USA > Illinois > Piatt County > History of Piatt County; together with a brief history of Illinois from the discovery of the upper Mississippi to the present time > Part 15
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156
ILISTORY OF PIATT COUNTY.
forward a class of pupils aged from twelve to fourteen years and showed how well they could solve problems by cancellation. Before beginning he invited members of the institute to volunteer to work with the class. H. A. Coffeen, principal of the Bement schools, and Dr. T. J. Mitchell, of Mackville, stepped forth and expressed a willingness to show how well they could cancel factors. The conductor read the problems from the book and the crayon in the hands of the children kept close pace with his voice. As soon as the inflection of the voice at the close of the reading indicated that the entire problem had been given, almost with the rapidity of thought the children detected the common factors and triumphantly wrote the result, while the older heads were waiting to see if there was something more to be given, and on the first problem Dr. Mitchell had not begun the cancellation " when the children gave the proper answer. Shouts of laughter accom- panied the discomfiture of the two old teachers, and although they did better with the problems following, they showed that they were no mateli for the children on problems in cancellation. It transpired . afterward that the pupils had been specially drilled in those same problems for the occasion, but the delight of the children and the amusement of the spectators are remembered by many to this day.
The instructors (those conducting exercises) at the institute of 1868-9 were H. E. Huston, C. A. Tatman, J. W. Lewis, J. A. McComas, Jolın Garver, Jolın A. Williams, W. B. Sweitzer, Miss Kate Suver, Miss Anna Combes, and Frank Tippett. Public lectures were given by J. M. Gregory, E. C. Hewett, and George L. Spear. The institute began Wednesday, January 6, and continued four days, as reported by Dr. Coleman to the state superintendent. In those days it was the custom to give to the teachers while attending the institute free enter- tainment.
The pressure against permitting teachers to take time to attend institutes was so strong that Superintendent Tatman did not attempt to hold another, and as Superintendent Pitkin held none, the next one held in the county was under the supervision of Superintendent Mary I. Reed in 1878. This one was conducted according to the modern plan. Instructors .were employed, a tuition fee was charged, and the teachers attending were arranged into classes and subjected to daily drill in the various branches for a term of two weeks. Abont one hundred teachers attended this institute. The leading instructor was Jasper N. Wilkinson, a former teacher in the county. assisted by the county superintendent. Miss Olive Coffeen, of La Place, Edwin B. Smith,
157
THE SCHOOLS OF THE COUNTY.
of Cerro Gerdo, and G. A. Burgess. The next year one Indred and thirty-nine attended the institute, a number of whom were not expect- ing to teach. The corps of instructors remained the same, excepting that Prof. H. C. De Motte, of Illinois Wesleyan University, was employed in place of Edwin B. Smith, who had gone to Chicago to study law. The following year about eighty-five teachers attended. John W. Cook and M. L. Seymour, of Normal, were the chief instruc- tors, and the receipts, together with the balance on hand, fell short of the expenditures twenty-five dollars, which loss was wholly sustained by the county superintendent. In 1881 no institute was held, owing to the resignation of Mary I. Reed as county superintendent early in July. In 1882 one hundred and five attended the institute. J. N. Wilkinson served as leading instructor for one week, and owing to sickness was succeeded by Robert L. Barton, of Cerro Gordo, principal of schools at Galena, Illinois. The other instructors were Olive E. Coffeen, of La Place, principal of Shipman, Macoupin county, schools, B. F. Stocks, principal of Cerro Gordo schools, and W. H. Skinner, now principal of Monticello schools. The session was three weeks in lengtli, and was held in the north school-building, Monticello. The tuition has invariably been one dollar per week, and the balance on hand from the last institute is sixteen dollars, which will form part of the institute fund for 1883.
Since August, 1878, there has been in active operation a monthly teachers' association, which has met in various parts of the county, but is now confined to Bement and Monticello, at which places it holds alternate meetings on the second Saturday of each month. The interest in these meetings has been well maintained, about forty per cent of the teachers actually at work in the county attending.
G. A. Burgess was presiding officer of the association the first, second and fourth years, Miss Reed the third year, and F. V. Dilatuslı the present year. The other officers for the year are John J. Wilkinson. of Milmine schools, vice-president; Miss Cora Pitts, of Cerro Gordo schools, secretary, and Miss Alice Godwin, of Moma school, treasurer.
The association has this year formed a circulating library for use of its members, which opened with twenty volumes, and which will soon increase to forty volumes. Nineteen out of every twenty of our teachers take one or more educational papers or journals. A higher standard is constantly being demanded of our teachers. The certifi- cates of other county superintendents are no longer indorsed, and the time will soon come when no certificates will be renewed, thus
158
HISTORY OF PIATT COUNTY.
requiring teachers constantly to study to endeavor to improve. Experi- ence lias shown that where little or no effort is required to get a certifi- cate the teacher rests content ; he feels that he knows almost enough ; all progress is at an end ; the teacher stagnates ; the school shows the effect of it, and the money expended in that district is worse than thrown away, for the teacher has done incalculable injury by per- mitting the minds of his pupils to grow uncultivated and untrained. Often such a teacher instills wrong ideas and wrong principles, which can never be eradicated. In this county the grades on a scale of 100, attained by the holder of a teacher's certificate, are placed upon it, so that school boards may know the judgment of the superintendent upon the work.
Our schools laek system in the daily routine of work. Each teacher follows his own idea or the idea of the text-books used, as to the order and method of pursuing, often without any regard to what has been done by the teacher preceding him. System and supervision are the two things that cause the town schools to be superior to the rural schools, and much more may be done in the rural schools in the way of systematizing the work. To this end a course of study was adopted at. the last institute, and a detailed outline of study to accompany it has been issued to the schools and school officers. Blank certificates of attendance and reports to parents have been sent to teachers, with a view to introducing them into use in the schools.
It is contemplated holding monthly and annual examinations, under the management and supervision of both teacher and superin- tendent, for the purpose of unifying and stimulating the efforts of the schools, believing that when the people understand the plan and its objects they will cooperate in the work of introducing it into every school district.
Wall maps, reading charts and an unabridged dictionary should constitute part of the helps of every school-room, and, when possible, a globe and a box of geometrical forms or solids should be supplied. Good blackboards with good crayons and erasers are now admitted by all to be a necessity, and no school-room is ready for use till these are in place.
'Our teachers need to think, to study, to get out of straightforward methods of asking questions strictly in the order of the books and requiring the verbatim text-book answers thereto. They too often make themselves slaves to the text-book, instead of making the text- book their servant. Boards of directors make too little difference between teachers. A few dollars on the month causes the removal of
159
THE SCHOOLS OF THE COUNTY.
a tried and competent teacher to a more lucrative field, and the employ- ment in his stead of an inexperienced stranger. The worth of a good teacher cannot be estimated. The district would be benefited often by giving the poor teacher his wages and never allowing him to begin his school. Our schools are expensive, and it behooves everyone to do everything he can to make them do the greatest possible good, that the community may get the best possible return for their investment.
Common school funds .- The funds authorized by law for the maintenance of the public schools arise from the following sources :
1. The state school fund, which now consists (a) of the tax annually levied by the state for educational purposes, and which in 1881 was twelve cents on each $100 ; (b) of the interest on the surplus revenue distributed by the general government to the states during Jackson's administration, and set apart by Illinois as a school fund, and (c) of the interest on the proceeds of three per cent of the sale of public lands within the state, less one-half of one per cent.
The state holds the school funds named in the last two cases and pays to the schools of the state six per cent interest thereon. The dis- tribution is made on the basis of population under twenty-one as taken from the government census report by the state auditor, who draws luis warrant for the amount due the county upon the county treasurer against the state tax in the treasurer's hands and in favor of the county superintendent.
2. The county school fund, consisting of the proceeds of the sale of the swamp lands lying within the county. This fund is loaned by the county superintendent, and the interest thereon, together with the fines and forfeitures paid during the year to the county superintendent, is annually distributed to the several township treasurers of the county on the basis of population under twenty-one years of age. At the same time and npon the same basis is the distribution of the state school fund made by the county superintendent.
3. The township school fund, consisting of the proceeds of the sale of the sixteenth section in each congressional township, donated by the general government for the support of schools. In many of the townships the section of land was sold when the value of it was so low that the fund therefrom is quite small. Town sixteen, range five, sold its section for $13,660, and has much the largest township fund in the county.
4. By special district taxes, which are levied by the directors each year in nearly all the districts to make up the amount needed to sup- port the schools.
160
HISTORY OF PIATT COUNTY.
The township fund is loaned by the township treasurer, and the interest on it, together with the amount received from the county superintendent, is distributed by the township trustees to the school districts.
The special tax levied is paid when collected to the township treas- urer for the benefit of the district levying the tax.
The distribution of the state school fund to Piatt county is now $5,591.16.
The county school fund of Piatt county is reported this year as about $8,000, but part of it furnishes no revenue, as it is undergoing litigation.
TOWNSHIP TREASURERS AND TOWNSHIP SCHOOL FUNDS OF THE RESPECTIVE
CONGRESSIONAL TOWNSHIPS.
1
Tp. and Range.
Name of Treasurer.
Tp. Fund.
16. . 6.
: J. A. Hawks
$1,548 00
17. . 6. F. E. Bryant. 5,916 28
18 .... 6.
C. A. Tatman. 502 00
19. . 6.
Jolin E. Andrew
1,066 00
20 .... 6.
D. E. Carberry
1,520 10
21 .. . 6.
E. L. Drake
4,979 46
16 .. . 5.
Thomas J. Kizer 13,660 00
3,014 96
18. ... 5 ..
Willam J. MeIntosh
1,066 44
19 .. . 5.
R. B. Moody
827 37
20 .. . 5.
Elijah Campbell.
4,569 36
21. 5.
Chris Garver . Tp. fund reported to De Witt Co.
16 ..
Reuben Groff .Tp. fund reported to Macon Co.
17 ..
Philip Dobson Tp. fund reported to Macon Co.
18.
Caleb Hedges. .Tp. fund reported to Macon Co.
19. 4.
James McConkey .Tp. fund reported to De Witt Co.
The following statistical table shows items of interest compared for the past fifteen years, beyond which no records appear in the county superintendent's office :
. Year.
No. schools.
No. teachers.
No. pupils attending.
Am't special district tax collected.
Am't exp'd for all school purposes.
1868.
62
127
3,356
$25,031 82
$33,796 22
1869
62
127
3,215
21,872 20
28,401 73
1870.
66
110
3,282
30,593 70
34,294 32
1871.
77
134
4,093
30,259 70
40,492 47
1872.
83
140
3,805
39,761 98
52,771 66
1873.
80
139
3,718
36,427 97
46,395 18
1874.
92
150
4,366
38,351 59
48,605 26
1875.
95
160
4,121
37,979 11
48,732 74
1876.
91
169
4,396
.35,607 02
48,279 10
1877.
93
173
4,719
41,592 40
54,357 31
1878.
93
172
4,206
37,029 10
45,215 68
1879.
97
153
4,456
13,815 97
33,118 79
1880.
98
164
4,500
43,928 39
49,634 21
1881.
96
147
5,087
33,312 25
46,763 35
1882.
....
95
154
4,347
33,840 23
43,101 15
. ..
17. ... 5 ..
Thomas Lamb, jr
161
THE SCHOOLS OF THE COUNTY.
Monticello Township .- The first school in this township was taught in a log house which stood on the river bank just above the river bridge near Monticello. James Outten and George A. Patterson were teachers in this school. Another school was opened somewhat later about one mile farther up the river, near John Woolington's late residence. The first school in Monticello was taught by George A. Patterson in the first court-house. The first school-house of the place was built by Esq. A. J. Wiley and others on a lot donated by the esquire. This house stood on the site of the present residence of George Lewis. Thomas Milligan, afterward county school commis- sioner, was one of the early teachers of this school, as were also Major David Longnecker and Andrew Mckinney.
TIMES. ST.LOUIS.
MONTICELLO HIGH SCHOOL.
The brick school-house was built in 1857-8, and consisted of two rooms below and one above. besides the cloak-rooms. Isaiah Stickle was the first to teach in the new school-house. In 1869 or 1870 the upper room was divided, giving four rooms, as in the present arrange- ment. The school bell was formerly set on a platform elevated on high posts. It remained there but a few years, when the belfry now in use was erected and the bell placed in it. The bell was formerly used on the old Methodist Episcopal church.
In 1877 the north school-building was erected, but during the first year only three of its four rooms were in use. The building was not fenced until 1880. The hedge fence aromid the brick school-house was set out and has ever since been cared for by William Worsley, who has been janitor of the building almost continuously since a janitor has been employed. In the early days cach teacher built his own fires and swept his own room.
162
HISTORY OF PIATT COUNTY.
. The following persons have served as principals of the Monticello school, but perhaps not in the order named : Isaialı Stickle, Mr. Bab- cock, Mr. Scovell, W. F. Gilmore, A. T. Pipler, J. A. McComas, Mr. Porter, Mr. McIntosh, Arthur Edwards, P. T. Nichols, Jesse Hubbard, Amelia E. Sanford, G. A. Burgess, H. F. Baker, and W. H. Skinner. P. T. Nichols began in 1872, and taught for five years, with one year of rest intervening. Mr. McIntosh died during the school year and was succeeded by Arthur Edwards. Mrs. McIntosh has for five years been a teacher in the Bement schools.
Mrs. Amelia E. Sanford succeeded Mary I. Reed as first assistant in the high school in December, 1877, upon her resignation to accept the county superintendency, and was elected principal for the next year. Miss Reed had been first assistant for several years.
The high school was formed in 1877, with Mr. Nichols and Miss Reed teachers. The first class, composed of five girls, graduated in 1878. The class of 1879 consisted of four girls and two boys; the class of 1880, of six girls and one boy ; the class of 1881, of eleven girls and one boy, and the class of 1882, of seven girls and two boys. The high school has gradually grown in efficiency till it ranks equal to that of many of the larger towns.
In the winter of 1879-80 the members of the high school were formed into two literary societies, now known as the Nervian and Monticellian societies. Each elects its own officers and conducts its own exercises. The high school began a reference library in 1879. which has increased to more than fifty volumes. The grammar school began a library in 1882, devoting the proceeds of an entertainment to it.
The teachers at present are W. H. Skinner, principal ; M. Ella Child, Eva Winchester, F. V. Dilatush, Anza Minear, Lulu Parks, Nellie Espy, Jane Conoway, and Anna M. Kirkpatrick. Messrs. Charles Watts, A. J. Dighton and C. P. Davis taught in Monticello township years ago. The Stringtown school-house, the last of the log school-houses of the county, was situated in the western part of this township.
Bement Township .- The first school was taught in the village of Bement by Henry C. Booth, in 1856. The term was for three months and the salary $40 per month.
Rented buildings were used until 1859, when one wing of the present building was completed. F. E. Bryant was the contractor and J. M. Camp the builder. The block of ground now used for school
163
THE SCHOOLS OF THE COUNTY.
purposes was donated by L. B. Wing and William Rea, and forms a beautiful campus containing the buildings near the northwest corner. In 1866 the building was enlarged to its present size, although the entire room was not used for school work until several years later.
The present school-bell was bought by Mr. Bryant in St. Louis, and formerly belonged to a Mississippi steamboat.
The first board of directors consisted of Joseph Bodman, sen., Aaron Yost and H. Booth, since which time J. O. Sparks, George Dustin, George L. Spear, Thomas Postlethwaite, S. K. Bodman, N. G. Hinkle and Royal Thomas have served as directors two or more terms, and inany others have served one term.
MAUF'AS ENC. CO. CHI .
BEMENT PUBLIC SCHOOL.
The following is a list of principals of the Bement schools : H. C. Booth, S. K. Bodman, JJ. W. Richards, C. D. Moore, J. B. Lovell, A. S. Norris. J. A. Helman, J. Russell Johnson, J. N. Patrick, E. M. Cheney, Mrs. Shirk, Frank M. Fowler, Asa W. Mason, H. A. Coffeen, W. J. Cousins, J. A. McComas, G. C. Gantz, A. C. Butler, Thomas Sterling, Miss Belle Sterling, R. O. Hickman, T. C. Clendeneu, J. N. Wade and W. E. Mam, the present principal.
A. C. Butler taught five years. The school reached a degree of enthusiasm under the management of H. A. Coffeen, in 1867-68, which is yet felt in its effects upon the town. The Bement library gained a strong hold upon the people, and was largely increased
164
HISTORY OF PIATT COUNTY.
through Mr. Coffeen's efforts. A literary society formed at this time maintained an organization for ten or twelve years.
The present course of study was planned and put into operation by T. C. Clendenen. The high-school work requires four years for its completion. Last year (1881) the high school was admitted to the accredited list of high schools of the Illinois State University at Cham- paign, and its graduates can now enter any of the courses of study of that institution without further examination. The high-school refer- ence library was started under the auspices of T. C. Clendenen. The school manages two literary societies - the Baconian and Edmund Burke. The class of 1881 was the first to graduate, and consisted of five girls ; the class of 1882 consisted of three girls and two boys, and the class for 1883 now has eight members.
In 1878 a school-house was built in the southern part of the dis- trict to accommodate those who lived too far from Bement. Miss Joanna Fleming was the first teacher in this school, and Luther Thompson the present teacher.
The present corps of teachers in the Bement school is as follows : W. E. Mann, principal ; Lucy J. Stockwell, assistant principal ; Julia C. McIntosh in grammar department ; Joanna Fleming and Anna Pettit in the intermediate departments, and Lucy Sprague and Sara J. Haldeman in the primary departments. Miss Haldeman has been a teacher in the Bement schools for fourteen years.
Mr. G. L. Spear, the oldest teacher in the county, has charge of the Davis school, in the northwestern part of Bement township.
Cerro Gordo Township .- The first school in which this township was interested was taught in a log school-house one-half mile west of the village of Cerro Gordo, just over the line in Macon county. Andrew Mckinney was the first teacher of whom we have account. The first school-house in the village and the first in the township was built about 1857, on the site of the present school-building. Audrew Mckinney taught in this house for three years.
In 1867 a two-story brick school-building was erected at a cost of $6,000. About 1873 a wing of the same size and material was added, at a cost of $3,000, and in 1881 a frame addition of one room was built, costing $600.
The first board of directors of this school consisted of A. L. Rod- gers, Isaac Wilson and W. L. Pitts.
The following is the list of principals of the school, and the order in which they served : Mr. Green, John Garver. Mr. Welch, P. H.
165
THE SCHOOLS OF THE COUNTY.
Harris, E. Duncan, A. D. Beckhart, T. C. Fuller, Miss Olive E. Coffeen, Joshua Thorpe, A. R. Jolly and B. F. Stocks.
The school is well graded, and has lately adopted a course of study of eight years in the lower grades and three years in the high school. The first class of the high school will graduate in 1884. At the county fair in 1882 the schools secured more premiums awarded to graded schools, not including high schools, than all the other graded schools of the county taken together. The following persons form tlfe present corps of teachers : B. F. Stocks, principal; Mary A. Kaufman, Ida F. Frydenger, Eva Huff and Cora A. Pitts.
The present two-story brick school-house in Milmine was built in 1871, at a cost of $4,500. Jasper N. Wilkinson was its first principal, and was followed by A. D. Beckhart, W. H. Chamberlain, Allen S. Stults, John A. Smith, Frank East, - Mckinney, Charles Hughes, M. M. Morrison, Joel Dunn, George E. Stuart, and John J. Wilkinson, the present principal. Among the assistant teachers were Mary (Mitchell) Hawkes, Ella (Newman) Conway and Hortense Klapp. Two teachers are employed during the winter term and one only during the summer.
The La Place school is situated outside the village at some dis- tance, and the school-house is far behind the wealth and intelligence of the community, being too small and too inconvenient for the demands made upon it. A building with two rooms on the lower floor and a hall above, which might in the future be used for a school-room, would add greatly to the village and the school district. Miss Sue Gregory and Mr. Thurber were among its carly teachers, Miss Olive Coffeeu and E. O. Humphrey among the later. Mr. Humphrey is the teacher at present writing. Several of the former pupils of this school are now prominent teachers of the county.
Prominent among the teachers of Cerro Gordo township in the past were the East brothers, whose home is one mile south of Milinine. Ulric tanght the Gulliford and Baird schools and then went into graded school work. He died in California about two years ago, where he had gone to regain his health. Frank taught the Pleasant View, Ridge, La Place and Milmine schools, and died about one year ago. Oscar taught the Baird, Pleasant View and Gulliford schools, and is at present living in Chicago. Homer taught the Gulliford school one term, and is now managing the home farm. They are a family of natural teachers, but the confinement of the school-room did not agree with their health.
166
HISTORY OF PIATT COUNTY.
Goose Creek Township .- The first school was taught by George A. Patterson in a log school-house which stood by the gate at the entrance to W. H. Piatt's residence grounds. Formerly the Piatt and Morain schools were the principal ones of the township, the average attendance in each running from sixty to eighty scholars. Among the early teachers of the Piatt school were Mr. Winstead, Margaret Pattersou, Delos Tew, uow a professor in one of the colleges or academies of Towa; Louis Bonnet, now a wealthy resident of Iowa; Miss Lizzie Shattuch, S. K. Bodman, who taught the writer of this book her letters, and who is now postmaster and druggist in Bement; George Marquiss, and Misses Louisa Craft, Louisa Gale and Mollie Bondurant. Miss Shattuck was sent here under the auspices of an organization in New England, for the purpose of advancing education iu the west. She afterward went as a missionary to the West Indies.
The old log school-house of the Piatt district gave place about 1866 to one of the neatest and most commodious rural school-houses in the county. Mr. A. S. Poland was a most successful teacher in this school for several consecutive years. He now resides in Ohio. · Of the later teachers, John and Emma Marquiss were pupils of Mr. Poland. The district 'has of late been divided and a new school-house, the Harmony, has recently been dedicated.
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