History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 17

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1592

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expended than that spent in procuring the very best teachers, in building the very best houses, and in obtaining the very best apparatus for the instruction and train- ing of our boys and girls."

The School Reports issued since Mr. Morgan's entrance upon office give ample evidence of zeal and energy upon the part of the school boards, the Superintendent, the Teachers and the Taught. These formal school documents, no less than the files of the newspapers, and the utterances of the orator of the pulpit and the plat- form, indicate an all pervading, all prevailing interest in educational thought and action. Mr. Herrlinger, president of the school board, well calls the period one of " Educational Revival." Though conservative in many things, the leaders of pub- lic opinion, in Cincinnati, are progressive in their pedagogical wishes and aims. The agitation on educational themes, popular and professional, that has affected the whole country, especially the cities, and that is still shaking the school world in general, could not fail to affect education in the Queen City. Whatever profoundly moves the system at large must act on every local system, for " all are but parts of one stupendous whole." Our educational prophets, our literature, our plans of organization, our usages, and even our school fashions and "fads," belong not to any one State or city, but to the nation.

The Cincinnati teachers, alive to their reputation and power as a body, have, of late, manifested their professional energy and pride by various combined efforts. Looking to their material welfare, and conscious that self-help is the only efficient and dignified means of support, they established, in 1890, the "Teachers' Aid and Annuity Society," under the able presidency of Mr. James E. Sherwood. In fur- therance of general culture and social progress, the " Teachers' Club " was formed in March, 1891. The first president was Dr. W. H. Venable, who was succeeded in 1892 by Dean William O. Sproull. Under the auspices of this club several of the most distinguished educators of our times have spoken in Cincinnati, such as Pres. Angell, Prof. Lawrence, Dr. Mayo and Col. Parker. The membership of the club is about 400. In December, 1893, the " Male Assistants' Association" was organized, to afford an arena for the discussion of practical questions in school affairs. Prof. J. Remsen Bishop was chosen president. The three important societies just named, in addition to the "Principals' Association," the "German Teachers' Association," and the annual city "Institute," give to the educational forces a more complete and efficacious organization. Perhaps a special body of working, representative woman teachers is yet needed. *

The "Principals' Association," as the name indicates, is made up of the heads of the several district and intermediate schools, namely: James E. Sherwood, Abram S. Reynolds, William S. Flinn, Isaac H. Turrell, H. H. Fick, C. J. O'Donnell, John H. Morton, C. C. Long, H. H. Raschig, William B. Wheeler, William P. Gault, George F. Braun, J. B. Scheidemantle, L. Rothenberg, John C. Heywood, John S. Highlands, G. W. Burns, William T. Harris, Lewis Freeman, George W. Oyler, George W. Nye, Louis M. Schiel, F. M. Youmans, R. C. Yowell, J. R. Trisler, W. C. Washburne, D. L. Runyan, La Fayette Bloom, E. A. Renner, Charles S. Muel- ler, principals of the district schools, and G. A. Carnahan, John Akels, Edward H. Prichard, and George F. Sands, principals of the intermediate schools.

The following is a list of names of special teachers connected with the public schools: Music .- G. F. Junkermann, superintendent, J. L. Zeinz, Walter H. Aiken, Louis G. Wiesenthal, Louis Aiken, George Dasch, Joseph Surdo, Julia V. Ghio, William Rickel, C. H. Robinson. Drawing .- Christine Sullivan, superintendent, Frances Kohnky (High Schools), William H. Vogel, Ist assistant, Kate Whiteley, Ella Brite, Jannette Cist, Arthur O. Jones, Elsie Whiteley. Writing. - Howard Champlin, Mary H. Stevenson, Maggie A. Delehanty, Carrie P. Dehner, Lizzie Schott.

* Since the above was written, the lady teachers of the city have formed a professional club, with Miss Christine Sullivan for first president.

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Physical Culture .- Carl Ziegler, superintendent, Gustav Eckstein, Arthur Knoch, Florence Wells, Adele Spills. Oral Deaf Mute School .- Virginia A. Osborne, Emma . Vettle, Mary S. Breckenridge, Louise Karger. Manual Deaf Mute School .- Carrie Fesenbeck.

A novel event, in the recent history of the public schools, was the distribution in the summers of 1890 and 1891, of what are known as the "Cincinnati Enquirer Prizes," given by John R. McLean to pupils receiving the highest per cents in the intermediate and high schools. These prizes were in gold coin, and ranged in value from five to twenty dollars. The sum of three hundred dollars was bestowed in 1890, and six hundred dollars in 1891.

" Columbus Day " was duly celebrated by the Cincinnati schools, with literary exercises, music and processions. A very creditable exhibit, consisting of 103 volumes of written work, by pupils of all grades of the schools, was shown at the great Chicago Exposition in 1893. This display was much praised, and it received offi- cial commendation and award.

The administration of Supt. Morgan and the present board of education and union board of high schools will be memorable for the changes it wrought in the courses of study, and for the service it rendered the cause of physical culture. The gymnasium buildings at Woodward and Hughes schools, completed at a cost of nearly twelve thousand dollars, and equipped at a cost of three thousand dollars, are a proud addition to the educational facilities of a great city. Special credit is dne Francis B. James, president of the union board, for the establishment of these ele- gant improvements.

Closely connected with the exercises of the gymnasium are the military drills of the cadets of the high schools, whose companies are now uniformed and supplied with arms. The Hughes Battalion is commanded by Maj. J. R. Bishop; the Wood- ward, by Maj. A. M. Van Dyke.

For the convenient reference of those who may wish to consult, in brief, the school statistics of Cincinnati in the year 1893, a summary of leading facts is here given. . According to the Sixty-fourth Annual Report, the population of the city is 320,000. The city is divided into thirty wards, and from each ward a member is elected to the school board. The roll of members for the year 1893-94 is the fol- lowing: William McAllister, E. R. Monfort, Ernst Rehm, W. F. Hartzel, A. J. Boeckman, G. D. Jobe, H. H. Mithoefer, Thomas J. Knight, H. W. Albers, Jobn Grimm, Jr., George Friedlein, S. H. Spencer, George Bardes, George W. Long, L. J. Fogel, J. M. Robinson, B. Bettmann, L. Mendenhall, Joseph Parker, Joseph W. O'Hara, M. H. Mersch, John Grace, A. L. Herrlinger, J. E. Cormany, C. W. White- ley, D. H. Lehnkering, Charles Weidner, Jr., Rudolph Fischer, J. C. Harper, J. J. Geiger.

Statistical Summary .-- Number of youth between six and twenty-one years of age: Male, 43,715; female, 41,951; total, 85,666; number of youth between sixteen and twenty-one years of age, male, 11,339; female, 9,930; total, 21,269; number of youth between six and sixteen years of age, male, 32,376; female, 32,021; total, 64,397; number of youth reported as attending school: Public schools-Male, 18,436; female, 17,285; total, 35,721; Private schools-Male, 1,236; female, 1,168; total, 2,404; Church schools-Male, 7,610; female, 7,703; total, 15,313; number of youth reported as not attending any school: Male, 16,433; female, 15, 795; total, 32, 228.

The number of school buildings owned by the board of education is fifty-nine; the number rented is ten. The number of school rooms is 798; the number of seats for pupils, 41,000. The number of pupils enrolled in the public schools for 1893 was 37,648. The number of teachers employed in the schools is 774. The amount paid to these in the year ending June, 1893, was $641,388. The total value of the school property is $2,995,000. The expenses for 1893 were $986,312.

The officers of the school board at present are: A. L. Herrlinger, president;

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

James M. Robinson, vice-president; George R. Griffiths, clerk; William Grautman, assistant clerk. The officers of the schools are: W. H. Morgan, superintendent ;. Henry Klein, superintendent of buildings; William C. Ziegler, clerk superintendent of schools; A. B. Clement, truant officer.

HISTORY OF THE HIGH SCHOOLS.

Woodward High School .- The Cincinnati high schools, Woodward and Hughes, named for their founders, are not wholly under the control of the Board of Educa- tion, but are managed by a Union Board, and are supported partly by endowment funds and partly from the regular school tax. Both were endowed before the free school system went into operation. The fund which sustains the Woodward school is. derived from the income on property originally bequeathed to the city by William Woodward, a farmer who became rich by the rise in value of his lands. Mr. Wood- ward was born in Connecticut, in 1770, and died in Cincinnati in 1833. He was a. typical New England character, shrewd, industrious, frugal, and strictly religious .. Of a thrifty, business turn, he combined, with the management of his acres, the occupation of surveyor, tanner and shipbuilder. His home was the usual log house of the rural pioneer. The Woodward estate lay mainly within the area now bounded by the streets Woodward and Liberty, Main and Broadway.

Shakespeare says: "Good men, at their death, have good inspirations." A. good inspiration was breathed into William Woodward a score of years before he died. The benevolent impulse came into his heart to leave to the poor of his city the best fortune possible, the means of gaining such elementary education as would enable them to overcome poverty. What should he do with his worldly goods when he no longer needed them? He had no heirs, and so, with the wise and friendly counsel of his neighbor Samuel Lewis, Woodward resolved to endow a school. With this end in view he transferred that portion of his farm lying nearest the city, in trust, to Samuel Lewis and Osmond Coggswell, November 23, 1826. These two men were constituted trustees for life, with power to appoint their successors. By the act of incorporation, January 24, 1827, the power to appoint three other trus- tees was vested in the city council. The trustees accepted their office, and a deed of confirmation was signed March 24, 1828. Jonathan Pancoast and Lewis Howell. were made trustees. Mr. Coggswell was a nephew of Mr. Woodward.

According to the first intention of the founder and his advisors the proposed school was to be quite elementary, and the name chosen for it was the " Woodward Free Grammar School." But, in 1830, the public schools of the city being organ- ized to meet the demand for free primary instruction, Mr. Woodward was induced to sign an additional legal paper empowering the trustees to enlarge the original design, and to create a high school. Indentures made and signed December 17, 1830, established Woodward High School, which was incorporated in January, 1831. The trustees in that year were Lewis, Coggswell, Howell, Oliver Goode and John P. Foote. Mr. Foote tells us in his "Schools of Cincinnati," that "Mr. Lewis was the chief manager of the trust, and that it soon became the principal business of his life." Under his direct supervision a school building, 40 x 50 feet, was erected, and the school was opened October 24, 1831. By January 1, 1832, the number of pupils enrolled was 144, much the larger number of these paying a fee. The first teacher appointed was T. B. Wheelock, and the special subject he taught. was mathematics. After the lapse of about five years, the trustees took action resulting in the transmutation of the high school into a college. The first session of Woodward College (the eleventh since the organization of the school) began August 15, 1836. From that date until May, 1851, a period of fifteen years, the- college organization was kept up, and within that time 1,377 students received tui- tion, and forty graduated with the degree of A. B., fifteen of whom afterward received the degree A. M. Among the most distinguished trustees, besides Lewis-

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and Foote, were William Greene, Salmon P. Chase and Judge William G. Gholson. Those who, in turn, held the position of college president were T. J. Matthews, Benjamin P. Aydelott, and Thomas J. Biggs. Distinguished among the professors were Joseph Ray, William H. McGuffey, T. S. Pinneo, L. A. Hine, and John L. Talbott.

In May, 1851, the work of the college was virtually suspended. Action was then being taken to unite the funds of the Woodward bequest with those of the Hughes, and to place the two high schools in affiliation with the public-school sys- tem. The last meeting of the board of trustees was held July 22, 1851. A con- tract was entered into by which the funds were united, and increased by public taxes, and the two schools put under control of a union board made up of represen- tatives for each endowment fund, and members chosen by the city authorities. Work was begun ou a new high-school building, the present Woodward High School, July 28, 1854. It was a suggestive coincidence that Samuel Lewis died on the same day.

Since the reorganization of the schools in 1851, the Woodward High School has steadily gone forward in its career of usefulness. The entire enrollment of pupils for the year 1852 was but 102; the number enrolled in 1892 was 841. The first principal of Woodward was Dr. Joseph Ray; the second, D. Shepardson; the third, M. Woolson; the fourth, George W. Harper, the present incumbent.

The Central High School .- It will perhaps conduce to historical clearness, to give here a sketch of the old Central High School, which, in time, holds the prece- dence over Woodward and Hughes, and of which, in a sense, Hughes is the contin- uation, the principal and three other of the teachers on the original corps at Hughes having held over from the Central. In October, 1845, Peyton Symmes, president of the school board, recommended the organization of a public high school, and on the 11th of the following February, 1846, the State legislature authorized the board to provide such a school. The question of consolidating the Woodward and Hughes funds had already been proposed, and the Central School seems to have been regarded as provisional. The board took action, and, in Nov- ember (other authorities say July), 1847, the school was commenced in the base- ment of the German Lutheran Church, on Walnut street, below Ninth; "very con- siderably below the ground," said Prof. Cyrus Knowlton, one of the teachers. In February, 1848, the school was removed to more commodious quarters on Center street. Up to this time the only teachers in the school were the principal, Mr. H. H. Barney, and Mr. John M. Edwards. Mr. Knowlton was then added to the force, and also Miss Eliza Bush and Mr. E. D. Kingsley. In 1849 Miss Bush resigned, and her place was filled by Miss Mary Atkins. Other teachers in the "Old Cen- tral" were Miss F. Ellen Cassat, Messrs. Locke and Aikin, professors of music; Mr. A. Brunner, professor of French; Mr. Bowers, professor of penmanship, and Prof. Shattuck, professor of drawing. The number of pupils enrolled in the Central High School was, in 1848, ninety-seven; in 1849, eighty-seven; in 1850, seventy; in 1851, sixty-three; and in 1852, ninety-eight-in all, 415.

Hughes High School .- Some mystery broods over the story of the life of Thomas Hughes, founder of Hughes High School. The memorials of his private life are scanty and somewhat contradictory. It is known that he was an Englishman, prob- ably born near the Welsh border. He was a Christian, but not a sectarian: Early in life he seems to have been unhappily married, though little is known of his wife, and he had no children. He practiced the trade of shoemaker, having his shop in his dwelling-house, a log structure on the corner of his small farm, a tract of some thirty acres, principally on the hillside north of the old corporation line. One of his intimate associates, J. Sampson Powers, has recorded that Hughes "lived alone, in a humble cabin, on the north side of Liberty street, Cincinnati, which cabin, if now standing, would be west of Sycamore street." Mr. Powers further reveals that

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the solitary shoemaker cherished certain pets, a sorrel dog, a sorrel pony, and a few favorite chickens, for each one of which he had a familiar name. "In regard to his last illness and death," continues the same witness, "I only know about it from what my kind friend John Melendy told me in 1825. Peter and John Melendy took care of Thomas Hughes in his last illness. He died in their house, on the west side of Main and south of Liberty street, on the 26th day of December, 1824. His remains were interred in the Twelfth street burying-ground, and when that ground was con- verted into Washington Park, his body was exhumed and reinterred in Spring Grove cemetery."

This is the simple story of Thomas Hughes, who was a friend and neighbor to William Woodward. To him, also, as to his more prosperous fellow-toiler, came a good angel, whispering blessed counsel. Hughes was moved to give his possessions for humanity's sake, to the world, in the form of a school, which should stand as his monument and a perpetual benefaction to the young, especially to those who might not be able to gain an education without the advantages of a free school. In the year and month of his decease, December 4, 1824, Thomas Hughes bequeathed his land to William Woodward, William Greene, Nathan Guilford, Elisha Hotch- kiss, and Jacob Williams, as trustees, the property to be "applied to the mainte- nance and support of a school or schools." In April, 1827, the land was laid out in lots, since which time it has been improved and managed by the trustees, for the benefit of the school. The original trustees of the Hughes fund were William Woodward, Elisha Hotchkiss, Jacob Williams, and William Greene.

On the 19th day of May, 1851, the board of trustees and directors of the com- mon schools, the trustees of the Woodward College and the Hughes School, and the board of trustees of the Hughes Fund, entered into a triplicate contract for the establishment of the Cincinnati Woodward High School, and the Cincinnati Hughes High School. As we have stated, work was begun on the present Woodward build- ing July 28, 1854. The Hughes High School building, located on the south side of Fifth street, opposite Mound street, was begun in March, 1852, and completed in January, 1853. The school was immediately organized, with H. H. Barney as principal. The first graduating exercises were held in the school hall, Friday, January 27, 1854, beginning at one o'clock, P. M. Ten pupils graduated, four boys and six girls. Among these was R. D. Barney, one of the present trustees of the Hughes Fund. H. H. Barney retired from the principalship in 1854, and was succeeded by Cyrus Knowlton, who died in 1860. Dr. Joseph L. Thornton was the next principal. After six years he resigned, and the present principal, Dr. E. W. Coy, was elected to the position.

The number of pupils now enrolled in the high schools is 1,430. The number graduated in 1893 was, from Woodward 85, from Hughes 79, total 164. The mem- bers of the Union Board of High Schools for the year 1893-94 are: Delegates from the Board of Education .- W. F. Hartzell, A. L. Herrlinger, Ernst Rehm, H. H. Mithoeffer, J. E. Cormany, C. W. Whiteley. Delegates from the Woodward Fund. -A. H. Bode, John B. Peaslee, William H. Taft, S. S. Davis, and Francis B. James. Delegates from the Hughes Fund .- R. D. Barney and Charles H. Stephens. The officers are: Francis B. James, president; C. W. Whiteley, vice-president; George R. Griffiths, secretary.

The present teaching force consists of thirty seven men and women, namely: Woodward School .- George W. Harper (principal), Chauncey R. Stuntz, William H. Pabodie, A. M. Van Dyke, Ferd. C. Gores, Henry H. Brader, Nettie Fillmore, Eleanor C. O'Connell, M. W. Mosbaugh, Emma R. Johnston, Adeline A. Stubbs, M. Louise Armstrong, Margaretta Burnet, Rachel V. Wheeler, Eulalie Artois, Frances Kohnky (drawing), Tillie M. Lambour, Isabel H. Neff (cooking). Woodward Col- ony .- Atley S. Henshaw, Clara Davis Klemm, Margaret E. Layman, Mary E. Magurck. Hughes School .- E. W. Coy (principal), W. H. Venable, Alan Sanders,

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J. Remsen Bishop, Albert F. Kuersteiner, O. W. Martin, Lucia Stickney, Clara B. Jordan, Ellen M. Patrick, Josephine Horton, Alice W. Hall, Anne M. Goodloe, Celia Doerner, Therese Kirchberger, Emma Morhard, Frances Kohnky.

A new high school building is in course of construction on Walnut Hills, at an estimated cost of one hundred thousand dollars.

CINCINNATI NORMAL SCHOOL.

In our sketch of the public schools it is mentioned that, at Supt. Rickoff's sug- gestion, normal classes were instructed by H. H. Barney, in Hughes High School, and that, while Dr. Hancock was superintendent, a regnlar Normal School was estab- lished under the principalship of Miss Sara Dugan, from the Boston Training School. This was in 1868. The school was located in the Eighth District school- "house.

Miss Dugan resigned at the end of a year's service, and the board elected in her place Miss Delia A. Lathrop, who retired from the principalship of the city Normal School, Worcester, Mass., to come to Cincinnati. Miss Lathrop remained in charge, with great acceptance to the people, and much to the advancement of professional spirit and qualifications among the teachers, until her marriage, in 1876, to Prof. Williams, when she removed to Delaware, Ohio.

The valuable services of Albert Knell and John Mickelborough were successively enlisted in the management of the Normal School. These gentlemen were succeeded by the present accomplished principal of the school, Mrs. Carrie Newhall Lathrop. The president of the board of education, A. R. Herrlinger, says of the school, in his annual Report, dated September 1, 1892: "The Normal School has now been in existence about twenty-four years. Its usefulness has long been an established fact. During this period of time almost one thousand students have graduated as teachers. Wherever these graduates have located, they have done honor to their alma mater; as well in our public schools, as in numerous private institutions of learning. During the past year the theory and practice departments have been again united, much to the benefit of the school. Mrs. Carrie N. Lathrop, principal, and her efficient assistants, deserve well of the board and the public for their dili- gence and energy." The present corps of teachers in the Normal School, besides Mrs. Lathrop, are Johanna M. Huising, Anna Bewley, Agnes L. Brown, and Mary Coleman Burnet.

The Normal School comprises two departments - a Department of Instruction, and a Department of Practice. Two years are required to complete the full course. By a rule of the board, "graduates of the Normal School shall have the preference, other things being equal, for positions in the Public Schools of the city."

UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI.

Highest in the series of Cincinnati's free, popular, educational institutions, is the University, an organic part of the public-school system. All residents of Cin- cinnati are admitted to its courses, without charge, and the city High Schools largely reinforce its annual Freshman classes.

No clearer or more succinct statement of its history and condition can be given than is found in the college catalogue for 1892-93, from which we quote. " The University of Cincinnati owes its existence to the generosity of Charles McMicken, a native of Pennsylvania, who came to Cincinnati in 1803, accumulated a large for- tune, and died here in 1858. By the terms of his will he bequeathed to the city of Cincinnati property worth over one million dollars, to found an institution of learn- ing in which students should 'receive the benefit of a sound, thorough and practical English education, and such as might fit them for the active duties of life, as well as instruction in the higher branches of knowledge, except denominational theology, to the extent that the same are now or may hereafter be taught in any of the secular colleges or universities of the highest grade in the country.'

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"In April, 1870, the General Assembly of Ohio passed an act to enable cities of the first class to aid and promote education, under which the city of Cincinnati ac- cepted the bequest of Charles McMicken, and proceeded to establish the University of Cincinnati. Academic instruction was actually begun in 1873 in the building and by the teachers of the Woodward High School, and the University was formally organ- ized in 1874 by the appointment of professors of mathematics and civil engineering, of Latin and Greek, and of physics and chemistry. During the academic year, 1874-75, instruction was given by these professors in the Woodward High School building, but at the beginning of the year 1875-76 possession was taken of the new building then erected on the site adjoining the McMicken homestead, where the insti- tution is still located. The resources of the University have been largely increased by the 'Brown Endowment Fund,' from the estate of the late Rev. Samuel . J. Brown, by the large bequest of Matthew Thoms, and by a tax-levy of one-tenth of a mill by the city. Donations to the Observatory have also been made by John Kilgour and Julius Dexter.

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History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 17

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati Publication date: 1894 Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson Number of Pages: 1592

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1592