As one drives down West College Avenue in Jacksonville,

Illinois, the campus of Illinois College is a quite stunning

sight with its historically significant Beecher Hall, collection

of more modern brick buildings, and spacious commons. Yet, the

college was not always there. Residents of Jacksonville with any

connection to the college talk about the work of "The Yale Band."

It is somewhat of a local legend that a group of young men should

have come out from New England in the 1820s and 1830s to what was

then a sparsely settled frontier in order to establish the first

college in the state of Illinois. What circumstances moved these

men to leave the comforts of New England for the rigors of the

prairie? How did they begin the work of establishing the college?

Their story is not a simple one.

     In 1801, the Congregationalists and Presbyterians formed an

agreement which they called the plan of union. Under this

agreement, members of both denominations worked together in the

mission fields of the frontier. In 1825, it was under this

agreement that New Englander John Ellis, a Congregationalist

minister and Dartmouth alumnus, came to Illinois to devote his

life to mission work.

     What Ellis found was a state where education, even among the

Protestant clergy, was limited and generally undervalued. Peter

Cartwright, remembered locally as an early Methodist circuit

riding preacher who ironically enough helped establish what is

now known as MacMurray College, remarked that he was glad that he

hadn't wasted four years in college. Schools of any sort were

rare in Illinois. The Catholics had established some parochial

and boarding schools in the southern part of the state. There

were scattered "blab" schools which operated by subscription,

usually on a barter basis. There is often a docent in the

reconstructed rough hewn log school/Church building at New Salem

State Park near Petersburg, Illinois. Sitting through his

presentation gives one a feeling for the true primitiveness of

the education system in Illinois during this period of time, in

which a schoolmaster could have as little as the modern

equivalent of a third grade education. The course of study at

these schools was limited to spelling, reading, writing, and some

basic arithmetic, with all of the students reciting their lessons

together aloud. Yet Ellis' overriding goal was not the reform

of the education system, but the spread of the Evangelical

Protestant brand of Christianity.

     In order to do that, Ellis felt that there was a need for the

establishment of a seminary for young men to equip them for the

ministry. He enlisted the support of the settlers at Shoal Creek

who had already set up a board of governors for an institution

they were ready to call "Fairfield Literary and Theological

Seminary." He had the support of the Presbytery for the work of

establishing a seminary. Yet, in travelling about the state with

his friend the Quaker Thomas Lippincott, Ellis decided that

Jacksonville was a far more suitable location than Shoal Creek

for the seminary. Ellis purchased a quarter section of ground,

one mile west of Jacksonville just east of Wilson grove and a

mile north of Diamond Grove. The Shoal Creek group was extremely

angry. Ellis had grossly exceeded the limits of his authority to

spend the group's money. The Presbytery withdrew their support

from the project.

     So, he had the land for his school, but without the

continuing support of the Presbytery and without the continuing

base of support from Shoal Creek. Since one cannot have a

theological seminary without the graduates thereof being

acredited by some religious body, Ellis was in a quandry. About

this time, he was called to the pastorate of the newly organized

Presbyterian Church in Jacksonville. During this time, he decided

that the professors of theology of the seminary would be chosen

by Presbyterian clergymen. He also began to circulate a

subscription paper through Morgan County for the support of this

college which was yet in the idea stage. This drive netted some

$1913 in pledges payable in both cash and goods as well as two

tracts of land. In September 1828, Ellis wrote an article for

the Home Missionary, a publication of the American Home

Missionary Society, describing his work at the church in

Jacksonville and outlining his hope for the founding of the

college.

     This article sparked the interest of a group of young men at

Yale. These young men were Theron Baldwin, John F. Brooks, Mason

Grosvenor, Elisha Jenney, William Kirby, Julian M. Sturtevant,

and Asa Turner, Jr. Grosvenor, in New Haven, wrote a letter to

Ellis, in Jacksonville, dated December 5, 1828 exploring the

possibility of this group of men merging their vision with that

of Ellis. He wrote:

"My object in writing is to obtain some information respecting the Western country. The moral condition of its inhabitants is a subject which has occupied many of my thoughts and I trust called forth the feelings of my heart. To think of the present number of immortal souls within our own country-- living on trial for an endless destiny, is deeply affecting: But to think of their rapid increase in a situation where little or no light shines to invite them to invite them to the world of felicity or to warn them of that dark abyss to which they rapidly hasten is truly overwhelming. What more can be done to give them the light of the Gospel has for some time past been the subject of my investigations. Among a few in this Seminary the subject has been discussed and I think some plan of effort will soon be adopted by them... One of their first objects would be to establish a seminary of learning where in due time young men may acquire a thorough education both collegiate and theological, and thus be prepared for the ministry... Some quantity of land might also be owned by the Seminary in order to afford manual labor for the students... In order to accomplish this object, funds must be raised. But the proclibility [sic] of raising funds in this region we feel little doubt. It will be necessary too that the individuals who engage in such an expedition together with the clergymen now on the ground should have the main control of the Seminary."

     Ellis was evidently quite pleased to get this letter. He replied on January 17, 1829, "As to the plan it gives me pleasure to state that it was originally so framed as to admit the cooperation of the friends at the East; and so as to give them all the control of the institution they could desire if they want to furnish the fund."

     On February 21, 1829, the group of young men at Yale met and

drew up a compact or solemn pledge for their proposed work in

Illinois. It is an interesting document:

"Believing in the entire alienation of the natural heart from God, in the necessity of the influences of the Holy Spirit for its renovation, and that these influences are not to be expected without the use of means; deeply impressed also with the destitute condition of the western section of our country and the urgent claims of its inhabitants upon the benevolence of the East, and in view of the fearful crisis evidently approaching, and which we believe can only be averted by speedy and energetic measures on the part of the friends of religion and liturature in the older states, and believing that evangelical religion and education must go hand in hand in order to the successful accomplishment of this desirable object; we the undersigned hereby express our readiness to go to the state of Illinois for the purpose of establishing a seminary of learning such as shall be best adapted to the exigencies of that country- a part of us to engage as instructors at the seminary- the others to occupy - as preachers- important stations in the surrounding county- provided the undertaking be deemed practicable, and the location approved by intelligent men- and provided also the Providence of God permit us to engage in it."

     This solemn pledge of the aforenamed men was approved on

February 23rd by Nathaniel W. Taylor and Josiah W. Gibbs,

professors respectively of Didactic Theology and Sacred

Literature at Yale. The covenant was also approved by Jeremiah

Day, who was then the President of Yale.

     Things began to happen rather quickly. The original group of

seven grew to include Romulus Barnes, Flavel Bascom, William

Carter, Henry Herrick, Benoni Y. Messenger, and Jairus Wilcox.

Julian Sturtevant travelled to New York to discuss the plans for

the seminary with the directors of the American Home Missionary

Society. On March 7, 1829, Grosvenor wrote to Ellis:

     The Yale band and the trustees of the proposed college in

Illinois came to terms. John Ellis travelled to the east. With

Grosvenor and others, he went to Boston and Andover on a

fundraising drive. One Sunday evening meeting at a Church in New

Haven secured pledges of $1,200. The Yale Band with Ellis

easily raised support of $10,000 for the work of the college. On

April 14, 1829, the American Home Missionary Society appointed

Sturtevant, Baldwin and Turner as missionaries to Illinois.

Meanwhile, back in Illinois the work on the building which would

be known as Beecher Hall was begun. On August 26, 1829, Baldwin

and Sturtevant were ordained to the ministry at Woodbury,

Connecticut. By the end of the month Sturtevant had married his

sweetheart. In October, the now Reverend Mr. Sturtevant and his

bride, along with the Reverend Mr. Baldwin, were in transit to

Illinois. Baldwin remained behind in St. Louis to handle some

matters while Sturtevant hired a team and driver for the last leg

of the journey. They arrived in Jacksonville on Sunday morning,

November 15, 1829. Sturtevant's Autobiography would later relate:

"Most of the houses were covered with boards, split from oak

logs four feet in length and nailed on without shaving. Many

roofs were covered in the same way... The census of 1830 gave

Jacksonville a population of little over 600. This was the little

town that we saw in its somber robes on that Sabbath morning."

     The building which would be later known as Beecher Hall

wasn't yet complete when Sturtevant arrived in Jacksonville. One

of the earliest references to Illinois College in a 1831

publication describes the college as consisting of two buildings,

one of brick, the other a frame farmhouse. The brick building was

designed for recitation rooms, lodging of up to thirty students,

and a chapel large enough to accomodate two hundred people. A

farm of two hundred twenty eight acres belonging to the college

was in cultivation surrounding the buildings. The library was

said to contain between six to eight hundred volumes.

     Sturtevant was solely in charge of the college until May 1830

when the trustees, in consultation with Yale President Day,

called the Reverend Mr. Edward Beecher to be the first President

of the College. Beecher had been until that time the pastor of

Park Street Church, Boston, Massachusetts. As a matter of

interest, Beecher was the son of Henry Ward Beecher and the

brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe. But, Beecher's term as

president would end in 1844. Sturtevant would then be back in

charge.

     Classes at Illinois College began on Monday, January 4, 1830

with nine pupils in attendance, in a still incomplete building.

Sturtevant, then in full charge of the college, opened the

session with these words, "We are here today to open a fountain

where future generations may drink."

     The college operated without a state charter until 1835.

Theron Baldwin worked dilligently at getting a charter for the

school. There was a bill introduced in the Illinois House in 1831

for this purpose which passed in the house, but failed in the

Senate. Baldwin wrote to Grosvenor, "No wolf or fox would tread

more carefully around a trap than do these men about our bill and

though no one of them probably knows how Troy was destroyed, yet

they appear to gather around this mysterious thing much as the

Trojans did about the horse." Why exactly there was such resistance

to granting the charter is unclear. Perhaps, as has been stated in

numerous letters between various members of the Yale Band dating from

this period, the State Senators feared that this would be an

uncomfortable blending of Church and State. Perhaps, it was a

matter, as suggested in several other letters

that the resistance was because of a fear of the college becoming

a facade for greedy land speculators. Whatever the cause, the

resistence in State government to granting a charter to the

college was only finally overcome with the aid of Governor

Duncan, whose home incidentally was less than a mile from the

college.

     The enthusiasm which Illinois College engendered among its

early faculty is best shown by a letter written by Truman Post to

his mother on June 8, 1834, "I am associated with some of the

best men, intellectually and morally that I have ever seen, in a

spot that in beauty and fertility is the garden of the whole

west, in the midst of a community that will soon be immensely

rich and strong."

     So, it is clear that the men who migrated from New England to

Illinois to found Illinois College did so out of their deep

seated religious convictions. As Sturtevant said, they had

established a fountain of knowledge from which future generations

could drink. Illinois College has educated clergymen, doctors,

lawyers, teachers, businessmen, and politicians during its long

history. It is truly a great legacy that these men left as a

result of their "speedy and energetic measures."

Primary Sources

Baldwin-Sturtevant Correspondence, Illinois College Archives. _

Very comprehensive collection of letters between these two

friends which reflect on college affairs and current events of

the day.

Cartwright, Peter. Autobiography New York:Hunt and Easton, 1857.

Gives another view of prairie preachers and early Illinois.

Compact of the Yale Band, original document, Illinois College

     Archives.

The defining document, setting out the reasons behind their

coming to Illinois.

Miscellaneous Correspondence, Illinois College Archives.

Extremely revealing correspondence of members of the Yale Band

and early faculty.

Sturtevant, Julian M. Autobiography New York: Fleming Revel& Co.,

     1896.

The life and work of Julian Sturtevant as seen by Julian

Sturtevant

Secondary Sources

Alvord, Clarence Walworth (ed.) The Centennial History of

     Illinois. 5 volumes. Springfield, Illinois, published by

the Illinois Centennial Commission. 1918-1920.

A comprehensive work about the first century of Illinois History.

Valuable background source.

"Classes Began at IC 150 years ago Friday," Jacksonville Journal Courier, January 6, 1980, page 21._

An overview of the early years of Illinois College.

Frank, Charles E. Pioneer's Progress:Illinois College 1829-1979

     Southern Illinois University Press. 1979.

Deals mostly with Illinois College as it was in 1979, with

retrospectives on the past.

Kafoid, Carrie Prudence, "Puritan Influences in the Formative

     Years of Illinois History", Boston:Congregational Sunday

     School Publishing Society, 1899.

Talks about the impact of New England Congregationalists on the

history of Illinois.

Magoun, George F. Asa Turner and His Times, Boston:

     Congregational Sunday School Publishing Society, 1889.

Wonderful book about Asa Turner.

Patterson, R.W. "Early Society in Southern Illinois," a lecture

     before the Chicago Historical Society, October 19, 1880.

     Published in Chicago 1881.

Good work talking about life in early Illinois, including the

state of education at that time.

Peck, J.M. A Guide for Emmigrants, Containing Sketches of Illinois,

     Missouri, and adjacent parts. Boston: Lincoln and Edmonds Publishers,

     1831, partially reprinted in "Illinois College 1829-1979" Supplement to the Jacksonville Journal Courier October 18, 1979.

A good description of the college as it was in 1831.

Post, T.A. Truman Marcellus Post , Boston: Congregational

     Sunday School Publishing Society, 1891.

A good look at the early faculty of Illinois College.

Rammelkamp, Charles H. Illinois College:A Centennial History 1829-1929

     New Haven: Yale University Press, 1928.

Good source of information on early Illinois College history.

Sturtevant, Julian M. Sketch on Theron Baldwin Boston: Alfred

     Mudge & Son Printers, 1875. Reprinted from The Congregational Quarterly for April and July 1875.

Good piece about Theron Baldwin by his friend. _

Yaeger, Iver F. Sesquicentennial Papers: Illinois College

     Southern Illinois University Press: 1982.

Mostly about IC at the Sesquicentennial, but some history is

there as well.