SECOND PERIOD.

The year 1855 marks an epoch in the history of the schools of Monmouth, as well as of those throughout the entire state; for in that year the chief features of our present school law were enacted. The features may be stated as follows: 1, a school system based upon law; 2, schools free to all children between the ages of five and twenty-one years; 3, ex­ penses defrayed by general tax upon all classes of property. These features had been engrafted into the law of 1825, hut met with such clamorous opposition that the act was repealed before it became effective, and Illinois was compelled to wait for decades for a school law of any value. Prior to 1855 school houses were built solely by voluntary contributions, and teachers were paid in the same manner, except the pittance from the school funds established by the Federal government. Now the state assumed the responsibility of the education of the youth, and the entire wealth of Illinois was pledged to this purpose.

The new law gave a great impulse to public education throughout tne state. A great wave of enthusiasm in behalf of public schools was sweeping over the country. Every state in the old Northwest Territory was adopting liberal school laws, while the eastern states were making extensive provisions for normal schools. The methods of teaching advocated by Horace Mann and David Page were transforming the school thought of the time. Old things were passing away, all things were becoming new. Our people were quick to respond to the new conditions. April 30, 1855, the township trus tees levied "a tax of twenty-five cents on each hundred dollars worth of taxable property in the township for the payment of teachers' wages for the space of one year." This tax was the extreme limit allowed for educational purposes. In August of the same year, the city council levied a tax of sixty cents on the hun­ dred for the purpose of building a public school house, and followed up the next year with a tax of eighty cents on the hundred to complete the structure. These liberal provisions, together with the two mill tax from the state and the revenues from the Federal school funds, gave ample provision for placing the public schools upon a solid foundation, and they were soon in successful operation.

Under the law the city council became the school directors, and, under the leadership of N. A. Rankin, wisely and largely did they plan for the future. The fall of 1855 the public schools were opened, one by A. rf. Tracy in the Christian church, another by W. B. Jenks in the school house, and a third by .Maria S. Madden on South Main street, in the spring these were increased to five, and the council began the erection of a six-room building to be known as the Union School on the ground where Lu.e Central School building now stands. Hitherto every school had been separate and distinct from every other school. Now it was proposed to bring all the children of the district to one school, employ a principal who should have charge over all, and adopt a union school system. For this important work the council employed A. H. Tracy. He was from Erie County. Pa., and was charged with the educa­ tional enthusiasm that had lately swept over the Alleghenies. Owing to the unfinished condition of the school house, the school was not to open until the first of November. Mr. Tracy spent September and October visiting the schools of Chicago, Cleveland, and other cities in the east, that he might learn the method of managing and teaching a combined school.

The Union School opened November 11856. Mr. Tracy was principal and taught the more advanced scholars in room 1. Miss Amanda Corwin taught in room 2, Miss Fidelia Simpson in room 3, D. R. Stevens in room 4. Miss Jane Hoge in room 5, and Miss Eliza R. Calkins in room 6. Mr. Jenks taught in the old public school house, and Miss Maria Madden on South Main street where Kobler's butcher shop now stands. This was not a graded school in the modern sense of the word, but a union school, and was so denominated. It. was, however, the beginning of the present organization. When the graded systems were adopted, it is impossible to state; for every year from then until now some change has been made leading up to the highly organized system of today. The Union School contained the germs of the present school organization in Monmouth. Mr. Tracy arranged the course of study, and the council prescribed the text­ books to be used.

For the year 1857 W. B. Jenks was chosen principal, and seven teachers were employed. On opening, the schools were crowded and the council was compelled to rent the basement of the Presbyterian church, as well as the residence of Mrs. S. Smith, for school purposes, and to employ two additional teachers—Mr. Tracy being employed in the basement of the church. May 16 of the same year the council, with a view of erecting a building thsreon, authorized the mayor to purchase lots 1. 4 and 5 in block 16, Coburn's addition, for the sum of 1550. The purchase was not made however.

The records are imperfect, showing no transfer of lots 1 or 5 from the original owners, and that lot 4 was purchased by the city from Mrs. Sarah Coburn for $150. An old resident says lot 1 was presented to the city by the owners, Morgan & Wood, for school purposes. At any rate the building was erected on lot 1 in 1859, a special tax having been voted by the district for that purpose. It was of brick, two stories high, containing six rooms with narrow halls and stairways. It was the first building in the district in which blackboards were placed, and the first to be seated, with factory-made chairs. The building is still used for school purposes, though it was re­modeled in 1895 at a cost of about $2.000.

Mr. Jenks remained in charge of the schools until the year 1S60, when he abandoned teaching and went into business. The autumn of 1860 the council employed C. V. Brooks as superintendent, with six teachers in the East ward (the old Union School), and six in the West ward. There were also schools in the Presbyterian and Baptist churches, and one on Third street south of the C., B. & Q. freight depot. Altogether twenty-three teachers were employed during the year. Mr. Brooks states that he found the schools in as good condition as could be expected under the senseless system of making the aldermen ex-officio tha Board of Education. For getting the schools into such condition much credit was due to Mrs. L. M. Tucker, susan Madden, the three Miss Tracys, W. B. Jenks, John E. Alexander and A. H. Tracy." After one year's trial the office of superintendent of the city schools was abolished, and male principals employed for the West ward and for the school south of the railroad.

The Civil war produced a disastrous ef­ fect upon the schools. The year was shortened to six months, and the winter of 1861-62 no public schools were in session; but the buildings were granted to the teachers who conducted private schools therein. The ablest teacher of the war period was Mrs. L. M. Tucker. She was born in the Berkshire hills of Massachusetts, and reared in Western New York near Rochester. In 1852 she was gradu­ ated from Phipps Union Seminary in Albion, N. Y., and immediately called to take charge ot a ladies school at Lafayette, Ind. In 1854 she was married to Rev. Anson Tucker, who became pastor of the Baptist church in Monmouth in 1856. Mr. Tucker died in April, 1858, and the following September Mrs. Tucker entered the schools as a teacher in room 2 in the East Ward building. In 1859 she was chosen principal of the East Ward, and remained in this position until June. 1866.

In the following December she married James H. Reed, the talented editor of The Monmouth Atlas, and an able teacher was lost to the profession. She was a woman of great moral worth and set her face like a flint against vice in all its forms, but especially intemperance and the use of tobacco. With the assistance of Director Harry G. Harding she banished the nse of tobacco from the school building and the school grounds. Nearly all the children who attended school under her administration signed the temperance pledge. Mrs. Tucker was ably assisted in her work by Misses Amelia and Fidelia Simpson, who taught in rooms 3 and 4. They were from Southbridge, Mass., and were graduates of the State Normal school at North Bridgewater. then in charge of Dr. Richard Edwards, afterward president of our own State Normal school.

In 1863 the city council was relieved from the care of the schools and a board of directors consisting of three members was chosen under a provision of an act of the late legislature. N. A. Rankin, Dr. J. S. Spriggs and David Graham were elected. In August of the same year an election was held to vote for or against levying a tax of twenty-five cents on the hundred dollars to build a school house in the south part of the city. The vote being favorable, a four room structure was erected in 1865 on the grounds of the present Harding school building, and school opened therein in the autumn of 1866.

During the winter of 1866-67 the schools in the wards were crowded, and the school board purchased the old college building on North A street to be used for school purposes. A public meeting of citizens was called at the court house to remonstrate, and to induce the directors to rescind this action. A committee of mechanics reported the building unfit for public school purposes, and the meeting passed resolutions opposing the purchase. The action was rescinded, and the board purchased a lot in the Quinby & Lawrence addition, on the corner of North Second street and Euclid avenue, and immediately commenced the erection of the Garfield building now in use, but which is soon to give place to a handsome brick structure of six rooms, the contract for which was let March 4 of this year (1892) to Charles L. Barnes of Monmouth for $25,774.

The North Ward building was opened in the autumn of 1867 with six teachers. A high school was organized in room 1 and placed in charge of D. C. Templeton. Ample provision had now been made for the accommodation of all the children in the rapidly growing city; the depression of the war was over, and the schools entered upon a period of great prosperity. The teaching corps that year numbered twenty-three, including the superintendent. T. C. Swafford, of Mercer county.

About 1869 four young men of ability, character, education and experience were princi­pals in the ward schools. In ability and in eeuipment for teaching they overshadowed the superintendent, which without doubt led to the abolition of that office and the placing of the schools in the control of the principals— a policy followed for twenty years. They were W. C. Robinson in the North Ward, N. G. Campbell in the East Ward, H. H. Bates in the West Ward and W. J. Samson in the South Ward. They were young men of great enthusiasm and lofty aspiration. A healthy rivalry sprang up among them—not for personal aggrandizement, but for superior excellence in his own school. This rivalry was seen in the County Teachers' association where their respective pupils were pitted against one another for public approval. Each was proud of his school and was ever pleased to bring it before the public. Whatever was new and valuable in teaching these young men seized upon and incorporated into their schools.

A creditable high school was organized in the North Ward; music was placed in the course of study, with acompetent teacher of vocal music, Mr. Hanchet, in charge. The schools were reorganized, classified, properly graded, and a course of study arranged and put in operation, well dapt- ed to a graded school. This course consisted of twelve grades and covered a period of twelve years. As each of the four buildings contained six rooms, it was convenient to place two grades in each room, an arrangement which lasted for twenty years, or until the erection of the Central building. The course was the work of many teachers, but N. C. Campbell, principal of the East Ward, did more than any other one person to bring about the happy result. Mr. Campbell was an able teacher, and may be called the first professional teacher in the Monmouth schools. He understood the public school problem as no other teacher had, and brought to the schools a thorough knowledge of systems in other places. The gradation and organization of the schools that took place during his stay may be traced directly to his analytic mind. He put his methods into operation in the East Ward, and they soon found their way into other schools. In 1871 Monmouth College conferred on him the degree of A. M.Of these four young men, Mr. Robinson was the ablest, and has been the most successful. When he came to the North Ward he found a diminutive high school. He left it well or­ ganized and in a flourishing condition. After three years' service he abandoned teaching, and is today the president of a large banking institution in Winfield, Kansas. W. J. Samson went to Burlington, Iowa, and became princi­ pal of one of the largest schools in the city, and has held the position for thirty years. Mr. Bates became a successful merchant in our city, but has never lost his interest in the welfare of the schools

 

The closing years of the second period in the history of the schools of Monmouth may be truly called the "Woman's Era." While the teaching force has always been largely com­ posed of women, the principals had all been men prior to 1873 with the exception of Mrs. Tucker; but now, to a large degree, women became the principals and assumed the re­sponsibility of public education. Among these noble women were Elizabeth Leighty in. the East Ward: Margaret Wiley and Lucy Duer in the West Ward; Elizabeth Peacock and Mary Sterret in the North Ward, and Margaret Scott in the South Ward.

To Miss Delia Caldwell belongs the honor of the longest term of service among the corps of teachers. Graduating from college in June, 1868, she began teaching in the South Ward in the following September, and has taught con­ tinuously from that day to this (1902)—more than one third of a century. With the exception of one year in the East Ward, her en­ tire service has been in the second grade of the South Ward school. Among other teachers who have taught in the schools of this city for a period of time sufficient to give them mention in this history, are: Mrs. M. D. Sterret, 25 years; Miss Mary a. Sterret, 25 years; Miss Margaret L. Wiley, 24 years; Miss Elizabeth Leighty, 23 years; Miss Margaret McDill, 23 years; and Miss Lucy B. Duer, 15 years.

The work and worth of Mrs. Margaret D. Sterret entitles her to more than a passing mention in this history. Her husband, John M. Sterret, was a member of the Fifty-first Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, in the Civil war, and was killed in the Hornets' Nest at the battle of Shiloh, April, 1862, leaving her a widow with three small children. In the following September she sought and found employment in the public schools cf the city, where she remained until 1888, more than a quarter of a century. She taught in the West Ward and also in the East Ward.

When the North W Tard school was opened in 1868, she was transferred to the primary room in that building, where she remained until the end of her service. She was a devout woman, and few children who went to school to her will ever forget the impressive hour of devotions^ with which she always opened her school. Of the three hundred teachers who have taught in the public schools of Monmoutn, no one left such a deep religious impression upon the minds of the children.

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