L. PROGRESS OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

 

Not until after the adoption of the new constitution of the state, in 1850, was there any real progress made in the progress made in the organization of the public school system as we have it now.

 

Until 1851 the schools were under the jurisdiction of the township trustees, although by the school law at that time in force their jurisdiction was almost entirely nominal, their school duties being little more than to make a donation to the teacher of the morsel of interest coming from  the school fund. The usual custom seems to have been to apply the public fund. The usual custom seems to have been to apply the public fund to the benefit of any teacher who chose to start a school, he making up the deficiency by tuitions from the pupils.

 

During the session of the legislature in 1871, an act was passed authorizing the appointment, by the board of county commissioners, of a county superintendent, whose duty it should be to visit the schools, make examinations, and issue certificates to teachers, examine the public records and enforce the payment of all fines and forfeitures belonging to the school fund into the treasury, and report the condition of the public schools once in each year to the superintendent of public instruction.

 

The duties of the county superintendent had, until the act of 1871, been performed by a school examiner, whose duties were to examine applicants, make the proper examinations and report the condition of the schools

 


254                                          HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.

 

annually to the state superintendent, and performing such other duties as were thought for the best interest of the schools. Mark Cummings Was the first regularly appointed examiner under the revised school law of 1851, and served as such until his death in 1868. The law creating county superintendent of schools was the creation of Prof. Milton B. Hopkins, who was then state Superintendent of the public schools. He was a democrat, and resided at Kokomo. He drafted the bill, and through his efforts its passage through the general assembly was secured. For some time there was considerable opposition to the measure, and in 1874 and 1876 it was something of an effort to keep it from being injected into the political campaigns of those years. Better counsels prevailed, however, and, as the good work of the county superintendents began to show itself, opposition naturally ceased, and before he died, Prof. Hopkins had the pleasure of seeing his system of county superintendents of schools as one of the most useful auxiliaries in the management of the public school system of the state firmly and permanently established.

 

Mark Cummings, the first school examiner under the old law, was one of the early residents of the county, having taken up his residence in Plymouth as a school teacher prior to 1850. He died in 1868. A. C. Capron was appointed examiner to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Mr. Cummings. In the September term of the board of commissioners, 1868, Thomas McDonald was appointed examiner, and served as such until the act creating county superintendents was passed in 1871, when he was appointed the first county superintendent under that act, which position he held until his death, which Occurred March 28, 1875.

 

Early Schools and School Teachers.

 

It should be remembered that at the time the school question first began to be agitated the country was almost a wilderness. Except the Michigan road, the LaPorte road and the Winamac road, there were no regularly laid out roads in the county; and these were only passable. A surveyor and ax-man had gone through the lines of the contemplated roads, the trees had been "blazed" so the traveler could keep in the direction in which he wanted to go, but as there were few inhabitants on the way, but little work had been done on any of them. Trees and brush arid logs had been cut out, and "corduroy" bridges had been built across the impassable mud holes and streams, otherwise these public roads were little better than the Indian trails through the woods.

 

At that time special laws were passed by the legislature for the benefit of the people residing in each county, and Marshall county, having been organized but a short time, was without the benefit of special legislation. Except in a general way the people were a law unto themselves. But it was just as well. The inhabitants needed very few laws. They were of the better class of men and women, and were law-abiding, Christian people who had left civilization and the scenes of their childhood behind then, and had settled here to carve out homes in the wilderness for themselves and children, and to assist in building up a new civilization.

Among the first things they did, after clearing off a patch of ground and building a little cabin home in the wilderness, was to organize as best they could a system of schools for the education of their children. As

 


HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.                                     255

 

has been stated, there was no Jaw in relation to education, and no public funds with which to build schoolhouses and for the pay of teachers. The material for the support of schools was very limited and widely scattered, and in looking back over the events of more than the past half century it seems almost miracu1ous that these early pioneers, under the adverse circumstances and conditions they had to overcome, were able to accomplish as much as they did.

 

In 1840 the census report showed that Marshall county had forty school children, twenty-five of whom attended school, and that there were but three schoolhouses in the county at that time. There were, however, more schools taught in the county than the number of schoolhouses would indicate. Log cabins that had been vacated for more commodious dwellings were frequently used for a winter's term of school, in the absence of a building erected especially for that purpose. No records of any of the schools were then made, and it is impossible to arrive at anything definite in regard to them.

 

In 1848 the question of "free schools" was submitted to the voters of the state for adoption or rejection. The question was voted on in Marshall county August 7, 1848, with the following result:

 

Township.                                                                   For.                              Against.

 North.                                                                         41                                12

Green                                                                          93                                12

Center                                                                         300                              21

Union.                                                                          38                                21

Bourbon.                                                                     44                                3

Tippecanoe                                                                 47                                16

German                                                                       56                                1

Totals                                                                          619                              86

 

Polk, West and Walnut townships had not then been organized. The vote on this question taken throughout the state was for the purpose of feeling the educational pulse of the people to be incorporated into the new state constitution to be adopted by a constitutional convention to be held in 1850. Amzi L. Wheeler was the member of the convention for Marshall county, and, as he had been a "country school master" prior to his settlement here in 1836, it is fair to presume that he used his influence in favor of free schools. The convention was held, and after a long discussion and mature deliberation Article VIII of our present state constitution was inserted, and it has undergone no change since that time.

 

The preamble sets forth that knowledge and learning, generally diffused throughout the community, being essential to a free government, the general assembly was commanded to encourage by all suitable means moral, intellectual, scientific and agricultural improvement, and to provide by law for a general and uniform system of common schools wherein tuition should be without charge and equally open to all.

 

It further provided that the common school fund should consist of the congressional township funds and ands belonging thereto; the bank tax fund, and the fund arising from the 14th section of the charter of the state bank of Indiana; the fund to be derived from the sale of county Seminaries, and the monies and property theretofore held for such seminaries; from the fines assessed for breaches of the penal laws of the state, and from all forfeitures which might accrue; all lands and other estate which

 

256                                          HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.

 

might escheat to the state for want of heirs or kindred entitled to inheritance . all lands belonging to the state, including swamp lands after deducting expenses of draining the same, and taxes that might be assessed by the general assembly for school purposes.

 

It also provided that the principal of the school fund shall remain a perpetual fund which may be increased but shall never be diminished; and the income thereof shall be inviolably appropriated to the support of the common schools, and to no other purpose whatever.

 

Under these provisions of the constitution the proper legislation to carry into effect the public school system has been had from time to time. The school fund provided for has accumulated from year to year at the rate of about $100,000 per year, and is now more than $11,000,000, probably the largest school fund of any state in the Union.

 

The First Schools.

 

It has been almost impossible to arrive at anything definite in regard to the first schools taught in the county. As stated there were no schoolhouses, and the schools taught for many years occupied vacated cabins, and in some cases the "sitting room" in the cabin where a family resided. In the winters of 1836 and 1837 there were several attempts at teaching school in various parts of the county where enough children in the sparsely settled neighborhoods could be got together to justify a teacher to spend his time in that way. Among the first of these early schools was one taught by Thomas McDonald, in the winter of 1836, in a log house which had been occupied as a temporary residence on the farm then owned by Vincent Brownlee near Lake Maxinkuckee. Between this time and 1840 a hewed log schoolhouse was built about half a mile east of where this school was taught. It was the first attempt at building a house especially for school purposes in Union township, and possibly in the county. Those who taught in this house at the first were William E. Thompson, H. B. Dickson and Hugh Brownlee. All of these old time "country school masters" are now dead and, with two or three exceptions, all the boys and girls that went there then and made the woods ring at noontime with their shouts of joy and laughter have passed over to the unknown beyond.

 

During the winter of 1837 a school was taught about two miles west of Plymouth on the LaPorte road by William N. Bailey. About this time, although it may have been a year afterward, a school was taught on or near the farm of Adam Snyder, in North township, by Abraham Johnson. There was also a school taught in the Roberts neighborhood, four miles southeast of Plymouth, and one at the residence of Charles Ousterhaute, on the Michigan road, two miles south of Plymouth, and one about where the town of Argos now stands, about the same time. These were taught by Miss Catharine Logan, afterward Mrs. John B. Dickson, and a man by the name of Erskine. In German township the first school was taught !n an old log cabin about one mile north of the present town of Bremen, in the year 1837, by a man by the name of Bemas. The average number of children present was about fifteen.

 

The first school in Bourbon township was taught in a log cabin which stood on ground owned by John Greer, in the south part of the present town of Bourbon, shortly after a settlement was made there, probably about

 


257                                          HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.

 

1837 – 38 by Edward Parks. John Greer also taught school there one or two terms in those early days.

 

In Tippecanoe Township the first school was taught in the summer of 1842, by Esther Jane Birney, at what is now District No. 3. or Summit chapel. She taught three successive terms of three months each for about $9.00 per month. The schoolhouse was built of logs and had a cabin roof; two small windows, both on the same side of the house, and a standing board was near the windows. The pupils all went to this board to do their writing, and when they had finished they returned to their seats again. The seats were made of hewed logs. The door was hung with wooden hinges, and had a wooden latch on the inside to which was attached a string, which was passed to the outside through a hole in the door, so that the latch could be raised from the outside by pulling the string; hence the old saying: “The latch string is out”. The floor was made of puncheon to fit tightly together; and the building was further furnished with a mud stick chimney. From this early and small beginning the township has now ten comfortable school buildings, all paid for, and furnished with every convenience for efficient school work.

 

Several attempts in the past have been made to gather the facts in regard to the early schools of Plymouth, but with indifferent success. In 1836 there were few residents of Plymouth, and there were not enough children to support a school, and so far as has been ascertained no school was taught here that year. The first school in Plymouth is said to have been taught by Oscar F. Norton, in the winter of 1837. Whether he taught more than that term is not known. The building used for this school was the first courthouse, which was built by the original proprietors of the town, and stood on the west side of Michigan street, corner of Adams. A few years ago the writer was informed by Mrs. Sarah A. Smith, formerly Miss Sarah A. Bannon, that she was a pupil under the tutelage of a teacher by the name of G. Parsons in the old courthouse during the winters of 1840 and 1841. She exhibited a reward of merit given to her by him, a copy of which is as follows:

Reward of Merit

To

Miss Sarah a. Bannon

For Good Behavior

In school.

G. Parsons, Inst.

Plymouth, June 17, 1841.

 

Mrs. Smith says Mr. Parsons was from New York state; was a short, heavy built man, and during his stay here boarded at the house of her father, who then lived on the south side of Yellow River, in a building known as the “American House.” She said the only peculiarity she could remember about him was that he was very fond of soup! Her father, James Bannon, was the first shoemaker here, and was postmaster of Plymouth under the administration of James K. Polk.

 

Our free school system had not then been established, and those who went to school paid for their own tuition. According to the census of 1840 there were but forty children of school age in Marshall County, not more than fifteen of whom resided in Plymouth and not more than half of these,

 


258                                          HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.

 

Mrs. Smith thought, attended the school taught by Mr. Parsons in 1841. The census of 1840 also stated that there were but three schoolhouses in the county. Mrs. Erskine is said to have erected a schoolhouse on Center street, on the second block north of the courthouse, in which she taught school a few years-how long is not known. Rev. Austin Fuller, Mrs. Smith said, taught school several terms in the old courthouse between 1841 and 1846, in addition to marrying people and preaching the gospel as occasion required.

 

A frame school building was erected about 1846-47-48 on the corner of the lot west of the Lutheran church building on Adams street. A young man by the name of Clark taught school there about 185°. He was followed by Willoughby M. McCormick in 1851 and 1852'. He was not much of a teacher, but he made the most out of the material he had to work upon, among his pupils being such unruly boys as Jim Westervelt, Abe Crum, Jack Bannon, Lloyd Hard, Sherm Wheeler, Jim Bannon, Hank Cougle and the writer of this sketch. Mr. McCormick went from Plymouth to Knox about 1853, where a few years later he was elected clerk of the court of Stark county, and was serving as such at the time of his death.

 

Our schoolhouses of nearly three-quarters of a century ago did not possess great attractions externally or internally. They were almost invariably small log buildings, cold and very deficient in regard to windows; a fireplace at one end, and a few rough benches without backs for seats, and a board or two which served for writing desks, were the sum total of the internal arrangements of the building. During those days pupils who occupied seats at the back part of the house would often suffer with the cold, while those who were near the fire would suffer as much from the other extreme. Not unftequently the smoke would drive both pupils and teacher out of the building for pure air. But pupils of studious habits would make rapid progress, even under these disadvantages. Many graduates of these unsightly and uncomfortable schoolhouses now sustain excellent reputations as teachers and business men and women in other walks of life.

 

The first genuine agitation of the school question in Plymouth was in 1853. April 16th, a meeting was called to consider the propriety of employing Mr. and Mrs. Etter, of Rochester, who were mentioned as being teachers of a different grade from that with which the citizens had been afflicted this far. At the same meeting the advisability of building a schoolhouse was discussed. The population of Plymouth was given as 670.

 

May 26th an election was held upon the proposition to levy taxes for the support of schools, at which the vote stood five in favor of and eight against such tax. June 23d a township election was held for the same purpose, at which the vote stood thirteen opposed to seven in favor. About this time Mr. and Mrs. Etter, Mr. James Thrawls, James M. Wickizer and others taught private schools.

 

In March, 1854, the lot donated to the county for seminary purposes was sold to the town for the nominal sum of $100, and on the thirtieth of the same month, contract for building a schoolhouse was entered into with Silas Morgan. This building. was completed in December of the same year. It contained three school rooms and one recitation room, and was a credit to the town. When the present building was erected it was sold to Joseph Westervelt, and by him removed to the river bank on the east end of Washington street,

 


HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.                                     259

 

where it was overhauled and made into a flouring mill, known as "The Eureka Mills." It was used as such for several years, when one morning .it caught fire and was entirely destroyed. William J. Moir, who had then just retired as cashier of the Marshall County bank, was chosen principal of the schools, and had as assistants the first term Mrs. E. Crum and Miss E. Adams. The attendance was at first about 150. The textbooks used were Sanders' spellers, Parker's readers, Davies' arithmetic, Mitchell's geography and Clark's grammar.

 

Of all the teachers of former times Mr. Moir has left behind him the most pleasant recollections. He is uniformly mentioned with great respect by those who were his pupils, and there can be no doubt that he inaugurated a new era in school matters.

 

Mr. Moir was succeeded by C. H. Blair, who was principal but part of one year, when he was followed by Hiram C. Burlingame, who had formerly resided in LaPorte county. He retired from the management of the schools in 1861, concluding that he had done his share of missionary work, and that he would seek some less "promising" but more lucrative employment.

 

Mark Cummings, who was for many years county school examiner; then took charge of the schools. Mr. Cummings was succeeded by D. D. Luke, who remained as principal until August, 1870, when he was elected superintendent of the Goshen schools. Upon his retirement Rosco A. Chase was chosen superintendent, and served as such continuously until 1903, a period of thirty-three years. He at once set about reorganizing the schools on a business and educational basis, introducing many changes in the administration of the schools. A systematic course of study was adopted; the schools were graded; a more exact discipline was introduced, and from a state of comparative confusion, as regards any settled policy of action, the business of the schools was as completely systematized as any business firm in town.

 

In 1874 a new school building of brick, two stories, with a basement story divided into school rooms, was built. About 1890 an addition to the main building was erected, with an auditorium having a seating capacity of 600, with other conveniences for the proper management of the schools

 

What was known as the "Ward School Building"" was erected on the south side in 1868. It was a two-story frame structure, and was used for the accommodation of first-grade pupils for several years. With the growth of the town the need of better facilities made it necessary to erect a more commodious building, which was done in the '90s, and now there is ample room and every facility for the education of the entire school population of the town. The high school was organized in 1874, and the first graduating class was in 1876.

 

Mr. Chase was succeeded as superintendent by R. A. Randall, of Goshen, in 1903. Some changes have been made since Mr. Randall took charge of the schools, which were deemed necessary for the advancement of our school interests.

 

The following statistics for the school year 1907 will afford some idea of the height to which the schools of Plymouth have attained :

 

Number of school rooms in use, 21; total number of teachers and principals, 23; number of pupils enrolled, 973; per cent of attendance, high school, 97.5;

 


260                                          HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY .

 

grades, 96.8; promoted to high school; 51; graduates from high school, 38.

 

St. Michael's Academy.

 

This is the name of a Catholic institution of learning established in Plymouth in 1870. The building .stands on Center street near the court- house square, is of brick, substantially built, well arranged for the purposes for which it is used, and cost about $12,000. The management of the school is under the immediate supervision of the Sisters of The Holy Cross, from St. Mary's, St. Joseph county, who have spared no efforts during the past thirty-seven years of its existence to make it what it is, a first-class academy of learning, an honor to the town and the denomination through whose liberality it was founded.

 

TOWNSHIP SCHOOLS OF MARSHALL COUNTY.

 

NUMBER OF SCHOOLHOUSES IN THE COUNTY.

Brick.               Frame.                        Total.

Bourbon township                   15                    ..                                  15

Center township                      3                      13                                19

German township                   1                      14                                15

Green township                       1                      9                                  10

North township                        2                      11                                13

Polk township                          6                      5                                  11

Tippecanoe township ,            1                      10                                11

Union township                       4                      5                                  9

Walnut township                     3                      7                                  10

West township                        4                      8                                  12

Total                                        40                    82                                132

 

NUMBER OF TEACHERS.

Male.                Female.                       Total.

Bourbon township                   9                      5                                  14

Center township                      5                      14                                19

German township                   5                      8                                  13

Green township                       5                      5                                  10

North township                        8                      8                                  16

Polk township                          9                      6                                  15 

Tippecanoe township              6                      5                                  11

Union township                       2                      9                                  11

Walnut township                     7                      4                                  11

West township                        5                      8                                  13

Total                                        61                    72                                133

 

NUMBER OF TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOLS.

Center township                      Inwood

North township                        LaPaz

Polk township                          Tyner

Tippecanoe township              Tippecanoe

West township.                       West

Walnut township                     Walnut

 

HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.                         261

 

TOTAL NUMBER OF PUPILS ENROLLED IN THE SCHOOLS FOR THE YEAR 1906-07.

Male.                Female.                       Total.

Township schools                   1,951               1,889                           3,840

Towns,                                     634                 718                              1,352

City.                                         382                  415                              797

Total                                        2,967               3,022                           5,989

 

When the first settlers came to Marshall county, Indiana had no school system, and such schools as were taught were conducted, according to the will and pleasure of the school master, who was employed by those of the neighborhood having children to send to him. There were no county school superintendents then; no school officers; no schoolhouses, and no public school funds. There was then, as there are now, a large proportion of the population that believed in education, and it was this element of the early pioneers whose labors and influence have been the means of giving us our present unexcelled public school system. There were others, as there are some now, who believed with Dogberry, that "education should cum by nature !" They are of that class who believe with one of Shakespeare's characters when he said to an educator of the olden time:

 

"Thou hast most traitorously corrupted the youth of the realm in erecting a grammar school, and, whereas before, our forefathers had no other books but the score and tally, thou hast caused printing to be used; and, contrary to the king, his crown and dignity thou hast built a paper mill. It will be proved to thy face that thou hast men about thee that usually talk of a noun, and a verb, and such abominable words as no Christian ear can endure to hear!"

 

It was thought by these men that to learn to read and write and "cipher" was the chief end of man. When there were in a neighborhood a sufficient number, of children large enough to find their way through the woods to the schoolhouse, preparations were made for the winter's term. The building of a schoolhouse was the first thing in order. The neighbors got together and selected a suitable location, as convenient as possible for all concerned. A plan was drawn for the building, and everybody interested agreed to meet on the grounds at the time designated for the work to be begun. Chopping axes to fell the trees, broad axes with which to hew the logs, yokes of oxen to haul the timber to the place where the building was to be erected, inch augers to bore holes where needed to pin together joists and rafters, and such other tools as were necessary and could be secured were provided. It didn't take long for the "horny-handed sons of toil" of the neighborhood to get out the material and erect a building twenty by thirty feet, and complete it for occupancy. The school building of which we speak was of the dimensions named, and was erected on a high rise of ground on the farm then owned by Vincent Brownlee, half a mile east of where he arid his family resided, a mile or so from Lake Maxinkuckee. It was provided with a "puncheon" floor, and 'a clapboard roof. A chimney of "nigger-heads" and oak slats daubed with mud, was built on the outside of one end, and a puncheon door hewn out of poplar timber, fastened together with wooden pins and hung on leather hinges, was placed in the other end of the building. The latch was made of wood, fastened on the inside of the door, to which was attached a leather string which was passed through a small hole an inch or so above, so that when the string was pulled from the outside the latch would be raised up out of the slot on the cheek of the door, the door would open and the pupil would walk in. These were the door fastenings in universal use at that time" And this is how originated the saying "come and see us; you will find the latch string out." The latch string hanging through a hole on the outside was an emblem of hospitality, such as only the pioneers of those days knew so well how to dispense.

 

262                                          HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.

 

There were no locks and keys on the doors in those days. The latch string was always out. All you had to do was to pull it, walk right in and make yourself at home.

 

The cracks between the logs were chinked and pinned and filled up with mud to keep the cold out. A log on each side of the schoolhouse and at the end opposite the fireplace at the proper height, was cut out a short distance from the corners and served as windows to furnish light for the room. There was little or no glass in this part of the country 'at that time, and, whether there was or not, it was too expensive and money was too scarce to think of indulging in such a modern invention as that; and so a sort of rough wooden frame was put in with slats upright to which were pasted old newspapers, after which they were greased so as to make them as transparent as possible, In front of these windows, on the inside, were placed long "puncheon" (there was no lumber then) writing desks, in front of which were high slats for the accommodation of such as might be advanced to the writing grade. There were rough benches without backs for the children to sit upon; and how the little fellows' spinal columns did ache before school was "let out" for the day no one who has never gone through such an experience will ever know.

 

Auger holes were bored in the logs in convenient places and wooden pins driven in on which to hang hats, bonnets and clothing.

 

The grounds about the building were nicely cleared up, the logs and brush burned, and the play-ground for jumping, foot-races, wrestling matches, bull pen, and town ball was properly laid out, and a good big pile of wood cut and piled up a convenient distance from the door to last during the winter term.

 

A well was dug and curbed up with red oak boards, a "well sweep" was added to which was attached at the lower end of a long hickory pole which was fastened to the top end of the "sweep," and old-fashioned wooden bucket.

 

How that well and the sweep "and e'en the rude bucket which hung in the well" is remembered; and how vividly comes back the memory of that good old song:

 

How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood

When fond recollection presents to my view

The orchard, the meadow, the deep tangled wild-wood,

And every loved spot which my infancy knew.

The wide spreading pond and the mill that stood by it,

The bridge and the rock where the cataract fell ;

The cot of my father, the dairy house nigh it,

And e'en the rude bucket which hung in the well,

The old oal,en bucket, the iron-bound bucket,

The moss-covered bucket which hung in the well.

 

The buildings and grounds and other necessary conveniences having been provided, the next thing-in order was to "blaze" the way to the school- house from the homes of the parents having children to send to school. At that time there were no roads except "trails" made by the Indians, of whom there were still quite a number in the county. These "trails" were by-paths through the woods leading from one Indian village to another, and to the various lakes and rivers in the northern part of the state. Indians, you must know, always went "tandem," that is one after the

 

                                                HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.                         263

 

other, and in this way the trail was sometimes worn down several inches. They wound around through the woods, avoiding swamps, hills and fallen timber as much as possible. Some of these trails are still in existence. 0ne through a section of unimproved land near Twin lakes, that we have seen, and there are doubtless others about Maxinkuckee lake, and in the vicinity of Tippecanoe river, both of which were favorite resorts for the noble red man, from whom the lands here were stolen, after which he was driven by the government out went to grow up with the country. The nearest route to the schoolhouse was selected, when the trees at convenient places were "blazed," that is, a man with an axe chipped the bark off about as high as his head on both sides of the tree so it could be seen both going and coming. Logs and brush were removed, and by following these blazed trees the young " scholar ," as he was called, had no difficulty in finding his way to the seat of learning.

 

The schoolhouse and grounds having been duly and truly prepared, the next step was for those having children to send to school to select by common consent, a "master" to take charge of the children who were to compose the school. There were no "professors" or super-intendents of schools, or instructors or teachers then. Those early educators were always known as "schoolmaster~" until Edward Eggleston changed the name to "Hoosier Schoolmaster" in his charming story of that name, written in the early history of the state. There were no professional schoolmasters then. Those who taught school simply did so to pass away the long winter months when there was very little work on the farm to do. He was generally a resident of the neighborhood who was supposed to have attained to a higher grade of educational knowledge than his neighbors, and whose skill in manipulating the birch rod was known to be all that the most enthusiastic advocate of corporal punishment could desire. It was also deemed necessary that he should be provided with a pen-knife and that he should be able to make a quill pen, for, be it known, at that time steel and gold pens had not found their way into this part of the country, and it is possible that pens made of metals had not then been invented; at any rate, all the records in the various offices in this county, all the bookkeeping in commercial transactions, and all the letters, both of a business and social nature, at that time were written with a quill pen, and it was considered quite an accomplishment to be able to make, out of a goose quill, a pen that would enable the writer to do his work in a satisfactory manner.

 

Some of the finest penmanship we have ever seen can be found on some of the early records of Marshall county made with quill pens. In the auditor's office some of the records made by the then auditor are equal to any ever made since with gold or steel pens. In the clerk's office William G. Pomeroy left some fine quill pen records. Samuel C. Sample was one of the three commissioners who organized the county June 20, 1836. He afterwards served as judge of the circuit court until October 19, 1843. He was an excellent penman, and his signature to the last court record on Order Book A, page 673, written with a quill pen, is equal to the famous signature of John Hancock to the Declaration of Independence.

 

Most of the ink used in those days was of domestic manufacture. A solution of pokeberry juice boiled down was sometimes used. Black walnut bark boiled in water until it became as thick as syrup was the basis for

 


                                                HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.                         264

 

 

Much of the ink used in the country schools. A solution of copperas was added, after which it was reduced to the proper thickness by pouring into the whole a quantity of hot water.

 

After a consultation had been held and an agreement reached as to who should be the schoolmaster, and how much Salary he ought to have for the quarter’s term, a subscription paper was circulated through the neighborhood to ascertain how many children would be “subscribed” to attend during the winter. The amount is was decided each one should pay was determined by dividing the number of “scholars” subscribed. The amount generally agreed upon was from $15 to $20 per month, and the master was to “board around” among his scholars, dividing the time as nearly equal as convenient.

 

The first day of school was a day long to be remembered. The nearest resident to the schoolhouse was on hand early and had the building well warmed with a great big cracklin’ fire long before the appointed hour for school to “take up.” By nine o’clock the scholars were all on hand ready for the opening of the crusade against the citadel of ignorance. No record of attendance was kept, and so, of course, there were no tardy marks recorded against any of those composing the school. There were very few school books to be had, and those in use had been transmitted through several generations. Webster’s Elementary spelling book, Pike’s or Smith’s arithmetic, the Columbian Orator, Weem’s Life of Washington, and the Life of Francis Marion, Lindly Murry’s or Kirkham’s grammar, comprised the books used in the curriculum of those days, and at no time were there enough to go around.

 

Each pupil in attendance was permitted to study such branches as he saw fit, or all of them if he thought he could master them. The larger number, as a rule, were in what was called the A,B,C class, and special efforts were put forth that the members of this class mastered this part of the course of study, and advanced and gained some insight into spelling in words of one syllable before the last day of school.

 

The reading class was arranged so that all those who were able to read could be accommodated whether they were provided with books or not. The class was seated on a long bench, and the lesson was so arranged that half a dozen of the scholars could use the same book. The head of the half a dozen of the scholars could use the same book. The head of the class would rise to his or her feet, read the first paragraph and hand the book to the next in line. Thus progress was made without unduly disturbing his neighbor, and was continued until all had “read around’ and until the lesson for the day had been fully mastered.

 

Then came the class in arithmetic, the members of which had been laboring to commit to memory the rules laid down by Pike, Smith, or Talbott, each in his day renowned for the great labor through which he had attained fame by puzzling his brains in making what to the scholars seemed to be impossible rules by which to work more impossible problems.

 

Then the class in writing took their places at the long writing desk in front of the windows. They attempted to follow the copy “set” by the master, and with the new beginner the master would find its motion so as to shape the letters attempted to be made. During the lesson the master had

 


265                                          HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.

 

to answer many questions aside from making and mending numerous goose quill pens, that were continually in need of repairs. When the sun's rays cast a shadow straight into the schoolroom through the south door, indicating that it was noon, the\l came from the master the welcome announcement, "You are dismissed." Such scrambling as there was, and such tumbling over benches to get out into the open air, and to the play grounds, was a performance not permitted nowadays. The noon hour was spent by the master in eating his dinner, which, like the children, he had brought with him, and in setting copies and blocking out a line of procedure for the following day. The dinner baskets were quickly emptied, and then came the play, that best of all things to teach the complicated study of human nature. Among the boys was soon heard the call "bull pen," "town ball," or "base ball,' and other games, while the girls chose other amusements. Of these the more athletic games and sports were generally preferred by the vigorous young fellows of the woods, and a roysterous, boisterous hour it was, from which memory recalls many a happy incident. Why can't our schools of the present day get out of their confined limits where space compels that the lives of the helpless, innocent, prattling children whom wt; love be risked in tucked-up rooms and their noon hour be lost to the first lessons of ,the study of nature, human and physical, in healthful outdoor play?

 

The afternoon was a repetition, generally, of the forenoon exercises, except that "spelling down" ended the day's doings. The school was divided into two classes, those that could spell in words of two syllables, and those who could stand up under such words as "Con-stan-ti-no-ple" and

"val-e-tu-di-na-ri-an." When the spelling class was called to its place the members stood up in a straight line the long way of the room, while the master gave out the words, beginning at the head of the class or number one, who had one trial at spelling and pronouncing the word, which if missed, was quickly taken by the next, who if successful, went up to the head of the class. It sometimes happened that the word was not properly spelled till at or near the foot of the class, when the one who spelled it right went clean up to the head of the class. This was the custom every day until Friday afternoon, when the week's exercises were closed with a "spelling

bee." The master selected two of the best spellers as captains of the forces, one of whom threw up a stick which was caught by the other, and so on until the O11e who held the top of the stick was awarded first choice, and then they would choose alternately until all were on one side or the other.

The master gave out the words, and when a scholar missed, under the rule, he was required to take his seat, and so it went on until all were spelled down but one, and he and the side he was on were declared the victor.

 

There is a very wide difference between the education of the children of the early pioneers al1d those of the present day. The one had only the rudiments embraced in the three R's instilled into his mind, while the student of the present day, even in the common schools, is thoroughly drilled in orthography, reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, grammar, United States history, physiology, literature, etc., and a system of graduation has been devised under which it is possible for all who complete the course of study pursued to secure a certificate that they have mastered the various branches named.

 


266                                          HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.

 

Nowadays to enable one to attain any considerable degree of success in life it is deemed essential that he should be at least fairly well educated in the common branches. In the pioneer days the small amount of business transacted was of such a nature that beyond reading, writing and arithmetic, education was not required. If all had been graduates of Harvard, Cornell or any of the great universities of the country, they could not have made any use of their surplus knowledge, and that being the case it was not deemed necessary to waste time in acquiring it. The men of Marshall county who have left their impress for good on her institutions and who were identified with its organization, and the building up of society generally, were blessed with limited education. Some of them could barely write their names, and a few that we have in mind who attained to distinction and wealth could neither read nor write. On the other hand, many of those who have come on the stage of existence long since those pioneer days who have had the benefits of high schools, seminaries and colleges, and hold certificates of graduation, have dropped into kinds of business requiring. little education, and with all their acquired knowledge have been impotent to make their mark in the world to any considerable extent. It is a serious question whether, in this progressive age, we are not cramming the beads of many children who go to school too full of the knowledge of branches that they can't understand, and which will do them no good in fighting the battle of life before them. The theory seems to be that children's heads are hollow, and so they

Ram it in, cram it in,

Children's heads are hollow;

Slam it in, jam it in,

Still there's more to follow.

Hygiene and history,

Astronomic mystery, Algebra,

histology, Latin, etymology,

Botany, geometry,

Greek and trigonometry-

 Ram it in, cram it in,

Children's heads are hollow.

 

Rap it in, tap it in-

What are teachers paid for!

 Bang in it slap it in-

What were children made for!

 Ancient archaeology,

Aryan philology, Prosody, zoology,

Physics, clinictology,

Calculus and mathematics,

Rhetorics and hydrostatics-

Hoax it in, coax it in,

Children's heads are hollow!

 

There was another kind of education in the early days that was deemed as essential to the well-being of the community as the branches usually taught in the schools. That was a knowledge of the science of vocal music.

 

Education in this branch of learning was taught in what was called

 

 


HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.                                     267

 

singing schools, usually held in the school houses in the evening. They were patronized mostly by the young people as a sort of meeting place to visit and have a good time, but there were also a considerable number of married people who had mastered the mysteries of the old "buckwheat" notes, who attended and assisted in helping to "carry the parts."

 

The singing master, as a rule, didn't know much about the science of music beyond what was contained in the "rudiments" printed in the introduction to the old "Missouri Harmony," the only vocal music book then known in this part of the country. If he had been asked what was a musical sound, or what was meant by "concert pitch," and how it happened that the letter A on the second space from the first line below had been settled upon as the sound, or pitch, to which all human voices, and all musical instruments all over the world must be adjusted, he would have fallen flat on the floor in a spasm of surprise. He could no more have told how many vibrations per second were necessary to produce a sound fixed by all the musical congresses of the world known as "concert pitch," or the sound from which every other musical sound in every musical composition that has ever been written must be in harmony, than he could have told by a mathematical process how many drops of water there were in the ocean.

 

He arranged the singers so that all with voices fitted to one part would be together such as bass, counter, tenor and treble, as the parts were then called, and then he commenced teaching them the notes and how to rtm the "gamut." The pupils soon learned the names of the notes by their - "buckwheat" shape and their position on the staff, and as the master knew all the pieces ill the book "by heart," it didn't take very long drilling for the whole school to become familiar with the favorite tunes selected for practice, although they knew nothing absolutely about the science of music or the culture of the voice. At the close of the term a concert was usually given for the benefit of the people in the locality where the school was taught. No admission fee was charged, and of course the room was jammed full, while many remained outside in hearing distance. Those who may have lived in those days, and who may have attended any of those exhibitions of musical culture, will call to mind with what feeling and pathos those old singers executed "Lenox," "Old Hundred," "Schenectady," "Solitude New," "Portuguese Hymn," "Pastoral Elegy" and other familiar pieces which they will readily call to mind. "Heavenly Vision" was reserved for the grand closing anthem. When the master had "bit" his tuning fork and placed it to his ear, and had given the key note to the several parts, then the trouble began. The "counter," always composed of a goodly number of strong voices, broke forth with: "I beheld and 10! A great multitude, which no man could number ." And then the "bass" took it up: "Thousands and thousands, and ten times thousands, stood before the Lamb," and then the tenors came to the rescue with: " And they ceased not day nor night crying." And here the trebles joined in the fray and the four parts raised the roof when they sang "Holy, Holy, Lord, God Almighty, which was and is, and is to come !" and so on over a dozen pages occupying more than half an hours' time in its rendition. That was a grand anthem, indeed, that "Heavenly Vision." Since then we have heard the finest instrumental bands in this country, have heard the best opera companies in existence, have heard famous

 


268                                          HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.

 

Brignoli, Patti, Nilsson and all the famous singers since Jennie Lind's day, and at the opening of the World's Fair, listened to the grand chorus of five thousand voices under the direction of Theodore Thomas, but the music of all these, to us, was "flat, stale and unprofitable," as compared with the charms of "Heavenly Vision" as sung by our old time pioneer friends, nearly all of whom have long since gone, it is hoped, to participate in a realization of that dream of bliss prophesied in that grand old anthem of long ago.

 

It must have been about 1847-48 that the "round notes" by the names of "do, ra, mi, fa, sol, la, si, do," began to take the place of the old style flat notes, or buckwheat notes, as they were called, known as "faw, sol, law, faw, sol, law, mi, faw." All the singer had to do was to learn the shape of the note and then he was prepared to master anything in the book. "Faw" was half a square cut diagonally. "Sol" was round, "law" was square, "mi" in shape was a hexagon. In the different keys sol, law and faw doubled up so as to fill up the "gamut." Lewis A. Joseph was the pioneer who introduced the round note innovation at the Pisgah meeting house a mile northeast of Wolf creek mills. It was something pew, and those who had mastered the buckwheat notes took hold of the new system with considerable zeal, and it was not long until the round notes were all the go.

 

Among the leaders in the movement were the Lelands, Hands, Logans, Dicksons, Thompsons, McDonalds, and others who lived in that neighborhood at the time. "Pisgah" was a noted place, for meetings, spelling and singing schools, and other social gatherings, from the time it was built until a dozen or more years ago, when having outlived its usefulness it was abandoned. It was built by J allies Logan ( "Carpenter Jim" ) , and was considered one of the finest frame buildings of the kind in the county at the time. It was given the name of "Pisgah" by Thomas McDonald, deceased, who was mainly instrumental in securing its erection.

 

ENUMERATION FOR SCHOOL

Male.                Female.           Total.

Bourbon township                   231                  236                  467

Center township                      479                  410                  889

German township                   329                  284                  613

Green township                       167                  155                  322

North township                        255                  272                  527

Polk township                          301                  283                  584

Tippecanoe township ,            194                  190                  384

Union township                       268                  240                  508

Walnut township                     205                  207                  412

 West township                       212                  188                  400

Argos town                              142                  169                  311

Bourbon town                          148                  172                  320

Bremen town                          218                  219                  437

Culver town :                           90                    88                    178

Plymouth City                          336                  329                  665

Grand total                              3,575               3,442               7,017 --