USA > Minnesota > Wabasha County > History of Wabasha County : together with biographical matter, statistics, etc. : gathered from matter furnished by interviews with old settlers, county, township, and other records, and extracts from files of papers, pamphlets, and such other sources > Part 35
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407
WINONA PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
Winona schools, from 1856 to 1860, at which time his services were transferred to the normal schools, Dr. Ford was the mainstay, and pages might be written concerning the straits into which the board were often driven to maintain the schools. As an instance, we may note the concert held in the L. D. Smith building, with Dr. Ford and his daughter and W. S. Drew as principal fuglemen. The proceeds were applied to the purchase of a terrestrial globe, the first article of school apparatus purchased for the Winona public schools. This globe, which should have been preserved as a relic, was burned in the fire of July 5, 1862. Rev. Tanner was succeeded in the fall of 1858 by Mrs. A. W. Thomas, who was his assistant during the latter part of his schoolwork here.
There was a constant increase in the work of the schools from this time forward. In the fall of 1859 Mr. V. J. Walker was employed as principal, and his, work continued long after the city schools were established upon a solid foundation. In this work his wife, a most excellent teacher, was associated with him, and their influence in the young life of the city and its schools cannot be told in words. For the eighteen months elapsing from the time of Mr. Walker's assuming charge of the schools until they were turned over to the city board of education at its organization, no record survives. The final report of the districts to that board are lost, and all we know is by the memories reviving twenty-four years of eventful history, in which so much relating to those early times has passed into forgetfulness that it is impossible to reproduce it even approxi- mately. We only know that the schools had no permanent abiding- places, that accommodations were difficult to be found and good quarters impossible to be received, money scarce and times hard, yet out of all the schools emerged tried as by fire, to approve the wisdom of their early management.
BOARD OF EDUCATION.
By special act of Minnesota state legislature, approved March 7, 1861, under the title "An act for the establishment and better regulation of the common schools of the city of Winona," all the school districts and parts of school districts within the corporate limits of the city of Winona were consolidated to form one district, the regulation and management of which was committed to a "board of education," for the creation and government of which the special act above cited made provision. By the terms of this act it was
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HISTORY OF WINONA COUNTY.
ordered that at the time of holding the regular charter election in the city, one school director in each ward should be elected, who, in order to qualify, should take a prescribed oath of office, and that the directors thus chosen, together with the principal of the State Normal School at Winona, should form the city board of education. It was plainly the intention of the act, as indicated by its wording, to make all resident members of the normal school board ex officio members of the city board of education, but this intention was defeated by the omission of a material word in the engrossing of the act. Thus the school board of the city at its organization was con- stituted with but four members, one each from the three wards of the city, and the principal of the State Normal School at Winona. The special provisions of this act of March 7, 1861, it is not necessary to make further allusion to, as it was superseded by the act of legislature approved March 8, 1862, which latter act it was declared should be construed as of a public nature and subversive of the act of the previous year. By the terms of the new act the election of two school directors from each ward was provided for, the terms of office of such directors fixed at two years, and the directors thus chosen to constitute the "city board of education," thus effectually severing all connection with the normal school authorities in the management of the public schools of the city. By the act of March, 1862, provision was also made for the election of a superintendent for the city schools; members of the board of education were debarred from receiving compensation for their services as such ; annual reports were required to be made to the county auditor and to the state superintendent of schools, and the board of education was invested with such powers as were deemed necessary to their existence, government and effective work as a corporate body entrusted with the onerous duty of providing the best possible educational facilities for the children and youth of a growing city. To preserve the homogeneousness of the educational work throughout the state, the board of education was made amenable (as far as practically applicable) to the general school law of the state, and to the rules established by the state superintendent of public instruc- tion. There was one provision of this act destined in the course of events to become a fruitful source of contention between the common council of the city and the city board of education, and for this reason, if no other, it must be specially noted. This was the clause by which the city council was empowered to pass upon the annual
L
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WINONA PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
estimates for school expenses presented by the board of education, and to accept or reject the same in whole or in part as they deemed best. The city treasurer was made the custodian of all school funds paid in under the tax levies ordered by the council or other- wise derived, and required under penalty to keep the same separate and distinct from all other funds in his hands. The act also pro- vided for equitable payment of all judgment liens against the board without issuing execution against the school property of the city.
At the time the act of the legislature creating the "board of education of the city of Winona " became operative, March 7, 1861, the city was divided into three wards, and at the charter election in April of that year the several wards elected members of the board of education as follows: First ward, Thomas Simpson ; second ward, Richard Jackson ; third ward, John Keyes ; and these gentle- men, with Prof. John Ogden, principal of the State Normal School at Winona, were the original board of education for the city of Winona. The " board " met April 13, 1861, for organization and elected Thomas Simpson president and John Keyes clerk ; Prof. John Ogden was made superintendent of city schools, and thie "board of education of the city of Winona " became a fixed insti- tution.
Concerning these gentlemen, who twenty-two years ago com- posed the first board of education of this city, it may not be amiss to state that Prof. Ogden left the city in December, 1861, and is now in charge of a private normal school at Fayette, Ohio. Thomas Simpson is still a resident of the city, in active professional life, and president of the State Normal School board. Richard Jackson was several years in business in this city and died here early in 1875. John Keyes, justly entitled to the honor so generally accorded him as "father of the Winona public schools," died on the old Keyes homestead in the eastern part of the city, December 2, 1876, at which time he had been a resident of Winona a little over twenty- three years. The informal union of the two school districts within the city limits, and their harmonious working for nearly four years prior to their legal consolidation, were very largely owing to the disinterestedness, good judgment and abiding interest in educa- tional matters displayed by Mr. Keyes. His work by no means ended with the formation of the school board. As clerk of that board during the first seven years of its existence, during which time the high school building was erected, he became so much an
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HISTORY OF WINONA COUNTY.
integral part of the public school administration of the city during that early formative period, that his influence in the educational life of the city can scarcely be overrated. Appropriate resolu- tions bearing testimony to his valuable services as an officer and member of the city school board were spread upon the records of that body. and the memory of his labors will long survive his generation.
The great fire of July 5, 1862 (to which reference is so frequently made in this work) destroyed the records of the board of education, including the records of the schools which had preceded the organization of the board. It is therefore impossible to give any authentic statement concerning the condition of the schools at the time they passed under the control of the board of education. A general statement made by Mr. Keyes, as secretary of the board, shortly after the fire, appears among the records. From this we learn that April 13, 1861, the board of education, on assuming charge of public school matters in Winona, found themselves in possession, by transfer from the old school districts numbers two and fourteen, of some old school furniture, one terrestrial globe, one set of outline maps, some rented rooms in various parts of the city, some indebtedness, no school buildings or sites in fee, or money. The sum of $285 was subsequently paid to settle the accounts of one of the old districts, and it is only a reasonable probability, from information obtained, that the board expended about $500 in settling the affairs of the old districts. The public schools as then existing, April 13, 1861, were one grammar school, or high school, as it was called, of which V. J. Walker was principal, and five primary schools scattered through the various wards of the city, occupying such buildings as could be the most cheaply rented for that purpose. The systematic grading of the schools was immediately undertaken by the board and the entire schoolwork of the city reorganized. The schools as thus established were one high school, one grammar school, three secondary and four primary schools. The estimate made for the ensuing three months' expenses, at the expiration of which the school year as equally established would close, was $1,000. This estimate was approved by the council and the schools opened as organized under the new arrange- ment. A report of the schoolwork for the fractional year ending August 31, 1861, gives the following figures : Number of children of school age in the district, 772 ; number of children enrolled in
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WINONA PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
the schools, 382 ; average attendance, 252. The total expenditures for the three school months were $932.68, itemized as follows : Teachers' salaries $703, repairs and furniture $151.64, rents $73.04, fuel $5.
The estimated expenses of the schools from September, 1861, to close of the spring term of 1862 were $2,175, which added to the amount previously levied, $1,000, gives a total of $3,157, to carry on the nine schools of the city from April, 1861, to the close of the school year, August 31, 1862. The work of grading the schools undertaken and partially accomplished the previous year was now completed. The number of schools remained as previously estab- lished and the several rooms occupied by them prior to the fire of July 5, 1862, were: primary - (1) Kenosha Ale House; (2) Hancock's building, upstairs ; (3) Hubbard's Hall, second story ; (+) Mrs. J. S. Hamilton's building, in the third ward. Secondary-(1) South room Hancock's building ; (2) Cooper's, then Hancock building ; (3) Hubbard's Hall, first floor. Grammar school was held on the first floor of the Hancock building, north room until April, when it was removed to the brick schoolroom on Front street.
The high school was first in the Hancock building, then in the " brick schoolroom," and from thence removed to the city building when the grammar school took possession of the brick room on Front street. The rentals for the year were $293, exclusive of the Hancock building, the use of which had been generously do- nated to the school board by the proprietors.
The election for members of the school board in 1862 was under the act of legislature, approved March 8 of that year, re- quiring the return of two members from each ward. The members of the board as thus constituted were : first ward -Thomas Simp- son ; W. S. Drew, who did not qualify, and the board filled the vacancy by electing E. Worthington ; second ward -T. B. Welch, R. D. Cone ; third ward - F. Kroeger, John Keyes.
On the third Monday in April, as required by law, the board met and organized, with Thomas Simpson president and John Keyes clerk. The Rev. David Burt was elected superintendent of schools for the city, his compensation for services fixed at $100 per annum, and a like amount voted the clerk as salary. The estimated ex- penses for carrying on the schools for the year beginning Sep- tember 1, 1862, are not given in full, but the tax levy submitted to the council for approval was for $2,945. The whole amount ex-
24
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HISTORY OF WINONA COUNTY.
pended certainiy doubled that sum. The public moneys of 1858 for districts numbers two and fourteen aggregated $1,130, and at this time, 1862, there was not only a marked increase in the number of school age within the district, but also in the ratio of appropriation to each individual. The wages paid teachers by the board at this time were as follows : principal of high school, per month, $55 ; teacher of grammar school, per month, $35; secondary school, per month, $22.50 ; primary school, per month, $20.
The necessity of establishing the schools in permanent quarters had long been apparent to the friends of education in the city, and the question of building schoolhouses as the state of the treasury would permit from time to time was freely agitated. At some meeting of the board prior to July 5, 1862, a resolution to build a schoolhouse in ward No. 3 was adopted. Lots 5 and 6 in block 15, Hamilton's addition to the city of Winona, were purchased and the contract let for building a ward schoolhouse, at a cost, including lots, of $1,760. As we do not intend to follow the history of the several schools through their temporary quarters to their final es- tablishment in their present permanent homes, we state here that this first purchase of two lots in block 15 was subsequently followed by the purchase of the entire block, and upon it in 1876 the present Washington school building was erected, as will be more particu- larly noted hereafter. It was at this juncture, close of spring term of 1862, that the fire, before mentioned, swept away the brick schoolroom on Front street, and destroyed (among scores of others) the office of secretary John Keyes, obliterating every vestige of record concerning the schoolwork of the city, from the opening of Miss Angelia Gere's nursery school in 1852 to the latest minute of the board of education made in June, 1862. * *
The first meeting after the fire was held June 9, 1862, in the office of the secretary, and vigorous efforts made to provide accom- modations for the schools to be opened the ensuing term. These efforts were eminently successful, and the work of the schools was systematically resumed at the opening of the school year. The school report for the year then ended, August 31, 1862, showed no change in the census returns of children of school age within the district from those presented for the previous year, but the enroll- ment had increased from 382 in 1861 to 419 in 1862. A reduction had in the meantime been made in the number of schools sus- tained by the board, one of the secondary grade having been discon-
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WINONA PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
tinued. In October of this year the clerk of the board, as required by law, took the census of children of school age, upon which cen- sus returns the division of public moneys to the schools throughout the state was based, and reported an increase of 188 over the census of 1861-2. No special change is to be noted in the schoolwork for the year ending August 31, 1863. The number of schools remained unchanged, and the old officers of the board were continued at the head of affairs, as was also the superintendent. Though no special changes occurred in the schoolwork the board itself was making progress. The school building in ward three was completed as per contract some time in December, 1862, and on January 1, 1863, this, the first school building erected for school purposes by the school authorities of Winona, was dedicated to the uses for which it was constructed. Thomas Simpson, as president of the board of educa- tion, presided at the opening exercises, and delivered an appropriate address, the manuscript of which lies before us as we write. Action was taken this year in the matter of purchasing school sites in wards numbers two and three; the salaries of clerk and superintendent were raised to $150 each per annum; the clerk was instructed to advertise for contracts for a school building in the first ward; the Stearn's schoolhouse, in the second ward, was purchased at a cost of $415, exclusive of ground rent, which was fixed at $10 per annum ; lots 1 and 2 in block 119, original plat of Winona, were purchased, and contract closed with Mr. Conrad Bohn to erect a school build- ing upon them at a cost, including fencing, of $2,200. This contract was entered into August 22, 1863, and with this action of the board closed the transactions of that school year. The building on block 15, Hamilton's addition (as also the one now under contract by Mr. Bohn), was a two-story frame, arranged for the accommodation of two schools, one on each floor. The building in the first ward, when completed, was occupied for school purposes by the board, and so continued until the erection of the Madison school building in 1875 ; since then the old house known as the Jefferson school building has been provisionally turned over to the city council for the use of the fire department.
The census returns for the new school year 1863-4 showed a material increase in the number of children in the city, 1,221 being the number reported by the clerk. The increased number of children demanded increased accommodations, and the school of secondary grade, discontinued in 1862-3, was reopened, making the whole
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HISTORY OF WINONA COUNTY.
number of schools under the care of the board ten. January 15, 1864, Mr. Burt resigned his office as superintendent of Winona public schools, and Dr. F. H. Staples, a practicing physician of the city, was elected to fill the vacancy. Dr. Staples discharged the duties of superintendent until September 4, 1865, when he resigned, and was succeeded by Prof. V. J. Walker, who taught the Union Grammar School of the city from the fall of 1859 until the organization of the city school board, when he was elected principal of the high school, April, 1861. Mr. Walker continued to perform his double duties as high school principal and superintendent of city schools until the close of the school year in 1869, at which time he closed a very successful term of ten years as principal of public schools in Winona.
By the charter election of 1864 a change was made in the mem- bership of the board of education, and upon the organization of the board L. B. Tefft was elected president; secretary Keyes still in office. The estimates for the year opening September 1, 1864, were for one high school, one grammar school, four secondary schools, six pri- mary schools, all of which were opened with the exception of one secondary, the total number being eleven schools. To provide for maintaining these during a school year of ten months the estimated tax required was $12,000, $5,000 of that amount to apply to a fund for the erection of a suitable central school building, which the necessities of the schools demanded and the wisdom of the board was forecasting. The salaries of teachers at this time had somewhat appreciated. Wages were per month, high school, $65 ; grammar school, $35 ; secondaries, $25 ; primaries, $22.
The officers of the board were not changed in the spring of 1865, and the school registers bore the names of 806 pupils, the actual enrollment for that year. The estimated expenses for the year opening September 1, 1865, were $16,500. The actual tax levy was $9,632.78, with an item of $5,000 for central school fund. At the close of school year, August 31, 1865, the city owned three wooden buildings, the total valuation of which, including furniture, was $5,000, the buildings accommodating five of the eleven schools main- tained by the board.
The school year 1865-66 was an eventful one. The board had previously selected block 37 of the original town plot, as the site of the proposed central building, and acquired title to several of the lots thereon. The work of receiving possession of the entire block was
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WINONA PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
pushed vigorously, and on May 15, 1866, title was perfected and the block secured. Bids for the erection of a suitable central school building had been advertised for in the meantime, and contracts awarded to Conrad Bohn, of this city, three days prior to perfecting title. The contract price of structure was $36,700, the whole costing with furances and furniture about $52,000. Ground was immediately broken, walls erected and roof put on that season, and the building was completed and accepted by the board September 7, 1867, named by them the High School, and the afternoon of Sep- tember 13th set apart for its formal dedication, which was accord- ingly done, Hon. Mark Dunnell, of this state, delivering the dedica- tory address. This building is decidedly an ornament to the city, a monument to the public spirit of the citizens, and a credit to the board of education under whose administration it was erected. The block on which it stands is in the very heart of the best residence portion of the city. The building faces north, the main entrance being on Broadway, with side entrances on Walnut and Market streets. It is a substantial, ornate structure, built of brick and stone, rising three full stories above the basement, in which are the fur- naces and fuel rooms. The extreme length from east to west is 96 feet ; from north to south, 82 feet ; height of main walls, 32 feet ; of gables, 48 feet ; of main ventilating shaft, 72 feet ; of minor venti- lating turrets, 66 feet; with a tower rising 94 feet from the water-table to the finial.
The basement is nine feet between floors, the first and second stories each thirteen feet and the third story, in which is the assembly room, fifteen teet. A hall eight feet wide running the extreme length of the building, with double doors at each end, affords ample means for entrance and exit. The staircases are four and one-half feet each, and the rooms are fully provided with cloak closets. There are four recitation rooms, each 28×34 feet on the main floor, and also on the second. The north half of the third story is the high school room proper, the space on the south side being divided into recitation rooms for high school classes. The building is occupied by the following schools : one high school with three reci- tation rooms, two grammar schools, three secondary schools lettered A, B, C, four primary schools.
The city superintendent's office is in the tower on the main floor, a comfortable room 12×12, supplied with a small reference library and connected with the city telephone exchange.
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HISTORY OF WINONA COUNTY.
The school census, taken in the fall of 1866, showed 1,952 children of school age within the city, an increase of 741 in three years. The census of 1867 showed a further increase 229, making a total of 2,181 for the latter year.
Henry Stevens became president of the board at the annual meeting in April, 1866, secretary Keyes still retaining office. At this meeting the salary of clerk was raised to $250 per annum, as was also that of the superintendent.
No change was made in the officers of the board at their annual meeting in 1867. When the schools opened in September of that year the salary of high school principal was fixed at $1,300, and the wages of female teachers $40 per month.
At the annual spring election in 1868, secretary Keyes was not returned and the board organized with H. D. Huff, president, and John Ball, secretary. The following year, 1869, Mr. Ball gave place to J. M. Sheardown, who held the office of clerk to the " board " until his resignation in December, 1871. At the annual meeting in this year, 1869, the salaries of clerk and superintendent were raised to $300 each per annum. At the close of this school year a new departure was taken and the office of superintendent of schools separated from the principalship of the high school. This position was offered to Prof. Varney, at a salary of $1,500 per annum, but he declined the offer, and the office was not filled until October 4, 1869, when the officers of the school board were authorized to employ Prof. W. P. Hood, which was done as ordered. The new superintendent entered immediately upon his work and continued in office until the close of the spring term in 1871.
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