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to
Illinois and by wagon the rest of the way. A charter for the seminary had been granted by the legislature in 1852, but when Shimer and Gregory arrived, there was no building and no students. On May 11, 1853, they began teaching to a small group of mostly very young students in the Presbyterian
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in 1844. Shimer entered the state normal school in 1848, having been granted a full scholarship on the recommendation of her local superintendent. She graduated in 1849, having completed the two-year course in one year so that she could graduate in the same class as
Cinderella Gregory. Shimer and
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Shimer was remembered as an extremely acute student: "the mere consciousness of something unknown was sufficient incentive to arouse ambition to acquire." She began school near her parents' house at the age of two and half, quickly learning to read. At the age of six, she spent all of her saved
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In 1895, Shimer's husband Henry Shimer committed suicide, either by hanging or gunshot. His death occurred five days after he had drawn up a new will leaving his wife with his entire fortune of approximately $ 200,000, and his surviving sister and mother with nothing. The will was successfully
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Throughout these early teaching years, Shimer saved her income from teaching and farming to pay for her future education. Influenced by her mother's early death, Shimer wished to become a physician, but was unable to find any medical school that would admit women. She therefore sought further
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She was fond of pets, and also began to experiment with horticulture from a young age. Because she was much younger than the other children, she was allowed to spend her time freely around the farm, and developed a reputation as a skilled animal trainer. A memorial essay recalls that "from
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Gregory continued to teach at schools in New York, but were unable to find steady positions due to the oversupply of teachers in the East. Shimer also began to suffer from tuberculosis, and sought a change of climate. She and
Gregory therefore corresponded with the citizens in a number of
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From 1853 to 1870, Shimer operated the Mount
Carroll Seminary as a partnership with Cinderella Gregory, who served as the chief academic officer while Shimer handled finances and other non-academic operations. Shimer and Gregory purchased the school from the discouraged
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schools at the age of fourteen. She also continued to care for her father's farm until it was sold. After the sale of the farm, she and her father lived at the spacious Nash residence. While living with the Nashes, Shimer first made the acquaintance of
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in 1855, when it still occupied only a single building. The subsequent expansion of the seminary to a 25-acre campus with four connected buildings and numerous outbuildings was attributed largely to Shimer's industry and careful management of finances.
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Frances Shimer died on
November 10, 1901. Her body was returned to Mount Carroll for burial there. After a funeral service at the chapel of the Frances Shimer Academy, she was interred at the Oak Hill Cemetery in Mount Carroll.
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when
Frances was ten, and she was subsequently looked after by her sister Caroline, who was 21 years older. Shortly thereafter, Caroline married Isaac Nash, a prosperous local farmer. Frances was then sent to the
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plantation. As with the previous farm operations closer to Mount
Carroll, a significant portion of the orchard's harvest was shipped to the Seminary to provide food for students.
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in 1866, and taught classes at the seminary. He was also a noted entomologist. The
Shimers lived in separate quarters throughout their marriage.
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was brought on to replace
Gregory administratively, but the school remained Shimer's sole property until she relinquished control in 1896.
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In 1896, Frances Shimer arranged to transfer control of the Mount
Carroll Seminary to a Board of Trustees under an affiliation with the
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The movement toward state-supported normal schools had begun in New England in 1839, and the New York state legislature established the
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In 1870, a number of significant events occurred. Gregory left the school to marry, and sold her interest in the seminary to Shimer.
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168:. After some correspondence, Shimer and Cinderella Gregory left New York together for Mount Carroll in 1853, traveling by the
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255:. She subsequently retired to Florida and took up orange-growing. However, the orange groves were destroyed in a frost.
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78:, on August 21, 1826. She was the youngest of the four children of Rebecca Bryan and Jesse Wood. Her mother died of
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Malkmus, Doris (2003). "Frances Wood Shimer, Cindarella Gregory, and the 1853 founding of Shimer College".
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A business acquaintance of Isaac Nash, the attorney John Wilson, was at this time seeking to establish a
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Laura Docter Thornburg; Christine A. Ogren (1999). "Normal Schools". In Richard J. Altenbaugh (ed.).
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The Isaac Nash residence in Milton, New York, where Frances Wood lived for much of her youth
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contested by the Shimer family, in a trial that drew hundreds of spectators each day.
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Frances Shimer, from the frontispiece of the memorial volume published upon her death
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from an itinerant bookseller. At the age of seven, she was briefly sent to a
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225:. Built in 1885 and still standing, this is one of DeLand's oldest homes.
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childhood she was considered very skilful in managing spirited horses."
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when Shimer was 10, and thereafter she was raised by her older sister.
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In 1857, a major expansion of the school was planned, but the
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Beginning in the 1880s, Shimer began to spend the winters in
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Picture from the 1890s of the home of Frances Shimer in
34:, was an American educator. She was the founder of the
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544:. Illinois Historic Preservation Agency: 195–214.
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177:Co-principal of Mount Carroll Seminary, 1853–1870
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240:, where she established a large and profitable
197:In December 1857, she married local naturalist
66:Frances Shimer was born as Frances Ann Wood in
213:Principal of Mount Carroll Seminary, 1870–1896
771:People from Milton, Saratoga County, New York
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30:(August 21, 1826 – November 10, 1901), born
348:Historical Dictionary of American Education
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527:: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
438:"IN MEMORIAM. MRS. FRANCES A. WOOD SHIMER"
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776:Women heads of universities and colleges
703:A. Beth Hostetter (1935–1936, 1938–1939)
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444:. Vol. 33, no. 6. p. 42.
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502:"Mrs. Shimer's Life and Work"
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761:People from Ballston Spa, New York
100:, but suffered from homesickness.
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287:List of Shimer College presidents
128:Shimer took up teaching in local
436:Mary A. Livermore (1902-02-08).
786:19th-century American educators
766:University and college founders
352:. Bloomsbury Academic. p.
23:Frances Shimer in her early 50s
507:Frances Wood Shimer, 1826–1901
499:Sawyer, Winona Branch (1901).
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691:Interim and acting presidents
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756:Presidents of Shimer College
709:Esther Weinstein (1974–1975)
589:Presidents of Shimer College
146:New York State Normal School
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538:Journal of Illinois History
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93:The Improvement of the Mind
86:allowance to buy a copy of
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458:Fifty Years' Recollections
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509:. Mt. Carroll, Illinois.
282:History of Shimer College
141:education as a teacher.
124:New York teaching career
706:John Russel (1949–1950)
467:" by Harold Henderson,
460:by Jeriah Bonham, 1883.
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207:Chicago Medical College
166:Mount Carroll, Illinois
751:Shimer College faculty
454:Frances A. Wood Shimer
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259:Final years, 1896–1901
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36:Mount Carroll Seminary
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639:Francis Joseph Mullin
479:Chicago Daily Tribune
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253:University of Chicago
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38:, which later became
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609:William Parker McKee
118:Stillwater, New York
442:The Woman's Journal
107:Her mother died of
408:"Mrs. Shimer Dead"
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135:Cinderella Gregory
114:Stillwater Academy
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16:American educator
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671:(2004–2006)
665:(1978–2004)
659:(1975–1978)
653:(1970–1974)
651:Robert Long
647:(1968–1970)
641:(1954–1968)
635:(1950–1954)
629:(1939–1949)
623:(1936–1938)
617:(1930–1935)
611:(1897–1930)
605:(1853–1896)
492:Works cited
170:Great Lakes
88:Isaac Watts
735:Categories
596:Presidents
418:2022-08-13
293:References
231:Adelia Joy
155:Midwestern
54:Early life
719:Ed Noonan
627:Albin Bro
550:1522-0532
523:cite book
465:Big Ideas
663:Don Moon
515:13863166
276:See also
173:Church.
162:seminary
76:New York
48:Illinois
471:, 1988.
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242:orange
150:Albany
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511:OCLC
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