USA > Missouri > Grundy County > The History of Grundy County, Missouri : an encyclopedia of useful information, and a compendium of actual facts > Part 30
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"5. We emphatically and sincerely assert the oft repeated truth taught in our organic law that the grange, national, State or subordinate, is not a political or party organization. No grange, if true to its obliga- tions, can discuss political or religious questions, nor call political conven- tions, nor nominate candidates, nor even discuss their merits in their meet- ings, yet the principles we teach underlie all true politics, all true states- manship, and, if properly carried out, will tend to purify the whole political atmosphere of our country, for we seek the 'greatest good to the greatest number,' but always bear it in mind that no one by becoming a grange member gives up that inalienable right or duty which belongs to every American citizen, to take a proper interest in the politics of this country; on the contrary, it is right for every member to do all in his power, legiti- mately, to influence for good the action of any political party to which he belongs. It is his duty to do all he can in his own party to put down bribery, corruption and trickery; to see that none but faithful, competent and honest men who will stand unflinchingly by our own industrial inter- ests are nominated for all positions of trust, and to have carried out the principles which should always characterize every grange member, that the office should seek the man and not the man the office. We acknowledge the broad principle that difference of opinion is no crime, and hold that prog- ress toward truth is made by difference of opinion, while the fault lies in the bitterness of controversy. We desire a proper equality and fairness; protection of the weak; restraint upon the strong; in short, justly distrib- uted burdens and justly distributed power. These are the American ideas, the very essence of American independence, and to advocate contrary is un- worthy of the sons and daughters of an American republic. We cherish the belief that sectionalism is, and of right should be, dead and buried with the past. Our work is for the present and the future of our agricultural brotherhood and its purposes. We shall recognize no North, no South, no East, no West. It is reserved by every patron, as the right of a free man, to affiliate with any party that will but carry out his principles.
"6. Ours being peculiarly a farmer's institution we cannot admit all to our ranks. Many are excluded by the nature of our organization; not because they are professional men, or laborers, but because they have not a suffi-
280
HISTORY OF GRUNDY COUNTY.
cient direct interest in toiling, or pasturing the soil, or they may have some interest to conflict with our purposes; but we appeal to all good citizens for their cordial cooperation and to assist in our efforts toward reform, so that we may eventually remove from our midst every vestige of tyranny and corruption. We hail the general desire for fraternal harmony, equita- ble compromise, and earnest cooperation as an omen of our future suc- cess.
"7. It shall be an abiding principle with us to relieve any of our op- pressed and suffering brotherhood by any means at our command.
"Last, but not least, we proclaim it among our purposes to inculcate a proper appreciation of the abilities and sphere of woman as indicated by admitting her to membership and position in our order. Imploring the " continued assistance of our Divine Master to guide us in our work, we here pledge ourselves to faithfully and harmoniously labor for all future time to return by our united efforts to the wisdom, justice, fraternity and purity of our forefathers."
A memorial to the patrons in the cotton States was also adopted. It is a strong argument in favor of a mixed husbandry in the Southern States instead of expending all the energies of the people of that section in raising a single staple, and gives several strong reasons why the planters of the South should and how they can become self-sustaining.
It was the grand and noble declaration of principles and purposes which gave such strength to the order and caused it in a few short months to be- come a power for good in the land; to cause monopolists to tremble and extortionists to shake with an apprehension of coming doom. That it should so 'soon lose its power is much to be regretted, but that its good work lives after it, is seen even to this day. The farmers, the mechanics and the laboring men have found that they are strong enough to rule when joined together in the cause of right, and the same organization will again come to the front when monopolists become tyrants and would oppress and rob those who are their real benefactors. That it checked the railroad cor- morants in their insatiable greed is certain, that the money power felt that the Patrons of Husbandry had rights that money kings were bound to re- speet was more than once illustrated by the lack of that defiant tone so common to those who have secured wealth and usurped power. One of the incidents of the organization of the order in Grundy county is worthy of record and took place in the early fall of 1874. The grange agent at Tren- ton could not make rates with the Chicago & Rock Island Railroad for the shipment of wheat. Rates were offered by the Hannibal & St. Joe at Chil- licothe which were acceptable. A meeting was called and the result was that 200 wagons with an aggregate of 10,000 bushels of wheat filed in pro- cession and delivered that wheat to the Hannibal & St. Joe depot at Chilli- cothe.
281
HISTORY OF GRUNDY COUNTY.
CHAPTER IX. SCHOOLS OF GRUNDY COUNTY.
Educational-Exploring the Records-School Organization-Enumeration in 1847-Number of Children, 1853 and 1854 -- School Moneys-Progress from 1865-School Commission- ers-New Era-Superintendent's Report-School Fund, 1874-Steady Growth-Letter from State Superintendent-School Fund by Townships, 1875-1876-County Superin- tendent's Report, 1879-1880-Value of School Property and Report for 1881-" The Men Who Have Guided."
" Bid him besides his daily pains employ To form the tender manners of the boy, And work him like a waxen babe, with art, To perfect symmetry in every part."
Schools have been the beacon-lights which have illumined the pathway of civilization from the earliest ages up to the present era of progress and en- lightenment. Education has stood the keystone in the arch of all social and intellectual advancement, and as with broad and far-reaching sweep it has spread over the world, the arts and sciences of peace have " smoothed the wrinkles from the brow of grim-visaged war," and relegated to the depths of darkest oblivion the days when conquering armies tread the 'civil- ization of the ancients under foot, leaving a country devastated by pillage and plunder to mark the line of march. Learning stepped in, and the physical force of the sword gave way to the intellectual sway of the pen raising man to a higher plane and a nobler aim than the mere acquirement of athletic accomplishment. Mental power began to be looked up to, and from that early day to this, with steady stride the progress of education has been a tour of triumphs " onward and upward" toward the goal of universal knowledge.
When the early pioneer first set foot upon the fertile soil and invaded the leafy forests of Grundy county, the first thing to engage his attention, after the erection of his rude cabin home in western wilds away from the bustle of the world, was the thought of a school for his children, and the deed followed the thought with immediate action. Then the log school- house assumed a prominent place in every settlement, a substantial token of the admiration of the citizens for learning.
From these early evidences of a desire for culture sprang the present com- prehensive system which has given to every district in every township good school-houses and a thorough course of study in the various branches of knowledge, and to this influence may be traced the industry and pros- perity which permeates every nook and corner of Grundy county, aiding in its growth and development, until to-day she stands in the front rank among counties in the grand old Commonwealth of Missouri.
282
HISTORY OF GRUNDY COUNTY.
EXPLORING TIIE RECORDS.
In going over and exploring the musty records of the past, the first evi- denee found relating to schools was in the month of June, 1840, at which date the organization of township 61, range 24, into a school-distriet took place, the first seetion organized for school purposes in Grundy county cov- ering what is now known as Trenton township, the most populous portion of the county. From this time on schools became frequent, and each town- ship boasted of from one to two school-houses. These institutions of learn- ing were under charge of the township, each was numbered and was eon- trolled by a board of trustees, and the chairman of the several boards of the township constituted the township school-board to which all questions connected with the schools were referred. This system continued in force until the year 1875, when the law was changed, giving to each district full charge of its own school affairs, since which time the schools have made considerable progress. The working of this law, which is still in force, has aided not a little in attainment of the present high standard and perfection of the schools of Grundy county.
On the 4th of August, 1846, the County Court ordered congressional township 62, range 24, to be organized for school purposes, and on the 10th of February of the following year the citizens of said township met at the home of Mr. Samuel Kelso, where the necessary arrangements were made. Mr. Kelso's residence was near the center of what is now known as Lin- coln township, but which at that time was embraced in the limits of Tren- ton township. At the same term of court Mr. Wm. H. Robinson was appointed school-commissioner for Trenton township, and consequently was the first school-commissioner in the county.
SCHOOL CENSUS.
In 1847 a general sentiment seemed to prevail throughout the county in favor of a more thorough organization of the school system, and to that much desired end, at the June term of the County Court, enumerators were appointed to take a census of the children of school age in the various townships in the county, and the following gentlemen were namned to per- form the duty: James R. Devaul, Franklin township; Samuel Rook, Marion; J. L. Henderson, Trenton; Zela Conkling, Jefferson; Jacob Rob- bins, Washington; John Priest, Liberty; William Metcalf, Madison. This was the first combined effort on the part of the citizens of the county toward their one cherished objeet-a uniform school system, affording ad- vantages alike to all portions of the county.
The following year, 1848, the petitions for the organization of townships began to flow in upon the County Court and in March, township 63, range 24, in Washington township, and township 62, range 22, in Liberty, were
283
HISTORY OF GRUNDY COUNTY.
organized for school purposes, with Elijah Burgess, Wm. Kent and Royal Williams as commissioners. About this time the first experience of trouble with the finances in Trenton township came up before the May term of the County Court, when the directors of school township 61, range 24, filed a motion to investigate the schools of said township, stating that a deficiency of some hundreds of dollars existed. The investigation was ordered, but as nothing further concerning the matter is to be found upon the record it is supposed everything was made, or found to be, satisfactory.
In May, 1850, the citizens of township 62, range 22, petitioned for an organization for school purposes. This was the same school-district in Liberty township organized in 1848. The petition was granted and Giles Songer was appointed commissioner, and A. Beckner, Wm. Ruckce and George Smith were appointed directors. In April, 1851, Wm. Linney and others presented a petition to organize a school-district in Liberty town- ship 62, range 23, which was duly granted. On November 2Sth, of the same year, a petition to organize a school-district of township 60, range 22, in Marion township, was also granted, and a meeting for that purpose was held at the home of Washington R. Young, near Dyke's Mill, on Medi- cine Creek, January 1st, 1852. The next school organization was of town- ship 60, range 24 in Trenton township, and in June, 1853, the first meet- ing in regard to the matter was held at the house of J. D. Parkins.
NUMBER OF CHILDREN-1853.
The commissioner's record shows a total of 1,781 children in Grundy county in 1853. Of that number the four school-districts of the municipal township of Trenton contained 294; Madison township, with two districts, furnished 314; Jefferson's one district numbered 176; Franklin, with four districts, came forward with 244; Marion's four districts gave a total of 246; Liberty, with five districts, the largest number in the county, footed up 259; Washington, with four districts, completed the list with 240.
SCHOOL MONEY.
The State school money for 1854 amounted to $748.02, which sum was divided among the townships as follows; Trenton, $123.48; Madison, $131.88; Jefferson, $77.28; Franklin, $102.48; Marion, $103.32; Liberty, $108.78; Washington, $100.80; amounting to 42 cents per capita on the enumeration of 1853. The township money for the same year amounted in the aggregate to $633.86, which was apportioned among the twenty-four schools in the county.
NUMBER AND AMOUNT.
The number of children entitled to the benefits and privileges of the public schools in 1854 showed a perceptible increase over the enumeration of the previous year, 2,010 names appearing upon the rolls. The State fund 18
284
IIISTORY OF GRUNDY COUNTY.
for 1855, under the above enumeration for that year, reached the sum of $763.80, an average of thirty-eight cents per head. There were $849.64 of township money for the same year. The growth of the schools continued, showing gratifying gains in the number in attendance, and also in the ad- ditional increase in the State appropriations. The school census of 1855 gave to the county 2,352 children, and the appropriations for the year 1856, which were based upon the above enumeration, amounted to $1,881.60, or eighty cents per head, from the State, and $1,260.44 from the townships. In 1856 the number of children of school age showed a total of 2,852, which formed the basis of the school moneys for 1857, the State fund being $2,224.56, while from the townships were received $2,623.84. The children numbered 3,226 in 1857, and the appropriations for 1858 showed a corres- ponding increase, the county adding, for the first time, its quota to the school fund, in the sum of $533.80; the same year the State furnished $2,258.20, and the townships $1,963.58. The enumeration of 1858 con- tained the names of 3,645 school children, and on the basis of that number $2,515.05 was the portion of Grundy county from the State fund, the county money amounting to $187.28, and the townships increasing the sum by $1,- 518.16, for the year 1859. The next information we can find is for the year 1862. That year the number of children returned was only 2,380, and the amount of money received from all sources was $952. The exact manner in which this was divided is, unfortunately, not of record. Some districts which failed to report got nothing. For instance, in 1856 district Nos. 1 and 4, township 62, range 22, failed to call for their apportionment for two years, and it was given to other districts in the same township; and in 1858 township 60, range 23, with four schools-districts, only No. 1 reported, with thirty-three children, and it got the entire money of the districts, amount- ing to $336.37. Here closed the official record, as far as can be ascertained, up to the breaking out and during the civil war. In the fall of 1859 a school meeting was called for the election of trustees in Union School No. 1, but in what township or range was not of record. The election was to have been held October 8, 1859, but whether it was or not cannot be told. November 12, 1859, William P. Warmouth and Elijah Burgess were ap- pointed trustees of some school-district. This ends all school reports up to 1863, when Joseph L. Bush, of district 5, township 61, range 22, was ap- pointed, October 6, 1863, trustee for that district. Alexander S. Hughes, October 18, 1863, was appointed for district 4, township 61, range 22. E. L. Webb, Hiram Richardson and Isaac H. Brown were appointed trustees, October 29, 1863, for district No. 1, township No. 63, of range 22; James Dunlap was appointed, December 1, 1863, trustee for district No. 3, town- ship 61, range 24; H. H. Turner, William F. Brown and Thomas Williams were appointed trustees, April 8, 1865, of district No. 1, township No. 60, of range 25, and M. S. Pond, Robert Stephens and John Davis were, on
285
HISTORY OF GRUNDY COUNTY.
August 7, 1865, appointed trustees of district No. 4, township No. 60, of range 25. In some of the townships schools continued regularly, as the record of 1862 gives evidence, but there seemed to be but little school funds received from any source for that purpose.
SCHOOL-COMMISSIONER.
No record of a school-commissioner for Grundy county can be found earlier than 1859, when, in September of that year, Judge R. A. DeBolt was ap- pointed to the position which he held by election until November, 1863, when Mr. Geo. H. Hubbell was appointed, holding the office until 1865. Both of these gentlemen labored earnestly in behalf of the educational inter- ests of the county, and must be credited with much that is enduring of the present excellent school system.
In 1864 the County Court, at the February term, made an order in regard to the payment of principal and interest due on the school fund. The war, which had been in progress for nearly three years at that time, had caused a rather unsettled state of affairs to exist regarding school matters, and a custom had prevailed during the time mentioned of receiving Union mili- tary bonds as either principal or interest on the common school fund or the township school fund, and the order in question prevented a further receipt of these bonds, except from soldiers who had served in the army for them. Another order was issued by the same court in June, 1865, instructing the treasurer of Grundy county, Missouri, to be authorized to loan the principal and interest on hand of Missouri military bonds belonging to the common school fund of said county, for the term of twelve months, and if not paid at the end of that time, to draw ten per cent interest per annum, payable in United States treasury notes.
NEW ERA.
After the rude shocks and alarms of war had passed away, and Missouri had once more settled down to the enjoyment of peace; when once more the industries of the State sprang into active life and the busy hum and whirr of machinery were heard in cities and towns; when the early whistles called the workmen to their labor, and morning light brought bustle and activity to the farm, then it was that the never flagging interest in the public schools manifested itself, and with undiminished zeal the citizens of Grundy county bended their energies to the work of building up the schools which had languished during the four years of strife. The schools were put upon an enduring basis and the good work progressed rapidly and well. In October of 1867 an enumeration was ordered and the result showed a total of 3,584 children enrolled who were entitled to the benefits of the common school and State school funds, and 4,402 who were entitled to the advantages of the township school money.
286
HISTORY OF GRUNDY COUNTY.
The schools, under the nourishing care of an efficient management, con- tinned to grow and flourish until, in 1870, seventy-five school-houses lifted their chimneys toward the blue vault above, and their walls within echoed and reechoed with childish shouts and childish laughter. The schools were beginning to form a valuable portion of the county's property, and in this same year the round sum of $62,960 was their total valuation. It was in 1870 that the Trenton high school building was erected, W. H. Smith, con- tractor, at a cost of $15,000, $7,500 in cash, and the same amount in school bonds. The building is of brick, square and substantial, the exact propor- tions being seventy by seventy feet and two stories in height, situated on a gentle knoll in the resident portion of the city, well located and con- venient in all its appliances. The history of its educational management will be found embodied in the history of the city of Trenton. .
SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
The condition of the schools was one of constant improvement. Prof. R. C. Norton, one of the best teachers the county ever had, and also super- intendent, reported in 1872 cighty primary schools in the county. There was one high school (at Trenton), also three select schools and one college, the latter Grand River College. One colored school in Trenton, with an attendance of twenty-four pupils, completes the school statistics of 1872. The total number of children of school age in Grundy county in 1872 num- bered 4,549, of which 3,806 attended school. The colored children num- bered but 36 in all. The daily average attendance, 2,617, and the number of schools 82, and the number of school-houses 75. There were 97 teachers employed, 71 of whom were males and 26 females. The average salary paid, $38 per month for the males, and $26 for female teachers. The reg- ular income arising from the different funds was reported as follows:
State school fund. $ 2,322.00
County school fund. 1,948.00
Township school fund 1,492.00
School tax, 1872 8,335.35
Total $14,097.35
The total amount of wages paid to teachers was $7,329, and there were expended in new school buildings and repairs $3,919.
The total amount of school fund reported for the year 1872 was $33,- 288.48. There was little difference in 1873 from the above yearly record, and on January 1, 1874, a full statement of the school fund was made.
SCHOOL FUND-1874.
While the schools seemed to have flourished and the fund to grow, it was evident that for several years there had been a looseness in the management
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HISTORY OF GRUNDY COUNTY.
of the fund arising out of the sales of the sixteenth section. To show first how the matter stood, the County Court ordered a statement giving the school fund as it stood January 1st, 1874. The statement was as follows of the amount of township school fund due each township:
Township 60, range 22.
$ 724.40
Township 61, range 22.
987.17
Township 62, range 22.
535.00
Township 63, range 22.
814.04
Township 60, range 23.
818.00
Township 61, range 23.
1,137.85
Township 62, range 23.
895.55
Township 63, range 23.
569.98
Township 60, range 24.
1,000.89
Township 61, range 24.
1,564.86
Township 62, range 24.
1,482.57
Township 63, range 24.
820.50
Township 60, range 25.
1,150.87
Township 61, range 25.
884.17
Township 62, range 25.
1,015.51
Township 63, range 25.
653.46
Total township fund ..
$15,054.85
Total common school fund
17,339.32
Total principal. $32,394.17
The county clerk makes the following remarks on the above statement:
"This is the fund from which interest is derived to support the public schools of the county, other than that received from the State and known as State school money, and that arising from taxation. Of course more or less of this $32,394.17 is worthless, arising from insufficient security and negli- gence on the part of the County Court of former years. The County Courts since 1866 have taken every precantion to make this fund as secure as possible, the present court having just ordered citations for additional security on all bonds where either of the securities have removed from the county or deceased, and have ordered collections in many cases. They pro- pose, also, to engage a competent person to examine into the solvency of all the bonds, and report to them at a succeeding term."
Grundy county had sold up to January 1st, 1873, eight thousand one hundred and twenty (S,120) acres of school lands, from the sixteenth sec- tion and received for the same $12,560. Of this sum by improper security $1,307.71 were lost up to that time. The swamp land which was a part of the school fund amounted to 33,255 acres. It is all sold and realized the sum of $15,434.23 and of this amount by insufficient security and otherwise $1,864.04 were also lost to the county and the school fund. There has not, perhaps, been all that care necessary in taking charge of the school fund
,
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HISTORY OF GRUNDY COUNTY.
of Grundy county that should have been, yet the County Court has exer- cised a judgment worthy of all praise from the fact that nearly all the losses have been by failures caused by misfortune in business and removal of secu- rities, of which no information was given, rather than by any rascality on the part of those who purchased, or their securities. Still a more watchful care will not fail to prove of value to the school fund of Grundy county and of greater credit to the County Court.
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