USA > Indiana > Morgan County > The pioneers of Morgan County : memoirs of Noah J. Major > Part 9
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As the conditions throughout the county began to ripen for religious work, and as the various denomina- tions set up different standards of belief for member- ship and fellowship, there began to be an earnest inquiry about what was gospel and what was not. There had long been a great many things held out for people to believe and do, that the gospel said nothing about ; hence there arose a multitude of fireside debates and debaters. These became so numerous and enthusiastic that men had to be called off from debating at log- rollings, house-raisings, and boat-turnings, so that the work could go on. The women did better at their "quilting bees," for they could "line off," stitch, and talk at the same time, and carry on a general "flouta- tion" as well. Not so with the log-roller ; he could not do a good day's work and at the same time talk enough to prove to the average man that "there are infants in hell not a span long." Men and women carried their Bibles and New Testaments with them when at their daily work, and at odd times searched for those scrip- tures which seemed to prove the truth of their respective
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dogmas. The pages of the book were well worn where those passages occurred. For instance: The Disciples (derisively called Campbellites) would have such pass- ages as the 2d chapter of Acts, Philip and the eunuch, and Paul and the Philippine jailer, about worn thread- bare, while the 9th chapter of Romans would look almost as new as when it left the printing press.
The Predestinarian had become so familiar with Romans 9th that he could read it backward as well as forward, particularly about Isaac and Rebecca's twins; but he was pretty nearly a stranger to Peter at Pente- cost ; and so as to Philip and the Ethiopian nobleman- that thing occurred in an out-of-the-way place, and in a somewhat hurried manner, anyway he could view it.
Meanwhile the Universalist had to have a thumb paper over, "Who will have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth," "As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive," "God is love," and so on.
The Methodist had a leaf or two turned down at "The rich man died also, and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments." "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal." These and many other passages of like im- port he vigorously poked under the nose of the Uni- versalist. The Baptists had some stakes driven along on "Jordan's stormy banks," which they tied to when the waves began to roll high.
So it was, we became a great backwoods debating club, and the combat waxed warmer by reason of two or three large debates held in the old courthouse at Martinsville in the '40's. Rev. Erasmus Manford,* of
"He edited a Universalist paper, The Christian Teacher, in Terre Haute. Such a debate is described by Rev. James Mathes in the Christian Record.
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Terre Haute, the foremost man of the west in the Uni- versalist ranks, met and engaged in a theological con- test with Rev. James Scott, of Crooked Creek, this county, a local Methodist minister. We have forgotten the wording of the propositions, but one of them em- braced the final holiness and happiness of all mankind, which was affirmed by Mr. Manford. The other re- ferred to the endless punishment of the unrepentant wicked, Mr. Scott affirming .* Each debater laid claim to an immense amount of learning and for anything the audience knew they might have possessed it ; for ninety- eight per cent. of the hearers did not know Greek or Hebrew from Kickapoo or Choctaw.
When the moderators were chosen and everything arranged, an invocation was made to the Heavenly Father, to the end that the truth or falsity of these mighty problems might appear clear to all men. Then the debaters stood up to answer to their brethren for the confidence reposed in them as champions to their respective parties.
Mr. Manford was the more skillful debater of the two, having had much more practice than Mr. Scott. He was a cool, self-possessed man, who would not allow the hot shot of his brimstone antagonist to set fire to his magazine.
Mr. Scott was less fortunate in temperament. He was nervous and irritable and, when pinched and goaded in argument, had a way of reaching down and pulling at the leg of his pantaloons as though he was about to wade into something or somebody. They crossed over into fields of Greek and Hebrew literature and dug up the roots of some words about which they had much disputing. Hades, Gehenna, and Hell were given an
* Rev. Mr. Scott also carried on a debate with J. M. Mathes, of Bloomington, on Baptism.
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airing never before heard of in Martinsville. At the close of the three-days' debate, Manford painted a hell for Scott and his brethren to look at. Being a man of fine imagination and possessed of telling words, the picture was a marvel of ingenuity. Then he flung into it all the human race that orthodoxy excluded from Heaven. By this time he had his audience sizzling hot, himself the coolest looking man in it. Scott retaliated by sending Judas to Heaven before his Lord, and by carrying all liars and lechers, seducers and murderers, to Abraham's bosom, all bedeviled and unrepentant as they were. He said it was quite unpleasant enough to live with them here for a little while, but if they were to be safely ensconced in Heaven for all eternity, no decent man or woman would wish to go there. Mr. Manford said his opponent entirely misunderstood the whole matter. He said, "Christ came into this world to save sinners, and he was morally sure to do so in his own good time and way; and that Mr. Scott need not fret himself about heavenly society, for all would be purified by the offering of Christ, made once for all." As the debate went on, we began to grow religious and the more religious some people become the madder they get. The Universalists were on one side, while the other denominations made common cause against them, for the time being. The latter were not altogether pleased with Mr. Scott's efforts. His own brethren did regard him as a very strong man.
The Universalists were somewhat jubilant at the close of the discussion, and proceeded to organize a church with about twelve members. We have forgotten their names, with the exception of Copes and May, a firm of shoemakers then working in Martinsville. But after the excitement of that time had died out, the
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organization dwindled away, and no effort was after- ward made to form another.
The Methodists followed the debate with one of their characteristic revivals, at which their denominational neighbors were conspicuously absent. The altar was crowded night after night with seekers, asking for the prayers of the brethren, whose petitions went up con- tinuously in their behalf. "A powerful outpouring of the spirit" seemed to manifest itself and many pro- fessed religion. At the conclusion a long list of proba- tioners was filed away for future reference and for the class leader. At the end of the six-months' probation or trial, as it was then called, there was a very per- ceptible shrinkage in numbers at the class meetings. The temptations to former habits and amusements which were forbidden in the Discipline, were too great for their self-denial. They had played "Old Sister Phebe," sung comic songs, and in some cases danced "weevily wheat" and the "hugging eight." They had most wilfully listened to the enchanting music of the violin, which was not at all commendable; for in those days, it was thought by many that more devils lurked in catgut and horsehair than Luther ever dreamed of. The Baptists, Presbyterians, and Christians were all in accord with the Methodists in denouncing "fiddling" and dancing and "gumsucking" parties. But how to keep the "lambs" from cultivating their heels was a problem the elders could not solve-neither have they yet solved it. It is to them what squaring the circle is to the mathematicians-a vexatious problem.
Other religious discussions were held, notably among them, one by Elder James M. Mathes and Rev. Mr. Scott. The propositions embraced creeds, disciplines, and confessions of faith, other than the Bible. The
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respective tenets or fundamentals of the M. E. and Christian churches were much in evidence during this debate. While it must be admitted that public discus- sions or joint debates, either political or religious, do not contribute much to piety or patriotism, they serve to stimulate the intelligent hearers to a deeper and more earnest research after truth.
But at the time of which we write, in the '40's, both political and religious prejudices were at white heat, and to "convince a man against his will was to leave him of the same opinion still." There are some minds that mature so early in life and are so tenacious of their own beliefs and opinions, they never learn anything new, and consequently are the bitter partisans in politics and bigots and fanatics in religion.
But the light then beginning to dawn on the Christian world, in regard to the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of man, has done much to lessen the asper- ities that greatly hid and hindered the one above all other blessings, namely: The love that flows from heart to heart and sends joy and good will into every life. Creeds and confessions we still may cherish, but more and more will the pure word of God crowd everything out of our hearts that mars the beauty of souls sancti- fied by the word of truth, and the indwelling of the Comforter.
ยง15. A SUMMER SCHOOL.
The first school ever taught on the road from Martins- ville to Scott's ferry-now Barnard's bridge-was dur- ing the summer of 1833, sixty-nine years ago. The teachers, employers, and all the scholars, excepting the writer and one or two others, have been laid in their
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graves. The log cabin in which the school was taught stood by the wayside in the valley, about two and a half miles north of the I. & V. depot, and was owned by Joel Wilson, father-in-law of the late John Nutter. The employers were Joel Wilson, William Wilson, Thomas Hendricks, Samuel Elliott, John W. Cox, Frederick Fry, William A. Major, Polly Lang, Mary Record, Micajah Jackson, and Solomon Collins.
I do not think that Jackson or Collins ever sent any scholars to the school. Mr. Cox and Mr. Fry lived west of the river, and their children while attending school had to be "canoed" over morning and evening.
The tuition was one dollar and a quarter per scholar for the term of sixty days. Usually there were about twenty-five pupils in attendance, making $31.25 salary for the teacher, or about fifty cents per day, provided the subscriptions were fully paid, which was seldom the case.
There was an article of agreement drawn and sub- scribed to by the teacher and patrons, and in those days the teacher agreed to teach reading, writing, and arith- metic-the three R's-and begin at 7 o'clock a. m. and teach until 6 o'clock p. m., with an hour or so of inter- mission at noon. The people in those days required the school teacher to work as many hours per day as the farmer or mechanic.
The employers of the teacher were greatly more influenced by the handwriting of the agreement than by any other indication of his qualifications, hence he took great care how the contract was drawn up. The next best recommendation was ability to spell off- hand every word in Webster's spelling book, and to make and mend quill pens for writing purposes. They also insisted on the strictest discipline, and scholars
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were put under teacher's rules from the time they left home until their return, and often a refractory scholar received punishment at both ends of the line. The teacher read his rules the first morning of school and repeated them until the scholars were supposed to understand them. On going to and from school there was to be no playing or loitering on the road, no whoop- ing or yelling, no quarreling, no fighting or swearing, and on meeting persons the boys were to take off their hats and bow civilly, while the girls were to "make their manners" by curtseying. This was also to be done on entering and departing from the schoolhouse. During "books" no scholar was permitted to step out of the door without asking leave of the teacher.
There was a little board by the doorway, suspended on a string, with the word "in" on one side and "out" on the other. I think these were the first two words I learned to spell and understand the meaning of thor- oughly. Some teachers allowed two scholars to go out together ; others, only one at a time. There was no recess in the old-time schools, between morning and noon, or noon and evening, and, as the children were riding a four-legged slab for five hours at a time, with- out a back to rest their spines, the reader may imagine how many times a day the teacher was asked for "leave of absence" for a few minutes.
There were but two books uniformly found in a pioneer school-Webster's Spelling Book and Pike's Arithmetic. The A, B, C scholars had some kind of primer, or letters pasted on a board. Those who were learning to read made use of such books as were found in their homes. Some brought the Bible, others a school book entitled the "English Reader," while "Thaddeus of Warsaw," "Charlotte Temple," "History
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of the United States," "Life of Benjamin Franklin," "Pilgrim's Progress," and "Robinson Crusoe" were to be found lying around upon the benches of the old-time schoolhouse. But the readers mostly used were History of the United States and the English Reader.
After a protracted stay in the speller, my first reading was done in a book entitled "The American Preceptor," and my first lesson given me Friday evening to be conned and recited the following Monday morning was, "The Character of Demosthenes." I will never forget that eventful time, for if I failed to read it passably well I would be put back in the "speller" for an indefinite period. I worked hard Friday night till bedtime and Saturday and Sunday as well. Monday morning came, and, with many anxious doubts and fears, I set out for school. I stumbled through my lesson, after a manner, and to my great delight the teacher let me go on. This book was a collection of essays written by such authors as Pope, Dryden, Addison, and Samuel Johnson, with poetical selections from Shakespeare, Byron, and others.
We generally recited four times per day. Small les- sons-a half page-were usually given beginners. No confusion arose because of the diversity of reading books, for every scholar "said the lesson" by himself or herself. There were no class arrangements then as now. When the class system was being introduced it met with stern opposition from many of the "fathers," and, when they finally accepted it, it was with the under- standing that the number in a class should be restricted to two.
The whole school stood up and spelled at noon and the last thing before dismissal for the day. When a scholar spelled to the "head," most teachers sent him or her to the foot, giving a ticket for each headmark. Others
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allowed them to stand "head" the remainder of the week.
"Silent schools" were unknown until as late as 1835. There was as much debate over the aforesaid schools as over the class system, and both came into use about the same time. The change from the "loud" to the "silent" school struck the scholars very forcibly. The latter way of conducting a school, compared with the former, seemed like a funeral, and for a time the scholars begged permission to study the spelling lesson aloud.
It was an almost universal custom to give a "task," Friday evening, to each scholar. This was to be com- mitted and recited Monday morning. It might be the multiplication table or some rule in arithmetic. Some- times a column of abbreviations were given, or a stanza or more of poetry-anything that came into the teach- er's mind that would keep the children busy seven days in the week, as if sitting on a slat ten hours per day for five days was not sufficient schooling for one week. I do not remember, if I ever knew, why this school was taught in the summer, for, as a general rule, winter time was chosen for school work. A good reason, too, for this, as the larger boys and girls, especially the boys, could be much better spared from work during the winter months than in spring and summer.
The cabin, as before stated, belonged to Joel Wilson, and was built and occupied by him in 1827. At that time the settlement was strung along with cabins near the wood located in the valley and running nearly parallel with what is now the I. & V. railroad for three miles north of Martinsville.
The first settlers chose the highest spots of ground in the valley on which to erect their domiciles, and were
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seriously interrupted with high tides for twenty-seven years, but the 1st day of January, 1847, the valley of White river was covered with a foaming tide from hill to hill. After this the cabins began to disappear from the low bottom lands.
This cabin was about 18x18 feet and had been fitted up for a schoolhouse in the old provincial style, with slab benches for seats, and a boat-plank pinned to the wall for a writing desk. The horizontal windows were "glassed" with greased paper, the floor made of puncheons, and the door of clapboards. There was a stick-and-clay chimney, but we had little use for that during the summer. The walls and corners were orna- mented by the wasps and mud-daubers, that had "im- proved each shining hour" in building and "beautifying" their homes, while the spiders had opened their "parlor doors" to the unsuspecting fly. Great walnuts and stately elms lent their beneficent shade to our play- ground, while the feathered songsters-many of them now being gone from sight and sound-seemed to vie with each other in bird melody.
While the average schoolboy would as willingly rob a bird's nest as listen to its twitter, yet he could not help being charmed by the bird life around this cabin during the spring and summer. At that time the variety of birds was so great that they never became monotonous. While the Baltimore oriole was rendering a solo, a flock of Carolina paroquets would shoot by like arrows, each screaming at the top of its voice, "Skeete, skeete, skeete!" The bluejays, robins, wood- peckers, yellowhammers, and blackbirds were never out of sight or hearing, while the sound of the big wood- cock could be heard in every direction, thumping the old logs and stumps in order to find a "dear, delicious
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worm." The pewee, bluebird, wren, and phoebe birds were all in tune, while the catbird and brown thrush were mocking and making fun of their less gifted neighbors. The gentle voice of the cooing dove was in striking contrast to the scream of the bald eagle. To all these, ever and anon was heard a sound as of distant thunder. It was the male pheasant, perched on an old, mossy log, bringing his wings down with such rapidity as to resemble thunder. Late in the evening, at the close of a long summer day, came the swamp robin with his plaintive song. He is a very modest bird and shy, and loves to dwell in lonely places and shuns even bird society. He is among the sweetest of the bird singers and warbles his tender lays until the coming of the whippoorwill.
So we had music from morning till night and from dusk till dawn. And as if Nature would never tire of furnishing amusements, there was the gray squirrel almost always in sight, with his tail artistically curled over his back, eating nuts and "playing base" in the tree tops. Sometimes wild turkeys would pass by, or the dogs would chase a deer from the hills to the river bank, where the deer would plunge in and swim down stream a half mile or more, coming out on the same side of the stream, thus eluding his pursuers.
What great university now can boast of such environ- ments as this little log cabin schoolhouse in the wild woods ?
The teacher's name was Groves. Never heard him called anything but Mr. Groves. Every one spoke respectfully of the teacher. He was the most con- spicuous man in the neighborhood during his short stay. I do not know from whence Mr. Groves came nor whither he went. He was fat, fair, and seemingly about
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fifty years old; was smooth-shaven, blue-eyed, and bald-headed, but neither "rich nor bad."
When he first came among us he had just taken to himself a bride. She was a girl of eighteen summers, though not a "summer girl." She was Mr. Groves's "darling," and no slave of a young man. Her name was Mary Ann, and Mr. Groves never tired of pronouncing it; indeed, he had it as pat as the multiplication table. She was his good angel, sent to comfort him in his de- clining years. They kept house in a little log cabin about an eighth of a mile from the schoolhouse on the road to the ferry. Besides her domestic duties, Mary Ann cultivated the morning-glories, marigolds, and pretty-by-nights, and made the "Old Cabin Home" a dear little domicile. We passed near to it every time we went to this school and remember yet how it looked. Mr. Groves had one accomplishment-he could sing; and after returning from dinner (he always dined with Mary Ann) he sang hymns until "books." He was not exactly an oriole, but he certainly did excel a blackbird. Sometimes about the middle of the afternoon he would spread his bandana over the top of his head to baffle the flies and mosquitoes, while he sought "tired nature's sweet restorer."
One Friday afternoon while the class was spelling for head, there was, from some cause, an unusual number of words missed. This seemed to anger the teacher and he declared that if there were no better spelling lesson Monday noon, he would begin at head and whip to the foot of the class. But, by the time appointed, he had thawed out and the class had been more attentive to the spelling lesson, so a storm was averted.
Much has been written and more said about the cruelties of the old-time schoolmaster. Dr. Eggleston
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has written many funny things about the "Hoosier Schoolmaster"; but, looking back seventy-three years, we are convinced that he was not the "walloper" or ignoramus that many persons have supposed him to be.
As in the army, so in school, discipline is mostly main- tained by punishment or the fear of it. The rod was made for the fool's back, in school or out of it.
Perhaps if boys and young men were given to under- stand now, as then, that every sin and transgression would receive a "just recompense of reward," and that speedily, the columns of newspapers would not be so darkened with the reports of murders, rapes, and assas- sinations.
We believe a little more "hemp" and fewer flowers presented to cold-blooded murderers would greatly im- prove the moral status of the present generation. Let Judas go to his own place, and the corpses of the Ana- niases and Sapphiras be conveyed to the cemeteries. We indulge in no sickly sentimentalisms.
The pioneer pedagogue was a law-and-order man. If he did not know much about science and philosophy, the fine arts, or higher criticism, he knew that obedi- ence to law was the basis of good government, and he was for obedience.
It is now more than sixty years since the youngest of the scholars of this school were nearing their ma- jority. The late William Cox, ex-marshal of Martins- ville, was one of the number. Mr. Cox was long and favorably known as one of the foremost flatboat steersmen that ever pointed a broadhorn toward New Orleans. He was watchful, deliberate, determined, and fearless and a most companionable comrade. He would have made a good captain or colonel for the army.
Nelly Lang, then a little miss, afterward married Asa
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Koons at sixteen years of age. They were as hand- some a couple as ever stood before the marriage altar. Their parents were the very first settlers in the north end of Washington township. A few years after their marriage, they moved to Iowa, where, soon after, Mr. Koons died. In course of time Mrs. Koons became the wife of George Gillaspy, who was a State officer and politician of considerable note.
Mrs. Gillaspy's sister, Betsy Lang, who was accounted the most bashful girl in school, was joined in marriage with James Deaton, a boy reared on Sycamore creek, and who was equally as bashful as his bride. Shortly after this event they also removed to Iowa, settling near Des Moines, where fortune so smiled on them that in 1870 they were taxed on seventy thousand dollars' worth of property.
Another very fortunate girl was Harriet Cox, sister of ex-Marshal Cox, and Mrs. Martha J. Clapper. Miss Cox subsequently attended school at the Bloomington Academy, where she became acquainted with Aquilla Jones and afterward became his wife.
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