USA > Michigan > Saginaw County > History of Saginaw County, Michigan; historical, commercial, biographical, Volume II > Part 33
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Mr. Hill's efforts in matters educational in his home city did not end with his gift of scholarships. There was in his mind, as a part of our com- mon school system, the need for the trade or vocational school where boys and girls could acquire something to aid them by training the hand and eye as well as cultivating the mind, to better equip themselves for work with the hands, and that it was desirable that they should acquire that knowledge during the school age rather than through apprenticeships after leaving school. Desiring to have this broader field entered at an early day, he bequeathed to the Union School District the sum of two hundred thousand dollars for establishing an industrial school. Seventy-five thousand was to be set aside as a permanent endowment toward the support and mainten- ance of the school, and the remainder to be used for the purchase of a site and the erection and furnishing of the school building.
The courses of study to be taught in the trade school and the equip- ment to be used were in a general way determined before the plans for the building were considered, the intention being to provide a thoroughly prac- tical plant and one economical to operate. Preliminary work in connection with securing the site, which is on the east side of South Michigan Avenue at Mackinaw Street, was begun early in 1911, and the building was com- pleted and transferred to the Union School District, September 23, 1913.
The school building was designed as a shop, but it also contains the necessary class rooms, library, drafting room, laboratory, exhibition space and administration quarters. The shops are centered about the power plant. in which are installed many types of stationary and marine engines, also electrical equipment for use in producing light and power for the building. All this is valuable for demonstration to the students of the school. There are also various types of machine tools, forges and pattern-making equip- ment, all of which are of use in courses of training common to stationary, marine and electrical engineering, or for special instruction and practice.
The building trades, such as carpentry, bricklaying and plumbing are accommodated in shops designed especially for handiwork, and are equipped with the usual tools and appliances used in actual practice. There are also courses in elementary forestry, machine sewing. dressmaking, millinery, novelty work, drawing, trade mechanics, industrial history and English.
As the school is for those who through choice or necessity elect to make their living through industrial and trade pursuits, in order to be of the greatest service to the community, there are, in addition to a day school, a continuation and a night school. The continuation school is intended to give boys and girls between fourteen and eighteen years of age, who are already engaged in a trade, an opportunity to complete their general school education, and also to improve their theoretical and practical knowledge of their trade. The night school is to help men and women engaged in a voca- tion to better their condition by increasing their knowledge and skill.
In order to meet these conditions the school is kept open all the year round, and every day from eight to eleven-thirty in the morning, from one to three-thirty, from four to six, in the afternoon, and from seven to nine in the evening. Saturdays the school closes at noon ; and holidays are observed according to law.
The instructors for the trade work are men and women who have been engaged in practical work, specialists in their particular line, men of broad training, who know the requirements in the world of trade and industry. and who are able to appreciate what is best for the students. All cultural
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subjects taught in the school are closely correlated with the vocation studied, and are taught by regular teachers who understand the boys in their period of adolescence.
The aim of this school is in harmony with and is the same as the general aim of all education ; but the specific aim is the development of trade effi- ciency and love of work, and with this the cultivation of those virtues which effectiveness of effort and love of work immediately call forth: conscien- tiousness, diligence, perseverance, responsibility, self-restraint and dedication to an energetic life. In addition to filling its purpose as an educational institution, the distinctive character of the gift as executed is a fitting memorial to AArthur Hill, whose interest and service were of such great benefit to the public schools of his home city.
Mr. Hill was a man of broad culture, of exceptional vigor and ability, and was a philanthropist and philosopher. Notwithstanding his various activities he yet found time for extensive travel in America, Europe and Asia. He occupied many positions of public trust and made many gifts to public institutions, particularly of educational character. Ile gave to the University of Michigan, from which he graduated in 1865, a farm for forestry purposes, also a beautiful bronze bas-relief of President Angell, now in Memorial Hall, the work of the well-known sculptor Karl Bitter; and he left the university by his will a fund for the building of a much needed Auditorium, which was completed in 1914.
He served upon the school board of Saginaw City for six years, most of which time he was its president. In 1901 he became a regent of the Uni- versity of Michigan, which office he held at the time of his death. December 6, 1909. Taking a broad view of education, he was a firm believer in our free public schools, and sought in every way to broaden their scope to meet the changing needs of the age.
The members of the board of the Union School District in 1915 were : Lorenzo T. Durand, president : Ernest A. Snow, vice-president ; E. D. Church, treasurer: Charles A. Khuen. secretary ; and Dr. E. E. Curtis and Harker W. Jackson.
In 1914-15 the total enrollment of pupils was thirty-eight hundred and sixty-three, and the daily attendance was thirty-one hundred and thirty-six ; and the number of teachers was one hundred and nine.
The First Schools at East Saginaw
The history of the schools of East Saginaw commenced with the efforts of the early settlers to build a city, which was coincident with the clearing away of the forest on Hoyt's Plat begun in the Spring of 1850. The terri- tory embraced within the limits of the little settlement was a part of the Township of Buena Vista, and it was by authority of the township board that Morgan L. Gage, director, engaged Dr. C. T. Disbrow to teach a school at his residence. This was a plain board house which stood on the north- east corner of Washington and Emerson Streets; and the school sessions were held in the upper story. Years after the house was remodeled and enlarged after the style of a "Gothic Cottage," and became the home of A. W. McCormick. It was an interesting landmark of this part of town, but was torn down about 1892 to make way for contemplated railroad im- provements. The site is now occupied by the Michigan Central Railroad station.
The pioneer children came flocking to this school faster than they could be cared for ; and on March 10, 1851, School District No. 1, of the Township of Buena Vista, was duly organized, and a call issued for the first primary
SOME OF THE SHOPS IN THE HILL TRADE SCHOOL
Pattern Making Forge Shop
Plumbing Machine Shop
,
ARTHUR HILL
WELLINGTON R. BURT
Honored Citizens Who Have Done Much for the Cause of Education in Saginaw
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school meeting to be held on the fifteenth. At this meeting of the qualified voters of the district, D. W. Norton was chosen director, J. T. Calkins, moderator, and C. G. Persons, assessor. From the minutes of this meeting we learn that the district officers were empowered "to make such arrange- ments as they think best for a school this season," and to carry out this purpose a resolution was passed "that forty dollars be raised by tax to pro- vide for a suitable room for the school," and in addition "twenty dollars for purchasing globes, outline maps and other apparatus for the use of the school."
Under these provisions a rough board shanty was built on the site of the Bancroft House, and Miss Carrie Ingersoll, sister of Mrs. C. T. Disbrow, was engaged as teacher. The attendance at this school varied from twenty to twenty-five pupils. At this time not more than six blocks of land had been cleared out of the dense forest, which covered the site of the infant settlement. But the progress under the able management of the Hoyts was rapid, and the development of the schools kept pace with it.
Early in 1852 Truman B. Fox, the pioneer historian of Saginaw Valley, established a select school in a small building which stood on the corner of Water and Hoyt Streets. The whole number of pupils, he records, was about eighty about whom many pleasant memories were associated in his mind, with those days. During recess the children would gather wild flowers that grew abundantly in the green woods, within a few rods of the school house door, and bring them as peace offerings to their teacher, for those who happened to be a little tardy in coming to the call of the bell.
Building the Union School, or "Academy"
Among the other provisions of the primary school meeting was one for raising by tax of two thousand dollars for the purpose of building a school house within the district; and a committee, composed of Curtis Emerson. Morgan L. Gage and Norman Little, was appointed to select a site for it. After due consideration of this matter the committee reported that Alfred M. Hoyt and Curtis Emerson had offered to donate the block bounded by Jefferson, Emerson, Cass and Hoyt Streets, for school purposes. This liberal offer of public-spirited men was thereupon accepted, and upon the ground which is now the site of the Hoyt School was erected the first school house in East Saginaw, the forerunner of our splendid school system.
At a school meeting held May 3, 1851, a plan of the new school building was presented by J. E. Voorhees, upon which the lowest estimate of cost was two thousand six hundred dollars. This amount being largely in excess of the tax levied for the purpose, the officials were in a dilemma until Norman Little, with characteristic liberality, offered to erect the building and finish it for two thousand five hundred dollars, taking the tax of two thousand dollars when collected, and a mortgage on the building for five hundred. payable in five years, in equal annual payments. This offer was unanimously accepted by the inhabitants of the new settlement, who displayed a com- mendable zeal and promptitude in providing for the education of their children.
A contract with Mr. Little having been entered into, the work of assembling the material and erecting the building was at once begun, and it was completed in the Summer of 1852. Standing, as it did, on the high- est ground in the township. it was conspicuous for its stately appearance, and soon became known as "The Academy." The pioneers who are still living remember it as a commodious, square building, resting on a stone foundation, and containing on the first floor two large rooms, one on each side of a broad hall. On the upper floor was one large room, or hall, with
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recitation room and wardrobe annexed. It was used as a town hall, and for church services, all religious denominations in the absence of church organ- izations, irrespective of creed or church forms, worshipping together.
At this time the only means of crossing the bayou, which lay west of the school and extended in both directions far beyond the limits of the settlement, was by a rude foot-bridge at Hoyt Street, and a plank walk con- nected it with Washington Street. When water filled the bayou, both teachers and scholars who lived upon the opposite side (and very few per- sons then lived east of it), had to be ferried over, or make a detour of Genesee Plank Road, which was then the only team bridge crossing the bayou. There was quite a hill from the west side of the school house to the margin of the bayou, and in winter this was the coasting ground for the boys and girls, and the bayou afforded fine skating all the way to Genesee Plank Road. Their playground was virtually unlimited, as the beautiful forest of Maple. Oak, Beech and Elm, approached to the east side of Jeffer- son Street.
The Pioneer Teachers of the "Academy"
Upon the completion of the "Academy" a competent teacher from the East was engaged as principal, and Miss Mary Rice. a teacher in the Sagi- naw City school, was employed as assistant at a salary of seven dollars a week. When the time came for the opening of the new school, the principal failed to appear. thereupon Miss Rice assumed the duties of that position "without change of salary." In an early report of the Board of Education, 1873, page 43, Miss Rice recounts her experience :
"I could see the beautiful new school from my room at the Webster House in Saginaw City. Looking over toward it the morning I was to commence my duties there, and remembering that, instead of the compar- atively easy work of assistant, I was to fulfill the more arduous task of Principal, I felt over-awed and timid. 'I never can do it,' 1 was beginning to sigh, when courage came back saying. 'Yes, you can.' So I went over resolved to be equal to my work, and to give myself entirely to it. The first day I was alone with a house full of pupils, large and small, untaught and advanced, all sorts and all sizes.
"At my suggestion Mr. Morgan L. Gage, Director, secured the services of Miss Charlotte Messer ( Mrs. Norman L. Miller, of Saginaw City ), who was then teaching a private school there. After classifying our scholars so that she had about sixty primaries, I was still left with as many as the upper room would seat. So Miss Clara Dean, of Pine Run, was engaged as my assistant. Every boat landing at the wharf brought to the town new comers, and of children there was a fair share. Miss Messer's room was soon crowded to the utmost, and Miss Nellie Little ( Mrs. Derby ) was called to assist her. Our salaries were moderate, ranging from four to seven dol- lars a week. and were paid monthly.
"We had 'company' almost every day and it encouraged and stimulated us greatly. It was not always easy to get to the school house. Jefferson Street, toward the north, was marked by a line of stumps, west was the bayou, and cast and south dense woods. Such splendid woods! Full of mosquitoes they were, too. They came in clouds, if not thick enough to darken the air, vet thick enough to oblige us to build 'smudges' in daytime. We had a floating bridge over the bayou. Often when Miss Messer and 1 were crossing, our affectionate pupils would throng around us, and the bridge would sink two, three or six inches in water, so we often taught all day with wet feet. But we were young, strong and happy, and neither feared or minded a cold much."
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THE OLD "ACADEMY" The First School House in East Sagiraw. Erected on the Site of the Hoyt School
At the end of this pleasant school year, in the Spring of 1853, an exhibi- tion and picnic was held. It was no easy task to bring to the school house such things as were needful for the occasion. James L. Webber, however, undertook to draw the lumber and to construct the seats for the visitors in the "grove" near the school house. The reader should not underrate such an effort made more than sixty years ago. Instead of driving due south as he could today, on well paved streets, he had to drive north, then east on the plank road, and south wherever he could find solid ground for his team and a passage through stumps and brush. But the exhibition came off in style, according to the report, and "there were refreshments and speeches. varying with declamations and music." An essay was read by Chauncey Gage, which received high commendatory notice, and the exercises were closed with an address delivered by William L. Webber.
The Weekly Enterprise of September 21, 1853, announced the opening of school under the guidance of J. (. Selden, principal, assisted by Misses Emeline and Clara Dean. The school attendance for this year was two hundred ; and the school was in session seven months, and the whole amount paid to teachers was four hundred and eighty dollars. Besides the common English branches, physiology, philosophy, botany, algebra, bookkeeping and vocal music, were taught in the school.
School opened in the Fall of 1854 with J. C. Warner as principal and Miss Rice as assistant. He was a graduate of Yale and eminently qualified for his position, but his health was feeble and he died in September of the following year. His successor was Dr. R. H. Steele, who remained only a short time. being dismissed by resolution of the board. Other teachers at this period were: Misses Harriet Weller, Helen King. E. R. Burt, Clark. Parker, Jennie Frey, and Mrs. C. E. Stearns.
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Alonzo L. Bingham in Charge
On December 21, 1855, Alonzo L. Bingham took charge of the school, and thereafter it was "in successful operation," the new principal giving "general satisfaction." At the close of the winter term in 1856 there was a thorough examination of the school, to which the public was invited by Mr. Bingham. The schools in those days commanded a fair share of public attention, and the Union School is mentioned as having formed a part of the procession on the Fouth of July, 1857. The manner of equipping the school with books is shown by the calling of a meeting on September 28, for the purpose of voting a tax in order to procure a Webster's Dictionary. The school census of 1857 gives the number of children of school age (between four and eighteen years), as six hundred and forty-six, but the number in attendance is not given.
Mr. Bingham continued as principal of the school until 1860. His work marked a new era, and gave a tone and discipline to the primitive school that had before been lacking. During the Civil War he served with honor, with the rank of Captain, and was present at the Wilderness, Spottsylvania and Petersburg, and returned, scarred by wounds, to live out a life of use- fulness, and receive in death, which occurred in January, 1893, the tribute of our leading citizens.
The moderators of School District No. 1 -Township of Buena Vista. from 1851 to 1853 were: J. T. Calkins, 11. B. Hubbard, Morgan L. Gage, L. H. Eastman, R. C. Newton, Chester B. Jones, W. II. Warner, Henry Woodruff and J. S. Curtis; and the directors were: D. W. Newton, J. E. Voorheis, Morgan 1. Gage, William L. Webber, D. W. C. Gage, Charles T. Disbrow and George W. Merrill.
Organization of Board of Education
In February, 1859, an act to incorporate the Board of Education of the City of East Saginaw was approved by the Legislature, and the first Board of Education was organized March 22, a date which marks a distinctive period in the growth of our school system. These were changeful and stormy times, after the quiet progress of the preceding four years, and the board was embarrassed by the want of funds, and discouraged by the ill success of so many principals, following the able administration of Mr. Bingham. The fall term of 1800 began with D. B. Sturgis as principal, and four women teachers, but the total number of pupils enrolled was only two hundred and ninety-eight, and an average daily attendance of one hundred and seventy- five. Mr. Sturgis tried the experiment of "moral suasion," with the usual result, of that time, that he left at the end of the year.
Beginning with March 1, 1860, the proceedings of the board were regu- larly published. Perry Joslin contracting to do this work for twenty-five dollars a year. From these proceedings it appears that the fall term of 1861 opened with C. J. Myers, a cultured man, of pleasing manner, as principal : and he taught the school successfully until the end of the spring term of 1865. Two of his assistants were Miss Mary Rice, the first teacher of the "Academy," and Miss M. Gillett who also achieved an enviable reputation as a popular teacher.
At a special meeting of the board on March 13, 1862, occurred an inter- esting and novel event. This was the first "annual report" ever made to the board by its president. For sound judgment, admirable arrangement, keen insight, and comprehensive understanding of what the schools had done, and what they should do in the future, this report has not been sur- passed. It was made by John J. Wheeler, and marked him as an intelligent
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and public spirited citizen, even if no other record of his work could be found. From the report we glean the fact that the number of children in the city of school age was eight hundred and fifty-one; the number of pupils enrolled was four hundred and fifty-nine, and the school rooms could prop- erly accommodate only two hundred and sixty. As some of the citizens had expressed the opinion that "the schools cost too much," the report showed that the annual cost per pupil, taking the average daily attendance as a basis. was eight dollars and seventy-seven cents, which was very much less than the cost in many other cities.
Extension of the School System
As early as 1857 the "First Ward" school house, a small frame building of "cottage" style, was built near the site of the present Crary School, on Warren Avenue. In those days it had the name of being a very hard school. Eleven years later it was replaced with a two-story brick school house, con- taining four rooms with two hundred and sixty-five sittings. This build- ing was afterward enlarged by the addition of four class rooms, to accommo- date the demands of this growing section of the city, and is still in use.
Abant 1863 the board purchased a site for a school on German Street, between Clay and Rockwell ( Park and Second), on which was a large, barn- like unpainted house, containing two large, poorly furnished rooms. It was known as the "Old Tin Shop" school, the building in an earlier day having been used for that purpose. To meet the growing needs of the schools the board in 1860 built on this site a substantial brick building, which soon became known as the Central School. This school contained seven large rooms and accommodated five hundred and ten scholars. The cost of the structure was forty thousand dollars, a large expenditure for educational facilities in those days. For a number of years this was the largest school in the city, seven departments being conducted - the High School, Grammar, Intermediate, and four primary grades.
The first principal of the Central School was William S. Tennant, after- ward circuit judge, who had charge from April to July, 1866. He was succeeded by Professor Joseph Estabrook, under whose superintendency, covering a period of five years, the number of teachers in the four schools increased from sixteen to thirty-two. An important event was the incorpor- ation, in 1870, of the German schools with the public schools. The "Ger- mania School." a three-story brick structure, was built, but not completed, by the Germania Society in 1868. English and German were taught in this school by teachers employed by the society, but in the year stated it passed under the control of the Board of Education, on the condition that instruc- tion in German be continued.
At this time the number of teachers employed by the society was three- two German teachers and one English - and the number of pupils enrolled was below one hundred. The teaching of German in the lower grades, at first confined to this school, increased until in 1893 the number of pupils who received primary German instruction was abont eleven hundred. This department then required twelve teachers, one of whom, L. J. A. Ibershoff, acted as supervising principal. During the twenty-two years intervening, Mr. Ibershoff has served faithfully as principal of this school, which is one of the distinctive features of our school system. The German schools are graded and taught in the same manner as are the other public schools in which English branches alone are taught.
It is not needful to here enlarge upon Professor Estabrook's work in connection with our schools, his career belonging rather to the history of the State. In July, 1871, he was succeeded by Professor H. S. Tarbell, who
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-
THE OLD CENTRAL SCHOOL, ERECTED IN 1866
remained with the board until the close of the school year of 1877. During his efficient superintendency several important changes occurred, including the incorporation of the South Saginaw schools with those of the city. One of the principal problems with which the board had to deal at this time was that of providing sufficient room for the increasing number of pupils who desired to enter school, but it was solved in a manner characteristic of a progressive people.
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