Mount Morris College was a religious college affiliated with the

Church of the Brethren The Church of the Brethren is an Anabaptist Christian denomination in the Schwarzenau Brethren tradition ( "Schwarzenau New Baptists") that was organized in 1708 by Alexander Mack in Schwarzenau, Germany during the Radical Pietist revival. ...

Mount Morris, Illinois Mount Morris is a village in Mount Morris Township, Ogle County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,998 at the 2010 census, down from 3,013 in 2000. Geography Mount Morris is located at (42.047614, -89.433972). According to the 20 ...

, USA. The original institution at this location was Rock River Seminary, which was founded by the

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

in 1839. The Methodists closed Rock River Seminary in 1878 and subsequently sold the

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

grounds and buildings to the Church of the Brethren. The Brethren reorganized the school and reopened it in 1879 as Mount Morris Seminary and Collegiate Institute. It officially became Mount Morris College in 1884. Although the college initially attracted enough students to be successful, luck was never with it. A fire on the campus in January 1912 burned one of the college's main buildings to the ground. Diligent fundraising allowed the campus to continue, and a new building was constructed to replace what was lost. However, by the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, enrollments began to decline, and financial problems continued to plague the college. Enrollments began to rise again in 1929–1930, but another fire in April 1932 destroyed a dormitory and heavily damaged some classroom and administrative buildings. The financial strain of this second fire, coming during the worst years of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

was too much. At the end of the school year, in May 1932, Mount Morris College closed forever. Mount Morris College was a member of the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from 1922 to 1931.

Notable alumni

Notable alumni of Mount Morris College include: * Adaline Hohf Beery (1859–1929), American author, newspaper editor, songbook compiler, hymnwriter * Aaron Brumbaugh, sixth president of

Shimer College Shimer Great Books School ( ) is a Classic_book#University_programs, Great Books college that is part of North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. Prior to 2017, Shimer was an independent, accredited college on the south side of Chicago, or ...

and a leading figure in the Hutchins

Great Books A classic is a book accepted as being exemplary or particularly noteworthy. What makes a book "classic" is a concern that has occurred to various authors ranging from Italo Calvino to Mark Twain and the related questions of "Why Read the Cl ...

movement *

Florence King Florence Virginia King (January 5, 1936 – January 6, 2016) was an American novelist, essayist and columnist. While her early writings focused on the American South and those who live there, much of King's later work was published in ''Natio ...

, the first female patent attorney in America * Emery Myers Emmert (1900–1962), Class of 1923. Professor of Horticulture at

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

1928–1962, inventor of the plastic greenhouse. * Henry C. Newcomer, Brigadier General, 1861–1952, Assistant Director of Chemical Warfare Section 1918–1919. Notable alumni from the Methodist Rock River Seminary include: * Smith D. Atkins, author, editor, and Civil War commander *

John Lourie Beveridge John Lourie Beveridge (July 6, 1824 – May 3, 1910) was the 16th Governor of Illinois, serving from 1873 to 1877. He succeeded the recently elected Richard J. Oglesby, who resigned to accept a Senate seat. Beveridge previously served in ...

Governor of Illinois The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its we ...

* Emelie C. S. Chilton (1838–1864), author, editor *

Shelby Moore Cullom Shelby Moore Cullom (November 22, 1829 – January 28, 1914) was an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives, the United States Senate and as the 17th Governor of Illinois. He was Illinois's longest serving s ...

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

* Charles Henry Fowler, Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church * S. M. I. Henry (1839–1900), evangelist, temperance reformer, poet, author * James B. Herrick, physician and first describer of

sickle-cell disease Sickle cell disease (SCD), also simply called sickle cell, is a group of inherited haemoglobin-related blood disorders. The most common type is known as sickle cell anemia. Sickle cell anemia results in an abnormality in the oxygen-carrying ...

Robert R. Hitt Robert Roberts Hitt (January 16, 1834 – September 20, 1906) was an American diplomat and Republican politician from Illinois. He served briefly as assistant secretary of state in the short-lived administration of James A. Garfield but ...

, US Congressman * Daniel Harris Johnson, Wisconsin State Assemblyman * W.H.L. Wallace, Civil War Brigadier General, Hero of the Battle of Shiloh

References

Mount Morris College history
{{authority control Universities and colleges affiliated with the Church of the Brethren Defunct private universities and colleges in Illinois Universities and colleges established in 1879 Burned buildings and structures in the United States Mount Morris, Illinois Educational institutions disestablished in 1932 1879 establishments in Illinois 1932 disestablishments in Illinois Education in Ogle County, Illinois