USA > Iowa > Franklin County > History of Franklin County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 4
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
37
HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY
troops, sent forward under the first call of President Lincoln, with gray uniforms, but it was soon found that the Confederate forces were also clothed in gray and that color was at once abandoned for the Union soldier.
At the beginning of the war the population of Iowa included about 150,000 men, presumably liable to render military service. The state raised for general service thirty-nine regiments of infantry, nine regiments of cavalry and four companies of artillery, composed of three years' men, one regiment composed of three months' men, and four regiments and one battalion of infantry composed of one hundred days' men. The original enlistments in these various organ- izations, including 1,727 men raised by draft, numbered about 69,000. The reenlistments, including upwards of 7,000 veterans, numbered nearly 8,000. The enlistments in the regular army and navy or- ganizations of other states will, if added, raise the total to upwards of 80,000. The number of men who under special enlistments and as militia took part at different times in the operations on the ex- posed borders, was probably 5,000.
Every loyal state of the Union had many women who devoted much time and great labor toward relieving the wants of our sick and wounded soldiery but for Iowa can be claimed the honor of in- augurating the great charitable movement, which was so successfully supported by the noble women of the north. Mrs. Harlan, wife of Hon. James Harlan, United States Senator, was the first woman of the country among those moving in high circles of society who per- sonally visited the army and ministered to the wants of the defenders of her country. In many of her visits to the army, Mrs. Harlan was accompanied by Mrs. Joseph T. Fales, wife of the first State Audi- tor of Iowa. No words can describe the good done, the lives saved and the deaths made easy by the host of noble women of Iowa, whose names it would take a volume to print. Every county, every town, every neighborhood had these true heroines, whose praise can never be known till the final rendering of all accounts of deeds done in the body. The contributions throughout the state to "sanitary fairs" during the war were enormous, amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Highly successful fairs were held in the principal cities and towns of the state, which all added to the work and praise of the "Florence Nightingales" of Iowa, whose heoric sacrifices have won for them the undying gratitude of the nation. It is said, to the honor and credit of Iowa, that while many of the loyal states, older and larger in population and wealth, incurred heavy
38
HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY
state debts for the purpose of fulfilling their obligations to the gen- eral government, Iowa, while she was foremost in duty, while she promptly discharged all her obligations to her sister states and the Union, found herself at the close of the war without any material additions to her pecuniary liabilities incurred before the war com- menced. Upon final settlement after restoration of peace, her claims upon the Federal Government were found to be fully equal to the amount of her bonds issued and sold during the war, to provide the means for raising and equipping her troops sent into the field and to meet the inevitable demands upon her treasury in consequence of the war. It was in view of these facts that Iowa had done more than her duty during the war, and that without incurring any con- siderable indebtedness, and that her troops had fought most gal- lantly on nearly every battlefield of the war, that the Newark (New Jersey) Advertiser, and other prominent eastern journals, called Iowa the "Model State of the Republic."
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
School teachers here were among the first immigrants to Iowa. This gives point to the fact that the people of Iowa have ever taken a deep interest in education and in this direction no state in the Union has a better record. The system of free public schools was planted by the early settlers and it has expanded and improved until now it is one of the most complete, comprehensive and liberal in the country. The lead mining regions of the state were the first to be settled by the whites and the hardy pioneers provided the means for the education of their children even before they had comfortable dwellings for themselves. Wherever a little settlement was made, the schoolhouse was the first thing undertaken by the settlers in a body, and the rude, primitive structures of the early times only dis- appeared when the communities increased in population and wealth and were able to replace them with more commodious and comfort- able buildings. Perhaps in no single instance has the magnificent progress of the State of Iowa been more marked and rapid than in her common-school system and in her schoolhouses. Today the schoolhouses which everywhere dot the broad and fertile prairies of Iowa are unsurpassed by those of any other state in this great Union. More especially is this true in all her cities and villages, where liberal and lavish appropriations have been voted by a gen- erous people for the erection of large, commodious and elegant
39
HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY
buildings, furnished with all the modern improvements, and cost- ing from $10,000 to $60,000 each. The people of the state have ex- pended more than $25,000,000 for the erection of public school build- ings, which stand as monuments of magnificence.
THE FIRST SCHOOL BUILDING AT DUBUQUE
Dubuque saw within its limits the first school building erected in the State of Iowa, which was built by J. J. Langworthy and a few other miners in the fall of 1833. When it was completed, George Cabbage was employed as teacher during the winter of 1833-34 and thirty-five pupils answered to his roll call. Barrett Whitte- more taught the school term and had twenty-five pupils in attend- ance. Mrs. Caroline Dexter commenced teaching in Dubuque in March, 1836. She was the first female teacher there, and probably the first in Iowa. In 1839 Thomas H. Benton, Jr., afterwards for ten years superintendent of public instruction, opened an English and classical school in Dubuque. The first tax for the support of schools at Dubuque was levied in 1840. A commodious log school- house was built at Burlington in 1834, and was one of the first build- ings erected in that settlement. A Mr. Johnson taught the first school in the winter of 1834-35. In Scott county, in the winter of 1835-36, Simon Crazen taught a fourteen months' term of school in the house of J. B. Chamberlin. In Muscatine county, the first term of school was taught by George Baumgardner in the spring of 1837. In 1839 a log schoolhouse was erected in Muscatine, which served for a long time as schoolhouse, meeting-house and public hall. The first school in Davenport was taught in 1838. In Fairfield, Miss Clarissa Sawyer, James F. Chambers and Mrs. Reed taught school in 1839.
Johnson county was an entire wilderness when Iowa City was located as the capital of the Territory of Iowa in May, 1839. The first sale of lots took place August 18, 1839, and before January I, 1840, about twenty families had settled in the town. During the same year Jesse Berry opened a school in a small frame building he had erected on what is now known as College street.
In Monroe county the first settlement was made in 1843 by John R. Gray, about two miles from the present site of Eddyville, and in the summer of 1844 a log schoolhouse was built by Gray and others, and the first school was opened by Miss Uriana Adams. About a year after the first cabin was built in Oskaloosa, a log school-
40
HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY
house was built, in which school was opened by Samuel W. Cald- well, in 1844.
At Fort Des Moines, now the capital of the state, the first school was taught by Lewis Whitten, clerk of the district court, in the win- ter of 1846-47, in one of the rooms on "Coon Row," built for barracks.
The first school in Pottawattamie county was opened by George Green, a Mormon, at Council Point, prior to 1849, and until about 1854 nearly all the teachers in that vicinity were Mormons.
The first school in Decorah was taught in 1855 by Cyrus C. Car- penter, since Governor of the state. During the first twenty years of the history of Iowa the log schoolhouse prevailed, and in 1861 there were 893 of these primitive structures in use for school purposes in the state. Since that time they have been gradually disappearing. In 1865 there were 796; in 1870, 336; in 1875, 121; and today there is probably not a vestige of one remaining.
In 1846, the year of Iowa's admission as a state, there were 20,000 pupils in schools, out of 100,000 inhabitants. About 400 school dis- tricts had been organized. In 1850 there were 1,200 and in 1857 the number had increased to 3,265. The system of graded schools was inaugurated in 1849 and now schools in which more than one teacher is employed are universally graded. Teachers' institutes were or- ganized early in the history of the state. The first official mention of them occurs in the annual report of Hon. Thomas H. Benton, Jr., made December 2, 1850, who said : "An institution of this character was organized a few years ago, composed of the teachers of the mineral regions of Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa. An association of teachers has also been formed in the county of Henry, and an effort was made October last to organize a regular institute in the county of Jones."
Funds for the support of public schools are derived in various ways. The sixteenth section of every Congressional township was set apart by the general government for school purposes, being one- thirty-sixth part of all the lands in the state. The minimum price of all these lands was fixed at $1.25 per acre. Congress also made an additional donation to the state of 500,000 acres and an appropria- tion of 5 per cent on all the sales of public lands to the school. fund. The state gives to this fund the proceeds of the sales of all lands which escheat to it, the proceeds of all fines for the violation of liquor and criminal laws. The money derived from these sources constitutes the permanent school fund of the state, which cannot be diverted to any other purpose. The penalties collected by the courts
41
HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY
in fines and for forfeitures go to the school fund in the counties according to their request, and the counties loan the money to indi- viduals for long terms at 8 per cent interest, on security of lands valued at three times the value of the loan, exclusive of all buildings and improvements thereon. The interest on these loans is paid into the state treasury and becomes the available school fund of the state. The counties are responsible to the state for all money transferred to the counties. The interest on these loans is apportioned by the State Auditor semi-annually to the several counties of the state, in propor- tion to the number of persons between the ages of five and twenty- one years. The counties also levy a tax for school purposes, which is apportioned to the several district townships in the same way. A district tax is also levied for the same purpose. The money arising from these several sources constitutes the support of the public schools and is sufficient to enable every sub-district in the state to afford from six to nine months' school each year. The burden of district taxation is thus lightened and the efficiency of the schools is increased. The taxes levied for the support of the schools are self- imposed. Under the admirable school laws of the state no taxes can be legally assessed or collected for the erection of schoolhouses until they have been ordered by the election of a school district at a school meeting legally called. The teachers' and contingent funds are determined by the board of directors under certain legal instruc- tions. These boards are elected annually. The only exception to this method of levying taxes for school purposes is the county tax, which is determined by the county board of supervisors. In each county a teachers' institute is held annually under the direction of the county superintendent, the state distributing annually a sum of money to each of these institutes.
STATE UNIVERSITY
By act of Congress, approved July 20, 1840, the Secretary of the Treasury was authorized to "set apart and reserve from sale, out of any public lands within the territory of Iowa not otherwise claimed or appropriated, a quantity of land not exceeding two entire town- ships, for the use and support of a university within said territory when it becomes a state." The first General Assembly, therefore, by act approved February 25, 1847, established the "State University of Iowa," at Iowa City, then the capital of the state. The public build- ings and other property at Iowa City were appropriated to the uni- Vol. I-3
42
HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY
versity but the legislative sessions and state offices were to be held in them until a permanent location for a capital was made. The con- trol and management of the university were committed to a board of fifteen trustees and five were to be chosen every two years. The superintendent of public instruction was made president of this board. The organic act provided that the university should never be under the control of any religious organization whatever, and that as soon as the revenue from the grant and donations should amount to $2,000 a year, the university should commence and con- tinue the instruction free of charge, of fifty students annually. Of course the organization of the university was impracticable so long as the seat of government was retained at Iowa City.
In January, 1849, two branches of the university and three normal schools were established. The branches were located at Fairfield and Dubuque and were placed upon an equal footing, in respect to funds and all other matters, with the university at Iowa City. At Fairfield, the board of directors organized and erected a building at a cost of $2,500. This was nearly destroyed by a hurricane the following year but was rebuilt more substantially by the citizens of Fairfield. This branch never received any aid from the state and, January 24, 1853, at the request of the board, the General Assembly terminated its relations to the state. The branch at Dubuque had only a nominal existence. The normal schools were located at An- drew, Oskaloosa and Mount Pleasant. Each was to be governed by a board of seven trustees to be appointed by the trustees of the uni- versity. Each was to receive $500 annually from the income of the university fund, upon condition that they should educate eight common school teachers, free of charge for tuition, and that the citizens should contribute an equal sum for the erection of the requi- site buildings. The school at Andrew was organized November 21, 1849, with Samuel Ray as principal. A building was commenced and over one thousand dollars expended on it but it was never com- pleted. The school at Oskaloosa was started in the courthouse, Sep- tember 13, 1852, under charge of Prof. G. M. Drake and wife. A two-story brick building was erected in 1853, costing $2,473. The school at Mount Pleasant was never organized. Neither of these schools received any aid from the university fund, but in 1857 the Legislature appropriated $1,000 for each of the two schools and re- pealed the laws authorizing the payment to them of money from the university fund. From that time they made no further effort to con- tinue in operation.
43
HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY
From 1847 to 1855 the board of trustees of the university was kept full by regular elections by the Legislature and the trustees held fre- quent meetings but there was no actual organization of the university. In March, 1855, it was partially opened for a term of sixteen weeks. July 16, 1855, Amos Dean, of Albany, New York, was elected presi- dent but he never fully entered into its duties. The university was again opened in September, 1855, and continued in operation until June, 1856, under Professors Johnson, Van Valkenburg and Griffin. The faculty was then reorganized with some changes and the uni- versity was again opened on the third Wednesday of September, 1856. There were 124 students (eighty-three males and forty-one females) in attendance during the year 1856-57, and the first regular catalogue was published. At a special meeting of the board, Septem- ber 22, 1857, the honorary degree of Bachelor of Arts was conferred on D. Franklin Wells. This was the first degree conferred by the university.
By the constitution of 1857 it was provided that there be no branches of the state university. In December of that year the old capitol building was turned over to the trustees of the university. In 1858 $10,000 was appropriated for the erection of a students' boarding hall. The board closed the university April 27, 1858, on account of insufficient funds, and dismissed all the faculty with the exception of Chancellor Dean. At the same time' a resolution was passed, excluding females. This was soon after reversed by the Gen- eral Assembly. The university was reopened September 19, 1860, and from this time the real existence of the university dates. Chancellor Dean had resigned before this, and Silas Totten, D. D., LL. D., was elected president, at a salary of $2,000. August 19, 1862, he re- signed and was succeeded by Oliver M. Spencer. President Spencer was granted leave of absence for fifteen months to visit Europe. Prof. Nathan R. Leonard was elected president pro tem. President Spencer signing. James Black, D. D., vice president of Washington and Jefferson College, of Pennsylvania, was elected president. He entered upon his duties in September, 1868.
The law department was established in June, 1868, and soon after the Iowa Law School at Des Moines, which had been in successful operation for three years, was transferred to Iowa City and merged in the department. The medical department was established in 1869, and since April 11, 1870, the government of the university has been in the hands of a board of regents. The university has
44
HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY
gained a reputation as one of the leading educational institutions of the west and this position it is determined to maintain.
STATE NORMAL COLLEGE
Cedar Falls, the chief city of Black Hawk county, holds the State Normal School, which is an institution for the training of teachers and is doing most excellent work.
STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE
By act of the Legislature, approved March 23, 1858, the State Agricultural College and Farm was established at Ames, in Story county. In 1862 Congress granted to Iowa 240,000 acres of land for the endowment of schools of agriculture and the mechanical arts. In 1864 the General Assembly voted $20,000 for the erection of the college buildings. In 1866 $91,000 more was appropriated for the same purpose. The building was completed in 1868 and the institu- tion was opened the following year. The institution is modeled to some extent after the Michigan Agricultural College. In this school of learning admission is free to all students of the state over sixteen years of age. Students are required to work on the farm two and a half hours each day. The faculty is of a very high character and the college one of the best of its kind. The sale of spirits, wine or beer is prohibited within three miles of the farm. The current expenses of this institution are paid by the income from the permanent endow- ment. Besides the institution here mentioned are many others throughout the state. Amity College is located at College Springs, in Page county, Burlington University, at Burlington, Drake Uni- versity, at Des Moines, Iowa College, at Grinnell, etc.
STATE INSTITUTIONS SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF
The Legislature established the institution for the deaf and dumb, January 24, 1855, and located it at Iowa City. A great effort was made for its removal to Des Moines but it was finally located at Council Bluffs. In 1868 an appropriation was made by the Legisla- ture of $125,000 for the erection of new buildings, and ninety acres of land were selected south of the city. October, 1870, the main building and one wing were completed and occupied. In Febru-
45
HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY
ary, 1877, fire destroyed the main building and east wing. About one hundred and fifty students were in attendance at the time. There is a regular appropriation for this institution of $22 per capita per month for nine months of each year, for the payment of officers' and teachers' salaries and for a support fund. The institution is free to all of school age, too deaf to be educated in the common schools, sound in mind and free from immoral habits and from contagious and offensive diseases. No charge is made for board or tuition. The session of the school begins the first day of October and ends the last day of June each year.
COLLEGE FOR THE BLIND
In 1852 Prof. Samuel Bacon, himself blind, established a school for the instruction of the blind at Keokuk. He was the first person in the state to agitate a public institution for the blind, and in 1853 the institute was adopted by the Legislature, by statute approved Jan- uary 18, 1853, and removed to Iowa City. During his first term twenty-three pupils were admitted. Professor Bacon was a fine scholar, an economical manager and in every way adapted to his posi- tion. During his administration the institution was in a great measure self-supporting by the sale of articles of manufacture by the blind pupils. There was also a charge of $25 as an admission fee for each pupil. In 1858 the citizens of Vinton, Benton county, donated a quar- ter section of land and $5,000 for the establishment of the asylum at that place. May 8 of the same year the trustees met at Vinton and made arrangements for securing the donation and adopted a plan for the erection of a suitable building. In 1860 the contract for the build- ing was let for $10,420, and in August, 1862, the goods and furniture were removed from Iowa City to Vinton, and in the fall of the same year the school was opened with twenty-four pupils. There is a regu- lar appropriation of $22 per capita per month for nine months of each two dollars per capita per month for nine months of each year to year to cover support and maintenance. The school term begins on the first Wednesday in September and usually ends about the first of June. They may be admitted at any time and are at liberty to go home at any time their parents may send for them. The department of music is supplied with a large number of pianos, one pipe organ, several cabinet organs, and a sufficient number of violins, guitars, bass viols and brass instruments. Every pupil capable of receiving it is given. a complete course in this department. In the industrial department
46
HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY
the girls are required to learn knitting, crocheting, fancy work, hand and machine sewing; the boys, netting, broom making, mattress mak- ing and cane seating. Those of either sex who desire may learn carpet weaving.
HOSPITAL FOR THE INSANE
The hospital for the insane was established by an act of the Legis- lature, January 24, 1855. The location for the institution was selected at Mount Pleasant, Henry county, and $500,000 appropriated for the buildings, which were commenced in October of that year. One hundred patients were admitted within three months after it was opened. The Legislature of 1867-68 provided measures for an additional hospital for the insane, and an appropriation of $125,000 was made for the purpose. Independence was selected by the com- missioners as the most desirable location and 320 acres were secured one mile from the town on the west side of the Wapsipinicon river and about a mile from its banks. The hospital was opened May I, 1873. The amount allowed for the support of these institutions is $12 per month for each patient. All expenses of the hospital except for special purposes are paid from the sum so named, and the amount is charged to the counties from which the patients are sent.
SOLDIERS' ORPHANS' HOME
The Soldiers' Orphans' Home is located at Davenport and was originated by Mrs. Anne Whittenmeyer, during the late rebellion of the states. This noble-hearted woman called a convention at Muscatine, September 7, 1863, for the purpose of devising means for the education and support of the orphan children of Iowa whose fathers had lost their lives in the defense of their country's honor. The public interest in the movement was so great that all parts of the state were largely represented and an association was organized called the Iowa State Orphan Asylum. The first meeting of the trustees was held February 14, 1864, at Des Moines, when Governor Kirkwood suggested that a home for disabled soldiers should be con- nected with the asylum, and arrangements were made for collecting funds. At the next meeting in Davenport the following month, a committee was appointed to lease a suitable building, solicit dona- tions and procure suitable furniture. This committee obtained a large brick building in Lawrence, Van Buren county, and engaged
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.