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Caption: Book - History of the University (Powell)
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The University Located 249 Springfield without riding through Bloomington as the citizens had hoped they would. As this was not the committee on the location of the industrial university not so much importance was attached to its visit On the same day that the committee visited Normal, Jesse Fell and fifteen other citizens presented the claims of McLean county in a statement to the legislature. They offered for the location of the university $200,000 worth of city bonds, $200,000 of bonds (a contingent fond) to be voted by the county February 5, and $100,000 in real estate and cash. In accordance with the expectation of these men, the county voted the bonds on February 5 by a majority of nine hundred and sixty three. To the $100,000 fund two large individual subscriptions had been made, one by Judge Davis who offered 10,000 acres of Missouri land, and the other by Mr. Fell who gave $15,000. The statement which follows contains a summary of McLean's offerings, answers the charge that had been made that McLean county had not paid its subscriptions made in 1867 to secure the location of the state normal university, and other interesting and important facts: "To The General Assembly of the State of Illinois " I n behalf of the citizens of McLean County, we respectfully ask to present to your honorable bodies the following statement of facts, and our action in reference thereto. "Since the passage of what is commonly known as the 'Agricultural College Bill/ providing for the organization and endowment of State Industrial Schools, or Universities, our people in this vicinity in common with those of the State generally, have very confidently indulged the hope that no location of such an Institution in this State should be made till ample time had been given to any and every point in the State desiring its location, to thoroughly canvass the matter before the people, and to submit in legal form propositions to be voted upon to accomplish that object. It will doubtless be remembered by many of you that at the last session of the Legislature, efforts were made to have an enabling act passed for this purpose, similar to the one which has recently become a law, and that those efforts were de- •
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