John H. Rountree (1805-90): Founder of the Platteville Academy 
Although the on-going operation and viability of the Academy were largely
based 
upon the dedication and administrative ability of the Principals of the Academy,
John 
Rountree deserves recognition as being the Founder of the Platteville Academy.
In addition 
to being the initiator of the 1839 Territorial Legislative Act which authorized
the creation of 
the Academy, he served as the Secretary and Vice-President of the Trustees
during the 
crucial and early years of the Academy. 
John Rountree arrived in Platteville in 1827. At the age of 21, he was elected
Sheriff 
of Montgomery County, Illinois and was appointed by the Governor of Illinois,
Ninian 
Edwards, to serve as a Major in the Montgomery County Battalion. As a result
of this 
appointment, John Rountree was known as, "Major", throughout his
career in the 
Platteville area. In 1832 he was elected by enlisted volunteers to serve
as their Captain in 
the Black Hawk War. He platted the town of Platteville in 1835, and he can
be considered 
as the first permanent resident of Platteville. Throughout his long career
as a resident of 
Platteville, his capacities for acquiring respect were repeatedly illustrated
by being selected 
and elected to assume local and state-wide responsibilities of leadership
in the military, 
business, and governmental affairs. 
Rountree became a prosperous owner of mines and real estate in the Platteville
area. 
Initially he transported his lead ore to Galena for smelting 'usually making
two trips a 
week" by ox team. Because he wanted to obviate this slow and arduous
trip between 
Platteville to Galena, he is credited with constructing the first ore smelter
in the Platteville 
area. Associated with his responsibilities for transportation of ore from
Platteville to 
Galena, Rountree became Platteville's first Postmaster. In his Early Remembrances
he 
described this early venture in delivering mail as: 
I would make up the mail consisting of one to four different small packages
once a week or 
once in two weeks and hand the same to one of my ox teamsters who would put
the same in 
his packet and take it to Galena and deliver to the Postmaster at that place
and the Postmaster 
there would hand to him all of the letters and paper packages addressed to
Platteville Post 
Office.-That same mode of carrying the mail was continued until the close
of the Black Hawk 
War in 1832. o 
In spite of being in the center of the lead mine area, Platteville residents
experienced 
difficulty in securing satisfactory modes for travel or transportation of
commodities. In its 
April 20, 1855, edition, the Independent American described Platteville's
facilities for travel 
under the title, Our Facilities for Travel: 
Platteville is not, and we do not know as is likely to be, very speedily
on the line of any real 
or imaginary railroad. Yet, few interim towns are better supplied for locomotion.
With 
Galena as the terminus of the Illinois Central RR, we now have communication
four times 
daily. Hutchinson and Co. are now running a daily line for convenience of
passengers and 
express goods to Galena-Stiles and Elliot are running a tri-weekly express
line to Galena- 
The Wisconsin Stage Co., besides their regular line from Galena to Madison,
which arrives 
here from Galena in the morning about 6 o'clock and from Madison in the evening,
have put 
in a daily line from Galena to Mineral Point, which passes through here about
noon.