USA > Indiana > Daviess County > History of Daviess County, Indiana : Its people, industries and institutions > Part 19
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DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA.
Spelling occupied a prominent place in the curriculum of early times. Eggleston, in writing on this subject, says, that both he and his brother "could read before we entered our first school. Neither of us, indeed, could ever remember a time when we could not read or ride a horse, and neither ever knew when or how he learned either art. But at school no account whatever was taken of our ability to read, nor were we permitted to practice that art. It was. the fixed rule of the master that each scholar should 'go through the spelling book three times, twice on the book and once off the book,' before beginning to read. 'On the book,' meant spelling and pro- nouncing the words with the book before the eyes. 'Off the book,' meant spelling from memory, as the words were given out." "In addition to the regular spelling lesson of the day, the whole school was required, as a final exercise, each afternoon, to stand in one long row, called 'the big spell- ing class,' for competitive examination in the art. If a word was misspelled by one, it was passed to the next below, and so on until some one succeeded in spelling it correctly. The successful speller was said to have 'turned down' all who had failed, and was entitled to take his place above them in the line. At the close of the exercise, the scholar who stood at the head of the class, was assigned to the foot of it for the next day, and a record was kept of the number of times each had 'gone foot.' Some small distinction was supposed to have been achieved by the scholar whose record, at the end of the term, showed the greatest number of goings to the foot or 'head marks.' This was about the only use made of the principle of rewards in the country schools at that time. No other word of praise was ever spoken by the teacher. Indeed, he would have put himself in serious danger of losing his place, had he indulged in any impulse he might have had to commend a pupil. It was, at that time, held that commendation was sure to spoil a child and breed vanity and conceit in his mind."
Discipline in those days nearly always took the form of whipping. The schoolmaster on his way to school each morning cut enough "switches" to supply him for the day. These switches were usually of goodly size and of sufficient heft to enable the master to apply them to the calves of the culprit, without much exertion, in a way that would make the pupil cry for mercy. It was something to be remembered, when a day passed without some one getting a whipping. Dr. R. S. Mitchell, a prominent and highly respected physician of Washington, in telling of some of his boyhood ex- periences in school, said that one of his teachers gave him four whippings a day, one for each quarter of the school period. But one of his playmates,
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the son of the teacher, received as many; which, from one standpoint, left little cause for grievance.
Here and there was a schoolmaster who sought to govern his school by the use of less severe forms of punishment. These resorted to the use of fools' caps, dunces' stools, and the like. Sometimes, an offender was made to stand on the floor on one foot, until he could stand no longer. The boys were apt to conclude that such a master was "afeard" to whip them, and insolently revolted.
"LOCKING OUT" THE TEACHER.
William K. Penrod, in his "Educational History of Daviess County," says that the custom of treating was inaugurated in this county by William Heaton in the winter of 1824. Be that true or not. it is one of the primitive customs that has survived. There are some teachers in the county who yet treat, but they should be given no credit for so doing. Frequently, teachers had to be "locked out" before they would treat, and, sometimes, severer methods were resorted to, before he would capitulate. Now and then, there would be a teacher who did not consider it a joke to be "locked out" and resisted with all his might. Such a teacher scared the pupils into letting him in, if there were not too many "big scholars," by threatening to batter the door down and flogging all who had taken part in locking him out. Sometimes, he would smoke the pupils out by climbing on the roof to the chimney and stopping it up. In most cases, however, the pupils came off with victory. The "treat" usually consisted in apples or candy. "Just why a bushel of apples should have been so placative, in a country in which everybody had unlimited apples at home, it is difficult to conjecture."
Then, as now, it was sometimes difficult for the teachers of the country schools to secure boarding places. In the pioneer days of Daviess county, and even later, the teachers sometimes "boarded around." In fact, they were paid in part, by the patrons boarding the teachers. By this sys- tem, each patron was "to board" the teacher his proportionate share of the time the school was in session. The system of "boarding around" had some features to commend it. The teachers had the opportunity of becom- ing really acquainted with both his pupils and patrons. He knew the home- life of his pupils, and this knowledge is always worth much to any teacher.
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SCHOOL EXAMINERS.
An advance educational step was made in 1853, when the state Legis- lature enacted the law which provided for school examiners. Some of the provisions of this law are: "The board of county commissioners of each county of this state are hereby authorized to appoint at least one and not more than three school examiners, whose term of office shall expire on the first Monday in March of each year. . It shall be the duty of said school examiner to examine all applicants for license, and if found quali- fied, license them as common school teachers for three, six, twelve, eighteen, or twenty-four months, at the discretion of the examiner. But the school examiner shall be entitled to an advance fee of fifty cents from every applicant for examination. No person shall be declared qualified to receive a license as common school teacher, unless he or she may pos- sess a knowledge of orthography, reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, and English grammar."
No qualification whatever was required of one to fill the office of school examiner-the official who was to decide whether applicants possessed the requisite knowledge to be common school teachers. The great majority of those who were appointed to this office were among the leading teachers of the county.
The first school examiner of Daviess county was William T. Ballow, a teacher of Washington township. He received his appointment on June 13, 1853. He was reappointed for another year on March 8, 1854. The law provided that one, two, or three could be appointed. On March 10, 1855, the commissioners for some reason appointed two persons as exam- iners. It certainly was not because the work was so heavy that one person could not do it. It may have been for the convenience of the teachers. It was not as easy then to get from the northern part of the county to Washington, as now. Ballow and John T. Hastings, a teacher of Madison township, received the appointments for this year.
The southern part of the county had a representative when the appoint- ments were made on March 5, 1856. Thomas H. Kyle, of Reeve township, was named as the third examiner, Ballow and Hastings being reap- pointed. Kyle was a farmer and never had taught. For some reason, but two examiners were appointed on March 7, 1857. For the fourth time, Ballow was appointed. William Gaffney, a young teacher of Washington township, who had been a student at Indiana University, was selected as Ballow's co-worker.
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Three examiners were again appointed on March 5, 1858. Gaffney was reappointed and, to assist him, John Spalding and Arthur Connelly were selected. Spalding was a Van Buren township teacher. It is said that he was the first teacher to use the word "method" in this township. Con- nelly was a wielder of the birchen rod in Harrison township. Gaffney and Spalding were reappointed on March 10, 1859, for another term, and to assist them Joseph McClesky was added. On March 10, 1860, Gaffney and Spalding were again appointed. For the third examiner, William C. Lem- mon, a doctor, was named.
SCHOOL LAWS CHANGED.
In 1861, the school law was materially amended. Some of the more important amendments are noted below. The boards of county commis- sioners of the several counties of the state at their June session, 1861, and every three years thereafter, were authorized to appoint a school examiner. It was left to the will of the examiner, whether he should examine applicants for a teacher's license orally or by written examinations. The standard for a license was fixed by the examiner. It was made the duty of examiners to visit the schools of their counties. It was provided that the examiners should receive, "such remuneration per diem as shall be reasonable and just." As to what the legislators thought was "reasonable and just," is expressed in the provision that the examiner shall receive in the aggregate not more than one hundred dollars per annum, for his services, and a fee of one dollar for each male, and fifty cents for each female applicant, for a teacher's license.
In accord with this law, the county commissioners on June 6, 1861, appointed William S. Gaffney, the "Irish poet," who had served four terms under the old law. On September 4, 1861, the appointment of Gaffney was rescinded. The following record of the commissioners, gives the reason for their drastic action: "Whereas, William S. Gaffney, who was appointed school examiner of Daviess county, Indiana, by an order of this board at its June term, 1861, for the term of three years, from the date of said order, has rendered himself wholly incompetent to discharge the duties of said office, by misconduct and incompetency, the order is hereby rescinded." Noah S. Given, a lawyer, was appointed for the unexpired term. The term ended on the first Monday in June, 1864.
Samuel H. Taylor, a young lawyer who had but recently emigrated from Maryland, succeeded Given, being appointed on June 4, 1864. The
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law in regard to the appointment of school examiners was amended in 1865, so that they were to be appointed at the June session of the county com- missioners and every three years thereafter. Taylor was re-appointed on June 5, 1865.
THE FEE FOR EXAMINERS.
The law of 1865 provided, "That the examiner should receive three dollars per day for each day actually employed." The following entry in the record of the county commissioners, seems to indicate that they thought much time was not needed by the examiner to visit schools and examine applicants for a teacher's license: "And that in the discharge of the duties of said office of examiner, that he be limited to a term not exceeding seventy- five days in any one year."
Taylor's law practice had increased to such an extent that he resigned as examiner in December, 1866. It was on December 3, of that year, that John R. Phillips, a Baptist minister, was appointed to serve for the unex- pired term. That the commissioners thought that the duties of the exam- iner were not of much importance, and did not require much time in their performance, is indicated by the following: "Ordered by the board, that John R. Phillips, school examiner of Daviess county, be allowed twenty days to visit the various townships of said county for the purpose of ad- vancing the educational interests of the county." Phillips was reappointed to serve "three years from and after the 9th day of June, 1868, and until his successor is appointed and qualified and that in the discharge of the duties of said office of examiner that he be limited to a time not exceeding seventy-five days in any one year."
Phillips resigned, and George A. Dyer, a doctor and the prosecuting attorney for the town of Washington, was appointed to the vacancy on December 9, 1868. Dyer was appointed to a full term on June 9, 1871. He was limited by the county commissioners to ninety-five days of service per year. Dyer was the last school examiner of Daviess county.
The school examiners did little toward influencing the educational life of the county. Their only legal duty from 1853 to 1861, was to license teachers. The examiners could place the standard of qualifications for teachers as high as they pleased, in so far as the law was concerned, but as a matter of fact, the standard was very low. Frequently an applicant would be asked but a few oral questions and then be granted a license; the standard had to be low in order that there be enough teachers. The salary of the examiners was not sufficient to secure efficient service.
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DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA.
VIEWS. OF AN EXAMINER.
During the twenty years from 1853 to 1873, the time during which there was such an official as school examiner in Daviess county, twelve dif- ferent persons served in that capacity. Of this number, William S. Gaff- ney, John R. Phillips and George A. Dyer really made themselves felt, in matters pertaining to education. Gaffney made commendable efforts to arouse interest in their work, among the teachers of the county, and to. secure uniformity of text-books. In a letter, "To the Teachers of the County," among other things, he says, "Were it the deep interest alone which I have always manifested in regard to the glorious cause of human education, I should be pleased to address you; but in the relation which I at present bear towards the teachers of this county, I conceive it my province to advance any such information as may prove auxiliary to their noble and laborious duties. And as we have (I am pained to say) no organized association for the purpose of consulting with each other, I take advantage of the avenue of communication offered through The Bee, by courtesy of its gentlemanly editor, in sending you this, our first greeting.
"The province of the teacher is to educate-educate rightly-and in order to do this, he must become acquainted with the duties of his vocation, for his responsibility is manifold.
"I shall take occasion to recur to this subject at some future period, advising for the present that all would-be practical teachers procure a copy of 'Page's Theory and Practice of Teaching,' a most excellent work of the- kind, and which contains more solid information and instruction on the sub -. ject than time or space would admit of us advancing.
"It has often occurred to my mind that the procuring of good, sound,. reliable text-books is only second to the right mode of teaching; and to this. particular I chiefly devote the substance of this letter, hoping that it may aid the teacher in making good selections. Our correspondence with publishers. is more extensive, perhaps, than that of any other teacher in the county, and' as we are posted up in relation to school books, we shall take pleasure in recommending such as we may have occasion to notice, after first having- given them a careful examination." Following this, he names several books and gives reasons why he thinks they are good text-books.
In The Bee of April 30, 1858, he addresses a letter "To Teachers and Friends of Education in Daviess County." From this follows a paragraph or two: "Could the teachers of this county be convinced of the great im-
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portance of periodical meetings among themselves, I think they would not prove so lukewarm in regard to the matter, nor would the cause of educa- tion languish for want of soul. Points of controversy in regard to select discipline, salary of teachers, text-books, etc., are continually arising, and an interchange of opinion among teachers, in reference to these matters, would prove very satisfactory. My province, however, is to qualify common school teachers ; yet, having a decided interest in the cause of education in this coun- ty, I should be pleased to see parent, teacher and pupil mutually related.
"The salary of teachers, I am aware, is merely nominal, and until this particular is officially rectified, we can not expect to have good instructors. The majority of applicants as teachers of our common schools are young and inexperienced, and therefore unqualified to assume the awful respon- sibility of training immortal minds."
THE COUNTY INSTITUTE.
School-examiner John R. Phillips probably held the first county insti- tute in Daviess county. The statement has been made that the first county institute in Daviess county was held in 1868. This is incorrect, as the. Daviess County Democrat, of August 20, 1868, in writing of the institute of that year, refers to preceding institutes. Phillips presided over the one held that year and he was appointed examiner in 1866. He had become prominent enough in the educational affairs of the state, to be nominated by the Democrats that year for state superintendent.
George A. Dyer, the last of Daviess county's school examiners, thought that all teachers should attend the county institute, judging from a notice he put in the county newspapers. It reads, "All teachers in Daviess county are hereby notified to attend, and on failure so to do, unless a satisfactory excuse therefor be given, may expect to have their licenses revoked."
COUNTY SUPERINTENDENTS.
In 1873 the state Legislature created the office of county superintendent by these words, "The township trustees of the several townships shall meet at the office of the county auditor of their respective counties; on the first Monday in June, 1873, and biennially thereafter, and appoint a county super- intendent, who shall be a citizen of such county. The only qualification required by this law for this important official was, that the
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person appointed be a citizen of the county for which such citizen was to serve.
On June 2, 1873, the township trustees of the county, consisting of Henderson McCafferty, of Barr township; Joseph Hastings, of Bogard township; Joseph M. Boyd, of Elmore township; Benjamin W. Steen, of Harrison township; Andrew Shaffer, of Madison township; Joseph A. Mc- Cord, of Reeve township; Leonard Connell, of Steele township; George M. Harrod, of Veale township; Jesse Trueblood, of Van Buren township, and Samuel H. Mulholland, of Washington township, met at the office of Nathan G. Read, county auditor, to elect the first county superintendent of Daviess county.
George A. Dyer, the county school examiner; James A. Pritchard, a lawyer; Henry B. Kohr, a prominent teacher of the county, and Edward Wise, were voted for and, on the third ballot, Pritchard and Wise each received five votes. By the law when there was a tie the county auditor was to cast the deciding vote. Nathan G. Read, the auditor, voted for Wise, thereby electing him. On the first and on the second ballots Dyer re- ceived one vote. Kohr received but one vote and that was on the second bal- lot. On each of the three ballots, Pritchard received five votes. Wise received three votes on the first ballot, three on the second and five on the third. Wise was re-elected in June, 1875, and resigned in September, 1876, to accept a position in the South.
On September 23, 1876, E. C. Trimble, a Presbyterian preacher, was elected to the vacancy. Henderson McCafferty, his opponent, received three votes and Trimble received five. Two of the trustees were not present. On June 1, 1877, Trimble was elected for a full term; he was opposed by F. M. Walker, a Barr township teacher. Trimble received six votes on the first ballot and Walker received four.
There were five candidates to succeed Superintendent Trimble. When the trustees met on June 2, 1879, to select his successor, the interest was intense and considerable feeling was manifested by some of the supporters of the candidates. David M. Geeting, a teacher, of Washington township; F. M. Walker, a teacher, of Barr township; Caleb O'Dell, the trustee of Madison township; Henderson McCafferty, who had been trustee of Barr township, and Hamlet Allen, the principal of the Washington high school,. were candidates. On the fourth ballot, David M. Geeting, who was after- wards elected state superintendent, received six votes and was elected. On the second ballot, O'Dell received five votes. Walker received four votes
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on three different ballots. McCafferty and Allen never received more than one vote.
On June 6, 1881, Geeting was re-elected on the first ballot, receiving six votes, and Levi Reeves received four votes. Much was said in the newspapers and among the politicians about this election, as Geeting, who was a Republican, was elected by a Democratic vote. All of the Democratic trustees denied having voting for Geeting. This denial was the principal cause of the talk. Geeting's supervision of the schools of the county justified his re-election.
Samuel B. Boyd, a Steele township teacher, was first elected county superintendent on June 4, 1883, he having received six votes on the first ballot and Francis A. Myers received four votes. James M. Boyd was put in nomination, but did not secure further support. On June 1, 1885, Boyd was re-elected. He had made such an efficient official that he received the vote of each of the trustees.
Peter R. Wadsworth, the trustee of Van Buren township, was elected on June 6, 1887, to succeed Boyd. This was the first time in the history of the county that the trustees promoted one of their number to be county superintendent. Wadsworth received the unanimous vote of the trustees, although he had met with much opposition in the caucus of his party asso- ciates. On June 3, 1889, Wadsworth was re-elected, receiving the votes of nine of the ten trustees.
Wadsworth was elected for the third time on June 1, 1891. Politics entered into this election, as politics had figured in most of the preceding elections. On the first ballot, Wadsworth received five votes, Christopher J. Cooney obtained two votes, and Elisha A. Riggins secured three votes. On the second ballot, Wadsworth received six votes. Each of the candidates was from Van Buren township.
A STRENUOUS ELECTION CONTEST.
The election of June 5, 1893, was the most hotly contested, in some ways, in the history of the election of county superintendents in Daviess county. On the one hundred and twenty-ninth ballot, Wadsworth was elected for the fourth time. In their caucus, the Republicans had selected William A. Wallace, a Veale township teacher, as their candidate. The Pop- ulist trustees, of whom there were three, supported Joseph A. Alexander, the superintendent of the Odon schools. The two Democratic trustees voted for A. O. Fulkerson, a teacher of Van Buren township, just about
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to graduate from the State Normal. It was evident that the Populist and the Democratic trustees would not vote for Wallace. In order to break the deadlock, the Republicans decided to vote for Wadsworth, hoping that some of the Populist or the Democratic trustees would support Wadsworth. Some one of them did, thereby electing him.
Wadsworth was elected prosecutor at the November election, in 1894, and he at once resigned as county superintendent. William A. Wallace was elected to succeed him, on November 12, 1894, on the twenty-seventh ballot. William K. Penrod, Joseph M. Porter, F. M. McConnell and William San- ford were the other candidates voted for. Penrod, a young and energetic teacher, from Madison township, was close to Wallace as a competitor.
There was no election of a county superintendent in June, 1895, as the Legislature had passed a law which provided for the election of county superintendents in September, instead of June. As a result of this law, and on its being declared unconstitutional, Wallace held over until June, 1899. The Legislature had changed the term from two to four years. Wallace was elected for the second time on June 5, 1899. He met with much opposition in his own party. It took twenty-three ballots to decide the contest. Solomon W. Satterfield, a teacher, of Van Buren township and a graduate of the Indiana State Normal and of the State University, and Alanson C. Wise, teacher of Washington township, Republicans, and San- ford Patterson, a teacher of Barr township and a Democrat, were his oppo- nents. On the first ballot Wallace received five votes, Wise secured two, and Satterfield also obtained two. On the twenty-third ballot Wallace received six votes, Wise secured two, while Satterfield and Patterson had each to be content with one.
DEMOCRAT ELECTED IN 1903.
The majority of the trustees in 1903 were Democrats, and in the elec- tion held on June I of that year Philander McHenry, a Steele township teacher and a Democrat, was elected. Seventeen ballots were taken before he received the nomination. A. O. Fulkerson, John Doyle, W. L. Stuckey, F. L. McCafferty, W. T. Brown and Frank Dixon were McHenry's op- ponents.
The Republicans had a majority of the trustees in 1907. Four Repub- lican teachers were candidates to succeed McHenry. B. J. Burris, principal of the Plainville schools; J. M. Vance, teacher of English in Washington high school; J. K. McCarter, a Madison township teacher, and Grant Calla-
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