Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-06-03
AT TER FIFTY YEARS
Semi Centennial Celebration of
Monmouth College.
REUNION OF GRADUATES
It is Expected That Every Glass Will
Be Represented.
HAD FIGHTERS AND TAKERS
Sent Students to War and Helped to
Found Oratorical Association
Value Of Small Colleges.
HAD FIGHTERS AND TAKERS
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.

Written for The Star and the Chicago Record
Herald
Monmouth College, lone of those little
fresh-water colleges out west chat Oliver
| Wendell Holmes wrote about celebrates its
| semi-centennial anniversary in connection
| with the regular. commencement exercises
| this week. Tuesday and Wednesday, June
| 8 and O. will be devoted to reunions and
| commemorative exercises. On Tuesday
| afternoon will occur the principal event.
| what they call Historical Session on
| the program. There will be roll call of
all the graduates by classes and every
| class will be represented by one or more
| members. Just one of the first graduating
| class-the class of ISIS living, and she
| will be there. Mrs Margaret Townsend OF
Monmouth. Ill. OF the other classes quite
| a number of representatives will respond.
| Altogether, during the fifty yearssof its
| life, there have been between 1900 and
| 5000 students at Monmouth College and
| ], 238 names are on the roll Of the alumni,
| about half of them men and the other half
| women, and nearly LOGO are still living.
| Of these fftyseyen reside in Chicago. DIR.
| McMichael the president of the college, has
| located every living alumnus. He has
| found that 300 are in the ministry; forty
| in the foreign missionary field; 200 are
| teachers, including seven presidents and
| forty professors In other colleges; 100 law
| yers and 100 physicians.
Theodore p. Shonts, chairman OF the
Panama canal commission, class of rs, Is
one of the star graduates. He was a good
| boy in his youth; model student; he
| never gave any trouble to the faculty and
| his example over the other students was
always effective for good. Everybody who
knew him then predicted that he would be
great and a good man, and now they
say II told you So.
Wallace in College With Shonts
1t is rather singular coincidence that
John F. Wallace, who used to be chief en-
gineer Of the Panama canal and caused
commotion when he resigned to accept
salary of S65,00O from a syndicate that is
building electric railroads around New York
city, should have been In college with
Shonts, recently his chief. But Wallace
ala not graduate. He started out with the
intention of entering the ministry of the
United Presbyterian Church His father
was the president of Monmouth College at
the time. but he studied so hard that he had
to quft-or perhaps there some other
reason for it-and Maj. McClaughrey now
superintendent of the state penitentlary at
Pontiac, Ill, got him Job in a surveyors
gang on little railroad down In Hancock
county, illinois. Wallace never came back
to college. for he preferred engineering to
preaching Afterward. when his health
gave out again, he came back to Monmouth
and started book store. Business was so
On the Iowa Central from Keithsburg to
Peoria. Then he commenced to rise and
Kept expanding until he became chief en-
g1neer OF the Illinois Central Those who
care TO investigate more closely into the
trlumphs of his early career can find a dam
IN a little creek back OF the college which
Wallace constructed in his boyhood days
to make a swimming pool for himself and
other students
Maj. r. w. McClaughrey, whom I have
already mentioned. and who has a world
wide reputation as a director of prisons and
FeIormatory institutions, was one of the
earliest graduates and was the first tanitor
OF the college. By that means he paid for
his own education.
among other famous men in the list Of
Alumni are Representative Hogg of Colo
rado, class Of 76. a classmate of Shonts:
Representative Mckinney of Illinois ('74l
Justice Silas Porter of the supreme court
formerly assistant treasurer of the United
states at Chicago under the Cleveland ad-
mln1stration, and at one time chairman of
the state democratic committee
In Oratory and War.
monmouth College was one Of the found
ers of the Intercollegiate Oratorial Assoc
citation, and its students have parttcipated
In every contest since the early seventies.
These have been great events in the college
life of the middle west, and have stirred
up active rivalry among them. Senator
o.. Il
bryan and many other distinguished politi-
clans and public men have engaged In these
contests, and have made their first an
p pes an IN public o as orators competing
the representative of Illinois College of
Jacksonville to contest against a dozen or
more rivals The debate occurred at Gales
burg. under the auspices of Knox College
and Bryan was beaten by J. s. E Erskine
the contestant from Monmouth College. who
Is now pastor Of rural church at Thonp-
son Ridge, N. Y. Bryan was given the
second prize.
Monmouth College was born In stern and
stirring times. In the midst of the anti
slavery agitation OF 1866, and is Just as
old as the republican party During the
civil war. from 1891 to 1864 1t sent 1sl
OF its students into the Union army The
coiiege exercises were not suspended how
ever. the faculty kept on doing business
out their classes were very poorly attended
and the students were mostly women Fiji
ty-seven OF the volunteers came back to
finish their studies at the close of the war.
Founding Of Monmouth.
The Rev. Robert Ross and the Rev. ]. C.
Portner OF what was then known as the
Associate Reform Church, since merged
into the United Presbyterian denomi-
nation, are responsible for Monmouth
college They. suggested the need of
an institution of learning to the cit,-
zens OF Monmouth, and brought the
qaoSeioh oeiore the preDytery, where 1t was
enthusiastically Endorsed and an academy
was established in 1853. In 1850 il was
raised to the rank OF college and its
doors were opened to women as we'll az
men. It was one Of the frst or actually
the second, after Oberlin, to recognize CO.
education The original faculty Consisted
or three men, Rev. DR.. David A. Wallace.
president; Rev. j. r.. Brown, professor OF
languages, and Rev. Marion Morrison. pro-
fessor OF mathematics. They were to re-
ceive $500 year each as salaries but as
the income Of the institution did not war
rant that extravaganza, they voluntarily
proposed reduction In their own pay To
$500 a year. which shows the spirit that
actuated them.
There was some curious hnancierinR IN
the beginning. To raise funds the trustees
sold $50 scholarships for $10O each They
entitled the owner to name one student.
who would have his tuition free But none
of the subscribers paid cash. Every one of
them insisted upon giving his note at g.
per cent interest, and hence the protege OF
the subscriber got $40 or $50 worth of
Instruction for So This scheme did not
work. Almost every student managed to
borrow one OF the scholarships. Some
thrifty souls used them for purposes of
speculation and rented them out for n good