Schools and the Teachers
of Early Peoria
transcribed by Steve Slaughter

Part 4

His school was exclusively for boys and it is believed that that is the first school in Peoria where the children of different sexes were separated. He afterwards taught in the basement of the Baptist Church, a school for boys and girls, Miss Sophia Lalanne, a sister of his wife was his assistant. Miss Kidder, now Mrs. Reinhart, Mrs. Henry T. Baldwin, the Lightner girls, Martha Calhoun, and Mary Powell were among his pupils. Miss Sophia Lalanne afterwards went to California, and about 1882 was the wife of Judge Byers of Stockton, California. ...

"About 1846 or 1847, the Rev. J. S. Chamberlain, an old time Episcopalean clergyman, now rector of that church at Jubilee, taught a select school in a room over what was then Pettengill's store. The building stood at No. 203 Main Street, and is now occupied by the Peoria Sonne newspaper office. Mr. Chamberlain was a fine teacher and an excellent man. Few teachers with his merit are so modest and retiring as he. As a clergy-man he has for 50 years been held in high esteem as an exemplary man and teacher in all respects by his parishioners and the public. He is a tall, spare old gentleman and is now quite deaf.

"In 1848 he built a school house on the corner of Main and Monroe streets, on the lot now occupied by St. Paul's Church, and opened a school for boys. It is best to let him tell the story himself, though his letter was not written with any idea of publication.

Jubilee, Illinois, January 15, 1900
H. W. Wells, Esq., Peoria, Illinois

"Dear Sir:

"In A.D. 1848, I opened a school in a small building, erected by me for the purpose on a lot owned by St. Paul's parish, on N.W. corner Main and Monroe streets, your city. This school I continued for about ten quarters. The sittings provided were twenty-eight and were uniformly all occupied by pupils, these being limited to boys over twelve.

"Among those in attendance were Henry Rouse, son of Dr. Rouse; three sons of Mr. John Burkett; three sons of the Voris family and George Bestor. Mr. Davis, editor of Peoria's newspaper, also had a bright son amongst our pupils during the whole time of the schools continuance. But it was more than 50 years ago, my brother, that these things occurred and my memory fails to recall the names of others, whose persons I recollect.

"My school was entirely subordinate to my church work and was resorted to solely that I might live while working to build the congregation and church edifice of St. Paul's parish on an annual salary from my bishop of $100. And this church work, by the divine blessing, the little school made possible. In its hired room the congregation grew. A few paces from the school the church building arose and was completed at the cost of about $4000. And my work and that of the school were thus ended happily. You will not wonder that I am very sensitive to all these things and that my heart goes out with all it has of gratitude to offer it to Him, whose blessing enabled me and my little school to do so good a work.

"Your friend and servant for God
"J. S. Chamberlain

"Rev. Chamberlain afterwards opened a school for girls called St. Mary's Academy in the building on the bluff, built by Captain Moss and afterwards occupied by G. C. Bestor. Mr. Chamberlain bought the house and opened his school under the promises of an endowment sufficient to maintain it. The school was opened and went along swimmingly until it began to need funds when the parties who had promised to furnish them, slipped out and left Mr. Chamberlain with the obligation on his hands and no money. The school was, of course, obliged to suspend and Mr. Chamberlain saddled with debt was broken hearted.

"About this date, Isaac Underhill, who was a prominent citizen of Peoria, offered a gold watch as a prize to the best speaker among the children in the schools of Peoria. The contest came off in the court house; the contestants were numerous, and as a matter of course, the audience was large. After an exciting contest, the judges awarded the prize to Sanford Richardson and gave him the watch. It is said the award caused some heart burnings at the time.

"Mrs. Walker taught school in the basement of the old Baptist Church on Hamilton Street, just below where the County Jail now stands.

Enoch Emory's home as of 1991
709 N. Monroe St.
 

The church was built in 1847 while the Rev. Isaac D. Newell was pastor and the basement, at times, was occupied as a school room. Mrs. Walker was a member of the church and was probably the first to teach in its basement. She is said to have been a large, fine lady, considerably above the ordinary size for women. Linn McCoy was one of her students, unquestionably there were others, but their names have been forgotten.

"Mrs. Gustorf about 1849 taught on the corner of Hamilton and Madison streets near where the Russell property is. Mrs. Henry T. Baldwin was one of her pupils; Tom Griffiths another. Mrs. Gustorf afterwards taught on Eaton Street in the rear of where the Academy of the Sacred Heart now stands. She was an English lady of fine appearance and education and an excellent teacher. She was the mother of Mrs. William E. Stone.

"Mrs. Stevens taught in a little brick house on the corner of Madison and Eaton streets. She was a widow lady about 40 and well qualified as a teacher, but not very popular with her scholars. She was rather free with her rod and very free with reproof. Whipping mingled with prayers was her long suit. Sam Calhoun was among her pupils. On one occasion she accused Sam of throwing a spitball. Sam, then an unregenerate little villain of eight, stoutly denied it, whereupon the teacher took him upstairs and after compelling him to kneel, she prayed over him and licked him doughtily for lying. It afterwards appeared that Sam's story was true. An apology was due and a nice tart to Sam. It is probably still due.

"Thomas Griffiths taught about 1851 on Jefferson Street near where the Hamlin Block is now situated. He afterwards taught between Fulton Street and Liberty on Jefferson Street in 1854. Charles Ballance, James and Samuel Thompson, Eugene Peters and Thomas Griffiths were his pupils at that school. He was an excellent old gentleman and a great favorite with his pupils. He was the first librarian of the Peoria Public Library. [underscoring mine] He died many years ago.

"Mrs. Walker taught in the basement of the old Baptist church on Hamilton street, just below where the County jail now stands. The church was built about 1847, while Rev. Isaac D. Newell was pastor and the basement was at times occupied as a school room. Mrs. Walker was a member of the church and probably the first teacher in its basement. She is said to have been a large, fine looking woman, considerably above the ordinary size. Linn McCoy was one of her pupils; probably there are others here, but none have been found.

"Rev. Benjamin Huntoon, late in the forties, taught on Washington Street between Main and Fulton. He was a Boston man and a fine teacher. He had over 30 scholars among whom were P. C. Bartlett, John Kuhn and Johnson Cole. He was a brother-in--law of Moses Pettengill. He died many years ago. His son was at one time in the Dry Goods business on Main street.

"the following letter from Capt. S. F. Ottman speaks for itself:

Wyoming, Ill., April 18, 1900.

My dear Major Wells,

Your letter regarding schools came to hand...I taught two terms in Peoria during the winter of 1849 and 1850. There were at that time four public schools in the city and designated as the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Ward schools.

The 1st Ward school was located I think on Harrison street, between Washington and Adams streets and taught by a man by the name of Conner, a young Irishman.

The 2nd was near what was called the State House Square, and the teacher's name was Hinman, who taught there several years as was quite successful as a teacher.

The 3rd Ward school, which was mine, was located on Perry street, between Fayette and Jackson, on the bluff side of the street.

The 4th was located on North Washington street, near Eaton, and was next to the old jail and the teacher was D. M. Cummings.

I can now recall but a very few among my scholars, living in Peoria; Charles and Edward Easton, James Ward, John M. Simpson, three Warner boys, George and Harry McClelland, who were the last I knew of them in Chicago. School matters were in poor shape at that time. Each ward had three school directors and the teacher was employed at a salary, which he had to prorata among the patrons of the school and collect his salary from them. There was no public school fund. I had some young men as scholars, who were larger and older than I was, but they as a rule were easy to manage. The directors of the 3rd Ward school were George Greenwood, John Waugh and Abram Fash. I have to depend on my memory in regard to these matters and as it is now fifty years since I quit teaching, I can recall but little that transpired in those days.

Very respectfully yours,

S. F. Otman

"Captain Otman is employed on the Revenue force here in Peoria and is an excellent man. In 1861 he enlisted and was elected Captain of one of the companies in the 112th Illinois Volunteers and served until the close of the war, since which time he has resided at Wyoming [Illinois].

quoting from http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilcivilw/r155/112-e-in.htm: Civil War Rosters: COMPANY E

Name Rank Residence Date of Muster Remarks

OTMAN, Henry J 1st Serg. Essex Sep 20, 1862 Disch, Apr 1, 1863; disabil.
 
OTMAN, Sylvester F Captain Wyoming Sep 20, 1862 Mustered out Jun 20, 1865

"Mr. Fey taught in the old Congregational Church; he is described as a small man, a fairly oggd teacher, but I can get no particulars about him except that he was a Yankee and was always well dressed.

"About 1848 a Miss Ellis taught in the basement of the old Baptist Church. Sometime after she went to Alton where she taught school a short time and afterwards married a wealthy manufacturer of that city.

"Anastatia Joyce taught in a two-story frame building on the northwest corner of Hamilton and Monroe streets in 1847. The family afterwards moved to Block 34 in Taylor & Blakely's Addition, near where O. C. Parmelee lived on North Jefferson street. They afterwards moved up Jefferson street near the corner of Wayne. Mrs. Joyce continued to teach until 1857. She was a faithful teacher and many young business man learned his letters from Mrs. Joyce. Her husband was a cooper. He afterwards moved to Livingston County and Mrs. Joyce died near Chatsworth [IL] in 1864. She is described as a tall woman, dark hair and eyes and fair skin. Her son, John N. Joyce, lives at 2520 South Washington St.

"Mr. Ferris taught in a little brick school house on the south-east corner of Madison and Hancock street. Miss Martha Calhoun was one of her pupils, and speaks in high terms of her teacher.

"Charles Doty taught on Walnut street, just below Adams. The foundation of the large two-story school house which once stood on the corner of the streets, was partly built when the school inspectors organized and completed it. Doty was an excellent teacher with a very hot temper and a very strict disciplinarian. Miss Virginia Ballance was his assistant. The boys in this school were large and some of them boisterous and unruly fellows. It is said on one occasion they determined to rebel, -- at least to scare the teacher if he should attempt to correct any one of them. The occasion soon came. He attempted to correct one of the bigger boys when four or five of the others came to the boy's rescue. Some of them drew knives and made noisy threats to use them. Miss Virginia Ballance, now Mrs. Bash, attracted by the noise, came in from the next room, marching straight into the melee, she commanded the boys to go straight into their seats. They at once slunk away and the row quelled.

"The Snow family is famous in the history of schools in Peoria. Mr. T. J. Snow came here from Kentucky to avoid raising his family in a slave state. He was a graduate of Brown and Harvard, and a fine scholar. He died about two years after, leaving a wife and four sons and three daughters. The two oldest sons took charge of their father's school, then on Main street, just below the Post Office. In about 2 years they opened a school on Fayette street teaching higher branches.

"In 1854 H. O. Snow taught in Chicago. A fire destroyed his school in 1858 and he went to Racine, Wisconsin. About 1870 he commenced teaching in Kentucky, where he died in 1895 after 50 years successful teaching.

"O. T. Snow taught a private school in Chicago and in 1862 removed to Batavia where he was principal of the public school for nearly 30 years. He died in 1891. Mr. C. P. Snow taught in the public school in Peoria and while teaching the war broke out and he at once enlisted as a private and was promoted to first lieutenant. [NOTE: Mr. Snow served with the Union's 7th Regiment, Veteran Reserve Corps.] At the close of the war he resumed teaching in Peoria and was principal of one of the city schools for about 8 years, when he removed to Princeton where he has been Superintendent of city schools for the major part of 30 years.

"H. W. Snow was also a teacher and principal in Peoria. He enlisted in the army and was chosen Lieut. Colonel of the 151st Regt. Illinois Vols., and was Provost Marshal of Georgia. He was afterwards elected to Congress on the Democratic ticket and after his term was elected Sargeant at Arms of the House. He is now president of a bank and resides at Kankakee.

"Miss Bonnie Snow, daughter of J. T. Snow, taught several years in the Peoria High School. She finally married A. C. Little of Aurora where she now resides. Many of our best business men received their education under some of the Snow's. All speak of them in the highest terms as teachers and excellent men.

"In 1851 the Methodist Church obtained a charter and organized the Wesleyan Seminary of Peoria. They purchased the Mitchell house on the corner of Jefferson and Fulton streets and opened where the "Star" office now stands with considerable ceremony. They had 23 trustees, all influential men, and a good attendance of scholars followed. They were, however, unfortunate in their selection of their principal. ... The school closed before it had fairly started.

Submitted by Steve Slaughter

Any contributions, corrections, or suggestions would be deeply appreciated!

Copyright © 2003-2008, Janine Crandell & Steve Slaughter
All rights reserved
Updated June 29, 2006