USA > Iowa > Delaware County > The history of Delaware county, Iowa, containing a history of its county, its cities, towns &c., a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers > Part 52
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33
Number of schools visited by County Superintendent
117
Number of visits made during the year.
239
Number of educational meetings
8
Appeals
1
Amount received by County Superintendent, for services from October 1,
1876, to October 1, 1877 $1,200 00
Lenox College-Number of teachers, 8 ; pupils.
200
Catholic School at Petersburg-Number of teachers, 1 ; pupils. 50
Number of graded schools.
8
THE BOWEN COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE, AT HOPKINTON.
The date of the first meeting of the citizens of Hopkinton, for the purpose of founding an institution of learning at their town, is lost, owing to the neg- lect of the Secretary to record it, but the meeting adjourned to September 6th, 1855. At the first meeting, a committee of organization was chosen, composed of Messrs. W. P. Cunningham, Henry A. Carter, James Kilpatrick, Leroy Jackson, William Holt, J. G. Diffenderfer, James R. Whittaker, William L. Roberts, Joseph Porter, Phineas Allyn, Harrison Hill, L. O. Stevens, H. Jackson and R. Jackson. In March, 1856, Messrs. W. P. Cunningham, L. Jackson, James Kilpatrick, Isaac Littlefield and L. O. Stevens were chosen a committee " to draft (a plan for) and build the house," and were also "instructed to contract (for) one hundred thousand brick." Soon after this meeting, Chaun- rey T. Bowen, of Chicago, who was in Hopkinton on business, said to his brother (Asa C.). in a half jocular manner, that he would contribute $500 toward the
Paid teachers
102
Number of stone school houses
463
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
institution, if its projectors would allow him to name it. Asa C. Bowen men- tioned the proposition to some of the leading spirits of the enterprise, who determined to take the Bowens at their word, and requested Asa C. to conclude the matter for them. Accordingly, June 22d, the money was paid over, the future school named " Bowen Collegiate Institute," and a constitution adopted August 22d.
September 21st, the first Board of Trustees was elected, it being composed of H. A. Carter, W. P. Cunningham, Leroy Jackson, Edmund Davis, James Kilpatrick, Asa C. Bowen, W. A. Roberts, Christian Myers, I. Littlefield, H. R. Jackson, William Holt, William Morrison. Jerome Davis, J. B. Whittaker, Jacob Diffenderfer and William Robinson. The three first named were the President, Secretary and Treasurer.
The subscription fund was not to exceed $1,500, including Bowen's, and a portion of it was never collected. Mr. Kilpatrick burned the brick in the Fall of 1856, and the walls were laid and the building roofed in 1857. The struc- ture was 40x60 feet in size, two stories high, and when finished, contained four rooms on the first floor, and the upper story contained a spacious chapel, two recitation rooms and a music room. The building committee found their re- sources exhausted when the walls were laid, and Messrs. Carter Jackson, and Kilpatrick signed a note for $900 to make up the deficiency, which they after- ward paid out of their own pockets. The building stood untouched from the Fall of 1857 until some time late in 1858, and was pronounced a failure by many who had been eager to see the enterprise begun. Although a little sore over the $900 note, Messrs. Carter and Jackson consulted and found that both had some seasoned lumber and Carter had plenty of village lots. Mr. Carter traded some lots to various mechanics for work, and by. donating the lumber he succeeded in removing the stigma of failure from the enterprise. Carter even boarded part of the workmen. To obtain the nails and glass, a festival was given which netted about $70, and to help on the good work, a ball was given in the building July 4th, 1859, which drew the young people from all directions, who left about $150 for the building fund. By these various means the build- ing was so far completed that it was possible to use it for school purposes. Accordingly, Rev. Jerome Allen and Miss Lucy A. Cooley, the latter then living in New York State, were invited to open a school in the rooms then ready. Miss Cooley (now Mrs. Finley) says she arrived in Hopkinton August 31st, 1859, and school commenced next day.
The plasterers had just left the assembly room in the second story when the school opened, and the mop-boards were put on in the rooms occupied by the school after it began. The boxes containing the unused lime were still standing where the plasterers had left them. But the teachers and pupils were glad to go on.
The Athenian Literary Society was organized during the first term. Mr. Finley recalls the names of Messrs. Perley Albrook and Austin Cook as mem- bers of the society, and Henry C. Jackson adds Wm. Hill, M. W. Harmon, Robert Fowler and himself. When the weather began to grow cold, the teachers and the forty pupils contributed from their own resources to procure stoves.
The Winter term commenced Dec. 1st, and Mr. E. O. Taylor was engaged to teach mathematies, and Justus Houser, one of the students, gave instruction in German. A festival for the purpose of obtaining funds to purchase a bell was held in the chapel the next evening. There is now no means left to ascer- tain the exact attendance of students at the Winter and Spring terms, but it is certain that the school increased rapidly in numbers and in grade. Among the
464
IIISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
ninety-eight students enrolled in the Fall term of 1860 were John W. Corbin, whose birth was the third in Delaware County, and who was Sheriff in 1876 and 1877 ; Merrit W. Harmon, now State Senator from Buchanan County ; E. P. Weatherbee, now a Judge of Probate in Nebraska ; Mary E. Walker, who had come West to secure a divorce from her husband.
The whole community of Hopkinton was agitated during 1861 and 1862, by various matters growing out of the college and its management. The first trouble was created by Mary E. Walker, who wanted to share in the rhetorical exercises provided for the gentlemen, and also desired to study German. Miss Cooley was opposed to the idea of young ladies declaiming, and refused Mary's request unconditionally. As for German, there was then no teacher. Mary began to work upon the young men to obtain their help to secure the coveted privilege of going on the rostrum, and readily secured their sympathy. She was then ready for mischief, and announced to the teachers that she had come to study German, and that if they did not provide her a teacher she would publish far and wide that they were advertising what they did not and could not perform. Meantime, the young men of the village had organized a debating society, and Mary attended one evening. She was a faithful listener, and before the meeting closed called for the reading of the by-laws, and asked to be admitted a member. She was promptly voted in, and assigned a place in the debate for the next meeting. This came to the ears of the faculty, and Miss Cooley ordered her not to attend. Mary went, however, taking her place in the discussion, but with indifferent success. The next day, at Miss Cooley's request, Miss Mary was suspended, and all the young men but two valorously gathered up their books and left with her. They formed a procession in front of the building, marched down town with the little mischief-maker at their head, and paraded several streets. The young men were also suspended, but soon repented and asked for permission to go back, stipulating, however, that their Amazonian captain should be allowed to return also ; but this was refused. The young men then surrendered unconditionally, and Mary was permanently suspended. The young woman remained for some time afterward, and assisted Dr. Cunningham occasionally in his practice. A few other citizens befriended her for a time. Her portrait is preserved, and indicates a rather pretty face. Her dress was then, as now, of the most pronounced Bloomer type.
The next trouble had no comic features to relieve it, and the lapse of time only has softened the bitterness of the feud. Prof. Allen was the cause of a scandal, or the victim of a slander, it is needless to say which, that called for an investigation by the church, of which he was also the Pastor. He was formally acquitted, but the gossip hurt his standing in the school and community. Many patrons of the school urged against him in addition that he was managing the school according to his own ideas rather than according to the rules prescribed by the Trustees -- that he was really conducting a sectarian school backed by the prestige and the name of the Bowen Collegiate Institute. The members of the Presbyterian Church, which was a large and influential body, were fully con- vinced of Mr. Allen's innocence in the matter of the scandal, were well satis- fied with him as principal of the school, and resolutely defended him. The worldly-minded citizens, assisted by a few members of the Covenanters' Church, determined to have Mr. Allen ousted, and the crisis was reached at the election for Trustees, March 18th, 1862. Mr. Carter, the President, becoming satisfied that Mr. Allen's supporters were outnumbered, gathered up the books and papers and left the meeting. The opposition organized the meeting, and elected as Trustees P. II. Warner, W. P. Cunningham, E. Davis, J. H. Campbell, William.
465
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
Ireland, W. A. Roberts, Duncan Livingston, William Holt, D. E. Fuller, Chas. A. Bell, Jas. Kilpatrick, H. A. Carter, L. Jackson, Asa C. Bowen and T. H. Bowen. The meeting voted to dismiss Prof. Allen and Prof. Taylor, and elected Rev. Mr. Brown, of Dyersville, and W. G. Hammond to take their places. The Trustees were directed to prescribe rules for the government of the school, and to see that it was conducted in conformity with the articles of incorporation. It was also voted to cancel the degree of A. B., which had been conferred upon Prof. Taylor the year before. The Treasurer elect, Mr. Davis, soon after de- manded the books of the office from Mr. Jackson, but that gentleman refused to let him have them, saying he had bought them and paid for them out of his own pocket. Messrs. Jackson and Carter proceeded to finish the building in accord- ance with some previous arrangement, and Mr. Carter brought suit against the college corporation on his liens, to which Mr. Jackson, in behalf of that body, confessed judgment without mentioning the matter to the other Trustees, thus placing the ownership of the property in Mr. Carter's hands. This rendered nugatory the result of the election, although the enemies of Mr. Allen endeav- ored to have the matter re-opened, and on the application of Dr. Roberts the case was sent to Anamosa, but on the retirement of Judge Wilson, it was trans- ferred back to Delhi, where it was allowed to slip from the docket into oblivion.
This action of Messrs. Carter and Jackson was severely criticised at the time, and is not excused to this day by those who were concerned in the raid upon Mr. Allen, for the reason that the foreclosure proceedings shut out the minor stockholders. But the transfer of the property made practicable another transfer, which had been undertaken by Prof. Allen in 1860, who had declared that C. T. Bowen must do more for the school or the name would be changed. A printed circular for 1861 announces the school to be under the supervision of the Synod of Iowa, North. How this came about is made clear from the minutes of the Synod of Iowa. At the meeting of the Synod, Sept. 22, 1860, the officers of the College, through Prof. Allen, requested the appointment of a - committee to confer with them in relation to " a tender to Synod of the over- sight and control of said institute ; " whereupon Rev. J. L. Wilson, James Kirk and A. S. Marshall were appointed to confer with the "powers that be of said Institute, and report at our next meeting." Sept. 27, 1861, the proposi- tion from the College Trustees was presented by the committee, and the follow- ing acceptance made :
To the Stockholders of the Bowen Collegiate Institut- :
GENTLEMEN-The Synod of Iowa have received, with gratitude, your liberal offer to them of your Institute. We highly appreciate your noble efforts in the cause of education, and are greatly gratified at the preference for our body which you have shown in making your proposi- tion to us. At the same time we cannot but feel that, as Christian men and as a part of the church of God, in the present dark and uncertain state of affairs, it would be morally wrong for us to place ourselves in any position in which we would be at all liable to assume any new pecuniary obligations. Most of our churches are involved, to a greater or less extent, and will, probably, have all they can do to take care of themselves at present. Our missionary fields are already suffering severely and calling loudly for aid, and what is before us we cannot tell. Under these circumstances, we feel that we can go no farther than submit to you the following proposition. We are willing to undertake the supervision of your Institution as far as may be- desirable on your part, for the present. The Synod will, from year to year, appoint such a propor- tion of Trustees from our own body as you may desire, provided it be a majority. We will give you the benefit of our name and influence among our churches. We will appoint a visiting commit- tee, which shall present an annual report to Synod of the operations and condition of your Insti- tution. The title of all property of the Institution shall remain in the hands of its present Trus- tees or of any others who may be appointed by them, and the Synod will in no wise be liable for any pecuniary obligations
This plan of supervision may be abrogated at the will of either body. And if, at any future time, the Synod can conscientiously see its way clear to assume nearer relations to your Institu- tion, if it be your desire, they will then do so. In the meantime, we commend you to the favor of God, and bid you go forward.
466
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
The Synod passed a resolution authorizing a committee, composed of Rev. A. A. E. Taylor, Rev. J. D. Mason, Rev. E. L. Doddes, Hon. T. S. Wilson and Thompson Bell, to submit the above to the stockholders, and on its accept- ance, by the terms of the resolution, the gentlemen just named became Trustees on behalf of the Synod.
September 12, 1862, the committee reported that the above had been accepted by a vote of the stockholders. The committee say that a Freshman class of six had been begun in the Fall term, but that five of the number had enlisted in the volunteer service. The school had prospered. however, in spite of the opposition of some enemies. At the next meeting of the Synod, a deed of the property, freed of incumbrance, would be offered, provided that body would assume control, and also constitute Messrs. Carter, Jackson and Kilpat- rick Trustees for life.
March 18, 1863, Prof. Allen and Prof. Taylor resigned the places they had held nearly four years, and James W. McKean, a graduate of a Pennsylvania college, was elected President. The Trustees passed suitable resolutions of regret at parting with the gentlemen who were retiring. In September, the Trustees voted to rent the apparatus owned by Prof. Taylor, and Prof. Allen and Mr. Carter were authorized to transfer the apparatus, furniture, etc., of the defunct Alexander College, at Dubuque, which had been ordered by the Synod to be removed to the Bowen Collegiate Institute.
The Athenian Literary Society came very near dying by the enlistments in 1861 and 1862, but was resuscitated October 24, 1862, with a membership composed of E. P. Couser, A. Sutherland, A. McKean, D. D. Griggs and D. J. Edgington, who chose Profs. Allen and Taylor as honorary members. The nucleus of the society library was formed at the close of the Spring term of 1863, by the purchase of Hume's and Macauley's histories, which cost $4.80. The library now numbers over seven hundred volumes. The honorary mem- bership includes the names of O. E. Aldrich, Hon. Samuel J. Kirkwood, Rev. James Wright, Hon. Richard Yates, Rev. James W. MeKean, Rev. Merrit Harmon, Rev. William Roberts, D. D .; H. C. McKean, II. A. Carter, L. Jackson, James Kilpatrick, J. L. McCreery, Hon. John Russell, W. G. Ham- mond, John B. Votter, HIon. Owen Lovejoy, C. Deulinger, J. D. Mason, Gen. William Vandever, Rev. Samuel Hodge, Prof. Wm. Flude, Prof. Samuel Colvin, Prof. D. H. Coulter, Col. Samuel Pollock, W. Brown Mayes, L. L. Ayers, John Ferguson, J. H. McBride and Alex. Mckean. The society established a periodical in 1876, calling it the Athenian Enterprise, and which compares well with the papers issued from other colleges. The society has been in a healthy condition since 1864.
May 6, 1864, President MeKean tendered his resignation, the reasons for which are quaintly and touchingly given in the following resolution, passed by the Trustees :
Resolved, That, as it appears from the report of the President, that all the male students except four have volunteered into the army, that as the President has resigned, and the female students have lett, and the operations of the Institution have been temporarily suspended in con- sequence, we therefore make no effort to resume operations the present term, but that the Insti- tution shall recommence at the regular time for the commencement of the Fall term, the last Wednesday in August.
Prof. McKean put his own name on the muster roll his students had signed, and was chosen Captain of the company. But his system would not conform to camp duties and fare, and he died at Memphis, Tenn., at the early age of 31 years. Prof. MeKean's manners were most winning, and it is doubtful if any student under him could have failed both to love and respect him.
467
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
In July, Rev. James D. Mason was chosen President, his pay to be the receipts for tuition.
October 8, the Synod changed the name to "Lenox Collegiate Institute," which action was ratified by the Trustees the same day. This act revived to a certain extent the feeling created in the Allen difficulty, and both Synod and Trustees were blamed for dropping the name that had been formally accepted and paid for when it was a question whether the school could be established or not. The Synod passed the following :
Resolved, That we recommend Lenox Collegiate Institute to the churches as worthy of their patronage, and recommend it to their liberality in any effort which the Trustees may make to render the Institution permanent, by procuring apparatus and an endowment.
Resolved, That we also recommend the Board of Trustees to the favor of the Board of Educa- tion in order to procure assistance in endowing the Institution from Eastern churches.
Rev. Mr. Mason resigned his place, from pique toward some of the students, who claimed they could make no progress, owing to his want of attention, and Rev. Mr. Allen was again placed in charge, not without stirring up the old feud, for June 27, 1865, the students petitioned the Trustees not to remove hiim. Samuel Calvin, now Professor of Natural Sciences in the State University, was chosen Professor of Mathematics during this term, and Rev. Mr. Hodge had already been given the chair of Languages.
The Minervian Society appears to have been organized in 1865. The offi- cers in March, 1866, were Lu. L. Diffenderfer, President: Amanda Marshall, Vice President ; Belle Douglass, Recording Secretary ; Ella J. Dunlap, Corre- sponding Secretary ; Mary A. Carl. Librarian: Mattie C. Smith, Mary E. Stemmons, Anna M. Snyder, Directresses. Among the members were Julia Loomis, Sarah B. Scobey and Mattie A. Jackson.
The Minervians gave an exhibition March 13, 1867, and Rev. L. B. Fifield delivered an address before the Society on the previous evening. The Society has now been dormant for several years.
In October, 1865, it was reported to the Synod that the Board of Education had contributed $300 toward the maintenance of the school the past year.
Prof. Allen resigned the charge of the school in June, 1866, and in the fol- lowing October, Rev. Samuel Hodge was chosen President, who held the posi- tion until May 30, 1870, when Rev. J. W. Hanna succeeded him.
October 31, 1870, at a joint meeting of the Trustees with the people of Hopkinton, $3,000 was pledged toward endowing the President's chair, and John Kennedy, Esq., was appointed by the Trustees to canvass the county to increase the amount. The endowment now amounts to over $18.000, the largest contributors to which have been Converse Clark, of New York, who bequeathed $9,000 in real estate ; Mrs. Mary G. Semple, Pittsburgh, $3,000 in bonds, and James Lenox, of New York, $1,000.
The deed transferring the property to the Synod is dated February 9, 1864, and is made by Henry A. and Mary A. Carter. The grantees on behalf of the Synod are E. L. Doddes, Myron H. Beach, James Kilpatrick, Leroy Jackson, Henry A. Carter, James L. Wilson and Fergus S. McKean. The articles of incorporation were not perfected until September 12, 1873. The Trustees named therein are J. S. Wilson, A. S. Marshall, W. R. Marshall, John MeKean, S. Hodge, D. Russell, W. W. Thorpe, Rev. J. S. Cowden, A. B. Goodale, William Flude, P. Melendy, George Ordway, W. G. Donnan, II. A. Carter and L. Jackson.
The growth of the school from 1870 onward made an addition to the build- ing necessary, which was provided in 1875 by the erection of a wing at the east end, which is 30x55 feet, two stories high, and cost $4,500, making the
468
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
total cost of the structure, as it now stands, nearly $14,000. The addition was provided mainly by contributions from the citizens of Hopkinton, and the money was raised and expended under the direction of Messrs. J. T. William- son, H. Livingston, C. E. Merriam, John Campbell, W. H. Finley and William Flude.
The original articles of incorporation were filed for record October 3, 1856. The document is signed by H. A. Carter, Leroy Jackson, James Kilpatrick, Isaae Littlefield, W. P. Cunningham. W. L. Roberts, William Holt, Edmund Davis. Jerome Davis, Phineas Allen, John Reed, Harrison Hill, H. R. Jackson and others. The authorized capital was $100,000, and the corporation to con- tinue twenty years.
The attendance of students has gained steadily for several years. The num- ber attending the Winter term of 1870-1 was 107, while in that of 1877-8 it was 159. Eight students have graduated. Their names, date of graduation and present residences are here subjoined :
Ralplı M. Kirk, 1869, Marengo, lowa.
W. W. Wylie, 1872, Principal public schools, Lyons, lowa.
L. B. Kuhn, 1875
E. C. l'erkins, 1875, Principal Hopkinton public schools.
T. H. McBride, 1876, Vice President Lenox Collegiate Institute.
B. W. Brintnall, 1876, Independence, lowa.
Edward Cook, 1876, Marion, Iowa.
Miss Betty Hodge, 1877, Hopkinton, Iowa.
H. J. Frothingham, 1877, Lansing, Iowa.
A. G. Savage, 1877, Nugent's Grove, lowa.
W. A. Cruisenbury, 1877, Prairieburg, Iowa.
There are some twelve or fourteen applicants for graduation at commence- ment the present month (June).
The library is carefully selected, and is resorted to faithfully by nearly all the students.
The cabinet has been collected mainly by the exertions of Profs. Calvin and Mc Bride, and contains many fine specimens, illustrating the different forms of crustacean and corallini life, both fossil and recent.
The Faculty of the College is as follows for the year 1878 :
Rev. Samuel Hodge. President and Professor of Ancient Languages.
T. II. McBride, A. M., Vice President and Professor of Mathematics and Modern Languages. William Flude, Instructor in Vocal and Instrumental Music.
Miss Mary A. George, Preceptress, Assistant Teacher of Latin and Teacher of Higher En- glish.
Miss Mary C. Dickey, Assistant Teacher of Botany and English Branches.
W. A. Cruisenbury, Tutor in Mathematics.
H. J. Frothingham, Assistant Teacher.
RAILROADS.
THE DUBUQUE & PACIFIC RAILROAD.
This was the first railroad which was built into and across this county. It was completed to Nottingham (Earlville) in December, 1857, and to Manchester and Masonville in October, 1859. Connected with it, and composed of its officers and members, in part, was a sort of internal Credit Mobilier organization, called the Iowa Land Company. which provided for the right of way, and largely con- trolled the location of the road, and became interested in the various towns through which it was expected to pass.
The road subsequently passed into the hands of the Dubuque & Sioux City Railroad Company, and is now operated by the Illinois Central Railroad Com- pany as the Iowa Division of that road, under a twenty years' lease, executed about 1870.
469
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
THE DUBUQUE & SOUTHWESTERN RAILROAD
passes through South Fork Township and touches the southeast corner of North Fork. It was built through the county in 1858-9. Sand Spring is the only station in Delaware County on the road.
DAVENPORT & ST. PAUL RAILROAD.
This railroad, which was completed in 1872, is the result of the indefatiga- ble exertions of a few citizens of Delhi, in the face of almost insuperable obsta- cles. The Dubuque & Sioux City Railroad had been completed in 1860 across the county, passing about three miles north of the county seat, as is elsewhere shown. Delhi was suffering from its isolation, and other towns in the county, both north and south of the D. & S. C. line, were anxious to have railroad com- munications, which could only be accomplished by a road starting from the Mis- sissippi River, at Clinton or Davenport, and running northerly, to some object- ive point in Minnesota.
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