Illinois College |
Definition: Illinois College was founded in 1829 by Reverend John M. Ellis, a Presbyterian minister who felt a - seminary of learning - was needed in the new frontier state of Illinois. |
Illinois College was founded in 1829 by Reverend John M. Ellis, a Presbyterian minister who felt a "seminary of learning" was needed in the new frontier state of Illinois. His plans came to the attention of a group of Congregational students at Yale University. Seven of them, in one of the now famous "Yale Bands", came westward to help establish the College. It became one of the first institutes for higher learning in Illinois and the first two men to graduate from a college in state were Richard Yates, who became the Civil War governor of Illinois and later a U.S. Senator and Jonathan Edward Spilman. This second graduate composed the now-familiar music to Robert Burns's immortal poem, "Flow Gently, Sweet Afton". Both men received their baccalaureate degree from Illinois College in 1835. Nine students met for the first class on January 4, 1830. Julian Sturtevant, the first instructor and the second president, reported, "We had come there that morning to open a fountain for future generations to drink at." Shortly after, Edward Beecher left the Park Street Church in Boston, Massachusetts, to serve the new college as it first president. He created a strong college and retained close intellectual ties with New England. His brother, Henry Ward Beecher, preached and lectured at Illinois College, and his sister, Harriet Beecher Stowe, was an occasional visitor. His brother, Thomas, was graduated from Illinois College in 1843. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Mark Twain, Horace Greeley, and Wendell Phillips were among the visitors and lecturers in the early years. FIND OUT MORE ON THE MAIN PANICd.com
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