USA > Ohio > Montgomery County > Dayton > History of Dayton, Ohio. With portraits and biographical sketches of some of its pioneer and prominent citizens Vol. 1 > Part 27
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
A comparison of the schools at different periods of their history will forcibly illustrate the progress that has been made. As the records of the board begin in 1842, that year is taken as the starting point. The years 1857 and 1867 are chosen, because reports were published in those years by Messrs. Campbell and Parker, and the facts thus made accessible. Under the present system, the completest statistics in every department are recorded and published annually :
1842.
1857.
1867.
1875.
1880.
1888.
Total enrollment
827
3,440
4,213
5,238
6,144
7,662
Average daily attendance.
544
1,600
2,809
3,711
4,527
6,001
Number of teachers
16
45
70
98
125
189
Amount of school fund
$2,483
$40,000
$60,000
$139,066
$189,261
$198,723
Amount paid teachers.
1,583
24,180
31,055
75,826
89,906
123,992
Value of school property
6,000
75,000
143,000
210,000
321,706
#550,000
This includes the new Library Building.
The increasing proportion from period to period of the average daily attendance to the total enrollment is marked, and indicates the growing efficiency of the schools. In 1857 it was forty-eight per cent; in 1867 sixty-six per cent; in 1875 seventy-one per cent; in 1880 seventy-four . per cent; in 1888 seventy-eight per cent.
It is not so casy to represent to the eye the growth in other and more important particulars. A complete system of gradation has been estab- lished, consisting of an eight years' course in the district schools, four in the high school, and, for those who wish to teach, one in the normal school, supplemented by a large and free public library. New methods of instruction that promise good results have been introduced, and so far as they stood the test of trial in the school-room, are in use; and such salaries are paid teachers as to secure the services of the best and most experienced.
Equal progress has been made in school architecture. In the new buildings, which have been erected within the past few years, have been introduced whatever improvements in lighting, seating, heating, and ventilating, experience in our own and other cities has suggested. There are in the city twenty school building's with a seating capacity for eight thousand, four hundred and thirty-eight children.
243
EDUCATIONAL.
As no mention could be made in the appropriate places of many of the members of the board of education and teachers who have been influential in molding and giving character to the schools, in justice to them the names of the presidents of the board from 1842 to 1888, of those members who have served four or more years, and of the principals of the schools from the beginning of our graded school system down to the present time are given.
Presidents of the board of education: . 1842, E. W. Davies; 1843, W. J. Mckinney; 1844, E. W. Davies; 1845, Thomas Brown; 1846, IIenry Stoddard, Sr .; 1847, R. W. Steele; 1848-49, II. L. Brown; 1850-61, R. W. Steele; 1861-63, HI. L. Brown; 1863-64, Thomas F. Thresher; 1864-69, H. L. Brown; 1869-73, E. Morgan Wood, 1873-75, Charles Wuichet; 1875-78, E. M. Thresher; 1878-79, C. L. Bauman; 1879-80, J. K. Webster; 1880-82, E. M. Thresher; 1882-83, S. W. Davies; 1883-87, R. M. Allen; 1887-89, C. H. Kumler.
.
Members of the board of education from 1812 to 1889 who have served four or more years: W. J. Mckinney, R. W. Steele, H. L. Brown, J. G. Stutsman, L. Huesman, William Bomberger, D. A. Wareham, Wilbur Conover, W. S. Phelps, James McDaniel, A. Pruden, S. Boltin, H. Elliott, Jonathan Kenney, John Howard, John HI. Stoppleman, E. S. Young, H. Miller, W. L. Winchell, Caleb Parker, George S. Ball, Joseph Herhold, D. Dwyer, H. Anderson, N. L. Aull, Joseph Fischer, James Carberry, E. Morgan Wood, George Vonderheide, W. H. Johnson, B. F. . Kuhns, R. M. Allen, E. M. Thresher, Charles Wuichet, D. G. Breiden- bach, Thomas Kincaid, George L. Phillips, Samuel W. Davies, W. S. Kemp, W. M. Murray, Jacob Stephans, Louis N. Pook, C. L. Bauman, L. Rauh, C. G. Parker, W. J. Conklin, H. C. Eversole, P. E. Gilbert, C. W. Dustin, John E. Viot, James A. Marley, James J. Rossell, Red- mond P. Sage, James R. Andrews, A. A. Winters, A. Junikl, W. A. Lincoln, C. H. Kumler, John Aman, George Neder, A. J. Althoff, Joseph B. Thompson, W. Oldig.
Superintendents of instruction: James Campbell, Caleb Parker, War- ren Higley, Samuel C. Wilson, John Hancock, James J. Burns, W. J. White.
Principals of the high school: James Campbell, John W. HIall, William Smith, Charles B. Stivers.
Principals of the normal school: F. W. Parker, Emma A. II. Brown, W. W. Watkins, Jane W. Blackwood, Mary F. Hall.
Principals of the intermediate school: William P. Gardner, Samuel C. Wilson.
Superintendents of music: James Turpin, Charles Sochner, W. B. Hall, W. H. Clarke, F. C. Mayer.
.
t
244
HISTORY OF DAYTON.
Superintendents of penmanship and drawing: C. B. Nettleton, Victor Shinn.
Principals of the district schools from 1839 to 1889: Collins Wight, W. W. Watson, D. L. Elder, Thomas E. Torrence, Charles Barnes, R. W. Hall, E. H. Hood, W. W. Chipman, W. J. Thurber, William Worrell, J. D. French, C. Gaylor, W. Atkinson, A. Stowell, J. A. Smith, W. Knight, W. J. Parker, Joseph McPherson, M. N. Wheaton, R. L. Mc- Kinney, James Campbell, W. F. Doggett, Charles Rogers, W. Pinkerton, W. H. Butterfield, R. Dutton, E. W. Humphries, A. C. Fenner, P. D. Pelton, H. Anderson, A. B. Leaman, W. Denton, A. C. Tyler, W. F. Forbes, J. B. Irvin, E. C. Ellis, W. Isenberg, A. P. Morgan, S. C. Wil- son, II. IL. Vail, W. H. Campbell, O. S. Cook, S. V. Ruby, S. C. Crum- baugh, H. B. Furness, N. L. Hanson, J. C. Ridge, James C. Gilbert, J. C. Morris, Tillie B. Wilson, Belle M. Westfall, Ella J. Blain, Lucy G. Brown, Esther A. Widner, A. Humphreys, C. II. Evans, W. W. Wat- kins, W. P. Gardner, A. J. Willoughby, C. L. Loos, Alice Jennings, Samuel Peters, Solomon Day, F. Loehninger, A. B. Shauck, W. N. Johnson, J. E. Johnson, J. G. Brown, Carrie Miller, William Hoover, James M. Craven, W. O. Bowles, Marie Jacque, N. Metz, W. D. Gib- son, C. C. Davidson, Grace A. Greene, Sarah A. Finch, Margaret Burns.
Many of the assistant teachers are as worthy of mention as the principals; but to give a few names might appear invidious and to print them all would be impossible.
Libraries and schools are so intimately associated that they may be appropriately noticed in the same chapter. Indeed the Dayton Public Library is a constituent part of the school system. The fine library building was erected, and the library is supported by tax levied by the board of education.
In 1805 the citizens of Dayton obtained from the legislature the first act of incorporation for a public library granted by the State of Ohio. The incorporators were Rev. William Robertson, Dr. John Elliot, Wil- liam Miller, Benjamin Van Cleve, and John Folkerth. A pamphlet, stained and yellow with age, containing the constitution and rules of this library -- probably the only copy in existence-fortunately has been pre- served and deposited in the public library. A few of the rules are peculiar and may be worth presenting:
" Damage done to a book, while in the hands of a proprietor, shall be assessed by the librarian at the rate of three cents for a drop of tallow, or folding down a leaf, and so in proportion for any other damage."
In this day of gas and electricity, the fine for a " drop of tallow " is rather ludicrous, but no doubt books were often injured in that way when
245
EDUCATIONAL.
the reader was compelled to peruse them by the feeble light of a tallow dip. Librarians are aware that the "folding down a leaf" is one of the common and annoying abuses of books at the present day.
Another rule prescribes that " the method of drawing books shall be by lot; that is to say, it shall be determined by lottery who shall have the first choice, and so on for each proprietor." Unfortunately we have no intimation how the lottery was conducted. Rule eighteenth declares "if a proprietor lends a book belonging to the library to any person who is not a proprietor, or suffers a book to be carried into a school, he or she shall pay a fine equal to the value of one quarter of said book." It is not easy to see what great damage could result to a book from being "carried into a school," but the whole tenor of the rules illustrates the precious- ness of books at that early day, and the vigilant care taken of them. Like all libraries supported by voluntary subscription, every expedient had to be resorted to to raise money. In The Gridiron, a satirical paper published in Dayton in 1822, a file of which has been preserved in the public library, a play and farce are advertised to be given by the Thespian Society for the benefit of the library .*
The library existed until 1835 when it was sold at auction, as appears from the following advertisement in the Dayton Journal, of September 8, 1835: "Library at auction. The books and book-case belonging to the Dayton Library Association will be sold at auction at the clerk's office, at 2 o'clock P. M., on Saturday, the 12th inst. Henry Stoddard, William Bomberger, John W. Van Cleve, Committee." Mr. Van Cleve thus speaks of the character of the library: "The number of books is small, but they are well selected, being principally useful standard works, which should be found in all institutions of this kind. Among them are the North American and American Quarterly Reviews for the last few years." Who can doubt that this library during the thirty years of its existence was of inestimable value to the citizens of Dayton?
In 1832 the Dayton Lyceum was established, the object of which was " the diffusion of knowledge and the promotion of sociability." Meetings were to be held once a week "for lectures, communications, essays, and discussions on all subjects except theology and the politics of the day." It was also proposed to collect a cabinet of antiquities and minerals and a library. A discourse was to be delivered "at the annual meeting of the society on the 27th of August, being the anniversary of the location of the town of Dayton." For several winters the Lyceum furnished courses
" It is an interesting fact that Edwin Forrest, the celebrated tragedian, was, when a youth, a member of this Thespian Society. In commemoration of the fact he appeared in his favorite character of Virginius at the opening of the Turner Opera House, afterwards burned and replaced by the present Music Hall.
246 .
HISTORY OF DAYTON.
of lectures and debates which were of the highest interest and afforded great enjoyment to the people of Dayton. In 1833 the library of the Lyceum was kept at the house of Ira I. Fenn.
In 1833 the Mechanics' Institute was organized. The first secretary was Henry L. Brown. The object of the institute was " moral, literary, and scientific improvement." A library and reading rooms were con- nected with it, and for many years a course of lectures was given each winter. A public address was delivered at the courthouse July 1, 1833, by R. C. Schenek, in behalf of the Mechanics' Institute, and during its existence every citizen of Dayton who had any ability for lecturing was called upon for that service.
At this period there must have been unusual literary interest and activity in Dayton, for there were no less than six public libraries in existence, as we learn from notices in the newspapers. None of them were large, but in the aggregate they reached a wide circle of readers.
In connection with the Adelphic Society of the Dayton' Academy, in 1837, at that time under the charge of Mr. E. E. Barncy, was a library, worthy of mention because of the choiceness of the books it contained, The motto of the library was printed on the labels of the books:
"Haurit aquam in cribro Qui vult discere sine libro."
Impressed with the importance of establishing a library worthy of the city, a number of citizens met on the evening of December 10, 1846, and appointed a committee to draft a constitution. At a large meeting in the City Hall on the evening of December 29, 1846, the constitution was reported and, after considerable discussion and various amendments, adopted. Those who had constituted themselves members of the associa- tion by the payment of the required fee, met at the mayor's office January 12, 1847, and fully organized by the election of a board of trustees.
The library was sustained by membership fees, fifty dollars constitut- ing a membership in perpetuity, thirty dollars a life membership, and three dollars an annual membership. The first list of books for purchase was made by such men as Judge Joseph H. Crane, John W. Van Cleve, Dr. John W. Hall, Milo G. Williams, and others. Several evenings were spent in discussing the best books to be purchased with the limited amount of money at the disposal of the association. The list numbered but little over one thousand volumes, but the books were Charles Lamb's " books that are books."
The library was opened in a second-story room near the northeast corner of Main and Third streets, where it remained until it was removed
----
247
EDUCATIONAL.
to the new Phillips building, on the southeast corner of Main and Second streets. Mr. J. D. Phillips, who was a warm friend and liberal supporter of the library, had proposed to construct a room on the second floor of his building especially adapted to the use of the library, and lease it to the association on very favorable terms. The proposition was accepted, and a room forty by sixty feet, with lofty ceilings, supported through the center by handsome Corinthian columns, was prepared. This room was elegantly furnished, by special subscription, at a cost of over two thousand dollars. It is safe to say that at that day there was no library-room in Ohio, outside of Cincinnati, that would compare with it in beauty and convenience. A reading-room, supplied with the leading newspapers and magazines, was connected with the library, and the library was a favorite resort for our citizens, and the first place to which a stranger visiting the city was taken.
For the first few winters free lectures were given in the City Hall, and every citizen at all available was drafted into service. Many of our older professional men may recall how they tried their " 'prentice hand " on these lectures. After the removal to the Phillips building, courses of pay lectures were given in the large hall over the library. At that time the most noted men in the country did not disdain the lecture platform, and the names of a brilliant galaxy of lecturers, who appeared before the association, might be given.
As may be inferred, it was no easy task to carry so expensive an enterprise in a city of less than twenty thousand inhabitants. Constant appeals were made to the more liberal, and when this resource failed, resort was had to concerts, which enlisted all the professional and amateur musicians of the city, who gave their services gratuitously. The first of these, called a musical soirce, was given in 1849, and in 1859 a series of "Old Folks' Concerts," which were very popular, and netted to the association several hundred dollars. All these concerts were con- ducted by the late Professor James Turpin, who was ever ready freely to give his services to promote any worthy public object.
The manuscript records of the association are preserved in the public library, and furnish a complete history of it from the beginning to the close. It fell to the lot of Mr. I. II. Kiersted to serve as secretary during the last three years of the life of the association, when it was laboring under constant difficulties. IIe does not hesitate to depart from the con- ventional dignity and dullness of ordinary minutes, and the records kept by him are very entertaining reading. He might rival Mark Tapley for cheerfulness under difficulties. "Hercules to the rescue," is his comment on a successful effort, headed by General R. C. Schenck, to pay off a
--
248
HISTORY OF DAYTON.
heavy indebtedness. He accounts for the failure of the board to provide the usual course of winter lectures in this humorous way: "The public . having feasted on lion's meat, have little or no taste for the flesh of inferior animals; but lion's meat is now, as heretofore, fifty dollars a meal without the incidentals, and the hard times forbid the indulgence in such expensive luxuries."
By this time the Public School Library had become a formidable rival to the Library Association, furnishing the public with a large variety of fresh books free of cost. As the sole object of the members of the Library Association was to provide for the city a good public library, the conclusion was reached that the public would be best served by the union of the two libraries. In 1860 the members of the Library Associa- tion, by a vote, transferred their valuable library and furniture to the board of education. Many of the choicest books on the shelves of the public library were obtained in this way, particularly the invaluable volumes of Dayton newspapers from 1808 to 1860. From these news- papers the largest part of the local history published has been derived, and could not have been written without them.
It would be unjust to close this sketch of the Dayton Library Association without a passing tribute to Wilbur Conover. In spite of the exactions of a laborious profession, he gave a large amount of thought, labor, and time to both the Dayton Library Association and the Public School Library, rendering them invaluable service.
By the excellent school law of 1853, a tax of one tenth of a mill on the dollar valuation was levied for library purposes, the money so raised to be expended, and the books distributed by the State superintendent of instruction. The law contemplated the establishment of district school libraries, and the books purchased with that view lacked the variety necessary for city libraries. It was determined in Dayton not to distribute the books among the several schools, but to establish a central library. After receiving such books from the purchases of the superintendent of instruction as were suitable, he was requested to pay in money any balance due the city, and cheerfully complied with the request. The amount of money received was fourteen hundred dollars. Twelve hundred and fifty volumes were purchased, comprising books in every department of literature. Great care was taken in the selection of books to meet the popular wants, and the library was at once appreciated and extensively used. It was opened in the fall of 1855 in a room on the second floor of the United Brethren building, on the corner of Main and Fourth streets.
W. HI. Butterfield, principal of the Second District School, was the
249
EDUCATIONAL.
first librarian, and at that time the library was accessible only on Satur- days. In 1858 it was removed to the Central High School building, then just completed, where it remained until the union with the Library Association, in 1860, when it came into possession of its elegant rooms. The inviting rooms and the addition of several thousand volumes of choice books brought the library into great prominence, and it became, as it has since remained, an object of city pride. A librarian was employed to devote his whole time to it, and since then it has been kept open every secular day and evening, excepting legal holidays. In 1867 the library was removed to the old City Hall, and when that building was torn down and until the new building was completed, in 1876, a room in the building next north of the courthouse was occupied. The rooms in the new City Hall were expressly fitted up for the library, and were creditable to the city.
In 1856 the legislature suspended the tax of one tenth of a mill on the dollar and subsequently repealed the law. From that time until 1860 the library was maintained by appropriations made by the board of education from the contingent fund.
-
In 1860 the legislature passed an act empowering boards of educa- tion, in cities of the first and second class, to levy a tax of one tenth of a mill on the dollar valuation, and under this law the library has been conducted, until the passage of an act by the legislature in 1887, estab- lishing a library board for Dayton. Until the passage of this act, the ' library was managed by a committee of the board of education, appointed annually. It is unquestionably better to have an independent board, with longer terms of office, a part going out each year. Stability is thus given to the management, and a part of its members always possess valuable knowledge of the library, and experience in its government. The first board consisted of six members: two appointed for three years, two for two years, and two for one year. It was provided that after the end of the first year, two shall be annually elected, who shall hold office for a term of three years. The president of the board of education is ex-officio member of the board. Under the law the board of education may levy a tax of one fourth of a mill annually on the dollar valuation for the support of the library.
Among the important events in the history of the library was the publication, in 1884, of the exhaustive alphabetical catalogue. No one unfamiliar with such work can form any conception of the immense labor involved in the compilation of such a catalogue. It is of the greatest practical use, making available vast stores of information, which would be otherwise inaccessible. The catalogue reflects the highest credit on
18
i
250
HISTORY OF DAYTON.
the librarians, the Misses Dryden and Doren, who compiled it, and with most painstaking proof-reading, carried it through the press.
A word may be said of the character of the library. It has been the aim of the committees who have had it in charge to make it as com- plete as possible in every department, and to build up a symmetrical library. To accomplish this, experts in every branch of literature and science have been consulted from time to time. As Dayton is a manufac- turing city, it has been the aim to furnish such books as would be useful to those engaged in mechanical and manufacturing pursuits, and the library contains a large number of the best books that treat on these subjects. The reference books are numerous, and there are few subjects on which satisfactory information may not be obtained. In the depart- ments of history, biography, travels, poetry, the drama, and essays, it is no exaggeration to say that a very large part of the best books in the English language may be found. The library is particularly rich in Shaksperiana. We may anticipate an annual increase in the future of from fifteen hundred to two thousand volumes, and can readily imagine what a grand library it will become-a jewel worthy of the splendid casket which has been provided for it.
As the library grew in size, the need of a library building was in- creasingly felt. Successive library committees called the attention of the board of education to it, but nothing was done effectively until 1884. The library committee of that year, consisting of Dr. W. J. Conklin, A. Junikl, and George Neder, on the 26th of June, 1884, offered a resolution that a committee of four be appointed to inquire into the expediency of the board erecting a library building that should be fire proof. This was adopted, and the president of the board appointed as such committee Messrs. W. J. Conklin, A. Junikl, George Neder, and Elihu Thompson. The committee reported favorably, and the erection of a library building was agreed upon. Various sites were proposed for the building, but after full consideration the City Park was chosen and the consent of the city council obtained for the use of a portion of it for that purpose.
Attention was now given to the plan of the building. Mr. W. F. Poole, of Chicago, who, from his large experience in libraries in Boston, Cincinnati, and Chicago, has no superior in the knowledge of library construction and management, was invited to visit Dayton and suggest a plan. The plan suggested by him was substantially adopted, particularly as to the storage of books, after it had been submitted to prominent citizens who were invited to meet Mr. Poole. The rotunda so common in the best libraries was discarded because, although with its galleries it
1
251
EDUCATIONAL.
is more imposing, it is attended with serious objections. By the plan adopted the books are all on the first floor with low shelves, within easy reach of the librarians, thus economizing space, securing casy and rapid delivery, and preventing the damage to the binding of books resulting from the excessive heat of the upper galleries.
Architects were invited to submit designs in accordance with the plan and three were presented. The committee were unable to agree and asked the board to add three members to the committee. The addi- tional members were Louis Reiter, C. L. Bauman, and A. A. Winters. On the 5th of March, 1885, this committee reported that they had agreed upon the design submitted by Peters & Burns, architects of Dayton.
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.