USA > Indiana > White County > A standard history of White County Indiana : an authentic narrative of the past, with an extended survey of modern developments in the progress of town and county, Vol. I > Part 18
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The old county library met with a similar fate, funds for its estab- lishment being secured much in the same way as for the seminary. Although quite unsteady, the library actually got upon its feet. A few books were purchased as early as 1838 and small additions were made to the original collection, so that by 1845 several hundred volumes were
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scattered over the county in the homes of the early settlers. In that year the board of commissioners organized themselves as trustees of the county library, Allen Barnes becoming president and Charles W. Kendall librarian and clerk. The clerk was directed to collect by public notice all the books in circulation, prepare a catalogue, and purchase such additional books as the library funds would allow; also to prepare a constitution and by-laws for the consideration of the trustees. It does not appear that Mr. Kendall ever served-in fact, he refused to serve, and J. M. Rifenberrick was appointed in his place; so that Mr. Rifen- berrick must have accomplished this preliminary work. John R. Willey became librarian in 1849, but the county institution had no excuse for existence under the new educational dispensation inaugurated in 1852, which included, among other features, the operation of township libra- ries. The county library was therefore abandoned by the state and its books melted away; but they undoubtedly accomplished some good in the way of lightening the long hours of lonely pioneer life, and supply- ing mental food to a limited circle, at a time when it was so scarce and therefore so highly valued.
A MONTICELLO SCHOOL WITH CLASS
In 1835, the year after opening the Big Creek schoolhouse, Mathias Davis, of Carroll County, was called to Monticello to take charge of a more finished establishment. A frame building had been erected, 20 by 30 feet, with iron latches and hinges for the door and sash and glass lights for the windows. The latter were placed near the roof to protect them from the boys; for, at that time, the breaking of a window pane, whether by accident or malice aforethought, was an expensive disaster which the school authorities could not afford. Mr. Davis remained at the head of the Monticello school until 1838, and was followed, at differ- ent periods, by William Cahill, Mr. Montgomery, James Kelley and James Givens. Perhaps the most remarkable characteristic of these pioneer teachers of Monticello was that none of them seemed to be able to combine mentality and muscularity in the proportion which should meet the requirements of the situation. They ranged all the way from the clever but too mild Cahill to the fierce and conclusive Montgomery, who was sent to jail for so cowhiding one of the boys that pools of blood were drawn upon the schoolroom floor.
SCHOOLS IN JACKSON TOWNSHIP
In the early '50s a small settlement sprung up about half a mile north of the old town of Burnettsville, Jackson Township, and in 1836 a post- office was established there called Burnett's Creek. About the same time the settlers got together and built a little log schoolhouse near by, and William R. Dale, the postmaster, also became the schoolteacher.
Some time before-just how long it is not of record-a small class had been taught in a vacant hut owned by Ephraim Chamberlain; it was situated in the southeast quarter of section 33 and was taught by
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James Renwick. This, which was really the pioneer school in the town- ship and one of the first in the county, was located near the Carroll County line.
JONATHAN SLUYTER'S GOOD WORK
In the early autumn of 1837 Liberty Township joined the little group of educators in White County, through such of her early settlers as Messrs. Funks, Conwells, Hall, Louders and Sluyter. Mr. Sluyter (Jona- than W.) was especially enthusiastic over the erection of a log school- house for the dozen or fifteen children who were ready to attend ; he had been in the township, on his land along the Tippecanoe, for several months, and being a blacksmith, as well as considerable of a mechanic, the work of erecting the schoolhouse was largely intrusted to him. As completed, it was of round logs, fifteen feet square, had a large fireplace, was supplied with backless puncheon seats and had one window. David Mcconahay was the first teacher in that school, and he was followed within the coming three years by George Hall, John C. V. Shields and Lester Smith.
Then, in 1840, Mr. Sluyter again came to the rescue and built a sec- ond schoolhouse on the site of the first; the new was an improvement on the old, because it was larger, built of hewn logs, had more windows and the seats were more finished and comfortable. All of which was to the special credit of Jonathan W. Sluyter, the head of the family.
SPREAD OF THE SPIRIT INTO MONON
At that time the only school which may be said to have been estab- lished was the one at Monticello, which went into a partial decline and disgrace. But the educational spirit had spread westward with the incursion of new settlers with their children, so that in 1840 a school- house was built near the Town of West Bedford. Salome Bentley is said to have been the first teacher and Michael Berkey, the second, with David Hall, Peter Scott, Power Moore and Mary Lindsay, trailing along in about that order. This was one of the first schools to be established away from the Tippecanoe River.
WEST POINT SCHOOL AND TOWN HALL
In 1844 a schoolhouse was erected in West Point Township, near the site of the house now in use. It was used for both political and educa- tional purposes ; was a town hall as well as a schoolhouse, the first elec- tions in the township being held therein. The structure was of the round- log variety, 18 by 24 feet in size.
GEORGE BOWMAN, AS MAN AND TEACHER
It was reserved for Monticello to make the first real advance in offer- ing superior educational advantages to the students of White County,
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through the personal labors of George Bowman and his graded school. Even in the period of modern improvements in this field, as of others, it is doubtful if his superior as a thorough and inspiring educator can be named among the teachers of White County.
Professor Bowman was born near Martinsburg, Virginia, in 1818, and was left an orphan when only six years of age. With several broth- ers and sisters, he was brought up by relatives on a typical Virginia plan- tation, his education being obtained both in a country school and a rural store in the neighborhood. From a very early age books were his inspira- tion and solace, and when he had about reached his majority he joined his brothers who had settled at Delphi, Carroll County. There he con- tinued his Virginia life by dividing his time between study, teaching and clerking, his business connection at Delphi being in the large store kept by Enoch Bowen. After several years of that varied experience, he was induced by several elderly friends to enter Wabash College, Crawfordsville. His studies there were interlarded with various occupa- tions incident to "working through college," such as clerking in a coun- try store and peddling a religious publication in White and Carroll counties.
In September, 1848, he left college within a year of graduation, and married Miss Ruth Angell, taking his young wife to Monticello, and as- suming charge of the town school. Two years thereafter his wife died, leaving him an infant daughter. That misfortune changed his plans. Returning to Wabash College he graduated therefrom in 1852 and soon afterward was placed in charge of the Delphi schools. A few months after his second marriage to Miss Mary D. Piper, in 1858, he returned to Monticello.
Just a decade from the time of his first coming to Monticello, in Sep- tember, 1858, Professor Bowman opened the academy, or grade school, as it was called, which became such a noteworthy institution in the devel- opment of the educational system of the county. He introduced the studies of natural philosophy, astronomy, algebra and Latin, and young men and women for the first time in the educational history of White County had an opportunity of acquiring something more than the funda- mentals of an English education. Composition and declamation were cultivated and pupils were required to give reasons and illustrations in support of any theory or principle advanced.
The return of Mr. Bowman to Delphi, in the fall of 1850, had been discouraging to the cause of higher education, since no instructor could be found to take his place. The subsequent history of the movement; especially the professor's part in it, is thus presented : It is probable about this time that an effort was made to erect a brick school building at Monticello. Whether the schoolhouse was to be built with the county seminary funds, or as an institution wholly for the District of Monticello, is not certain, but it is known that it was completed a short distance above the foundation, then abandoned and the material removed. For some years thereafter several attempts were made, through private schools, to meet the demand of parents both for instruction in the com-
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mon branches and (among a more limited number) for training in the classics and the advanced studies. Among the really excellent schools taught during that period of earnest endeavor was one in the Democrat Building, its teachers numbering Maria Hutton and Mrs. Dr. Haymond.
The return of the professor to Monticello in 1858, after he had ably served as the principal of the Delphi schools for six years, was heralded as a saving event, and arrangements were made to furnish better facili- ties than he formerly commanded. An old warehouse was remodeled for school purposes, a bell was placed on the roof and the principal then engaged. two assistants to get the situation well in hand. Within the following three years the Monticello Graded School, as it was called, became an educational force whose influence even spread beyond the bounds of White County. It was divided into three departments, cor- responding to the high, grammar and primary divisions of the public system, graduates from the high school being prepared for college.
Professor Bowman's assistants in 1860 were Miss Mary Bowman and H. H. Tedford. He continued as head of this private graded school until August, 1862, when he was mustered into the Union service as captain of Company D, Twelfth Indiana Volunteers, the members of which were enlisted largely through his exertions. He was captured at Richmond, and wounded both at Jackson and Missionary Ridge-at the latter en- gagement so badly that he was discharged from the service as incapaci- tated. He was honorably discharged in March, 1864, and in the fol- lowing year returned to Delphi, where he remained until 1870 as prin- cipal of its schools and engaged in farming. He had bought a farm on the banks of the Tippecanoe, about six miles south of Monticello in White County, and thither retired with his wife and six children.
But Mr. Bowman did not succeed as a farmer, and as his widow wrote pathetically and affectionately years afterward: "We named our home Hopeful Bluff and lived on hope for eight years. Mr. Bowman was a born teacher, but knew nothing about farming, consequently he failed at every point. Those were trying days, though filled with love and many happy hours. We had good neighbors and many kind friends. Mr. Bowman was later elected county superintendent of schools, which gave us the opportunity of meeting the best of people. He was a kind, loving husband and father, always looking on the bright side of life. He was truly an optimist."
Professor Bowman served as county superintendent from 1873 to 1881, and under his administration the schools obtained an impetus in the right direction which has never been lost. The family had returned to Monticello in 1878, and at the conclusion of his term as county super- intendent of schools, Mr. Bowman devoted himself to his beloved books (taking up the study of Hebrew after he was seventy) ; also spent con- siderable time in teaching private pupils, and in 1890 he was induced. partly by friends and partly urged by his strong instincts as a natural teacher, to assume regular duties in connection with the county schools of White and Carroll counties. But he counted too confidently on his old-time vitality for one in his seventy-third year. In the fall of that
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year he was unable to rally before the attack of a severe illness, and passed away on November 29 (Thanksgiving), 1890. The deceased was an earnest Presbyterian of many years standing and a Christian by faith and deed.
THE PALESTINE AND NORDYKE SCHOOLS
The first schools of Princeton Township, in the western border of White County, did not come to the surface until the late '40s, being mostly established in its central sections. The Palestine settlement, the first in the township, claims to have started the pioneer school, as does the so-called Nordyke Settlement. Neither as to time nor stateliness is there much to choose between them. They were both opened in 1849; they were both 16 by 18 feet in dimensions. While the Nordyke affair may have had the edge on the Palestine schoolhouse, in that it was built of hewn instead of round logs, on the other hand the Palestine structure had two windows instead of the usual one opening, and they occupied its two sides lengthwise; thus, matters of superiority were balanced. The Palestine School stood on Mortimer M. Dyer's land and its first teacher was Edwin Bond, while B. Wilson Smith taught the children at the Nordyke settlement. But Nordyke finally triumphed decisively over the Palestine settlement, by building the first frame schoolhouse in the township, about half a mile north of the old log structure, in 1854.
SPROUTINGS IN CASS TOWNSHIP
Cass Township commenced its school building in 1850, although sev- eral classes had been taught in private houses for two years previously. In the winter of 1848-49 Samuel Gruell taught a few children in a round-log cabin on the northeast quarter of the northwest quarter of section 6, in the extreme northwest corner of the township about a mile east of the Tippecanoe. Mrs. Anna McBeth, mother of James M. McBeth, assumed the work in 1849. The pupils who thus started the educational ball rolling numbered twenty-four, distributed by families as follows : Christopher Vandeventer family, five; Horim's, four; Daniel Germber- linger, two; John Baker (Pulaski County), two; Daniel Yount, two; Albert Bacon, three. In the winter of 1849-50, Mrs. McBeth opened a school in the family home, a round-log hut on the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section 6. She was a lady of great intelligence, coming of a well educated Ohio family, and her twenty pupils prospered under her instruction. Her husband died a few years afterward, but the widow lived to be an aged honored mother and grandmother of the county. One of their sons Joseph was a good soldier of the Civil war and prominent in the public affairs of the township, and several of the later generation still reside in the county.
THE STATE BRINGS BETTER ORDER
The foregoing are but illustrations which might be deduced from every sparsely settled county in the state, of the struggles which were common among the pioneers to educate their children as best they might. But all
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such facilities were the result of individual exertion and determination, unsystematized and virtually unsupported by the state. With the in- auguration of the new constitution of 1851, much of this confusion and working at cross purposes cleared away and a working plan was evolved. By legislative act "to provide for a general uniform system of Common Schools and School Libraries, and matters properly connected there- with," approved June 14, 1852, the way was made clear for the estab- lishment of the public educational system which is still expanding and developing in its details.
The free school system of Indiana became practically operative on the first Monday in April, 1853, when the township trustees for school purposes were elected. The new law gave them the management of the school affairs of the township, subject to the action of the voters. But it was a number of years before White County was able to derive much practical benefit from the system, as the quota of the common school fund derived from the state was small and increased slowly, as it was based upon the number of children of school age residing in the various districts. In the meantime most of the actual management of school matters was vested in the old-time school examiner.
SCHOOL EXAMINERS
The school examiners for White County, whose services extended into the formative period of the present common school system, includ- ing the supplementary law of 1855-56, were as follows: James Kerr, 1836; N. Bunnell, 1838; Jonathan Harbolt, 1839; Charles W. Kendall, 1845 ; James Kerr, 1846; Charles Dodge, 1848; Jonathan Harbolt, 1849; George G. Miller and Robert Irwin, 1856.
BUILDING SCHOOLHOUSES UNDER THE NEW ORDER
In 1859 the board of three township trustees was abolished and school matters were placed in the keeping of one trustee, who was enabled to work to greater advantage with the examiner than under the old sys- tem, but it was not until nearly twenty years later that the trustee assumed greater control of the schools within his township. As the inter- est of the common school fund was only available, under the constitution, it usually became necessary for the citizens of a district in pressing need of a schoolhouse to contribute a part of the expense incurred both in its erection, furnishing and maintenance. The law required the trustee to own the land upon which every public schoolhouse was erected and a perfect title from the owner of the land to the trustee and his successors in office must be procured before the building could be commenced. A word from the trustee expressing the necessity for a new schoolhouse usually brought half a dozen offers from property owners offering sites of from half an acre to a whole one, provided the township would pay the expenses of executing the deed and recording it. Land was much cheaper than money in those days; but the early settlers contributed of both, as well as of honest labor and necessary materials, for the erec- Tol. I- 9
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tion of the building which was to house their children as pupils. Not . infrequently the trustee erected a neat frame building beside the old log schoolhouse, that the entire township might compare the two with pride over the improvement manifest in the new.
THE TEACHERS
Having procured their certificates of qualification from the county examiner, the applicants for the position of teacher laid their cases before the trustee; and the primary selection rested with him, his choice being ratified by the patrons of the school. Sometimes when there was a decided division of neighborhood sentiment as to the merits of several
MONTICELLO'S FIRST GRADED SCHOOL This building is now used as a stable, and the shed is an addition of later years.
candidates, a meeting was held and the decision left to a majority vote. Good conduct determined the length of service, and the question of salary was left to the patrons of the school; the average salary for the male teacher of the earlier years was $20 a month and board, the female in- structor drawing about half that amount. The farm hand was paid about the same wages, and the fairly-educated laborer was quite apt to prefer a cozy district schoolroom to outdoor work, especially in winter. So there was seldom any dearth of district school teachers. As the stand- ard of qualification was raised, the supply of male teachers decreased, which heralded a brighter day for the prospects of the school ma'am.
FORERUNNERS OF THE HIGH SCHOOL
A number of years passed, while the public school system in White County was gathering strength and getting into shape, before high schools were established as an important department of the curriculum. Their place in the scheme was taken, for the time being, by such private insti- tutions as Professor Bowman's Graded School, the Farmington Male
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and Female Seminary at what is now Burnettsville and the Brookston Academy. Professor Bowman's school has already been sketched.
THE FARMINGTON SEMINARY
The Farmington Seminary was founded about 1852 by Isaac Mahurin. The building was erected by a joint-stock association, its certificates of stock being redeemable in tuition. After about two years, Mr Mahurin was succeeded by Hugh Nickerbocker, who taught three years, when he was succeeded by Joseph Baldwin. Professor Baldwin's administration of three years gave the seminary a fine reputation and its pupils came from such places as Logansport, Lafayette, Peru, Delphi and Winamac. Other teachers followed who added to its standing and it finally became the headquarters of those splendidly conducted normal institutes con- ducted by such men as Rev. William Irelan and Prof. D. Eckley Hunter.
PROF. WILLIAM IRELAN
The Burnettsville academy reached the height of its fame as a nor- mal training school in 1876, when Professor Irelan was county superin- tendent of schools. There were few men in the county more popular or honored. He had served with bravery in the Union ranks until shot through the eye at Missionary Ridge, when he was obliged to return to his home in Monticello. He served as county examiner from 1865 to 1868, and in 1875, after the change in the law, was elected county super- intendent, his only predecessor in that office being Prof. George Bow- man, who also succeeded him. For many years the honors and popular- ity as educators in White County were about equally divided between these two fine men and citizens. It is believed, however, that Professor Irelan is best known for the work which he accomplished in the training of teachers, during the '70s, as head of the Burnettsville institution.
While a resident of Burnettsville, Professor Irelan was the pastor and moving spirit in the Christian Church at that place, but about 1886. moved with his family to Topeka, Kansas, and several years later joined his daughter, Miss Elma Irelan, at Monterey, Mexico, where she was. stationed as a missionary of that denomination. During his absence from Burnettsville, the church there of which he had been pastor had been discontinued, but during a visit to his former parishioners, made in 1909, he revived the church and then rejoined his daughter in Mexico. It was under these circumstances that he died on the 9th of October, 1911. at a ripe age and with abundant fruitage to his credit.
THE BROOKSTON ACADEMY
The Brookston Academy has had a continuous history up to the pres- ent time, being now represented by the Town Commissioned High School of that place. Dr. John Medaris, suggested to the county superintend- ent, during the later part of the Civil war, the desirability of establishing an institution of higher learning which should be partially supported by the county, although a township enterprise. Meetings were held to inter- est the citizens in the movement, and the response was so gratifying that
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during the winter of 1865-66 $7,000 was subscribed toward the erection of a suitable building at Brookston. By the fall of 1866 the building was inclosed and the association was about $6,000 in debt. That sum was eventually raised by the sale of new stock. The board of commissioners also subscribed to the amount of $5,000, under the following conditions : "It is ordered by the Board that $5,000 worth of stock of the Brookston Academy be taken by the county, upon the condition that the Board of Trustees of said Brookston Academy shall, from henceforth forever, educate all orphan children, and all children of widows who are not owners of real estate of the value of $500, and shall be bona fide residents of the county of White, free from tuition of all kinds, until said children shall attain their majority."
With the $11,000 thus realized and an additional $4,000 of borrowed money, the academy building was completed and opened in the fall of
BROOKSTON ACADEMY
1867. As it stood in a beautiful grove just south of the corporation, it was, for those times, an imposing structure of brick, with castellated towers in front at either corner, and the main entrance between. It was 80 by 60 feet in size, two stories in height. When the building was com- pleted a debt of $8,000 hung over it which the trustees were unable to lift, so that in 1873 it was sold to the trustee of the township, who, in turn, leased it for ninety-nine years to the corporation of Brookston ; that arrangement is therefore in force until 1972.
When the Brookston Academy opened in 1867 Professor Hart, a grad- uate of Yale College and formerly principal of the public schools at Danville, Kentucky, was at the head of its faculty ; Miss Serena Handley, principal of the grammar department; Miss Sallie Mitchell, of the inter- mediate; Miss Jeru Cook, of the primary ; Miss Rachel Hayes, assistant, and Miss Lida Oakes, teacher of music. The first trustees were John Medaris, Russell Stewart, Samuel Ramey, E. A. Brown, Alfred Ward and
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