USA > Illinois > Stark County > History of Stark County, Illinois, and its people : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 19
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The text-books used in that day were usually Webster's spelling book, the English or MeGuffey's readers, Pike's. Daboll's, Talbott's or Ray's arithmeties, and if the teacher knew enough to teach such studies and the district was inclined to be aristoeratie, Olney's geog- raphy and Kirkham's or Butler's grammar. The teacher of that day was seldom a graduate of a higher institution of learning, knew nothing of normal school training, and rarely made any special preparation for the work. If he could read and spell well, write well enough to "set copies" for the children to imitate, and eould "do all the sums" in the arithmetie up to and ineluding the "Rule of Three," he was qualified to teach. There was one qualification, however, which could not be over- looked in the teacher of that period. He must be a man of sufficient physical strength to hold the unruly boys in subjection and preserve or- der in the school. With the pioneer pedagogue "to spare the rod was to spoil the child." Not many children were spoiled, for at the beginning of the term a bundle of tough switches were gathered and displayed to the best advantage as a sort of prophylactie. If the mere sight of these switches did not deter the bad boy from committing some infrae- tion of the rules, a vigorous application of one of them generally had a tendency to eure his froliesome disposition.
On the theory that no one could beeome a good reader without first being a good speller, more attention was given to orthography during the child's early school days than to any other branch of study. Spelling schools of evenings were of frequent oeeurrenee, and in these matches the parents would nearly always take part. Two "eaptains" would be selected to "choose up." the one winning the first choice would seleet the best speller present, the other the next best, and so on until all who desired to participate were divided into two equal sides. Then the teacher "gave out" the words alternately from side
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to side. When one mis-spelled a word he took his seat. The one who stood longest won the victory, and to "spell down" a whole school district was considered quite an achievement.
After the child could spell fairly well he was taught to read. Then came the writing lessons. The copy-books used in the early schools bore no lithographed line at the top. They were generally of the "home-made" variety, consisting of a few sheets of foolscap paper covered with a sheet of heavy wrapping paper. At the top of the . page the teacher would write a line or "copy," which was usually some motto or proverb intended to convey a moral lesson as well as to give the pupil a specimen of penmanship to imitate; such as "Evil com- munieations corrupt good manners," "Whatever is worth doing is worth doing well." ete. When one stops to consider that the term of school was rarely over three months, that the same teacher hardly ever taught two terms in succession in the same place, and that each teacher had a different style of penmanship. it is a wonder the young people of that day learned to write as well as many of them did.
Next came the arithmetic. In the pronunciation of this word the sound of the initial letter was often dropped and it was pronounced 'rithmetic. And the fact that Readin', 'Ritin' and 'Rithmetic were regarded as the essentials of a practical education gave rise to the expression "the three R's." If one understood the three R's he was equipped for the great battle of life, so far as ordinary business affairs were concerned.
But during the years that have passed since the first white man came to Stark County educational development has kept step with industrial progress. The old log schoolhouse, with its erude furniture, has disappeared and in its place has come the commodious structure of brick or stone. Steam heat, or a warm air furnace. has supplanted the old fireplace, giving a uniform temperature to the school room. The teacher now must show fitness and training for his calling. The bundle of "gads" is no longer kept on exhibition as a terror to evil- doers and corporal punishment is no longer considered a necessary part of the educational system. Yet, under the old regime, profes- sional men who afterward achieved world-wide reputations, chief jus- tiees, United States senators, great inventors, and even presidents of the United States acquired their rudimentary education in the old log schoolhouse.
PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM
The enabling act of April 18, 1818, which authorized the people of Illinois to adopt a constitution preparatory to being admitted into
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the Union as a state, set apart section 16 in each Congressional town- ship as the basis of a perpetual common school fund, the income of which was to be used for the education of the youth of the state. At the beginning of the present century the value of these sections was $11,000,000, but the school lands then unsold were valued at only $4,625.000.
In 1836 Congress passed an aet dividing the surplus in the national treasury among the states. Illinois received $335,000, which was added to the permanent school fund. Technically this distribution was a loan to the state, but no demand has ever been made for its repayment-nor is any demand likely to be made-and the state's school fund has been permanently enriched by that amount.
A county sehool fund was established by the Legislature of 1837, the ineome of which was to be added to the general school fund each year. The county school fund amounted to $162,000 at the begin- ning, but has been slightly increased by the addition of certain unclaimed funds in the publie treasury, etc. From these several sources, Illinois has built up a school fimd of about fourteen millions of dollars, which can be increased, but cannot be legally diminished. The permanent school fund is loaned to the state, the interest amount- ing to about seven hundred thousand dollars per ammmm, which is used for the support of the publie schools, and which is apportioned among the counties in proportion to the number of persons between the ages of five and twenty-one years.
In addition to these various sources of school revenue, each county levies a tax for the support of its free schools under the following provision of the Constitution of 1870: "The General Assembly shall provide a thorough and efficient system of free schools, whereby all children of this state may receive a good common school education."
Pursuant to the above constitutional provision, the Legislature of Illinois has from time to time passed laws for the improvement of the public school system until the state offers to its young people educa- tional facilities that rank high among those of the states of the Union. Stark County's local school tax in 1914 amounted to $61,134.03, or $2.34 for each pupil enumerated.
STARK COUNTY SCHOOLS
In the chapter on Township History will be found some mention of some of the early schools and the number of school districts in caeh township at the present time. The first schoolhouse in the county was
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raised in Essex Township on July 4, 1834. An account of the "rais- ing," as given by Madison Winn, is given in connection with the history of that township. A school district had been organized there the year before, with Benjamin Smith, Sylvanus Moore and Green- leaf Smith as trustees for the territory embracing township 12 north, range 6 east. After the ereetion of the schoolhouse the next year, Adam Perry taught the first school in the new structure, which is believed to have been the first school ever taught in the county. Mrs. Shallenberger, in her "Stark County and Its Pioneers," gives the following copy of the receipt signed by Mr. Perry for his salary:
"March 15. 1835.
"Received of Isaac B. Essex $55.50, in full, for teaching a school three months in town 12 N., range 6 E., which school ended this day. "ADAM PERRY."
Stark County was then a part of Putnam and Isaae B. Essex was commissioner of the school fund for the township that now bears his name. Under his direction seetion 16 (the school seetion) was sold on February 4, 1834, for $968.70.
The second school in the county was probably that taught by Miss Sabrina Chatfield, which ended on July 8, 1835, and for which she received $13.00, the term being three months. Miss Chatfield after- ward became the wife of B. L. Hilliard and removed to Clark County. Iowa, where she died some years later. Mary Lake also taught a short term in the fall of that year. her receipt being dated Novem- ber 3, 1835. It states that she taught six weeks and two days. for which she received $6.311/4.
Other early teachers were Jesse Heath, Joseph R. Newton. James Dalrymple and William Sammis. Mr. Clifford says of Jesse Heath : "He was a man of fair education, from St. Louis, a 'good fellow' out of school, but a rigid disciplinarian within. He seemed to regard the scholars as blockheads and dolts, because they were so baekward. He frightened one of the boys so much that the little fellow stayed at home two weeks in bed, feigning sickness to avoid going to school."
The early schools were frequently of the type known as "sub- scription schools." for the reason that the public fimd was then too small to defray all the expenses of the teacher's salary, provide fuel, ete. L. E. Miner, in a communication to one of the Stark County newspapers some years ago, gives the following account of a school taught by him shortly after the County of Stark was organized:
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"In 1839 I was requested to teach a school at Col. W. II. Hender- son's. I received subscriptions for scholarships and Colonel Hender- son furnished a place for the school in one of his buildings, which was fitted up by cutting a log out of the west side of the eabin and putting greased newspapers in the place of the log. This was all the light we had in the school room. The scholars came from Spoon River-John Bowen from up Indian Creek-besides those nearer by who could walk to school. It was in the winter of 1839-40. There was one fam- ily in Toulon at that time, that of John Miller. Colonel Henderson sent seven scholars to my school: William, Thomas, Henry, Web- ster, Stephen and James, and Felix Wilkinson, a nephew of Mrs. Henderson. John W. Henderson was with his father in attendance on the Legislature at Vandalia."
Mr. Miner fails to state the amount of tuition he received for each scholar, but his deseription of the schoolhouse will give the reader some idea of the difficulties that had to be encountered and overcome in obtaining an education in the "good old times."
The publie school system of Stark County may be said to have had its beginning in the action of the county commissioners at their first session. On April 5, 1839, they appointed James Holgate school commissioner and the next day announced the appointment of the following trustees of the school lands: Township 17, range ? (now Osceola ) . J. C. Avery, Henry Seely and A. M. Smith: township 13. range 7 (Penn). Henry Breese, Samuel Camp and Isaae Spencer; township 13, range 6 (Toulon), J. W. Heath, Samuel Seely and Adam Perry; township 12, range 6 (Essex), Calvin Powell, Sr., Moses Boardman and Whitney Smith; township 12, range 3 ( West Jersey). William W. Webster, Joseph Palmer and Milton Richards; township 13, range 5 (Goshen), C. H. Miner. Luther Driscoll and Samuel Parrish.
No trustees were appointed for Elmira and Valley townships, and it is difficult to understand why trustees of school lands were appointed for the Township of Essex, in which the school section had been sold some five years before.
An election was held at the house of Robert Moore, in Osceola Preeinet, on January 10, 1838, to vote on the question of incorporating township 14, range 6 ( Elmira), for school purposes. Ten votes were cast, all of them in favor of the proposition and Robert Moore, Mathias Sturm. Robert Hall. Thomas Watts, Myrtle G. Brace and James Buswell were elected trustees. Stark County was then a part of Putnam and no report can be found as to the number of schools, if
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any, that were conducted in the township. In 1845 a petition from the people of this township was presented to James B. Lewis, school commissioner, asking for the sale of the school lands. The early school records of this township have disappeared and none prior to 1861 can be found. In 1914 the township enumerated 255 persons of school age: possessed school property worth $10,600, apparatus valued at $1,680, and employed nine teachers.
The school seetion in Essex Township was sold in February, 1834, as already stated, and the money applied to the support of the com- mon sehools. On June 30, 1840, twenty-three votes were cast in favor of organizing the township for school purposes, but the names of the first trustees cannot be learned. During the school year of 1914-15 Essex enrolled 283 pupils in the ten school districts; the school prop- erty, including the south side school building in the City of Wyoming was valued at $26,750, and the value of apparatus was $2.275.
The school history of Goshen Township begins with the appoint- ment of Messrs. Miner, Driscoll and Parrish as trustees on April 6, 1839, though subseription schools had no doubt been taught within the township limits prior to that date. On September 5, 1845, a petition signed by seventy-five legal voters asked for the sale of the school section, and the last of the school lands in this township was disposed of in February, 1851. Says Leeson: "One of the first, if not the first schoolhouse in Goshen Township, was that overlooking the Indian eamp, two miles from the Harris farm, on the old state road." The first school election was held at the house of Elijah Eltz- worth in October, 1840. Luther Driscoll, Charles H. Miner, Jeremiah Bennett, Jacob Emery and Samuel Parrish were chosen trustees and Theodore F. Hurd was elected treasurer. The first aet of the new trustees was to divide the township into the Lafayette, Emery. Indian Creek and Fahrenheit school districts. In January. 1841, the people of this township wrote to Col. W. HI. Henderson, then a member of the Legislature, asking him to introduee a bill providing for the pay- ment to Stark County of its share of the school fund apportioned to Knox and Putnam counties. The bill was passed in July, 1843. Goshen Township receiving $60.36. In 1915 the nine districts of Goshen enrolled 245 pupils, the property was valued at $17.500, and the apparatus at $1,600.
The first eleetion of trustees in Osceola of which there is any record, was held at the house of John Shawls on May 17, 1845. Four- teen votes were cast and Liberty Stone, Isaac W. Searle and Zebulon Avery were the successful candidates. The same day the township
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was divided into three districts. These three districts have since been subdivided until in 1915 there were nine districts, buildings valued at $10.800, apparatus worth $1,650, and 392 pupils enrolled.
Penn Township inaugurated its school system as early as 1836, - three years before the organization of Stark County, when Wall's schoolhouse was erected in seetion 7. Subscription schools were taught here at an early date, but the names of the teachers appear to have been forgotten. The township was organized for school purposes in 1845, but the earliest record is that of June, 1846, when an election was held at the house of Lemuel S. Dorrance. Henry Breese, John Todd and Nehemiah Merritt were chosen trustees. In response to a petition, the school lands were sold in 1849-50. The nine districts of Penn Township during the school year of 1914-15 enrolled 286 pupils. Two teachers were employed in the graded school at Castleton and one in each of the other districts. The schoolhouses are valued at $9.350 and the apparatus at $1,500.
Valley Township was organized for school purposes on July 17, - 1847. when an election was held at the house of David Rouse and Z. G. Bliss. David Rouse and William Cummings were elected trus- tees. At that time there were but nine families, with forty-one chil- dren. living in the township. Four years later there were twenty-seven legal voters, twenty-three of whom signed a petition asking for the sale of the school section. Among the early teachers in this township were P. A. Ferbrache, Ithamer Daybault and Joseph Newton. Dur- ing the school year of 1914-15, Valley Township enrolled 219 pupils in the eight districts. the schoolhouses were valued at $8,650 and the apparatus at $950.
West Jersey Township held an election at the house of Philander - Arnold on April 5, 1842, at which twenty-two votes were cast, the decision being unanimous in favor of incorporating the township for school purposes. The township was then divided into two districts. The records prior to 1846 cannot be found. In 1846 C. M. S. Lyon, A. G. Dunn and Washington Trickle were the trustees. D. V. Frazer and A. C. Colwell were among the first teachers in this part of the county. In 1915 there were eight school districts in the township, 220 pupils were enrolled, the schoolhouses were then valued at $8.200 and the apparatus used in the schools at $1,700.
Toulon Township, which contains the greater part of the eities of Toulon and Wyoming. may be said to be the educational center of the county. as it is the most centrally located geographically. The first schoolhouse in Toulon-the "Old Brick"- has been described in Chap- I'ni 1-13
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ter VIII, in connection with the City of Toulon. One of the early institutions of learning in the county seat was
THE SEMINARY
The first mention of the seminary in the public records of the county was on December 4, 1849, when the county court appointed Samuel G. Wright, Oliver Whitaker and Samuel Beatty a committee to "receive subscriptions and report plans for the building of a female seminary in the Town of Toulon, under the third section of 'An act to authorize the County Commissioners' Court, or the County Court, when organized, to sell lots in the Town of Toulon,' approved Febru- ary 12. 1849, and report at the March term of this court in 1850."
On March 3, 1850, the committee appointed as above reported that the funds received from the sale of lots were insufficient to build a suitable building for a seminary, and that the people showed an un- willingness to subscribe, unless the seminary could be opened to both sexes. Judge Holgate, of the County Court, then directed the mem- bers of the committee to solicit subscriptions with the understanding that boys and girls would both be eligible for admission to the insti- tution.
On September 2, 1850, the county treasurer was ordered to pay to the committee the sum necessary for the purchase of material, but it seems that the work went on too slowly to suit some of the citizens, for on December 6, 1852, Calvin L. Eastman presented a petition to the County Court, the principal features of which were: "That the County Court direct and order the committee having charge of the seminary fund. either in receiving, managing or disbursing it, to report especially upon the following matters:
"1-The total amount of the said fund. principal and interest.
"2-The amount paid in, what they have done about the building, the condition of the work, materials, etc.
"3-The amount outstanding, in whose hands, and when due.
"4-The amount expended and for what, giving the same by items.
"5-Their reasons, if any, for not having discharged the trust committed to them, and
"6-What they propose to do."
After due consideration of the petition, the court ordered "That Oliver Whitaker, Samuel Beatty and Samuel G. Wright, committee to superintend the building of said seminary, be required to report at this term of court upon the foregoing petition, and that the clerk notify them immediately."
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The committee came in and reported the expenditure of $60 for a site for the seminary: $542.71 for brick, Iumber and shingles and for work done; that the total paid out, including a note for $62.81, was $665.52, and the amount drawn from the county treasury was $664.16. After a few more delays the seminary was completed, as the records show that on September 13, 1834, W. W. Webster, John Ber- field and L. II. Fitch, of the board of supervisors, were appointed a connittee to confer with T. J. Wright, of the building committee, as to the best plan for seating the seminary. The first term opened a few weeks later.
By an act of the General Assembly, approved February 14, 1855, the board of supervisors was authorized to appoint five trustees for the Toulon Seminary. Samuel G. Wright, Oliver Whitaker, Ben- jamin Turner, John Berfield and Martin Shallenberger were ap- pointed. Under their management, or that of their successors, the seminary continued until September 9, 1861, when it was leased to Davis Lowman, Isaac C. Reed and Warham Mordoff, the school trustees of the Town of Toulon, for a term of five years. By the act of February 18, 1867, the supervisors were authorized to sell the seminary and it became a part of the public school system. It was then used as a sort of high school for some years, when the building was sold and converted into a residence. In the fall of 1915 it was still standing, located on its original site at the northwest corner of Washington and Vine streets, and was then the residence of H. C. Bradley.
TOULON PUBLIC SCHOOLS
In the fall of 1858 two new school buildings in Toulon were eom- pleted. One stood upon what was then called Soap Hill and the other near the northwest corner of the cemetery. The latter was known as the "Fair-ground School." Miss Mary Perry taught the first school in this building, a Mr. Carpenter taught that year in the old briek, and William Campbell was made principal of the seminary. The Soap Hill schoolhouse was afterward sold and converted into a residenee.
Toulon in 1915 had two publie school buildings-the East Side, or old high school building, and the Township High School in the south- eastern part of the city. The site of the former building was selected by vote of the people and the interest in the question was as great as was ever displayed in a presidential election. Several sites were pro- posed, but when the votes were counted it was found that the one on
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the east side of Olive Street, between Vine and Thomas had won, and here a substantial and commodious building was erected. The attend- ance at the two schools during the school year of 1914-15, according to the county superintendent's report, was 395. Seventeen teachers are employed in the city schools, the value of the buildings is about thirty thousand dollars, and nearly two thousand dollars' worth of apparatus is used in the school rooms. The Township High School was formerly the
TOULON ACADEMY
About 1882 some of the citizens of Toulon, desirous of having a school that would offer a course of study not provided by the public schools, conceived the idea of establishing an academy. Among those who were active in the movement were J. F. Rhodes, J. A. Hender- son, B. F. Thompson, B. C. Follett, Dr. Theodore Bacmeister, W. W. Wright, Mrs. Sarah A. Chamberlain, Andrew Oliver, Samuel Burge, G. W. Dewey and Miles A. Fuller. The institution was opened on October 12, 1883, with J. W. Stephens as principal. After earnest work and the overcoming of many obstacles. sufficient funds were accumulated to erect a handsome building, just outside the city limits at the southeastern part of the town, and here the academy continued its useful work until it was incorporated into the publie school system and made the Township High School.
WYOMING PUBLIC SCHOOLS
The early records of the Wyoming schools are not available, hence the city's educational history prior to 1857 is somewhat uncertain. In May, 1857. the district composed of the northeast corner of Essex Township and the southeast corner of Toulon. embracing the Town of Wyoming, was under the charge of the following board of di- rectors: J. B. Brown. William B. Armstrong, Dr. Luther Milliken. Sylvester F. Ottman and Isaac Thomas. A summer school was taught that year by Miss Harriet Milliken and in the fall Enoch K. Evans was engaged to teach the winter school. There was but one school- house at that time and the district was not financially able to build a new one-or at least a majority of the voters so expressed themselves on June 22, 1857, by a vote of twenty to seventeen. Some repairs were made upon the old building, which continued in use for several years before the people could be induced to sanction the erection of a new one.
PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDING, WYOMING
LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URPANA
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In September, 1870, the first movement was made toward the building of a modern schoolhouse, adequate to the needs of the town. The plan was to issue bonds to the amount of $5,000 and levy a tax to create a sinking fund for their payment. The bonds were sold in July. 1871, the people having voted in favor of increasing the in- debtedness of the school district to 5 per cent of the assessed valuation. The South Side school opened in the new building in September, 1871, with William Nowlan as principal. He was succeeded in 1873 hy W. R. Sandham. in charge of the high school department. In Jan- ary, 1877. the building was ahnost completely destroyed by fire, but was immediately rebuilt with the money received from insurance com- panies. In the spring of 1886 a loan of $3.000 was authorized for the purpose of making an addition to the building.
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