USA > Minnesota > Concise history of the state of Minnesota > Part 12
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169
STATE NORMAL SCHOOLS.
sage to the second Legislature in December, 1859, Gov- ernor Sibley said of the loan of State credit:
"I regret to be obliged to state that the measure has proved a failure, and has by no means accomplished what was hoped from it, either in providing means for the issue of a safe currency, or aiding the companies in the completion of the work upon the roads."
Notwithstanding the pecuniary complications of the State during Governor Sibley's administration, the Leg- islature did not entirely forget that there were some interests of more importance than railway construction, and on August second, IS5S, largely through the influ- ence of the late John D. Ford, M. D., a public-spirited citizen of Winona, an act was passed for the establish- ment of three normal schools for the training of public school teachers.
In the month of June, 1859, an important route of travel was opened between the Mississippi and Red River of the north.
The enterprising firm of J. C. Burbank & Co. having secured from Sir George Simpson, the Governor of the Hudson Bay Company, the transportation of their sup- plies by way of St. Paul, which had hitherto been car- ried by tedious and tortuous routes from York River or Lake Superior, purchased a little steamer that had been built by Anson Northup and was on the Red River of the North, and commenced the carrying of goods and passengers by land to Breckinridge, and from thence by water to Pembina.
At an election held in 1859, Alexander Ramsey was elected Governor, and in his inaugural message to the second Legislature, on January second, 1860, he devotes a large space to the complications arising from the loan
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
of the State credit to railroad companies. He urged that something should be done, relative to the outstand- ing $2,300,000 of State railroad bonds, and suggested several methods which might be adopted for withdraw- ing them.' In the course of his argument he remarked: "It is extremely desirable to remove as speedily as pos- sible so vexing a question from our State politics, and not allow it to remain for years to disturb our elections, perhaps to divide our people into bond and anti-bond parties, and introduce annually into our legislative . halls an element of discord and possibly of corruption, all to end just as similar complications in other States have ended; the men who will have gradually engrossed the possession of all the bonds, at the cost of a few cents on the dollar, will knock year after year at the door of the Legislature for their payment in full; the press will be subsidized; the cry of repudiation will be raised; all the ordinary and extraordinary means of procuring leg- islation in doubtful cases will be freely resorted to; until finally the bondholders will pile up almost fabulous for- tunes. * It is assuredly true that the present time is, of all others, alike for the present bondholders and the people of the state, the very time to arrange, adjust, and settle these unfortunate and deplorable rail- road and loan complications."
On March twenty-third, 1860, the first white person1 executed under the laws of the State was hung, and, from the fact that the one who suffered the penalty was a woman, excited considerable attention.
Michael Bilansky died on March eleventh, 1859, and upon examination was found to have been poisoned. Anna, his fourth wife, was tried for the offence, found 1. An Indian was hung in December, 1:51.
171
A WHITE WOMAN LEGALLY EXECUTED.
guilty, and on December third, 1859, sentenced to be hung. The opponents of capital punishment secured the passage of an act by the Legislature to meet her case, which was vetoed by the Governor as unconstitutional. Two days before the execution the unhappy woman re- quested her spiritual adviser to write to her father and mother in North Carolina, but not to state the cause of her death. The scaffold was erected in St. Paul near the county jail.
The third State Legislature assembled on January eighth, and adjourned on March eighth, 1861. As Min- nesota was the first state which received twelve hundred and eighty acres of land in each township for school purposes, the Governor in his annual message, occupied several pages in an able and elaborate argument as to the best methods of guarding and selling the school lands and protecting the school fund. The comprehensive views set forth made a deep impression, and were em- bodied in appropriate legislation, and the school land policy of the state has called forth the highest com- mendation from educators in other states.
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
CHAPTER TWELFTH.
RELIGIOUS AND EDUCATIONAL REGINNINGS IN THE WHITE SETTLEMENTS.
The chief of the Kaposia band in 1846, was shot by his own brother in a drunken revel, but surviving the wound, and apparently alarmed at the deterioration under the influence of the modern harpies at St. Paul, went to Mr. Bruce, Indian agent, at Fort Snelling, and requested a missionary. The Indian agent in his report to government, wrote: "The chief of the Little Crow's band, who reside below this place ( Fort Snelling ) about nine miles, in the immediate neighborhood of the whisky dealers, has requested to have a school established at his village. He says they are determined to reform, and for the future will try to do better. I wrote to Doctor Williamson soon after the request was made, desiring him to take charge of the school. He has had charge of the mission school at Lac qui Parle for some years, is well qualified, and is an excellent physician."
In November, 1846, Dr. Williamson came from Lac qui Parle, as requested, and became a resident of Ka- posia. While disapproving of their practices, he felt a kindly interest in the whites of Pig's Eye, which place was now beginning to be called, after a little log chapel which had been erected by the voyageurs, St. Paul .. Though a missionary among the Dakotahis, he was the first to take steps to promote the education of the whites
173
WILLIAMSON, IN 1847, DESCRIBES ST. PAUL.
and half-breeds of Minnesota. In the year 1847 he wrote to Ex-Governor Slade, President of the National Popular Education Society, in relation to the condition of what has subsequently become the capital of the state, in these words: "My present residence is on the utmost verge of civilization, in the north-west part of the United States, within a few miles of the principal village of white men in the territory that we suppose will bear the name of Minnesota, which some would ren- der 'clear water', though strictly it signifies slightly tur- bid or whitish water.
"The village referred to has grown up within a few years in a romantic situation on a high bluff of the Mis- sissippi, and has been baptized by the Roman Catholics, by the name of St. Paul. They have erected in it a small chapel, and constitute much the larger portion of the inhabitants. The Dakotahs call it Im-ni-ja-ska ( White Rock), from the color of the sandstone which forms the bluff on which the village stands. This village has five stores, as they call them, at all of which intoxicating drinks form a part, and I suppose the principal part, of what they sell. I would suppose the village contains a dozen or twenty families living near enough to send to school. Since I came to this neighborhood I have had frequent occasion to visit the village, and have been grieved to see so many children growing up entirely ig- norant of God, and unable to read His word, with no one to teach them. Unless your society can send them a teacher, there seems to be little prospect of their having one for several years. A few days since, I went to the place for the purpose of making inquiries in reference to the prospect of a school. I visited seven families in which there were twenty-three children of proper age to
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
attend school, and was told of five more in which were thirteen more that it is supposed might attend, making thirty-six in twelve families. I suppose more than half of the parents of these children are unable to read them- selves, and care but little about having their children taught.
"I suppose a good female teacher can do more to pro- mote the cause of education and true religion than a man. The natural politeness of the French ( who con- stitute more than half the population ) would cause them to be kind and courteous to a female. I suppose she might have twelve or fifteen scholars to begin with, and if she should have a good talent of winning the affec- tions of children (and one who has not should not come ), after a few months she would have as many as she could attend to.
"One woman told me she had four children she wished to send to school, and that she would give boarding and a room in her house to a good female teacher, for the tuition of her children.
"A teacher for this place should love the Savior, and for his sake should be willing to forgo, not only many of the religious privileges and elegancies of New England towns, but some of the neatness also. She should be entirely free from prejudice on account of color, for among her scholars she might find not only English, French and Swiss, but Sioux and Chippewas, with some claiming kindred with the African stock.
"A teacher coming should bring books with her suffi- cient to begin a school, as there is no book-store within three hundred miles." ยท
In answer to his wish, Miss Harriet E. Bishop was sent, and after a visit to the mission house at Kaposia,
175
FIRST ST. PAUL SCHOOL-ROOM.
was introduced by him to the citizens of St. Paul as their first school teacher. The wife of the late John R. Irvine, still living (January, 1887) received her into her family, and was a friend until her death.
The teacher thus described her school-room: "The school was commenced in a little log hovel, covered with bark, and chinked with mud, previously used as a black- smith shop. It was a room about ten by twelve feet. On the sides of the interior of this humble log cabin, pegs were driven into the logs, upon which boards were laid for seats. Another seat was made by placing one end of a plank between the cracks of the logs, and the other upon a chair. This was for visitors. A rickety, cross-legged table in the centre completed the furniture."
In Stillwater there had been schools for a brief period, in private houses, until 1848, when Amanda M. Hosford arrived under the auspices of the same Educational Society as the teacher in Saint Paul, and in 1849, a Miss Backus, also under this Society, opened a school at the Falls of St. Anthony. In 1849, Miss Bishop, of Saint Paul, was assisted by Miss Scofield of the National Educational Society.
The first resident ordained clergyman in Saint Paul, after Rev. Mr. Ravoux of the Roman Catholic branch of the Church, was a Presbyterian, who in April, 1849, preached his first sermon in a small school room, near Third and St. Peter street, which had been erected for the use of Miss Bishop's school. Before the close of the summer, the Rev. J. P. Parsons, a Baptist, and the Rev. Chauncey Hobart, of the Methodist Episcopal branch of the Church, arrived. At Stillwater, the first resident minister came in the autumn of 1849, the Rev. J. C. Whitney, a Presbyterian, and a few weeks later,
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
arrived the Rev. W. C. Brown, a Baptist. Until the summer of 1850, there were occasional services in the school house at Saint Anthony conducted by the Pres- byterian and Baptist Ministers of St. Paul, and the Pro- testant Episcopal chaplain of Fort Snelling.
The first church organizations in St. Paul after the Roman Catholic were the Methodist Episcopal in 1848, the Presbyterian, on the twenty-sixth of November, 1849 with nine members, the Baptist on the twenty-sixth of December of the same year with twelve members.
In December, a Presbyterian church was organized at Stillwater. At Saint Anthony, a Baptist church was organized in July, 1850, by the Rev. W. C. Brown, and the same season a Presbyterian church by the Rev. W. Wheeler, who had been a missionary in Africa. During this season, the Rev. J. Lloyd Breck, T. Wilcoxson, and J. Merrick came to St. Paul as representatives of the Protestant Episcopal branch of the church, and preached at several settlements in the Territory. In the autumn of 1850, there arrived two Congregational ministers, the Rev. Richard Hall, and Rev. Charles Secombe. The former organized the first Congregational church in Minnesota at Point Douglas, and the latter succeeded Mr. Wheeler, as preacher to the Presbyterian church at Saint Anthony, and afterwards organized a Congrega- tional church.
The legislature of 1849, passed laws in relation to common schools. The first meetings for the establish- ment of schools under this law, were held in December, 1849, at Saint Paul. Three district schools were estab- lished, one at the Methodist church on Market street to be taught by the Rev. Chauney Hobart, one in the school building on Third street near St. Peter, in care of
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BURT'S EDUCATIONAL HISTORY.
Miss Bishop, and Miss Scofield to teach in a building to be erected on Jackson street north of Fourth. Soon the other settlements adopted the common school sys- tem.
D. Burt, State Superintendent of Instruction, in a re- port transmitted to the Legislation of 1SS1, gave the following educational history:
"Facts gathered by protracted and perplexing study, are in possession of the superintendent, which no suc- cessor in the office may have time or patience to gather from the meagre original sources. It may, therefore, be proper to chronicle the following facts from these ma- terials respecting the Superintendency of the State Edu- cational Department.
"In the second message of Gov. Ramsey to the legisla- tive assembly, in 1851, he said: 'To insure method and uniformity, I would suggest the creation of the of- fice of superintendent of schools.'
"At the same session a bill was passed creating the office and requiring the Governor to appoint a superintendent, with the advice and consent of the council, for a term of two years, the salary being fixed at $100. The first ter- ritorial superintendent was E. D. Neill.
"The first annual report was made by him on the 19th of January, 1852, of which only a few copies are now in existence. Only Ramsey, Washington and Benton counties reported. There were eight schools and five school houses. Mr. Neill was appointed in March, 1851, and resigned in the summer of 1853.
"E. W. Merrill was appointed by Governor Gorman, August 13th, 1853, to fill the unexpired part of Mr. Neill's second term, which was to end March 11th, 1854. Mr. Merrill made the third territorial report, January
178
HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
21st, 1854. He was succeeded by M. C. Baker, who was appointed March 11th, 1854, and made the fourth an- nual report, January 1st, 1855.
"In the annual message of the Governor, for 1857, he says: "The superintendent of common schools has taken great pains to infuse new life and excite a new interest in every branch of education, as far as it came under his jurisdiction and control. His able and interesting re- report will be laid before you.'
"Noeducational reports can be found from 1856 to 1859 inclusive. It is possible however that such reports were printed. The person to whom Governor Gorman re- ferred in the message of 1857, was W. S. Hall. This gentleman was appointed territorial superintendent of schools, perhaps in the summer of 1855; possibly not until March. 1856. Of this appointment there is no record in the Executive Department. He collected and printed in pamphlet form the school laws of 1857.
"It appears that the salary in 1856 was made $500, but the records of the Auditor's office show that no salary was paid in 1858-59. It is possible that Mr. Hall held the office nominally and without pay until the expiration of the territorial government.
"The educational reports of those times contain almost no statistical or definite data of any kind, while they are big with hope and abundant in prophecy. It is to be regretted that the superintendents, especially of the last three or four years of the territorial period, did not issue blanks for teachers' and clerks' reports. Facts of great future interest might have been thus secured and a habit of reporting established. But nothing of the kind was done, and we really know almost nothing
179
STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS.
of the schools and teachers of Minnesota from 1856 to 1860.
STATE SUPERINTENDENCY.
"The territorial law of 1851 requiring the Governor to appoint a superintendent of schools, remained in the statutes until 1860. In that year it was enacted that the chancellor of the university, an officer then re- required to be appointed by the regents, should be ex- officio superintendent. This act made E. D. Neill the first state superintendent of public instruction. His term of office commenced on the first of April, 1860, and in justice to Mr. Neill it should be said, he was not the author of the bungling legislation of that year re- specting a township superintendency. In the first state report he recommended the genuine township sys- . tem and the appointment of county superintendents; and also that the apportionment of school funds should be made, 'upon the number of scholars attending the district schools.' Two of these early recommendations have been realized and the third is yet to come.
"The first annual state report could contain but few sta- tistics, since territorial superintendents had adopted no plan for gathering such data. Mr. Neill was the auth- or of the first teachers' register ever issued in the State, and of the first forms used for reports on the condition of the schools. The Executive Documents of 1860 con- tain his first report.
"On the 8th of March, 1861, a law was passed requiring a joint convention of the senate and house to elect a superintendent of public instruction for a term of two years. Whatever may have been the motives dictating this legislation, it could not have resulted from any gen- eral hostility to Mr. Neill; for on the same day in which
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
the act became a law, he was elected in joint convention by an almost unanimous vote as superintendent of pub- lic instruction for two years. But on the 29th of April, 1861, he was appointed chaplain of the First Minnesota, causing a vacancy in the superintendency, which the Governor filled by requirement of the school law.
"B. F. Crary was appointed Mr. Neill's successor and made the second annual report in December, 1861, not forseeing that a radical change was coming with the next legislature.
"In March, IS62, a revised school code was passed, which provided that the secretary of state should be ex officio superintendent of public instruction. The duties assigned to the office were intended only to keep its machinery in motion. School registers were to be pre- pared and distributed, with blank forms for reports of clerks and county auditors. The current school fund was to be apportioned and an annual report submitted to the legislature, containing statistics of the schools and a statement of their condition. This plan seems to have been adopted to meet a demand for economy, and perhaps as a reaction from legislation that dropped the office into a political arena; for it could not have been supposed that the office of secretary of state is especial- ly germane to that of superintendent of public instruc- tion. This legislation made D. Blakely, then secretary of state, the successor of Mr. Crary. In his report for 1863 Mr. Blakely said: While it was evidently not the intention of the legislature in merging the office of public instruction in that of secretary of state, to confer any large power upon the new officer, or to expect of him an active supervision of the working machinery of the common school system of the state, I have, never-
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PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM.
theless, been at no small pains to observe its practical operation, to trace its results with regard to the great end sought, the thorough education of the youth of the state in the common school branches, to note wherein it conduces to that end, and wherein it fails.'
"It was fortunate for our schools that their first e.x officio superintendent was willing to assume work of this kind, although not required by law, but more fortunate still that he had the ability to render such voluntary service in a manner creditable to any professional super- intendent.
"The school fund first became productive under his administration, and his prudent suggestions and care concerning its apportionment, furnished a precedent which future superintendents could safely follow.
"H. C. Rogers became the successor of Mr. Blakely as secretary of state, and made his first, and the last edu- cational report under this ex officio arrangement, Dec. 31st, 1866. This report is mainly statistical, and the facts that there were 1,99S school districts and 100,000 persons of school age, were urged as reasons for making the office of superintendent of public instruction dis- tinet from that of secretary of state. This measure, previously urged by Mr. Blakely, was adopted by the legislature of 1867, and on the ninth of March an act was passed requiring the Governor, by and with the advice of the Senate, to appoint a superintendent of public instruction; the first term of office to commence on the first Tuesday of April, 1867, and to continue two years. This act enlarged the duties and powers of the office and exalted education into a distinct department of State, requiring annual reports to the legislature through the Governor.
13
182
HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
"M. H. Dunnell was the first superintendent under this law, entering upon duty the second day of April, 1867. The first work undertaken by him was a revision of the school registers and the preparation of suitable blanks for the reports of teachers, clerks, and county superintendents. He also secured a new series of blanks and blank books for the transaction of business in school districts. Holding meetings for conference with county superintendents, he was successful in gaining their co-operation and in creating a new interest in popular education. A result of this was more full and accurate reports to the educational department than ever before, and the securing of systematized data, which was impos- sible while the office was merely a subordinate attach- ment of another department of State. New statistical tables were devised, and features of popular interest were introduced into the annual reports, of which Mr. Dunnell made three.
"The school legislation of 1867-9 was of great advan- tage to our educational system. Provision was made for teachers' institutes, and there was a gratifying progress in all branches of our school work.
"On the first of August, 1870, Mr. Dunnell resigned and became a candidate for congress and was successful. This probably seemed going up higher, and perhaps the seeming was real. Be this as it may, there was a sub- stantial value in the educational measures carried through the legislature by that gentleman, and if his official position in the educational department helped him to his seat in congress, it was an incident not neces- sarily to his discredit or to that of the office which he left.
"H. B. Wilson was appointed August 1st, 1870, to serve
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TEACHERS' INSTITUTES ESTABLISHED.
the remainder of Mr. Dunnell's second term, which was to expire April 1st, 1871. Making no radical changes in the arrangements of his predecessor, it was his aim to complete the system of reports found in the office, and especially to render the statistical tables more full and accurate. The legislation of several years preceding 1870, had enlarged the powers and duties of the office, and established some new features in our school system, among which were teachers' institutes, under the direc- tion of the superintendent of public instruction. But the methods of conducting these had not been fully determined, and time alone could reveal the best plans, and the good judgment of a practical educator was needed to suggest improvements and secure har- mony and efficiency. This work was undertaken by the administration. Through lectures and person- al efforts, the office steadily rose in the public esti- mation, and much was wisely done to exalt its chiar- acter, extend its influence, and insure its stability. Mr. Wilson made five annual reports, covering as many years. In these reports are able discussions on school management and the principles of educational progress. He was twice re-appointed to the office, and closed his last term on the fifth of April, 1875."
The constitution of Minnesota, adopted by the people in October, 1857, provides "that the location of the Uni- versity of Minnesota, as established by existing laws, is hereby confirmed, and said institution is hereby declar- ed to be the University of the State of Minnesota." The university referred to as already established, was created in 1851 by a law of the Territorial legislature. The same year Franklin Steele gave a site for the preparatory school at St. Anthony, and five hundred dollars, which
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