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In 1818 the federal government provided a system to help finance public education in Illinois. Proceeds from the sale of section sixteen of each geographical township of the public domain in the state was set aside to support education. Also designated for education were three percent of the proceeds from sales of federal lands within the state after January 1, 1819. And to support seminaries of learning were the proceeds from the sale of two whole geographical townships (U.S. Stat. at Large, III, p. 428). To these federal grants the state added two percent of annual state revenues to the school fund. The School Fund Commissioners, composed of the Governor, Auditor of Public Accounts, and the Secretary of State, were formed in 1825 to administer the school and seminary funds. The commissioners received revenues and distributed them among counties in proportion to the number of inhabitants under age twenty-one (L. 1825, p. 125). In 1829 the Attorney General also was appointed to the School Fund Commissioners (L. 1829, p. 161). Twenty-five percent of the interest on the school fund was allocated to the Illinois Asylum for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb in 1839 (L. 1839, p. 164). The proceeds of seminary land sales was allocated to State Normal and Southern Illinois Normal Universities (L. 1857, p. 298; L. 1869, p. 8).
366.001
ACCOUNT BOOKS. 1823-August 1920. 3 vols. No index.
Account books record deposits to and withdrawals from the School Fund. Entries show the date, amount, and reason for each receipt or disbursement. Receipts include interest from the School Fund, land contracts, sales of universities or seminary lands, and amounts of Auditor's warrants purchased. Disbursements include expenditures to counties for schools, to the Deaf and Dumb Asylum (1836-1874), and to the Normal Universities at Normal (1858-1920) and Carbondale (1877-1920).
These records are available at the Illinois State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State.
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