Who was J. Emmett Hinchcliffe
Who was J. Emmett Hinchcliffe?
Jay Emmett Hinchcliffe, Sr. was born southeast of O’Fallon in Williamson County, IL on Oct. 29, 1892. He was one of six children born to William and Lucretia Mitchell Hinchcliffe. When J.E. was only four, his mother died of cancer. His father would later remarry and five more children were added to the family. They all lived in the Herrin area during this time and J.E. received his early education there.
He attended both Southern Illinois State Normal University at Carbondale and McKendree College in Lebanon as well as pursuing more advanced study at the University of Illinois and University of Chicago. On Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 29, 1914, he and Miss Mae V. Keaster of Herrin were united in marriage at the First Baptist Church of Herrin.
J.E. decided to pursue a career of teaching which began in Herrin. He then taught successively in Mascoutah, Marissa and Shiloh. Then it happened. In May 1921, Prof. L.A. Schafer, who for the past five years had been Superintendent of O’Fallon Public Schools and for the past two years, Principal of Township High School, decided to leave O’Fallon and accept a similar but better paying position in Mascoutah. It must have seemed a devastating loss. Schafer did much to modernize the O’Fallon schools and oversaw the high school’s conversion to a township high school thus drawing in students from the rural areas who previously could only be tuition students.
J.E. Hinchcliffe was 28 years old when he took the place of Mr. Shafer. It marked the beginning of a remarkable 22-year career in O’Fallon public education J. E. Hinchcliffe had many interests and talents but was best known for his love of music and ability to instill and nurture that love in others It was Hinchcliffe who saw to it that both instrumental and vocal music had an important place in the high school curriculum - the exceptional OTHS music program of today can trace their origins back to him. Under Hinchcliffe’s watch, Carl Von Brock was hired in 1938 as the first director of a band which consisted of high school and upper elementary students.
O’Fallons tradition of education excellence in the school system, in large part, began with Hinchcliffe. He set the standards and took great joy in seeing his students exceed. Under his administration, two new school buildings were constructed - a high school in 1925 (razed in 1992) and the present gymnasium at Marie Schafer in 1938 originally built for high school.
He guided the schools through the depths of the Depression and the early years of World War II. And he would instill in students a love of Country through his teaching of American History.
Mr. Hinchliffe was very active in the Homecoming Association and served as Secretary of the O’Fallon Centennial Committee of 194. In the days when he was parade marshal at Homecomings, the parades started on time. If you weren’t ready, it didn’t matter - the parade and Hinchcliffe went on without you. When the house on State Street became too big for him and his wife, they moved into an old structure at 222 W. Washington, a “fixer upper”. They spent many happy years there gathering and refinishing old furniture, caning chairs, etc.
Hinchcliffe School was dedicated in J. Emmett Hinchcliffe’s honor on October 15, 1972. Hinchcliffe died October 19, 1974 at the age of 81. He had suffered from Parkinson’s Disease. His wife Mae died in 1977. He was truly an exceptional citizen of extraordinary caliber.