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Aaron Burr, Patriot and Vice President On February 6, 1756, a boy was born into privilege in Newark, New Jersey. Young Aaron Burr, Jr. was son of the president of the College of New Jersey, and grandson of Jonathan Edwards, the Calvinist theologian regarded as a leader of the evangelical movement of the 18th century, an equal to the great preacher George Whitfield. Privilege then wasn’t quite what privilege is today, of course; there were no Rolls-Royces to drive, no Waldorf Astorias to stay in during constant vacations, no jet-setting to Monte Carlo, no celebrity photographers and magazines to put...

EUREKA — Neil Reagan’s contributions to Eureka College have often been overshadowed by his younger brother. Not quite as much Thursday when the college used the 159th anniversary of Eureka’s founding and what would have been Ronald Reagan’s 103rd birthday to announce a $1 million gift from the estate of Neil and Bess Reagan. Neil Reagan, of course, was the first brother, the only sibling of the country’s 40th president, Ronald Reagan, another Eureka alumni. “With only 700 students, the size of the gift will have a strong impact,” said John Morris, director of the college’s Ronald Reagan Society. The...

With most of the conservative presidential field in Iowa today, Eureka residents were surprised to find Sarah Palin touring the Eureka College The bus rolled up around 4:30 Saturday afternoon. It was an unannounced stop on the "One Nation" bus tour of America. Getting off to tour the college campus that Ronald Reagan called home was Sarah Palin, her husband Todd, and her daughter Piper. With none of the security usually surrounding a major political figure, Palin greeted everyone she saw. Then it was time for a tour of the Ronald Reagan Museum in the college's Donald B. Cerf center....

President Ronald Reagan's Alma Mater hosts a world leader today. Eureka College honors former Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev with an Honorary Doctorate. Accompanied by a small entourage, including his daughter, Gorbachev stepped foot on campus looking relaxed and right at home. It was the community that gathered in awe. “This is huge for Eureka College and Central Illinois," Reagan Museum Curator Brian Sajko said., The 78-year-old former Soviet leader came to Eureka to promote the College's new Ronald Reagan society. Gorbachev toured the Reagan Museum before spending a few moments reflecting in the Reagan Peace Garden that includes a five...

Former President Ronald Reagan's oldest son says his first visit to his father's central Illinois alma mater fulfilled a vow he made to his sister before she died of cancer five years ago. Maureen Reagan made four stops at Eureka College before her death from melanoma. Michael Reagan said he promised "that I would be a Reagan that would be involved" with the small school where their late father graduated in 1932 before moving on to Hollywood and the White House. Reagan spoke Monday during an event celebrating both the 151st anniversary of the school's founding and the 95th birthday...

EUREKA, Ill. (AP) It stayed open even as most of its students left to fight the Civil War. It remained open during the Great Depression, when many poor families paid tuition in poultry and livestock, and awarded a scholarship and a campus job to a young man who didn't have much money named Ronald Reagan. This weekend, Eureka College celebrates its 150th anniversary a milestone reached by just 260 of more than 4,000 colleges and universities in the nation. ``Not a lot of places can say they've been around for 150 years,'' said theater arts and drama professor Bill Davis....

The Eureka College community mourned the passing of Ronald W. Reagan, the 40th President of the United States and honored alumnus, with a memorial service on Saturday, June 12th at 1p.m. in the afternoon. At the memorial service, Eureka College devoted an hour to pay tribute to the man who said, "Everything that has been good in my life began at Eureka College." Starting in typical Eureka College fashion a bagpiper ushered in the start of the memorial service. Hundreds had gathered to celebrate and remember the life of Ronald Reagan. Mr. Paul Lister, Interim President for Eureka College and...

DIXON, Ill. (AP) Ronald Reagan's death has drawn a steady stream of cars down the rural highways leading to Dixon, Tampico and Eureka, the often forgotten small towns where the only Illinois-born president grew up playing football and dreaming of Hollywood. Five times the usual number of tourists have crossed the porch of Reagan's boyhood home in Dixon daily since his death. Hundreds of others have discovered the Reagan collection at Eureka College, where he graduated in 1932. ``Whenever anyone passes away, it's a time of reflection. I think people want to touch and feel and have a connection,'' said...

Some of the sites on the Ronald Reagan Trail, created in 1999 to trace the roots of the only U.S. president born in Illinois: ^Reagan Birthplace Location Tampico. Address 111 S. Main Street. Significance: Reagan was born in the second-story apartment on Feb. 6, 1911. The 1,700-square-foot apartment has been restored, and work is under way to convert the first floor into a museum. Hours 10-4 Monday-Saturday, 1-4 Sunday (through Nov. 30). Admission Free. ^Reagan Boyhood Home Location Dixon. Address 816 S. Hennepin Avenue. Significance Reagan was 9 when his family moved to Dixon, where he went to school, attended...

Ronald Reagan (class of 1932) is being fondly remembered by his alma mater, Eureka College in Eureka, Illinois. A series of profiles about the former President, news articles, and an announcement of a memorial service tomorrow on the campus are available on the college's website: http://www.eureka.edu

Hundreds of people gathered Thursday in this central Illinois town where Ronald Reagan grew up, played ball and spent summers as a lifeguard to remember the life of the nation's only president born in Illinois. "He was the leader of the most powerful nation on earth but he never forgot his small-town roots," said the Rev. Bob Jones of St. Patrick's Catholic Church. At the First Christian Church, where Reagan was baptized at age 11 on June 21, 1922, more than 100 invited guests jammed into the pews, including dignitaries such as U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Gov. Rod...

June 8, 2004 (Springfield) — A stretch of Interstate 88, which passes near Ronald Reagan's birthplace and his boyhood home, was renamed Tuesday in honor of the late president. Gov. Rod Blagojevich issued an executive order declaring part of I-88 the "Ronald Reagan Memorial Highway." The east-west interstate runs along the southern edge of Dixon, where Reagan grew up, and 10 miles north of Tampico, where the nation's 40th president was born in 1911 in a four-room apartment over the general store. "Now, when people drive on I-88, they'll remember Ronald Reagan and everything he did for our country," Blagojevich...

PEORIA - Former President Ronald Reagan's death Saturday means the passing of a highly influential president and a gifted communicator, U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood said Saturday. And those who knew him more intimately, surviving fellow classmates at Eureka College, said they'll remember Reagan as a charismatic, highly involved classmate with strong ties to his school - and one determined to make $5,000 a year. Reagan, the nation's 40th president who served from 1981 to 1989, died Saturday afternoon at 93 after a long struggle with Alzheimer's disease. Reagan lived longer than any U.S. president and was the only president born...

ABC just announced :( Ronald Reagan was 93

EUREKA, Ill. (AP) The Ronald Reagan Museum at Eureka College is scheduled to be reopened four months after an arson fire destroyed several historic documents and forced the facility to close for repairs. The Feb. 6 reopening will coincide with President Reagan's 93rd birthday and the college's annual Founders Day events, museum curator Brian Sajko said. Sajko said the museum has a new layout that features many documents and artifacts donated by Reagan. The museum houses more than 3,000 items from Reagan's college days, movie and television career, governorship of California and presidency. About 1,000 of the items are on...

Eureka College, June 7, 1957 I'm sure you all must know the depth of my gratitude for this honor you have done me. What you can't know is how great is my feeling of unworthiness. For some 25 years I have nursed a feeling of guilt about the degree given me here upon the occasion of my own graduation. It was, I feel, more honorary than earned and for all these years I have carefully refrained from referring to myself as a "student" here. My very instinct is to mumble a modest "thanks" and sit down, but that retreat is...