| |
| |
Caption: Book - History of the University (Powell)
This is a reduced-resolution page image for fast online browsing.
EXTRACTED TEXT FROM PAGE:
Struggle for Location 1865-1867 237 ) all counties of the state were not then prepared to make proposals it had been deemed wise to postpone action until all could have a fair and equal chance. The circular said that Ezra Cornell had given three-fourths of a million dollars to secure the location of New York's university at Ithaca; that Illinois having been the first state to petition congress for an appropriation for industrial universities should not fail to build up an institution worthy of her position. After stating in a general way what they thought the institution would be worth to any county that secured its location the committee urged that Morgan county had sufficient resources and that they hoped citizens would meet in precinct and district meetings to discuss the subject and take action. During the next few months meetings were called in various precincts of Morgan county at which members of the central committee and others addressed the citizens. It was proposed to vote a tax of $300,000 as part of the bid of Morgan county to secure the location of the university. On February 5, 1866, citizens of Jacksonville met to discuss the means of securing the location of the university in Morgan county. Among the speakers were Judge Brown, Colonel G. P. Smith, Dr. Egan, and Dr. MeFarland. Turner on this occasion gave a talk on the general plan and aim of the industrial university. This was the first time he had said anything about it to the people of his home town though he had been lecturing on the subject in other counties of the state for nearly twenty years. The reason for this was that*' as the other institutions of Jacksonville once stood'\ Turner was opposed to bringing this new effort under their social influence for he feared they would attempt to crush it out as a rival. He was now convinced that this was not the case and that they would one and all heartily sustain and cherish it. 27 Various papers in Morgan county, particularly the Jacksonville Journal, worked earnestly in behalf of the project. On March 1st, 1866, Colonel G. P. Smith, the editor of the Journal, published a sketch of the rise and progress of the industrial university scheme. The article argued ably for the education of ''The address was published in the Jacksonville Journal, February 8, 1866.
| |
