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MEMORIALS 
 
 ANNA P. SILL, 
 
 FIRST PRINCIPAL OF 
 
 1*70 afford female 
 
 1849=1889. 
 
 ROCKFORD, ILL. : 
 
 DAILY REGISTER ELECTRIC PRINT. 
 
 1889. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL 
 
f 
 
Biographical. 
 
 fT is fitting, when a life of great power or great usefulness 
 passes from the visible into the invisible realm, that 
 some history or memorial of it should be written besides 
 that recorded in its outward and visible results. Especially 
 is this true of the teacher, whose work is to a great extent 
 impalpable to the senses, and whose life lives largely in the 
 lives and characters influenced and moulded by it. And 
 yet such lives are generally least able to be separated in 
 their integral elements from those into which they pass. 
 The daily routine of constant, and too often unappreciated 
 and unrewarded toil, passes by like that of the sun in the 
 heavens, unnoticed until it disappears, and is known only, 
 or chiefly, by the blessings it silently sheds, and the fruits it 
 slowly developes. To such the divine words preeminently 
 apply, "Whoso loseth his life shall find it/' But the 
 finding is often deferred till it has passed from the earthly 
 to the heavenly state. 
 
 The life here briefly delineated was identified in a 
 remarkable degree with the Institution to which she devoted 
 its greater portion. This renders it appropriate to weave 
 together the history of the two, as far as they can be 
 recovered and outlined in a memorial sketch, rather than 
 a biography. 
 
 M187491 
 
MEMORIALS OF 
 
 It is much to be regretted that Miss Sill did not live to 
 complete a MS. begun a few years ago and found among 
 her papers, the design of which is thus recorded in a 
 prefatory statement : 
 
 " After laboring in the cause of Education forty-six 
 consecutive years, forty -two years in Seminaries for 
 young women, and more than forty years as Principal, 
 and nearing the age of three score years and ten, ] 
 have been asked to write a book. What book shall I 
 write? The world is full of books, and I have no great 
 ambition to be an author. I have hitherto been writing 
 on the tablets of human hearts by spoken words, which 
 may prove more ineffaceable than the printed page. But 
 it maybe said, books have a vitality when human life goes 
 out. So does the influence of spoken words. Then it has 
 been suggested to me 'to write a history of Ilockford 
 Seminary, and a sketch of your own life.' All 
 
 this leads to earnest thought, and I seek to know, 'the 
 greater good,' the motto of my life. I have decided not 
 to write and publish a book, but to do what I can in 
 gathering the scattered fragments of the history of the 
 Seminary within my reach, a work which no one else can 
 do, and to make a record of them in a journal, and at the 
 same time write a sketch of my own life, each illustrating 
 the other, and revealing the Providence of God; and so 
 leave this MS. for friends and old students who may have 
 any interest to read it." 
 
 Only the first chapter of this history was written, 
 entitled "Ancestry, Childhood and Early Years." From 
 this we gather and compile in condensed form thefollowing 
 outline : 
 
 ANNA PECK SILL was born in Burlington, Otsego Coun- 
 ty, N. Y., on the 9th day of August, 1816. She was the 
 youngest of ten children, and inherited the qualities, intel- 
 lectual and moral, of a long line of Puritan ancestors. 
 The family was descended from John Sill, of England, who 
 with his wife Joanna emigrated to this country in 1637, and 
 settled in Cambridge, Mass., only seven years after the set- 
 tlement of the town, and the same year in which Harvard 
 College was founded. 
 
ANNA P. SILL. 7 
 
 About 1789, her grand parents removed with their 
 families from Lyme, Conn., to Otsego county, N. Y., at 
 that time a wilderness, and settled in the picturesque 
 neighborhood of what is now Burlington. Her grand- 
 father, Deacon Andrew Sill, a man of revered and sacred 
 memory, was a prominent member of the Congregational 
 Church in Lyme, and held the office of deacon for thirty- 
 one years. He was a patriot soldier in the Revolutionary 
 war, and lived to the ripe age of 90 years and 6 months. 
 
 Her father, Abel Sill, was a quiet, industrious and 
 intelligent farmer, who died prematurely of typhoid fever 
 in 1824, in the 50th year of his age, when Anna was but 
 seven years old. 
 
 Her maternal grandfather, Hon. Jedediah Peck, whose 
 name is recorded in the history of New York State, was a 
 man of great influence and usefulness in his day, and filled 
 several high positions as legislator and judge. He was 
 also a teacher ; was skilled in the sciences of navigation and 
 surveying, and was the first to urge legislative action for 
 the establishment of common schools and the abolition of 
 imprisonment for debt. He died in 1821, at the age of 73 
 years. 
 
 Her mother, eldest daughter of Judge Peck, was a 
 woman of great energy of character, a good scholar in her 
 day, especially in mathematics, a woman of piety , industry 
 and taste, and trained her children in the homely virtues 
 of honesty, economy, industry and strict moral and physi- 
 cal integrity. She was left by the death of her husband 
 with the care of nine children one having previously died 
 six sons and three daughters, of whom Anna was the 
 youngest, and died in 1860, at the age of 86. 
 
 With such ancestry and domestic training, it was not 
 strange that she should inherit something of the practical 
 energy, principled piety and love of learning that have ever 
 distinguished the puritan character. Her early life was a 
 free and happy one. The physical surroundings of the 
 home in which her childhood was spent, were such as to 
 
S OF 
 
 nurture the purest and best sentiments, and awaken that 
 love of nature which is not only a perennial spring of 
 happiness but a sure safeguard of the moral being. The 
 house " stood on a high elevation surrounded with hills and 
 valleys, with the Catskill mountains in the blue distance 
 at the east, a deep valley on the south, and far beyond rose 
 hill after hill with curves of sky andchanging cloud between." 
 On the west was a deep ravine with sheer rocky walls over- 
 hung with trees and bushes and spanned with a rustic 
 bridge, below which ran a clear stream of rippling water. 
 
 Amidst such scenes her childhood was passed ; u often 
 rambling with her cousin along the wild ravine to gather 
 moss and ferns, wild flowers and winter-green berries, or 
 stopping to catch the tiny fish, with pin for hook and 
 angleworm for bait; or climbing a long, steep hill with 
 winding cow path, through the meadow land and orchard 
 to the old mansion with its sheds and barns, its long well- 
 sweep and oaken bucket ; and near by the trim and fenced 
 garden with its beds of pansies, bachelors buttons, pinks 
 and caraway, its currant and gooseberry bushes and its 
 vegetables of every name." 
 
 Within the house was found what corresponded with 
 this rustic scenery. "It was a home of industry, of early 
 morning hours, simplicity in living and the abode of health, 
 In it you could hear the loud buzz of the large spinning- 
 wheel and the hum of the smaller one, with distaff in hand, 
 or the clack of the weaving loom, and see the flying shuttle 
 and the varied occupations of farm life." 
 
 She was sent to school when not more than four years 
 old ; and the daily walk through summer's heart and win- 
 ter's cold, over steep hills and through valleys and plains 
 one mile away to the old red school-house, stamped im- 
 pressions on her memory more indelible than those made 
 by the drilling in Webster's Spelling Book, Morse's Geogra- 
 phy and Murray's Grammar, which she 'committed from 
 beginning to end with no thought of its value,' or scarcely 
 of its meaning. Daboll's Arithmetic was finished when 
 
ANNA P. SILL. 9 
 
 about thirteen years old 'with the aid of a key.' But 
 what was more valuable, and was itself a key to higher 
 wisdom, she was taught 'reverence to teachers and to all 
 strangers by the way to and from school.' She was care- 
 fully trained in all household duties, including spinning, 
 weaving and setting cards for carding wool and tow. She 
 also found time to braid bonnets made from June grass, 
 and for some kinds of embroidery. 
 
 Thus life passed in those early years between school 
 and home duties, till the age of reflection awoke a deeper 
 longing which this superficial book-knowledge and even 
 the kindness of a mother's love could not satisfy. Intel- 
 lect and soul both awoke from their dreams with a dim 
 but earnest presentiment of a higher life. Her mind ' craved 
 better school advantages,' and her soul 'cried out for its 
 God.' She 'groped in the dark but did not find Him.' 
 Her cousin's attainments and conversation was aconstant 
 stimulus and inspiration, but, little was said to her about 
 being a Christian, nor did she care to talk about it. Like 
 most thoughtful children of .Christian parents, she had 
 been the subject of religious impressions in very early life. 
 " I could not remember the time when I did not pray ; and 
 in addition to 'Now I lay me,' composed a prayer of 
 thanks to God for his care including the petition that God 
 would make me a Christian before I died. Prayer seemed 
 to be innate and not taught to me by others. My father 
 was Episcopal in preference, and one of the first books I 
 remember to have read aside from the Bible in the Sunday 
 School was the Episcopal Prayer-book. There were but 
 few books in our library, and I was hungry for knowledge." 
 
 With these hungerings and thirstings after knowledge 
 and religion, "I was conscious of being opposed to God's 
 will. lean now see that again and again the Spirit of God 
 came to me through the truth and urged an entire surren- 
 der of all to Christ, and I would promise to myself on some 
 definite time named I would do so, and thus delay. I felt 
 quite willing, as I thought, to go on a painful pilgrimage, 
 
10 MEMORIALS OF 
 
 if that would make me a Christian, but to yield my heart 
 to do all the duties of a Christian and to be saved by 
 Christ alone, I could not. If I must be lost forever, then I 
 will be rather than do this. * * * Thus 1 passed 
 along until in my fifteenth year, in the spring of 1831." 
 
 Here this interesting autobiographical fragment ter- 
 minates, and for the remainder of her personal life and 
 experience, only brief records in her private journals and 
 letters are afforded. 
 
 It is known that the year 1831, was memorable in the 
 religious history of the country for powerful and wide- 
 spread 'revivals;' and New York and New England were 
 swept by 'a wind from the Holy Spirit,' which seemed to 
 shake whole regions and brought thousands, as on the 
 day of Pentecost, to enter on a religious life. It is proba- 
 ble, and almost inevitable, that so earnest and spiritually 
 susceptible and already awakened soul would be effectually 
 reached and swayed by such an influence, and that she 
 dated her real conversion from this year of grace and 
 salvation. 
 
 Of the next five years of her life no record is found, but 
 it was probably spent mostly at home in the quiet occu- 
 pations of domestic industry and in struggles after intel- 
 lectual and spiritual progress, aided by such helps as home 
 and school and church afforded. One result is very ap- 
 parent. Her religious life and experience seems to have 
 grown to a remarkable degree, and to have become the 
 absorbing thought and element of her being. The ' oppo- 
 sition' of which she was conscious previous to this period, 
 gave way to a submission and consecration of heart and 
 will to God,' and a desire to be used in His service, which is 
 rare even in religious biographies. Self seemed henceforth 
 to be laid on the altar of sacrifice, and to be more and 
 more consumed in its flames. This will be more manifest 
 in her subsequent life. The type of piety thus early stamped 
 upon her character was largely due to the revival preach- 
 
ANNA P. SILL. 11 
 
 ing of those days which made much of religious experience, 
 and led to deep searchings of heart, and which manifested 
 itself chiefly in efforts for the conversion of souls. This 
 deep, earnest and spiritual religion characterized her to the 
 end ; and rarely has it been combined with such unswerv- 
 ing principle, practical wisdom, radiant cheerfulness and 
 winning gentleness as in her. 
 
 She left Burlington in the fall of 1836, when about 
 twenty years of age, and taught a district school at Barre, 
 in the neighborhood of Albion, for about seven months, 
 devoting the intervals of her school hours to other employ- 
 ments, such as spinning and weaving, to eke out the slender 
 wages she received of two dollars per week, and obtain the 
 means of support and further education. About six weeks 
 of this time, during the school vacation, she attended a 
 school at Albion, and in November 1837, entered Miss 
 Phipps' Union Seminary, (one of the first female institu- 
 tions of the State), as a permanent scholar. About one 
 year later we find her employed in the school as a teacher, 
 probably persuing her studies at the same time. Here she 
 remained for more than five years, till July 1843. 
 
 Her success both as pupil and teacher, is evinced not 
 only in the high rank she afterwards attained in her edu- 
 cational work, but in her journals and letters during this 
 period. It is especially interesting to trace the way in 
 which Providence was preparing her, both by inward con- 
 flicts and outward trials and successes, for the great work 
 of her life. Her consecration and whole-souled devotion 
 to the tasks before her, and her prayerful labors for the 
 spiritual interests of her pupils are revealed in her diary, 
 as a sacred fire ever burning on the altar of her soul ; and 
 she records with tearful gratitude how one and another, 
 during a season of revival, were led by her earnest words 
 to seek and find the Saviour. 
 
 The early part of the last year at Albion, (1843), was 
 marked by a great mental conflict concerning her future 
 work. From an early period she had been exercised by a 
 
12 MEMORIALS OF 
 
 strong desire to devote her life to doing good ; but in what 
 sphere her work was to be, she had no definite apprehen- 
 sion, or even choice, save only to serve God in serving and 
 blessing humanity. She now had her thoughts directed 
 anew to the Foreign Missionary work, as that which she 
 most ardently desired, if she could but be accounted worthy 
 of such a calling. In a letter to her pastor, Rev. G. W. 
 Crawford, to whom she opened her heart on this subject, 
 she says : "I think, if I know my own heart, the primary 
 motive which led me to acquire an education was that 
 I might lay it at the Saviour's feet, and thus be of some 
 service to his cause." And the intensity of her feelings is 
 thus expressed : "I have hardly dared to ask my Heavenly 
 Father so great a privilege, but have prayed that at least 
 I might be permitted after death to go as a ministering 
 spirit and whisper sweet words of peace to some poor 
 heathen soul." 
 
 As if to test the character of this desire, and purify it 
 from all unpractical enthusiasm, an opportunity was very 
 soon after offered her of going as companion to an unmar- 
 ried missionary about to sail in a few months for India. 
 The result was, after sufficient time for acquaintance and 
 reflection and prayer for divine guidance, that the solici- 
 tation was declined 'and she decided not to go for the 
 present, exemplifying, what is not always the case, the 
 exercise of that womanly instinct and practical wisdom 
 which no missionary zeal may dispense with or overrule, 
 and which equally with religious faith and devotion should 
 be allowed to determine the question as to the will of God . 
 
 Having determined to leave Albion, in hopes of finding 
 a field of still greater usefulness, her thoughts were turned 
 toward "The West," as a field of missionary and educa- 
 tional labor. She wrote to Rev. Hiram Foote, then in 
 Racine, Wisconsin, with whom she had some acquaint- 
 ance, inquiring if he knew of any opening for such work. 
 "I have thought perhaps I might be useful as a teacher, 
 and if possible establish a female seminary in some of the 
 
ANNA P. SILL. 13 
 
 western states. Pecuniary considerations would have but 
 little influence in such an undertaking. My principal object 
 is to do good." 
 
 Not receiving any favorable reply the time for such 
 an enterprise had not yet come she went alone and almost 
 unfriended, to Warsaw, and there, after many discourage- 
 ments succeeded in opening a Seminary for young ladies, 
 October 2nd, 1843. This undertaking, the first Seminary 
 entirely under her own control, she speaks of in a letter to 
 Mr. Crawford, as "succeeding much better than I antici- 
 pated, and exceeding entirely the most sanguine expecta. 
 tionsof my friends." Before the close of the year, the school 
 numbered 140 scholars. She continued this seminary 
 about two and a half years, and closed it in March, 1846. 
 It is not known what reasons determined this step, but it 
 was evidently not in consequence of any lack of outward 
 prosperity. Probably a want of spiritual sympathy in her 
 higher religious and educational aims may have led to its 
 discontinuance. 
 
 In August, of that year, after much anxious thought 
 and inquiry as to the path of duty, whether to go to the 
 West, or to offer herself to the Foreign Missionary field, she 
 was invited by the trustees of the Gary Collegiate Institute, 
 in Oakfield, Genesee county, to take charge of the female 
 department in Chat institution. This invitation she ac- 
 cepted, and taught there as preceptress till the spring of 
 1849. 
 
 But scanty record is made in her journal of her work 
 at Caryville; but the school is described as 'prosperous.' 
 She "had the care, some of the time, of about eighty 
 ladies; had probably over 200 different ones under my 
 care. During the winter a number was hopefully converted 
 in my bible-class." 
 
 While here, she had many applications to go elsewhere; 
 one to take charge of the Seminary at Albion, and also to 
 go as Principal at Le Koy ; 'but duty, looking at the pros- 
 pect of greater good', decided her course to remain in 
 
14 MEMORIALS OF 
 
 Oak field another year. During that year she had appli- 
 cations from Michigan, Vermont, Lockport, and again 
 from Le Roy. All these she declined. She had long desired 
 to labor in a more ' destitute ' field ; if not on heathen soil a 
 hope which she cherished to the last among the wide and 
 more uncultured prairies of the West. And this desire was 
 now about to be fulfilled. 
 
 Before speaking of her introduction to this field, it may 
 be well to glance briefly at the preparation which Provi- 
 dence was making for her advent and work. 
 
 While Miss Sill was prosecuting her educational work 
 in western New York, the pioneers of Christian civilization 
 in the Northwest were planning how to carry out their 
 views of higher education both for young men and young 
 women by establishing collegiate institutions of the best 
 New England type. 
 
 The co-education of the sexes, as carried on at Oberlin, 
 had not at that time proved a complete success ; nor was 
 the idea of furnishing exactly the same education for both 
 sexes then entertained. The diversity in mental consti- 
 tution and in the sphere of life and employment appointed 
 to each, seemed at that early day to require a somewha.t 
 different curriculum of study and method of training, for 
 which separate institutions were demanded. Accordingly 
 they resolved after a series of conventions, representing 
 especially the Congregational and Presbyterian ministers 
 and churches of the Northwest, to establish a College at 
 Beloit, Wisconsin, and a Seminary in Northern Illinois. This 
 was afterwards located at Rockford, and a Board of 
 Trustees was elected to whom was committed the develop- 
 ment and care of both institutions. The College began its 
 corporate existence in 1845, and the Seminary in 1847, 
 although it did not go into operation until a few years 
 later. 
 
 The selection of a Principal for such a Seminary was a 
 work involving no little care and responsibility, since its 
 success would be largely dependent on her character and 
 
ANNA P. SILL. 15 
 
 ability. But Providence had wisely prepared the way and 
 the person. 
 
 Friends of the enterprise in Rockford, who had heard 
 of Miss Sill's success and reputation as a teacher, promi- 
 nent among whom was the Rev. L. H. Loss, then pastor 
 of the Congregational Church, wrote to her concerning the 
 new enterprise and invited her to come to Rockford and 
 open a school for young ladies as preparatory to the 
 future Seminary. " I listened to the call," she writes in her 
 journal, "and consented to leave long cherished friends 
 and go. I bade Caryville farewell May 10th. 
 
 It is a dear spot." 
 
 Her motives in accepting this western call may be 
 gathered from what has gone before. It opened a larger 
 field of usefulness than any she had heretofore occupied. 
 It was believed to be a missionary work, the laying of 
 Christian foundations for future generations ; and it was 
 clearly a call of Providence, in answer, as it seemed, to her 
 earnest prayers for guidance. 
 
 She reached Rockford, May 24th, 1849. A few brief 
 extracts from her journal may here be interesting, as 
 affording a glimpse into the past, and also into the heart 
 of the young teacher. 
 
 " May 29. Sent my advertisement to the press. My 
 success is yet to be known, for ' my times are in the hand 
 of the Lord.' I trust I am prepared for whatever cup He 
 in His all-wise providence may mingle. May I but glorify 
 God and serve humanity while I live, and then go home. 
 
 "July 11. To-day commenced school, and laid the 
 foundation of Rockford Female Seminary. Opened with 
 fifty- three scholars. Lord, fit me for rny work arid glo- 
 rify Thyself thereby." 
 
 " 12. To-day numbered sixty scholars. Oh, the re- 
 sponsibility of teachers! Lord, aid me." 
 
 A nearer view of this first beginning of her work in 
 Rockford is afforded by one of her first scholars, who thus 
 recounts her reminiscence of Miss Sill's opening day: 
 
10 MEMORIALS OF 
 
 "The scholars were drawn up in a row on the lawn the 
 first day, forming a gauntlet of happy faces, and as the 
 teacher passed through, each gave her name. After they 
 had entered the room, Miss Sill made a few remarks in 
 which she said: 'Well, well, young ladies, this is like the 
 sunshine of this beautiful day, dropping light into our 
 hearts.' She then remarked that it might seem strange to 
 them to find one from the East away out in t,he West. 
 She came there for a purpose, and that purpose was to 
 establish a school in the wild Northwest. The children 
 became impressed with her earnestness. They realized that 
 they stood in the presence of a devout Christian woman. 
 In those days a person direct from the East commanded 
 especial respect. The fact that this young woman came 
 hundreds of miles to do good had its effect upon them, and 
 they went to work with a will. The discouragements were 
 manifold. The seats were low and uncouth affairs, and 
 the sun came in from the unhidden windows, causing much 
 complaint. But the teacher had an iron will. She opened 
 a modest boarding-house, and with the funds thus gained 
 improved the school-room, bought the books needed, 
 placed curtains in the windows, and prevailed upon the 
 scholars to supply desks. They learned to love her, and 
 to this day, carry her image in their hearts." 
 
 A few months later, Nov. 4, she records the trial she 
 experienced at the leaving of her pastor, who had been her 
 chief counsellor and friend in this land of strangers. 
 
 "I feel that I shall indeed be shut up to the faith, and left 
 to trust in God alone for the prosecution of this work. 
 And thus it has always been when I began to lean on 
 earthly props. I feel that God would discipline to faith. 
 My desire for usefulness is an insatiable thirst which in- 
 creases as the field widens before me. It seems to nerve 
 every energy of my being; but how shall I obtain the 
 desired object? Oh, for more holiness of heart, for 
 entire consecration to God. What can I, a feeble 
 finite creature do? I feel in want of all things. How much 
 
ANNA P. SILL. 17 
 
 wisdom, prudence, zeal, tempered with moderation, is 
 requisite to fill my station ! I do see and feel the leading, 
 guiding hand of my Heavenly Father reached down to 
 help, and this does sustain me. I am sure of this yea, as 
 sure as though it were visible to the senses. Then what 
 need I fear though He take away all earthly support. Only, 
 God, extend my influence for good; make me more 
 sacrificing, more prayerful, more and more devoted to 
 humanity." 
 
 With such faith and heaven-kindled aspirations did 
 Miss Sill enter upon her work in Eockford ; and its whole 
 subsequent history shows that her faith was not delusion 
 or mere enthusiasm, but that there was a Divine guidance 
 of her way and a divinely ordered connection between the 
 work and the instrument. 
 
 The immediate and large success of the school, which 
 soon outgrew its accommodations, demonstrated the felt 
 need and demand for higher female education in the growing 
 West, and it was very soon recognized as the germ and 
 beginning of the Rockford Seminary. 
 
 The subscription by the citizens of Rockford of over 
 $5,000for buildings, and the pledge by the ladiesof $1,000 
 more for the beautiful grounds upon which the Seminary 
 now stands, together with the school in such successful 
 operation, were all that was needed for its inauguration 
 as a permanent institution for the higher education of 
 young women. 
 
 In 1851, the first class, fifteen in number, entered upon 
 their course. On the 18th of July, 1852, the corner stone 
 of the first edifice was laid by the President of the Board 
 of Trustees, Rev. Aratus Kent, of Galena, who may be 
 called the father of the Seminary, since to him, more than 
 any other man, it owed its inception and development. 
 The text of his address : " That our daughters may be as 
 corner-stones polished after the similitude of a palace," 
 suggests both the place and the power of woman, as the 
 essential and purifying element in Christian civilization, 
 
18 MEMORIALS OF 
 
 whose center is the home and whose crown is righteousness 
 and love. 
 
 Miss Sill, in entering on her life work, seems to have 
 had from the first a true and practical idea of the end in 
 view and the work to be accomplished. This is evident 
 from the manner in which she entered upon it and the 
 steadiness with which she pursued it. She had intense 
 sympathy with the educational work of Mary Lyon, and 
 early set before her Mount Holy oke Seminary as the model 
 atfter which this new Western Seminary was to be built. 
 The aims, the methods and the whole spirit and character 
 of the former were adopted by the latter, and there was a 
 corresponding energy and devotion in the character of the 
 two women. 
 
 There was a remarkable fitness also between the char- 
 acter of the new teacher and the work before her. The 
 freshness, enthusiasm and wholesome vigor, physical and 
 mental, which impressed all beholders, and was a constant 
 inspiration to her pupils, found a congenial element in the 
 f ree air, the wide-sweeping praries, and especially in the fresh, 
 ardent, unsophisticated minds of the young West, unknown 
 to the narrower and more cultivated fields of New England. 
 She longed to meet this uprising strength and eager intel- 
 lectual thirst with answering strength of mind and heart, 
 to satisfy this craving with the intellectual and moral 
 culture which was in her to bestow. 
 
 Above all, she realized the immense power and influence 
 for good latent in the young women of the West the 
 future mothers of this new country, and she yearned to 
 quicken and develope this power of womanhood in the 
 interest of Christianity and humanity. 
 
 The ideas which she sought to incorporate in her work 
 as Principal, and which became the organic ideas of the 
 institution, were : 
 
 (1.) To reach especially the poorer and less favored 
 classes of young women, hitherto debarred from the higher 
 education farmer's daughters growing up in their wild 
 
ANNA P. SILL. 19 
 
 beauty like the prairie flowers that bloom around them ; 
 daughters of Home Missionaries, and other pioneers who 
 had left cultivated homes in the East to plant Christian 
 civilization in the West. 
 
 (2.) To combine, to a limited extent, domestic and 
 industrial training* with the intellectual culture imparted 
 by classical and literary study; realizing that the chief 
 end of woman's education is not simply to shine in society, 
 but to elevate and purify and adorn the home. Hence, 
 she aimed to make the Seminary in the truest sense an 
 educational home where certain domestic duties were daily 
 required of every pupil. 
 
 (3.) To infuse as the inmost spirit of the school, 
 moral and religious culture, recognizing what should be a 
 first truth in every educational institution, that character 
 is the end of knowledge, and the culture of the heart is the 
 true spring of all intellectural culture, since out of it are 
 the issues of life ; and that the Bible is the only true text- 
 book of practical morality. 
 
 (4.) With this, and as the blossoming of this beauti- 
 ful rod of culture to inspire a missionary spirit, or a spirit 
 of self-denying benevolence toward all, especially the igno- 
 rant and the sinful ; to teach the great Christian lesson, 
 that the true end of life is not to acquire the most good, 
 whether of happiness or knowledge, but to give oneself 
 most fully and worthily for the good of others. 
 
 For a young woman of brilliant talents and rare per- 
 sonal attractions to consecrate herself to such an aim and 
 ideal as this, is no slight commendation. That she realized 
 this ideal in its perfection, would be too much to affirm ; but 
 that she held it continually before her, resisting all temp- 
 tations to lower or abandon it, that Rockford Female 
 Seminary became what it was and is under her guidance 
 and fostering care, is her enduring praise and memorial. 
 
 To build a College or a Seminary, is obviously some- 
 thing more than to erect its walls, or to furnish a place 
 and means of instruction. Being a living thing, an insti- 
 
20 MEMORIALS OF 
 
 tution, and not a mere fact, when once planted it must 
 continue to grow and enlarge its life, demanding continu- 
 ally increasing resources, or it will fail to realize its true 
 idea. The history of all of our large Colleges and Univer- 
 sities illustrates this. It would have been a comparatively 
 easy and pleasant thing, when the new Seminary was once 
 started and put in running order, when the new building 
 was finished and filled with pupils, for the Principal to 
 have given herself wholly to teaching, and superintending 
 the work so successfully begun. But so vigorous was the 
 life here planted, that its wants soon outgrew its resources, 
 and new demands for additional buildings and enlarged 
 appliances pressed themselves on those who were respon- 
 sible for its maintenance. But the burden of this pressure, 
 and to a great extent, the plans and the executive force 
 needful for meeting these demands, were borne and sup- 
 plied by the one mind and will at the center. It is an old 
 proverb, " Where there's a will there's a way." And when 
 that will is a woman's will, with heart and purpose and 
 unfailing energy within it, and Christian patience and wis- 
 dom to support and guide it, the way will not be long in 
 appearing. It belongs to the history of the Seminary and 
 of its first Principal to say, that every improvement and 
 enlargement proposed by Miss Sill that seemed essential 
 to the prosperity and normal growth of the institution, 
 was sooner or later accomplished, at least in germ and 
 potency, though their full realization may await the com- 
 ing time. 
 
 In this age of progress the science of education is and 
 must be progressive, and female education, a birth of the 
 present century, has been quick to catch the spirit of the 
 age. It was inevitable that the idea of the first founders 
 of Holyokeand Kockford Seminaries, limiting and defining 
 the education of woman by the boundaries separating her 
 ' sphere ' from that of men, should be enlarged if not out- 
 grown by those of later date, which tend to obliterate and 
 confuse these boundaries ; and that the scope and area of 
 
ANNA P. SILL. 21 
 
 female education should thus be enlarged and assimilated 
 to that of other Colleges. The change of name, now so 
 common, from 'Seminary' to ' College,' is a significant 
 indication of this tendancy. Miss Sill early perceived, if 
 she did not share, this tendency, and wisely prepared for 
 its ingress. The progressive aims she had ever cherished 
 were stimulated by the rise of other female Colleges richly 
 endowed and offeringthe highest educational advantages, 
 especially those of Vassar and Smith and Wellesley. The 
 problem before her and before the Trustees, was how to 
 preserve the original idea and aim of the Seminary, as an 
 institution of the highest order for all, but especially for 
 young women of slender means (requiring therefore the 
 terms of board and tuition to be kept as low as possible), 
 and also to raise the standard of education to the advanced 
 and advancing level of other competing Colleges. This 
 problem was practically solved by providing a full Collegi- 
 ate course, similar to that of the best Colleges, for those 
 who were able or wished to take it, while a Seminary course, 
 less advanced in respect to the higher, (or rather more 
 extended) classical and mathematical studies, but better 
 adapted to the ordinary needs and tastes of those for 
 whom the Seminary was specially founded, should be con- 
 tinued ; which, requiring less time and expense, would 
 meet a larger and more practical demand. Thus the true 
 idea and basis of the institution is preserved, as is witnessed 
 in the preservation of the name, Seminary ; while it furnishes 
 all the advantages of a College for those who desire them. 
 It remains to be seen in the future, whether this less 
 ambitious character of a Seminary for Young Ladies, to fit 
 them most thoroughly for the sphere in which most women 
 are called to act, is not a better and more practical solu- 
 lutiou of the educational problem, than those of higher 
 name and pretension, which aim to compete in all respects 
 with Colleges for young men. Since too, the Universities 
 are now opening their doors for the admittance of women, 
 the question may be asked, whether these older and more 
 
22 MEMORIALS OF 
 
 amply endowed institutions may not furnish more richly 
 all those special opportunities of advanced science and 
 arts which comparatively few women care to pursue, leav- 
 ing our Seminaries with their more secluded and domestic 
 but not less studious atmosphere, to train the young 
 women of the future for the high and sacred if less public 
 duties of their calling. 
 
 From this ideal survey of the character and aims of 
 the Institution, we now return to the practical work and 
 difficulties involved in their realization. 
 
 The first few years of the Semi nary what may be called 
 its nursing period like that of other children, were years 
 of weakness and peril; and nothing but the assiduous 
 care, the untiring zeal and energy, and the wise and self 
 sacrificing motherhood of Miss Sill could have carried it 
 safely through. The inward life of the institution was 
 strong and vigorous from the first, but the means for 
 sustaining this life and the building up of its body were 
 scanty and hard to obtain. 
 
 In June, 1852, the corner stone of the first Seminary 
 building was laid, and it was completed in the fall of 1853. 
 It was at once filled to overflowing, some four or five occu- 
 pying a single room, and about one hundred applications 
 were refused . The resources of Rockf ord seemed exhausted , 
 at least of the few who were able or willing to give, and 
 means for enlargement must be obtained, or the enterprise 
 ignominiously fail. Meanwhile Miss Sill's health was giving 
 way under the accumulated pressure, and she was con- 
 strained to go East in December, 1853, for the double pur- 
 pose of recruiting her strength and obtaining funds. She 
 visited Boston and other centers of wealth and influence,and 
 returned in the summer of 1854, having secured some 
 $5,000. With this the foundation of another building was 
 laid, which was erected slowly and 'in troublous times.' 
 Money was borrowed to complete it, the debt being secured 
 by mortgage on the property. Repeated efforts were made 
 to raise funds in the West, and the amount of $10,000 was 
 
ANNA P. SILL. 23 
 
 pledged, to be paid in annual installments, a large part of 
 which Miss Sill secured by personal effort. A few years later 
 another effort was made to pay the debt and enlarge the 
 accommodations. So great was the necessity, that the 
 teachers from their own meager salaries pledged f 1,000 of 
 the $20,000 needed. Appeals were sent out to friends of 
 Christian education, and Miss Sill again visited New Eng- 
 land and secured funds for the completion of another 
 building, a much needed Chapel with connecting wings. 
 
 This page from the early history of the Seminary may 
 indicate a few of the difficulties and struggles under which 
 the institution labored and grew in its earlier years ; and 
 in all these struggles and burdens she bore a personal and 
 principal part. It may be truly said of her that she 
 builded her life into the walls of the Seminary as well as 
 into the character and lives of the pupils. 
 
 During these years of labor and often of trial and dis- 
 couragement, and while burdened with the business cares 
 of the institution, she not only continued the personal in- 
 struction of her classes, and superintended the whole 
 management of the school, but she took an active and 
 often a leading part in the social and religious life of the 
 community, attending regularly the prayer meetings and 
 other meetings of the Church, teaching a Bible-class in the 
 Sabbath School, mingling in social circles and contributing 
 her personal influence to every good movement and under- 
 taking. She was felt to be a power for good, not only in 
 the immediate circle of her influence but everywhere. 
 
 That she was able to accomplish and endure so much 
 without fatigue or failure, is one of those marvels in human 
 life which we sometimes witness, where the greater and 
 more multiplied the labors undertaken, the greater the 
 facility and success with which they are performed. 
 
 One reason of this may be found in her rare combina- 
 tion of physical, intellectual and spiritual endowments. 
 Her physical constitution was sound and strong, and 
 inured to labor by early training and constant exercise. 
 
24 MEMORIALS OF 
 
 Her mind and spirit was elastic and free, open to all the 
 inspirations as well as the pressures and burdens of life. 
 in a letter written from Boston in 1865, while engaged in 
 her ' mission ' to the East, she writes : 
 
 "Just fancy me in the 'Hub of the Universe, 'the center 
 of all right motion, the sun of civilization, enlightenment 
 and refinement and one of the ' Western Beggars.' Do 
 you envy me, or do you pity me?' One thing 
 
 I am resolved to do, that is, to make just as much happi- 
 ness and refreshment out of the effort as may be. God has 
 given me the safety-valve in my temperament of suscepti- 
 bility to the ludicrous, and has also made me hopeful. I 
 find occasion for the exercise of these faculties, sometimes 
 quite to my relief, like rays of sunshine coming through 
 misty clouds." 
 
 Her character and success as a teacher may be in part 
 explained by this happy combination of qualities. The 
 wholesome vigor of her mind and heart, expressed strongly 
 yet kindly in her bright and cheery presence, her clear mu- 
 sical voice and kindling eye, penetrated, quickened and 
 inspired her pupils, so that her teachings were not words 
 or ideas simply, but spirit and life. This subtle, magnetic 
 and personal power was exercised also in her government, 
 a power which many teachers lack. A testimonial from 
 one who knew her as a teacher in Western New York, 
 speaks of her having "won for herself an enviable reputa- 
 tion as an able and accomplished teacher, and at the same 
 time an uncommon tact at managing and controlling 
 those under her care, possessing the faculty of governing 
 those committed to her charge, while the pupils themselves 
 do not seem to realize they are controlled." 
 
 But perhaps her greatest power and success as a teacher 
 lay not in her intellectual or moral discipline, but in her 
 influence over the character of her pupils. Recognizing 
 that the springs of character lie not in the intellect or the 
 forms of conduct, but in the heart, her first and deepest 
 concern was for their spiritual culture through the 
 power of religious truth. And here, too, it was preemi- 
 
ANNA P. SILL. 25 
 
 nently true that "It is the Spirit that quickeneth," and 
 not the mere word or doctrine, though the Bible was a 
 daily text-book. The spirit of the teacher, imbued with 
 the spirit and love of the Saviour of souls, was the medium 
 of a quickening and saving power to nearly all who came 
 under her influence, so that she was able to say in a letter 
 to a benefactor, in May, 1865: "There has not been a 
 year, nor one term of the year, without hopeful conver- 
 sions, so that we hope several hundred have found peace 
 in believing." 
 
 This manifold and marvelous success in the various 
 departments of her work was not unappreciated by those 
 who had the clearest and truest insight into the character 
 of this work. 
 
 One whose words were never fulsome or insincere, and 
 who stood in closest relation to the Seminary, wrote to 
 her in 1864, for her encouragement : 
 
 "I do but embody what has ever been my feeling, 
 and what I regard as the common sentiment of the 
 community, that your laborsand successes have called 
 forth the approbation and admiration of all who 
 have traced the history of the Seminary. 
 
 As a Christian minister, I can only admire 
 and wonder that in addition to the intellectual culture 
 wrought, there should have been such an amount of moral 
 and evangelical influence brought to bear upon that buzzing 
 hive of young ladies drawn together from so wide a district. 
 It is humiliating to me to reflect that I have done, and am 
 doing so little to bring sinners to a reconciliation with 
 God, in comparison with the success which has uniformly 
 crowned your efforts." 
 
 It would of course, be impossible to trace or measure 
 the influence for good which Miss Sill has exerted through 
 the pupils she has educated and trained for usefulness 
 during the thirty-five years she was Principal of the Semi- 
 nary. Of the thousands who have gone from its halls, a 
 large proportion have been teachers, scattering the seeds 
 of truth and character which they received. Nearly all 
 have become wives and mothers, diffusing sweetness and 
 
26 MEMORIALS OF 
 
 light in thousands of homes ; while many have gone to 
 heathen shores as missionaries, carrying the gospel in their 
 hearts and characters, as well as in their hands. 
 
 The relation of Kockford Seminary to the Foreign Mis- 
 sionary field, is perhaps not often considered, but it was 
 one very close to the heart of its principal and founder; 
 and the prayers and aspirations of her younger days were 
 answered in a way that then she little anticipated. In a 
 letter to Mr. and Mrs. William E. Dodge, written Nov. 
 1865, she relates some of her personal history and early 
 struggles for an education that she might become a Mis- 
 sionary : "I asked my Heavenly Father that if I was not 
 permitted to enter the foreign field, I might see one of my 
 pupils go in my stead. And one of our first class that 
 graduated went to India. Since that time we have been 
 represented in Jamaica, W. I., in China, in Egypt, in 
 Burmah (by a teacher), in Constantinople, in Turkey and 
 Micronesia." Who can doubt that the motto of her life 
 "the greatest good," has been abundantly and wonder- 
 fully fulfilled ? 
 
 These life-offerings from Rockford Seminary to the 
 cause of Missions were not sporadic or without antecedent 
 causes. The spirit of Christian benevolence and self-denial 
 for the good of others was not only inspired in the institu- 
 tion by the influence and example of its Principal, and 
 inculcated as a duty specially required of woman, if she 
 would fill worthily her sphere, but was practically culti- 
 vated by Missionary Societies, whose object was both 
 auxiliary and educational. As a result, during a single 
 year 1864 when special efforts were in progress for the 
 enlargement of the Seminary and the payment of its debt, 
 when the war was draining the resources of the country 
 and most of the pupils were poor, $353 was contributed 
 to Foreign Missions; $369 to the Christian and Sani- 
 tary Commissions in behalf of the soldiers; $50 to 
 the Freedmen, besides $1,000 pledged to the Semi- 
 nary, of which $321 was paid; making a total of 
 
ANNA P. SILL. 27 
 
 benevolences for the year, of $1,093. With such sacri- 
 ficial offerings did this young institution, with scarcely the 
 means of self-subsistence, consecrate itself and its work of 
 education to the cause of Christ and humanity. 
 
 We have said that most of the pupils who came to the 
 Seminary, were poor, or at least in very moderate circum- 
 stances ; and the design of the institution was to afford to 
 such the advantages of higher education. Hence, the 
 terms of tuition and of board, and also the salaries of the 
 teachers, were kept as low as could consist with the 
 necessary expenses and the high standard of education 
 proposed. Great reduction was made to the daughters of 
 Home and Foreign Missionaries. But notwithstanding 
 this, many came who were unable to continue and com- 
 plete their education without assistance. For such, Miss 
 Sill had special sympathy, and freely gave of her ability, 
 and beyond her ability, when other aid was wanting. 
 Through her efforts an Education Society was formed at 
 an early day by the ladies of Rockford, as a much needed 
 form of Christian benevolence. Among the papers of Miss 
 Sill is found one entitled, " A Memorial to the Rockford 
 Female Education Society," the date of which is not given, 
 but which bears evidence of having been written at a very 
 early period in its history. A few extracts from this paper 
 will show her deep personal sympathy with its object, 
 and the wisdom of her views regarding the practical 
 value of female education : 
 
 "From the commencement of this Institution, I have 
 frequently met with those who are very anxious to be 
 educated, but cannot command the means. With tearful 
 eyes they have repeated again and again 'I do want an 
 education, but lam poor; 'or, 'I do feel I must be educated, 
 I want to be useful in the world.' ' I want to do good ; it 
 is all I want to live for, I have no one to look to ; what 
 shall I do ? Can you take me and wait until I can teach ?' 
 How could I listen to such a request without sympathy- 
 deep sympathy? How could I say 'No!' How could I 
 turn away one thirsting for knowledge, that she might be 
 fitted for more usefulness, when the tear and sigh added 
 
28 MEMORIALS OF 
 
 eloquence to the appeal? I say, how could I, with the 
 Golden Rule before me? T could only say to such, 'You 
 may be educated if you will', go on, trust in God, and the 
 way will open before you.' For two years I said nothing 
 to others, but aided this class of scholars as far as prac- 
 ticable, keeping all within my own heart, being fully aware 
 of the state of public opinion regarding the importance of 
 systematic, thorough female education, and consequently 
 that it would be difficult to obtain aid for those in indigent 
 circumstances, and that our organization for this purpose 
 might not, and probably would not, meet with as much 
 public favor as other benevolent enterprises. I feel called 
 upon, therefore to state more fully my whole views to 
 this point. 
 
 "Looking first at some of the objections which 
 may arise to this form of benevolence: It may be 
 urged that there is no need of so thorough and system- 
 atic education of young ladies to fit them for extensive 
 usefulness unless they purpose to make a business of teach- 
 ing; that woman's sphere is primarily in the domestic 
 department, in the family circle. I reply, woman's sphere 
 is in the home-circle, truly, primarily so, and that is why I 
 would have her educated, thoroughly and systematically 
 educated, for this her heaven-appointed orbit, that 
 she may be qualified to perform the duties and to meet 
 the responsibilities of this sphere. Is not woman the 
 presiding genius in the family circle, the fixed center of at- 
 traction to the family 'solar system/ controlling and 
 regulating the movement of all the planets ; and is it not 
 necessary that her habits of thought be such as will enable 
 her to perfectly systematize the family life ? Who that has 
 ever resided in a family where order was wanting, each 
 acting under the impulse of the present moment, regard- 
 less of the wants or wishes of others, has not been reminded 
 of the chaos of nature when all things were without form 
 and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep? or 
 perhaps of the tower of Babel, after the confusion of tongues. 
 Does not the guide of a household need discipline to patient 
 endurance, that she may cheerfully meet the many petty 
 trials incident even to the best regulated families ? Now 
 what will better induce the habit of order, or better disci- 
 pline the mind to patience, than a systematic, thorough 
 education, developing aright all the powers of the mind ? 
 Do I hear you say, 'I have seen well regulated families 
 
ANNA P. SILL. 20 
 
 without what you call a systematic education of the 
 mother?' I reply, we may differ upon the point as to 
 what constitutes a well-regulated family. Can that family 
 be called well-regulated whose arrangements do not recog- 
 nize the whole of our nature, as physical, intellectual, social 
 and religious beings ; where proper time is not allotted 
 daily to the cultivation of each department of our being? 
 Who has the power to give fche faculties a right direction 
 in the morning of life, as the mother? How few realize the 
 extent of the moulding influence of a mother upon the 
 maturing character ! Does she not daguerreotpye her own 
 characteristics of mind and heart indelibly on the plastic 
 mind of childhood ? Who is so well qualified to make home 
 a paradise as a well educated lady at the head of the house- 
 hold? 
 
 "Again, though this is her peculiar sphere, her prov- 
 ince is not limited to the home-circle; her influence will be 
 felt in whatever circle she may move, scattering around 
 her the sunbeams of virtue and cheerfulness and ever win- 
 ning grace. With her own mind expanded and liberalized, 
 she is prepared to guide others, 
 
 "Again, it is said, 'If weeducate all our young women, 
 where shall we find domestics?' I reply, if they be rightly 
 educated, they will be better fitted for the work of this 
 department ; and if they are not educated for this depart- 
 ment, their education is radically deficient. * 
 Do we not deny to young women their lawful rights, when 
 we do not providefor their education? A young man who 
 desires to do good in the world, and needs a preparatory 
 mental discipline, is taken under the fostering care of the 
 Church of Christ and aided by the Education Society. 
 That is all right just as it should be. And why, I ask, 
 should not the same privilege be granted to our own sex? 
 Especially when a young man can help himself to means 
 so much betterthana young wo man, whose labor is valued 
 so much less. Why? I again ask. Is not the answer 
 found in the estimate made of educated female influence? 
 But who makes the most permanent impressions on the 
 youthful character, the father or the mother? And the 
 education of which should be neglected, if either? I ans- 
 wer, not that of the mother, who is emphatically the most 
 responsible teacher in the world. 
 
 * -X- * # * 
 
 "If I rightly understand the design of the founders of 
 
30 MEMORIALS OF 
 
 the Rockford Fernale Seminary, it is this. First That an 
 Institution shall be built up furnishing advantages to our 
 own sex equal to the College, or as that furnished to the 
 other sex. Second To bring the expenses so low that all 
 classes shall be able to avail themselves of its privileges. 
 Third That the property of the Institution belong to 
 the public ; that it be not local simply in its interests and 
 influence, but a public benefit. Fourth That it shall be 
 founded by benevolent contributions from the Christian 
 public, consecrated to the work of doing good to the world 
 an object for the prayers of all who love the diffusion of 
 truth in its highest forms. 
 
 " Who would not rejoice to aid in hastening that day when 
 ' knowledge shall cover the earth as the waters cover the 
 sea?' How much, then, is yet to be done ; and 'the labor- 
 ers are few.' And shall these few, now in the Seminary, who 
 would live for a Avorld, be hindered for want of aid, from 
 doing the work they so much desire to do? I 
 
 can but trust in God, that aid will come from some quar- 
 ter; and they who shall give a cup of cold water to a. 
 disciple, in the name of Christ, shall not lose their reward." 
 
 It would transcend the limits and the design of this 
 memoir to write the whole history of Rockford Seminary, 
 or of the entire life and labors of Miss Sill in connection 
 with it, Such a history would require adequate mention 
 of the many devoted and accomplished teachers who 
 entered into and aided her in her work with like consecra- 
 tion and self-sacrificing spirit some of whom now rest 
 from their labors ; of the efficient and faithful Trustees, 
 who stood by her in her trials and discouragements, stay- 
 ing her hands and giving freely of their time and counsels 
 and help, to build the Institution of which they were the 
 guardians ; and of the many hundreds of pupils who have 
 gone out from this cherishing mother, some to fill places 
 of honor and distinction, and all, places of usefulness and 
 Christian service, in the homes, or the schools, or the 
 sanctuaries of the land. 
 
 All that will be attempted further, is to gather and 
 group together a few last things ; to watch the clouds as 
 
ANNA P. SILL. 31 
 
 they gather with 'sober coloring' around the setting sun, 
 and the declining shadows as they fold in the tranquil 
 evening of her life. 
 
 It is said of one of England's greatest men, that 'nothing 
 so became his life as the leaving of it.' To leave a life, that 
 has been filled with honorable and useful labor, gracefully 
 and well, leaving behind it nothing to regret, is a rare and 
 beautiful thing. Especially to leave the active labors of 
 such a life before the time of rest has come, and retire to a 
 private sphere while the consciousness of strength and the 
 enthusiasm of mental activity and ability is still felt this 
 is still rarer and more difficult, and requires more of 
 Christian grace and humility. And yet nature teaches this 
 lesson in many of her parables. The summer, while yet in 
 the glory and fulness of its foliage, and while its flowers 
 are still in bloom, ceases from its labors of growth, and 
 enjoys a Sabbath of rest and stillness, unbroken but by the 
 plaintive chirp of the cricket, telling that autumn has 
 come. And the later ripening of the golden October fruits, 
 and the fading and the falling of the rainbow-tinted leaves, 
 is only a revelation of the hidden glories, the sweetness 
 and beauty of the life that has accomplished its work, and 
 patiently waits to be garnered. 
 
 In the summer of 1884, after thirty-five years of active 
 and unremitting and successful labor, Miss Sill resigned her 
 position as Principal of the Seminary, and retired to the 
 more quiet, but not less honored position of Principal 
 Emerita. She had long contemplated this step as inevi- 
 table, from her advancing years and the increasing de- 
 mands of the Institution on her time and thought and 
 labor; and the way for such a transition almost always a 
 difficult and embarrassing one had been thoughtfully 
 prepared for her by her pupils. 
 
 Several years previously, the Alumnae of the Seminary 
 had raised by subscription among themselves, aided by 
 other friends of the Seminary, a fund of $10,000, which 
 was afterwards increased to $12,000, called the 'Sill 
 
32 ANNA P. SILL. 
 
 Endowment Fund,' the income of which was to be ap- 
 propriated to her support during her life, and afterwards 
 go to the endowment of the chair of the Principal of the 
 Seminary. This was now sacredly applied to the use for 
 which it was raised. Her own rooms in the Semimary 
 were reserved for her exclusive use and occupancy, and 
 that which had been her home of labor for so many 
 years was still to be her home of rest so long as she might 
 live, or desire it. 
 
 That this retirement from the activities and occupation 
 of a life-time, though unavoidab leand voluntary, should 
 be a severe trial to Miss Sill, was inevitable from the 
 constitution and quality of her mind. She, whose life 
 was labor and whose joy was imparting and doing 
 good, to find herself, with nothing to do; she whose 
 mind and will had been the directing and moving force of 
 the Institution which she had founded and built up, to quiet- 
 ly resign her place and power to others ; she who had taught 
 for more than forty- five years, and had lived surrounded 
 by a circle of admiring and devoted pupils, to live hence- 
 forth outside the circle, a passive spectator, and no longer 
 the center, of this young and growing life was perhaps 
 the hardest and severest trial of her life. But she met it 
 with rare fortitude and serenity. She accepted the situa- 
 tion, as she had all others where Providence had placed 
 her, as that which her Heavenly Father had appointed, 
 and therefore what was best. But her interest in the 
 Seminary, as the child of her love and care, suffered no 
 abatement, and she still sought diligently to know how 
 she could best promote its welfare and do good to the 
 young minds and hearts she could no longer control and 
 teach. 
 
 She had taken much interest in the growth of the Art 
 department, then and still in its infancy ; and some of her 
 friends proposed to her a European tour, for the double 
 purpose of recreation and health and of collecting pictures 
 for an Art gallery. But the way did not seem to be open, 
 
ANNA P. SILL. 33 
 
 and the tour and collection was left for other teachers, 
 while she gave herself to more quiet, domestic occu- 
 pations. 
 
 . Another department which she had long hoped to sec 
 provided for a gymnasium, she now had the happiness of 
 seeing realized in su bstantial form . A building was erected 
 for this purpose in the rear of the Seminary Chapel and 
 amply furnished and equipped with all the modern appli- 
 ances for the most perfect physical development and health 
 of the young ladies, and placed under the care of a scien- 
 tifically trained directress. This building was named " Sill 
 Hall," in honor of her who had almost built with her hands 
 the other three edifices. 
 
 Next to the trial of relinquishing a position, long held, 
 of high and honorable trust, is the attendant one of 
 witnessing new methods and new ideas superseding those 
 to which one's life has been devoted ; of standing silent by, 
 while the new age and its young and bold spirit irreveren- 
 ly pushes past the old a trial which not only educators, 
 but men of all professions who have lived for fifty years, 
 are called to experience, which is indeed the Providential 
 law of growth and progress. Yet the same meekness of 
 wisdom which submitted gracefully to the former, accepted 
 silently and without a sign of impatience or irritation the 
 new regime with whatever of change it might bring. Her 
 faith was so steadfast, her confidence so serene in the 
 Divine guidance of the Institution in all its previous his- 
 tory, and in the principles on which it was founded, 
 that she could still trust it in His hands for its future 
 career. Moreover, her silent and benignant presence, and 
 the spirit of calm, sweet dignity and venerable repose that 
 streamed from her, with all that it suggested of tried expe- 
 rience and matured wisdom, was itself a conservative 
 power, the more potent because of its gentle and un- 
 obtrusive character. All felt the softening, subduing 
 and hallowing power of her unconscious influence, and 
 deemed it a privilege to minister in any way to the wishes 
 
34 MEMORIALS OF 
 
 or happiness of one so worthy of their reverence and 
 love. 
 
 Whatever anxieties she may have felt in consequence of 
 the change of administration, were happily allayed during 
 the five years that succeeded. During the four years of 
 Miss Hillard's administration, the Seminary more than 
 sustained its previous reputation for high scholarship and 
 earnest Christian character, which has increased rather than 
 diminished under her successor, Miss Anna B. Gelston. To 
 both she felt and expressed the warmest sympathy in their 
 work and gratitude for what they had done for the school, 
 and especially for their kindness toward herself. It is 
 pleasant to believe that her confidence grew to the last, 
 that the work of her life would be perpetuated on the same 
 high and broad plan of thorough Christian education on 
 which it was founded. 
 
 Other afflictions, now began to gather like clouds in 
 her evening sky, and to darken her horizon, though irra- 
 diated and gilded with the light beyond. 
 
 In the spring of 1889, her last surviving brother, 
 his wife and two children, died of pneumonia within 
 a few weeks of each other. This sudden and sweeping 
 blow had undoubtedly its effect in weakening the life- 
 tenure which had always seemed so strong and tenacious in 
 her physical constitution. This soon revealed itself in a 
 slight attack of the same disease while on a visit to her 
 niece, Mrs. A. M. Chapman, at Ridgeland, near Chicago, 
 where she was accustomed to make her home chiefly when 
 away from Rockford. She, however, rallied from the attack, 
 and seemed to be regaining her health and strength. But 
 these repeated loosenings of the roots and sunderings of 
 the fibers and ties that held her to the earth were followed 
 by one still nearer and more deeply felt. In the family of 
 this niece, who had ever been to her as a daughter, and for 
 whom she felt and exercised a mother's care, was a darling- 
 boy of four years, a namesake, who was a special favorite, 
 and whose bright intelligence and ardent affection drew 
 
ANNA P. SILL. 35 
 
 forth in large measure the child -love and child-care which 
 had been the element and inspiration of her life. While 
 recovering from her illness, and just as she was beginning 
 to be herself again, this child sickened and died. A blow so 
 crushing to her affection and hopes, and so overwhelming 
 to the heart-broken mother and invalid father, could only 
 add to the burden of sympathy and physical ministration 
 already as great as she could bear, and she very soon be- 
 gan to sink under the weight. By the advice of her phy- 
 sician, about the middle of May, she returned to Rockford 
 and to her rooms in the Seminary. But the springs of life 
 were already ebbing, and there was not strength or supply 
 enough to fill them again . Still she maintained her usual 
 calm and cheerful demeanor, and hope was dominant to 
 the last. She rode out a few times at the invitation of 
 friends, and moved about the halls with her accustomed 
 freedom, speaking words of cheer to all who greeted her ; 
 but her step was slow and her voice had lost the resonant 
 vigor and blitheness of its tone. 
 
 On 'Founder's Day," June llth, she kept her room, 
 and did not go to the Chapel for the evening exercises, but 
 instead retired early to bed, from which she never rose 
 again. 
 
 The physicians saw from the first, that there was little 
 hope of recovery. The disease which had before yielded 
 to remedies and a remarkably strong constitution, now 
 returned with renewed force to prey on her already 
 exhausted vital energies. She spoke little during her ill- 
 ness of eight days. She seemed strongly desirous of re- 
 covery, and repeatedly inquired of her physician what 
 was his view of her case. When told of its probably 
 fatal termination, she received it calmly and silently. She 
 gave no directions concerning her funeral or other tem- 
 poral matters, and sought no opportunity to speak any 
 'last words.' She felt, probably, that her work was done, 
 and her last words were already spoken ; and she desired 
 only stillness and peace for her last communingswilh God 
 
36 MEMORIALS OF 
 
 and her own soul, before going forth to meet the invisible 
 and eternal. 
 
 She died calmly and peacefully, about 7 o'clock on the 
 morning of Tuesday, June 18th, but a week before the 
 Anniversary or 'Commencement,' as it was indeed to her 
 close of the temporal and beginning of the eternal life 
 with the 'innocent brightness of a new born day,' and 
 the sweetness of the summer air without, and the 
 brightness and fragrance of young, hopeful hearts around 
 her. Not otherwise, or elsewhere, could she have wished to 
 die, if the time and place had been given her to choose. 
 
 The funeral was held in the Seminary Chapel, on 
 Thursday, June 20th, at 10% o'clock. A vacant chair with 
 a wreath of white flowers upon the back, stood upon the 
 platform ; and below lay the casket, on which rested two 
 large sago palms, emblamatic of victory. The introduc- 
 tory services were conducted by the Rev. Walter M. Bar- 
 sows, pastor of the Second Congregational Church ; the 
 sermon was preached by the Rev. H. M. Goodwin, her 
 former pastor, for twenty years ; and the funeral prayer 
 was offered by the Rev. W. W. Leete, pastor of the First 
 Congregational Church. 
 
 The body was interred in the West Side Cemetery in a 
 grave profusely lined with flowers and evergreens which 
 beautifully symbolized the sweet fragrance and perennial 
 greenness of her memory. While the clouds, that had 
 wept throughout the morning, suspended their falling 
 drops, Miss Sill's favorite hymn was sung above the open 
 grave by voices that had often joined with her's in the 
 Seminary Chapel : 
 
 Father, whate'er of earthly bliss 
 
 Thy sovreign will denies, 
 Accepted at Thy throne of grace 
 
 Let this petition rise ; 
 
 Give me a calm, a thankiul heart, 
 
 From every murmur free ; 
 The blessings of Thy grace impart, 
 
 And make me live to Thee, 
 
ANNA P. SILL. 37 
 
 Let the sweet hope that Thou art mine, 
 
 My life and death attend ; 
 Thy presence through my journey shine, 
 
 And crown my journey's end. 
 
 Thus lived and died one of the consecrated ones whose 
 work on earth still lives only as it is part of that Divine 
 work and plan which extends beyond our sight and com- 
 prehension, and into whose larger -unfolding she has joy- 
 fully entered. H. M. G, 
 
MEMORIAL SERYICES. 
 
ANNA P. SILL. 41 
 
 IMMEDIATELY after Miss Sill's death, the following card 
 was issued and sent to the Alumnae and friends of the 
 Seminary, expressive of the feeling of the Principal, which 
 reflected those of the other teachers and the entire com- 
 munity, in view of this bereavement : 
 
 ALUMNJE AND FRIENDS OF 
 
 ROCKFORD SEMINARY: 
 
 After her long and useful life, our honored friend, ANNA 
 P. SILL, has gone from us. At the Seminary, in the room 
 so dear to her by many associations reaching back forty 
 years, she entered upon that part of her life which though 
 hidden from us, will go on through the eternal years. 
 
 Miss Sill died at half-past six o'clock Tuesday morning, 
 June eighteenth, and will be buried from the Seminary 
 Chapel on Thursday morning, June twentieth, at half-past 
 ten o'clock. 
 
 Although having laid down her duties at the Seminary 
 five years ago, she has since been an ever welcome guest 
 with us, and with her saintly and dignified presence has 
 been an inspiration to teachers and students alike. Her 
 interest in the Seminary has never waned, and her prayers 
 and efforts are a part of our richest inheritance. 
 
 It has been a beautiful end ing of her life, that her death 
 should be here where her work has been. She has gone to 
 her rest and her works do follow her. "Whosoever shall 
 lose his life for My sake and the gospel's, the same shall 
 save it." " They that be wise shall shine as the brightness 
 of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteous- 
 ness as the stars forever and ever." 
 
 ANNA B. GELSTON, 
 
 Principal Rockford Seminary. 
 
 ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS, 
 
 June 18th, 1889. 
 
FUNERAL DISCOURSE 
 
 REV. HENRY. M. GOODWIN. 
 
 "And I heard a voice fiom Heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed 
 are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the 
 Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow 
 them." REV. xiv:13. 
 
 \ j /HIS voice from heaven how it hushes all human 
 sJJfe) voices, silences all questionings and murmurings of 
 human reason or of human sorrow, as all the noises of 
 earth die in the calm and infinite depths of ether. Let us 
 listen, my friends, to this voice, spoken anew to us to-day, 
 and written, as it were, in marble on these pale and move- 
 less features. 
 
 We all know something of the comfort and refresh- 
 ment of rest, little of it as there is in this busy and restless 
 world, especially in this fast and breathless age. But its 
 full blessedness, its deep and calm and infinite repose, is 
 given not to the living, but to the dead who die in the 
 Lord. 
 
 We all know the necessity, and something of the rewards 
 of labor; for life is one long day of labor and toil. The 
 world rings with the incessant strokes of the hammer on 
 its million anvils, and trembles with the jar of its cease- 
 less mills and factories, its impetuous and on-rushing 
 trains. The world's history is a history of toil, of strug- 
 
44 MEMORIALS OF 
 
 gle and endeavor, often defeated, sometimes rewarded, but 
 never ended. All' of good we possess in our high and 
 complex civilization, is the fruit of persistent human labor 
 and achievement. Hence, we are very apt to magnify 
 work, as if it were the only good. We do not often think 
 of the relation between labor and rest, and how much 
 greater, proportionally, the latter is than the former. 
 Consider the momentous fact, that of all the countless 
 millions that have lived on the earth since the beginning, 
 the greater part have passed away into silence and obliv- 
 ion, and only a small proportion are still alive. Not the 
 'toiling millions,' as we often hear, but the sleeping mil- 
 lions, form the great majority of mankind. They lived 
 their little day, wrought their great or little works, and 
 now rest from their labors; and their works, whether great 
 or little, good or evil, do follow them. 
 
 Of the only perfect life ever lived in this world, thirty 
 years were passed in silence and obscurity, amid the rest- 
 ful scenes tlmt surrounded his humble home at Nazareth ; 
 and only three of these years in public ministrations. Yet 
 the work of those three years, with what lay behind and 
 within them, has revolutionized human history and re- 
 deemed and new created the world, showing that it is not 
 the duration or the quantity, but the quality of the life 
 and work that counts in the divine arithmetic. The rela- 
 tion of rest to labor and its proportion in the divine plan, 
 may be seen in the ordering of nature in reference to our 
 earthly life. On an average, only half of each day of twen- 
 ty-four hours, does the light permit man or nature to 
 work. Night duly remands nature to repose, and man to 
 slumber, reminding us continually of the solemn admoni- 
 tion to work while it is day, since the night cometh when 
 no man can work. 
 
 Rest is not, as we often imagine, a mere cessation or 
 interruption of work, a necessity owing to the frailty and 
 weakness of our human nature. Rather is it the comple- 
 ment of labor, and so necessary to its perfection. It is 
 
ANNA P. SILL. 45 
 
 like the background of m ountains in a landscape, o r shading 
 in a picture, giving relief and balance and support to the 
 whole. Or it is like night completing and rounding in 
 with its arc of darkness the circle of the day; opening also 
 deep vistas into other worlds not seen in the garish and 
 blinding light of the sun. ''Our little life," says the poet, 
 is "rounded with a sleep," as an island is rounded with 
 the ocean, or the earth with immensity. 
 
 Work without rest is weariness and bondage, as rest 
 without work is idleness and sin. And so God has graci- 
 ously mingled both in our daily and weekly life, giving us 
 in nature a law of alternation necessitating physical repose, 
 and in grace a moral and Sabbatical law requiring volun- 
 tary rest, with the sanction of His own example of rest 
 from the work of creation, and furnishing a type of the 
 heavenly rest into which all who die in the Lord have al- 
 ready entered. 
 
 The rest of Heaven, while it is rest from labor, is not a 
 cessation of activity, but a serene, joyous and restful ac- 
 tivity, in contrast with that which we call labor, which 
 wearies and harrasses mind and body with its servitude. 
 Would you see a type of it in nature? Look up into the 
 blue sky on some clear day in summer, and see the depth 
 of peace and rest that is imaged there. The discordant 
 noises of this world all die and are buried in its vast 
 silence. The smoke and dust that so often pollutes our 
 atmosphere, cannot reach or stain its azure purity; while 
 the mists and vapors that obscure our vision here are con- 
 verted there into floating tabernacles and pavillions of the 
 light. And this over-arching sky, so calm and deep and 
 pure, which infolds the earth and all things upon it in its 
 all-embracing arms, is the fitting symbol of Heaven and of 
 that peace of God in which the soul rests from its labors. 
 Contrast the noises, the bustle and confusion of a great 
 city, with the silence and repose of nature 
 
 " The silence that is in the starry sky, 
 The sleep that is among the lonely hills," 
 
46 MEMORIALS OF 
 
 and learn the difference between man's labor and God's 
 rest. 
 
 This rest, too, is faintly symbolized in the peaceful 
 home and cheerful fireside to which the tired laborer re- 
 turns at evening. "Man goeth forth to his work and to 
 his labor until the evening; but with evening comes rest 
 from labor, yet not from all activity, still less from con- 
 scious joy and the delights of home and social communion. 
 The hands rest from toil, but the heart and soul awakes 
 to a higher activity, and a purer and serener joy. Sleep 
 brings rest and repose to the body, but is not needed for 
 the soul. So when God giveth His beloved sleep, it is not 
 the sleep of unconsciousness, but that higher repose of 
 which this is but a symbol. The body sleeps in the grave, 
 but the soul rests in the bosom of God, and partakes of 
 His divine joy and peace and blessedness. 
 
 As Jesus once called his disciples away from the dis- 
 tractions and tumult of the thronging multitudes, and 
 said to them, "come ye apart into a desert place (or more 
 properly into the country, away from the crowded town,) 
 and rest awhile," so with like compassionate sympathy, 
 he says to the life-wearied and world-worn toiler, Come up 
 up hither and rest from your labors. In my Father's 
 house are many mansions homes for the lonely and weary 
 ones gardens and paradises of delight, more beautiful 
 than the lost Eden, where you may rest or walk or run, 
 and not be weary. There is society, more select and per- 
 fect, delights and entertainments more ravishing, employ- 
 ments more high and satisfying, and objects of beauty 
 more glorious than any which this earth can give. Eye 
 hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into 
 the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for 
 them that love him. 
 
 These thoughts, suggested by our Scripture, I have 
 presented for the comfort and strengthening of our hearts 
 in this hour of sorrow, when the too sensible presence and 
 image of death hide from us its real meaning, and those 
 
ANNA P. SILL. 47 
 
 eternal and blessed realities that lie beyond. We need to 
 lift our thoughts and our low estimates of things from the 
 seen to the unseen, to have them toned and chastened, 
 enlarged and purified by communion with God's thoughts. 
 We need to correct our measurements of time by the horo- 
 logue of eternity. Then will "Our noisy years seem mo- 
 ments in the being of the eternal silence. ' ' 
 
 With this dim yet comforting glimpse of the rest into 
 which our sister has entered, let us now turn our view 
 earthward and timeward to the works that do follow her, 
 as her reward and our memorial. 
 
 A just estimate of the work that Miss Sill has accom- 
 plished would involve a full history of the Seminary of 
 which she was practically the founder, and for so many 
 years the honored Principal, and with which the greater 
 part of her life is identified. This is her monument; with 
 this her name and memory will be inseparably associated, 
 as the name of Mary Lyon is associated with Mt. Holyoke, 
 its New England prototype. 
 
 Only a brief outline of this her life work can be here at- 
 tempted, and that only so far as it may serve to illustrate 
 her character. 
 
 The work of Miss Sill in connection with Eockford 
 Female Seminary was twofold, requiring a twofold, or 
 rather manifold endowment of character. First The out- 
 ward and visible work of organizing, building up and 
 establishing the Seminary on asolid and permanent basis. 
 Secondly The invisible, moral and spiritual work of teach- 
 ing, of training and moulding the mind and character of 
 the pupils. Few are endowed with the qualities requisite 
 for both these kinds of work with the executive and ad- 
 ministrative ability needful for the first, and the intellect- 
 ual and moral endowments necessary for the second. In 
 both these, however, Miss Sill was preeminently able and 
 successful. None but those who have witnessed or borne 
 part in the first beginnings of a College or Seminary in a 
 new western community, without endowment and with few 
 
48 MEMORIALS OF 
 
 friends or patrons, can appreciate the difficulties of the 
 enterprise, and only such can rightly estimate the quali- 
 ties of mind and heart a.ble to meet and overcome them. 
 
 Endowed with an energy of will that rose superior to 
 all obstacles, a resoluteness of purpose which no difficulties 
 could daunt, and a faith that could remove mountains, 
 and above all and under all and through all as an illumin- 
 ating and guiding light, an ideal of the end to be attained, 
 Miss Sill entered on the work of building Rockford Female 
 Seminary at a time when female education of a high order 
 was almost a novelty; beforeVassar or Smith or Wellesley 
 Colleges existed even in thought, and when the felt need of 
 such an institution, as well as the means of building it, 
 had in one sense to be created. True, the idea had been 
 born, or rather conceived, simultaneously with that of Be- 
 loit College, as a twin-sister of that noble institution ; but 
 the embodiment of this idea in visible and tangible form, 
 its nurture and growth as a living thing, had all to be un- 
 dertaken and carried on, without resources, and almost 
 without precedent, by the wisdom and energy, the faith 
 and patience and perseverance of one woman. How it 
 was done, at least the outward results, the records and 
 history of the institution will show. How it was really 
 done, through what heart-struggles of prayer and pur- 
 pose, of trial and perplexity, of long conflict and final 
 victory, only the inward history of a heart and life can 
 reveal. On her devolved not only the administration of 
 its internal affairs, the providing of teachers and the 
 entire discipline of the school, but largely the securing of 
 means to carry on the enterprise. In her was found not 
 only wisdom to devise what was needed and resolution to 
 undertake it, but ability also to inspire faith and courage 
 in others to accomplish what she had devised. 
 
 For years she was the animating soul, the organizing 
 force, the controlling mind and will of the institution. 
 When means and resources failed, and others were discour- 
 aged, she was never disheartened, but bravely put forth new 
 
ANNA P. SILL. 49 
 
 exertions, devising new measures, and resolutely pushing 
 the enterprise along the upward grade her skillful and en- 
 gineering mind had laid for it. 
 
 Thus slowly, step by step, and year by year, the insti- 
 tution grew. One by one, new buildings were erected, 
 planned by her thought and filled largely through her in- 
 fluence; and into their walls, as well as into the character 
 of the pupils, her own life and character was builded. 
 
 Her work as a teacher, and the influence she exerted 
 over the mind and character of her pupils was no less re- 
 markable and successful. In this work and influence sev- 
 eral characteristic qualities may be mentioned. 
 
 First, a pure and ardent love of knowledge, of knowl- 
 edge for its own sake and in all its departments. I remem- 
 ber once hearing her say that she was not conscious of 
 any preference of one science above another. All knowl- 
 edge and all truth was attractive, satisfied a want and 
 craving in her ever open and inquisitive mind. United 
 with this was a deep and strong sympathy with the minds 
 of her pupils in all their varied characters and experiences 
 and a sympathy no less with their trials and difficulties. 
 A bond of attachment was thus formed between teacher 
 and pupil, deeper than intellectual, sympathy or that 
 which mere instruction creates, which knit the heart of one 
 to the other in a spiritual union. 
 
 Noticeable also, was the maternal element or feeling 
 which embraced all her pupils in an impartial love. The 
 motherly care and tenderness with which she brooded over 
 her numerous charge often reminded one of the scriptural 
 simile, "As a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings." 
 And if any of her brood escaped her shelter and protection 
 it was not for want of love, but because the wings were 
 not large enough to cover them all. 
 
 I must not omit to mention her supreme regard to the 
 spiritual and religious welfare of her pupils. This was the 
 one essential point of culture to which all others were sec- 
 ondary ; rightly deeming a true education to be a culture 
 
 D 
 
50 MEMORIALS OF 
 
 of the heart as well as of the intellect, and that faith in 
 Christ and obedience to His commands, is the foundation 
 of all right and pure and noble character. Hence, the 
 Bible was made a text-book out of which lessons were daily 
 learned, and its truths and principles enforced both by 
 precept and example. As a consequence, nearly all her 
 pupils were disciples in the school of Christ, or became such 
 through her influence and tender personal counsel. 
 
 I well remember the groups of young ladies led by her 
 successively from successive classes to the altar of the 
 Church to which I ministered and of which she was a mem- 
 ber, and what strength and beauty was thereby added to 
 it ; also what sympathy and encouragement was given to 
 the pastor by her faithful ministrations in every good word 
 and work. A devoted missionary spirit was also fostered 
 and maintained, and not a few went forth from the Seminary 
 to labor, and some to die, on foreign and heathen shores. 
 
 If now it be asked what was the secret of Miss Sill's 
 character and the source of her peculiar power and influ- 
 ence, many answers might be given according to what is 
 deemed most essential and central in her character. 
 
 I have spoken of her executive energy and will power 
 as conspicuous in her life and work. This does not imply 
 that her power resided or had its source in her will ; for a 
 strong will, if it be not mere wilfulness, is the energy of a 
 great soul inspired by a lofty idea and purpose, and sus- 
 tained and reinforced by the spirit of God, the only true 
 source of all spiritual power. Hence, those of the greatest 
 and loftiest faith, have the strongest and most indomi- 
 table will, able to do and endure more than ordinary 
 persons, though they be the gentlest and humblest of men, 
 because this will is sustained and strengthened by divine 
 springs, and so partakes of the divine power. 
 
 This soul power in Miss Sill, was expressed in the glow 
 of her countenance, the thrilling yet gentle tones of her 
 voice, the fervor and force of her words and the enthusi- 
 j i rn of her whole being. You felt at once that here was one 
 
ANNA P. SILL. 51 
 
 alive all through and all over, and able to quicken life in all 
 minds capable of being quickened . Here is the great secret 
 not only of the true teacher, but of the poet, the artist, 
 the orator and the actor ; of all who see into the truth and 
 heart of things, not through the understanding, or by 
 means of words and notions and abstractions, but by the 
 insight of a quick imagination and a living soul. 
 
 The secret of her power as a teacher lay in her personal 
 power and influence ; in the outflow of her spirit and char- 
 acter, and its inflow into the mind and heart of those open 
 to receive it. True education is always largely a personal 
 matter between teacher and pupil not the mere reception 
 of truth or ideas, or the storing of the mind with knowl- 
 edge, as a dead mechanical thing, but the eliciting' or 
 drawing out (e-duco) of thought by the attracting, stimu- 
 lating and inspiring power of another rnind, wiser or 
 stronger or better than itself. 
 
 This personal power or the power of inspiration which 
 belongs to genius, was in Miss Sill inseparable from the 
 moral power seated in the conscience and heart. Loyalty 
 to duty, as it was given her to see it, consecration and 
 steadfast fidelity to the work given her to do, this seemed 
 to be the law of her life and character, and in the light of 
 this principle all her acts and duties were performed. With 
 such a purpose steadily pursued, with such a difficult work 
 and such manifold and often incongruous and intractible 
 elements to deal with, it could not be but that criticisms 
 would arise and harsh judgments be formed and some- 
 times uttered ; and, moreover, even such a woman had her 
 weaknesses and imperfections, because she was human. If 
 sometimes she was more tenacious of forms and precise 
 technical rules of conduct than some would deem neces- 
 sary, it was the tenacity of a conscience wholly set in the 
 way of right, and fearing to let down the high standard 
 of duty to which she clung. If her method of discipline 
 sometimes was more of a legal than a spiritual order, and 
 followed the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the 
 
r>2 MEMORIALS OF 
 
 gospel, it was because the law of duty was supreme, and 
 and must be enforced outwardly by precept and com- 
 mandment until it becomes an inward law of the heart. If 
 she sometimes seemed actuated by policy and expediency, 
 leading to management instead of simplicity in the attain- 
 ment of ends, it was the wisdom of the serpent, which if 
 not the highest wisdom is often as needful in this world as 
 the harmlessness of the dove, and without which the high- 
 est aims and the purest and best endeavors would fail by 
 being impracticable. That she recognized and owned a 
 wisdom higher than expediency, and obeyed a law more 
 supreme than policy, is evinced by the maxim often heard 
 from her lips "Duty is ours, results are God's." 
 
 One of the best proofs of her high and sterling excel- 
 lence of character, and one most grateful to herself, was 
 the devotion and the lasting reverence and affection 
 of her pupils. However they may have esteemed her when , 
 under her instruction, after graduation,their esteem ripened 
 into reverence and love. And this love came back to her 
 from far and near, wherever in the wide world they might 
 be scattered, and settled as a crown of glory upon her head. 
 
 The Alumnae reunions at Chicago have become a classic 
 custom, next to the Rockford anniversary itself; and now 
 that that revered head, that serene and lofty brow is laid 
 low and she will meet no more her beloved family at the 
 festal board, how will memory run back and retrace with 
 tearful eyes each overgrown path leading to this ' Alma 
 Mater,' in a twofold sense, and seek to recover and keep 
 as a sacred treasure each word of wisdom, each look of 
 love and benediction that fell from the beloved teacher, 
 and hasten to cast the tribute of homage and affection 
 upon her grave. 
 
 I feel, my friends, that I have discharged very imper- 
 fectly the sacred duty and honorable privilege assigned me. 
 Called suddenly and without time for the preparation 
 suitable for such an occasion, I have spoken but poor and' 
 feeble words. May I trust to your clemency and lov- 
 
ANNA P. SILL. 53 
 
 ing kindness, so often experienced; especially let me 
 trust to your love and knowledge of the deceased, to cor- 
 rect what is amiss, and to fill up what is behind in my 
 utterances. 
 
 After all, my friends, what are human words, even the 
 best and most eloquent, to express the loss and the gain, 
 the worth and the meaning of such a life ; the rest into 
 which she has entered, and the works that do surely follow 
 her? Calm and speechless meditation, 'when in the sessions 
 of sweet silent thought,' we remember our beloved dead ; 
 feeling, too deep for utterance or tears, and almost for 
 thought ; the infinite silences of the grave and eternity, 
 unbroken save by God's whisper in the soul, or the voice 
 that John heard from Heaven in the lonely-isle of Patmos 
 these are fitted for an occasion like this. Truly, "Blessed 
 are the dead who die in the Lord." Her children rise uj} 
 and call her blessed blessed in her life, more blessed in her 
 death ; blessed in her labors, more blessed in her rest from 
 labor ; and most blessed in the works that do follow her 
 in shining troops of minds enlightened and cultured, of 
 hearts enlarged and sanctified, of characters regenerated 
 and saved all coming to crown her as the mother of their 
 peace and joy. 
 
 I cannot close without a recognition of the kindly 
 Providence of God in the time and place of her death. 
 What place so sacred and so fitting in which to die, as 
 here, in this sanctuary of her own room where she had so 
 often communed with God in prayer ; amidst these quiet, 
 rural shades, where she had often heard the voice of the 
 Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day ; 
 and where the angels of God had met her and brought 
 strength to her fainting heart when sinking under its bur- 
 dens. And if we saw them not as they descended to receive 
 her parting soul, they were visible to her enraptured vis- 
 ion, and she went forth gladly with them along and up the 
 shining pathway of the skies. 
 
 What time, too, so fitting as this anniversary season, 
 
54 MEMORIALS OF 
 
 when the brightness and beauty of summer is in the air 
 and over all the earth, and the gladness of youthful en- 
 thusiasm is in all hearts ; this coronal season which she 
 had so often graced and honored with her presence and 
 her benedictions ? 
 
 What time so fitting for her departure from the scene 
 of her labors to receive the honors and rewards of her long 
 and faithful service ? 
 
 This event comes not as a shadow to darken and throw 
 a gloom over this festal season, but as an aureole to hal- 
 low and glorify it, and shed over its festivities the sanctity 
 of a celestial light and joy. Henceforth the presiding spirit 
 and genius of the place will be not a visible presence but a 
 guardian angel, whose benediction will be felt, not heard, 
 and whose name will live not only in these halls and rustic 
 walks, and not alone in the marble monument that shall 
 cover her grave, but in the hearts and memories of her 
 children and her children's children to the latest genera- 
 tion. 
 
at the HlumijaE 
 
 (3TT the close of the Commencement exercises on Wednes- 
 7^1 day, June 26th, the Alumnse reunion was held in Sill 
 Hall, where the usual dinner was provided, at which a large 
 number of the Alumnae, drawn to their Alma Mater by 
 this tender and cementing bond of sympathy in her sor- 
 row, assembled, to dwell on sacred memories and associa- 
 tions made more vividly present by the absence of the 
 revered one about whom they clustered. 
 
 After the dinner, Mrs. Mabel Walker Herrick, President 
 of the Alumna? Association, introduced Mrs. Caroline Bra- 
 zee, who had been invited to take charge of the memorial 
 exercises. 
 
 of dUlr0* 
 
 It is more than twenty years since this Association 
 was organized ; we, the members, have come and gone, 
 sometimes here, sometimes elsewhere, when the day came 
 around for the annual meeting. I doubt if any one of us 
 has been present at all these gatherings. But until to- 
 day all were sure of the presence, in this assembly, of her 
 who organized and set us at work as an Association. Sit- 
 ting at the head of our table she called for the divine 
 blessing upon us and all our undertakings; her words 
 lifted our hearts in thankfulness. To-da-y, we miss her 
 face, we miss her words and we are very lonely. We lack 
 
50 MEMORIALS OF 
 
 in ourselves that force and power of life which would help 
 us to rise above these earthly changes we are sad. 
 
 We will wait here a few moments where she was wont 
 to gather with us, hoping to say to each other such words 
 as shall fix our thoughts not upon ourselves but upon her 
 life a life whose work has been completed and crowned. 
 
 Do we realize what a privilege we have to-day, that of 
 contemplating a crowned life?. Most workers who live 
 even thealloted three score years and ten, pass over to the 
 other side leaving much unfinished, little of results which 
 they can see and from which they can gain satisfaction. 
 Our revered friend had the exceedingly rare privilege of 
 seeing her work a success, of knowing she had builded like 
 an immortal. We hold a memorial service to-day, but if 
 sad at all it is because we bring ourselves into it. 
 
 I have often thought, both now and in past years, 
 how much life has been converted into what we call this In- 
 stitution. "Whosoever will lose his life shall save it." 
 Oftentimes this losing, or giving of life is not a conscious 
 act of the giver. 
 
 We say justly that the woman whom we delight to honor 
 founded this Institution, and by her peculiar abilities as a 
 pioneer, she led it up nearly to where it now stands. With 
 pride we mention notable acts of self-sacrifice and energy ; 
 we recall what she did toward raising money, her efforts 
 to call in pupils, to maintain a corps of teachers, and in 
 many other directions by which a school is buili up and 
 sustained. But the Institution is something more than 
 these things. You may throw down these walls so that 
 not one stone shall lie upon another, you may scatter her 
 art-stores, her library, her furniture to the winds; you 
 may send her pupils far and wide into other halls of learn- 
 ing ; you may set each teacher at work a thousand miles 
 from this spot, still there will exist in the world llockford 
 Seminary. 
 
 It is many 3^ears since, being then a teacher here my- 
 self, I knew and felt the power of the Institution, recog- 
 
ANNA P. SILL. 57 
 
 nized it as a spiritual entity, a power that must be ever- 
 lasting. 
 
 It is a correlation of forces derived from the lives which 
 have been given here. Each of us, sisters of the Alumnae, is 
 a part of this life. Do the three or six years which you and 
 I gave to hard study here count for nothing except toward 
 our individual development?- I believe there was a residue 
 of life-force left by us and experienced by each and all who 
 came after us. Each teacher and each pupil has given some 
 life toward this other life or force which we name the Insti- 
 tution. The strong life, the self-devoted life, the entire life 
 which Miss Sill gave to the school makes her share in the 
 Institution greater than any of ours. She gave it tone, 
 and form, and character, but we must not forget nor ig- 
 nore our own share in it. It is difficult in words to realize 
 the actual existence of this force which is simply a spiritual 
 entity. It exists in and with this school ; but, again I say, 
 if it were possible to destroy the school, still the Institu- 
 tion must forever remain a power. She who held the largest 
 share in the Institution gave it to us. Do you not remember 
 how she said many times, "My dear children of the Alumnae, 
 this Institution is yours : in the future, it must be what 
 you make it." 
 
 Dear Miss Gelston, permit me a word to you person- 
 ally. Last year you came among us a stranger ; by faith 
 we reached out to you our hands, we elected you a mem- 
 ber of our Association, called you one of us. During these 
 last few weeks, your acts of love, of tender reverent care 
 have made you dear to each of us. What more could all 
 the Alumnse have done, that you have not done, to soothe 
 and comfort the slow descending steps of our loved and 
 honored friend as she passed through the valley of death 
 and entered the other life? I know I speak for all our 
 hearts when I call you to-day one of our very selves, a true 
 Alumna, daughter of our cherishing mother, and we here 
 pledge to you our support as you and we go forward still 
 building this Institution. 
 
58 MEMORIALS OF 
 
 We shall gather fresh courage for this work while we 
 sit here and recall some of the efforts, some of the results 
 of our leader's life. 
 
 Mrs. Marie Thompson Perry will speak of Miss Sill as 
 a teacher. 
 
 of .Mrs* ^Slarte Sampson 
 
 When the final chapter of a noble life is written, and 
 a great soul has left its tenement of clay, the com- 
 pleted work and the one who wrought it, rise before us, 
 with a dignity and a grandeur hitherto unestimated. 
 
 We may give loyalty and reverence in life, but not un- 
 til after death, does the clear light of transfiguration, fully 
 reveal the true symmetry of proportion and the majestic 
 scope of the finished whole. 
 
 We come to-day as daughters to pay a loving tribute 
 to one who in our early, formative years, moved the very 
 springs of our character and action, whose potent influ- 
 ence gave direction to our lines of thought; whose words 
 and precepts like seeds, sinking deep into our hearts, have 
 sprung up and borne that which the world recognizes as 
 the noblest fruitage of our lives. 
 
 With her wondrous endowment of head and heart, and 
 an indomitable will, she set up her standard in the wilder- 
 ness, and with a courage that knew no faltering, a vigi- 
 lance that was ceaseless, patiently, hopefully, prayerfully, 
 wrought out the dream of her life the school of her love. 
 
 How well she builded, He alone knows, who sees the full 
 magnitude of her work : we can only estimate it, by consid- 
 ering what would have been the effect upon our lives, our 
 city and the world as known to us, had her work been left 
 undone. 
 
 If in search for the secret of her success, we shall find it in 
 her single-hearted, untiring devotion to one great cause, 
 in the giving of her a/7 even as a candle gives forth itself in 
 
ANNA P. SILL. 59 
 
 light ; and as we walk among these dear old places, hal- 
 lowed by her prayers and love, this thought is inseperable 
 from them " A life has been builded into these walls," and 
 they will henceforth be eloquent to us of heroic courage, 
 grand endeavor and the "faith that can remove moun- 
 tains." 
 
 We used to smile at her oft repeated truisms, but they 
 have moulded and shaped us. Her " Whatever is worth 
 doine; at all, is worth doing well," has many a time and oft 
 redeemed our work, as under its persistent lashing, we 
 have with painstaking, wearily retraced each careless step; 
 trite and common as it is, it has been the secret of what- 
 ever success we may have won. . 
 
 That plain, straight-forward, character-making asser- 
 tion that "We are what our most cherished thoughts 
 make us," has penetrated and renewed many a life to its 
 very core ; and urged it forward toward the ideal ever just 
 beyond. Her strength as a teacher lay not in text-book 
 lore and the ability to communicate it to others, but rather 
 in the spirit she infused into her pupils. 
 
 She planted in them the deep conviction that true edu- 
 cation was a* life growth, for whose strength and vigor 
 each one was responsible; and this thought "like the root 
 in the rifted rock,' was so firmly set, that adverse winds 
 and limitations of circumstances only served to deepen it 
 in the hearts of her girls. Find them wherever you may, 
 with few, if indeed any exceptions, they are growing as 
 best they can pushing out a lateral branch here, shooting 
 up a terminal bud there, onward and upward forward, 
 not backward. 
 
 Her power over her pupils was rare and marvelous. 
 Day after day, by word, look and act, she forged the un- 
 seen chain that at last she riveted around them. The 
 impatience of youth might seek to shake it off and break 
 it ; the pleasures of life and the dictum of the world might 
 strive to undo its fastenings, but sooner or later, disloyal 
 legions would wheel into line and do valiant service in the 
 
00 MEMORIALS OF 
 
 cause of truth and right. It was beautiful and fitting that 
 she should die where she had lived and toiled so long, and 
 as she sat serene and calm in the parlor we all know so 
 well, the shadows of the evening of life fell softly around 
 her and her spirit made ready for its flight. 
 
 Yet, in these days of weakness, we may measure her 
 strength and it is not too much to say that her influence 
 belts the earth ; for it stirs in the heart of China, lives and 
 thrills in the new life in Japan, does Zenana work in India, 
 seeks to lighten the darkness of Persia, Turkey and the 
 isles of the sea, dwells in England, France and Germany, 
 and stretches across our own beloved land from north to 
 south and from ocean to ocean. 
 
 Gently, as one resting after the labor of the day is over, 
 she fell asleep ; the heart that beat so long and lovingly 
 for us was stilled, the shapely hands with their slender 
 white fingers were folded over a finished work, and with 
 palm branch, lilies and roses we reverently laid away the 
 beloved form. Then rest thee, brave true spirit of courage 
 and power, where thy peace floweth as a river amid the 
 raptures of Heaven ! Thy long labor of love is over, thy 
 work is done, and as the many thou hast uplifted and 
 blessed come thronging home to meet thee where the great 
 white rose of Paradise blooms, how will the living light 
 leap along the jewels in thy crown as we stand with thee 
 among the splendors of our God ! 
 
 MRS. BRAZEE. Mrs. Eva Townsend Clark will recall 
 some traits in the woman's life which Miss Sill maintained 
 running under and inspiring her whole public career. 
 
 of jKlrs. QEtm Sonmsettb ffllark* 
 
 DEAR FRIENDS: 
 
 We have met to-day, almost as around a communion 
 table, to eat and drink together in remembrance of one 
 who is gone, in memory of a woman the secret of whose 
 
ANNA P. SILL. 61 
 
 power we would gladly know, the potency of whose influ- 
 ence we wish we could make our own. There is nothing so 
 great, says Emerson, as a great soul, and this memory of 
 ours is of a great nature greatly consecrated. 
 
 Devotion to the ideal, to a hope, a dream, a thought, 
 is harder for a woman than a man but some women have 
 attained it. With Deborah, her Israel ; with Joan of Arc, 
 France ; with Florence Nightingale and Dorothea Fry, the 
 visitation of those sick and in prison ; with Mary Lyon, 
 Zillah Grant Bannister and Anna P. Sill, the education of 
 woman, proved the animating thought, the quickening 
 power of glorious living. 
 
 Devotion to the ideal is harder for the woman than the 
 man, but the very thought of womanhood supposes a 
 supreme devotion, hence marriage and motherhood ; for 
 God knew us women, and how hard for most of us without 
 these sweetly compelling ties would it be to live in another 
 atmosphere than the stifling one of self. But what are 
 marriage and motherhood but types dimly shadowing a 
 supreme consecration and helpfulness, to which some day, 
 somewhere, all women shall attain which some without 
 them, have already reached. It was the maid Minerva 
 whom both Greek and Roman worshiped ; it is the Virgin 
 Mother whom the Mother Church adores but both wholly 
 consecrate, the one to wisdom, the other to her Son, both 
 reproduced and living in the life of others. For every true 
 woman is a wife and mother though lover's love be cold 
 and meaningless to her, though she never know birth throe 
 or labor pang. Some thought she must espouse, though 
 it bring no endowment of worldly goods, must love and 
 cherish and obey, through life and death : some child of 
 heart or soul or brain must bring with travail-pain into 
 this unintelligible world, must shelter in strong arms, must 
 nourish at full breasts. 
 
 What supreme consecration was that of our dear dead 
 we know full well, but her zeal was never fanatical. Her 
 life was symmetrical, rounded, developed on all sides; 
 
62 MEMORIALS OF 
 
 " every duty seemed a privilege, every obligation an op- 
 portunity." From the days in the first flush of early 
 womanhood, 
 
 "When all her hope and all her pride, 
 Were in her village school," 
 
 to those later ones when she knew "her lines had gone 
 out into all the earth, and her influence unto the ends 
 thereof," she never forgot that while a teacher, she was 
 yet a woman, and owed womanly duty to society, the 
 church, the world, 
 
 Some of us like to remember that she never failed in 
 the external lady hood. Burdened with a thousand responsi- 
 bilities, perpetually giving out of her small salary, she was 
 yet always beautifully and appropriately dressed from a 
 wardrobe which though far from elaborate, was in its 
 least detail finished as exquisitely as a bride's. Strength 
 and honor were the garments of her soul, and her out- 
 ward adorning shadowed them forth. 
 
 Those who knew her in early days, when the little prairie 
 town greatly needed such formative influence, well remem- 
 ber what a social power she was ; how her presence at 
 church and prayer service was an unfailing inspiration to 
 her pastor, and how skillful an organizer and leader she 
 proved in any undertaking she entered upon. 
 
 The interest in missions so characteristic of her was 
 by no means fostered merely by the knowledge that such 
 an interest is greatly educative, and was of inestimable 
 value to her students, but grew naturally from her world- 
 wide sympathies, and from that " enthusiasm of humanity" 
 which always possessed her, and, when at last, her long 
 service ended, she laid down her work, with what marvel- 
 ous adaptability she entered household life for the first 
 time in many years, and proved herself the ever ready 
 helper, the nobly tender friend of childhood, the thought- 
 ful nurse and care-taker, and ah ! supreme test of character, 
 the ever gracious and graceful guest in that large house- 
 hold where for five and thirty years her will was law, her 
 
ANNA P. SILL. 63 
 
 word control. To Rockford Seminary, home of her heart, 
 to her own dear and sacred rooms, she often came to read, 
 to rest, to write, to enjoy the bright young life about her, 
 but never once to pass a word of criticism or of interfer- 
 ence with methods which could not be her own. 
 
 What a record is this, and how great the woman of 
 whom it can be truly written ! Age, which seemed to in- 
 crease her personal attractiveness, adding stateliness and 
 grace to her dignity, and gentleness to her fine decided 
 face, served also to render her increasingl} 7 hospitable to 
 new thought and ideas variant from her own. 
 
 She never lost her eager love of knowledge, and in later 
 years gave much of her scant leisure to study of the history 
 of Art. She was fond of travel, and an eagerly anticipated 
 guest in many homes from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast, 
 but latterly had postponed any long journey until her 
 little Robert should be older. Ah ! she has gone on the 
 fairest journey of all, and the little child she loved so well 
 is with her forever. 
 
 In such a life, the human imperfection was like the 
 mole upon her cheek, marking the grandeur of her general 
 character as did that the rose-leaf quality of a complexion 
 which at sixty-five an observant physician declared more 
 delicate than that of any student in the institution. 
 
 But noble as was her life, it was no nobler than her 
 death. With utter lack of self-consciousness, thinking 
 only of others to the last, never even asking whether she 
 was to live or die, simply and humbly as a little child, she 
 passed on into the other life. 
 
 In that city whose streets the sea doth pave, and whose 
 palaces still speak of centuries of splendor, there hangs 
 that masterpiece of Titian before which women will kneel 
 in wondering awe and adoration as long as line or tint of 
 it remains. And well they may! It is the apotheosis of 
 womanhood. From many a shadowy niche and dusky wall 
 smiles down upon you the fair girl to whom the angel brings 
 Annunciation lilies, or the tender mother with her Babe. 
 
64 MEMORIALS OF 
 
 Often you find Our Lady of Sorrows fainting before the 
 cross; sometimes the glorious Bride of the Apocalypse 
 clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet, and 
 upon her head a crown of twelve stars; hut only there in 
 Venice, the simple mortal woman, who puts on immor- 
 tality; mother of God perhaps, but surely your mother 
 and mine. She is no longer young. She has known life 
 and what it brings to a woman through all its glad, sad 
 range; she has known life, and death, and without one 
 thought of self, of good or ill desert, but only of the love 
 to which she goes, enters into the ineffable beyond. 
 Beneath stand the disciples around her empty rose-crown- 
 ed tomb; but they heed it not, rapt and hushed they 
 behold the heavenly vision. 
 
 So, to-day, dear friends, meeting as it were around a 
 grave, the grave of our Virgin Mother, crowned with roses, 
 and with the palrn of victory, may we know that it is 
 empty. She is risen, and on us women, on our various 
 work and wa.y, may "light from her celestial garments 
 stream." 
 
 MRS. BRAZEE. There are in this room to-day, two who 
 were little girls forty years ago, and who on that bright 
 June morning were present when Miss Sill began the school 
 which has now become Rockford Seminary. We two, re- 
 member the kindly words of wisdom, the gentle counsels 
 with which she strove to guide us in those early days and 
 to give us watch-words for after years. Her care did not 
 cease when her pupils left the school. First and last she 
 was ever the same. Miss Olmstead, of the class of 1889, 
 told me of her last conversation with Miss Sill, and she 
 has kindly consented to rehearse what are like last words 
 to us. 
 
 Abbms of jHiss Abelciibe jfEl (JHmsteob. 
 
 I feel my inability to fulfil the task before me, yet in 
 behalf of the class of '89, I am glad to add our testimony 
 
ANJ\A P. SILL. 05 
 
 to the already overflowing tribute, paid to one, whose 
 memory will ever be held in reverence and love, by all 
 with whom she came in contact. During our years here, 
 Miss Sill has often been among us, and though we never 
 knew her as a teacher, her kindly face and cordial greetings 
 have ever been an inspiration. We feel grateful for the 
 interest she took in us, who cannot claim the dear rela- 
 tionship of pupil. We always found a warm welcome when 
 ever we entered her room, and her calls upon us were es- 
 teemed a rare favor. 
 
 On one such occasion, but a few months ago, I was 
 especially impressed with her gentle words of advice, and 
 as she left my room, I wrote down a few sentences on the 
 fly leaf of the book I was studying, thinking to preserve 
 them as a memento of my senior year, not dreaming that 
 they would be her last words to me. I can think of no 
 more fitting tribute than to give these few words of her own, 
 even though they lose half their force when separated from 
 her quaint expression, and the loving spirit which shone 
 from her face. She appeared to me the very embodiment 
 of the thought which she told me had been the Seminary 
 motto since its start : u Decus et Veritas," "Grace and 
 Truth." 
 
 The three brief sentences with which our talk may be 
 summed up, seem to me a key to the inner life of the one 
 who spoke them. 
 
 "Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it." 
 " What the Lord wants you to do, He will give you 
 power to do." 
 
 " Let His spirit be in you, and- He will direct you." 
 A halo rests upon the silver hair and lights up the soft 
 bright eyes of one whose memory will rest upon the class 
 of '89, as a sweet and solemn benediction. 
 
 MRS. BRAZEE. Though dead she lives evermore. Miss 
 Lathrop will turn our thoughts into that broader life where 
 as guardian angel she may still serve us, her pupils, and 
 this Institution. 
 
66 MEMORIALS OF 
 
 m JBtarttjct . Cattjrop. 
 
 Miss Sill as a woman, and as a teacher commands 
 our admiration and respect. The responsible position 
 assigned her in life, she filled with highest credit, by un- 
 selfishly yielding all her powers for the well being of others. 
 In her work and in the familiar intercourse of daily life, her 
 aim was to make manifest what ever of good there was and 
 to give opportunity for the fullest development of true 
 character in those who came under her influence. 
 
 She has passed beyond the range of mortal eye, but 
 she is present to the inner vision. And now it is not the 
 erect form and kindly eye that attract and hold us, it is 
 the stronger power of the pure and noble spirit which can 
 never die. 
 
 On the walls of a far oriental home hangs her pictured 
 face, and often has it proved an inspiration to faltering 
 courage, stimulating to more earnest, persevering effort. 
 For who that looked at that face remembering the char- 
 acter behind it, the struggles undergone, could think of 
 yielding while power of resistance lasted. She fills this, her 
 home, to-day and will continue here an inspiration and a 
 benediction, and not here alone will her presence be felt, 
 for who shall say that her freed spirit has not wider range 
 and more exalted service from the Master in influencing 
 the hearts and lives of those still this side the veil, en- 
 gaged in the warfare against ignorance and evil. We 
 who knew her best, realize something of the breadth of 
 her sympathies, and one has well said : "A thousand mil- 
 lion lives are his who carries the world in his sympathies." 
 
 Sisters, friends, earnest consecrated lives such as hers, 
 are appreciated, and from north and south, east and west, 
 multitudes to-day rise to call her blessed. 
 
 MRS. B RAZEE. We will sing "Blest be the tie that 
 binds," and go forth to duty. 
 
ANNA P. SILL. 67 
 
 From the many letters received from absent members 
 the following are selected as voicing a common tribute: 
 
 MINNEAPOLIS, June 24, 1889^ 
 To the Alumnte Association of Rock ford Seminary : 
 
 A thrill of sorrow has touched all our hearts with the 
 sad message that comes to us from Alma Mater. Can it be 
 that we are invited to Bockford Seminary, but not to meet 
 our dear Miss Sill! Whether our school days closed in the 
 sixties or the eighties, our fond memories cluster about 
 her, and find common ground. 
 
 We mourn with you, and would let our tears mingle 
 with yours, as you gather on Wednesday to offer loving 
 tribute to the memory of her whose sweet presence you 
 had expected in your midst. 
 
 How fitting that she should go from the school home 
 she loved so well, to the other home, still dearer to her 
 heart. A real Commencement, and yet hardly that, just 
 an enlarging and expanding of the life she has lived so long. 
 "There is no Death ! what seems so is transition." 
 
 May we all treasure her counsels and the lessons of her 
 life, and let her influence flow on through us into all the 
 channels in which our life currents lie, and it shall indeed 
 be true that u she being dead, yet speaketh." 
 
 Yours in behalf of the Association of the Northwest, 
 
 GERTRUDE E. FOSTER, 
 
 Vice President. 
 
 720 First Ave., S., 
 MINNEAPOLIS, MINN., June 22, 1889. 
 DEAR Miss GELSTON : 
 
 It was a kind thought to at once notify the Alumna 
 and friends of Kockford Seminary, that our beloved Miss 
 Sill has gone home. 
 
 An invitation to attend the memorial services after 
 the annual lunch, June 26th, is just at hand. Will you 
 kindly express to the Alumnae Association my regret that 
 I cannot be present. 
 
68 MEMORIALS OF 
 
 Tome, Miss Sill was more than a beloved Principal and 
 teacher, she was a dear and honored friend; and so I 
 doubly mourn her loss. But to her it is the entering into 
 the joy of her Lord, and I rejoice that she has this blessed- 
 ness. 
 
 Only the last day will reveal how great a work was 
 hers in leading souls to Christ, and helping her pupils to 
 an active Christian life. 
 
 Sorrowfully yours. 
 
 LUCY HEATH PLANT. 
 (MRS. HENRY PLANT.) 
 
 CHATAUQUA, N. Y. 
 To THE ALUMNA ASSOCIATION OF 
 
 KOCKFORD SEMINARY: 
 
 To hundreds of hearts in our land the tidings of the 
 death of Anna P. Sill came as a great shadow, and the 
 many lives she has uplifted and inspired will be filled with 
 sorrow at her passing. 
 
 As I was journeying northward from Florida, the sad 
 intelligence met me in New York, while I was hoping soon 
 to greet once more, on my way to California, this friend of 
 many years and such tidings could not fail to awaken 
 many tender reminiscences. 
 
 It was in 1852, that I first came under Miss Sill's influ- 
 ence. She was then thirty-six years of age, a woman of 
 such splendid physique and majestic beauty that any 
 artist might have rejoiced to find such a model for a Greek 
 goddess; but it was not her imposing presence that most 
 impressed those under her influence. Her moral worth 
 and lofty Christian teachings and ideals ; her great dignity 
 and a personal magnetism, as pure as it was powerful, 
 swayed the minds of her pupils in a wonderful manner, 
 while the warm regard in which she held them, and the 
 genial welcome always given to those who returned, drew 
 them to her by the, ties of strong affection and reverence. 
 
ANNA P. SILL. 69 
 
 The combined financial and executive burdens which 
 were laid upon her in the pioneer days of Kockford Semi- 
 nary deprived her of the leisure for scholastic work 
 toward which her tastes drew her, but she felt it her duty 
 to take up the work which lay nearest her hand, and this 
 she carried forward with an energy, cheerfulness and per- 
 sistence rarely excelled. 
 
 In her religious standards of faith and practice she 
 held much to the Puritan ideals, and by some was felt to 
 magnify the law above the gospel. Had she lived in the 
 time of Savonarola, she would doubtless, in her younger 
 days, have been a devoted follower of the great Florentine. 
 
 She was a warm admirer of the work and character of 
 Mary Lycm, and would have set Mt. Holyoke Seminary 
 before her as a model had the needs of a pioneer community 
 and of the growing city in which Rockford Seminary was 
 established permitted it. 
 
 She was not without that appreciation of her work 
 which is one of the elements of worldly success, and she 
 prized the love and approbation of her friends and pupils 
 to a degree that by some was thought a weakness. 
 
 To those who knew her best, Miss Sill's leading char- 
 acteristic was benevolence. Every philanthropic move- 
 ment met with sympathy from her, and hundreds of poor, 
 struggling students will cherish her memory as that of a 
 kind benefactor. 
 
 For more than a decade my life and work has been 
 widely separated from hers, but the fifteen years during 
 which I was permitted to share her companionship, and 
 the toils of her prime, I count a rare privilege. Sharing 
 the sense of bereavement which fills so many hearts, I can 
 yet rejoice that from her life of noble usefulness here she 
 has entered upon divine and blessed activities, over which 
 sorrow, age or weariness have no power. 
 
 Yours in love and remembrance, 
 
 MARY E. B. NORTON. 
 
findownjeijt. 
 
 Qfesarj t)tj jMtfs 
 
 Rockford Seminary has an endowment which few peo- 
 ple who come in contact with her fail to perceive, but which 
 no one realizes so vividly as her own children. I hope in 
 ten minutes to give tangibility to this endowment to in- 
 fect the rest of you with the confidence we have in it. All 
 that is necessary is to voice what the Alumnae have in com- 
 mon ; to articulate what I myself have felt more or less 
 clearly since I was six years old, when on one momentous 
 day I took my pennies from my tin bank and solemnly 
 gave them to my sister Alice, that she might put then) into 
 a carpet for the new chapel. It was the green carpet with 
 red spots. Blessings on its memory! 
 
 Do you chance to remember what Dean Stanley de- 
 clared to be his ambition in life, when he became a Fellow 
 of Oxford? He said it was "to translate Dr. Arnold into 
 English life and character." His first effort was to write 
 Dr. Arnold's life, to preserve it in a form of the rarest lit- 
 erary excellence. He then proceeded to live it out, to talk 
 it out, to diffuse it, until from that great coign of vantage, 
 Westminster Abbey, he made Arnold a power throughout 
 Christendom. 
 
 Had Dean Stanley been asked concerning Rugby's en- 
 dowment, it is absurd to suppose that he would havegiven 
 the number of pounds which supported the school each 
 year. 1 doubt if he would even have said that it was Dr. 
 Arnold himself; it was rather the determination to per- 
 potuate Dr. Arnold ; the desire to be devoted to the princi- 
 ples to which he was devoted. That glow of feeling which 
 
ANNA P. SILL. 71 
 
 it is the easiest of all things to excite in young people mid 
 which, alas! too often serves only to perplex and befog 
 them, had, at Rugby, been directed to definite ends. Dr. 
 Arnold not only aroused but controlled it, until his passk>n_ 
 for righteousness was established, and his reform in classic 
 education extended to every political, social and religious 
 movement in England. That was Rugby's endowment, 
 and it raised the school from comparative obscurity to 
 secured honor. It made it a distinct power in -English life. 
 It can hardly be a mere coincidence that its especial col- 
 lege at Oxford is Baliol, and that from Baliol College has 
 issued the movement which of all movements is at this mo- 
 ment holding the hopes of deep-hearted Englishmen 
 Toynbee Hall of East London. 
 
 It has been said that the English Whigs owe their suc- 
 cess to the public school at Eton, that through all the 
 early days of the Whig party, Eton steadily became a po- 
 litical power and training school for statesmen. It trained 
 Chatham, and Fox, and North, and Grenville. The Duke 
 of Wellington declared that the battle of Waterloo was 
 won on the playing fields of Eton, and his brother, the 
 gentle Lord Wellesley, begged to be laid to rest in the 
 bosom of Eton, that mother from whom he had learned 
 everything which had made him wise and patriotic. From 
 the beginning of the party until the Reform Bill, Eton 
 school, and Christ Church, its college, had the monopoly of 
 education for public life. It assuredly was not because 
 somebody had given them a large endowment in money. 
 They did not have exceptionally brilliant teaching, they did 
 not then have a fine laboratory nor luxurious libraries 
 crowded with bronzes and marbles, but they did have a 
 distinctive character, and the youth of England who 
 dreamed of a career in politics, came to them that they, 
 perchance, might catch the spirit of it. 
 
 The endowment of Eton for many years was that am- 
 bition for wise and patriotic statesmanship, as that of 
 Rugby was rational godliness, and a certain passion for 
 
72 MEMORIALS OF 
 
 doing good. Each taught but the ordinary college course. 
 They .simply focused a movement, made a certain kind 
 of life 'possible. 
 
 In both cases they attracted to themselves what they 
 alreadyhad. There are many instances of less note in this 
 country. The most familiar to us, perhaps, is the mission- 
 ary zeal associated with all the earlier history of Mt. Holy- 
 oke. We are all sensible of constantly looking for the 
 distinctive trait, the trend the meaning of an institu- 
 tion. The mere congregating of people for study, the mere 
 exhibition of talent and learning, fails to impress us. The 
 accumulation itself, the result of a college course, is a 
 mountain of mere straw and stubble, unless it is fused and 
 held together by a moral purpose. It must have an ani- 
 mus to keep it from reverting, from going back into the 
 mere classics and mathematics of text-books. It is not 
 easy to establish such a thing. It can by no means be ad- 
 ventitious. It cannot be forced or imported. It must rep- 
 resent the strong convictions of at least one person, and 
 the need of many others. It always has its struggle with 
 doubt and self -distrust before its friends learn to believe in 
 it and allow it to 'assert itself. Yet by certain educators, 
 much given to quoting Comeriius and Pestalozzi and 
 Froebel, it is said that those schools which can give to 
 their students a definite impulse and aim are the only 
 schools worth considering at all; that the others, in spite 
 of brilliant endeavors, end too often in lowering vitality 
 in burying the young spirit itself under a mass of worthy 
 things. 
 
 The first students of Rockford Seminary inherited from 
 their fathers and from the new countrv, the ambition and 
 training to overcome difficulties. They came here to get 
 something to add to their power, that they might ha,ve 
 more to use. They were almost never impelled in those 
 earliest years, by mere ambition, and even w r hen moved 
 by the pure love of study and desire for self improvement, 
 it was soon modified by more practical and beneficent mo- 
 
ANNA P. SILL. 73 
 
 tives. It is interesting' to trace this earliest characteristic 
 under widely changed conditions. I have met my sisters 
 in Dresden, in London and Chicago, still actuated by 
 this primitive Seminary energy, curiously distinct and~ 
 recognizable. 
 
 From the very first we owe to her whom we mourn to- 
 day with such heavy hearts, the highest grace any institu- 
 tion can possess. Miss Sill gave it that strong religious 
 tone which it has always retained. She came to Illinois 
 in an unselfish spirit notto buildup a large school, notto 
 make an intellectual center, but to train the young women 
 of a new country for Christian usefulness. She unaffectedly 
 and thoroughly made that her aim. The spiritual so 
 easily speaks over all other voices, it arrests us at once. 
 We travel the world over to find the spots associated with 
 a humble soul, singly striving to unite itself with the Un- 
 seen. Salisbury Plain, with magnificent Stonehenge, fails 
 to stir us as does the tiny church on the edge of it from 
 whose porch George Herbert mused and prayed. We 
 are bound by the tenderest ties to perpetuate this primi- 
 tive spiritual purpose Miss Sill's life-motive. It will be 
 easy to do this we cannot otherwise; it is associated with 
 this spot by her long life and made bright by her gentle 
 death. Why did Thackery put dear old Col. Newcome into 
 the Charter House School to die, but that he wished to give 
 to his Alma Mater the most exquisite finish, the most con- 
 summate grace his genius could devise to associate with 
 it forever the passing from earth of a gentle, unselfish spirit 
 whose work was finished. 
 
 Providence has granted us this grace, and whatever 
 good fortune the future may hold for us, nothing can be 
 finer than that we have already. 
 
 The early school stood for the intellectual certainly, 
 not only professedly but vitally, when Kockford Semi- 
 nary was the only institution in the vicinity which furnished 
 to women the higher advantages, and whose corps of 
 teachers, from that vague region, "the East," gave to 
 
74 MEMORIALS OF 
 
 ninny a girl her first glimpse of the larger life. But with 
 thvj intellectual and religous, was constantly combined the 
 stirring, practical character, born of the condition of the 
 country itself. The yearning of its young people to fulfill 
 the law of mutual service, to yield to the strong impulse 
 calling them to work was always recognized. It gave us 
 from the first that balance in development which the fore- 
 most educators of England and America are now urging. 
 We have instinctively recognized this, and endeavored to 
 keep it. From our scanty means we have put up a gymna- 
 sium, elaborate, out of proportion to our other equipment, 
 that the talk of manual labor which she urged upon stu- 
 dents so long ago might be well continued after the best 
 methods, our primitive energy still fostered . We are among 
 the first colleges to have a night school, (though others 
 are fast following) that the students may confirm by the 
 deed those dreams of sacrifice and unselfish devotion of 
 which young heads are full, and that they may test the 
 practical religion and philanthropy which young people 
 crave, and which, if they are allowed to live out freely, 
 may bring an answer to some of our most vexed social 
 problems. 
 
 We believe that our scholarship is each year more 
 thorough and fine. It is advancing, as it always has done, 
 in proportion to our character, and is made a part of that. 
 Dear friends, it may be that this is our one opportunity, 
 our road to distinction. We cannot rival Wellesley and 
 Smith in their own field. We haven't the propinquity. We 
 are not near enough to Boston or Concord. We are only 
 near to the spirit of our fathers, and the unswerving pur- 
 pose of our founder. Let us catch fairly and brightly the 
 spirit of this endowment and trust it whither it may lead 
 us. Let us be thankful for it. We are not a little Vassar, 
 we are not the Mt. Holyoke of the West, we are Rockford 
 Seminary with a history of forty years, with our own 
 characteristics, finer than anything imitation can give. 
 There is a German proverb of which I am very fond. It 
 
ANNA P. SILL. 75 
 
 may be translated, "The Good is the greatest enemy of 
 the Best." It may be that our poverty has preserved us 
 from many good things second-rate things only that 
 we might be able to cherish the best, that we might pre- 
 serve our endowment. We have been too poor for much 
 building. We shall, perhaps, never have a dining-room 
 with beautiful plate glass windows looking out upon the 
 river and a huge sideboard glittering with cut glass and 
 silver. 
 
 We can always be thankful for this, that we have never 
 been buried under the second best, an accumulation of 
 merely good things. We have not been stuffed with a con- 
 tent and shallow pride; we have escaped the curse of 
 self-satisfaction. 
 
 What is, after all, the office the function of an insti- 
 tution like this, of the local college? Is it not to hold out 
 to the eager young people of the vicinity its draught of 
 water to give them to drink? The cup which has been 
 given us to hold is pla,in and unadorned. What matters 
 it so that the water itself is pure? Colleges to the east 
 and west of us may stretch forth a finer goblet, but they 
 contain at best nothing better than what we may have, 
 if the liquid they hold is contaminated by one drop 
 of self-conceit or worldjy ambition which shall dazzle the 
 drinker and turn his head with a sense of his own attain- 
 ment, it matters little of what stuff the cup is made the 
 plainer the better. I should really despair if this should 
 be our fate. Nothing short of this can turn our future 
 black. 
 
on FBiss Bill's Beath. 
 
 BY THE TRUSTEES. 
 
 AC the annual meeting of the Trustees of Kockford 
 Seminary, held at the Seminary on June 25th, 1889, the 
 following preamble and resolutions were unanimously 
 adopted : 
 
 It having pleased Almighty God in his all-wise Provi- 
 dence to call home to her rest and reward Miss Anna P. 
 Sill, the true Alma Mater or Foster Mother of this Semi- 
 nary, and for nearly forty years its honored and beloved 
 Principal, it is due bo her memory, and to the Institution 
 to which her life was devoted, to put on record the follow- 
 ing resolutions. 
 
 Resolved, That in the work Miss Sill has wrought 
 for Rockford Seminary we recognize with devout gratitude 
 the wisdom and ordaining purpose of God in raising up 
 such a wolman, and endowing her so amply with the abili- 
 ties and qualifications requisite for so great and import- 
 ant an enterprise. We also recognize with high apprecia- 
 tion the eminent intellectual ability, the earnest faith and 
 devotion, the indefatigable patience, perseverance, moral 
 energy and distinguished success, with which she prosecuted 
 the work given her to do, in laying securely the founda- 
 tions, intellectual, moral and spiritual, of this Institution 
 and in carrying it forward to its present advancement. 
 
 While we mourn the great loss to this Seminary and 
 the whole community of her benignant presence and potent 
 influence, we acknowledge the good Providence of God in 
 so long sparing her life and permitting her in its later 
 years of retirement and release from labor, to enjoy in 
 some measure the reward of her toil, and at last to die 
 within the walls of her beloved Seminary, surrounded by 
 the friends and scenes and memories of the past. Truly it 
 may be said of her, " She hath done what she could." She 
 rests from her labors, and her works do follow her, 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of this resolution be transmit- 
 ted to the family and relations of deceased. 
 Rockford Seminary, June 25th, 1889. 
 
ANNA P. SILL. 11 
 
 BY THE FACULTY. 
 
 Since in the death of our former Principal, Anna P. 
 Sill, our Heavenly Father has called to Himself a faithful 
 servant and removed from our midst a noble life, we, the 
 present Faculty of Kockford Seminary, wish to express our 
 high appreciation of her character and her long, earnest 
 and far-reaching work. 
 
 In the founding and building up of this Seminary, she 
 showed great faith and strength of purpose, and recog- 
 nized the responsibilities such a work imposed. In the 
 affectionate regard of the Alumnse for her, we see the 
 result of that strong personality which none who knew her 
 could fail to recognize. 
 
 Acknowledging the inspiration of her faith and courage, 
 and realizing our privilege and responsibility in being per- 
 mitted to carry on her work, we would make this expres- 
 sion of our esteem. 
 
 Signed, ANNA B. GELSTON, 
 
 SARAH F. ANDERSON. 
 LUCY A. BUHHEE, 
 
 Committee of the Faculty. 
 
 ASSOCIATION. 
 
 The following resolutions were adopted by the Stu- 
 dents' Association at a special meeting called June 20th : 
 
 WHEREAS, We realize that in the death of Miss Sill, not 
 only has the Seminary lost the revered and loved presence 
 of its founder, but that we, as students, have lost a friend 
 whose life was an ever present inspiration. 
 
 Resolved, That we, the members of the Students' 
 Association of Rockford Seminary, hereby express our 
 deep sorrow at her death. 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be placed 
 upon the records of the Association, and printed in the 
 Rockford Seminary Magazine. 
 
 BY THE ALUMNA. 
 
 WHEREAS, Since our last annual gathering, our revered 
 Principal Emerita, Anna P. Sill, has joined 
 
 "The choir invisible of those immortal dead 
 Who live again in minds made better by their presence," 
 
78 MEMORIALS OF ANNA P. SILL. 
 
 And, WHEREAS, To us, the Alumnae of the Institution 
 she founded in faith, and built up with unceasing en- 
 deavor, it has been given deeply to feel the greatness of 
 her consecration, and the power and steadfastness of her 
 character, be it 
 
 Resolved, That while we miss unspeakably, and always 
 must, her beloved and honored presence, we give thanks 
 for the life she has lived, and for that upon which, we be- 
 lieve, she has entered. 
 
 Resolution unanimously adopted by the Board ol Trus- 
 tees of Rock ford Seminary at its annual meeting, June 
 25th, 1889. 
 
 On motion voted, that the Board of Trustees request 
 Dr. Goodwin to edit his address delivered at the funeral of 
 the late Anna P. Sill, and that in addition thereto he sup- 
 ply such sketch of her life and services as he may be able 
 to" do; and that the Executive Committee cause the same 
 to be published for circulation among the friends of the 
 institution. 
 
M187491 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY