History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin, Part 68

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899. [from old catalog]; Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill., pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company
Number of Pages: 1298

USA > Wisconsin > Richland County > History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin > Part 68
USA > Wisconsin > Crawford County > History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin > Part 68

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470

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

CHAPTER XXII.

THE SCHOOLS OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

From the time of the earliest event of the families of French traders into the region now known as Wisconsin, to the year 1818, when that region became part of Michigan territory, education was mostly confined to private in- struction, or was sought by the children of the wealthier in the distant cities of Quebec, Mon- treal and Detroit. The early Jesuit mission- aries, and-subsequently to 1816, when it came under the military control of the United States -representatives of various other religious de- nominations sought to teach the Indian tribes of this section. In 1823 Rev. Eleazar Williams, well known for his subsequent claim to be the Dauphin of France, and who was in the employ of the Episcopal Missionary society, started a school of white and half-breed children on the west side of Fox river,opposite "Shanty-Town." A Catholic mission school for Indians was or- ganized by an Italian priest near Green Bay, in 1830. A clause of the treaty with the Winne- bago Indians, in 1832, bound the United States to maintain a school for their children near Prairie du Chien for a period of twenty seven years.

THE ORIGINAL SCHOOL CODE.

From 1818 to 1836, Wisconsin formed a part of Michigan territory. In the year 1837, Mich- igan was admitted into the Union as a State, and Wisconsin, embracing what is now Minne- sota, lowa, and a considerable region still fur- ther westward, was, by act of Congress, approved April 20th of the year previous, established as a separate territory. The act provided that the existing laws of the territory of Michigan should

be extended over the new territory so far as compatible with the provisions of the act, sub- ject to alteration or repeal by the new govern- ment created. Thus with the other statutes, the school code of Michigan became the orig- inal code of Wisconsin, and it was soon form- ally adopted, with almost no change, by the first territorial Legislature, which met at Bel- mont. Although modified in some of its pro- visions almost every year, this imperfect code continned in force until the adoption of the State constitution in 1848. The first material changes in the code were made by the territo- rial Legislature at its second session, in 1837,by the passage of a bill "to regulate the sale of school lands, and to provide for organizing, reg- ulating and perfecting common schools."

It was provided in this act that as soon as twenty electors should reside in a surveyed township, they should elect a board of three commissioners, holding office three years, to lay off districts, to apply the proceeds of the leases of school lands to the payment of teachers' wages, and to call school meetings. It was also provided that each district should elect a board of three directors, holding office one year, to locate school houses, hire teachers for at least three months in the year, and levy taxes for the support of schools. It was further provided that a third board of five inspectors should be elected annually in each town to examine and license teachers and inspeet the schools. Two years subsequently (1839) the law was revised and the family, instead of the electors, was made the basis of the town organization. Every .

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

town with not less than ten families, was made a school district and required to provide a com- petent teacher. More populous towns were di- ! vided into two or more districts. The office of town commissioner was abolished, its duties with certain others, being transferred to the in- spectors. The rate-bill system of taxation, pre- viously in existence, was repealed, and a tax on the whole county for building school houses and supporting schools was provided for. One or two years later the office of town commission- ers was restored, and the duties of the inspect- ors were asigned to the same. Other some- what important amendments were made at the same time.

In 1840, a memorial to Congress from the Legislature, represented that the people were anxious to establish a common school system, with suitable resources for its support. From lack of sufficient funds many of the schools were poorly organized. The rate-bill tax or private subscription was often necessary to suppliment the seanty results of county taxation. Until a State government should be organized the fund accruing from the sale of school lands could not be available. Congress had made to Wisconsin as to other new States, for educational purposes, a donation of lands. These lands embraced the sixteenth section in every township in the State, the 500,000 acres to which the State was enti- tled by the provisions of an act of Congress passed in 1841, and any grant of lands from the United States, the purposes of which were not specified. To obtain the benefits of this large fund was a leading object in forming the State constitution.

AGITATION FOR FREE SCHOOLS.

Shortly before the admission of the State the subject of free schools began to be quite widely discussed. In February, 1845, Col. M. Frank, of Kenosha, a member of the territorial Legis- lature, introduced a bill, which became a law, authorizing the legal voters of his own town to vote taxes on all the assessed property for the full support of its schools. A provision of the

act required its submission to the people of the town before it could take effect. It met with strenuous opposition, but after many public meetings and lectures held in the interests of public enlightenment, the act was ratified by a small majority in the fall of 1845, and thus the first free school in the State was legally organ- ized. Subsequently, in the Legislature, in the two constitutional conventions, and in educa- tional assemblies, the question of a free school system for the new State soon to be organized provoked much interest and discussion. In the constitution framed by the convention of 1846, was provided the basis of a free school system similar to that in our present constitution.

The question of establishing the office of State superintendent, more than any other fea- ture of the proposed school system elicted dis- cussion in that body. The necessity of this of- fice, and the advantages of free schools sup- ported by taxation, were ably presented to the convention by Henry Barnard, of Connecticut, in an evening address. Ile afterward prepared by request, a draft of a free school system, with a State superintendent at its head, which was accepted and subsequently embodied in the constitution and the school law. In the second constitutional convention, in 1848, the same questions again received careful attention, and the article on education previously prepared, was, after a few changes, brought into the shape in which we now find it. Immediately after the ratification by the people, of the constitu- tion prepared by the second convention, three commissioners were appointed to revise the statutes. To one of these, Col. Frank, the needed revision of the school laws was as- signed. The work was acceptably performed, and the new school code of 1849, largely the same as the present one, went into operation May 1st, of that year.

THE SCHOOL SYSTEM UNDER THE STATE GOVERN- MENT.

In the State constitution was laid the broad foundation of our present school system. The

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

four corner stones were: (1) The guaranteed freedom of the schools; (2) the school fund created; (3) the system of supervision ; (4) a State University for higher instruction. The school fund has five distinct sources for its ere- ation indicated in the constitution: (1) Pro- ceeds from the sale of lands granted to the State by the United States for educational pur- poses; (2) all moneys accruing from forfeiture or escheat; (3) all fines collected in the several counties for breach of the penal laws; (+) all moneys paid for exemption from military duty; (5) five per cent. of the sale of government lands within the State. In addition to these constitutional sources of the school fund, an- other and sixth source was open from 1856 to 1870.

By an act of the State Legislature in the former year, three-fourths of the net proceeds of the sales of the swamp and overflowed lands, granted to the State by Congress, Sept. 28, 1850, were added to the common school fund, the other fourth going into a fund for drainage, under certain circumstances ; but if not paid over to any town for that purpose within two years, to become a part of the school find. The following year one of these fourths was con- verted into the normal school fund, leaving one- half for the common school fund. In 1858 an- other fourth was given to the drainage fund, thus providing for the latter one-half the in- come from the sales, and leaving for the school fund, until the year 1865, only the remaining one fonrth. In the latter year this was trans- ferred to the normal school fund, with the pro- vision, however, that one-fourth of the income of this fund should be transferred to the com- mon school fund until the annual income of the latter fund should reach $200,000. In 1870 this provision was repealed, and the whole income of the normal fund left applicable to the sup- port of normal schools and teachers' institutes.

At the first session of the State Legislature in 1848, several acts were passed which carried out in some degree the educational provisions

of the constitution. A law was enacted to pro- vide for the election, and to define the duties of a State superintendent of public instruction. A district board was created, consisting of a moderator, director and treasurer ; the office of town superintendent was established, and pro- vision was made for the creation of town libra- ries, and for the distribution of the school fund. The present school code of Wisconsin is sub- stantially that passed by the Legislature of 1848, and which went into operation May 1, 1849. The most important change since made was the abolition of the office of town superintendent, and the substitution therefor of the county superintendency. This change took effect Jan. 1, 1862 .*

DEVELOPMENT OF SCHOOLS IN CRAWFORD COUNTY.

From small beginnings indeed, education has developed in Crawford as in other counties, step by step, growth upon growth, ever widen- ing and deeping to meet the wants of an increas- ing population, until to-day our schools stand abreast with the times, and are not far behind the foremost in Wisconsin.

Here and there some fifteen to twenty years ago the traveler might meet on some cross road or deep in the head of some coulee, the old- time log cabin, poorly lighted, largely venti- lated, wretchedly constructed and furnished, where grown boys and girls with little children were taught from old fashioned and various text books, and often indeed, without even these poor aids. Educated and trained teachers were hard to obtain. There was little attempt at classification or any uniformity of method. One teacher spent part of his term in pulling down the work which the former teacher had built up, or in carrying the pupil over the same ground traveled by his predecessor, leaving the boy or girl at compound numbers or at frac- tions, to begin again the same process on the re-opening of the school and arrival of the next teacher.

*** Educational History," by Prof. Edward Scaring, in the Illustrated Historical Atlas of Wisconsin,

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

The programme and curriculum of these palmy days were the time worn reading and arithmetic in the forenoon; geography, reading and spelling in the afternoon. Language les- sons or grammar were seldom or never taught. Penmanship was a scarcity. The benches and desks were rude; the ceiling low ; the floor rough and rickety. No outbuildings were visi- ble and on the whole the aspect looked uninvit- ing. Yet here and there some good, solid work was accomplished, owing, perhaps, rather to the determination and patience of the pupil than to the ability of the teacher and the aid of books, and out from even these poor schools have gone earnest hearted youths and maidens equipped and harnessed fairly for the struggle of life. So true it is that talent will finally manifest itself in spite of laek of aid from extensive sources.

Crawford county had several superintendents of schools in these days known as township superintendents.

By and by instead of the log cabin might be seen, along the public roads, here and there, the neat frame building ; sometimes roomy and well lighted, with seats and desks in keeping. and occasionally a good blackboard and a map or two on the walls. Some system, too, was at- tempted in the examination of teachers, and also in the discipline of the school room. Scholarship became a necessary factor in the teacher's fitness. The schools were more fre- quently visited ; better order prevailed ; the tests of successful work sought out both by superintendents and district boards, and the attention of the public now closely turned to the conditions of the schools.

The township system of superintendents closed and that of county supervisors begun.

COUNTY SUPERINTENDENTS.

The county superintendents who have been been elected to that office and the year of their election are as follows:

Joseph Evens, 1861; Orson Jackson; 1863; E. Kielly, 1865; C. W. Clinton, 1867; M. E Mum-

ford, 1869; F. D. Mills, 1871; L. G. Miller, 1875; M. E. Norris, 1877; James H. McDonald, 1879; James H. McDonald, 1881.

COUNTY SUPERVISION.

The effect of this supervision and discipline is manifest in the better order of the schools and the progress of the pupils. Not only is it sought to have the intellect developed, but like- wise the heart of kindness and courtesy, in the school room and on the play grounds. A con- stant visitation, when not engaged in office work, is kept up by the superintendent, when methods of instruction are examined, suggested or recommended, and faithful work encouraged.

Publie lectures are frequently given; talks to the children on the beauty and nobility of ed- ucation, self government and a pure life, self- giving and unselfish are not infrequent. Teach- ers and pupils everywhere welcome the su- perintendent, and he has always a place in the hearts and homes of our generous people.

The holding each year of normal institutes, under the management of a normal school con- ductor, assisted by the county superintendent and most able and prominent teachers, is of in- calculable benefit. They present the best and standard methods of teaching; experiences of the most successful in the profession; the drill, the discipline and the elementary nature of the work, and are ealeulated to fit the teacher for abler methods of greater uniformity and of larger results in the school room.

Sehool boards and school patrons are of late turning their attention to the providing of text books for their districts of greater uniformity, and of school furniture, such as maps, globes, seats and desks. The outlay in this direction during the last school year (1883) has been large. The profession is becoming less and less an itineraey, good teachers being retained in the old plaees at an increased salary.

There is yet much to do. The battle has not yet been won. May the time soon come when the school house will adorn the country, when the last log cabin will have disappeared and in

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

its place will stand the neat edifice with pleas- ant surroundings, calcuculated to train and ele- vate the ideas of the beautiful in the hearts and minds of the children, and when every man and woman, every youth and maiden in this beanti- ful country will have risen to a larger concep- tion of what America offers them and expects from them in return. A great people, a grand future, to be reached not so much by wealth or by victory on the battle field as through the agency and power of the common schools.

It will be seen by the following figures that the schools are still steadily though slowly in- creasing.

STATISTICS OF CRAWFORD COUNTY COMMON SCHOOLS .*

Number of districts in the county, wholly in one town. 73

Number of joint districts, composed of parts of two or more towns. 21

Whole number of schools in the county .. ... Number of pupils of school age in the county Number of schools with more than one de- partment 1

5,023

Number of teachers required to teach the schools in the county. 95

Number of male teachers employed .. 55

108

Average wages paid male teachers per month

" female

Number of pupils attending school last year. . . 3,532

Number of distriets in the county having a library. 2

Number of school houses built last year. 4

Cost of school houses built last year. . $2,084.85 Cash value of all school houses in the county $24,259.85 Highest valuation of any school house. $3,037.50 Amount raised by tax in the county for sehool purposes. $16,075.24 Amount paid out in the county for school purposes. $21,352.76 The above statistics do not include the statisties for the city of Prairie du Chien.

James H. McDonald, superintendent of schools of Crawford county, was born in Hart- ford, Conn., July 8, 1853. In 1859 he came to Madison, Wis., with his parents, and from there to Richland Centre. He received his primary education at the high school at Richland Cen- ter, and subsequently took a course of study at the Prairie du Chien college. At the age of sixteen years he began teaching school, and has made that his business for upwards of twelve years. Ile was elected county superintendent of schools of Crawford county in the fall of 1879; served the term of 1880-81; he has been re- elected and holds the office till Jan. 1, 1885. Mr. McDonald has made a most efficient and popular superintendent. He was married at Prairie du Chien Jan. 13, 1880, to Miss B. M. O'Niel, the daughter of Michael O'Niel. Mrs. Mc- Donald was born at Prairie du Chien. They have two sons-Joseph and John. Their resi- dence is Eastman, Wis. Mr. McDonald lost his right arm in a railroad accident May 30, 1867. He has educated himself and by his en- ergy and studious habits has won success as a teacher, while, by the faithful discharge of his official duties, he commands the respect and confidence of his constituents.

* From the annual report of the county superintendent for the year ending June 30. 1883.

Mumber of female teachers employed. . .. Number of different teachers employed (1882-3). 163 $30.06 $18.94

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

CHAPTER XXIII.

VARIOUS THINGS.

As the years pass away there are transpiring continually in the county incidents of impor- tance, which in their nature only require brief mention, but which cannot well be overlooked. Some of these are so transient in their character, that by much the larger portion of the people, they are soon forgotten; but what may seem unimportant now may become exceedingly im- portant to future generations. It is the office of this chapter to preserve these small things await- ing the time when each shall no longer seem like "an insubstantial pageant faded."

"PURCHASED BY DR. ALEXANDER POSEY."

Know all men by these presents, That I, Patsay (a woman of color), heretofore indent- ured agreeably to the laws of Illinois territory, to M. Street, and having recently been purchas- ed by Dr. Alexander Posey, at sheriff sale, as the property of said Street, do hereby covenant and agree with said Posey to remain with Mrs. Street as her servant during the full period for which the aforesaid indentures were taken; and furthermore I do hereby voluntarily and of my own accord agree to go with the said Mrs. Street to Prairie du Chien, or wherever else she may wish to reside, and to serve her, in the capacity of a servant as above stated; and I do hereby again aver that my going with Mrs. Street, as aforesaid, is of my own free will and accord, and not through the compulsion or evertion [sic] of said Posey or any other person.

Given under my hand this 24th day of May, A. D. 1828. PATSAY, her X mark.

Witness: P. Redman, John Marshall, Joseph Caldwell.

STATE OF ILLINOIS, - GALLATIN COUNTY.

ss:

Before me personally appeared Patsay (a wo- man of color) whose mark is affixed to her name in the following [foregoing] instrument of wri- ting, and acknowledged the same to be her free and voluntary act and deed for the purposes therein named; and that the same was done in the absence of Dr. Posey. Given under my hand and seal this 24th day of May, 1828.

THOMAS. F. VAUGHT, J, P.

A PIONEER INCIDENT.

Le Grant Sterling in 1847 carried his plow on his shoulders from West Prairie to Mt. Ster- ling, on his way to Prairie du Chien, to get it sharpened. At Mt. Sterling, his load getting rather heavy, he hired a horse and rode the residue of the distance. On his way back he overtook Alexander Latshaw, whose wife was a relative, and a joyful meeting was of course the result. Mr. Latshaw was just then on his way out to settle in what is now Vernon, but what was then Crawford county.

"THE VAST, ILLIMITABLE, CHANGNIG WEST."

[By John D, Lawler, 1871.]

The histories of the various States compris- ing the Union, are excedingly prolific in thril- ling incidents, and especially may this be said of States bordering on the Mississippi river. Few of the thriving cities, towns and vil- lages that line its banks from St. Paul to New Orleans, but have connected with their first settlement and after growth, circumstances which serve to invest them with more than or- dinary interest, an interest the more fascinating

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

from the fact, that the circumstances chronicled concerning them are just so far removed as to be out of our memory, and yet within the ree- ollection of some of our elders, and indeed, upon the narratives of these men are we compelled to rely for the history of the western country. They tell us of the hardships and dangers endured by the early settlers, of

" The battles, sieges, fortunes --- They have passed."

They picture in vivid colors the barbarities of the savages, their ruthless massacres and their fiendish crnelties.

It seems almost impossible that such things should have occurred in this age and country; and yet, fifty years ago, they were of common occurrence, and they are narrated by those who have witnessed them-the hardy pioneers, who led the van of civilization into the vast wilder- ness of the west who, in youth, smoked the pipe of peace at the council fires of the savages, or mixed in deadly fray with this ruthless foe, and in old age they beheld the places where once their camp fires burned brightly, in the depth of unbroken forests, covered with the habitations of civilized life.

The unparalleled growth of this country is nowhere better evidenced than in this State. HIalf a century ago there were searcely 1,000 inhabitants, and but two settlements within its limits; to-day, the population is more than 1,000,000, and numerous cities, towns and vil- lages have sprung up as by magic.

AN OLD PROPHECY FULFILLED.

In the New England Magazine for September, 1832, -- a magazine edited by J. T. & E. Bueking- ham-was printed an article reviewing a book entitled " A Tour to Prairie du Chien, etc.," by Caleb Atwater. Mr. Atwater's vision of an interoceanie railway was thus presented in his book :

"Along the National road, when completed from Wheeling to Jefferson City, in Missouri, a railroad might be made, and from thence up the Platte all the way to the Pacific, without a

hill in the way worth naming. I know, from personal observation, that not a single hill or valley prevents the construction of a railroad from Wheeling to St. Louis ; and that, I doubt not, is the worst part of the route. When lo- comotive engineers are brought to the perfec- tion experience and ingenuity will soon bring them, goods and passengers could pass between the two seas in ten days. That this will be the route to China within fifty years from this time scarcely admits of a doubt. From sea to sea a dense population would dwell along the whole route, enliven the prospect with their in- dnstry, and animate the scene."

This was more than the interviewer, "a gen- tleman who has resided several years in the western country," could stand, and he demol- ished Mr. Atwater's railroad with the following words :

"Ay, when railroads shall have been con- structed over 1,000 miles of land almost as barren and arid as the desert of Sahara, this may be the channel of communication between New York and China. Pray, will the passen- gers in Mr. Atwater's locomotive engine carry their food with them, or will they stop to hunt the buffalo ? Will the Indians have been exter- minated, or will the steam cars run over them? Will forests have grown up on the road to sup- pły his boilers with fuel ? * That such * a communication may take place between the Atlantic states and the East Indies some day, we will not dispute, for nothing is impossible with God ; but that it will exist any time within the next two centuries we beg leave to doubt. The obstacles which exist at present are as follows : The Indian title is to be extinguished over a ronte of about 1,500 miles; a railroad must be laid over two thirds of that distance ; wood must grow along the road, and reservoirs must be constructed to supply the engines with water. This seems to be a wilder scheme than even that of Oregon emigration."

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History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin, Part 68

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899. [from old catalog]; Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill., pub. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company Number of Pages: 1298

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899. [from old catalog]; Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill., pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company
Number of Pages: 1298