USA > West Virginia > Monongalia County > History of Monongalia County, West Virginia, from its first settlements to the present time; with numerous biographical and family sketches > Part 28
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
The State Superintendent was elected by joint ballot of the Legislature, for a term of two years. The first election occurred on February 16, 1864, when the Rev. W. R. White was chosen.
The first election of school officers occurred on the fourth Thursday in April, 1864, in pursuance of an act passed by the Legislature of that year.
367
EDUCATIONAL HISTORY.
In 1865, honorably discharged Union soldiers were ad- mitted to the privileges of free schools; and, in 1867, it was provided that other persons over 21 years of age might be admitted upon payment of tuition fees. In 1865, the provision requiring the County Superintendent to visit each school three times during each term, was repealed, and he was required to visit them at least once.
The township levies, which were laid at the annual town- ship meetings until the Code of 1868, and after that by the Board of Education, were limited in 1865, to the maximum of 25 cents on each one hundred dollars' valuation for the building fund, and to 20 cents for the teachers' fund. In 1866, the maximum levy for building fund was fixed at 7 mills on the dollar ; and for teachers' fund at not less than two nor more than five mills. The maximum, the next year, was fixed at 50 cents on each one hundred dollars' valuation for each fund, and the moneys of the two funds were required to be kept separate.
It was enacted in 1865, that the State Superintendent "may prescribe a series of class books to be used" in the schools of the State. A uniform series does not appear to have been prescribed by law until the Code of sixty-eight.
The Legislature of 1866 amended and re-enacted the entire school law. In that year for the first time were Trustees provided for. Before this, the Commissioners performed the duties which now belong to them and the Trustees. In this year it was enacted that the Board of Education should appoint three trustees in each sub-dis- trict. It was also provided that the trustees, after the first appointment, should be elected by the voters of each sub- district; but, at the next Legislature, this provision was repealed. Trustees were empowered to hire teachers and
368
HISTORY OF MONONGALIA COUNTY.
fix their wages, and required to perform certain other specified duties, such as visiting the schools in their sub- district, etc.
In 1866, we find for the first time the provision that any township failing to make the annual school levy, should forfeit its proportion of the State fund; but it was also provided that the voters of any sub-district in such town- ship might make the levy on themselves, and thereby receive their proportion of the State fund. This latter provision did not long remain law.
Up to the year 1867 the law had provided that schools should be kept open six months in each year. The fixing of the maximum levy, however, which might be laid for the purpose, was a virtual repeal of this provision, at least in most of the townships. In the said year, it was enacted that the schools should be kept open at least four months, and that no township which failed to lay a school levy in any year, should receive any part of the State fund in such year.
In the acts of 1867 appears for the first time the pro- vision requiring the Boards of Education to elect one of their number President. The Code of 1868 provided that each Board should elect a Secretary ; previous to this the Township Clerk was the Secretary of the Board.
The Free School System was retained in the Constitution of 1872, which enjoined upon the Legislature to " provide, by general law, for a thorough and efficient system of free schools." The first Legislature which assembled after the ratification of this Constitution, provided for the election of a Board of Education in each district (formerly township), composed of the President and two Commissioners, and the election of one Trustee for each sub-district, at a poll .
JOHN H. BOWLBY. See Page 711.
369
EDUCATIONAL HISTORY.
held herein. The Board determined the number of months of school to be taught, the number of teachers to be employed, and fixed their wages according to the grades of certificate. At the same election the voters of each dis- trict voted on the question of authorizing the Board to lay the district levy.
Heretofore the County Superintendent examined " can- didates for the profession of teacher," and granted them certificates; but the Acts of 1872-3 provided that he should be assisted by two Examiners, appointed by the Presidents of the Boards of Education in the county. The County Superintendent, who was President ex officio, and the two Examiners constituted the Board of Examiners for the county. This Board examined the candidates and awarded certificates to them.
The maximum levy for the building fund was fixed at 40 cents, and that for the teachers' fund at 50 cents.
Schools were not to be kept open longer than four months, unless authorized by a vote of the district.
The plan of holding elections in each sub-district, and of electing Trustees, did not work satisfactorily; and, in 1877, the law was amended in that particular, and provided for the appointment of three Trustees for each sub-district, by the Board of Education, and the holding of elections at the usual places of voting in the district only.
The Legislature of 1879 made radical changes in the law. It reduced the annual pay of the County Superin- tendent to a maximum of $125; repealed the provision requiring him to visit the schools, and made this officer little more than a mere clerk. It enacted that the district Board of Education should consist of a President and four Commissioners, who should appoint a trustee for each sub- 24
370
HISTORY OF MONONGALIA COUNTY.
district. The Board, however, not only fixed the wages of the teachers, but also selected a teacher for each school in the district. This method proving unsatisfactory, the Legislature of 1881, in amending and re-enacting the entire school law, again provided for a Board consisting of a President and two commissioners, who appointed three Trustees for each sub-district, and fixed the wages of the teachers. The Trustees appoint the teachers. It restored the office of County Superintendent to its former sphere, required him to visit the schools, and provided that his annual pay should be not less than $150 nor more than $300. In 1882, it was provided that the two assistant ex- aminers should be appointed by the Presidents of the Boards of Education from the persons nominated to them by the County Superintendent.
COUNTY SUPERINTENDENTS.
Elected. Name.
1864, April 28-Rev. H. W. Biggs.
1864, September 22 -* George C. Sturgiss.
1866, May 24-George C. Sturgiss.
1867, October 24-Henry L. Cox.
1869, October 28-Henry L. Cox.
1871,
-Henry L. Cox.
1873, August 8-tRev. J. L. Simpson. 1873, -Henry L. Cox. 1875, August 13-Alexander L. Wade.
1877, August 7-Alexander L. Wade.
1879, August 17-Bruce L. Keenan.
1881, May 17-Benjamin S. Morgan.
1883, May 15-Benjamin S. Morgan.
* The Rev. Mr. Biggs was elected the first County Superintendent at the first election held in the State of West Virginia for School officers. But he removed from the county, and never served. Mr. Sturgiss was appointed by the Board of Super- visors to the vacant office.
+ Mr. Simpson did not serve, and Mr. Cox was appointed to the office.
371
EDUCATIONAL HISTORY.
VOTES FOR COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT.
1864-H. W. Biggs, 601 ; David Wiedman 307; Rev. P. T. Laish- ley, 140.
1866-George C. Sturgiss, 1402 ; Prof. O. W. Miller, 381.
1867-Henry L. Cox, 1023; Albert G. Davis, 396.
1869-In this year Mr. Cox was re-elected without opposition.
1871-Henry L. Cox, 1187 ; L. S. Brock, 735.
1873-In this election a poll was held at each school-house in the county, and no record has been preserved.
1875-Alexander L. Wade was elected without opposition.
1877-Alexander L. Wade, 1669; no opposition.
1879-Bruce L. Keenan, 663; Alexander L. Wade, 646. (Of this election, The Post said that Mr. Wade left the impression that he did not want the office, and refused to do anything to promote his interests.)
1881-Benjamin S. Morgan, 1032; T. I. McRa, 823.
1883-Benjamin S. Morgan, 1436 ; no opposition.
HENRY L. Cox* is the son of Moses Cox, and was born near Morgantown ; was educated at the Monongalia Acad- emy and Waynesburg (Pa.) College. He served eight years as County Superintendent, and as such officer was labor- ious, energetic, earnest and efficient. He was principal of the Morgantown Graded School for six years. In his re- port for 1876, County Superintendent Wade says : "Prof. H. L. Cox has been principal of this [Morgantown Graded] school for four years past, and under his supervision it has been increasing in thoroughness, until I feel quite sure that no more thorough work is done in any school of like character in this State." Mr. Cox was elected a member of the House of Delegates in 1880, and re-elected in 1882, and served in the Legislatures of Eighty-one, Eighty-two and Eighty-three.
ALEXANDER L. WADE, eldest son of George and Anna Wade, was born near Rushville, Indiana, February 1, 1832.
*For biographical sketch of George C. Sturgiss, see page 346.
372
HISTORY OF MONONGALIA COUNTY.
His father and mother were natives of Virginia, the former of Monongalia County, and the latter of Washington County. In 1839, the family moved from Indiana to Mon- ongalia County, where, in 1846, the father died, leaving the family no fortune save the force of a Christian example. Alexander, being the eldest of five children, and at the time of his father's death but fourteen years of age, undertook to aid his mother in maintaining the family, a work which he continued till after he reached his majority. He had early imbibed a love for reading and an earnest desire to be a scholar. But schools were inferior and books were scarce, and his time was divided between labor and study, while his earnings went to buy bread for the family and books for the library.
In 1848, being but sixteen years of age, he began teach- ing school. The two succeeding years he worked in sum- mer and taught in winter. From that time till the begin- ning of the war, in 1861, he made teaching his vocation. During all these years he was an earnest student, master- ing, one by one, without an instructor, most of the English branches.
In 1852, he made a public profession of religion and united with the Methodist Episcopal Church. He received license as a local preacher, in 1860; was constituted a dea- con, by Bishop Clark, in 1866, and was ordained an elder, in 1874, by Bishop Scott.
He married, in 1854, Hettie Sanders, daughter of John and Elizabeth Sanders, of Monongalia County. They have six children-three sons and three daughters, named, in the order of their ages, Clark C., Spencer S., Mary E., Anna B., Charles A. and Hettie L.
In 1861, he was elected Clerk of the County Court of Mon-
373
EDUCATIONAL HISTORY.
ongalia County; and, in 1863, when the new State of West Virginia was formed and the County Court was abolished, he was elected County Recorder, which office he held, by election, four successive terms of two years each. Upon his retirement from the Recorder's office, in January, 1871, he was elected Clerk of the county Board of Supervisors ; and, in the summer of the same year, he became principal of the public schools of Morgantown. Though his official duties had been fairly remunerative, and though he had been buying and selling real estate with a good degree of success, he had not felt satisfied since he left the school- room. His duties as principal of the public schools were to him so much more enjoyable than the recording of deeds, the searching of records, and the buying and selling of real estate, that he determined to devote himself entirely to the educational work.
In the autumn of 1873, in order to widen his work as an educator, he engaged with Superintendent Cox, to visit the schools of Monongalia County. This work he continued through the Superintendent's term of two years. In 1875, he was elected Superintendent of Monongalia County, to which office he was re-elected in 1877.
He had long entertained the belief that there is entirely too much waste in country school work; and, while County Superintendent, he saw this fact in a still clearer light. He saw that average students in academies and colleges com- plete more branches in a single year, than average pupils in country schools complete in the entire school period. After much careful study he became satisfied that the chief cause of difference is found in the fact, that in all higher schools there is a definite work to do, a definite time in which it ought to be done, and a test as to whether it is
374 HISTORY OF MONONGALIA COUNTY.
well done; while in country schools no such provisions exist. He, therefore, determined to introduce into the country schools of his county, a system of graduation, sim- ilar to that of academies and colleges.
In the autumn of 1874, he began to organize graduating classes in the country schools of his county; but the first classes graduated and the first common school diplomas were granted in the spring of 1876,-the centennial of American Independence. The first common school cata- logue was published in the autumn of the same year, and alumni associations were formed the following year. So wide-spread was the progress of the new plan, that General Eaton, Chief of the National Bureau of Education at Washington, in his annual report for 1878, says :
"Of all the plans developed none has excited more attention than that known as the 'Graduating System for Country Schools.' devised by A. L. Wade, County Superintendent of Monongalia, W. Va. . . . It has been reviewed by all the educational journals and has excited the attention of the principal State Superintendents of the Country."
In July, 1879, by invitation, he read a paper on this sub- ject before the National Educational Association at Phila- delphia. The Association, after thoroughly discussing the subject, adopted the following resolution :
"Resolved, That the attention of State Superintendents of Public Instruction throughout the United States be called to the propriety of adopting a Graduating System for Country Schools."
Since the passage of the foregoing resolution, several States have adopted the system entire, others are testing it in single counties, and the plan bids fair to become universal.
Upon his retirement from the Superintendency, in 1879, he entered upon the work of writing a book, entitled "A Graduating System for Country Schools," which he com-
375
EDUCATIONAL HISTORY.
pleted in 1881. This book is published in Boston, but is sold also by leading houses in several of the larger cities.
Wishing to test new educational methods under circum- stances presumably the least favorable, he asked, in 1880, to be appointed principal of the Morgantown colored school. His experiments proved not only the value of his methods, but the capabilities of the colored people.
Though actively engaged, a part of his time, in primary teaching, his chief employment since 1881 has been that of an Institute Instructor and Educational Lecturer. In this field he has been intimately associated with such men as State Superintendent Smart, of Indiana; State Commis- sioner Burns, of Ohio; State Superintendent Butcher, of West Virginia; State Superintendent Northrop, of Con- necticut ; State Superintendent Apgar, of New Jersey ; State Superintendent Newell, of Maryland; City Superin- tendent Peaslee, of Cincinnati ; and Professor DeGraff, author of "School Room Guide."
Possessing, in a fair degree, the ability to make money, he turned away from business, in the prime of life, in order that he might devote himself to the improvement of primary schools. Few men of his attainments, have devoted themselves so entirely to this work.
Though his chief calling is that of an educator, he has not confined himself entirely to school work. The Church, the Sunday-school, the Bible cause, and the Temperance movement, have each received a due portion of his time and attention. He served, for several years, as agent and distributor of the American Bible Society, and as a mem- ber of the West Virginia State Temperance Executive Com- mittee.
376
HISTORY OF MONONGALIA COUNTY.
He long since chose as his life-motto, and as his favorite verse in the English language,-
" I live for those who love me, Whose hearts are kind and true, For the heaven that smiles above me, And awaits my spirit too ; For all human ties that bind me, For the task my God assigned me, For the bright hopes left behind me, And the good that I can do."
He is ardently attached to teachers, and is proud of the teacher's calling. In an address to the teachers of his county, he once said, "I love teachers better than I love men and women of any other calling or profession; and I want these teachers, when I die, to bear me to my last rest- ing-place and inscribe upon my tomb-stone, 'A. L. Wade, Teacher, and Author of A Graduating System for Country Schools.'"
BRUCE L. KEENAN was born near Bowlby's Mills, Cass District, Monongalia County; graduated at West Virginia University, in 1880; was County Superintendent in 1879-81 ; was principal of the Piedmont (W. Va.) schools 1881-3.
BENJAMIN S. MORGAN was graduated from West Virginia University in 1878; took the law course of that school in 1881-2; was elected County Superintendent in 1881, and was re-elected, without opposition, in 1883. He was li- censed to practice law by Judges Haymond, Johnson and Snyder, and was admitted to the bar at Morgantown, Octo- ber 18, 1882, and has located at Morgantown for the prac- tice of his profession. Mr. Morgan is a son of Smallwood G. Morgan, and is a descendant of the earliest settlers of the county."
* Monongalta County has furnished two Superintendents for her daughter county of Preston : W. S. Bayles, Superintendent of Preston County in 18.9-81 ; and Joseph H. Hawthorne, Superintendent in 1881-83.
377
EDUCATIONAL HISTORY.
WADE'S GRADUATING SYSTEM FOR COUNTRY SCHOOLS.
In visiting the schools of the county, in 1873, under engagement of Superintendent Cox, Alexander L. Wade found that in most of the schools all the primary branches established by law were not taught. He first made the effort to have all these branches studied in every school, and succeeded in having this done in thirty-one schools that year. Next year he discovered that, while all the branches were taught in many schools, yet no one pupil studied all of them. His second step, therefore, was to organize in each school a volunteer class, to take up all the branches. Mr. Wade found this had not accomplished his object, for while all had taken up the branches, few had any idea of completing them. His next step was to organ- ize volunteer classes to take up and complete the branches. The question was asked, How long will it take and who is to judge when the branches are completed ? He proposed no set time, and to trust to the honor of each pupil. Two classes were organized upon this basis, but the result was not satisfactory. Mr. Wade thought much on the problem, when, one night, the thought came into his mind, "If they graduate pupils in high schools, why not graduate them in low schools?" Elected County Superintendent in 1875, and having a plan of a graduating system matured, he at once began to introduce it; and his fourth step was the or- ganization of a volunteer graduating class in each school to take up all the branches and complete them in a certain time, when each member of the class who passed a satisfactory examination was to receive a diploma. Thus originated what is now favorably and widely known as " Wade's Graduating System for Country Schools."
Mr. Wade's own description of it is as follows :
378
HISTORY OF MONONGALIA COUNTY.
"It is simply adopting as a course of study the free school branches, organizing the more advanced pupils into four separate classes according to their grades, fixing a time in which each pupil is expected to complete the course, holding annual examinations and commencement exercises in each district, granting diplomas to those who, upon examination, are found to be worthy of them, forming alumni associations, and publishing annual catalogues, in which the names of graduates and undergraduates appear in the classes to which they respectively belong."
The first class was formed in 1875, and was called the Class of 1876. A Class of 1877 was also formed. The first annual district examination was held February 25th, 1876, and one was held each day after until March 11th. The examiners were A. L. Wade, H. L. Cox, Prof. F. S. Lyon, of the West Virginia University, and Prof. W. R. White, ex-State Superintendent. Two hundred and sixty-one ad- vanced pupils entered the class, and 196 completed the course and received diplomas. Of the Class of 1877 there were 110 who graduated; and of the Class of 1878 there were 88 graduates. Mr. Wade retired from the County Superintendency in 1879, to write his book now before the public, entitled "A Graduating System for Country Schools." Since that year no classes have been graduated in the county. Mr. Wade's system was highly commended by Gen. Eaton, Commissioner of Education, in his report for 1878 (see p. 374), and has been recommended for adoption by the State Superintendent of West Virginia, the State Teachers' Association of West Virginia, and put in operation in Marshall, Marion and Tyler, and in fifteen counties in Pennsylvania. In Maine it has been adopted. It has been recommended and is being examined in coun- ties in nearly every State of the Union with a view to adoption.
379
EDUCATIONAL HISTORY.
Four Annual Catalogues were issued by Mr. Wade, from 1875 to 1879, giving a list of all the schools and teachers of the county, with the names of graduating class, the number studying each branch, and much other useful information. District Alumni Associations were formed in 1877; and Mr. Wade, in 1878, introduced a “ banner sys- tem" for the purpose of inducing better attendance. The county banner is awarded annually to the district making the highest percentage of attendance. This banner Union District received in 1878, 79 and 82; Morgan in 1880 and 81. Seven district banners were provided, each banner to be held annually, by the school in the district making the highest percentage of attendance.
MORGAN'S OUTLINE COURSE OF STUDY
Was prepared for the common schools of Monongalia County in 1880, by County Superintendent B. S. Morgan, and has been very highly spoken of wherever it has been seen and examined. Its objects, as explained by Mr. Morgan, are-
" To secure uniform work throughout the county, a better classi- fication of pupils, and the proper order of studies; to prevent promotions to the higher grades of study before the child is pre- pared profitably to pursue them, and the going over of the same parts of any branch term after term until all hope and ambition literally dies in the child; and to encourage pupils to complete all of the elementary branches."
It divides the school into five grades : the First and Sec- ond grades requiring one year each ; the Third, Fourth and Fifth two years each.
Superintendent Morgan, in 1881, suggested and urged the introduction of the county newspapers into the free schools -- that a copy of each paper published in the county be subscribed for and placed in each school-room. The next year he got up a blank form for registering the classification
380
HISTORY OF MONONGALIA COUNTY.
of a school at its close for the use of the next teacher, which was adopted by the State Superintendent, and is Blank No. 25 now issued by the State. It is simple in form, but very valuable, and was long needed.
BOARDS OF EXAMINERS.
1873-H. L. Cox, B. M. Jones, A. L. Wade. 1874-H. L. Cox, B. M. Jones, A. L. Wade.
1875-A. L. Wade, George W. Laishley, H. L. Cox.
1876-A. L. Wade, H. L. Cox, Ezekiel Trickett.
1877-A. L. Wade, H. L. Cox, Ezekiel Trickett.
1878-A. L. Wade, J. A. Tenant, B. S. Morgan.
1879-B. L. Keenan, H. L. Cox, B. S. Morgan.
1880-B. L. Keenan, A. L. Wade, B. S. Morgan.
1881-B. S. Morgan, A. L. Wade, W. S. Hillery.
1882-B. S. Morgan, A. L. Wade, W. S. Hillery.
1883-B. S. Morgan, T. E. Hodges, W. S. Hillery. TEACHERS' INSTITUTES.
The Teachers' Association of Monongalia County was organized by Superintendent Sturgiss on December 27, 1865, and continued to meet twice a year at Morgantown until 1869. At its last meeting, held on the 16th of Octo- ber in the last-named year, the State Superintendent was present, and forty-two teachers attended.
On the 27th of December, 1870, a County Institute was held at Morgantown by appointment of the State Superin- tendent. It was conducted by J. C. Gilchrist, R. Kidd and Dr. Alexander Martin.
The annual meeting of the State Teachers' Association for 1881 was held at Morgantown in the month of July.
Since 1879 County Institutes have been held for one week in each year at Morgantown, as follows:
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.