History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio, Part 69

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey
Number of Pages: 1104

USA > Ohio > Summit County > History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio > Part 69

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" It was in view of this state of things that Rev. I. Jennings, then a young man, and Pas- tor of the Congregational Church of Akron, self-moved, set himself to work to re-organize the common schools of Akron. There were many friends of a better education in the place, who co-operated with Mr. Jennings, and, on the 16th of May, 1846, at a public meeting of the citizens, a committee was appointed, of which he was Chairman, ' to take into consid- eration our present educational provisions and the improvement, if any, which may be made therein.' On the 21st of November, 1846, there was an adjourned meeting of the citizens of Akron, at Mechanics' Hall, at which Mr. Jen- nings, on behalf of the committee, submitted

their report. It was a good, business-like doc- ument, clear in its statements, definite in its recommendations, and so just and reasonable in its views, that it received the unanimous ap- proval and adoption of the citizens there assem- bled, and a committee, consisting of R. P. Spaulding, H. W. King, H. B. Spelman and L. V. Bierce, was appointed to secure the neces- sary legislation. The following is the plan of the committee : 1. Let the whole village be incorporated into one school district. 2. Let there be established six primary schools in dif- ferent parts of the village, so as best to accom- modate the whole. 3. Let there be one gram- mar school, centrally located, where instruction may be given in the various studies and parts of studies not provided for in the primary schools, and yet requisite to a respectable En- glish education. 4. Let there be gratuitous ad- mission to each school in the system, for the children of residents, with the following re- strictions, viz .: No pupil shall be admitted to the grammar school who fails to sustain a thorough examination in the studies of the primary school, and the teacher shall have power, with the advice and direction of the Su- perintendent, to exclude for misconduct in ex- treme cases, and to classify the pupils as the best good of the schools may seem to require. 5. The expense of establishing and sustaining this system of schools shall be thus provided for : First, by appropriating what public school money the inhabitants of the village are enti- tled to, and what other funds or property may be at the disposal of the board for this pur- pose ; and, secondly, a tax to be levied by the Common Council upon the taxable property of this village for the balance. 6. Let six Super- intendents be chosen by the Common Council, who shall. be charged with perfecting the sys- tem thus generally defined, the bringing of it into operation, and the control of it when brought into operation. Let the six Superin- tendents be so chosen that the term of office of two of them shall expire each year.

*Contributed by W. H. Perrin.

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HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.

"The plan was adopted by the Legislature, and embodied in the 'act for the support and better regulation of common schools in the town of Akron,' passed February 8, 1847, with a change in the name and mode of election of officers named in the sixth paragraph only, the the substance being retained. The committee urged in behalf of this plan, that it will secure a thorough classification of pupils, bring dif- ferent classes into constant fellowship, lay hold of native talent and worth, whether rich or poor, and secure the best superintendence and man- agement. It will not only give the best schools, but the cheapest ; for while such in- struction as the youth of Akron now get costs about $2.200 a year. or $6.82 for each of the 375 who attend school, under the plan proposed 500 can be instructed for $1,700 a year, or $3.40 a scholar for cost of instruction. The interval between the meetings in May and November, 1846, was improved by Mr. Jennings in col- lecting information, maturing the plan and elaborating the report. The idea originated with Mr. Jennings, and the labor of visiting every house in the village, to ascertain what children went to school and who did not go, and who went to public schools and who went to private. and how much was paid for school instruction, was performed by him. He went to Cleveland and Sandusky City in the same interest, to see the operation of graded schools there. He procured estimates by competent mechanics, of the cost of erecting a grammar- school building to accommodate 500 pupils, and omitted no detail of the plan that was nec- essary to show it in organic completeness ; and whatever credit and distinction Akron may have enjoyed for being the first to adopt the principle of free graded schools in Ohio, is due to Mr. Jennings. Others saw and felt the need of a system and of better methods of instruction and management, but in his practical and sa- gacious mind the subject took form and propor- tion as an organic whole, and under his pre- sentation the plan looked so feasible, so ad- mirable, that hostility was disarmed and the people were eager for its adoption.

" Mr. Jennings was the father and founder of the Akron schools ; and, though he did not re- main in Akron to see their operation, he gave them their first impulse and direction, and in- spired their management and administration. His plan was flexible to the needs of the

growth and enlargement, and in essential feat- ures remains as it first took form on the stat- ute book. For actions less signal and benefi- cent, men have been honored and recognized as public benefactors. The first election under the law was in the spring of 1847, and L. V. Bierce, H. B. Spelman, James Mathews, Will- iam II. Dewey, William M. Dodge and Joseph Cole constituted the first Board of Education, which organized by choosing L. V. Bierce, Pres- ident ; H. B. Spelman, Secretary, and William H. Dewey, Treasurer. The Town Council ap- pointed J. S. Carpenter, A. B. Berry and H. K. Smith, Examiners. The work of the board for the first year was mainly that of organization. They divided the Akron school district into eight subdistricts, built two primary school- houses, 25×32 feet, at a cost of $370 each, pur- chased two and a half acres of land on Mill, Prospect and Summit streets, at a cost of $2,137.31, on which stood a dwelling-house, which, at an expense of $613.44, was fitted up for a grammar school. Mr. M. D. Leggett, late Commissioner of Patents, was employed as teacher and superintendent at a salary of $500, assisted by Miss Wolcott, at a salary of $200, and Miss Pomeroy, at a salary of $150. The primaries were taught by young ladies, at $3.50 per week. There were two terms of the grammar school, the first commencing in Au- gust, and enrolling 127, with an average daily attendance of 112, or eighty-eight per cent ; the second term enrolling 188, and having an average attendance of 167, or eighty-nine per cent. The primaries during the year showed an average attendance of fifty-five per cent, and an enrollment during the first term of 641. During the second term, 880 was the number enrolled. Some of these were from with- out the district. Such was the state of opin- ion at the first annual report, made in March, 1848, that the board felt called upon to justify the employment of female teachers in the pri- maries on the ground, first, of economy, and, second, that the Superintendent was required to spend one hour each day in these schools, vis- iting them in rotation, which the Board be- lieved secured all the advantages to be derived from the employment of male teachers.

"The Akron school law and the operations of the first board under it had a strong opposition from property-holders. The principle of free graded schools had not yet been recognized.

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CITY OF AKRON.

These men felt it a grievance that their proper- ty should be taxed to educate the children of the village. An unlimited power of taxation for school purposes had been given the board which they felt to be dangerous, and made an objection to the system. As a peace-offering to this class and to disarm opposition, the first call was for but two mills on the dollar. But the board went farther, asking the Legislature to limit its power to five mills. The act was amended, fixing the limit at four mills a year for school purposes. This change was unfortu- nate. The State had just changed its rate of taxation for school purposes, by which the amount Akron would otherwise receive was reduced over $300. Schoolhouses had to be built, lots purchased and paid for, and the board was compelled to an economy of man- agement that bordered upon parsimony, and in the second year to lose the services of Mr. Leg- gett, who was doing well for the school. The board was able, however, to make a good show- ing in its first annual report in this, that the cost of tuition for each scholar was less than $2 a year-a saving to the town of from $1,340 to $1,776 a year on the common-school system. In the grammar school were taught orthogra- phy, reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, history, grammar, algebra, geometry, trigonom- etry, physiology, natural philosophy, mental philosophy, chemistry, book-keeping, astrono- my, phonography, and an hour each week given to composition and declamation. The board bears honorable testimony to the zeal and effi- ciency of teachers of grammar and primary schools, and to the Board of Examiners for ' efficient and valuable suggestions,' and in view of all the facts may be pardoned if it slightly magnified its work when it said it had given ' the benefits of a finished English education to all the children of the town at less than the average rate of tuition under the common- school system.' During the second year, end- ing March 31, 1849, two new schoolhouses were erected for the primaries, at a cost of $480 each, but the accommodations were still inadequate. The schools were crowded, and more room needed without the means to build. The average daily percentage of attendance in the primaries had risen to be 62 per cent, and that of the grammar fallen to 71 for the first term and 80 for the last. In the third year the subdistricts were increased to nine, the

primaries were graded, and the grammar school suspended from April 27 to September 3, 1849. At the latter date, Mr. C. Palmer took the charge under an engagement for two years, assisted by Mrs. Palmer and Mr. Graham. The suspension was a financial necessity, but the board was enabled to speak assuredly of the improvement in the public regard for the schools. The ardor of novelty had subsided, but the sober judgment of the people fully sus- tained the system.' 'We doubt,' the board say, 'whether at any time a motion to relapse into our former chaotic state would have been met by a more determined or numerous oppo- sition than now. In truth, we think our school system may be looked upon as having passed the crisis, and as being fixed in the convictions and cherished in the conscious wants of the people.

"In the winter of 1850-51, the board en- tered into a contract with Mr. Charles Brown for laying the foundation of a brick edifice, 70x50 feet, and two stories high, for the gram- mar school, an undertaking for which there was pressing need on account of the entire uIn- fitness of the building then in use for that pur- pose. The corner-stone of this edifice was laid with due ceremonies Aug. 18, 1851, and the walls finished before the commencement of winter. The grammar school was taught but six weeks during the fifth school year, and closed in consequence of the illness of Mr. Palmer, the Superintendent, not to be opened again until the new building was ready for occupa- tion. The necessity of this suspension lay in the state of the finances and the limited powers of the Board for taxation. Mr. and Mrs. Olm- stead were employed at $50 a month to teach a high grade primary school, which took the place of the grammar school. The salary of Mr. Palmer was $600. In the fourth annual report the term, 'High School, ' first appears in the transactions of the board. During the third and fourth school years, J. S. Carpenter, Esq., is President of the Board, and the reports deal more in certain general aspects, the meth- ods, means and ends of education ; less external stimulation, and more of self-help in the school room. The fifth annual report shows the same aptness for comparative statistics as the first and second, and gives the cost of tuition for the whole year : Per scholar upon average enrolled, $2; per scholar upon average attendance,

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HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.

$2.80 ; per scholar upon average enumeration, $1.12, and believes an instance cannot be found where so thorough an education can be obtained at so small an expense.

"On the 13th of October, 1853, the new structure was completed and dedicated to the cause of education. The cost of the building was $9,250, and in its plan and appearance was creditable to the then village of Akron. Mr. Samuel F. Cooper was put in charge of the high school. assisted by Mrs. Cooper and Miss Voris ; Miss Codding, assisted by Misses Prior and Gilbert, had charge of the grammar school. A nucleus of a philosophical apparatus and geological cabinet was formed under Mr. Cooper. In April, 1856, the engagement of Mr. Cooper closed. In the October following, H. B. Foster. Esq., of Hudson, entered upon the office of instruction and superintendence, and continued until the following spring, when his engagement closed. He was assisted by Misses Bernard and Williamson, all able and competent teachers, with whom the board was loath to part. Mr. Foster declining a re-engage- ment, Mr. E. B. Olmstead was employed to take his place, and J. Park Alexander was put in charge of the grammar school at $35 per month. The primary teachers were paid from $3.75 to $5. per week. In 1855-56, the grammar school was in charge of Mr. George Root, assisted a part of the year by Misses Angel and McArthur. Mr. Root gave special attention to penmanship and book-keeping in the high school, and his instruction in those branches was attended with marked results. The pay-roll of teachers for the year ending April. 1856, was $2,777.42, including superin- tendence. In the report made April, 1857, the estimated expense of running the schools for the next year was $4,200, 'including inci- dentals,' and it was in this report that claim was first made for compensation to members of the board for their services. It was in this report also that the first rule was laid down touching the reading of the Bible and religious instruction in the schools. The following is the rule : 'Teachers may open their schools in the morning by singing with the scholars, or reading a short passage of Scripture (the Lord's prayer, for instance), without note or comment, or without any general exercise, as they may think proper.' In this report also is laid down the rule of the board touching the

qualifications of teachers. 'The board, as a general rule, have determined to employ no teachers in the Akron schools but those of ripe age, ample experience and successful tact in their profession, while it is entirely necessary and essential that a teacher shall have a fine education, and an ample fund of general knowl- edge, it is as important to possess tact also.' Besides these, the teacher must have 'great goodness and kindness of heart, indomitable perseverance, good common sense, and last, but uot least, the qualities, in a measure, of a suc- cessful military general.' It might excite our wonder that so rare and so fair a cluster of graces and acquirements could be had for the asking in the year 1854, and at so low figures as from $3.50 a week in the primaries to $65 a month to the principal of the high school and Superintendent of all the schools. The board hints at no difficulty in procuring teachers of ripe age, ample experience, successful tact, fine education, etc., or that the market is not full of that description of candidates for the office of instruction. The high school lot is being graded, and, when done, "the grounds will be planted with forest trees, evergreens and shrub- bery, such as will best conduce to the appear- ance of the place, and, in after years, to the comfort of the scholars.' A substantial stone wall has been erected on the west front, and on the other three sides a tight board fence.

" The Akron School District was, in April, 1857, divided into five subdistricts, in the first and second of which, primary and secondary grades of pupils were to be taught by the same teacher in the same room. In the other sub- districts, the primaries and secondaries were to be taught separately. A course of study is laid down. Reading and spelling run through the four grades, 'writing when desired,' in the secondary, and every day in the grammar and in the high school, ' so as to be able to write a fair hand.' The scholars in the grammar school shall be taught to read and spell the fourth reader fluently ; to master the first half of Stoddard's Intellectual Arithmetic ; the whole of Tracy's and Stoddard's Practical as far as in- terest ; the general definitions in grammar ; Colton and Fitch's Modern School Geography ; to practice writing every day ; map drawing ; declamation one hour each week, and general practical oral instruction daily. The high school course included, 3d, Stoddard's Practical

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CITY OF AKRON.

Arithmetic, after which Greenleaf's National may be taken up (one class), and the whole school practiced in mental arithmetic ; 4th, English grammar and parsing ; 5th. map draw- ing and geography ; 6th, philosophy ; 7th, his- tory ; 8th, physiology ; 9th, algebra ; 10th, chemistry ; 11th, astronomy ; 12th, botany and geometry. Declamation and composition to be practiced by each pupil every four weeks. These in their order, the 1st and 2d being occu- pied by reading, spelling and writing. The Superintendent is to be Principal of the high school and institutes, and spend two hours each week visiting the other public schools of the town, advising with the teachers, examining the classes with reference to their classification, progress and promotion, and to report monthly to the board.

" This outline closes the tenth year of the Akron schools. One of the features of this period is the 'Specimen Schools or Teachers' Institutes', held each Saturday morning in the presence of all the teachers, members of the board, etc. One teacher, by previous appoint- ment, calls her school together on Saturday morning, and pursues her routine course for an hour and a half, and then dismisses it. After this, lectures, discussions, etc. These institutes, the board say, 'have worked admirably. Teachers were required to attend them. It was in the seventh year of the schools (1854), that we first hear of these 'Specimen Schools or Teachers' Institutes.' They gave way in 1860 to teachers' meetings, which were designed for mutual improvement, and to enable the teacher to keep place with progress in the ' art of teach- ing.' When Latin and Greek were dropped does not appear, but here is the mind of the board upon the subject : 'The introduction of the study of languages into the high school has often been urged by a few of our citizens ; but, the board have been of the opinion that a good practical English education is all that any one has a right to expect or exact at the hands of a generous public.' The Akron schools have now been in operation ten years, and under five dif- ferent Superintendents, three of whom, Leggett, Palmer and Foster, were capable, competent and valuable men for the place. Their work was mainly that of instruction in the depart- ment under their immediate charge ; the super- vision of other schools being quite nominal, consisting chiefly in occasional visitation. In

the existing state of opinion and resources of the board, this was the best that could be done. But the necessity of permanence in the office of superintendence and instruction was being felt. The evils of frequent changes had become apparent. The schools had not at all times maintained the prestige they at first enjoyed, nor the pre-eminence to which they were entitled as the pioneer free graded schools of Ohio. In the eleventh annual report, the board declare their conviction that the ' lowest wages ' principle was not the best economy, and that such compensa- tion should be paid for superintendence and in- struction as would secure the best skill and ability in both departments. Acting upon these views, Mr. T. C. Pooler, a teacher of experience in the State of New York, was employed as Superintendent, at a salary of $1,000, assisted by Misses M. K. Parsons and H. A. Bernard in the high school. Mr. H. M. Ford, assisted by Miss Coffman, was made Principal of the gram- mar school. During a part of Mr. Pooler's first year, Misses Angel and Church were his assist- ants, Miss Bernard coming in the second year. Mr. Pooler retained the position three years, and declined a re-engagement. With him began superintendence and the practice of making annual reports to the board. At this point also begins a change in the school year from the 31st of March, to the 31st of August, consequently this report covers fifty-three weeks of the schools-fifteen in the spring and summer of 1857, and forty weeks from September, 1857, to July, 1858. Hereafter the school year will commence with September. The above state- ment that with Mr. Pooler, superintendence commenced, must be qualified, for if it com- menced it did not continue to any valuable ex- tent. Rule fifth, of the board, adopted Septem- ber, 1859, provided that 'he shall visit each school at least once in four weeks, and advise and direct the several teachers in regard to classifying and disciplining their pupils.' His reports are practical, and relate to matters with which he is charged. The statistics of enroll- ment and attendance show an improving condi- tion in these regards.

"The engagement of Mr. I. P. Hole as Princi- pal of the high school and Superintendent commenced September, 1870, at a salary of $900 a year, and continued until September, 1868, during which period his salary was from time to time increased, until it reached $1,500.

HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.

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Besides this substantial approval by successive boards, Mr. Hole was cordially indorsed, as reports and resolutions of the Board abundantly show. His report as Superintendent was pub- lished during the first six years of his engage- ment, and are useful for the information they contain of the condition of the schools. The average attendance for all the schools is 91 per cent for the year 1866, while for the years 1863 and 1864 it is 78 per cent. The tables accompanying his reports show an in- crease in enrollment and attendance during this period, and they also show that the num- ber attending the high school as steadily di- minished. In 1860 and 1861, the total enroll- ment in that department was 141; monthly membership, 83, and average daily attendance, 63, while in 1865 and 1866, the total enroll- ment was 67 ; monthly membership, 44; aver- age attendance, 41. * The schools had become crowded. Six primaries taught during the fall of 1865, and seven during the winter and spring following, had an enrollment of 724 pupils ; one secondary school, employ- ing three teachers, enrolled 216, and the gram- mar school, with three teachers, enrolled 156 pupils. The high school, with an enrollment of 67, employed one teacher regularly, one about half of the time, and the Principal something over one-half. Of all these schools, except the high, he has words of unqualified praise, and of that he says, 'decorum seems to forbid that I should speak.' He makes hon- orable mention of Mrs. Coburn, who had been associated with him in that department six years, and had resigned, 'as deserving to be held in grateful remembrance by the people of Akron, and the hundreds of young persons whom she had served so earnestly and faith- fully.' Rule 13 of the Board, adopted Sep- tember, 1859, defining the duties of Superin- tendents, says: 'He shall hold a meeting of the parents at the commencement of each school year, or oftener, and address them in reference to their school duties and obliga- tions.' He did not restrain himself to ‘such facts connected with the operation of our pub- lic school system as may be of general interest to the community,' but sometimes expressed himself at large on the duties of parent and citizen. In his report of 1863, he notices the assumption of parents and teachers that when pupils have memorized the text-books put into

their hands, 'that their work has been well done.' This assumption he says, 'stops too short,' and he proceeds to elaborate his views of the processes of the mind in acquiring knowledge through eight successive and dis- tinct operations, from impressions on one of the five senses, to reason, 'the most important characteristic of rationality.' The moral tone is always good. The report of 1864 contains the first notice of graduation from the high school. Miss P. H. Goodwin, of Akron, is the graduate of this year. We find no published reports of the board or of Mr. Hole, as Super- intendent, for the last two years of his con- nection with the schools, and the history of his period of principalship and superintend- ence substantially closes with September, 1866. In February, 1868, he tenders his resignation. The board passes a resolution of confidence, 'earnestly invokes the confidence and support of the community as being eminently due to those having charge of our public schools, as Superintendent and teachers, and as at present advised, decline to accept the resignation.' In December, 1865, the board assumes the con- trol of the Spicer Addition to the Akron School District, with about one hundred pupils, and in 1866, enters upon the enlargement of the high school building, by the addition of two wings, with two schoolrooms to each wing, and recita- tion rooms adjoining. An enlargement of school accommodations had become a neces- sity, and to meet this expense a loan of $15,- 000 was authorized by the board in May, 1867, and, in April, 1868, bonds in that amount were provided for by resolution of the board.

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History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio, Part 69

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848- Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey Number of Pages: 1104

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey
Number of Pages: 1104