USA > Texas > A Twentieth century history of southwest Texas, Volume I > Part 50
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"There is need also for a two or four-room building in the following vicinities : Near Rubiola's store, Hunstock street, in the South Park addition; at Beanville. near the old shoe factory, and in the neighborhood of the kindergarten, on the West Side.
"At the Cuney School five rooms are poorly accommodated in a dilapidated frame building. At this place the site is ample, and a six-room building should be erected. A two-room addition or annex will probably also be needed at the colored high school.
"The additions to the above outlying schools will enable these schools to carry higher grades and thus relieve the congested conditions in schools in the heart of the city."
It is considered probable that sites will be donated for the buildings. Many offers have already been received from the residents of the neighborhoods named in the communication.
Continuing, Mr. Wolfe says :
"Our high school is greatly overcrowded, necessitating the use of the corridors, the basement and the auditorium for recitation rooms. One of the very difficult questions the new board will be called upon to decide is whether it is wiser to build additions to the high school-probably removing the third story of the present building and placing the auditorium on the ground floor-or whether a new site should be selected for a high school and the present high school used for grade purposes."
During the last three years Superintendent Wolfe reported the board has built sixty new school rooms and the bond issue contemplates the building of that many more.
In submitting his recommendations Superintendent Wolfe explained that he has in every possible place provided one or two more rooms and grades on the outlying schools. This, he says, makes them able to handle children until they
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are through the primary and intermediate departments. Under the present condi- tions they sometimes have to go one mile further to school after passing out of the fifth, sixth or seventh grades as the case may be. It is his plan to relieve the crowded conditions of the central schools by adding to the outlying buildings.
The estimates by the architect show that about $125,000 can be spent for additions to the grade schools and more grade schools, while $75,000 can be spent tor a high school. This is about half what the board considers necessary for a good high school building that will answer the needs of the city for at least fifteen years.
The board has a number of propositions before it and will choose from them in presenting the bond proposition to the people. It can build additions to the present high school, making it large enough to serve the needs of the institution. It can build a new high school on some other location and convert the present building into a school for the larger seventh and eighth grades, or it can build a ten-story building on the present site of the Brackenridge Grammar School, on South Alamo street, and have two high schools.
The latter proposition was the last suggested and is finding much favor. It would place the high school building nearer those living on the east and south sides of the city and it is feasible with $75.000 to spend. In the event the present building is enlarged, more property will be bought adjoining the present property and the third story of the building will be removed, as there is much opposition io requiring the pupils to climb so many stairs.
The building of a new high school on a new site is finding little favor on account of the great expense attached.
The books of the board were examined and show that the board for the last three years has been spending about $15,000 more than its income each year. This is reducing a surplus that was accumulated in former years. The increase in running expenses has been greatly augmented by the enforced renting of more rooms near the schoolhouses owned by the board. In a few more years the sur- plus would be exhausted, while conditions are growing worse daily.
St. Mary's College, San Antonio.
Many of the well known and most successful men of San Antonio and Southwest Texas acknowledge this school as their alma mater. It was founded by the Catholic church in 1852, largely through the zeal of Father Odin, who brought Brothers from France to aid in its estab- lishment.
This school was located first on the west side of Military Plaza, where some years later Mr. Guerguin conducted his well known Monte Pio. A room was rented on the second floor of a livery stable, crude school furniture improvised and in September of the same year a board- ing and day school was opened under the name of "St. Mary's School." This nucleus of the present St. Mary's College, was taught by Brother Edel, director, assisted by Brothers Koenig and Lineaux, Mr. O'Neil and a novice of the Order, who, however, died before the close of the year.
Among the first boarders were Mr. Doyle, who soon afterwards became associated with the school as a instructor, John and William Wallace, the former of whom also was later connected with the school as a teacher and subsequently joined the Confederate army. R. and G. Pereida and the Flores Brothers are remembered to have attended at this time as day scholars. The community of Brothers and boarders resided in an humble adobe house at the corner of South Laredo and West Commerce streets-the property then belonging to Mr. Marins, a Frenchman.
The increase of boarders and the attendance of day scholars were so encouraging, that soon after the opening of the second session, it was
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evident that more ample accommodations would be required. Accor- dingly in November, 1853, the school and residence which till then had been separate, were joined and transferred to the present site of the institution-the original building, a stone structure, 60x80 feet, and two stories high, now forming the central part of the enlarged building fronting College street, then known as Water street.
On Christmas day, 1854, Brothers Charles Francis and Eligius Beyrer arrived in San Antonio. They were then in the prime of life, had received a liberal education and were prepared to devote all their energies to the progress of the incipient institution, with whose subse- quent history their careers became intimately identified. At the close of the session 1854-1855, the attendance of the school was 150 pupils, forty of whom were boarders.
In consequence of the increase in the corps of teachers and the sys- tematic instruction, the improvement of gradation in studies, and proper classification of pupils were made possible, and the object of the Brotliers to elevate the standard of the school to the rank of a college, could grad- ually be accomplished. When, in 1859, Brother J. Moore, a thorough scholar and an accomplished educator, became connected with the school, its ascendency received an additional impetus. It was about this time that James and Bryan Callaghan, Anton Adam, B. Mauermann, H. Elmendorf, C. F. Kleine, A. Biesenbach, A. and E. Steves and others, who afterwards attained recognition in administrative positions, or be- came prominent citizens of San Antonio, attended St. Mary's.
Brother Edel, whose untiring energy was the main-spring in this gratifying progress of the school, prudently foresaw the future possi- bilities and took measures for increased accommodations. A spacious kitchen, a dining-room and store rooms were annexed. These were substantially built of lime rock found in the quarries north of the city. The material is soft and white when quarried, but by exposure to the atmosphere becomes somewhat dark and considerably harder. At that period it was almost exclusively employed in San Antonio as a building material in the erection of large edifices.
Now came the war, and with it general depression in the south, affecting all departments of industry and trade, and school interests as well. Much difficulty was often experienced in procuring food and ยท school materials. However, teachers were exempt from conscription, and when San Antonio was under martial law, with General Bee commanding, the school enjoyed certain privileges. It was at this epoch that Mr. T. Gentilz became connected with St. Mary's in the capacity as teacher of drawing and painting. Brother Edel, who found that his physical energies were now rapidly on the decline, in 1866 re- signed the directorship and Brother Charles Francis was appointed his successor.
Shortly after the opening of the session, in the fall of 1866, San Antonio was visited by the cholera. The municipal authorities ordered all public and private schools to be closed indefinitely. The day scholars were accordingly dismissed from St. Mary's, but the boarders remained, and instruction was regularly continued for them. The epidemic was quite virulent and fatal, the death rate frequently reach-
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ing ninety victims per day. By the prompt and rigid enforcement of sanitary measures, and the regulation of diet, under the direction of Dr. Cupples, who acted in the capacity of physician to St. Mary's, the school enjoyed immunity from the scourge, there being, during its entire continuance of two months, only one pupil who suffered a slight prostration-the son of General Escobeda. After the expiration of six weeks the schools were re-opened, and from this period St. Mary's enjoyed an interval of long continued prosperity, with a constantly increasing patronage.
In the fall of 1874 San Antonio became the See of a Bishop. The Episcopal residence being the rectory of St. Mary's Church, his lord- ship, Bishop Pellicer, soon became intimate with the brothers. He took great interest in the well-being of the school, gave it liberal encourage- ment, and frequently associated with the brothers in conversation and recreation.
In 1875 it was again found necessary to make additions to the build- ings. Authorization was obtained to erect a three-story building to con- tain class rooms, dormitories, an exhibition hall, infirmary, dining halls, etc. The work was begun without delay and completed during the session of 1876-1877. No railroad had up to this period reached San Antonio, hence considerable delay was experienced in obtaining the building material, the main portion of which came from Mobile, Ala., being trans- ported to the city from Galveston by mule and ox trains. The arrival of this old-fashioned wagon train, consisting of about twenty wagons, each drawn by a dozen mules, or as many oxen, and a reserve drove of the animals, encamping on the college grounds, presented a novel appear -. ance. Previous to the advent of railroads this primitive caravan method of transportation was a familiar sight in this section of the country, while passenger travel was carried on by means of the stage coach. There was, of course, less expedition in those days in leaving college after Commencement Day than there is at present. It frequently required sev- eral weeks before pupils could make favorable connections ; hence, they left very gradually, and ordinarily from fifteen to twenty-five, living in distant parts of the State or Mexico, were retained at the school during vacation. But in 1877 the G. H. & S. A. railroad reached the Alamo City, the influence of the improvement in travel was soon felt at the school bv an increased influx of boarding pupils. In 1881 Brother Charles Francis, who had successfully governed the school through a trving period extending over fifteen successive years, in the course of which time it was fully transformed into a college, under which title it was also chartered during his administration, was succeeded by Rev. Francis Feith.
Situated in the center of the city. St. Mary's was now becoming surrounded by large edifices, and the annoyances and distractions inci- dent to a thriving metropolis were seriously felt; the accommodations in the buildings and on the premises were inadequate, and, hence, it was deemed opportune to erect a new boarding school. The movement ob- tained an additional impetus when the Verv Rev. L. Beck became Pro- vincial of the Brothers of Marv in America. His practical knowledge of architecture and finances qualified him to undertake this work, which,
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in his hands and under his personal direction, has resulted in the erection of a boarding school commensurate in proportion and completeness with the best modern institutions of its kind in the state.
In 1892 the hierarchy of the United States decided to have an edu- cational exhibit at the World's Columbian Exposition to show what the Catholics in this country are doing for education. The institutions of the Brothers of Mary throughout the states responded generously to the invitation to prepare specimens of school work for the exhibit. Previous to this St. Mary's College had obtained diplomas, silver and gold medals, for the excellence of school work exhibited at more than a dozen state and international fairs held at San Antonio. An elaborate exhibit was now prepared and sent to the great exposition. In due time the cheering news arrived that St. Mary's College was awarded a diploma and gold medal by the directors of the World's Fair for the general ex- cellence of its exhibit.
Rev. Father Feith, who had untiringly labored for the ascendency of the school, and especially for the erection of the new boarding school, was not destined to witness the completion of the latter. In July, 1893, he received his appointment as chaplain of St. Louis' College, Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands, and on the following August 22 he bade adieu to his beloved community and cherished friends in San Antonio, to await a fraternal welcome by his confreres on the far dis- tant Pacific. On the evening of the same day ground was broken for the erection of St. Louis' College.
Brother John Wolf, who had been connected with St. Mary's since May, 1876, was now appointed director and the Rev. F. Spenner, who had just arrived from the Mother House, became chaplain. . During the session of 1893-1894, the work at the new college was the absorbing topic of interest and solicitude. On the last day of the year 1893, his lordship, the Rt. Rev. Bishop Neraz, laid the corner-stone amid impos- ing ceremonies, in which all the clergy of the city, the Catholic societies and the citizens, generally, participated.
At the close of the session in June, 1894, the boarders bade final farewell to old St. Mary's, as it was then known that the new St. Louis' College would be ready for occupancy at the opening of the next ses- sion. Brother John Wolf was appointed first president of the new insti- tution, being succeeded at St. Mary's, which now became a day-school exclusively, by Brother John Bumeder, who had been connected with the school for several years as teacher of the graduating class. At the opening of St. Louis' College, Rev. F. Spenner and Rev. E. Beyrer were appointed chaplain and assistant chaplain, respectively. St. Mary's obtaining a new chaplain-Rev. A. Frische, in August, 1895.
Ursuline Academy, San Antonio.
Founded in 1851. the Ursuline Academy was the first school opened in that city and the second in the state for the education of young girls both rich and poor. Bishop Odin, when making his pastoral visit, saw the want of such an institution, and at once applied to the famous old Ursuline Convent, in New Orleans, for sisters. The community gra- ciously acceded to his request and selected for the new establishment
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Sister St. Marie Trouard, superioress, and Sister St. Antoine Monaghan, assistant ; also Sisters Alexis and Isidore, lav sisters.
The party, accompanied by Father Chambodut, left New Orleans September 7, 1851, and on their arrival at Galveston on September 10th three other sisters joined the party to lend their services for the new school-Sister St. Mary Winship, Sister St. Angela Noyer and Sister St. Augustin Melton. From this city Father Dubuis, parish priest of Castroville, conducted the party to San Antonio. The journey by stage was a fatiguing and painful one. The party had not proceeded far when they encountered a fearful storm which obliged them to leave the stage and take shelter in a poor hut by the roadside, where they were made as comfortable as possible by the good old woman who lived there. At last after much riding they reached San Antonio late in the evening of September 14th, and took possession of their house by moonlight. The house had been purchased for them by Bishop Odin. It could not have been poorer nor smaller, and though prepared for privations those which awaited them surpassed any they could have imagined. The room set apart for their sleeping chamber they found overrun with spiders and scorpions, the former having festooned the walls with their webs, and the latter running about over the floor in every direction.
All sorely besetting discomfitures were finally overcome, mainly through the good offices of Father Dubuis, whose purse, time and ener- gies were most faithfully devoted to the work, and on the 3d of Novem- ber every room in the convent was crowded with pupils, the Misses Meade, daughters of General Meade, being among the first received, followed by others of prominent American and Mexican parentage. Among the latter were the daughters of Governor Madero, the Misses Carvajal, daughters of General Carvajal, of revolutionary fame, and others.
During the war the sisters had $14,000 in Confederate money, which sum comprised all their fortune and was the result of years of economy and sacrifice. All would have been lost but for the kindness of Mr. Madero, late governor of Saltillo : he accepted the money as a trust, and besides supplying the sisters and pupils with commodities from Mexico, after the war returned the balance in sound money with an additional $200 from his own pocket.
With increasing attendance a new building became necessary, and in September. 1866, the corner stone of the present structure was laid by Bishop Dubuis. In January following he laid the first stone of the new chanel. Largely through the efforts of the chaplain, the late Rev. E. M. Buffard. the academy and chapel were finished, at a cost of $50,000. In 1883 the institution was chartered under the title of the "Ursuline Academy," with power to confer diplomas.
Mother Marie Trouard, the foundress and first superior, died in 1866, after a life adorned with every virtue. She was succeeded as superior by Mother M. Eulalie, who survived but a few years, and her successors have been. Mothers de Chantal White, M. Madeliene de 12 Garza. M. Xavier Melton. M. Isabel Wenzel, M. Ursula Hudson, and Mother M. Augustine O'Sullivan, since November, 1903.
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German-English School.
G. Theisen, a produce merchant, was the originator of the old Ger- man-English School and of the Casino Society. Originally forty varas fronting on the west side of South Alamo street opposite the Beethoven Theater was secured first from Thomas Riddle and later from A. and F. Giraud and still later twenty varas were added which were secured from Oliver H. Meroni.
The first structure erected was the large hall. It stands some dis- tance back from the street. The cluster of buildings about it were added from time to time. The buildings were designed by G. Freisleben, for several years the city engineer of San Antonio. He was an excellent architect. They were built by the late James H. Kampmann, and are all strong and substantial. The first was built about 1857 and the last 1860. The German-English school was founded in about 1855. The first president of the organization was the late Judge Jacob Waelder, who was succeeded by Julius Berends, who filled the office of president for many years efficiently. (Elsewhere mentioned.) The next president was William Thielepape. The latter was the president just after the Civil war and was mayor of San Antonio during the time of his presidency of the German-English School. He was succeeded by Charles Griesen- beck, who served efficiently for several years, during which time the school flourished and grew. The activity of the German-English school was continued and it progressed until several circumstances combined to force it out of existence. It got into debt and could not be extricated. It was impossible to maintain the institution without charging tuition. The public schools, where tuition was free, were in successful competi- tion. The standard of the San Antonio public schools became very high and finally teaching the German language in them was introduced. This was the final cause of the closing up of the German-English school. This took place in 1897, when a mortgage on the property was fore- closed. Then it became the joint property of Frederick Groos and George W. Brackenridge.
When it was first founded and for a great many years afterward, the curriculum of the old German-English School was not confined ex- clusively to mental instruction and culture. Many if not most of the students of the early days were the offspring of members of the San An- tonio Turn Verein, an athletic as well as a social organization. This association laid great stress on physical development and bodily exercise.
St. Mary's Hall.
The pioneer Protestant institution in San Antonio for the education of young women, St. Mary's Hall, was founded in 1865, while Rev. J. J. Nicholson was rector of St. Mark's. It was first known as St. Mary's School. A little later, under the rectorship of Rev. E. A. Wagner, a gift of ten thousand dollars from John D. Wolfe resulted in the building of Wolfe Hall. The cholera epidemic of 1866 caused a dispersion of the school, and financial and other difficulties delayed the re-opening of the school for thirteen years. In May, 1879, Miss Philippa Stevenson began a private school for girls with every element of Christian influence that
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a private school could exert, and this was really the nucleus around which the present Episcopal female college was formed. Bishop Elliott now re-established St. Mary's Hall, and in September, 1880, Miss Stevenson was formally installed as its principal. Her name as time goes on will ever be associated with St. Mary's sacred memories. A beautiful stained glass window in the Gray Memorial, the chapel of the school, contains a striking likeness of her in the character of Mary of Bethany, contributed by the alumnae in her memory.
With a gift of $3,000 from Catharine L. Wolfe, daughter of John Wolfe, Bishop Elliott repaired and improved Wolfe Hall, which had been restored to the uses of education. In 1890 a brick structure con- taining the Gray Memorial chapel on the second floor was erected.
West Texas Military Academy.
This institution was founded in 1893, by Bishop Johnston. The ground on which it is located was donated mainly by Colonel and Mrs. F. H. Cunningham, and in keeping with the progress of the institution the school has been enlarged four times. The academy is located on Government Hill, overlooking the city, and on grounds adjoining the military post. By September, 1896, four new buildings had been added to the original one.
JOHN S. LANKFORD, M. D. It would be almost impossible to over- estimate the value of Dr. Lankford's service in connection with the school board of San Antonio. Well equipped for his chosen profession and enjoying a large and lucrative practice as a physician and surgeon, he has at the same time made a close study of various subjects relating to the public health and methods for the dissemination of knowledge for the prevention of disease, and in connection with the schools of San Antonio has done a work of the utmost good by formulating and secur- ing the adoption of plans whereby the children have been instructed along lines promoting hygienic conditions. His work in this direction has awakened attention throughout the nation, receiving the endorsement of many of the most prominent members of the medical fraternity and educators throughout the country.
Dr. Lankford is a native of Mississippi, but was reared and edu- cated in Texas, coming to this state in his boyhood days, in 1876. His earlier life was passed in Milam and Grayson counties, and he followed the acquirement of his literary education by the study of medicine in the University of Louisville, Kentucky, from which institution he was graduated with honor in the class of 1882. In that year he commenced practice at Atoka, in the Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory, where he remained until 1892, when he sought a broader field of labor in San Antonio, and has since been recognized as a prominent physician and citizen here. He is continually broadening his knowledge and pro- moting his efficiency by investigation, research and study and practices along modern scientific lines. He is a director and the treasurer of the Physicians and Surgeons' Hospital of this city, and is one of the five trustees of the Texas State Journal of Medicine, the official organ of the State Medical Association. He is a member of the County, State and
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