USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > History of the city of Columbus, capital of Ohio, Volume I > Part 65
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Isaac J. Allen, a partner with F. W. Hurtt in the State Journal during the war, was appointed in July, 1864, to be United States Consul at Bangkok, but was subsequently transferred to the consulate at Hong Kong.
M. P. Beach, one of the editors of the Capital City Fact, enlisted in the Fortieth Ohio Infantry in September, 1862.
Colonel E. Hanford, once a writer on the State Journal, is the author of a history of the Sixth Ohio Infantry, written in 1869.
John W. King, once a city editor of the State Journal, entered the legal pro- fession, in the successful practice of which he is now engaged at Zanesville.
Captain John H. Putnam came to Columbus from the Chillicothe Advertiser, of which he had been editor, and united with Doctor G. A. Doren in the purchase of the Evening Dispatch in 1874. After the sale of the Dispatch by himself and partner in 1876 he became financially interested in the Statesman, retiring from which in 1882 he returned from Chillicothe to edit the Register. In 1885 he was appointed Consul at Honolulu, in which position he remained until 1889.
Doctor E. C. Cloud was for a time city editor of the Statesman, beginning in August, 1869. .
Francis M. Perley was in charge of the publishing department of the State Journal from August 16, 1869, to January 28, 1871.
Samuel B. Price was associated with Henry D. Cooke in the editorship of the State Journal in 1860. Subsequently he went to Toledo, where he worked on the Commercial. He died in Toledo April 20, 1870.
Captain W. J. Vance, for a time assistant editor of the State Journal and its Washington correspondent in 1871-2, formerly owned and edited a daily in Piqua. He wrote over the nom de plume " Pendennis."
A. W. Francisco, who was business manager and part owner of the State Journal between June 20, 1872, and January 1, 1882, came to Columbus from Cincinnati,
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where he had been for many years the business manager of the Times under its pro- prietor, C. W. Starbuck. In April, 1883, in conjunction with James M. Comly and Alfred E. Lee he bought the Toledo Telegram, the name of which was very soon afterwards changed back to that of The Daily Commercial. A month after this purchase Mr. Francisco bought an interest in the Los Angeles Times, with which, some months later, he placed himself in personal connection after having sold his newspaper interest at Toledo.
Doctor L. J. Moeler, who died at his residence in Columbus, November 17, 1872, came here in "Tyler times," and became associated with Doctor N. M. Miller, brother of John G. Miller, Postmaster, in the publication of the Old School Republican. He subsequently became a director and superintendent of the County Infirmary. Previous to his arrival in Columbus he had published a Whig paper in Somerset, Perry County.
Samuel Bradford, present foreman of the Evening Dispatch composing room, came to Columbus from Adams County early in the fifties, worked at his trade in the Statesman office, was foreman in the office and one of the founders of the Reveille in 1854, and when that paper was discontinued, returned in 1855 to the Statesman, with which he was engaged from 1855 to 1860. He was one of several printers who, in August, 1860, began the publication of the Evening Bulletin ; was foreman in the composing room of the Crisis from 1861 to 1871, and was one of the founders of the Evening Dispatch in the latter year. His service with the Dispatch has been continuous since its establishment.
David Boyer, one of the founders of the Sunday World, came to Columbus from Dayton in 1867 to become foreman of the Statesman composing room. He has for many years been prominent in typographical union and general labor circles.
Frank F. Rankin died November 14, 1881, while a member of the State Journal's local staff.
Frank A. Layman, who was associate editor of the Dispatch for six years end- ing in April, 1880, went at that time to Sandusky where he and his brother, Charles A. Layman, published the Journal for several years.
J. L. Rodgers began newspaper work as a reporter on the Columbus Times. In 1886 he accepted a situation on the Dispatch, of which he became assistant city editor and, in November, 1889, associate writing editor.
James R. Armstrong, now one of the oldest printers in the city, was connected with the State Journal in different capacities from August, 1845, to May, 1849. He was subsequently connected with the paper for a few months just prior to the Scott & Bascom failure in 1854. In 1877 Mr. Armstrong entered the business office of the Evening Dispatch, where he remained as bookkeeper and assistant manager until July, 1891, when, owing to impaired health, he retired.
Jacob Reinhard, one of the founders of the Westbote, has performed a promi- nent and creditable part as a newspaper man, banker and citizen. Mr. Reinhard was born near Aschaffenburg, Bavaria, April 16, 1815, but the greater portion of his life has been spent in this country. A biographical sketch of him appears else- where in this work.
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John A. Arthur, whose death by violence is elsewhere mentioned in this sketch, was engaged with the Penny Post and the Times of Cincinnati prior to the Civil War, at the outbreak of which he entered the army. At the termination of his military service he resumed newspaper work at Cincinnati, but in 1871 he came to Columbus where he was successively engaged on the Dispatch, State Journal and Sunday News, with which latter he was connected when killed.
Ray Haddock was the local editor of the Statesman & Democrat from May, 1854, to February, 1855. He was succeeded by Asa G. Dimmock, who, in February, 1856, went to Coshocton to take charge of the Democrat.
Colonel George W. Manypenny, who was editor of the Statesman for three years, beginning in January, 1859, had just prior to that time been Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and had also been, at one time, the unsuccessful candidate of his party for Congress in the Muskingum District.
Merrill Watson transferred his services as a reporter from the State Journal to the Cleveland Herald in March, 1875, and afterwards became editor and proprietor of the Age of Steel, a St. Louis trade paper.
C. R. Riley, born in Culpeper County, Virginia, came to Ohio when a boy, learned his trade in the office of the Cadiz Sentinel, and about the year 1843 came to Columbus, where he remained continuously employed at his trade for fortyfive years. His first work was done on the Statesman, but in 1849 he transferred his services to the State Journal, in the office of which he worked, except during a few brief interruptions, until his death in December, 1888. He was one of the group of printers who, in 1860, attempted to establish the Evening Bulletin.
D. L. Bowersmith began an engagement on the local staff of the State Journal in 1875, under Samuel Shafer as city editor, to which position he was himself after- wards advanced and in which he bas since continuously served except a period of about two years, 1884-6, when he was the Columbus correspondent of the Cin- cinnati Enquirer.
John H. Green, who is by trade a printer, followed that profession in Spring- field, Columbus and Toledo until 1879, when he began work as a local writer for the Dispatch, being the first regularly employed assistant to the city editor of that paper. In 1882 he himself became city editor of the Dispatch, a position which he has ever since retained. IIe has served for a period of three years as representa- tive of the Fifteenth Ward in the City Council.
CHAPTER XXIX.
THE SCHOOLS. I.
BY JAMES U. BARNHILL, M. D.
School Lairs. - The history of the Schools of Columbus properly begins with those of Franklinton, the pioneer village of the Capital City, and would be incom- plete without an account of the generous gifts and wise policy of the National Government which so greatly promoted the cause of education, and which have contributed directly to the support of the schools. Before the pioneer settlement of Central Ohio was planted " on the low banks of the slowwinding Scioto," Con- gress made certain provisions for the maintenance of schools within the territory in which that settlement was afterwards situated, thus anticipating its welfare by a " sort of parental providence." On May 20, 1785, in an ordinance for disposing of western lands, Congress provided that "a thirtysixth of every township of the western territory " should be reserved from sale for the maintenance of public schools within the township. The ordinance of July 13, 1787, for the government of the territory northwest of the river Ohio confirmed the provisions of the land ordinance and further declared that "religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education should forever be encouraged." The original reservation of land for school purposes did not provide like donations for the support of schools in certain tracts in Ohio, among which was the Virginia Military District in which a part of Columbus is situated. The first constitutional convention requested that a "like provision be made for the support of schools in these districts," and on March 3, 1803, Congress assented and appropriated lands to the amount of one thirtysixth of each of these tracts for the use of schools therein, and provided that all the lands "appropriated for the use of schools in the State should be vested in the legislature, in trust, for the maintenance of schools and for no other use, intent or purpose whatever."
The Constitution of 1802 embodied the famous educational clause of the Ordinance of 1797, and supplemented it by declaring that schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged by legislative provision not inconsistent with the rights of conscience. It further declared that the doors of the schools, academies, and universities endowed in whole or in part from the revenue arising from the land grants, shall be open for the reception of scholars, students and
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teachers of every grade. The school lands were to be leased and the revenne applied impartially to the education of the youth, but owing to the newness of the country it was many years before the income from this source could materially aid in maintaining schools. The income to the Columbus schools from the land grants will be separately considered, but before any such revenue was realized the chil- dren were needing school facilities, and hence private schools or schools supported by donation or some form of local taxation were necessary. The early inhabitants were men and women of intelligence who held the church and the school to be indispensable to the welfare of the community. With the usual promptness of our western pioneers they first provided places, however rude, for divine worship, and second, places for the education of their youth. The same building served fre- quently, if not usually, the purposes of both a church and a school. Private schools and academies were liberally sustained, and for several years after the organization of the public schools the predominant sentiment was in favor of the former. But even these schools were favorably influenced by the educational policy of the gov- ernment and by the general awakening of interest in education occasioned by the land grants and subsequent school legislation. The private schools directed atten- tion to the subject of public education and emphasized the truth that general intel- ligence is necessary to the prosperity of a community. They nurtured a sentiment in favor of good schools and inculcated the noble idea that school privileges should be extended to all classes, so that finally, by the side of the exclusive private school the general subscription school also flourished. Donations were not infre- quently made for the maintenance of schools or to pay for the tuition of the needy. When at length State laws made adequate provision for the support of good public schools almost all others were discontinued. The private schools formed a memor- able episode in the educational history of the infant capital, and fulfilled an impor- tant mission in its social development.
Common schools sustained by the State and patronized by all classes are of comparatively recent date. Massachusetts first proclaimed and established the principle that it is the right and duty of government to provide by means of fair and just taxation for the instruction of all the youth of the community, and free schools were among her earliest institutions. The article on education in her con- stitution of 1780 was one of the first of the kind ever incorporated into the organic law of a State. The first law for the support of schools in the State of New York was passed in 1795, and not until 1834 did Pennsylvania adopt a general free school system.
The school history of the City of Columbus will be here treated under the fol- lowing general topics in the order of their mention : School funds and school leg- islation, private schools, and the public school system.
The schools of Franklinton and subsequently those in that portion of Colum- bus west of the Scioto River have been supported in part by the Virginia Military School Fund. The Virginia Military School Lands, consisting of 105,155 acres, were not finally located until February 13, 1808. They were located in Wayne, Holmes, Ashland, Richland, Crawford and Morrow counties. Provision was made by the legislature for leasing the school lands for the purpose of improving
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the same and thereby rendering them more prodnetive in order that the profits which they should yield might be applied to the support of the schools, but the lands were really not leased and the rental derived from them was small. In his annual message of 1821 Governor Brown said: "So far as my information extends the appropriation of the school lands in this state has produced hitherto, with few exceptions, no very material advantage in the dissemination of instruc- tion - none commensurate with their presumable value." In 1826 the income from all the lands then leased was about five thousand dollars. Pursuant to a pro- vision of law the people of this reservation voted in 1828 their assent to the sale of their school lands, and within the same year the unleased portions were ordered to be sold. Prior to 1838 sixtyeight thousand one hundred and fiftyfive aeres had been sold for $129,549.29 ; the annual rental on the remainder was then $4,503.76, which made an annual income from this source of $12,276.71. The proceeds from the sale of these lands have been loaned to the State, and the annual interest at six per centum on this money and the rent on the unsold lands constitute the Vir- ginia Military School Fund, which fund is distributed annually among the several counties of the reservation in proportion to the youth of school age in each. From 1821 to 1828 the State borrowed the income of these school lands, compounding the interest annually, during which time the fund amounted to $54,000. Early in the following year this amount was distributed proportionately to the schools of the Virginia Military district. Our County Auditor's ledger shows that District Number Two of Franklin Township of this county received on March 10, 1828, the sum of $73.873, or $1.717 for each householder in the district. The annual distribution thereafter was of course much less. In 1835 the income distributed was $11,091.77, or about eighteen cents for each school youth; and in 1837 it amounted to about seventeen cents for each youth between four and twentyone years of age. These school lands have all been sold, except a few sections which are under perpetual lease without revenue, at twelve cents per acre. The total amount of the proceeds of the sale of this land up to 1890 was $192,622.68, and the interest on this fund and on the unsold land for that year amounted to $11,800,87, which amount was distributed according to law to the counties and parts of eoun- ties embraced in the reservation.
In lieu of Section Sixteen of Montgomery Township, which was a part of the Refugee grant, Section Twentyone of Madison Township of this county was selected March 4, 1806. There seems to be no record to indicate whether or not any income was realized from this land prior to its sale. It was sold October 15, 1828, in half quartersections severally to John Swisher, Adam Sarber, Benjamin Cleringer and Adam Rarey for $2,688.84, to be paid in four equal annual instalments, with- out interest on deferred payments. This money was loaned to the State and the interest on it at six per centum has been annually applied to the support of schools in this township. In 1832 there were 1,052 youth between five and fifteen years of age in the township, 886 of whom lived in the school districts of Columbus. This fund therefore amounted to fifteen cents and three mills for each youth of school age, or $135.55 for these districts, which sum at that early day gave great encourage- ment to the schools.
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The first general school law of Ohio, entitled an " act to provide for the regula- tion and support of common schools," was passed January 22, 1821. This law authorized the division of townships into school districts, the election in each dis- triet of a school committee consisting of three resident householders, and the assessment of a school district tax, not for the maintenance of a free public school, but only " for the purpose of erecting a schoolhouse," and of " making up the deficiency
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that might accrue by the schooling of children whose parents or guardians were unable to pay for the same." The law was entirely inadequate to provide good schools, but it is of historical interest as the first statutory provision of the State for local taxation for school purposes.
The law of February 6, 1825, being an act to provide for the support and better regulation of common schools, required county commissioners to levy and assess onehalf of a mill npon the dollar to be appropriated for the use of common
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schools in their respective counties " for the instruction of youth of every class and grade, without distinction, in reading, writing, arithmetie and other necessary. branches of a common education." This law made it the duty of the County Anditor to open an account in a book to be kept by him for that purpose, with each township, in which the several townships should be credited with the amount eol- lected on their duplicates for the use of schools. The'amount so collected in each town- ship was required to remain in the county treasury for the use of the schools, and it was made the duty of the trustees of each township to lay off the same into districts, the numbers and descriptions of which were to be communicated in writing to the . clerk of each township, who was required to record the same. The law further provides that
The trustees shall take or cause to be taken an enumeration in writing of all the house- holders residing in the district, and the clerk shall record the same and deliver to the County Auditor the number and description of each school district and also the list or enumeration of the householders residing in each, and all alterations which shall from time to time be made. Onethird of all the householders of a district assembled in pursuance of due notice shall constitute a legal meeting for the transaction of business; they shall elect three school directors to manage the concerns of said district, and have power to designate and determine upon the site of a schoolhouse and to provide the means of building the same and to provide the necessary funds for organizing a school. It shall be the duty of said school directors to employ a teacher and also to receive and faithfully expend all funds, subscriptions, donations or dividends of school funds. The Court of Common Pleas of each county shall appoint annually three suitable persons to be called examiners of common schools, whose duty it shall be to examine every person wishing to be employed as a teacher, and if they find such person qualified and of good moral character, to give a certificate to that effect. No person shall be allowed to teach any district school or recover at law any wages for teaching until such person be examined and receive a certificate of approbation. The township trustees shall pay over to the school directors of the several school districts a dividend of all rents or moneys received on account of section sixteen for the use of schools, or other lands in lieu thereof, in proportion to the number of families in each district. School directors shall pay the wages of the teachers employed out of any money which shall come into their hands from the revenues arising from donations made by Congress for the support of schools or otherwise so far as such money shall be sufficient for the purpose, and for the residue of the wages of any such teacher the school directors shall give him a certificate stat- ing the length of service and the balance due him on account of wages thereof. . .
This law, from the pen of Nathan Guilford, Senator from Hamilton County, was the first adequate legislative provision for the establishment of free common schools. For its enactment great credit is due to the commission appointed by Governor Allen Trimble in 1822 to devise and report upon a common school system. This commission consisted of Caleb Atwater, Chairman; Rev. James Hoge, Rev. John Collins, Nathan Guilford, Ephraim Cutler, Josiah Barber and J. M. Bell. In 1827 a supplementary act was passed which created the office of school district treasurer and defined his duties; authorized the school directors of each distriet to levy a special tax of not more than three hundred dollars for building or repairing a schoolhouse, provided threefifths of the householders assented ; appropriated certain fines for the use of schools, and authorized an increase of the number of school examiners to the number of townships in the respective counties. An act of January 27, 1827, authorized the sale of the school
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lands and established a school fund consisting of the proceeds from the sale of the salt lands and such donations, legacies and devises as might be made to the fund, the interest thereof to be annually funded for five years and distributed to the counties in proportion to the number of free male inhabitants in each above the age of twentyone. On February 10, 1829, an amendatory act was passed raising the rate of school taxation to threefourths of a mill, giving minute directions for holding district meetings and defining the powers of school officers. Failure of townships to form districts and organize schools within three years forfeited school funds. Black and mulatto persons were not permitted to attend the public schools, but all taxes assessed on their property for school purposes were to be appropriated by township trustees " for the education of such persons and for no other purpose whatever.", In 1831 the maximum school tax per district in any one year might not exceed $200 ; in 1836 it was again placed at $300; two years later all limitation of the amount was removed. The law of 1834 made it the duty of every person sending a child to school to provide his just proportion of fuel, but no child could be excluded from school on account of the delinquency of its parents in this respect. In 1827 each householder was required to pay a school tax of not less than one dollar, which he might discharge by performing two days' labor in building a schoolhouse. This tax was lessened subsequently, and in 1838 was omitted entirely. In 1831 the country commissioners were given discretion to add onefourth of a mill to the existing rate of taxation for school purposes. In 1834 the law was reenacted with amendments and the rate of taxation was raised to one mill, to which the county commissioners were authorized to add half a mill at their option. In 1836 the rate of school taxation was raised to one mill and a half with an additional half mill at the option of the commissioners.
In 1836 Congress directed the surplus revenue of the National Government to be deposited with the several States in proportion to the number of their Senators and Representatives. Ohio's share was a little over two million dollars, and by act of the General Assembly passed in 1837 this fund was distributed to the several counties in proportion to their population, the interest on onetwentieth of it to be appropriated for the support of schools. For several years the income from this source was one hundred thousand dollars per annum. In March, 1837, the office of State Superintendent of Common Schools was created and Samuel Lewis was elected to the position. Under the able supervision of Mr. Lewis great progress was made in developing the common school system of Ohio. In March, 1838, the school laws were thoroughly revised, new features were added to them and new life was imparted to the entire system by a more liberal provision for its support, especially by the establishment of a State common school fund of $200,000 " to be distributed annually among the several counties according to the number of youth therein." An additional fund to be raised in each county by a county tax of two mills per dollar was authorized. By this law school directors in districts consisting of incorporated towns or cities, and township clerks acting as township superintendents of common schools, were directed to make an estimate of the money required additional to the distributable fund "to provide at least six months' good schooling to all the unmarried white youth of the district
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