Crawford County, Indiana - Chapter 12: Education, 1926

After the American Republic was established in 1789, the fact was recognized that the safety and welfare of a nation depended upon the education and the training of its citizens. The Federal Government having received the Northwest Territory from the several states, ordered it surveyed and divided into townships. The sixteenth section of each township was given to the people of that township for school purposes. Thus our National Government encouraged education.

The first school law was enacted in 1808 after Indiana was organized as a territory. This law provided that the school land could be leased to men if they would clear ten acres during the time of the lease which was to run for five years.

Indiana became a state in 1816. The first school law passed by the General Assembly of Indiana was passed in 1816. This law provided for the care of the land by appointing a superintendent for each congressional township.

The board doing county business in Crawford County met at the court house in Fredonia, January 3, 1825, and appointed these men as superintendents of the various townships: Allen D. Thom, township four south, range one west; Peter McMichael, township two south, range two west; Wiliam Anderson, township three south, range one east; Thomas Cummings, George Jones and Charles Springer were appointed for Ohio township.

The superintendent could lease the unimproved land to any man at the rate of 160 acres of land to each man for seven years, while the improved land could be had for three years, providing the renter set out annually twenty-five apple trees and twenty-five peach trees. The law did not state on what land these trees were to be set. So some men set them on their own land. The superintendents held their office for two years and received whatever salary the board saw fit to grant them.

That same year the General Assembly tried to pass a school law which was very simple in its provisions, the chief ones of which were: (1) When twenty land owners in any township petitioned the county commissioners, requesting them to call an election, at which three township trustees were elected for school purposes. These trustees were granted unrestricted powers to make all rules and regulation for the schools when any one was established. At the same time the Governor was authorized to appoint a superintendent for the seminary townships.

Notwithstanding the gloomy situation, a number of schools sprang up in various parts of the state. The writer has not been able to locate any one in Crawford County. The school district was the unit. The people in the district decided whether they wanted a school or not. Often family feuds ruined schools in the early days.

tee for each county. This officer was to accumulate a seminary fund from fines and forfeitures as provided in the law and to loan the fund out to the best advantage.

The trustees were allowed six per cent. of all the money collected for their services. Elisha Tadlock seems to have been the first seminary trustee. The speaker of the House of Representatives laid his report before the General Assembly on December 13, 1821. At that time Trustee Tadlock had $100.50 on hands. The records are not complete, but one is able to find the following list of seminary trustees: Elisha Tadlock, 1821; William Dodd, 1824; Andrew Kinkaid, 1825; Henry Atkins, 1826; Wilham Anderson, 1830; John L. Smith, 1832; William Course, 1835.

The first real school law was enacted in 1824. It was entitled: ''An Act to Incorporate Congressional Townships and Providing for the Public Schools Therein.'' It provided for the election of three township trustees for each township, who were empowered to locate school districts appointing for them three district trustees, and to manage the school fund.

Under this law every able-bodied man over twenty-one years old being a householder or a land owner was liable to one day's work each week in his district until the house was completed. If he failed to work out his time, he had to pay for it at 3714 cents a day. The settler could donate material if he wished, for which he received credit. When the people of a district had completed the house the township trustees came and inspected the building. If the house was not satisfactory the workmen were recalled and the corrections made. Then the trustees gave the people the right to use the house. The men usually divided themselves into choppers, hewers and the corner workers. All 'the houses erected in Crawford County were log houses. When the day came for a house raising there was always plenty on hand to drink.

When the house was completed the trustees called the people together at the school-house to see if they wished to have a school taught. If they did then they must raise the funds to pay the teacher and set the date for the beginning of school. The district trustees collected all donations and employed a teacher on the most advantageous terms, and were to report all their proceedings to the township trustees.

One of the first state superintendents described these old log schools as follows: ''Most of them were delapidated log buildings, located in some out-of-the-way place in the woods, often in the midst of a mud-hole, surrounded on all sides by stagnant pools and heaps of underbrush, infeeting the air with their deadly miasma, a place fit for nothing and of course not fit for a school. The house itself was a square cabin with a rickety old door with one hinge broken, which would not allow it to close well. The windows were long and narrow and placed wherever chance offered without regard to the distribution of light, with half of the panes out, curtainless and shutterless. The floor was made of loose puncheons, all of which were very unsatisfactory.'' One may see the entire report in volume one, page 26, of State Superintendent Larrabee's report.

Mr. Larrabee did not exaggerate the situation of the school houses. Several in Crawford County were situated in just such conditions. Irving's old school, Magnolia,

Byerly's and Number Ten were examples. Irving's school was located on a hillside west of Leavenworth about two miles. Cunningham's school-house was located on the old Hartford road south of English two miles. At the three forks of Little Blue an old log house was still standing after the Civil War.

The general law of 1824 provided that the township trustees should hold their office for three years or until their successors were elected. They gave a bond for $1,000 each for the faithful performance of their duties. The trustees of the township met and organized by electing one of their members president and appointed a clerk and a treasurer. In a month after their election they were to divide the township into a number of school districts and prescribe the boundaries of each. They appointed three district trustees for each school.

The district trustees were to meet in ten days after their appointment and call a meeting of the patrons who were to decide whether they wanted a school-house built. 'The site was selected on which to build a house and the date set for the construction of the house.

As soon as the school-house was completed the township trustees came together and accepted it and gave the district trustees permission to use the house. The houses were numbered in order of the building. Those in Jennings township were numbered: Baker No. 1; Mansfield No. 2; Dillman No. 3; Magnolia No. 4; Archibald No. 5; McLane No. 6; Wyandotte No. 7; Borden No. 8; Irving No. 9; Cates No. 10; Centerville No. 11, and Shafer No. 12. Other townships were named in a similar order. Many of the districts have been changed and new names given since 1856.

Under the law the district trustees were empowered to employ a teacher on the most advantageous terms. In no case was a teacher to be employed unless he was duly qualified,

In 1824 this Jaw looked very well on paper but it soon appeared that it had many defects, one of which was the district plan which required pupils to attend school in their own district. This was very poor, for a school might be just across the line in another district from a settler's cabin and his own school might be several miles away. State Superintendent Larrabee says that he came near being cheated out of his education by this injudicious system. Ina few cases men in Crawford County were allowed to send their pupils to other districts. The trustees of Ohio township met at Alton September 6, 1845, and ordered that Rosana Riley, who lived in district No. 5, be allowed to send her pupils to district No. 4. Indiana was the first state to discard the old district system.

So far the only revenue to support the schools was paid by the pioneers in money, produce and whatever the teacher would accept, and the revenue yielded by the sixteenth section which of course was not much. By 1828 men believed that it would be best to sell the sixteenth section and use the interest off of the money. A new law in 1828 allowed the free-holders to vote whether they would sell the land or not. The election was held in August on the fourth Monday, 1828, in Crawford County, and the majority of people voted to sell the land. In Ohio township the citizens voted, forty to sell and three not to sell their section. The author was not able to secure other data on the vote since the records have been destroyed.

The board of trustees met at the home of John Morgan in Fredonia and divided up the section into the following parts and set the following prices: Lot 1 at $2.50 per acre; lot 2 at $2.50 per acre; lot 3 at $1.8714 per acre; lot 4 at $2.66 2/3 per aere; lot 5 at $3 1/6; lot 6 at $1.25 per aere and lot 7 at $1.25 per acre.

The county commissioners in January, 1833, ordered the sheriff to notify the voters in the congressional township two south, range two east to meet at the home of James Mulky on the last Saturday in March and elect three township trustees who were to divide up the township into districts. The voters in township three south were to meet at John Neal's house and elect three townslup trustees for that township which was in range two east.

The new law of 1831 provided for a county school commissioner whose term of office was three years and who was to have general supervision over the school monies.

In 1832 the General Assembly passed a new school law which provided for a school fund. The funds were to be derived from the tax upon lots owned by foreigners. At that time many farmers owned land in Crawford County and lived in other parts of the state. Not much money was derived from the sale of such land.. Then the interest on the money paid for the land in the sixteenth section was added to this sum which formed the basis of our common school funds. The school commissioners were to loan out the money and use the interest for the schools. No provision was made in the law for the protection of the funds.

The whole school system of Crawford County was revised by the new law enacted in 1837. The principal changes were: The school commissioner in Crawford

The voters of each school district were empowered to elect three district trustees who had almost absolute power over the schools of their districts. They selected the teachers and gave them examinations. If a teacher had a certificate granted by the examiner the district trustees could still make him take the examination. This was one of the weakest points in the law.

The circuit court of each county was empowered to appoint three county examiners who were authorized to examine and license teachers. The district trustees could accept their grading if they wished and if they did not, then they examined the candidates.

Many of our teachers now days will be interested to see the form of the certificates issued in Crawford County then. It was worded as follows: I or we, examiners of teachers for the common schools of Crawford County hav- IDE OSATLAEG 4s be ea th.s «cass touching his qualifications to teach a common school, do certify that he or she is well qualified to teach ............. GSUDIECLS). VEE 2. > Sakis when he was a mere boy: Hesays: ''Being one year older than my native state I have seen her growth from a wilderness peopled with wild savages to one of the most successful in education. I have seen the old-fashioned teacher behind his desk in true 'Ichabod' style just as he came across the sea. I saw the neighborhood excitement when grammar, geography and history were added to the course of study. Pleasing memories come before me when I think of the pioneer school-houses which had two long pins over the teacher's desk on which the whips were laid, the old-time seats, the broken windows, and the large fireplaces were always before me. I shall never forget my first experience under the law of 1837. I went to be examined. The old question which the examiner asked me was: 'What is 25¢c x 25¢?' How could I tell what the answer was, for there was no such problem in Pike's old arithmetic. J worked for a long time and could not get the answer. Then the examiner tried to solve it and thought the result was 614¢. I thought 614¢ was right, yet that appeared very small to both of us. We discussed its merits for some time when he thought he was satisfied that I was qualified to hold a certificate.''

One of the favorite questions asked by the examimers in Crawford County was, ''Why does smoke go up?'' Ifa teacher could explain that he was certain to get a certificate.

M. E. Stewart, of Tower, told a very interesting story about Professor John M. Johnson when he was county examiner in Crawford County. Johnson had graduated from Indiana University in 1851 and was a very good school man. He wished to add orthography to the course of study which consisted of reading, writing and arithmetic. When Hiram Jones came to take the examination, Johnson asked him if he knew what orthography was. Hiram said: ''Oh, John do not put that into the course. I do not know anything about that.'' So Johnson passed him with the grades on the other subjects.

Hobbs told about a retired liquor dealer who was a teacher. He weighed about two hundred and fifty pounds and was very cross. He began school at seven o'clock. The recesses were ten minuts long with one hour at noon. We were in school about ten hours each day. We sat on backless seats all this time. How tired we grew and how our feet dangled from the seats! May no other generation ever be punished so! But this old man often grew sleepy and then when he fell asleep how we poor boys enjoyed crawling down off that seat and letting our legs and feet rest. He chewed tobacco and spat on the floor about his seat, of which probably a square yard was wet. He made a rule that whoever came first should be at the head of the class in spelling. One morning I came about five o'clock and to my surprise I found a tall boy there who really had never taken much interest in school. What could it mean? Soon a large number of boys came and held a kind of a meeting in the woods near the house. When the teacher came it was soon noised around that the boys were going to give him a jug of brandy for a Christmas present.

Not much effort was made to teach the girls arithmetic. Many believed that the girls could not study that branch of learning. They were not able to reason out the sums.

the people of the state should pay tax themselves to support a common school. The election was held in Indiana in 1848 when the state voted for free schools by a majority of 16,636. The bill was under discussion in the House during most of the term in 1846-1847. It was finally passed a few days before the term closed. Since the Senate did not have sufficient time to study the question it referred the whole problem to the people to decide. The campaign for free schools began immediately and was very exciting. It was not an easy one. The referendum was not on the abstract question as many men seemed to think. There was an overwhelming sentiment in the state for schools, but these schools were to be free, poor and rich were to mix, the infidel and the Christian were to be jumbled together into one mass devoted to reading, writing and arithmetic, and the worst of all, the people who had no children were to be taxed to support such a school system. Again, there were thousands who were not capable of voting on such a question. The writer's father was at the election in Fredonia when he was a boy of seventeen. One German went up to vote. The officers asked him if he wanted to vote for the school law. He looked surprised and said: ''Who is Mr. Schoollaw? If he bes a Democrat, pop me down one; if he bes a No Nothing' I see him mit Hell first.'' Crawford County voted against the law. The vote was: Against, 733; for the free school, 381.

Most of the schools were organized in Crawford County after the passage of the law in 1833. What schools existed in Crawford County before that time no one can now tell, for the old records have been destroyed. Joseph Rainforth, trustee of Ohio township in 1920, has one old book written by the township clerk from which the writer has obtained valuable information. The citizens of township four south, range one east, met at the court house in Fredonia on the last Saturday in August, 1836, and elected George Jones, Thomas Fox and Thomas Cummings trustees for the township. This board of trustees chose Thomas Fox secretary and treasurer.

The board of trustees met at the home of John Morgan on December 24, 1836, and divided up the sixteenth section into six plots of eighty acres each and one lot of 160 acres. The price set on each lot was: Lot 1, $2.50 per acre; lot 2, $2.50 per acre; lot 3, $1.83 per acre; lot 4, $2.66 2/3 per acre; lot 5, $3.16 2/3 per acre; lot 6, $1.25 per acre; lot 7, $1.25 per acre. The sum received for the sixteenth section of land was about $131,306.

The question that came up now was what shall be done with the money. So an election was held June 10, 1837, in Fredonia and the citizens voted forty to three to keep the money in the hands of the county school commissioner, Mr. S. Leatherap. Under the law the commissioner was authorized to loan out the money and use the interest on the same.

The next official meeting of the trustees occurred on August 27, 1837, at the home of Thomas Cummings, at which meeting the trustees divided the township into four districts and ordered the voters of each district to meet October 7, 1837, and elect three district trustees. The result of this election was as follows: District 1: Allen D. Thom, John Carnes, Thomas Roberts; District 2, Abram Sheckels, Joseph Davis, Thomas Cummings; Dis-

The next meeting of the people was held on November 16, 1837, at which Charles Springer donated a tract of land on which a school-house could be built. The citizens voted by a majority of nine to accept the generous offer. This house was for district No. 4.

The people in district No. 2 met on August 2, 1838, and ordered the funds divided and applied to the completion of the school-house then being built in that district. Nothing more was done till February 11, 1840, when the township trustees met at the home of Thomas Cummings and laid out district No. 5, and appointed Peter Carberry, William Goad and John Parr trustees to the new district, most of which was carved out of district No. 4. The trustees of district No. 4 met July 14, 1841, and located the site for a house on the northwest of the east half of the southeast fourth of section twenty-nine. They demanded that the township trustees should pay to their district treasurer the funds then due the district. On the first Saturday in October, 1841, a new set of trustees were elected for district No. 2, of whom were Riley Main, Nicholas Peckinpaugh and Bade Conner. |

The first set of trustees for district No. 1 went out of office in 1841 and a new set composed of these men was chosen; Esau McFall, Elias O'Bannon and Thomas Roberts.

The term of office for the trustees in districts expired in 1842 and on October 1 Richard Riddle, Cornelius Ridge and James Gaither were selected to fill the vacancies.

trustees and draw the portion of the interest which fell due to the districts. At that time the settlers could demand their part of the fund and hire a private teacher for their pupils.

The pupils were listed between six and twenty-one years of age. Hence, one can see that these districts contained a large number of pupils. One of the first teachers to enter this township was Ansel Dexter, who taught several schools in the county and was county examiner in 1853. He was employed to teach one winter in district No, 2. On the first day a large number of boys and girls came. Dexter was equal to the occasion. When the bell rang and the pupils came into the house he walked to the blackboard and drew a circle on the board, then walked back to the door. Everyone was watching to see what he was going to do. He drew a revolver out of his pocket and fired a shot which hit in the circle. Then he pulled out a long dirk and threw it and stuck it also into the circle. Then he told the pupils that he was going to teach that school

At a meeting of the township trustees in 1543 the boundaries of the districts were clearly defined that there might be no dispute about the pupils going to the wrong district. No one was allowed to attend school in another district unless the trustees gave the party the permission. The people in the county moved about so much that one could hardly tell where their home was. This table will give one some idea of the conditions:

The trustees of the township met at Alton June 3, 1845, and divided up the township and fixed the boundaries of the districts. No. 1, beginning at the southeast corner of section sixteen and running north one and one-half miles, thence east 80 rods, thence north to the boundary line between three and four, thence east with said line to the northeast corner of the township, thence south with the range line dividing the ranges two and one east of the river. Thence following the river to the north line of section 24, thence west to the beginning.

The first district was commonly known as the Fredonia district; the second was called the Main district because Riley Main and Walker Main were leading citizens in that district.

District No. 3 was called the Whiteman district for the same reason. District No. 4 was called the Mill Creek district. District No. 4 was also known as the Fullenwider district.

This old district system was well illustrated by the map submitted here. One will see that the tract of land lying in the southeast corner on which is written ''no schools'' was not in township No. 4 and the people in the bend of the river could not send their children to school in district No. 2. The old settlers told of a great fight between one teacher and the boys from that piece of land. They wanted to come to school and the trustees did not want them and had ordered the teacher to run them off. So the fight was on. The boys went home and their father came and the teacher armed with the poking stick met them at the door and the big boys intervened and stayed the battle. When the father cooled down some, and the teacher told him that they did not want them there, for they did not belong to that district, he left. The registration of the voters February 3, 1851, was:

The good people of Ohio township were much interested in schools, but the difficulties were so great that many schools were not being taught till after the new Constitution went into effect. As early as 1832 a law was enacted organizing a Fredonia School Society. The men who were in this society were Allen D. Thom, Ebenezer Morgan, James Hicks, Thomas Cummings and Jacob Rice. The General Assembly by an act dated February 2, 1832, granted the school society a charter which contained several pages in which the duties, purposes and management of the society were delineated. The writer has not been able to find much about the work or success of the society.

Probably the first school-house in Ohio township was built in 1839. John Carnes sold a lot to the township trustees on October 26 of that year. An old log school- house was built on this lot. Perey Allen of Fredonia now has th eold recitation bench on his store porch. It shows marks and cuts of all shapes and sizes which show the consequences of idleness. The present school site was selected in 1860 by the trustees who bought the lots 92 and 93 from Robert Thom. The deed was recorded July 6, 1859. The building which stands there now is the second one which has been built on that site.

The Jerico school-house was built about 1845. Abraham Wiseman sold part of the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section 5, township four south, range one east, on September 16, 1844. The trustees bought the plot of ground on which to locate a school.

The first school-house was built at Alton. That same year the township trustees bought a lot from James Gaither for $40. The first house was an old log structure and stood near where the old one now stands. Temple Dunn said that he remembered seeing the old cabin which reminded him of an old cooper house.

Thus far the data given has dealt with the ScRBOTE of Ohio township. Other townships, no doubt, had interesting data, but unfortunately the records have been destroyed.

One ean find in the recorder's office i English, Indiana, many interesting facts, among which these are given: Catherine Houghton deeded to the township trustees on August 4, 1847, part of the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section thirty-five, township three south, range one east. for school purposes. The first house was built out of logs at this site where the Jasper road crossed the Fredonia and Mount Sterling roads. Many years later, when the Hartford road was opened, William Mansfield gave a plot of land in section 26 to the township trustee. This deed was made in October, 1857. Since that date the school was named Mansfield and listed as No. 2. The old plot of ground was sold to Anthony Small for $8.00. The graveyard of the Pegg family is near the site of the old Houghton school-house.

The next school district opened was at Centerville, which was known as Pulltight for a long time. Spencer deeded the land to the trustee on April 4, 1849. The house was built soon after. The site was re-located on November 13, 1861, and a new house built in section sixteen where it now is.

Since 1850 many schools grew up. New laws were enacted whereby the people could be taxed to build houses and the three trustees were discarded and one was elected and had general supervision over the school.

Mr. Bunnell gave a lot to the trustees of Jennings township on March 17, 1851. It was located at the crossing of the Paoli and Fredonia and Big Springs roads, about six miles north of Leavenworth.

Addison Williams, who laid out the town of Magnolia, sold to the township trustee for $10 a lot No. 39 in Magnolia in 1856. <A large frame house was built on this lot and was in use until the new house was built in 1895 and 1896.

The Wyandotte school was built about 1856. Isaac Sibert sold the lot to the trustee on December 7, 1855. Later the site was moved and a house was built where the house now stands.

Robert Hollowell deeded to the trustee a site for a house on October 3, 1857. Later, the school was named Borden, after Levi Borden, who was a pioneer settler in that locality.

Meanwhile, the people of Leavenworth had made much progress in education. A law was enacted on December 24, 1830, providing for a seminary at Leavenworth, of which Elam Willey, Andrew Beers, James Davidson and Seth Leavenworth were trustees. A charter was granted them in that year by the Legislature. This charter was a very elaborate document and may be of interest to the reader. (See Laws of 1830-1831, page 58.)

This old law was directed toward the right goal, but the poor people never met with success. No reference is given about the suecess of the school.

The General Assembly enacted a new law providing for a county seminary on February 7, 1835. This law provided that the voters of the county should elect one trustee for each township at the April election. The county clerk was authorized to make out the certificate of election. These trustees were empowered to mect in the town of Leavenworth on the first Monday in May in 1835 and file a bond of $400. They were empowered at the first meeting to select a permanent site for the location of the county seminary. The charter granted to the seminary contained enough provisions to govern a state institution.

Leavenworth began working to secure the school. At the first meeting of the trustees on the first Monday in May, Leavenworth was selected as the site of the new seminary. The funds had now accumulated till the money on hands was about $300. <A choice lot of land was deeded to the trustees by Julius Woodford in 1835. A large brick house was built. It was two stories high and cost $1,042. It was forty feet long and twenty-five feet wide. Sam Clark was agent for the seminary in 1848. Ile charged the students who attended the school tuition at the rate of $2 per month for the lower room and $1.50 for the upper rooms. This old seminary building was the only school Leavenworth had till about 1873 when the town built a fine brick house of four rooms. Elias Leavenworth sold the 'rustee the spot of ground on which to build the house. The school-house was one of the best in southern Indiana then. The old seminary building was sold to the citizens of Leavenworth. William Conrad owns the house now. It is located on Court Strect, a few yards west of the button factory.

One finds these schools in Whisky Run township before 1860: Adam Conrad sold part of the southwest quarter of the southwest quarter of section twenty in township two south, range two east. A school-house was built here about 1843: The school-house was built, probably the first in Whisky Run township. It is known as Oak Grove school.

The Mount Lebanon school was located in 1850. John Bell deeded the site to the trustee on March 10, 1850. Later this school was re-located in a new site a short distance west of the old site.

Liberty school was laid out in 1854. Henry Totten gave the trustee the site for this building. It was located on the southwest quarter of the northeast quarter of seetion three south range two east. The school-house stands to-day about where the first one was built.

By order of the trustees the Rawlings school district was laid out in 1854. Stephen Rawlings gave the plot of ground to the trustees on December 29, 1854. This schoolhouse was built in section 27, at which place the house still stands to-day.

By 1854 Whisky Run township had provided for five new school-houses, but that does not mean that they were built at once. State Superintendent Larrabee's report in 1853 shows that there were built at Whisky Run just two suitable houses for school purposes.

Liberty township schools were not much behind the others. The trustee located the first district on February 25, 1850. On that date John A. Sloan, who was one of the pioneers of Liberty township, sold a plot of ground on the southeast quarter of the northwest quarter of section 3, township 2 south, range 1 east for school purposes.

3y 1854 a district was located in section 6 on John Tfammond's farm. Another was located on William May's farm in section ]. This district was the Big Springs district.

Sterling township did not take much interest in schools in these early days. John McMichael sold a tract of land to the trustees on August 12, 1848, on which a school was located. Yet the county examiner in his report to State Superintendent Larrabee in 1853 made no mention of any schools. However, he says Sterling township had an enrollment of 517 pupils between six and 21 years old.

Patoka township did not gain in population rapidly. There was no market except at Leavenworth. In those days one had to come to Leavenworth one day and return home the next.

The first school district was laid out January 3, 1854, David Rice sold a plot of ground located on the southwest quarter of the southwest quarter of section 4, township 2 south, range 2 west to the trustee for school purposes. Today the old Jerico school is located there, or very near, to the old site.

Union township organized one school district and loeated the site for a building in section one, township three south, range one west. This was the Grantsburg school.

In 1854 Malachi Ott sold the trustee a site for a house in section 29, township three south, range one west. Later the house was relocated near where Mifflin now stands.

From the best information which the writer can secure these schools were the first located in each township. When the new Constitution was adopted and the trustees were empowered by law to levy taxes and build schoolhouses then many new districts were laid out and by 1865 each township had enough schools to provide suitable room for all of the pupils. In the state superintendent's report for 1853 one finds this table:

Jennings township had 649 pupils and four schools; Whisky Run, 433 pupils and only two suitable schools; Liberty with 2438, Sterling, 517; Patoka, 404 pupils, and the trustees are building schools; Union, 260; Ohio, 346 pupils, with six schools in poor condition, with women's salary $12 per month and men's salary $16.33; Boone, 173 pupils and no schools.

This list of examiners was secured after much toil and trouble. There were, no doubt, several others who were entitled to have their names written in the roll of honor if they could be found: 1853, Ansell Dexter and Nathan Harris; 1860, William Highfield; 1862, John J. McCalister; 1863, Joel Vandeveer; 1865, John Magill Johnson; 1871, John M. Smith and Alec Sipes.

Data' for 1855: Boone township - <Attendance, boys, 104, girls, 59; schools, four, schools taught, three, new houses, one; salary, men, $20, women, $7 1/8; teachers, men, 1, women, 2.

Ohio township - Attendance, boys, 218, girls, 186; schools, five, schools taught, five, new houses, five; salary, men, $20; women, none, men, five, teaching.

Sterling township - Attendance, boys, 258, girls, 187; schools, nine; schools taught, six; new houses, six; salary, men, $16.66; teachers, men, 6.

Boone township - Enrollment, 174; number of schools, four; men teachers, one, lady teachers, one; schools taught, two; new houses, one; value of the houses, $64.

Jennings township - Enrollment, 428; number of schools, six; men teachers, eight, lady teachers, none; schools taught, eight; new houses, two; value of houses, $325.

Patoka township - Enrollment, 322; number of schools, nine; men teachers, nine; schools taught, nine; new houses, three ; value of houses, $370.

In this report one will see the number of houses in Jennings township was six, while eight schools were actually taught. Two must have been in private homes.

Teachers for 1855: Nicholas Coleman, salary, $11.75; John McAllister, salary, $60; J. W. Tucker, salary, $11.75; Jerusha Ellis, salary, $20; paid D. 8. Miller for boarding Miss Ellis, $15; Bartlett Baker, salary, $50.

Teachers District Salary Jopeply TL OUIRSOn SOA. . ease. ae > - nhs i. $30.00 PSG RCO vie en em Rs wel + Badiee 2 50.00 WoOVEL. "Peckitipauen oes... activins 3 72.00 aim MUTE AMRTeP OS ae wed awe ees 4 51.92 Deiiar Patrick 25 esate... Ra 5 40.00 iLivsah Mrecdenys 5 maeae dt... o. oesl '4

The above list of teachers was hired for the year 1858 and 1859. When one sees that three teachers were hired by the Fredonia board in one year, one must think that the teachers were run out by the pupils.

The brick house referred to in the table was the seminary building at Leavenworth which was used for a school by the town till the present house was constructed. In 1876 there were 193 log schoolhouses in the state, of which number Crawford County had twelve. There were six in the county in 1878. By 1884 only two remained in use. They were not used in 1885 for school purposes. The following table is interesting:

One wili see in this tabie that many schools were not taught in 1854. That year Sterling and Liberty townships built eight new houses. The schools of Crawford County were in a deplorable condition in 1854. One can hardly conceive of such an ignorant condition of the people. The editor of the Indiana School Journal visited Crawford County in 1865. He found the schools in a poor condition. He visited the Alton school where a lady from New York was teaching. She informed him that she intended to return to New York when her school closed. This editor met with many curious people. In Perry County at the county seat one man argued with him about the school journal. This fellow thought the Journal was a political paper. After looking over the paper he found the name of a contributor who was of the same name of a noted Whig politician. So he asked the editor about it, and he explained that the name was not the one he thought it was, but was a teacher of Indiana. He was not entirely satisfied and kept on looking through the Journal. Suddenly he saw the name ''Chase'' and ran up to the editor and said: ''Now I have you, here is old Chase's name. What do you say now?'' The editor explained that the man whose name the gentleman had found was not the noted

Salmon P. Chase of Ohio, but a noted Indiana teacher. He looked at the editor a few seconds and, throwing down the Journal he went out, saying that he ''smelled a mouse.''

The first report sent into the state from Crawford County was in 1853. Ansel Dexter and Nathan Harris were the examiners. The report read: Harris had issued five licenses and Dexter two. We are lamentably deficient in the number of our teachers who are well qualified. But such as they are I believe they do very well. Schools are not so numerous as they ought to be on account of the searcity of teachers and school money.