Mount Morris College was a religious college affiliated with the

Church of the Brethren The Church of the Brethren is an Anabaptist Christian denomination in the Schwarzenau Brethren (german: link=no, Schwarzenauer Neutäufer "Schwarzenau New Baptists") tradition that was organized in 1708 by Alexander Mack in Schwarzenau, Germa ...

Mount Morris, Illinois Mount Morris is a village in Mt. Morris Township, Ogle County, Illinois, Mount Morris Township, Ogle County, Illinois, Ogle County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,998 at the 2010 census, down from 3,013 in 2000. Geography Mount Mor ...

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

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

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

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

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

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

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

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

was too much. At the end of the school year, in May 1932, Mount Morris College closed forever. Mount Morris College was a member of the

Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) was a college athletic conference that existed from 1908 to 1970 in the United States. At one time the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, or IIAC, was a robust league that clai ...

from 1922 to 1931.

Notable alumni

Notable alumni of Mount Morris College include: *

Adaline Hohf Beery Adaline Hohf Beery (, Hohf; after marriage, Beery, sometimes misspelled Berry; December 20, 1859 – February 24, 1929) was an American author, newspaper and magazine editor, songbook compiler, as well as a hymnwriter. Born into a Pennsylvania Du ...

(1859–1929), American author, newspaper editor, songbook compiler, hymnwriter *

Aaron Brumbaugh Aaron John Brumbaugh (February 14, 1890 – February 25, 1983) was a higher education administrator and professor of education, and the sixth president of Shimer College. Brumbaugh was born in Hartville, Ohio in early 1893. He subsequently became ...

, sixth president of

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

and a leading figure in the Hutchins

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

movement *

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

, the first female patent attorney in America *

Emery Myers Emmert Emery may refer to: Places United States * Emery, Arizona, a populated place * Emery, Illinois * Emery, Michigan * Emery, Ohio, a ghost town * Emery Park, a park in Erie County, New York * Emery, North Carolina * Emery, Fayette County, Pen ...

(1900–1962), Class of 1923. Professor of Horticulture at

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

1928–1962, inventor of the plastic greenhouse. * Henry Clay Newcomer, Brigadier General, 1861–1952, Assistant Director of Chemical Warfare Section 1918–1919. Notable alumni from the Methodist Rock River Seminary include: * W.H.L. Wallace, Civil War Brigadier General, Hero of the Battle of Shiloh *

Smith D. Atkins Smith Dykins Atkins (June 9, 1836 – March 27, 1913) was an American newspaper editor, lawyer, and a Union Army Colonel (USA), colonel during the American Civil War, who temporarily commanded brigades of infantry and cavalry and who was awar ...

, author, editor, and Civil War commander *

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

Governor of Illinois The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois, and the various agencies and departments over which the officer has jurisdiction, as prescribed in the state constitution. It is a directly elected position, votes being cast by p ...

Shelby Moore Cullom Shelby Moore Cullom (November 22, 1829 – January 28, 1914) was a U.S. political figure, serving in various offices, including the United States House of Representatives, the United States Senate and the 17th Governor of Illinois. Life and ca ...

United States Senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

Charles Henry Fowler Charles Henry Fowler (August 11, 1837 – March 20, 1908) was a Canadian-American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church (elected in 1884) and President of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois from 1872 to 1876. Early life Charles ...

, Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church * S. M. I. Henry (1839–1900), evangelist, temperance reformer, poet, author *

James B. Herrick James Bryan Herrick (11 August 1861 in Oak Park, Illinois – 7 March 1954 in Chicago, Illinois) was an Americans, American physician and professor of medicine who practiced and taught in Chicago. He is credited with the description of sickl ...

, physician and first describer of

sickle-cell disease Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a group of blood disorders typically inherited from a person's parents. The most common type is known as sickle cell anaemia. It results in an abnormality in the oxygen-carrying protein haemoglobin found in red blo ...

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

, US Congressman * Daniel Harris Johnson, Wisconsin State Assemblyman

References

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