USA > Iowa > Carroll County > History of Carroll County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 24
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Isaac Russell left Carroll soon after selling the Sentinel to H. C. Ford and died a few years ago after a career in another calling.
The Carroll newspapers have always ranked among the worthy papers of the state. Their editors have been successful in their ambitions and made fair progress along life's pathis, but their history must be reserved for the pen of subsequent writers, who in retrospect will be able to judge more clearly as to their accomplishments and success.
CHAPTER XX.
EDUCATIONAL-THE FIRST SCHOOL TAUGHT IN CARROLL COUNTY-MISS JANE M'CURDY, THE FIRST TEACHER-THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS-SUPERINTEND- ENTS-SCHOOL DISTRICTS-THE COST OF SUSTAINING SCHOOLS-PARO- CHIAL SCHOOLS-ABSTRACT OF INFORMATION PERTAINING TO CITY AND TOWN INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
There are no records relating to the first school taught in Carroll county, and all that can be learned at this date comes through William Gilley, who is the only survivor of the community in and about Carrollton in pioneer days, back in the '50s. He tells how the parents, realizing the need of in- struction for the few children so remote from school facilities in older settled portions of the state, put forth an effort to provide a schoolhouse and to secure a teacher, who would be content to endure the isolation of the frontier life and give the little ones the attention they needed. It was a day of small things, and only actual needs were demanded by the com- munity. A small sawmill was procured and set up some distance southeast of Carrollton, in the vicinity of Strong Davis' old home. There the work of sawing out lumber was begun and in due time there was enough material for a schoolhouse turned out. Shingles were split with a froe and shaved with the "draw shave," and it was not long till material was on hand for the new building. When completed, the new schoolhouse was not a very elegant structure, but the community felt it would serve its useful purpose for some time to come. It was a small building, probably fourteen by six- teen feet, shingled with shaved shingles, sided with rough boards, up and down, battened and trimmed with uncouth finishing, and lighted with scant windows of small panes, puttied in with poor skill of men not accus- tomed to such work.
When completed men and women, young and old, and children of all ages, were invited and the house-warming was an event in the community. People were proud of the new schoolhouse, and in the autumn when the judge came to Carrollton to hold the first term of court in the county, school was dismissed and court opened with all the solemn dignity and formality of modern temples of justice. Some of the noted lawyers of the state were in attendance, and the rafters of that modest building re- sounded to the eloquence of men who afterwards became noted in the history of the Hawkeye state.
It was in the fall of 1856 that Miss Jane McCurdy opened the first
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school in the room described above. The new teacher was one of the spinsters of the neighborhood, regarded for rigid notions of life in general and puritanic rules of conduct in particular. She had served an appren- ticeship with the "rod and rule" and was skilled in the art of giving in- struction in the "Three R's." She had the self-possession and poise in the schoolroom that age and experience give. When she opened school that autumnal morning only a few children greeted her presence. Many youngsters were still busy helping their parents in the field, and for other reasons were detained at home. There were children in those pioneer families of course, for race suicide had not then entered the house, and baby cries were not heard with unmixed dread. In those prairie homes that skirted the woods and hugged the river bluffs there were children galore and the time was coming when more room would be necessary for school purposes, and firmer hands than Jane McCurdy's were needed to wield the rod and maintain discipline. As the season advanced the attend- ance increased. Parents living down on the Brushy, and on the lands back of the brakes, sent their children to Carrollton to attend school and spend the winter at the county seat. Children were there from up on the North Coon, and every family that had relatives or friends in the country round about had some child or youth in the home who was attending Jane Mc- Curdy's school. Thirst for knowledge is cumulative, and when parents who had been isolated from school advantages so long, had a chance to place their children within reach of an institution of learning, however primitive, they missed no opportunity. This helped the school in the on- march of civilization and culture, along material and moral lines, open to interested and loyal supporters.
The teacher in due time divided her endeavors between teaching the young and ministering to one Robert Hill, who came along and pleaded with her to share with him the joys and ills of life, to which proposal she fain consented, and undertook the life of housewife in place of the work of school ma'am. She is known to those who first received instruction in Carroll county as Jane Hill and few recall her as the spinster Jane McCurdy who pressed the button in the fall of 1856 and started the educational machinery to run in the primitive haunts nearly sixty years ago.
The picture of that pioneer educational undertaking is not complete when Jane McCurdy is shown to pass from the schoolroom to the home of the pioneer farmer, for conditions were still new and formative. The school population had increased rapidly, there were big boys among the new comers not amenable to moral suasion, and there was evident need of a governing hand to hold them in check and to maintain order, if sub- stantial progress were to be made along educational roads. About the time Jane McCurdy, with firm set jaws and nervous eye was installed as first teacher, there came from his home in New England a young man, fresh from college, with scholarly look and frail physique. He stopped at Carrollton and spent some time straightening out the books of different merchants and doing what clerical work he could find to do. He then went to Denison, which at that time was a town of some pretensions and
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well known throughout this section. He was there engaged in teaching when he was induced by William Gilley and others to come back to Carroll- ton and take charge of the school. By that time the school population had increased till it was necessary to provide two rooms, and the scholarly New Englander, who was none else than T. B. Aldrich, took charge and became the village schoolmaster. Aldrich in the course of time married a daughter of Judge Price and it was thought would become a fixture in the community. But when the war broke out and the county did not fur- nish its quota of troops he was drafted into the service. On leaving home to enter the army, he was lost to the home and family he had acquired in the new western community and dropped from mind and memory. But as the second teacher in Carrollton and presumably in Carroll county he is still remembered by the few who came in contact with him.
There was nothing new or eventful in the evolution of the public schools in Carroll county. As the population increased new schools started up and multiplied and educational facilities were amply provided for the added school population. In the first few years, because of the fact that settlement was mostly confined to the timbered portions, schools were established only in the eastern part of the county. But in later years, with the settlement of the fertile lands of the central and western sections of the county, schools were established as provided by the general laws of the state. The county has ranked well up among the first in Iowa from the beginning for its liberal support of the public schools, and the impetus given the cause of education by the hardy pioneers has been maintained by the officers and patrons, who have contributed to the cause to the present day. Now the cities and towns in Carroll county are among the foremost in the state in the character of school buildings and the support given to their schools.
From the record, it is shown that the first superintendent of schools was William H. Price, who afterwards became prominent in the history of the county. After serving three years, beginning in 1858, he was suc- ceeded by L. McCurdy who served a term of two years. Then the record runs : T. B. Aldrich, 1864; William H. Price, 1865 ; Charles T. Mulloy, 1866-67 ; John K. Deal, 1868-69; M. W. Beach, 1870-71 ; I. A. Beers, 1872- 73; W. F. Steigerwalt, 1874-77; W. H. Bean, 1878-79; Gurdon W. Wat- tles, 1880-81 ; C. C. Colclo, 1882-85; H. J. Gobel, 1886-87 ; D. A. Rohan, part of 1887; F. A. Snydam, 1888-89; C. C. Colclo, 1890-91 ; Frank J. Salmen, 1892-93: J. J. McMahon, 1894-99; J. M. Dunck, part of 1899; J. M. Ralph, 1900-03: W. J. Barloon, 1904-08; W. T. Bohenkamp, 1909 to date.
There are in Carroll county 106 school districts, with 187 schoolrooms, there being 127 rural schoolrooms and 60 in the graded schools of the towns. There are 141 schoolhouses : 12 in cities and towns, 141 in rural districts. There are 261 teachers employed, 21 males and 240 females. The average wages paid are, $79.70 per month to males and $44.63 to females. This is based upon the amount paid in graded schools as well as rural schools.
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The number of persons of school age in the county is, between the ages of 5 and 21, 6,825 ; males 3,452, females 3,373.
The number subject to law for compulsory attendance, between the ages of 7 and 14, is 3,628; males 1,846, females 1,782.
Total number enrolled in the public schools of the county, 3,750.
Average daily attendance, 2,864.
Average cost of tuition per pupil per month in the county, $3.05.
Value of schoolhouses in the county, $208,775.
Value of apparatus in schoolhouses, $13,286.
Number of volumes in school libraries in the county, 8.172.
The amount of tax received in 1910 for school purposes is $87,130.49, distributed as follows :
Teachers $61,578.27
Contingent 2,176.49
Schoolhouse 19,294.15
Schoolhouse Bond 4,081.58
There is received an apportionment from the state toward the school fund.
PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS.
The population in many localities being largely Catholic, the church maintains a number of schools in the county. These schools have attained an efficiency highly creditable to the persons in charge and give a thorough training within the scope of their curricula. Prizes were won at the World's Fair in Chicago by exhibits from parochial schools in this county, and again at Saint Louis the parochial schools were an attractive part of the exhibition from Iowa.
There are in the county twelve Catholic parochial schools having from one to eight rooms and caring for the wants of 1,400 pupils. The follow- ing data are taken from the report at the close of school, June 30, 19II : St. John's, Arcadia, enrollment 108, three rooms, established in 1880, Rev. J. A. Schulte, pastor and superintendent ; St. Bernard's, Breda, enrollment 196, six rooms, nine grades, established in 1883, Rev. G. H. Luehrsman, pastor and superintendent; Carroll, St. Joseph's, enrollment 120, four rooms, nine grades, established in 1880, Rev. P. F. Farrelly, pastor ; SS. Peter and Paul, Carroll, enrollment 260, eight rooms, ten grades, estab- lished in 1885, Rev. Joseph Kuemper, pastor; Mt. Carmel, St. Mary's, enrollment 205, five rooms, nine grades, established in 1875, Rev. F. H. Huesman, pastor ; Halbur, St. Augustine's, enrollment 95, two rooms, eight grades, established in 1901, Rev. John Baumler, pastor; Sacred Heart, Templeton, enrollment 194, four rooms, eight grades, established 1889, Rev. B. A. Schulte, pastor ; St. Mary's, Willey, enrollment 121, three rooms, eight grades, established in 1887, Rev. J. Heinzlmeier, pastor; St. Francis, Maple River, enrollment 70, two rooms, eight grades, Rev. Warzawa; Dedham has a one-room school with an enrollment of about 60 pupils in charge of Rev. Huelshorst, pastor : Coon Rapids, two rooms, Rev. Rabuck,
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pastor ; Roselle, three rooms, enrollment of 65, eight grades, Rev. Gehling, pastor.
The above named Catholic parochial schools, having an enrollment of more than 1,400 pupils were conducted for the school-year 1910-II at a cost of $8,050. This money is mostly raised by tuition received from the pupils attending.
ABSTRACT OF INFORMATION PERTAINING TO CITY AND TOWN INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
Arcadia-Principal, H. M. Stiles, salary $945.00, nine months school, eleven grades, enrollment 50, two assistant teachers, salary $50.00.
Breda-Principal, Elizabeth Huss, salary $605.00, nine months school, nine grades, enrollment 32, assistant teacher, salary $45.00.
Carroll-Superintendent, W. H. Gemmill, salary $1,600.00; Principal, L. P. Dove, salary $1,035, nine months school, thirteen grades, enrollment 467, seventeen assistant teachers, salary, males $100.00, females $58.50.
Carrollton-Principal, Emily Willey, salary $540.00, eight months school, nine grades, enrollment 64, one assistant teacher, salary $45.00. Carroll- ton is a consolidated Independent district formed by the union of four rural districts making a territory of 16 sections. A splendid, modern, two-room school building was built last year and is proving a success. This is the first consolidated district in Carroll county.
Coon Rapids-Superintendent, H. T. Ports, salary $1,200.00, nine months school, thirteen grades, enrollment 361, ten assistants, salary $56.05.
Dedham-Principal, Josephine I. Bruce, salary $720.00, nine months school, eleven grades, enrollment 96, three assistants, salary $60.00.
Glidden-Superintendent, W. H. Manifold, salary $1,125.00, nine months, twelve grades, enrollment 168, seven assistants, salary $55.00.
Lanesboro-Principal, Laura Maulsby, salary $480.00, eight months school, ten grades, enrollment 74, two assistants, salary $45.00.
Lidderdale-Emma Chambers, salary $450.00, nine months, eight grades, enrollment 31.
Manning-Superintendent, J. W. Meyer, salary $1,350.00, principal, Katherina Varuska, salary $675.00, nine months school, twelve grades, en- rollment 359, thirteen assistant teachers, salary $55.00.
Ralston-Principal, Gertrude Barnard, salary $675.00, nine months, ten grades, enrollment 56, one assistant, salary $50.00.
Templeton-Mabel Vollmer, salary $500.00, ten months school, nine grades, enrollment 16.
A summary of the above will give us the interesting information that Carroll county has within its borders twelve city, town, and village schools offering from eight to twelve grades in school work, conducted by seventy- one teachers at an annual cost of about $40,000. The enrollment for the year 1910-II in all city schools was 1,839, with an average attendance of 1,467 pupils. Carroll maintains a fully accredited high-school course and was this year placed on the Normal Training school list, giving its pupils a choice of three courses : Classical, Scientific, and Normal Training.
CHAPTER XXI.
RAILROADS-CHICAGO & NORTII WESTERN RAILROAD-THE CIIICAGO GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY-TIIE CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE & ST. PAUL RAILROAD- THE BUILDING OF THE FIRST RAILROAD.
Carroll county is well favored with unusual railroad facilities. It is bisected, almost through the middle, from east to west, by the main line of the Chicago & North Western Railroad. At Carroll one branch leaves for Sioux City ; at Wall Lake connections are made with the Northern Iowa division, and one may take either one of the two lines thence to Sioux City. Another branch leaves for Harlan, and at Manning connec- tions are made with another branch from that point to Audubon. The Chicago Great Western Railway, which enters the county at the northeast corner and passes diagonally southwest, paralleling the North Western road from Carroll, gives the north half of the county rare facilities for freight transportation and travel. But to the Chicago & North Western and the Chicago Great Western roads is added the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Company, which passes through the southern tier of townships, from Coon Rapids to Manning.
The building of the first railroad was an event that early settlers had looked forward to for many years. They had waited and worked with so much diligence and patience toward that long-looked-for event, the con- struction of the first line across the state, which seemed to become a reality in 1860. As far back as 1856, when the county was first organized, con- gress had granted to the state a tract of land, to be held in trust, for the purpose of helping to build a transcontinental line, running close along the forty-second parallel of latitude. In the session of the legislature that followed, this land was donated to the Iowa Central Railroad Company. But this action of the legislature was rescinded by its successor in 1860, and soon the land was given to the Cedar Rapids & Missouri River Rail- road Company. Of this grant, 88, 120 acres of the land were in Carroll county. But untoward events developed and the building of the railroad was postponed for several years. The Civil war came on and the re- sources of the state, men and money, were devoted to the restoration of the Union. Until the Rebellion could be suppressed there could be no railroad building. In the year of 1864, congress, not wholly unmindful of the material needs of the country, made a further grant for the con- struction of the transcontinental line, this time giving 29,240 acres of Vol. 1-15
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land in Carroll county. This made a total of 117,360 acres for railroad construction. This land of course was afterwards sold to settlers and is now occupied by some of the best farms in the county.
After the war, when the boys had returned from the front and the occupations and enterprises of peace were once more resumed, the work of building the long expected railroad was begun. The line passed through the most fertile part of the state, with no especial obstructions to encounter, and construction progressed rapidly. The work was pushed across Carroll county with unusual rapidity, and it was the fall of 1867 when trains were able to enter Council Bluffs, via the Chicago & North Western road. The main line, from Clinton to Council Bluffs, is 354 miles long. The road stopped at Glidden for a time, and this town was a station of con- siderable importance. It was named in honor of one of the directors of the company and was even then an important center of trade. It was nearer to Carrollton, the old county seat, than Carroll was, and one of the principal settlements of the county was on the Coon, north of Glidden. But Carroll was the geographical center of the county, and officers of the road and leading business men of the county had planned for Carroll to be the county seat and business center. As will be noticed elsewhere, a contest for the seat of county government was soon started and in the course of two years the question was decided and affairs of the county were administered from Carroll. Arcadia, being on the divide of land between the Missouri river, was called Tip Top by the railroad people and so continued for a number of years.
The need of a line into the newly developed territory to the southwest finally induced the North Western company to construct the Iowa South- western, in 1880. The objective point was Harlan, then an inviting field for the great enterprise. But on account of difficulties in securing the right of way, land owners along the line asking a price thought to be out of reason, the road was terminated at Kirkman, about seven miles up the Nishna valley. For several years trains ran no further and passengers and freight were transported the rest of the way by teams. But conditions made it necessary for the railroad to reach Harlan and the line was extended.
Not long after that the branch from Manning to Audubon was built. George Gray was then an active factor in the development of enterprises in Audubon county, and he induced owners along the line to donate the right of way. The Southwestern has from the beginning been an im- portant feeder for the main line at Carroll and has contributed largely to the prosperity of farmers in that locality.
The Maple River branch was built as long ago as 1877. The company had acquired control of the Sioux City & Pacific road and began the con- struction of what has since been known as the Northern Iowa division. That part of the system left the main line at Tama, ran thence north and west, through Story City, Jewell Junction, Lake City, Wall Lake, thence to Mapleton, where it terminated for a time. But the plans contemplated its extension to Onawa, then via the Sioux City & Pacific road to Sioux City. The line from Carroll to Carnarvon was needed to connect the terri-
HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY
tory of the northwest with the main line, giving a desirable outlet to Des Moines and central western portions of the state. In 1886 the line was completed to Onawa, since which time Carroll has had direct connection with Sioux City. Later, when the line was built through Sac City, thence to Sioux City, through Moville, Carroll was placed in touch with another most fertile and rich portion of the state.
The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad was built through the southern tier of townships in 1881. Previous to that time some of the most productive portions of the county were considered remote from the railroad, and development was retarded. But with the advent of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul road land values rose, farmers pushed forward their improvements and towns grew with rapidity. Coon Rapids, which had been a trading point since early pioneer days, became a lively town and for the first time in its history came in close contact with the northern parts of the county. Dedham, named after a city in Massachu- setts, was not long in attracting attention as a good, lively town. Temple- ton, which was not far from what was then the old town of Elba, pro- gressed as rapidly as its contemporaries and laid a foundation that has enabled it to grow and develop into one of the substantial towns of that locality. Manning was located at the intersection of the Chicago, Milwau- kee & St. Paul road with the Southwestern branch running out of Carroll. Mention is made of it in another place.
The Chicago Great Western Railway was built through the county in 1903. It had often been observed in the newspapers of Carroll that Carroll was on a direct line from Fort Dodge and Omaha, and that if ever a road was built to connect the country northeast with the southwest it must run through Carroll. The time came sooner than was expected, it may be said, when the Great Western took hold of the enterprise. The old Mason City & Fort Dodge road was acquired by the Great Western company in 1901 and work of adding this local line from Mason City to Fort Dodge was begun at once. The matter of securing the right of way through Carroll county was largely in the hands of Hon. Thomas D. Healy, of Fort Dodge, but locally the law firm of Lee & Robb, of Carroll, had charge of the company's affairs. In the northeast part of the county the prospect of securing a railroad cheered the farmers into hearty cooperation. Those who had lived in Jasper township and adjacent localities considered con- nection with the main line of the North Western and access to the city of Carroll something worth while, and lent to the projected line their moral and material support. The convenience of a railroad through that portion of the county, heretofore remote from the county scat, with the added facilities of shipment of stock and material, was something that the people could see in a profitable light, and it is needless to say that the advent of the Great Western company to the county was an event that appealed to popular favor.
The entrance of the new railroad into Carroll and its passage through the city was a problem that caused much speculation. Several lines, over as many different routes, were surveyed as the engineers approached the
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city limits. It was thought at one time that the line would enter from the north, passing through "Stringtown," and thence southwest through the city. A tentative line was surveyed further west, passing west of the north-side schoolhouse and touching the North Western road just west of the city limits. In any event, it was apparent that the new line would have to pass through no small portion of the city occupied with residences, making the right of way exceedingly expensive. The unexpected happened when it was announced that the line would enter the city from the east, not far from the point of entrance of the North Western, thence adjacent to the right of way of that road, leaving Carroll on the west, passing through Minchen's park with an overhead crossing where it crossed the North Western roadbed. This meant the removal of two blocks of residences, south of Fifth and east of East streets. Entering the business portion of town at East street it was necessary to remove the old greenhouse, run for many years by Adam Ries, then in the hands of N. A. Nielson. Joyce's lumberyards came next, and they were taken for the right of way. The old Wayne elevator, owned by R. Y. Culbertson, was in the way and was condemned. One of the prominent landmarks of Carroll was the old Joyce office building, standing just south of the Griffith block, which had been built in early years. When the courthouse was destroyed by fire, in 1885, this building was used for county offices. In later years it was gutted by an early morning fire and had been repaired and remodeled into a modern office building. It was well suited for headquarters of the ex- tensive interests of the large lumber firm and was one of the attractive business buildings of the city. But it had to take its place with the humblest shack along the right of way when needs in the form of a public enter- prise claimed the ground on which it stood. On the south side of Fourth street were a number of old buildings that had been used for various pur- poses almost from the time of the big fire. Among them were Park's implement house, now used as a freight depot by the Great Western, Parsons' elevator, the Arts grain house, and others. West of Adams street was the historical Keckevoet building, the Anderson harness shop, and other then prominent places of business. The Green Bay Lumber Company's offices, sheds and yards were in the direct line of march of the line through the city, and they were taken by the right-of-way men and the ground made clear for the Great Western. Passing thence west the same process of acquiring right of way had to be followed till unoccupied land was reached beyond the city limits. A saving was effected, however, by the sale of the buildings. Of these buildings, many were wrecked and moved to the country by farmers, who reconstructed them into barns, out- houses, etc. The residences were bought by various investors who re- moved them to other parts of the city, and in some cases the owners bought the dwellings back from the company and moved them to lots procured in other locations. A number of fine homes in Carroll are built with material of houses bought from the Great Western company after the right of way was acquired through Carroll.
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