USA > Michigan > Kent County > Grand Rapids > Grand Rapids and Kent County, Michigan: History and Account of Their Progress from First. Vol. I > Part 54
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A Ladies' Reading Club (the germ of the Ladies' Literary Club) was organized during the winter of 1869-70, under the inspiration of a series of historical lectures delivered by Mrs. L. H. Stone, of Kala- mazoo, and this club felt the need of books. Mrs. L. D. Putnam, Mrs. S. L. Withey, Mrs. S. L. Fuller, Mrs. A. J. Daniels, Mrs. O. A. Ball, Mrs. H. J. Hollister, and many other prominent ladies set about the work of raising funds, and in a comparatively short time $1,200 was obtained. With this sum a room was fitted up and Miss Frances E. Holcomb was placed in charge of the library of 1,000 volumes. The first year this City Library Association, as it was called, had 300 members, and it continued to prosper until its library contained 1,200 volumes of history, biography, travels, miscellany and fiction. After an experience of a year and a half the ladies came to the conclusion that the interests of all concerned would be better served by uniting their library with the school library and a small library of fifty books belonging to the Y. M. C. A. A consolidation was effected and the library was opened, Dec. 21, 1871, in rooms on the second floor, north side of Monroe avenue, near Pearl street. Miss Frances E. Holcomb, the librarian of the ladies' library, was continued in office under the new regime. This union brought together 4,045 volumes, derived from the following sources: Library of School District No. 1, 2,564 volumes ; the West Side School Library (formerly kept in the Union School building and open to the public), 200 volumes; the Ladies'
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Library Association, 1,231 volumes, and the Y. M. C. A. library, fifty volumes. Each year the number of books added to the library in- creased, until measures for their removal to more commodious quar- ters became necessary. This was effected in 1875, when the library was reopened to the public with enlarged facilities in the second story of th Ledyard Block. Even these rooms became cramped by the expan- sion of the institution, and in October, 1888, the library was removed to a commodious location in the City Hall. In December, 1876, Miss Holcomb, having become Mrs. C. B. Bacon, retired from the office of librarian, and in January Mrs. Alfred Putnam was chosen to succeed her. Disagreements arose over this selection and resulted in the dis- solution of the union between the Ladies' Library and the Public Lib- rary, in 1878. Upon retiring the ladies took with them the 1,200 books originally belonging to their association, and they eventually came into the possession of the Ladies' Literary Club.
After the separation the government of the library rested entirely in the hands of the Board of Education. Mrs. Putnam continued to serve as librarian until January, 1884, when she was succeeded by Mrs. Frances C. Wood, who worthily performed the increasingly ar- duous duties of that office until February, 1886, when she was re- lieved by H. J. Carr. This gentleman served as librarian from 1887 to 1890, inclusive, and was succeeded by Miss Lucy Ball, who served until 1901. The last named was succeeded by Miss Elizabeth Stein- man, who officiated until Oct. 1, 1904, when Samuel H. Ranck, the present librarian, was installed. In 1901, Martin A. Ryerson, of Chicago, offered to erect a suitable library building if the city would provide the site. This generous offer was accepted and the Board of Education selected for the site the northeast corner of Library street and Bostwick avenue. On July 4, 1902, the cornerstone of the libra- ry building was laid with appropriate ceremonies, and in June, 1904, the moving out of the old home into the new took place. The dedica- tion of the new building took place Oct. 5, 1904, the occasion being declared a municipal holiday. The library remained under the con- trol of the Board of Education until Sept. 7, 1903, when it passed under the control of the Board of Library Commissioners of the City of Grand Rapids. The first board of commissioners was composed of C. L. Harvey, J. A. S. Verdier, John Patton, Henry Beets, J. A. J. Friedrich. The library now contains about 180,000 volumes, several thousand of which are in the children's room, where the little ones have free access to them. Through the influence of the teachers many parents have been induced to take out cards for their children. There are at present twelve branch libraries in the public school buildings, besides one branch on the West Side which occupies a sep- arate building, and the annual circulation from the Ryerson Library, the branch libraries, and the library stations, among the pupils of the public schools, is about 270,000 volumes.
PUBLIC MUSEUM.
This institution is also a part of the educational system of the City of Grand Rapids. It is located at the corner of Washington street and Jefferson avenue, in a building which was bought for that pur- pose, in 1903. Here are to be found thousands of exhibits of natural
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history, archaeology, ethnology, Indian and historic relics, etc. The museum had its origin in 1855, when A. O. Currier and a few other educated gentlemen organized the "Grand Rapids Lyceum of Natural History." Prof. Franklin Everett, one of the organizers, had a cabi- net of minerals, geological specimens, and fossils, which he used in his academy, and Mr. Currier and Dr. William H. DeCamp also had fine collections. But in the early sixties the society was allowed to languish and die. In 1865, George Wickwire Smith, a lad whose genius outran his years, gathered about him a number of youths in the Union School and organized a club which he named the "Kent Institute." In 1867 he proposed to those who had been members of the "Lyceum of Natural History" that the two societies be combined. This he accomplished, the articles of association bearing date of Jan. 2, 1868, and the name suggested by him was adopted-"Kent Scien- tific Institute." Those who had formerly contributed by loans to the older society presented the exhibits to the new one, and these collec- tions were the basis of the present museum. After the new Central High School (now the Junior High) building was completed, the treasures of the Kent Scientific Institute were stored in various rooms and adjoining buildings and the collections were used to aid the teach- ing of natural history in the schools. In 1901, the Board of Educa- tion obtained complete control of the property and the museum was put in shape in the auditorium of the Central High School. On Jan. 7, 1904, the museum in its present location was formerly opened to the public, and since then there have been many collections of value added. It has become an important factor in the civic life of Grand Rapids, and the collections are potent influences in educational work.
SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF.
The year 1899 witnessed the first movement toward the introduc- tion into Grand Rapids of the oral method of instructing the deaf. In September of that year a school was established at the corner of Michigan street and Division avenue. Miss Margaret Sullivan was installed as principal and Miss Anna Condon as assistant, and the school opened with sixteen pupils. Since that time the school has been a part of the public school system. In the instruction of these unfortunates the oral method is used entirely, the manual alphabet being discarded.
GRAND RAPIDS ACADEMY.
This institution, long since dead, grew out of the school founded by Henry Seymour, in 1842, and carried on "in the house occupied for worship by the Dutch Reformed," at or near the corner of Foun- tain street and Ottawa avenue. It next occupied a small building on Prospect Hill, in 1843, and in 1844 it occupied the court house build- ing on Court House Square, with an adjoining cottage near the south- east corner of the square, in which the female department was housed. By act of the Legislature, approved March 11, 1844, the school was incorporated as the Grand Rapids Academy. Section 1 of the act of incorporation named the persons filing the articles of association, among whom were a number of the prominent citizens of the then -
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village; Section 2 provided that the academy shall be located "at or near the village of Grand Rapids," to afford instruction in the vari- ous branches of literature; Section 3 regulated the number of trustees and the manner of their election; Section 4 divided the Board into three classes; Section 5 governed the disposition of the funds; Sec- tion 6 provided that any three of the trustees could call a meeting of the Board; and Section 7 prescribed that the Legislature should have the power at any time of amending or repealing the act.
The academy was not the success that the projectors had hoped for. In October, 1844, E. B. Elliott, a graduate of Hamilton College, New York, became principal. He was succeeded in June, 1845, by Addison Ballard, who was aided the following winter by C. P. Hodges, in the capacity of assistant. In October, 1846, Franklin Everett, A. M., be- came principal; Mrs. Everett had charge of the female department as preceptress, and Miss Elizabeth White and Thomas B. Cuming were the assistants. After the building of the stone school house, and the organization of union schools in the district, the academy, like Othel- lo, began to find its occupation gone, and April 16, 1851, Prof. Ever- ett announced that the Grand Rapids Academy would close on the second of the following May. This ended the work of the academy as a corporate institution, but Prof. Everett and his wife maintained in their residence a private academy upward of twenty years longer.
COUNTRY SCHOOLS.
The history of the rural schools of Kent County during the pioneer period is veiled somewhat in obscurity. It is known that Mrs. Jerry Boynton, a native of New York, came with her husband and settled on a farm in Byron township, in 1836, and that she taught school there in the early years of her residence. It is also known that Con- verse Close, who was born in Saratoga County, New York, in 1822, and received a good education in his native State, came to Michigan in 1843; that he settled in the township of Grattan, where he taught for a number of years, and for several terms was a member of the Board of Supervisors. In every neighborhood, as soon as a sufficient number of settlers located therein, a school was established, but any- thing like a complete history of these early institutions of learning seems to be unattainable.
The constitution of 1835, under which Michigan was admitted as a State, provided for a superintendent of public instruction. In 1837 that official made his first report, in which he gave a statistical ab- stract concerning the schools in each county, but Kent does not ap- pear in this abstract, for the very good reason that no districts had as yet been established in the county. In 1840, however, in Kent Coun- ty, fifteen districts reported, and from seven no report was received, hence it seems that at about that time there were twenty-two school districts in the county. The school population was 549, and the length of the school term was a little more than four months.
In 1860 the State superintendent included in his report a detailed statement of the school population, to-wit: Township of Ada, 363; Algoma, 309; Alpine, 574; Bowne, 259; Byron, 341; Caledonia, 281 ; Cannon, 434; Cascade, 330; Courtland, 306; Gaines, 330; Grand Rap- ids (township), 334; Grand Rapids (city), 2,362; Grattan, 342; Low-
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ell, 370; Nelson, 148; Oakfield, 459; Paris, 427; Plainfield, 419; So- lon, 106; Sparta, 258; Tyrone, 73; Vergennes, 546; Walker, 471; Wy- oming, 440; total, 10,281. The apportionment of the public money, including the two-mill tax, was distributed as follows: Ada, $423.48; Algoma, $396.88; Alpine, $873.77 ; Bowne, $300.92; Byron, $342.62; Caledonia, $160.15; Cannon, $551.20; Cascade, $546.76; Courtland, $340.71; Gaines, $342.17; Grand Rapids (township), $636.65; Grand Rapids (city), $6,640.27 ; Grattan, $410.01; Lowell, $679.38; Nelson, $137.96; Oakfield, $586.76; Paris, $641.73; Plainfield, $653.83; Solon, $90.91; Sparta, $304.58; Tyrone, $178; Vergennes, $565.13; Walker, $719.20; Wyoming, $575.31.
In the original plan of common school education in Michigan, each township had three school inspectors, whose duty it was to or- ganize districts, apportion the school moneys to the districts, examine applicants for appointment as teachers, grant certificates and visit schools. With some changes in the mode of visitation, the provisions of the original enactment remained unchanged until 1867, when a law was passed creating the office of county superintendent, the first in- cumbent of which was to be elected in April of that year and to as- sume the duties of the office on May 1, 1867. In Kent county Chester C. Bicknell' was elected superintendent. In 1868, Mr. Bicknell re- ported that of the teachers employed 96 were men, receiving an aver- age monthly salary of $58.92, and 237 were women, whose average monthly salary was $25.45. The superintendent complained of the condition of the school houses and the general lack of school facilities.
In the past half century the rural schools of Kent county have kept pace with the march of progress. The old log school house and the twenty-five dollar teacher have passed away. In their places have come the modern school building and the teacher with progress- ive ideas. According to the latest official reports to the county com- missioner of schools, there were in 1918 in Kent county outside the city of Grand Rapids, 205 schools, employing 334 teachers, of whom 42 were men, receiving an average monthly salary of $78.27, and 292 women, whose average salary was $49.47. In the report of the State superintendent of public instruction for the year 1915, which is the latest report at hand, there were nine village high schools in Kent county. Caledonia employed one teacher and enrolled 29 pupils ; Cedar Springs and East Grand Rapids made no report as to high school; Grandville employed three teachers and enrolled 66 pupils ; Kent City employed two teachers and enrolled 73 pupils; Lowell em- ployed five teachers and enrolled 156 pupils ; Rockford employed four teachers and enrolled 90 pupils ; and Sand Lake and Sparta made no report. There were twenty graded school districts, located as fol- lows: Ada, 90 pupils ; Caledonia, 96 pupils; Caledonia township, No. 3, 53 pupils; Cannon township, No. 3 fractional, 66 pupils; Cedar Springs, 261 pupils; East Grand Rapids, 199 pupils; Grand Rapids township, No. 8 fractional, 97 pupils; Grand Rapids township, No. 6, 126 pupils ; Grandville, 301 pupils; Grattan, 81 pupils; Kent City, 139 pupils ; Lowell, 489 pupils ; Paris township, No. 1, 127 pupils ; Plain- field township, No. 9 fractional, 188 pupils; Rockford, 237 pupils ; Sand Lake, 112 pupils; Sparta, 397 pupils ; Walker township, No. 11, 153 pupils ; Wyoming township, No. 7, 501 pupils; Wyoming town-
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ship, No. 9 fractional, 580 pupils. The term in these schools was nine months. The school population outside the city of Grand Rapids was 13,378, and the enrollment was 4,059. The State school fund apportioned to the county (including the city of Grand Rapids) amounted to $310,454.60.
Mr. Bicknell served as county superintendent of schools until May 1, 1869, when he was succeeded by Henry B. Fallass. The latter served a period of four years, being succeeded, in 1873, by George A. Renney, who was elected for a two-year term. In 1875 the legislature repealed the county superintendency law and substituted a system of township superintendence, differing only a little from the former plan of township inspectors. A new law, enacted in 1881, combined county examinations with township supervision, but this plan proving unsatisfactory, in 1887 the law was revised and amended, the secre- tary of the county board of examiners exercising the duties of a supervising officer. In the year 1891 an act was passed providing for county commissioners of schools and two county examiners, and the following is a list of the county commissioners of schools in Kent county since the establishment of the office, with the year in which each was elected : A. H. Smith, 1891 ; G. T. Chapel, 1897 ; Arthur R. Zimmer, 1901; Allen M. Freeland, present incumbent, 1907.
PRIVATE SCHOOLS
In November, 1844, Miss Sarah P. Stevens opened a school for young ladies in upper rooms of the dwelling of C. P. Calkins, corner of Fountain street and Ottawa avenue. She continued it for a second term in rooms on Monroe street, "opposite the Rathbone Building." During this same winter H. H. Philbrick conducted, in the Dutch Reformed Church, a "Science of Music," or, as the unscientific minds termed it, "a singin' school." In the winters between 1847 and 1851, W. K. Wheeler kept a dancing school in the National Hotel, to which the young men and maidens resorted in goodly numbers in order to perfect themselves in that graceful accomplishment. Mrs. A. F. Jennison, in 1848 and 1849, kept a select school for young ladies on Prospect Hill. A prosperous school of the early period was kept for some years by Mrs. Streeter, in a building on Barclay street, south of Fountain. This was for both sexes and was well attended. For some time prior to 1846, a Miss Jones kept a young ladies' school on Monroe street, near Ottawa. In the fall of 1848, Mrs. E. T. Moore had a "school for young ladies and misses" at her residence on the south side of Monroe avenue, above Market. In 1853 Mrs. Moore kept a children's school on Lagrave street. On Aug. 1, 1854, Miss H. S. DePew opened a "cottage school" in a building opposite John Ball's residence on East Fulton street. This was a small but vigorous school and had an existence of some three years.
In December, 1856, a "School for Painting" was kept in Collin's Hall, at the corner of old Canal and Erie streets. It was short lived. From 1855 to 1857, inclusive, the Rev. O. H. Staples conducted a select school for young ladies. In the beginning it was kept in rather cramped quarters. The school opened, March 2, 1857, in commodi- ous quarters, at the corner of Bostwick avenue and Lyon streets. Mr. Staples was assisted during the first two years of his school by Miss Laura Prentiss, and during the latter year by Mrs. Mary E.
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Bryan. The course of study embraced the branches usual in high schools. Miss Prentiss, after her retirement from Mr. Staples' acad- emy, with Mrs. D. Ives, of Detroit, opened "A New Select School for Young Ladies and Misses" in rooms over J. W. Peirce's store on old Canal street, in which instruction was given in the common English branches, together with vocal and instrumental music.
The "writing school," the forerunner of the commercial college, flourished almost from the beginning of the settlement, but not until the community had grown to considerable proportions came its more ambitious development. In June, 1851, William and Garret Barry opened a "Mercantile Academy" in McConnell's block, for the teach- ing of book-keeping, mathematics, penmanship, and the other com- mercial branches of learning. In 1852, Joseph J. Watson opened a small private school at the corner of Monroe and Ionia streets, for the teaching of architectural drawing and drafting, and this school was well patronized for some time by young mechanics. In the Spring of 1857, Prof. M. P. Clark conducted writing classes in the Union schools on the east and west sides, and a special class in "Ladies' Epistolary Writing." In the Fall of 1859 a course in book-keeping was added to the curriculum of the East Side Union school, and Prof. Charles J. Dietrich was chosen to teach that branch of study. In addition to his work in the public school, in 1860, he taught "Diet- rich's Mercantile Institute" in Luce's Block, on Monroe avenue.
To Prof. C. G. Swensberg is due the credit of giving to the city its first permanent commercial college, founded Jan. 25, 1866. , He infused into this school the sterling integrity and straightforward business methods which placed him in the front rank among the business men of the city, and these qualities soon gave the Grand Rapids Business College, now known as the Grand Rapids Business Institute, a place with the best institutions of its type in the West. The college offices and school room are in the Norris Building. The institution is now under the management of M. E. Davenport. For many years this college was without a rival in the city, but in time other similar institutions were established and grew into prosperous conditions. The Mclachlan Business University was established in 1899, when the Mclachlan brothers purchased the Columbia Business College, which was organized in 1892. Malcolm McLachlan and Arthur F. Howell are the proprietors. The school is situated at 110- 118 Pearl street. The Churchill Business Institute is located at 9-11 Ionia avenue, and of this institution Loren R. Churchill is president, William L. Rice is secretary, and Mrs. B. A. Churchill is treasurer.
About 1883, the Rev. Isaac P. Powell established a private school at his residence on North College avenue and successfully carried it on for many years. He was especially gifted in teaching boys and in- spiring them with noble ideals. He died, March 17, 1903. The school founded by him was continued at 132 Barclay street by Mrs. William H. Eastman until 1917, when she closed the institution's long and successful career.
In the years 1853 and 1854, Peter G. Koch, a theological student, kept a school for Catholic children at the corner of Monroe and Ionia streets. This "academy" was under the patronage of the church, but it was not until several years later that a regularly equipped parochial school-St. Andrew's Academy-was established. It was chiefly
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through the efforts of the late Father P. J. McManus that this was accomplished, and a well appointed two-story brick school house was erected, in 1871-72, on the corner of Sheldon avenue and Maple street. In 1877 the school was organized under the present system and later an addition was made to the building for the use of the Catholic Central High School. In January, 1915, fire seriously dam- aged the building and a fine new structure has since been erected. The children are taught by the Dominican sisters.
On March 20, 1850, the State legislature passed an act incorporat- ing an institution of learning in Grand Rapids, under the title of St. Mark's College. The female preparatory department was opened, June 3, 1850, in the vestry rooms of St. Mark's church, with Miss J. A. Hollister in charge. The male preparatory department, under D. D. Van Antwerp, was ready for the reception of pupils on Sept. 9 of the same year. The Rev. Mr. Taylor was president of the college, which seems to have come into existence before there was a demand for it, as it never developed far beyond the preparatory stage, and expired after a short life of three years. In St. Mark's Academy, how- ever, established in September, 1887, as a parochial school, the old college had a vigorous successor and it was conducted uninterruptedly until 1899, when the school was discontinued.
The Theological School and Calvin College, an institution of the Christian Reformed Church, originated in the meeting of the Classis of that denomination, held at Grand Rapids, Feb. 6, 1861. On July 22, 1863, the Rev. W. H. Van Leeuwen took it upon himself to give instruction in preparatory branches, and the following year Rev. D. J. Van der Werp was appointed as teacher. In 1868 the first student was examined and admitted to the ministry and he was followed by others in the succeeding years. In 1876 the Holland Christian Re- formed Seminary was established, and in 1888 the theological course was extended to three years. In 1890, a plat containing one acre was purchased at the corner of Madison avenue and Fifth street, and in 1892 a school building was erected, being occupied in September of the same year. From the beginning of the school certain literary branches (Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Dutch, English, History, Philosophy, etc.) were taught as a preparation for the study of theology, and this preparatory literary course grew into the present Calvin College. From time to time, beginning in 1900, various collegiate courses were added to the curriculum, so that at present four years of college work are offered. In 1910 a campus of ten acres was presented to the insti- tution by the citizens of Grand Rapids, and in 1915 plans were started for the erection of a building thereon. Actual building operations were started on March 15, 1916, and the structure was finished and occupied with formal exercises, Sept. 4, 1917.
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