USA > Wisconsin > Fond du Lac County > Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, past and present, Volume I > Part 44
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48
JEFFERSON SCHOOL, FOND DU LAC
359
HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY
of education. To that end mothers' meetings were established throughout the city and the schools and the homes were brought in close relation. Out of this plan has grown a strong cooperation between the schools and the homes of the city. During the year Mr. Jones acted in the capacity of superintendent he received very flattering offers from other cities to accept the position of city superintendent or high-school principal. He finally decided to accept the prin- cipalship of the Madison high school, feeling that the opportunity for work and advancement was greater there than any other place which had been offered him. Although Mr. Jones was connected with the schools only one year it was largely through his efforts that the high-school building was made a possibility and the many marked improvements inaugurated.
Mr. Jones was succeeded as city superintendent by Guy D. Smith, a gentle- man from Michigan, with large experience in school matters. Mr. Smith has occupied that position for two years and has demonstrated to the people of Fond du Lac that he is thoroughly conversant with the work of supervising a large system of schools. He is strong in organization and has the confidence and respect of the teachers and pupils throughout the city. He is progressive but not radical, and the schools under his administration are progressing in a very satis- factory manner.
The school enrollment for Fond du Lac in 1911-1912 was as follows :
School
Boys
Girls
Total
Cleveland
87
85
I72
First Street
I71
I37
308
Franklin
140
I39
279
Grant
85
89
I74
Jefferson
237
265
502
Lincoln
2IT
210
421
McKinley
189
200
389
Union
151
I9I
342
Washington
248
190
438
High-Fifth Grade
I8
I5
33
High School
I9I
246
437
Deaf
4
II
I5
Total
1,732
1,778
3,510
RIPON COLLEGE By Ex-President Edward H. Merrell
The first building in what is now the city of Ripon was erected in the sum- mer of 1849. In 1850 three were added, making four in all. The Wisconsin Phalanx, a company of Fourierites, were on the ground adjacent some years be- fore, having begun operations in May, 1844, with nineteen resident members. They increased in numbers, secured about two thousand acres of choice land, and laid out the village of Ceresco, which occupied the ground of the first ward of the present city of Ripon. "The want of social adhesion" led them in 1850 to divide their property and assume individual claims. Although at this time Ceresco
360
HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY
was much more important than the newly platted village of Ripon, which edged up to the old town with a saucy defiance, yet it lacked what Ripon had, a leader. This leader was Captain D. P. Mapes, in many ways a marked man. Trained in business in the states of New York and Pennsylvania, afterwards the owner of a steamboat that plied between Albany and New York, accustomed to the tough conditions that belonged to business life before the days of railroads, or even of canals, he brought to the enterprise of building a new city the courage, sagacity and magnetism that mark the veteran general of many hard campaigns. His steamboat was sunk at the Palisades in the Hudson river, and with her went down the bulk of Captain Mapes' fortune. At that day there was one commonly ac- cepted way of mending a broken fortune: it was to gather up what remained, if anything remained, and migrate to the wonderful west. Captain Mapes heeded the prevailing impulse and set his face towards the setting sun. His steps were led, shall we say by a divine hand? to the delightful spot which is now the seat of Ripon College. He secured a large tract of land, laid out a village, and at once began the pioneer work needed to make his city the ideal one for all this portion of the state. He wrought with a missionary spirit of sacrifice and enthusiasm, and soon gathered a company of strong men and women who had caught the in- spiration of his unflagging courage and his personal magnetism.
No model town is complete without a college. So thought Captain Mapes and his co-founders. In the winter of 1850-51, though the hamlet was small and the people poor, the building of the college was projected. Even the prairies sur- rounding the village were occupied by only a few, and were for the most part untouched by the plow. "It was no uncommon thing," says a historian referring to these days, "to count from fifty to a hundred wagons a day passing through to the then newly opened Indian land."
"The ground for the first building," writes one who assisted in its erection, "was staked out in a snow storm by three men, who together were not probably worth $15,000, and no part of that in ready money. Still the contracts were made and the walls of the building pushed up."
Another writer speaks of the location as follows: "On the west side of the village of Ripon is an elevation of about ten acres of land. This eminence is cov- ered with shrubs and underwood, with occasional oaks, which thicken westward, and at the distance of twenty-five or thirty rods mingle with the thick growth of forest trees, which spread over nearly two hundred acres. The middle of this elevation is nearly circular, about one hundred yards in diameter, smooth and level, and has an altitude of over thirty feet above the surrounding country. Upon this hill, at the exact spot staked out by the two grim, determined men in a snow storm, stands Brockway College."
The act of incorporation of the new college was approved January 29, 1851. The original incorporators were David P. Mapes, Ezra L. Northrup, Alvan E. Bovay, Warren Chase, John S. Horner, Jehdeiah Bowen, Almon Osborn, Asa Kinney, Edwin Lockwood, Dana F. Shepherd, Alexander B. Beardsley, William S. Brockway, Edward L. Runals and William Starr.
Work began in earnest in the spring of 1851. The ground was given by Cap- tain Mapes, a square acre on the highest point of College Hill, the spot now oc- cupied by East College. Subscriptions to the amount of eight hundred dollars were secured, "payable in goods, lumber, labor, lime, grain and such other commod- ities as were then current." Of money there was little; of hearty good will
361
HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY
there was a very great deal. The leader of the enterprise gave in his gold watch to the work as the need became pressing, the precious reminder of more prosper- ous days. During the summer the walls of the square building, fifty feet on each side, went up to its full height of three stories. But at this point the work halted for want of funds. Tradition has it that William S. Brockway then subscribed the amount necessary to put the roof over the walls, about $300, and that the projected institution was named Brockway College in recognition of a gift which for the time, was regarded as munificent. In his "History of Ripon" Captain Mapes says : "In order to dispose of stock, I proposed to grant the privilege of naming the college unto the person who should take the largest amount. Mr. Brockway proved to be the man, and the college bore his name until 1864, when "Ripon" was substituted in the charter for "Brockway" by an act of the legisla- ture.
At this point "the builders took a rest," is the significant remark of Jehdeiah Bowen, the author of a brief historical paper. And he continues : "If the ques- tion were asked, what was intended to be done with that building? the replies of those who contributed might have differed widely. While some would have said that it was designed for a high school, others would have replied that it was built on purpose to entice settlers, that the proprietors might sell village lots. But whatever motives there may have been, one great one inspired all: the pio- neers were bound to show their respect for education, and through dark days as well as sunshine, this love of education has never been quenched among our people."
ยท For a year the walls of the new building stood bare, the trustees having in- curred a debt in building, and being in doubt as to what exactly all this work was for. But a divine purpose underruns the acts of men, though they often recognize it not. Looking about for some religious denomination to take up the work, the trustees made overtures to the Winnebago District Convention of Presbyterian and Congregational churches, proposing that this convention assume one-half of the debt, amounting in all to about $800, complete the college building, and open a school in the spring of 1853. The board offered to convey the entire property to the convention when they should engage to meet the conditions. The proposi- tion of the board was conveyed to the convention by the Rev. F. G. Sherrill, min- ister of the Congregational church at Ripon. The ministers and churches of this convention had the traditional instinct of Christian educators, and were not slow to respond to the overtures that seemed to come to them so providentially. But at this time the churches were very poor and the failure of the wheat crop that year added to their distress. They could assume no additional burdens, how- ever small. It chanced, however, that the Rev. J. W. Walcott had recently come among them and was minister for the Congregational church at Menasha. He had been at the head of an academy in New York and had brought to the west a little money, the savings from his frugal life as a teacher. To him the convention appealed, asking him to assume the work of the new college, and practically hold it for the convention until the churches should be able to take it off his hands and reimburse him to the amount of what he should expend from his private funds. After various negotiations the arrangement was made. Mr. Walcott purchasing from the trustees the entire property. In October, 1852, the conven- tion met at Racine, and the following action was taken: "A proposition of the
362
HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY
trustees of Brockway College to make a conditional surrender of its charter, subscription list, buildings, etc., into the hands of the convention was discussed, and the whole management of the matter was given up to Rev. J. W. Walcott." The convention was not yet in a condition to assume the control; nor was it able or willing afterwards, a fact that proved a great trial to Mr. Walcott. Prac- tically it never came fully into the hands of the convention, as will appear.
Mr. Walcott immediately assumed control of affairs, and began the work of fitting the college building for school purposes, and of laying the foundations of an "institution of the highest order." Four rooms on the east side of the build- ing were finished and furnished during the fall and winter of 1852-3 besides the hall, and the school was open for instruction June 1, 1853. This . was not ac- complished without strong effort on the part of the leader and the willing co-op- eration of many men. The lumber was hauled by Julian Rivers from Neenah, a distance of over thirty miles. Mr. Walcott purchased land adjacent to the original plat, so that now the campus has about eleven acres in all.
The opening of the school was an occasion of great joy. Says a local histor- ian : "In due time the opening came. Our citizens and those of the neighboring towns had looked forward with many doubts to that day; and it is difficult to realize the feelings of our little community, when this step was gained."
From the date of opening until 1855 the school was under the exclusive man- agement of Mr. Walcott, with such assistants as he was able to secure from a very slender income. Miss Martha J. Adams, M. W. Martin, Alvan E. Bovay and others were the leading assistants during this period. Young men and women were instructed in the same classes, and the studies were those ordinarily accepted in fitting for the colleges of that day and the English branches intended to furnish a practical education. No college classes were formed and no college work was attempted in the years following, till the autumn of 1863.
At the meeting of the Winnebago District Convention at Fond du Lac, Octo- ber 5. 1854, Mr. Walcott made a definite proposition to transfer the college prop- erty to the convention or to a board of trustees to be appointed by convention ; and a committee was appointed to correspond with the ministers and churches with- in the bounds of convention, to mature a plan and report at the next regular meeting. The next meeting occurred at Rosendale, January 16, 1855. At this meeting a committee of seven was appointed, which was charged with the duty of appointing an agent to raise $2,500 for the general purposes of the college, and a further sum to purchase the college property of Mr. Walcott. On the 14th of March following, the committee of seven reported to a special meeting of con- vention held at Ripon. Their report was in the form of a set of resolutions which they had previously adopted and recommended that convention purchase the col- lege property of Mr. Walcott; that an effort be made to raise money for endow- ments so that the college department could be organized, also to raise $10,000 within six months to purchase the college property and erect a dormitory build- ing; that, inasmuch as there was "ground to apprehend that the charter under which the college was working" was void, application be made to the legisla- ture for a new one; and that Jackson Tibbets be employed as financial agent. The convention adopted the report of the committee, but on condition that the charter members of the board of trustees "fill the vacancies existing from such persons as the convention shall nominate, or approve, and that all future vacancies
363
HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY
be filled in the same manner." The committee on their own motion had al- ready secured the new charter, which was granted by the legislature, February 9, 1855. The members of the board named in the charter were Ezra L. North- rup, Jehdeiah Bowen, Jeremiah N. Walcott, Silas Hawley, Dana Lamb, Bertine Pinckney, Charles H. Camp, Harvey Grant, Sherlock Bristol and the "president of the collegiate faculty for the time being." These members were given power to increase their number to fifteen and on March 19th the following persons were added on nomination of convention : A. M. Skeels, Jeremiah Porter, Joseph Jack- son, A. B. Preston and Richard Catlin.
Although the money had not yet been raised to reimburse Mr. Walcott and the title of the property was still in him, yet the board proceeded to secure funds for the contemplated dormitory building. The board met on April 23, 1855, when the committee on subscriptions were able to report $4,000 pledged for the new building. Encouraged by this, the executive committee, with Messrs. Skeels, Northrup, and Lamb added, were appointed a building committee, and this com- mittee was instructed to "erect as speedily as the means raised by the agent should permit, a dormitory building, three stories in height, and not to exceed one hun- dred and ten feet in length by forty-four in width, and that said building be of stone." This building, erected according to the general plan indicated above, is the present Middle College.
On February 21, 1857, Mr. Walcott deeded the college property to the board of trustees, they securing him for his claim of six thousand nine hundred and seventy-seven dollars by a mortgage on the entire realty. The deed recognized the right of the Winnebago Convention to nominate candidates to fill vacancies in the board and had a clause providing that the property should revert to Mr. Walcott or his heirs, if it should ever be used for other than school purposes. The campus conveyed embraced about nine acres, which has since been enlarged by the purchase of about two additional acres. The dormitory building contem- plated in the vote of April, 1855, was not ready for use till the latter part of the autumn of 1858, and was not fully completed till the summer of 1863. The years from 1855 to 1862 witnessed serious struggles and strifes in the young col- lege enterprise. Although several efforts were put forth, little progress was made toward paying the claims of Mr. Walcott. A misunderstanding arose between Mr. Walcott and several of the largest subscribers to the building fund on ac- count of which conferences and negotiations were had that extended through several years. Besides those immediately interested, a large number of citizens and members of convention and of the neighboring churches became involved in the case, and the result was no little acrimony and loss of moral enthusiasm. Mr. Walcott retired from the principalship of the college and resigned his member- ship in the board of trustees, and the offended subscribers to the funds of the college refused to pay their subscriptions, claiming that they were morally re- leased on the ground that the management of the college had not been what they had a right to expect. This refusal led to the most serious financial embarrass- ment, for obligations had been incurred by the board relying on these large pledges to meet them. Besides all this, the policy of the college was as yet unsettled, the votes and discussions of these years indicating a doubt whether the institution should ultimately become a real college; whether, if it should, men and women should be educated together in it; or whether it should at length be a "female"
364
HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY
seminary or college, with a preparatory department for boys and girls. A strong: influence from the southern part of the state, especially from the supporters of Beloit College, was constantly felt adverse to the plan of making a full college for men and women.
An educational convention was held in Ripon on the 16th of July, 1856, which. had for its object the adoption of some basis on which all the churches could stand in support of the college. Representatives of the various conventions were present, and the president of Beloit College took a leading part in the discus- sions. The debates, according to the authority of the Rev. Edward Brown, who was a member of this council, gathered about the two questions of "coeducation" and of "a complete college course for young men at Ripon." President Chapin opened the session with "an excellent lecture on female education, near the close of which he expressed himself very mildly against coeducation in higher col- leges," says Mr. Brown. As a result of the deliberations, which continued through one entire day, the following conclusion was reached: "This convention is of the opinion that a union of all parties here represented may be secured upon the following basis :
1. That the establishment of a college for males be left in its present situa- tion until such time as God in His providence shall indicate its necessity.
2. That the preparatory department both for males and females be contin- ued, and that there be a faithful execution of every trust.
3. That the main object be a female seminary.
4. That the five ecclesiastical bodies come in as equal shares in the trustee- ship, expenses and responsibilities of the institution."
On the 29th of July following the board at its annual meeting took up the action of the educational convention for deliberate consideration, and a vote on adopting it as a basis of action was "unanimous in the negative." A committee was immediately appointed to issue a circular "setting forth the action of the board in reply to the educational convention's resolutions, and the plan of the future operations of the board, together with an appeal for help." This circular was soon issued, but the plan outlined leaves the question of a full college course for young men still indefinite. There is no doubt, however, that the board through- out held firmly to the idea of establishing a college in the full sense for both men and women, and that the indefiniteness of thought was more with the supporters of the work who were outside of the governing board. Their wavering and un- certainty was for the time an element of weakness.
An editorial writer in The Advance of April 14, 1887, says: "Ripon is in a measure a child of Oberlin ; one of the numerous colleges that have been built up by graduates of that institution." This statement needs modification; for the plan of coeducation was fully accepted, though not without spirited debates, long before any Oberlin man or woman was a teacher or other officer in the institu- tion or a minister in the Winnebago Convention. The early promoters of the work were doubtless influenced by the Oberlin experiment (for the Oberlin College in the '50s had hardly passed the experimental stage), but no Oberlin teachers wrought among the substructures till 1862. From that date to 1885 there were several.
The local estrangements referred to above and the divided councils indicated had a depressing influence in these early years. "Finally the crisis of 1857 came
365
HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY
upon the country with a crash which with the other difficulties shook the faith of many. Nevertheless, though embarrassed, the cause was not deserted. The school was maintained and efforts were still continued to weather the storm." Among those who rendered efficient and largely unremunerated service during these years were Rev. Dana Lamb, a shrewd, magnetic and courageous man ; Rev. J. W. Walcott, who, though buffeted, never allowed his love for the college to grow cold; Rev. H. M. Chapin, a determined and persistent solicitor of funds ; and Rev. J. J. Miter, the scholarly and accomplished pastor of the church at Beaver Dam. To recount in detail the labors of these men, together with those of others who faithfully served the college locally, would require volumes.
The spirit in which these pioneers worked is well illustrated by the toils and sacrifices of the Rev. Dana Lamb, to whom reference has already been made. He was a native of Vermont, and a graduate from her university with the vale- dictorian's rank. He had been, before coming to the west, a New England pastor in one of the small and straitened Vermont parishes, and had learned how to eke out his slender income by expert farming. In the autumn of 1847 he came with his wife and five children to Wisconsin, and settled in the township of Spring- vale, Fond du Lac county, on a farm now occupied by a son. He was a man of powerful physique, standing six feet two in his stockings, and was an expert in all forms of farm labor. These facts are gathered from a biographical sketch written by his son the Hon. Dana C. Lamb, who also tells the following anecdote : "While engaged in soliciting funds for the erection of a new college building, he came to a farm on Democrat prairie, four or five miles north of Ripon. The sun was declining and the distant college stood out in bold relief against the sky. Tying his horse to the fence, he entered the field where the farmer was engaged with an old fashioned reaper in harvesting wheat, having at least half a dozen men binding. Mr. Lamb approached him, and calling his attention to the beauti- ful view of the college, solicited his aid. The farmer replied roughly with an oath that he had no time to talk about college, but must bind wheat." Said Mr. Lamb, "have you any objection to my binding around with you?" "No," replied the farmer, "if you will keep up." They all started alike, Mr. Lamb and the farmer side by side, talking as they bound. Gradually the minister gained one bundle, then another, and so it went around the forty acre lot. Corner after cor- ner was turned, he keeping one or two bundles in the lead. As they arrived at the starting point, the farmer, completely out of breath and dripping with perspi- ration, exclaimed, "here, give me that book; no priest shall beat me binding, and I not do something for him," and he thereupon subscribed $50.
On the last Sunday of July, 1861, Mr. Lamb preached three times as he was wont to do, riding many miles to meet his appointments. The weather was hot, and being greatly exhausted by the labors of the day, he was taken violently ill in the night. A meeting of the trustees of the college was called for the following day, Monday, and, against the remonstrances of his family, he determined to attend. He rode to Ripon, thirteen miles, in a burning sun, in the farm wagon of a neighbor who was making the journey on business. He was hardly able to walk when he arrived, but insisted on taking his share in the deliberations of the board. The board met at the house of Mr. Lamb's son, where, lying on a lounge, he helped to mature plans which proved to be most important toward fixing the policy of the college and establishing it on a solid foundation. On
366
HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY
Tuesday he was present at a session of the board, whither he was conveyed in a carriage. On Tuesday night he grew rapidly worse and died on Wednesday morning, lamenting only that his work was but half done. The last words on his lips were an injunction to Dr. Hall to care for the college, and so the superb old hero passed to his blessed reward. * * *
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.