USA > Ohio > Union County > History of Union County, Ohio; its people, industries and institutions > Part 23
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"A beautiful woods of sugar and other forest trees, the property of James A. Curry, adjoined the schoolhouse lot. This was the favorite tryst- ing place for the boys and girls ranging from sixteen to eighteen years of age. At the noon hour many of the pupils could have been seen walking
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under the shade of the grand old forest trees and perhaps late in the fall gathering hickory-nuts, which were usually in abundance. No doubt some of these joyous hearted girls and boys, as they strolled along the shady paths, or, seated on the trunk of a fallen tree, plighted their friendship-or per- haps love-and talked not only of the present but of the future. Can any of the old pupils, whose hair may now be sprinkled with the gray tints of the autumn of life, recall such a scene? Some of these joyous hopes were des- tined to be rudely broken off by the cruel fate of the Civil War. Family ties were to be severed; sad hearts of mothers, sisters and sweethearts were to linger prayerfully in the old farm house along Sugar run, waiting for the loved ones who would never return.
"The autumn term of 1860 ended the school days of many of the farmer boys forever, and they were to play an important part in that great Rebel- lion of the sixties.
"Of the recent schools at New California today it may be said that in 1910 a substantial frame building, with five rooms, and in 1914 four more rooms were added, all modern in construction and appointment, was erected. It stands near the old school building around which centered so much of early school interest-the pioneer house still standing as a memento of other times and earlier generations.
"A school building was erected in 1913, and now pupils are transported to and from school in covered conveyances, night and morning, instead of having to trudge through snow and mud as was the case in earlier days. Now the township has but two school houses whereas in former days, under the old system, there were at least ten, each in a district by themselves.
"For continuous service as a teacher. perhaps without question, C. L. Curry had the distinction of teaching longer than any one else in the town- ship. He commenced in 1868 and taught each year until 1884-a period of seventeen years, a total of nineteen terms, or seventy months.
"In the village of Jerome there is a new school building, known as the Ryan Memorial School. The Jerome school is modern in every respect and speaks volumes for the community in which it is located. The district, aided by Samuel Ryan, erected this beautiful, large structure. It is indeed a monu- ment of good sense and advanced thought along the lines of public gifts. It cost about eleven thousand dollars, and is a four-room building constructed after the latest approved plans. There is a basement auditorium accommo- dating three hundred people. The school is placed on the list of second- grade high schools of the state. About a hundred pupils are now attending
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this school which can not fail of being of material advantage to the location where it is being maintained."
The first attempt at the centralization of schools was made in Septem- ber, 1907, in Jerome township.
The record shows that "At a meeting of the board of education held September 10, 1907, it was moved by T. J. Dodge and seconded by L. W. Hutchison, that the school in district No. 4 (McDowell district) be sus- pended and the pupils be transferred to district No. 5 (New California dis- trict)." The motion carried; at this meeting the school in district No. 8 (Lamme district) was suspended and the pupils transferred to the Dodge district No. 6.
The districts were all abolished in Jerome township by resolutions passed by the board, June 19, 1912, and September 9, 1912. All the chil- dren in the township are now carried in several covered wagons to the cen- tralized schools at New California and Jerome.
SCHOOLS AT MARYSVILLE,
No more authentic article can be here given of the schools in Marys- ville, than to begin with an able article written Centennial Year-1876-by Prof. F. Wood, then superintendent of the city schools, entitled "Historical Sketches, Ohio Public Schools."
"The history of education in Marysville, for the first thirty years after its settlement, is not a matter of record now. There are people living in this community, however, who have been residents from a date as early as the settlement of the place.
"The first cabin within the present boundaries of Marysville was built in 1818 by Jonathan Summers, a Quaker. The town was laid out in 1819 by Samuel Culbertson, and made the county seat in 1822. It can not be as- certained that any public arrangement was made for schools till about 1825. The early settlers, however, appreciating the necessity of education, united in sustaining private schools almost from the settlement of the place. Silas G. Strong had an active part in the location of the county seat at Marysville, and was an efficient officer for a series of years. In 1822 or 1823, Mrs. Strong, his wife, taught a school in her own home of some ten or twelve pupils, and was compensated by the parents of her pupils, though it can not be ascertained that there was a fixed rate of tuition. Christopher Stiner, now living near Marysville (1876), was one of her pupils. Mrs. Strong's was the first school in the place. She taught only the rudimentary branches.
MEGRORY
OLD SECEDER CHURCH, NEW CALIFORNIA.
OLD WEST SCHOOL BUILDING AND PUBLIC LIBRARY, MARYSVILLE.
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using a variety of books, such as were in the possession of the families from which her pupils came. It is supposed that at this time there were some twelve or fifteen families within two miles of Marysville. The first court- house was built in 1822, and in it most of the schools were held until 1831. Occasionally private schools were taught in dwelling houses happening to be unoccupied at that time. Mrs. Strong, it is confidently affirmed, taught one or more terms in the courthouse, after it was built. It is thought that Paton B. Smith was the first male teacher and that he taught in 1825. Clement Twiford taught his first school in Marysville in 1826 and continued to teach at different times for five or six years. George Snodgrass, now liv- ing in Marysville ( 1876), taught a school in 1828 in a log cabin in the east- ern part of town. In the winter of 1830-31, Taber Randall, now a resident, and for several terms clerk of the court, taught in the courthouse, receiving fourteen dollars per month, and paying eighty-seven and a half cents per week for poor board at the hotel. The same building (the American ) is now used for a public house and the present superintendent of the school paid $5.50 for board there in 1868. In the winter of 1831-32, Robert An- drew taught, commencing the school in the courthouse in September, and in October going into the new schoolhouse in the southeastern part of the vil- lage, then just completed, being the first building erected in the place for school purposes. Hon. William C. Lawrence for a number of years, until his death ( 1846) a prominent lawyer in the county, assisted by his brother John, taught during the winter of 1832-33, having it is thought some sev- enty-five scholars and received in compensation a hundred dollars for a term of three months.
"In the winter of 1834-35, the number of pupils had so increased that it was decided to employ two teachers. B. F. Kelsey taught in the school- house and Marietta Kimball in a log cabin in the west part of town. After this time it was usual to employ two teachers one of the terms in the year. Among the teachers before 1840 were the Rev. James H. Gill, Heman Fer- ris, John F. Kinney, Eliza Ewing, Martha Jane Thompson, afterwards Mrs. Judge Woods, and Clarinda Westbrook. Mary Irwin and Susan Pollock also taught at a very early day. In the winter of 1838-39, there were three public schools, Mr. Kelsey in the schoolhouse, Miss Thompson in the base- ment of the Presbyterian church, and Miss Westbrook in the basement of the Methodist Episcopal church. In the winter of 1839-40, Charles Sanders taught nearly one hundred pupils in the Presbyterian church basement. He in- troduced the spelling book already published by himself and afterwards pub- lished a series of readers which had a wide circulation. In the winter of 1842-
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43, three men were employed to teach the schools, now embracing two hundred or more pupils-B. B. Kelsey, Levi Lyon and James Henderson. From 1840, and possibly sooner, there began to be felt the need of better facilities for ob- taining an education than the common schools afforded. In the summer of 1843, Caroline S. Humphrey opened the first high school taught in Marysville. In two or three instances a class in some of the higher branches had been formed in the public schools, but Miss Humphrey's was the first in which the principal object was to teach the higher branches. Rev. James Smith instructed pupils in his church-the Presbyterian-in the languages and other branches preparatory for college. In 1844, receiving some assistance from individu- als, Rev. Smith erected a building for academic purposes. A school of a higher grade than had ever been taught in the county was opened in it in the autumn of 1844 in charge of James A. Stirratt. Hon. James W. Robinson, of this place, and Rev. Perkins, went through the preparatory studies, and a year and a half of college studies, under Rev. Smith's instructions and that of Mr. Stirratt, and entered Jefferson College, at Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. in the spring of 1846.
".A good school having the confidence of the community was sustained in the academy most of the time from 1844 till the autumn of 1862. Rev. Smith taught much of the time, and at all times had control of the school. James A. Stirratt taught the first school in the building ; Abraham W. Wood, assisted by Miss Herbert, the last. * *
"The number of pupils in town had so increased by 1847 that, to answer an imperative necessity, two brick schoolhouses were erected in opposite parts of town, each of two rooms. For fifteen years these, with the academy, afforded the school accommodations of Marysville. Up to 1849, thirty years from the settlement of the town, there seems to have been about the general average facilities, appreciation and improvement of educational ad- vantages. The law for the better regulation of public schools in cities and towns which passed the Ohio Legislature in February, 1849, became a new and active stimulus in the minds of the community. They proceeded promptly to organize and work under the new system. The complete or- ganization, as shown by record. included these officials: Directors-Otway Curry. president : P. B. Cole, secretary; Jacob Bouser, treasurer; W. W. Woods. J. W. Cherry and Henry Shedd. The examiners were James Smith, Charles W. B. Allison and Cornelius S. Hamilton. An entry is made in the record of 1849 showing the salary paid instructors: Cornelius S. Hamilton, per term of twelve weeks, $66.00: Jackson C. Doughty, per term, $66.00; Laura Johnson, per term, $36.00: Mrs. William E. Lee. per term, $36.00.
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"A legally called meeting of the citizens of District No. 1, Paris town- ship, was held March 4, 1851, to consider the adoption of the union school system, but it was not carried. The second annual report of the board, in December, 1851, gives the number of pupils, 310; money received for school purposes, $439.40. In November, 1852, the pupils were graded by examina- tion, according to advancement, and a set of ten rules for the government of . the schools, drafted by Messrs. Hamilton and Curry, were unanimously adopted by the board. In 1852-53 there were several public meetings to consider the matter of a new schoolhouse; and a resolution was carried to purchase certain lots, and raise the money to pay for them, but for some reason, not recorded, it was not done. Then the schools went on without much variation until 1860. Some of the years, the more advanced pupils by examination, were put in charge of one teacher, and designated 'the high school.' In 1858, the subject of a new schoolhouse and the union school system was again agitated, and after due consideration, carried. Under date of December 24, 1858, is the following :
".Resolved, by the legal voters of School District No. 1, Paris town- ship, Union County, Ohio, in general meeting assembled: That it is expedi- ent and necessary to erect a new schoolhouse for said district; and that $10,000 be raised for that purpose, $2,000 in the year 1859 and $2,000 in each of the four succeeding years.'
"A site of about two and one-half acres was purchased of Adam Wol- ford. Twelve bids were then received for the erection of a suitable build- ing, and H. Rice and J. Fleck, of Marysville, presenting the best bids, they were awarded the contract at $7.754. and $340 for extra work. This is a substantial brick edifice, 60 by 80 feet, two stories, with a well proportioned steeple, in which is a fine toned bell of about five hundred pounds' weight. After a considerable delay the house was finally completed and opened in October, 1862, just thirty years after the first schoolhouse in Marysville was completed. A. W. Wood, who had been teaching in the academy about one year and a half, was placed in charge as superintendent at $50.00 per month and the tuition which he received from scholars attending the school who were not residents of the district. The academy was given up at this time, so there was no school in the county except the public schools.
"The board of education at the organization of the Union school were: P. B. Cole, C. S. Hamilton, J. Cassil, D. D. Welsh, W. H. Robb, and J. H. Ryan.
"It may be said in this connection that the various superintendents
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served the terins and received compensation as follows: A. W. Wood, from October, 1862, to March, 1863, $50.00 per month and tuition of non-resi- dent students; F. Wood, from March, 1863, to June, 1865, compensation as above with twenty dollars a month added during last year; Rev. A. E. Thompson, from September, 1866, with same compensation; L. Piper, from January, 1867, to June, 1867, with same compensation; Franklin Wood, from June, 1867, to 1876, with an annual salary of $1,200. Sarah Jane Barbour had charge of the first primary department from the organization of the school in October, 1862, till June, 1873, eleven years. Mary E. Pierce held the position of first assistant for the last three years, and was principal in the highest department, embracing the high school and advanced grammar grade from September, 1870, till June, 1875. In 1866, the wages of female teachers was raised to $30.00 per month, and has since been raised ( 1876) to $40.00. The principal receives (1876) an annual salary of $500.
"When our present house was built in 1862, considerable complaint was made that so large a plan was adopted, larger by one-third than the present needs demanded. But the wisdom of the arrangement was soon accepted, for in 1868 the number of pupils in attendance was fully equal to the ca- pacity of the house, and in that year, by a vote of the district, they com- menced to raise a fund to put an addition to the present house, or erect a new one in another part of the village. In 1876 this fund has accumulated to about $8,000. Although one hundred pupils are accommodated in rented roomis, and the schoolhouse still crowded, the new schoolhouse is not yet erected.
"To Hon. Cornelius S. Hamilton must be given the credit, largely, for placing Marysville in the van, with places of equal size, in securing the adop- tion of the union school system in 1860. According to the records it was left principally to him to carry into effect the various measures to complete the arrangement. He lived to see nothing of the advantages resulting. He had more to do than any other individual in carrying out the purpose, which he, with others, had formed, of establishing a school that should offer to all good and equal facilities for obtaining a thorough preparation for the vari- ous departments of business life or admission to the halls of higher institu- tions of learning. Through his taste and efficiency and final decision, we have a good house, beautifully and favorably located, surrounded with ample grounds, adorned with evergreens.and other trees, all of which will bear a favorable comparison with any school premises in our state."
June 22, 1876, the contract was let to Woodward & Co., of Mount
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Gilead, at $23,518 to construct the fine school building which served for the next thirty-eight years-the large three-story brick building in the eastern part of town. It was first occupied for school in the autumn of 1877. With the advancement of the school population it was found too small and in the fall of 1914 another large two-story modern brick schoolhouse was com- pleted in the central west part of the city. It stands on the ground formerly occupied by the old schoolhouse already referred to as having been built in 1862. Thus it will be seen that the people at Marysville believe in keeping pace with the modern educational demands.
The old liistoric school building in the city was condemned by the state authorities in 1912 and soon torn down. Then followed a long drawn out contest with the board and the taxpayers over the amount to be expended in another building. Three elections were held before the matter was adjusted. The second of these was on July 19, 1912, when it was asked to bond the district for $110,000, but the vote showed the defeat of the measure, 179 for and 475 against. At the third election a measure for bonding the city for $100,000 was carried. The building was erected on the old West school grounds and was dedicated in January, 1915.
In Paris township, three out of ten schools were compelled to close in 1914 on account of the daily attendance falling as low as the legal minimum would permit, twelve pupils being the least that can legally maintain a school.
DARBY TOWNSHIP.
In Darby township, one of the earliest school teachers in the Mitchell settlement was John Robinson. When he first came to the township he lived for a short time on Mr. Mitchell's farm, and while there held one term of school for the benefit of the few children in that vicinity. The house occu- pied for that purpose stood near the grave-yard. The first schoolhouse was later built near the same site. The first schoolhouse erected in the Robin- son neighborhood stood within thirty rods of James Robinson's cabin. It was erected by the Robinsons and Sagers about 1820. Henrietta Millington was the first teacher. Darby township has only four one-room school- houses, and they will be closed in 1915 to make way for one consolidated school in the township.
A two-story building was erected at Unionville Center in 1884, and in 1912 it was considerably enlarged. In 1914 an eight-thousand-dollar brick building was completed.
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MILL CREEK TOWNSHIP.
In Mill Creek township, the first school was established on survey No. 5,477, near the first settler's home, Ephraim Burroughs, who, like a few more, made a clearing and some small improvements and moved away. His old cabin was utilized for schoolhouse purposes, and Mrs. Martin Gulick was the first teacher. She was the daughter of William Richey, Sr., one of the pioneer settlers. The first building erected exclusively for school pur- poses in the township was the one on the farm of Zebadiah Farnum. Taber Randall was first to teach there. One or two other log schoolhouses were built, and in 1849 came the first frame school building, and that was in turn followed by a neat brick house in 1868. In 1913 a centralized schoolhouse was built and dedicated in October, costing $17,000.
DOVER TOWNSHIP.
In Dover township, doubtless the pioneer school was the one on Mill creek, in the vicinity of the Badley, Burroughs, Dysert, Hannaman settle- ments. As the township settled up, schoolhouses were built to accommodate the increasing population. The settlers wanted their children educated and did all in their power to bring that about, though poor were the means for sustaining schools in the great undeveloped forest land of this portion of the county. This township has recently adopted the plan of consolidating its schools.
LIBERTY TOWNSHIP.
The first schoolhouse in Liberty township was erected in 1824. It was a round log cabin at the lower corner of what was later styled the Baughan cemetery. But before that, school was held in an old unoccupied cabin on the Israel Carter farm. William Edgar was the first teacher, and Thomas Lapham the next instructor. Then came a stylish hewed-log house. The next was a frame structure. In 1880 a large two-story frame house was erected with two rooms. Thus from the primitive pole log schoolhouse evolved the hewed log, and the one-story frame and finally the two-story building. Thirty years ago the township was divided into ten school districts and each had its town building. Then, the average wages paid to male teachers was $41.00 per month: female teachers received $27.00. The average number of weeks of school was twenty-eight.
In the fall of 1914 there was being commenced a thirty-thousand-dollar
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consolidated school building at the village of Raymond, which will be used for the union of all districts within Liberty township. At present there are five teachers employed in the village schools of the place. At Peoria there is in use a two-story cement block building.
ALLEN TOWNSHIP.
In Allen township, as soon as the settlement had increased sufficient to justify it, a school was established. It is thought that the earliest school was taught in this township by Wilson Reed, in the southeastern part of the township, near Buck run, in the winter of 1829-30. It was taught in a va- cated pioneer cabin. Amos A. Williams taught the second school in a log cabin vacated as a dwelling, standing in another part of the township. Hol- lis Amy taught in his own residence next. The first regular schoolhouse erected within the township was that built on the Christopher Wilber land, at the corner where the Milford and Lewisburg pikes meet. This was built in the fall of 1832, and there Amos Williams taught the first term. This house served until 1838, when a frame house took its place; it stood near where later stood Buck Run Chapel. All over the township, as fast as set- tlers came in, schools and churches were erected to meet the educational and spiritual needs of the people.
Allen township has now abandoned all of its rural schools and has a centralized school.
JACKSON TOWNSHIP.
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In Jackson township, the first school was taught in either 1830 or 1831 -there seems a difference of opinion as to which year is correct. It was a three months' summer school, and there were twelve to fifteen pupils in attendance. The location was a log cabin on the David Allen farm. Tabor Randall taught the next school in the same house. His pupils were David and Elizabeth Allen, Worrett, Joseph and Ebenezer Carter, Frank and William Cheney. Simpson, Levina and Levi Price and possibly a few others. In those early days schools were not situated in every settlement and parents often had to send their children to schools five and six miles away from home. This pioneer schoolhouse was about fifteen by eighteen feet in size, built of logs, with clap-board roof, and the customary greased paper windows. Reading, writing and arithmetic were the branches taught. The text-books were Webster's elementary speller with Smith's and Pike's arithmetics. In the log school building just north of Essex, Keziah Jane Randal and Caleb
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Roberts taught. Jackson township voted in January, 1914, on a bond propo- sition for the erection of a central school building.
YORK TOWNSHIP.
There were reported as early as 1834, two school districts, one having fifty-four children of school age, and the other seventy-two. In 1835 an- other district was established, and in 1836 another was formed. The total pupils in the four districts was one hundred and thirty-three.
A rude log cabin structure with big fire-place and clay chimney at one end, was erected at Somerville soon after the village was platted. It was also used for religious services for some time. John Johnson taught the first school here and received eight dollars per month. In 1834 Elias John- son taught in the little log cabin built by Samuel Hyde, but shortly after this a schoolhouse was erected on Elias Johnson's farm, near Somerville. The two Johnson brothers taught in these schools until one of the buildings was burned, after which one was built on Boke's creek. One was later -built at the village of Somerville.
A. E. Knox was among the faithful and efficient pioneer teachers, and taught many years in different districts of York. Dr. Joshua Skidmore, then a young man, taught here also. Miss Penny, from Darby Plains, taught the first school near York Center in a log schoolhouse which stood north of the village on the south bank of Boke's creek. John Sterling taught two miles north of York Center on Levin Wright's farm. Mrs. Mary Johnson was among the early teachers and received for her services one dollar per pupil for the term, payable in corn, potatoes and coon skins, the latter being rated at twenty-five cents each.
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