Editing Geneseo, Illinois (section)

==History==
Geneseo was founded as a [[Christianity|Christian]] colony in 1836 by seven families of the [[Congregationalist]] denomination from [[Geneseo, New York]] and [[Bergen, New York]] seeking to establish a "church in the wilderness".<ref name="archive.org">{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/geneseocentennia00gene|title=Geneseo centennial history : 1836-1936|last=Geneseo Centennial Association. Historical Committee|date=April 5, 2018|publisher=[Kewanee, Ill. : Printed by the Star-Courier Co.]|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Roderick R. Stewart, one of the city's founding members, named the town Geneseo after the settlers' town of origin in [[New York (state)|New York]]. The name "Geneseo" is a variation of the [[Iroquois language|Iroquois]] word Genesee, meaning "shining valley" or "beautiful valley".<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n134 135]–136}}</ref>

===Establishment===
Planning for the colony began as early as 1829.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://geneseohistoricalmuseum.com/1829.htm |title=Geneseo the beginning 1829 |access-date=September 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151218083839/http://geneseohistoricalmuseum.com/1829.htm |archive-date=December 18, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In May 1836 the founding seven families of Geneseo sent an exploratory committee to survey the precise location of their new community in the [[Northwest Territory|Old Northwest]].  This group, known as the "New York Committee", or "New York Group" was composed of John C. Ward, Lukas T. Seyller, and Roderick R. Stewart. Advised at a meeting in [[Chicago]] by the future Governor of Illinois, [[Thomas Ford (politician)|Thomas Ford]], the small committee rode by wagon and horseback to investigate the 2,000-acre tract. The transaction of the land was completed in what is today [[Colona Township, Henry County, Illinois|Colona Township]] and purchased at a dollar and a quarter per acre.<ref name="files.usgwarchives.net">{{cite web |url= http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/henry/history/1877/historyo/geneseo218gms.txt|title= Data |website= files.usgwarchives.net}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://geneseohistoricalmuseum.com/1836.htm |title=Geneseo 1836 |access-date=September 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151218083843/http://geneseohistoricalmuseum.com/1836.htm |archive-date=December 18, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[File:Geneseo, Illinois Town Plan, 1829.gif|thumb|The original town plan for Geneseo, Illinois in 1829|left|275x275px]]
On September 17, 1836, the settlers embarked on their journey from [[Geneseo, New York]] and [[Genesee County, New York]] across Canada, down through Michigan, then across Indiana and Illinois. The subsequent winter was so bad that the families remained in [[Princeton, Illinois]] and what was known as Providence County while their structures were being established. Cromwell K. Bartlett constructed the first structure just south of the town in the winter of 1836, and Elisha Cone and J.C. Ward built the first cabin and frame house in town, respectively, in 1837.<ref name="files.usgwarchives.net"/> [[File:First Congregationalist Church in Geneseo Illinois.jpg|thumb|The First Congregationalist Church in Geneseo, Illinois, circa 1910]]

The town was split into lots by the trustees: John C. Ward, Cromwell K. Bartlett, and R.R. Stewart. They split the land into five blocks east to west and three blocks north to south with locations for a cemetery, a block for the school and church, a public square, and the "gospel lot," which, in 1846, became a [[seminary]]. Lots would be drawn by chance, assuming that the settlers would build on them, and immediately the town established its Christian and education-focused philosophy. A mandatory tithe on all proceeds (over a certain amount) was set aside to build a religious and educational seminary in the center of town, now the Geneseo City Park.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://geneseohistoricalmuseum.com/1838.htm |title=Geneseo Historical Museum |access-date=September 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151218083852/http://geneseohistoricalmuseum.com/1838.htm |archive-date=December 18, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> This building, originally known as the Geneseo Manual Labor High School, was later renamed the Geneseo Seminary and was borne of the [[self-denial]] philosophy of the town's leaders.<ref name="files.usgwarchives.net"/> However, due to considerable debt, the Geneseo Seminary ended up closing in the year 1857 and was folded into the public school system as Geneseo Central School.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite web |url=http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/henry/history/schools/schoolhist.txt |title=Archived copy |access-date=September 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201221743/http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/henry/history/schools/schoolhist.txt |archive-date=February 1, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Further proving their religious and educational convictions, when many of the town's founding families hadn't arrived and while the remainder battled frostbite, the settlers began a [[temperance movement|temperance]] society in 1836 with several families in [[Hanna Township, Henry County, Illinois|Hanna Township]] and [[Cleveland, Illinois]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/henry/history/other/hana_his.txt|title= Data |website= files.usgwarchives.net}}</ref> Construction on the original First Congregationalist Church began in 1837 and its first communion was held on April 18, 1838.<ref name="files.usgwarchives.net"/> The Congregationalist Church was a central fixture of the town's community in its first century.<ref name="archive.org"/>

These strong religious beliefs also strongly influenced the town's political leanings as well, being strong [[abolitionists]] and [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]].<ref name="archive.org"/> As a result, Geneseo became a station on the [[Underground Railroad]].<ref name="archive.org"/><ref>{{cite web |last=Donaldson |first=Brandy |date=13 October 2009 |title=Underground Railroad a proud legacy of Geneseo history |url=http://www.qconline.com/news/local/underground-railroad-a-proud-legacy-of-geneseo-history/article_ad5cea57-7a7b-58eb-8352-b1a254abb882.html |access-date=22 July 2023 |website=The Disatch Argus}}</ref>[[File:WC Sheppard Mansion 1895 in Geneseo, Illinois.jpg|thumb|W.C. Sheppard Mansion, 1895 in Geneseo, Illinois. This lot was the location of Deacon Cone's house that was used for the Underground Railroad|left]]Even before the church was constructed, the first school was established when R.R. Stewart's daughter, Susannah Stewart, began teaching classes in a one-room school house in 1837. It was built with puncheon floors, round poles, and the old wagon covers they used to make the journey.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

===Expansion===
[[File:Geneseo, Illinois downtown elephants, 1890.jpg|thumb|"When the circus came to town." Downtown Geneseo, Illinois circa 1890]]The Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad, also known as the [[Rock Island Line]], was surveyed in 1850 to run from Chicago to Rock Island with a prominent stop in Geneseo. The line was completed in June 1854 and, immediately thereafter, the [[Grand Excursion]] promotional voyage that took prominent politicians and well-off citizens on a voyage to and down the Mississippi, stopped in the small town.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://geneseohistoricalmuseum.com/1854.htm |title=Geneseo in 1854 |access-date=June 24, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150624103330/http://geneseohistoricalmuseum.com/1854.htm |archive-date=June 24, 2015 }}</ref> Although Geneseo had grown at a near stand-still since its inception, reaching only 500 persons by 1850, it soon exploded to 5,500 just 11 years later (within the 10-square mile area). Due to its large growth, Geneseo officially became a town in 1855 and a city in 1865.<ref name="files.usgwarchives.net"/> Like many towns that experienced a growth spurt in the middle of the 19th century, Geneseo's wealthier families constructed many of their homes in accordance with [[Victorian Architecture]] and a large number of them remain today, giving credence to the name "Victorian Geneseo."

Simultaneously with the expansion of the town, Geneseo's first newspaper, the ''Geneseo Democratic Standard'', started in August 1855 by James Bowie. It collapsed not a year and a half later. In June 1856, I.S. Hyatt founded the ''Geneseo Republic'' and began publishing in a building on Main Street. Although founded as a Republican Party newspaper,<ref name="files.usgwarchives.net"/> it is no longer affiliated with any political party. It is still in operation and remains the only Geneseo-only newspaper.

[[File:Geneseo Collegiate Institute circa 1895.jpg|thumb|Students outside Atkinson Hall at the Geneseo Collegiate Institute, circa 1895|350x350px|left]]

Geneseo Central School, the first high school in Geneseo, was built in 1856 and became coalesced with Geneseo Seminary in 1857.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> It was used until 1866 when the North Side Building, was constructed. It was expanded in 1871 and was demolished in 1970.<ref name="archive.org"/> [[South Side School (Geneseo, Illinois)|South Side School]], constructed by [[John W. Ross (Iowa architect)|John W. Ross]] in 1889 on the corner of College Avenue and Second Street, became the official high school for Geneseo in 1890.

In 1883, two higher-education institutions were established in Geneseo: the Geneseo Collegiate Institute (GCI) and the Northwestern Normal School (NNS). GCI was a [[Presbyterian]] academy which housed a small religious high school for a time.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="visithenrycounty.com">{{Cite web |url=http://www.visithenrycounty.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Historic-Geneseo-Walking-Tour.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=September 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160105102151/http://www.visithenrycounty.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Historic-Geneseo-Walking-Tour.pdf |archive-date=January 5, 2016 |url-status=usurped }}</ref> Although a large expansion was planned for GCI in the early 1900s, the school financially collapsed in 1922<ref name="archive.org"/> and was razed in 1930.<ref name="visithenrycounty.com"/> The Northwestern Normal School was a [[secular]] college.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> It, too, collapsed financially and in 1901 John C. Hammond purchased NNS' old dormitory and presented it to the City of Geneseo to establish Hammond Henry Hospital on November 28, 1901.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cityofgeneseo.com/why_geneseo.php |title=Archived copy |access-date=September 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150907235723/http://www.cityofgeneseo.com/why_geneseo.php |archive-date=September 7, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hammondhenry.com/ABOUTUS/OurHistory.aspx|title=Welcome to Hammond-Henry Hospital|website=www.hammondhenry.com}}</ref>

===20th century school expansion===
[[File:The Old North Side School, Geneseo, Illinois, 1900.jpg|thumb|The old North Side School, Geneseo, Illinois circa 1900|260x260px]]In 1909 the Township High School District was established. It received a major expansion in 1932.<ref name="III district/facts.html">{{Cite web|title = Geneseo Schools|url = http://www.dist228.org/index-new.php?page=district/facts.html|website = www.dist228.org|access-date = September 15, 2015|first = Jackie Bopp & James Roodhouse|last = III}}</ref> Officially known as Township High School, it was erected between 1910 and 1911<ref name="archive.org"/> The old [[South Side School (Geneseo, Illinois)|South Side School]] was then used as an additional grade school for K-8 students until a new junior high was built  in 1954. South Side was then used as an administrative building until the 1960s when it was demolished to make room for a new district unit office. In the 1960s, Geneseo High School switched places with Geneseo Junior High and became J.D. Darnall Senior High School (until reverting to Geneseo High School in 2005).<ref name="III district/facts.html"/> The old "Township High School" was then used as Geneseo Junior High School until the 1990s when Geneseo Middle School was built next door to J.D. Darnall. Township High was subsequently demolished for additional space for the city park.