Mount Carroll Seminary

A pioneering institution in its time and place, the Mount Carroll Seminary served as a center of culture and education in 19th-century northwestern Illinois.

At the time there were few teacher training institutions in the region at all, and there was widespread opposition to higher education for women.

Upon the arrival of Gregory and Wood in Mount Carroll, classes began in a single room in the Presbyterian church on May 11, 1853, with 11 students.

[9] Enrollment rose in the course of the year, and the school moved to another temporary location in the more substantial Ashway Building.

To this end a system of funding by subscription was used, with $5 shares being offered as investments that would bear 6% interest "until dividends shall be declared by the board of trustees, out of profits arising from said seminary.

[5] She has asked no board of trustees to advise with their counsel — only to confound and distract.The school was not formally organized under its charter until October 1854, the initial "patronage"[8] relationship between the incorporators and Shimer and Gregory having been informal in nature.

In 1855, fearing that the school would fail due to the lack of subscription revenue, the incorporators sold their shares in the college to the teachers, Wood and Gregory.

This was arranged under favorable terms, with the land donated and the buildings sold at cost, on the condition that Wood and Gregory continue operating the school for at least 10 years.

[13] Initially the governance of the school was in partnership with co-proprietor Cindarella Gregory, who served as the chief academic officer while Frances oversaw the finances.

The Mount Carroll Seminary subsequently remained the sole property of Frances Wood Shimer until her retirement in 1896.

[15] For most of her administration, the seminary made no effort to either recruit students or solicit donations, focusing all energy on creating a school that would "merit confidence".

[16] Not cramming for examinations, but preparing for the real duties of life, was the standard of excellence.A formal course of study was adopted in 1860.

[21] The normal department prepared students to become schoolteachers, which was widely regarded as the only proper occupation for a woman outside the home.

[9] The music program in this period was overseen by Isabel Dearborn Hazzen, a voice instructor who became well known in the area.

[9] The music and arts programs remained strong even after the seminary became the Frances Shimer Academy of the University of Chicago in 1896.

Facing space constraints due to rising demand, the formerly coeducational seminary limited residential study to women in 1866,[9] although some men were still allowed as day students.

Student life at the Seminary involved long class days, extending from 8 AM to lights out at 9:30 PM.

[17] The first student publication was the Seminary Bell, an eight-page monthly journal begun by the Neosophic Society in 1859.

When the Republican became insolvent, its equipment was acquired by Mrs Shimer and moved to the Seminary, where printing was overseen by a student named George Shaw who worked as a printer.

A combination of circumstances including the departure of Mr Shaw to the American Civil War led to the cessation of publication of the Bell in 1862.

[25] [29] Some two thousand apple trees, two acres of grapes, with every other hardy fruit in equal abundance, are cultivated for the exclusive use of the institution.Throughout the 19th century, the campus grew steadily from the original single building.

[32] The original brick building, constructed in 1854, was initially two and a half stories in height and 42 x 46 feet (14 m), consisting of 20 rooms.

Wood, Gregory and their students worked together to successfully complete the construction in time for classes to start.

[32] In the 1880s, Frances Shimer became concerned about the future viability of the school, and made repeated efforts to secure an endowment.

[35] In 1886 she offered to provide the seminary to the Women's Christian Temperance Union on the condition that an endowment be raised.

[6][41] However, the will was successfully contested by the Shimer family,[6] and the resulting reduced endowment was never sufficient to provide meaningful financial support.

[42] Frances Shimer also expected to be able to provide endowment funds from her orange groves near DeLand, Florida, but these were destroyed by a severe frost in January 1895.

[43] On July 1, 1896, Frances Shimer transferred control of the seminary to a 15-member board of trustees, under an affiliation with the University of Chicago.