USA > Indiana > Franklin County > History of Franklin County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 39
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SCHOOLS OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.
As has been stated, the Constitution of 1851 made provision for a system of free public schools. It went into effect in November, 1852, and in the spring of the following year Franklin county made an attempt to introduce free schools. In May, 1853, the various townships of Franklin county voted upon the question of levying a tax for free schools and the building of school houses. In Fairfield township, polls were opened in the regular way and a startling result was disclosed. One vote was cast for a school tax and seventy-nine against it. In the same township the public-spirited citi- zens voted against the building of school houses by a majority of seventy-four out of seventy-eight votes. This would seem to be pretty conclusive evidence that the people of Fairfield township did not want to be taxed for school purposes.
In Brookville township a public meeting was held in the court house and a resolution was passed favoring both a school and a school-house tax.
410
FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.
The Brookville American (May 27, 1853), in speaking of the meeting at the court house, said: "Although this was rather a loose and uncertain way of doing business, yet so general is public opinion in favor of good schools and a willingness to pay for them, that we suppose the citizens will heartily co-operate with the trustees to carry out the plans."
In Blooming Grove township the ballot was used and the citizens cast a negative vote for both the school and the school-house tax. There seems to have been considerable dissatisfaction over the result on the part of those who favored the schools and steps were taken shortly afterwards to submit the question again.
If other townships voted on the question at this time, no record has been found of it. The editor of the American, in the issue above noted, says, editorially, concerning the movement for free schools: "There is a reluctance in the public mind to vote a tax on themselves. It is too direct a matter. They will vote for representatives, year after year, who will vote for extravagant expenditures, and saddle heavy taxes on them, but put the vote direct and few would vote for a tax to pay it." However, the people of the county soon began to take a more favorable view of the public schools and it was only a few years until there were schools all over the county which had been provided for by taxation.
The general supervision of the schools of the county from 1853 to 1873 was intrusted to a board of examiners appointed by the commissioners. This board of three examined all the teachers and had the power to issue licenses. This arrangement continued until 1873, when the office of county superintendent was established. The first three examiners of Franklin county were Thomas A. Goodwin, R. R. Spencer and J. A. Applegate. The county superintendents from 1873 down to the present time are as follows : C. R. Cory, 1873-75; A. B. Line, 1875-76; C. R. Cory, 1876-81; M. A. Mess, 1881-86; A N. Crecraft, 1886-1891; W. H. Senour, 1891-1902; A. J. Reifel, 1902-09; T. J. McCarty, 1909 to present time.
Brookville is the only commissioned high school in the county, although there are seven other schools in the county doing high school work. Two years' work is done at New Trenton, Bath, Fairfield and Blooming Grove, while three-year courses are maintained at Mt. Carmel, Metamora and Laurel. Agriculture and domestic science are taught in all the schools of the county. Bath, with two teachers, is the only consolidated school in the county. The only special teacher outside of the Brookville schools is the domestic science teacher at Laurel.
There is now a total of one hundred and one teachers in the county,
4II
FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.
thirty-four males and sixty-seven females. Ninety-one teachers are in the grades and ten in high school. There are seventy-three school buildings in the county, seventy in the townships and one each in the towns of Brook- ville, Laurel and Oldenburg. It is interesting to note that forty years ago there were ninety-six school houses in the county with a total of one hundred and eleven teachers -- seventy-eight males and thirty-three females.
The following table shows the enumeration and enrollment for 1914, as well as the number of teachers in each township. For the purposes of comparison, the enumeration of 1885 is also given :
Township.
Enumeration. Enrollment. Teachers.
1885
1914
1914
1914
Bath
252
I37
129
4
Blooming Grove
359
180
122
4
Brookville
827
466
279
II
Butler
522
296
150
6
Fairfield
260
129
87
3
Highland
713
400
284
IO
Laurel
717
258
19I
8
Metamora
334
152
142
5
Posey
361
165
107
4
Rav
445
354
218
8
Salt Creek
47I
205
109
5
Springfield
489
234
184
9
White Water
533
330
248
IO
Incorporated Townships-
Brookville
680
615
370
I2
Oldenburg
413
162
152
4
Totals
7,003
4,283
2,763
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The first Franklin county teachers' institute was organized on November 20, 1852, and annual sessions have been held from that time. The men chiefly instrumental in effecting the first organization were T. A. Goodwin, H. B. Hibben and George A. Chase. A feature of the educational history of the county is what was known as the county normal. This was started in 1877 by J. E. Morton, superintendent of the Brookville schools, and he had charge of the county normal up until and including the summer of 1880. He was assisted in 1877 and 1878 by Thomas Harrison, of Moores Hill College, and by Professor Murray in 1879 and 1880. In 1881 the county superin-
412
FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.
tendent took charge of the county normal and it continued under his super- vision until it was finally discontinued in the summer of 1891. The six weeks' normal was held at Brookville every year except one, when it was held at Laurel. These normals were for the purpose of reviewing the teach- ers in the common school branches and thus better preparing them for their work in the school room. The attendance varied from year to year, although there were never less than fifty teachers in attendance. Since the closing of the county normal the teachers of the county have been attending the state normal at Terre Haute, the State University or some of the other institu- tions of the state. Each year the standard for teachers has risen and better teachers are to be found in the county now than ever before. It is safe to say that the standard is as high in Franklin county as in any other county in the state. With the introduction of vocational training, Superintendent McCarty has insisted that the law be lived up to in this county. Agriculture and domestic science are now being taught by all the teachers and, although it is too soon to estimate the value of the work, there can be no doubt that it is a step in the right direction.
Franklin county has prided itself on its record in the Young People's Reading Circle work. Every school in the county has a library and nearly every school buys the books recommended by the reading circle board each year. Since the time of A. N. Crecraft the county has been in the front rank of counties which have placed reading circle books in the public schools. Another distinctive feature of the educational history of the county is the township institute, which, under the guidance of the county superintendent, has been made a great factor for good. The county has an enviable record for the excellence of its township institutes and those who attend them have remarked upon their good work. A county institute is held in August of each year and the teachers of the county take pride in being present every day. Two instructors are always employed and often a third is added. The superintendents of Franklin county maintain a close supervision over their schools and visit every school in the county twice each year. In this way they are able to note the progress of the schools and suggest methods of improvement.
The county schools had an exhibit at the World's Fair in Chicago and also at the St. Louis Exposition in 1904. Creditable exhibits were prepared for both occasions and at St. Louis Franklin county was awarded a certifi- cate and a handsome bronze medal for the best exhibit of written work in the elementary schools of Indiana. Superintendent Reifel had charge of this exhibit and received many favorable comments on all the work from the county.
CHAPTER XVIII.
CHURCHES OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.
The first house of worship in Franklin county was completed in 1812 and since that time there have been more than eighty churches erected in the county. They have been built to accommodate the growth of the county and with the shifting of population many of them have ceased to exist. More than a score of once-flourishing congregations have disappeared and there are many churches now in the county which have services only once a month. A study of the religious conditions of the county reveals the fact that the shifting population has had much to do with the decline of most of the churches of the county. Local conditions often enter into the religious life of a community and divisions have arisen in churches in the past which today seem most trivial. More than one church in Franklin county has become divided as the result of some petty differencs which today seem very ridiculous. The use of organs, congregational singing, secret societies and even personal encounters have been the means of dividing congregations into two rival camps. No doubt, every church has its liberals and its radi- cals, but fortunately they do not cause a division in most of the churches.
The Methodists and Baptists entered the field in Franklin county before the county was organized in 1811 and for several years had the only churches of the county. The Presbyterians entered the county in 1822 and were in Brookville by 1840. In the latter part of the thirties the great German migra- tion to this county began and by the end of that decade there were a number of Catholic churches organized in the county. The Catholics settled in Brookville, Ray, Butler and Highland townships, principally. The United Brethren appear in the thirties, as do the German Methodists and Lutherans. The Christians and Universalists date their churches from the forties. The Holiness church, as well as the Nazarenes, are comparatively new in the field, having come into the county since 1900.
For purposes of reference, a table has been prepared which shows the distribution and location of all the churches of the county. In several instances more than one denomination has used the same building, so there have really been more church organizations than there have been church buildings. In order to give this table the most value the exact location of
414
FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.
each church has been given. If there is more than one section of the same number in any township, the town and range are also indicated.
Bath Township-
Baptist (Bethlehem chapel), section 22. Methodist Episcopal (Winchester chapel), section 28.
Presbyterian (Harmony), section 26.
Blooming Grove Township-
Holiness, section 8.
Methodist Episcopal, section IO.
Methodist Episcopal (Ebenezer), section 23.
Methodist Protestant (Stone church), section 8. Nazarene, section 8.
Brookville Township-
Baptist (Little Cedar), section 1, township 9, range 3.
Baptist, section II, township II, range 13.
Catholic (St. Michael), Brookville.
Catholic (St. Philomena), section 1, township 9, range 3. Christian, Brookville.
Lutheran (St. Thomas), Brookville.
Holiness, Whitcomb.
Methodist Episcopal, Brookville.
Methodist Episcopal (Locke's chapel), section 2, township 9, range 2.
Methodist Episcopal (Union), section 13, township 9, range 2.
Methodist Episcopal (West Fork), section 3, township II, range 13. Methodist Episcopal (German), Brookville.
Methodist Protestant, Brookville.
Presbyterian, Brookville.
Presbyterian (Mound), section 3, township 8, range 2.
United Brethren, section 9, township II, range 13.
United Brethren (Center chapel), section 10, township II, range 13. Butler Township-
Catholic (St. Philomena), section 21.
Catholic (St. Mary), section 5.
Holiness, section 28.
Methodist Episcopal (Butler chapel), section 28.
Methodist Episcopal ( Abbott's chapel), section 24. Methodist Episcopal (Hickory chapel), section 24. Methodist Episcopal (Providence meeting house), section 14. United Brethren, section 28.
415
FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.
Fairfield Township-
Baptist, Fairfield. Methodist Episcopal, Fairfield.
Presbyterian, Fairfield. United Brethren (Franklin chapel), section 26. Universalist, Fairfield.
Highland Township-
Catholic (Holy Guardian Angel), Cedar Grove. Catholic (St. Peter's), St. Peters.
Evangelical Protestant (Trinity), section 16.
Evangelical Protestant, section 27.
Evangelical Lutheran (St. Peters), section 17.
Evangelical Lutheran, section 25. Methodist Episcopal, section 27. Union church, Cedar Grove.
Laurel Township-
Catholic (St. Raphael), Laurel.
Christian, Laurel.
Lutheran (German), Laurel.
Methodist Episcopal, Laurel.
-
Methodist Protestant (Bethel chapel), section 24. Presbyterian, Laurel. United Brethren, Laurel.
Metamora Township-
. Baptist, section 5.
Christian, Metamora.
Methodist Episcopal (Cupp's chapel), section 2.
Methodist Episcopal (Elm Grove), section 7.
Methodist Episcopal (McKendrie), section 27.
Methodist Episcopal, Metamora.
Presbyterian, Metamora.
Posey Township-
Christian, Andersonville.
Methodist Episcopal (Wesley chapel), section 25. Union church (Bruit's chapel). Buena Vista. United Brethren, Andersonville. Universalist, Andersonville.
Ray Township- Catholic (St. John the Evangelist), Enochsburg.
416
FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.
Catholic (Drees chapel), section 9.
Catholic (Holy Family), Oldenburg. Catholic (Immaculate Conception), Oldenburg. Lutheran (St. Ann's), Huntersville.
Salt Creek Township-
Catholic (St. Anne), Hamburg.
Christian, Stips' Hill. Lutheran (German), Peppertown.
Methodist Episcopal (Stips' Hill chapel), section 5.
-
Springfield Township-
Baptist (Big Cedar), section 18.
Methodist Episcopal (Center), section 19.
Methodist Episcopal (Asbury), section 23.
Methodist Episcopal, Mt. Carmel.
Methodist Episcopal, Springfield, section 3. Presbyterian, Mt. Carmel.
Universalist, Mt. Carmel.
White Water Township-
Baptist (Johnson's Fork), section 26.
Methodist Episcopal (Wesley chapel), section 10.
Methodist Episcopal (Zion), section 16.
Methodist Episcopal, New Trenton.
Presbyterian, section 13.
United Brethren (Otwell chapel), section 25.
United Brethren, Rockdale.
TABULAR VIEW OF THE FRANKLIN COUNTY CHURCHES.
There have been no less than eighty-eight different congregations which have existed in Franklin county during the century of its existence. The Protestants are represented by at least twelve different denominations, while the Catholics all belong to the Church of Rome. The Catholics have about three thousand members and the Methodists, who are second in numbers, enrolled seventeen hundred in 1914. No other Protestant denomination has over four hundred members. The following table shows the number of active and discontinued churches of the various denominations in the county. The churches will be discussed in the order in which they are given in this table
GERMAN LUTHERAN CHURCH, BROOKVILLE,
Built in 1821 by the Methodists, sold to the Presbyterians, and later to the Lutherans.
OLD BROOKVILLE SEMINARY. First Public School Building in Brookville.
417
FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.
Denomination.
Methodist Episcopal Methodist Protestant German Methodist
Baptist
Presbyterian
Christian
Lutheran
United Brethren
Universalist
Nazarene
Holiness
Catholic
churches are not listed as having members, although there undoubtedly are many Baptist and Methodist Protestants, as well as German Methodists in the county. These statistics have been ascertained from church records and in- quiry from members of the various denominations. Of course, there are other denominations represented in the county, but they do not have church organi-
zations. About half a century ago there were a number of Christians (New
Lights) in Metamora township in the vicinity of Elm Grove. They held
known minister of this church in the county. Another denomination which
Church of the Latter-Day Saints of Jesus Christ. There were a number of
ing by Elder C. E. Harp in that village. In 1888 the local newspapers make
services two miles and a half east of Brookville, and that they are in charge of
Elder Cripe, of Laurel." The Holiness society has come into the county within the past few years and has confined its activities to three centers, Oak Forest, Whitcomb and at the old stone church two miles west of Bloom- ing Grove. In the summer of 1914 they held a series of meetings at Whit-
comb, which were attended by thousands of people. They have bought a lot at Whitcomb and intend to erect a house of worship. In Blooming Grove township the Holiness people have become separated into two branches, one
being called the Nazarenes and the other retained the old name. They wor-
(27)
Mem- bership.
1,706
O
O
I30
340
125
32
15
25
-3,000
Discon- tinued.
4.
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2
2
2.
O.
O.
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12
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4.
4
2
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II
18
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1
1
1
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1
1
Active.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
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services in a log school house at Elm Grove. Jonathan Alley was the best
has sought to obtain a foothold in this county is that of the Reorganized
members in the vicinity of New Trenton and in 1906 there was regular preach-
mention of the fact that the "Ancient Brethren" (Dunkards) "are holding
O
It will be noted in the above table that the denominations with no active
418
FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.
ship in the little old stone church in section 8 of Blooming Grove township, which was formerly the property of the Methodist Protestants.
METHODISM IN FRANKLIN COUNTY.
The Methodist church is the strongest Protestant denomination in the county and was one of the first to establish churches. For more than a hun- dred years Methodism has flourished in Franklin county and during this time at least thirty different churches have been established by this denomina- tion. Eighteen of these churches still maintain an active organization and have regular services. There is only one independent charge in the county and that is at Brookville. The other seventeen churches are divided among five circuits, namely : Brookville. Fairfield, Laurel, Metamora and Mt. Car- mel. The following table shows the main facts of these churches as set forth in the conference report of 1914:
ACTIVE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCHES.
Societies.
Ministers ..
Members.
Brookville
F. L. Priest.
335
Brookville circuit
H. M. Elwyn 318
7,000
West Fork
70
Union
55
New Trenton
I02
Center
1 1
1
1
1
----
Elm Grove
48
Fairfield circuit 1
O. Polhemus 32I
II,900
Fairfield
18I
Bath
I40
Laurel circuit
H. S. Taylor 200
Laurel
- --
Wesley Chapel
Metamora circuit
E. F. Lewis 354
Blooming Grove
I35
Cupp's Chapel
39
Ebenezer
36
Metamora
1 I44
Mt. Carmel circuit
1 L. D. Park 178
11,500
Mt. Carmel
I
I
1 56
Wesley
1
1
1
1
1
1
55
Springfield
1
1
1
I
I
49
Asbury
18
1
1
1
1
1
-
1
I
I
1
1
1
1
1
1
43
Value of Property. $16,000
8,000
1
.
419
FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.
Wesley chapel was attached to the Laurel circuit in 1913, but the 1914 conference detached it, although the church is still served by the minister of the Laurel circuit. After the 1914 conference had placed Columbia in the Laurel circuit, it was found that the latter congregation could not support a minister, and Wesley chapel, of Posey township, was again attached to the Laurel circuit.
DISCONTINUED METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCHES.
There have been no less than eleven churches of this denomination which have ceased to exist as independent congregations. These churches, with their location, are set forth in the following table :
Locke Chapel-Brookville township, section 2, township 9, range 2 west. Abbott's Chapel-Butler township, section 24.
Oak Forest-Butler township, section 28.
Hickory Chapel-Butler township, section 24.
Providence Chapel-Butler township, section 14.
Butler Chapel, Butler township, section 28. McKendrie-Metamora township, section 29.
Cedar Grove-Town of Cedar Grove. Stipp's Hill-Salt Creek township, section 2.
Zion-White Water township, section 16.
Franklin-Highland township, section 27.
In the discussion of the Methodist Episcopal churches of the county . they will be treated in the order in which they appear in the above tables. Every effort has been made to get complete data on all active as well as dis- continued churches, but there are some concerning which very little informa- tion has been obtained.
METHODISM IN BROOKVILLE.
The first provisions made by the Methodists for worshiping in this vicin- ity was in 1806, when the White Water circuit of the Mad River district of the Ohio conference was formed, extending from Lawrenceburg, Indiana, to Dayton, Ohio.
In 1809 Rev. Hezekiah Shaw, belonging to the Ohio conference, held services at the house of Eli Adams on the "school section," two miles above town, which resulted in the formation of the first class organized within a radius of twenty or thirty miles of Brookville. It was composed of Jacob and
420
FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.
Hannah Bloyd, Betty and Margaret Briggs, David and Mary Bell, Charity Adams, Rachel Stoops and Joseph Williams. Jacob Bloyd, residing two miles above Fairfield, was chosen leader. Shortly afterward it was moved to the West fork and remained there until 1816. When Samuel Goodwin moved to Brookville the class was moved to his home and he was appointed leader, in which capacity he continued to act till his death, in 1857.
The class on the West fork was greatly reduced by emigration and later classes were formed at Carmichael's, west of the Boundary hill, at Brooks', on the East fork, and at Smith's, now known as Ebenezer, three miles above town. The White Water circuit belonged to the Ohio conference until 1824, except during a short interval, when it was a part of the Indiana district of the Missouri conference. In the same year ( 1824) the Illinois conference was organized and the White Water circuit transferred to the Madison district of that conference, the district comprising about the same territory later oc- cupied by the Southeast Indiana conference. In 1825 one presiding elder and nine preachers administered to the spiritual wants of the district, while at present (1915) there is one district superintendent and 114 preachers re- quired. In 1832 the Indiana conference was organized and in 1835 we find Brookville circuit mentioned for the first time.
The Methodists of Brookville worshipped in private dwellings and the court house for many years, slowly increasing in numbers.
An interesting history of the first Methodist class-room in Brookville was written several years ago by the late Rev. T. A. Goodwin, a son of Sam- uel Goodwin, one of the first class leaders.
"The history of the class-rooms runs back to the dark age-the dark . age of Brookville. The original class-room, the north one, was built for a dwelling about 1820, a single room about eighteen feet square. An old-fash- ioned chimney, with a huge fireplace, occupied much of the south end. When the New Purchase opened to settlers about that time, there was a complete hegira from Brookville. Lawyers, doctors, preachers, merchants and me- chanics left almost in troops. They settled in Rushville, Connersville, Cen- terville, Greensburg, Shelbyville and Indianapolis, and, of course, they left their houses behind them. Some of these were the most pretentious and pala- tial residences then in the state ; others were only medium, and some only the one-roomed frame or log dwelling. The to-be class-room was one of the latter. In one respect all these deserted houses fared alike. They could not be sold at any price, and there were few left to rent them: hence in a short time the palace of Governor Ray, as well as the one-storied frame house, became
421
FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.
the shelter for large flocks of sheep and herds of hogs that roamed over the commons.
"My first recollection of the old class-room was being sent to it after some 'sheep-saffron,' an invaluable medicine for measles. For several years my father's single room was used for prayer-meetings and class-meetings- the class on Sunday mornings and the prayer-meetings on Thursday even- ings. To this was added, very frequently, preaching services, when the pre- siding elder, on his way from Madison to Fort Wayne, would stop for the night or some one going from Ohio to the New Purchase did the same. We were prepared for these occasions by keeping in the yard a dozen or more benches made of slabs, with legs driven into one-and-a-half-inch auger-holes, which were carried in when the meeting time came. This was no little tax upon my mother ; but she and her sister, Mrs. Robert John, bore it cheerfully, though it always involved the scrubbing of the floor after the meeting, where some pious tobacco-user had defiled it. One evening-it must have been about 1823-after the congregation had retired, it was discovered that some brute had discharged his filth against the whitewashed wall and the clock nearly to the ceiling. They knew the wretch; but it would have done no good to remonstrate, though my father's first impulse was to 'take it out of his hide' after the fashion of the period. I remember how bitterly my mother cried, at the same time begging my father to say nothing about it to anyone, but after the next Sunday's class-meeting to close the house to all meetings forever.
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