USA > Ohio > Ohio's progressive sons; a history of the state; sketches of those who have helped to build up the commonwealth > Part 74
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T. W. Shimp,
Superintendent of Public Schools at Del- phos, Ohio, is a native of Indiana. He was born in Jay County on the 12th day of January, 1867, and spent his boyhood days on a farm, attending the public schools as long as the duties of the farm would allow each winter. At the age of seventeen, Mr. Shimp took the county examination for a teacher's license. Having secured a certificate, he taught for several years in the country, and attended normal school during the summer vacations. In 1887 he was elected to take charge of the village school at Lancaster, Indiana. This position he retained for three years. While in charge of the Lancaster school, Mr. Shimp passed the county examination, securing the highest average, at least for many years, in that county-98.8 per cent. He then attended school for two years at Lebanon, Ohio, and graduated from that university in 1891. While T. W. SHIMP at Lebanon he was elected Superintendent of Schools at Sciotoville, Ohio. Mr. Shimp held this position for one year, and was then elected to a similar position at Ft. Recovery, Ohio. Mr. Shimp had charge of the schools at Ft. Recovery for six years. Resigning there, he was elected Superintendent at Upper Sandusky, Ohio, which position he held for five years. After re-election at Upper Sandusky, he resigned to accept the Superintendency at Delphos. This position he is occupying at the present time, having been re-elected at the largest salary ever paid a Superintendent in that city. During the first year at Delphos Mr. Shimp advanced the High School from second grade to first grade. The schools of Delphos are beginning to take rank among the best schools of the State. On the 26th day of December, 1893, Mr. Shimp was united in marriage to Miss Ella Sheward, of Portland, Indiana. To this union two children were born, Paul Brooks and Eva Ione. Mr. and Mrs. Shimp are members of the Presbyterian church at Delphos, Ohio, of which Mr. Shimp at present is Elder. He is also President of the local C. E. Society, while both are active teachers in the Sunday School. Mr. Shimp holds both com- mon and High School life certificates in Ohio, and has had considerable experience in instruct- ing at teachers' institutes and county associations. He is always interested in everything which looks toward the elevation of our citizens and the advancement and promotion of good.
Oscar M. Soule,
Superintendent of the Public Schools of Franklin, Ohio, and one of the leading edu- cators in the southwestern part of the State, was born on the 24th of June, 1865, at White
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Hall, Greene County, Illinois. His parents were Ira D. and Elizabeth (Dunham) Soule, natives of Ohio and Illinois, respectively. Mr. Soule points with pride to the fact that he is a lineal descendant on his father's side of George Soule, one of the Pilgrim Fathers who landed at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts, on the Mayflower. His parents came to Ohio in 1879. Mr. Soule obtained the first rudiments of knowledge in the public schools of Illinois, after which he attended the National Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio, from where he graduated in 1892 with the degree of B.S. He afterwards took a post-graduate course at the University of Chicago. When he was twenty years of age he began teaching. Until then he had worked on a farm, thereby obtaining the necessary funds to pay for his academic education. For three years he taught school in Seven Mile, Ohio, and for two years in OSCAR M. SOULE Springboro, Ohio. In the year of 1900 he was appointed Principal of the Franklin (Ohio) High School. After occupying that position for two months, the Superintendent of the public schools of that city, Mr. Cromer, resigned, and Mr. Soule was elected to fill the vacancy. During his incumbency of that responsible position, he has done much to bring the Franklin schools to that high standard which they now hold. Socially, Mr. Soule is a member of the Masonic fraternity. On the 30th of July, 1895, he was joined in wedlock to Miss Ladie A. Vail, and is the father of two boys. He and his family attend the Methodist Church at Franklin, Ohio, in which city they have a large circle of friends.
Frederic W. Stone,
Professor of Physical Culture at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, has been identified with athletics nearly forty years. At the age of eight he was sent to John Woods' Gym- nasium, New York, at that time the most cele- brated in America, and was an active member for about nine years. A number of the mem- bers of this gymnasium founded the New York Athletic Club in 1867, and on the 11th of November, 1868, they gave the first amateur athletic games ever given in the United States. Professor Stone was the youngest man to enter these games, being only seventeen years of age. He won the running high jump and was
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second in the seventy-five yards race and running broad jump. Turning professional, he went to California and defeated Solair, champion of Mexico, at one hundred yards, at Los Angeles in 1872. Two years later, in 1874, he ran John W. Cozad one hundred yards. He was the recognized champion of the world at that distance, and Professor Stone defeated him by two yards in 934 seconds. As the representative champion of America, Professor Stone visited New Zealand, ran twenty-six races from fifty yards to four hundred and forty yards, and won them all. He then traveled to Australia, and entered for the greatest athletic event in that country, "the Sidney Cup," to win which required one to be an all-around athlete. Professor Stone was first in the one hundred yards hurdle race, high jump, four hundred and forty yards race against thirty-five crack athletes of Australia and New Zealand. This contest, being an international, was witnessed by the Governor, members of Parlia- ment, and about twenty thousand people. Professor Stone won the cup by two points. He returned to America by way of England, athletics having become of great interest to the people. A purse of one thousand dollars was given at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in August, 1884, open to all one-hundred-yard runners in the world, said race to be run in heats, best two in three, for the championship. Professor Stone won this race, running the first heat in I0 seconds, the second in 9 4-5 seconds. In 1894 and 1895 Professor Stone was director of the Columbia College Gymnasium, and in 1896 of the Manhattan Athletic Club, New York. He then received a call to take charge of the Chicago Athletic Association, con- sidered to be the finest athletic club in America. He was athletic manager of this club for six years, and was prominent in all college athletics throughout the Middle West, being referee of the Iowa Intercollegiate Meet five years ; clerk of the course for the Western Inter- collegiate Meet and Big Nine Colleges six years, and referee of Indiana State Meet one year. While in Chicago he founded "The Stone School of Physical Culture," so well known throughout the country, and during four years taught over twenty thousand people the art of self development by mail. He resigned his position in 1902, to accept the chair of Physical Culture at Miami University.
AARON B. STUTZMAN, A. M., Ph. D.
Aaron B. Stutzman, A. M., Ph. D.,
Superintendent of the Public Schools of Kent, Portage County, was born in Wayne County, Ohio, on the 23d of March, 1842. He is a son of Henry and Katherine (Miller) Stutzman, who were of German descent. His great-grandfather on the paternal side came from Germany to America at about the time of the Revolutionary War, and settled in Easton, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Here the grandfather of Professor Aaron B. Stutzman was born. When he arrived at man- hood he moved to Somerset County, where he followed farming as his vocation. Here in Somerset County, Henry Stutzman, the father of Aaron B., was born, and here became acquainted with Katherine Miller. The two were afterwards joined in marriage. The young couple moved to Ohio in the spring of 1826, and settled in Wayne County. They
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made their journey from Pennsylvania to their new home by means of an ox team. They pre-empted a quarter section of heavily timbered land, and jointly went to work to clear up the land and develop a home out of the wilderness of forests. In this they succeeded admirably, for their farm and home were known for many miles around as the best, most productive and most comfortable in all that region. Here Mr. and Mrs. Stutzman lived happily together for nearly quarter of a century, and reared a large and exemplary family. They both underwent much deprivation and self denial in behalf of their children. The devoted mother was taken away by death in May, 1848, but the father, who also cared more for the comfort and education of his family than he did for wealth, lived to see all of his children well started in life before his departure. He died in October, 1876. There were nine children born to Mr. and Mrs. Stutzman, three daughters and six sons. Three of the sons served in the Union army during the Civil War, two of whom sacrificed their lives for our country while in the military service. Aaron B. Stutzman, the subject properly of this sketch, is the only one of three that remains to tell the story of the awful cruelties of army life. He enlisted while a student at college, and served as a private in Company A, One Hundred and Sixty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. That he was a brave soldier is evident from the fact that a certificate of thanks, signed by President Abraham Lincoln and Secre- tary of War Edwin M. Stanton, was conferred upon him for patriotic and valuable service in the Valley of the Shenandoah and at the battle of Monocacy.
Mr. Stutzman, the subject of this sketch, received his elementary education in the country school of the community in which he lived and in the Smithville High School. He completed a classical course of study at Mt. Union College, and graduated with his class in 1871 with the degree of A.B. Although his college life was somewhat broken into by his enlistment in the army while in his Sophomore year, yet his scholarship was of high grade in all lines of college work, and his relations with fellow students and Faculty were most cordial and sympathetic. He was active in college sports and athletics, and was held in high regard by all. After his graduation from college he made teaching his life work. He taught country school several terms, was Principal of the Smithville public schools one year, of the Dalton public schools two years, of the Doylestown public schools two years, of the Wads- worth public schools three years. While located at Wadsworth, he was appointed to the office of County School Examiner for Medina County, in which capacity he acted for three years. In 1878 he resigned the Superintendency of the Wadsworth schools to accept a like position at Kent, and has held this position from that time to the present. He is at present engaged in the twenty-sixth year of his work as Superintendent of the Kent public schools. He has also served as School Examiner of Portage County for fifteen years, and is at present a member of that Board.
When Dr. Stutzman took charge of the Kent schools, there were employed ten regular teachers, and the pupils all attended at one central building. There are at present thrce large school buildings, in which there are employed twenty-two regular teachers and two special teachers. In the winter of 1877 Professor Stutzman passed a rigid examination before the State Board of Examiners, and was granted a life certificate of High School grade by that Board, which is valid in any public school in the commonwealth. In order to strengthen his professional efficiency, he took a full post-graduate course in connection with Wooster University, and in 1888 this institution conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Philos- ophy. The Kent schools under his supervision have taken rank among the best public schools of the State. He has revised and extended the courses of study from time to time. In his teachers' manual are given specific directions as to the most approved and modern methods of teaching ; and being careful in the selection of teachers, and having the thorough co-opera-
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tion of the Board of Education, the schools have been placed on an elevated plane of educational influence. Dr. Stutzman has received some complimentary offers in the past to engage in school work in larger cities, but he always declined to accept, knowing that better work can be accomplished in a system of schools where it is possible for the Super- intendent to be personally acquainted with his teachers and pupils, and with their parents and the patrons of the schools.
Dr. Stutzman believes in fraternal soeieties, and is an active member of A. H. Day Post, No. 185, G. A. R., of which he is Past Post Commander. He has twice represented his post in the Department Encampment, and he has also been twice on the National Commander's staff. He is also a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In politics he is a Republican, and cast his first Presidential vote for Abrahan Lincoln. He is a consistent and devoted Christian gentleman, and affiliated with the Methodist Church in his early manhood.
On the 15th of August, 1872, Mr. Stutzmian was united in marriage with Jennie Clip- pinger, daughter of Israel Clippinger, a dry goods merchant at Dalton, Ohio. To them were born four children-Edwin, who died at the age of seven ; Grace E., William G. and Charles A. William G. served one year in the marine service during the Spanish-American War, and is at present engaged in the United States railroad postal service between Pittsburg and Chicago. Grace E. and Charles A. are living with their parents in their commodious resi- dence and delightful home, at the corner of Park and Woodward Avenues in Kent, where the family enjoy the association of hosts of kind and admiring friends.
John W. Swartz,
Superintendent of the Public Schools at Greenville, Ohio, and a man of high literary attainments, was elected to his present position in 1903, as suceessor to Superintendent Van Cleve. He has an enviable record as one of the most successful educators in the State, being modern in his methods, keen in judgment and thoroughly capable of bringing to fruition all ideas which make for the improvement of the schools in which he has become identified. Since he took charge of the Greenville public schools he has upheld his record. He has had valuable experience in public school work, for before he came to Greenville he had for a period of eight years the care of the public schools in Tippecanoe, Ohio, and it was with deep regret that the people of that city parted with him when he was called into a larger field of usefulness. Mr. Swartz is a man of broad principles, and has a thorough knowledge, and does not belong to that class of teachers who think they have obtained all the necessary training when leaving college. Since he was appointed to the Superintendencies of Tippecanoe and Green- ville he has always been anxious to add to his knowledge, and for that purpose he has attended a number of summer courses at the
JOHN W. SWARTZ
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Universities of Cornell, Ann Arbor, Michigan, etc. Mr. Swartz, besides acting as Super- intendent of Schools of Greenville, has charge of the public library at Greenville. He is. a. married man, and resides with his family, consisting of his wife and one daughter, on Fifth Street, Greenville, Ohio.
Richard E. Tope,
Superintendent of Public Schools of Oak Hill, Ohio, was born on the 19th of December, 1875, at Lincoln, Ohio. His father is a well- to-do farmer of this place, and it was here that he lived the normal healthy life of the sturdy American boy, building up the strong physique which has ever been his heritage, at the same time that he was unconsciously developing the noble manhood that has char- acterized his life, and assimilating ideas that have ever been his guardian angel. He is now an aggressive young man, clean, conservative, balanced, and worthy of implicit confidence. His educational training consists of courses in the public schools of Ohio, Wesleyan Univer- sity, Providence University, and King's School of Oratory and Expression, and in all these institutions he has won laurels as a diligent and resourceful student. He now holds the Bachelor of Arts and the Master of Arts degrees. All his powers have been used as a RICHARD E. TOPE means to the end that he establish his pro- ficiency, which he early adopted as a life work, and for which he is decidedly qualified. Mr. Tope holds a State life certificate in Ohio, and is the author of manuals on grammar, physics and pedagogy, and has gained an enviable reputation as a writer and lecturer on educational themes. He is now serving his second term as President of the Jackson County Institute. In his ten years' experience in public school work there has been no friction, and at Oak Hill, where he has now served five years as Superintendent, fruitful results have crowned his efforts. The attendance of the High School has been more than doubled, the standard of the school has been raised, and to compensate in part, the Board of Education has increased his salary sixty per cent over the first year. Besides his regular public school work, Mr. Tope has taught for four years in the summer school of Providence University, always attracting large numbers to his classes. In August, 1904, Mr. Tope was appointed County Examiner, a position for which he is well adapted. He was married in 1903 to Miss Elizabeth Jones, an estimable young lady of Oak Hill.
John S. Weaver,
Superintendent of the Public Schools of Springfield, Ohio, is well known in the educa- tional circles of the State. A native of Warren County, Ohio, he was born near Carlisle Station on the 28th of September, 1846, and comes from a family of German ancestry. His father, John S. Weaver, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1802, and was a Pres- byterian minister, who, in his boyhood days, came to Ohio. He was a member of the first
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class that graduated from Miami University, at Oxford. On the completion of his course he entered the ministry. For two years he also served as a teacher in the University. In 1865 he came to Springfield and thereafter lived retired until he died in 1871. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Amanda Hurin, was born in Lebanon, Ohio, in 1810. She survived her husband a number of years, pass- ing away in Springfield in 1885. In their family were seven children. Professor John S. Weaver spent his boyhood days under the parental roof, being eighteen years of age when his parents came to Springfield. Prior to this time he pursued a preparatory course in Monroe, Ohio, after which he became a sophomore in Wittenberg College, in the fall of 1864, graduated in 1867, and at once entered upon the profession which he had made his life work. He taught school in Clarke, Greene and Wayne Counties, and for one year was a teacher in the academy at Canaan, Ohio. In the year of 1874 Mr. Weaver went to Sioux City, Iowa, remaining there until 1880, in the capacity of Principal of Schools. In the latter year Mr. Weaver returned to Springfield, Ohio, to accept the position of Principal of the old Eastern School, a position he held until 1892, when he was appointed Principal of the Springfield High School. In 1900 he was elevated to the Superintendency of the public JOHN S. WEAVER schools of that city, a place he filled with such success that he was re-elected to that position ever since. Professor Weaver is a born educator and a most capable instructor, having the ability to impart with readiness and clearness to others the knowledge of the branches of learning which he has mastered. He has entire charge of the educational features of the public schools of Springfield, and under his guidance the Springfield schools have become a model institution. In 1876, in LaMar, Iowa, Mr. Weaver was married to Miss May Bur- lingame. Two children are the issue of their union-Helen, the wife of Mr. Van C. Wilson, of Canon City, Colorado, and Catherine Weaver. The Weaver family attends the Third Presbyterian Church at Springfield. Mr. Weaver is a member of Mitchell Post, G. A. R., having served four months in Company B of the One Hundred and Forty-sixth O. V. I. Regiment during the Civil War. He was mustered in at the age of seventeen years. He also belongs to the college fraternity, Phi Kappa Psi, to the National Teachers' Associa- tion, and to the Clark County Teachers' Association.
Francis W. Wenner,
Superintendent of the Public Schools at Martin's Ferry, Ohio, was born on the 28th of January, 1861, at Tiffin, Ohio, where his father, Mr. Henry Wenner, was a prominent car- riage manufacturer. His mother's maiden name was Sarah Kaull, a native of Pennsylvania, the same State in which his father was born. Mr. Wenner is of German descent, his great- grandfather on his mother's side coming from the pretty little city of Bingen on the Rhine, a
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place celebrated by reason of its many his- torical events. He received his education in the public and High Schools of his native city, graduating from the High School in 1880, when he began teaching in the country schools. Later he attended Heidelberg College, gradu- ating from that institution with the degree of B.S. He taught in the grammar and High Schools of Tiffin, and was science teacher four years, and one year Principal of the Bel- laire High School, which position he left in 1889, being called to his home to settle the estate of his father. We next find him as Superintendent of Schools at Upper Sandusky, Ohio, where he remained for a period of seven years. At North Baltimore he filled the same position for six years, resigning from the same in 1904 to accept a similar position offered to him at Martin's Ferry, one of the most enter- prising and flourishing cities on the Ohio in the eastern part of the State. For three years FRANCIS W. WENNER Mr. Wenner taught at the summer school in Lakeside. In politics he is a Republican. In 1890 he was united in marriage to Miss Corinne Spayth, and is the father of two boys. Mr. Wenner is the holder of a State life High School certificate, issued to him in 1890. Socially, he is a Mason and K. of P .; also a member of the Ohio State Teachers' Association and the National Teachers' Association. Mr. Wenner is known to be one of the pro- gressive exponents of modern ideas in his profession.
WILLIAM HENRY WEIR
William Henry Weir,
Principal of the High School at Springfield, Ohio, was born on the IIth of November, 1854, at the above-mentioned city. He is the son of John Shaw Weir, a stonemason, and Nancy (Reid) Weir, both of whom were natives of Ireland; the father emigrated to this country in 1847, and the mother three years later. William Henry Weir received his education in the public schools of his native city, and at Wittenberg College, from which institution of learning he graduated with honors, June, 1875, receiving the degrees of A.B. and A.M. At the age of twenty-one years he took up the pro- fession of teaching, starting in active life as a public school teacher in Springfield. During the period of 1892-1894 he occupied the responsible position of Superintendent of pub-
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lic instruction in his home city. In 1895 he engaged in the manufacturing business, placing on the market of the country incubators and brooders for the artificial raising of chickens, and continued in that business for two years. Returning to his original profession, he was appointed Principal of the Springfield High School, which office he holds at the present time. Mr. Weir is the author of different papers on the history of educational and religious insti- tutions. In politics he is a lifelong Republican. He belongs to the college fraternity, Beta Theta Pi. On the 2d of March, 1880, he was married to Harriet Beecher Grant. Six children are the issue of that union, as follows : Martha Grant Weir, Horace Garner Weir, Chester Irving Weir, Benjamin Grant Weir, Elizabeth Fairbanks Grant Weir, and Harriet Grant Weir, all of whom are living, with the exception of Martha and Harriet. Mr. Weir is a member and ruling Elder of the Presbyterian body, and attends the First Presbyterian Church at Springfield, Ohio. His residence is located at No. 129 South Shaffer Street, and his offices in the High School Building, Springfield.
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N. D. O. Wilson,
Superintendent of the Public Schools of Bowling Green, Wood County, Ohio, enjoys the enviable reputation of being one of the most progressive and successful educators in the northwestern part of Ohio. The schools of his city are considered to be on a plane of equality with any schools in the State, largely through the efforts of the gentleman who presides over their destinies. Mr. Wilson is an educator of exceptional ability and of long and varied years of experience. He has filled all positions in school work, and has always taken an active interest in all educational movements, teachers' institutes, etc. Before he came to the beautiful little city of Bowling Green, he had charge of the Cardington (Mor- row County ) public schools. There, as well as at Bowling Green, his success was marked. He was elected to the position which he now holds in the summer of 1903. Outside of his duties of Superintendent he is also engaged in teaching classes in the High School of that thriving city. During his residence in Cardington, Mr. Wilson was married to an accomplished young lady of Morrow County. His office is located in the High School build- ing of Bowling Green, and his residence is to be found on Court Street in that city.
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