USA > Minnesota > Redwood County > The history of Redwood County, Minnesota, Volume I > Part 27
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The county issued bonds of $50,000 for the construction of the line to Redwood Falls. A petition was presented to the county board on July 24, 1876, asking for the issuance of bonds for the construction of a railroad which was to connect Redwood Falls with New Ulm. An election called for Aug. 18, 1876, resulted in a favorable vote by the people. On Sept. 6, 1876, the board de- cided not to issue the bonds until the railroad should be completed to Redwood Falls. Sept. 20, 1876, an insistent demand having been made for the issuance of the bonds, a committee of D. O. King, J. M. Little and Mathias Keller, was appointed to draw up a contract with the railroad company. On Feb. 15, 1877, the committee reported. On their recommendation the bonds were issued, and placed with the Bank of St. Paul, to be paid to the railroad should the line be completed and in use by Oct. 1, 1877. The conditions were not met, and the bonds were withdrawn. On Jan. 3, 1878 the commissioners extended the time for the com- pletion of the road to Aug. 18, 1878. The railroad was built, and the bonds duly issued.
The Evan-Marshall line of the Chicago & Northwestern was built by the Minnesota Western Railway Company. Two surveys were made, one from Morgan and one from Evan. The latter was finally selected. Track laying started at Wabasso April 21, 1902, and Marshall was reached in July of that year. The stretch from Wabasso to Evan was also rapidly completed, and the line put in operation that summer and fall.
The line extends across the central part of Redwood county, crossing Brookville, Three Lakes, New Avon, Vail, Granite Rock and Westline townships, with stations at Wayburne, Clements, Rowena, Wabasso, Lucan and Milroy. Evan in Brown county is five miles from Wayburne and Dudley in Lyon county is seven miles from Milroy.
The Sanborn-Vesta line of the Northwestern extends from Sanborn to Vesta, the tracks being in Charlestown, Willow Lake, Waterbury, Vail, Sheridan and Vesta townships, with stations at Sanborn, Wanda, Wabasso, Seaforth and Vesta. Vesta is the end of the line. Dotson, in Brown county, is eight miles from San- born. The road was built in the summer and fall of 1899, and the first train was run Nov. 27, 1899.
The Pacific division of the Minneapolis & St. Louis was com- pleted to Morton in 1882, and the construction westward through Redwood county completed in 1884. It passes through Honner, Delhi and Kintire townships and touches Paxton township as well. The stations are at North Redwood, Delhi and Belview. Morton in Renville county is seven miles from North Redwood
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and Echo in Yellow Medicine county is three miles from Echo.
The Chicago & Northwestern Co. The Winona and St. Peter Railroad Co., an outgrowth of the Transit line, of territorial days, was organized March 10, 1862, and completed its road from Winona to Rochester in 1864. Waconia was reached in 1867, Janesville in 1870, St. Peter in 1871; New Ulm in June, 1872; Marshall in November, 1872; and the western boundary of the state in 1874.
The Winona, Mankato and New Ulm Railroad Co. was organ- ized in 1870, and a railroad was built from New Ulm to Man- kato. It was afterward acquired by the Winona and St. Peter.
The earliest part of the Chicago & Northwestern system was known as the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad Co. incorpor- ated under the laws of Illinois, Jan. 16, 1836. The real beginning of the Northwestern under its present name was when the Legis- lature of Wisconsin, on April 10, 1861, authorizing it to construct a railroad from Fond du Lac to the Menominee river. In October, 1864, the Penninsular Railroad was acquired, thus securing the trade of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
In 1867, the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Co. became in- terested in the Winona and St. Peter and in 1870, the Mississippi river was bridged at Winona. The Chicago & Northwestern ac- quired by purchase the Winona and St. Peter June 7, 1900; the Minnesota and Iowa on June 8, 1900; and the Minnesota Western Railway on July 16, 1902.
The Minneapolis and St. Louis Railroad Co. The original Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway Co. was a Minnesota corpora- tion called the Minnesota Western Railroad Co., created March 3, 1853, by Chapter 66, Special Laws of 1853. In 1870, by author- ity of the State Legislature, the name was changed to the Minne- apolis and St. Louis Railway Co. This company, authorized by the legislatures of both Minnesota and Iowa, absorbed the Minne- apolis and Duluth, organized in April, 1871; the Minnesota and Iowa Southern, created in 1878; and the Fort Dodge and Fort Ridgely, incorporated in 1876. In the summer of 1888 the com- pany went into the hands of a receiver, and in the fall of 1894 was sold under a decree of foreclosure. In November, 1894, the company was reorganized under the name of the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railroad Company. To preserve the corporate rights of the company in the two states, that portion of its property lying in the state of Iowa was conveyed to a committee which, in January, 1895, organized the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railroad and Telegraph Company of Iowa, which in February following was formerly consolidated with the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railroad Company under that title. The reorganization was made under the laws of the both Iowa and Minnesota, and the present company retains all the rights of the original and con-
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stituent companies. On January 1, 1912, the company acquired by purchase all the railroad and connected property of the Iowa Central and Minnesota and the Dakota and Pacific Railway companies.
The main line from St. Paul westward, or what was originally called the Pacific Division, was constructed from Hopkins to Winthrop in February, 1882, and from Winthrop to Morton in November, 1882. Morton remained the terminal of the line for two years and in 1884 the line was continued to Watertown. The construction work of the line through this part of the state was done by the Wisconsin, Minnesota and Western Construction Co.
Acknowledgment. Thanks are due to Thomas Yapp and H. B. Warren, assistant secretary and statistician, respectively, of the State Railway and Warehouse Commission, for assistance in the preparation of this chapter.
References. Railroads in Minnesota are discussed at length in many of the standard Histories of Minnesota, and the story of the building of various branches is treated in several county histories. Interesting articles on the subject appear in the published "Col- lections" of the Minnesota Historical Society. Valuable material regarding the early railroads of the state; the "Five Million Dollar Loan"; the repudiation of railroad bonds by the state and the final settlement of the matter; together with a detailed his- tory of the Winona & St. Peter; are to be found in the "History of Winona County, Minnesota, 1913, by Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge.
Authority. Records of the State Railway and Warehouse Commission.
"Minnesota in Three Centuries," by Return I. Holcombe.
Files of cotemporary newspapers.
Personal testimony of residents.
Outline Map of Redwood County prepared by A. D. McRae. History of Lyon County, by Arthur P. Rose, 1912.
CHAPTER XXII
EDUCATION
The social and economic development of a community is most admirably reflected in its schools. The first school in Redwood county (exclusive of the agency schools) was taught in a living room in a log cabin at Redwood Falls, protected from the Indians by a stockade and a patrol of soldiers. The early schools were held in the same kind of structures as those in which their pupils lived. Some were in granaries, some in log cabins, some in sod houses, and one or two in a brush or straw lean-to. The furniture
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in the pioneer schools was of a nondescript variety. Some schools had a bench running around three sides of the room, some had a few rough boards for tables. In the first school taught in the stockade, household furniture from the various cabins was used. In some early schools the children brought their chairs to school in the morning and took them back home at night. Some of the schools had fire places, some had a crude stove. The first text books were usually of a miscellaneous variety which the families had brought with them from older communities. The county was new, the pioneers were for the most part poor, they were compelled to make the best of circumstances as they found them, and the children likewise, in their schooling, were provided with such make-shifts as were available.
As the people prospered, the schoolhouses were improved, though it must be admitted, that the school facilities did not in all instances keep pace with the developments along other lines, for in some neighborhoods the school house was the last building to be improved, and remained a crude, box like structure, a blot on the landscape, long after the farms were provided with mag- nificent barns and comfortable homes.
It has been the settled policy of the United States since the Republic was formed, to assist new territories and states by grants of land for common schools, a university, public buildings and other purposes. The manner of disposing of the lands was left with the people of the several states. The act of Congress, author- izing a territorial government for Minnesota, was approved March 3, 1849. Among other things, it provided that, when the lands in the territory should be surveyed, sections 16 and 36 in each township were to be reserved for the purpose of schools in the territory or state which would follow.
The first legislative assembly of Minnesota enacted in 1849 a law for the support of common schools. A partial organization of the system was effected the following year, and in 1851 Rev. E. D. Neill was appointed territorial superintendent of common schools.
But the early settlement of Minnesota was slow, so that in 1854 there were only five or six school districts in the territory, and not more than a half dozen log school houses, of very little value, with no organized public school system. There was at that time no public school fund.
In 1861 Governor Alexander Ramsey delivered a remarkable address to the legislature, in which he stated that he believed in fifty years from that time the three million acres of school land, when sold, would yield an annual revenue which would raise the Minnesota educational system above the level of that of any state in the Union. He spoke with almost prophetic foresight for the half century period has just passed and the state school fund
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alone, in actual, interest-bearing securities, amounts to $21,500,000, and there are more than a million acres of school land still unsold.
The school system of the state was six years old when Colonel McPhail and his little band of asosciates located at Redwood Falls. Previous to this settlement, the only schools that had been con- ducted in Redwood county were the schools at the Lower Agency, where the government, in 1854, started its attempt to make white men of the Sioux Indians.
A number of children living in the stockade at Redwood Falls, the only white children in the county, were taught, during the winter of 1864-65 by Julia A. Williams, who thus became the pioneer schoolteacher of the county.
The school system of Redwood county as an organized entity dates from the first meeting of the county commissioners, April 19, 1865, when a school district was created consisting of the present townships of Paxton, Honner and Redwood Falls.
In April, 1866, District No. 1 was created, with a schoolhouse at Redwood Falls. Edward March, the county auditor, was appointed school examiner Sept. 12, 1865, his compensation to be $2 a day for time actually spent at his examining duties.
Redwood county received from the state fund, in 1867, $85 for school purposes. In addition, $21.79 was raised for the county school fund, and $35.47 from the district school fund, making a total of $142.76 available that year for operating the schools of the county. Of this, District 1 received $46.51 for the spring term and $36.03 for the fall term, making a total of $82.54 for the year. District 2 received $10.11 for the spring term and $9.85 for the fall term, making a total of $19.96. District 3 received $14.43 for the spring term and $25.72 for the fall term, making a total of $40.15.
In 1868 the majority of the teachers of the county, and indeed of the state, were poorly trained and ill qualified to teach. For the most part they were boys and girls who wished to work for a few months in the year, and who found employment at teaching at a season of the year when there was no other employment. Teaching was not regarded as a trained profession, but an occu- pation in which anyone could engage who had a better education than the prospective pupils. Sometimes the subjects taught were as new to the teacher as to the pupil, the teacher keeping one lesson ahead of the pupil by studying at night.
The average wage per month in Redwood county for a male teacher was $33 and for a female teacher $12. There were scat- tering schools here and there. In only one school that winter were there two teachers.
In 1869 eight districts had been organized and 169 pupils were enrolled. E. A. Chandler, county superintendent, in his report for 1870 says, "Redwood county is still in its infancy concerning
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school matters but it has a healthy constitution and a rapid growth is looked forward to."
In 1870 the salaries were nearly double what they were in 1868. The male teachers received an average salary of $50 a month, and the female teachers an average of $22.50 a month.
In 1871 Redwood county paid $880.80 as teachers' wages. Great improvements were being made in the school buildings, and in the system and the teachers hired were better qualified and better paid.
In 1872 the increase in teachers' wages corresponded with the increase in pupils and school buildings, when $1,139.77 was paid as teachers' wages. The ratio of female teachers to male was steadily on the increase in Minnesota. In 1874 almost $3,000 was paid as teachers' wages in Redwood county.
In 1875 W. B. Herriott, county superintendent, declared that the condition of the schools, although sadly in need of improve- ment, were better than the statistics indicated. Progress was re- ported for the five years. In place of one school building, there were fifteen; in place of eight districts, there were twenty-seven; there were six times as many pupils. Great plans had been made, but the hard times caused by the grasshoppers greatly interfered with building and kindred work, and in some of the districts the plans were not realized.
The work accomplished during the next year, 1876, was quite satisfactory. Five new school houses were built and six new districts were laid out.
In 1877 D. L. Bigham, the county superintendent, said in his report that the schools were greatly indebted to the influence ex- erted on them by the State Teachers' Institute held at Redwood Falls in the spring. This was the first institute held in the county, but by an extra effort, almost every teacher was in attendance. Lectures and good instruction were given, and the result was a new life in the schools. On the whole, the schools of Redwood county made a decided advance during the year.
The question of text books was considered by the county com- missioners Sept. 25, 1878, when $164.29 was appropriated in con- nection with the state uniform text book scheme. Jan. 9, 1879, the sum of $91.46 was appropriated from the county funds with which to purchase cheap state text-books, Robert Watson and Lyman Fuller being named as the purchasing committee.
R. L. Marshman, county superintendent, stated in his report in 1885 that the schools were keeping pace in growth with other worthy interests. The number of pupils had increased to 1,435 and there were fifty-two organized districts. There were forty school houses and there was not so much changing of teachers as in former years. The attendance was much better but far below what it would have been if the compulsory school law had been
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enforced, which was then virtually ignored in Redwood county. The teachers' institute, as to attendance and interest was superior to those of other years. The work of the institute instructors sent by the state was excellent.
In 1886 the county superintendent's report declared that there was not so much changing of teachers as in former years; that the school officers were more liberal in compensating teachers who showed their worthiness. The teachers' institute, as to attendance and interest, was superior to those of others years. The average wages of the teachers in 1885 was: males $39.00; females $25.60.
In 1887 the county superintendent declared in his report that the teachers were more enthusiastic over their work and were regarding it more as a permanent work. School districts, in many instances, were awakening to the fact that more good could be accomplished by employing teachers permanently than by chang- ing every term. Keener interest was manifested on the part of the pupils when they realized the teacher had come to stay. The com- mon school teachers still had little more than a high school educa- tion. Few normal graduates taught in the common schools. But the teachers were better prepared and the increase in salary they demanded was seldom refused.
In 1890 the county superintendent's report showed gradual progress. Seven new buildings had been erected in the past two years and many of the old ones had been torn down and new ones erected. The school library law commenced to make its influence felt and in 1890 fourteen schools were supplied with fair sized libraries. There was less change in the teaching force than in any previous year. The work of teaching was better understood and the teachers were better qualified to fill their positions. Teachers' meetings were a great help toward unifying the work. Everywhere the teachers were encouraged to read, annually at least, one work on education. An effort was made to keep the pupils in school after they reached the age of fifteen. A common school diploma was offered to encourage them to remain and the twelve diplomas, given the previous year, were highly prized.
Compulsory education was not enforced. Mild measures were tried and some good was accomplished but less than seventy per cent of the whole number enrolled attended school the whole time. However, the law was too faulty to insure great success. Nearly all schools at that time were supplied with classification registers and the records left were very helpful to the incoming teacher.
There was less change in the teaching force in Redwood county than in any previous year. The work of teaching was much bet- ter understood. Nearly all the schools were taught by teachers who held a second grade license. Nearly all the teachers fol-
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lowed as a guide the Common School Manual, which made the work more unified. In 1890 the male teachers in Redwood county were receiving an average salary of $36 and the female teachers $30. About $17,000 was spent for teachers' wages in Redwood county that year.
New methods of improving the efficiency of the teachers were continually being tried. The Teachers' Institutes had proved a real help and in 1890 there was a summer school held for teachers in Redwood county. The practical school room work was taught and those who attended were greatly encouraged and strengthened.
In 1894 an excellent training school was held in Redwood county in the summer. One hundred and forty-seven earnest men and women were enrolled, and a great deal of good work was accomplished toward qualifying the teachers for their work. Nearly $30,000 was paid to the ninety teachers who taught in Redwood county in 1894. The males received on an average of $40 a month; the females $33. Of the whole number engaged in teaching, all but nine had first and second grade certificates. There were examined in 1894 one hundred and forty candidates, of which sixty were rejected. Of the whole force then engaged in teaching, two were college graduates, ten were normal gradu- ates, and thirty were high school graduates. Fifty teachers had attended a high school and twenty more had attended a normal school without completing a full course. It will be seen that the scholarship of the teachers was greatly improved.
In the report for 1895, County Superintendent S. J. Race said : "Compulsory education does not compel. Only seventy per cent of the pupils enrolled attended school regularly. Where a well qualified teacher, a live, energetic one is at work in a well supplied school room there is no trouble about attendance. The remedy lies not in more stringent laws, but in more efficient teachers."
That year $32,000 was paid for teachers' wages, or an average of $32 per month for males and $30 per month for females. There were 147 candidates who applied for certificates, but only 80 secured necessary pass marks. The teaching force was gradually improving. There were more "normal girls and boys" than two years earlier, though it is true that the normal graduates were for the most part teaching in the villages, the better salaries and the longer school terms in the villages being among the induce- ments which kept the best qualified teachers away from the little country schools where as a matter of fact they were needed the most.
The enrollment in the summer school in 1896 in Redwood county was not as large as in 1894, but it was well organized and the teachers received a great deal of help. The teachers' reading circle proved of great aid in making the teachers better qualified.
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There had been but slight change in the wage question. Where the teacher had shown broad scholarship, a disposition to work, and an interest in her work, she had been retained at an increased salary.
The teachers' wages showed an increase for 1897 when $33,782 was paid out. There were twenty-four male and one hundred and four female teachers, at an average of $31 per month These aver- ages do not include Redwood Falls and Lamberton, where the males received $91 per month and the females $47 per month. In 1895 it was a rare sight to find a normal graduate in the rural schools. In 1897 there were employed in Redwood county, seventeen nor- mal school graduates, not including city and village schools, who were paid an average of $38 per month. All the districts having such teachers, except one, were convinced that it paid, and were resolved to try the experiment again the following year.
In 1900 the county superintendent, S. J. Race, said in his re- port that Redwood county showed remarkable improvement in the last few years. New school houses with some beauty of structure, some sanitary measures, and something relative to heating and ventilation had been built. The "box-car" pattern was left behind. The school libraries grew steadily. The law of "Special State Aid to Rural Schools" was a wonderful stimulus to Redwood County.
Ten schools tried a simple yet efficacious plan of heating and ventilating school rooms. The method was to heat the fresh air and to distribute in the room by means of registers.
The schools having eight and nine months' sessions all paid $35 and $40 per month. Some paid $45 per month, and a few $50.
In the earliest days of Redwood county teachers were first granted their licenses to teach by the county examiner; later by examiners in county commissioners' districts, and, when the county superintendency was established, by the county superin- tendents. Under them, the system gradually grew in efficiency. From 1899 all teachers had been examined by the state superin- tendent of public instutition, who issued questions upon which applicants throughout the state wrote at the same time, the manuscript being sent immediately to his office, under whose su- pervision certificates were issued. By this system of uniform examination, the standard for entering the teaching profession was raised, the requirements made uniform, and due credit given to those who have shown special fitness for and success in their work.
The year 1904 was one of more progress than any other for ten years. Thirty-nine teachers were normal school graduates, forty-nine were high school graduates, and seven were college graduates. In the whole county there were sixty-six teachers
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who held a state first grade certificates or higher qualifications. The men received on an average $50 per month, the women $40 per month. All teachers with first grade certificates in rural schools received from $45 to $50 per month. The higher salaries paid had a tendency to put teaching on a more professional basis. The teacher with a third grade certificate or, more properly speaking, a permit, is nearly weeded out.
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