USA > Missouri > Bates County > History of Bates County, Missouri > Part 19
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In 1909, a system was adopted by the State Department of Educa- tion for approving rural schools. The following schools are at present approved schools: Mckinley, Mingo, Hackler, Olive, Fairview (No. 32). Silverdale, Harmony, Tripp. Miller, Black, Summit Center. Hud- son City, Hazel Dell, Prairie City, North Muddy, Montgomery, Maple Grove, Herrell, and Virginia (69).
The school board convention law of 1913, providing for a meeting of the school boards of the county once a year, and allowing them pay for attending the meeting has done much to make more efficient school board members.
Considerable interest is being manifested in the free text-book law of 1913, which provides that each school district by a majority vote may provide free text books to the pupils of the district. Twelve rural school districts voted free text books this year and are now furnishing free books to the pupils of the district.
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In 1913, a law was passed providing for teachers' training courses in approved first class high schools as designated by the state superin- tendent of schools. This course provides special training in rural and in elementary school work. While the course does not prepare thoroughly trained leaders, it is a great advance over and produces more efficient teachers than the method of granting certificates through the county examinations to students from the regular high school course.
Since the passage of the Buford consolidation law in 1913, the fol- lowing consolidated school districts have been formed: Amsterdam No. 1, in 1914; Merwin No. 2, in 1915; Crescent Hill No. 3, in 1916: Hume No. 4, in 1916; Montrose No. 5, in 1917 ; and Prairie No. 6, in 1917. Only three of the above consolidated school districts have provided high schools, Amsterdam, Merwin, and Hume.
For the purpose of bettering rural social conditions throughout the county, a series of educational meetings were called for different parts of the county. This movement was started in the fall of 1916, and was taken up again in the fall of 1917 when eight local meetings were held.
In October, 1915, thirty-six teachers in the vicinity of Butler met in the office of county superintendent and organized an Extension Course in Educational Psychology and in Educational Sociology under the instruction of Dean C. A. Phillips, of the Warrensburg Normal. In the fall of 1916 thirty teachers met in the same place and organized a course in English Constitutional History and in Missouri History under the instruction of Prof. C. H. McClure, head of the history department of the Warrensburg Normal. Again, in the fall of 1917 twenty-four teach- ers met in Butler and organized a course in Economics under the instruc- tion of Prof. Walter Morrow of the Warrensburg Normal, and twenty teachers met in Rich Hill and organized a course in Hebrew History and American History under the instruction of Prof. C. H. McClure, of the Warrensburg Normal.
In 1906 the average salary paid the rural teacher was $234. In 1917 the average salary had increased to $400. The highest salary paid a rural teacher in the county at present is $70 per month or $560 per term. There are eighteen rural schools paying $60 or more per month.
The following statistics will show the standing of the Bates county schools July 1, 1917 :
Enumeration-Male. 3,472: female, 3,240. Total, 6,712.
Enrollment-Male, 2,902: female, 3,381. Total, 6,283. (14)
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Total number of days attendance, 738,070. Average daily attend- ance, 4,613.
Average length of school term in days, 160.
Number of school districts in county, 137.
Number of districts having libraries, 136; volumes in libraries, 18740; number of volumes added this year, 4,430; value of libraries, $7,610; amount spent this year, $2,100.
Number of teachers who have had high school training, 132; nor- mal training, 151.
Number of teachers employed-Male, 44; female, 160. Total, 204.
Number enrolled in high school-Male, 251; female, 339. Total, 590.
Number of high school graduates-Male, 40; female, 63. Total, 103. Number of pupils graduating from common school course-Male, 93 ; female, 191. Total, 284.
Average salary of teachers per month-Male, $72; female, $54.
Estimated value of school sites and buildings, $306,500; estimated value of school equipment, libraries, furniture, apparatus, $31,200.
Assessed value of taxable property, $14,330.435.12 ; present indebted- ness, $96,540.
Average levy per $100 for all school purposes. 59.64c.
Grand total receipts, $188,923.36; grand total payments, $157,408.51 ; balance on hand, $31,514.85.
Amount of school loans-Common school fund, $76,013.14; town- ship school fund, $43,489.57. Total, $119,502.71.
Total amount of cash on hand, $6,857.47.
Total loans and cash, $126,360.18.
Adrian Public Schools.
The first school house erected in Adrian was in August, 1882. It was a frame building, and contained four rooms, two above and two below. School opened October 1, 1882, with an enrollment of 96 pupils. L. W. Putnam was elected superintendent, and his wife, Mary Putnam, was elected assistant. Mr. Putnam is still living and is a resident of Adrian. He continued as superintendent of the schools for three years. The second year three teachers were employed and the third year four teachers were employed. The school continued with four teachers until 1895, when the present building was constructed.
Mr. Covert was employed as the second principal of the school, and
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HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
remained in the position for three years. Mr. Ben Brouse was then elected for one year. He was succeeded by Mr. Frank Deerwester in 1889, who remained but one year. Mr. Stair was employed in 1890 but owing to ill health resigned in February, 1891. Mr. W. E. Welch was elected to fill the vacancy, and he remained in the position until 1895. At the annual school meeting in 1895 bonds were voted to the amount of $5,000 for the erection of the present building.
Mr. J. K. Failing was elected principal in 1895, and remained one year. Mr. M. A. Cleveland was then employed, and has been succeeded by the following principals and superintendents: Mr. A. L. Ives, Mr. McCorckle, Mr. W. T. Hoover, Mr. W. D. Miller, and Mr. B. E. Parker, the present superintendent.
The Adrian high school is ranked as a first class high school by the State Department of Education. There are five high school teach- ers, and all of them are normal, university, or college graduates. Each teacher has had special training in the subjects he or she is teaching. There are 107 pupils enrolled in the high school, and 55 of them are tuition pupils. There is not another high school in the state that has as large a number in the high school in proportion to the number in the grades. In addition to the regular four-year high school course, there is a commercial, domestic science, and teacher's training course. There are 134 pupils enrolled in the grades.
Mr. B. E. Parker was elected superintendent in 1911 and has con- tinued in the same position. Miss Emma Hyatt was elected principal of the high school in 1913.
Rich Hill Public Schools.
In April, 1881, after the town was established in June previous, an election was called for the reorganization of the school district and for the election of school directors. Previous to June, 1881, there were only fifteen pupils within the district known as the Rich Hill School District. There was then a little school house, about 14 x 16, east of the city of Rich Hill. At this election the district was reorganized and Rich Hill was selected as the site for the school building of the district. A vote of three per cent. on the then taxable property of the district was carried and bonds to the amount of $4,000 were issued. In the meantime the board engaged the churches of the town in which to teach the winter of 1881 and 1882. Rev. Mr. Henshaw was chosen principal for the school term of 1881. A corps of six teachers were
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employed. There are now 1,177 pupils within the city limits, by actual listing.
As occasion demanded the school board revised the course of study and added to it to accommodate the wants of the people. At present there is a four-year high school course. The high school is ranked as a first class school by the State Department of Education. There are 89 pupils enrolled in high school. Roy D. Brown is superintendent.
Butler Public Schools.
The first school in Butler was taught in a building erected for both school and church purposes in 1856. The teacher was Mrs. Martha Morgan. This building was used by all religious denominations for their services, people coming from as far as twenty miles to attend church. The building was destroyed during the Civil War.
A temporary building was erected in 1866 to be used as a school house. The first school in this school house was taught by Professor Cavendish, a graduate of Ashbury University, Kansas, in the fall and winter of 1866 and 1867.
The first brick school building in the county was erected in Butler in the fall of 1870. It was located at the head of Ohio street in the west part of town. It was a two-story building and cost $8,000. Later it was torn down and replaced by the present two-story brick building. This building was used for high school purposes until the fall of 1911. It was one of the first buildings in the county to be furnished with the patent seat and desk. As the town grew it later became necessary to build two grade buildings, one in the east part of town and the other in the north part. In 1911 the citizens of Butler voted bonds to the amount of $35,000 for the erection of the present high school building.
Butler has one of the best high schools in the state from the stand- point of faculty, building and equipment. The faculty is composed of ten teachers. Each teacher has had four years training in excess of a four-year high school course.
The Butler Academy.
The school was first organized in 1874. Judge David McGaughey was chosen president ; Rev. E. V. Campbell, secretary, and M. S. Cowles, treasurer. Vice-presidents were chosen from various portions of the county with the view of awakening a general interest and founding an
OLD BUTLER ACADEMY.
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institution of learning to meet the wants of a higher education than afforded by our common schools.
Rev. E. V. Campbell, the then pastor of the First Presbyterian church of Butler, taught the first term in the upper story of a store building on the southwest corner of the public square, beginning on the 14th day of September with an attendance of six pupils. He continued in charge of the school, which rapidly increased in numbers, till the close of the year 1875, when he resigned the charge of both pastorate and school.
The following January, Rev. B. F. Powelson took charge of the academy, and with the aid of friends taught till the close of the spring term.
In September, 1876, Prof. L. B. Allison was selected to aid him. In January, 1877, the school was removed to the northwest corner of the square in rooms over the store occupied by Colonel Wheeler. The winter term of this year opened with an attendance of fifty pupils, and the academy now began to assume a permanency of character which gave assurance of success. The friends of the school renewed their efforts in its behalf, and during the winter of 1877 circulated a subscrip- tion for the purpose of raising funds to secure a site and erect a build- ing thereon. The sum of $3,000 was soon pledged in shares of stock fixed at $25 each.
Early in May following, a meeting of the stockholders was held and a new organization effected. A board of trustees was elected. com- prising the following named gentlemen: Messrs. M. S. Cowles, D. N. Thompson, Hiram C. Wyatt, Capt. E. P. Henry, and Judge David McGaughey. The question of a brick structure was decided at this meet- ing. also the selection of a site. Articles of association were immediately adopted, and work began on the building in June, and on the 26th day of July the corner stone was laid with appropriate exercises by the Masonic order. The building was completed in the latter part of Novem- ber, and the school took possession of the new building the same month. In the meantime the academy was placed under the fostering care of the Osage Presbytery, with the understanding that it should not be sectarian, but merely Christian in character. Professor Powelson con- tinued as principal till March. 1879.
In September following. Prof. James M. Naylor, A. M., of Terre Haute, Indiana, was called to the principalship of the academy.
Authority was granted by the state in April, 1881, for the confer-
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ing of academic degrees at the close of the spring term. The degrees of A. B. and poet laureate were granted to the first class of graduates of the Butler Academy, composed of the following students: Messrs. Warren L. Durand, Francis Brittain, and Misses Maggie B. Newton, Florence I. Page, Hattie Henry, Clara Henry, and Lizzie B. Yathwell.
This institution never received any endowment, but was supported entirely by public patronage.
The above is the history of the Butler Academy from its beginning to 1897. The academy was destroyed by fire in 1900 and was never rebuilt because of the growth of the Butler public schools at that time.
Hume Public Schools.
Before Hume came into existence, what is now the Hume school district was formerly Greenridge school district.
Hume was platted in the fall of 1880, but it was not until the winter of 1882 that Hume had a school, the children prior to that attending the Greenridge school, one mile south of Hume.
In the winter of 1882, Miss Dora Bishop taught a subscription school upstairs on the northwest corner of the square.
In the spring of 1883 the school district was divided with Noah Little, E. C. Maxwell, and one other as directors. Hume's first school house is still standing and is now the Catholic church. A. C. Corbin was employed as teacher, teaching six months in the spring and six months in the fall and winter.
J. K. Dickinson took charge of the school in the fall of 1884. By this time the population had grown so rapidly that the school house - was too small, and the children were taught in the old Buckles Hall, on the southwest corner of the square. Miss Mollie Blevans was teacher.
At the annual school meeting in April, 1895, bonds were voted for the erection of a brick building. The building was completed by Sep- tember 1st, and school opened with S. P. Noel, principal and Miss Lizzie McCuen, assistant. Miss Alice Langston had charge of the primary room.
On April 30, 1892, under the superintendency of Prof. C. M. Leedy, the first class was graduated. The members of the graduating class were: Rose Shepherd, Libbie and Edna Bacon. Nannie Cockerill, Della Maxwell, Lillie Horton, and Howard Wood.
On February 16, 1916, the Hume Consolidated School District was
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formed. At the election voting consolidation, transportation of pupils was also voted.
On April 5, 1916, bonds were voted to the amount of $20,000 for the erection of a modern school building.
The Hume high school is ranked as a first class high school by the State Department of Education.
Miss Ida Hawman was elected as a teacher in the high school in 1914. She held this position until the fall of 1916 when she was elected superintendent. She has two high school assistants. There are four grade teachers.
Amoret Public Schools.
In or about the year 1887, before many people had settled in Amoret, a small school house was built one mile north of town on the west side of the road leading from Amoret. The original name of the school was Spy Mound.
About the year 1886, the Kansas City Southern was built through the county, and this caused more people to settle in Amoret. The Spy Mound school house was not large enough at that time to accommodate the people of the town so bonds were voted to the amount of $1,800 for the erection of a new school building within the town limits. The site was chosen where the old building now stands.
The building was so constructed that in the future more room could be added to it. Only two rooms were completed at first. Two more rooms have been added. Mr. and Mrs. Kennet were the first teachers elected in the school of Amoret.
Miss Clara Mager was elected principal in 1913, and it was through her efforts that the high school was set in working order. The district was not able to supply her with the necessary equipment, so she failed to get the high school approved.
In 1914, Prof. J. A. Wilson was elected principal and remained in the position for two years. During his term as principal the high school was ranked as a third class high school.
In 1916, Prof. G. W. Bliss was elected as principal of the high school. It was during his term as principal that the high school was ranked as a second class school.
In the fall of 1916, Amoret voted bonds to the amount of $7.000 for the erection of a modern school building. The building was com- pleted in the spring of 1917. It is a two-story brick, containing eight class rooms and an auditorium with a seating capacity of 300. The school
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is ranked as a second class high school by the State Department of Edu- cation. There are three grade teachers. Mr. L. S. Wright was elected superintendent of the Amoret schools in 1917. Miss Emma Adair was elected as principal of the high school in 1917.
Amsterdam Public Schools.
The first school building in Amsterdam was erected in 1895. It was a two-room brick building.
The first principal was H. O. Maxey, who took charge of the school at the beginning of the fall term in 1895. He continued in this position until the spring of 1904, when he moved to Butler to become county superintendent of schools.
Mr. Maxey was succeeded by the following superintendents in order of service : W. M. Earsom, Ed Thornburgh, J. M. Gallatin, Miss Blanche Smith, and Miss Addie Hotsenpiller, the present superintendent.
The school continued as a town school until 1914 when a con- solidated school district was formed including the school districts of Amsterdam, Liberty, Center and West Point.
In the spring of 1915 bonds were voted to the amount of $6,000 for the erection of a modern school building. It is a two-story brick con- taining eight class rooms and an auditorium with a seating capacity of 300.
The school is ranked as a second class high school by the State Department of Education. There are two high school teachers and three grade teachers.
Miss Addie Hotsenpiller was elected superintendent in the fall of 1917.
Miss Eva DeAtley was elected principal in the fall of 1917.
Rockville Public Schools.
The first school building in Rockville was built of logs, and was erected by the patrons of the school. The first teacher was Prof. Clay- bourn Anderson.
The log building was replaced in 1871 by a two-story building of native stone, 24 feet x 48 feet, at a cost of $4,047. Professor Clark was employed as principal and his wife was elected assistant principal. The school building was too small to accommodate all of the pupils so a building was rented to house the primary department, and Miss
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Davis was elected teacher. There were 220 pupils enrolled. Later two rooms were added to the stone building.
In 1898 the stone building was replaced by a two-story brick, con- taining six rooms, equipped with a modern heating plant. The building cost $10,000.
The high school is ranked as a second class high school by the State Department of Education. There are two high school teachers, and four grade teachers.
Mr. E. L. Jones was elected principal in 1917.
Merwin Public Schools.
In 1891, the patrons of Lone Elm school district voted to build a school building in Merwin. They built a two-story frame building at a cost of $1,200. This building was used until the fall of 1915. The first teachers were Elam Henderson and his sister, Cena Henderson.
The school continued a two-room school until the fall of 1915. In May, 1915, the citizens of Merwin and community voted a consoli- dated school district. In June, 1915, bonds were voted to the amount of $3,000 for the purchase of the college building and its five-acre site. The building was remodeled until it contained five class rooms and an auditorium with a seating capacity of 300. In 1916, one acre of land was purchased and added to the school site, making a total of six acres. This is the largest and the best school site in Bates county.
Mr. J. V. Hanna was elected as the first principal of the high school. He was the promoter of a consolidated school district with a high school in Merwin.
Miss Edna Quick is the present principal of the Merwin schools. She is assisted in the grades by three teachers.
Merwin Business College.
The Merwin Business College was built in 1898 at a cost of $10,000. Luther S. Richardson was the promoter of the enterprise. He organ- ized a stock company to erect the building. The company leased the building to Professors . Bunyard, Smith, and Reynolds, who carried on a successful school for several years, when it was closed for lack of patron- age. The building was then sold to a Mr. Proctor, who sold it to D. A. Charles and a Mr. Elvin. They carried on a commercial school for three years, until the spring of 1914, when the school was again closed. Later the building was sold to the Merwin Consolidated School District.
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Sprague College.
About 1884, a man by the name of Bryant came to Sprague, and erected a college building. He conducted a good school for a number of years. Finally, dissensions arose among the members of the faculty and spread to the community which resulted in discontinuing the school.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE PRESS.
VALUE AND INFLUENCE-"BATES COUNTY STANDARD"-"WESTERN TIMES"- "WEST POINT BANNER"-"BATES COUNTY RECORD"-"THE BATES COUNTY DEMOCRAT"-"THE BUTLER WEEKLY TIMES"-"REPUBLICAN"-"ADRIAN ADVERTIZER"-"THE REGISTER"-"RICH HILL GAZETTE"-"NATIONAL GA- ZETTE"-"DAILY GAZETTE"-"HERALD"-"COMING NATION"-THE WEST- ERN ENTERPRISE"-"THE RICH HILL MINING REVIEW"-"DAILY REVIEW" -"AMORET LEADER"-"AMSTERDAM ENTERPRISE"-"THE BORDER TELE- PHONE" -- "THE HUME NEWS"-"HUME STAR"-"HUME CHRONICLE"-"THE HUME GLOBE"-"HUME SUN"-ROCKVILLE NEWSPAPERS-"THE ROCKVILLE NEWS."
The press of a county is always worthy of profound consideration ; for nothing more nearly lives and breathes the life of a people than their newspapers. None are so small as to be insignificant or wholly unworthy of mention in a history of a great community. No other influence is so vital and potent. They not only reflect the public mind-they largely create and direct it. The local newspaper is the silent and speechless visitors at the firesides of the community, and its printed messages appeal to the whole family and thus mold and make public opinion. They not only deliver the news of the day or week, but they point the way to higher and greater achievements to all. Progress would halt without the local press; history would grope, and spiritual life go dead without it.
To write into these pages the origin of letters, and the accidental discovery of the art of printing would be in its nature pedantic. The history of the origin of the printed page is curious and interesting; but all that occurred long before Bates county had any history: and it were manifestly improper to take up a matter like that in these pages.
The "Bates County Standard" was the first newspaper printed and published in Bates county. It was established in 1858, by a company of men, of whom Jacob D. Wright is the only one now known to his- tory. Its editor was N. L. Perry, and it lived until the fall of 1860. when it was succeeded by the "Western Times," with W. Patrick Green,
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as editor. It survived only till April, 1861, when it was discontinued. The "West Point Banner," established at West Point, Bates county, in September, 1860, in its mention of the decease of the "Western Times" says: "It is hardly necessary to mention here that no paper can keep up without its patrons meet their indebtedness promptly." Thus we see our early friends had their troubles, and that it took money then as it does now to make a newspaper go. It appears that both the the "Standard" and the "Times" were Democratic in politics, showing how early Democratic citizens began party labors in this county. In those days they were doubtless hotly pro-slavery, as at that time and for several years prior thereto what was called the Kansas War was raging all through this section.
The "West Point Banner" was the second oldest paper in Bates county, established, as stated above, by the West Point Newspaper Company, in May. 1861. Its editor was T. H. Starnes who resided in Butler and at that time was a law partner of J. T. Smith. It was issued until the fall of 1861, when the press and type were destroyed when Union soldiers burned the town. So states the old history of Bates county. The editor of the old history says, "Through the kind- ness of a gentleman now residing in Kansas we were shown a copy of the "Banner" dated May 15, 1861, and as the editorial in that paper reflects the sentiments of the people generally who sympathize with the South we here reproduce it: 'What is to be the result of the final disturbance in the United States is a solemn inquiry in the minds of millions of men and women, who are eagerly watching and noting events as they pass rapidly on. That our country is divided no sane man can for a moment doubt; that disunion is a reality and not a seeming or whimsical temporary division, as some would have us believe, is also a fact that all honest men must admit, all their wishing to the contrary notwithstanding. The causes which have led to this unhappy division, have been so much discussed, and so much has been said on the sub- ject, that people have become tired reading newspaper articles on that subject ; neither does it matter at the present time, in a practical sense, what the causes were which have acted so powerfully on the minds of the Southern people, as to justify them in their own minds, and induce them to take the step they have.
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