Past and present of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Part 89

Author: Beakes, Samuel W. (Samuel Willard), 1861-; S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago : The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 886

USA > Michigan > Washtenaw County > Past and present of Washtenaw County, Michigan > Part 89

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"We now go back to the public schools which were conducted in two districts. Upon the divis- ion of the districts in 1845, the old academy fell into the hands of the south district, No. 12, and for the following decade was the headquarters of school operations of the districts. Near the same time, 1845 or 1846, the building now known as the St. Thomas school ( 1881) was erected by the north district, No. II, for a public schoolhouse. It is a matter of regret that during these years, up to the reunion of the two districts in 1853, the material for a school history of Ann Arbor is so meager that not even the names of the teachers have been preserved. The following statistical items, from the reports of the two districts for 1846 and 1848 will be found of interest.

1846 1848

tween 4 and 18. . .No. II 300 499

No. 12 357 438

Number enrolled in

school No. II 278 150

No. 12 180 167

Amount of money re-

ceived No. II $450 $800.00

No. 12 $450 $348.75

Amount paid teachers. . No. II $224

No. 12 $ 90

The two districts remained separate for eight years, until 1853. They accomplished but little for the educational growth of the place, and most thoroughly failed to supply its educational neces- sities. It was clearly seen that proper and ample educational facilities for the city could only be had by uniting the two districts and grading the schools. But a consolidation was not to be se- cured without a struggle, and, although many who had favored separation, were now eager for reunion, it required all the tact and influence of such men as Erastus O. Haven, David Godfrey, Edwin Lawrence, Donald McIntyre, L. S. Ho- bart, Philip Bach, J. N. Gott, Abram Sager and Chas. Tripp to bring together the two districts and set the school on the road to wider usefulness and prosperity.

"The present (1881) epoch of the public schools began its history in 1853 by the union, under general laws, of the two districts, Nos. 11 and 12 (of the township), which comprised the limits of the city. Ann Arbor at that time had been a chartered city two years. After much consideration and no little sharp advocacy of dif- ferent sites, the present ( 1881) site of the Central building was purchased the same year for $2,000. The Central building was erected in 1854-5 at a cost of $30,000, and was opened for school pur- poses in 1856. A special legislative act for the organization and government of the city schools was procured in 1859. In 1865 this act was amended, or rather re-made, and in the form it then took, except a slight change made in 1879, has remained in force up to the present time

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( 1881). The fifth ward, not then a part of the city, with its present buildings (1881), was an- nexed to the district in 1861. About this time several other annexations of contiguous territory were made to the district. The school attendance rapidly increased: the necessity soon came for more school room, and the ward buildings were erected in rapid succession. The second ward house was built in 1860; the first ward house in 1862: the third ward house in 1866; and the fourth ward house in 1869. In 1871 the Central building was enlarged to nearly double its former capacity. During this building period the base- ment of the Central building and those of some of the city churches were used for school purposes. The 'Old Academy' was sold in 1862. In 1868 the North school building was sold to the society of St. Thomas for school purposes, and the same year the Catholics seceded from the public schools, withdrawing about two hundred pupils and estab- lishing a school of their own.

"While operating under the general law, the district had the following directors : E. Lawrence, elected in 1853 and 1854; Charles Tripp, elected in 1855: E. Lawrence, elected again in 1856: E. B. Pond. elected in 1857 and 1858. Under the special act of 1859 the first board of trustees was as follows: E. W. Morgan, J. M. Wheeler, E. Mann, Philip Bach, W. C. Voorhees, E. B. Pond : J. M. Wheeler was elected president. E. B. Pond, secretary, and Philip Bach, treasurer. The offi- cers of the board down to the present time ( 1881) have been as follows : Presidents-J. M. Wheeler. 1859-71: Abram Sager. 1872; E. B. Pond. 1873-6: W. D. Harriman, 1878 -: Secretaries- E. B. Pond, 1859-64: H. D. Bennett, 1865-6; W. W. Whedon. 1867-9: James B. Gott. 1870-7; J. L. Burleigh, 1878-80: W. W. Whedon, 1880 -; Treasurers-Philip Bach. 1857-76: Leonard Gruner. 1877 -. The city has been exceedingly fortunate, almost without exception, in the char- acter of its school board. It has uniformly been composed of the best men of the city, men who have appreciated education and its work, and who have cared for the schools in a wise and generous wav.

"The first attempt at grading the schools seems to have been made in 1856 upon the opening of

the Central building, when the primary, grammar and high-school departments were established, or rather marked off. At this point the public schools entered upon a new era of prosperity.

"From that time forth the Ann Arbor high school has been one of the most prominent feat- ures of the city. It is one of the largest prepara- tory and academical schools in the country, and its reputation has become well nigh national. Of its four hundred to five hundred pupils, about 60 per cent are non-residents. Its annual tuition receipts go far toward cancelling the cost of its support, while many families become temporary residents of the city in order to secure the advan- tages of its superior instruction. Since 1861, the date of its first graduating class, the school has graduated 870 of its pupils, a large proportion of whom entered the University of Michigan. It is doubtful if any other enterprise of the city has contributed more, even to its material prosperity. than has the Ann Arbor high school. The high school was organized in 1856 with J. C. Abbott, now president of the Agricultural College ( 1881). as principal. He was succeeded, two years afterwards, by D. B. Briggs, with C. B. Grant as associate principal. After two years Mr. Briggs resigned : Mr. Grant became principal, and continued two years, giving all the instruction in Latin and Greek.

"The first superintendent of the public schools was N. W. Lawton, elected in 1862. He served five years, and was followed in 1867 by Elisha Jones, who remained three years. The present incumbent. W. S. Perry ( 1881), was elected in 1870. The principals of the high school after the resignation of Mr. Grant in 1862 have been as follows : Martin L. D'Ooge, appointed in 1862; Arthur Everett, 1864: J. D. H. Cornelius, 1865 ; A. W. Hamilton, 1807: A. H. Pattengill, 1868: S. R. Winchell. 1869: I. N. Demmon, 1873 and J. G. Pattengill, 1876.

"The development of the high school may be indicated as follows: At the outset of 1856, two courses of study, of three years each. the English and the classical, were established. together with special courses of two years in French and Ger- man. In 1868 the Latin and elective courses were added, and the other two courses considerably

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strengthened. The elective course proved worth- less and was soon dropped. In 1870 a scientific course of two years was adopted and in 1871 it was extended to three years. In 1874 the French and German special courses were discontinued, French and German incorporated in the Latin and scientific courses, and all the regular literary courses extended to four years each. In 1872 a commercial course of one year was organized. which, in 1877, was extended to two years.

"Drawing was a part of the grammar school course from the opening of the Central building in 1856. Since 1875 it has been taught in all the lower grade above the second. Painting was taught in the high school from 1856 to 1875. At first piano music was taught in the Central build- ing, but a few years sufficed to show that the school had higher and worthier functions than teaching instrumental music, and it was dropped. Vocal music was made a special study in all grades below the high school, in 1872. Aiming to be conservative of all the good of the past. the schools of the city are ever on the alert to keep abreast of every forward movement in the educa- tional reform, and to make practical in the school room the wisest conclusions of educational science.

"The following three series of statistics taken at intervals of ten years are a fair illustration of the growth of the material interests of the city schools: School census-1860, 1,472: 1870, 2,268: 1880, 2,483; enrollment-1860, 1.307: 1870, 1,864: 1880, 1,877; tuition-1860, $1,202; 1870, $2,025: 1880, $4,814: salaries-1860, $5.741 : 1870, $14,823 : 1880, $17,651 ; appropria- tions-1860. $9.555 : 1870, $16,030; 1880. $18.700."

Since 1880 the following facts need to be noted to continue Professor Perry's article down to the present time. Professor Perry remained as su- perintendent of the Ann Arbor schools until his death in 1897, when he was succeeded by the present superintendent, Herbert M. Slauson. Judson G. Pattengill, who was appointed principal of the high school in 1876, still fills that position. WV. D. Harriman remained president of the school board for some time. Among the more recent presidents have been Miss Emma E. Bower, Mrs.

Anna B. Bach, Eugene F. Mills, Ottmar Eber- bach and Martin J. Cavanaugh. In 1901 the sec- retary ceased to be a member of the school board, and Grove Ray was appointed to that position, which he still holds.

The Tappan school, or sixth ward school, was built in the early eighties and was long regarded as one of the model ward school buildings of the state. An addition was built about 1890. The Perry school, for the first and seventh wards, was built on Packard street in 1902 at a cost of $35,000, the old ward school building on State street being sold to the University of Michigan. .\ $25,000 addition to the high school building was erected in 188 -.

On January 2, 1905. fire was discovered in the basement of the high school building at four o'clock in the morning. It had evidently been burning for some time before being discovered. The building was not in use at the time, owing to its being vacation time, and the heating plant was not going. The fire is supposed to have caught from a stove in a room in the basement which was the only place in the building where a fire was kept going, and the starting is supposed to have been purely accidental. When the fire department arrived it was soon evident that the fire was beyond their control. The water pressure was insufficient to cope with the flames, and, as was afterwards discovered, one of the main hy- drants depended upon was defective. In a few hours the building was entirely destroyed. The high school library and the physical apparatus were saved. The loss was $100,000, and the in- surance amounted to $40,000. Immediate arrange- ments were made to carry on the high school work in the basements of several of the churches, in Harris hall, and in the Hamilton block on North University avenue ; and for a year and a half the high school students were scattered among these several buildings. Immediately plans were made for the erection of a new high school building on the site of the burned building. In April, 1905, the people of the district voted to bond the district for $200,000 for the erection of a new building. Plans were drawn by Malcomson and Higgin- betham of Detroit. In the meantime arrangements had been made with Andrew Carnegie for the

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PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.

erection of a Carnegie library building in connec- tion with the high school. Bids for the erection of the high school and Carnegie library were opened in May. 1905. and the contract was awarded to E. M. Campfield of Ohio, for $237,000.

CHURCHES.

First Presbyterian Church. This church was the fourth Presbyterian church organized in the territory of Michigan, and was organized on August 21. 1826, Rev. Noah M. Wells, then a Detroit clergyman, officiating at its organization. Its first eighteen members who united with the church on that day were: Israel Branch, Mary Branch . Simeon Mills, Clarissa Mills, Bethuel Farrand. Deborah Farrand. Richard Lord, Ros- well Parsons, Agnes Parsons, Harriett Parsons, James Allen, Elizabeth Allen, Mrs. Monroe. Temperance Roberts, Ann Isabella Allen, Phoebe Whitmore and Mrs. Fanny Campbell. Of these members Mrs. Deborah Farrand was the only one living in 1875. At the semi-centennial cele- bration of the organization of the church in 1876 it was reported that in the first fifty years of the church's life 1,200 members had joined, and its membership at that time was 324. The church was organized in a log schoolhouse on the north- west corner of Main and Ann streets. In the winter of 1826-7 services were held in the parlor of the frame tavern on the southwest corner of Main and Huron streets, and later in the ball- room of the tavern where the Ann Arbor Savings Bank Block now stands. Still later services were held in an unfinished room in an old frame build- ing called Cook's Hotel. The next change was to a frame schoolhouse on the corner of Washington street and Fifth avenue, and it was not until 1829 that a frame church was erected on the site of the present church building. This frame church was originally 25 x 35 feet in size, with a belfry con- taining a small bell. The church was unpainted inside and out, and had been given only one coat of rough plastering. An addition of about twenty fett was built for the purpose of accommodating the largely increasing congregation. In this old church the first senate of Michigan was organ- ized in 1834. In 1837 a new church was built a

little further west of Huron street, which was also a frame building, and the bell from the old church was transferred to the new belfry, and for a number of years rang twice a day to notify the people of the time of day, by order of the village board of trustees. This building was afterwards transferred to the third ward schoolhouse. In 1862 the present church building was erected to seat over a thousand people, at a cost of $35.000. Previous to 1832 the church had had no regular pastor, but Rev. William Page, who came here from Warrensville, Wyoming county, New York, in October, 1826, conducted most of the services. He was succeeded by Rev. Ira Pettibone, who preached for about a year. The first regular resi- dlent pastor of the church was the Rev. John Beach who came in October. 1831. and remained until 1838. Then succeeded a number of sup- plies, Rev. E. T. Richards, Rev. E. E. Gregory. Rev. J. P. Cleveland and Rev. Ira M. Wood, until in October, 1834. a second regular pastor was installed in the Rev. William S. Curtiss, D. D., who continued as pastor until April. 1855. In October. 1857. the Rev. Lucius D. Chapin was installed and remained until 1863, from which time the church was supplied for three years by the Rev. W. W. Wetmore and the Rev. David Torrey. Rev. William J. Erdman was pastor from November. 1867. to March, 1870. In Octo- ber. 1871. the Rev. Samuel W. Duffield was made pastor and remained for three years, when the church was supplied by the Rev. Dr. B. F. Cocker until 1875. when Rev. F. T. Brown was installed. Mr. Brown was succeeded by the Rev. Richard H. Steele, D. D., in October. 1880, and Dr. Steele was succeeded in 1888 by the present pastor, Rev. J. Mills Gelston.

The Methodist Episcopal Church. The first Methodist minister to visit Ann Arbor was the Rev. John A. Baughman, who preached at the house of James Allen in October. 1825. After his visit. in the absence of a minister, reading classes were held until in 1826 Rev. William Simmons visited the village. No class was formed until July 29. 1827. when the Rev. John A. Baughman organized a class consisting of Ebor White, Harvey Kinney, Hannah B. Brown, Rebecca J. Brown and Calvin Smith. For the first half of

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PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.

the next year Ann Arbor was in the Monroe cir- cuit and was supplied by the Rev. Geo. W. Walker, but in the latter half of the year it was in- cluded within the Detroit circuit, Rev. John Janes being the circuit rider. In 1829 a new circuit was organized called the Huron, which included Ann Arbor. In the early circuits preaching was held in Ann Arbor once in two weeks on Sunday. Part of the time after 1833 the church was supplied by two ministers who so arranged the work that one of them would be in the village every Sunday. .At the Methodist conference in 1830 the name Ann Arbor appears on the list of appointments for the first time. In 1833 it was made the head of a district and the Rev. Henry Colclazer was placed in charge. Rev. James Gilruth, who died in Davenport, Iowa, in 1873, was one of the first presiding ellers in the Ann Arbor district, which then composed almost all of the inhabitable portion of the state. In December. 1837, a series of re- vival meetings began, which resulted in 118 per- sons uniting with the church, among which were three who afterwards became ministers. In the spring of 1837 the building of a church was un- dertaken under the pastorate of the Rev. Peter Sharp and it was occupied in November, 1837. a revival being started in celebration of the building of the new church. The building was not fully completed until 1839. under the pastorate of the Rev. Elijah Crane, and The Michigan M. E. Conference was held in the church on the day of its dedication. Rev. Thomas Wiley, who had been appointed in 1835 the first pastor at Ann Arbor after it had been made a station, died on April 4 of that year. The Rev. Henry Colclazer, one of the earliest pastors, was the first librarian of the university, a position which he held from 1837 to 1845. Among the pastors of the church have been : 1830, Rev. Leonard B. Gurley; 1831, Rev. Henry Colclazer, Rev. E. H. Pilcher ; 1832, Rev. E. H. Pilcher, Rev. E. S. Gavitt : 1833, Rev. Win. M. Sullivan, Rev. L. D. Whitney: 1834. Rev. Henry Colclazer, Rev. A. B. Elliott ; 1835, Rev. Henry Colclazer, Rev. H. Gearing, Rev. Thomas Wiley: 1836. Rev. Peter Sharp: 1837. Rev. E. H. Pilcher: 1838, Rev. Elijah Crane ; 1839. Rev. Elijah Crane, Rev. Mr. Stoddard : 1840, Rev. Jonathan Hudson : 1841, Rev. John A.

Baughman : 1842, Rev. Andrew M. Fitch ; 1843, Rev. Elliott M. Crippen; 1844, Rev. Samuel D. Simonds : 1846, Rev. Edward McClure; 1847. Rev. Rasin Sapp: 1849. Rev. Geo. Smith ; 1851. Rev. Johnathan Blanchard, Rev. D. D. Wheedon ; 1853. Rev. Thomas C. Gardner: 1855. Rev. S. Reed; 1857, Rev. Elijah H. Pilcher ; 1859, Rev. Win. H. Perrine: 1860, Rev. F. A. Blades ; 1862. Rev. B. F. Crocker: 1865, Rev. H. S. White ; 1868, Rev. B. F. Crocker ; 1869, Rev. L. R. Fisk : 1872, Rev. Wm. H. Shier ; 1875, Rev. Isaac N. Elwood : 1876, Rev. R. B. Pope : 1879, Rev. John Alabaster. Among the later pastors have been Rev. Dr. Ramsay, Rev. Camden M. Cobern, Rev. Benj. L. McElroy, Rev. Edward S. Ninde and the present pastor, Rev. A. W. Stalker.

The First Baptist Church. The first Baptist meeting in Ann Arbor was probably that held at the house of the Rev. Moses Clark, the first set- tler of the Botsford farm, three and a half miles east of Ann Arbor, in February, 1827, when Phoebe Hiscock was received into the Farming- ton church of which Mr. Clark held the pastorate. and it was voted to hold meetings in Ann Arbor regularly from that time. In May, 1829, the Rev. Moses Clark and his family, and several others. were dismissed from the Farmington church to organize a church at Ann Arbor; and on June to this church was formally organized. There were then Baptist churches in Pontiac, Stony Creek, Troy, Farmington and Detroit, and the Ann Arbor church was the sixth organized. The membership consisted of the Rev. Moses Clark, Lucy and Sally Clark, Phoebe Hiscock, Benja- min Slocum, Elizabeth and Nancy Brown and Charles Stewart. The meetings were held in the house, or barn, it is not known which, of the Rev. Moses Clark, and for the first three or four years it was called the Ypsilanti church, until meetings were regularly held in the village of Ann Arbor, when the name was changed to Ann Arbor church. About 1831 the meetings were held in the schoolhouse on the jail lot near the corner of Fifth avenue and Liberty street. Later they were changed to the fifth ward, and in 1835 the First Baptist church was built in the fifth ward. In June, 1849, a new church was dedicated on

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Catherine street, which was remodeled in 1856 and a second addition built in 1868. The present church building was erected in 1879-80 and is 100 x 81 feet in size, with a seating capacity of 750, costing about $25,000. Daniel B. Brown was elected deacon of the church in 1832 and held that position for over fifty years. The pastors of the church from the beginning have been : Rev. Moses Clark, Rev. Thomas W. Merrill. Rev. J. S. Twiss. Rev. Harvey Miller, Rev. W. L. Brown, Rev. A. A. Guernsey, Rev. O. C. Com- stock, Rev. Marvin Allen, Rev. A. Ten Brook, Rev. C. Deland. Rev. Samuel Graves, Rev. G. W. Gunnison, Rev. John M. Gregory, Rev. A. L. Freeman, Rev. Samuel Cornelius, Rev. N. S. Bur- ton, Rev. Samuel Haskell, Rev. Mr. Carman, and Rev. Thomas W. Young. In 1905 the Baptist church society purchased the fine Jaycox resi- dence on Huron street nearly opposite their church. and fitted it up for a guild hall for the students of the university of the Baptist faith. They have also secured an endowment for its maintenance and the support of an assistant pas- tor, and the Rev. Warren P. Behan is the first as- sistant pastor who has had charge of the Guild Hall and the work among the students of the University.

St. Thomas' Church. The first resident priest in Ann Arbor was the Rev. Thomas Cullen, who came to the city in 1840, but before that time the scattered Catholic families in the vicinity of Ann Arbor had been ministered to by the Rev. Father Kelly from 1830 to 1835. and then by the Rev. Father Morrissey, both of whom lived in North- field. After Father Cullen's arrival meetings were held in different private houses until a church was built in 1843. Rev. Father Cullen's district extended from Ypsilanti to Kalamazoo, and he was an exceedingly busy man. In 1848 Rev. James Hennessey came to Ann Arbor to live with him aand assist him in his work, and together the two priests built many churches, in Dexter. Northfield. Jackson, Marshall and a num- ber of other places. In 1852 Rev. Father Hen- nessey moved to Marshall. Rev. Father Cullen continued as pastor of the St. Thomas church un- til his death. September 7. 1862. Rev. Edward

Van Pammell was in charge of the church until 1863, when the Rev. Father J. Stephen succeeded him. During Mr. Stephen's pastorate a house for the priest was purchased, adjoining the church. He was succeeded by the Rev. Father H. Dalber in 1866, who founded the St. Thomas school which yet continues in a flourishing condition. In 1872 Rev. Father J. Murphy was pastor for four months, and in June, 1872, the Rev. Father Francis Joseph Van Earp took charge of the par- ish. He was killed by falling from a carriage on his way home from the county house, where he had been holding services, on July 29. 1879, dy- ing three days later. Rev. Father W. J. Fierle was the next priest and served until 1891, when he was succeeded by the Rev. Father Edward Kelly, the present parish priest. During Father Kelly's pastorate the church has made great strides and the church property has developed into one of the finest church properties in the state. A new church was built and dedicated in November. 1899, at a cost of over fifty thousand dollars, and in 1904 a large and handsome priest's house was built on the church grounds, so that at the present time on the church grounds which cover practically a block, there is a handsome church, a parochial residence, a large school build- ing and conservatory of music, and a music hall. During the past year a fine heating plant has been put in for all the buildings.

First Congregational Church. The First Con- gregational church in Ann Arbor was organized March 23. 1847. with forty-eight members, and almost immediately the erection of a new church began, the church meetings during the building of the church being held in the court house. The first church was on the corner of Fifth and Wash- ington streets, on the site where the Zion church now stands, and was dedicated June 21, 1849, and in this church meetings were held by the Congre- gationalists until the present building on the cor- ner of State and Williams streets was erected in 1876, the old church being sold to the German Lutheran society and thus becoming the Second German Lutheran church in Ann Arbor. The present church building and furnishings cost about forty thousand dollars. Rev. E. P. Inger-

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soll was the first pastor of the church, and served for one year: Rev. L. Smith Hobart served for four years; Rev. William L. Mather for two years : Rev. Joseph Estabrook for a year ; Rev. George Candee for a year : Rev. Samuel D. Coch- ran for three years ; Rev. E. A. Baldwin for six years; Rev. William Smith for one year : Rev. H. L. Hubbell for seven years ; Rev. William H. Ryder for eleven years ; Rev. John W. Bradshaw from .1888 up to 1900; and Rev. Carl S. Patton from that time to the present. Lorin Mills was elected deacon at the organization of the church and held this office for forty-two years.

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Past and present of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Part 89

Author: Beakes, Samuel W. (Samuel Willard), 1861-; S.J. Clarke Publishing Company Publication date: 1906 Publisher: Chicago : The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 886

Author: Beakes, Samuel W. (Samuel Willard), 1861-; S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago : The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 886