USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > History of the city of Omaha, Nebraska > Part 48
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or two after graduating, and her loss was almost universally mourned.
This district is now called the Metropoli- tan School District and contains fifty-two buildings. The board consists of fifteen members. Teachers to the number of 298 are employed, receiving salaries ranging from $400 to $1,500 per annum, principals being paid from 8800 to $1,400 each. The principal of the high school is paid $2,600 The total valne of school buildings and real estate is about $1,250,000. For the year ending July 13, 1891, $215,191.08 was paid out for salaries. The money received by the city from licenses and fines goes to the school fund and the amount derived from these sources during the school year ending July 1, 1891, was 8280,851. In 1891 14,- 093 pupils were enrolled. In the high school building a manual training depart- ment has been successfully maintained for several years. This department was for several years in charge of Mr. A. M. Buman, who is entitled to much credit for the suc- cessful introduction and operation of this branch. In 1891 Mr. Buman resigned his position and removed to Des Moines, Iowa, to take charge of the manual training de- partment of the public schools of that city. He was succeeded by Mr. John E. Wigman, who was for many years a pattern maker for the Union Pacific Railway Company. The course includes mechanical and archi- tectural drawing, wood turning and joining, metal moulding, etc. During the winter of 1888 a cooking department was also conducted in that building, a class of over one hundred girls being instructed by a teacher of skill and experience. This de- partment proved to be thoroughly practical, and the prospect for continued and perma- nent usefulness was very encouraging; but the failure to secure general public favor, together with a combined attack made upon the innovation by the city press, led to a discontinuance of the department at the end of the year. During the past three winters
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night schools have been conducted in a large number of school buildings, with a large at- tendance of pupils and most gratifying re- sults. The school population of Omaha, July 1, 1891, was 27,280.
The public schools of Omaha are not sur- passed by those of any city in the IJnited States, and are the subject of much favorable comment in the leading educational journals of the country. So efficient and popular have they become that private schools in Omaha have been practically abolished. The present superintendent, Mr. Frank A. Fitz- patrick was elected to fill that responsible post in July, 1891, succeeding Henry M. James, who held the position nine years, succeeding George B. Lane, who succeeded Prof. S. D. Beals, who took charge of the schools in 1874. Prof. Nightingale was his predecessor.
An annual enumeration of the school children of Omaha is taken in April, and the following figures show the steady increase in this regard for the past ten years: April, 1880, the number was 6,- 468; 1881, 7,184; 1882, 8,104; 1883, 8,- 921; 1884, 10,167; 1885, 11,202; 1886, 11,831; 1887, 14,889; 1888, 19,260; 1889, 20,243; 1890, 24,520; 1891, 27,281. The av- erage attendance at the public schools during the year 1891 was 9,715. To this may be added 2,500 pupils who attend parochial and private schools. The total revenue for public school purposes for 1891 was $407,634.23, and the total expenditures $372,826.36. At the close of the school year, June, 1892, there were twenty-two brick and thirty-nine frame buildings in use for school purposes, a total of sixty-one.
The first secretary of the board of educa- tion was Flemon Drake, who resigned before the expiration of his second term. Ilis successors were: C. K. Coutant, W. II. S. Hughes, Thomas J. Staley and C. D. Wood- worth. Charles Conoyer served from 1880 until 1887, when he was succeeded by J. B. Piper, who served until 1890, when Mr.
Conoyer was again elected, and is still serv- ing. The following figures are taken from the secretary's report for the school year 1891-92: Average attendance, 10,879; total revenue (1892), $396,206.56; total expendi- tures (1892), $387,119.24; valuation of school houses, 8661,785; valuation of school sites, 8577,000; salaries (1892), males, $14,- 261.75, females, $208,910.11; fines (1892), $15,986; licenses (1892), $271,593.90; pupils enrolled, 14,525; high school enrollment (1892), 747; high school graduates (1892), sixty-five.
When the high school building was erected there was much more room than necessary for the high school classes, and the board of education maintained in the building a graded school known as the Central School. This school was maintained without ques- tion for about fifteen years. The high school, however, continued to grow and to encroach on the rooms which had been used for the graded school, until, in 1887, it was found necessary to transfer the seventh and eighth grades from the high school building to other buildings. This created quite a stir among the people in the neighborhood, but, as it was the only feasible thing to do at that time, it was finally acquiesced in. Ever since the growth of the high school has continued, and the prospects were that tlie Central School would be completely crowded out and dispersed. Upon the question as to what should be done, the people living in the neighborhood were much divided; some of them wanted a separate building on the high school grounds; some, and apparently the majority, were in favor of an addition to the high school building; while others were in favor of another site and a sep- arate building for the graded school. Many of the citizens who had children in the lower grades were much opposed to the transfer of the lower grades from the building and brought the weight of their influence to bear on members of the school board to have them still maintain all the grades there, even if it
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was necessary to divide the high school in order to do so. In the meantime, those who were opposed to the presence of the lower grades were not idle, and one of them, Dr. S. R. Towne, in the fall of 1891, insti- tuted suit in mandamus to compel the va- cation of the rooms by the lower grades, the building at the time being overcrowded, there being 1,066 pupils. The case was heard by Judge Irvine in the district court, who decided that the pupils of the grades complained of had no legal right in the building, but were there on sufferance; but the testimony failed to show that the high school was suffering hardship from said oc- cupancy by said lower grades sufficient to call for the power of the court to eject them. The court also decided that the contention of the defendants was not supported, i. e., that the rooms were not, under the terms of the grant, intended to he occupied by the lower grades, but, on the contrary, were to be oc- cupied by the grades named, or higher grades. and decided further that injunction was the proper remedy. After much dis- cussion the board of education, in 1890, sub- mitted to the electors a proposition to issue bonds for several school buildings, among them $75,000 for an addition to the high school. A very light vote was polled, and the proposition failed to carry, owing to the activity of those who were opposed to any additional building on the high school ground. In the meantime the question arose as to the title of the high school grounds, and a committee of the board was sent to Lincoln for the purpose of having the legislature direct the governor to make a deed to the board of education, as the legal successors of the board of regents, the former deed never having been recorded. The committee was not successful in its mission, some of the leading citizens making it their business to go to Lincoln to oppose the ac- tion. The legislature, however, directed the governor to make a deed of the grounds to the City of Omaha, which was done, and
the deed duly recorded. The demand for room was urgent, and the board, as a last resort, adopted a resolution to erect a tem- porary four-room building on the grounds in the rear of the present building. For some reason the city council was much op- posed to this action, and, before anything had been done toward the erection of the structure, it passed an ordinance extend- ing the fire limits so that they took in the high school grounds. This, of course, made it unlawful to erect a frame building. The board of education then changed its plans to a brick building, and the city council ordered Mr. Whitlock, who was superintendent of buildings, to refuse a building permit for the erection of the building on the high school grounds, claiming that they were deeded for high school purposes only. The attorney for the board, Judge Lee S. Estelle, applied to the courts for a writ of mandamus to compel the superintendent of buildings to issue the permit. By direction of the city council Mr. Poppleton, then city attorney, appeared for Mr. Whitlock. The case was carried to the Supreme Court of the State, and the application for mandamus denied, the court in its opinion distinctly ruling that the grounds could not be used for any educational purpose lower than for a high school. Thus was finally determined a question which had for years been a source of vexation and annoyance to the members of the board. The action of the legislature and the decisions of the courts render it almost certain that the grounds will never be used for anything except for the Omaha High School. Another question has arisen, however, and that is as to whether the board of education or the city council shall make provisions for the payment for im- provements, such as pavements, sidewalks, etc. This question is now being discussed.
At the election held in November, 1891, a proposition was submitted to the electors of the city providing for the issue of bonds to the amount of $385,000, for the purpose
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of purchasing sites and erecting buildings. Among them was a site and building for the Central School. The proposition was car- ried by an overwhelming majority. A site was purchased on Dodge Street, opposite the southwest corner of the high school grounds, upon which a building is now being erected.
Upon the re-opening of the schools in the fall of 1890, a Normal school department was added to the system, with Mrs. Grace Sudborough (for many years connected with the schools) in charge, and Miss Helen L. Wyckoff and Miss Emma R. Rugh, as train- ing teachers. The school commenced work November 17, 1890, on which date twenty- five graduates of the high school were en- rolled as pupils. A number of Omaha young ladies who were attending the State Normal School returned home in order to attend the school here. In the employment of teachers for the city schools, preference has always been given to residents of Omaha, and the material from which to se- lect teachers hereafter will be largely in- creased by the establishment of the Normal school department. There were twenty-one graduates from this department in 1891.
The present school board is composed of the following: S. K. Spalding, president; W. N. Babcock, vice president; Charles Con- oyer, secretary; Emma C. Monzingo, clerk; F. A. Fitzpatrick, superintendent; Ed. O. Hamilton, superintendent of school build- ings; Irving Baxter, attorney. Members- C. E. Babcock, W. N. Babcock, II. B. Cor- yell, C. S. Elgutter, W. S. Gibbs, R. W. Gibson, C. L. Jaynes, Euclid Martin, Mor- ris Morrison, J. J. Points, W. S. Poppleton, Clinton N. Powell, C. J. Smyth, Charles Wehrer.
Brownell Hall, an Episcopalian school for young ladies, was established in 1863, by Bishop Talbot, in a building erected at Saratoga, three miles north of Omaha, for a hotel. It was supposed that the mineral springs located under the bluffs at that point would become popular as a health re-
sort, and a large hotel building was erected by the Saratoga Town Site Company, about 1858, to accommodate the expected guests. The enterprise proved a failure, however, and the building was disposed of at much less than cost. In 1868 the school was incorporated by Bishop Clarkson, Samuel Herman, J. M. Woolworth, C. S. Chase, W. H. Van Antwerp, George W. Doane, Dr. G. C. Monell, Col. Benjamin Alvord R. C. Jordan, John I. Redick, and H. W. Yates. The first principal was Rev. O. C. Dake, and the first board of trustees con- sisted of the following named: Bishop R. H. Clarkson, Rev. George C. Betts, Rev. Samuel Herman, R. C. Jordan. Dr. G. C. Monell, John I. Redick, J. M. Woolworth, II. W. Yates, C. S. Chase, Col. Benjamin Alvord and G. W. Doane, all of Omaha; J. A. Ware, Nebraska City; G. F. Blanchard, Fremont; E. S. Dundy, Falls City; and Charles R. Dakin, of Decatur. Bishop Clark- son was president of the board and R. C. Jordan, secretary. Under this management Rev. Samuel Herman was the first rector and principal, to be succeeded in 1869 by Bishop Clarkson, as rector, and by Miss Elizabeth Butterfield, as principal. In 1867 and 1868 a large building was erected on Sixteenth Street, corner of Jones, on two lots, one of which was donated by Mr. HIer- man Kountze and the other sold by him to the trustees for $1,600 (in 1887 this ground was sold to W. F. Lorenzen for $25,000). The school was then moved down from Saratoga, and in 1871 Mrs. P. C. IIall be- came principal. In 1876 Rev. Robert Doherty was elected rector and principal, which positions he still retains. In 1880 a building was erected for a primary school, and in 1881 the rector put up a building on a lot, purchased by himself, adjoining the hall, and used it as an annex to the school. In 1886 Mr. Herman Kountze donated to the school a handsome site on South Tenth Street, and gave liberally to the building fund, to which a large number of people also con-
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tributed. On this site a large building, in three parts, each 40 x 100 feet and joined in the form of the letter H, was erected in the most substantial manner, of stone, brick and iron. It is admirably adapted to educational purposes and draws its pupils from all parts of the West. The following named are the officers and faculty: Visitor, the Rt. Rev. George Worthington, S. T. D.,LL.D .; rector, the Rev. Robert Doherty, M. A. of Trinity College, Toronto, S. T. D. of Hobart College, Geneva; secretary and treasurer, Mr. A. P. Hopkins; lady principal, Mrs. S. H. Windsor, seventeenth year in the school; vice prin- cipal, Miss K. T. Lyman, B. A. Vassar Col- lege, twelfth year in the school; mathematics, Rev. Robert Doherty, M. A., S. T. D., Miss Ethel Davenport, Miss Lucy E. Burgess; natural science, Miss K. T. Lyman, B. A .; English literature and composition, Miss L. C. McGee, Ph. M .; lectures in geology, Mr. William Cleburne, of Trinity College, Dub- lin; Latin language, Miss K. T. Lyman, B. A .; modern languages, Miss J. M. Young; conchology, Miss Emma Doherty; instru- mental music, Miss M. E. Wallace, Miss Lucy E. Burgess; vocal music, Mrs. J. W. Cotton; art, Mrs. J. M. Yonng; preparatory department, Miss F. D. Wall, Miss Cora B. Clark; gymnastics, Miss C. B. Clark; house- keeper, Miss Mary Bradley; chemistry, F. M. Mueller, A. S.
In 1868 the first class was gradnated, the only two members of which were ITelen Ingalls, now Mrs. Flemon Drake, and Helen Hoyt, now Mrs. Horace Burr. They were the first graduates from a school of this rank in Nebraska.
There is also a school on Nineteenth Street, near California, conducted under the auspices of the Episcopal Church, which has two teachers.
At No. 1003 South Twentieth Street, is a German Lutheran school, with two teachers, where both German and English are taught. It has an attendance of about one hundred and twenty-five pupils. A branch of this
school is maintained on north Twenty-sixth Street, and another at South Omaha.
On Harney Street, near Nineteenth, a large brick building, costing twenty-five thousand dollars, was erected in 1883 by German citi- zens, to be used for a German-American school, a gymnasium and for social purposes. For several years an excellent school was maintained, but was abandoned in 1889, as the public schools of the city have grown in efficiency and popular favor to such an ex- tent as to render private schools almost superfluous.
There are two commercial colleges in the city : the Omaha Business College, established by George R. Rathbun, in May, 1873, now located in a large brick building at the south- east corner of Twenty-fourth and Pan] Streets, of which Mr. Rathbnn is still the proprietor; and the Omalia Commercial Col- lege, M. G. Rohrbough, G. A. Rohrbough and L. J. Rohrbongh, proprietors, located in the Boston Store block, corner of Douglas and Sixteenth Streets. Both institutions are well patronized and are deservedly popular.
The Presbyterian Theological Seminary at Omaha, Nebraska, was organized in the spring of 1891, by a convention of the rep- resentatives of the Presbyterians in the large region contiguous to this city.
Articles of incorporation were adopted and a board of directors, numbering forty was elected to manage the institution.
A most generons offer of twenty-five acres of land, located in Seymour Park, was made by Dr. George L. Miller, upon the only condition that the main seminary building, to cost not less than $20,000, should be erected thereon, and that its fonn- dations should be laid within three years from the date of his offer. Almost the whole of the four hundred acres of the beau- tiful lands of Seymour Park were thrown open to the management from which to se- lect its twenty-five acres for the seminary site. Seymonr Park is about five miles from the business center of Omaha, and is
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reached at present by two lines of railway, with suburban trains, also by beautiful driveways. Street car lines are expected in the near future. It is one of the most beau- tiful sites in the West, with its knolls, val- leys, and groves, its sightliness and extended views.
The board of directors unanimously ac- cepted Dr. Miller's generous offer, and took immediate steps for organizing and starting the work. The following faculty was elected and has served very efficiently during the past year: Rev. William W. Harsha, D. D. LL. D., professor of didactic and polemic theology; Rev. Stephen Phelps, D. D., pro- fessor of ecclesiastical, homiletical and pas- toral theology; Rev. John Gordon, D. D., professor of biblical and ecclesiastical his- tory; Rev. Matthew B. Lowrie, D. D., pro- fessor elect of new testament literature and exegesis; Rev. Charles G. Sterling, Ph.D., in- structor in Hebrew; Rev. Thomas L. Sex- ton, D. D., lecturer on home missions.
The seminary was opened in the fall of 1891, with nine students in the junior class, only the one class being organized. The recitations were conducted in the parlors of the Second Presbyterian Church. At a meeting of the board of directors at the close of the seminary this spring, plans were ap- proved and adopted for a seminary build- ing to cost forty thousand dollars. Work is now being done preparing the stone and other materials for the structure. The stone for the building is generously donated by the Evan's quarry, in the Black Hills, South Dakota, while the Northwestern and Bur- lington & Missouri River railways gener- ously transmit it to the park free of charge.
Professor John H. Kellom, so prominently connected with the public school system of Omaha in its earlier history, and in whose honor one of the schools was named, died at Tustin, California, March 17, 1891, and, as a fitting close to this chapter, we give the following beautiful tribute to his character,
written by one of his old pupils, Henry D. Estabrook, Esq., for the World-Herald :
" When the capitol was removed from Omaha it was replaced by the high school -a profitable exchange. And there thie noble structure has remained, and will re- main, the sign-manual of Omaha's true greatness. It was important that no mis- takes should be made in the beginning of the enterprise. The original impulse must be strong and in the right direction. John H. Kellom consented to act as principal, choosing as his assistant Mr. Ralph E. Gay- lord, of this city. Prof. A. F. Nightingale was called as superintendent. Three men never associated in a common cause hetter adapted to the work in hand and personally more congenial. Mr. Kellom was a man of means and of wide influence. Ile had held offices of public trust; he had refused a nomination for congress. The emoluments of a teacher's position offered no temptation. He accepted the place through a sense of duty, and in response to the universal popu- lar demand.
" Mr. Kellom was a born teacher. In the first place he was a Christian gentleman, in the non-theological meaning of the phrase, a happy optimist, all-charitable, all-loving Christian, whose rules of governing were in the beatitudes, whose approving smile was itself a benediction. In the next place he was a profound scholar. The older I grow and the more I try to learn, the more I appreciate his wisdom and erudition.
"Up to that time our public schools had been governed on the theory that to spare the rod was to spoil the child. I know this to be a fact, for I had matriculated in nearly every school in Omaha, and had been kept from spoiling by being most effectually tanned. Mr. Kellom inspired his scholars to govern themselves through the approval of their own conscience. This was a new invention. It was a wonderful discovery. At the risk of appearing indelicate, I will il-
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Instrate my meaning by a personal reminis- cence. I had committed some trespass which I knew merited a castigation, the which I fully expected to have administered. When Prof. Kellom requested me to step with him into an adjoining room, I received the pantomime commiseration of my mates and hurled back a wink intended as defi- ance. But the bastinado was never men- tioned. In the space of ten minutes, I learned more about American institutions and a democratic form of government than I had ever known before. What my teacher endeavored to impress upon me was the fact that I was a part of these institutions and of this government, and responsible prima- rily to myself for my own conduct; that the public school was, perhaps, the most impor- tant feature of all our institutions, confer- ring benefits gratuitously, which were in- estimable to every person willing to do his part in the world; that fun was fun, and he delighted in it as much as anyone; but law- lessness was treason, and hurt no one half so much as the one guilty of it; that he felt sure that all I needed was to be reminded of these things, and my own conscience would tell me what was right and manly and-that was all.
" Many persons well-known in Omaha were charter members of the high school. With- out the roster before me, I am able to recall the following: Arthur C. Wakeley and his brother Bird, Frederick Millard, William McCague, George Jewett, Charles Sweesey, Charles J. Emery, Frederick Knight, Nathan Crary, George Shields, William R. Redick, Charles R. Redick, Martin Cahn, Albert Cahn, William Nash and his brother Sam- uel, Ilenry Sharpe, Arthur Huntington, John Creighton, Cassius Gise. Charles Saun- ders, George Lake, William Wilber, Ferdi- nand Streitz, Kate Copeland, Claire Rustin, Ida Doolittle, Stacia Crowley, Salina Jones, Addie Gladstone, Esther Jacobs, Bertha Isaacs, Julia Knight, Clara Campbell, Nelia
Lehmer, Carrie Wyman, EIta Hurford, Jessie Rodis, Miss Schaller and Bessie Cleveland.
"None of the men mentioned has dis- graced himself that I know of, and many of them have won places of influence and dis- tinction. Many of the women mentioned may not recognize their maiden appellations -it is so long since they have heard them; but in the heart of every one of us the name of John 11. Kellom will remain always a hallowed and grateful memory.
" Mr. Kellom was a man who loved to see things grow, and to assist in the process. When his age and infirmities admonished him that to teach the young idea how to shoot had become too arduous and confining, he took to growing oranges in the melliflu- ous climate of California. Only a year ago my wife visited him and Mrs. Kellom at their home in Tustin. It was her first visit to the golden State; and, as the train came down out of the mountains, where snow and clouds seemed piled upon each other-it was all so high and cold and white-into the gorgeous valley of the Sacramento, with its riotous roses and carnival of vegetation, the change was like the thrilling transition of a dream. One day was devoted to a pilgrim- age to Tustin. It was a joyous, tearful meeting between the old professor and his former pupil. Towards evening Mr. Kellom insisted upon showing her the beauties of his orange groves. Leaning upon his arm, to- gether they wandered through long vistas of trees laden with their yellow fruit, each tree trained in the way it should go (of course!), perfect in its symmetry, like a huge bouquet, erect, luxuriant, with an indi- viduality of its own. The groves were filled with Mexicans, picking and packing oranges, and their swart faces and fantastic costumes added piquancy to the scene. As they looked the sun went down in a perfeet ex- plosion of colors, the clouds fairly dripping their crimson light, the very air incarna- dined. She left him and his wife standing
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