Illinois State Normal University - Index Yearbook (Normal, IL)

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Page Fifteen Elp' glllhrx .1 212 . , l 4 .u BUEL PRESTON COLTON. - 3111 mvmnriam. 1 The sudden and unexpected news of Professor Colton's death September 7, IQO6, struck like a blow upon the hearts of those who knew him best and who were looking for him almost daily to resume his work at Normal. XV e now know that he had been facing death for a year or more, but like the heroic spirit he was, he obscured his suffering and kept at his post of duty to the last. He died at Battle Creek, Mich., where he had gone during the last weeks of vacation with the hope that he might recuperate and be able to continue his work another year. Mr. Colton was born March 23, 1852, on a farm near Prince- ton, lll. His education was begun in a little brick schoolhouse on his father's farm. He attended his uncle's private school a while, and at the age of fourteen entered the Princeton township high school and was graduated with its first class in 187o. After one year of post-graduate high-school work he took a year at Knox College and Finished his college course at Amherst. taking his A. B. degree in 1874. Later he spent two years 51881-18823 in special scientific post-graduate work at Johns Hopkins Univer- sity. Here he was honored by election to a graduate scholarship in 1882. Mr. Colton taught for thirty years, twenty-nine of which were in Illinois. His professional career began in the Princeton town-

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ANGE V NIILNER L1IJl2l11'1ll VIRGINIA MAC LACHLIN, Assistant Lib1'a1'ia11. BRUNO N EHRLING, . Gardener. . , I FLORA PENNELL DODGE, Ste11og1'aphe1'. Thc1'c' are nzmzy men and wonzcn in flw world foday who arc' 611020110 zuzfola' Hood bv -zu1'1z111'11ff the cofzfidclzcrf of 6 6 - 6 flzcfr -wmflzfzzl jCl'1.ClIlI,S and gll1.ll'I'llg flzcir iastcs in the riglzet zz'1'1'ccflz701zf' - Page Fourteen

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Ehp jjnhpx Page Sixteen ship high school in 1874. In 1875-76 he taught a rural school near Princeton, during 1876-77 we find him at Keokuk Clad, at Decatur lIll.l the next year, and from 1878-81 he again taught in the Princeton high school. Mr. Colton was a characteristic product of his times. The modern scientific movement with its inductive method of study and its courageous freedom of thought was making wonderful discoveries in the world of natural truth, and in the control of natural forces, all of which was contributing richly to the well- being and progress of mankind. The importance of the biologi- cal sciences was so clearly foreseen that as early as 1872 the legislature of Illinois was induced to enact a law requiring every candidate for a teacher's certificate to pass an examination in the natural sciences. Neither teachers nor schools could meet the requirement in any adequate way. Thus a special demand was made for better preparation of teachers in these sciences. Mr. Colton caught the inspiration and discerned the great meaning of the scientihc movement, and with characteristic judgment sought the most thoro preparation possible for teach- ing his chosen specialties-Zoology, physiology, and botany. Be- fore going to Johns Hopkins he spent one or two summers with Professor Forbes at Normal. On his return from johns Hop- kins he became teacher of science in the Ottawa township high school, where he spent five years, the last three of which he was also principal. In 1888 he was called to the chair of natural science in the Illinois State Normal University. In the words of one most competent to judge, The place was his as much by manifest fit- ness as by the vote of the board of education. For eighteen years a steady stream of students pa.ssed thru his classroom to the teacher's desk. They have been illumined by his thought and touched by his spirit. 'iIn his teaching Mr. Colton carried out better than anyone else I have known, President Eliotis doctrine that to observe carefully and record faithfuly are vital preliminaries to accurate comparison and generalization. He possessed rare skill in di- recting and questioning .... Mr. Colton was very apt in illustra- tion, his laboratory abounded in original devices .... He was orderly and systematic in an unusual degreef, Professor Colton wrote two series of textbooks, one on zool- ogy, the other on physiology. These textbooks grew out of the author's teaching experience and form an organic part of his educational work. Both series of books have exercised an im- portant influence upon the teaching of these subjects, and will continue for many years to be standard textbooks. The Prac- tical Zoologyw was a pioneer i nits field. and revolutionized the teaching of that subject in the high schools of Illinois. The personal traits of Professor Colton are well described by .one.who was once his pupil and later a colleague and intimate - 1 i 1