USA > Indiana > Wayne County > Richmond > Memoirs of Wayne County and the city of Richmond, Indiana; from the earliest historical times down to the present, including a genealogical and biographical record of representative families in Wayne County, Volume I Pt. 2 > Part 13
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William Peters Reeves, son of James E. and Hannah More (Peters) Reeves, was born in Richmond, Ind., June 7, 1865. He attended the Friends' Academy, the Richmond public schools, and Earlham College to the sophmore year. He entered Johns Hopkins University in 1884, graduating A. B. in 1889 and Ph. D., in modern languages and English, in 1893. He was instructor in rhetoric in Union College, 1895-7; professor of English in the University of Iowa, 1897-1900; and, since 1900, has been professor of English in Kenyon College. Mr. Reeves made researches in the record offices and libraries of London and Edinburgh for "A Study of Scottish Prose to 1600," which appeared in Baltimore in 1894; also he made researches in London and Oxford for a volume, still in preparation, on John Wycliffe, for the Belles Lettres Series (Heath and Com- pany, Boston). He has been a contributor to the "Dial," the New York "Sun," and "Modern Language . Notes."
Frederic M. Smith, a son of James and Abby Miller Smith. was born in Richmond, Ind., in 1870. He was graduated at the University of Indiana in 1899, and later had graduate work at Har- vard, Berlin, and Oxford. His first writings were out-door papers for the Richmond "Sunday Register." Since, he has contributed about 200 stories, travel sketches, critical articles, and poems to such periodicals as "Harper's Weekly," the "Critic," "Poet-Lore," "Sewanee Review," "New England Magazine," "Everybody's," "Munsey's," "Ainslee's," "Smart Set," "Short Stories," New York "Sun," and New York "Globe." In 1899-1900 he wrote a series of travel sketches for the Boston "Transcript." Mr. Smith's "Chris- tin," a novelette, was published serially in the "Ladies Home Jour-
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nal," 1901 ; "The Yellow Sard," a novel, is serialized in Munsey's "All Story" magazine, 1909; and "The Betty Stories" appear in the "Woman's Home Companion," 1909. Mr. Smith has also written several plays for amateur production. Since 1905, Mr. Smith be- came assistant district superintendent of schools in Porto Rico.
Esther Griffin White, daughter of Oliver and Carrie (Cottom) White, was born in Richmond, Ind. She was educated in the Wayne county schools and Earlham College. She has been con- nected with the "Palladium," the "Sun-Telegram." the "Evening Item," and the "Morning News," all of Richmond. Miss White has done special feature work and stories and has acted as occa- sional correspondent for the Indianapolis "Journal." the Indianapo- lis "News," and the Indianapolis "Star." She has written stories and articles on various phases of art for a number of publications. including the "Craftsman," the "Art Interchange," the "Fine Arts Journal," the "House Beautiful," the "Independent," the New York "Times," the "Woman's Home Companion." "Young's Magazine," "Brush and Pencil," the "Greater West," the "Indiana Woman," and "Arts and Architecture," published in Sidney. Australia. Reprints of her articles from American magazines have appeared in "Ex Libris Journal," London, and "Ex Libris," the "Organ des Exlibris- Vereins zu Berlin." Two articles on "Indiana Bookplates." appear- ing in the "Craftsman" and "Brush and Pencil," respectively, have been filed in the State Library as the only contribution to the history of bookplate art in Indiana. Her bookplate collection. while not only the largest, is one of the best known in the United States. Her writing on matters pertaining to art has included chiefly ar- ticles upon "art book binding" and its exponents, history and de- signers of bookplates, sketches of Richmond and other Indiana art- ists, and a great deal of miscellaneous writing on the general sub- ject. On local papers Miss White has acted as musical and dra- matic critic in addition to general newspaper writing. In 1910 she published "Indiana Bookplates" (Nicholson Press, Richmond, Ind.), a sumptuous volume containing a valuable collection of bookplates, with an account of these and some general criticisms on Indiana art. In 1911 she edited and issued "Poems by Louise Vickery Boyd" (Nicholson Press, Richmond, Ind.).
Luke Woodard, son of Cader and Rachel (Outland) Woodard. was born on a farm in Wayne county. March 12. 1832. His par- ents were Friends who removed from Wayne county, North Caro- lina, to Wayne county, Indiana, in 1826. In 1853, in West Grove Meeting. Wayne county, Indiana, he was married to Elvira Town-
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send. For many years Luke Woodard was a minister in the So- ciety of Friends. He is the author of "The Morning Star-a Trea- tise on the Nature, Offices, and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ," 1875 (New Vienna, Ohio) ; "Gathered Fragments on Talks to Young People, Talks to Parents, and Social Hours With Min- isters," 1883; "Poems" ( Nicholson, 1891), and "What is Truth?" His latest book is "Sketches of a Life of '75" ( Nicholson, 1907).
In the Biographical volume of this publication will be found extended biographical sketches of David Worth Dennis, William Dudley Foulke, Henry C. Fox, Isaac Jenkinson, and Arthur Middle- ton Reeves, while separate chapters in this volume are given to George W. Julian and Oliver P. Morton.
ROBERT LINCOLN KELLY.
CHAPTER XXII.
EDUCATION IN WAYNE COUNTY.
PIONEER PERIOD-DISTRICT PERIOD-LOCATION OF SOME EARLY SCHOOLS -EARLY INFLUENCE OF THE FRIENDS-EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS -SCHOOLS OF RICHIMOND-SCHOOL BUILDINGS-EARLHAM COL- LEGE-RICHMOND BUSINESS COLLEGE.
PIONEER PERIOD. .
"There are four documents which should be most carefully studied by every student of American History: viz., the Declara- tion of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, Washington's Farewell Address, and the Ordinance of 1787. They mark four epochs and give insight into four epochs of American History."
It is to the Ordinance of 1787-the paragraph in it touching education in the Northwest Territory-to which our attention is turned; the paragraph concerning the establishment of schools in the territory-"the first enunciation by any self-ruling govern- ment of the obligation of the State to furnish intellectual train- ing to the children within its jurisdiction." Up to this time edu- cation had been regarded as the concern of the parent, or at most within the province of the church, but never a responsibility rest -. ing upon the civil government. In the first Act of Congress (1785), which provided for the surveying and sale of such part of the Northwest Territory as had been purchased of the Indians, a section in each township of land was reserved for the main- tenance of public schools. But it was the Ordinance of 1787 which commanded the encouragement of education. "That ordi- nance fixed forever the character of the emigration and of the social, political, and educational institutions of the people who were to inhabit this imperial territory-then a wilderness, but now covered by five great States, with one-fourth of the entire popula- tion of the nation and one-third of the total amount of permanent
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school fund in the United States, and public school property equal in value of that of all other States combined." [ W. F. Poole, North American Review, 1876. |
Since the passage of the Ordinance the establishment and maintenance of schools-the furnishing of the means of obtaining knowledge-has been regarded as one of the departments of State duty and State action, along with making roads, carrying mail. etc. The school system is a branch of the Government. When the land was surveyed, the Ordinance of 1787 stated, that one square mile of land in every township should be reserved for the maintenance of public schools within that township. A township, according to the survey, is six miles square, containing thirty- six square miles, called sections. The section numbered 16 was called the school section. When Indiana was admitted into the Union (1816) the school sections within her boundaries were given by Congress into the care of the new State. The first Constitu- tion of Indiana then declared that it should be the duty of the General Assembly to provide by law for the improvement of such lands and "to apply any funds which may be raised from such lands to the accomplishment of the grand object for which they were intended; but no lands granted for the use of schools shall be sold prior to the year 1820; and the money which may be raised out of the sale of any such lands shall be and remain a fund for the exclusive purpose of promoting the interests of liter- ature and the sciences and for the support of schools." The same constitution declared "it shall be the duty of the General Assem- bly, as soon as circumstances will permit, to provide by law for a general system of education, wherein tuition shall be gratis and equally open to all."
In 1824 the first law that may be called a common school law was enacted. It was entitled "an act to incorporate congres- sional townships and provide for public schools therein." This law required each able-bodied adult male in the school district to do a certain amount of labor in assisting to erect a school- house in his district. Such a house should be forever open for the education of all children within the district without distinc- tion. This was not enacted until nineteen years after the set- tlement of Wayne county had commenced, and the people of nearly every neighborhood had already provided houses. There- fore, it is doubtful whether any schoolhouses were erected accord- ing to this law in the county. It may be safe to say that all the
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early houses in this county were erected upon the voluntary plan.
The money derived from rent of the school lands could be applied to the furnishing of houses, and if any surplus remained, the trustees could apply it to the payment of the teachers. But the school was not free. Tuition was to be paid according to an agreed rate per scholar. It is probable that all the legisla- tion on public schools, until 1831, was of little, if any, avail to the people of Wayne county. In 1831 an important revision of the school laws was made. Trustees were to be elected in each Congressional township, with sub-trustees in the districts. At the time of electing trustees the voters of each Congressional town- ship were to give expression upon the question whether their school section should be sold or not. The act of 1828 provided for a school commissioner in each county, whose duties were to conduct the sale of the land whenever the inhabitants decided in favor of selling; to place the proceeds at interest; and to dis- burse the interest derived in such manner as to return the bene- fits thereof to the people of the Congressional township of which the section sold was a part.
The law of 1831 directed the sub-trustees to call meetings in their respective districts and submit the question whether the dis- trict "will or will not support a public school for any number of months, not less than three in each year." Whenever it was made necessary, by the new arrangement of districts, to build a schoolhouse, the question of building such house was decided by the voters at a meeting. This law seems to have affected Wayne county generally. Meetings were held in the year fol- lowing the passage of the act, mostly in 1833-34, and in many townships the sale of the school section was determined and the erection of houses was directed. The effect of this action was to change the location of many schools, to cause the erection of new houses, and to distribute them more uniformly over the country. Many of the houses erected by this movement were better than those of the former period. Frame houses were fre- quently erected and the interior furnishings were proportionately improved. The school system of that period is called by J. C. Macpherson, "The District System."
But the earliest settlers of what is now Wayne county, al- though, we are told, were not possessed with extraordinary schol- arship, had among them few who were illiterate or ignorant, and
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fully appreciated education; so they early determined to secure its benefits for their children. It was in 1807 that the little com- pany of settlers, the first family of which had immigrated from Kentucky in 1805, determined upon erecting a house, and support- ing a school, which was the first school in what is now Wayne county. That period, from 1807 to 1831, Mr. Macpherson has designated as "the pioneer period." During this period, he says, there were schools maintained, but they were local affairs. The people of a neighborhood would agree to arrange for schooling for their children; they would secure some vacant house, or put up a log house with the rudest of furnishings, and then make an agreement with some one in the neighborhood to act as teacher. Sometimes the school was an individual affair. A schoolmaster would happen in the settlement, obtain the use of some house and circulate his subscription paper, or "school article," for scholars. The "article" set forth the length of the term and price per scholar, the patron would sign his name and the number of pupils he would send. The "article," written by the teacher, was sup- posed to give evidence of his skill as a penman, and this evi- dence was usually the only certificate of qualification presented. Examinations were unknown.
This first schoolhouse, built in 1807, was located on the north bank of Big Elkhorn creek opposite the mouth of Little Elk- horn, in the northeast quarter of section 31, township 13, range I west. It was upon ground now included in the Elkhorn Ceme- tery, five miles southward from Richmond. The particulars in regard to this movement, its originator, who carried it out, etc., are lost. The house probably stood twenty rods south of the present Elkhorn Chapel, near the east wall of the cemetery. It was built expressly for a school, of round logs, in many respects like the homes of that day, except that its floor was made of sawed boards. A saw-mill had been erected on the Elkhorn, about a mile below, the previous year, and from it were obtained boards for this floor in the place of puncheons, which were common in many homes. The first term was opened in November, but it is not known how long it lasted. Joseph Cox was the first school teacher in Wayne county. Besides being the first teacher he may also be known as the first householder in the county. He and his wife came, in 1805, from New Castle, Ky., where he had been teaching. He taught several terms and at several places in what is now the eastern part of Abington township and western
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1
part of Boston township. It must also be told of him that, in 1817, with his father, he laid out the town of Abington. For a number of years after teaching he lived on a farm near Abing- ton and had an interest in a mill near by on the Whitewater, but meeting with financial disaster he finally removed his family to another part of the State. There is now no one living who at- tended that first school. The house was used for several years for schools and for religious meetings. In time it was replaced by a house better suited for a church. The locality is a noted one in the history of the county. The first grave was made on that hill, and in the water at the foot of the hill was performed for the first time the ceremony of baptism. The organization of the first church was effected there.
It is always difficult to state with any certainty the time and place of events, where the evidence depends so entirely upon tra- dition, which is more or less influenced by pride of locality. But it may be accepted as true that the first school was in 1807, as has been stated, and that the second was taught in the fall of 1808, by Thomas Hastings, and another by Isaac Julian, either that fall or the following; though it is probable that both were opened in 1808, as they were some four or five miles apart. In 1808 Thomas Bulla erected a pole cabin on the bank of Elkhorn creek, about two miles above and northeast of the falls, and em- ployed Thomas Hastings as teacher for his children and such others as could attend. Lacking a knowledge of arithmetic, Mr. Bulla himself attended the school about six weeks and studied that branch. It is probable, as has been stated, that Isaac Julian taught that same winter in a house about a mile southwest from Richmond, perhaps in the locality of what is now Wernle Or- phans' Home. This was fully three miles from Thomas Bulla's schoolhouse and both these were five miles from the first school- house. Isaac Julian taught for three months. It might also be mentioned that a debating society met in this schoolhouse, among the debaters being Eli Overman, Isaac Julian, Henry Hoover, Joseph Holman, William Holman and Asa Prevos.
In 1809 a log schoolhouse was built on the north branch of the Elkhorn, about one mile below the earliest schoolhouse. From its location, near the residence and on the farm of James Lamb, it came to be known as the "Lamb Schoolhouse." The name of the first teacher is lost, but "some of the best teachers of the time taught there," says an old citizen, once a pupil. It is claimed it was the first school to instruct in Grammar.
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In 1810 Robert Smith taught a school in a cabin near where North D street meets Fort Wayne avenue from the west. He was a brother of John Smith, the founder of Richmond. In the same year a log schoolhouse was erected on Burgess' Hill, where Lib- erty pike crosses the township line. But the names of the early teachers are lost. It is possible that school may have been taught earlier than 1811 in the house used as the White Water Monthly Meeting house, which was a vacated log house on the ground near where their yearly meeting house afterwards stood. That "meet- ing had a standing committee on schools appointed, '23d of 2d month, 1811,'" says John Macpherson. Robert Brattain taught there certainly in the winter of 1811-12. Other early schools will be found mentioned in connection with the townships. Schools were held wherever means and convenience of the settlers per- mitted. The schools were supported by subscription, there be- ing of course, during this period, no public fund. The settlers did not consider the absence of a legalized system, nor the privations which surrounded them excuses for neglecting the education of their children.
A description of a schoolhouse of this period could not be out of place just here. The path which led to the schoolhouse was marked by a line of blazed trees, running in a direct line from the house of each family whose children were sent to the school. The house was usually located in a field of stumps, or just on the edge of the woods. Those of the earliest period were built of round logs or poles and covered with "clap-boards," laid on each successive course and extending from one end of the building to the other. The floor was sometimes made of "puncheons" or "slabs," split from logs and hewn sinooth with the ax; some- times boards were secured from the neighboring saw-mill. The door was usually cut out of one side and a rude wooden shutter was swung by wooden hinges on the inside, from which a string passing through the door allowed it to be worked from the out- side. Some early houses were heated by charcoal on a hearth in the center of the room or in large kettles. When there was a fireplace it was built in the middle of one end of the room and was usually constructed of rocks and sticks in untempered mor- tar, the clay mortar always extending far enough to protect the floor and walls. The "stick and clay" chimney above was of split sticks and mortar, made of clay tempered with straw, to prevent it from cracking and falling to pieces, such chimneys standing for years. Sometimes in the door, and always in the
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EDUCATION IN WAYNE COUNTY
end of the room opposite the fireplace, a log was cut out to ad- mit light. In summer time these windows would be left open, but during the winter they would be closed by pasting greased paper over them. Along the length of the walls were driven, a short space apart, pins of wood in a slanting position. Upon these pins were laid wide boards, which constituted the only kind of desk or table for both pupils and teacher. The seats were as rudely constructed, being made of "slabs," either hewed or sawed, supported by wooden pins driven into the floor. These seats had no back and were usually of such height that the feet of the younger children could not touch the floor. Occasionally a teacher would be favored with the use of an old "split-bottomed" chair, from which the "splits" had been worn out and a board substi- tuted. In one corner of the room, farthest from the fireplace, was placed a shelf for the dinner buckets, and over it were pegs or pins for the hats and shawls. In many instances a small board hung by the door, on one side of which was marked "in" and on the other "out."
The teacher was supposed to be in the school room very early, to build the fire and sweep out the room. He must collect the "copybooks," look them over, and write a new line of copy in each, collect the quill pens and mend them. By this time the pupils had arived and by 8 o'clock the work began. It was the custom in this period, among many teachers, to conduct what . was known as "loud schools"-that is, to allow the pupils to study aloud. This was supposed to cultivate concentration of thought as well as to aid memory. This was very common, the first wholly silent school being taught in 1820 by Maria Holman, in Jacksons- burg.
Classification in schools of so few pupils and of such variety of ages was quite impossible. The patrons of the school were usually poor in money and possessed of few books. The pupils in spelling were usually supplied with Noah Webster's Speller, and the more advanced, who wanted reading, brought whatever book the family might happen to have. "The Columbian Orator" was a favorite, as well as the "Life of Washington," "Life of Gen. Francis Marion," "Travels of Lewis and Clark," and, if no other book could be found, there was always the New Testament. Probably a half-hour after assemblying was spent in preparation and then commenced the recitations-first the reading classes, then the spelling classes, then the A B C classes-until every pupil had recited. Then the same rotation would begin again. Many teach-
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ers began in the morning where they stopped in the evening be- fore. Others ended the day's work by calling up all the pupils beyond the elementary spelling book and exercising them in "spelling off the book." After the spelling each pupil remembered his place which he gained by "spelling down" his neighbor or by being "turned down," as the competition was in order to gain "head place." If no class could be formed in arithmetic some older pupil was given charge of the elementary class so the teacher could assist each individual working in that branch, for arithmetic was regarded the most important, because the most practical, science. It was common for the teacher to "skip" fractions, since they were rarely used in business. Such teachers only took their classes to the "Rule of Three." The general idea prevailed that girls had little need for Arithmetic beyond "Reduction," and their course was very brief. But when a young man became an ex- pert in Arithmetic he was the pride of the neighborhood and ยท much in demand. Writing was given close attention, one of the qualifications of the teacher being to be a "good copy." A bold, round hand was taught, as copying records was the end of special work in writing.
It was not until the pupil had gone through the "Speller" two or three times, no matter how little thought was given to the words, that he was considered able to read. He must be able to pronounce words readily, so he might be able to read rapidly, as "the idea of that day was loud and fast reading,"-the faster the better. Few teachers of this period were able to teach Gram- mar successfully. It is stated that classes were formed as early as 1824-25. Murrey became the standard author, and Kirkham's Grammar was very popular, as it was written in an easy, familiar style. Hale's History of the United States was used in about 1840. In Grammar, geography, and history, the interrogation method was used and much parsing was done in the first named branch.
DISTRICT PERIOD.
The next period in the school history Mr. Macpherson calls "the District Period." It began in 1831, when a State law was passed, in which the trustees in a district of the county were to meet and decide whether the district could or would support a public school for any number of months, not less than three in each year. The voters at a district meeting could also decide the
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question of new schoolhouses. Thus the establishment and sup- port of schools was decided upon by the voters of each district. The voters could levy a tax, to be paid in work or in money, or in both, for purchasing ground, erecting and furnishing a house, and they might, by a two-thirds vote, authorize the levying of a tax for the payment of a teacher for a longer period than three months in each year.
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