USA > Iowa > Mills County > History of Mills County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc. > Part 62
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" The sacred seer with scientific truth In Grecian temples taught the attentive youth, With ceasless change, how restless atoms pass From life to life, a transmigrating mass,"
to that of to-day when men's thoughts are turned outward toward Nature seeking the cause and explanation of its phenomena, not in the "influence of the gods who haunt the lurid interspace of world on world, where never creeps a cloud nor moves a wind, nor ever falls the least white star of snow, nor ever lowest roll of thunder moans, nor sound of human sorrow mounts to mar their sacred everlasting calm,"-but in Nature itself. Men are bound to question Nature, and where shall that question- ing better begin than in the common school room, surrounded by proper and appropriate influences, and under the guidance of skilled and trained teachers. The work of such a teacher will be more than a mere per- functory discharge of mechanical duties; such a teacher will never be content with the orderly management and systematic communication of other people's results. Agassiz recognized in 1871 the need of teachers, trained not alone in the common branches, but in science, for how else shall the attention of hundreds of thousands whose alma mater is the common or district school, otherwise learn to read the truths that lie like diamonds on every hand, or nod smilingly out from every flower? Said Louis Agassiz: "The times seems to have come when to the received methods and approved topics of popular education, such branches of physical and natural science should be added as have acquired real impor- tance for the business of life during the last fifty years. There is only one difficulty in the way of this most desirable result. There are no teachers to be had, whatever efforts might be made to introduce these studies at present, and the demand is likely to become more pressing every day. It would seem, therefore, to be the part of wisdom to consider what may be done to prepare the way, and I hold it will be best to organize a special normal school for the training of scientific teachers. The world will require them everywhere before many years are past." It is the happy
536
HISTORY OF MILLS COUNTY.
lot of the teacher of to-day to live in one of those most eventful periods of intellectual and moral history, when these oft-closed gates of discovery and reform stand open at their widest. How long these good days may last none can tell. It may be that the increasing power and range of the scien- tific method, with its stringency of argument and constant check of fact, may start the world on a more steady and continuous course of progress than it has moved on heretofore. It is for those among the teachers of this county whose minds are set on the advancement of education and educational methods, to make the most of present opportunities, that even when in future years progress is arrested, as checked it may be, it shall be arrested at the higher level.
Aside from the qualifications that should be required in teachers, there is another important feature of the common-school system that should by no means be overlooked-that of the superintendency. It is now a rec- ognized fact that a system, the workings of which are as complicated as is our common-school system, needs some responsible head to which the teacher in trouble or in doubt may appeal. This is found in the high- est school officer in the county-the superintendent of schools. The very nature of his task and the duties of his office make it imperative that he should be a man of large experience and broad views, able both to advise and correct. It is an office indispensable to the workings of the system as now constituted, and is more effective, and most affective when fitness is considered as the sole recommendation. It is not only a notorious but a disgraceful fact, that the aims of the office are defeated by party ends, and its usefulness abridged by unwise partisan selections. From the school and its direction, its teaching and its teacher, all questions of a political nature should be banished. The school-room is not the proper place for their discussion, and the selectionof a superintendent on a political basis alone, is a most flagrant error. To insure the efficiency of the office, men of sterling worth, tried in school methods and able to direct, should be elected, and the choice ought to be unanimous, and made with a view to the highest interest of the patrons of the school.
Another feature of equal if not of greater importance is the retention of good teachers. The educational interests of a county can usually be safely intrusted to the care of professional teachers. Their avocation makes them necessarily jealous of their reputation, and jealousy of this kind almost invariably leads to greater and more enduring successes. The earlier teachers, and this is not meant altogether disparagingly. kept school rather than taught, and even then their duties were confiined to a few months' task in winter or summer. Aside from the few paltry dol- lars they saw in it, they had no interest in their occupation, and were con- stantly leaving the teachers' ranks for other and more renumerative em- ployment. It is a sad fact that this same evil prevails to-day, and the
537
HISTORY OF MILLS COUNTY.
necessities of education demand that it should be remedied. Greater per- manency in the vocation of teaching must be guaranteed, or talent and culture will be induced neither to enter or remain in the work. So long as this remains a prevailing neglect, the schools will be shorn of their greatest efficiency, and the development of youth into a nobler manhood prove a failure. After city and township districts select suitable men and women to take charge of schools, and find that they possess the requisite qualifications, let them allow no moneyed nor any other consideration to influence these successful teachers to withdraw from their tested positions. Unless this principle more commonly obtain, continual experiment must necessarily take the place of a true educational philosophy.
There is another feature rapidly becoming a part of the common school system which promises the greatest results. That feature is the normal institute work, now being annually inaugurated and conducted through a term of weeks in this county. The system has been tested in other coun- ties, and with the most flattering success. The amount of work com- pressed into a short month's study in one of these summer normals is truly astonishing. The county superintendent vigorously co-operates in this matter, and thus new life and enthusiasm is infused in the teachers present. To foster this new adjunct of popular education should now become one of the main self-imposed duties of school officials through- out the county, for thus will be given them the better classes of teachers -classes ever becoming stronger in their avocation from both study and experience. While a certain per cent of new teachers must continually be presented it is not necessary that employment be given them because they are cheaper. The country districts especially suffer from this inimical policy, a policy which, while it annually saves a few dollars, ruins very often the educational capabilities of a child. The school-room blunders of experienced teachers are often grievous and many; it is hence the height of folly to subject a school to the immeasurably more disastrous ones of totally inexperienced teachers.
Passing from these general considerations to the purely historical phase of this chapter, it may be remarked that the progress in educational mat- ters and interest has been commensurate with the material growth of the county in other respects. The attention of the reader is now invited to a summary of this growth.
It must not be supposed that while the pioneers who settled these prai- ries and valleys were busy redeeming the wilderness and surrounding themselves with domestic comforts, they forgot to plant the seeds of those institutions among which they were reared. As soon as a sufficient num- ber of children could be gathered together the school-house made its appearance, rude at first, like the primitive houses of the settlers, but adapted to the circumstances of the people in those times. Pioneer
538
HISTORY OF MILLS COUNTY.
school-houses were usually log structures warmed in winter by fire-places similar to those in the pioneer houses. Slanting shelves were used for desks, and in front of these were benches made of slabs. These were for the "big scholars." A row of similar benches stood in front of these upon which the smaller pupils sat. The buildings were sometimes without doors, and paper was made to subserve the purposes of window glass. The books then in use were such as would not be tolerated now. Web- ster, Dilworth, Pike, Daboll or Murray were their authors. These books were well adapted to the capacities of those who had mastered the branches of which they treated, but not to those of beginners. The meth- ods of teaching were then quite different from the present. The early set- tlers, as had been their fathers before them, were reared with full faith in the maxim, "spare the rod and spoil the child." The first teachers were usually anxious that pupils should not spoil on their hands, and many old men retain a vivid remembrance of what school discipline was in their boyhood.
An account of the exercises during half a day of school in the olden time would be amusing, though, in some respects, it is an open question whether modern customs are all great improvements. Many can remember that when word was passed around, "master's comin'!" a grand scramble for seats occurred, so that every one was found in his place and a suspi- cious kind of order prevailed when the august dispenser of wisdom en- tered. It must be admitted, however, that notwithstanding the miserable text-books then in use, and the, in many respects, awkward methods of teaching which prevailed, the schools of that period furnished some axcel- lent scholars; perhaps, almost a larger proportion than those of the pres- ent time. It is not meant that people then knew more; indeed, if the truth must be told, they knew far less. But ability to conquer intricate problems, and without aid, is almost a thing of the past in the country school. More that is really necessary to and applicable in life is now taught, to be sure, and herein lies the great superiority of the common school of to-day.
It is not necessary here to state where or when the first school was taught, and the first school-house built. For facts of this nature the reader is referred to the chapter on old settlers and settlements, where will be found quite a complete account of the facts relative to the early schools. It remains now to call attention to the subjoined statistics*, the study of which will present the county's educational advantages and resources as no words can.
*The matter composing this table was kindly furnished by county superintendent, Miss M. Maude Archibald.
539
HISTORY OF MILLS COUNTY.
STATISTICAL TABLE.
DISTRICT.
SCHO'LS
TEACHERS,
PUPILS,
SCHOOL HOUSES.
App'atus.
Libraries|
No. of subdistricts or name of inde- pendent dist'ets. the latter marked with an *
No. ungraded.
Rooms in graded.
Months of school.
Males.
Females.
Males.
Females.
Males.
Females.
No. of different pupils.
Average daily attendance.
Cost per month per capita.
Frame.
Brick.
Valuc.
Valne.
No. of volumes.
Bonded indebtedness.
* Wearins.
9
21
1[$30.00|$25.00|
17
18
26| 14|$2.001
1
430| 300
$ 30 20
Independent No. 1.
9
1
1
32.00
25.00
29
22
46
12
2-55
1
Fairview.
8
1
33.75
33
29
50
31
1.06
1
* Emerson
3
9
1
2 50.00
31.25
81
75
155
87
1.29
1
3,500
40
*Tabor.
3
9
1
42.00
34.00
18
20
27
1.30
1
6,500
50
$ 2.700
*Sandiland.
1
8
2
28.00
32
19
16
28
16
1.79
1
100
*Foxworthy
1
9
1
30.00
32.50
32
33
68
1
1,000
3
1
*Farm Creek ..
1
5
1
35.00
25 00
18
16
22
12
2 55
1
250
*South Grove.
1
Pickerell ..
1
6
1
32.50
16
12
28
19
1.78
1
2,000
2,000
*Silver Creek.
1
8
1
1
35.00
21.00
17
13
30
19
2.37
1
1,000
15
1
*Center Line.
6
1
1
40.00
33.00
23
33
56
24
1.26
1
300
10
*Pleasant Hill
1
9
1
2
33.00
25.00
17
33
26
1.33
1 1
200
100
Walnut Grove.
7
1
1
35.00
29 00
27
23
11
2.07
1
400
*Forrester.
1
8
3
28.00
16
17
36
26
.80
1
500
15
* Sunbeam
1
8
3
28.75
12
48
23
1 25
1
700
*Golden Hill
8
2
33.00
22
45
201 34
15
2.00
1
400
*Letal.
1
8
1
40 00
35
31
50
15
21
.49
1
1
400
43
1
* White Cloud No. 2
1
10
1
33.50|
25
30
43
20
16
15
26
1.34
1
400
25
Keystone
71%
1
1
35.00!
28 00
26
19
44
24
1.31
2
400
100
*Hillsdale
8
1
11
30.00
45.00
61
64
142
63
16
1.26
1
200
*Sunrise.
7
2
25 00
69
54
67
48
1.13
2
1
1,400
Boxelder
1
ʻ
35.00
34 00
28 72
35
56
27 20
2
1
1,600
25
Glenwood Tp.
38
3
5
33 00
27.00 29 00
190
17
21
30
14
24
1.45
1
4,500
50
3,900
* Anderson.
1
8
1
30.00
14
40
14
27
1.31
3
600
10
*Indian Creek.
1
2
1
37.00
20 00
22
26
40
20
1,15
1
1 33
1
500
Prairie Valley .
1
6
6
2
31.00
21
17
26
10
20
1 50
1
500
*Silver ...
1
9
.
3 7 82.50
46.00
34
37
~1
30
1.50
1
600
100
1
*Elm Grove
1
-2
1
1
33.00
25.00
34
37
48
23
1.25
1
400
* Excelsior.
1
8
1
29 00
12
15
47
+16;
2.80
4:25
25
2
Rawles Tp.
9
6
12 29.00
28.00
155
148
240
14
2.89
9
4,650
*Egypt
1
1
1
35.00
25.00
35
37
55
12
2.79
1
7,500
*Spring Valley
1
8
27.00
15
20
30
13
2.13
1
500
12
*No 5
1
9
1
35 00
*Center
1
8
1
1
35.00
30.00
43
33
156
155
219
1.20
1
1 3,700
12
400
Union
1
8
1
28.001
19
21
32
18
1.57
1
500
35
* Pleasant Valley .. 1
8
1
35.00
18
23
13
23
1.90
1
600
29
*Pleasant Grove ... 1
9
1
. .
35.00
22
22
33
18
1.80
. .
1 1,000
75
1
Summary.
64.20 469
49 99
1.791 2,230 3,617
71
7
$77,305|
$1,354
1231
$13,200
.
1
1
31.00
15
16
13
2.18
1
600 1,000
150
Burr Oak
19
12
15 25
44
58
.94
1
400
10
1
*Glynn
1
6
1
1 35.00
27.00
28
24
30
6.40
1
300
*District. No. 2.
1
2
1
34.00
25.00
19
16
99
1.67 1.59
1
400
100
*McClain
1
. .
9
1
43.00
26
28
1
100
100
*District No. 6.
1
9
1
38 00
27.00
7
6
49 190
20
5
3,900
75
Barrett
1
0
1
8
1
1
32.50
35.00
18
23
30
138
73
.85
1
.
14
.92
1
400
35
Union Valley
1
9
1
35.00
30 00
12
18
28
417 332
1.47
2
15,000
*Glenwood
1
8
9
2
1
1
8
Q
28 00
9
19
24
14
2.04
1
1
1
500
2
St. Mary's
1
8
1
35.00
·
1
3
75.00
35.00!
28 31.
16
44
20
.79
1.23
1.60
1
60 50
*Malvern
4
9
1
53.00 45.00
95
66 19
26
1.25
1
600
Platteville Tp.
8
5
1
800 200
Ingraham Center ..
1
*Hastings.
3
91%
. .
700
15
1
*West Liberty.
1
0
32.00
34
38
24
1 27
1
*Mt. Vernon
1
8
1 3 1 1188.
25.00
32
19
51
21
1.66
1
800
600
Maple Grove.
8
employed.
Number
Salary per month.
Between 5 and 21 yrs of age.
Number.
*Osborn Valley.
1
8
29.00
12
20 17
1.65
1
800 250
800
26.00
14
12
26
58
1
1
50℃
Center.
3
9
. .
3 1
2 25 00
27.50
23
387
405
*Benton.
3
35.00
.
.
7 6
500
400
28
45
26
24 150
.
.
2
*District No. 4.
2.00
1
22
2.50 1.33
1 11
1
1.62
500
1
1
25 21
8
.
+ This should be 16.25.
8
*Prairie Creek
.
49
540
HISTORY OF MILLS COUNTY.
TEMPERANCE.
There is a suggestion of the completest misery in the bare mention of this word. That not only men, but women, in an advanced period of civ- ilization,-men and women who not only profess but very frequently act upon a high code of morals-should indulge in fostering a love for strong drink, with scarcely a protest against it, is one of the most startling facts in moral history. It is, however, perfectly normal and in no degree incon- sistent with the doctrine of natural moral perceptions, while it opens out fields of ethical inquiry of very deep, though painful interest. It is here proper, perhaps, to explain more fully the meaning of this last sentence, but in its explanation is involved, in not a few cases, the cause of a life made unhappy by drink. By natural moral perceptions are meant here- ditary proclivities, hereditary likes and dislikes. If, in the modern pscy- chology there is any one fact thoroughly substantiated it is that mental habit and individual tastes not only may be, but actually are, transmitted through several or long lines of generations. And among these may be included diseases and the germs of disease, aberrant mental peculiarites and tastes for sensual indulgences or enjoyments that are in themselves demoralizing and damning. From time immemorial men have indulged in the fruit of the vine or its product, have sedulously employed intoxicat- ing beverages, first as stimulants, then for the mental pleasure or exhilira- tion they confer, and why? Oftentimes through hereditary desires, and then again from sheer determination to cultivate a taste for these bever-' ages on the recommendation or example of others. And so the tide has ever increased, and with it has increased the amount of human woe, wrong and crime. Vain have been all attempts to stay the tide; vain have been protestations and entreaties; vain has been prohibitory legisla- tion; in the natural order of things the disease-for it is nothing else-has fastened itself upon the human race, and there is no outside power that can stay it.
Locked in the heart of the victim of strong drink is the only safeguard, the only potent agency to stay the tide, and that agency is self-will. We may hedge the sufferer around with the arm of the law, may bring to his aid all the moral forces we can muster, may present the incentive of vir- tue or the example of pure living, all of these would be in vain until the man rises in his might and asserts his manhood, his power over himself. The mightiest barrier a man can oppose to the sway of passion or to the bent of inbred desire is self-knowledge. The old Greek proverb of "know thyself," meant more than a mere index to a true philosophy of the mind; it pointed to the only sure safeguard within the possession of man against crime and against self-abuse in any direction.
541
HISTORY OF MILLS COUNTY.
Sad, indeed, has been the temperance history of the human race. Who could tell the myriads of brave hearts and noble minds which have fallen as victims to its absence. Lives untold have been wrecked, possibilities unmeasurable have been defeated, promises without number brought to nought, hopes on which rested the joys of millions have been wrested away, claims which pure hearts only could meet have gone unsatisfied, and homes without number have been depleted of all that is bright or holy in life. There was little exaggeration after all in the beautiful hyper- bole of Hume, when writing of this same topic, who said: "To tell the ravages of this curse it would require the heavens for a canvass, the oceans for color, the forests for a pencil and a Job for the artist."
To measure the value of an opinion or a system it is not alone sufficient to examine the ideals of its originators, it requires rather a knowledge of how far those ideals have been realized among the people. Its value as a savior must be reckoned by the work done, rather than the good inten- tions or hopes of the founders. Measured by this criterion little has been done in Mills county. From almost its earliest formation there have been organizations-church and special-and what has been accomplished? Nothing! The Washingtonian movement swept over the county and many, for the time being, were gathered in its folds; it was gone, and the safeguards went with it. The creeds have been tried, but are powerless to stay the cravings of the unholy thirst, or take away the inborn desire. The Good Templars have had their day,-but refusing the privileges of their order to those who most needed their help-forming themselves into a kind of righteous aristocracy-aside from ostentatious bluster-and blunder-they accomplished nothing. The strong arm of the law has been appealed to, only to be overwhelmingly defeated by both grand and petit juries; the interest and religion of men have alike been sought with a corresponding result. Temperance congresses and conferences have met, talked, prayed, passed resolutions-some of which never found the light-and were forgotten. Names innumerable have been presented to legislative bodies in the form of petitions, and when the opportunity came to vote for rum it was eagerly seized, and their record on the petition for- gotten. Away with these ideas! They have resulted in more hypocrites. and made more pseudo-reformers than all the cloisters of Europe ever sent forth. What is needed is action like that of the women of Ohio, who, when her recreant brother trembled and excused himself, went forth axe in hand to do valiant battle. Out of the heart of Ohio came the im- petus that has saved more men than all the temperance organizations, and women led the van. If some of her sex lead men to ruin, there are thousands more who may lead them to virtue and sobriety. They are the only bright feature in the temperance history of this county, and to them must be given the praise for all that has been wrought. Such organiza-
1
542
HISTORY OF MILLS COUNTY.
tions as now exist in the county may be found in the history of the respec- tive towns to which they belong. This is one of the questions which, like the ghost in Hamlet, will not down. Look at it in whatever light one may, it possesses a vast political importance in the sense of public econ- omy. Where to engage it, and how, is a problem that can only be solved by concerted action at the ballot box. The evil finds its strongest entrench- ment in legislative halls, and to be successfully attacked, the onset must be made at the polls and the election of men of known, pronounced, and uncompromising temperance views should be placed in legislative positions. True, this is not, and ought not to be made the one feature that shall com- mand the elective franchise, but it is an essential without which no man should receive a ballot.
RELIGIOUS HISTORY.
The groves were God's first temples. Ere man learned To hew the shaft, and lay the architrave, And spread the roof above them-ere he framed The lofty vault, to gather and roll back The sound of anthems-in the darkling wood, Amidst the cool and silence he knelt down And offered to the Mightiest solemn thanks And supplications .- Bryant.
"No man liveth to himself alone." So reasoned those God-fearing men of old when first they came to Mills county. They came, not to old and well established towns, where are found the "lofty vaults," but to regions sparsely settled; not among men accustomed to homes of luxury and elegance, but to farming districts, where now first were beginning to be heard the hum of honest industry and faithful toil. The men among whom they came had little in common with the object of their mission. They were men whose sole thought was of broad acres and material wealth. The travel-stained preacher of that olden time, strong in consti- tution and vigorous in mind, stronger still in faith and powerful in prayer, sought out these sturdy men and brought to their very doors the consola- tion of the gospel. For these very messages hearts were aching, and many were the souls forced to cry out: "Oh that I knew where I might find him!" The seeds of virtue have been sown by a good Providence in all hearts, and they will spring up everywhere to His glory, if carefully nurtured. They are not wholly the result of learning and cultivation, and it is not only in old and refined communities that the lovely flowers of an
543
HISTORY OF MILLS COUNTY.
exalted morality shed their perfume. The early men of God knew this principle and recognized, too, the importance of its culture, and so devoutly addressed themselves to the task. It is well-nigh impossible to correctly estimate the value of the work of these men; to estimate their influence on the character of this growing county. Welcomed everywhere, for the news they brought from other homes, as well as for the " good tidings of great joy," they went from place to place, greeting with smiles and cheerful words the old; with counsel or reproof the young. Many and varied were the duties devolving upon them. A sermon here, a burial yonder; now a wedding, and then summoned to the bedside of a penitent sinner, what wonder the coming of these men was attended with bles- sings.
It is the essence of christianity that it be aggressive. It wars upon vice in all its forms, and brooks not even the appearance of evil. Checked, and for the time being thwarted in one direction, it only gathers energy for a greater onset in another, prepares and plumes itself for a more sub- lime flight. If men will not embrace its offered salvation, it goes to them with invitation and warning. This missionary element of Christianity alone enabled its propagation under circumstances so trying; and the men who were its embassadors were thoroughly imbued with the same spirit that sent Paul into Asia and Luke to the Gentiles. It was the same spirit that prompted those noble men of God to hie them away to the jungles of Asia, or brave the wilds of Africa-men whose names make bright the pages of the church miltant, and will add a brighter lustre to the church triumphant. What though its story lacks somewhat of the tragic brilliancy of political intrigue and plotting; what though it has not startled the world by those grand discoveries that make science so great a power in the land-discoveries that enable us to tell the myriad stars that people space, that impress us with wonder at the power and greatness of the In- finite! What though it partakes of the nature of none of them? Has it not brought to bear on man's intelligence the highest motives to virtue? Let the records of the past years testify to its power. Let the hallowed memories that stretch aback down the years of the past answer. This, too, was done when gilded churches were not; when the elect of God in the common-school room listened to the life-giving word from the lips of men sent of God. And who were these men? Were they not morally brave to dare the scoffs of an untried and untempered west? Were they not men whose love for the fallen outweighed every personal considera- tion so that they gave all for Christ? Where was their power? Was it not in that element of a truly noble character that men prize above all else -sympathy? Aye, and that was the principle which made the Son of God so welcome a visitant in the lowly homes of Palestine. It was a prin- ciple which bound their own hearts, as it did Christ's, to those in suffering
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