History of Chicago. From the earliest period to the present time, Part 58

Author: Andreas, Alfred Theodore
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 1340

USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > History of Chicago. From the earliest period to the present time > Part 58

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

212

HISTORY OF CHICAGO.

2, since October, 1840; Lucia A. Garvin, and Martha Durant.

During 1844 school conventions were held through- out the State. On the Sth of October such an assembly met in Chicago, to choose delegates to attend a general convention at Springfield. At the Springfield meeting the plan of teachers' institutes was formed.

A State meeting was also held at Peoria October 9, at which Chicago was represented by W. H. Brown, William Jones, R. J. Hamilton, John H. Kinzie, S. C. Bennett, John B. Weir, A. D. Sturtevant, Dr. Noble, Mark Skinner, N. B. Judd, Isaac N. Arnold, H. L. Stuart, F. C. Sherman, G. W. Meeker, J. Y. Scammon, Socrates Rand, F. T. Miner, John Blackstone, Lot Whitcomb, L. D. Browne, John Hill and John S. Wright.

January 9, 1845, a convention was held at Spring- field, for the purpose of organizing a State educational society. Cook County was represented by John S. Wright. In an autograph letter of Rev. J. Ambrose Wight appears the following tribute to Mr. Wright :

" In the educational department he performed a service for the State of Illinois, for which he has perhaps received little credit. He drafted a common-school law, and got it enacted by the Legis- lature, at the time when the center and south of the State were averse to such a thing. But his acquaintance with leading men all over the State gave him the influence to secure its passage. That law, altered and amended, is, I believe, the basis of the pres- ent school law of Illinois."

The rapid growth of the city during 1845 compelled the Council to take action concerning the accommoda- tion of pupils in the several districts ; chief among which was the acceptance of William B. Ogden's pro- posal to sell Lots 1, 2 and 3, Block 20, Wolcott's addi- tion to the city, for a school site, at $950, provided the Legislature confirmed the title in Mr. Ogden. The site was on the corner of Ohio and LaSalle streets. This was in District No. 4. The school-rooms in this dis- trict were declared to be wholly inadequate and unfit for the uses to which they were put, with the exception of that in the " Dutch settlement."

In May, 1845, the salaries of the male teachers were raised from $400 to $500 per annum, and that of female teachers, in September, from $200 to $250.

The erection of the house, corner of Ohio and La- Salle streets, a building forty-five by seventy feet, two stories in height, caused the discontinuance of the little school in " New Buffalo," or the " Dutch settlement." In January, 1846, a petition, signed by residents of this neighborhood, was submitted to the Council, stat- ing that the school had heen discontinued since the opening of the new building, and asking the privilege of opening a German school in the old building, to be kept at their own expense, and offering to purchase the building, stating that at the time of its erection the city had advanced about $150 and that the balance had been supplied by themselves. In answer to this petition the following order was adopted by the Council, January 30, 1846 :

"Ordered, That the Mayor and Clerk issue a deed, under the seal of the city, of the school-house in the Dutch settlement, to Michael Diversy and Peter Gabel, to be used for a German school in that settlement, upon said Diversy and Gabel executing a note to the school fund for Sto, payable in twelve months."

The new school buildings erected in 1844-45 (the one on Dearborn Street at a cost of $7.523.42 and one on the corner of Ohio and LaSalle streets at a cost of about $4,000' were ready for occupancy this year.

The legislative abridgement of the power of taxa- tion for school purposes prevented the erection of build- ings in 1846, as the school-tax fund was then indebted

to the general fund in the sum of $3,694.06. The most important act of the year was the adoption, September 4, 1846, of an amendatory ordinance regulating the powers and duties of Trustees and Inspectors. The Trustees were entrusted with the care of the school property, and held for its proper preservation ; they were authorized to recommend needed repairs and pur- chases of apparatus, fuel, etc., but not permitted either to. contract for and pay for the same, or incur any ex- penses, except for fuel and water ; all bills being audited by the Council, and paid from the school-tax fund. The Inspectors were not empowered to fix the compensation of teachers, nor to cause any expenditures out of the fund, except for wages of teachers already fixed ; all bills being referred to the Council. They were per- mitted to make recommendations for alterations and additions to school property. The ordinance also or- dered the publication, in such papers as would do the service gratis, of the full proceedings of the Council and Board regarding schools.

October 8, 1846, a State common school convention was held in Chicago, during which the following named residents manifested especial interest in its pro- ceedings, as well as their regard for the cause of educa- tion generally: John S. Wright; Henry Brown. J. Young Scammon, Dr. M. L. Knapp, Samuel J. Lowe, D. M. Bradley, R. J. Hamilton, John P. Chapin, B. W. Raymond, William B. Ogden, Mark Skinner, James Carney, Grant Goodrich, Richard L. Wilson, Walter L. Newberry, John Gray, Dr. E. S. Kimberly, Charles McDonnell, Dr. McArthur, N. H. Bolles, A. S. Sher- man, Azel Peck, Z. Eastman, John Murphy, James Cur- tis, T. A. Stewart, F. C. Sherman, John Gage, N. B. Judd, Jesse B. Thomas.

November 13, 1846, an order was passed by the Council authorizing the employment of a teacher in the southern part of the First and Second wards, upon re- ceiving notification from the Mayor and school com- mittee that suitable school-room had been prepared in a proper place; provided said teacher be employed from month to month, instead of by the year. This was the beginning of what is now known as the Jones School, which was taught by Alice L. Bar- nard, afterwards principal of the Jones school, and locat- ed at the corner of Wabash Avenue and Twelfth Street.

An act was passed by the Legislature, February 16, 1847, providing for the sale or lease of Lot 5, Block 4, Lot 9, Block 50, and Lot 6, Block 55, in the original town of Chicago.

In March, 1847, a motion was made by a member of the Council, " that the committee on schools inquire into the expediency of making vocal music one of the permanent branches taught in the schools," but another member moved to amend by adding dancing. This satirical amendment received but three votes, and the original motion prevailed. The subject was taken under advisement by the appropriate committee.

In April, 1847, the School Agent was authorized to purchase eight lots in Block 113, school section, for a school site, at a cost of not more than $450 per lot. A building was completed in May, 1847, on West Madison Street, near Halsted. This was subsequently called the Scammon school. The cost was $6.795. In October Stoo was appropriated for repairs on a building used as a school-house, in the southern part of Districts No. I and 2.

In pursuance of an order passed by the Inspectors, November 12. 1847, Frank Lombard was appointed teacher of vocal music in the public schools, for one

213

EDUCATIONAL DEPARTMENT.

year from January 1, 1848, at a salary of $250. The " Primary School Song Book," by Lowell Mason and George James Webb was officially adopted for the use of the pupils.

June 23, 1848, the Council authorized the purchase from Walter L. Newberry. of eighty-five feet adjoining the school lot in District No. 4 (the original lot being but one hundred and eleven feet front on Ohio Street), for the sum of $1,050. In July, 1848, a school was opened at Bridgeport, and the teacher was paid for two months, when the Inspectors found there was no au- thority for a continuance of the school, and it was closed. September 11, 1848, the committee on schools reported that they had purchased at the sale of canal lands, Lot 13, Block 22, fractional Section 15, as a site for a school-house, for $630. This lot is located on the northwest corner of Wabash Avenue and Twelfth Street, and is the one on which the building stood in which the school in the southern part of Districts No. I and 2 was located. It was occupied for school pur- poses till about the time the Haven school was built (1862). Alice L. Barnard was the teacher.

The Inspectors, in their annual report, dated Feb- ruary 5, 1849, speak of the progress of the schools since their re-organization in 1840, as follows:

"Since the organization of our public schools in the autumn of 1840, there has been a change unparalleled in the history of any western city. Then, a few miserably clad children, unwashed and uncombed, were huddled into small, unclean and unventilated apartments, seated upon uncomfortable benches and taught by list- less and inefficient tutors, who began their daily vocations with dread, and completed what they considered their unpleasant duties with pleasure. Now the school reports of the township show the names of nearly two thousand pupils, two-thirds of whom are in daily attendance in spacious, ventilated, well regulated school rooms, where they are taught by those whose duty is their pleasure. The scholars are neat in person and orderly in behavior, and by the excellent course of moral and mental training which they receive, are being prepared to become good citizens, an honor to the City and State."

Appropriations were asked for to purchase school apparatus, and in reference to school accommodations they report as follows:

"The increase in the number of children and the crowded rooms in the First and Second districts, embracing the four wards lying between the South Branch and the lake, render the erection of another school-house absolutely necessary in the southern part of the city. The school-house on the west side of the river has been found to be admirably adapted to the wants of the schools, and it is recommended that an order be passed to build on Block 113 a house similar in size and arrangements to the one in District No. 3."

The State Educational Convention was held at Springfield, January 23, 1849, presided over by J. B. Thomas. William Bross acted as secretary. Resolu- tions were adopted defining a liberal policy concerning the support of public schools.

The Council voted that Sroo should be expended for library purposes. It was also ordered, February 12, 1849, that a brick school-house be erected on Lot 113, as soon as practicable. The power to appoint teachers was vested solely in the Inspectors, by action of the Council, February 12, 1849. The lot whereon the Franklin school was erected was purchased of William B. Ogden, July 25. 1849. November 26. 1849, Districts No. 1 and 2, which were united for convenience, were divided and the boundary line was drawn through the center of blocks lying between Monroe and Adams streets. The southern section of the South Division was then called the Second District. The building on Block 113, in District No. 2, was completed December 17, 1849, at a cost of $6.795.

The new school in District No. 2 was opened in

January, 1850, with H. McChesney and C. McArthur in charge.

The Council purchased an addition to the school lot on Dearborn Street, fifty by one hundred and eighty feet being the west fifty feet of Lot 7, Block 58, original town, for $2,500; paying Alexander N. Fullerton in one and two years, at ten per cent per annum interest.

The residents of the Sixth Ward, being the southern portion of District No. 3, the region afterward known as the Washington-school district, in May, 1850, peti- tioned for a school, claiming that the number of children in their proposed district exceeded five hundred. An appropriation of $400 was made in July, 1850, for the employment of an instructor in the elementary principles of music. Frank Lombard and Mr. Warner were en- gaged as music teachers.

During the month of December, 1850, a petition was presented to the Council, signed by residents of the district west of the Southwest Plank Road, the Brown- school district,) representing that they were one and a half mile distant from the nearest school; that they had a school room furnished, which had been built by the inhabitants, and asking that a teacher be assigned to teach in said school. During the same month the Council passed an order authorizing the Trustees of District No. 3, in connection with the Inspectors, to em- ploy a competent teacher to take charge of the school. The school was continued during the winter, but in May, 1851, the Council ordered its discontinuance.

The number and pay of teachers was :

Teachers. Pay.

District No. I

6 $1,627.75

District No. 2.

.4.

1,386.43

District No. 3 .5

1.513.59

District No. 4 ·5.

1,462.13

Total. $5,989.90

The music teachers are not included in the above.

A teachers' association was organized in this city in the winter of 1850-51, with a membership of twen- ty-four, which included four private instructors. This was done in compliance with an order of the Council, passed December, 1850, compelling the public teachers to meet weekly for consultation, under the direction of the Inspectors.

In February. 1851, the Council authorized the com- mittee on schools to advertise for proposals for a school site in the Sixth Ward, north of Kinzie Street, and about the same distance west of the river as School No. 3 ; and also to procure plans for a building, and at the meeting of the Council, April 28, 1851, a proposition of Henry Smith, Agent, to sell Lots 12 to 16 (both in- clusive ) in Block 14, Ogden's addition, for the sum of $1,250 was accepted, and the Mayor and Clerk were au- thorized to issue a city bond for this amount, payable in one year, bearing ten per cent interest. This is the site now occupied by the Sangamon school, formerly known as the Washington, corner of Indiana and Sangamon streets.

By an act approved in February, 1851, the School Agent was given the custody of the school fund, subject to the direction of the Council. In September of the same year an ordinance was passed establishing at least one common school in each district : and giving the Council authority to appoint seven Inspectors for the city and three trustees for each school district. It was made the duties of the inspectors to superintend the schools, examine and employ teachers, divide the schools into grades, etc., and of the Trustees to take charge of the property and recommend improvements in building's or appliances.

214

HISTORY OF CHICAGO.

May 30, 1851, the Council passed an order author- izing the committee on schools and the Mayor to nego- tiate a loan of $8,000 to be expended in erecting school- houses in the North and West divisions of the city, pay- able in two years from the first day of June, 1851 ; and also an order authorizing the committee, together with the Inspectors, to adopt plans for such buildings, to ad- vertise for proposals for their erection and let the same to the lowest bidder, providing the cost of the buildings did not exceed $4,000 each. The order authorizing the loaning of $8,ooo was repealed at a subsequent meeting of the Council, September 19, 1851. An order was adopted instead authorizing the issue of city bonds, payable in two years from June 1, 1851. July 2, 1851, the committee on schools report proposals received for the erection of these buildings, one to be located corner of Division and Sedgwick streets ( Franklin school ) and the other corner of Indiana and Sangamon streets (now known as Sangamon-street school, formerly known as the Washington ) and an order was passed authorizing the award of contracts at a slight advance on the amount fixed, $4,000 each. An ordinance was passed by the Council, September 8, 1851, defining the powers of the Trustees and Inspectors. It was essentially the same as that of 1849. One change was the provision fixing the salary of assistant principals at $250, instead $400 per annum.

February, 1852, the people of the extreme western portion of the city (the Brown District) secured a $75 appropriation for a teacher. Miss Case was appointed, who received $54 for her services. In December Miss M. E. Hartley was assigned to this school, in a building temporarily obtained. An appropriation of $171 was made and added to the unexpended balance, $21 of the former sum set apart for this purpose.

The Washington (Sangamon) school was completed in December, 185r. It was located on the corner of Indiana and Sangamon streets, in the West Division, and was opened in January, 1852. The Franklin school, on the corner of Division and Sedgwick streets, was completed and opened simultaneously with the Wash- ington building. The cost of these houses was about $4,000 each.

In February, IS53, W. H. Brown, who for thirteen years had held the position of School Agent, resigned his office to the great regret of the Council and citizens of Chicago. The condition of the school fund, at this time, was as follows: Loans secured by real estate $28,527.18 ; loans on personal security, $7,437.59 ; balance, cash on hand, $5,158.43: total, $41, 123.20. James Long succeeded Mr. Brown in office.

May 30, 1853, the residents of the southern part of the city, in the vicinity of the works of the American Car Company, petitioned the Council to take immediate steps for the purchase of a site, and the erection of a . building somewhere in Section 27, in the vicinity of said works ; and the Council, June 27, 1853, directed the committee on schools to procure propositions to sell suitable grounds in this vicinity, and report at its ear- liest convenience.

In November, 1853, the Teachers' Association reached a commendable degree of efficiency, and was thoroughly organized. The Council then permitted semi-monthly meetings. L. Walker acted as secretary of the body.

A period is now reached where a more detailed re- view of educational work can be begun. The close of the school year in 1853 saw an enrollment of over three thousand pupil, and the public schools were maintained at a cost of $12, 129.

The rapid increase of population and the enhanced importance of the educational interests of the city de- manded a more systematic management of details than was permissable under the then existing regulations. It was deemed no longer desirable to rely solely upon the Inspectors, who were men of active pursuits, and could therefore give but partial attention to the duties of their office. Governed by that lofty spirit which has always characterized the conduct of school affairs in this city, the Council determined to place some one at the head of the educational department, and on the 28th of November, 1853. the office of Superintendent of Schools was created, with a salary of $1,000 attached.

June 23, 1854, the ordinance was so amended that instead of fixing the salary at $1,000 per annum, it was provided that the salary should be fixed from time to time, by the Inspectors with the proviso that the salary must not exceed $1.500 per annum.

In October, 1853, a school was established near the works of the American Car Company, that corporation furnishing the room. This was called District No. 7. afterward known as the Moseley-school district. In December of that year a site was purchased on Warren Avenue, between Page and Wood streets, subsequently occupied by the Brown school. The price paid was $2,800. January 3. 1854, an appropriation of $150 was made to support the school.

The Inspectors invited John D. Philbrick, principal of the State Normal School at New Britain, Conn., to fill the Superintendent's office, but the invitation was de- clined. On the 6th of March, 1854, John C. Dore, principal of the Boylston grammar school, Boston, was elected at a salary of $1,500. Mr. Dore assumed the- -. duties of the position in May. Under his management the work of classifying and grading the schools was ef- fected.

From Mr. Dore's first report, which consisted simply of a review of his labors during 1854, is gathered an in- teresting statement of the condition of the schools at that time. There were in all the schools thirty-five teachers regularly employed, but each school was inde- pendently governed. Some of the schools, however, were totally deficient in system, many of the pupils at- tending one department in the morning and another in the afternoon of the same day. No registers were kept. and it was impossible to tell what pupils did or did not belong to specified schools, except as they were seen in actual attendance. MIr. Dore said : "As much time was consumed in going to and from recitations as was devoted to recitation." The principals did little more than govern the filing in and out of ciasses. A rigid ex- amination was instituted, in which fair results were shown, except in English grammar. This was "virtu- ally a sealed book in several of the schools." In the lower departments little attention was paid to oral arith- metic or even to the multiplication table. Neither ex- amination nor age governed the promotion of pupils from one class to another. Mr. Dore continued : " The pupils in the schools have been classified, and the several classes apportioned among the several teachers, so as to secure a proper division of labor and individual respon- sibility. A system of promotion has been adopted, de- pending upon the qualifications of the pupils, determined by examination." Class books were adopted, and a general system devised. The Teachers' Institute, which was then somewhat neglected, was revived.

Among the most important recommendations made by Mr. Dore was the establishment of a high school. The inspectors manifested the warmest spirit of co-op- eration with the new Superintendent, and endeavored to

215

EDUCATIONAL DEPARTMENT.

secure the best teachers. The report contained an able argument for the advancement of interest in the public schools, which were declared to be needed from a phil- anthropic standpoint, no less than a political one. The high school would serve as a stimulus to the pupils of the lower grades, and create a feeling of commendable rivalry among the students. Mr. Dore evinced a broad and comprehensive conception of his duties, and of the - duties of the parents and the public generally.

In April, 1854, an ordinance was passed increasing teachers' salaries as follows : Principal (male) of higher departments, $1,000 ; assistants, $300; principal of primary departments, $350 ; assistants, $250. There were, at that time, seven public schools owned or leased by the city, but the seating was inadequate by at least one thousand. In addition to that number, there were . many more who should attend. The schools were designated by number.

Number 1-J. P. Brooks, principal, salary, $1,000 ; assistants, Mrs. A. E. Whittier, Misses S. A. LeBosquet, M. Cooper, A. L. Graves and E. McClure.

Number 2-I. Claflin, principal, $1,000 ; assistants, Misses C. McArthur, F. A. Cogswell, A. E. Lowery, E. A. Kent and L. Perkins.

Number 3-D. S. Wentworth, principal, $1,000 ; assistants, Misses L. M. Reed, H. Culver, S. E. Tibbetts, N. M. Hill, Mrs. R. M. Wight.

Number 4-A. G. Wilder, principal, SI,coo; assistants, Misses A. M. Duffy, D. A. Dean, E. Hall, J. Richards, F. Brown.

Number 5- D. C. Ferguson, principal, $900; assistants, Misses L. Everden, Mr. Shields, and E. Dickerman.

Number 6- 11. McChesney, principal, $1,000 ; assistants. Misses J. Williams, F. Smith, A. Duncan, - Hunter, and Mrs. J. E. Seymour.

Number 7-Miss C. C. Fox.

The site of the Foster school was purchased, in- cluding two lots, for $5,800, in May, 1854.

With the exception of the portion occupied by the Scammon school, Block I was occupied by squatters, up to March, 1855, when the Council passed an order for their removal and the subdivision of the land into lots, to be leased for the benefit of the school fund. .

The committee on schools in their report on the an- nual report of the Agent for the year ending February I, 1855, speaks in the following manner on the matter of the sale of school lands :

" But the real estate belonging to the school fund, though heretofore yielding less revenue, is by far the most important, as io it are the elements of growth in value, commensurate with the growth of the city and surrounding country. If the real estate yet belonging to the school fund, though but a fraction of what it once was, shall be judiciously managed and kept, and it cost noth- ing to keep it, the next generation may be in possession of a rev- enue adequate for the support of the grandest system of public schools of any city in the world. A comparison of the small cash school fund now on hand (about $40,000), with the value of lots, nearly all of the school section addition to Chicago, that were sold but a few years ago, now worth at low estimate six million dollars, and almost certain to quadruple in the next twenty years, will show in the strongest possible light the folly of selling school lots of lands in a growing city or country to obtain a revenue for school purposes ; and yet the whole country is dotted over with marks of similar, though generally less disastrous, strokes of policy."

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Chicago. From the earliest period to the present time, Part 58

Author: Andreas, Alfred Theodore Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas Number of Pages: 1340

Author: Andreas, Alfred Theodore
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 1340