USA > Michigan > Van Buren County > A History of Van Buren County, Michigan: A Narrative Account of Its Historical Progress, Its. > Part 16
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63
Frequently the sleeping accommodations in these pioneer homes were very limited; the teacher would have to sleep with the chil- dren, and often the space was too limited for any great degree of privacy. The schoolmaster was paid but a meager salary-the school ma'am a good deal less-the major portion of which had to be collected by a "rate bill" and came very slowly, the people of those days not usually having very much ready money at their command and some of the patrons of the school furnishing only children and promises. Text books were crude and scarce, consist- ing principally of the "English Reader," "Daboll's Arithmetick" (as it was spelled), "Kirkham's Grammar" and a "Webster's Ele- mentary Spelling Book," with an occasional copy, perhaps, of "Hale's History of the United States," which was not studied as a history, but used as a "reading book." One set of these books had to serve for the entire family, if indeed they were fortunate. enough to possess them all.
MRS. ALLEN RICE'S REMINISCENCES
The following sketch written by Mrs. Allen Rice, of Lawrence, one of the very, very few remaining pioneers of those early days, is a fair illustration of pioneer schools. Mrs. Rice, teaching a summer school, did not have any unruly "big" boys and girls, who so often made the teacher's life a burden grievous to be borne. She says: "In my sixteenth summer it was my fortune to teach the first school in the township of Bangor, which was then known as South Haven, as that township embraced all the terri- tory from the west line of Arlington to the lake, the town of Ar- lington being included in Lawrence.
"Some six or eight families had settled in the southeast corner
Hosted by
123
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
of the town and across the line in Lawrence, and they were anxious that their children should be sent to school. Accordingly, in the spring of 1840, they were organized as the first fractional district of Lawrence and South Haven. As there was no money with which to build, they proceeded in pioneer fashion to roll up a log cabin about fourteen by eighteen feet in dimension. They had no money with which to buy shingles and lumber was scarce, as it was a long way to a saw-mill, and so the cabin, which was shanty roofed, was covered with troughs-that is, with logs hollowed out, one tier being placed hollow side up and the other hollow side down, breaking joints and thus effectually excluding the rain. Two holes were cut for windows, but they were guiltless of either sash or glass; a rude door was made, and a table constructed by nail- ing a board across a frame made of poles. They did not have quite boards enough to complete the floor and so a space about two feet wide was left on one side. Seats were made by putting legs into a couple of thick slabs ; a little shelf was made in one corner near the door, by driving pins into the logs; lastly some one furnished an old chair for the use of the teacher.
"When these preparations were complete, they looked around for a teacher. The director came to me and said: 'We want you to teach our school this summer. The schoolhouse is all ready and we want school to begin next Monday.' I told them I did not feel competent and, besides, I thought my mother could not spare me. My objections were overruled, and, with my mother's consent, it was agreed that I should begin school the first Monday in July and teach three months at a salary of one dollar per week, which was the usual pay of pioneer teachers, although in some districts, where there were thirty or forty pupils, they paid $1.50 per week.
"The following Monday found me at my task with nine pupils ranging from five to fourteen years of age, five of them being members of one family. The books used were 'Webster's Ele- mentary Spelling Book,' Cobb's First Reader,' 'Peter Parley's Geography,' 'Daboll's Arithmetic,' and the 'English Reader,' all of which are unknown to the present generation.
"After I had begun my school I was informed that I was ex- pected to teach six days every week and thirteen weeks for a three-months' term, so that the district could draw public money. Of course I boarded around, and so I had about six weeks to board in one place.
"One day near the close of August I was surprised by the en- trance of three stalwart men into my little school room, who an- nounced themselves as the township school inspectors. I gave one of them my chair and seated the others on the bench with the pupils and proceeded with my work as well as my embarrassment
Hosted by
124
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
would allow, and, I must say, never were better behaved pupils. Well, the time passed at length, and I dismissed my little charges. Then the inspectors proceeded to ask questions, and, after about an hour of questioning, I found myself in possession of a document certifying that I had been examined as to moral character, learn- ing and ability to teach a common school, etc. The names at- tached to this certificate were Nelson S. Marshall, George Par- malee and Mansell M. Briggs. These men, as I afterward learned, reported my little school as a model school, at which I was not a little vain.
"As the season advanced and the weather became rainy and chilly, I procured some cotton cloth and nailed it over the window spaces; then we built large fires, using the dead wood that lay all about, and carried coals in an iron kettle into the school room to warm it.
"Teachers' wages had to be collected by a rate bill and the law allowed sixty days for collection, but I did not get my pay until New Year's, and then I found myself in possession of twelve dol- lars and two pigs. The possession of the pigs is a part of my story.
"Soon after I began my school, my two little brothers came to see me and went home with one of the little boys who told them that their father had a swine that had more young than she could care for, and he was going to kill a couple of them. My brothers begged that they might not be killed until they had asked their father if they might get them, and the next day they returned and got the pigs. Nothing more was thought about the matter until I received my pay for teaching the school, when I found myself charged with two pigs at fifty cents each. I did not like it very much, but the pigs had grown to thrifty swine and my father said 'let it go,' but we had more than a dollar's worth of fun over my pigs.
"Although this term of school did not leave me in possession of much money, it was not an unprofitable season. Books were not abundant in the pioneers' cabins, but I found a number of valu- able ones and I read all I could get hold of from 'Scott's Pirate' to a volume of sermons, and I even took a dip into the 'Book of Mormon,' which I should have read through, if the owner had not gone away taking the book with him."
Occasionally a teacher like Mrs. Rice, would be secured who was broad minded, resourceful and really in love with the work. Such a teacher was a power for good in the community that was so fortunate as to secure his services, and the time under his in- struction passed all too swiftly. In those days the teacher was without the aids that are provided in these modern days. He had
Hosted by Google
125
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
no books different from those studied by his scholars, no maps, no globes, no apparatus, no aids of any sort, but was thrown en- tirely on his own resources. What wonder that so many failed to make a success of the work they had undertaken. An abundance of books of reference, convenient rooms, suitable seats and desks, maps, globes and scientific apparatus, together with an enlight- ened public sentiment to support him, make the profession of a present day teacher altogether different from those days in the little old log schoolhouse, and although a much more efficient equip- ment is required at the present time, the work is not as difficult as it was seventy-five or even fifty years ago.
THE OLD AND THE NEW
It is doubtful, however, if the scholars or the parents of these modern days enjoy themselves any better or are any happier than they were in those primitive times. Who that ever participated in them will ever forget the old fashioned spelling schools, the singing schools and the debating schools-they would be termed "lyceums" in modern parlance-when, packed closely in the box of the big sled half filled with straw, wrapped in blankets and robes, hitched behind old "Buck and Bright" the family ox team, they traveled miles over the sparkling snow, with the mercury down to the zero mark (they knew nothing about zero in those days and cared less) to attend a spelling school? How eagerly they looked forward to the longed-for victory in the final "spelling down," a victory that was the source of as great degree of satis- faction to the victors as the winning of the game is to a lot of mod- ern baseball fans! In nothing are the wonderful changes that have taken place within the past seventy-five years more marked or more strongly emphasized than in the progress made by the com- mon schools of the county.
As the first settlers began to overcome the difficulties incident to converting the wilderness into productive farms, the primitive structures of logs and shakes gave way to the "little red school- house," and as the people increased in prosperity and financial ability, these in turn, were superseded by the present modern schoolhouse, with all of its up-to-date equipment and appliances to aid both teacher and pupil in their labors-buildings which, in many instances well deserve the honorable distinction of being "temples of education." At the present time there are 149 school districts in the county and the number of school children, which in- cludes all persons between the ages of five and twenty, at the school census of 1911 was 9,065.
The number of school houses is 154, and, with very few excep-
Hosted by
126
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
tions, they are all modern buildings, fully equipped with every- thing needful to assist the student in acquiring a knowledge of the arts and sciences, beginning at the kindergarten and end- ing with his graduation from the high school, with a diploma en- titling its owner to enter into the Michigan University at Ann Arbor, an institution conceded to be the peer of any educational institution in America, upon presentation of his certificate of graduation, without further examination or other condition.
These schoolhouses are so plentifully scattered throughout the county that a person passing through it scarcely leaves one out of sight before another comes within the range of his vision. And some of these school buildings are among the finest buildings in the county, costing thousands of dollars. There are eleven "high schools," from five of which the graduates are entitled to enter the university on presentation of diploma of graduation.
Almost every school district in the county maintains a district library. These various libraries contain about 24,000 volumes, thus giving pupils easy access to much of the first class literature of the world and aiding them greatly along the pathway of knowl- edge.
The value of the school property, as returned by the various school boards in reports for 1911, is $343,475.
During the school year ending on the tenth day of July, 1911, there were 269 teachers employed in the schools of the county, 35 men and 235 women. There was paid for teachers' wages dur- ing the past school year the sum of $111,985.25. The salaries ranged from $30 to $166.66 per month. The average salary of the teachers in the country schools was about $40 per month, the higher salaries being paid to superintendents and principal teach- ers in the city and village schools. The aggregate number of months taught in the various schools was 2,219.
The ordinary English branches, reading, writing, orthography, grammar, arithmetic, geography, physiology, civil government and United States history, were taught in all the country schools, with an occasional class in agriculture, algebra and music. The cur- riculum of the high schools embraced all the foregoing studies and, in addition thereto, higher mathematics, languages (ancient and modern), botany, manual training, physics, astronomy, domestic science, agriculture and all other studies required to prepare the student for a course in the university.
Van Buren county has just reason to be proud of her school system. The graduates of her schools are filling many important positions in the business world. They are doctors, lawyers, merchants, divines, agriculturists, horticulturists, insurance men, bankers, public officials, journalists and other equally honorable
Hosted by
.
.
127
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
and responsible positions, and few, very few indeed, have been the instances in which they did not "make good." They are scattered all over this broad land, from the far east to the distant west, from the frozen north to the sunny south ; perhaps not a single state in the Union where some of them may not be found, and in foreign countries as well.
The Peninsular state has certainly obeyed the injunction of the famous old ordinance of 1787, that "schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged" and Van Buren county has kept fully abreast of her sister counties in carrying on this grand work of educating the generations that have been born within her jurisdiction, or that have sought her hospitable bord- ers from other counties, states and nations.
Hosted by
128
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
-
H
VAN BUREN COUNTY COURT HOUSE, PAW PAW
Hosted by
CHAPTER VI
THE COUNTY SEAT
LAWRENCE AS THE COUNTY SEAT-PAW PAW DISPLACES LAWRENCE -PROPOSED COUNTY BUILDINGS-OLD COURT HOUSE COM- PLETED-SOUTH HAVEN BIDS FOR COUNTY SEAT-POPULAR VOTE FOR PAW PAW-NEW COUNTY BUILDINGS-COURT HOUSE CORNER- STONE LAID-COST OF PRESENT COUNTY BUILDINGS.
As hereinbefore intimated, there was much contention and con- troversy over the location of the county seat of Van Buren county. The county was not organized until the spring of 1837, although it had been set off and named nearly eight years before. As has been said: "The formation of a county at that period, by no means necessitated the exercise of the usual functions pertaining to a county, nor even made it certain that there were any people within the designated boundaries. It merely indicated that, in the opinion of the state authorities, the territory described in the act would, at some future time, make a good county." No mistake in that regard was made in organizing Van Buren county.
LAWRENCE AS THE COUNTY SEAT
The citizens of the village of Lawrence, nine miles west of the village of Paw Paw, claimed strenuously and vigorously that there was the proper place for the location of the seat of justice of the county, a claim not without reasonable foundation and not en-' tirely abandoned for a period of sixty years. When that pretty and pleasant village was platted, in 1846, an entire block in the center of the plat was set apart and dedicated as a public square, upon which for many years the people of that town and vicinity fondly hoped some day to see the county buildings erected. The town was centrally located and, in those early days, was the most prominent village in the county except Paw Paw. It is, perhaps, not generally known that the county seat was originally located at Lawrence, although that claim has often been made and as often denied, but such was the fact.
In 1835, a year before the organization of the county, the gov- Vol. J -9
129
Hosted by
130
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
ernor of the territory, acting under the provisions of a general statute, appointed three commissioners-Charles Hascall, Still- man Blanchard and John W. Strong-to locate the county seat. These commissioners selected Lawrence as the proper place and stuck the stake that designated the site in the center of the block subsequently designated as the "public square."
On the 28th day of March, 1836, the following statute was passed : "Be it enacted, that the governor be and he is hereby authorized to issue his proclamation confirming and establishing the seat of justice for the county of Van Buren at the point fixed for the said seat of justice in said county by Charles Hascall, Still- man Blanchard and John W. Strong, commissioners appointed for that purpose, as appears by their report on file in the office of the secretary of state; provided, that the proprietors of said seat of justice for said county shall pay into the treasury of this state the amount advanced from the territorial treasury for said location, with interest. thereon from the date of such advance and shall produce the certificate of the said payment to the governor within sixty days."
But, as hereinbefore noted, the legislature authorized the board of supervisors of the county to designate for a limited period the place where the circuit courts should be held and at the first meet- ing of that body, held in 1837, the village of Paw Paw was so designated.
The legislature of 1838 again directed that "all circuit courts to be held in and for the county of Van Buren, previous to the first day of January, 1840, shall be held at such place within said county as the board of supervisors shall direct." (Laws of Michi- gan, 1838, p. 99.)
Acting under authority of this statute, the board of supervisors, at their annual meeting in October, 1838, adopted the following resolution : "The supervisors of the county of Van Buren direct that the circuit court for said county shall be held at the school- house in the village of Paw Paw."
It is a fair presumption, perhaps, that Paw Paw was selected by the board because the accommodations were better there than at Lawrence, although they were meager enough in either place.
PAW PAW DISPLACES LAWRENCE
Previous to this action, however, at a special meeting held on the twenty-third day of June, 1838, the board of supervisors had directed "That the sheriff be authorized to build a suitable build- ing to serve as a jail for said county, the expense of said building not to exceed four hundred dollars. That the said jail shall be
Hosted by Google
131
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
built on the ground appropriated for that purpose by the pro- prietors of the village of Paw Paw in said county."
That the legally established county seat was understood as be- ing at the village of Lawrence is evidenced by the fact that in 1840, the legislature passed the following act entitled "An act to provide for the vacation of the present seat of justice of Van Buren county, and to locate the same in the village of Paw Paw, in said county.
"Section 1-Be it enacted by the senate and house of represent- atives of the state of Michigan that the county seat of Van Buren county be and the same is hereby vacated and removed to the village of Paw Paw in said county, upon such land as shall be deeded to the county for that purpose: Provided, that the quan- tity of land shall not be less than one acre, to be located under the direction of a majority of the county commissioners, or board of supervisors, as the case may be, who are hereby required to make such location and fix the site for such county seat in said village, within one year from the passage of this law, and to take a deed of the land aforesaid to them and their successors in office for the use and purpose of the county of Van Buren, and shall have the deed recorded in the register's office in that county; And provided further, that the title to said land so conveyed shall be good, absolute and indefeasible and the premises free from all legal incumbrances.
"Section 2-All writs which have been or may be issued out of the circuit court of said county since the last term thereof, whether the same were made returnable at the village of Paw Paw or at the present county seat, shall be returned to, and heard and tried at the village of Paw Paw aforesaid, at the time they were made returnable." (Laws of Michigan, 1840, pp. 36-37. )
By this act of the legislature, Paw Paw became the legal, as it had previously been the actual seat of justice for the county. No session of the circuit court was ever held elsewhere and no county buildings were ever erected at any other place.
But it did not follow, by any manner of means, that the ques- tion was settled beyond all controversy by the enactment of the foregoing statute. The citizens of Lawrence were not disposed to abandon the fight. They believed that they had been unjustly deprived of that which rightfully belonged to them, and the ques- tion of the removal of the county seat from the village of Paw Paw became a vital one, and many unsuccessful efforts were made to have such removal submitted to a vote of the people. In order to secure such submission, the law required a two-thirds vote of the board of supervisors in favor of such proposition, and although this was frequently attempted every such effort met with failure
Hosted by
132
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
until the lapse of sixty years after its location at Paw Paw. It is a matter of much uncertainty as to what would have been the result if the question of the removal of the county seat from Paw Paw to Lawrence had been submitted to a vote. Only a majority vote would have been necessary to decide the matter, and there were times very probably, when a majority in favor of such removal might have been obtained, but the electors of the county never had an opportunity to express their choice as between those two villages.
PROPOSED COUNTY BUILDINGS
Immediate steps were taken after the above noted action of the legislature, looking to the erection of county buildings at the newly established county seat. At a meeting of the board of county commissioners held at the office of the county clerk on the first day of April, 1840, the following resolutions were adopted, to-wit : "Resolved, that the site for the seat of justice for the county of Van Buren be and the same is hereby located and fixed on that portion of block number eleven known and described as lots num- ber one, two, three, four, five, six, seven and eight, in the village of Paw Paw, being the same land appropriated for that purpose by the proprietors of said village, the aforesaid location being made agreeable and in conformity with the act of the legislature of the State of Michigan, approved March 6, 1840.
"Resolved, that the clerk of said county be and he is hereby required to procure a quit claim deed from the proprietors of said village for the land mentioned in the foregoing resolution and cause the same to be recorded in the register's office of this coun- ty."
However, the county buildings were not erected on the site so designated, although the present court house and jail now occupy the same.
At a special meeting of the board of county commissioners held on the 30th day of January, 1841, the following action was taken : "It appearing that the title for the county seat, as located and fixed by the board of commissioners on the first day of April, 1840, not having been perfected, therefore it is
"Resolved, that the act or resolution of the commissioners lo- cating and fixing the site for the seat of justice in the county of Van Buren on block number eleven in the village of Paw Paw is hereby annulled and vacated.
"Then, resolved and determined that the site for the seat of justice for said county of Van Buren (title having been given) be and the same is hereby located and fixed on block number forty in the village of Paw Paw, in this county."
Hosted by
7
133
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
But neither were the proposed county buildings ever erected on this site which for many years has been occupied by the Free Will Baptist church of Paw Paw and private residences.
On March 6, 1841, the board of county commissioners passed the following resolution : "Resolved, that the sum of four thou- sand dollars be and the same is hereby appropriated for the pur- pose of building a court house in and for the county of Van Buren. "The board directed W. Mason to draft or cause to be drafted a plan for a court house."
This action of the county commissioners seems to have accom- plished nothing, except to make an appropriation of funds, and at a meeting held April 3, 1842, the same body, having ap- parently come to the conclusion that four thousand dollars for a court house was a piece of unwarranted extravagance, adopted another resolution in reference to the matter, as follows: "Re- solved by the board of commissioners to contract for the building a court house, provided that some responsible person or persons contract to furnish materials, build and furnish a good and sub- stantial house for a sum not to exceed three thousand dollars.
"The board directed R. E. Churchill to make a draft, etc."
Four days later the board gave notice that the "county board will continue to receive proposals for building a court house until twelve o'clock noon, on the 8th inst."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.