CHAPTER IX
EDUCATIONAL PROGRESSTHE BEGINNING--FIRST SCHOOL LEGISLATION--'FIRST SCHOOLS--NORMAL INSTITUTES-- REPORT OF l882--PRESENT CONDITION--SCHOOL CONSOLIDATION
The factors which have made rapid educational progress possible in Worth County are many. From the beginning of schools until the present year, new ideas have been incorporated into the public school system, until now Worth County may boast of one of the most efficient educational systems in the state. Before treating the details of the growth of schools here in this county it may be well to glance backward to the beginning of education in the state and territory, many years before Worth County became a civil division.
THE BEGINNING Governor Robert Lucas, in his message to the first Legislature of Iowa Territory, which convened at Burlington, November 12, 1838, said in reference to schools :
"The twelfth section of the act of Congress establishing our territory declares 'that the citizens of Iowa shall enjoy all the rights, privileges and immunities heretofore granted and secured to the Territory of Wisconsin and its inhabitants.' This extends to us all the rights, privileges and immunities specified in the ordinance of Congress on the 13th of July, 1787.
"The third article of this ordinance declares 'that religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and all means of education shall be forever encouraged.'
"There is no object to which I wish to call your attention more emphatically than the subject of establishing, at the commencement of our political existence, a well-digested system of common schools.""Congress, to carry out this declaration, has granted one section of land in each township to the inhabitants of such township for the purpose of schools therein.
The assembly began the task of formulating and providing for an adequate system of public schools, and enacted a law providing for the formation of districts, the establishment of schools, and authorized the voters of each district, when lawfully assembled, to levy and collect the necessary taxes "either in cash or good, merchantable property at cash prices, upon the inhabitants of their respective districts, not exceeding one-half per centum, nor amounting to more than $10 on any one person; to do all and everything necessary to the establishment and support of schools within the same." The second legislative assembly, on January 16, 1840, enacted a much more comprehensive law to establish a system of common schools--a law containing many excellent features. Its provisions were, however, in advance of the public sentiment upon education, making ample provisions, as it did, for free public schools. It has been claimed by students of the subject that the people of Iowa were not quite ready for such a law.
In the United States census report for 1840, very few schools, either public or private, were reported. One academy in Scott County, with twenty-five scholars, and in the state sixty-three primary and common schools, with 1,500 scholars, being the whole number reported.
The first section of the act of 1839, for the establishment of common schools, provided "that there shall be established a common school, or schools, in each of the counties of this territory, which shall be open and free to every class of white citizens between the ages of five and twenty-five years." The second section provided "that the county board shall from time to time form such districts in their respective counties, whenever a petition may be presented for that purpose by a majority of the voters resident within such contemplated district." These districts were governed by a board of three trustees, whose duties were to examine and employ teachers, superintend the schools, and collect and disburse the taxes voted by the electors for school purposes.When Iowa was admitted into the Union as a state, on December 28, 1846, it had a population of 100,000, a school population of 20,000 and had about four hundred organized school districts. From this time the number of districts increased, reaching 1,000 in 1849 and 1,200 in 1850. In 1857 the number of organized districts had increased to 3,265. Maturin D. Fisher, then superintendent of public instruction, in his report of November, 1857, urged the revision of the school law and a reduction in the number of school districts.
Among earlier enactments of the territorial Legislature were those requiring that each district maintain at least three months of school each year, and that the expenses for the same were to be raised by taxes levied upon the property of said district. Among later enactments was that providing for a county school tax, to be levied to pay teachers, and that whatever additional sum should be required for this purpose should be assessed upon the parents of the scholars in proportion to the length of time sent. The rate bill system was thus adopted near the close of the territorial period. The Seventh General Assembly again took up the subject of revision of the school laws and on March 12, 1858, passed "An Act. for the Public Instruction of Iowa," the first section of which provided that "each civil township in the several counties of the state is hereby declared a school district for all the purposes of this act, the boundaries of said township being the boundaries of said school district, and every township hereafter laid out and organized, a school district; and each district as at present organized shall become a subdistrict for the purpose hereinafter provided: Provided, that each incorporated city or town, including the territory annexed thereto for school purposes, and which contain not less than 1,000 inhabitants, shall be and is hereby created a school district." This law took effect March 20, 1858, and reduced the number of districts from about 3,500 to less than nine hundred.
In December, 1858, a law was enacted providing that any city or incorporated town, including the territory annexed thereto for school purposes, might constitute a school district by vote of the majority of the electors residing in the territory of such contemplated district. In 1860 the provisions of this act were extended to unincorporated towns and villages containing not less than three hundred inhabitants.
By an act passed April 3, 1866, this privilege was further extended to any city or subdistrict containing not less than two hundred inhabitants, and comprising territory contiguous thereto. It soon became evident that by this amendment a serious innovation would be made in the district township system, by the formation of independent districts in the more thickly populated and wealthier portions of the townships. The amendment was repealed by the session of the following general assembly.
The township system met the approval of every state superintendent, while. the subdistrict system was strenuously opposed. A. S. Kissell, in a report dated January 1, 1872, said: "In this system every township becomes a school district and all subdistrict boundaries are abandoned; and if this plan were carried into effect in this state it would allow no other school divisions than those of the independent and township districts.
"The most experienced educators of the country have advocated this system. Among these are such men as Horace Mann, United States Commissioner Barnard, ex-Governor Boutwell, Dr. Newton Bateman of Illinois, Doctor Gregory, late superintendent of Michigan, and the county and state superintendents of one-third of the states in the Union. The arguments advanced by many of these experienced school men are unanswerable. Massachusetts and Pennsylvania have tested the system practically for several years; it is pronounced by these states as a success, and this successful experiment of three or four years should have greater weight with us in this young and growing commonwealth than any theoretical arguments that could be advanced."
Notwithstanding the efforts and arguments in favor of the township system, and the conviction, on the part of those who had made a special study of the subject, that it would prove disastrous in its results, the general assembly, which convened January 8, 1872, enacted a law providing for the formation of independent districts, from the subdistricts of a district township.
When the first attempt was made toward the organization of Worth County in 1857 the office of school fund commissioner was still in vogue, the law creating county superintendents of common schools not having yet passed the houses of the general assembly. At the first election, therefore, held October 13, 1857, Stanley D. Wadsworth was elected to the office of school fund commissioner. The office was not considered of much importance, as about the only duty was the handling of school funds. Mr. Wadsworth was never called upon to qualify" for the position, as the office was abolished in 1858.
At the same time the office was abolished, that of county superintendent of schools was created. The first to fill this position was E. D. Hinman. The other occupants of this office are listed in Chapter V.
FIRST SCHOOLS
The first school in the Township of Barton was held on section 1, in a frame schoolhouse then erected on the land of L. O. Anderson. Clara Wardall taught first in this primitive building, which was built by the citizens of the township, with the assistance of the Northwood school board. The building was later moved to section 11. It is not known when this school was first started, but presumably a short time after the first settlements were made in this civil division.
The first school in Bristol Township was taught during the summer and autumn of 1858, in a log house on section 8, within the town limits, by Miss Harriett Lycan. During the following summer a large two-story frame house was built in the village.
In Brookfield Township the first school was taught during the summer of 1862, by Ann Cox, in a small log building on Ole Amundson Fluto's place. There were about ten scholars in the class. This small building was erected on the northeast quarter of section 15. The year following the start of this school the building was torn down and a new one erected forty rods farther east on the same section. This structure was 16 by 24 feet and the lumber used was hauled here from Bristol.
During the summer of 1860 a school was taught in Fertile Township by Phoebe Dennis, from Lime Creek, Cerro Gordo County, in a small building erected on the southwest quarter of the southwest quarter of section 36. The settlers here then were few and as a result the first class was limited to five pupils. The first school in which the Norwegian language was taught was opened in the summer of 1873, in a log house on the farm of Ole O. Brunsvold. Betsy Resta, of Northwood, was the teacher of twelve scholars here.
Danville Township first possessed a school in the summer of 1869. The class was taught at the Trebilcock schoolhouse by Miss L. Boget. This was in district No. 1. In the summer of 1873 a school was taught in district No.2 by Christiana Beyer; the class met in the granary of Jonathan Williams. Fourteen scholars attended Miss Beyer's class.
In Hartland Township the first school in district No. 1 was taught by Mrs. Harriett E. Towne, wife of P. C. Towne, commencing June 23, 1859, and closing September 26th of the same year. The building was constructed of logs, 16 by 20 feet, with a sod roof, and was located on the northwest corner of the northeast quarter of section 8. The first school in district No. 2 was taught by Theresa Barber at the house of Michael Paulson on section 24, from June 27, 1859, until November 4, 1859. The first frame schoolhouse was erected on section 24 in 1860 and was afterward removed to section 23 and remodeled.
Before the organization of Kensett, the schools of the township were under the control of the Northwood district. The first one within the limits of the present township was located on section 10 and was started during the summer of 1871 by Julia Finch, now Mrs. C. H. Walker. The district No. 1 was organized in 1878 and the first teacher was Clara Wardall.
In Lincoln Township the first school was opened in 1871, with Alpheretta Overholt in charge.Northwood (Grove) Township was the site of the first school in Worth County--that taught by Catherine Hostetler at the home of Tilly McWithy, of Phelps' Grove, in the northern part of the township. The first school in the Village of Northwood itself was opened by the same teacher in the summer of 1858. The following winter she continued the class in an upper room of the Beckett store building. The first public, or district school, was taught in the summer of 1859, by Cylinda Burnapp. A room was supplied at the home of Charles Wardall. In 1860 a small frame school building was erected for housing the class. This building was used until the district was made independent, when a decision was made to construct a larger building. The first meeting of the independent school district board of Northwood was held en May 10, 1873. The meeting was organized by the appointment of H. J. Olney as chairman and H. V. Dwelle as secretary. Voting was conducted for some time and then the following officers were chosen: A. C. Walker, president; Thomas Wardall, treasurer; B. H. Beckett, D. Abbey and H. V. Dwelle, directors. A tax of $600 was voted for the purpose of building a new schoolhouse, and the board of directors was given authority to sell the old school property, also to purchase a new site. A lot was bought from R. L. Kimball for $400 and the contract for the building of the schoolhouse let to A. D. Barnum for $4,500. Other expenses incident to the erection of the building made necessary the issue of bonds to the extent of $4,500, to augment the small amount of cash on hand. The schoolhouse, a two-story brick veneer structure on block 59, was completed during the fall of the same year. In 1882 this building was doubled in size by the addition of two rooms, and served its purpose until February 12, 1915, when it was destroyed by fire. This necessitated a new building, and accordingly the present high school structure was built the same year at a cost of $80,000. The primary school building adjacent to the high school was erected in 1902. The sale of the old courthouse by the city for school purposes is noted elsewhere.
The first school in Silver Lake Township was opened in the summer of 1861. Mary A. White was the teacher. The first schoolhouse built in the township was on section 14, there built in the spring of 1861.
NORMAL INSTITUTES
The first normal institute of Worth County met on March 19, 1877, and closed April 5th, after a session of three weeks. G. H. Whitcomb was then county superintendent and secured the services of Professor Bush as conductor, and Professors Valentine, Von Coeln and Butler as lecturers. Following is a list of those who attended this meeting: Bertha Bowman, Ida Hunt, Hattie Keen, Inez Albright, Addie James, Ursula Thomas, Rosa Stott, Lena Gardner, Emma Berkins, Alice Eggleston, Martha Young, Zella Williams, Mary Rickard, Ida Rebinson, Ellen Stott, Mira Pike, Emma Perry, Alice Jones, J. Williams, Jr., Willis Hunter, James Brydon, E. G. Mellem, J. N. Bigelow, H. J. Beyer, J. M. Carter, W. H. Minor, Mervin Parker and C. E. Swanger. The normal institute was abolished in 1913. In its place has come the teachers' institute, held every year and so arranged as to provide for a minimum loss of time by the teachers.
REPORT OF 1882Number of district townships .................................................. 12 Number of independent districts ............................................. 3 Number of ungraded schools ................................................. 69 Male teachers .............................................................. 29 Female teachers .............................................................. 87 Children in county between five and twenty-one ............................ 2,660 Enrollment ............................................................... 2,300 Average attendance ........................................................... 918 Number of schoolhouses-- Brick ............ 1 Frame .............. 61 Log ........... 1 Total value of schoolhouses ............................................... $36,985PRESENT CONDITIONS
Something of the present condition of the Worth County schools may be learned by noting the figures pertaining to the attendance and number of teachers now existing. The figures which follow are from the county superintendent's report for 1917:
INDEPENDENT CITIES, TOWNS AND VILLAGES
Teachers Male Female Enrollment Schools Grafton 1 2 74 1 Hanlontown 1 2 67 1 Kensett 1 4 128 1 Manly 2 8 299 1 Northwood 3 14 421 2 Fertile 3 4 173 1 Joice 1 5 131 5SCHOOL TOWNSHIPS
Barton 0 7 135 7 Bristol 0 4 62 5 Brookfield 0 1 158 9 Danville 1 9 145 8 Deer Creek 0 8 131 7 Fertile 0 2 45 3 Grove 0 5 96 5 Hartland 0 7 142 7 Kensett 0 7 96 7 Lincoln 1 7 106 8 Silver Lake 0 7 118 6 Union 0 7 120 7In the county, as a whole, there are 14 male teachers, 119 female teachers, 1,985 males and 1,847 females between the ages of five and twenty-one,anenrollment of 2,707, an average attendance of 1,992, 91 schools, with a total value of $208,166.
SCHOOL CONSOLIDATION
Although Worth County has not taken up the question of school consolidation to a great extent, actual features of consolidation are existent in the county and it is a safe prediction that before many years have elapsed the system will be generally adopted. There are now three consolidated districts in the county— Fertile,/Joice and Hanlontown. The Carpenter consolidated district in Mitchell County and the Plymouth district in Cerro Gordo County both extend a distance into Worth County. Through the consolidated system of teaching every child of school age in the district, whether living in the town or in the country within a range of miles, is carried to school each morning in closed hacks which take a certain route. In the evening, after school hours, the pupils are returned to their homes. This is repeated each school day of the year. The pupil also has the advantage of a graded school education, which he did not have when he attended the rural school-house. He is given a variety of courses, many of them optional, and after completing the eighth grade is ready for the high school branches without extra preparation. The pupil also has the advantage of social life, also of modern equipment and well-regulated heating and ventilating systems, besides the opportunity to meet his city brothers upon an even plane and to gain the same benefits from the educational facilities provided by the district and county.
Transcribed by Gordon Felland on 8/24/2018