Illinois Wesleyan University - Wesleyana Yearbook (Bloomington, IL)

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Dream Campus. This drawing envisions a campus that was not to be-with one style of architecture. It was proposed about the time of the great building program that brought the library and gymnasium to the campus. Note the ordered walks, rows of poplars, and the mall. December 2, 1850-These thirty founders, who constituted the first board of trustees, met and formed a temporary organization. Decemlaer 3, 1850-The articles of agreement were officially filed in the Circuit Court. December 11, 1850-The trustees met, formally organized, elected officers, and divided themselves into three groups. December 18, 1850-The trustees met and adopted a constitution. Febfmziy' 12 1853-The University was incorpo- rated under the laws of Illinois and a charter was granted. By this time the number of trustees had been reduced from thirty to twenty-four. These twenty-four were those who names appear on the West Gate of the campus. fLZ72Zl6l1'y 50, 1857-The charter was amended to show that the University was now under the joint patronage of the Illinois Conference and the Peoria Conference of the Methodist Church. The names of the original thirty founders should have some attraction for us, printed here in the order of signing. Twelve of them were Methodist preachers and eighteen were laymen. Of the latter, five were merchants, three were farmers, three were lawyers, two were blacksmiths, two were doctors of medicine, one was a dentist, one was a newspaper man, and one was a brick mason. One was a native of Eng- land and one was a native of Ireland. One had been educated as a Catholic in Georgetown, D.C., and one had attended a Catholic college in Canada. Peter Cartwright C. W. Lewis j. C. Finley john S. Barger .lames Leaton Iohn Van Cleve james F. jaquess William Rutledge C. M. Holliday W. D. R. Trotter W. H. Allin XV. C. Hobbs J. E. McClun john Magoun Thomas Magee William Wallace Charles P. Merriman james Miller William H. Holmes Linus Graves Thomas P. Rogers John W. Ewing Lewis Bunn E. Thomas Isaac Funk james Allin D. Trimmer Kersey H. Fell Silas Watters Reuben Andrus ll

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An early commencement program. Note the sentimental titles of music inspired by the Civil War and the last line: 'lThe Fall Term will begin Tuesday, September 13th, 1861 This was in the days when each graduating senior gave an oratifm. The Law Class of 1914. The school of law, 1874-1927, had its lished in 1896, President William H. Wilder said, While the university was placed under the control of the Methodist Episcopal Church, it was intended that it should be positively and broadly Christian, rather than purely secular or sectarian. Such has been and is its characterf' Carved on the West Gate of the campus are these words: We stand in a position of incalculable re- sponsibility to the great wave of population over- spreading the valley of the Mississippi. Destiny seems to point out this valley as the depository of the great heart of the nation. From this center mightly pulsations, for good or evil, must in future How which shall not only affect the fortunes of the republic, but reach in their influence other and dis- tant nations of the earth. This is an excerpt from the report on education to the annual meeting of the Illinois Conference held at Springfield in 1854. Here we recognize the great responsibility felt by the founding fathers as they stood on the threshold of a great, new western country. Education in a democracy was actually being promoted, and Illi- nois as a growing prairie state was to make a vital contribution in various directions. Reduced to a convenient chronological table, the essential early events and dates in connection with the origin of Illinois Wesleyan are as follows: SEIYIEYIMI61' 23. 1850-Thirty men met and signed articles of agreement establishing An Institute of learning of Collegiate gradef, This was the real founders' day. largest enrollment for the year 1923-192-i with a total of 133 students, The instructors were local practicing lawyers, It was discontinued because it could not meet the standards of the North Central Association. Many local lawyers got their training here.

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if 5,335 5 t - 'M Duration Ql.A.A.J basement once had an imposing brick superstructure known as 'lMain Hall. Its towers were modified about 1900 Ccf. p. 175 after a severe storm blew down the center one. The name of the building was changed to uHedding Hall in March, 1931, in honor of Hedding College, Abingdon, Illinois, which transferred its endowment and annuities to this university in December, 1950, after Wes- leyan's trustees had formally adopted its alumni in June, 1928. The courageous and irrepressible Rev. Peter Cart- wright, pioneer Methodist circuit rider and saddle- bagger, was no doubt the most picturesque of the Wfesleyan founders. He seems to have been largely responsible for bringing the embryo institution, at first a community proposition, under the patronage of the church. A man of little formal training, he worked tirelessly and gave considerable money to aid the cause of Christian education in or at the edge of the wilderness. He served as a trustee for 17 twenty-one years, till 1871. In other words, he almost died in office. His defeat of Abraham Lin- coln as one of a group of candidates for a seat in the state legislature puts a political halo on this very individualistic worker in the moral vineyard. The aftermath, however, came when Lincoln de- feated him for Congress by a vote of 6,540 to 4,827 Starting with an enrollment of seven on October 28, 1850, the institution grew to 45, all of prepara- tory grade, in january, 1851. In the second school