USA > Missouri > Linn County > The history of Linn county, Missouri. An encyclopedia of useful information > Part 28
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
19 123.76
88.40
66 59, 66 19
64.60 66 60, 66 19
20. 186.32 66
66
58, 66 20. 261.12
66
59, 66
20. 155.72
20 134.64
66
57,
21
63.92
66
58,
21
133.28
66
60,
21 108.80
11.56
66
58,
22.
53.72
66
59,
66
22
72.76
66
60,
66
22
54.40
February 6, 1854, there was a county fund for distribution among the schools for the first time. It amounted to $249.25.
NUMBER AND LOCATION.
There were now sixteen school districts in the county and they were lo- cated in the congressional townships as follows: Township 57, range 18, district number 16; 57-19, number eleven; 57-22, number three; 57-21, number four; 58-18, number ten; 58-19, number twelve; 58-20, number one; 58-21, number five; 59-18, number nine; 59-19, number thirteen; 59-20, number two; 59-21, number six; 60-18, number eight; 60-19, number four- teen; 60-20, number fifteen; 60-21, number seven.
.
66
57,
22
21 176.80
59,
60, 66
57,
66 58. 66
57,
276
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
TOWNSHIP FUND DISTRIBUTED.
In the year 1854
$1,127.99
1855
1,512.44
1856
1,728.44
66
1857 1,835.77
66
1858
2,678.71
1859
2,693.04
66
1860
2,392.14
66
1861
2,087.03
1862
2,387.15
66
1863
2,387.15
The amount appropriated 1864 was $3,000. This amount covered county and township fund. The same amount was ordered distributed for 1865. Both of these years there were four districts which were reduced in their apportionment. In 1866 $4,000 was appropriated, the township fund being the same.
There began to be delinquents on the school money loaned by the county, and the County Court made an order that all delinquents failing to pay up within three months from the date of the order, February 3, 1857, should be at once prosecuted.
The first money appropriated to build a school-house was on May 3d, 1858, when $106.59 was drawn from the general expenditure fund, for that pur- pose, and the money given to Mr. Harper and others to expend it. The record did not give the location of the school-house, and was the first one built by the county.' Previous to this most of the log schools were put up by a combination of the neighbors.
Soon after .this, came the mutterings of the approaching storm, and soon it burst forth in all its fury. The days of peace were past and the white- winged angel had wafted her way to her heavenly clime, while the demon of destruction and death reveled in his unholy work. Little was done dur- the dark days of that fearful struggle to keep up schools or even look after the school fund, which was a sacred trust. Some show was made and schools were kept more or less during that time of sorrow and death, but failures to pay interest on the school and swamp land notes made the ap- portionment small and schools of but a short duration. When war had ceased the State was in chaos, society had been rent and shattered, laws, if any, were unheeded, and the future had anything but a hopeful look for the people. The whole State lay shattered and bleeding at every pore, and Missouri, in 1865, when peace was proclaimed, was without a school system. Private schools and colleges, which had flourished in other years, had been abandoned or were eking out a precarious existence. Even the State Uni- versity scarcely had life enough to open its hall doors for the admission of
277
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
students. During the strife which had raged for four years with merciless fury and devastated all parts of the State, the minds of the people had been diverted from all peaceful and ennobling pursuits; their affections alien- ated so that neighbor not unfrequently regarded neighbor with feelings of suspicion and distrust, and at times with intense hatred. Society was torn asunder, and amid the general convulsion the education of the youth was alinost entirely neglected. The children were growing up illiterate, and unless something could be done, and that speedily, a cloud of ignorance would soon overshadow the whole State. At this crisis laws were enacted specifying how to organize country, village, town, and city schools; also the mode of levying taxes for buildings and school purposes, and how to collect the same. The duties and qualifications of school officers and teachers were clearly set forth. Business interests and industries of the West and South drew people here from all sections of the Union. When they came they made their homes among generous and noble-hearted people. The rankling passions which other and bitter years had produced were soon extinguished or hushed in silence. Reason, parental love, and philanthropy prevailed. Schools must be established and the children educated, was the decision of the majority.
This state of affairs culminated in the legislature taking advanced steps and giving to the State laws that could help the reorganization of the entire school system. County superintendents had been paralyzed, and it required energy and perseverance to place the schools once more upon the highway of progress.
STEPPING FORWARD.
Linn county at once began the work of regeneration and reform. The school and swamp land notes which had defaulted were put in suit, and the school districts in the county numbering sixteen, were changed and renum- bered in the year 1866. The districts were arranged as follows:
Township fifty-seven, range eighteen, was made district number one. Township fifty-eight, range eighteen, was made district number two. Township fifty-nine, range eighteen, was made district number three. Township sixty, range eighteen, was made district number four. Township fifty-seven, range nineteen, was made district number five. Township fifty-eight, range nineteen, was made district number six. Township fifty-nine, range nineteen, was made district number seven. Township sixty, range nineteen, was made district number eight. Township fifty-seven, range twenty, was made district number nine. Township fifty-eight, range twenty, was made district number ten. Township fifty-nine, range twenty, was made district number eleven. Township sixty, range twenty, was made district number twelve.
Township fifty-seven, range twenty-one, was made district number thir- „teen.
278
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
Township fifty-eight, range twenty-one, was made district number four- teen.
Township fifty-nine, range twenty-one, was made district number fifteen. Township sixty, range twenty-one, was made district number sixteen.
The fraction districts in range twenty-two were attached to the districts adjoining them on the east. This was changed in April, 1868, but was not found to work well and the order was revoked and they remained at- tached as above.
A PERIOD OF SLOTH.
The State government at the close of the war failed to realize the situa- tion and for three years nothing was done to secure the State fund, or to make any provisions for the amount not distributed during the fracticidal strife. In the fall of 1868 a political revolution took place in the State, and the session of the winter following strenuous efforts were made to place the school interests of the State, once more upon a sound and stable footing. This cooperation of counties and State soon brought matters out of chaos, and the schools began to grow and flourish once more. Every effort was made in this county, not only to keep a full term of four months, with a, hope to soon make it six, but the permanent fund was increased by all legal means. The amount of the ten per cent penalty collected on delinquent taxes amounted, February 20, 1871, to $800, for the year 1869, and on that of the year 1868, to $94.50. Both of these amounts were transferred to the permanent school fund of the county. In 1871 the schools were well under way, some few being kept open only three months, but the majority six months, some even prolonging their terms to eight months. There were kept that year, of primary schools one hundred and three; schools for col- ored pupils, five.
SCHOOL AND SWAMP LANDS.
There had been sold of the sixteenth section up to January 1, 1872, 8,520 acres of school lands, the sale up to that date amounting to $14,750.20. Of this sum there was lost by bad security $2,579.48, leaving a total carried to the township fund of $12,170.72. There were 1,080 acres of these school lands still unsold at that date.
The swamp land as patented gives 23,759.99 acres of these lands to the county, but the report of school department at Jefferson City makes a total of 24,790.40 acres, all sold, and the sum received for them $40,965.72.
The total county fund at the same time was $38,792.26, and the township fund $15,847.16, giving $54,639.42 as the total school fund of Linn county January 1, 1872.
There was little to vary the monotony of the regular schools for several years. The County Court, however, was kept pretty busy trying to secure
279
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
the school tax of the several railroads passing through the county. The county and township fund for 1874, 1875, and 1876, varied but little from previous years. It was, like the State fund, slowly growing, from year to year.
In 1874, the State fund received by Linn county was $3,940.57, and the county and township fund was only a small advance from the year 1873. The apportionment was made to the school districts throughout the county. The several towns received their apportionment of State and county funds in addition to their own township fund for 1874. The number of school children and the amount each received is here given :
Towns.
Scholars.
Linneus.
381
State Fund. $220.98
County Fund. $152.40
Total 1874. $373.38
St. Kate.
160
92.80
64.00
156.80
Laclede
321
186.18
128.40
314.58
Bucklin
135
78.30
54.00
132.30
Brookfield
623
361.34
249.20
610.54
Considerable bad feeling was engendered over the distribution of the school tax received from the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad Company. The County Court first determined to distribute the amount like it did the State and county funds, but this was vehemently protested against by Brookfield and the other towns on the line of the road, they claiming that it belonged exclusively to them. This trouble was finally settled, the towns aforesaid receiving the bulk of the funds.
1875.
The condition of the schools for 1875, as reported at the close of that year, shows that while the schools were flourishing the permanent fund seems to have decreased. Both the township and county funds, including swamp land fund, decreased to the amount of $1,796.31, the cause of which is not explained. There seems to be something wrong here in the management of this fund. The report of 1876, for the year 1875, gives us the following particulars:
Males.
Females.
Total.
The number of white persons between
five and twenty-one years of age ....
2,811
2,642
5,453
The number of colored persons between
five and twenty-one years of age .. ..
151
136
287
5,740
Attended the schools, white.
2,488
2,229
4,717
Attended the schools, colored
70
55
125
One hundred and forty-five teachers were employed, eighty being males
280
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
and sixty-five being females. The male teachers received $37, and females $27.27, as the average of each, or $32.132 as the average pay of all.
The county clerk's report published the same time gave total number of persons of school age, between five and twenty-one years, at 6,758. What caused a difference in reports is hard to say. It would seem that a com- paring of notes between the school superintendent and the county clerks might be beneficial.
The report shows that the receipts were $36,721.22, of which the district tax amounted to $27,695.32. And the total expenditures for school pur- poses, $33,352.02. And at the end of the school year $3,369.20 of cash was on hand.
The table below shows the condition of the school property of the county :
Number of school-houses in the county 104
Number of scholars that may be seated in the various school-houses.
6,066
Number of white schools in operation 104
Number of colored schools in operation. 3
Value of school property in the county
$76,229.00
Average rate per cent levied for school purposes in county-eighty cents on
100.00
Amount received from public funds (State, county, and township).
8,026.47
Amount realized from taxation.
23,670.71
Amount paid for teachers' wages in the county during the year
29.785.23
Amount paid for erection of school houses or purchase of sites.
3,916.23
The distribution of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad Company's school tax took place December 11, 1876, the amount collected up to that time being $7,061.19. This was apportioned as follows, the townships along the line of the road getting of the amount all but $270.08:
Township 57-18
$1,021.21
Township 57-19. 209.99
Township 57-20. 343.96
Township 57-21 and 22
417.17
Township 58-18, 19, 20, 21, and 22 received
1,169.81
Bucklin town. .
733.23
Brookfield town
1,668.02
Laclede town.
691.24 .
Meadville town
536.48
Total
$6,791:11
281
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
After the proposition of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad to pay their school tax of $15,000 in three, six, and nine months, for the years 1873 to 1875 inclusive, the Chillicothe & Brunswick also offered to compromise. They paid a tax of $721 for the years 1870 to 1873 inclusive, and $222 for the years 1874, 1875, and 1876. In settling this tax the roads declined to settle any other tax assessed by the county, but paid the above sums into the school fund. Then the Burlington & Southwestern paid in their school tax of $3,964.46, and this went into the fund less ten per cent for collecting, and the money was divided between Benton, Locust Creek, and Jefferson townships.
Benton and Locust Creek paid the money to relieve their railroad indebt- edness, and the school fund lost the amount.
Of the first $5,000 of the Hannibal & St. Joseph school fund paid in, less commission of $100, the court took $4,410 and distributed pro rata, and then gave $490 to the towns on the line of the road, according to the assessed value of railroad property within their limits.
The Hannibal & St. Joseph Road school tax for 1876 was $5,444.71, and there was distributed June 4, 1878, $15,244.71. Of this sum, $14,700.02 was distributed, giving $10,811.83 to the townships through which the road ran, and $3,888.19 was divided among the school districts according to enu- meration, including those which had already received the bulk of the fund. The balance of the $15,000 was not accounted for, etc. The amount was $544.19. Of the amount paid in by the Chillicothe Road township 57-22 received the lion's share; viz., $338.10 of the first compromise, and of the last, or $222, it received $55.91, the rest was paid out under the pro rata rule. It is a great pity that these large sums had not been put into the permanent fund. The schools could have done without it, and as a perma- nent fund it would have been of inestimable value for all time to come.
1879.
The report of 1879 gives a total of white persons between six and twenty years of age at 6,525
And of colored of same age 282
Total ....
6,807
The receipts were as follows:
Cash on hand
$ 8,989.40
From State fund 5,355.04
From county fund
3,575.38
From township fund
2,107.51
From district tax
19,351.57
From all other sources, this includes railroad
tax
15,145.05
Total
$54,523.95
18
.
282
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
The total school fund of the county January 1, 1872, was $54,639.42
In 1879 it was . $52,843.11
A loss of.
$ 1,796.31
In regard to the attendance at school Linn county stands as the sixteenth of the one hundred and fourteen counties, and the average wages of teach- ers, $32.50, was the twenty-first. In these respects Linn county has a cred- itable record.
In 1879 there were of school-houses 108
One more was rented 1
These school-houses had a seating capacity of. 6,426
There were of white schools in operation 106
There were of colored schools in operation
3
The assessed value of school property was $89,339.00
The State, county, and township fund was 11,171.15
And there was raised by taxation 28,141.79
Total receipts. $39,312.94
Besides the cash on hand at the beginning of the year of $ 9,689.86 There was paid to teachers 22,699.15
For new school-houses. 2,095.68
The number of persons in Linn county, between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five, was 2,046.
The schools of the county, for 1879, had reached a higher standard of ex- cellence than in any previous period of their existence, and a desire was ex- pressed by all to excel. The increased fund from railroads and from delin- quent tax encouraged all to renewed effort.
1880.
The report for this year shows an average attendance of scholars, but a still further reduction in the permanent fund for the county. Again is a comparison made with a former year.
Township fund 1872 $15,847.16 38,792.26
County fund 1872
$54,639.42
Township fund 1880 $15,891.27
County fund 1880
30,938.21 46,829.48
Loss in eight years
$ 7,809.94
This loss was occasioned by bad security for loans. The township fund
283
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
had gained $44.11 in eight years, and the county lost $7,854.05 during the same time. This fund must increase hereafter by the amount of fines and penalties, which the law says must be placed to the permanent fund. There was, of this latter, $782.25 for the present year. The report of the superin- tendent, for 1880, shows little variation from the previous year, and it is found condensed below :
Number of children of school age 6,913
Number of school-honses. 108
Number of teachers employed. 173.
Average wages of teachers
$25.22
RECEIPTS.
State school fund $ 5,021.03
County school fund 3,455.62
Township school fund 1,900.35
Taxation, amount paid in
17,701.27
Received from all other sources 1,991.80
Cash on hand 10,789.44
$40,895.01
Expenditures
34,259.57
On hand at the end of school year. $ 6,564.56
Total assessed valuation of school property in Linn county $92,553.
1881.
The apportionment for the schools was made April 21, 1881, and the amount of State, county, township, and railroad funds distributed for the year was $12,232.10. It was divided among the school districts as given below, and will be found a good table for future reference.
TOWNSHIP FIFTY-SEVEN, RANGE EIGHTEEN.
Number two
$ 91.93
Number three
93.48
Number four
82.89
Number five.
105.83
Number six
68.80
Total
$ 342 73
284
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
TOWNSHIP FIFTY-EIGHT, RANGE EIGHTEEN.
Number one $ 87.18
Number two 126.42
Number three
124.49
Number four
81.69
Number five
99.10
Total
$ 518.88
TOWNSHIP FIFTY-NINE, RANGE EIGHTEEN.
Number one
$116.57
Number two
121.50
Number three
72.29
Number four
96.89
Number five
72.29
Number six
129.71
Total
$ 609.25
TOWNSHIP SIXTY, RANGE EIGHTEEN.
Number one $ 69.77
Number two
82.45
Number three
55.53
Number four
54.00
Total
261.75
TOWNSHIP FIFTY-SEVEN, RANGE NINETEEN.
Number one
$ 82.67
Number two.
87.43
Number three
44.45
Number four
46.16
Number five
69.95
Number six
60.43
Total
$ 391.09
TOWNSHIP FIFTY-EIGHT, RANGE NINETEEN.
Number one
$ 162.08
Number two 71.25
Number three
98.80
Number four
98.80
Number six
75.17
Total
$ 506.10
1
285
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
TOWNSHIP FIFTY-NINE, RANGE NINETEEN.
Number one. $ 117.43
Number two 59.65
Number three
108.23
Number four
72.30
Number five
48.84
Number six.
61.48
Total
$ 467.93
TOWNSHIP SIXTY, RANGE NINETEEN.
Number one $ 91.24
Number two 83.20
Number two (ranges nineteen and twenty)
79.15
Number four
119.65
Number five
99.31
Total
$ 472.55
TOWNSHIP FIFTY-SEVEN, RANGE TWENTY.
Number one $ 169.17
Number two
106.50
Number four
39.18
Number five
70.51
Number seven
51.74
Number eight.
55.38
Total
$ 492.48
TOWNSHIP FIFTY-EIGHT, RANGE TWENTY.
Number two
82.99
Number three 64.02
Number four
82.99
Number five
51.96
Number six .
76.10
Number seven
76.10
Number eight
50.89
Total
$ 485.05
TOWNSHIP FIFTY-NINE, RANGE TWENTY.
Number one.
92.72
Number two'
90.84
Number three
103.05
Number four
94.48
Number five
46.38
Total
427.47
286
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
TOWNSHIP SIXTY, RANGE TWENTY.
Number one $ 76.05
Number three 143.44
Number four
143.44
Number five
105.25
Total $468.18
TOWNSHIP FIFTY-SEVEN, RANGE TWENTY-ONE.
Number one $109.78
Number three 302.71
Number four
47.38
Number five
158.52
Number nine
77.31
Total $695.70
TOWNSHIP FIFTY-EIGHT, RANGE TWENTY-ONE.
Number one $131.89
Number two
79.52
Number three 104.80
Number four
99.39 .
Number five
144.52
Number six .
86.59
Number seven
79.53
Total $726.24
TOWNSHIP FIFTY . NINE, RANGE TWENTY-ONE.
Number one
62.47
Number two 119.58
Number three
78.43
Number four.
52.89
Number five
90.48
Number six.
122.07
Number six, ranges twenty and twenty-one
67.81
Number seven.
88.07
Total $681.60
TOWNSHIP SIXTY, RANGE TWENTY-ONE.
Number one
$125.76
Number two 117.72
Number three
99.70
Number five
65.86
Number six
125.76
Number nine
63.67
Total $598.47
287
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
TOWNSHIP FIFTY-SEVEN, RANGE TWENTY-TWO.
Number six $102.95
Number seven 62.53
Number eight 74.18
Total $239.66
TOWNSHIP FIFTY-EIGHT, RANGE TWENTY-TWO.
Number three
$ 80.73
Number four 106.94
Total $187.67
TOWNSHIP FIFTY-NINE, RANGE TWENTY-TWO.
Number one
$126.86
Number two
138.73
Number three
273.38
Total $538.97
TOWNSHIP SIXTY, RANGE TWENTY-TWO.
Number one
$108.77
Number two
146.58
Total $255.35
Saint Kate
$ 212.00
Bucklin
229.33
Laclede
496.57
Browning
109.04
Linnens ...
596.19
Brookfield
1,121.17
Total.
$2,764.30
Total
$12,232.10
ENUMERATION.
Male.
Female.
Total.
Number of white persons in the county between six and twenty years of age Number of colored persons in the county between six and twenty years of age
3,537
3,216
6,753
148
128
276
Total
3,685
3,344
7,029
288
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
Cash on hand April, 1880
$6,564.56
State fund .
4,995.42
County fund
3,504.59
Township fund
1,872.52
Other sources .
1,642.58
Received from taxation
19,551.52
Total
$38,131.19
School expenditures
34,135.96
Cash on hand
$ 3,995.23
Township fund.
$15,891.27
County fund
31,561.21
Total
$47,452.48
The county fund gained the past year the sum of $623, the amount received from fines and penalties which by the law of 1880-81 is required to be added to the permanent county fund. A further sum of $387.50, and $11.20, circuit fees unclaimed, was added to the county school fund. The assessed valuation of the school property varies very little from last year.
STATE ITEMS.
The State school fund in the year 1875 was very handsomely increased by a transfer of $38,000 from the executor's and administrator's fund, uncalled for, and a profit in selling United States six per cent bonds belonging to the school fund which the United States treasury was about to call in, and securing Missouri State bonds drawing the same rate of interest. The profit of this transaction was $248,280.91, which was added to the permanent fund, thus having a larger fund to be distributed to the counties of nearly $18,000.
The State fund was increasing, the county fund was constantly enlarging from fines and penalties, and the township fund was added to now and then by failing to pay interest on school bonds, the property reverting to the county ; there has been a regular increase throughout the State on county school funds, amounting in three years to over $341,000.
This means the State in the aggregate. While Linn county school fund has been reduced, other counties have increased to make the above amount, and so it has kept increasing to this date. The State fund increase to Tien county may be seen from the following table:
289
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
Received from the State in 1870
$2,949.55
66
66
66
1871
3,438.97
66
1872
2,798.75
66
66
1873
3,511.50
66
66
1874.
3,940.57
66
66
66
1875
4,597.25
1876.
4,269.61
66
66
66
1877
4,873.97
66
66
1878.
5,355.04
66
66
1879
5,021.03
66
66
1880
4,995.42
66
66
66
1881
4,943.27
Total
$50,694.93
It can be thus seen that Linn county has received in twelve years from the State school fund, $50,694.93, which is an average for the whole time of $4,224.58, annually. This is what the State has contributed towards edu- cating the children of Linn county, and the future outlook is far more promising than the reality of the past; and that this may be verified by facts and figures, a full statement of the fund is here given:
STATE SCHOOL FUND.
The State of Missouri stands in the front rank, both in the thoroughness of her educational work and in the amount of funds for educational pur- poses. There are very few who know what the State has done or is doing in this regard.
The torturing and misconstruing of a partisan press is not the source to find the truth of any matter involving the progress of domestic or educa- tional matters. Parties are given over to the work of defeating their oppo- nents, and anything is ammunition which can breed distrust against each other, and false statements make up a wonderful part of campaign litera- ture. The State school fund combined with the county, township, and sem- inary funds show an aggregate of $7,542,225.72, that the people of Mis- souri have up to January 1, 1881, laid aside for the education of their chil- dren. And this fund does not stop there. Twenty-five per cent of the State revenue is laid aside annually for school purposes, besides fines, pen- alties, strays, and county levy, with an occasional township assessment. The fund, of which the aggregate is given above, will grow from year to year until a county and township levy will not be needed, but the interest on the State; county, and township fund will be sufficient for all purposes. The following are the several funds composing the amount as above.
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.