A convention of Northwestern ministers and churches at Cleveland, Ohio, shaped plans for higher education; the idea of Beloit College originated with ministers returning from a clerical convention held at Cleveland.

The evidence

• “This institution is so interwoven with the social history and prosperity of Beloit that, in giving the chronicles of the town, those of the institution are necessarily comprehended. So far as we know, the idea of Beloit college originated with three ministers, returning on 4 steamboat from a clerical convention held at Cleveland in June, 1844. They were Revds.”

  1856-history-of-rock-county/06-beloit.md, PDF p. 76 / book p. 58

  Guernsey, Orrin, and Josiah F. Willard, editors. History of Rock County, and Transactions of the Rock County Agricultural Society and Mechanics' Institute. Janesville, Wis.: William M. Doty & Brother, 1856. Cornell University Library via the Internet Archive, archive.org/details/cu31924028871593.

  Grade A: Found on a page of one of our sources

  

• “This Avas particularly tlie case Avith the Congregational and Presbyterian Churches, and A\henever these religious organizations met in convention the subject had a prominent place in their deliberations. Finallv, in conferences of delegates attending a convention of NortliAvestcrn ministers and churches, held at Cleveland, Ohio, in June, 1844, these thoughts and desires began to a?.=ume a moic definite shape, Avhich Avere matured in four successive conventions, held in that and tl.e folIoA\iTig year for the specific puipcEC of considering A\hat could be done for the promotion of higher education in the”

  1879-history-of-rock-county/12-rock-county-ch06-politics-war-record.md, PDF p. 469 / book p. 473

  Butterfield, C. W., et al. The History of Rock County, Wisconsin: its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc. Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879. Cornell University Library via the Internet Archive, archive.org/details/cu31924028871585.

  Grade A: Found on a page of one of our sources

  

• “The sentiment in favor of establishing a college was crystallized into action by a convention at Cleveland, Ohio, in June, 1844, at which representatives of both Congregational and Presbyterian churches in all parts of the Northwest discussed the religious needs of the whole region.”

  1908-brown-rock-county/15-colleges.md, Vol. 1, PDF p. 333 / book p. 305

  Brown, William Fiske, editor. Rock County, Wisconsin: A New History of Its Cities, Villages, Towns, Citizens and Varied Interests, from the Earliest Times, Up to Date. Chicago: C. F. Cooper & Co., 1908. 2 vols. archive.org/details/rockcountywiscon01brow, archive.org/details/rockcountywiscon02brow.

  Grade A: Found on a page of one of our sources