USA > Iowa > Johnson County > Leading Events in Johnson County, Iowa, History > Part 21
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SCHOOL AT SHUEYVILLE
winter of 1844-5, Daniel McCune taught in this township, hav- ing eighteen pupils and his pay reaching ten dollars per month.
Miss Cynthia Worster was employed to keep a school in Ox- ford township, before it was named to be sure, at three dollars per week. In the same year, 1844, Samuel Dilley taught there at twelve dollars per month. It is probable that they had the same privileges of going home with the children for meals and lodging as in other cases. The custom of remaining at the home of the pupils in proportion to the number sent from the family was established.
Austin Cole taught in the present boundaries of Scott town- ship in the winter of 1843-44, his place of labor and building having been located in the edge of the timber northeast of the residence of J. T. Struble. Here he had thirty pupils, but his
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income is not stated, beyond this, that the patrons furnished the fuel as usual, while the teacher was skilful enough to train the boys in athletics of the kind which included "wood cutting" as part of the curriculum. So far as known Austin Cole was the last of the early teachers of the county to be left to relate these things. The house of Wilson Blain, in the northern part of the county, was used for a school taught by Miss Elizabeth Win- terstein, who had twelve pupils under her instruction during the period of the other schools mentioned in this brief summary of those educational beginnings.250
The first free school in district number one in Iowa City township began its first term May 25, 1847, under the manage- ment of A. G. Gower. This was under the law concerning free schools approved January 24, 1847.251 This law caused some discussion through the failure of the assembly that passed it to provide for its proper publication. Judge Mason, of the Iowa Supreme Court, was asked for his opinion in the matter, and meanwhile Elisha Cutler, Secretary of State, endeavored to carry out the provisions of the act that it might be effective, and the schools, therefore, were opened as the law provided. When the April election came on the law's validity was still undecided. The agitation was still kept up and it caused the superintendent of public instruction, James Harlan, some trouble in his being compelled to defend his right to hold the office to which he was chosen. To test the legality of the elec- tion of directors for the several districts, Thomas Snyder, of district number two in Iowa City township, who had been elected a director, made up an agreed case. Geo. S. Hampton was the prosecuting attorney, and the case came before Judge Carleton, who decided that Mr. Snyder was not legally elected, the law not being in operation at the time of the election. This was all due to the form of publication.252 A great storm of pro- test arose over this decision brought about through a techni- cality and much confusion resulted over the fund created for school purposes, for which the law provided. Certain lands had been selected and sold, the fund from which was ready for distribution in the form of loans, and some had been loaned in other counties. This was confusing matters, since contracts were made which were practically declared illegal now by this decision. Land offices would not recognize these contracts
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made with fund commissioners for which the law provided, and in addition the land sales were coming on and there was no time to secure a postponement from the general land office. Money paid on first installments to school fund commissioners would be at the mercy of any bidder against them who had made such a contract. Purchasing the lands from the state made terms considerably better than from the United States, and such a decision would place these lands once more before the pros- pective purchasers.
In August, 1847, James Harlan, superintendent of public instruction, issued a letter to all school officers reminding them of their duty in the offices to which they had been elected until the law was passed upon by the highest court. However, it was not possible to stop all opposition to the free school law, and many schools were discontinued through legal action by the "opposers." Money collected for school purposes could not be paid out unless by special act of the legislature. The common school system as provided for was practically ar- rested in Johnson county. Political affairs made the contest bitter and the schools bore the burden. Officials who chose to refuse recognition of the authority of another could not be compelled to act, and funds were not available for free schools.
When Iowa City was incorporated in 1853 the city schools came under the control of the city council and so remained un- til the law of 1858, providing for an independent school board. Private schools had continued all the time from 1840 up to this time, and did not cease after public schools had been long es- tablished. Jesse Berry, Mr. Choate, Dr. William Reynolds, Anson Hart, Mr. and Mrs. Fisk, Mrs. Huelin, H. W. Lathrop, and Austin Cole were conspicuous leaders in these institu- tions.
One building plays such an important part in all educational affairs of Iowa City that it is necessary here to depart from a chronological order, to give an account of it, preparatory to the further discussion of the free schools. Such was the Acad- emy built by the Mechanics' Mutual Aid Association, an or- ganization that appears for the first time in 1841, July 3, probably during the celebration of Independence Day.253 This building must be mentioned in many local references, since it had to do with a number of institutions.
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The laying of the corner stone of the building for this or- ganization is described in a journal of the time: "Tuesday was a proud day for the members of the Mechanics' Mutual Aid Association, of this city. Agreeably to invitation, the citizens assembled about two o'clock at the temporary state house 24 for the purpose of forming a procession and march- ing to the building, to witness the ceremonies of laying the corner stone of the Mechanics' Academy. Business was sus- pended and all classes left their occupations and devoted the afternoon to recreations attendant upon the occasion.
"The procession formed about four o'clock and marching through the principal streets of the city, assembled at the ground set aside for this very purpose.25" At the head of the procession were the clergymen of the city, then came the in- vited guests of the association, then the officers, the teachers and children of the different schools, and a large concourse of citizens brought up the rear."
There was music by the choir from the Methodist Protestant church, a speech by Mr. Libby, and everything was "harmon- ious."
This building was completed in the following spring, on land donated by the legislature, the south half of the west half of block sixty in the original town of Iowa City. It was built by voluntary subscription of the Mechanics' Association, at an expense of about $4,000. The conditions of donation of land by the territory required an outlay of only $1,000.
According to announcement made in May, 1843, the Acad- emy would be opened for students in June. This was the "female department" of the school, and the services of an accomplished lady "favorably known as a teacher both here and elsewhere," were secured. In this connection it is men- tioned that the Academy is "surrounded by prairie scenery too splendid for description." The institution thus located in a climate recommended for its "salubrious atmosphere" was said to enjoy advantages seldom combined, and parents could therefore have no excuse for "withholding patronage." The terms and courses of study are advertised in the announce- ment: "Reading, writing, arithmetic and geography are taught from primary books. Cost per session of three months, three dollars; English grammar and geography, four dollars
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per session; mathematics, natural science, rhetoric, and logic, five dollars per session; Latin and French language, drawing and painting, six dollars; music, on the piano, ten dollars ex- tra." Strangers could be accommodated with good boarding at reasonable rates. These particulars were under the direc- tion of J. N. Ball, then the chairman of the Academy board of trustees.
In this connection it is proper to give some account of the end of the old Mechanics' Academy, and it is fortunate that one who knew, wrote of it at the time of its demolition to make way for the new hospital.
It was in May, 1839, that the stakes were stuck that marked the boundaries of the old Mechanics' Academy, only three years after the white man had made any attempt at permanent settlement in the county. Less than two years from the time these stakes were set for this building, and during the adminis- tration of John Tyler as president of the United States and John Chambers as governor of the territory of Iowa, the me- chanics of Iowa City met to form the "Iowa City Mechanics' Mutual Aid Association." James N. Ball was the first presi- dent, L. S. Swafford and Thomas Combe, vice presidents, Edward Lanning, secretary, and Thomas Ricord, treasurer. Mr. Ball was a stone cutter, the man who cut the word "IOWA" in raised letters that appears on the capstone of the door in the front of the old capitol. Mr. Swafford was a car- penter and made the window frames in the Academy, all of them being from oak lumber from Felkner's saw mill, that used to be on Rapid creek, just above where the Dubuque road crosses that creek in Newport township. Sylvanus Johnson was the maker of the brick for the Academy, and his yard, or kiln, as mentioned elsewhere, was near where Hummer's mill is at present located.
For its objects the Mechanics' Aid Association had the care of sick members, the raising of funds for the payment of bene- fits to the sick, and sometimes the funeral expenses of deceased members. Besides these fraternal duties, in the absence of any educational advantages at the time, they conceived of the es- tablishment of an institution of learning, and to effect this purpose they procured from the legislature of the territory a law incorporating their association and granting it a lot on
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which to erect an academy building. This law was approved January 4, 1842. The incorporators, besides the officers, in- cluded A. H. Haskell, A. G. Adams, Abraham Burkholder, and Francis Thompson. The act names the first officers. A pro- vision of the law was the erection of a building on the lot within two years from the date of the act, the cost of which building should not be less than one thousand dollars. In the spring of 1842 work was begun and by the middle of June work had pro- gressed far enough to lay the corner stone, and this occurred with appropriate ceremonies, as related before.
A procession was formed in front of the old Butler State House on Washington street, and the route was west to Clinton street, south to Burlington street, then east to Dubuque, north to the avenue, and then east to the building place which was just where the west wing of the University Hospital now stands. Rev. Michael Hummer acted as chaplain, and Rev. John Libby gave the oration.
How much was accomplished on the building during this season cannot now be determined, but certainly not enough to warrant the holding of any meetings in it, since accounts are given of meetings held in the Methodist Protestant church and one in the legislative council chamber for the January elec- tion of officers. By the first of the next June, though the walls had but a rough coat of plaster, the school was advertised to open under the management of Hugh and William Hamilton, in the male department, and Mrs. S. C. Morey, wife of the Bap- tist minister, in the female department. At this same period Dr. William Reynolds opened a private school in the city and it was a period of "college and school openings," as the Meth- odist College, incorporated under territorial laws, and in charge of the Rock River conference, besides a classical school under W. K. Talbott began "to advertise for pupils."
Hugh Hamilton is said to have been a very excellent classical scholar, and his pupils speak of him as being a more than ordinary teacher. Mrs. Geo. S. Hampton, the wife of a promi- nent citizen in much of the county's history, succeeded Mrs. Morey in the fall of 1842 when the school began in September. In October the Academy gave public notice that it had united the two departments under the instruction of the Hamiltons, and agreed to accept tuition "in any kind of merchantable pro-
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OLD FASHIONED SORGHUM MILL On the Old Bowersock Homestead, Jefferson Township
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duce and labor." So far as can be ascertained this was the last school held under the auspices of the Mechanics' Mutual Aid Association, and in competition with the college and pri- vate schools then established, it is doubtful whether the insti- tution was at any time a great financial success. The building just recently removed was thirty by sixty feet in dimensions,. with two stories above a good basement, with a belfry. Pic- tures of it may occasionally be seen. There were two front doors on the west side with three large windows between them, five windows on the east side in the first story with the same number on each side in the second story, a small room was. formed at the north end on both floors. The columns that stood on either side of the doors were turned on a lathe that was used in a shop which stood on the bank of Ralston creek near the old oil mill, and a dam built across this creek at this point furnished the power to turn the lathe.256 Some have said that it is doubtful whether there was a school building in the territory as good as this one when it was completed.
In November, 1845, the upper floor was leased to the Masonic. lodge, and in less than one year from this date it was leased by the Masons to the Odd Fellows lodge, after which it was used by both lodges for two or more years, while the first story continued to be used by the various instructors for school purposes. Following this the entire building was used by pri- vate individuals for school purposes, among whom were Dr. Reynolds, H. W. Lathrop, D. S. Warren, Mrs. S. C. Morey, and others, till in the month of July, 1853, when the first school under the city government was opened in it with H. W. La- throp as principal, and Nancy McCaddon as assistant, at salaries respectively of $450 and $250 per year. The annual rent paid by the city was $230.
The board of trustees of the State University having on the seventh of February, 1854, determined to put that institution into active operation as a unit, the Academy on the first of May was leased to them for that purpose, and this lease continued until 1866, at an annual rental at first of $250, later increased to $300. In the meantime Robert Hutchinson had obtained a majority of the shares of the stock of the Mechanics' Mutual Aid Association, and this gave him control of the property, when he traded it to the University for a house and lot on
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College street, known as the Doty property. In September, 1854, the University was formally opened in this building with Alexander Johnstone as the sole professor, but before the close of the college year other members were added to the faculty, and temporary partitions were put in both the upper and lower stories, in order to give each professor a room to himself.
When the Academy was no longer needed for the purposes of instruction, after the Old Capitol was given up to the insti- tution, it was turned over to the students for dormitory pur- poses. Probably five hundred dollars were used to prepare the building for this purpose, and those occupying the rooms paid a stipulated sum per term for rent. Owing to the pranks played and the general reputation it gained after this it was nicknamed the "Old Sin Trap." A bell had been purchased of the New School Presbyterian church and hung in the belfry of the Academy until it was cracked by the energy applied in ringing it or because of some defect in workmanship, or, ac- cording to another story, it was filled with water and frozen up. One of the trustees, S. W. Cole, was authorized to pur- chase a new bell to replace the broken one, and at last accounts it had never been hung, but was lying forgotten in the south- west corner of the Old Capitol. The broken bell was the one procured by donation for the old stone church when C. M. Calkins and Rev. W. W. Woods went east in the early forties to secure funds for the church building.
It had been hoped by those who were interested, that the old corner stone would contain something of value in reference to the times in which it was laid, but when removed from its long- time resting place, it was found that the space left for such records was entirely empty, nothing being put there, or if so, the long period from 1842 to 1897 had caused the contents to crumble into dust. The former conclusion is probably the most reasonable, since there was very little local historical matter in 1842 to place in the corner stone of any building in the terri- tory, and then it was not considered of great value, even had anything been available, since the time had not arrived when the preservation of current events was thought essential to historical truth.
When the Academy was built there were forty-six members of the Mechanics' Mutual Aid Association, whose names are
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here given: James N. Ball, A. H. Haskell, A. G. Adams, Ed. Lanning, L. S. Swafford, who was librarian in this building for a number of years, Thos. Combe, Francis Thompson, Thomas Ricord, A. Burkholder, Robt. Hutchinson, C. C. Sangster, Thos. M. Banbury, John Horner, Seth Williams, Jas. M. Hawkins, C. Cartrett, E. T. Locke, Chas. Cartwright, S. M. Wadley, James Mackintosh, Wm. P. Doty, Wm. H. Hunt, Benjamin Weiser, Sylvanus Johnson, Hugh P. Sexton, Wm. Crum, Hugh V. Gildee, Thos. B. Anthony, Asa Beckwith, Noah Mendenhall, Peter Moriarity, J. M. Clemons, J. B. Hollingsworth, Geo. T. Andrews, William Murray, A. J. Lucas, Jas. N. Layman, John H. Copenhofer, Elihu Dewell, Arthur Rowan, James Miller, A. B. Newcomb, Abe Owen, Nathaniel Worden, Dioclesian Cox, Sanford Harned.257
In July, 1853, at a called meeting of the city council, Alder- man Snyder, of the committee on schools, made a verbal report on the action of his committee, "stating that they had rented, subject to the approval of the council, the Mechanics' Acad- emy for a term of five years at $230 per annum, that Mr. Lathrop had been employed as principal teacher at the rate of $450 per annum." Mr. Lathrop at this time was a member of the council, having come into this office from the second ward through appointment to fill a vacancy.
The officers of school districts, previous to this time, were now by resolution required to deliver up the books and papers in their possession, and if they refused to do so, the recorder of the city was authorized to commence suit for their recovery at the expense of the city.
Samuel Spurrier was employed by the school committee in 1854 at an annual salary of $400, for the male department. Miss M. C. Christy at $200 per year, Miss Cornelia Wilson at $175, and Miss Lydia Lanning at $150, for the female depart- ment, and the committee further submitted "a system of rules for their government." An interesting item in this report, when compared with current items of the same nature, states that the committee had "procured a Desk, 4 Brooms, 2 Buck- ets, 3 tin cups, a chair for teacher, 2 Brushes and a dusting Pan for the use of the said schools." This bill being submitted, some question arose as to the expense of schools in general, and the matter was laid on the table for a time, when it was
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reconsidered, and "after some deliberation and coolness" it was adopted. Through the kindness of the city council Mr. Spurrier was granted the use of the library in the school build- ing [Mechanics' Academy] for "a study and sleeping room."
The school committee, composed of R. S. Finkbine, S. Ma- gill, and M. J. Morsman, recommended in June, 1854, that the Saturday session of the schools be discontinued as the atten- dance was so small that the work did not meet the end the com- mittee designed it should, namely, "a review of the studies of the previous week.258
After due notice by the city recorder under the authority of the council the citizens met in the Methodist Protestant church to vote on the question of levying a tax for the purpose of "building a school house or houses, and to purchase sites for the same." At a subsequent meeting a vote was taken by ballot, and by a vote of one hundred and four out of one hundred and thirty-five cast, the citizens approved "a one per cent tax" for the purpose mentioned, which was understood to provide for three buildings, one in each ward, the construction to be made under the authority of the city council.
A phase of the educational matters that has passed out of local history arose in a small way in the last month of 1855, "when a colored woman "refused to pay her school tax on the ground that she was debarred from the benefit of said fund." The city marshal asked for instruction from the city council on this new question. Since the question was referred to the committee on finance it may have been buried there, for no further mention is made of this subject until after the schools passed from the jurisdiction of the city council.
One of the school houses contracted for in the summer of 1856 was so far completed that work began in it in January, 1857. Meantime, during the fall before, school had been held in the basements of the Methodist Protestant and Baptist churches. The new school houses were to cost in the first esti- mate only $3,000, but the committee contracted to the extent of $8,000 for each, and the committee expressed the belief that "when completed these would be the best common school houses in Iowa." 239 The schools were organized in the three new buildings in the autumn of 1857, under direction of the school committee of the council, and since this is the first com-
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plete establishment in the buildings owned by the district, the account is given in detail. There was a male teacher in each ward at an annual salary of $480. In the first and third wards there were three female assistants and in the second ward two, and each of them drew a salary of $300 per year, "during the pleasure of the council." These teachers were, in the first ward, Mr. Harris, Misses Hatch, Ricord, and Duncan; in the second ward, A. J. Cassaday, Misses Bradshaw and Dockray; and in the third ward, Mr. Robb, Misses Wilson, Sargent, and Mrs. Truesdell.
When the school law of 1858, providing for the changes in school affairs, became effective, the city council prepared to surrender the schools to the properly constituted new board of education. Although they considered that the law was in "doubt as to its constitutionality" they did not deem the coun- cil the proper body to pass on the question, and the school committee of the council was therefore dissolved. Objections were made to this action of the council, and under the doubts arising it was suggested at a meeting of citizens that an "amicable suit" be arranged to determine the matter.200
Evidently the question of authority was not entirely set- tled when the city council met in April, 1859, for Alderman Jesse Berry introduced a resolution reading, "that the city council direct and control the schools of Iowa City as contem- plated in the city charter."
At this period in the school history they had been under the direction of the independent board for almost one year accord- ing to the law which was approved March 12, 1858. The first board under that law was composed of N. H. Brainerd, presi- dent; P. S. Van Nest, vice president ; and Daniel Branch, secre- tary, and one member for each of four districts. This board proceeded to elect teachers and divide the city into four sub- districts at its first session, May 6, 1858. The following day they approved the bond of Anson Hart, as treasurer of the school district, "under the present school law." They also voted to take measures as soon as it should be practicable "to establish a school for the colored youth of the city."
By the time of the session held on the last day of May, 1858, the districts were all represented on the board. E. C. Lee, Dr. Jesse Bowen, J. T. Turner were regularly chosen, and J. P.
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