Newton Bateman Memorial High School
Jacksonville, Illinois
Mr. Bateman began teaching in 1845 when he set up a private school. He taught for four years at the University of Missouri before he became a principal from 1851 to 1858 in the first free school in Illinois, the Jacksonville High School. From 1858 to 1862 and from 1864 to 1874 he was State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and from 1874 to 1893 he was president of Knox College in Galesburg. Before he died, he edited with Paul Selby the Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois.
Mr. Bateman was short in stature, and his close personal friend, Abraham Lincoln, would introduce him by saying, "This is my little friend, the big schoolmaster of the State of Illinois."
Source: Newton Bateman Elementary School, Chicago
http://www.bateman.cps.k12.il.us/newtonbateman.htm
