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History

The Birth of Education in Mt. Zion

From excerpts of The History of Mt. Zion Community edited by Virgina Gosnell

The history of education in Mt. Zion begins soon after James and Elizabeth Scott, with their four young sons came to Macon County from the state of Tennessee in 1824. Upon arriving here they settled on the east bank of Finley Creek about 1/4 mile west of the Coombe farm. This is presently the Lois Britton Garrett farm. It is said that James Scott had a stammer in his speech but he and his wife had received a better education than average before coming to Illinois. In 1831 Andrew Wilson started a Sunday School in connection with a new church, the Mt. Zion Cumberland Presbyterian, James Scott was made the superintendent. But the Scotts were concerned about "book learning" as well as Sunday School lessons and as they had their four young sons to teach they opened their home to any other children in the community whose parents wished to send them to learn "Readin', Ritin', and Rithmetic".

About 1840 on the Traughber farm 1/4 miles west of Mt. Zion, school was set up in a log cabin and classes were held there instead of in the Scott home. However, Mr. Scott was still the teacher. A few years later this school was moved to another log cabin about 1/2 mile south and was afterwards known as Sulphur Springs School since it was located on a knoll just above the springs.

In 1840 a log schoolhouse was erected in Mt. Zion near the present Mt. Zion Grade school building. It was near the Church Camp grounds so was called the "Old Camp School". Miss Anna B. Aston, daughter of one of the early Presbyterian ministers once taught there. Later she married Mr. James Millikin, founder of the Millikin Bank and James Millikin University in Decatur. As time went on the need for more and better school advantages was felt so in 1856 a two-story wooden structure was completed located near the church and camp ground and large enough to accommodate 100 pupils. It seemed at first to be intended for all ages of pupils, the younger children downstairs, the older ones on the second floor. There were numerous schools in the settlements around Mt. Zion by now but some people in the country sent their children to the newer and nicer school in town. This caused some "hard" feelings among the families in the community. When school closed in the spring of 1857 an open entertainment was given by the children of the school. Later that same night the building burned to the ground. The opinion prevailed that it had been set on fire to rid the neighborhood of what many felt was a "high-toned" school.

The leading men of the community of Mt. Zion, mostly men of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, determined to rebuild but to construct a much better building. They sold stock at 100 dollars per share to finance the undertaking. A man from Decatur named MeBey was employed to make the brick for the construction right on the school grounds from clay which was found there.

Teachers for the new school were usually brought in from the East. Again, the Cumberland Presbyterians had contacts with relatives and friends back in their former homes and since education there was much more advanced than on the Illinois prairies they brought these more highly educated people in to increase the quality of learning in Mt. Zion. It proved to be effective for in a few years the school became the Mt. Zion Academy and the younger children went to other schools. A young minister from Pennsylvania was employed in 1859 to take charge of the school. He was of Irish descent and under his management the reputation of the school spread far and wide. Students came from all over the country, making the Mt. Zion Academy the leading educational center in Illinois at that time. Many well known professional people came out of this school, ministers, lawyers, doctors, business men and educators to mention a few. The enrollment reached 150 at one time. Mt. Zion was only a small town but seemed able to accommodate the young ladies, who came to attend school, in private homes. The cost per week for board, room, washing, fuel, etc. was $1.75 to $2.00.

In 1860 Dr. Blaylock erected the first hotel in Mt. Zion, which was kept by John Mc Mullin and family. Behind the hotel, which was located where the present Village offices are now, he built a long, low structure known as "the barracks" where young men students lived while attending school. The young men usually ate at the dining room in the hotel. The barracks were furnished with a barrel wood stove for heating, a bed and a desk. Also, many one-room cabins were scattered over the village to accommodate students. They were not painted outside but were plastered inside and quite comfortable.

Life in Mt. Zion was that of a typical lively college town. In winter sleigh-bells could be heard galore and ice skating was popular. On Christmas Eve a party was given in the President's home for students not able to go to their own homes for the holidays. In summer the boys enjoyed swimming, the girls sat on the lawns sewing or chatting or they might play lawn tennis. And of course most students attended the church services, the Camp meetings, and Protracted meetings several times a year. There were Spelling bees and Quilting Parties, so life in the Village was never dull.

The Mt. Zion Academy flourished as a school of higher learning from 1856-1871. In 1866 the Cumberland Presbyterians of Lincoln, Illinois decided to establish a college there and it was feared another school so close would adversely affect the one in Mt. Zion which proved to be true. Professor McGlumphy, head of the Mt. Zion school went to Lincoln to serve as the head of their new school and many of the Academy pupils went with him. The Mt. Zion School continued until 1871 but with the establishment of more public schools, including High Schools, the need for the Academy no longer existed.

The School Directors in Mt. Zion rented the former Academy building and used it for a grade school and some high school courses. Later the board purchased the building and it was used until 1904 when it was torn down and a new white wooden building erected on the same site. While the new building was being completed the children in the lower grades had classes in their teacher's home on Elm Street near the school, the higher grades met at the Republican Hall on Bell Street where Lola Evey's home is now located.

The new school building had four rooms, two downstairs, two upstairs with a long, wide hall between and a cloakroom at the east end of the halls for each room. Downstairs, grades 1, 2 and 3 were in the Primary room; grades 4, 5 and 6 in the Intermediate room. Upstairs, grades 7 and 8 were in the south room and grades 9 and 10 were in the north room. The teacher of the ninth and tenth grades was also the principal of the entire school.

To complete High School the pupil went to Decatur, tuition paid by the local school district. It was permissible to go to any high school in the state with tuition paid. A few did this but most went to Decatur High. The student paid his own room and board in Decatur although most continued to live in Mt. Zion and go back and forth each day on the trains. They would go to Decatur on the 8:00 o'clock train and return In the afternoon on the 4:00 o'clock train. There were times when as many as a dozen young people commuted back and forth to school in Decatur in this manner. By 1920 a bill had been passed abolishing the teaching of ninth and tenth grades - equivalent to freshman and sophomore years in high school - in the public schools. There had been talk in Mt. Zion of the need for a Community High School anyway, for many communities around the area had built and established such schools. So, in September 1920 the first Mt. Zion High School classes began in the north upstairs room of the White Grade School.