Editing Geneseo, Illinois (section)

===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"/>