USA > Minnesota > Polk County > Compendium of history and biography of Polk County, Minnesota > Part 15
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THE CROOKSTON TRIBUNE.
The Crookston Tribune-first a weekly, then a daily, and then a memory-was a later Crookston venture. It was published by Hammond & Allen, the former a good practical printer, but not a trained newspaper man; the latter a humorist, whose forte was on the vaudeville stage instead of the editorial sanetum. After its demise Hammond went back to setting type, and at last accounts Allen was doing a monologue stunt in tank towns.
Then there was the Gully Sunbeam, established by Mr. Hunt, and noted for its phonetie spelling, and athletie English. It is still running, but under new management, and is to-day a well balaneed and stic- eessful local paper.
THIE VASTESHEIMEN.
The Vastesheimen is a Scandinavian paper, started in Crookston in the early nineties, by Adolph Bydal, and continued later by A. J. Johnson, and is now being published by G. T. Hagen. It is a paper of extensive eireulation and much influence among the Scandinavian readers.
THE POPULISTIC PEOPLE'S PRESS.
When the Crookston Chronicle gave up the ghost, the plant was taken over by C. C. and Harry Knappin -the latter a well known political writer connected with the Twin City papers for many years-and was used in publishing the People's Press. This was in the days when Populism was rampant in the political bull ring. From them it passed to A. R. Holston, an attorney with Socialistie tendencies, now of Los An-
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COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY OF POLK COUNTY
geles, California. He was succeeded by Mr. Hagen, the present publisher of the Vastesheimen who added a prohibition hue to its editorial policy. Elias Steen- erson, then Postmaster, had it wished ou him, and it became the distinguished exponent of pure and unde- filed Republicanism. Three years ago Crawford and Egley purchased the Press, and are now conducting it successfully as a semi-weekly.
OTHER COUNTY PAPERS LIVING AND DEAD.
The Erskine Echo, and the Climax Chronicle are the only two of the later-day weeklies not previously mentioned that are still in existence. There are sev- eral others, like the McIntosh Tribune, the Euclid Eagle, the Beltrami Chronicle, most of which died
"aborning," and left hardly a scratch, on the tablets of fame.
There are many side lights and incidents connected with the history of Polk County journalism, proclaim- ing the joys of temporary victories or the sorrows of disastrous defeats, which would make a long and inter- esting chapter; but they cannot be recorded here. Sufficient to say that the newspaper history of Polk County is coincident with the material progress of the County itself. In every instance, in every sec- tion, the newspapers have been the advance guard in the march toward a higher and better order of things. They have had their ups and downs, their trials, temptations, and disasters; but their tendencies have always been east on the side of better living, and better citizenship, for greater striving and bigger ideals.
CHAPTER XI. THE SCHOOLS OF POLK COUNTY.
BY N. A. THORSON.
BASIS FOR SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT-THE COMING OF THE COUNTY'S SCHOOLS-COUNTY SCHOOLS IN 1877 AND IN 1878-FIRST PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER, LUELLA MAY THOMPSON-OTHER EARLY TEACHERS-TIIE COUNTY SU- PERINTENDENTS-REPORTS OF SCHOOL YEARS FROM 1882 TO 1908-TIIE CONDITIONS IN 1910-SOURCES OF SCHOOL SUPPORT-APPORTIONMENT-STATISTICS OF STATE AND OTIIER AIDS-PRESENT CONDITIONS OF POLK COUNTY SCIIOOLS.
MATERIAL BASIS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCHOOLS.
The State school system embraees the schools of each individual county, and one cannot be considered without the other. In order to understand better why the schools in Polk County have developed thus, we need to eall to mind some of the factors in education in Minnesota.
The Federal Government gave to the people of Min- nesota eertain tracts of land, the benefits from which were to go to the common schools, the University and other publie institutions. No grants were made to normal schools. The people were given these lands in trust, and, as trustees of a great wealth, it was their duty to increase the same for the benefit of themselves and the generations yet unborn. No restrictions were placed upon the State as to the disposition and use of school lands, and as a result, through the wise plan- ning of our early law-makers, we own a permanent school fund excelling that of every other state. Amounting to $3,191,042 in 1875, shortly after Polk County was organized, it had grown to $24,668,248 in 1914, and is now increasing at the rate of nearly a million dollars yearly. Seetions 16 and 36 in every congressional township were designated as "school lands," as the result of an act of Congress of 1849,
when Minnesota was formed into a Territory. In 1851, by a similar aet, grants for the State University were made. These were doubled in 1857.
To one man more than to any other perhaps, must be given credit for the satisfactory condition of our permanent school fund, and that man was Governor Alexander Ramsey. In Minnesota history he is styled, "the Father of the School Fund," which title he justly earned in bringing before the people the question as to whether the school fund should be one with deferred blessings and administered along the sanest and safest lines, or if we should look for immediate benefits which would prove to be premature before long. In his mes- sage to the Legislature in 1861 he said : " * *
* Of this magnificent grant, the gift of the nation to all the millions who are to inhabit the soil of Minne- sota, you are the stewards in their behalf, and it de- volves upon you to see that the sacred trusts involved are faithfully executed." When some held that the administration of the school lands was too great a task for a eentral State authority to perform, and that it had better be left to each county to use the school lands within its boundaries as seemed best to that county, Gov. Ramsey's idea again won the day and the result is the administration by State authority of
96
Theold School Bidg.
The Trail Consolidated School
THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL AT TRAIL, POLK COUNTY
-
DISTRICT 69-POLK COUNTY Two-Room Country School
N. A. THORSON Superintendent
DISTRICT 272-POLK COUNTY Warm Lunches Served Here During Cold Season
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COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY OF POLK COUNTY
all school lands. That this was the wisest policy may be concluded from the fact that not one dollar of the public school fund has been lost through investment. A minimum price was placed upon school lands and the disposal of the same was to be at public auction.
Timber school lands proved very valuable and soon the sale on such lands was discontinued until the tim- ber had been cut and sold. The Legislature of 1855 provided that, except when in danger of waste or in- jury, timber lands should not be sold. There remain, therefore, today school lands whose maturing timber accrues to the general fund.
The discovery of iron ore on some of the school lands added a new chapter to the story of the almost fabulous fund. No more ore lands were sold as be- fore, but instead they were leased for twenty-five cents on each ton of iron ore mined. Mineral rights are now reserved for the State on all lands sold in the future. The funds obtained from the direct sale of school lands, timber sale, and ore revenue invested in good securities yields the money which together with the State one-mill tax is paid to school districts as appor- tionment on the basis of the number of pupils who have attended forty days or more in a school year. Here then is the material basis for our public school system. The following table is a vivid representa- tion of growth of the school fund :
APPORTIONMENT PER PUPIL.
1873 $0.96
1904
1906 $3.80
1908
1910
1912
1914
$2.65
$4.60
$4.90
$5.12
$5.80
It is not likely that this fund will ever be large enough to support the school system without the local district tax and State aid, but it will always guaran- tee free education to all.
EARLY HISTORY AND THE COMING OF THE SCHOOLS IN POLK COUNTY.
As has already been alluded to, Polk County was officially organized in 1873. The nation at large would soon celebrate the centennial anniversary of its birth. Minnesota had existed as a Territory since 1849 and as a State since 1858. The superintendent of public
instruction had already issued his thirteenth annual report which would seem to indicate that the school system had progressed to a considerable degree. Things governmental were in the very beginning, how- ever, in the vast region of northwestern Minnesota which then bore the name of Polk County, almost a veritable empire in extent, or at least several times larger than the present county. The U. S. census showed no returns for 1870 from Polk County. Im- migration from neighboring States and Canada soon resulted in early settlements, mainly along the Red River and in the vicinity of Crookston and Fisher.
Despite the five years of hard times, the population had grown to nearly 1,000 in 1875. It was here that hopeful and courageous people were to work out a future. With the early settler came also the country school, to keep open the channels of literacy by teach- ing mainly reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic, the time- honored "3 R's." The rural school-there was no other-arose originally as essentially a local com- munity affair. Apportionment and other financial aids from the State were almost nil, but the school district and the district school arose in response to community needs. While the organization of school districts took place under the provisions of State law, much local concern and control of the most detailed kind characterized school-building in the early days. Here was a form of "extended democracy." When a school had once been decided upon, it became the concern of the community in a marked degree. The construction of the furniture ; the length of the school term, if it can be said to have had length; the choice of teacher and how much to pay her; the itinerary in the now obsolete "boarding-around" plan,-these and other details were the direct concern of parents. The extreme simplicity of the country school made it well adapted to pioneer days. State control existed, but manifested itself in a lesser degrec than now.
THE EARLY COUNTY SUPERINTENDENTS.
Under proceedings in 1872 which were not legalized until the creation of the county the following year,
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COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY OF POLK COUNTY
Richard J. Reis was appointed County Superintend- ent of Schools for Polk County. The real beginning of the schools, however, eame in 1876, when Distriet No. 1 was organized at Crookston. The same year, by action of the county board, Christopher Steenerson, who now resides at Climax, this eounty, was duly ap- pointed Superintendent of Schools with a salary of fifty dollars the first year. He served in that capacity until the next election, when he was chosen by the people to serve two more years. In view of the un- authorized proceedings mentioned above before the county was duly formed, and in view of the fact that Mr. Steenerson was the first person that was either appointed or elected to the office under authorized proceedings, he too, has been termed the first County Superintendent of Schools in Polk County. He served until the close of the year 1879.
The following are the first educational reports sent to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction from Polk County. They are reproduced here, as we may gather from them the first intimate knowledge of the beginnings of the Polk County schools.
COUNTY SCHOOLS IN 1877.
"Of the fourteen organized school districts in this county, seven have had sehool during the past year.
"District No. 1, Crookston, had four months of sum- mer school. This district also voted bonds in the amount of $2,000 for the ereetiou of a schoolhouse. One new schoolhouse has been built and one is in course of construction. The Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Synod has a schoolhouse in District 4 and the North Dakota Conferenee one in District No. 6. Portions of this county are settled by Scandinavians, many of them coming direct from the old country, wholly unaequainted with the English language. These I have tried to assist in organizing distriets and in eondneting school meetings.
"A great obstacle to the progress of English educa- tion among the Seandinavians is the indifferent, and in many cases hostile, attitude toward our schools of many of the better educated among them, particularly among the clergy. These enemies of secular educa- tion have for some time been erowding the Scandi- navian press with the most virulent and heedless at- tacks on the publie schools of this country. But these enemies of the public schools are perhaps not very numerous and they have many able opponents among the more enlightened and liberal-minded Seandi-
navians, which probably aceounts for the fact that the violent discussions of the former do not seem to have very serious effects upon the mass of the people.
"This county is inereasing in population very rap- idly, and we hope next year to be able to report simi- lar progress in educational matters .- C. STEENERSON, County Superintendent."
COUNTY SCHOOLS IN 1878.
"There are in this eounty at present seventeen or- ganized districts, eleven of which had sehool during the past year.
"Competent teachers have hitherto been very searee, but the rapid influx of intelligent immigration has partially supplied the deficiency.
"There are only five schoolhouses in this eounty. One of the reasons for this neglect of erecting suitable school buildings, is the size of the districts. Many of them eomprise a whole township, and in some eases districts are twelve miles in length, these having been organized by the first settlers who took the timbered elaims along the streams. Some of the inhabitants of such districts are in favor of dividing the district ; others think it wiser to build two or three sehool- houses in one distriet and others think that one good school is all they can afford, but they cannot agree on the location. Many of the residents of the county have settled on railroad lands which are not yet in the market, and the settlers feel unsafe to incur heavy expenses until they can obtain title to their lands.
"The Scandinavians, who constitute the majority of the population of the county, have also parochial schools, and I think nearly all their children attend these from four to eight weeks during the year. These schools are, however, not taught in the English lan- guage and but little instruction is given in seeular branches. Crookston has nearly completed its new school building, pleasantly situated, and will eost when completed nearly $4,000 .- C. STEENERSON, County Superintendent ; P. O. Address, Frog Point, Dakota Territory.
The year 1876 saw the formation of not only the first district in the county, but also five other distriets, as follows: Districts No. 2 and No. 3, embracing East Grand Forks and some of the surrounding country; District No. 4, in Bygland Township; District No. 5, in Hubbard Township, and District No. 6, in Vine- land Township.
Just as Miss Harriet E. Bishop, a teaeller from the far-off East, came, under a commission from the Board of Popular Education, to teach the first school in Min- nesota, in 1847, so eame a young lady from Wiseon-
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COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY OF POLK COUNTY
sin to teaeli the first school in this county. The first school at St. Paul was conducted iu an unused blaek- smith shop, fitted with the standard school equip- ment of that day, consisting mainly of beneh seats, desks supported by pegs driven into the walls, and a home-made teacher's desk. The first school in Polk County was held in a shanty, built from coarse lum- ber and tar paper, near the edge of the timber at Crookston. The first teacher of this school soon gave up teaching and became Mrs. Luella May Thompson, as a result of her marriage to Mr. Hugh Thompson, one of the leading merchants in the county. She was snceeeded in succession by Mrs. Kelsey D. Chase. Ellery C. Davis, E. M. Walsh, and Robert Houston constituted the first school board at Crookston and first in Polk County.
Schools soon sprang up in other parts of the county, and the first distriet ereated in the extreme eastern part of the present Polk County was District No. 8, northeast of Lengby, in the Township of Columbia. Miss Krankie Bearns (later Mrs. Bernt Anderson), Atty. A. Marin, and Mr. John P. Kirsch were among the earliest teachers in this district. In deseribing some of his early experienees as a teacher in the county, Mr. Kirsch writes as follows :
I believe I was teaching in Dist. No. 18 in 1887. This school was on what was then known as the "tote road" between Fosston and the Bagley Dam Lumber Company. I did not find it necessary to board around, as was the custom for teachers in those days, for the reason that I was taken in by Mr. E. H. Noel, who kept a stopping-place for teamsters and lumber- jacks. For a school house we used a log shack on a bachelor's claim. One side of the room was so low that one found it necessary to stoop down while passing along that wall. We had every conceivable kind of a chair, bench and church pew for desks and seats. The country was quite wild and my first real experience with the woods was getting lost in them, be- tween the homes of Director Lillo and Clerk Aspelie. Once, when I lost my watch, we unintentionally dismissed school at noon, and another time, the children were kept till nearly dark. We then took to marking the sun light on the wall until some one went to town to "get the time" for the school. The children gave their names as ".Anderson, " "Larson, " "John- son, " etc., and we had them take family names as "Scabebo," "Aspelic," etc. The boys came to school on skis, usually carrying a rifle, and they often reported a deer hung up for the homeward trip. Most of the families were very poor. We kept a hair clipper in the school and the teacher especially received practical training in hair-trimming, which was con- sidered one of the school's distinctive services to the com- munity. The children's clothing and footwear were as varied as the school furniture. One family had footwear made from a green and nntanned brindle cow hide, hair out, which, when they entered the school, often was frozen and "clumped " like
wooden shoes. As was common in those days, the bachelors were in the majority and several school meetings were held before a school building was voted, and this not until we had the bachelors befuddled in parliamentary practice. It did not take long however before all were satisfied with the prospects for a better school home.
THE COUNTY SUPERINTENDENTS.
Polk County has had ten county superintendents of schools which follow in chronological order: Richard J. Reis, appointed in 1872, before the county was duly organized; Christopher Steenerson, 1877-79; V. D. Carruth, 1880-87; E. F. Elliot, 1887-89; Thomas Casey, 1889-1891; E. J. Grefthen, 1891-93; Andrew Lommen, 1893-95; O. MeCrillis, 1895-97; I. I. Kassa, 1897-1901; Thomas Casey, 1901-9, and N. A. Thorson, 1909, present term expiring 1919. One of the special duties of the early superintendents was the examina- tion of teachers and issuing certifieates to teach. The result was that a very indefinite standard existed for the grading of teachers. Later the examining of teachers was taken over by the State.
The following, based upon excerpts from some of the special reports made by the county superintend- ents of schools to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, indicates certain developments :
1882-Superintendent Carruth. When Norman County was set off, nineteen school distriets were also taken from the county. The following remarkable growth is noteworthy :
1879.
1882.
Organized School Districts. 24 82
Valuation. $ 7,000 37,000
Pupils Enrolled. 558 1,701
Twenty new schoolhouses, at a cost of $18,000, were built in the year 1884. The greatest needs were sehool buildings and teaching facilities.
1888-Superintendent Elliot. Low wages and short school terms combine to keep out many good teachers. The Crookston School was commended for good teach- ing work. The professional study by teachers has grown and some efforts have been made to grade and systematize the school work. "The law on temperanee- hygiene has produced some good results, but the use of intoxieants and cigarettes still exists," adds Super-
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COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHIY OF POLK COUNTY
intendent Elliot. The county system of examining teachers is not satisfactory.
1894-Superintendent Lommen. Both a training school and an institute for teachers have been held in the county. The uniform text-book plan is in vogue, and the number of school libraries is increasing. A fine new school building has been erected at East Grand Forks.
1898-Superintendent Kassa. Thirteen new school distriets and fourteen new schoolhouses are the prod- uet of one year. Little attention is given to ventila- tion in school building construction. There is a greater demand for efficient teachers.
1902-Superintendent Casey. The supply of teach- ers is insufficient. Agitation for seliool consolidation appears to be growing. "General prosperity" is said to exist.
1908-Superintendent Casey. The number of school districts has now reached 215. Nearly every school has free text-books. One hundred and nine dis- triets have libraries. No schools have been closed in connection with transporting children, but some par- ents haul their children to neighboring towns to at- tend school. It is claimed that school consolidation is better on both economic and pedagogical grounds, and the objections to this form of school merger are overbalanced by the advantages. The yearly meetings of sehool officers have had a salutary effeet upon the schools. Many schools have installed special systems of heating and ventilation. The depression always noted in the unventilated school disappears where these devices are used.
COUNTY SCHOOLS IN 1910.
The varying conditions, ranging from the very best to the very poorest schools in the county, present an almost true picture of the evolution of the rural school. An occasional briek-supported stove still remains, but up-to-date heating and ventilating systems are going in at a rapid rate. Fifteen schools added libraries. Antiquated text-books are being replaced by new ones. The progressive teacher is in growing demand. In-
quiries relative to the establishing of consolidated schools are increasing in number. Four special par- ents' and officers' meetings for the consideration of consolidation were conducted. In view of the fact that the compulsory law defines the duties of parents and children with respect to school attendance, it would be only right that the State should guarantee a term of stated length, a course well-defined and suit- able. a school building commodious and sanitary, a complete and useful equipment, and teachers that are professionally and academically trained. A special state aid for transportation is urged. Several school stables have been ereeted.
Two teacher-training departments, one at Crooks- ton and the other at MeIntosh, working in the interest of the rural schools, are turning out teachers some- what professionally trained. These activities prove a boon to the country school. Educational literature receives more attention. The use of a course of study is becoming more general. The number of State-aided schools has increased one hundred per eent, and these schools are the most prosperous in the county. School officers' meetings, with praetieal programs, continue to attract large numbers. Many teachers are volun- tarily preparing themselves to teach agriculture. In- dustrial contests have been started and promise to foster activities of special interest to the home and the school. Many sehools offer systematic work in ag- riculture and sewing. Sueh subjects tend to ward off a dislike for agricultural pursuits. Two hundred and one schools have free libraries. In 1910 there were 778 trees planted on school grounds. The Crookston School of Agriculture and the special departments in the high schools offer excellent opportunities for our people along the lines of industrial education.
SOURCES OF SCHOOL SUPPORT.
The common schools in Polk County, as elsewhere in the State, have derived their support from (a) ap- portionment, (b) special State aid voted by the Legis- lature out of the general tax fund of the State, (c) certain small fines, and (d) the local distriet tax.
CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL, CROOKSTON
i
NEW ARMORY, CROOKSTON
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COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY OF POLK COUNTY
APPORTIONMENT.
This support has been paid to districts where school has been in session five months during the year, on the basis of the number of pupils who have attended forty days or more in any year. Under the new law of 1915, apportionment will be paid to districts where school is in session at least six months during the year, in pro- portion to the number of pupils that attended school at least forty days during the preceding year. In recent years apportionment has been paid out of a fund consisting of the interest on the permanent school fund and the State one-mill tax. Under the new law, the only source of apportionment will be the perma- ment school fund, and will be known as the endow- ment fund. The state one-mill tax for schools will be known as the enrrent school fund. This fund is in- tended to assist distriets in which a fifteen-mill levy will not produce $500 for such school, in session seven months. It will also be used to make up deficits in State aid and for tuition for non-resident pupils in industrial departments of high, graded, and consoli- dated schools.
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