1882 History
Chapter 4 - Religion, Education, Press
EARLY RELIGIOUS HISTORY — PIONEER PREACHERS — ORGANIZATION OF CHURCHES — EDUCATIONAL — THE FIRST SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS — THE PIONEER SCHOOLHOUSES — PRESENT EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES OF THE COUNTY — STATISTICS — COMPULSORY EDUCATION AND ITS GENERAL EFFECTS — THE PRESS OF THE COUNTY, ETC., ETC.
By W. H. Perrin
EDUCATION and religion received the early attention of the pioneers of
Montgomery County. It is a fact highly commendable to them that churches were
established while yet there was but a handful of residents in the newly-settled
community. People in those early days seem really to have been more religious,
more zealously devoted to their church and the cause of their Master than at the
present day. Whether this resulted from their lonely life in the wilderness,
beset with toil and with danger as it was, or whether they were more zealous
Christians, we will not attempt to say. But since we heard a minister of the
Gospel recently declare in a sermon that some of the heathen countries of the
Globe, who, fifty years ago, had never seen a Bible nor heard the story of the
Cross, now had more Christians in proportion to their population than this
enlightened country of ours, we are forced to believe the pioneers were more
religious than their descendants. Their religion was more simple, earnest, and
sincere, and possessed fewer forms and ceremonies than that now in vogue.
Religion, like everything else, has kept up with the marvelous march of
civilization, and the genuine old article, given us by "Him who spake as never
man spake," has been wonderfully improved to adapt it to the lively wants of the
nineteenth century.
The introduction of the Gospel into Montgomery County was coeval with its
settlement by white people. The preachers came in reality "as one crying in the
wilderness," and wherever they could collect a few of the pioneers together,
they proclaimed the glad tidings of salvation "without money and without price."
The first sermon preached within the present limits of the county, is believed
to have been preached by Rev. James Street, in 1817, at the house of David
McCoy, one of the early settlers of what is now Hillsboro Township. A church was
organized in 1820, the first Christian organization in the county, and in 1821 a
church edifice was erected. It was of the pioneer type, built of logs, the
cracks daubed with mud and split logs formed the "pews," or, in backwoods
parlance, the "benches." A Baptist Church was built in 1823, which was also a
rude log structure. Although Rev. Street preached the first sermon, Rev. Henry
Sears, it is claimed, was the first resident minister. The first resident
Presbyterian minister was Rev. Jesse Townsend. Rev. Daniel Scherer organized the
first Lutheran Church; the Presbyterians organized a church in East Fork in
1830, of which Rev. Joel Knight and Rev. John Barber were the first ministers.
Thus churches were organized and temples of worship erected in the different
settlements as soon as the number of inhabitants would permit. In the chapter
devoted to the individual townships, villages and cities, the history of all the
different denominations and churches will be written. The subject is alluded to
here, merely to show the zeal of the early settlers of the county hi religious
matters and their devotion to the cause of Christianity.
Education — The pioneers were quite as energetic in matters of education as in
religion, and schools were established as soon as the settlements produced
children enough to form a school or pay for the employment of a teacher. The
first schools were taught on the subscription plan and were as primitive as the
cabins in which they were held. The first school of which we have any account
was taught by a man named Brazleton, in the winter of 1818-19, in the present
township of Hillsboro. It was taught in a little cabin on Mr. Griffith's place,
and was a subscription school, each patron paying at the rate of from $1.50 to
$2 per scholar, for a term of three mouths. During the progress of this school
Indian boys and young squaws used to come and play with the children at noon and
at recess from their camps in the vicinity. The first regular schoolhouse built
in this neighborhood was on Section 9, in 1822, and was the usual small log
cabin. In 1825, a schoolhouse was built in what is now Fillmore Township, and in
1828 the first temple of worship was built in what is at present East Fork
Township. Mrs. Townsend taught school in 1823, in the present township of Butler
Grove, in a small log cabin which stood on Section 31, and which was the first
school in that neighborhood. The first schoolhouse built in Irving Township was
in the southwest corner in 1827, and the first school taught in it by a man
named Mclntire, then seventy years of age. Henry Lower was an early teacher of
the county, and taught in a room of his own house; John King and Charles Turner
were also early teachers. Martha B. Cass was an early teacher in the Raymond
settlement, and taught in her own house. The first schoolhouse was built there
in 1832, a small log building. A schoolhouse — the first in Walshville Township
— was built in 1834, and a Mr. Clowson was the first teacher to occupy it. Other
neighborhoods and settlements inaugurated schools as soon as their population
required them.
The children now in school know little of the school facilities their parents
and grandparents enjoyed. The schoolhouses of fifty years ago were log cabins —
some with puncheon floors and some with no other floor than the ground. They
were built mostly of round logs, the cracks filled in with mud, a log taken out
across one end and the space filled with greased paper. This served as a window,
and under it was placed the "writing bench," where the entire school would
repair to practice their writing lesson, which was done with pens made of
goose-quills, and ink of home manufacture. The books used in the schools were as
primitive as the houses wherein the schools were taught. The New Testament was
the usual reader — a few had the "Pleasant Companion," the "Columbian Orator,"
and the "English Reader." Kirkham's grammar and Pike's arithmetic served to
enlighten the pupil in those branches, and the boy who could "cipher" to the
"rule of three," was considered a prodigy in figures. There are hundreds now
living in Montgomery County to whom these reflections will vividly recall their
school days — days when they sat ten hours out of each twenty-four, on a split
log for a seat, and studied hard, with but an hour's intermission during the
day. To them the log schoolhouse with its wide fire-place, its puncheon floors
and uneasy benches recall few pleasant memories.
School facilities have improved wonderfully, however, since the period of which
we write. The log-cabin schoolhouse, with its rude furnishing is a thing of the
past, and the most liberal schools and comfortable houses are now the order of
the time. The basis of the school system of Illinois and the northwest was the
act of Congress, by which one thirty-sixth of the public lands were donated to
the several Northwestern States for the purpose of aiding a system of public
free education. In the survey of the lands, thirty-six square miles or sections,
constituted a township, and the sixteenth section of each township was
designated as the "school section." By the law of the State of Illinois, each
Congressional Township was made to constitute a school township, without regard
to either county or other division lines. In many of the counties, especially in
Northern Illinois, the county authorities have made the lines of political
townships identical with the Congressional or school townships, while in the
central and southern portions of the State many are smaller and others larger.
In many townships, the land was sold at a comparatively early date, when land
was cheap, and therefore but little was realized, the whole section in some
instances being sold at the Government price. The land would now sell, perhaps,
for $10 or $50 per acre. To say that any great mistake was made in thus
disposing of the lands at so early a date, would be to cast a reflection on
those having charge of the same. In the early history of the county, the people
were poor and were sadly in need of the little revenue arising from so small a
principal. With schoolhouses to build and teachers to pay, they found it no
small burden to make provision for the education of their children. And then,
again, it would have taken no less than a prophet to predict that within half a
century this land would double in value five times over. Indeed, it was almost
universally conceded that the prairie lands would never be occupied. The fund
realized from the sale of these lands is irreducible, being loaned by law to
responsible parties, the interest only being used for the purpose of paying
teachers' salaries.
The Legislature of the State, in 1855, passed a law levying an annual school tax
of 2 mills on the dollar on all taxable property in the State. This revenue is
somewhat variable with different years and different assessments, increasing as
the county grows wealthier. These two funds constitute the nucleus of the school
system in this, as in the other counties of the State. By the law making these
generous provisions for the education of the youth, a provision was enacted
making it obligatory on the part of a district to support a school a certain
number of months in the year (formerly six, but at present five), otherwise the
district receives no benefit from either fund.
This provision insures the co-operation of district authorities in the support
of schools; and as a consequence, none of the districts in the county are
without the benefit of school instruction. Under the old system, every community
claimed the privilege of managing the schools without interference of other
parties, or modification by general laws. Teachers were accountable only to
their employers, and no particular standard of qualification was required.
Schools were kept open only for such a length of time, or not at all, as the
whims or prejudices of the people might dictate. Consequently, while some of the
more wealthy and intelligent neighborhoods were well supplied with school
facilities, others were almost wholly without them. The following facts,
furnished by Mr. Thomas E. Harris, County Superintendent of Schools, show the
present state of the common school system for 1881, in Montgomery County:
Number of persons in the county under twenty-one 14,274
Number of persons between six and twenty-one 9,544
Number of school districts in the county 136
Number of schoolhouses in the county 135
Number of districts having school five months or more 132
Whole number of months school 1,155
Whole number of pupils 7,157
Male teachers employed 88
Female teachers employed 131
Number of ungraded schools 127
Number of graded schools 7
Number of private schools 1
Whole amount paid teachers $39,727.68
Estimated value of school property 162,275.00
In conclusion of the educational history of the county, a word upon compulsory
education, a subject attracting more or less attention now in nearly every State
of the Union, may not be uninteresting to our readers. Concerning the right of
State or Government to pass and carry into effect what are known as compulsory
laws, and require parents and guardians, even against their will to send their
children to school, there does not appear to be much diversity of opinion. But
concerning such a policy, dependent upon so many known and unknown conditions,
there is the widest diversity. That a great good would be wrought is
indisputable, if the wisdom of State government could devise some means to
strengthen and supplement the powers of Boards of Education, and enable them to
prevent truancy, even if only in cases where parents desire their children to
attend school regularly, but their authority is too weak to secure that end. The
instances are not few in which parents would welcome aid in this matter, knowing
that truancy is often the first step in a path which finally ends in vagabondage
and crimes. It is our liberal system of free education that has preserved our
Government so far, and its perpetuation depends upon the education and
enlightenment of the masses. With the most scrupulous care, England fosters her
great universities, that the sons of her nobility may be properly trained for
their places in the House of Lords, in the army, navy and church. Then, the
character of citizenship should be high indeed, where every man is born a king
and sovereign heir to all the franchises and trusts of the State and Republic.
An ignorant people can be governed but only an intelligent people can govern
themselves; and that is the experiment we are trying to solve in these United
States. "The growth of agrarianism and communism has appalled statesmenship, and
alarmed the dull ears of the people, who see in these twin brothers of ignorance
impending ruin. The great army of tramps marching through the land, disturbing
our domestic tranquility and moral safety, furnish another element to the
problem confronting those who yearn for a solid and stable peace, and seek for
the security assured by a permanent government. Intelligence wedded to virtue
constitute the palladium of the union. Relaxation of vigor in the effort to
improve the quality of our citizenship, will result in certain ruin. From all
the towers of the Republic the watchmen cry, 'Educate ! Educate ! Educate !' "
[Kentucky State Superintendent of Public Instruction]
Viewing the subject from the above standpoint, is one of the strongest arguments
in favor of compulsory education. Whatever may be said to the contrary, or in
opposition to compulsory education, it is a fact apparent to all, that the
youthful idlers upon the streets of towns and cities should be gathered up by
somebody and compelled to do something. If they learn nothing else, there will
be at least this salutary lesson, that society is stronger than they, and
without injuring them, will use its strength to protect itself. While reform
schools are being established for those who have already started on the downward
road, it would be well to provide some way to rescue those lingering upon the
brink of ruin, and there is no better way, perhaps, than by compulsory
education.
The Press. — The newspaper and the printing press of the present day constitute
one of the most important features of the time and of the country, and a
chronicle that said nothing of their power and influence would be, and justly,
too, considered very incomplete. The daily paper, by the aid of the telegraph,
gives us to-day all the news that transpired yesterday in the uttermost parts of
the earth. And the county press, the faithful exponent of the county's interest,
is the intellectual criterion for the masses, and the most popular channel for
general information. It is furthermore a true record of the county's history;
the very advertisements in local papers eventually become historical facts, and
it is to be regretted that so few persons seem to appreciate the value and
importance of their county papers.
Montgomery County is well supplied with local newspapers. In Hillsboro,
Litchfield, Nokomis and Raymond, papers are published weekly, and it is but
justice to them to say that they are above the medium standard of newspapers
published in country towns. The papers of each city and town will be fully
written up, as a part of the history of their respective places, and are only
referred to here in a general way.
Extracted 28 Jan 2020 by Norma Hass from History of Bond and Montgomery Counties, Illinois, published in 1882, pages 194-198.
