderful  assistance  in  bringing  Abraham  Lin- 
coln's abilities  to  the  notice  of  the  people,  both  before  and  after  1858. 
He  was  enthusiastic  in  advocating  Lincoln's  nomination  and  election 
to  the  presidency.  It  is  a  candid  opinion  of  good  judges  that  no 
single  individual  in  the  United  States  performed  more  important 
service,  everything  considered,  in  bringing  about  the  election  of  him 
who  has  proved  to  be  the  nation's  idol. 

The  statements  embodied  in  imperishable  bronze  upon  the  tablet 
dedicated  here  today  are  most  admirably  calculated  to  impress  and 
inform  future  generations  as  to  the  most  important  characteristics  of 
this  great  man — this  noble-hearted  philanthropist — although  it  will 
be  almost  impossible  for  those  who  never  had  the  good  fortune  of  his 
personal  acquaintance  to  realize  the  grandeur  and  great  modesty  of 
his  character.  It  appears  proper  to  add  that  such  was  the  simplicity 
of  the  man  that  we  may  well  believe  he  never  anticipated  he  would 
be  deemed  worthy  of  such  public  remembrance  as  has  been  mani- 
fested today,  or  had  any  idea  of  its  possible  occurrence. 


26  THE  ALUMNI   QUARTERLY 

PRESENTATION  OF  MEMORIAL  GATEWAY  TO  TOWN  OF 

NORMAL 

MRS.  D.  C.  SMITH 

As  President  of  the  Women's  Improvement  League  of  Normal,  the 
pleasing  task  is  mine  to  present  to  the  Town  of  Normal,  through  you, 
its  Mayor,  the  stone  gateway  just  erected  at  the  east  entrance  to  this 
campus  in  memory  of  Jesse  W.  Fell. 

It  is  a  tribute  of  love  from  his  many  friends  far  and  near,  who  ad- 
mired him  while  he  was  with  them  and  who  now  honor  his  memory. 

The  bronze  medallion  portrait  upon  one  of  the  main  posts  is  a  gift 
from  the  grandchildren,  and  is  dedicated  by  them  with  affection  to  the 
grandfather  whom  they  knew  and  loved. 

The  League  is  exceedingly  pleased  to  know  that  the  Town  has  au- 
thorized you  to  present  this  gateway  for  perpetual  preservation  to  the 
Illinois  State  Normal  University,  thus  linking  together  the  University 
and  the  Town  in  further  memory  of  him  who  was  the  friend  and  lover 
of  both. 

The  members  of  the  League  feel  a  sense  of  pride,  pardonable  I 
trust,  in  the  fact  that  they  have  been  permitted  to  bear  some  humble 
part  in  the  erection  of  this  memorial  gateway,  and  they  cherish  the 
hope  that  in  the  years  to  come  many  who  look  upon  it,  and  pause  to 
study  the  portrait  and  read  the  inscription  it  bears,  .may  be  inspired 
with  Jesse  W.  Fell's  rare  public  spirit  and  be  moved  to  walk'  in 
his  ways. 


ACCEPTANCE  FOR  MEMORIAL  GATEWAY  FOR  TOWN  OF 

NORMAL 

O.  L.  MANCHESTER 
Mr.   Chairman,    Madam    President    of    the    Women's    Improvement 

League: 

In  behalf  of  the  Town  of  Normal  I  accept  this  gift.  While  it  is 
primarily  and  fundamentally  a  memorial  to  Jesse  W.  Fell,  it  will,  in 
a  secondary  and  less  important  way  stand  as  a  testimony  to  the  good 
will,  the  thoughtfulness,  and  the  perseverance  of  the  Women's  Im- 
provement League. 

By  the  Town  Council  of  the  Town  of  Normal  I  am  authorized 
not  only  to  accept  this  gateway  but  to  give  it  away.  Therefore,  to 
the  Illinois  State  Normal  University,  as  represented  by  its  Board  of 
Trustees  and  its  President  present  here  today,  I  now  present  this 
memorial.  That  the  women  have  wished  that  this  transfer  be  made 
in  this  way  emphasizes  the  fact  that  they  wish  the  most  cordial  and 
helpful  relations  to  continue  to  exist  between  the  school  and  the  town. 

May  this  beautiful  memorial  for  generations  and  centuries  to  come 
continue  to  stretch  out  its  ample  white  arms  in  welcome  to  the  young 
men  and  women  not  only  of  Normal  and  McLean  county  but  to  those 
of  the  whole  state  of  Illinois. 


ACCEPTANCE  FOR  UNIVERSITY  27 

ACCEPTANCE  FOR  PERPETUAL  PRESERVATION 

CHAS.  L.  CAPEN 

The  first  Constitution  ever  written  provided  that  rewards  should  be 
conferred  upon  public  benefactors.  When  such  are  bestowed  by  pri- 
vate liberality,  and  by  affection,  it  is  a  coronation.  It  has  been  well 
said  the  greatest  of  public  benefactors  are  the  founders  of  such  in- 
stitutions as  that  upon  whose  ground  we  celebrate  today.  Every  such 
a  one  is  but  the  shadow  of  a  great  philanthropist  who  created  it. 

Illinois  is  blest  more  than  in  all  other  mighty  achievements  in  the 
character  of  her  pioneers,  whose  pure  souls  with  unflagging  energy 
established  the  foundations  and  set  up  the  ideals  of  the  highest  civili- 
zation. The  guide  posts  and  land  marks  they  handed  down  to  us 
were  those  of  education,  progress  and  the  higher  life  that  for  all  time 
point  and  illuminate  the  true  path. 

Never  had  any  community  bestowed  upon  it,  one  whose  public  and 
private  virtue,  whose  deeds  and  achievements  were  greater  or  more 
lasting  in  good,  than  was  and  is  Jesse  W.  Fell — none  of  whom  the 
saying  of  Lamartine  is  truer  that  Providence  seems  to  delight  at  rare 
intervals  in  bestowing  upon  a  community  a  great  spiritual  leader. 

Of  the  most  modest  of  men,  working  always  for  others  and  not  for 
himself,  he  never  sought  personal  distinction.  He  had  much  to  do 
in  establishing  the  common  school  system  of  the  state;  then  with 
wise  foresight  recognizing  schools  could  not  succeed  well  without 
trained  teachers,  he  rendered  yeoman  service  in  having  passed  the 
charter  of  our  Normal  School:  but  for  his  heroic  and  long-continued 
labors,  it  would  have  been  located  elsewhere,  and  this  village  not  have 
been.  He  provided  important  surroundings,  one  being  the  curse  of 
the  saloon  should  not  tempt  the  student;  he  planted  many  of  the  trees 
on  the  campus  with  his  own  hands  and  at  his  own  expense;  at  the 
critical  time  in  the  panic  of  1857  he,  with  one  or  two  others,  saved  the 
institution  from  its  creditors;  during  the  after  period  of  stress  and 
storm  he  never  hesitated  to  make  any  individual  sacrifice,  to  devote 
his  time  and  wisdom  for  its  good.  The  debt  of  gratitude  is  none  the 
less  if  he  builded  better  than  he  knew. 

We  owe  it  to  his  character,  as  well  as  to  ourselves,  in  this  critical 
time  when  such  strong  efforts  are  being  made  to  discard  the  ideals  of 
the  past,  and  to  substitute  for  them  those  so  strongly  advocated  in 
certain  quarters,  that  this  beautiful  gateway  built  by  the  loving  hands 
of  the  women  of  Normal,  and  by  them  given,  shall  stand  as  a  perpetual 
protest  against  the  false  and  dangerous  doctrine  the  acquisition  of 
wealth  and  the  devotion  of  the  chief  energy  and  concern  should  be 
that  which  has  wrecked  the  principal  nations  of  Europe,  and,  if  ac- 
cepted, cannot  fail  to  produce  a  like  result  for  us.  The  beautiful 
architecture  is  in  itself  an  inspiration  and  culture  to  every  one  who 
passes  through  its  portals,  and  teaches  that  we  must  depend  more 
than  ever  before  upon  the  lessons  of  our  schools  and  churches,  that 
the  most  important  ambition  should  be  for  a  broader  and  deeper  life 
rather  than  for  a  more  extravagant  living,  and  that  love  of  country 
is  to  be  exhibited  in  the  upper  and  nobler  spheres.  Mr.  Fell  was  of 


28  THE  ALUMNI  QUARTERLY 

the  Society  of  Friends,  commonly  called  Quakers,  whose  every  action 
is  controlled  by  the  inner  light,  and  was  one  of  the  truest  of  that  de- 
nomination. It  is  justice  to  call  him  the  height  of  Normal,  as  Scipio 
was  called  the  height  of  Rome. 

It  is  my  good  fortune  to  accept  with  gratitude,  in  the  name  of  the 
State  Board  of  Education  this  noble  gift,  and  to  promise  in  its  name 
it  shall  be  sacredly  cherished  and  preserved.  The  Board  is  only  a 
trustee,  and  acts  for  all  the  citizens  of  the  state  in  memory  of  her 
distinguished  son;  for  the  residents  of  this  county  and  village  who 
are  what  they  are  because  he  lived  and  strove  among  them  and  still 
lives  and  strives  for  the  hundreds  of  students  now  fitting  themselves 
for  the  highest  employment  of  life,  and  the  thousands  yet  to  come. 
This  gift  is  not  limited  to  the  present  generation,  but  is  for  posterity 
as  well;  example  and  influence  cannot  die;  it  will  act  something  like 
a  miracle  upon  the  hearts  and  minds  of  all. 


THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  NORMAL 

URBAN  A-CHAMPAIGN,  ILL.,  May  23,  1914. 

*  *  *  I  can  still  remember  the  bare  appearance  of  almost 
everything  in  and  about  the  village,  when  the  trees  which  "Jesse, 
the  Tree  Planter, ' '  had  set  out  were  not  yet  grown.  They  were 
of  the  promise  of  things  to  be,  a  promise  which  has  been  more 
than  realized,  but  it  took  the  eye  of  faith  to  see  in  the  distant 
future  what  was  to  come  out  of  his  life  and  work. 

EDMUND  J.  JAMES. 


NATURE  PAINTED  IN  GREEN  AND  GOLD 

*  *  *  In  the  early  fifties  between  the  Illinois  Central  and 
the  land,  whereon  three  or  four  years  later  was  to  arise  the 
stately  edifice  of  the  Normal  University,  rolling,  unbroken  prairie 
sloped  down  from  the  hilltops  to  the  north  to  the  "slough"  which 
meandered  southwesterly  across  the  valley  and  flowed  beneath 
the  Alton  through  the  gap  of  a  spindly  bridge  of  piling  where 
now  the  street  car  subway  is  found.  The  prairie,  upland  and 
slough,  stretched  southward  until  the  cultivated  fields  near  Sugar 
Creek  were  reached. 

Drear  and  desolate  in  the  dead  of  winter  as  an  arctic  land- 
scape, the  country  took  on  thrilling  beauties  with  the  dawn  of 
spring.  From  the  days  when  the  streams  were  yet  scarcely  freed 
from  their  icy  fetters,  when  the  buds  were  swelling  on  the  cotton- 
woods  and  the  catkins  were  showing  on  the  willows;  when  the 
grasses  of  valley  and  hillside  were  beginning  to  tinge  the  land 
with  green,  thruout  all  the  spring  and  summer  and  all  the 
autumn  until  the  frost  colored  the  foliage  and  cut  down  the 
golden  sunflowers,  an  ever-changing  panorama  of  beauty  was 
painted  on  the  prairie. 


THE  SPRING  FRESHETS 

In  those  times  before  the  surface  waters  were  spirited  away 
by  drainage,  the  rainfall  did  not  disappear  quickly  as  it  does 
now.  In  the  spring  the  valleys  were  often  flooded  by  heavy 
downpours,  the  little  streams  which  never  ceased  to  flow  except 
for  a  few  weeks  in  summers  of  drought,  were  quickly  swollen 
and  spread  wide.  The  thickest  slough  grasses  impeded  the  cur- 
rent and  the  water  escaped  but  slowly  thru  the  grassy  barriers. 

IN  THE  HEART  OF  NORMAL 

These  marshy  places  were  the  homes  of  almost  countless 
varieties  of  beautiful  and  fragrant  flowers,  and  tall  and  graceful 
grasses.  The  red-tipped  blackbird  swung  upon  the  willows,  the 
meadow  lark  piped  in  grass,  flocks  of  snipe  wheeled  low  in  air 
and  waded  in  the  shallows. 

Such  was  the  picture  presented  by  the  low-lying  parts  of 
Normal  in  the  prairie  days  of  sixty  years  ago.  Such  scenes  are 
to  be  found  today  only  upon  the  rapidly  disappearing  frontiers. 

CLEAR  STREAMS  OF  LONG  AGO 

A  clear  stream  used  then  to  flow  from  the  northwest  to  the 
Illinois  Central  embankment,  there  turning  south  thru  a  ditch 
cut  for  it  when  the  railway  barred  its  southeastward  flow.  A 
few  yards  farther  south,  it  was  joined  by  another  brook  rippling 
from  the  northeast,  passing  under  the  Central  thru  a  one-arch 
culvert.  At  what  is  now  the  west  end  of  Beaufort  street,  the 
united  stream  wound  southwesterly  here  and  there  beneath 
clumps  of  bending  willows  and  thru  grassy  expanses,  a  veritable 
paradise  of  flowers. 

This  rivulet  in  springtime  now  and  then  spread  beyond  its 
shallow  banks,  the  water  reaching  almost  to  the  Chicago  &  Alton 
and  extending  on  the  north  to  the  rise  of  the  hillsides. 

A  MEMORY  OF  GOLDEN  YELLOW 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  of  floral  transformations  of  early 
spring  days  in  this  little  valley,  now  in  the  very  center  of  things, 
in  the  busy  town,  was  the  bursting  forth  of  the  cowslips,  by 
which  the  marsh  was  bordered  growing  on  the  edges  of  the  water 
and  in  it — wide  ribbons  of  vivid  light — green  leaves  brilliant  in 
the  sunlight.  Last  night  an  open  blossom  amid  the  leaves !  This 
morning,  the  green  has  turned  to  gold,  the  May  flowers  are  in 
bloom !  It  is  as  if  some  fairy  host  has  splashed  paint  of  golden 
yellow  upon  the  verdant  stripes  of  yesterday.  Down  the  valley 
and  up  as  far  as  one  can  see  is  the  cowslip  glory,  brighter  than 
the  yellow  primrose  and  the  buttercup. 


THE  VARIED  COLORS 

And  then  came  that  morning  later  on,  when  the  swamp  mus- 
tard blossoms  made  great  splashes  of  pure  white ;  and  the  days 
when  the  philox  bloomed — pink  patches  set  on  the  tawny  green 
upland  grass  and  the  deeper  and  ranker  green  of  the  lowland. 

THE  SUNFLOWERS 

Next  in  beauty  to  the  April  surprise  of  the  cowslips,  per- 
haps, was  the  blooming  of  the  sunflowers.  Late  in  the  summer 
they  began  to  glow.  Of  these  there  were  scores  of  varieties — 
great  tall  ones  lifting  their  golden  blooms  ten  feet  in  air  and 
lesser  ones  bearing  yellow  flowers  and  yellow  with  black  centers 
nearer  to  the  ground.  When  the  sun  flower  season  was  at  its 
prime,  there  was  a  wide  golden  border  on  either  side  of  the  tall 
slough  grass. 

Flags,  the  wild  fleur  de  lys,  flaunted  their  banners  of  blue 
and  gold  in  marshy  places  and  when  they  faded  bequeathed  an 
Egyptian  heritage  of  cat-tails. 

THE  PRAIRIE  UPLANDS 

How  beautiful,  too,  were  the  upland  levels  and  the  hillsides ! 
Clad  in  verdure  by  the  grasses  brilliant  green  in  spring,  chang- 
ing to  yellow  and  russets  in  the  summer  and  autumn,  spangled 
by  a  continually  changing  host  of  flowers!  In  early  spring  the 
violets,  blue,  and  delicately  veined  with  white;  pansies,  spring 
beauties,  big  sorrel  flowers,  pink  and  yellow  and  white ;  odorous 
clumps  of  fragrant,  creamy  meadow  sweet;  blue  gentians,  the 
swamp  and  upland  anemones;  wild  flax,  flowering  grasses,  the 
gleaming  yellow  puccoon,  wonderful  groups  of  deep  red  and 
orange  milkweeds. 

THE  PRAIRIE  ROSES 

And  the  roses !  Deep  pink,  and  pinkish  white,  they  bloomed 
in  profusion  everywhere — along  the  edges  of  the  slough-grass, 
on  the  hillsides  and  hilltops  and  by  the  dusty  roadsides.  They 
reveled  on  the  railway  embankments  and  hung  their  perfumed 
buds  and  blossoms  over  the  edges  of  cuts. 

WILLIAM  MCCAMBRIDGE. 
Washington,  D.  C.,  June  3,  1916. 


A  STUDENT'S  MEMORY  OF  THE  CAMPUS 

(The   Daily  Pantagraph) 

The  approach  of  the  occasion  on  June  5,  upon  which  the 
Jesse  W.  Fell  memorial  gateway  will  be  dedicated,  has  brought 
from  many  Normal  students  of  earlier  days,  a  message  of  appre- 
ciation. With  each  student  passing  from  the  university  there 
goes  a  recollection  of  the  remarkable  beauty  of  the  grounds,  the 
beauty  that  was  made  possible  thru  the  thought  and  effort  of 
Jesse  W.  Fell. 

Mr.  Benjamin  Robinson,  of  Cambridge,  has  written  con- 
cerning the  effect  which  his  memory  holds  of  school  days  at 
Normal : 

"Having  heard  of  the  approaching  dedication  of  the  Jesse 
Fell  gateway  at  Normal,  I  have  been  thinking  with  a  great  deal 
of  interest  and  affection  of  the  beautiful  campus  to  which  this 
new  gateway  will  give  appropriate  and  dignified  approach. 

' '  While  a  student  at  Normal  more  than  thirty  years  ago,  the 
campus  meant  a  great  deal  to  me.  Its  wide  lawns,  gentle  slopes 
and  abundant  shade  made  it  a  constant  joy.  But  I  fear  at  the 
time  I  took  these  blessings  too  much  for  granted. 

"On  the  other  hand,  as  from  time  to  time  I  have  revisited 
Normal,  I  have  been  more  and  more  impressed  with  the  extent 
to  which  the  beauty  of  the  campus  is  the  matured  result  of  wise 
and  farsighted  planning.  In  the  first  place,  the  grounds  of  the 
University  were  laid  out  on  a  surprisingly  liberal  scale  with 
ample  foresight  and  obviously  with  a  fine  faith  in  the  future  of 
the  institution,  a  faith  which  is  certainly  worthily  justified. 

"The  next  impressive  feature  of  the  campus  is  the  variety 
of  its  trees.  This  must  have  been  the  result  of  considerable  study 
and  selection  with  due  regard  to  soil  and  climate  and  their  group- 
ing tho  undertaken  long  before  landscape  gardening  had  become 
a  recognized  science  in  our  country,  was  nevertheless  accom- 
plished in  a  very  pleasing  way  to  give  fine  vistas  and  beautiful 
mass  of  foliage  with  just  enough  of  plan  and  no  obtrusive 
formality. 

' '  On  inquiry  I  learned  long  ago,  that  Mr.  Jesse  W.  Fell  was 
in  large  measure  responsible  for  all  this  and  it  is  on  this  account 
that  on  the  dedication  of  the  Jesse  Fell  gate  I  am  taking  the 
liberty  to  write  and  tell  you  how  much  the  campus  has  meant 
to  an  old  Normal  student. 


"  It  is  a  highly  interesting  sort  of  arboratum  where  successive 
generations  of  students  may  learn  to  distinguish  a  fine  variety 
of  trees  and  derive  from  them  many  admirable  ideas  for  attractive 
planting  about  public  buildings  elsewhere  as  they  scatter  to  other 
centers.  It  is  furthermore  a  wonderful  object  lesson  of  what  can 
be  accomplished  in  the  beautifying  of  a  tract  of  bare  prairie 
land  by  the  faith,  foresight  and  intelligent  efforts  of  one  public 
spirited  man." 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

BENJAMIN  LINCOLN  ROBINSON. 

Cambridge,  Mass. 


FELL  HALL 

DEAR  MISSES  FELL: 

It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  inform  you  that  by  a  unanimous 
vote  the  State  Board  of  Education,  at  its  recent  meeting,  named 
the  new  dormitory,  on  the  grounds  of  the  Normal  School,  ' '  Fell 
Hall ' ',  in  recognition  of  the  great  services  your  honored  father 
rendered  the  institution :  in  its  creation  and  thereafter  as  long  as 
he  lived.  The  Board  well  knows  that  but  for  his  remarkable 
labors,  enthusiasm  and  executive  ability,  the  school  would  have 
been  located  elsewhere,  and  the  Village  of  Normal  have  been 
little  more  than  a  railroad  crossing.  The  State  Board  was  glad 
to  bestow  this  little  tribute  in  memory  of  a  great  benefactor. 

It  also  appointed  a  Committee  to  prepare  a  suitable  bronze 
tablet  to  be  placed  upon  or  near  the  main  entrance.  Only  part 
of  the  building  is  now  under  construction :  when  fully  completed, 
the  dormitory  will  be  the  largest  and  most  noticeable  of  all  the 
structures  upon  the  grounds. 

This  action  of  the  Board  has  received  the  approbation  of  all 
connected  with  the  School  and  of  the  entire  community. 
Very  sincerely,  your  friend, 

CHARLES  L.  CAPEN, 
President  State  Board  of  Education. 
Bloomington,  Illinois, 
December  Twenty-third, 
Nineteen  Hundred,  Sixteen. 


A  SHORT  SKETCH 


of 


HESTER  BROWN  FELL 


BROWNS  OF  NOTTINGHAM 


From  Authentic  Records 


HESTER  VERNON  (BROWN)  FELL 


Hester  Vernon  (Brown)  Fell  was  the  daughter  of  William 
and  Rachel  (Milner)  Brown  and  a  direct  descendant  of  James 
Brown  who  came  from  England  prior  to  1679.  James  Brown's 
brother,  William,  who  in  1682  came  over  to  America  in  the  same 
vessel  with  the  great  leader  of  their  faith,  William  Penn,  tells 
of  their  father's  "convincement"  in  the  following  quaint  lan- 
guage. "About  the  first  going  forth  of  that  eminent  minister 
of  the  Gospel,  William  Dewsbury,  he  came  to  the  town  where 
this  pious  man  dwelt,  who  observed  him  as  he  was  passing 
along,  and  taking  notice  of  the  solidity  of  his  countenance, 
invited  him  to  turn  in  and  to  break  bread  with  him.  He  accept- 
ed the  invitation  and  when  they  sat  down  the  said  William 
Brown  had  a  little  ceremony,  or  what  is  called  'grace  before 
meat'.  William  Dewsbury  was  invited  to  help  himself,  but  sit- 
ting in  a  grave  manner,  he  replied,  'If  thou  wilt  first  partake 
with  me  T  shall  be  free  to  partake  with  thee.'  After  a  short 
silence  he  was  drawn  forth  in  testimony,  beginning  with  these 
words,  '0,  Earth !  Earth !  hear  the  word  of  the  Lord !'  branch- 
ing out  in  a  powerful  manner  which  effectually  reached  and 
convinced  this  religious  man.  After  this  he  accompanied  W. 
Dewsbury  on  the  way  towards  a  neighboring  village,  and 
recommended  him  to  a  certain  man's  house,  who  was  likewise 
religiously  inclined  and  also  effectively  convinced  on  W.  D.'s 
visit. 

"When  William  Brown  came  back,  his  wife  asked  him 
wherefore  he  brought  that  madman  to  their  house ;  he  answered, 
'Why,  woman,  he  hath  brought  the  Eternal  Truth  from  God  to 
us. '  She  was  somewhat  affected  and  did  not  know  the  mean- 
ing of  it ;  but  becoming  more  inwardly  thoughtful,  she  was  also 
convinced." 

"After  William  Penn  obtained  a  grant  from  King  Charles 
IT.,  for  the  province  of  Pennsylvania,  and  upon  the  proposal 
thereupon  of  many  Quakers — or  Friends,  as  they  styled  them- 
selves— removing  from  England  to  settle  in  America,  there  was 
a  doubt  in  the  minds  of  some  (who  were  valuable)  about  the 
propriety  of  such  a  removal,  lest  it  should  be  deemed  flying 
from  persecution ;  but  William  Dewsbury,  traveling  into  those 
parts  where  the  Browns  lived,  had  a  meeting  there  and  proved 
the  means  of  settling  and  reconciling  the  minds  of  some  that 
were  in  doubts,  expressing  in  his  testimony  to  this  effect;  'The 


HESTER  VERNON  (BROWN)   FELL 

Lord  is  about  to  plant  the  wilderness  of  America  with  a  choice 
vine  or  noble  seed,  which  shall  grow  and  flourish,'  and,  in  the 
language  of  a  prophet  divinely  inspired,  he  added  nearly  thus : 
'I  see  them,  I  see  them,  under  his  blessing  arising  into  a  state 
of  prosperity,'  thereby  foretelling  the  spreading  of  the  Truth 
in  America." 

James  Brown  settled  first  at  Marcus  Hook,  Pennsylvania. 
"At  a  Friends'  meeting  in  Burlington,  Ye  8th  of  Ye  6th 
Month,  1679,  he  was  joyned  in  marriage  to  Honour  Clayton, 
daughter  of  William  Clayton,  who  had  immigrated  in  1677. *' 
William  Clayton  was  one  of  the  nine  justices  who  in  1681  sat 
at  Upland,  Pennsylvania,  afterward  called  Chester  by  William 
Penn,  and  was  a  member  of  Penn's  Council,  1682- '84. 

In  1702  James,  with  his  brother  William,  moved  to  Not- 
tingham, forty  miles  distant,  a  place  "accounted  far  back  in 
the  wilderness,"  where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  days.  It 
is  natural  to  believe  that  William  Brown,  who  laid  out  the 
"Nottingham  lots"  gave  this  name  from  Nottinghamshire  in 
remembrance  of  his  early  home  in  England.  About  ten  miles 
west  of  this  place,  in  Little  Brittain,  Lancaster  County,  more 
than  a  century  later,  on  March  2,  1819,  was  born  to  William 
and  Rachel  Brown  their  daughter,  Hester  Vernon,  the  great, 
great,  great  granddaughter  of  James  Brown. 

In  1828,  Hester's  father,  William  Brown,  brought  his 
family  to  Illinois,  settling  on  a  farm  on  the  Mackinaw  River  in 
Tazewell  County.  They  drove  from  Pennsylvania,  having  a 
four-horse  team  to  convey  their  household  goods  and  a  two- 
horse  carriage  in  which  the  family  rode.  They  were  nearly 
four  weeks  on  the  way,  often  stopping  at  farm  houses  for  the 
night.  If  the  house  was  too  small  to  accommodate  the  family, 
they  spread  their  own  bedding  on  the  floor  for  a  part  of  them, 
and  the  rest  slept  on  beds  prepared  in  their  wagon,  which  was 
covered  and  comfortably  arranged  for  this  itinerant  living. 
The  event  of  the  journey  which  impressed  itself  most  vividly  on 
the  mind  of  Hester,  then  a  child  of  nine  years,  was  jolting  over 
the  corduroy  roads  across  the  marshy  lands  of  Indiana. 

There  were  other  than  financial  reasons  that  lead  William 
Brown  at  the  age  of  forty-eight  to  leave  his  comfortable  eastern 
home,  surrounded  as  it  was  by  old  friends  and  numerous  rela- 
tives, to  brave  the  inevitable  hardships  of  pioneer  life.  His 
thought  was  for  his  children,  three  of  whom  were  entering  upon 
manhood.  For  these  sons  he  was  looking  forward  to  the  time 
when  they  would  be  forming  homes  of  their  own  with  new 
ties  and  relationships  and  this  gentleman  of  the  old  school  and 
his  good  wife  were  willing  to  make  any  sacrifice  for  the  future 
of  their  children. 


However,  while  he  thus  cheerfully  gave  up  ease  and  com- 
fort to  face  the  uncertainty  of  western  pioneer  life,  he  always 
held  to  his  inherited  ideals  of  home  life  and  manners  and 
required  conformity  to  these  from  all  in  his  home,  whether 
members  of  the  family  or  helpers  on  the  farm  which  soon 
amounted  to  a  section  of  land. 

The  family  arrived  at  their  new  home  in  October.  On  the 
farm,  which  William  Brown  had  purchased  from  the  govern- 
ment and  which  he  owned  till  the  time  of  his  death,  were  two 
log-cabins  which  the  family  occupied  until  spring,  when  a 
house  of  hewn  logs  was  built.  None  of  the  houses  in  the  vicinity 
were  furnished  with  windows.  There  were  openings  left  for 
air  and  light  which,  in  some  cases,  were  closed  by  oiled  paper, 
excluding  the  cold  and  admitting  some  light.  William  Brown, 
however,  went  to  St.  Louis  before  the  coming  on  of  cold  weather 
to  procure  glass  window  panes.  In  taking  this  journey, 
he  walked  to  Pekin,  a  distance  of  sixteen  miles,  where  he  took 
a  boat  to  St.  Louis.  Upon  his  return  his  eldest  son,  Isaiah, 
met  him  with  a  wagon  at  Pekin. 

The  winter  of  1828  was  a  severe  season,  two  years  before 
the  winter  of  the  "big  snow".  Snow  fell  early  and  almost  con- 
tinuously and  lay  on  the  ground  to  a  depth  of  two  and  three 
feet.  At  that  time  game  was  abundant  and  one  of  the  brothers 
trapped  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  prairie  chickens  during 
the  winter ;  venison,  too,  was  plentiful.  They  had  brought  with 
them  a  goodly  amount  of  provisions  and  these,  in  addition  to 
what  was  obtained  on  the  trip  to  St.  Louis,  kept  the  family  well 
supplied  during  this  first  winter  in  their  new  western  home. 
William's  wife,  Rachel  Milner  Brown,  by  her  thrift  and  ingenu- 
ity, helped  to  keep  the  family  from  suffering  many  of  the 
privations  that  usually  fell  to  the  lot  of  early  pioneers. 

As  was  usual  in  this  new  western  country,  there  were  no 
schools  near  at  hand.  On  this  account,  a  teacher  was  em- 
ployed for  a  time  in  the  Brown  home  to  instruct  the  younger 
members  of  the  family.  Joshua,  the  second  son  of  William  and 
Rachel  Brown,  who  was  about  nineteen  years  old  when  they 
arrived  in  Illinois,  in  a  letter  written  by  him  in  his  eighty  eighth 
year,  says  he  remembers  perfectly  Jesse  W.  Fell's  arrival  at  his 
father's  in  the  fall  of  1832.  "He  came  by  steamboat  to  Pekin,  and 
footed  it  to  our  house,  a  distance  of  sixteen  miles,  carrying  a 
knapsack  and  feeling  as  big  as  King  Solomon  in  the  height  of 
his  glory. ' '  Jesse,  the  young  pioneer,  readily  accepted  an  invita- 
tion to  teach  the  younger  children  of  the  Brown  family  during 
the  ensuing  winter. 

At  the  age  of  seventeen,  Hester  and  one  of  her  sisters  were 
sent  to  Springfield  to  attend  a  school  for  young  ladies,  kept  by 


HESTEE  VERNON  (BROWN)   FELL 

a  very  excellent  teacher,  and  the  girls  received  what,  at  that 
time,  was  considered  a  superior  education. 

Among  the  reminsicences  of  her  girlhood  days,  given  by 
Mrs.  Jesse  W.  Fell,  are  these ;  one  winter  day  in  1836,  a  brother 
rode  horseback  to  the  post-office,  four  miles  distant.  It  was 
raining  when  he  left  home,  but  before  his  return  the  weather 
turned  cold,  and  his  clothing  was  frozen  so  tightly  to  the  sad- 
dle that  it  had  to  be  thawed  to  release  him.  In  recalling  with 
her  grandchildren  her  childhood  days  in  Illinois  she  often 
said:  "Thoughts  of  my  mother  always  bring  to  my  mind  the 
picture  of  a  trim  figure  in  a  neat,  quaker  drab  garb."  This 
mother  of  hers  never  failed  to  order  her  new  friends'  bonnet 
from  Philadelphia,  where  alone  they  had  the  art,  or  fine  art, 
of  constructing  those  perfect  creations  of  simplicity  with  never 
a  wrinkle  nor  twist  nor  sign  of  a  stitch.  The  few  plaits  needed 
in  joining  the  crown  to  the  front  and  main  part  of  the  bonnet 
were  so  exact  that  no  tape  could  discover  in  them  a  hint  of 
variation.  The  narrow  bonnet  strings  of  ribbon  were  its  nearest 
approach  to  ornamentation.  Beneath  the  bonnet  was  worn  a 
net  cap  to  save  the  slightest  soil  from  the  immaculate  bonnet 
and  soften  the  outline  of  the  face.  When  not  in  use  the  bonnet 
was  stored  away  in  a  clothes  press  in  a  round  bandbox  with  an 
outside  cover  of  cotton  goods,  which  was  drawn  together  at  the 
top  with  a  cord. 

Her  father  was  very  fond  of  well  bred  horses  and  had 
none  but  the  best  on  his  place.  One  which  was  of  immense  size 
and  strength,  was  often  brought  into  requisition  to  carry  people 
across  the  Mackinaw  when  the  water  was  unusually  high — a 
sort  of  living  ferry.  Mrs.  Fell  often  told  of  what  a  fine  "eques- 
trian" he  was  and  with  what  ease  and  grace  he  would  place 
his  hand  on  the  pommel  of  the  saddle  and  vault  upon  his  horse. 

In  1833,  when  there  was  a  general  failure  of  the  corn  crop, 
her  father  having  an  abundance  was  called  upon  for  seed  corn 
by  the  farmers  far  and  near.  The  grain  would  have  com- 
manded almost  any  price,  but  William  Brown  would  not  take 
advantage  of  their  necessity  and  charged  only  the  current  price 
of  $1.00  per  bushel.  Consequently  he  was  known  in  all  that 
region  as  "Joseph." 

Extracts  from  letters  of  her  father  to  his  cousin,  Jeremiah 
Brown,  of  Lancaster  County,  Pennsylvania,  will  give  a  glimpse 
of  the  life  of  the  early  Illinois  pioneer. 

Tazewell  County,  11  mo,  5th,  1829. 

*  *  *  I  have  purchased  two  hundred  acres  of  land  which 
will  be  as  much  as  I  need  at  present.  My  prospects  are  fair,  how 
they  will  turn  out  Providence  only  knows.  Besides  this  purchase 


BIOGRAPHY 

I  have  been  able  to  lend  as  much  money  as  will  bring  me  a  hand- 
some farm  every  year  and  still  as  much  cash  as  will  purchase,  as 
I  need  and  what  I  will  need  for  other  purposes.  Among  all  dis- 
advantages I  have  one  satisfaction,  that  is,  I  owe  no  man  any- 
thing but  good  will  and  I  feel  myself  a  free  man  and,  if  I  keep 
my  senses,  no  man  will  ever  catch  me  otherwise.  *  *  * 

Tazewell  County,  4th  mo,  20th,  1830. 

*  *  *  The  people  of  this  country  are  from  all  parts  of  the 
Union;    with  different  manners  and  habits  from  what  we  have 
been  used  to  and  almost  as  many  religions  as  people,  but  they 
are  very  kind  and  obliging.    I  can  do  very  well  with  them.  *  *  * 

May  peace,  prosperity  and  happiness  attend  thee  and  thine 
with  all  my  friends  and  relations,  which  is  the  sincere  wish  of 
thy  old  friend  and  relation, 

J.  Brown,  Jr.  WILLIAM  BROWN. 

From  another  letter  written  in  eighteen  thirty  four,  when  he 
was  a  member  of  the  Illinois  Legislature  from  Tazewell  County, 
to  this  same  cousin,  then  a  member  of  the  Pennsylvania  House 
of  Representatives,  we  have  the  following: 

*  *  *  "  I  am  in  Vandalia  at  this  time  and  shall  remain  here 
until  the  first  of  March.    I  should  like  it,  if  thee  would  write  to 
me,  as  soon  as  thee  receives  this,  and  send  a  statement  of  how  the 
canals  and  railroads  of  thy  state  are  coming  on.    I  was  elected 
to  the  Legislature  at  the  last  election,  and,  as  our  State  seems 
wild  to  follow  the  Eastern  States  in  improvements,  I  would  like 
to  know  whether  the  works  are  like  to  be  an  advantage  to  the 
State  in  general  or  not."  *  *  * 

The  young  people  of  those  days  did  not  lack  for  entertain- 
ment, and  those  of  the  Brown  neighborhood  thought  nothing 
of  riding  on  horseback  to  a  party  at  Pekin,  sixteen  miles  dis- 
tant. But  those  were  the  good  old  days  of  work  as  well  as 
play,  and  the  girls,  as  well  as  the  boys,  had  their  tasks  or 
"stints",  as  they  were  called,  to  perform  each  day,  and  this 
discipline  prepared  Hester  Brown  for  the  accomplishment  of 
the  arduous  duties  which  fell  to  her  lot,  at  a  later  period,  as 
the  wife  of  a  pioneer  in  the  city  many  of  whose  streets  and 
avenues  bear  testimony  to  the  interest  taken  in  the- infant  enter- 
prise by  herself  and  her  worthy  husban'd. 

On  January  26,  1838,  Hester  Brown  married  Jesse  W.  Fell, 
who  by  this  time  had  opened  the  first  law  office  in  Bloomington. 
Jesse  W.  Fell  as  well  as  his  wife  came  from  a  Quaker  family, 
his  mother  being  a  speaker  in  the  Quaker  meetings.  His  family 
were  the  first  Quakers  in  Bloomington  and  religious  meetings 


HESTER  VERNON   (BROWN)   FELL 

were  held  in  their  home.  Her  father,  as  well  as  her  husband's 
father,  in  common  with  all  Quakers,  were  strong  anti-slavery 
men.  Both  William  Brown  and  Jesse  Fell,  Sr.,  were  known  to 
have  assisted  slaves  in  getting  from  the  South  to  Canada  via  the 
"underground  railroad,"  as  it  was  called. 

The  exact  route  of  this  so-called  "underground  railway" 
through  the  portion  of  the  Illinois  where  the  Brown  family 
lived,  has  been  obliterated  by  forgetfulness  and  the  long  num- 
ber of  years  that  have  passed  by  since  it  was  used.  In  fact,  it 
is  doubtful  if  there  were  ever  a  distinct  line  along  which  all  the 
negroes  were  transported  by  friendly  assistance.  However,  it 
is  recalled  that  the  runaways  generally  took  the  route  along 
the  Illinois  river  north  from  St.  Louis,  then  followed  the  Macki- 
naw so  as  to  keep  within  the  protection  of  the  timber  as  long 
as  possible.  They  seldom  sought  the  road  across  the  open 
prairie,  for  fear  of  being  detected. 

There  was  a  large  hound  named  "Pete"  in  the  family  in 
those  days,  and  the  stories  of  his  service  to  the  runaway  negroes 
are  still  extant.  It  is  said  that  he  would  growl  and  bark  at 
any  strange  white  man  who  approached  the  house,  but  if  a 
negro  was  discovered  by  him  Pete  would  scratch  at  the  door  and 
later  at  the  garments  of  some  member  of  the  family  until 
attention  was  called  to  the  hiding  place  of  the  colored  man 
and  the  latter  was  thus,  through  the  intelligence  of  the  dog, 
assisted  to  shelter.  Pete's  life  of  service  extended  over  twenty- 
years. 

The  young  people  went  to  housekeeping  on  what  is  now  the 
George  P.  Davis  place,  and  Jesse  W.  Fell,  who  was  fond  of 
horticulture  and  was  something  of  a  botanist,  began  what 
proved  to  be  his  life  work,  the  planting  of  trees.  In  1857  they 
removed  to  Normal,  building  the  first  house  erected  in  that 
village,  on  the  corner  of  Broadway  and  what  is  now  Irving 
Avenue.  The  Fell  residence  was,  for  many  years,  the  finest  in 
Normal  and  many  will  recall  the  extensive  and  beautiful  park 
which  filled  the  triangle  between  the  Chicago  and  Alton  rail- 
road, Broadway  and  Vernon  Avenue.  In  this  home  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Fell  reared  their  children.  Mrs.  Fell  was  always  noted 
for  her  energy  and  good  management.  At  the  time  of  the  dedi- 
cation of  the  Normal  University  building,  she  and  her  cousin, 
Mrs.  Charles  Holder,  were  the  prime  movers  in  preparing  the 
banquet — they  called  it  a  big  dinner  then —  which  was  given 
in  the  large  hall. 

Church  services  were  held  at  that  time  in  the  University 
building,  as  no  church  had  as  yet  been  erected  in  Normal,  and 
some  of  Mrs.  Fell's  children  attended  their  first  Sunday  school 


BIOGRAPHY 

there.  In  these  early  days  the  grounds  of  the  Fell  homestead 
were  always  open  to  the  students. 

Mr.  Fell  died  in  Normal  on  the  25th  day  of  February,  1887, 
in  his  seventy-ninth  year.  Mrs.  Fell  survived  him  by  nearly 
twenty  years,  her  death  occurring  in  Normal  on  June  12,  1906. 
We  believe  the  best  insight  into  her  character  will  be  gained 
from  the  following  words  uttered  at  that  time  by  Rev.  J.  H. 
Mueller,  who  had  been  her  pastor  for  fourteen  years : 

"Mrs.  Fell  has  always  appeared  to  me  more  than  anything 
else  the  pattern  of  a  great  fidelity.  I  do  not  know  anybody 
who  has  been  more  faithful  to  life 's  trust.  I  have  often  listened 
to  portions  of  the  beautiful  story  of  her  life, — especially  the 
stories  of  those  early  years  of  hardship  and  denial,  and  yet  of 
her  triumphant  faith.  Those  of  us  who  knew  her  only  in  the 
gentleness  of  her  latter  years,  could  hardly  think  of  her  as  on* 
among  those  early  pioneers  whose  nerves  were  iron  and  whose 
confidence  in  human  nature  was  almost  divine.  There  was 
something  in  those  brave  pathfinders  of  our  civilization  in  this 
western  land, — something  so  strong,  so  confident,  so  self-reliant, 
that  we  who  now  live  can  hardly  understand.  The  duties  of 
these  men  and  women  were  hard ;  and  the  harvests  often  scant; 
and  the  joys  of  life  always  mixed  with  hunger  and  fatigue  and 
loneliness.  Hers  was  that  gracious  faculty — may  I  call  it  the 
Christlike  gift  ?  —  of  always  thinking  and  speaking  well  and 
kindly  of  every  fellow  mortal.  I  do  not  recall  the  first  unkindly 
word  she  ever  spoke. 

She  never  forgot  life's  spring;  she  never  forgot  how  to 
be  young  and  joyous.  She  was  the  friend  of  the  children;  and 
they,  in  turn,  came  to  her  for  friendship's  sake. 

"She  was  like  herself  alone,  especially  in  her  thinking. 
Of  Quaker  stock,  hers  was  the  independent  faith — the  faith  in 
God  which  knows  no  limitations.  She  cared  nothing  for  the 
beaten  paths,  the  'footprints'  made  by  others.  She  went  where 
truth  and  conscience  called  her.  I  have  heard  her  give  ex- 
pression to  very  quaint,  yet  always  generous,  ideas.  Her  life  was 
full  of  motion.  Her  heart  was  always  open  as  the  gates  of  day. 
She  never  lacked  the  sentiment  of  appreciation.  She  sought  the 
light  and  found  it ;  and  stranger  than  all  else,  she  never  kept  it 
for  herself  alone.  She  had  the  courage  and  the  goodness  to  tell 
her  honest  thoughts.  I  never  discovered  a  taint  or  touch  of  malice 
in  her  life.  Surely,  she,  if  anyone,  leaves  behind  an  untarnished 
memory.  Her  light  will  keep  on  burning."