History of Dane County, Wisconsin, Part 116

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899; Western Historical Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Company
Number of Pages: 1304

USA > Wisconsin > Dane County > History of Dane County, Wisconsin > Part 116

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HISTORY OF DANE COUNTY.

was built, now known as the " Little Brick," on Butler street, near Washington avenue. This was divided by partition into two rooms to accommodate two teachers. It was large and com- modious for the time. A. A. Bird was the contractor; the house is estimated to have cost $1,000. Jerome R. Brigham was the first teacher, in the fall of 1845 and winter following, and was succeeded by Royal Buck, who continued two years.

A school meeting was called to be held March 22, 1845, to vote a tax for building a school- house, signed I. Washington Bird, Clerk.

At a meeting of the Board of Trustees, held March 23, 1847, all that portion of Dane County known as the village of Madison, was organized under the name of " Madison Village School District No. 1."

An enumeration of school children, taken March 10, showed that there were 142 children between the ages of four and twenty. The amount of school money apportioned the district was $232.48. The annual statement of the board, made for the year ending October, 1847, showed that two male teachers and one female teacher were employed. School taught by male teachers, nine months; and nineteen weeks by female teacher.

On the 4th of June, the Board of Supervisors made a report of resources and expenditures to April 6, 1847 ; whole amount of receipts, $3,200.48 ; expenditures, $2,510.82.

The Madison Express, of March 23, 1847, referring to the growth of the village, says : " From present appearance, building would be, this season, threefold greater than in any pre- vious year. Among the rest, is the brick academy, which is to cost about $3,000." This build- ing was located on Lot 4, Block 82, corner of Wisconsin avenue and Johnson street. The pre- paratory department of the State University was held therein soon after its organization. The structure was demolished in May, 1873, to make room for the new City High School.

A meeting of the legal voters of School District No. 1, town of Madison, was held on the 20th of March, 1850. D. H. Wright, then Town Superintendent of Schools, called the meeting to order, and the following district officers were elected : William C. Wells, Director ; Benjamin Holt, Treasurer ; and Simeon Mills, Clerk. The census taken April 1, of the same year, shows the number of children residing in the district, over four and under twenty years, to be 317; whole number attending school, 153. May 11, of this year, James L. Enos was engaged to teach the district school three months, at $30 a month, at the expiration of which term he was re-engaged, and continued for two years. It seems that efforts were here made by Mr. Enos to inaugurate the graded school system. The school was divided into two departments, Mrs. Church having charge of the primary.

September 1, Simeon Mills, Clerk of School District No. 1, comprising the village of Madison, made a report, showing that the whole number of persons of school age was 503; that a school had been taught by James L. Enos for three months, since the formation of the district. J. Lyman Wright succeeded Mr. Enos in the winter of 1853-54.

In April, 1854, Damon Y. Kilgore was engaged as Principal of the public school, and commenced his labors in the small brick schoolhouse on Washington avenue, now known as the " Little Brick Schoolhouse." On the first day there were twenty-three pupils present, of dif. ferent grades, speaking different languages, and presenting a variegated appearance. For various reasons, several of the pupils were sent home the first day to be prepared for school in a proper manner (a judicious use of soap and water), most of whom returned in the afternoon very much improved in appearance. The number gradually increased, until the house would not accommo- date the pupils, and the school was removed to the basement of the Methodist Church. Here the school was no less crowded than before. In the winter term, there were 267 pupils in one room. This term, Mr. Kilgore was assisted by his sister, Miss Abby L. Kilgore.

In the meantime, efforts were being made to incorporate the village of Madison into a separate school district. On the 25th of September, 1854, a meeting was held, and a committee, consisting of W. B. Jarvis, C. Abbot, D. J. Powers, G. P. Delaplaine, S. G. Stacy and W. A. White, was appointed, whose duty it was to procure the passage of an act, by the next Legislature, for the more efficient and permanent organization of the village of Madison as a school district.

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The following notice will show the result of the efforts of the committee, and the organiza" tion of the first Board of Education :

SCHOOL MEETING-Notice is hereby given, that, pursuant to an act entitled, " An act incorporating the village of Madison into a separate School District," approved February 13, 1855, a meeting of the qualified voters of said district will be held at the school-room, in the vestry of the Methodist Church; on Tuesday, February 20, 1855, at 7 P. M., to select six persons as the Board of Education of said village, and for the transaction of such other business as may come before them under the provisions of said act.

D. S. DURRIE, Clerk of School District No. 1, Madison.

David H. Wright was elected Chairman of this meeting, and Frank H. Firmin, Clerk. Six School Directors were elected, who constituted the Board of Education of the village of Madison : Simeon Mills, W. B. Jarvis, L. J. Farwell, J. Y. Smith, D. H. Wright and W. A. White.

D. Y. Kilgore, Superintendent of the village schools, in his report for the year 1855, says the whole number that have attended school during the year is 750; that the whole number of children, by the last census, is 1,600; that the only building owned by the village for educa- tional purposes is a small brick schoolhouse-fast becoming obsolete, and incapable of accommo- dating one-thirtieth part of those entitled to public school instruction-and attributes the fact that so large a proportion of pupils attend no school whatever, to the shameful lack of school accommodations, and strongly urges on the Board of Education, and the village anthorities, the necessity of four ward schools and one high school.

The Board of Education established three grades of schools, the high school, the inter- mediate and the primary, under the immediate supervision of a Superintendent, and the gen- eral supervision of the board. By the act of incorporation, the board was anthorized to borrow $10,000 on the credit of the village, and the Board of Trustees was authorized to issne bonds for the amount, for the purpose of erecting a union schoolhouse. But the Board of Education were unable to induce the Board of Trustees to issue the bonds, the latter being of the opinion that $10,000 was a larger debt than the village ought to incur at one time, and nothing was done in the way of building that year.

In 1856, the village having become a city, the Common Council, on the 20th of August, appropriated $24,000 for the erection of schoolhouses in the four wards of the city. Here the matter rested, with some trifling progress in the selection of sites, until after the Council had raised from the sale of city bonds, and had at its disposal, a large amount of money. The sites for schoolhouses having been selected or assented to, and paid for by the Common Council ont of the money set apart for that purpose, at a cost of $6,887.50, the Board of Education immediately thereafter advertised for proposals for the erection of the four schoolhouses, to be built of stone, 40x50 feet on the ground, and two stories high. When, however, the proposals were received, the season for building had so far passed, that it was deemed advisable to con- struct but two houses during the season (1856), leaving the remaining two to be erected the following spring. Accordingly, contracts were entered into for the erection of schoolhonses in the First and Third Wards, to be completed by January 1, 1857. After the work had so far advanced that it became necessary to make payments to the contractors, the Common Council were applied to for money for that purpose, but refused for some reason never made known to the board. In consequence of this action of the Council, the Board of Education were deprived of the means of continuing the work, or meeting the engagements they had entered into, and the contractors brought suits to recover pay for work performed, and for damages for non- performance on the part of the board.

From the report of the Superintendent, we learn that the whole number of scholars attending school during the year is 694-less by 56 than the number reported last year. The central or high school was kept in the old Congregational Church, and had 133 pupils, of which number 67 are in the higher English and classical departments. Eight teachers had been engaged.

The First and Third Ward Schoolhouses were completed and occupied in 1857. They are two-story stone buildings, built after the same plan, and costing the sum total of $9,500, exclu-

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sive of furnishing. In each building, the second story has one large study-room capable of seat- ing one hundred pupils, with a recitation-room adjacent. to and leading out of the main room. The lower story is divided into two rooms communicating with each other, used for primary and intermediate departments. They are each capable of seating sixty-five pupils.

The City Superintendent, D. Y. Kilgore, in his report for 1857, says: " At this time, there are eleven separate schools, in which are employed fifteen teachers. The whole amount expended for rent of schoolhouses, repairs, fuel, incidental expenses and teachers' wages, is less than $6,000, and according to the school census, 1,865 children, between the ages of four and twenty, reside within the city limits. Of this number, only 934 have attended the public schools during the past year."

In the latter part of A. D. 1860, it became apparent to the Board of Education that, on account of the lack of means to sustain the schools at that time in successful operation, some one or more of them must be permanently discontinued, and perhaps all of them be suspended for a part of the coming year. After a careful examination of the facts in the case, it was finally deemed expedient to discontinue indefinitely the high school ; consequently, at the close of the first school term of 1861, the high school ceased to exist. . In order to compensate, as far as pos- sible, for this loss of educational facilities to the city, an arrangement was entered into with Miss L. L. Coues, wherein she engaged, after the close of the first term of the high school of 1861, " to carry it on as a school of the same grade as before, without expense to the board and under their supervision, provided she could have the use of the building, furniture and apparatus, for one year, with the privilege of two." This arrangement was afterward so far modified as to permit her to open her school the first term for the admission of females only. In accordance with this arrangement, Miss Coues opened, and continued through the remainder of the year, a female high school, affording facilities for those citizens who wished their daughters to pursue a course of study in the higher branches of female education to secure these advantages at the trifling expense of the tuition fees, these fees being paid, not by the board, but by those who enjoyed the advantages of the school. The board were satisfied that this, though not what could have been desired, was still the best arrangement for the interests of education in the city that, under the circumstances of the case, could be made.

In addition to the discontinuance of the high school, the board found itself reluctantly com- pelled to suspend all the other schools of the city during the summer term. This the board deemed a serious loss to the children of the city, but a loss necessitated by its restricted finances.

The Legislature of 1861 having passed an act to create the offices of County Superintend- ents of Schools, the board, in accordance with the provisions of that act, adopted, on the 15th of August, the following resolution :

Resolved, That the Board of Education of the city of Madison do hereby elect that said city shall, for the next ensuing year, be exempt from the provisions of Chapter 179, of the General Laws of 1861, being an act to create the office of County Superintendent of Schools, in accordance with Section 11 of said act.

By this action, the Board of Education retained the management of the schools of the city entirely in their own hands, and relieved the city from the burden of aiding in the support of the County Superintendent of Schools.

The number of scholars that attended the city schools, during the spring and fall terms, was not quite 650. The amount of money expended during the year, for sustaining the schools under care of the board, was $3,460.35.

Charles H. Allen, Superintendent of City Schools, in his report for the year 1862, states that there were at the last enumeration 2,380 children in the city between the ages of four and twenty years ; that the whole number registered in the public schools for the term commencing September, 1862, was 656, and the average daily attendance, 423. The Superintendent makes. a strong appeal for more and better accommodations.

From the report of the Board of Education for the year ending December, 1863, it appears that the total valuation of school property in the city, including buildings, furniture-

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HISTORY OF DANE COUNTY.

and grounds, was $26,791.62. The number of seats in all the public-school buildings was 709, while the number of pupils enrolled for the fall term of 1863 was 826. The census of school children, as taken this year, made the whole number between the ages of four and twenty, 2,417, of which number, 1,150 were males, and 1,267 females.

The high school, which had been closed for nearly two years, on account of financial diffi- culties, was this year re-opened with 55 pupils.

The annual reports of the Board of Education, for the years 1864 and 1865, were pub- lished in the spring of 1866. The whole number of children of school age in the city, accord- ing to the census of 1865, was 3,193. The whole number who had attended school, enrolled since September 1, 1864, 978. The Fourth Ward Schoolhouse was reported under contract, and when completed, the pressure on the lower departments would be relieved, and a stricter gradation made. There were fourteen teachers in the employ of the board-J. T. Lovewell was Superintendent, and Principal of the high school, and Miss Emeline Curtis, Assistant. The salaries of female teachers were $400.

The whole number of children in the city of school age was 3,366. The school accommo- dations were for 965 children. The building of the Fourth Ward Schoolhouse, on Lots 1 and 2, Block 48, overlooking Lake Monona, was put under contract, to James Livesey, for $12,130, and outbuildings $500. The furniture cost $1,000. This building was completed during the year, and is built in the Italio-American style, sixty-five feet front by forty-two and a half deep, with projections in front of 5x22, and 7x22 in the rear. It is constructed of buff-colored Edger- ton brick, with magnesian limestone dressing, with a gable or pediment on each four sides, and a bell tower in the center of the roof. It is heated by two furnaces in the basement. J. G. McMynn, then State Superintendent, pronounced it "the best-arranged school building in the State."

The whole number of school children in 1867 was 3,559, an increase of 193 since 1866 ; number enrolled during the year, 1,626.

The following is a description of the Second Ward Schoolhouse, which occupies with its grounds, Lots 2, 3 and southwest half of 4, in Block 138:

"The grounds have a front of 165 feet on Gorham street, and a depth of about 265 feet to Lake Mendota, upon which it has a border of about 165 feet. This site, which contains one acre, is well supplied with native forest trees and cost $1,650.

" The building is sixty-one feet front by forty-two feet deep, with vestibule projection of 5x20 in front and 11x26 in rear.

" The basement walls are of stone, laid upon a concrete foundation composed of broken stone and cement, and are eight feet high. The rooms are well lighted, and floored with brick laid in cement, upon concrete of gravel and cement, and afford ample room for furnaces and fuel, as well as play-room for the pupils in stormy weather.

"The building above the basement is constructed of Edgerton brick, with limestone trim- mings. It is two stories high, with four gables, and a bell tower rising from the center to the height of about sixty feet from the ground, in which is hung a 600-pound bell.

"There are four schoolrooms, each 26x34, and thirteen feet high, capable of furnishing seats for sixty-four to seventy-two pupils, with ample wardroom closets.

"The exterior woodwork is painted and sanded ; the interior is grained to represent oak. The rooms are warmed by Littlefield's hot-air furnaces, and are each furnished with two venti- lating flues with iron fan registers.

"A small room, 10x12, on the second floor, may be used as a reception room, or for reci- tations, or as teachers' private room.

"The water from the roof of the whole building is conducted to a cistern under the base- ment of the rear vestibule, which has a capacity of about 250 barrels.

" The building was erected by contract with W. T. Fish, by whom the mason work was done; the carpenter work by Sorenson & Frederickson ; the plastering by E. Sharp & Co .; the tin work and beating apparatus by Lewis & Allen, and the painting by Pollard & Nelson. The

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whole work was under the general superintendence of L. P. Drake, and cost $16,000. The architect was G. P. Randall, of Chicago."

The whole number of persons of school age, in 1868, was 3,485; whole number enrolled since September 2, 1867, 2,087. The expenses of the city schools for the year were, $34,815.58, which amount was for school furniture, repairs, supplies and teachers' salaries. The amount of taxes levied for city, State, county and school purposes this year, was $88,412.81.

In 1869, it appears that the city schools afforded facilities for 1,125 pupils-the whole number of students enrolled since September 2, 1868, was 2,080. The number of students in attendance at the making of the report was 969; number of children of school age, 3,640.

In 1870, the number of persons of school age was 3,958; number of pupils enrolled from August 31, 1869, to July 18, 1870, 1,992. The board had in its possession eight schoolhouse sites, valued at $14,900; eight school buildings, with furnaces and seating, valued at not less than $70,000, with a library, melodeon, apparatus, maps, globes, charts and books of reference, valued at $700. During the year, the board purchased a site for a schoolhouse' in the Univer- sity Addition, known as Lots 7, 8 and 9, in Block 2, situated on the northwest corner of Park and Johnson streets, 165 feet on the former and about 240 feet on the latter street, for $1,000.

Plans and specifications for the building were prepared by G. P. Randall, architect, Chicago; the precise character of which was settled upon in February, 1871. Immediately thereafter, proposals for the construction of the building were invited by the committee, and a contract was made with Fish & Stevens for its erection, in accordance with the plan and specifications, under the supervision of H. N. Moulton, to be completed on or before December 25, 1871, for the sum of $14,829.

Work was commenced about April 1, and pushed with such vigor, that the greater part was done about November 1.

The building is 60 feet fronting on Johnson street, by 40 feet deep, with front vestibule projecting three feet from the line of the building, and about twenty feet in length, and rear vestibule for entrance and stairway, 16x18 feet.

The building has four school-rooms, each about 25x34 feet and 14 feet high ; front stairway to the second story, 5 feet 4 inches wide, and rear stairway of about equal width. A basement, the full size of the building, floored with hard brick, laid in concrete, furnishes room for storage of fuel, sufficient to supply the three furnaces designed to warm the entire building, and which can be used as play rooms in stormy weather.

Special reference to the suitable warming and complete ventilation of the school-rooms was kept in view. The building has a capacity to seat about 270 pupils.

In 1871, the whole number of students enrolled from September 5, 1870, to July 1, 1871, was 2,437. The total amount of expenditures for the year, was $29,149.56. During the year, a building was erected in the northeast district, of wood, inclosed with brick walls, one story high, 26x42 feet, with school-room of size to seat comfortably sixty-five scholars. It cost about $2,300. Extensive repairs were made on First and Third Ward Schoolhouses.

The high school building was completed and prepared for occupation for the term com- mencing January 5, 1874.

It is located on Wisconsin avenue, on the site of the old building, and is built of Waterloo brick, resting on a high stone basement. It more nearly approaches the Italian style of archi- tecture than any other, with a Chinese-like tower, fourteen feet square, the top of the staff above the belfry being 114 feet from the ground.

G. P. Randall & Co., of Chicago, were the architects. The contract was let to James Livesey, who did the mason work, and H. N. Moulton was sub-contractor, and did the carpenter work. The total contract price was $20,000, but it was found necessary to excavate a little farther than was at first intended, so as to get through clay into gravel, which added a few hun- dred dollars to the original estimate. Mr. Livesey's bill amounted to something over $8,000, and Mr. Moulton's to $12,000, for everything but the furniture. D. R. Jones, of this city, was the supervising architect. The work is admirably done.

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The main building is 63x44 feet, with a wing 35x36 feet, and is two stories high with a basement. The basement is 9 feet 6 inches from floor to ceiling ; the first story, 13 feet 4 inches, and the second story, 14 feet 6 inches.

The main entrance, on Wisconsin avenue, up a flight of nine stone steps, is into a vestibule 12x18 feet. This opens to the left, into the office and Superintendent's room, 16x23 feet, in the east wing. At the end of the vestibule is the main hall, 11x28 feet. To the left is the lunch room, 15x23 feet, in the wing. This is for those who bring their dinners. From the end of the hall is the two covered walks, for boys and girls, to the well-arranged and ventilated brick building in the rear, 18x28 feet. To the right of the main hall is a long hall, 5 feet wide, leading to the vestibule and door on Johnson street, and on each side of this wing is a school- room 24}x35 feet, each prepared to seat forty pupils, and each having a dressing-room, 5x25 feet.

From the main hall are stairs leading to the upper corridor, 11x13 feet. To the right, from this corridor, is a door into the wing. This is one of the pleasantest rooms in the building, 2312x33 feet, with desks for forty-five, and from it is a door leading into a dressing room, 11x20 feet, located over the vestibule. There is also a door from the corridor to this room. To the left of the corridor is a door into the high school room, in the main building, on Wisconsin avenue. It is 33x41 feet, and will seat ninety pupils. The building will seat 221 students. From this room and the corridor are doors to the boys' dressing-room, 10x27 feet ; the library, 14x27, and the recitation room, 15x27 feet.

The building is wainscoted, the school-rooms three feet from floor, the corridor five and the dressing rooms seven feet. The walls in the schoolroom are prepared for chalk some distance ahove the wainscoting, by a green preparation of prepared slate. The windows have weights and inside blinds; the floors are double, narrow pine, and the upper one is " deadened." The work is admirably finished, and grained in oak by Mr. Pollard, of this city. The building is heated by three large and three small Boynton furnaces. They are yoked together in pairs, the large one on the off side, as is usual with oxen. In moderate weather the small ones work alone ; in colder weather the large ones work alone, and in very cold weather they all work together. They were put in under the supervision of James Camack, of the firm of M. Joachim & Co., of Madison. The ventilation is on the improved Ruttan system, the foul air passing through a perforated base board and to the foul-air shaft, six feet square and sixty-two feet high. This is an admirable arrangement for health and comfort, and too much praise cannot be bestowed on the board for introducing it.

The basement is roomy and well arranged for taking fresh cold air for the furnace, storing coal and managing the heating apparatus. In fact, from the bell in the tower to the brick of the basement floor, it is convenient and complete. The members of the Board of Education were J. H. Carpenter, President; W. T. Leitch, E. Burdick, Alexander Keer, Robert Wooton, James Conklin, J. C. Gregory and J. C. Ford. The members of the Building Committee were E. Burdick, J. H. Carpenter and J. C. Gregory.

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History of Dane County, Wisconsin, Part 116

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899; Western Historical Co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Company Number of Pages: 1304

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899; Western Historical Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Company
Number of Pages: 1304