Past and present of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Part 92

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 92

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).

SCHOOLS.

The first school near Ypsilanti was opened by Miss Hope Johnson in 1826 at Woodruff's Grove. The same year the first school in Ypsilanti was opened by Miss Olive Gordon, and was situated on the bank of the river where the sanitarium afterwards stood. Miss Gordon was married that same year to Lyman Groves, and moved with her husband to his farm three miles south of Ypsilanti, where she lived until her death, Oc- tober 29. 1886, at the age of eighty-three. She was the daughter of Job and Sarah E. Gordon, and with her father's family crossed Lake Erie in 1825 in the "Red Jacket." being transferred to a barge which was poled up the Huron river as far as Woodruff's Grove. She had been teaching school in New York from the time that she was fifteen years old, and shortly after her arrival opened the first school in Ypsilanti. In the summer of 1828 Miss Miriam Brooks, who afterward married the Rev. Mr. Frazer, opened a school and in the winter of 1828-9 Mrs. Mark Norris opened a select school in her house. In the summer of 1820 C. Hovey started a school which he ran for a year. In 1830 Miss Ruby Cannon, afterward Mrs. Freeman, opened a girls' school in Mr. Howard's house. In 1830 a brick

740

PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.

schoolhouse was built by W. W. Harwood on the east side of the river, back of the present Woodruff school, which was first used for school purposes in 1831, Miss Laura Vail, afterward Mrs. Blackman, being the first teacher. In the summer of 1831 Grove Spencer taught an evening school in the office of E. M. Skinner and the next year moved into the old red schoolhouse which had been built on the south side of the west public square by Mr. Champion in 1832. In 1833 Miss Emily Wead, afterward Mrs. Sal- mon Champion, taught on the east side. In Sep- tember, 1834, Miss Ruth Parker, who afterward married Mr. Worthington, opened a young la- dies' select school in a room over Mr. Vander- bilt's cabinet shop. She was succeeded as teacher the next year by Miss Granger, who married Dr. Smith, of Toledo. She, in turn, was succeeded by Miss Clark, who married Mr. Murdock and died in New Orleans in 1842. Miss Amanda G. Nichols, afterward Mrs. Buck, taught on the east side in 1834, and in 1836 and for several years thereafter Dennis Hammond taught on the east side. Chauncey Joslyn taught in the White school- house on the west side in 1837. This was the first district schoolhouse.

From 1836 until 1840 a number of private schools were started up and after a brief period died away, but in 1840 a school started which gave more promise of success than the previous ones. Its proprietor and principal was Francis Griffin from New England, who opened his school at first in the Presbyterian church and afterward moved into what was called "The Nunnery." The starting of this school made it easy for Mr. Lan- dreth to organize a classical school, and Charles Woodruff, the veteran teacher, became an assist- ant in the school, teaching the higher classical branches. In 1844 Mr. Landreth moved to De- troit and Charles Woodruff opened an academical school. The history of this school, which became incorporated as the Ypsilanti Seminary, is well told by the Rev. G. L. Foster in a pamphlet is- sued in 1857, who, after describing the opening of the academical school by Mr. Woodruff, adds :

"At this time there stood far out of the village, north, a large brick edifice, which in the days of speculation was intended for a hotel, to be at the

junction of the Tecumseh and Michigan Central Railroads. It was termed one of the 'three follies of the town'-the 'Nunnery' being another, and the frame of which Mr. Ross's house is but the kitchen, being another. This brick would-be ho- tel was thought to be of doubtful ownership for a time, as many things in Michigan were after the crash of 1836. At length it fell into the hands of the Detroit Land Company, and was then cared for by Charles W. Lane. But what to do with it seemed to be an unsettled question. Mr. Wood- ruff had often urged upon the friends of educa- tion here, the importance of securing that build- ing for educational purposes ; but as his sugges- tions were not readily seconded, he determined to carry out his cherished purpose alone. So he rented it for several terms, making it one special object of his school to improve district school teachers, as is evident from his advertisement- and perhaps I ought to say that then Ypsilanti began to be known as the Normal School town of Michigan ; at any rate, as the place to which to look for the best of teachers. This 'Academical School' was so prosperous, that some looking on had thoughts of making it greater, and more dis- tinguished than it now was.

"So, much to the surprise of Mr. Woodruff, from whom the matter had been kept a secret, Rev. H. L. Moore purchased the building, issued his hand-bills, and opened a school which became incorporated in 1845 as the 'Ypsilanti Seminary.' This seminary continued to be under Mr. Moore's supervision until 1848, when the building was purchased by School District No. 4. Among the teachers employed by Mr. Moore, the following will be well remembered: Prof. W. L. Eaton, Nathaniel West, Jr., L. F. Covel, Edward Fen- ney, James Duncan, Miss Gray, Miss M. B. F. Brown, Miss Louisa Brown, Miss Delia Brown, George P. Tindle and Mr. Howell.

"Soon after the Seminary came into the hands of the district board, Rev. M. S. Hawley was in- vited to become principal. He was assisted more or less for a number of years by Miss Rogers, Mr. E. J. Mills, Miss Clapp, Miss Comstock, Miss Powers, Prof. O. A. Jackson, Miss Norris, Miss Clayton, Miss Loomis, Miss Morton, Miss Rice, etc. Of the success of the school after it

----

741

PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.

was taken by the district. I can give you a good idea by quoting a part of a letter sent to the Su- perintendent of Public Instruction, bearing date April 30, 1852:

"'This school was organized in October, 1849, under a special act of legislation, authorizing the directors to adopt any system which would not conflict with the General School Law. It was a bold and in many respects an unprecedented ex- periment. undertaken by our district alone, and involving an amount of pecuniary responsibility which nothing but zeal in the cause of education could have induced its projectors to assume, and which nothing but great faith in the feasibility of their enterprise could have justified them in as- suming.

"'In October. 1851, two years from the time the school was organized, a second district united with the first, and since then it has been sus- tained by the united efforts of the two districts ; still leaving two others in our village which have not seen fit to unite with us. ( These united in 1857.) While under the control of a single dis- trict, it was known as a model school; but soon after the union of the two, there then being no school in this part of the country which afforded advantages superior to the common school, it was «leemed advisable to extend the course of instruc- tion, not only that our own children might re- ceive a thorough and practical education at home under the parents' immediate attention, but also as an inducement for pupils from abroad to be- come connected with the institution. In this re- spect, it is believed, we have gone beyond most institutions in this and other states.

"'In a large majority of the union schools in the State of New York, the course of instruction is limited to that of the common district school. while but few give the advantages of a classic, or even an extended English course. Owing to this deficiency, they are in many instances com- pelled to support, as separate schools, both an Academy and a Union school. We have aimed to unite both of these in one: and how far we have succeeded, the present condition of the school will show. From its character. the privileges it afforded, and the large and comprehensive course of study then adopted, it insensibly, and by a kind of common consent, became known as "Union

Seminary," which name it has since borne, with- out, it is believed, giving offense to other semi- naries, or bringing discredit upon the name. If it is the first institution of the kind that has as- sumed this well-merited distinction, it is to be hoped that it will not be the last; for surely such schools, taking the rank and doing the labor of seminaries in our populous and enterprising vil- lages, are the hope of the state, not only as seats of academical learning, but as preparatory schools for our University. There are now in the Uni- versity at Ann Arbor a number of students from this school, several of whom entered one year in advance.

"'Our school year is divided into two terms, of twenty-two weeks each; and each term into two quarters, of eleven weeks. At the close of each term, there is a thorough examination ; and at the close of the third quarter there is an exhibition also. What public spirit has done in Ypsilanti, it will do elsewhere; and if others see anything commendable in our example, we trust it will be speedily followed in other places, and the ad- vantages of a liberal and thorough English and classical education be placed within the reach of numbers by whom it cannot now be obtained.' (C. Joslyn, Secretary District Board. )

"Since the date of this extract, the Seminary has continued its work even more prosperously than before. The teachers have been adapted to give it efficiency and notoriety, so that it never has been so prosperous as during the past year.

"In April. 1853. the Board secured the services of Rev. Joseph Estabrook as principal, and asso- ciated Miss H. N. Cutcheon with him in the con- trol of the school. These, with their helpers. have been succesful in securing good order and progress in study. The names of under-teachers have been : Charles Bowen, James Gilluli, W. W. Foster, Datus Brooks, S. M. Cutcheon, Eliza Shier, Mrs. Mary Halbert, Miss Emma Fairchild, Miss Lucy A. Post, Miss E. H. Green, Eliza Ham- mond, Laura L. Murray, Sabra Murray, Harriet Culver. Frances Stocking. Sarah E. Warner. A. C. Timpson, Louisa Waldron, Betsey Fisher, Clar- issa Fairchild, Malvina Jenney, A. J. Kishlar. Emma Champion, Fidelia Phillips and Miss Car- penter.

"On Sunday morning. March 29th, the Semi-

742

PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.

nary building was found to be on fire. In spite of the vigorous efforts of the citizens, it soon lay in ruins. Hundreds of sad hearts were there; but the enterprise of this people was equal to the emergency. Places were soon found for the con- tinuance of the school. The entire village became consolidated into one district, which said: 'Let us now build such a house as we need.' So there is now raising, 'Phoenix-like,' an edifice which is to be second to none in the state for the purpose for which it is erected. This edifice consists of a main building, forty-five feet and four inches, by ninety-four feet and four inches deep, with a wing at each end, thirty-seven feet and four inches, recessed back thirteen feet from the front. The entire frontage is one hundred and twenty feet and eight inches. There is a basement nine feet deep. The first story is twenty feet in height. and the second and third stories are fifteen feet each. The style of the building is Roman, with Italian bracketed cornice. The outside elevations are all of one height, and have a bold projection, supported from the frieze by heavy carved brack- ets. The doors and windows have large molded caps, and the roof is mounted with three large cupolas. Jordan and Anderson were the archi- tects : Mitchell and McDuff were the contract- ors."

The new building was formally dedicated Au- gust 17. 1858, and continued in use until De- cember 9. 1877, when it was destroyed by fire. Immediately the citizens determined to raise an even better building than the one burned, and a new central school building was opened in 1879 with Professor R. W. Putnam superintendent of schools. This building, in turn, was burned May 3, 1894, shortly after one o'clock in the afternoon, the fire starting after the school children were all in the building. Happily the teachers managed to get them all from the building without injury. The Ypsilanti fire department, finding that they would be unable to cope with the flames, tele- phoned to Ann Arbor for assistance, and the Ann Arbor company made a record run to Ypsilanti with their engine in thirty-eight minutes, each of the fire horses losing about thirty pounds in weight during the trip, but the fire was then be- yond control. The loss was forty-five thousand

dollars and the insurance twenty-six thousand. Nothing daunted with having lost three high schools by fire, a new and still better building was immediately erected by the school district. There are three handsome school buildings in Ypsilanti for the grades, the Woodruff school, the Prospect School and the Adams school.

CHURCHES.

The Baptist Church. The Baptist church did not commence its existence as many other churches of that denomination in Washtenaw county. It was about the fiftieth in the territory, and the twentieth in the "River Raisin Associa- tion," with which it was at first connected. It was organized in October, 1836, by Elder J. S. Twiss, then residing at Ann Arbor, a man well remembered for his eccentric faithfulness. Pre- vious to this time, there had been Baptist preach- ing occasionally by such pioneers as Boothe, Pow- ell and Loomis. At its organization the church consisted of the following members: Abraham Clawson, Eleanor Clawson, Matthias Lyon, W. E. Stille, Talmon Brown, George Guthrie. Mrs. Guthrie, Phoebe Guthrie, Melinda Lay, Sily Lay, Hannah Crossitt, Phoebe Hiscocks, Mary Sabin, John Conant and Charlotte Stewart. W. E. Stille was chosen clerk, and Abraham Clawson and Matthias Lyon were elected deacons. Elder John Goff was chosen their first pastor, and he remained with the church for two years. After Mr. Goff. Samuel Jones became the minister in 1838, and remained but little more than a year. About this time there arose a division in the church because of doctrinal differences in opinion. How- ever, a revival of religion, in which the pastor was assisted by elders Weaver and Simmons, helped to bring the members of the church together again. After Mr. Jones came Elder J. Keyes, who remained but a year. During his residence there occurred a revival which is described as follows by Elder Robert Powell :

"On the 12th of July, 1839. as I was riding on an agency for the State Convention. I was per- snaded by the unanimous request of the Baptist, the Methodist and several efficient members of the Presbyterian church, to suspend my agency

743

PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.

and conduct a series of meetings on union prin- ciples. I continued with them fourteen or fif- teen days, until my health failed. A good work was enjoyed. Our meetings were held in a small brick meeting house on the east side of the river : everything proceeded with the utmost harmony. Ten were added, by baptism, to the little Baptist church, and a much larger number to both the Methodist and Presbyterian churches. Many said in my hearing. that Ypsilanti had never enjoyed such a time before."

After this the church was for a time without preaching, except occasionally. A want of agree- ment as to what kind of ministerial characteristics they desired to employ, and their pecuniary ina- bility, led many to be well-nigh discouraged. But in the spring of 1843 there came to be a good degree of unity in calling Elder L. H. Moore to become their pastor. The result showed that this choice was well ordered. The society, which had previously worshiped in the schoolhouse on the east side of the river, now purchased the old brick church of the Methodists, and so repaired it as to worship there three or four years. In June, 1846, an attempt was made to raise funds for the erection of a new church. The effort was successful ; and a contract for building was taken by Deacon I. N. Field. During the early part of 1847. the congre- gation worshiped in the chapel of the Seminary. which was then owned by Elder Moore. On the 17th of June, in that year, a new church was dedi- cated. Sermons were preached by Elders Piper and Ten Brook, and an interest was added to the occasion by the presence of some returned mis- sionaries. In October of that year. the "State Association" met with the church. Elder Moore left in the summer of 1849 and on the night of the 23d of December the church edifice was con- sumed by fire. The work of rebuilding soon commenced and on September 4. 1850, a new church building was dedicated. A few weeks previous to the burning of the church building. Elder S. A. Taft had commenced to preach to the congregation, coming over from the University at Ann Arbor to do so, and continued these serv- ices for about two years. In October, 1851, EI- der E. Curtiss became pastor. During his pas- torate a revival was held at which Elder Edwards,.

evangelist, assisted. After Mr. Curtiss, Elder Taft came for a second time, and remained an- other two years. Then came Elder W. P. Patti- son in October. 1855. Rev. Charles E. Hewitt succeeded him in 1863. to be succeeded by Rev. N. B. Randall in 1860, who was succeeded by Rev. J. S. Boyden in 1872. Rev. J. H. Scott came in 1880. Rev. J. Sunderland in 1882, Rev. L. M. Woodruff, D. D., in 1885 and Rev. J. L. Cheney in 1886. Rev. R. W. Van Kirk and Rev. James A. Brown followed Rev. Mr. Cheney. The present pastor is Rev. Almon J. Hutchins.

The number of communicants in 1857 was one hundred and fifty-two. The church built in 1850 was enlarged in 1865. In 1874 a new church was erected at a cost of thirty thousand dollars.

The Methodist Church. As early as the year 1825. Woodruff's Grove was one of the preach- ing places of Rev. Elias Pattee. Here he is said to have formed a class of five members-which was the first religious society in Washtenaw county. The region about Ypsilanti at that time was under the jurisdiction of the Ohio Confer- ence and Woodruff's Grove was upon what was termed "Huron Circuit," which extended from Detroit west to Jacksonburg (Jackson now) and beyond. This circuit was narrowed down and named Ann Arbor Circuit in 1830; and then again narrowed and named Ypsilanti Circuit in 1832. In 1837 Ypsilanti became a station on the circuit. Soon after MIr. Pattee came the Rev. John A. Baughman in the autumn of 1826, whose thundering voice so echoed through the forests that he was termed "John the Methodist crying in the wilderness." He formed a class of which Asa Rice and others were members. Eleazer Smith was its first leader. Mr. Baughman gen- erally preached at the house of Isaac Powers, Ypsilanti's first postmaster, who, though not a Christian, was a man of public spirit and some generous impulses. After Mr. Baughman came Cooper. Gurley. Sayer. Elliott and others; and after Ypsilanti became a station the ministers were Wesley J. Wells. J. H. Pitsell. Oscar North, Elijah Crane. Mr. Champion. Elliott Crippen, George Taylor. W. F. Cowles, T. H. Jacokes. Seth Reed. W. G. Stonix. F. A. Blades, J. S. Smart. R. R. Richards, Benjamin F. Crocker,

744

PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.

Seth Reed, M. Hickey, Thomas C. Gardner, Thomas Stalker, James M. Fuller, O. J. Perrine, and W. W. Washburn. This completes the list down to 1860, since which date many able clergy- men have filled this pulpit. The present pastor is Rev. Eugene C. Allen.

The first regular place of worship for the Methodist congregation was the brick school- house on the east side of the river which was built in 1829, and used to stand in the midst of a beautiful grove, which was much enjoyed by the congregations in summer when they were too large for the occupancy of the house. In 1831 the foundations were laid for a brick church. The walls were put up and the roof on, but from finan- cial inability the work was so delayed that the house was not occupied until 1835. In 1832 this congregation had a society regularly organ- ized according to statute. About this time that edifice was entered, many who had previously worshiped with the society withdrew, because other societies were springing up for which they had a preference. For this reason the congrega- tion did not flourish for a number of years. In March, 1848, in a season of revival when the church was densely packed, the floor gave way, but only a few were injured and none fatally. Rev. W. P. Judd was preaching at the time and meetings were continued for some days and even- ings in succession, at first in the Presbyterian church and afterward in the loft of a storehouse owned by Mark Norris. The society for most of the summer following worshiped in the chapel of the Seminary. Dr. T. M. Town proposed to build such a house as would meet the needs of the congregation provided the society would pay for it, as they might be able, out of pew rents and purchases. A new building was then commenced in March, 1843, and completed in September of the same year. A fine parsonage was purchased in 1853. The number of communicants in 1857 was three hundred and sixteen.

In 1859 the church building was enlarged and in 1871 a brick parsonage was built at a cost of $5.000. In May, 1875, a celebration lasting two days in honor of the semi-centennial anniversary of the founding of the church, and was attended by a large number of clergymen. Since then the

present very large and handsome church struc- ture has been erected.

St. Luke's Episcopal Church. As early as 1828 a Mr. Cornish assembled a few on Sundays and read the service of the Episcopal church, sometimes delivering a sermon. In the same year Rev. Mr. Corey, of Detroit, came out and preached occasionally and after him Rev. Richard Berry came a few times. In 1830 while the terri- tory was yet under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Bishop McIlvane, of Ohio, the Rev. Silas C. Freeman came here as a missionary. He organ- ized a church of about ten members and named it St. James. Then came Rev. Charles Reighly, under whose ministry an Episcopal Society was formed and the name of the church changed from St. James to St. Luke. A new church edifice was built, and consecrated July 3, 1838, though the spire and the pews were not finished until 1842. After serving the society about two years Mr. Reighly resigned and went south where he subsequently became president of Columbia Col- lege in Mississippi. Next came Rev. H. P. Pow- ers in June, 1840. The church was still very small, having but fifteen communicants and the society was weak and embarrassed. The duties of a rector were arduous, involving, as was not uncommon in those days, the responsibilities also of sexton, collector and warden. After a pastor- ate of more than six years, Mr. Powers resigned in 1846. After being supplied occasionally by neighboring ministers the society succeeded in securing the services of Rev. John A. Wilson. Mr. Wilson commenced his labors in July, 1847, coming down from Ann Arbor and returning generally on foot, for the first season. At a meeting of the vestry in March, 1856, it was re- solved to enlarge and improve the then existing church edifice, but this proposition ended up in the erection of a new building on the location of the old church ; and this new building was con- secrated June 28, 1857. The architects were Jordan and Anderson, of Detroit, and the contract- ors were Pattee, Griffin, Curtiss, Boyd and Fos- ter. The size of this church, which is the present structure, is ninety-three by forty-five feet, and the spire is one hundred and twenty-eight feet high. Its cost, furnished, was fifteen thousand

745

PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.

dollars. The number of communicants in 1857 was 80. The officers of the church at the time the new building was being erected were : Rev. John A. Wilson, rector : Benjamin Follett and George Hill, wardens: Benjamin Follett, H. G. Sheldon, C. King. F. N. Clark, J. M. B. Sill. C. Joslyn, Geo. Hill. M. A. Parks, M. Cook and J. W. Van Cleve, vestrymen. In 1872 Rev. John Wilson celebrated the 25th anniversary of his pastorate. during which period he had delivered 2,600 ser- mons, 900 lectures and confirmed 256 people ; and the total amount of money raised during that pe- riod. for all purposes, had been $53-345-57, of which $10, 245.57 was for missions and churches. Dr. Wilson remained rector until the '8os, when Rev. Thomas McLean became rector. He was succeeded by Rev. Mr. Woodruff. Rev. Montgomery M. Goodwin and Rev. William Gardam, who became rector in 1895 and still has charge of the parish.

The Presbyterian Church. Rev. Geo. L. Fos- ter gave the history of the Presbyterian church in the last sermon delivered in the old Presby- terian church edifice on September 20. 1857. as follows :

"In searching out the history of the Presby- terian church, we find that Rev. Noah M. Wells, of Detroit. came out and preached here a few times in 1827-8. By this time a few had come into this vicinity who had previously been at- tached to Presbyterian and Congregational churches. These sometimes met for prayer and the reading of sermons, E. M. Skinner being the reader. In July. 1829. Rev. William Page, of Ann Arbor, organized a church consisting of the following persons : Clement Loveder, Ruth Love- der, George McDougal. Mary McDougal, Daniel Russell, Cornelia Russell, James Fleming. Martha Fleming, Mrs. Mary McNath, Miss Roxanna Mc- Nathı, Mrs. Sarah Whitmore and Joseph Brown -twelve in all. Previous to the next communion, Mrs. Polly Carr, Miss Hannah Carr, Miss Nancy Carr and Orin Derby were added. The latter was chosen clerk though I have been unable to find anything of his recording. This organization took place in the front room of the Grant building on the corner of Congress and Washington streets. They seem to have been definitely Pres-

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Past and present of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Part 92

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