USA > Wisconsin > Monroe County > History of Monroe County, Wisconsin, past and present : including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county [microform] > Part 21
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 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91
"To the County Board of Supervisors of Monroe County : The undersigned members of your committee, to whom was referred the official notice of the State Bard of Charity and Reform re- lating to the condemnation of the Monroe county jail, etc., have had the same and matters connected thereunto under considera- tion, and do report that in our opinion, and for the reasons stated in said notice, and the law in relation to the duties and obliga- tions of the county under such circumstances, it is necessary to provide for a new jail, and to accomplish such purpose in a seasonable, proper and economical manner we have prepared and report herewith an ordinance providing for the construction of a jail upon the courthouse square, and providing for the means to pay for the same with such other necessary details as seemed to your committee required to be provided for the action of this board, and we recommend the adoption of said ordinance, which is respectfully submitted.
"J. M. MORROW, "J. H. GILL, "J. WELLS, "E. ABBOTT, "Committee."
224
HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY
Ilere again appears the same old split, but this time the ma- jority of the committee were in favor of the western side of the county, and again we have the minority report by one man, Watson Earle, of the city of Tomah, who made a minority report as follows :
"The minority of your committee would respectfully report that in his opinion the effect of the improvements made in the jail last fall should be tried. The Board of Health, although they knew that the improvements were contemplated, could have no knowledge of what the effects of these improvements could be. That the condition of the jail is better than it has been at any previous time in twenty years. That the present condition of the farming portions of this county makes it advisable not to increase the burden of taxation without absolute necessity. For a number of years the crops have been wasted by drought, and now in the fall the markets are almost worthless by reason of low prices. Under these conditions the addition of $5,000 a year on this county's tax for three successive years is a grievous burden that ought not to be lightly laid. That the course of the present hasty action in this matter is purely visionary, being based not on the present condition of the jail, but on the assumption that at some time in the near future, perhaps, eastern Monroe county may demand the removal of the county seat; and that the num- ber of prisoners which for the past year averages three and one- third per cent neither calls for nor justifies such expenditure."
And again the old struggle was before the county board in this form, and again it was Supervisor Fisher who moved the adoption of the majority report this time. Supervisor Wood. from the city of Tomah, moved to substitute the minority report for the majority report, and this brought on a test vote. The motion was lost by the following vote: Ayes-Stevens, Reynolds, Swanets. Lyon, Woodland, Coome, Rogge, Gehrke, Cassels, Gnewikow, Earle. Tormey and Wood, thirteen ; and nayes, Lev- erich. Gill, Barry. Jones, Atchison, Hoard, Hannkee, Abbott, Beckler, Marsden, Wells. Morrow, Huntley, Fisher and Brandt, fifteen. The localities voting in favor of the minority report were these : Adrian. Byron, Clifton, Glendale, Lincoln, LaGrange, Oakdale, Ridgeville, town of Tomah, Wilton and the city of Tomah, and against it were Angelo, Greenfield, Lafayette, Leon, Little Falls. New Lyme, Portland, Sheldon, town of Sparta, Wellington, Wells and the city of Sparta, so that we find the alignment of this vote ahnost what it was as far as territory is concerned, when the vote on that famous county seat resolution
225
THE COUNTY SEAT WAR
in 1885 was taken, only that this time Greenfield on the eastern side seems to have changed places with Byron.
Mr. Wood, of Tomah, then moved that the consideration of the majority report be postponed and an adjournment taken for two weeks so that the members of the board might have an oppor- tunity to confer with their constituents, and upon a call for the ayes and noes this motion was lost by practically the same vote, thirteen ayes and sixteen noes. This time HI. H. Cremer, it ap- pears, voted with the noes. It was then moved to adopt the ma- jority report, which was carried by the same old vote, sixteen to thirteen. An ordinance providing for the building of the county jail was then passed by the same vote, sixteen to thirteen, and the following committee, on motion, was appointed by the chair as required by the ordinance passed, as the building committee, to-wit: N. W. Huntley, of Sparta; H. II. Atchison, of Little Falls; J. H. Gill, of Greenfield, and William Hannkee, of Port- land. Subsequently the building committee carried out its in- structions in full, contracts were let and the present county jail and sheriff's residenee was erected. As time went on the old courthouse building became more and more insufficient for the uses of the various county officers and courtrooms, and again the matter of additional county buildings was presented at a session of the country board. In 1894 an ordinance was introduced by Supervisor J. R. Lyon at the November session of the board pro- viding for the building of a new courthouse in the city of Sparta to cost not to exceed the sum of $50,000. It was apparently a hopeless task on the part of the supervisors from the eastern side of the county to prevent the passage of this ordinance, and it was carried by a vote of twenty-five to five, Supervisor Coome being excused from voting. Later in the session, under the provision of the ordinance, the chairman of the county board appointed the following building committee: Supervisors N. W. Huntley, of Sparta ; J. R. Lyon, of Glendale ; II. H. Cremer, of Jefferson ; H. Gnewikow, of Wilton, and D. W. Sowle, of Lincoln.
In pursuance of this ordinance the present courthouse was constructed and furnished. The county was fortunate in having it erected at a time when building materials were cheaper than at any time since so that for the sum of between $50,000 and $60.000 it has a commodious and substantial building, completely furnished.
The ereetion of these permanent buildings of such great value has probably ended for all time any effort to renew the "county seat war." The eastern side of the county has now become
226
HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY
reconciled to the situation, as was very appropriately expressed by a member of the board at the time the building of a new jail was voted, the boys in Tomah concluded that "they couldn't get the courthouse through the Tunnel anyhow," so they gave up. Many interesting incidents undoubtedly happened outside of the recorded procedure in this famous struggle during all these years which are now lost, but on the whole the record itself furnishes many dramatic climaxes which are lacking in the present day sessions of the county board.
CHAPTER XXIII. THE COUNTRY SCHOOLS.
BY M. M. HANEY, COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT.
No history of the county would be complete that did not in- clude at least a few references to the only source of education that most boys and girls have access to, namely, the common schools. No attempt will be made to go into an exhaustive record of the schools since the establishment of the county, but rather to give the reader an idea of the first schools in the county and the progress that has been made through legislation and methods, etc., up to the present time.
SCHOOL HOUSES.
As soon as a few settlements were formed the people began to make preparations for schools. The settlements were får apart at first and pupils were obliged to travel long distances, three, and even four, miles. The first school buildings were usually erude, temporary concerns, designed to meet the immediate needs of the people until the settlements became more numerous and financially stronger.
The following were among the early buildings which were more or less typical of the buildings throughout the county. Distriet No. 2, town of LaGrange-School house, 12x16 feet ; shed roof. Distriet No. 2, town of Sheldon-Small building made of unhewn logs of uneven length, some extending two or three feet beyond the end of building. This building was roofed with slabs to match the logs, that is, some of them terminated at the edge of the roof and others projecting downward three or four feet, and some even projected upward above the ridge of the roof. This building was banked with clay about two feet high all around, except at the door, to keep out the cold. In order to save labor the banking was allowed to remain during the summer months so that it would be on hand for the next winter. The door was home-made and so low that full-grown boys and girls were obliged to stoop to get in and out. It is not known why the door was made this size unless it was to teach the pupils to stoop so
227
228
HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY
they might not forget to how to the master on entering the build- ing. or perhaps it was to teach them that they must stoop in order to avoid many hard knocks in life's journey. No doubt some of the first school buildings were better than those above described and some worse in some respects. Generally the first school build- ings were small, cheap, poorly lighted, with no ventilation and little or no regard for appearances.
DESKS.
The desks were made of white pine and long enough to seat from twelve to sixteen pupils. In one school that the writer has in mind there were only two long desks in the school house. They were about sixteen feet long, extending lengthwise of the build- ing. one on each side, with a seat in front of each desk for the little folks. The larger pupils occupied the seat behind the desks. Usually, however, the desks would seat from six to eight pupils. and extended crosswise of the room. Arranged in two rows, with one end of each desk against the wall, leaving only one aisle in the middle of the room. This arrangement made it very unhandy to get and out of seats, as the pupils frequently were obliged to pass four or five others in order to get out of their seat to go to the recitation and, of course, go through the same process to get back to their places. The desks were all of the same size, no allowance being made for different sizes of pupils.
Later the desks were made to accommodate the various sizes of pupils. A few samples of those desks may still be found in the schools, but most of them are factory made double desks, and even those are giving way to the single desk.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS.
Reading, writing, arithmetic and spelling were carried by all of the pupils, and grammar, geography and history by some of the larger ones. In teaching reading the A, B, C method was used. that is, the pupils had to go through the long, tedious proc- ess of learning the alphabet before they began to read. Spelling was mostly oral and at least two trials were given on a word. Since the pupils did not carry many studies they made up for this to some extent by reciting in reading and spelling four times a day. Some schools had reading of the Bible and praver every morning. History was sometimes used as a reader, the teacher asking a few questions after the lesson was read. Pupils that read in the history were looked upon by the other pupils as being
229
THE COUNTRY SCHOOLS
good scholars. There was no classification of the school by forms or grades, and as a rule no record was kept of the work done by the pupils, and of course no record left for the guidance of the new teacher. Not unfrequently the pupils were started in at the beginning of the books they brought with them the first day, regardless of what they covered the year before. This seems like a great waste of time, and it was, but there was one redeeming feature, namely, that some subjects were reviewed so often that they were firmly fixed in the pupils' minds. Perhaps manual training should have been added to the branches taught in those early days.
This was pursued by the larger boys who happened to pos- sess good pocket knives, without the aid or consent of the teacher. The white pine desks being excellent material to carve in, pupils would sometimes cut the forms of horses and other objects in the desk and carve their names also. This, of course, was not sanctioned by the teacher, yet it was common to find desks bear- ing such marks.
APPARATUS.
The inside of the school buildings as a rule were in keeping with the outside appearance. There was no library or reference books of any kind. Webster's unabridged dietionary was the only book outside of texts, and that was furnished free by the state. There was usually a partial supply of maps, and occasion- ally a reading chart. The blackboard was composed of boards nailed together and painted. This was as a rule poor in quality and very insufficient in quantity. A piece 3x4 feet was all that some schools had. Ciphering and sometimes writing exercises were performed with slate and pencil. It was a rare thing to see a pupil using pencil and paper.
TEACHERS BOARDING AROUND.
During the first ten or fifteen years after the county was organized. the teachers boarded around, that is, the teacher boarded free of charge with the various families in the district that sent children to school. The teacher stayed with each fam- ily in proportion to the number of pupils that attended school, usually one week for each pupil. Boarding around had some advantage over the present system, as it afforded the teacher an opportunity to get acquainted with the parents and home life of the children, thus enabling the various parties to understand each other better. The parents and pupils looked forward to the
230
HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY
teacher coming as an important event, and you may be sure the teacher got the best the family afforded. But there was another side to the boarding around that was not so pleasant for the teacher, namely, the accommodations were not always what was desirable and the teacher was expected to entertain or be enter- tained to such an extent that she had little time that she could call her own or devise plans for presenting the various subjects. The teacher was looked upon as the most important personage in the district, and no wedding or other social event was consid- ered complete unless the teacher was present. The teacher was supposed to be the best informed person in the whole district. The following lines from the "Deserted Village" portrays the opinion of his knowledge held by the country folks :
" 'Twas certain he could write and cipher. too : Lands he could measure, terms and tides presage. And e'en, the story ran, that he could gauge ; In arguing, too, the parson owned his skill. For e'en though vanquished, he could argue still : While words of learned strength and thundering sound, Amazed the gaping rusties ranged around ; And still they gazed and still the wonder grew. That one small head could carry all he knew."
TOWNSHIP SUPERINTENDENTS.
The schools of each town were in charge of a man known as township superintendent. The duties of the town superintendent were to supervise the schools and grant licenses to teachers. Those officers were usually paid $1.50 a day when in service of the town. The teacher's examination comprised much fewer sub- jeets than at the present time. The examination was mostly oral with enough writing to give the applicant an opportunity to show her writing. This system was abolished in 1862 and the county superintendency established.
TEACHERS AND WAGES.
In those early days there were a much larger proportion of male teachers than at the present. The male teachers. as a rule. taught only the winter term and did not make teaching a busi- ness. The spring terms were usually taught by ladies. As a rule the teachers of this early period were not up in professional and academie knowledge with the teachers of the present time, but
231
TIIE COUNTRY SCHOOLS
from the standpoint of maturity they were ahead. They were men and women, as a rule, out of their teens. The frequent change of teachers and poor attendance were among the main obstacles to progress. Wages varied very much as at the present time. They ranged from $1.50 a week to $16 or $20 a month, and the teachers boarded around and taught every other Saturday. In some instances the wages were as high, or higher, then as at the present time, but those were exceptions.
MODES OF PUNISHMENT.
In the early history of the county school government was a much bigger proposition than it is today. This was due to sev- eral things, namely, to size of pupils, lack of sufficient employ- ment, and to the general attitude of the people regarding punish- ment. In those days boys and girls attended school, especially during the winter months, until they were grown up, eighteen and twenty years of age. Many of them carried only a few branches, and of course were not busy all of the time, and there- fore were harder to control. Then, too, many of the parents seemed to think that punishment was a necessary part of the child's education, and in some way a knowledge of the "three R's" should be seasoned and worked into the individual by a liberal use of the rod. The words:
"School days! School days ! Dear old Golden Rule days; Reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic, Taught to the tune of a hickory stick,"
were based on the methods and beliefs of those days. The schoolmaster that did not do considerable punishing was not thought to be doing his full duty. However, many of them measured up to the expectations of the district. As a rule there was plenty of timber near the schoolhouses and the teacher usually knew enough about foresting to be able to select the toughest switches, and he knew also that by laying them on the heated stove for a while it would add to their elasticity. Several of these well-seasoned switches were generally on hand and placed in a conspicuous position, usually over the blackboard. Sometimes those switches would mysteriously disappear and no one could account for their whereabouts. However, a new supply was easily seeured, seasoned and put up. Should the master's supply of switches become exhausted during the session periods
232
HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY
of the day, he would sometimes send one of the small boys after a new supply.
The prevailing method of punishment was striking with the rod on the pahn of the hand and on the finger tips. This was rather severe and much dreaded by the small and middle-sized boys, for the boys got most of the punishment. But to the full- grown boys it was considered a game in which it was the teacher's part to strike, and the boy's part to catch the rod before the teacher pulled it back. If the rod was caught it was broken and then the stub was used, and the game went on till the rod became too short. It is only fair to say that the above methods of bringing the refractory pupils to time was practiced chiefly by the male teachers, but was by no means unknown to the gentler sex. About the most dreaded punishment meted out to the boys was to have a boy sit between two girls for an hour or so. This would cause the bashful country boy to blush profusely, and usually it was not necessary to repeat the punishment very soon. The following lines illustrate this fairly well :
"Some playful wight perchance was doomed to sit Between two girls, as retribution fit For his crimes; and so he learned e'en then The truth that comes in time to all young men : "l'is more than twice as hard for Adam's son .To sit with two girls as to sit with one."
Other methods of punishment which were more or less gen- eral, were pulling the ears, slapping the face, and taking by the collar and given a shaking, etc. Corporal punishment seemed to be more freely used at home and at school than at the present time. Those having the training of children in charge have found out that it is possible to train children properly with little or no corporal punishment. Perhaps it should not be dispensed with all together, but should be rarely used.
It is possible in most cases to keep a pupil under control through fear, but that is not the proper way, for it destroys the confidence and affection the pupil should have for the teacher, without which it is impossible to get the best results. The good teacher who possesses sufficient knowledge and ability to teach and whose heart is in the work will generally have no difficulty with government. On the other hand the teacher who is unable. on account of academie or professional knowledge, to interest her school will find government quite a problem.
233
THIE COUNTRY SCHOOLS
SPELLING SCHOOLS AND DEBATES.
One feature of the country school that has about gone out of practice is the old-fashioned spelling school. These spelling schools were held frequently during the winter term, and were participated in by old and young alike. Sometimes one school would spell against another, but occasionally two persons were appointed to choose sides, regardless of schools, and everyone in the room was given an opportunity to spell, but only those that considered themselves good spellers accepted. Those in the con- test would take a position by the side of the leader and two lines were formed that would reach around the room.
Those that missed took their seats and of course the one that stood last won. Usually the winner was expected to spell three words after the others were down. After the spelling contest there were reading and speaking. The spelling school was looked upon as quite a social event and was attended by people for miles around. Another means of enjoyment and intellectual improve- ment were the debates which were usually held during the win- ter terms also. The questions were usually practical and simple.
The men and large boys took part in the discussions. The interest taken in those discussions may be shown by stating that it was common for people to walk three or four miles to hear and take part in the discussion. Many a farmer and town official will own today that the foundation for expressing his thoughts clearly, to think logically when standing before people, was laid in the old-fashioned debating society. A literary society in which debates receive a prominent part should be a part of every country school where there are a sufficient number to carry it on successfully.
TOWNSHIP LIBRARIES.
During the early history, as has been stated before, about the only book found in the school house outside of the text books, was Webster's Unabridged Dictionary. In 1887 there was enacted a township library law. This law provided that 10 cents should be reserved from the school fund for each pupil between four and twenty years in the district, the money to be used in purchasing books. But for the first eight years of this law it was optional with the town treasurer whether or not the money was set aside for this purpose.
Many of the treasurers did not see fit to do this and for a while the growth of the district libraries was slow. In 1895 the law was made mandatory and since then there has been a rapid
234
HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY
addition to the number of books in the libraries. Until about seven years ago the town clerks had the power to select the books and since that official usually did not know just what hooks to select. he did not always make the best selections and there were many duplications.
The county or district superintendent now makes the selec: tion for ail the schools under his jurisdiction. He usually asks the teachers to recommend the books they desire and by this method suitable books are generally procured. At first the law provided that the books pass from one district to another so that all the pupils might get the benefit of the books. This was nice in theory but did not work out so well in practice for no one felt or could be held responsible for the books and the card cata- logne would be ineffective.
Now the books are selected for the needs and conditions of a particular distriet and are not changed. It is really a district system now, but the name township is still retained. When the library books were first introduced in the schools, as a rule there were no book cases and the books were kept at the distriet clerk's home. a part or all of the time, which, of course, was not satisfactory.
Now every district has a book case and the books are left in the school house. There is a card catalogue made of the books so that the material they contain is available. These libraries, besides being available for reference work in connection with various subjects, contain interesting and instructive stories for all grades of pupils and also for the adult population of the dis- triet. Under the township library law. Monroe county spends about $1,000 a year for library books.
These books are distributed among the 145 districts of the county in proportion to the number of children between four and twenty years in each district. Each district has a library ranging from seventy-five to 200 books. The thing needed now is to make better use of these books, both for reference and gen- eral reading and develop in the boys and girls a desire for good reading.
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.