The leading promoter of the college movement in Illinois was John Jacob Esher, who was born in Germany and had migrated to Pennsylvania in 1832.  They were among the earliest Evangelical families to settle in Illinois in 1836.
Esher was licensed to preach in 1845, and from 1863 until his death in 1901 he served as Bishop of the church.

        The first Board of Trustees met on April 30, 1861 to develop their plans to open the Plainfield school the following fall.  In October 1861 construction was being completed and two professors and a teacher had been appointed.

        Early publications made note of the high morality of the people of Plainfield, one article in the Evangelical Messenger commenting that "none of those low-lifed groceries, which are the general thing in such towns towns, are to be found here."  Other articles complimented Plainfield on its easy accessibility via the plank road, only eight miles from Joliet.

        The Plainfield College opened on November 11, 1861 with forty students.  By the spring of 1862 the number had risen to 243, one of the first to enroll from outside Plainfield reported to be Victoria Harlacher, later to become the wife of H. H. Rassweiler.

        Miss. Harlacher (sister of Victoria) was the first faculty member to leave, resigning after two years.

         The original instructors, John E. Miller, teacher of Greek and Latin, resigned in 1864.   He went on to publish Little Corporal in Chicago, one of the first magazines for juveniles.   His wife, Emily Huntington Miller, was an author of many books who was a respected editor of Ladies Home Journal.    John H. Leas was chosen by the Board of Trustees to replace Mr. Miller.

        The last of the three original teachers to leave was J. E. Rhodes, professor of Mathematics, Modern Language, and later Natural Science.  He served for five years, resigning in 1866.

        In 1861, Augustine Austin Smith was elected president of Plainfield College.  He served in that capacity for twenty-one years, and continued as an advisor until his death in 1891.  In addition to his duties as college administrator and teacher,  Pres. Smith found time to write articles for the Evangelical Messenger.

        One of the first teachers of the college was Henry Cowles Smith, son of the president.  He resigned in to enter Goldbeck's Conservatory of Music in Chicago in 1868, but returned to Plainfield College to head the Latin Language and Literature and Music Departments.  He was actively involved in the college until his retirement in 1922 at the age of 82.

        The second faculty member who joined the teaching staff at Plainfield and remained for his entire professional life was Frederick William Heidner. In 1863 he was appointed professor of the German Language and Literature, a position he occupied until shortly before his death in 1917.

        Henry Haesler Rassweiler was the third member of the teaching staff, and one who became a very inspirational and popular professor of Mathematics and Natural Science.  He was tall and dignified and was described as the most handsome and dynamic member of the faculty.

        The faculty of Plainfield College was very much influenced by the intellectual and moral climate of Oberlin College, which was the first college to grant a college degree to a woman.  Several early faculty members had attended and/or taught at Oberlin.

        On December 13, 1864 the Board of Trustees voted to change the name of the institution to North-Western College, thinking it was more dignified.  On February 15, 1864, North-Western College was incorporated.