History of Stearns County, Minnesota, Volume II, Part 100

Author: Mitchell, William Bell, 1843-
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago : H. S. Cooper
Number of Pages: 1110

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District Number 68 was organized in 1867. The first school officers were W. T. Mills, David Hanscom and a Mr. Hamil- ton. There is some dispute as to who was the first teacher, some maintaining that Maria Cole (now Mrs. I. M. Abbot of Paynesville) has the better claim to this distinction, while others assert that Lizzie Allyn was the first teacher. Mrs. Abbot appears to have the stronger testimony. Among the pupils who later attained prominence were George E. Hanscom (now president of the Merchants National Bank, St. Cloud,) and J. Y. Winings. Some of the teachers were Mrs. E. M. Winings, Lottie Brown, George Burrows, Samuel Cossairt, Lizzie Abbot, E. M. Winings, Lizzie Hanscom, Mary Dye, W. A. Shoe- maker (now president of the St. Cloud State Normal School), Mabel A. Cornell, Kate Cashmann, Zadah E. Rice, Lydia A. Grundmann, Etta Dillon, Mae Westover, Golda Hilts, Pearl Whitelock, J. Y. Win- ings and May O'Connor.

District Number 69, whose school is lo- cally known as the Jones school, situated only a short distance out of the village limits of Eden Valley, was organized in 1868. John Coissairt, James Jones and Ezra Swish were the first school officers. The first school was taught in a log build- ing by Sarah O'Connor. Other teachers were Blanche Greeley, Emma Wakefield, Julia Maxwell, Annie McCarthy, David Abbot, Libbie Mullen, Carrie Haywood, Frank L. Sias, Mabel Phipps, Esther Matheny, Lizzie McGowan, Hattie Rogers, William Meagher, Maria Day, James A. Petrie, John Harding, Lillian Vaun, Alice Uptegrove, Marie Abbot, Lucile Cashmann, Rose McIntyre, Minnie Leavitt, Rhoda Nehring, Maytie Carney, Charlotte Ferdi- nantsen, John O'Keefe, and Marie Nagel.

District Number 77, whose school, be- cause of its close proximity to that sheet of water, has been called the Rice Lake school, was organized in 1888 with an area of about twice the size it boasts at pres- ent. The first school officers were Frank Brossard, George Cloakey and Michael O'Brien. The first teacher was Addie Doyle. At that time the school house was located on the northeast quarter of Sec- tion 32, where it remained until 1911, when the district was divided and the school house moved one mile north and half a mile west. Other teachers who taught here were Eunice Duffy, Lizzie Campbell, Mary Campbell, Miss Appel- gren, Lizzie McGowan, Lottie Johnson, George Harding, Minnie Brossard, Arthur Dillon, Neva Sweany, Herman Mantz, W. R. Salisbury, Huldah Lausted, Phoebe Smith, Charlotte Swift, Herman F. Miller, Gertrude Johnson, Ellen Hedin and Blanche Phelps.

District Number 182 was organized in 1899. The school officers were Jacob Weber, Ignatz Meyer and Anton Schaefer. John Nohmer, now of St. Paul, Minn., was the first teacher, and his enrollment the first year was 24 pupils. Since then the number of children has steady decreased, until at the present time scarcely more than half that many are attending the school. The other teachers were John Ivetz, Oscar Voss, Math Hammes, Bene- dict Kruchten, John Weiss, Celia Ham- merl, Margaret Ryan, John Mondloch, John Spoden, Margaret Schommer and Kath- erine Wilwerding.

District Number 189, known locally as the Huschle district, was organized in 1900 mostly from territory taken from Dis- trict Number 19. John Thielen was the first clerk, Martin Huschle, director, and John Lauer, treasurer. The first teacher was August Torborg, who is still living on a farm near the school. His enrollment numbered forty pupils. The teachers fol- lowing him were Benedict J. Kruchten, Ignatius Lemm, Katherine Sieverding, Jennie M. Tischleder and John M. Spoden. There are few schools in the county in which the patrons manifest so great an interest as in this little country school, far removed from any town or village. This condition is due largely to the teach- ers, all of whom have shown marked

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ability in this direction .. However, there is no doubt that the efforts of John M. Spoden, the present teacher, have met with the greatest success. For the year 1913-14 three prizes were offered by the county superintendent to the schools , showing the largest number of parents' visits in proportion to the enrollment, and the school in District Number 189 carried off first honors, having shown, with an enrollment of but thirty-one pupils, the almost incredible number of 285 visits. However, this was systematically ar- ranged, special periods having been set aside for the visitors, during whose pres- ence in the school room the work went on without flaw or hesitation. But the interest of the people was not aroused merely by the opportunity to win a prize. The welfare of their school is a part of their existence, and they prove this by the many meetings they have at the school house on the long winter evenings. At these gatherings matters pertaining to the welfare of the school, the farms and the community at large are discussed, and many useful ideas have found application in the country round through these evening meetings. The young people also have organized, under the direction of Mr. Spoden, a "Young Citizen's Club," which looks to the welfare of the school.

District Number 205 was formed in 1911 almost exclusively out of territory taken from District Number 77. The first school officers were M. O'Brien, John Cassady and Emil Liestmann. The first teacher was John O'Keefe, one of the pioneer in- structors of that section. His enrollment numbered forty pupils. He was followed by Inez Brown, who taught one year, whereupon Mr. O'Keefe was again em- ployed by the board.

District Number 207, known as the Long Lake school and also the Rothstein school, was organized in 1914. Theresa Franey is the teacher, fifteen pupils attending. The officers are Frank Rothstein, clerk; Dominik Schloder, treasurer, and Peter Thull, director. The school house, a mod- ern and well equipped structure, is lo- cated on the southeast corner of the south- west quarter of Section 1.

Farming Township. Edward Doerner, one of the pioneer teachers of Stearns county and now residing in the city of St.

Cloud, was the first teacher in the town- ship of Farming. He taught in what is at present District Number 106, the Farming village school, though at that time the building stood one-fourth of a mile south of the present location. The building in which Mr. Doerner taught was a log structure, unplastered and poorly equipped. He was engaged "on trial," i. e., if he gave general satisfaction he would be employed for a longer term. At the end of the first three months the school officers gladly embraced the opportunity to retain Mr. Doerner, and re-employed him at an increased salary. In 1886 a new frame building was erected near the church, the present location, but this was destroyed by fire in 1909. A fine new brick school house with a full basement, was built and equipped to meet all the requirements for the special state aid. Among the pupils who attended this school were the Rev. Adolph Dingmann, O. S. B., the Rev. Joseph Willenbrink, William Bloms, teacher and organist, and Joseph Korte, teacher and organist at Calio, N. D. The teachers who followed Mr. Doerner were Edward Muggli, August Doerner, Hubert Hansen (later judge of probate for Stearns county), Nicholas Hem- mesch, Lucas Lembeck, John Woken, Henry Meyer, Christ Meyer, Louis Wieber, P. J. Limperich, Joseph Gillitzer, Theo- dore Lobmiller, John Bath and Meinrad Busch. Mr. . Limperich did substitute work for Mr. Gillitzer for a period of two months during which the latter recovered from an accident which maimed him for life. Mr. Gillitzer, while visiting a saw mill, had brought his elbow in contact with the rapidly revolving saw, sustaining a severe injury. Theodore Lobmiller, who taught in this school for fourteen years, was so well known over a great part of Stearns county that a special mention of this kind old gentleman may be permitted here. In point of service he was one of the oldest teachers in the county. He had been engaged in school work at McKees- port, Penn., for a number of years, after which he went to Cincinnati, Ohio, for another long period. He then came to St. Paul, teaching in one of the parochial schools for a number of years, after which he accepted the school in Farming, re- maining, as already stated, for fourteen

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years in the dual position of teacher and organist. In 1900 he celebrated his fiftieth anniversary, and at the last meet- ing of the German Catholic Teachers' asso- ciation of Stearns county, held that year at Freeport, he was presented with a gold watch. He had been president of this or- ganization for thirteen years and it was in appreciation of his services as a teacher and his sterling worth as a man, that his colleagues accorded him this honor. Upon the termination of his activity at Farming he went to St. Paul, where he enjoyed the esteem of a large circle of friends. Com- ing to Stearns county for a visit with friends in September, 1908, and while a guest at the home of Mr. Fridolin Wurst at Richmond, he was taken suddenly ill and died peaceably, as he had lived, in his eightieth year. Mr. Lobmiller was of a most kindly disposition. He never failed to send congratulations to his friends on their birthdays and namesdays, invariably strengthening his greetings with a little token of a religious nature. This he did without any

ulterior motive, finding pleasure in making others happy. It was his custom, at all gatherings, to sing some of his inimitable dialect songs, the most enjoyable of which was "Der Christian," the very mention of which, at the present day, brings memories of this ideal old teacher now at rest in the Catholic ceme- tery at St. Paul.

District Number 107, comprising six sec- tions in the northwestern part of the town- ship, was organized in 1879. The first school officers were M. McGowan, Jacob Christen and Fred Lemke. Mary Wagner, now living in West Union, Todd county, was the first teacher. The school house then occupied the present location, but a new building has since been erected. This was again enlarged the past year to ac- commodate the steadily increasing num- ber of pupils. Other teachers employed were Sophia Hagemann, Miss Comstock, A. Easten, A. Burger, G. Gillman, C. Hoyt, F. McNulty, John Goetz, H. La Vath, G. Wolf, Carl Rettenmaier, Miss Kennedy, L. Turck, K. Christen, D. Coyne, M. Kauf- mann, Regina Kaufmann, Aurelia Theisen, Elizabeth Just and Theresa Meyer.

District Number 132, generally known as the Streitz district, is located in the ex- treme southeastern part of the township,

its school serving a number of pupils liv- ing in the southwestern part of College- ville. Secluded as the school is, it forms the center of an uncommon amount of in- terest. The second prize for parents' visits during the year 1913-14 was awarded this school, the number of visits recorded being 252 with an enrollment of 29 pupils. It came a close second to the school in District Number 189, taught by Mr. Spoden. The interest of the patrons is also manifest from the commodious and comfortable building they have erected for school purposes. The district was or- ganized in 1886 with William Korte, di- rector; John Stammen, treasurer, and Au- gust Torborg, clerk. The first teacher was William Bold, who had an enrollment of twenty pupils. School was first taught in a small frame building, which, upon the erection of the present structure was re- modeled into a teachers' cottage. Albert A. Eich, clerk, formerly a teacher but at the present time engaged in farming in this district, has prepared an exhaustive report of the school since its beginning. From this it appears that Mr. Bold taught a three months' term in the spring of 1887 for $45 per month. In September follow- ing August Torborg was employed for six months, receiving $30 per month for the first half and $40 per month for the second half of the term. Mr. Torborg continued in this district for eleven years, his wages ranging from $33 to $35 per month. For the greater part of the time the district regularly voted an eight months' term. Since 1902 the length of term has always been nine months, except in 1908 when a five months' term was taught. At that time $42 per month was paid to Edward Linster. From that figure the wages have advanced to $63 per month for the past five years. The teachers following Mr. Torborg were Henry Engelhard, Edward Linster, William Bloms, Emily Rassier, M. S. Weyrens, Stephen Zenner, Theodore Schulte, Max Grave, Magdalen Burns and Hattie Haselkamp.

District Number 170, whose building- located in the exact center of the towil- ship-is locally known as the Brinkmann school, was organized in 1894. Frank Willenbring was the first clerk, Frank Klostermann, director and Theodore

Brinkmann, treasurer. Jacob Phlipsen,

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now living in Cold Spring, was the first teacher, thirty pupils attending. He was followed by Frank Bock, who taught in the district for seven years. The other teachers were Max Grave, Benedict G. Kruchten, Henry Engelhard, Gertrude Ganzer and Frances Mockenhaupt.

District Number 185, the Thelen school, situated two and one-half miles west of the Brinkmann school, was organized in 1899. The first school officers were John Thelen, Bernard Hanneken and Fred Latzke. Max Grave, whose enrollment was twenty-four pupils, was the first teacher. He was followed by Henry Bachel, Se- bastian DeGross, Joseph Korte, Anthony C. Seifert, Henry Kremer, Marien Bese- mann and Mary Mies.

District Number 199, occupying the northeastern part of the township, was organized in 1903. The first officers were William F. Gumto, director; Michael Meyer, clerk, and Fred Sager, treasurer. Theresa Gretsch was the first teacher. She was followed by Bertha Kremer, Ida Richter, Theresa Bauer, Joseph H. Mar- thaler, Magdalen Preice, Ernest Kuehn and Minnie Stanger.

Fair Haven Township .- Although Dis- trict Number 31 (the village school of Fair Haven) was not organized until Feb- ruary 8th, 1859, there was no lack of edu- cational facilities in that community be- fore that date; for, during the winter of 1856-57, following closely upon the work of the first teachers in St. Cloud, Anna Boobar, now Mrs. Anna M. Nason of Thief River Falls, this state, taught a term of school which was largely at- tended. Instruction was given in a build- ing which had been erected for mercan- tile purposes and was situated in the block south of the present school building. However the owner required the use of the structure shortly after Miss Boobar began teaching, and thereafter school was taught in several of the residences in the village. After the organization of the dis- trict in 1859 a permanent school building (a frame structure) was erected in the block south of the present school grounds. It was rather poorly equipped, compared with present day schools. A large box stove furnished the heat, while home-made desks, with rough board seats, accommo- dated the children. There was a wooden

blackboard, six feet long and four feet wide. So rare an article was the crayon that it was handed out by the teacher in small pieces as the pupils solved examples, and immediately upon the dismissal of the class the chalk was again returned to the teacher, who kept it under lock and key. In the early eighties the work became too much for one teacher and a two-room school was built, the former structure be- ing sold to a blacksmithi who used it for a shop for a number of years. The new building stood until 1909 when it was de- stroyed by fire. A cement block structure was erected the following summer. Among the pupils who attended this school in the early days were the Rev. A. B. Coates, later candidate for governor of Massachu- setts on the Prohibition ticket; Dr. E. S. Strout, a noted eye and ear specialist of Minneapolis, and C. D. Grinols, the present postmaster of the city of St. Cloud. Some of the teachers who taught in this district were Owen Rice, Mary Northrup, A. Mont- gomery, Albert Coates, Bernie Vander- voort, Nell Coates, Mary Wheeler, Anna Wiley, Anna Tucker, Harvey Bonham, Mary G. Brown, Frank Wardell, J. S. Boner, Emma Harriman, Janet Russel, Minnie Carrick, Anson Grinols, C. W. King, Mr. Ruby, Miss Munger, J. F. Lee, Mabel Hafner, Ella Bickford, Margaret R. Von Levern, Agnes Anderson, Ivey Boo- bar, Pearl Z. Linn, and Irene Cosgrove. Some of the assistant teachers were Ida Rosenberger, Inez Boobar, Pearl Lovejoy, Blanche Lyons, Mamie Clark and Bernice Cline.

District Number 39, the Woda district, was organized in 1864, Lucius Belden and Squire Morgan, being two of the first school officers. Albert Kemp was the first teacher, and was followed by Mrs. Linn Smith, Ella Schub, Frank West, Annie West, Alice Goodspeed, Grace Bliler, Emma Smith, Laura Murphy, and Myde Smith. Unfortunately none of the early settlers remain and no records are available.

District Number 79, the Ruehle school, was organized in 1870, with Anthony Ker- stiens, John Moos and John Mund as officers. The first teacher was John Moos, who taught in a little log building which · stood on the present site. Ten children attended. In 1880 a frame schoolhouse was erected, which was replaced in 1900

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by the present brick structure. The teach- ers who were employed in this school were John Moos, Anthony Kerstiens, Sophia Hagemann, George Haupt, Luvina Huber, Nellie Rodger, Christina Keller, Crescen- tia Enderle, Odilia Blattner, Kate Enderle, W. F. Schultz, George Lausted, Adolph Lodermeier, Emma Lee, Edward Schultz, Elizabeth Giss, Minnie Larson, Bertha Lausted, Marie Walker, Magdalena Burns, Magdalena Preice, Jensena Hugger, Hattie Haselkamp, Edith Hartel, Rosa Preice and Ursula Dreis.

District Number 151, the Rickmeyer school, was organized in 1890. H. Rick- meyer was elected director, Lucius Belden treasurer and Henry Stuck, clerk. Some of the teachers employed were Alma L. Smith, Alma Cassidy, Clara Dezelar, Myde Smith, Laura Murphy, Lydia Lyons, Eva Butler, Nora Donohue, Amy Boobar, Flor- ence Wilmot and Doris Ernst.

District Number 184, known as the Hills- dale school, was organized in 1897. M. E. Shoemaker, P. P. Partridge and Alex Spaulding were the first school officers. Alice Cossairt was the first teacher, twelve children attending. She was succeeded by Mary Hayward, Emma Lytle, Cary Hay- ward, Edith Morgan, Roxy Smith, Phoebe Smith, Valdina Skjeveland, Ruby Griebler, Bernice Cline, Alice Barry, Sadie Arndt and Grace Capes.

Grove Township .- District Number 51, at present the Greenwald school, was or- ganized in 1865. The school officers were John A. Kulzer, John Spaeth, Sr., and John Kremer. An old frame barn, at the pres- ent time affording shelter for such live stock as the teacher may possess, was in the early days used as a schoolhouse, al- though it was several miles removed from its present location. The school formerly stood in the village of Meire Grove, but on November 26, 1873, it was moved one-half mile south on the Caspar Wenglert farm. One year later it was moved to the pres- ent location, which was then an open prairie, two and one-half miles south of the village of Meire Grove. The building of the new "Soo" line from Brooten to Duluth provided the school with a little village. The present schoolhouse was built in 1881, and the first teacher in the new building was B. Borgerding, now the Rev. Henry Borgerding, O. S. B., chaplain

of St. Benedict's Convent at St. Joseph, this county. The first teacher in the dis- trict, while the school was still at Meire Grove, was H. Michels, who taught from 1865 to 1869. He was followed in quick succession by Anton Froehlich, Stanislaus Martinic, Joseph Walz, Michael Walz, Wil- liam Heimert, Michael Heldt, Elizabeth Collins, J. P. Balthasar, John M. Goetz, F. A. Eltrich, B. Borgerding, Joseph Doeren- kemper, Conrad Marschall, John Schritz (now the Rev. John Schritz of Dumont, Minn.), W. F. Hilger, J. E. Lemm, Carl Rettenmaier, Anna Marschall, Charles Wieber, Frank A. Bitzan, Anna Schweg- mann, Dorothy Borgert, William J. Noe, J. L. Hohmann and Henry Engelhard.

District Number 103, the Meire Grove village school, was organized in 1872. John Primus, Caspar Nathe and Henry Michels were the officers. The first teacher em- ployed was William Heimert, who had an enrollment of twenty pupils .. The school first stood where the church now stands, directly across the street from the present location. Later Henry Meyer donated five acres of land to the church and school, whereupon the building was moved to the present site. Carl Bohnen, a well known St. Paul artist, attended this school when a boy. Mr. Heimert, the first teacher, was followed by Mr. Schaefer, Joseph Eltrich, John Blonigen, Joseph Hertle, J. P. Muel- ler, Nicholas Bohnen, Anton Limbach, M. P. Schilyz, Lucas Gertken, M. P. Weyrens and Andrew Kessler. The number of pu- pils had increased steadily so that it be- came necessary, in Mr. Schiltz's time, to engage an assistant. This was a Miss Gumper. She was succeeded by Edward Ortmann, who still holds the position. It is only proper that more than passing men- tion be given Mr. Gertken, who was one of the most widely known of the Stearns county teachers. This gentleman was by descent and by calling a true teacher. His grandfather for many years taught the school in a village in Germany, and upon his retirement his son (the father of Lu- cas Gertken) assumed the position. He too held the place until he was pensioned by the government, whereupon his son Lucas, the subject of this sketch, was appointed, teaching five years. He then came to Min- nesota, locating at Richmond, this county, where he taught in the village school for

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thirty-one years. He then accepted the school at Meire Grove, where he died quite suddenly in the month of February, 1912. His remains are buried in the cemetery of St. John's Abbey at Collegeville. At his funeral a solemn requiem mass was chanted, his oldest son, the Rev. Innocent, O. S. B., acting as celebrant and two younger sons, the Rev. Severin, O. S. B., and the Rev. Norbert, O. S. B., acting as deacon and sub-deacon respectively. An- other son, Alphonse Gertken, is at present preparing for the priesthood in St. John's Abbey. It is a noteworthy fact that all his children chose a religious life, the four sons becoming priests of the Benedictine Order and all the daughters taking the veil as nuns of the Order of St. Benedict!

District Number 119, known locally as the Sand school, was organized in 1880, with Gerhard Terhaar, clerk; Bernard Suck, director, and Bernard Schwieters, treasurer. Anton Eltrich was the first teacher. The enrollment was then sixteen pupils, which number has considerably in- creased since. Herman Terhaar, cashier of the State Bank of New Munich, at- tended this school as a boy and later taught it for a number of years. Paul Sand, another former pupil, also taught the school in this district. Other teachers were Frank Kramps, George Haupt, John Kramps, Carl Rettenmaier, Anna Mar- schall, John Kranz, Michael Tschida, Wen- delin Lemm, Caspar P. Eickhoff, Valentine Henkel and John Rausch. A fine new schoolhouse was built in 1914.

District Number 180, known as the "Smarten Eck," was organized in 1889. Herman Nathe was the first clerk, Victor Woeste, director, and John Thull, treas- urer. Edward Ortmann was the first teacher, twenty-four pupils attending. Other teachers were Math Krier, George Haupt, Anna Marschall, Michael Theisen, Julia Vorpahl, Martin J. Jahn and Wende- lin Lemm. A teacher's cottage was built in 1905.

Getty Township .- Of the five districts now maintaining schools in this township, four were organized before 1870, a period of three years covering their organization. This would indicate a rapid settlement and development of the country. District . Number 53, known as the Getty Grove school, and District Number 54, known as

the Arthur Graham school, southeast of Sauk Centre, were organized on the same day, March 3, 1866. District Number 61, directly west of Greenwald, followed a year later, while District Number 82 came into being early in 1870. The remaining district, Number 173, is of far more re- cent origin, having been organized in 1895. The first school in the township of Getty was taught in a log building on Section 19, occupying the site of the present frame structure of District Number 53. Since the day of this log schoolhouse three frame buildings have been erected, two of which were destroyed by fire. The first teacher was Hattie Glover (Mrs. Hattie Viele?). Fifteen pupils attended her school, but this number has considerably increased. The first school officers of whom there is any record are J. J. Getty, Francis Mc- Graw and John Roshhart. The teachers who were employed after Miss Glover were J. E. Davis, Annie Wilson, Delia Walker, B. W. Voeder, P. F. Grimes, G. E. Carver, Alpha Van Valkenburg, Gertrude De Groat, Harriet Lathrop, Cora Bisbee, Fannie Getty, Bridget Collins, N. Van Dyke, Etta Lewis, Ida Foote, Belle Bradley, Miss Mc- Connell, Alice Hosmer, Kate Allen, Mate Frederick, Mabel Doty, Lyra Barnard, Mary Rooney, Edna Nelson, Annie Orendorff, T. J. Flahaven, Mary Kielty, Kate Wagner, Bertha Kells, W. A. Apfield, Agnes Egan, W. Hilger, Annie S. Macfarlane, Annie Al- len, Bee Allen, Annie Laughlin, Beata Dougherty, Julia Kinsella, Margaret Mac- farlane, Mabel Spencer, Julia Costello, Olive Williams, Katherine Macfarlane and Aurelia Disselkamp.

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History of Stearns County, Minnesota, Volume II, Part 100

Author: Mitchell, William Bell, 1843- Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Chicago : H. S. Cooper Number of Pages: 1110

Author: Mitchell, William Bell, 1843-
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago : H. S. Cooper
Number of Pages: 1110