USA > Indiana > St Joseph County > History of St. Joseph County, Indiana > Part 64
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IN OCTOBER.
I.
It comes again, that subtle force, Stealing in air and stream and grove, Purples the water's winding course, And paints the woods as poets love.
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The liquid heaven in depths of blue, Broods over hills of mist and gold, O'er sleeping vales of crimson hue, Orange and green and tints untold.
II.
'T is beauteous Death, so placid, grand, Hath sent before her flush of pride, Hath flung her banners o'er the land, Triumphing ere her lance is tried.
There gorgeous trappings deck the tomb, And hide its yawning from the eye; The victims crowned in flowers come, And move in pomp all stately by.
The splendor of the coming storm, The glory of the setting sun, The comeliness of age's form,- such garniture hath Death put on !
III.
And doth this shame our sable show, Our funeral cortege, plumes and weeds ? World-conquering Rome did never know Triumph superb as Death here leads.
Endless processions, crimson-robed, All wailings hushed to breathless rapture, Hath none the god-like secret probed, And found this hidden joy of nature ?
IV.
O doubter, lift thy darkened brow To this fair Nature! Sweet her May, But as a bride she blushes now That seeks her rest at close of day.
Ah, she hath never sinned or sorrowed ; She hath the primal purity ; Her flush from the vernal sun is borrowed, And her Eden life shall ever be !
ALFRED BRYANT MILLER.
Alfred B. Miller was born in South Bend, February, 1845. He received his education principally in the old County Seminary. Mr. Miller was quite young when the war commenced, but enlisted in the 21st Indiana Battery, and before the close of his term of service was promoted Lieutenant. Before entering the army he evinced a taste for literary work, and contributed both prose and poetry to the columns of the Register, at South Bend, the McGregor, Iowa, Journal, and the Home Journal of New York. While in the army he was the regular correspondent of the Chicago Tribune and New York Herald, and an occasional contributor to Harper's Weekly and Frank Leslie's Newspaper, several of his poems being illustrated in those papers. Of the three selections which are
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taken from his writings, " Mist at Morn" was illustrated in Frank Leslie and "The Signal Light" in Harper's Weekly. When Lieutenant Miller returned from the army he became associated in the publication of the Register at South Bend, where he remained as editor in chief until 1872, when he sold his interest in that paper and in connection with others began the publication of the South Bend Tribune, after which he became managing editor. While Mr. Miller is an easy and graceful political writer, his tastes tend to general literature. The following poems are from his pen.
A REMEMBRANCE.
O, boyhood days that come no more,- Long days in limpid sunshine drawn, When I lay in the cooling shade That flecked my father's lawn,
And let my wayward fancy float Out on imagination's sea, To seek the wonders of elf-land And bring them hack to me.
Or, deep in books of childish lore. The stolen sweets of nursery shelf, I read until those fairy tales Became a part of self ;-
I tripped along in childish glee Or wept with fear in darkened wood, And, trembling stood at grand'am's door, With little Red Riding Hood.
With Cinderella at the ball I pirouetted through the rooms, While elves and fairies 'round us danced Fantastic rigadoons.
With Jack the Giant Killer I Went forth to deeds of giant strength ; On many a puissant field We laid our foes at length.
.
Sweeping along the course of time Until the years count in their teens, I threw the childish books away ; Then came the boyish dreams.
I walked with Crusoe on his isle, I saw the footstep in the sand, And listened to the ocean waves That lapped the lonely strand.
Strange birds, strange beasts, strange forest trees, And fruits that had a foreign taste- Alone with him I walked the strand A monarch of the waste.
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
The legend of Arabian Nights,- Enchanted, wandered I amid The splendors of the palaces Of Haroun-Al-Raschid.
I saw of fairest Persian maids, All favorites of the great Sultan's, Enrobed in richest draperies Reclining on divans.
While from deep hidden galleries Sweet music filled the palace walls, And perfume that o'erpowered the sense, Wing'd through the pillared halls.
And myriad maids, well-spoken, fair, Trooped through the open palace doors, And waltzed in graceful poses 'long The tessellated floors.
With Ali Baba at the cave, When magic " sesame " oped its door, I stood, and feasted wondering eyes On riches that it bore.
Or, mounting the Enchanted Horse, With eagle swiftness cleaved the air, And through great banks of golden cloud Mounted the purple stair
That winds up through the starry realms, Unto Mahomet's paradise, And saw there pass an endless train Of darkest-eyed houris.
I rubbed the lamp of Aladdin, I saw my every wish fulfilled ; The wildest whims of fancy took A shape, if I but willed.
I saw my every wish fulfilled, But ah! the lamp were rubbed in vain ; No genius hath the power to fetch Those golden days again.
Sweet boyhood days! they come no more,- Long days in limpid sunshine drawn, When I lay in the cooling shade That flecked my father's lawn,
And let my wayward fancy float Upon Imagination's sea, Seeking the wonders of elf-land, And bringing them to me.
THE SIGNAL LIGHT.
On highest top of mountain range Which rears its head in gloomy night, Environed with inystery, There gleams the Signal Light.
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Far, far beneath, the angry tide Of battle surges to and fro; Its fierce waves beat the mountain side Whereon that Light doth glow.
And over all the battle ground The thick smoke rises like a pall, Yet naught disturbs its steady blaze; It shineth throughout all.
Like that famed star of Bethlehem 'Which showed the wise men where he lay, The distant Signal Light doth guide Our army on its way.
Thus when we cross the vale of death That borders on the Silent Land, Oh, may there he a Signal Light To guide us to his hand.
MIST AT MORN.
Belts of woodland circling around Luxuriant masses of green ; Zone after zone of rolling mist Wavering up between.
Zephyrs dancing down through its depths, While the sweep of their dresses whirl The rolling mist in a thousand Eddies of graceful curl.
Like him who dipped in the Lydian stream, The morning beams bathe in the mist ; Like him, turns to molten gold The vapory amethyst.
Marshalled in many columns it rolls, Resists the attacks of the sun; Down he comes with his golden lances, Piercing them one by one.
Backward they roll, upward they glide, Dissolve in the ambient air ; The sun is victor, holds the world; & His beams are everywhere.
Only belts of woodland around Luxuriant masses of green ; Gone are the zones of rolling mist That wavered up between.
E. BURKE FISHER.
E. Burke Fisher was born in Philadelphia. At an early age he evinced a great taste for reading and an ardent love of literature, and never wearied in the acquisition of knowledge. Before he was 15 years of age he was contributor to several periodicals. He was carefully educated, commencing the study of the classics at nine
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years of age. At 15 years of age he engaged as clerk in the office of the Saturday Evening Post, then published and edited by Sanmuel C. Atkinson, of Philadelphia, where he remained a few years, when he became associated with Horace Greeley in The New Yorker. This paper not proving a financial success, it became merged into the New York Tribune.
Mr. Fisher then located in Pittsburg, becoming publisher and editor of The Saturday Evening Visitor (afterward edited by Mrs. Swisshelm). Here he had control of a large steam printing-office, publishing several periodicals, among them The Witness, edited by Wm. H. Burleigh, of Abolition fame; also a magazine edited by himself, The Literary Examiner and Monthly Review. The publication of this heavy and expensive undertaking brought financial ruin.
He was soon after admitted to the Bar, and commenced practice in Cleveland, Ohio, at the same time being connected withi several periodicals in that city and Columbus, Ohio.
In 1853 Mr. Fisher located in South Bend, Indiana, engaging in the practice of the law, devoting much of his time to literary pur- suits.
Mr. F. was a man of rare abilities, his mind was widely com- prehensive and his temperament highly poetic. He had no ambi- tion for literary fame, and wrote more cheerfully for others than for himself. Many who have been distinguished in the literary world owe much of their fame to the productions of his pen.
His death occurred in South Bend April 12, 1863. The fol- lowing selections evince rare poetic talent:
A PEAN, AS ON THE HEART.
A pæan, as on the heart, Hope pencils its magical beams While Fancy's hand, with Promethean art; The dead from their thrall redeems- Clothes Ambition anew in the garments of youth, And woos us again to believe in its truth.
A smile for the fondly lov'd, And a hand for the tried and true ; The year that has pass'd, their friendship prov'd And we greet with them the New; They are with us now, and their presence throws O'er the wild sea of life a serene repose.
A welcome as 'round us rise The delusive beams of joy ; The present is ours,-its light let us prize, For why should we destroy The hues of Hope in seeming so fair? Better slumber deceived than wake to despair.
A shout, a pæan, and a hymn For the seasons and joys to come! The past year's colors are misty and dim ; Let us over the Future roam, And send out from the heart the joy-seeking dove To search for the flowers of Friendship and Love.
The New Yorker.
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
LUCUBRATIONS.
A wail for the passing year As its funeral train sweeps by, While the northern hlast, with its sounds of fear, Howls along the darken'd sky, And Winter its peal of triumph rings 'Mong the crashing houghs of the forest kings!
A dirge for the seasons dead. For Spring with its opening flowers, Fair Summer, whose verdant sheen was spread Over hill-side, vales and howers, And Autumn, magnificent Autumn, too, With its waving fields of golden hue.
A sigh, as memory's hand From the Past its trophies tears And before us in solemn mockery stand The hopes of our earlier years ; The "hopes that were angels at their hirth," But perished as perished the joys of earth.
A tear for the loved and dead- The young and the gentle hearted ! They were with us, but now the year has sped, Alas! they have all departed ! And the ruthless wind that 'round us raves Stirs the lifeless grass on their lonely graves.
A lament for pleasures gone, For the gladsome dreams of youth, When the heart was young, and around us was thrown The mantle, we thought, of truth, Till Time swept o'er the spot where we stood, And the mantle was borne on its restless flood.
A wail, a dirge, and a sigh, For the seasons and hopes that have flown ! A lament for the pleasures of youth that lie On the bier of the old year strown ! But the tear for the dead, the loved of yore, Let it freely gush ! we shall see them no more.
A shout for the coming year, As the north wind fans its brow ! Let the eye, lately dimmed with a tear, Wear a glad smile of triumph now ; For the conqueror comes like a prince to his throne And the garlands of hope o'er his pathway are strown.
A hymn to the sister band ! For Spring will resume its reign, And Summer re-clothe, with liberal hand, Her favorite haunts again ; Mild Autumn, the season of fruits, will come And the reaper gather his harvest home.
During the war F. R. Tutt, of South Bend, was made Provost Marshal for St. Joseph county, and in the discharge of his duty arrested a deserter named Christy, and while taking him to Indianapolis, he escaped from the train at La Porte. Mr. Fisher,
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
whose sense of the ridiculous was keen, penned the following lines and had them mailed at Chicago addressed to Mr. Tutt:
TO THE RIGHT HON. F. R. TUTT, PROVOST MARSHAL.
"Hark! to the Marshal's question of despair: Where is Jack Christy ? Echo answers, Where ?"
Dear Provost Marshal, you may think In vamosing I was to blame, But bless your soul, if in my place, I rather think you'd do the same.
A soldier's life it suits me not, Whether on foot or in the saddle; Believing so, when at La Porte, I judged it wiser to skedaddle.
But, Frank, with you I will be frank ; My bowels yearned when you did utter Words evidently aimed at me, " Ho! stop that man-he's a deserter!"
Your legs are not like Elliot's, Frank ; You amble somewhat in your paces, Whilst I, as you must have perceived, Am quite 2:40 in tight races.
But now, alas! I bear no more Your voice narrating funny stories ; No longer view your warrior phiz, Whence gleam your eyes like morning-glories.
Farewell! our routes are wide apart, You go-I don't-to Indianapolis; I wend my way to spread your praise In that Confederate metropolis.
When I see Jeff, and " smile " with him, I'll tell him how I dodged your notice, And beg him, when he bags the North, To give you-for my sake-an office.
Yea, if-such things have happ'd ere now - He ranks me Secretary of State, I'll choose you my right bower of hearts, With Lowell for your rich estate.
And when in time death stops his grog, And Satan claims his well-won price, I'll be King President myself, And you shall act the part of " Vice."
Lord ! won't we have a jolly time ? You'll hug the women, I the barrel, While as to greenbacks and State stocks, In sharing them we will not quarrel.
And when-it must be so, dear Frank !- Our bodies in grave-mold recline, Your soul will sink its chosen rest : I'm somewhat doubtful as to mine!
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MORAL.
A word in closing; lest some bite Against me in your duped mind rankles, When next with copperheads you train, Put iron ribbons round their ankles!
The scalawags are traitors all, And will not keep faith with their betters, The foresworn recreants when in thrall Should either hang or wear stout fetters.
Other residents of St. Joseph county have been distinguished as authors; as Prof. J. A. Lyon, author of the "Silver Jubilee," and "Lyon's Elocution;" T. G. Turner, author of the "Gazetteer of the St. Joseph Valley," and other works; Rev. A. Y. Moore, anthor of the "Life of Schuyler Colfax;" John D. Defrees, Rev. N. H. Gillespie, Rev. M. B. Brown, Rev. J. C. Carrier, Prof. A. J. Stace and Mrs. E. Kingsley.
42
CHAPTER XXI.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS .- COUNTY SEMINARY .- STATE AND NATIONAL REPRE- SENTATION .- COUNTY OFFICERS .- A RETROSPECT.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
The first school-houses in this county were but rude affairs, and the schools taught therein were but little better than the houses. " Subscription schools " were the custom, the teacher receiving a small sum per month and boarding around among the scholars, or receiving a certain amount per scholar, collecting the satne from the parent or guardian of the child-if he could. The first school taught in the county was in South Bend in 1831, Elisha Egbert, a young attorney who had just settled in the place, being the teacher. The school-house, which had just been erected, was of logs, about eighteen feet square and seven feet high. Slab seats were provided for the seholars, with a board nailed against the wall for a writing desk. In this house, for some time, the various religious bodies inet for public worship.
The cause of education in this county made but limited progress for some years, the common schools of the day, in which only the rudiments of an English education were taught, were thought by many to be all-sufficient. Still there were a few who aspired to something higher, and when the county seminary fund was thought to be sufficient for the erection of a building, there was quite a strife between the towns of South Bend and Mishawaka for its loca- tion. In order to secure its location private subscriptions were made for a large amount, and South Bend was selected by the authorities. This building was erected in 1845 on the site of the present high-school building on Washington street, its location then being described by the Register as " west of town." The spot is now the heart of the city. The building was torn down in 1872. A. B. Miller, editor of the Tribune, who received his education in that old building, thus speaks of it in the issue of his paper bear- ing date April 20, 1872:
" Nothing remains of the ' old seminary ' building on Washing- ton street but a pile of debris, and in a few days it will have no trace left. The South-Bender now absent will miss on his return the familiar structure which, homely though it was, has been iden- tified with the history of our place from its earlier years. The building was erected in 1845, and the first term of school was taught by Prof. Wright, who we hear numbered among his pupils, A. S. Dunbar, Daniel Witter, Mark McClelland, D. R. Sample, R.
(656)
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B. Miller, and others of their age we do not now eall to mind. Prof. Wright was succeeded by Mr. Coggswell. Then followed Professors Smith, Sperbeck, McLafferty, Miss Barrett, Miss Bacon and Professor Wilcox, in chronological order. When first built, the seminary was surmounted by a tin-domed and pillared eupola, in which the hoys used to take delight in lodging balls while play- ing ' ante-over,' that they might have some excuse for shinning up the lightning rod and playing havoc with the nests of pigeons that made their homes there. But the lightning knocked all the heanty and utility out of the enpola one afternoon in 1847, and in course of time it was taken down entirely, and since then the structure was familiar in outline to all our citizens as it is seen in the excel- lent photograph Mr. Bonney took just previous to its destruction. Although to be replaced by one of the handsomest school buildings in this part of the State there are many, particularly absent South- Benders who received their education in it, who will not hear of the destruction of that 'old seminary' without a pang of regret."
The present system of common seliools, with some modifications, was adopted in 1852. The constitutional convention of that year had incorporated in the constitution the following provisions rela- tive to common schools:
SECTION 1. Knowledge and learning generally diffused through- out a community being essential to the preservation of a free gov- ernment, it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to encourage, by all suitable means, moral, intellectual, scientific, and agricultu- ral improvement, and to provide by law, for a general and uniform system of common schools, wherein tuition shall be without charge and equally open to all.
SEC. 2. the common-school fund shall consist of the Congres- sional township fund, and the lands belonging thereto; the sur- plus revenue fund; the Saline fund, and the lands belonging thereto; the bank tax funk, and the fund arising from the 114th seetion of the eliarter of the State Bank of Indiana, the fund to be derived from the sale of county seminaries, and the moneys and property heretofore held for such seminaries; froin the fines assessed for the breaches of the penal laws of the State, and from all forfeitures which may accrue; all lands and other estates which shall eseheat to the State for want of heirs or kindred entitled to the inheritance; all lands which have been or may hereafter be granted to the State of Indiana by the act of Congress, of the 28th of Sept, 1850, after dedueting the expenses of selecting and draining the same ; taxes on the property of corporations that may be assessed by the General Assembly for common school purposes.
SEC. 3. The principal of the common-school fund shall remain a perpetual fund, which may be increased, but shall never be di- minished; and the income thereof shall be inviolably appropri- ated to the support of common schools, and to no other purpose whatever.
SEC. 4. The General Assembly shall invest, in some safe and profitable manner, all such portions of the common-school fund as
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have not heretofore been entrusted to the several counties, and shall make provision by law, for the distribution among the several counties of the interest thereof.
SEC. 5. If any county shall fail to demand its proportion of such interest for common-school purposes, the same shall be re- invested for the benefit of such county.
SEC. 6. The several counties shall be held liable for the preser. vation of so much of said funds as may be entrusted to them, and for the payment of the annual interest thereon.
SEO. 7. All trust funds held by the State shall remain inviolate and be faithfully and exclusively applied to the purposes for which the trust was created.
The Legislatures of the State have, from time to time, passed snch laws as was thought necessary to carry out the provisions of the Constitution. The school fund in the State has accumulated until it now amounts to about $5,000,000.
St. Joseph county has kept pace with the balance of the State with respect to her public schools. In 1853 there were 19 school houses in the entire county, the value of which could not have been more than $6,000. In 1878 there were 115, valued at $250,827. In 1880 the number was further increased to 120, the estimated value of which was $252,560. In 1878 there were 6,921 pupils admitted into the public schools, necessitating the employment of 216 teachers, the average compensation of which was, for males, $1.681, for females $1.48 per day. In 1880 there were 7,088 pupils in the public schools; teachers employed, 209; average con- pensation, per day, for males, $2.913; for females, $1.81}.
Since 1872 there has been a remarkable increase in the number of persons applying for license, and a more remarkable increase in the number of persons rejected by the County Superintendent. The large number of rejections is probably due to two facts: first, the standard of requirements has been raised; and second, under the free examination system, it is likely a larger number of young and inexperienced persons take the examinations as a matter of experiment, without much expectation of securing a license. The hard times of the past six or seven years may also have something to do with the number of applicants, and in consequence, the re- jections.
COUNTY EXAMINERS AND SUPERINTENDENTS.
The following named are the County Examiners and Superin- tendents of Public Schools since 1860:
William T. Van Doren was appointed June 7, 1861, and served but a few months. Mr. Van Doren was a practical teacher, and is at present clerk in the Treasury Department, Washington.
Alvin S. Dunbar, appointed Nov. 2, 1861. Mr. Dunbar was, previous to his appointment, and is now, one of the leading attor- neys of South Bend.
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Charles A. Evans, a minister of the gospel, was appointed County Examiner, June 10, 1864, and served about eighteen months.
Jacob Merrifield received his appointment as County Examiner Jan. 30, 1866. He was previous to his appointment, and is now, a minister of the gospel and engaged in active work in that field of labor.
Elisha Sumption was appointed June 2, 1868, and was re-ap- pointed June 6, 1871, and again June 7, 1873. Mr. Sumption is an old citizen of St. Joseph county, and was for some time Super- intendent of Public Schools at Mishawaka, Indiana, and is at pres- ent a bookkeeper for the South Bend Iron Company. During the last month of Mr. Sumption's term he was the County Superintend- ent-the first to receive that appointment.
Andrew J. Foster was the successor of Mr. Sumption and was appointed July 1, 1873, and served about two years. Previous to his appointment he was the local agent at Sonth Bend of the Mc- Cormick Reaper Company, and after his retirement he accepted the position of agent of the same company, and is at present located at St. Joseph, Missouri.
David A. Ewing received his appointment June 9, 1875, and served about thirteen months. He was subsequently principal of the high school at Virginia City, Montana, and died Feb. 11, 1880.
Frank A. Norton was appointed Aug. 12, 1876, and served eleven months. Mr. Norton is a teacher by profession, and has been Su- perintendent of Public Schools at Newton, Kansas, and is at pres- ent the president of a business college in that city.
Calvin Moon was appointed to succeed Mr. Norton, June 4, 1877, and was re-appointed June 2, 1879, and is the present occupant of the office. Mr. Moon has made a most efficient Superintendent, and has reduced the work of his office to a regular system. The present efficiency of the public schools of St. Joseph county is in a great measure due to him.
COUNTY SEMINARY.
The St. Joseph Valley Register, under date of Sept. 26, 1845, in speaking of this institution says: "This building, on the north side of Washington street, west of town, is rapidly approaching com- pletion. It is of brick, two stories high, thirty feet wide by forty feet long, and is to be surmounted with a cupola. The expense of its erection is defrayed by the seminary fund (formed by the col- lection of fines for the breach of penal laws, thus making the penal- ties of vice contribute to the advancement of virtue and intelli- gence), aided by the subscriptions of private individuals. No portion of its cost is paid out of the county treasury. A. M. La Pierre, C. Caldwell and James M. Matthews are the builders; Gil- man Towle, the superintendent. The seminary stands near the center of the acre-and-a-half lot which belongs to it, and which is
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