86 



lii.iNois Natural History Survey Bulletin 



Vol. 27, Art. 2 



mawkish novelettes and romances into the 

 flowerv paths of Entomology, or if I can only 

 induce a single young man, instead of haunt- 

 ing saloons and lounging away his time at 

 street-corners, to devote his leisure to study- 

 ing the wonderful works of the Creator, as 

 exemplified in these tiny miracles of perfec- 

 tion which the people of the United States 

 call "bugs," 1 shall think that I have not 

 written altogether in vain. 



The (growth of the population of Illi- 

 nois resulted in the brin^inji together, 

 within the state's boundaries, of people 

 with common interests in natural history. 

 This Held of knowledge had not gone un- 

 noticed in this general geographical area, 

 but the investigators here were individuals 

 and worked pretty much alone. Just 

 across the Wabash River to the east, 

 Thomas Say had earlier done research 

 on insects and other animal groups. 

 Across the Ohio River to the south, John 

 Jaines Audubon had studied birds. 



NATURAL HISTORY 

 SOCIETY 



Because by mid-century people inter- 

 ested in natural history had become more 

 numerous in the state, Cyrus Thomas of 

 Carbondale was able to propose to the 

 December, 1857, meeting of the State 

 Teachers' Association in Decatur that a 

 Natural History Society of Illinois be 

 formed (Bateman 1858(7). The next year, 

 on June 30, 1858, the Society was organ- 

 ized at Bloomington in the office of the 

 Illinois State Normal University (Bate- 

 man 1858/>' : 258-9). It was given official 

 sanction and notice when It was chartered 

 by an act of the state legislature ap- 

 proved Februarv 22, 1861 (Illinois Gen- 

 eral Assembly 1861:551-2). 



Immediately' after its organization the 

 new Society began the development of a 

 museum and the collection of scientific 

 literature. 



Among its active members mentioned 

 by Forbes ( 1907r : 893-4) were C. D. 

 Wilber, who later became a consulting 

 mining engineer; Dr. J. A. Sewall, who 

 later became President of the University 

 of Colorado at Boulder; iMajor J. W. 

 Powell, who was to gain renown as an 

 e,xplorer in the West; Dr. George W. 

 V^asey, for many years botanist with the 

 United States Department of Agricul- 



ture; A. H. Worthen, head of the first 

 Illinois State Geological Survey; Cyrus 

 Thomas, Benjamin D. Walsh, M. S. 

 Bebb, Dr. Oliver E^verett, James Shaw, 

 Dr. Henry M. Bannister, Dr. J. W. 

 Velie, Professor J. B. Turner, Dr. Ed- 

 mund Andrews, Dr. Frederick Brendel, 

 and Newton Bateman. The above list in- 

 dicates a great breadth of interest and no 

 lack of intelligence on the part of the 

 original members of the Society. 



The first officers of the Society included 

 a General Agent, among whose duties 

 were the collection and exchange of speci- 

 mens (Batemen 1858Z<:258). C. D. Wil- 

 ber was named to this office. The Society's 

 original constitution (Bateman 1858/*: 

 258) and the revised constitution of 

 1859 (Francis 1859/^:662-3) provided 

 that all specimens should be deposited in 

 the Museum of the State Normal Uni- 

 versity. 



The constitution as revised on June 20, 

 1859 (Francis 1859/^:662-3), 'dropped 

 the General Agent, gave most of his du- 

 ties to a newly created Superintendent, 

 and added a Curator, whose duties were 

 to receive and arrange specimens. Cyrus 

 Thomas, who was elected Curator, lived 

 in Jackson County, many miles from the 

 Museum, and the elected Superintendent, 

 Wilber, who taught geology at the State 

 Normal University, according to Mar- 

 shall (1956) acted as unofficial curator. 



At the 1860 meeting, R. H. Holder of 

 Bloomington was named both Curator 

 and Treasurer (Wilber 186l«:538). 



The state charter of 1861 gave the 

 Society authority to establish its own 

 Museum at the State Normal University 

 (Illinois General Assembly 1861:551), 

 and officers of the Society set December 

 25, 1861, as the date on which the Mu- 

 seum was to be "dedicated, with appro- 

 priate exercises, as a free offering to 

 THE CITIZENS AND SCHOOLS of Illinois" 

 (Wilber 1861r:675). 



Forbes (1907r:893) listed Sewall, 

 Powell, Vasey, and himself as curators 

 of the Society's Museum, Vasey serving 

 only nominally as Powell's deputy. Powell 

 was named Curator by the State Board of 

 Education on March 26, 1867. His ap- 

 pointment was ratified and consented to 

 on the same day b}' the Directors of the 

 Natural History Society (Bateman 1867: 



