tion of a frame or brick schoolhouse in the town of McLeansboro in said township. 9919 Another example of aid given by the state is that in which the school commissioners of Jefferson County be authorized and required to receive the said schedule of the school taught in the Mount Vernon Academy in the year 1840, and duly certified by the trustees and teachers thereof, and apportioned thereon its distributive share of interest of the school fund due for 1842, according to the schedules filed for distribution in January, 1843; provided that all schedules in said county, regularly certified for that year, and notified to the said commissioner before he actually made the apportionment of interest of that year, shall be paid in like manner."' 20 Furthermore, the state authorized money to be paid to some academies: "The school commissioner of Coles county is hereby authorized and required to pay to the order of the president and trustees of the Charleston Seminary two hundred dollars per year, out of the distributive share of the state fund, for the purpose of education, to the county of Coles; and the said trustees are hereby authorized to expend said money in such manner as they may think proper for the use and benefit of said seminary.'"21 It was the common practice for academies to receive their distributive share out of the township school fund for maintaining a common school. The act of 1835 distributed the interest from the state school fund to counties in proportion to the number of inhabitants under twenty-one years of age. "Nor shall this act be so construed so as to prevent said school from receiving its just proportion from the township and state fund, as other schools do; and said trustees shall perform the same duties in regard to said school, for the purpose of obtaining their proportion of said school fund, as is or may be required of trustees of schools in other townships.22 The law relative to the Winchester male and female preparatory and common school said that "nothing in this act shall be so construed as to prevent either of the above 19 Session Laws, 1837, p. 16. named institutions from receiving their proper proportions of money appropriated by law for common school purposes. 9923 Even organizations like mechanics' unions received their share of the state school fund for keeping a common school. The Springfield Mechanics' Union, "on the establishment of their common school, shall receive from the school commissioner of the county the same amount of money, in the same proportion, and apply the same to such tuition, in the same manner as other common schools are kept and paid. The school established by this act immediately was opened under the name of the Springfield City Schools. 9924 It was also the custom for private academies, unchartered, to receive state aid. An academy in Peoria, in 1840, says this about its funds: "This is not a chartered institution, nor aided by any public funds, except that it shares the public school fund together with the common schools of the town. ''25 The state virtually aided academies by a general law of 1842, which exempted from taxation ten acres of land owned by any literary institution; and for colleges and academies exempted a hundred sixty acres, if actually used as its location and domain, with all buildings, libraries, and apparatus.26 The idea of taxing the people of the community for supporting an academy is found in some of the charters: "The trustees of the town of Winchester may levy and collect a tax not exceeding one per centum on all taxable property in said town, to be applied to purposes of education, as said trustees shall from time to time direct: Provided, That before any tax can be levied as aforesaid, and on application of twelve citizens of the town, the trustees shall cause an election to be held, where each inhabitant residing within the incorporate limits of said town, may have the privilege of voting for or against a tax, and if a majority of two-thirds of the votes given at said election shall be in favor of a tax, then and in that case the trustees may levy a tax and in no other.'"27 23 Session Laws, 1841, p. 290, Sec. 6. 24 Session Laws, 1839-40, p. 74. Sec. 2. 25 Peoria Directory, 1844, p. 115. State Supt. Report, 1883-4, p. 116. "Session Laws, 1841, p. 290, Sec. 7. The original proprietors of the town of Payson were farsighted enough to make provision at a future time for the establishment of an academy by using twenty per cent of the proceeds from the sale of lots in that town for that purpose: "The original proprietors of the town of Payson, in their proposal for the sale of town lots, stipulated twenty per cent of the amount of sales of town lots should be appropriated toward the establishment of a Seminary of Learning from which fund, now accrued, amounts to $1,300.25 Individuals, themselves, aided secondary education by endowments. The founder and benefactor of Monticello Seminary set aside $10,000 for that purpose, as early as 1834. The building was begun in 1836 and opened for pupils in 1838.29 A few public-spirited men bequeathed money for the erection and establishment of academies. Silas Hamilton left $4,000 for the creation of the Hamilton Primary School to educate the children of his friends and neighbors.3 30 Tuition was one of the factors in the support of education. The Sangamo Journal, April 21, 1838, stated that "academies and colleges are founded by private enterprise, and supported by individual liberality and munificence. Those who seek these institutions must necessarily pay in proportion to the benefit received. '931 Occasionally, academies were public joint-stock companies, so that the money necessary for the founding of schools was raised by the sale of stock, worth from ten to twenty-five dollars a share, allowing the share holders free tuition for every share held, and with the privilege of voting on the policies of the institution: "The said academy, when erected and in operation, shall at all times be open for use and the privilege of every white person, within the United States, who may wish to be instructed by the instructors or instructresses, employed by the trustees thereof; Provided, Said free white person will comply with the laws, and pay the sum affixed by the said trustees, for the instruction of students attending the same; Provided nevertheless, that 28 Session Laws, 1841, Sec. 7. 20 State Supt. Report, 1867-8; p. 267. 30 Session Laws, 1839-40, Preamble. 31 Sangamo Jr., April 21, 1838. each and every stockholder in said institution shall be entitled to the admission of one pupil in the same for each and every share he or she may legally hold therein. On payment of ten dollars to the treasurer of the institution every free white person shall be considered a stockholder." 32 The stock of the Rushville High School Association "shall consist of shares of twenty-five dollars each, to be subscribed for in the manner that the commissioners herein after named, or the trustees when elected shall direct, and shall be deemed personal property, and shall be transferable on the books of said corporation in such manner as the board of trustees may prescribe; the capital stock shall not exceed ten thousand dollars, and its funds, rents and privileges shall be used only for the purposes of education herein declared. ''33 Every charter placed a limitation on the amount of property to be held. This varied from the one hundred thousand acres of land allowed to Vincennes University, to twelve acres of land allowed the Jacksonville Female Academy. But very few cases have been found where more than a thousand acres of land was allowed to chartered academies. The legislature that granted the Jacksonville charter had this to say relative to the property to be held by the academy: "The lands within the bounds of this State, held in perpetuity by this charter, shall not exceed twelve acres, held at any one time; and if donations in land shall be made at any time to said corporation, the same may be received and held in trust by said board of trustees, and shall be sold within three years from the date of such donation for the benefit of said institution; in failure whereof, the land so given shall revert to the donor or grantor of the same and the said board of trustees shall in no case lease or rent out any land so held in trust as aforesaid. ''34 9934 The amount allowed to Rushville High School Association was a little larger: "The lands, tenements, and hereditaments, to be held in perpetuity by virtue of this act by said corporation, shall not exceed three hundred and twenty acres.35 32 Session Laws. 33 Session Laws, 1844-45, p. 311. Session Laws, 1834-5. Session Laws, 1844-45, p. 311. The chartered academies were quasi-public institutions because, (a) a group in the community undertook to educate its youth; (b) the trustees were frequently elected by the public; (c) the poor children of the Indians were educated gratis; (d) all youth were to be educated free when the funds of the academy were sufficient; (e) religious freedom was recognized as a public necessity; (f) the legislature regarded the charter a public act. The purposes for which academies were established were (a) to disseminate useful knowledge; (b) to give women high intellectual and moral culture; (c) to fit youth for the various duties of life; (d) to prepare teachers for the common schools; (e) to promote science and literature; (f) to safeguard and develop the physical body; (g) to circulate books among the people; (h) to inaugurate a system of manual labor with literary education; (i) to educate the children of the "people". The trustees, varying in number in the different academies, were elected or appointed, with powers that were usually conferred on bodies corporate and politic, though no fixed rule was adoptd in that respect. The administrative organization was fixed to suit the will of the individual incorporators, with few exceptions. Financially, academies were benefited by the sale or rent of school lands, when that was deemed advisable; were occasionally aided in establishment by the funds of the township in which they were located; were usually given their share of the school fund for keeping a common school; were promised a state subsidy; were to receive local taxes if the people of the community wished to vote them; were endowed by gifts directly, or received money by wills; were supported by tuition, and had a fund created by the sale of stock divided into a stipulated number of shares. Religious organizations used one or several of the means above suggested in the support they gave academic education. The next chapter, therefore, is a consideration of the religious influence on education. |