On Saturday at 7 PM the Wheaton football team (6-0/4-0) will travel to North Central College (5-0/3-0) in a battle for first place in the CCIW standings. Wheaton enters the matchup ranked fifth in the AFCA Division III Coaches Poll and North Central is sixth in the poll. Wheaton is ranked 11th and North Central is sixth in the current D3football.com Top-25 Poll.
THE HISTORY OF THE LITTLE BRASS BELL
The winner of Saturday's game will receive the "Little Brass Bell" trophy that has been awarded to the winner of the Wheaton-North Central game since 1946. Wheaton holds a 47-19 advantage in the series since the trophy was introduced.
According to legend, "The Bell" first appeared in New York in the early 1800's. In 1839, a New England family headed westward carrying "The Bell" and settled in DuPage County. "The Bell" became part of the political bickering between Naperville and Wheaton over the location of the DuPage County Courthouse.
In 1857, Wheaton began a campaign to assume the leadership of the county and 10 years later officially gained control. However, the city of Naperville refused to turn over the county records to Wheaton.
At 4 AM one July morning, according to the DuPage County Guide, Wheaton struck back with a raid on the Naperville courthouse which netted the records in question. From his home opposite the courthouse, Naperville resident Herom H. Cody awoke to see men carrying off armfuls of documents. Before the Congregational Church bell could sound the alarm, the culprits had fled. The Brass Bell was among the items removed.
At the end of the century, "The Bell" came into the possession of a farmer living between the two cities whose sons both wanted to attend college. It was agreed that the son who won a coin toss could attend North Central, while the other would go to Wheaton.
Shortly afterwards, the father died and in the division of the estate, the brother attending North Central inherited the "Little Brass Bell." So "The Bell" left the political arena to enter the world of campus loyalties.
