USA > Iowa > Story County > Biographical and historical memoirs of Story County, Iowa > Part 32
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62
The first building was a small one on the south edge of town, and the second one, built in 1870, was made to grace the beautiful groves of the public square. It was of brick built on at a total cost of about $6,500. The fourth room is a public hall. The building and grounds are the pride of the town, and present to the stranger a fine appearance.
The course of study is followed closely, but as yet no graduation has been had. The euu- meration is about 120, and, like all of Union township, it has been an independent dis- trict since the early seventies. Among the pa- trons of the schools most active in its behalf are: J. C. Kinsell, Dr. Grafton, G. M. Max- well, A. W. Bartlet, A. P. King, Dr. J. M.
237
STORY COUNTY.
Brown, O. Hill, J. E. Jones, Henry Cronk, N. D. Livingston and others.
The Roland schools are the Norwegians' pride. They point to them above their business interests. They afford two teachers in winter besides the principal, but have no course of study. A few branches above the ordinary are taught, and effort is making at a grade. They were made independent in 1887, and the principals have been J. P. Thomas, L. A. Stulland and Miss Belle H. Garrett. A two- story frame house was finished in 1885 at a cost of $1,800, but in 1889 a one-story build- ing was moved in from the country to meet the growing needs. They are both pleasantly lo- cated. The district and township have a public library, to which the pupils have access. Jonas Duea has been continuously president of the board. O. O. Hegland and John Evenson were among the first members of the board.
The Collins Township graded school is merely a country school of one room, with the upper room a township graded school. This is the only township in the county which has taken advantage of this law.
teachers in 1889, when they built a neat two- story frame building valued at about $3,000. The school facilities were a great reason for the general exodus from Sheldahl to Slater. It is graded and has about 130 pupils. H. J. Garlock was its first principal.
The Iowa Center schools have suffered with the town as far as size is concerned. They em- ploy two teachers.
The Zearing schools have a grade estab- lished, covering nine years. They have a two- story frame building completed in 1887, at a cost of $3,000, although begun in 1883. The grade was established by J. F. Reed, when two teachers were first had in 1887. J. C. Burkhart and J. M. Price, have been presi- dents of the board.
In conclusion it will be safe to say that Story County's schools have, if anything, more than kept pace with her material pros- perity, and it is not too much to say that her prosperity has been made subservient to her love of education. The cause for this lies in the people first, and next to that the Agricult- ural College, and the schools of Nevada and Ames have no doubt been strong factors, to-
The Slater schools became an independent | district in 1875, and for the first term had two : gether with excellent county superintendence.
13
238
HISTORY OF IOWA.
1
CHAPTER XIX.
.040 ..
A SKETCH OF THE IOWA AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE-ITS ORIGIN-FEATURES OF THE ACT OF CREATION-FIRST BOARD OF TRUSTEES-LOCATION OF THE FARM -IMPORTANT MATTERS NOT GENERALLY KNOWN-TRIALS THROUGH WHICH THE INSTITUTION HAS SUCCESSFULLY PASSED-NATIONAL AID-THE LAND-LEASING SYSTEM- THE BUILDINGS-ORGANIZATION OF THE COLLEGE-INAUGURAL EXERCISES-THE OLD FAC- ULTY-STUDENT MANUAL LABOR-THE RANKIN DEFALCATION-LATER BUILDINGS AND IMPROVEMENTS-PROGRESS IN INSTRUCTION-THE FUNDS-THE PRESI- DENTS-ATTENDANCE AND RESULTS-THE EXPERIMENT STATION.
00
Knowledge, when wisdom is too weak to guide her, Is like a headstrong horse that throws the rider .- Quarles.
HE first session of the General Assembly held under the new constitu- tion convened at Des Moines on January 11, 1858. At this session, Hon. R. A. Richardson, Hon. B. F. Gue, Hon. Ed. Wright, Hon. William Lundy and Hon. Charles Foster pre- pared a bill providing for the organization of a State agri- cultural college and model farm, for the purpose of af- fording higher education to the industrial classes. The bill was introduced into the House on the 4th of February, by Mr. Richardson, and referred to the committee on ways and means; on the 10th of March, Mr. Wilson, chairman of the com- mittee, reported the bill back to the House, with the recommendation that its further con- sideration be indefinitely postponed. This
brought on a spirited contest between the friends and the opponents of the measure. Speeches were made in advocacy of the meas- ure by the above named gentlemen, who had prepared the bill, showing the necessity for and the benefits which would inure to the State from the founding and maintenance of such an institution as was contemplated by the bill. J. F. Wilson, W. H. Seevers, John Ed- wards and others made speeches against the bill, basing their opposition principally on the ground of inexpediency, owing to the de- pressed financial condition of the State. Fear- ing that the bill might be defeated, the friends of the bill consented to reduce the appropria- tion to $10,000, just half the original amount asked for; and the bill, thus modified, passed both branches of the Legislature by a large majority, and became a law the 22d of March, 1858.
This act provided that there is hereby estab- lished a State agricultural college and model farm, which shall be connected with the entire
239
STORY COUNTY.
agricultural interests of the State; that it should be managed by a board of trustees, elected by the Legislature-one trustee from each judicial district-the governor of the State and the president of the State Agricult- ural Society being ex-officio members; that vacancies in the board be filled by the board; that the term of office be four years, provided one-half the members of the first board be two years; that the president of the college be president of the board, and that he shall con- trol, manage and direct the affairs of the col- lege and farm, subject to such rules as the board may prescribe; that it should be the duty of the board to elect a president of the college and model farm, and other officers of the board, to buy lands and erect necessary buildings, and to keep a full and complete record of all their proceedings; that the first session of the board be held at the capitol of the State on the second Monday of January, 1859; that the trustees receive no compensation, only mileage. The act authorized the board to select and purchase suitable lands, not less than 640 acres, for the use and purposes of the college and farm. "Said board shall receive proposals for sale of lands for use of said college before purchasing the same, and in the purchase the price, loca- tion, quality and variety of soil, advantages of water, timber, stone, et cetera, shall be con- sidered."
The act appropriated $10,000 for the purchase of land, which purchase should be made in 1859, prior to July 1, 1859; and any moneys remain- ing over after purchase of land, could be used by the trustees to erect necessary buildings and other improvements; and further appropri- ated the proceeds of the sale of five sections of land, heretofore granted to the State of Iowa for the erection of capitol buildings for the use and benefit of the college-provided Con- gress diverts the same for the purpose-which
Congress did in the fall of 1862-and also appropriated the proceeds of the sale of all other lands granted, or which may be granted, by Congress to the State of Iowa for the pur- pose contemplated by this act.
The act declared that the course of instruc- tion shall include natural philosophy, chemistry, botany, horticulture, fruit-growing, forestry, animal and vegetable physiology, geology, mineralogy, meteorology, zoology, the veterin- ary art, surveying, leveling, book-keeping, and such mechanical arts as are directly connected with agriculture; and also such other studies as the trustees may from time to time prescribe, not inconsistent with the main purpose of the act.
The act also declared that no student should be exempt from manual labor not less than two hours per day in winter, nor less than three hours in summer, only on account of sickness or other infirmity.
The act further declared that at the first meeting of the board they shall elect one of their own number secretary, who shall reside at the capitol, and whose duties, among others, shall be to encourage agricultural societies throughout the State, import breeds of domestic animals, secure seeds for distribution, collect and publish important agricultural information in the papers of the State. (This feature of the act, known as the " Agricultural Burean," was by the Legislature of 1864 abolished, and the office at the capitol discontinued. During the five years of its existence, much good was done to the State in developing the agricultural resources of the State. )
These are the main features of the act out of which developed the present Iowa Agricultural College. Its provisions were many, hetero- geneous, and as subsequent events proved, not a few ill-advised. Industrial education, at that time, was a new departure and untried experi-
240
HISTORY OF IOWA.
ment, but the men who projected the enterprise were content to trust the future to vindicate the correctness of their judgment as to the principle involved.
Under this act the following gentlemen were elected, forming the first board of trustees: M. W. Robinson, Timothy Day, J. D. Wright, G. W. F. Sherwin, William Duane Wilson, Richard Gaines, Suel Foster, J. W. Henderson, Clermont Coffin, E. H. Williams, and E. G. Day.
The first meeting of the board of trustees took place at Des Moines, January 10, 1859, according to law, and organized by the election of the following officers: Jesse Bowen, presi- dent pro tem .; Richard Gaines, treasurer; Will- iam Duane Wilson, secretary. Mr. Wilson held the office of secretary during the entire period of the existence of the " Agricultural Bureau." E. H. Williams having resigned, John Pattee, auditor of State, was elected to fill the vacancy.
Proposals for the sale of lands for the col- lege farm were issued at this meeting, and cir- culated over the State, to be acted on at the meeting of the board June next.
A " correspondence committee " of three was appointed to find and recommend to the board suitable persons for the president and profes- sors of the college.
In June propositions were received from the counties of Hardin, Polk, Marshall, Tama, Jef- ferson and Story. Committees were appointed to visit the various sites offered, and a spirited, but good-natured, contest for location ensued. The record shows that at one time Hardin County received seven votes and Polk County four votes, but was next day reconsidered, and finally the location was awarded to Story County.
In determining the location of the college farm, the value of the county bonds voted to
aid the enterprise was taken into considera- tion, and private donations of land and sub- scriptions of money were important items.
On the 20th of June, 1859, the board located the farm in the western part of Story County ; buying a tract of 6473 acres of unimproved land in one body for $5,380.
The donations to the college were: $10,000 | in Story County bonds; individual subscrip- tions, $5,400, with ten per cent interest from date of location, payable in two years; and 980 acres of land located in Story and Boone Coun- ties, mostly near the farm. The estimated cash value, at the time of the several donations, was $21,500.
The following paragraph occurs in the re- port of the joint committee appointed to visit the college and farm in 1864, and examine into the condition of affairs connected with the institution: "Your committee, after a thorough examination, are of the opinion that it would have been difficult for the trustees to have made a selection more fully complying with the requirements of the law than the one pur- chased. It has upon it at least six different varieties of soil, representing the prevailing kinds in the State; it has more than fifty varie- ties of timber, bushes and shrubs, and running water, spring and well water in abundance; plenty of gravel, stone, sand and material for brick; high dry land, level dry land, rolling clay, second bottom, sloughs, flat wet bottom and timber bottom, besides the genuine prairie land. We know of no other farm of the size in the State combining so many leading charac- teristics of Iowa soil, and we are satisfied that the main object had in view by the framers of the organic law was, that the experimental farm should combine as many leading characteristics of the lands of our State as possible to be found on one farm, that all the different varie- ties might be thoroughly tested with the vari-
241
STORY COUNTY.
ous grains, grasses, vegetables and fruits, with the hope that the final results might add to the experimental knowledge of the cultivators of the soil."
The "correspondence committee " made a report, recommending two gentlemen for the presidency, and two professorships-physics and mathematics. The minutes show that the recommendations were adopted, but nothing further, at this meeting, was done toward or- ganizing a faculty.
An executive committee of three, to transact necessary business during the interim of the regular meetings of the board, was appointed, and instructed to prepare plans and specifica- tions for a farm-house and a barn; enclose 160 acres, and have it broken; survey and plat the farm; secure plans and specifications for a col- lege building, and to perfect the title of all transfers and donations to the college.
One of the first acts of the trustees, at the regular January meeting in 1860, was to de- elare it inexpedient now to elect a president of the college. This action was taken very re- luctantly, the trustees believing that this action postponed that officer's election at the farthest one year. Could they have known then that eight harvests would come before the president would be elected, it would have seemed as if the enterprise were abandoned by its fathers. A great civil war was to be fought and brought The friends of the college, well satisfied that they had barely saved their embryo institu- to a favorable issue; vast social problems, which had waited years for solution, would be | tion from destruction, made no effort during solved; a race would be emancipated from the remainder of the session to secure an ap- propriation for a college building, but decided to wait for a more auspicious occasion. bondage-all this would take place before the doors of the industrial college would open.
Mr. Coffin resigned, and Peter Melendy was elected to fill the vacancy. Trustee Gaines was appointed farm agent, to carry on the im- provements to be made the coming year. The kitchen part of the farm-house and a barn were ordered to be built this spring.
At the session of the Legislature in 1860 the enemies of the college made a strong effort to secure the repeal of the act providing for its establishment. The committee were directed to inquire into the expediency of repealing an act providing for the establishment of the agricultural college. The majority report . was strongly against the repeal, characterizing the proposed step as unwise, unjust and clearly inexpedient. The minority of the committee submitted, with their report, a bill repealing the act by which the college was established. Time must be gained or else, as the friends of the college saw, the House was disposed to vote for the repealing bill. The chairman of the committee on agriculture, Hon. B. F. Gue, arose and moved that the bill be laid on the table, for the present, as its opponents were not quite ready to act upon it. The motion seemed reasonable, and prevailed. About two weeks later an effort was made to take the bill from the table, but the friends of the college were not ready yet, and raised the point that where objection was made it required a two- thirds vote to call the bill up. The speaker sustained the point, and as the friends of the college never got ready during the session to take up the bill, and its opponents were never able to get a two-thirds vote, it has rested there in quietness from that date to this.
All the meetings of the board previous to January 5, 1861, were held at Des Moines. Now for the first time the trustees met on the college farm at the farm-house. It was de- cided to rent the farm and apply the proceeds to improvements. Mr. W. H. Fitzpatrick
242
HISTORY OF IOWA.
rented the farm for a term of two years at $200 per year, to be paid partly in labor, fencing and breaking.
By the close of 1861 an excellent frame barn, still standing and serviceable, 40x60 feet; and the farm-house 42x32 feet, two stories high, and a kitchen 16x24 feet, one and a half stories high, were completed; also about 120 acres were enclosed by a good fence, eighty acres under cultivation, part of which was taken up with an orchard of 500 apple trees.
All these improvements were made by money paid in from subscriptions, no lands having yet been sold, or any of the interest due on Story County bonds collected.
As long as agricultural colleges exist, the name of Justin S. Morrill will not be forgot- ten by their friends. In 1862 a bill was passed by Congress, donating public lands to the several loyal States and Territories which may provide colleges for the benefit of agriculture and mechanic arts. The provisions of this bill will be noted further on. The Congressional grant was accepted by the State of Iowa, at the special session of the Legislature in Septem- ber, 1862.
At the thirty-fifth session of Congress, in December, 1857, Mr. Morrill, as chairman of the committee on agriculture, introduced his first bill granting lands to the States for the endowment of institutions devoted to giving instruction in agriculture and mechanic arts. It met with strong opposition both in the House' and the Senate. In the House the most active opponent was Mr. Cobb, of Ala- bama; and in the Senate, Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi; J. M. Mason, of Virginia, and Senator Pugh, of Ohio. The bill passed the House on February 22, 1858, by only five ma- jority. In the Senate, the bill was not reached till the winter of 1859, when, on February 7, it passed that body by a majority of three.
True to his aristocratic sympathies, the bill was vetoed by President Buchanan.
Upon the opening of a new Congress under the administration of President Lincoln, Sen- ator Wade introduced the bill again, and after a long delay, it was passed by a vote of thirty- two to seven. It went to the House and on June 17, 1862, was passed by a vote of ninety to twenty-five, andon July 2, 1862, received the signature of Abraham Lincoln and became law. The following are the main provisions of this law:
" Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Con- gress assembled, That there be granted to the , several States, for the purpose hereinafter named, an amount of the public land, to be ap- portioned to each State, a quantity equal to 30,000 acres for each Senator and Representa- tive in Congress, to which the States are re- spectively entitled, by the apportionment, under the census of 1860. Provided: That no mineral lands shall be selected under the pro- visions of this act.
"SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That all expenses of management, superintendence and taxes from date of selection of said lands previous to their sale, and all the expense incurred in the management and disbursement of the moneys which may be received there- from, shall be paid by the State to which they may belong, out of the treasury of said State, so that the entire proceeds of the sales of said | lands shall be applied without any diminution whatever to the purposes hereinafter men- tioned.
" SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That all moneys derived from the sale of the lands aforesaid by the States to which the lands are apportioned, and from the sale of land-scrip hereinbefore provided for, shall be invested in stocks of the United States, or of the States, or
243
STORY COUNTY.
some other safe stocks, yielding not less than five per centum upon the par value of said stocks; and that the money so invested shall constitute a perpetual fund, the capital of which shall re- main forever undiminished, and the interest of which shall be inviolably appropriated by each State, which may take and claim the benefit of this act, to the endowment, support and mainte- nance of at least one college, where the leading object shall be, without excluding other scien- tific and classical studies, and including mili- tary tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in such manner as the Legislatures of the States may respectively prescribe, in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions of life.
"Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That the grant of land and land-scrip hereby authorized shall be made on the following conditions, to which, as well as to the provisions hereinbefore contained, the previous assent of the several States shall be signified by legislative acts:
"First .- If any portion of the fund invested, or any portion of the interest thereon, shall, by any action or contingency, be lost or dimin- ished, it shall be replaced by the State to which it belongs, so that the capital of the fund shall remain forever undiminished, and the annual interest shall be regularly applied, without diminution, to the purposes mentioned in the fourth section of this act; except that a sum not exceeding ten per centum upon the amount received by any State, under the provisions of this act, may be expended for the purchase of lands for the sites or experi- mental farms, whenever authorized by the re- spective Legislatures of said States.
" Second .- No portion of said fund, nor the interest thereon, shall be applied directly or indirectly, under any pretense whatever, to the
purchase, erection, preservation, or repair of any building or buildings.
"Third,-Any State which may take and claim the benefit of the provisions of this act must provide, within five years at least, not less than one college, as described in Section 4, or the grant to such State shall cease.
* * *
* *
" Seventh .- No State shall be entitled to the benefit of this act unless it shall express its acceptance thereof by its Legislature within two years from the date of its approval by the President."
The Ninth General Assembly convened in extra session, passed an act approved Septem- ber 11, 1862, entitled: " An act to accept the grant and carry into execution tne trust con- ferred upon the State of Iowa by an act of Congress," entitled: " An act granting public lands to the several States and Territories which may provide colleges, etc."
The State hereby accepted the grant, upon the conditions and under the restrictions con- tained in said act of Congress; required the governor to appoint an agent to select and locate the land granted in said act, requiring said agent to report to the governor, and making it the duty of the governor to lay the list of selections before the board of trustees of the agricultural college for their approval, etc. Hon. Peter Melendy was appointed to select the lands, so donated, within the limits of the State. At the rate 30,000 acres for each member of Congress, the amount of land granted to Iowa would have been 240,000 acres. But as Mr. Melendy, after careful examination, selected 50,000 acres of railroad lands, at double the minimum price, the real amount certified to the State under the Congressional grant was 204,309 acres. Nearly all the lands are located in the so-called Fort Dodge, Sioux City and Des Moines districts.
244
HISTORY OF IOWA.
At the next regular session of the Legisla- ture, 1864, a determined and systematic effort was made by some friends of the State Univer- sity to divert the land granted by Congress for the benefit of agricultural colleges to increase the endowment of the University upon the conditions that a department of agriculture should be established, an experimental farm secured, and an agricultural course provided at the University for those who wished to pursue it. This was claimed would be a substantial compliance with the law making the grant; that it would save a large expense in buildings, professors' salaries, libraries and museums, that the endowment of the University would be increased, and that in no way could it be so easily obtained as by diverting the college grant. These views were ably urged, and with much good sense, by Gov. Kirkwood, President Spencer and Representative Hilderth.
On the other hand, the friends of the agri- cultural college resisted the attempt to divert the grant from its original purpose, contending that it belonged to the agricultural college by the express terms of the act; that the indus- trial classes comprised the majority of the people and tax-payers of the State; that they were striving to build up an institution that should be devoted to their interests, and that after having assisted in securing the grant of lands for its endowment, it would be gross in- justice to divert it to an institution already richly endowed.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.