USA > Iowa > Jasper County > Past and present of Jasper County, Iowa, Vol. I > Part 12
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The financial panic of 1857 bore very heavily upon the corporation. The school continued without interruption, but very little progress was made upon the building. On March 4, 1857, the board adopted the follow- ing resolution :
"Resolved, Ist. That we recognize in our present embarrassed condition as a board and the causes which have led to it, the plain teachings of di- vine providence.
"Resolved, 2d. That both duty and interest demand that we should go forward in the erection of the college building now under contract.
"Resolved. 3d. That in order to the accomplishment of this end, we feel that God is now demanding of us the contribution of such a portion of his property now in our hands as will put this enterprise beyond embarrass- ment."
On September 22, 1857, a public dinner was held at the college, the meat for which cost the institution nine dollars. During the same month, the board arranged with Mr. and Mrs. Merrill to publish The Wittemberg Edu- cator, a monthly journal devoted to the cause of education and the interest of the college in particular, the board furnishing the press, type and room, and Mr. and Mrs. Merrill receiving the proceeds of the publication. Sarah Merrill, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Merrill and afterwards wife of Rev. Charles C. Harrah, did the greater part of the work upon the paper. It
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was subsequently published semi-monthly under the name of The Wittem- berg Review. How long the publication continued, does not clearly appear. However, the minutes of the board show that on December 14. 1858, it adopted a resolution making its subsequent meetings private and directed the publication of the resolution in The Wittemberg Review. On June 6, 1859, an order was made by the board giving Mr. Merrill the use of the printing press and twenty dollars worth of type for one year. In November, 1859, the board refunded to Mr. Merrill the money spent by him in issuing the first numbers of The Wittemberg Review.
On January 20, 1860, the board voted to arrange to open the college school on the first Wednesday of the following May, the tuition alone being the salary of the teachers. At the same meeting Rev. Thomas Merrill was elected president of the college. J. R. Crawford. G. T. Poage and Thomas Merrill were appointed a committee to prepare a course of study, and Mr. Merrill was authorized to publish a circular setting forth the ad- vantages of the school. However, a part of the building was yet unfinished. On June 22, 1861, the board submitted to the Free Presbyterian church of Wittemberg a proposition to grant to said church the use of the north lower room of the college buikling for five years for church purposes, provided the church would furnish the materials and provide the labor necessary for the completion of the room in the manner specified in the proposition. The proposition was accepted and the room was used for the purposes designated throughout the full term specified.
On December 15. 1862, the board of trustees invited the Wesleyan Methodist general conference to co-operate in sustaining the college. Ten days later a committee from the conference called upon the board. The conference declined to consider the proposition unless the joint stock sys- tem should be abandoned and the institution governed entirely by a close board. All negotiations were dropped. During the next four years, in spite of adverse conditions and influences, the school prospered, the attend- ance varying from forty to ninety pupils. In November, 1866, a committee was appointed to consider and report upon the advisability of transferring all the property of the institution to a responsible person who would agree to maintain the school. Nothing was accomplished in that direction, how- ever, until May, 1867, when a contract was made with Rev. S. A. McLean, of Washington county, Pennsylvania, by the terms of which he advanced to the board the sum of two thousand dollars in cash, and agreed to con- (luct in the college building for four years a school furnishing instruction in all branches taught in first-class academies. the board agreeing to furnish
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the building in manner specified in the contract, and, at the end of the four years, to pay to McLean the aggregate sum of four thousand and fifteen dollars, the college property to be security for such payment.
From the earliest settlement of the neighborhood until the close of the Civil war, the Free Presbyterian church maintained a strong organiza- tion at Wittemberg. However, when slavery had ceased to exist and the. war was closed and the feeling engendered thereby began to disappear, the organization dissolved, one element returning to the Presbyterian church and the other forming the Congregational church of Wittemberg. To the church last named, the board of trustees of the college conveyed a building site about December 1, 1867. The Presbyterian church continued to occupy the college chapel until about 1869.
On May 1, 1868, a committee of the board made written report recom- mending the execution of a new agreement with S. A. McLean, by the terms of which the greater part of the college property was to be trans- ferred to McLean, he to cancel all claims under the prior agreement and to assume certain debts and to maintain a school in the college building for ten years from and after January 1, 1868, and, at the expiration of the ten years. to be the absolute owner of the property. Other terms and condi- tions were included in the contract. A resolution authorizing the execution of the agreement was adopted by a divided vote of the trustees. The agree- ment was executed. Mr. McLean died in the early part of 1869. His daughters, Elizabeth and Anna, conducted the school some years after his death. In the meantime, in an action instituted by a trustee who opposed the execution of the last agreement with Mr. MeLean, the district court of Jasper county held the conveyance of the property void and gave Mr. Mc- Lean's representatives a lien thereon. The lien was foreclosed, but re- demption from the sale was not made and the title to all the property passed to Mr. McLean's heirs.
Another writer remarked about this educational institution that "to complete the building and to pay the debts, Messrs. Merrill, Cary and Crawford pledged one thousand dollars each; Mr. King five hundred dol- lars; Mr. Failor, two hundred and fifty dollars; Mr. Beatty, one hundred dollars. The money was raised by mortgaging the lands of those named above to parties in the East, and much anxiety was experienced by all of them in raising the money afterward to clear the mortgages.
"This closed the history of the school, which might, otherwise, have enjoyed a wide reputation. However, much good was done here, for many young men found facilities for education here that they might have failed
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of, and a number of gentlemen now prominent in business affairs and other pursuits owe their education to Wittemburg. The school was quite successful from 1857 to 1865, the usual enrollment of pupils being from fifty to eighty."
It may also be added that, socially, this institution accomplished much good for the early settlers of Jasper county. It also had what were then very new and advanced notions concerning diet. For instance they (the founders) did not eat much meat, but taught that a pure vegetable diet was the proper thing. They used large quantities of graham flour in their cook- ing. They had other notions which would not be popular today with the masses. but on the whole those college founders were men and women of large hearts, active brains and great fortitude and integrity of purpose. They certainly left their imprint on the community in which they settled and finally founded Wittemberg College.
LYNNVILLE ACADEMY.
Mainly through subscriptions raised among the Friends' society, this institution of learning was founded at Lynnville in 1866. It was continued a number of years, but owing to lack of boarding places the school waned and finally in the course of a few terms closed its doors. In 1871 arrange- ments were perfected with the public school district by which the building they had erected just outside of town aways was moved to the village and rented to the district. In 1875 the Friends again took possession of the property, and in the fall of that year an academic course was opened up, with an attendance of about eighty-five students, which number, at the end of the fifth week, had increased to one hundred and thirty. Prof. W. W. Gregg and N. Rosenberger were the teachers at the beginning, and such was the rush of students that the services of Miss Cynthia Macy and Miss Gregg became necessary. After about one year of such prosperity, Professor Gregg left the school. Another principal, from Indiana, taught a while and then the school ceased to be.
The building was a frame structure, two stories high, well adapted for school work. Later the building became a part of the Friends' church.
HAZEL DELL ACADEMY AND ITS FOUNDER, PROF. DARIUS THOMAS.
By J. H. Fugard.
This institution was located at Newton, and occupies an important place in the educational history of Jasper county. It was a private school founded by Prof. Darius Thomas, A. M., in 1856, and was owned and con-
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ducted by him for nearly a third of a century. He then disposed of it to Prof. G. W. Wormley, a former pupil, who removed it to a new location, and changed it into the Newton Normal College.
At first the primary as well as the higher branches were taught. But as the public school system became more fully developed, the primary branches were dropped, and the academy became an intermediate step between the com- mon school and the college. At that time many colleges had a two-year prepara- tory course for such students as were not prepared for the regular college studies. And it is to the credit of Hazel Dell that some of its students were able to pass the required examination and enter the freshman year. And this, too, not only in Western colleges, but also in some of the older ones, such as Dartmouth, Harvard and Pennsylvania. At that time commercial colleges and normal schools were but few in number, and none nearby. But this want was here met by courses of study designed to fit young people for business or for teaching. Many received their training here. and several hundred school teachers were fitted for their work. More than fifteen hundred students attended the school during Professor Thomas' administration. And. as a large number of them afterwards taught in this county, it can safely be said that, directly and indirectly. several thousand of our young people received its benefits.
I once heard the veteran educator. C. D. Hipsley, say that in his ex- perience, as a teacher and principal of the Newton schools and as county superintendent, he had found that the teachers who came from this school were more uniformly successful than those from any other institution.
The school existed at a time when educational advantages were limited in central Iowa, when times were strenuous and money scarce. And its founder made it possible for many young people to prepare for college, or fit themselves for life's work, who would otherwise have lacked the oppor- tunity and the stimulus. A glance at our early history will make this more apparent.
.A large proportion of the pioneers were persons of intelligence and character. They were desirous that their children should have the privileges which they had enjoyed in their former homes. But they were handicapped by lack of means. Money was scarce everywhere. and especially in the West, where people had little to sell. and lacked many of the comforts of life. Some of their efforts to secure better things were very feeble, but were steps in the right direction. And we ought not to despise the day of small things. For to these efforts we are largely indebted for the present more ideal conditions, which are represented by the church and the school
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house on the hill and no saloon in the valley. An incident of early days will illustrate this thoughit. I once read the minutes of a school meeting that was held in 1854 at the home of Doctor Turck, where John Welle now lives in Buena Vista township. James Wright was secretary and the minutes were quite full and complete. The settlers had gathered to consider the question of having a school in their midst. And it was decided to have one, and to make application for money to hire a teacher. No public funds seem to have been available for school-house purposes, and so they arranged to build one themselves, each man contributing a portion of the material. It was of rough logs with a clapboard roof, and stood just east of what is now the Mt. Zion cemetery. The needless luxury of a floor was dispensed with for the first year or two.
And this school house, rude as it seems, was quite an acquisition to the community, and was used for several years, not only for school purposes. but also for preaching services and festive gatherings. And the religious work begun there by a faithful band of Christians, has been carried steadily and successfully forward, and is now the prosperous Mt. Zion Methodist church.
The door of the okl school house had wooden hinges and a wooden latch. And the seats were rough slabs with the bark side down, and with long wooden pegs for legs.
Ah, those blessed old slab benches! My back aches even now as I re- call how hard it was for the little folk to balance themselves on them all day long. with nothing to lean against, and not able to reach the floor with our feet. And I remember how I envied the larger scholars who could sit on the bench that was next to the wall.
And yet it was while seated there that some of us learned how to spell "baker" and "shady" and the other hard words of two syllables that came after them in Webster's Elementary Spelling Book. On the cover of the book was an emblematic picture of the Temple of Fame. on the top of the Hill of Knowledge. But the sides of the hill were so steep that no little boy would think of ever trying to reach its summit ; unless, perchance, like Darius Green, he could hope to invent some kind of a flying machine.
But poor as were the school house facilities of those days, a greater educational want was the need of properly trained teachers. At the one just mentioned no school was hell the first winter for lack of a teacher. And some of the men who taught in the schools during those years were nearby farmers, who were more noted for their muscle than for their wis- dom. And the fact that they were able to control the larger boys may have
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had something to do with their selection. In the towns the conditions were not much better.
The schools were held in small and over-crowded buildings, and only the rudimentary branches were taught.
Such was the state of affairs when Mr. Thomas, a quiet, unassuming man, came here from the state of Maryland and entered on his life's work, for which he was well fitted, both by nature and by training. He was a graduate of Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, now known as Washington and Jefferson College. Newton was then only a little hamlet, situated on the edge of a wide prairie that rolled away to the eastward like a boundless sea. To the west and north was an almost unbroken forest, miles in extent and coming to within a block or two of the business part of town.
He selected some lots three blocks north of the square where Will Jasper now lives, and with his own hands erected a neat school house there- on, and hewed a road to it through the dense thickets from which it took its name. It was afterwards enlarged several times, until it was made to accommodate a hundred or more pupils, many of whom roomed in the building.
Having learned in his younger days the now lost art of cabinet mak- ing, he was able to make his own furniture; and it was of a kind that did not fall to pieces with the first season's use.
And here he quietly carried on his work for many years, brightening and sweetening the lives of others. There was no pomp or attempt at dis- play. No students were solicited, and no public aid was ever asked for or received. These things seem odd to us, for we have come to believe that great endowments and costly buildings are a necessary part of brain culture. And we can hardly rid our minds of the idea that success only comes to him who most loudly toots his own horn. We forget that modesty is occasionally rewarded, and that the public sometimes discovers and appreciates real merit.
The school was well patronized by the town, but the most of the stu- dents came from the country. The sturdy boys and bonnie girls came troop- ing in, glad to avail themselves of the opportunity which it offered. Only a small portion of them would have been able to go away to a distant school or college. But here. at their very doors, they found an opportunity at a small cost to obtain the instruction which they desired. And some of them lived near enough to bring a sufficient supply of their mother's cooking to last all the week.
They found no spirit of caste or clannishness to appall them, and soon ceased to be mortified about their plain clothes and were encouraged to do
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their best. Many of them had to work or teach a part of the year in order to earn enough to attend the rest of the time. And those who felt unable to continue their studies for lack of means often received helpful suggestions from their teacher, and were assured that their tuition could remain unpaid until they were able to meet it. And to their credit, it can be said that none of them ever failed to meet this obligation.
At the present time so many educational institutions number their stu- dents by hundreds and by thousands, and we are apt to associate successful instruction with large attendance. We forget that many small schools and colleges are doing a grand work, and that many able men are from institu- tions that are almost unknown.
In a small school the student is usually brought into closer touch with the teacher, and had ought to learn from him to be a better and brighter man. And this it seems to me is the best part of the teacher's work, to so shape and mould the lives of their pupils that they may become a blessing to others.
Professor Thomas had the faculty of being able to make an impression for good on the character as well as the minds of those who came under his instructions. And this has since been shown by their well-ordered lives. They remember the exemplary life, the words of admonition, and the carn- est prayers for their guidance : and somehow these things helped make them better men and better women.
It is pleasant to know that those who had been most benefited by his services did not wait until he was gone to express their appreciation. But many gladly did so during his lifetime. A largely attended reunion was once held at the fair grounds, with a good program, and he was presented with a silver service, suitably engraved, as a token of his pupil's esteem.
On, account of failing health. he was compelled to give up his loved work in 1884. and seek relief in a milder climate. He retained a warm in- terest in the welfare of his former pupils, and kept a record of their where- abouts. And one of his greatest delights was to hear of their success.
He passed away on the 17th of October, 1892, at his home in Carthage. Missouri, and his body was laid to rest in the Newton cemetery, amid the scenes of his earlier years, and among the people that he loved.
Truly he was a high type of manhood. and "Worthy to bear without reproach that grand old name of Gentleman."
In the preparation of the foregoing sketch I am indebted to a number of former students and others who have given me facts and suggestions. Af- ter having consented to do it. I shrank from the task, as I felt that it was a
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subject worthy of some one who could do it better. And having been a pu- pil, and later an intimate friend of Mr. Thomas, I feared that it might be thought that I had unduly magnified the importance of these matters. Hence my enquiries of others in regard to their view of it. AAnd I have been sur- prised at their unanimity of opinion, some having used words of commenda- tion stronger than I have dared to do.
As it was intended for a permanent history, I felt that it should be done by one who was never connected with the school, and preferred that Hon. A. K. Campbell should do it.
He had been familiar with its history, and had been deeply interested in the cause of education, and one of the regents of the State University. But he insisted that I should do it. and furnished me an outline, which I have somewhat closely followed in the foregoing.
A. G. Miller, a former pupil, who has been for many years an efficient police officer in Des Moines and twice chief of the department, makes this suggestion : That the people of this county would. do themselves a credit to erect a suitable memorial, either a bronze tablet in the court house, or a monument. in honor of this useful man.
Another student. President Hill M. Bell, of Drake University, writes in appreciative words of the school and its teacher. I value his opinion be- cause he is a successful instructor, and a man of great executive ability, and also as the head of a great university and one of the trustees of the Carnegie Pension Fund he has had almost unequaled opportunity to become acquainted with educators and to weigh their work and worth.
I can not better elose than by giving his letter, in which he expresses his views in a few terse sentences. It is as follows :
"DES MOINES, IOWA, June 3. 1911. "My Dear Mr. Fugard :
"In answer to your letter of June 2d. I will say that I feel that Prof. Darius Thomas exercised a wonderfully good influence upon the early his- tory of Jasper county.
"Hazel Dell AAcademy will long be remembered as an institution that did a service that was not available from any other of like kind.
"I acknowledge my own debt to Professor Thomas.
"He was an excellent teacher, and was in his day an inspiration to many young men and women.
"Very truly yours,
"HILL M. BELL."
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NEWTON NORMAL COLLEGE.
The Newton Normal College was but the continuation of old Hazel Dell Academy. G. W. Wormley, in a recent article, states that in the fall of 1884 he was a student in the Iowa State College and received a communi- cation from Prof. Darius Thomas, in which letter the latter stated that he would have to give up teaching on account of failing health, and said : "I have chosen you to be my successor ; come down and see me : I want to sell out to you."
Mr. Worniley graduated that autumn as a civil engineer, a field of work in which he was very much interested. He wrote Professor Thomas that he had nothing with which to purchase his school. To this the Professor replied, "Come down and see me; 1 can easily manage that part."
Here was an event that was to entirely change the life plans of a young man for the better or worse, who can say? He himself is unable now to tell.
lle went, and the result was he returned to complete the few remain- ing weeks of his college course, the owner of Hazel Dell Academy, the place where he had taken his preparatory work for college.
Professor Thomas had sold his school to Mr. Wormley on time, about the only way he could sell to a student just through college. Professor Wormley has told how Mr. Thomas, after carrying over all the desk-books, records, charts, etc., belonging to the school, came bringing the keys and the old copy of the Psalms and New Testament which he had read at opening exercises for so many years, saying. "This also belongs to you, George. I hope you will not fail to continue its use in the school," and the answer he received seemed to satisfy him.
Grand old man-God bless him. Few nobler ever lived!
The first term opened with an attendance of seventy-five. A pretty big undertaking for a young man only twenty-four years old, but he taught them, unaided by any assistants, and seemingly to their satisfaction.
This young principal must have been rugged to some degree for he slept on a straw tick on the floor in an upstairs room in the academy all winter. In the spring of 1885 Mr. Wormley married Mary Ellen Spencer, daughter of Henry M. Spencer and wife, of Metz.
In 1886 he built an addition to the academy. more than doubling the size of the building. The school gained in attendance and the second year after the addition was finished the enrollment reached one hundred and fifteen. Two assistants were now employed. The school continued to pros- per for nine years, until some of the public-spirited citizens said it ought to
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have a better equipment and a more favorable location. This agitation re- sulted in the building of the Newton Normal College. This was done on the lot sale plan, through a board of trustees, and was made possible only through the influence of the business men of Newton and a number of pub- lic-spirited farmers.
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