USA > Michigan > Jackson County > History of Jackson County, Michigan > Part 51
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In 1870 the city constructed water-works on the Holly plan, and they have been the main reliance for the extinction of fires, although the steamer has been retained as a measure of protection for the districts not reached by the Holly Works. The Holly sys- tem has been severely tested several times, and has, so far, proved an entire success. It has always prevented the spread of the flames, and there has usually been more damage from the flood of water than from the fire.
The force now employed consists of one chief engineer, Thomas E. Lusk; one first assistant engineer, John Cudihee; two hook and ladder men; two foremen-one for each hose-cart; two drivers-one for each hose-cart; eight pipe-men-16 in all. Sixteen men, one hook and ladder truck, two hose-carts and three horses.
THE POLICE FORCE
of the city is well organized. Duty is the first object of the men employed, and thus the spirits of evil, who are generally found in such cities, are kept under surveillance, and their various attempts to perfect their little tragedies nipped in the bud.
JACKSON PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
School District No. 1 .- The early history of the districtis involved in some obscurity, as the brief records from 1831 to 1849 have been lost, and all that we now know of the management of the schools during that period must be gathered from the early settlers who still survive.
The district was first formed Ang. 10, 1831, by the school com- missioners, W. R. De Land, Oliver Russ and S. Stodard. It embraced a large tract of country lying west of the meridian line, so large, in fact, that it must have been very difficult for the chil- dren living in the remote parts of it to attend school. In 1834, however, May 31, many of the outer sections were cut off, and July 21, 1849, it was again diminished to its present size.
What year the first school-house was erected, or who taught the first school, it is impossible to say; but a small wooden house was erected, probably the next season after the district was formed, on the southwest corner of what are now Main and Blackstone streets. The lot consisted of a sand hill some 20 feet high, and the house was located upon the top of it. This house stood until about 1843- we cannot fix the date with certainty-when it was moved off to a
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
point of land formed by the divergence of Main street and Wild- wood avenue, and a two-story brick house was erected in its place. The ground where the new house was located was graded down considerably, so that it seemed to stand in a hollow on the top of the hill. with sand banks around it nearly as high as the second story.
This house served the purpose of the district until 1853. June 16 of that year a contract was let to Messrs. Hubbell, Mosher and Hayes to build, on the same lot where the other two houses had stood, a three-story brick building which was to cost §11,000. The contract was fulfilled and the new building was ready for use the next fall. There was, however, as is usual in such cases, consid- erable opposition to building so costly a house as that was then thought to be. It was voted Ang. 6, 1851, " to build a school-house upon the school-house lot, to cost not to exceed 86,000," and a committee was appointed to report a plan of building on the first Monday in January. The committee, however, did not report un- til Sept. 27, 1852, and then their recommendations were laid on the table. April 12, 1853, the district voted to raise an additional $3,000, and on the 7th of June, the same year, the resolution to restrict the cost of the house to $6,000 was rescinded, and it was voted to build a house to cost not to exceed $11,000, which was straightway built, as stated above.
The first male teacher employed by the district, that we can learn of, was James C. Bailey, who taught in the winter of 1834-'5, and he was succeeded the next year by J. L. Videto.
The course of study which was pursued in the district until 1849 was the same as that of the common schools throughout the State; but that year the school was organized under the law for establish- ing graded schools, and the following officers were elected: Samuel Newbury, Moderator; Samuel Higby, Director; Henry Frink, As- sessor; John Westren, Wm. Aldrich, Daniel T. Grinnell and Gustavus L. Foster, Trustees.
The scholars were also graded into the following departments: Primary, juvenile, English and classical, and O. M. Barnes was employed Oct. 7, 1850, to teach the classical department. The above classification remained in force until 1856, when the follow- ing was adopted: Primary, secondary, English, academic and classical departments.
Sept. 19, 1854, E. L. Ripley was employed as principal of the graded school in the new house, and he held the position until Dec. 26, 1860, when he resigned to fill a chair in the Normal School. During his administration, Sept. 26, 1859, on motion of Judge David Johnson, the schools were made free of tuition to the scholars of the district. Mr. Ripley was succeeded by Daniel B. Briggs, who was principal until July, 1865. J. C. Lowell was then employed and held the place until April 10, 1868. U. W. Lawton succeeded Mr. Lowell, and is still in charge of the schools of the district. Sept. 21, 1860, the last year of Mr. Ripley's ad- ministration, the grading of the schools was again changed, and the
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
following four classifications were adopted: Primary, secondary, grammar and high school.
From 1856 to 1870 the city grew rapidly, and more school-houses became necessary. Accordingly, in 1856, a small building was erected on Francis street, in the then Third ward, and the next year a similar house was built on Lansing avenue. Another two- story brick school-house was erected on Wilkins street in 1861, and in 1866 the present large brick school-house was erected beside the first one built on Francis street. The West End school-house was built in 1868, and the Bennett school-house in 1869.
At this time the total number of scholars in the district between 5 and 20 was about 1,600, and the accommodations for them were ample. The schools, however, continued to prosper, and a greater effort was made to raise the standard of scholarship, and to in- crease the number in the higher grades, which was in a measure successful.
In 1871, for the first time in the history of the district, a class was graduated at the high school and received diplomas. A simi- lar class, constantly increasing in numbers, has been graduated · every year since.
Owing to the increase of population in the southern part of the city, two more school-houses were built, in 1877, one called the Summitville school-house, and the other the Wilcox school-house. They are one-story brick buildings, but beautiful in appearance and convenient for instruction. The large three-story school-house which was built on Main street in 1853 had now become defective, and too small to accommodate all in the district, and July 20, 1878, it was pulled down and the present house was erected in its place. It was completed the next summer and ready for occupation, when the schools opened in the fall. The following description of the building is taken from a local paper:
The edifice is admirably designed for school purposes. Its rooms for recitation and study are spacious, airy and well lighted. There is not a dark corner in the entire structure. The ventilation of the building is affected by the Ruttan system, which renews each cubic foot of air in all parts of the building every 20 minutes. The fresh air is carried to every room by large ducts which com- municate with flues rising above the building. The draft up- ward creates currents which change the atmospheric conditions of the entire interior three times each hour, as before mentioned. For heating purposes the Ruttan tubular cast-iron furnace is used. Five of these are employed, which it is believed will prove suf- ficiently ample to warm the building in the coldest weather. The heat ascends from them perpendicularly through brick flues, hor- izontal flues for hot air being ignored. The structure is piped throughout for gas. A two-inch stand pipe above and below con- nects with the Holly water for fire purposes, and hose for such emergencies will be supplied for every story. Water for drinking will be attainable on both first and second floors.
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
The main corridor on the first floor is entered from the north, sonth and east by eight-foot staircases, and is well lighted by a skylight. From this corridor all the rooms of this story, eight in number, are reached. The first room at the left of the north stair landing is the library and superintendent's room, and the latter will be able to communicate thence with all the teachers by means of speaking tubes. The alcoves for books are at the right, and the large windows furnish an abundance of light. The ceil- ings, like those of all the rooms on this floor, are thirteen feet high and hard finished. The walls are left for coloring. The re- mainder of the second story is devoted to school-rooms, all cheer- fully lighted and attractive.
Access from the second story is gained by three stairways, lead- ing from the main corridor. The chief of these is eight feet in width. The floors of the entire building are of oiled Norway pine, and "deafening," i. e., mortar one and one-half inches thick is filled in under those of the second story, to deaden sound in the story below. Upon this floor are eight recitation and school rooms, the principal of which is that for the high school. This is the finest room in the building. Its dimensions are 30x42, with 18 foot ceilings, is pleasantly lighted, and connects at opposite corners with recitation rooms. It will accommodate about 80 pupils, and is situated at the northwest corner of this story. The first room south is for the next grade below, and is an apartment 32x34 feet. In the southwest corner is a small school or recita- tion room, 20x23. The grammar-school room in the southeast corner, 23x40 feet, has eight windows and is cheerfully lighted. Adjoining on the east is a fine room 24x31 feet.
Every room is lighted on two sides-to the left and rear of the scholars ; and extending along three sides of each is a blackboard three and one-half feet wide. These are composed of hard finish, raised from the wall, and will be painted with liquid slating of a dark green color. Under the stairways on the first floor are dressing-rooms for teachers. All the rooms have separate ward- robes, a most convenient arrangement ; and from each room the cold atmosphere is withdrawn through air-ducts under the win- dows, thereby obviating the drafts of air upon the scholars.
In the basement, at the northeast corner, is a room 17x20feet, to be used for meetings of the school board and as an office for the secretary. The remainder is divided into fuel rooms, ash pits, fresh-air rooms, a boys' waiting or lunch room, etc. Sewers at the point where they leave the building are thirteen feet below grade. The partitions everywhere are substantially built of brick, of which there are about 1,500,000 in the entire structure. The edifice is 91x121 feet, is covered with slate, and its steep roof sur- mounted with a finial 125 feet from the ground. The ontlook will be from the bell-deck 90 feet high, whence a splendid prospect of the city and surrounding country is obtainable. It is estimated that the building will accommodate from 750 to 800 pupils. The expense of erection is $25,500 ; and the heating apparatus cost $2,000 additional. A good bell is to be added.
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
The district has a well-selected library of about 2,000 volumes, and is well supplied with maps and charts, and chemical and phil- osophical apparatus. It has also a small but valuable and rapidly increasing collection of specimens in natural history.
The following is a list of the teachers now employed: U. W. Lawton, A. M., Superintendent; G. S. White, A. M., Principal of High School; Mrs. L. F. Selfridge, Preceptress; Kittie Sprague, Assistant; F. L. Bliss, A. M., Principal of Grammar School; J. D. Schiller, Principal of 5th Ward School; Ella Town, Principal of Wilkins Street School; Mrs. C. W. Penny, Principal of West End School; Nettie A. Brown, Principal of Bennett School; Mrs. Mary E. Camp, Ellen O'Brien, E. Blanche Wilcox, Maria Haynes, Mabel Jameson, Lizzie Wallace, Grammar School Teachers; Clara W. Bliss, Mary E. Langdon, Lucy Kenedy, Celia F. Waldo, Lucy D. Lewis, Loolie Minty, Nellie C. Jenkins, Anna N. Curtis, Carrie Lusk, Hattie Lusk, Minnie E Brown, Julia S. King, Lelia White, Nellie Russell, Delia I. Herrick, Norah Gridley, Minnie Mac- Gregor, Belle Quinn, Lora A. Smith, Mrs. E. C. Marsh, Primary Teachers.
From the foregoing facts it will be seen that the citizens of Jackson have always taken a deep interest in the education of their children, and have always taxed themselves liberally for the sup- port of the schools. It would be difficult at the present time to find a district better supplied with good school-houses, with a better corps of teachers, or better facilities for instruction. The scholars are well graded, the instruction in the lower grades is thorough and practical, and the high school not only gives a thorough busi- ness education, but prepares every year students for the Univer- sity. It was one of the first whose graduates were admitted there upon their diplomas, and it has always maintained its reputation for good scholarship. It is, however, a novelty that so large a city as Jackson should have two school districts. The uniting of dis- tricts which forms the union school in Michigan and in many other States, has not yet gone so far here as to bring the city all under the management of one school board. But the leading and most influential citizens are in favor of the union, and on several "occasions have taken steps to bring it about. It is inevitable that it will take place at no very distant day, for all can see that not only can the schools be maintained with less expense, but the grading can be more perfect and the instruction more efficient; and when it shall occur if the same liberal views prevail in regard to education which exist to-day, we can see nothing to hinder the schools of Jackson from approaching very near to that high stand- ard of excellence which all should aim to reach.
School District No. 17 .- Sept. 18, 1838, the school inspectors of the township of Jackson rearranged the boundaries of the school districts, and made a new district, which was numbered "17." The
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
boundaries have since been extended half a mile further east, and a like distance further north, but the Grand river has been made the western and southern boundary, which latter change deprived the district of about 400 acres of territory in the southwest, and about 250 acres in the northern part. Smaller changes had been made before 1855, but on Feb. 1st of that year the school in- spectors set off all of the present fifth ward east of Francis street, and a part of the sixth ward from this district, and made it a part of district No. 1. This act was considered illegal, and at the an- nual meeting of district No. 17, in 1855, a committee was appointed to commence legal proceedings to recover the territory set off, and again at the annual meeting in 1856 it was
Resolve 1, Unanimously, that a committee be appointed to prosecute a suit to recover a portion of this district illegally set off into district No. 1, by the trickery of the board of district No. 1 and the hireling Board of School Inspectors, and W. T. Howell and Henry H. Bingham are duly appointed said committee, fully au- thorized to prosecute such suit, and the district board are fully authorized to draw from the contingent fund hereof, any sums that may be necessary to defray the ex- penses of such prosecution.
The chairman of the committee of 1855 died, and the chairman of the committee of 1856 removed from the county without having commenced any legal proceedings. The question, therefore, has never been decided by any court, but in the opinion of all old resi- dents, the action of the inspectors was an outrage upon their rights.
The object of dwelling upon this incident is not to rekindle ani- mosity. Happily the bitter feeling of the past is wearing away, and it is not too much to hope that ere long both districts, each in its own way, shall work harmoniously for the better educating of the youth.
District No. 17 has a central building containing 12 school-rooms with 600 sittings, erected in 1868 at a cost of $30,000. The build- ing is heated throughout by steam, and a perfect system of venti- lation secured by a flue sufficiently large to afford every room a change of air every five minutes during school hours, yet without any perceptible draft. The high school occupies the upper part of the building, and is seated with the Triumph single desks. It is also well provided with very complete chemical, philosophical and astronomical apparatus, and good circulating and reference libraries, which latter are in constant use by pupils, teachers and patrons of the schools. There are also two other buildings with three rooms each, and three with two rooms each, built of brick, at a total cost of about $30,000, and entirely paid for. These contain about 1,300 sittings, of which all but 200 were taken the last year. The present school force consists of a superintendent and 18 female teachers. The total paid for teachers' wages and expenses during the year ending 1880 was $10,260.90; the amount estimated as required for 1881 was 810,801.38. The district record does not show the school census for every year, but years selected at ran- dom will perhaps show the general facts as to the increase of school population, as well as a fuller table. The persons between
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
5 and 20 enumerated were in 1865, 586; in 1871, 1,046; in 1873, 1,216: in 1875, 1,423; in 1877, 1,668; in 1879, 1,830.
Graduates from the high school are entitled to enter the State University without examination, and in several instances the thoroughness of the preparation for that institution of such gradu- ates has been attested by members of the University faculty. The main efforts, however, of the School Board and of the superintend- ent have been directed to the grammar and primary departments, and those in charge believe that in harmonious action, thorough- ness of instruction and results to the pupils, the schools of this district have no superior.
The district record which was kept before 1854, is not in posses- sion of the present Board of Trustees and is accounted lost. The records show that since 1854 the persons who have been members of the board for the greatest number of years are: Warren N. Buck, 21 years: Benj. Porter, 17 years, and Eugene Pringle, 13 years. The members of the present board are as follows : Hon. Eugene Pringle, Moderator, term expires September, 1881; Daniel Doig, term expires September, 1881; Charles Pierce, Assessor, term expires September, 1882; Dr. Wm. H. Palmer, Director, term expires September, 1883; Joseph Smith, term expires Sep- tember, 1883; S. J. Wirtz (elected to fill vacancy), term expires September, 1881.
Politics have been generally little regarded in the composition of the board. Unintentionally, each of the three parties. Repub- lican, Democrat and Greenback, has an equal representation on the board the present year (1881). Most of the persons employed as principal or superintendent before 1867 remained but a single year or less in charge of the schools, and none were more that once re- employed. Since that time J. S. Lane has been employed three successive years, B. R. Gass, eight successive years, and John B. Glasgow, the present superintendent, has been in charge of the schools since September, 1878. The school course is divided into three departments, viz .: Primary, grammar and high school, with four grades in each department, each grade requiring one year's work of 40 weeks. Considerable might be said of methods of work, system of grading, courses of study, etc., etc., but it is thought best only to give those facts which will be of permanent value, even at the sacrifice of many things that would be interest- ing yet common to all well-graded schools.
The grounds at the main building are 16 rods square and sur- rounded by streets. On the original survey this block was not numbered, but marked "Seminary Square." Without other title than this designation the first building of the district was erected upon it. Afterward the owner of the lands platted sought to obtain in the court a vacation of this and other parts of the plat, but was so resolutely opposed by the representation of the district, that he was glad to compromise by giving an unquestionable title to this square on their relinquishing other opposition. These grounds are well shaded, convenient and accessible. The grounds at the
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
Ganson street house consist of one acre of land, and the sites at each of the other buildings are eight rods square. At several of these there have been delays in setting trees on account of the im- perfect grading.
The rapid increase of population has occasioned little practical difficulty except that of increasing school accommodations, and that has been met by promptly building new houses. The very diverse interests and occupations of the inhabitants have prevented their united action with reference to all except school matters. As to these, it may be said that the uniform cheerfulness with which appropriations recommended by the board have been voted, and the absence of friction with which the work of educating the youth of the district has progressed, indicate a great and common in- terest in this direction; and that there is not on the score of creed, race, or nationality, any considerable grounds for fear that the un- doubted tendency of our public schools is to develop in the rising generation, that type of character which distinguishes our Ameri- can civilization.
Jackson Business College .- This institution was organized in 1870 by the present proprietor, G. M. Devlin. Since its organiza- tion it has been well patronized, and now holds a position with the first of that class of educational institutions. At least one half of the students are from out of the city and many have entered from other States. G. M. Devlin, the principal, was a student of the old gentleman, P. R. Spencer, the author of the Spencerian sys- tem of penmanship, and has been teaching since the close of the war. The branches taught are bookkeeping, penmanship, com- mercial law, arithmetic, banking, commission, forwarding and business correspondence. The business course is taught on the actual business practice plan, in connection with other schools of the association of which it is a member. Prof. Devlin is the au- thor of the tex-tbook used in the college in teaching bookkeeping. The College Journal, 5,000 circulation, is published by the college quarterly, for the purpose of advertising the school. In 1875, by invitation from Prof. Devlin, the Common Council of the city of Jackson, appointed a committee to examine and report upon the course, facilities, method of instruction, etc. The committee, af- ter completing the examination, introduced and recommended the passage, by the council, of the following resolutions, which were adopted :
WHEREAS, Believing it to be the duty of the Common Council of the city of Jackson to recognize and encourage all efforts and enterprises properly instituted for the promotion of the interests of commerce and trade; and
WHEREAS, In this community, so essentially commercial, an institution devoted to the impartation of a thorough knowledge of the various branches of a mercantile education, is calculated to directly improve and elevate the character of our husi- ness operations; therefore,
Resolved, That the Common Council of the city of Jackson recognize in the busi- ness college of this city an institution of the character indicated and eminently worthy of confidence: that we believe its wide reputation for thoroughness of in- struction in every department of mercantile science to have been justly earned, and we view with approbation the practical benefits which have resulted from its estab- lishment.
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY
Resolved, That we recognize in the principal of said institution, G. M. Devlin, the highest qualifications of a useful and successful teacher, and well fitted to con- duct with advantage such an institution, and cordially recommend the Jackson Business College to the patronage of the public as an institution of superior merit.
The school has been patronized and is recommended by many of the leading citizens.
Many applications have been had for bookkeepers and clerks. The attendance has been, during the winter, never less than 50, and often 100. Letters are often received from old graduates ex- pressing their thanks for attention and favors received while a student at the school.
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