MacMurray College - Tartan / Illiwoco Yearbook (Jacksonville, IL)

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Tales of the Long Ago There is a fascinating interest in the stories which alumnae of early years relate when they are with us on reunion occasions. We do not want to forget how the opening days of the College in 1848-49 and the fifties brought the students. In carriages and wagons, from places far and near, they came with their hair-covered trunks, boxes and home made candles, pretty poke bonnets in band boxes, and perhaps a feather bed, if a fond mother wished her daughter to have her accustomed comfort. It was necessary until the com- pletion of the first College building, with its stately columns reaching to the top of the third story, for board to be secured among the people of the town. There were no bathrooms, no running water anywhere, so the students provided them- selves with wooden wash tubs, which, when not in use, could be pushed under the bed, with the various devices used with it to provide a temporary privacy. It is hard to conceive what disorder the daily morning inspec- tion would have revealed had it not been for the stow-away place under the bed, concealed by the valance surrounding at least two sides of it. But for many years, whether living in the college dormitory or elsewhere, there were apt to be three or four girls in a room, and a little stove with wood for fuel was the commanding object at one side. A girl leaving the room on any errand was apt to be followed by calls from her room-mate to bring some wood up when you come back. A strip of molding with hooks or nails answered in place of a closet and held the modest wardrobes deemed suitable for school girl use. Gathered about the little table in the evening study hours, the girls labored over their compositions, or mastered the problems in Loomis ' Algebra in a way which we still hear made things hum in that most remarkable of class rooms. Room-mates took turns in furnishing a dozen candles which were burned one at a time, unless some especially dark and dismal task called for more light. Then they indulged themselves with a bril- liant illumination and recklessly burned two or three. In all times the years of learning have been the years of romance. The beautiful flower of youth so ordains it. No wonder that the con- vent system of seclusion, mistrust, and espionage brought forth its natural fruits. Clandestine breaking of rules and regulations had their episodes in midnight feasts with curtained transoms often followed by the panic of discovery. The play side of a young girl ' s life sixty and seventy years ago was given little thought after she had outgrown her doll. She was then supposed to be a lady, and such was her constant admonition. Ath- letic impulses were disgraceful and hoyden — to be suppressed at all times. 1 I ]

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JUNIOR YEAR First Term Latin — Cicero Algebra — Davie ' s First Lessons Arithmetic Reviewed Domestic Economy — Miss Beecher ' s Latin — Virgil, Prosody Geometry — Davie ' s Legendre Butler ' s Analogy Parker ' s Aids to English Composition SENIOR YEAR Firs Term Mental Philosoptiy — Upham ' s Astronomy — Burrett ' s Natural Theology — Paley ' s Evidences of Christianity — Alexander ' s Ancient and Modern History with Chronology Rhetoric — Newman ' s, Parsing Logic — Hedge ' s Criticism — Karnes ' Moral Science — Wayland ' s Cleveland ' s Compendium of English Literature Particular attention will be paid to Reading, Penmanship and Com- position, through the entire course. The first president. Rev. James F. Jacques, played a roll in national affairs as well as those of a local nature. He was president from 1848 to 1 8 5 5. The College Greetings for May 1916 says: At the outbreak of the war the Governor had sent for Jacques to come to Springfield where he became an invaluable adviser. One day a blunt, calm man obtained an interview with the Governor for the purpose of telling him he thought that he knew how to get troops for him. The Governor unimpressed by the stranger ' s crude manner, would have hastily dis- missed him but Jacques who was present suggested that he be asked to return on the following day. Persuaded by Jacques, Governor Yates consented to allow the stranger a desk in his office and gave him the task of writing letters. About two weeks later the Governor said to Jacques, ' That man you thought was one I should keep, hasn ' t yet written a letter I ' d send out. ' ' I didn ' t suppose, ' replied Jacques, ' that he would be valuable as a clerk. I considered him better as military drill master. Now there ' s the Twenty-first on the borders of mutiny. Put him in charge of them and see what ' s in him. ' ' By George, I ' ll do it. ' By heeding this advice of the ex-schoolmaster parson the world knows the rest, for that was the beginning of Grant ' s career. Since Dr. Jacques was not the type of man to send others into danger while he himself remained safely at home, he, too, soon joined the defenders of the flag. To this self-appointed task he brought to bear the same enthusiasm, in- terest, and spirit of helpfulness which had characterized his management of the early days of MacMurray. At the close of the war he returned to his earlier calling, that of preaching. [ 18 1

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Keep the Homefires Burning They burned a bit too brightly, because during the next ten years a new west wing was completed, only to burn down a few years later. In the meantime Rev. Reuben Andrus and Rev. A. S. McCoy had both served as presidents in the Jail for Angels, as the late William Jennings Bryan was known to say. Rev. Charles Adams was president during the Civil War. Here we are reminded of the attention Illinois College fellows took, even in those bashful days. They were brave soldiers and deserved to get a few minutes to stop off on East State to say goodbye and enjoy some candy on the way to the station. Latin was rather neg- lected some of those evenings, we fear, but a race was emancipated. The years from 1862 to 1893 were full of discouragement and diffi- culty. In the first decade of that period there were three fires; one in 1861, one in 1870, and one in 1872. In the later years of the period the School had to contend with the rapid growth of High Schools and with the opening of the men ' s colleges to women. Many schools for women died in these years, and the Illinois Female College lived only because of the devotion and sacrifice of friends. Chief and deserving of special mention were, Dr. Wm. H. DeMotte, president from 1868 to 1875, and Dr. Wm. F. Short, president from 1875 to 1893, of whom an old student writes: I was but little more than a child when I saw him first. It was the occasion of my first formal entrance into the College and very formal, indeed, it seemed to me. My mother had taken my younger and smaller sister and myself over to inquire of our fitness for the Intermediate Department and I have never forgotten the gracious and courtly manner of our greeting. He was in the office and while we were sitting there Dr. Joseph R. Harker Mts. Short entered and with a smile asked, ' Mr. Short, can you let me have five cents? ' As I recollect it the change was needed in the settlement of some bill she held in her hand. With a twinkle of the eye he reached the small coin over to her, remark- ing, ' You are exceedingly modest in your demands this morning, my ear . In 1893 Dr. Joseph R. Harker was chosen president of what soon became Illinois Woman ' s College. Under the inspiration and guidance of his devoted leadership the College grew, and grew, and grew. The East wing was built, the West wing extended to the south, the front of old Main built out to the west, valuable grounds added to the campus — the Power House built. Music Hall, the Gymnasium and Harker Hal! came into being. Endowment was started and made into a foundation support for the college. Standards were being gradually raised; and the College granted her first Academic degree in 1908. [ 0 1