USA > Minnesota > Fillmore County > History of Fillmore County, Minnesota (Volume 1) > Part 42
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56
District 7 was created February 20, 1855, at the request of John H. Main. It embraced sections 3, 4, 5 and 6 in township 103-12, (now Fillmore) ; and sections 19, 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29, 30, 19, 20, 21 and 22, in 104-13 (now Jordan).
District 8 was created April 3, 1855. It embraced the east half of section 32 and the west half of section 33, in 102-8 (now Preble), and sections 5, 8, 17 and 18, and the west halves of sections 4, 9 and 16, in 101-8 (now Newburg).
District 9 was created April 3, 1855 and embraced sections 19, 30 and 31 in 102-10 (now Preston), and sections 23, 24, 25, 26, 35 and 36 in 102-11 (now Carimona).
District 10 was created April 3, 1855 and consisted of sections 27, 28, 33 and 34 in 103-11 (now Fountain).
District 6 was dissolved April 3, 1855, and sections 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 in 104-11 (now Chatfield) were added to the Chatfield village district. However the act was doubtless passed without due thought, for the west halves of sections 5 and 7, and all of sections 6 and 7 were already in Chatfield district.
District 11 was created July 2, 1855, and consisted of sections 5, 4 and the west half of 3 in 101-9 (now Canton), and sections 32, 33, and the west half of 34 in 102-9 (now Amherst).
Before the close of 1855, sixteen numbered school districts and one village school had been created.
January 12, 1856, a tax having been collected in Fillmore county, it was voted by the county board to allow $1.00 for each scholar in actual attendance in the regularly organized district schools of the county. The report rendered from the different clerks showed the following scholars in the various districts: Chatfield, 79; District 1, 48; District 3, 24; District 4, 51; District 7, 63; District 8, 31; District 9, 50; District 10, 27; District 12, 33. Although various claims are made as to schools in various parts of the county in the early days, these few were the only ones who presented any claim for county funds, and it is fairly safe to say, were the only schools in existence in Fill- more county in the closing months of 1855.
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Before January 1, 1857, the numbered districts in the county totalled 51, and in addition there was one unnumbered district, Chatfield, making 52 in all.
The First Schoolhouse. William Willford is the author of a pamphlet dealing with the first structure built exclusively for school purposes in Fillmore county. From this pamphlet the following information has been gathered.
In Fillmore county, fifty years ago, the establishment of schools and places for stated religious meetings were coeval with the formation of every settlement, or at least attended to as soon as the pioneers had secured proper shelter for themselves in inclement weather, and provided their families with the means of daily subsistence. The schoolhouses, like the primitive cabins, were roughly constructed, but in some of them, men whose mental endowments and ripe scholarship have raised them to eminence in after life, received the first rudiments of education.
Early in the spring of 1854, the early settlers residing in the northeast part of township 101, range 9, (Canton) the south half of township 102, range 9, (Amherst) and the northwest part of township 101, range 8, (Newburg) made arrangements with Elijah Austin who resided on the west half of section 11, 101, 9, (Canton) to get their mail once a week from Burr Oak postoffice in Winneshiek county, Iowa, which was on the Brink & Walker stage route from Dubuque to St. Paul until a postoffice could be established and a postmaster appointed on Richland Prairie, Minnesota. In April of that year, a number of settlers who had families, happened to meet at the residence of Elijah Austin at the same time to receive mail, when one of the settlers brought up the subject of doing something toward the establishment of a school. After a general discussion of the subject, a day was agreed upon to meet to locate a site for a schoolhouse, and make the necessary arrangements for the erection of a building. On the day set for the meeting at the residence of Elijah Austin, about all the settlers residing near where Lenora now stands were present, their names and place of residence being as follows: Ethan P. Eddy, section one, township 101, range 9, pioneer of 1853; William Bly, section six, 101, 8, pioneer of 1853; Andrew W. Gray, section six, 101, 8, pioneer of 1853; Thomas Gilbert, Sr., section one, 101, 9, pioneer of 1854; Nelson Darling, section eleven, 101, 9, pioneer of 1853; Austin Eastman, section fourteen, 101, 9, pioneer of 1854; Warren J. Howell, section ten, 101, 9, pioneer of 1854; Silas Pennock, section ten, 101, 9, pioneer of 1854; Elijah Austin, section eleven, 101, 9, pioneer of 1853; - Church, sec- tion fifteen, 101, 9, pioneer of 1853; - Benham, section eleven, 101, 9 pioneer of 1853; B. F. Tillotson, section four, 101, 9, pioneer of 1853; Michael Onstine, Sr., section thirty-five, 102, 9, pioneer of
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1853; T. J. Eames, section nine, 101, 9, pioneer of 1853. The site selected was on the northeast corner of the northwest quarter of section eleven, 101, 9, where the village of Lenora now stands, being on land then claimed by Elijah Austin. The size of the house agreed upon was twenty feet wide by twenty-six feet long. An estimate was then made of the number of logs and the material required to build the house. An assessment was made on each person for material to be furnished on the ground, giving the number of logs, size and length that each man had to deliver. Also, a small fee in cash was assessed on each man to buy windows, boards for floor, ceiling and door, nails, and the like. When the material had been delivered on the ground, a day was appointed for the raising. On that day, when the pioneers had collected for the raising, the first thing done was the election of four good axemen for corner men, as they were called, whose business it was to notch the logs the rest of the company furnished them, with the timbers on the building. In the mean- time, the logs that were furnished for the clapboards were sawed the proper lengths, and split with a frow for the roof. The door was made by cutting an opening about three feet wide in the east end, near the northeast corner, and made secure by upright pieces of timber about three inches thick through which holes were bored into the ends of the logs for the purpose of pinning them fast. Openings were cut in the sides of the buildings for windows. Two windows, eight by ten glass, with twelve lights in each window, were placed on each side of the house in a horizontal position, the two windows meeting in the center, making the glass space twenty-four inches in height, and eighty inches in length on each side.
The lumber for the door, floor and ceiling was sawed by Mr. Morse, the owner of a small sawmill on the Iowa river, at Bluffton, in Winneshiek county, Iowa. The work was pushed forward rapidly, with Ethan P. Eddy (who was a carpenter) as the architect. Soon the house was ready for the furniture, such as writing desks, seats, and the like. The writing desks were placed on the sides of the building to obtain the light from the windows. They were made by boring two-inch auger holes in one of the logs on each side of the building, about two feet and nine inches from the floor, at an angle, so that the inner edge of the desk was about three inches lower than the outer. Hardwood sticks was driven tightly in the auger holes and projected out from the wall far enough to support the desk board, which was about fourteen inches wide. On the top of the desk board next to the wall, a four-inch strip was nailed on a level, on which the pupils could place their ink bottles. The seats were made of small basswood trees, cut about twelve feet long and split ; the flat side
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dressed smooth with the axe and drawing knife. In these seat- pieces were one-and-one-half inch holes bored to receive the legs which were driven in from the round side, and cut off to make the seat the proper height from the floor. The pupils, when en- gaged in writing, had their faces turned towards the wall, or side of the house, and when not engaged in writing had their faces turned to the center of the school room and making use of the edge of the desk board as a rest to their backs.
No doubt the youth of the twentieth century, who are attend- ing school in magnificent buildings furnished with the best of modern school furniture, may think this description of a school- house and furniture in Fillmore county fifty years ago of a fictitious nature, but, nevertheless, we know it to be the unvar- nished truth. The pupils, fifty years ago, had good backs and plenty of good backbone, which was needed in the early fifties to make good territorial pioneers.
After the desks and seats were made, the cracks between the logs were filled with split sticks and plastered with lime and sand mortar, which completed the building. This schoolhouse stood alone on the high rolling land of Richland Prairie, which was very pleasant and beautiful in the summer time, but bleak and cold in the winter season, and some what remote from water, 80 that the scholars had to go more than a half a mile to obtain water to quench their thirst. To guard against the children getting lost on the prairie, when going to and returning from school, some of the settlers plowed a furrow from their place of residence over the prairie to the schoolhouse to guide the children. Immediately after the completion of the schoolhouse, a three-months term of school was commenced, which was the first school conducted in a schoolhouse built in Fillmore county. It was taught by Lucinda Miller, now Mrs. L. M. Onstine, of Chatfield, in the summer of 1854. When Miss Miller contracted to teach this school, she agreed to board around with the scholars as was customary in the country schools at that time. There were thirty scholars that attended this term of school. They were: Lucinda A. Church, 12 years; Harriet L. Austin, 9; Ira A. Church, 9; Isaac A. Benham, 10; William A. Church, 7; George N. Benham, 7; Elijah Austin, 13; James A. Austin, 11; Mary C. Benham, 4; Judson Bly, 8; Henry Tillotson, 9; Cyrus Tillotson, 7; Maria Darling, 13; James M. Darling, 7; Emily Darling, 11; Marietta Pennock, 16; Clarissa E. Eddy (Gilmore) 8; Celia E. Eddy (Streator) 6; James Gilbert, 9; John Gilbert, 8; Mary Gray (Cody) 6; Josephine Gray (Ham) 4; Oscar Streator, 10; Hannah Onstine (Willford) 13; Sarah Onstine (Kellogg) 11; Rebecca Onstine (Rising) 7; Edwin Darling, 15; Albert Darling, 14; Phoebe A. Pennock (Goudy) 11.
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The second term of school in the Richland Prairie schoolhouse was three months in the winter of 1854 and 1855, Warren J. Howell, later a member of the Minnesota territorial legislature being the teacher. The third term was of three months in the summer of 1855, Mary Ann Peacock being the teacher. The fourth term was also of three months, commencing on December 11, 1855, and closing March 9, 1856. The teacher was William Willford, who received eighteen dollars for a month of twenty-one teaching days and boarded himself.
First School in Organized District. What is said to have been the first school in an organized district in Fillmore county was then in Forestville village, taught in 1855. The district is now No. 90. January 2, 1855, this district became No. 1. Before this school had been taught in the home of Joseph Bisby, in North Forestville, by his daughter, Minerva Bisbee. This was a select school. In 1855 a log schoolhouse was erected in South Forest- ville, and the teachers there were Leonard Bonesteele, and Maria Flynn. In 1856 a brick shoolhouse was built in section 13, the foundations of which are still standing. This schoolhouse was erected from brick burned in the first brick yard in Fillmore county, John Gill having been secured from Ohio for the express purpose of making brick for the schoolhouse and for the Foster & Meighen store and the Felix Meighen home. The first teacher in this brick schoolhouse was Milford Benham. Mr. Benham later took a claim in Carimona township. He is still living and not long ago visited the old settlers of Fillmore county some of whom were his pupils. This school reached its height in the late sixties under the tuition of Robert B. Brown, at which time it was known as the best school in the county. The story of his coming here is most interesting. Major D. E. Runals, who was a clerk in the Forestville store enlisted in the Union army and was wounded while acting as orderly for Col. Bishop. In the hospital he was placed near a young man of his own age, who was also wounded, and during their confinement in the hospital a warm friendship sprang up between them. They accordingly agreed to attend school together in New York state after the war. In 1866 Mr. Brown came to Forestville to visit Mr. Runals, and was entertained in the house of Felix Meighen. Mr. Meighen took a liking to the young man and persuaded him to stay and teach the Forestville school. IIe was a college man of broad attainments, and his three terms' tuition left an impression that has never been forgotten. During his vacations he engaged in the contracting business with Charles E. Evans. He was offered the position of superintendent of county schools and principal of the Spring Valley schools, but declined both. Returning to Zanesville, Ohio, near which place he was born, he became city
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editor of the "Zanesville Courier." Later he became owner and active manager. His ability attracted attention, and the soldiers in time honored him by making him commander of the Ohio de- partment of the G. A. R. Later he became commander of the National G. A. R., and since that time has remained a national figure of considerable importance. Mr. Runals has been for many years a prominent and respected resident of Pipestone county, in this state.
Spelling Schools in Pioneer Days. After the great accession of immigrants to Fillmore county in 1856, school districts were formed in neighborhoods where the settlers were numerous enough to support a school, and log cabins were erected as schoolhouses. During the winter terms of the district schools in the south- eastern part of Fillmore county in the early days of its settlement, evening spelling schools were quite common, and each district held on an average one spelling school each week. The excite- ment grew stronger as time passed, and soon many intensely inter- esting contests were held between rival schools to win the cham- pionship which was at that period of time considered an honor to the winning spellers and their teachers as well as to the districts in which the winning spellers resided. The excitement continued to grow year after year among the scholars of the different schools until the patrons of the district schools began to manifest a like interest. After the older ones had caught the infection the excitement grew to be intense. The teachers who had shown their indifference during the time the scholars and patrons of the several districts were engaged as disputants in the hotly con- ested spelling schools could no longer resist the temptation and resolutely joined in the melee and from this time on the battle was waged and continued to a finish. There are tricks in all trades and professions, and the teachers used this axiom in con- ducting the spelling school in order to win the championship for their respective schools. The spelling book used at this period of time was "Webster's Elementary Speller," which is perhaps unknown to the present generation. When a spelling school was announced to be held in a rival school district, distance was not considered, provided it did not exceed fifteen miles, and the temperature was not more than thirty-five degrees below zero. The contestants in these rival spelling schools in the early history of Fillmore county have nearly all done their work and crossed the. Divide. But yet, there are left, "Old Pedagogue," the Preston Times correspondent from Partridge Creek, A. D. Gray, a prominent attorney of Fillmore county, and William Will- ford, proprietor of Floral Park Farm, to tell of the early days spelling schools in southeastern Fillmore county.
School Superintendent. Up to 1864 no well defined manage-
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ment of schools existed. In speculating on the best system, the legislature created first a town superintendency, then an exam- iner for each commissioner district, and lastly one general super- intendent for each county. Under this E. J. Thompson was appointed June 10, 1864, at a salary of $800. September 9, of the same year, $200 was added. At the time Mr. Thompson was appointed, 137 school districts had been created in the county. Of these, however, it is evident that only sixty-six were conduct- ing schools at that time, for that is the number appearing in the county financial report of that year. Mr. Thompson's salary was raised from $1,000 to $1,300, and then to $1,350. He resigned April 3, 1867, and G. J. Sanderson was appointed at a salary of $1,000. In 1869, Rev. D. L. Keihle was appointed. At first the commissioners determined to pay him by the day and allow him a certain sum for each mile traveled. Later his salary was fixed at $1,200 a year. Rev. Keihle served from April 1, 1869, to July 1, 1875. When he resigned D. W. Sprague was appointed. He served until the close of 1877. John Brady was superintendent from January, 1878, to January, 1887. Emma Allen, now Mrs. John C. Mills, the only woman superintendent of the county, served from January, 1887, to January, 1891. Then K. W. Buell served until January, 1907, followed by Oscar Carlson, the present superintendent.
Early Schools. In the following summary of the schools of the various townships, no effort has been made to give a history of the districts up to the present time. Such an effort would require a volume by itself. The object in presenting the following facts is to preserve something of the beginning of each district in the county, and to relate if possible, the erecting of the first building in each district.
Summer. The first school in this township was taught in what was then district 25, in the winter of 1855-56. District 118 .- This district was organized in 1864, with the following officers elected : director, Chester Hart ; clerk, G. B. Hendricks, and treas- urer, R. Vandel. School was first held by Polly Layman in Chester Hart's granary, and afterwards in various places until 1866, when a schoolhouse was erected in the southeast corner of section two. Prior to the organization of the district a subscription school was held in a log hut by Mary Brady, which had twelve scholars in attendance. This was in the year 1860. District 119 .- This dis- trict really received its organization in 1864, but after the organ- izing steps were taken, matters of the district stood at one point until 1876, when the organization, in a practical sense, commenced. In the year 1876, a meeting was held at the house of Z. D. Lassell, and the following gentlemen were made officers: director, Z. D. Lassell; treasurer, Edwin Todd ; clerk, W. II. Kendall. The same
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spring their schoolhouse was erected in the northwest corner of section ten, and the first school taught by Martha Wooldridge. District 120 .- In 1867, a meeting was held at the house of W. B. Randall, on section six, which organized this district, and the following were the first officers: treasurer, Edson Owen; director, David Jolley, and clerk, W. B. Randall. Frances Amelia Owen was the first to call school to order after the organization of the district. Their schoolhouse was erected in the southwest corner of section five, at a cost of $600. Previous to this organiza- tion a select school had been held for a number of years on section six, taught by Miss P. Stewart. District 121 .- This was the first district in the township to receive organization, which was effected November, 1857, at the house of W. W. Parkinson. The officers first elected were : II. M. C. Ballow, Richard Freeman, I. M. Choate and Walter Woodmansee. The following spring $600 was appropriated to build a schoolhouse, and the contractor instead of following instructions, put up one at the cost of $1,200. This made the district considerable trouble, besides involving them in a law suit which was decided against them, the carpenter suc- ceeded in getting judgment for the amount. The first school was taught by I. M. Choate in his house, in the winter of 1856-57. In the fall of 1858, a school was taught by Nathial Parker, the district being then known as No. 30. District 122 .- The organization was effected at a meeting held in the house of Martin Ricker in 1862. The first school was taught by Ferdinand Stevens in 1863. A new schoolhouse was erected in 1874, the first floor being constructed as a town hall. District 123 .- This was the second district in the town, being organized in the winter of 1857. A log house was built by subscription in 1860, which lasted until it was destroyed by fire in 1876. A brick house was erected soon after, in 1876, at a cost of $800, in the southeast corner of section fourteen. The first teacher to preside in this district was Martha Guill. Dis- trict 124 .- The house now in use by the citizens of this district stands in section twenty-five. District 125 .- This district is claimed to have been partially organized in 1855, and a school- house was erected that year, the size of which was 24x36 feet, and cost $600. A frame structure, 26x34 feet, was erected in 1869 at a cost of $800, in the eastern part of section thirty-three. The first schoolhouse built by the district was destroyed by fire. District 126. (Joint.) This flourishing district was also organ- ized about 1857, their house being built about this time by S. P. Green, on section 30. As the trustees of the district refused to accept the building he attached it on a carpenter's lien and moved it to section 29, where it was used for religious purposes by the Methodists. Later a schoolhouse was built in the center of section 30. District 127. (Joint.) This is the Hamilton district,
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and embraces the locality surrounding the hamlet. A school- house erected in the hamlet at a cost of $1,000 was at one time considered the best in that part of the county.
The Bronson Institute. This institution which was designed to make Hamilton a college center was to have occupied toward Northwestern Methodism and scholarship, the same position now occupied by the Hamlin University. The institution never out- grew its infancy. A pamphlet published in 1858 says of it: "Hamilton has been fixed upon as the site of the Bronson Insti- tute and the necessary buildings are to be erected this season. A subscription of $5,000 has already been made by private indi- viduals, which with another $5,000 donated by the founder, Rev. Alfred Bronson, of Prairie du Chien, will be sufficient to build and furnish a suitable edifice for the purpose of this institution. It is designed to be an academical school of the first class under the control of the Methodist Episcopal denomination. The school has been opened in advance of the building in the Methodist Episcopal church by T. J. Lake and L. H. Carhart, associate teachers, and is now entered upon its third quarter. The num- ber of pupils ranges from seventy to eighty.
Jordan District 97. This came into existence in 1855, at the house of A. Palmer, and that same year a schoolhouse was got up on section 32, which served a good purpose until it was sold in 1870, for $20. While it stood it was used for a town hall, and for a general meeting house, as well as for schools. A new house was built the last mentioned year, at a cost of about $1,800. Mrs. Maroline Whittaker was the first to commence a school in the new house. District 98. The earliest school here was in the house of Mrs. Mackey, on section 20, in 1858, although the dis- trict is said to have been defined in 1856. Jane Green presided over the first school. The first house was put up with logs by the people of the district, and a subscription secured the shingles and windows, the first teacher in the new schoolhouse was Sedate Pebbles. In 1876 a new one was erected of brick, with a stone foundation, the whole costing $1,400. Isaac Bergen was the man to inaugurate the brick schoolhouse. District 99. In 1855 this district was defined and organized, and a school building erected the first year, the farmers furnishing the logs, and all turning out on a given day and putting up the structure on section 5. Susan Rucker was the first to attempt to teach. In 1860 this schoolhouse was burned and the school was suspended until 1864, when a building on section 8 was erected. District 100. In the winter of 1857 a school was opened in this district, the schoolhouse being built that year in the usual way by voluntary contributions, on section 24. Jerusha W. Thatcher seems to have been the first teacher. The first building was used until 1875,
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