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including the Bible, were faithfully read and studied. In the winter of 1843-4 he taught his first school near Ravenna, Ohio, for eleven dollars a month and "board round"-wages which he afterwards thought more than an equivalent. Hearing of Normal Schools in Massachusetts and furnished with a letter of introduction to Rev. Samuel J. May, then of Lexington, Mass., he set out with little other outfit, and traveling by stage and canal and perhaps on foot, he finally completed the journey, that he might enjoy the advantages of such an institution. Kindly received by Mr. May, but destitute of means, he, through his recommendation, obtained a school in Hingham for the winter, and spent the spring and early summer at his trade as a carpenter. In the following August, 1845, he entered the Normal School at Bridgewater, then conducted by Nicholas Tillinghast, and here obtained his first ideas of what a teacher should be and do. He completed the prescribed year of study, spending the winter again at Hingham, and teaching the following winter in Waltham, where he made the acquaintance of Rev. Thomas Hill, now President of Harvard College, whose active friendship has since been of essential service on more than one occasion.

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Mr. Edwards then spent a year in the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, N. Y., employed during the last six months as 'Repeater," or pupilteacher. After a short service, in the spring of 1848, as civil engineer in a subordinate capacity upon the Boston Water-works, he was engaged by Mr. Tillinghast as assistant in the Normal School, also aided by Dana P. Colburn, afterwards principal of the Rhode Island Normal School. Here he spent five years of laborious, illy paid, but most profitable service, the chief oversight of the school, owing to the failing health of the principal, often devolving upon him, while in addition to his duties in the school, much aid was rendered by him in the State Institutes, then under the management of Dr. Barnas Sears, Secretary of the Board of Education. At Bridgewater, Mr. Edwards added much to the efficiency of the school and devised and arranged almost wholly the methods of teaching geography, for which that school has been distinguished. In January, 1853, he resigned to take charge of the Bowditch English High School for Boys in Salem, from which he was called the following autumn to act as State Agent in visiting schools, advising teachers and school officers, addressing public meetings, instructing in Teachers' Institutes, &c. In September, 1854, he received charge of the State Normal School newly estab lished at Salem, and in the three years in which he was here engaged, was developed in its main features that system of professional drill which he has since so successfully followed.

In October, 1857, Mr. Edwards removed to St. Louis to organize and take charge of the City Normal School, designed for preparing teachers, principally females, for the public schools of the city. The misappropriation of the school fund by the rebel authorities in 1861 seriously crippled the schools, though the Normal School was still maintained, in conjunction with the City High School, both institutions being placed in charge of Mr. Edwards. In the spring of 1862, he resigned his position here, much against the wishes of his employers, and accepted a position in the State Normal University of Illinois, of which he was appointed principal in the following June. He is here still engaged, (1865,) having as principal the almost entire charge of the strictly professional instruction, besides the general oversight of the institution and the early instruction of

the Junior classes in reading. He is also called upon to do much outside labor in attending Institutes, delivering public addresses upon education, &c. In 1863 he was elected President of the State Teachers' Association, and in the following year was principal editor of the "Illinois Teacher," and he is also at present engaged in the preparation of a series of School Readers. Under his care the University is steadily increasing in reputation and numbers, and the field before him is one in which his singleness of purpose and unflagging enthu siasm can work the richest results to the State and the whole cause of educa tion. In 1863 Mr. Edwards received from Harvard College the honorary de gree of Master of Arts.

LADIES' EDUCATION ASSOCIATION.

ORIGIN AND RESULTS.

THE LADIES' ASSOCIATION FOR EDUCATING FEMALES was organized in Jacksonville, Ill., Oct. 4th, 1833. It was in some sense an offshoot of the enterprise which resulted in the founding of Illinois College. The wives of those early missionaries, and a few others who sympathized with them, on their arrival in that new and growing state, immediately cast about to see what they could do to forward its best interests. In traveling to their respective stations and in subsequent intercourse with the people, they met whole families who were unable to read or write. They heard of towns and counties without a school of any kind-of thousands and thousands of children without any means of instruction, and of the thousands of teachers needed to supply them. Minds awake to the question, "What needs to be done," naturally found here their These destitute settlements must be supplied with schools and the teachers must come from among the people. They understood the people and could live as the people lived. This in most places would give them an advan tage over imported or Eastern teachers. They would themselves be illustrations of the elevating influence of education which the people could appreciate. But how to call out, and provide for the education of such as might be returned as teachers to their respective neighborhoods, was the problem to be solved.

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Mrs. (Rev.) John F. Brooks had been teaching for some time in St. Clair county, and Mrs. (Rev.) Theron Baldwin for a brief period in Bond county. A providential meeting of these ladies afforded the opportunity for an exchange of views and feelings and disclosed the fact that their minds had been separately working at this problem. Mrs. Brooks had already received a few pupils with the design of fitting them for teachers. To some she had given tuition, for others obtained the means of paying it, by application to personal friends. With these teachers, experience deepened conviction; to them there seemed no limit to the good that might be done by prosecuting this work extensively and by concerted action on the part of the missionaries, teachers, and friends of education in different parts of the State. The formation of a society was sug gested and the friends parted with the purpose, if not the promise, to use their influence in bringing about so desirable an object.

About this time, the lamented Alldis S. Allen, M. D., a graduate of Yale College, who was in Jacksonville with his wife on a visit from the East, suddenly sickened and died. His widow, left in the possession of means, and aroused to a new and vivid sense of christian duty, began to raise earnestly the inquiry, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ?" This specific object was presented to her consideration. She returned to the East and soon sent a donation of nearly $200. The responsibility of receiving and disbursing so much

money, seemed to render some organization necessary. The ladies of Jacksonville held counsel on the subject and entered warmly into the proposed plan. A meeting was held in the Female Academy of that place and "The Ladies' Association for Educating Females" was duly organized. This name was adopted to distinguish it from societies whose object was to aid young men. Twenty years later when the reasons for such distinctions no longer existed, the name was changed to that of "Ladies' Education Society," which name it now bears.

In 1835, while on a visit at the East, Mrs. Baldwin by request explained the object and operations of the Society to meetings of ladies in New York city, Madison, N. J., and other places, and received valuable donations to its funds. In New York city an auxiliary was formed which through the efficient agency of Mrs. Marcus Wilbur and others rendered essential aid for several years. "The Ladies' School Society" in Rochester also contributed a few hundred dollars to the cause. As the population of Illinois increased, auxiliary societies were formed in different parts of the State, and the work grew and prospered, far beyond the most sanguine expectations of its early friends, although the funds which replenished its treasury were always in small sums. It was rarely if ever the privilege of the treasurer to record a sum larger than the original $190 with which the work began. It has never employed a paid agency and its continuance and success is due, under God, to the untiring industry and unabating zeal of a few noble women, whose names with little variation-have appeared from year to year upon the list of its executive officers. A glance at the Treasurer's Report shows the wide range of country from which these small sums were derived and suggests the amount of labor requisite for their collection.

The Twenty Second Annual Report estimates the number of persons aided by the Society up to that time, at about six hundred, (600.)

They came from various parts of Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, and Wisconsin, and were placed in good schools most convenient to their homes. The Society furnished their books, and tuition, while they worked out of school hours to pay for their board. In school they ranked with the best scholars, were useful to their teachers in sustaining law, as well as in other ways, so that, as one expressed it, "We can not well do without their aid." As teachers they have been employed in almost every State in the Union and in schools of every grade, from first class seminaries to the most obscure and "only school in the county." There are several in California, one has gone to Africa, another to India, and two are among the Cherokees.

The Annual Meetings of the Society were held on some evening during Commencement week at Jacksonville. Efforts were made to secure addresses from gentlemen who understood the cause and could speak effectively in its behalf. These addresses contain many valuable ideas and suggestions on the subject of Female Education, and are worthy of perusal if not of reprint. That of Rev. Theron Baldwin, which is appended to the Twenty Second Annual Report, discusses fully the principles of the Society.

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