History of Genesee County, Michigan, Her People, Industries and Institutions, Volume I, Part 65

Author: Edwin Orin Wood
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Federal publishingcompany
Number of Pages: 861

USA > Michigan > Genesee County > History of Genesee County, Michigan, Her People, Industries and Institutions, Volume I > Part 65

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).

St. Mathew's Catholic school, opened in 1914, by the Rev. Fr. Michael John Comerford, is a handsome brick structure on Beach street, and is under the supervision of Mother Hilda of the Order of the Immaculate Heart. All Saints' parish school, the institution founded by Rev. Fr. John B. Hewelt, is one of the finest school buildings in Flint, where five hundred children of

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foreign parentage are taught the English language and are also instructed in the duties of American citizenship. From the roof the American flag floats reassuringly and within are to be found a club and reading rooms. It is the home of the Hungarian, Slavic, Italian, Bohemian, Moravian, Polish, and Chorvatian societies of Flint, who use it as a club house and social settle- ment.

The phenomenal growth of the city of Flint from 1905 to 1916, in- creasing its population from about sixteen thousand to about seventy-five thousand, has necessitated the erection of new buildings for school purposes as follows : the new Stevenson school, the new Clark school, the Dort school, the Oak school addition of six rooms, the Hazelton school increased to ten rooms, the Kearsley school, four additional rooms, the Parkland school, the Homedale school and the Fairview school. These various new buildings and the increased facilities of former buildings have made a four-fold increase in school rooms. This does not, however, keep up with the city's growth, and a new building, the George W. Cook school, is voted, to cost about ninety thousand dollars and to be completed before the fall of 1917. The old high school building, too, has become obsolete and a new one, to be of the most approved character, is now voted and the appropriation of five hundred thousand dollars made for it.

Alvin N. Cody has held the responsible position of superintendent of schools for the entire time since 1905. C. G. Wade resigned as principal of the high school to become superintendent of the schools of Superior, Wiscon- sin, in 1914: Linus S. Parmelee succeeded him as principal and has since filled that position with great credit and notable efficiency.

The high school has grown very rapidly, not only in numbers of pupils in attendance, but also in the scope of instruction, which has been expanded to meet present-day requirements. Vocational instruction, sanitation and domestic science are all receiving attention. There is now being built on the site of the old Clark school a "fresh air" school to meet the requirements of those students who need a different environment for physical reasons. All of the new school buildings are models of their kind and are frequently visited by boards of education from other places who contemplate building and wish to inspect the very latest thing in school architecture. With the completion of the new high school building, the Cook building and the fresh air school, it may be said with little fear of contradiction that Flint will be the best equipped city in the United States in school buildings and apparatus.

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OFFICERS AND TEACHERS OF THE FLINT SCHOOLS.

Board of Education, 1916: George W. Cook, president; A. J. Wil- danger, secretary; H. W. Zimmerman, E. D. Foote, John McKeighan, Dr. Henry Cook, W. E. Martin, W. W. Blackney and Dr. F. E. Reeder; Alvin N. Cody, superintendent.

High School: Linus S. Parmalee, principal; W. J. Russell, John E. Wellwood, J. W. Burns, R. E. Wightman, Leroy Pratt, Mary Seymour, Henrietta Lewis, Bertha Williams, Mary E. S. Gold, Lilian Gold, Harriet Mudge, Edna Ballard, Nellie Mingay, Mae Beardsley, Adah Lea, Ottelia Sdunek, Florence Fuller, Ethel Martin, Helen Desjardins, Viola Becker, Jane Payne, Ruth Halliday. Laura Millar, Jennie Smith, Helen Lohrstorfer.

W. J. Puffer, principal Dort school; Mary Kelly, principal Stevenson school; Grace C. Pierce, principal Doyle school; Nina Bushnell, principal Walker school; Clara Nixon, principal Oak Street school; Mary Coates, principal Clark school; Elizabeth Coates, principal Homedale school; Anna M. Derbyshire, principal Hazelton school; Eva Curtis, principal Parkland school; Elizabeth Welch, principal Fairview school; Lillian Park, principal Kearsley school; Fanny Gifford, principal Rankin school.

County Normal : Ellen Anderson, principal; Rose Walsh, critic.

Special Teachers: H. A. Tiedman, manual training; Howard Bush, manual training; James Hendrickson, manual training; G. Roscoe Correll, manual training; Paul Field, athletic director and coach; Edith Harden, physical training; Sarah Dewey, drawing; Jean Farr, writing; Olive Wallar, writing assistant; Christine Keyes, nurse; Gertrude McGill, primary super- visor ; Alice Campbell, auxiliary; Edna Wisler, auxiliary; Emeline Fisher, music ; J. Warren Gregory, high school music; Marion Sly, domestic science; Gladys Gifford, domestic science; Edna Carr, domestic science; Minerva Sanson, domestic science; Katherine Beekman, domestic science; Ruth Hans- ford, domestic science; Laurella Wilder, domestic science.

Grade Teachers: J. Irving DeLong, Grace Bell, Lillian Rector, Ger- trude Sherman, Lina Turner, Lillah Knight, Saidee Fletcher, Mable Vro- man, Mabel V. Wood, Neva Saunders, Neva Springer, Jessie Baumgart, Mildred Foote, Margaret Sears, Katherine Young, Charlotte Whitney, Mar- guerite Wilson, Ethel Scott, Myrtle Lynn, Caroline Walker, Mildred Bon- bright, Helen Dyball, N. Adelaide Smith, Edith Cole, Helen Stevenson, E. Jane Bennett, S. Ada Beamer, Ida M. Rude, Grace L. George, Clara Rog- ers, Clara Stein, Mary Dewing, Aileen Vermilya, Lena McLeod, Carolyn T.

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Anderson, Nettie Fuller, Florence Zuick, Bertha Williams, Florence Wilder, Edith Garbett, Elizabeth Miller, Fern Hewitt, Elizabeth Kirk, Elizabeth Gezon, Mabel H. Pattinson, Rika Rauaan, Anna Tazelaar, Marion D. Olm- stead, Winnifred Potter, Fannie Swarthaut, Laura Robinson, Rosa Gifford, Edith Brader, Jennie Downs, Mary Rice, Dora Stenson, Bessie Cole, Flor- ence Leonard, Helen Tyler, Mable Titsworth, Ethel Sherff, Vivian Barga, Emma Earle, Gwendolyn Reed, Rena Strickland, Jennie M. Haight, Maurie Fletcher, Hazel Kitchen, Audra Slaybaugh, Isabelle C. Lane, Mabel Stewart, Vida Swartout, Irene Roderick, Helen Moss, Irma Goheen, Ella Walker, Sara Waller, Esther Stein, Elsie Lukins, Jessie Hulton, Mary Sullivan, Grace Bennett, Margaret V. R. Wiley, Caroline Storrer, Fay Bovee, Alma Harris, Frances E. Burrington, Ethel Winkler, Anna L. Rogers, Agnes Nelson, M. Alice Elwood, Miriam Slaybaugh, May Snyder, Lora Corder, Blanche Pickett, Anna Wilton, Bertha Milwash, Agnes M. Ahearne, Stella Maier, Bernice Tinker, Nellie Thacker, Mildred Johnson, Lulu Brockway, Gail Welsh, Mary Slater, Eugenia Carman, Anna. Doll, Charlotte Hill, Anna Sullivan, Mina McEachan, Anna Field, May Westfall, Edna A. Clark, Lecta Cornelius, Martha Handloser, Viola Roselit, Jane George, Lovica Dean, June Anderson, Nina Irvine, Vivian Hoppaugh, Florence Hurd, Bertha Holmes, Vesta Bostwick. Alva Lockhart, Anna Paris, Francis Mathews May, Hilda Hagquest, Cecil Stabbins, Ella M. Guild, Saidee M. Williams, Wyla Waterman, Martha E. Howe, Ruth E. Smith, Velma Smith, Fern White, Jennie Van Tuyl, Abbie Mauer, Edna Gwen, Vara Parren, Meetri Lewis, Leta Thompson, Ethel Williamson, Jean Jackson, Rhea Richardson, Zelda Maynard, Mary Mauer, Bertha Scott, Winnifred Mack, Eleanor Stewart, Marie Reiman, Irene Dole, Lulu Fraley, Estella Rose, Julia Feies, Hazel Hunter, Mary Beach, Matie Carter, Irene W. Foster, Helen Dean, Myrl Miller, Anna Olson, Mabelle Mullin, Christine Stockman, Ella Hage- dorn, Bess McCrerry, Lulu Prevost, Lillian Reynolds, Louise Parrott, Ma- belle Peabody, Adelaide Cole.

The graduating class of 1913 numbered eighty-three, which up to 1915 was the largest ever graduated. In 1915 the class numbered one hundred eleven ; in 1916, one hundred eight.

The addition of a large number of foreigners to the population has called for a night school, which is held in a convenient building at the north end of the city and is attended by a large number of those desiring to be- come more efficient in the English language.

At this time, July 1, 1916, Flint has fourteen school buildings, two hundred forty-five teachers and an average daily attendance of pupils of six

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thousand, nine hundred twenty-one, exclusive of the Catholic schools, whose enrollment is approximately one thousand.

MISS HICOK'S SCHOOL.

One of the highly respected institutions of Flint is the select private school kept for the past twenty-five years by Miss Elizabeth Steele Hicok, a descendant of the Major Buttrick who, at Lexington, "fired the shot that went around the world," and of the General Putnam, who left his plow in the furrow at the call of the minute men. Combining good New England ancestry with culture and ability, Miss Hicok, having been previously identi- fied with the Flint high school for many years as instructress, has been able, in this age of unusual methods, to hold fast to the best educational ideals and her school, although small, occupies a distinct position among the educa- tional institutions of the county.

STATE SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF.

Of the state educational institutions, a school was early located at Flint for the deaf, dumb and blind. To Hon. E. H. Thomson belongs the honor of introducing, in 1848, the act which resulted in establishing this splendid school. The first board of trustees comprised the following: Elon Farnsworth, of Wayne; Gen. Charles C. Hascall, of Genesee; Charles H. Taylor, of Kent; Charles E. Stewart, of Kalamazoo, and John P. Cook, of Hillsdale.

The board decided upon Flint as the most eligible location. Twenty acres of ground were donated by Col. T. B. W. Stockton to the trustees for a site and three thousand dollars was subscribed by the citizens. Charles H. Palmer was, in December, 1850, appointed as principal.

In 1857 the Legislature amended the act of 1848 so that the institution should be entirely independent of the Kalamazoo insane asylum, which had been up to that time in charge of the same board. Under the amended act the first board for the Flint institution consisted of James B. Walker, Benja- min Pierson and John Le Roy. B. M. Fay was chosen principal and organ- ized the school work proper in 1857. The subsequent history of this school has been authoritatively sketched by Superintendent Francis D. Clark, whose words may here appropriately find a place :

In their visit to the other states in search of information the trustees had been favorably impressed with the Rev. Barnabas Maynard Fay, an instructor in the Indiana institution for the blind. and when they decided to open the school they invited him to

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MAIN BUILDING, STATE SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF, FLINT.

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BROWN HALL, STATE SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF, FLINT.

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become principal. He accepted the invitation of the trustees and notice was given that the school would be open for the reception of pupils on the first of February, 1854.

On the 6th of February the first pupil came; he was James Bradley, who for many years had been a prosperous farmer at Lawton, Michigan, but is now residing , near Flint. By the close of the first year there were seventeen pupils in attendance. Doctor Fay continued as superintendent for a little more than ten years, resigning in Septem- ber. 1864. During his administration the school met with more than the ordinary difficulties of young institutions, as the great Civil War demanded most of the atten- tion and money of the state; still it prospered and the attendance rose to one hundred and three pupils (eighty deaf and twenty-three blind), in July, 1863; but then the department for the blind was suspended, and in June, 1864, there were only eighty-one, all deaf.

It would be a serious omission to pass over this period without mentioning the services of Hon. James B. Walker, of Flint. Up to 1856, this school and the asylum for the insane were under the management of one board, but in that year the Legislature enacted that there should be a separate board for each, and the governor appointed as trustees for the school for the deaf: James B. Walker, Benjamin Pierson and John P. Le Roy. Mr. Walker was chosen treasurer and building commissioner, offices which he continued to hold until March 31, 1873. During this time all the larger and more expensive buildings of the school, with the exception of Brown Hall, were erected, and the state of Michigan owes much to Mr. Walker's energy and business ability.

Doctor Fay showed rare foresight in the selection of his assistants. His first two teachers were W. L. M. Breg and James Denison; the former, after years of faithful work, has gone to his reward; the other for many years has been the honored head of the Kendall school at Washington, D. C. To these were added, in 1858, Misses Belle H. Ransom and Harriet L. Seymour, and Jacob L. Green, who was succeeded, in February, 1859, by Thomas L. Brown, while Willis Hubbard appears as a new teacher in 1863. Egbert L. Bangs, a teacher of experience in the New York institution, was chosen to succeed Doctor Fay, and under him the school continued to progress.

On August 14 and 15, 1872, a conference of superintendents and principals of the American institutions for the deaf was held at the Michigan school, which was addressed by A. Graham Bell, on the importance of using his father's invention, "Visible Speech," in teaching articulation to the deaf. Had those present known that Mr. Bell was at work on the invention which made him famous all over the civilized world, his words in favor of visible speech would have had more weight. As it was, this particular method was adopted at the Michigan school, but only remained in use two years, though some of the eastern schools used it for ten or twelve years after that time.

It has been often said that one of the results of that visit of Mr. Bell was the beginning of the teaching of speech in the Michigan school, but this is not so, as at a conference of the superintendents held in Washington in May, 1868, a resolution was unanimously passed recommending that provision for such teaching be made at every American school for the deaf, in accordance with which George L. Brockett was "placed in charge of the department of articulation" in the fall of 1868. This department has grown steadily from that time and at present contains more than half the pupils of the school. To Mr. Bangs belongs the credit of establishing the excellent system of trade teaching that has for so long a time distinguished the Michigan school. Exactly when each trade was begun, it is impossible now to say. There was none when Mr. Bangs came, and he left a fine system well equipped. The official reports of the school are singularly silent on the subject. but tradition informs us that the first and most expen- (38)

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sive of these shops was built and equipped by Mr. Walker with money that the Legis- lature intended to go towards the main building.

Mr. Walker retired in 1873 and was succeeded as treasurer by Hon. William L. Smith, who gave to the school the splendid system of bookkeeping which has been con- tinued ever since. By this time the buildings of the school were so complete that Mr. Smith turned his attention to the grounds, and by his wisdom and foresight began the work which has made the school grounds the beauty-spot of Flint.

Under this same administration, in 1874, Mrs. Sarah R. Jones, a graduate of the first American school for the deaf. at Hartford, was appointed to take charge of the girls of the school, a position that she held till her death, on April 21, 1903. This rarely gifted woman has left her impress on the manners and character of a generation of the deaf girls of our state.

In May, 1876, Mr. Bangs resigned, after having served the school faithfully for almost"twelve years. Among his last appointments we find the names of Edwin Barton and John Austin, the former of whom was foreman of the cabinet shop until his death on June 6, 1905, and the latter is still chief engineer.

Mr. Bangs was succeeded by J. Willis Parker, a teacher in the school, who held the office until the close of the session of 1878-79, when he resigned to accept the posi- tion of superintendent of the Kansas school. The trustees employed as his successor. Dr. Thomas Macintyre, who had been for twenty-six years at the head of the Indiana school and who began his work in Michigan, August 1, 1879.

In 1880 the blind, who had been educated in connection with the deaf, were removed to a fine new building in Lansing. the management of which was given to a separate board of trustees. There never was any good reason why these two classes of children should be taught in the same school, as their needs are entirely different.

Doctor Macintyre retired at the close of the school year, in 1882, and the board appointed to succeed him D. H. Church, who had been steward for nine years, as superintendent, and as principal of the educational department, F. A. Platt. who had taught in the school for some years. Under this arrangement the board expected to get more efficient service in both departments without any additional expense; but appar- ently the hope proved delusive, for. in September, 1883, M. T. Gass was appointed superintendent. Mr. Church returned to his old position as steward, which he con- tinued to hold until October 1, 1889, when, on account of failing health, he declined a reappointment. E. F. Swan was appointed to succeed him and held the position until his death in 1906, discharging its various and onerous duties in a manner that called for the very highest praise. It was entirely owing to his ability and accuracy that the school for the deaf has the reputation of needing less correction from the auditor-general's office than any other state institution. He was ably succeeded by Dr. Henry Roland Niles.

In 1891 the management of the school, which for so many years had been in the hands of its own board of trustees, was taken from them by the Legislature and placed in the hands of the central board of control of state institutions, which also had charge of the state public school and the school for the blind. This arrangement continued only until 1893, when the next Legislature changed it.

On July 1, 1892, Thomas Monroe, who for ten years had taught in the school, suc- ceeded M. T. Gass as superintendent. Great results were expected from this appoint- ment, as Mr. Monroe thoroughly understood the deaf and their language, but he never addressed children as their superintendent. He was stricken with typhoid fever on September 16, before school opened, and died on September 30.

At the next regular meeting of the board on October 27, 1892, Dr. Francis D. Clarke was elected, but did not report for duty until December 1. Mr. Clarke had taught in the

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New York school for seventeen years and had been superintendent of the Arkansas school for seven years.

On May 25, 1893, the school was again reorganized, being again given into the care of its own board of trustees: Hon. C. B. Turner, of Pontiac, president; Hon. J. A. Trotter, of Vassar, secretary, and Gen. Charles S. Brown, of Flint, treasurer, constitut- ing a most efficient board. The spirit which governed them may be judged from these extracts from their first report : "We have changed past customs by insisting that the pupils and their comfort shall be the first object of the school. We realize the fact that this school was and is supported for the good of the deaf children of this state and, while desiring the utmost economy, we think that any saving made at the expense of the progress or comfort of the pupils, defeats the purpose of the school. We wish our graduates to be the best in the world, and any saving which prevents this is false economy."

These words were inspired by Gen. C. S. Brown, the treasurer of the board, who, as the resident member, naturally displayed the greatest interest in the school, and his report shows the spirit in which he labored for the deaf children, wards of the state. In the school room, on the play ground, in the work shops or the dining room, at social parties or athletic contests, the soldierly figure of General Brown was a familiar and a very welcome sight and. with the quick instinct of children, the pupils recognized the tenderness of his heart and loved him, and when, on October 27, 1904, he answered the call of the Great Commander and passed to his eternal reward, though there were many who mourned him sincerely, none felt his loss more keenly than those deaf children for whom he had labored so faithfully. Brown Hall, built during his trusteeship and named in his honor, will stand as an enduring monument to his memory.

The passing of the fiftieth year of the work of this school was recently celebrated by a reunion of the alumni at the school, under the auspices of the Michigan Association of the Deaf. Upwards of three hundred of them returned to the school and passed four very happy days in renewing old friendships. viewing old scenes and in seeing the many changes and improvements that have taken place since their school time.

To commemorate this reunion, the Association presented to the school a bronze memorial of Rev. Barnabas Fay, the first principal of the school, which was placed in a conspicuous place in the front hall of the main building, and among those who were present at its unveiling was Dr. Edwin Allen Fay, the eldest son of Rev. Dr. Fay, vice- president of Gallaudet College, who spoke on the occasion.

This tablet bears in bas-relief a fine likeness of Dr. Fay, and was the work of Roy C. Carpenter, a graduate of the school, who is winning a reputation by his skill as a sculptor, this memorial tablet being by no means his first successful work of art.

The work done by the Michigan school for the deaf during the half century of its existence is a source of pride. True, none of its graduates have been presidents, governors, judges, or filled any office higher than that of county clerk. Among them are no great lawyers, doctors, clergymen or statesmen. Worldly wealth has come to very few. But not one has ever been a convict in a penitentiary and but very few, less than half a dozen in a list of almost two thousand, have been obliged to apply for county or state aid. Trained to look upon labor as honorable and to regard the opportunity to work as the best luck that can come to them, they have labored diligently

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and faithfully in the stations to which it has pleased God to call them, doing with their might whatsoever their hands find to do, and being self-respect- ing, industrious and upright men and women.

The Michigan school for the deaf increased in attendance and in stand- ard of excellence under the supervision of Doctor Clarke. On August 12, 1913, was laid the corner stone of the new administration and dormitory buildings, Doctor Clarke, in his office as grand master of the grand lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the state of Michigan, presiding at the ceremonies. Only a very few days afterwards Doctor Clarke passed away very suddenly, his death occasioning universal regret.

In addition to the regular curriculum of the school, a dramatic class was organized some few years ago and several of Shakespeare's plays have been successfully produced in the sign language by the pupils.

After the death of Doctor Clarke, the board of control tendered the position, made vacant, to the Hon. Luther L. Wright, state superintendent of public instruction and one of the most prominent educators of this coun- try.

The Michigan school for the deaf has for many years ranked as one of the finest institutions of its kind in the United States. Robert J. Whaley and A. G. Bishop, of Flint, did splendid service as members of the board of trustees. The present resident trustee is ex-Mayor F. H. Rankin, who served for many years as a member of the Flint board of education. Mr. Rankin has been a very valuable official, giving the best years of his life to educa- tional work.

The Michigan Mirror, a monthly publication edited and printed by the pupils, is devoted entirely to the interests of the institution. The farm con- nected with the school affords a practical education in agriculture and the departments of sewing, domestic science, printing, tailoring, woodworking, cobbling and arts and crafts, each under efficient instructors, offer to the pupils the necessary aid in the way of becoming industrious and self-support- ing citizens.

FENTON.

The present school system of Fenton dates from the organization of district No. I, or the union school district, in 1856. A school building, com- modious for that time, was erected in 1859 and greatly enlarged in 1867. During the first three years after the organization of the union district, schools were held in the old frame building and in the second story of a

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History of Genesee County, Michigan, Her People, Industries and Institutions, Volume I, Part 65

Author: Edwin Orin Wood Publication date: 1916 Publisher: Federal publishingcompany Number of Pages: 861

Author: Edwin Orin Wood
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Federal publishingcompany
Number of Pages: 861