USA > Missouri > Buchanan County > The history of Buchanan County, Missouri > Part 54
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105
187145
NEELY SCHOCLI
G. A. BAUER DEL. SO. ST. LOUIS
NEELY SCHOOL, ST. JOSEPH.
559
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH.
It may be a matter of interest that of the three judges composing the County Court, the one residing in the district votes to carry out the will of the Board, while the two that thwart it, are not residents of the district. Also, that at about the time the County Court refused to levy a tax for interest the Board had begun to refund its bonds, reducing the interest from ten to six per cent., and had refunded five thousand dol- lars when the action of the County Court put a stop to refunding, and will compel the district to pay over three thousand dollars interest annu- ally, that might have been saved, to say nothing of costs and expenses."
There is nothing to add to the above, except that up to the present time (1881) the court persists in its refusal to levy the tax, and it remains to be seen what measures will be taken by the United States District Court to enforce the judgment rendered by it in favor of holders of the bonds.
In 1875, the Board built a frame schoolroom in the yard of the Everett School, 27 by 30 feet in the clear, at a cost of $845, making that a seven-room school, and in 1877, a schoolroom on the same plan and of the same dimensions, was built in the yard of the Washington School, at a cost of $663.20, making that in like manner a seven-room school.
In 1879, the Board purchased six lots on Sixth and Jackson Streets giving for them a lot owned by the Board valued at $300, and $700 in cash. On this ground a neat and convenient school house was built, containing two beautiful rooms, a hall in the center, and the necessary closets and cloak rooms. It is built of brick, and so con- structed that a second story can be added to it. A rear wing can also be built without obstructing light or ventilation, thus making it a six-room building. It was built for the contract price of $2, 168, this sum not including fences, outhouses, walks, nor furniture. These items and the grading and excavation bring the cost of the building up to $3,049.40. The building was named the Floyd School.
Notwithstanding these improvements and additions, the demand for more school rooms continued as urgent as ever, a demand very difficult for the Board to meet with the limited means at its disposal, and the obstructions thrown in its way by the County Court.
By the practice of the most rigid economy, by reducing salaries to a point bordering on injustice, and by dispensing with many things, such as apparatus, etc., that would have been of great assistance to pupils and teachers, and by an unexpected increase in their revenue for the year ending July 30, 1880, on account of the collection of an unusually large amount of delinquent taxes, the Board found itself at the close of that year with a balance of a few thousand dollars to its credit.
It was resolved to buy ground and build more school houses, and during the year ending July 31, 1881, six school rooms were added to those already owned by the Board. A piece of ground 125 by 135 feet
560
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH.
was purchased on the corner of Savannah Avenue and Richardson Street, for the sum of $900. On this a very handsome and convenient brick school house was built, two stories in height, and containing four beautiful school rooms. The house is built on nearly the same plan as the Neely School. It is the most elegantly finished school building in the city ; has in it water from the St. Joseph Water Company, and is furnished with marble wash basins, electrical bells, etc. It cost, not including furniture, etc., $7,400. It was named the Crosby School.
In the same year a brick school building, one story, 28 by 38 feet, (13 feet story), 13-inch walls and metal roof, containing one school room, closet and cloak room, was built in the yard of the Everett School, at a cost of $1,235.40. The addition of that room made the Everett an eight- room school.
As the Neely School was crowded to overflowing, the Board decided to convert one of the play rooms in the basement into a school room. This was done in the same year, at a cost of $318.82, not including furni- ture, and it makes a very handsome, well-lighted and comfortable school room, about 28 by 35 feet in size. This makes the Neely a five-room school, and as the population is rapidly increasing in that part of the city, it will be necessary at an early day to convert the other play room in the basement into a school room, and also to build a two-story addi- tion in the rear, with a school room on each floor.
All of these improvements made in the fiscal year ending July 31, 1881, were urgently needed, but their construction absorbed all the savings of the Board and some $6,000 or $7,000 besides, and has rendered exceedingly doubtful the continuance of the schools on full time the ensuing year:
The urgency for more school accommodations still continuing, the Board resolved at a meeting held February Ist, 1881, to hold an election for the purpose of submitting to the qualified voters, a proposition for the levy of a special tax to build a six-room school house, in the western part of the city, a six-room school house in the eastern part of the city, and a two-room school house for colored children in the southeastern part of the city. The election was held on the first day of March, 1881. There was a very light vote, only 363 votes being polled, 322 of which were for levying the tax, and 41 against the levy.
It was the intention of the Board to proceed to build the houses at once, without waiting for the collection of the tax, so as to have them ready for occupancy by the opening of the fall session in September. But from the delay of the County Court to levy the tax, capitalists were unwilling to advance the money required, and builders were unwil- ling to take the risk of building, as it was by no means certain that the court would levy the tax unless compelled to do so after a tedious law suit. When, at length, the court did levy the tax, it was too late to
561
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH.
build in time for the fall session, and at the date of this present writing (July, 1881,) it is not known when the Board will decide to commence building.
The following statistics for the fiscal year of the School Board, end- ing July 31, 1881, are interesting and valuable.
NUMBER OF SCHOOL HOUSES OCCUPIED BY THE ST. JOSEPH BOARD OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
Number of school houses 20
Number owned by the Board (brick) IO
Number owned by the Board (frame) I
Total number of school houses owned by the Board II
Number rented by the Board
9
VALUE OF SCHOOL PROPERTY OWNED BY THE BOARD.
Estimated value of grounds $ 30,000
Estimated value of buildings and furniture 101,000
Estimated value of apparatus and reference books 2,000
Total value of school property. $133,000
TEACHERS.
Number of teachers in the employ of the Board, at the close of the school year ending June 30, 1881 67
Number of male teachers II
Number of female teachers 56
Number of teachers in High School
5
Number of teachers in grammar and primary schools
56
Number of teachers in colored schools.
6
Amount of salaries paid teachers for the fiscal year ending July 31, 188I $37,846 25
562
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPII.
ENROLLMENT AND ATTENDANCE OF PUPILS FOR THE LAST SEVEN- TEEN YEARS.
The following table shows the enrollment and attendance of pupils in the schools since their reorganization in 1864, embracing a period of seventeen years :
YEARS.
Whole Number
Enrolled.
Average Number
Belonging.
Average Daily
Attendance.
Per cent. of At-
tendance.
1 864-65
630
410
369
90
1865-66 .
719
470
430
92
IS66-67 .
1511
772
716
93
1 867-68 .
1766
1098
IOIS
93
IS68-69 .
2160
1293
IIS6
92
I 869-70 .
2082
1333
1224
92
IS70-71
2415
162
1477
91
IS71-72 .
2574
1767
1597
90
IS72-73 .
2858
2032
IS27
90
IS73-74
3362
2391
2159
90
IS74-75 .
3485
2516
2239
89
IS75-76.
3510
2620
2385
91
IS76-77 .
3514
2667
2417
91
IS77-78 .
3536
2691
2475
92
IS78-79
3691
2755
2521
92
IS79-So .
3820
2848
2579
91
ISSO-SI
4072
3116
2853
92
Before bringing the history of the public schools of St. Joseph to a close, it is proper to add a few words showing the scope and character of the course of study and the methods of teaching used in these schools.
It is apparent to any one who will study the history of the schools from their feeble beginning in 1860, and trace their progress from their reorganization in 1864 to the present time, that their growth has been uniformly steady and healthy. Their organization may really be said to date from 1864, near the close of a long and bloody civil war, at a time when almost every branch of industry was paralyzed, and preju- dices existed in the minds of a large number against the public school system. Beginning under such discouraging circumstances, with three small school houses and an empty treasury, the results attained in so brief a time cannot fail to be gratifying to every public-spirited citizen of St. Joseph. The facts related and statistics given in the preceding sketch speak for themselves.
To give a clear and succint view of the interior working of the sys- tem, we quote from an article written by Superintendent Neely, at the request of the "St. Joseph and Northwest Missouri Immigration Society." We quote only a brief portion of the article :
W.D.BAKER SC CHIO "SO
TV .. ANGELO POWELL
ARCH' S'JOSEPH MO
WEBSTER SCHOOL, ST. JOSEPH.
565
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH.
" The High School is at the head of the system, and the schools below the High School are known as the district schools, which include primary, intermediate and grammar. These are subdivided into seven grades, the seventh, sixth and fifth grades constituting the primary, the fourth and third the intermediate, and the second and first the gram- mar grades. The course of study is so arranged that each grade will require one year for its completion, so that a child entering school at six years of age will have completed the course by the time he is thirteen. This is the time required for the child of average ability. Children who are exceptionally talented or studious complete it sooner. Let us look now briefly at the course of study.
The young child enters the seventh grade, bringing with him only- his slate and pencil. No books are needed at the beginning. The. teacher proceeds at once to teach him to read. She does not teach him first his letters and then to spell, but from charts suspended on the wall she points out to him easy and familiar words, such as dog, cat, top, etc., at the same time showing him the pictures of those objects. He soon learns to recognize many of such words at sight, much sooner than he could learn the letters, for the word conveys to him a familiar idea, while the letter does not. Soon the teacher, by skillfully pointing in the proper order, to the words the pupil has learned on the chart, constructs little sentences, and the child almost unconsciously finds himself reading, 'before, by the old spelling book method, he would have known his let- ters. These he learns almost without knowing how he does it. In this way a whole class is taught as easily as a single child. By the close of the first year, the children of the seventh grade have learned to read all the lessons in the First Reader, (which is soon substituted for the charts) to write legibly short sentences on their slates, to count with and without objects to fifty, and to add, subtract, multiply and divide, no number being introduced greater than twenty. This is the work of the first year, and if the annual examination shows that it has been per- formed thoroughly, the child receives a certificate, signed by the Super- intendent, and is regularly promoted to the sixth, or next higher grade. In this grade the Second Reader is begun and completed, the children commence the study of Ray's Primary Arithmetic, and the studies of the seventh grade are continued, Primary Geography being commenced at the middle of the year.
In the fifth grade, or third year, the same studies are continued, the third reader being substituted for the second. The child finishes the primary arithmetic.
In the fourth grade, the scholar begins the fourth reader, and contin- ues the studies of the preceding year. Primary geography is completed. Ray's intellectual and Ray's practical arithmetics are begun. The spel- ling book is now put into the hands of the pupils, all the spelling hereto-
-
566
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH.
fore having been done from the readers. In this grade a text book on language lessons is placed in the hands of the scholars for study and rec- itation. All instruction on this subject has heretofore been oral, the pupil having no book.
In the third grade, or fifth year of the course, the same studies are continued, the advanced text book on geography being substituted for the primary. The text book on language lessons is completed.
In the second grade, the fifth reader is begun and completed, and geography is finished. English grammar is begun and the studies of the preceding grade are continued.
In the first grade, or seventh year of the course, selections from the sixth reader are read. Practical arithmetic is completed from interest to the end of the book. English grammar is finished, attention being given chiefly to the correction of false syntax and the analysis of sentences. United States history and an elementary work on physics are begun and completed. Intellectual arithmetic is completed at the middle of the year, and the class takes up in its stead and finishes an elementary work on physiology. Penmanship, spelling and composition are kept up throughout the entire course. Pupils are promoted from one grade to another by a thorough system of written examinations.
Such, briefly outlined, is the course of study in the St. Joseph public schools. Edward Everett said : "To read the English language well, to write a neat, legible hand, and to be master of the four rules of arith- metic, I call this a good education." Any pupil completing the above course in the St. Joseph schools, should have an education far above that standard, and should be well prepared to enter upon any of the ordinary business avocations of life. But that the system of public instruction may be as complete and thorough in St. Joseph as in any Eastern city, a High School, with a liberal course of study, was organized in 1866, which has graduated 208 young ladies and gentlemen, who are filling useful and honorable positions in society. Of the above number, forty-four are either teaching now, or have been teachers in the public schools of St. Joseph. I can best exhibit the scope and character of the course of instruction in the High School by giving the course of study in full :
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH.
567
COURSE OF STUDY IN THE ST. JOSEPH HIGH SCHOOL.
PREPARATORY YEAR.
First Quarter.
Second Quarter.
Third Quarter.
Fourth Quarter.
Eng. Gram. and Comp. Latin. Higher Arithmetic. *German.
Eng Gram. and Comp Latin. Higher Arithmetic. *German.
Eng. Gram. and Comp. Latin. Algebra. *German.
Eng. Gram and Comp. Latin. Algebra. *German.
JUNIOR YEAR.
First Quarter.
Second Quarter.
Third Quarter.
Fourth Quarter.
Rhetoric and History. Latin Algebra. *German. 1
Rhetoric and History. Latin Algebra. *German
Rhetoric and History. Latin. Geometry. *German.
Rhetoric and History. Latin. Geometry. *German.
MIDDLE YEAR.
First Quarter.
Second Quarter.
Third Quarter.
Fourth Quarter.
Mental Science. Latin. Geometry. *French or Greek.
Mental Science. Latin. Geometry. *French or Greek.
Natural Philosophy. Latin.
Chemistry. Latin.
Trigonometry.
*Book Keeping and Commercial Arith'tic. *French or Greek.
SENIOR YEAR
First Quarter.
Second Quarter.
Third Quarter.
Fourth Quarter.
English Literature. Latin.
Physiology. *French or Greek.
English Literature. Latin. Physical Geography. *French or Greek.
English Literature. Latin
Astronomy. *French or Greek.
English Literature. Latin. Constitution. *French or Greek.
*Elective.
English composition and drawing throughout the course.
35
-
Trigonometry. *Book Keeping and Commercial Arith'tic. *French or Greek.
0
am
THE THREE STAGES OF TRANSPORTATION.
CHAPTER X.
RAILROADS.
HANNIBAL & ST. JOSEPH RAILROAD-ST. JOSEPH & WESTERN RAILROAD-THE KANSAS CITY, ST. JOSEPH & COUNCIL BLUFFS RAILROAD-ST LOUIS & ST. JOSEPH RAIL- ROAD-MISSOURI PACIFIC RAILWAY-ST. JOSEPH & DES MOINES RAILROAD.
The people of St. Joseph early awoke to a sense of the importance and necessity of railroad communication with the east. About the first reference to this matter we find in the Gazette of Friday, November 6th, 1846.
"Our country is destined to suffer much and is now suffering from the difficulty of navigation and the extremely high rates the boats now charge. Our farmers may calculate that they will get much less for produce and will be compelled to pay much more for their goods than heretofore, and this will certainly always be the case when the Missouri River shall be as low as it now is. The chances are fearfully against having any considerable work bestowed in improving the river, and until it is improved by artificial means, the navigation of it to this point must always be dangerous and very uncertain.
The prospects for this fall and winter are well calculated to make the people look about to see if there is no way to remedy this inconven- ience, if there can be any plan suggested whereby our people can be placed more nearly upon terms of equality with the good citizens of other parts of our land.
We suggest the propriety of a railroad from St. Joseph to some point on the Mississippi, either St. Louis, Hannibal or Quincy. For our- selves, we like the idea of a railroad to one of the latter places suggested, for this course would place us nearer to the Eastern cities, and make our road thither a direct one; we like this road, too, because it would so much relieve the intermediate country which is now suffering and must always suffer so much for transporting facilities in the absence of such an enterprise.
If this be the favorite route we must expect opposition from the southern portion of the state, as well as all the river counties below this. For the present we mean merely to throw out the suggestion with the view of awaking public opinion, and eliciting a discussion of the subject. In some future number we propose presenting more advantages of such a road, and will likewise propose and enforce by argument the ways and means of accomplishing the object."
570
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH.
The suggestions thus offered of the necessity of a railroad seemed to have been universally popular, and through the vigorous action of the friends of the enterprise, we find, thus early, a charter granted by the Legislature, as follows : 1
AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE HANNIBAL AND ST. JOSEPH RAILROAD COMPANY.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows :
SECTION I. That Joseph Robidoux, John Corby and Robert J. Boyd, of St. Joseph, in Buchanan County; Samuel J. Harrison, Zachariah G. Draper and Erasmus M. Moffett, of the City of Hannibal ; Alexander McMurtry, of Shelby County ; George A. Shortridge and Thomas Sharp, of Macon County; Wesley Halliburton, of Linn County; John Graves, of Livingston County; Robert Wilson, of Daviess County ; and George W. Smith, of Caldwell County ; and all such persons as may hereafter become stockholders in the said company, shall be and they are hereby created a body corporate and politic in fact, and in name, by the name and style of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad Company, and the same title, the stockholders shall be in perpetual succession, and be able to sue and be sued, implead and be impleaded in all courts of record and elsewhere, and to purchase, receive, have, hold, and enjoy to them and their successors lands, tenements and hereditaments, goods, chattels, and all estates, real, personal and mixed of what kind or quality soever, and the same from time to time, to sell, mortgage, grant, alien and con- vey, and to make dividends of such portion of the profits as they may deem proper, and also to make and have a common seal, and the same to alter or renew at pleasure, and also to ordain, establish and put in ex- ecution such by-laws, ordinances and regulations as shall appear neces- sary and convenient for the government of such corporation, and not being contrary or repugnant to the Constitution and laws of the United States, or of the State of Missouri, and generally to do all and singular the matters and things, which to them it shall lawfully apper- tain to do for the well being of the said corporation and the due man- agement and ordering of the affairs of the same: Provided, always, that it shall not be lawful for the said corporation to deal, or use, or employ any part of the stock, funds or money, in buying or selling any wares or merchandise in the way of traffic, or in banking or broking operations.
SEC. 2. That the capital stock of said corporation shall be two mil- lions of dollars, divided into twenty thousand shares of one hundred dol- lars each, and it shall be lawful for said corporation, when and so soon as in the opinion of the individuals named in the foregoing section a sufficient amount of stock shall have been taken for that purpose, to commence and carry on their said proper business and railroad opera- tions under the privileges and conditions herein granted.
SEC. 3. That the said company are hereby authorized and empow- ered to cause books for the subscription stock to be opened at such times and places as they may deem most conducive to the attainment of the stock required.
€
UNION DEPOT, ST. JOSEPH.
·
573
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH.
SEC. 4. The said company [shall] have power to view, lay out and construct a railroad from St. Joseph's, in Buchanan County, to Palmyra, in Marion County, and thence to Hannibal, in said county of Marion, and shall, in all things, be subject to the same restrictions and entitled to all the privileges, rights, and immunities which were granted to the Louisiana and Columbia Railroad Company, by an act entitled "An act to incorporate the Louisiana and Columbia Railroad Company," passed at the session of the General Assembly in 1836 and '37, and approved Jan- uary 27th, 1837, so far as the same are applicable to the company hereby created, as fully and completely as if the same were herein enacted.
SEC. 5. Nothing in this act, nor in that to which it refers, shall be construed so as to allow said company to hold or purchase any more real estate than may be necessary and proper for the use of the road and the business transacted thereon.
This act to take effect and be in force from and after its passage.
Approved February 16, 1847.
The following were the
PROCEEDINGS OF THE RAILROAD CONVENTION,
held at Chillicothe, Missouri, June 2d, 1847.
Delegates from various counties of North Missouri assembled at Chillicothe, Missouri, on the 2d day of June, 1847, according to previous notice. The Convention was organized in the Court House at II o'clock, by calling Judge A. A. King, of Ray County, to the chair, and electing Dr. John Craven, of Davies County, and Alexander McMurtry, of Shelby County, Vice Presidents, and H. D. LaCossit, of Marion County, and Charles J. Hughes, of Caldwell County, Secretaries.
It was moved that the delegates in attendance report themselves to the Secretaries, whereupon the following gentlemen gave in their names and took their seats :
B. F. Loan and Lawrence Archer, from Buchanan County ; Absolom Kernes, from DeKalb; Robert Wilson, John B. Conner, Volney E. Bragg, William Penniston, James Turley, Thomas T. Frame, Jacob S. Rogers, M. F. Greene, John Mann, Woody Manson and John Craven, from Davies County ; George Smith, Patrick Smith, Jesse Baxter, A. B. Davis and C. J. Hughes, from Caldwell County; A. A. King,* from Ray County ; John Graven, Thomas B. Bryan, Elisha Manford, John Harper, F. Preston, F. L. Willard, John L. Johnson, S. Munser, John Bryan, B. F. Tarr, Thomas Jennings, William Hudgens, William Hicklin, William L. Black, James H. Darlington, Robert Mitchell, John Austin, James Austin and F. Preston, from Livingston County ; Dr. Livingston, from Grundy County ; W. B. Woodruff, James C. Moore, James Lintell, John J. Flora, Jeremiah Philips and W. Halliburton, Linn County ; George
* Austin A. King, who presided over this Convention, was Judge of the Fifth Judicial Cir- cuit, of which Ray County was a part, from 1837 to 1848, when he was elected Governor of Missouri.
574
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH.
Shortridge, A. L. Gilstrap and Benjamin Sharp, from Macon County ; Alexander McMurtry, from Shelby County ; Z. G. Draper, James Waugh, Henry Collins, H. D. Cossitt and William P. Samuel, from Marion County.
On motion of Col. Peniston, it was resolved that a committee, con- sisting of one member from each county represented in this convention, be appointed for the purpose of reporting upon what subjects this con- vention shall act. The President appointed Robert Wilson, L. Archer, A. Karns, G. Smith, F. L. Willard, Dr. Livingston, W. B. Woodruff, Geo. Shortridge, and Z. G. Draper.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.