USA > Iowa > Page County > History of Page County, Iowa : also biographical sketches of some prominent citizens of the county, Vol. I > Part 38
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May 30. A hospital building ordered erected.
June 3. Presbyterian church was purchased for a hospital for five hundred dollars.
June 4. Quarantined against Clarinda and Farragut.
June II. J. C. Wilson employed as quarantine officer.
June 17. Bed clothing, clothing and goods that had been in contact with smallpox patients ordered destroyed.
June 19. Three thousand dollars paid to pay smallpox claims.
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June 29. Health officer reported thirteen patients still under guard at the hospital, all out of danger but two. Quarantine ordered raised upon the discretion of the health officer.
February 5, 1886. Shenandoah reorganized from an incorporated town to a city of the 2d class and boundaries of the wards fixed.
April 5. J. W. Schwartz elected marshal to receive as compensation "fees only." Proposition of F. S. Burkhard to put in a system of waterworks rejected as inexpedient in the state of the city's finances. Each member of the council, the mayor and clerk appropriated five dollars from his salary to plant trees on Arbor Day. First Monday in April fixed as permanent Arbor Day.
May 18. Petition and remonstrance received regarding the removal of stallions from Lowell avenue. This was the beginning of the stallion controversy continuing ever since.
July 6. A wheel grader purchased for eighty-five dollars.
November 3. New springs and rubbers purchased for fire engine.
January 4, 1887. Mayor was instructed to loan fifteen hundred dollars of the city funds.
January 13. Improvements ordered for the jail, including chain and shackle.
February I. Five hundred dollars more loaned.
May 7. Judgment of Mrs. Fleming against the city settled for ten hundred and seventy dollars.
August 2. City Hall leased to Free Methodists at two dollars per week.
October II. Office of engineer and night watch dispensed with and fire engine ordered set aside. Agreement to pay twenty dollars per month for night watch, balance to be paid by citizens.
January 3, 1888. A fire bell ordered, weighing one thousand pounds.
July 3. Four thousand dollars of city bonds paid.
August 7. Petition received from citizens asking for some system of fire protection.
August 14. Resolution of thanks to Captain Mount and the military company for services the night of the Gallup tragedies, also to D. S. Camp- bell and T. H. Winfrey who were wounded. Also resolutions of condolence to families of B. O. Rice and F. J. Pine, killed.
August 28. Tax levy made seven mills, same as year before. The rate was twelve mills for several years.
June 4, 1889. Circus license fixed at seventy-five dollars. Changed to fifty dollars July 2. Five hundred dollar bond paid July I. Five hundred dollar bond also paid January 1, 1890.
December 17, 1889. Names of several streets changed and one hundred signs ordered for the streets.
April 9, 1890. Ordinance passed prohibiting the keeping of stallions in the corporate limits.
May 26. Five hundred dollar bond ordered paid. Two wells ordered on Sheridan avenue.
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October 7. George E. Claflin of St. Louis was present and solicited franchise for ten years for electric lighting. Special meeting called to consider the subject.
November 7. Resolution for special election to vote upon a two mill tax to pay for ten arc lights for ten years carried. Petition of I. N. Whita- ker for street railway franchise presented.
November 22. Election proclamation rescinded.
March 16, 1891. Five hundred dollar bond paid.
April 7. Franchise asked for by Shenandoah Electric Light & Power Company. Vote ordered for April 27. Vote cast stood three hundred and seventy-three for franchise and forty-one against.
May 5. Fire limits extended to include triangular block bounded by Clarinda avenue, Sheridan avenue and Sycamore street.
July 7. City contracted for twenty-seven electric street lights. October 6 three more lights contracted.
December 4. Five hundred dollar bond paid. Use of city building tendered for Western Normal College.
February 2, 1892. R. W. Morse and others presented city a deed to three-eights of an acre of ground at entrance to cemetery.
March 8. Five hundred dollar bond paid.
March 21. P. H. Mentzer and others presented a petition asking that a special election be called to vote upon the question of putting in a system of waterworks.
May 3. O. S. Smith and others presented a petition for the organization of a fire company.
June 7. City papers requested to publish proceedings of council free of charge. Clerk ordered to correspond and procure information regarding the cost of street paving. A speedy investigation of the subject of water- works ordered by a committee of the whole.
July 5. George Cotrill elected fire marshal and J. W. Schwartz assist- ant. President Wiley of the Omaha Electric Light & Power Company invited here to advise as to the cost and method of putting in waterworks.
CAUSES OF GROWTH.
The causes of the organization and growth of Shenandoah may be briefly stated here as follows :
Ist. Unparalled fertility of the soil of the surrounding country. When in 1869 and 1870 the prairie lands began to be occupied by farmers and the wonderful productiveness began to be generally known there was a demand for farms and land was speedily taken. These early farmers had need of all kinds of supplies and the first merchants did a large business, thus building up a flourishing trading point within the first three or four years. Shenandoah was about equally distant from Red Oak, Clarinda, Hamburg and Sidney, the principal trading points at that time and was therefore properly located to secure the bulk of the trade that was not convenient to those towns. As above indicated, the railroad company favored Riverton.
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hoping to build up a large town there and secure the county seat of Fre- mont county, but the location was too near Hamburg to secure a large country trade and Shenandoah continued to forge ahead, drawing the trade of the pioneer farmers from a territory nearly ten miles in every direc- tion from the young town.
2d. Shenandoah was fortunate in the character of its first residents. They were honest, energetic and enterprising. The early Mormons, who settled in this vicinity, were of the class whose love of morality and virtue prevented them from following the polygamists to Utah. They have been from the first among the most law-abiding and conscientious of our citizens. The early settlers from Illinois and other states were intensely loyal and American in all their sentiments, believed in schools, churches and good government. Except for one short year the town never permitted a saloon to exist herc. The business men were energtic and pushed for trade. Thus the town's citizenship had a favorable beginning and from that time to the present Shenandoah has been noted for its morality and progressive spirit. attracting to it the best of citizens.
3d. The establishment of the Western Normal College here in 1883 made the town an educational center and attracted here many hundred people.
4th. The location of the Humeston & Shenandoah Railroad machine shops here and making this the terminus of the road gave employment to a large number of railroad men who became permanent residents of the town.
5th. The establishment of great nurseries here, the largest in the west. gives employment to a steadily increasing number of hands and brings to the city more and more trade each year.
The fact that the topography of the country was such that all railroads passing through this part of lowa must enter the Nishna valley or traverse it at this point made the shrewd early settlers realize that Shenandoah would become a railroad center and such has already been proven, three important railroads now reaching or passing through the city. Any future roads that may be built to the southwest and passing through this vicinity must necessarily come right here to avoid hills and heavy grading on either side. Shenandoah is at the natural gateway to the southwest.
SHENANDOAH SCHOOLS.
The following article was prepared by Mrs. S. E. Field, formerly of Shenandoah, now of Highlands. California. Mrs. Field taught the first school in Shenandoah, and in this article she gives a graphic portrayal of its history. Mrs. Mary Welty Smith, the wife of Dr. Smith, taught school in Shenandoah in 1878. Her school experience in Shenandoah is herein given and follows that of Mrs. Field. These articles were prepared for the first Annual of the Shenandoah high school, which appeared in 1907 and was edited by the senior class of that year.
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THE FIRST SCIIOOL IN SHENANDOAH.
Mrs. S. E. Field.
It is a great pleasure to me to be asked to help with your first Annual and I write you this pen picture of Shenandoah's first school with the same joy in the labor that I felt when I opened that school thirty-six years ago last December.
First, you must imagine a little house of two rooms standing all alone in the prairie grass where C. S. Keenan's residence now stands. A family living in the west room and the east room, the school room, was but twelve by fourteen with but one window, a north one. There was a north and a south door, and a stove stood in the middle of the room. This first home of our schools held eighteen pupils at first, but as the little city grew, the number rapidly increased and by April there were forty. The pupils were requested to bring chairs from home but in those days an extra chair or two, or three or four, was more than many a home could boast and so some brought boxes which were used both as seats and for holding books. One little fellow found a seat on a nail keg belonging to the woman who lived in the other room. The keg was half full of beans, which furnished our material for work along kindergarten lines, for all grades were repre- sented from kindergarten to high school.
The children were newcomers from north, south, east and west and had text books from all known authors. I was fresh from school work in Illinois and unused to such conditions, but I was young and happy, the bride of a month, and full of energy, strength, missionary zeal and love for children, and liked my task of laying aside books and teaching by the topic and lecture methods.
Every morning I rode on my pony the two miles from home, cross country through the native grass. The boys watched to see me come over what is now "college hill" and vied with each other to get the opportunity to help me alight and to care for my horse. I often think of those lessons taught, probably the first lectures ever given in Shenandoah. Whether any real educational advancement was made by those children that winter I am not the one to judge. but I have always hoped that I planted some seeds in those bright young minds during that busy, happy school year of 1870-71, that made lives broader and better for the world and the Master. From that humble beginning to the present flourishing schools is a far cry, but here are congratulations to the class of 1907 from the godmother of their school system.
LATER HISTORY OF THE SCHOOLS. Mrs. Mary Welty Smith.
In the fall of 1870, where Shenandoah now stands, was a new western town, a group of small plain houses, not one having any but the necessary living rooms for its occupants. This village was in the midst of an unbroken
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prairie. It boasted neither schoolhouse nor church. There were no old people here then ; the young, middle aged and children made up the popu- lation. One of the first thoughts was for the provision of a school. The first term, taught by Mrs. Field, is above mentioned. In the spring of 1871 a barn was built on Thomas avenue and used as a schoolhouse, Miss Eunice Baker being the teacher.
In the summer of 1871 Mentzer Brothers erected their store building, finishing the upper story for a public hall. There all public meetings, church services and school were held for more than two years. The homes being small, many social functions were held there and enjoyed with the heartiness and good will prevailing in new communities. The seats were long and high, all right for adults but hard on the little ones who sat with dangling feet, their books and slates beside them or in their laps, for there were no desks. Terms were taught there by Mrs. Bascom, J. R. Badham, Miss Julia Burnet and S. E. Field.
The Independent District of Shenandoah was organized in 1872. In March, 1873, the following directors were elected: R. B. Crose, J. Swain, A. J. Welty, J. Stokes and A. B. West. In the organization of the board Mr. Crose was chosen president and Mr. West secretary.
In the summer and fall of 1873 the first school building was erected in Shenandoah, a two-story, two-room brick building with halls and cloak rooms. This building may still be seen at the southwest corner of the west building on Clarinda avenue. The first principal was W. P. Jeffrey ; the first primary teacher, Miss Gray of Sidney. Mr. Jeffrey held this position until the spring of 1876. Meantime the rooms had become so crowded and classes so numerous that the more advanced pupils were often asked to hear recitations of the lower classes in the cloak rooms. Other teachers in the lower department were Misses Stella Reed and Mary Lacy.
In the summer of 1876 an addition was built to the west and north, containing four rooms. Two of these were completed and occupied that year and the remaining ones, the north rooms, were finished and occupied in 1877. June 21, 1878, was the first Commencement Day in the history of the Shenandoah high school. The class motto was "Rather Use than Fame." The class numbered two, Katie Carey and Mary Welty, the latter having been a member of the school since its organization.
The course of study at that time included Latin and German. The corps of teachers were: Principal, C. S. Chase, Misses M. C. Tubbs, Lulu Ritner, F. M. Long, Nellie Ritner and Alice Baker.
The class of 1879 consisted of seven members: Hattie Allphin, Cora Carey, Addie Williams, Etta Allphin. Eunice Smith, Richard Carey and Thomas Beard. At this time Mr. Chase severed his connection with the school and was succeeded by O. J. Colton, who remained one year, gradu- ating a class of two-Addie Argus and Ella LeBarron.
Thus closed one decade of the history of the Shenandoah schools. Since then they have grown rapidly. They have had more and better apparatus and a better library, but I doubt if they have worked with more enthusiasm or enjoyment than did we in the early days.
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Mrs. S. E. Field has written suggestively of the first school in Shen- ยท andoah and Mrs. Dr. Smith has given an accurate and detailed description of the first eight years of the public schools. It only remains now to con- tinue the narrative from the departure of Superintendent O. G. Colton, in 1880, to the present time.
C. H. Guerney was elected superintendent of the schools in 1880. The school was still held in the white building only. At first the average at- tendance was about two hundred but as the number of pupils increased and more rooms were needed, in 1882-83 the north wing of the red building was erected at a cost of five thousand dollars, thus furnishing sufficient room for several years. Among the most prominent teachers in the grades at that time were Misses Kittie Laws, Lu Ritner and Lu Tucker. No man could have done more for the schools than Superintendent Guerney during the eight years that he remained. In the second year of the superintendency he reorganized the high-school course and enlarged it so that it would be an accredited school and its graduates could thus enter the university with- out examination. In consequence of this there were no graduates from the years 1880 to 1884. In 1888 he left Shenandoah, having been elected superintendent of the schools in Marengo, Iowa. During his superintend- ency the schools certainly reached their highwater mark and no man in all the history of the schools has been held in greater esteem by both pupil and patron. His successor was A. B. Carroll, who remained five years. In 1800 he put out a course of study and revised it in 1892, putting in two years of Latin and a special instructor of penmanship.
There were in 1892 three high school teachers, including the superin- tendent, and ten grade teachers. The entire teaching force had grown to fifteen in 1892. In 1891 the front wing of the red building was added, making the school on Clarinda avenue as it stands today.
F. A. Lacey succeeded Mr. Carroll in 1893. In 1894 the number of teachers had increased to seventeen. He remodeled the course of study, extending the course in Latin to four years, putting in a college preparatory and an English course, each of four years. During his stay the open recess was done away with in the high school and grades and marching substi- tuted. In inclement weather this was carried on indoors. O. E. Smith and Mr. Lacey exchanged places in 1897. Mr. Smith coming here from North Des Moines. He brought out a new modern grade course of study in 1901. He revised the high-school course first in 1899 and again in 1902, making some changes and enriching the different departments. The class of 1898 was the first to graduate from the four-year Latin course.
During Mr. Smith's stay, he succeeded in having the high-school teach- ers assigned to definite departments of work instead of teaching subjects miscellaneously. The high-school had kept pace with the onward march of the colleges, and students graduating from the revised course of this period were recognized by all state schools The average high-school at- tendance in 1903 had increased from eighty-seven in 1896 to one hundred and forty-seven pupils.
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During his superintendeney Forest Park schoolhouse, a modern four- room building was erected in the second ward, at a cost of fifteen thousand dollars. When the building was completed and the assignment of its four teacher's had been made, Miss Irwin, principal, Mr. Smith remarked that he had sent all those immune from matrimony and other attractions. This state- ment has been proven up to this time, for these teachers have continued with ranks unbroken. By 1902 the buildings became so crowded that it was again necessary to have more room. Broad Street school was then begun but not entirely finished until the fall of 1904, in H. E. Wheeler's superin- tendency. This building, a modern, commodious, four-room structure, is in the first ward. It was built at a cost of ten thousand dollars. Miss Junk is its principal.
Although Mr. Smith was elected here for the seventh time, he re- signed, being tendered the superintendency at Indianola, Iowa, and wishing to place his children in a good college.
In 1903 H. E. Wheeler succeeded Mr. Smith. In 1904 the colleges had so modified their entrance requirements that it became necessary to once more revise the course. Two years of German and other advantages were added so pupils could enter the State University without examination. The completion of Broad Street building allowed more room for the high school. One room was set aside for a laboratory and fully equipped with the necessary apparatus.
Music was adopted in 1905, the first supervisor being Miss Rilla Shoe- maker. Drawing and physical culture were adopted in 1906. This brings the school with the exception of industrial work and manual training, in rank with the best in the state, considering the size of the town.
Shenandoah has always been most fortunate in the character of the men who have composed the school board and directed its affairs. They have been men of highest business capacity, interested in the welfare of the schools. Lack of space forbids mentioning all these important directors. In addition to those mentioned elsewhere we would add the names of some who served several years, namely: C. F. Crose, Ed Welch, W. G. Wagner, D. S. Lake, A. S. Lake, John Mentzer, Jacob Bender and A. W. Murphy. The history of the school would not be complete without mentioning A. T. Irwin, for so many years the efficient secretary of the school board.
The entire number of pupils the high school has graduated is something over three hundred. Over two hundred of these have graduated in the last ten years. Of this large number there are many, both men and women, who have been more than ordinarily successful in various lines. No school has ever had a more earnest, capable, faithful and conscientious corps of teachers than has the Shenandoah schools during their entire history.
Among the most important of the able teachers noted for their years of experience in the school are: Miss Mary Steimson, who remained as su- pervisor of penmanship eleven years and declined reelection in 1905; Miss Marley, a teacher and principal in the high school, after remaining ten years also declined reelection in 1905: Mrs. N. C. Bliss : Miss A. Etta Hall, sixteen years : Miss Kate Irwin, nineteen years; and Miss Lulu Kittle,
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twenty-two years. There are now thirty teachers in the schools, six in the high school, two supervisors, one of music, the other of penmanship and drawing. It has ever been the policy of the school board to retain its good teachers as long as possible and it is this fact which has helped greatly to place and to keep the schools in the front rank.
In 1906 Professor G. A. Brown was elected principal of the high school and has developed that institution to a higher plane. Great credit is due him for the present efficiency of the school.
In the school year of 1906-07, the first Annual was issued by the senior class. It was a very creditable undertaking of the pupils and was replete with matter pertinent to the class and profusely illustrated with portraits of the superintendent, the principal and staff of teachers and also original pen pictures by members of the senior class.
In the winter of 1909 another teacher was added to the high school corps, which increased the staff of teachers to thirty. The enrollment of pupils in the spring of 1909 was one thousand and forty-six, and so many appli- cations for admission to the high school are now coming in as to make the erection of a new high school building an imperative necessity. This mat- ter is now under consideration by the school board.
January 4, 1909, a public kindergarten was inaugurated and made a part of the public school system of Shenandoah. During that year the little tots were taught in the commodious and cheerful basement of the library building. Fifty-one were enrolled for that year. Miss Cora Bunn, of Water- loo, an expert kindergartner and graduate of the Cedar Falls College, was placed in charge of this department and given an able assistant in the person of Miss Carrie Jennings, of Shenandoah.
The present members of the school board are: Denver L. Wilson, president ; John F. Lake, E. H. Mitchell, Edward Birkhimer, W. N. Jordan ; and A. T. Irwin, secretary.
THE WESTERN NORMAL COLLEGE.
There is always something of peculiar and fascinating interest attached to the chapter of events that mark the beginning and organization of every great institution, even when dimmed with years and shrouded in a cloak of mystery, but exceedingly fortunate is the institution whose early his- tory has been written and records preserved.
Such has been the fortune of the Western Normal College, in the matter of its history and records, and its records not only awaken great pride in the citizens of the city and community but reflect great credit upon southwestern Iowa.
In a letter received by the Mayor of Shenandoah, W. P. Ferguson, February 12, 1882, Prof. I. E. Wilson of Bushnell, Illinois, president of the normal school of that place, made inquiry as to the inducements Shen- andoah and community would likely offer for the founding of a normal school in Shenandoah.
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The mayor promptly replied, inquiring what was expected to secure the location of such a school here, and set forth the superior advantages of Shenandoah with its beautiful and unequaled location and high moral and educational tone of its people, as a city preeminently adapted for the site of an institution of learning.
The correspondence which followed disclosed the fact that the institu- tion at Bushnell had been in operation since the fall of 1881, and was under the management of Prof. Wilson, Prof. J. A. Lyons, afterward an instructor in the new college established here in Shenandoah, and now pub- lisher of commercial text books, in Chicago, and Mr. E. P. Farr, who was also later an instructor in the Western Normal College and is at present a very successful attorney in Sioux City, Iowa.
The little city of Bushnell could not provide the financial inducements asked for to insure the establishment and building of the school in their midst, and thus President Wilson sought inducements elsewhere. When it became generally known in Shenandoah that the Mayor was in cor- respondence with parties in regard to the establishment of a normal school in Shenandoah, much interest was manifested, and for some weeks thereafter, the mayor's office was of the nature of a public meeting place for discussing the merits and prospects of such an institution of learning.
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