History of Kossuth County, Iowa, Part 56

Author: Reed, Benjamin F
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 879

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Algona having the little town hall in which to hold its schools had the advan- tage over almost any other portion of the county. Several very fine teachers did service there just prior to or during the Civil war, among them being Rev. Chaun- cey Taylor, J. E. Stacy, Harriette E. Taylor, Helen Rice and M. D. Blanchard. Only three schools were taught in the town hall at Irvington. When the Andruss schoolhouse burned G. C. Burtis moved his school into the hall for the winter. The other two schools were taught there years before by Miss Cogley and W. P. Davidson. Doctor Armstrong, D. W. Sample, Doctor Lathrop, A. B. Mason, John Dawley, Edward Everett and Abram Crose were among the most effective teachers

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in that vicinity in those years. Miss Steele was perhaps the best qualified of any doing service then in Cresco.

This county has had the services of thousands of teachers since the first schools were taught, but it never had but one Doctor Armstrong. He was in a class by him- self and taught as he pleased regardless of the opinions of parents or school offi- cers. His success in causing his pupils to absorb and retain a great amount of in- formation on a large number of subjects, and in mastering elementary principles has always been regarded by those acquainted with the facts as being marvelous. No other teacher was ever known to have such perfect control of pupils both in and out of schools. At home the children were much more under his control than under their parents.

Armstrong's teaching career extended through seven terms. He taught his first term in the summer of 1859 in the Green store building in the Irvington vil- lage, the second in the Howard building in the village during the winter of 1859- 60, the third in the Wright neighborhood in the summer following, the fourth on the Ridge in the winter of 1860-61, the fifth at the Crockett school house in the following summer, the sixth on the Ridge again in the winter of 1861-62 and the seventh at the Wright school house again the next summer. The writer attended the terms taught in the Green and Howard buildings and both terms of the Ridge school, and was also at the three other schools enough to know what was going on and how they were conducted. There was nothing so very extraordinary about the success of Armstrong's schools at the Howard and Crockett buildings and those taught in the Wright neighborhood. The three other terms were simply whirlwinds and taught so much alike that a description of one will answer for the others. Let us consider what he accomplished during his two terms on the Ridge and what were his methods.

His 1860-61 winter term was taught in the Mckibben claim shanty that had been moved to the premises of N. A. Knouf. The building was unplastered and the floor was used for a blackboard. Doctor Armstrong rode horseback daily to the schoolhouse which was over two miles from his home. The term was six months without a day's vacation. He taught six days in the week, six and a half hours per day, with only a half hour for dinner and no recess at all. His theory was that a teacher could drive his pupils as far as he wanted them to go, but could only coax them as far as they were pleased to come. He looked upon the work as cold-blooded and had no patience with teachers who were always smiling and coaxing. If a boy or girl on the first day of school gave an evasive answer, showed any inattention or did not respond instantly to a request from the teacher, it was the last time that boy or girl in the school ever com- mitted that kind of an offense. The strictest discipline from that moment was observed during the rest of the term. This may seem wonderful to some now, but when the methods used by that teacher are understood there is no occasion for surprise. Not one of his pupils during the time he was teaching either of those schools on the Ridge attended any kind of a social gathering whatever. Dances, spelling-schools, literary societies, sociables and courting were all ignored. This was done not by the request of the teacher, but because the pupils did not dare to spend the time away from their studies. A boy never knew when the teacher would point his finger at him and ask some question about matters that had been talked over in the class weeks before. The boy emphatically had

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to know the answer, and so did the girl if the question was asked of her. This kind of proceeding enforced a degree of studiousness never surpassed in any academy or college. There was not a smile or a waste place in that school for a moment during the six months' term. A part of the half hour at noon was spent in thinking about the lessons. The children at home were fully as studious as at school for serious reasons. After going to bed they thought over and over not only about the lessons for the coming day, but about what had been ex- plained in their lessons for weeks past. The result was that everything that a pupil knew he knew for a certainty. There wasn't one in the school either old or young who couldn't name in their order the letters of the Greek alphabet as rapidly as he could the English. All could count in Latin and all knew a long list of words which they could tell from what Latin or Greek words they had been derived.

Armstrong was able to impress such facts upon the minds of the children because of his persistent rigid drilling; and the reason why he had time to do so much of this line of work was because every answer had to be given in- stantly so that not a moment was wasted. To show how thoroughly the children knew what they had studied let one illustration suffice: One stormy night in the winter of 1861-62, Armstrong did not go home but stayed at the home of the parents of the writer. During the evening Jimmie Reed, then a little more than seven years old, lay asleep behind the stove. The teacher picked him up, stood him on his feet and said, "Wake up and show your father how far you can recite in geography before you make a mistake." The geographies then used were constructed on the plan of questions and answers. The questions were fired at the little fellow just as rapidly as could be read and the answers came back just as rapidly. On they went through chapter after chapter until more than thirty lessons had been passed when the lad made a mistake and was counted out. The question was, "What can you say of the climate of the West Indies?" The reply was, "Warm and delightful," the book answer being "Mild and de- lightful." That would be considered no mistake at all in these days at school but it was a bad one then for no slouchy work was allowed in that school; everything had to be exact. Jimmie was not the only one in school who could have answered the questions so readily for such a length of time. Every mem- ber of his class and almost any one else in the school could have done equally as well. The teacher was a regular crank on teaching the analysis of the letters of the alphabet. Often at the most unexpected time he would point to some `one and say analyze the letter "p." "Consonant, mute, labial, and aspirate" would have to be answered instantly without the least hesitation. In no other school has the writer ever seen these elements so thoroughly taught. In order to compel the pupils to keep their minds upon their work and upon nothing else, he did not allow them to leave their seats for any cause whatever, except in going to their classes to recite. A pupil who asked to leave his scat to get his slate or book always received this answer "Why didn't you attend to this before school called? You sit where you are, and if you fail in your lesson you know what you will get." The result of this severe discipline forced each one to think before he took his seat of what books or articles he was liable to use for

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the next few hours. The boys used to have several pins stuck in their coats to use in ciphering in case they lost their pencils.

Besides the branches which the law required him to teach he taught physiol- ogy, astronomy, geology, mineralogy and the elements of algebra and geometry. At times the whole school constituted one class. The floor was marked in a thousand places with different kinds of figures used in illustrating. His doc- trine was to have his pupils learn all they could by the most diligent study and then to inform them off-hand about the subject matter of other branches. In that way the pupils not only received a fine training for their minds but also received a rare fund of useful knowledge. In the first school he taught on the Ridge there was a boy attending by the name of Walter Shaw, who was about fourteen years of age and who had never seen an arithmetic before. At the beginning of school he could neither notate nor numerate numbers. At the end of that six months' term he was a complete master of Ray's third part arithmetic, besides having a fair knowledge of the elementary principles of algebra. That is the same book that thousands of pupils have studied from the time they were eight years old until they were eigliteen or twenty and then did not know half so much about it as did that son of one of Irvington's early pioneer's. Others did correspondingly well, but certainly none excelled Walter in educational attainment in so short a time. For all this extraordinary service Doctor Armstrong received for the last term $5.40 per week, boarded himself and rode over two miles twice each day. The first term, when he taught every day except Sundays, for six months he received $30 per month. This large sum was given him because there had been no school in that district during the summer previous ; so he was allowed the pay designed for two teachers.

The character of Armstrong's school was known as far south at Fort Dodge and for fifty miles east and west. Stubborn boys and girls were sometimes sent to him to school to be disciplined, at least Palo Alto and Humboldt did so. One father said to him "I have brought my boy for you to tache and I want you to either tache him to kill him, and I would as lief you would do the one as the other if not more so." The teacher's reply was "Tumble him out and I'll take great pleasure in teaching him a little and in killing him a great deal more." The boy soon learned that there was a superabundance of the latter. Armstrong had all the power of a czar over that school, the board and the parents. The reader no doubt is asking "How did he get such a control over so many people in one district, and how did he manage to get the children to do such strenuous mental toil when no one else has ever been known to do so to such an extent ?" The answer is this : Because of the strong support given him by the patrons of the school. The early settlers of old Irvington township were full of unusual peculiarities. They had implicit confidence in Doctor Arm- strong and looked up to him as a leader. As his word with them was law and gospel what he did they never questioned. One of these strange peculiarities was the fact that the more a teacher hammered, kicked and pounded their children the better they were pleased and the more they thought the teacher had done his duty. Whether the children deserved such treatment or not the teacher was requested to resort to it as a matter of established usage. With this encouragement and backing there is no doubt that Armstrong determined

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to see what were the possibilities of the child mind, and how far he could advance the school by the driving process. Truth is truth and history is history: the children were positively afraid of their lives. There was no escape for them, for no matter how harsh the treatment the parents compelled them to be in school the next day. That is where that teacher had the advantage over those who are teaching at the present time. His pupils did not dare to spend the time to attend social gatherings for fear they could not master their lessons. The fear of not having their lessons learned, or of forgetting some instruction that had been imparted to them, was what kept them away from social gatherings and caused them to engage in serious study. The punishment viewed in the light of today was severe and cruel. If he were alive today and as full of vigor as he was at that time, he could teach no such school in any part of the universe, for there are no such parents to support a teacher in conducting such a school regardless of the advancement the pupils would make under the old-time style of management. If a teacher with his methods took charge of any town schools in the county now, there wouldn't be a pupil in the schoolhouse after the first half day, for the parents would keep them at home while they were bringing various suits for assault and battery against the teacher. A short time ago two men were discussing the nature of the old- time Irvington schools when one of them remarked: "It's a wonder the big boys didn't combine and fire Armstrong out of the school-house." The other told an evident truth when he said, "If such an attempt had ever been made there would have been a funeral in every house in the neighborhood."

The account of these early schools is here introduced because it forms a part of the history of the county, and each reader can draw his own conclu- sion as to whether or not the results justified the methods. Armstrong demon- strated to posterity the great extent to which pupils may be forced to advance when their minds are centered on serious study for a term of months to the exclusion of all matters of a frivolous nature. Moreover, he made it clear that intense mental application through a school year is not injurious to health when pupils do not dissipate at social parties and kindred gatherings. Besides showing the wonderful possibilities of the child mind under the forcing process, he set an example of how the waste places in school life .can be eliminated. Those readers who may think that the author has indulged in exaggeration in giving an account of the Armstrong schools, have a chance to consult other witnesses. Ask Brint Robison of Irvington, Walter Raney, Hiram Wright. George Fisher, Iva Crook, Wesley Robison or Albert and Will Reed of Algona. If they are still not satisfied with the evidence they can write to Thos. J. Clark, New Carlisle, Indiana; Mayor Walter Shaw, Harriman, Tennessee ; Robt. Wright, Portland, Oregon ; Mrs. Martha Burtis, Seattle or Mrs. Sarah Clapp, Minne- apolis.

M. D. Blanchard took possession of the office of superintendent January 1, 1864. the coldest day ever experienced by the old settlers. He served until the close of 1865. Those desiring to teach he examined by testing them orally on questions which he had written in a little book that he always carried. His custom was to sit close in front of the applicants and when they answered correctly he would say "yes, yes, yes." As he used the same book for a year,

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his questions became pretty well known before he made a new set, and some of the applicants at the close of the year had a decided advantage over those who passed the examination in the spring. The new teachers to whom he gave certificates were A. B. Parker, Eva Benschoter, E. L. Wheeler, Viola Bellows, Liza McCoy, John Dawley, Edward Everett. Ellen Piercy, Eliza Knowles, Mary Webber, Kate Gilmour, Amy Parker, O. F. Hale, Elizabeth Miles, H. M. Bartlett. Amelia Phelps, Jennette Gilmour, Cynthia Crose, Janet Piercy, J. M. Corbin, E. C. Miles, Quincy Hudson, A. P. Buker, Elizabeth Adams, H. M. Taft, Jane Henderson ( Chapin), Josephine Minkler (Taylor ), Martha Smith (Jones) and Mrs. Mary Cleary. Of this number only the last four are living in the county. Dawley was teaching the Ridge school in Irving- ton during the winter of 1864-65, but becoming afraid of the draft he left for parts unknown. Everett, who was teaching the Wright school at the same time, was doing so under an assumed name in order to escape the draft should one be ordered.

Father Taylor came into office again on the first of January, 1866, and was succeeded by John Reed two years later. The latter lived in a little sod house on the Black Cat, on section 10 in Union township, at the time, and it was to that sod house that numerous teachers went to be examined. After a year and a half he resigned the office and A. W. Osborn was appointed by the board to fill the vacancy. That same fall of 1869 Superintendent Osborn was regularly elected. He also resigned after holding the place for a year and a half. Mr. Osborn lives at Spirit Lake; but all the other superintendents above named have passed away.

The first school house built from taxes voted for the purpose was built in 1860 in the Schenck neighborhood and after answering the purpose for a long term of years it was moved to the premises of W. F. Hofius where it is still in use as a granary.

The large immigration into the county following the close of the war brought many who found it necessary to turn their attention toward teaching to help defray their living expenses. There were some experienced teachers among them but by far the larger number were new at the business. As schools began to increase in number these newcomers, who were qualified for the places and desired them, found an opportunity to instruct the youth at very moderate wages. Residents of the latter sixties who are still in the county may have their memories refreshed as to what new teachers entered the profession in 1866 when they scan the names of those who received certificates that year. Here are the names ;

1866-Ordelia Dunton, Joseph Martin, George Orendorf. Janet Salisbury, Jessie Love, Alice Taylor, James, George W., and Joanna Minkler, Mrs. M. J. Sherwood. Mary Connell, Tillie Lambert, L. K. Garfield, Kinnie Clark, Josephine Winter, E. B. Chase, John Wallace, Dr. M. H. Hudson. La Fayette Johnson, Jane Alden, Lucy Trombley, Rosetta Sherwood. Hattie Parsons, Eugenia Hub- bard. Nellie Hatch, Esther Whitehead, Gertrude Carr, Ella Sparks, Mrs. Esther P. Hudson, Charles Wooster, M. D. L. Parsons, Carrie H. Wooster (Durant ), Lizzie Reibhoff (Winkel). Stella E. Hudson (Reed), and Elizabeth M. Reed (Horton). The last named seven are still residents of the county.

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1867-Those receiving certificates this year for the first time in the county were: Anna Dickinson, Mary Schryver, Mrs. Martha Booth, Mrs. Fidelia Gray, J. L. Martin, Lucy Leonard, Almira Garfield, A. J. Story, S. B. Reed, Lewis Knight, C. M. Dickinson, Hannah Hawks, Samuel Sands and E. L. Stevens The latter is the only one of the number living in the county.

1868-C. C. Chubb, Emma Paine, Orville Minkler, F. R. Wheelock, A. W. Osborn, Mary E. Taylor, Nancy Wallace, Ellen Durant, Myra Davison, Z. C. Andruss, John Love, G. C. Burtis, William Stacy, Emma Morgan, Rachie Hen- derson, Mrs. H. Ormiston and Mrs. Lucy M. Fish, the only resident survivor.

1869-Ada Johnson, Virgina Johnson, Mary Smith, Martha Hudson, Mrs. Della Booth, Sarah Littlefield, Ed Streator, David Arbuckle, Mary J. Brant, H. J. VanAuken, Frances Moon, Stella Wheelock, Florence Calkins, Nancy Dickinson, Lida Smith (Robison), Eva Fitch (Gardner), Rod Jain, H. P. Hatch and B. F. Reed, the present resident members being the five last named.

Having taken a general survey of the teaching force until the close of the sixties, we trace our steps back to war times and give an account of the early institutes that were the first training schools most of the teachers ever attended. The first one was held during the time when M. D. Blanchard was county super- intendent. It convened at the Algona town hall December 19, 1864 with Father Taylor as conductor and principal instructor. The few teachers in the county were in attendance as were also about fifteen of the pupils from the various schools Some business men of Algona spent much of their time there and enlivened the sessions with their discussions, prominent among them being Judge Call Rev. Wmn. Leggett, and Dr. Franklin McCoy. The session lasted six days and was considered much of a success. The writer cannot recall any person now in the county, except himself, who was a member of that first institute. The quarter centennial anniversary of that event was celebrated at the institute held in the fall of 1889, one of the features of which was a good night song by four men who had helped to sing it at the institute a quarter of a century before These were Abram and Thompson Crose, B. F. Reed and O. F. Hale.

No institute was held in 1865, but one convened about the middle of March 1866, which was conducted by Father Taylor, E. C. Miles and H. M. Taft being his assistants. Since that time one of these educational gatherings has been held regularly each year. The state contributes $50.00 towards the expense of each session, the enrollment fees and the money received for certificates during the year being used to defray the remaining expenses.

Father Taylor held his last institute in January, 1867. Supt. John Reed held the one on 1868 and the one in the spring of 1869. In this last one he was; assisted by A. W. Osborn and M. D. L. Parsons. The enrollment of that ses- sion was forty. After the resignation of John Reed the vacancy was filled by Mr. Osborn who in turn was elected to that position in the fall. In his 1870 institute he was assisted by John Reed and Chas. C. Chubb. Osborn resigned in 1871 and the institute was held that year by Miss M. Helen Wooster whom the board had appointed to fill the position until the election that year. She employed the noted educator. Jerome Allen, for conductor. This was the first time that any foreign talent had done such service at an institute in the county. Miss Wooster was elected that fall and held her office for two years. Under

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her administration for the first time applicants to teach were tested by their answers to printed questions. That custom has been followed to the present time. From that time on the examinations became more rigid, lengthy and systematic and the institute course broader and better arranged. Since the close of Miss Wooster's administration ten different persons have been elected to the office of county superintendent. They in turn have been : A. A. Brunson, A. A. Crose, J. J. Wilkinson, B. F. Reed, Bertha Carey, Frank Van Erdewyk, Frank Slagle, C. H. Belknapp, Sid J. Backus and William Shirley. The dates when elected and the periods they served are presented under the sub-head "Tabulated Election:" in the chapter "In the Realm of Politics." Each of these officials performed the service in a very different way from the others, and while doing so put into the work his or her own personality.

The forward movement along all educational lines has continued without serious interruption since the earliest times, or at least since the war. Instead of the rural schools being taught in a few cabins or claim shanties, as they were during the war, they are now conducted in 226 well equipped rural school houses. That is in striking contrast with the time in 1860 when the Schenck school house in Union was the only one in the county that had been built for that purpose. Now, instead of the town schools being taught in two little halls -- one at Algona and the other at Irvington-there are sixty-five rooms in the graded schools. Moreover, there are in the neighborhood of 350 teachers doing service as against the three who first performed that duty in 1857.

The number of youth of school age has increased wonderfully during the past thirty years. When the census was taken in 1880 there were only 6,178 people, all told, in the county, but now there are 7,800 between the ages of five and twenty-one. Those of that number who attend school get their education in school houses that have cost nearly $300,000.

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CHAPTER XXIV COLLAPSE OF COLLEGE ENTERPRISES

NORTHWESTERN COLLEGE 'OF IOWA

In recalling the multitude of events associated with the various attempts to establish institutions of higher learning in the county, the author finds himself looking back into the misty past over a period of nearly fifty years. In doing so scenes of long ago, almost forgotten, pass before him like a panorama of changing views.

The early local college enterprises have an interesting history which should not be forgotten. The war clouds of the great rebellion had hardly passed away before agitation began for the founding of an educational institution to culture the minds of our youth, develop Algona into the most populous and enterprising city of the Northwest, and give land values an upward tendency. This was the fond hope of Father Taylor, who was the leader in all the pioneer enterprises for the advancement of religion, morality and education. This was also the cherished dream of Judge Asa C. Call who longed to see, above every- thing else, the "North Grove" dotted with beautiful residences and Algona the most populous city in this region. These two pioneers began planning to found "The Northwestern College of Iowa." They perfected an organization with Father Taylor as managing secretary. No one now seems to remember who was acting in the capacity of president, but it is very probable that Judge Call had that honor. Among the incorporators besides these two were such men as Judge George G. Wright and B. F. Gue of Des Moines, Peter Melendy of Cedar Falls and J. E. Blackford of Algona. The announcement was made that the school would be under the immediate supervision of Rev. Chauncey Taylor, A. M., and Miss Lucy Leonard, assisted .by E. C. Miles; and that instruction would be given in all the branches usually taught in academies and female seminaries and also in the theory and practice of teaching.

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History of Kossuth County, Iowa, Part 56

Author: Reed, Benjamin F Publication date: 1913 Publisher: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 879

Author: Reed, Benjamin F
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 879