USA > Tennessee > Williamson County > History of Tennessee, from the earliest time to the present; together with an historical and a biographical sketch of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford and Marshall counties, besides a valuable fund of notes, reminiscences, observations, etc., etc. Vol. 1 > Part 48
USA > Tennessee > Maury County > History of Tennessee, from the earliest time to the present; together with an historical and a biographical sketch of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford and Marshall counties, besides a valuable fund of notes, reminiscences, observations, etc., etc. Vol. 1 > Part 48
USA > Tennessee > Rutherford County > History of Tennessee, from the earliest time to the present; together with an historical and a biographical sketch of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford and Marshall counties, besides a valuable fund of notes, reminiscences, observations, etc., etc. Vol. 1 > Part 48
USA > Tennessee > Wilson County > History of Tennessee, from the earliest time to the present; together with an historical and a biographical sketch of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford and Marshall counties, besides a valuable fund of notes, reminiscences, observations, etc., etc. Vol. 1 > Part 48
USA > Tennessee > Bedford County > History of Tennessee, from the earliest time to the present; together with an historical and a biographical sketch of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford and Marshall counties, besides a valuable fund of notes, reminiscences, observations, etc., etc. Vol. 1 > Part 48
USA > Tennessee > Marshall County > History of Tennessee, from the earliest time to the present; together with an historical and a biographical sketch of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford and Marshall counties, besides a valuable fund of notes, reminiscences, observations, etc., etc. Vol. 1 > Part 48
USA > Tennessee > History of Tennessee from the earliest time to the present , together with an historical and a biographical sketch of from twenty-five to thirty counties of east Tennessee, besides a valuable fund of notes, original observations, reminiscences, etc., etc. V. 1 > Part 48
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In these colonies the fundamental idea was universal education, be- ginning with the common school and ending with the university. In North Carolina, Tennessee and the other Southern States, the system was reversed. The college was first provided for, leaving the individual to prepare himself for receiving its benefits. The idea is expressed in the preamble to the act establishing the University of North Carolina: "" WHEREAS in all regulated governments it is the duty of every legisla- ture to consult the happiness of the rising generation, and endeavor to
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fit them for an honorable discharge of the social duties of life by paying strict attention to their education, and, whereas, an university supported by permanent funds and well endowed would have the most direct tend- ency to arrive at the above purpose; Be it enacted, etc." The cause for this difference in the educational systems was due partly to the dissimi- lar character of the people of the two sections, but more to the peculiar condition of society in each. In New England even in the earlier days there were but comparatively few slaves, and it was found that the laborer is valuable just in proportion to his knowledge and skill, and therefore that it is economy to educate him. This, with the democratic spirit in- herent in the colonists, produced the common school, the great preserver of democracy. In the Southern colonies the educational system was based upon "the theory that labor should be absolutely under control, and needed no intelligence; that culture, that knowledge of letters on the part of the slaves was especially dangerous to the system, that the only need of culture was on the part of the master, and this he was amply able to secure for himself. The intermediate class of persons-those who did not own slaves and who were not owned as slaves-occupied a most unfortunate position. The richer class had not the property interest in them, and did not consider them part of the same classification. because they were not slave owners."* These general ideas, modified by local influences, shaped education for more than two centuries. It is true that systems of common schools were established in nearly every State, but in no instance did such a system flourish in company with the institution of slavery. The wealthy expected no advantage to their children from it, for they sent them to pay-schools or provided private tutors. This gave the public schools the name of pauper schools, and they were looked upon in that light alone. The public sentiment in Virginia with regard to a State school system supported by taxation -- and this senti- ment was common to the other Southern States-is clearly stated in the following extract from the autobiography of Thomas Jefferson. He was called upon to formulate a plan of general education for that State. He says: "I accordingly prepared three bills, proposing three distinct grades of education, reaching all classes: First, elementary schools for all chil- ren generally, rich and poor; Second, colleges for a middle degree of instruction, calculated for the common purposes of life, and such as would be desirable for all who were in easy circumstances; and third, an ultimate grade for teaching sciences generally, and in their highest de- gree. The first bill proposed to lay off every county in hundreds, or wards of a proper size and population for a school, in which reading,
* Gen. John Eaton.
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writing and common arithmetic should be taught: and that the whole State should be divided into twenty-four districts, in each of which should be a school for classical learning, grammar, geography and the higher branches of numerical arithmetic. The second bill proposed to amend the constitution of William and Mary College, to enlarge its sphere of science, and to make it in fact a university. The third was for the es- tablishment of a library. Into the elementary bill they inserted a pro- vision which completely defeated it, for they left it to the court of each county to determine for itself when this act should be carried into execu- tion within their county. One provision of the bill was, that the expense of these schools was to be borne by the inhabitants of the county, every one in proportion to his general tax rate. This would throw on wealth the education of the poor, and the justices, being generally of the more wealthy class, were unwilling to incur the burden, and I believe it was not suffered to commence in a single county."
From this treatment of Mr. Jefferson's wise plan it is seen that al- though the popularity of a common school system demanded its enact- ment, it was, so far as possible, rendered inoperative. This may be said to have been the attitude of Tennessee on this subject, from the organi- zation of the State to the civil war. But while the common schools were thus neglected and ignored, these other great agencies in the dissemination of knowledge and the formation of character, the private school seminary and university in a great measure supplied their place, and in many re- spects were superior to the best public schools. In fact, among the edu- cated class of the South there was, perhaps, a larger percentage who were thoroughly well educated, than in the North. The church and the hustings also were potent factors in education. Through their influence intelligent citizens were made though they did not, and many of them could not, read the newspapers.
The first tax for educational purposes was levied under an act passed in 1816 "to provide for the education of orphans of those persons who have died in the service of their country." The act provided "that it shall be the duty of each county court in the State at each and every court after the first day of January, 1816, to lay such a tax upon all tax- able property as shall be sufficient to educate the poor orphans who have no property to support and educate them and whose fathers were killed or have died in the service of their country in the late war." The county court was also empowered "to make such contract with any person or per- sons as they may think best calculated for that purpose, to board and ed- ucate such children as far as to attain the art of reading, writing and arithmetic so far as the rule of three."
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
In 1817 an act was passed to provide for the leasing of the school lands, laid off under the act of Congress in 1806. It was made the duty of each county court of the State to appoint as many commissioners as they might think necessary whose duty it was to lease out the school lands and receive and pay over the proceeds to the county trustee for the use of the schools in the respective counties. It was also made the duty of the commissioners, when sufficient funds had been received, "to build a comfortable house for a common English school to be taught in, and to employ and pay a good teacher of English to instruct all children that may be sent thereto." It was further provided that when $100 or more, for which there was no immediate use, had accumulated in the hands of the county trustee, that officer should loan the money out upon good se- curity. Some interest in popular education was aroused by the passage of this act, but it was of short duration, and only a few schools were estab- lished. Various acts, some of them local in their application, were passed during the next ten years, but no changes of great importance were made.
By provision of an act passed in 1823, five commissioners for each county were appointed, whose duty it was to appropriate "all the moneys received by them to the education of the poor, either by establishing poor schools, or by paying the tuition of poor children in schools which are, or may be established in their respective counties." From this act, establishing pauper schools, it is evident that no material advance toward a system of popular education had been made. The common school fund, collected from the lands set apart by the act of 1806, amounted to little better than nothing. In fact, from the report of a committee of which James K. Polk was chairman, it is stated that only 22,705 acres of school land had been laid off, while according to the provision of the act, grant- ing 640 acres for each thirty-six square miles, the number of acres loca- ted should have been nearly 450,000. In 1823 Congress repealed that portion of the act of 1806, fixing the price at which the land could be sold, and the General Assembly at its next session made provision to dis- pose of it at 123 cents per acre. The title to the Indian lands embracing what is now West Tennessee, was extinguished in 1818, but no provision was made for the support of schools.
About 1830 there began what has been termed a revival in education which in spirit, if not in practice, extended throughout the United States. It was found that the schools were too dependent upon the teach- ers, or the presence or absence of a school man in the neighborhood; that the system lacked uniformity and effectiveness; that even in the most ad- vanced States, it was insufficient to meet the demands of the rapidily in -. creasing population and to resist the influx of ignorance from the Old
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
World. Eminent educators, Horace Mann, Dr. C. E. Stowe, and others, gave the subject a thorough study, published books, and delivered ad- dresses until a conviction resulted that not only public welfare demanded a better educational machinery, but that it was the duty of the State to provide it. It resulted in establishing State supervision, graded schools, city and county supervision, normal schools and teacher's institutes. ed- ucational journals and literature, and perhaps the most important of all, the abolition of all rate bills, and the entire support of the schools by tax. * Many States adopted the new system, the efficiency of which soon became apparent.
The spirit of this revival extended to Tennessee, and the popular- ity of some system of State education rendered legislation upon it imper- ative. But although many of the best men in the State labored earnestly to secure an efficient system, the idea that free schools were established only for the benefit of the indigent portion of the community could not be eradicated, and failure was the result. As has been stated, the idea of a system of schools, as a measure of economy, for the benefit of the rich as well as the poor, could not under the then existing state of society become general.
In 1827 the General Assembly passed an act creating a school fund, to be composed of all the capital and interest of the State bank, except one-half of the principal sum already received; the proceeds of the sales of the Hiwassee lands; all lands in the State which had been appropria- ted to the use of schools; all the vacant and unappropriated lands to which the State had, or might thereafter obtain title; all the rents and mesne profits of all the school lands which had accrued and had not al- ready been appropriated; all the funds denominated school or common school funds which had accrued from the sale of lands; the donations made by various parties to the State; all the stock owned by the State in the old bank of the State at Knoxville, amounting to 400 shares, and the property of all persons dying intestate and without legal heirs. No pro- vision was then made for applying this fund to its intended use. Two. years later an act was passed establishing a system of public schools. Under this system the counties were divided into school districts of con- venient size, in each of which five trustees were elected, whose duty it was to meet at the court house on the first Saturday of June in each year, for the purpose of electing not less than five, nor more than seven "discreet and intelligent citizens" for common school commissioners. The trustees were also given full power to employ and dismiss teachers, and to judge of their qualifications, capacity and character. The com-
*John Eaton .- Report of 1869.
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missioners were given control of all moneys for the use of schools. They were to divide the county into five districts, over each of which one com- missioner was to exercise general supervision. The interest arising from the school fund was to be distributed among the school districts in propor- tion to the number of children in each, between the years of five and fif- teen, but before any district should be entitled to its share it was com- pelled to provide a comfortable schoolhouse. It was made the duty of the president and directors of the State bank to equalize and distribute the fund. The commissioners were authorized to expend a sum not ex- ceeding $20 annually in the purchase of books, to be distributed to chil- dren whose parents were not able to provide them. The, act also pro- vided that "it shall be the duty of the trustees to induce all children under the age of fifteen years to be sent to school, and no distinction shall be made between the rich and poor, but said school shall be open and free to all."
Although the system as presented in this act embraced many excellent features, it lacked several essentials. The funds were not sufficient to support the schools without resort to rate bills, and the houses were to be provided by private subscription. There were also too many executive officers and no controlling and supervising head, either for the counties or for the State. The system was established in several of the counties, and in a few it met with some success. The commissioners for Maury County, in 1832, reported twenty-two teachers employed for terms rang- ing from one and one-half to eleven months with an average of four months. The wages ranged from $S to $49 dollars per month, averaging $17. The total number of pupils enrolled during the year was 904. As the scholastic population of Maury County at that time exceeded 4,000, less than 25 per cent were enrolled in the public schools. The report from this county was one of the most satisfactory.
The total funds which had been received for the support of academies up to this date amounted to $70,665.12. Thus the apparently munificent grant of 100,000 acres of land had yielded an aggregate of $1,139.76 to each county during a period of twenty-five years. While some of the counties had received the full amount, others had established no academy, and their portion of the fund remained in the State bank.
In 1831 the profits arising from the State's stock in the Union Bank was set apart for the use of common schools; and upon the chartering of the Planters Bank of Tennessee and the Farmers & Merchants Bank of Memphis in 1833, the bonus of one-half of 1 per cent on the capital, stock, payable annually to the State, was appropriated for the same pur- pose. A similar disposition was made of a bonus of 5 per cent of the net
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profits of the Tennessee Fire & Marine Insurance Company. This was the condition of the public schools and the school fund at the adoption of the constitution of 1834. That instrument contains the following see- tion concerning education:
ARTICLE XI.
SEC. 10. Knowledge, learning and virtue being essential to the preservation of repub- lican institutions, and the diffusion of the opportunities and advantages of education throughout the different portions of the State being highly conducive to the promotion of this end, it shall be the duty of the General Assembly in all future periods of this govern- ment to cherish literature and science. And the fund called the "Common School Fund " and all the lands and proceeds thereof, dividends, stocks, and all other property of every description whatever heretofore by law appropriated by the General Assembly of this State for the use of common schools, and all such as shall hereafter be appropriated, shall remain a perpetual fund, the principal of which shall never be diminished by legislative appropriation, and the interest thereof shall be inviolably appropriated to the support and encouragement of common schools throughout the State, and for the equal benefit of the people thereof; and no law shall be made authorizing said fund, or any part thereof, to be diverted to any other use than the support and encouragement of common schools; and it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to appoint a board of commissioners, for such term of time as they may think proper, who shall have the general superintendence of said fund, and who shall make a report of the condition of the same from time to time under such rules, regulations and restrictions as may be required by law; Provided, that if at any time hereafter a division of the public lands of the United States, or of the money arising from the sale of such lands, shall be made among the individual States, the part of such land or money coming to this State shall be devoted to the purpose of education and internal improvements, and shall never be applied to any other purpose.
The following section affirms "that the above provisions shall not be construed to prevent the Legislature from carrying into effect any laws that have been passed in favor of the colleges, universities or academies."
At the following session of the Legislature an act in accordance with the provisions of the constitution was passed, appointing a board of com- mon school commissioners consisting of the treasurer, comptroller and a superintendent of public instruction. The last named officer was to be elected by a joint ballot of both houses of the General Assembly for a term of two years, and was to receive a salary of $1,500 per year. He was to collect the moneys, notes and other securities belonging to the common school fund, and in conjunction with the other members of the board he was to appoint an agent in each county. These agents were to perform the duties of the former bank agents and county school commis- sioners. They were to renew the securities for the debts due to the school fund every six months, calling in a certain per cent of the debt each time until the whole should be collected. It was then to be invested in bank stock by the superintendent.
During the session of 1839-40 the General Assembly passed an act to establish a system of public schools. The report of a committee ap- pointed to inquire into the condition of the common schools, and to re-
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port a plan for the reorganization of the system, contains the following: "The subject of education has never yet received in Tennessee that at- tention which it so richly merits. Appropriation after appropriation, it. is true, has been made to the support of common schools, but the system adopted under that name has heretofore proved inefficient and by no means equal to the expectation of those who first established it. While this has been the case with the common school system, a prejudice has prevailed against the higher institutions of learning, academies and col- leges, neither of which consequently has received much from the munif- icence of the State."
The committee proposed to add to the existing school fund, amount- ing to a little more than $1,500,000, about $500,000 of the surplus re- venue, the interest on the whole of which it was thought would amount to $100,000 per annum. To the academy fund amounting to $50,000 it was proposed to add $600,000 of the surplus revenue, and to divide $300,000 of the same fund among three universities, one for each division of the State. The system as adopted did not differ materially from that of 1829, except that the county trustee performed the duties which had previously devolved upon the county commissioners, and the superintend- ent of public instruction had control of the distribution of the annual fund. The apportionment was fixed upon a ratio of white children be- tween the ages of six and sixteen years, instead of five and fifteen as be- fore. The duties of the district trustees remained the same as under the old system.
The school fund had already been constituted a portion of the capi- tal of the newly chartered State Bank, and of its dividends the faith of the State was pledged to the annual appropriation of $100,000 to school purposes. This annual revenue was increased by bonuses, taxes, fines and penalties. On the same conditions $18,000 was appropriated an- nually for a period of thirty years for the use of county academies, pro- vided the trustees would relinquish all claims against the State for debts due from citizens south of the French Broad and Holston Rivers. For the benefit of East Tennessee College and Nashville University, two half townships of land in the Ococe District were granted on condition that they relinquish their claims, as had been provided in the case of acade- mies.
The new system of common schools went into effect in 1838, and by the close of the following year 911 of the 987 districts in the State had chosen trustees and the majority of them had opened schools. The first apportionment of school funds was made in 1839, at a rate of 623 cents for each child of school age, the scholastic population being 185,432.
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
Upon the passage of the act creating the office of superintendent of public instruction, Col. Robert H. McEwen was elected thereto, and con- tinued to hold the office until 1840. He was extensively engaged in bus- iness, being the principal member in two or three different firms. At the session of the Legislature of 1839-40, a joint committee of both houses was appointed to investigate the affairs of his office. After a careful ex- amination they reported that he had speculated with the funds and mis- managed them, and that he was a defaulter to the amount of $121,169.05. His term of office expired soon after, and R. P. Currin was elected to succeed him. At the following April term of the Chancery Court of Franklin, a suit was instituted against McEwen and his securities to re- cover the amount of the defalcation. A decree having been obtained against the defendants, the case was appealed to the supreme court where the decree was affirmed. Upon a petition from the securities for relief, January 19, 1844, the General Assembly adopted a resolution appointing William Carroll, Nicholas Hobson, Willoughby Williams and John Marshall, commissioners, to compromise and settle the suit, declar- ing that their decision should be final. The last two declined to serve and John Waters and M. W. Brown were appointed in their place. The commissioners decided that the securities should pay the sum of $10,- 797.86 as a settlement in full of the claims against them. The attorneys for the State objected to this settlement on the grounds that the resolu- tion of the General Assembly making it final was unconstitutional. The objection was overruled by the supreme court, Judge Turley delivering the opinion.
In 1844 the office of superintendent of public instruction was abol- ished, and the duties of the superintendent transferred to the state treas- urer. In 1848 the president and directors of the State Bank were con- stituted the board of common school commissioners.
On April 19, 1847, a common school convention was held at Knox- ville at which were present representatives from Greene, Cocke, Hawkins, Claiborne, Jefferson, Blount, Knox, Roane, Marion and Anderson Coun- ties. A memorial to the Legislature was adopted, recommending the ap- pointment of a board of education for each county, whose duty it should be to examine applicants and to grant licenses to teachers; the publica- tion of a monthly state journal devoted exclusively to the cause of educa- tion throughout the State; the appointment of a superintendent of public instruction, and the taxation of property for the support of schools. The memorial closed with a reference to the illiteracy in the State as shown by the census of 1840. The following is an extract: " At no period per- haps in the existence of our State, and by no means was the pride of our
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A
Photo by Thyas, Koelleln & Giers,
STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, NASHVILLE.
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE
people of all parties, denominations and classes more deeply wounded than when the returns of the census of 1840 were promulgated. * * The humiliating fact that there were in the State 58,531 white persons over twenty years of age who could neither read nor write, was heralded over this broad Union, and made the subject of sneering remark in almost every newspaper in the country. Our State stood within one of the bottom of the list in point of universal intelligence; the number of ignorant in North Carolina being a fraction greater." The number of white persons over twenty years of age in the State at that time was 249.008. Conse- quently the proportion of illiterates was a little more than 233 per cent. The census of 1850 shows no improvement in the educational status of the State. At that time there were 316,409 white persons over twenty years of age, and of that number 77,522, or 243 per cent could neither read nor write. According to the census of 1860 the proportion of illiterates was 1944, per cent, a gratifying improvement which was probably due in a great measure to the increased efficiency of the common schools. Dur- ing the preceding decade two laws were passed both of which did much to improve the school system. The first, passed in 1854, authorized the county court of each county to levy a tax of 25 cents on each poll, and 23 cents on each $100 worth of proporty, for the use of common schools. If two-thirds of the justices of any county were not in favor of levying such a tax, it was made the duty of the court to order an election to be held to ascertain the wishes of the people. Under the provision of this law the school fund was nearly doubled. The following are the items which made up the fund in 1856 as reported by the treasurer:
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