USA > Iowa > Black Hawk County > History of Black Hawk County, Iowa, and its people, Volume I > Part 39
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THE SENATE RECORD ON MEASURE
On February 9, 1876, Senator E. G. Miller of Black Hawk County introduced the same bill into the Senate where it was called Senate File No. 171. It was read first and second times and referred at once to the committee on normal schools. On March 9, 1876, it was reported back to the Senate by Homer Mitchell as chairman in the same words as had been previously reported in the House by the committee on schools. Having been ordered passed on file on motion of Senator Mitchell the bill with amendments was referred to the committee on appropria- tions. On March 10, 1876, the following was the report: "Mr. President: Your committee on appropriations to whom was referred Senate File No. 171, a bill for an act to establish and maintain a school for the training of teachers of county schools, beg leave to report that they have had the same under considera- tion and have instructed me to report the same back to the Senate without recom- mendation. Henry W. Rothert, chairman." Ordered passed on file.
March II, 1876, at 2 o'clock P. M., Senate File No. 171 came before the Senate on a special order. Senator Miller of Black Hawk offered as a sub- stitute the original bill, Senate File No. 207 of the Fifteenth General Assembly, which was adopted by the following vote: Yeas, 20; nays, 13; absent or not voting, 16. On motion of Senator Miller of Black Hawk the rules were sus- pended and the bill was read the third time and passed by the following vote : Yeas, 26; nays, 14; absent or not voting, 9. The remarkable thing attending the passage of this bill was that there was no debate, not a word was said on the floor of the Senate except to make the necessary motions. The author of the bill was prepared for an expected contest, but let well enough alone and probably by that very means secured success. Some voted for it because it was Senator Miller's pet measure that he had worked for long and patiently. One said he would vote for it if his vote was needed and the result proved that it was. Many that were bitterly opposed did not expect the bill to get a constitutional majority and gave it little attention. It had a few devoted friends, however. who did quiet work and said nothing, but that it had been accepted while a minority measure is evident when one recognizes the opposition the school afterward met among the members of the Seventeenth. Eighteenth and Nineteenth General assemblies.
THE HOUSE RECORD ON MEASURE
The following message was received by the House on March II, 1876: "Mr. Speaker, I am directed to inform your honorable body that the Senate has passed the following bill on which the concurrence of the House is asked: Substitute for
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S. F. 171, a bill for an act to establish and maintain a school for the instruction and training of the teachers of the common schools. R. B. Baird, second assistant secretary."
On March 14. 1876, substitute for S. F. 171 was read in the House the first and second time and referred to the committee on appropriations. On March 15, 1876, the latter committee reported the bill back to the House without recom- mendation. Immediately following this report the bill was taken up and con- sidered. Mr. Smith moved to lay the bill on the table. The motion did not prevail. Mr. Hemenway moved that the rule be suspended, the bill be considered engrossed and read a third time now. which prevailed and the bill was read a third time. The question being asked, shall the bill pass, the yeas and nays were as follows: Yeas. 48; nays, 35; absent or not voting, 16. So the bill was lost. Mr. Hemenway moved to reconsider the vote by which the bill was lost. On this question the yeas and nays were demanded and the yeas were 48 and the nays 35, absent and not voting 16. So the motion prevailed on the question, shall the bill pass, the yeas were 52, the nays 33, absent or not voting 14. So the bill passed and the title was agreed to. The tactics that were used in a par- liamentary way in securing the passage of this bill by the House are rarely equaled. It seems scarcely possible that such a measure would pass both houses without at least verbal amendment. The appropriation committee supposed that their report had finally disposed of the entire question. Many of the absent or not voting had not anticipated such a result. Some who voted for the measure did so out of courtesy to Mr. Hemenway, endeavoring to return favors so fre- quently conferred on them by his frequent efficient assistance on their measures. The bill as passed was practically the identical measure presented in the Fifteenth General Assembly and the experience of the thirty-nine years that the statute has been in effect has proved that it was carefully and prudently prepared, granting such liberty to the management as to take advantage of all the improve- ments and developments that the years have made possible. At no time since the act became a law has the board of trustees or the executive officers of the state suggested any amendment or revision and the few changes that have oc- curred by the legislation of all the later assemblies are of a minor character and have not modified the main features of the original bill.
THE SEVENTEENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
The contest over the founding of the normal school in the Sixteenth General Assembly did not end with that conclusion regarding the problem. The struggle between the friends and the opponents of the measure was renewed at the opening of the Seventeenth General Assembly, January 14. 1878. The board of directors had requested a total appropriation for two years of $20,000. This amount was a very modest estimate of the probable expenses. On February 7th Senator Hemenway introduced Senate File No. 140, a bill for an act making these appro- priations. It was read first and second times and referred to the committee on normal school. On March Ist this committee reported the bill back without any recommendation excepting to refer it to the appropriation committee. On March 12 the second committee reported, recommending that the amount re- quested be reduced to $13,500 and that the law be so changed as to require a term
HOSPITAL, ADMINISTRATION AND AUDITORIUM BUILDINGS
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fee of $10 from each student enrolled instead of the contingent fee of $1 a month required in the original founding act. On March 22d the bill came up for con- sideration on motion of Senator Dows. Senator Hemenway offered a substitute for the bill recorded. This was adopted by a vote of 31 yeas, 16 nays, and 3 absent or not voting. By this bill the board was authorized to charge not to exceed $6 tuition if it became necessary to thus support the school.
In the House the committee on ways and means and appropriations through William M. Stone as chairman reported House File No. 542, a bill for an act to appropriate money for the support of the normal school. On March 15th this bill came up for consideration, having been recommended for passage by the committee. The bill was ordered engrossed for a third reading when Mr. Rickel secured a reconsideration of the vote by which the bill was ordered en- grossed for a third reading. At this juncture the House adjourned until after- noon. On reassembling Mr. Updegraff received permission to introduce House File No. 561, a bill for an act to repeal chapter 129 of the laws of the Sixteenth General Assembly. This was read first and second times and came at once to a vote on suspension of the rules, Mr. Alford of Black Hawk County demanding the yeas and nays. The motion to suspend the rule failed by the following vote : Yeas, 41 ; nays, 46; absent or not voting, 13. Mr. Windsor of Polk then moved to strike out all but the enacting clause. The previous question was demanded by Mr. Stone and the yeas were 38, nays 51, absent or not voting II, the motion not prevailing.
On March 25th the entire question was again brought forward by the coming up of substitute for Senate File No. 140, which had passed the Senate March 22d. This bill being more acceptable than the original one that induced so much con- troversy on March 15th, it passed by the following vote: Yeas, 56; nays, 35; absent or not voting, 9; and the school was given another lease of life for two years.
FIRST BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND FIRST BUSINESS MEETING
The normal school bill as passed by the Sixteenth General Assembly and as approved by Gov. Samuel J. Kirkwood on March 17, 1876, became a law by publication March 28, 1876. The General Assembly adjourned without elect- ing the members of a board of directors authorized by law, so it remained for Governor Kirkwood to appoint the same. This official duty was performed by him on the 24th of April, 1876, when he selected Herman C. Hemenway of Cedar Falls, Edward HI. Thayer of Clinton, Sherman G. Smith of Newton and Gifford S. Robinson of Storm Lake, Lorenzo D. Lewelling of Salem, William Pattee of Clarksville, and on the 17th of May, having qualified, these gentlemen were commissioned by the governor to begin service June 1, 1876. The superin- tendent of public instruction as authorized by the founding act convened this board at Cedar Falls, Iowa, at 10 o'clock A. M., June 7, 1876. There were present at the first meeting Hemenway, Smith, Pattee, Robinson and Lewelling. The following officers were elected: Hemenway, president; Pattee, first vice president ; Edward Townsend, Cedar Falls, treasurer.
The board of the Soldiers' Orphans Home met at Cedar Falls for the purpose of turning over to the board for the normal school the property, which was ac- Vol. I -21
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complished satisfactorily. On July 12. 1876, the board of the normal school again met and executive and teachers' committees were organized and their appropriate duties assigned them. A steward and matron were chosen and their duties assigned them. M. W. Bartlett was chosen as the professor of ancient languages and natural sciences; D. S. Wright, professor of mathematics and English literature; Francis L. Webster, geography and history.
The buildings and ground turned over for the use of the school were fitted up and repaired in the best possible manner with the appropriation made for that purpose and so as to serve the then requirements of the school.
As previously announced by the board of directors the beginning of the work of the school occurred Tuesday, September 6, 1876. The first faculty was on duty that morning in the west half of old Room A to receive the students. After singing a song and devotional exercises conducted by Principal Gilchrist, Prof. M. W. Bartlett was assigned the privilege to formally enroll the twenty-seven students present. The first student to be thus served was L. W. Pierce of Cedar Falls. Then there was some speech making by different members of the faculty welcoming the students and complimenting the state for beginning the work of training teachers. Then it was announced by the principal that there would be some recitations in the afternoon and a formal examination for classification the following day. In the afternoon the principal announced that Prof. D. S. Wright would be granted the honor of giving the first lesson. This was an English grammar lesson and the entire membership of the school, including the faculty, participated. Then followed a lesson by Professor Bartlett on arith- metic and another lesson by Miss Webster on geography. This closed the work of the first day. More students presented themselves from day to day and when the term closed there were eighty-eight names on the roll. Many of these eighty-eight scholars have won fame in the educational world since their studies in the first normal school.
The history of all institutions is periodic as to measures and accomplish- ments. The first decade was a notable period in the history of this school, not only because Prof. J. C. Gilchrist remained at the head of the faculty during that time, but because the legislative policy concerning the school was all the time doubtful, experimental and restrictive during this period. It seems won- derful that any such institution as existed in 1886 could have been projected and established by any board and any faculty, however zealous and enterprising they might have been, when one reads the record made in the proceeding of the board, and makes a careful study of the several catalogues showing the size of the faculty, the students enrolled and the work being carried on by them with the hope of better days to come. No tribute of credit that can be paid will do justice to the endeavors, the sacrifices and the endurance of those early days at Cedar Falls.
IMPROVEMENTS
During the year 1879-80 the attendance had reached the limit that the single building inherited from the Soldiers' Orphans Home could accommodate. The school was located on prairie outside of corporation limits, two miles from the business quarter of Cedar Falls, and nearly a mile from the nearest residence
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portion of the city. Hence to lodge elsewhere than on the grounds was almost impossible, considering the lack of transportation and the financial status of the average student. Advertising was stopped, students were declined, no atten- tion was given to securing patronage, everything was in statu quo. The move- ment for an additional building was inaugurated at this time and the result was that the Nineteenth General Assembly in 1882 appropriated $30,000 for this improvement. This produced another legislative conflict over the old question so keenly contested in 1876. But H. C. Hemenway was still a member of the Senate and secured such support for the new measure that it passed despite the opposition of some of the most effective members in both the House and Senate.
The location of this building on the campus was determined June 28, 1882, when the board adopted the motion made by Mr. C. C. Cory that it be placed 100 feet south of the old building and so far east as to make the hall in the new building correspond to the east window on the south side of the old building. The contract for the erection of the building had been let to J. M. Rice of Chicago, Illinois, according to plans and specifications prepared by F. M. Ellis, architect, of Marshalltown, Iowa. On June 21, 1882, the graduating class re- quested permission to put a cornerstone in the foundation of the building marked Class 1882. On motion the privilege was granted with the understanding that the same class mark a boulder for the campus similar to that of the class of 1881.
On August 2, 1882, a committee for the class of 1882 came before the board and made a statement of what they had done toward the ceremony of laying the cornerstone of the new building. Upon a second request of this kind the board declined to permit them to lay the stone.
On Tuesday, August 29, 1882, the ceremony of laying the stone was under the direction of the Grand Lodge of Iowa, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. This building is known as South Hall.
The severity of labor and the struggle for success during the ten years from 1876 to 1886 had had the effect of creating controversy in the faculty, contentions among the students, and also throughout the state lack of sympathy for the institution. This controversy became public about the state and became active in the selection of the new members of the board by the General Assembly in 1886. The board on June 30, 1886, decided to reorganize the faculty. Homer H. Seerley was called to the position of principal of the school. With the advent of the new principal many changes in administration were consummated,. all for the good of the school.
The Twenty-fifth General Assembly granted the school an appropriation of $30,000 for an additional building. Under the act as framed, this building could not be erected until 1895 and was first occupied in January, 1896. This building was known as Central Hall.
During this time the number of students continued to increase and by the year 1900 the need of a new building was felt. The Legislature became more generous and appropriated $100,000 for the new structure. The cornerstone of the Auditorium Building was laid November 13, 1900, by the board of trus- tees. It was connected by means of corridors with both Central Hall and South Hall. The building was formally dedicated on January 30, 1902.
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In the year 1902 the Gymnasium was constructed at a cost of $100,000, which sum was willingly granted by the General Assembly. The power house was also erected during the period and a complete system of heating and ventilating was installed. At the opening of the fall term of 1905 every class room had tempera- ture regulation, mechanical ventilation by fans and sanitary conditions which were exceptionally commendable as regarded the health and comfort of all the teachers and students.
During the year 1904 the Laboratory of Physics and Chemistry, costing $80,000, was constructed. It is a fireproof building, constructed of Bedford stone in the basement and Iowa pressed brick in the upper stories. The building is a model in arrangement, plan, heating, ventilation and safety:
The library and museum building was constructed in 1908 and cost $175,000. There are approximately 40,000 books in this library.
In 1909 the president's home was constructed on the campus, costing $16,000. The training school building was built in 1914 at an expenditure of $150,000.
The steam plant and power house was built in 1914 and provides adequate heat and electricity at all times for the uses of the school.
The emergency hospital was also built during the year 1914, costing $125,000.
Now in the process of construction is the dormitory. This building when finished will be an integral part of a larger building proposed when the needs of the school justify the addition. The addition, when constructed, will be added to the present structure being completed.
A $100,000 vocational building is also proposed for the year 1915.
The total amount of money spent for building purposes in the last thirteen years is $783,194.37. There is invested altogether in buildings about $1,000,000. The amount spent in the last thirteen years comes out of the millage tax, with the exception of the Auditorium Building, the $100,000 for this structure being a separate fund. The building millage tax for 1914 was $159,299.93. The annual support of the school amounts to $220,000, which is paid by the state and also there is an additional $15,000 supplied by fees.
According to the last report of the county, there were 57 professors, 69 as- sistants, 1,657 students in college work. 517 in preparatory work, and 2,174 in other courses, in the school.
The spirit of the school is one of progress, development and encouragement. The problem of properly and successfully educating men and women to be capable teachers is better comprehended today than in the past. The results shown at the Iowa State Teachers College have been marvelous, but have been the direct result of better facilities granted by the state, because of more earnest and interested endeavor on the part of the faculty, and because of better ambi- tion and more certain response on the part of the students. Today the college ranks as the superior public institution of its kind in the United States. Its efficiency is unquestioned; its breadth and view is acknowledged; and its ca- pacity to accomplish is recognized. Iowa has done right in building well and strong the foundations of its educational system by maintaining a notable teach- ers' school. With it, the foundation is secure and well sustained. No other institution has better recognition for its graduates, wherever they may go, than is accorded to the representatives of this school. No small part of the growth is attributed to President Homer H. Seerley, who has faithfully toiled for over
PRESIDENT'S HOME
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twenty-eight years in the interests of the institution. The boards who have served have invariably been excellent. The state, on the other hand, deserves great credit for cheerfully giving whatever has been asked in the way of appro- priations for the improvement of the school. The efficiency of the school, even to the tunneling under and between all the buildings, the thermostat heating apparatus, and the central timing device for every room in the buildings, has been the result of plenty of money and freedom to go ahead and obtain the best equipment.
The Teachers College represents the life work of its president. Homer H. Seerley. Born and raised on a farm in Iowa, educated in the country schools and a graduate of the State University, earning his way through all his course, partly by teaching in the country schools and partly by working as janitor. After graduating he served first as high school principal, then as superintendent of schools at Oskaloosa. In 1886 he was elected president of the State Teachers College, at that time called a normal school. He has brought the college to the very front rank of normal schools in the United States. No man in the country outranks President Seerley as an educator of teachers. The college is largely the product of his genius. He is a prominent figure in all national conventions of teachers. He has stood for the higher education and better preparation of teach- ers. The successive general assemblies of Iowa have endorsed his work by giving him the finest plant of any school for teachers in America. A complete sketch of H. H. Seerley may be found in the biographical volume of this work.
CHAPTER XII
HISTORY OF RELIGION AND CHURCHES
The churches and church organization of Black Hawk County are very supe- rior; universally so. In every township and town there are strong religious so- cieties, which form if not constitute the main working class of the communities. As a preface to the discussion of the different denominations now existing in the county, it is well to narrate briefly of the beginnings of the church history here; sort of a foundation to the statistics pertaining to the present day church. To begin with, there are the townships.
BARCLAY TOWNSHIP
The beginning of religious worship in Barclay Township was attended by many hardships. However, the need of the church and its influence was strongly felt by the pioneers and they made any sacrifice to obtain it. Reverend Sessions formed the first religious class in the township, at the center schoolhouse. The denomination was Methodist, or rather he was a Methodist himself and his congregation was union in character. Later Reverend Moore, residing at Little- ton, preached in the homes of the settlers and at the small log schoolhouses. Although a cripple, Reverend Moore was a master of eloquence, perhaps would be considered prolix and diffuse today, but then combining all the qualities thought necessary for a preacher of the gospel. The Catholics constructed a small church, of stone, on section 3 in the year 1862. There was a congregation of seven families. They erected a frame building in 1876 and the congregation has reached about fifty families today. It was a missionary station until July, 1908, when the first resident priest, Rev. Francis Kopecky came. Rev. John Gosker of Independence was the first pastor of this church and came monthly for about eight years. Rev. N. F. Scallon of Waterloo acquired the station and attended until 1875. Then Rev. John Nemmers, now of Gilbertville, had charge until 1885, coming once every three weeks. Rev. J. J. Horsfield of Jesup then came every second Sunday for thirteen years, missing only twice during that time.
The Presbyterians now have a church society, with a building in section 22. Twenty families belong.
BENNINGTON TOWNSHIP
St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, belonging to the Synod of Iowa and Other States, was organized in Bennington Township in 1882 by Rev. P.
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Bredow of Maxfield. Iowa. There was not much money in the congregation and the expense of keeping a regular pastor was considered too large, also the imme- diate building of a church structure was felt to be too heavy a debt. The mem- bers asked Reverend Bredow to preach to them at stated intervals, using the schoolhouse as a place of worship. After ten years in this manner the society had acquired a sufficient strength to build a house of worship, which they did in 1893. In the following year Rev. F. Schedtler came as the first regular pastor. He was succeeded in 1898 by Rev. F. Sirfhes, who stayed until 1902. Then Reverend Bredow returned and remained until 1908. Rev. H. L. Adix then took charge. There is a parochial school, of small roll, connected with this church ; a Young People's Society with an enrollment of half a hundred.
The congregation at Gresham, Bennington Township, called the Zion Church of the Evangelical Association, was organized in the year 1875. The first trustees were: J. Buehner, Sr., John Weik, J. M. Seely, Enos Stark, Martin Stark, Henry Myers and Jacob Rhodes. The parsonage was constructed in 1875 and the church building in 1882. The pastors who have served this congregation have been: Revs. M. Knoll, S. H. Witte, G. G. Zellhoefer, Joseph Halacher, J. J. Miller, William Kolb, E. O. Beck, C. Schmidt, Augustus Goetze, A. L. Hauser, F. Methfessel, H. Luckensmeyer, D. L. Reichert, J. Belau, E. J. Lang. A. F. Herzberg.
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