Gibson County, Indiana - Chapter 10: Educational Interests, 1914

Chapter 10: Educational Interests

The key-note to all educational institutions in Indiana was the wise provision of the first Constitution, adopted June 29, 1816, at Corvdon, then the capital, and which read as follows: "It shall be the duty of the General Assembly^ as soon as circuiiistaiiccs will pcr?nit, to provide by law for a general system of education from tozviiship schools to a State Uniz'crsity, wherein tuition shall be gratis and equally open to all." But prior to the laws enacted in 1852-55 the system had been poorly managed and directed by the state, the county and the townships. ]\Iany opposed the "'free school system" contemplated in the Constitution. Much was left to the Legislature and there the friends of free schools were not in a majority, believing that it was an unecpial taxation, hence unsound constitutionally. Many of the courts thus held, too. There was no county uniformity, it being left largely to the option of the citizens of a county or township as to whether they had schools or not. To remedy this evil an effort was put forth - wisely, too - to compel parents to educate their offspring. This culminated in 1852 when the General Assembly sought to make a uniform law for a better common school. The enactments of 1855 and those of 1865, carried out the mandate of the constitution.

At this point it is well to insert a well-written article by James W'. Stott, in the centennial number of the Princeton Clarion-News, of March, 1913, under the caption of "One Hundred Years in the Schools of Gibson County :"

"One hundred years of school history in Gibson county takes us back to the scattered homes of the early settlers in the little forest clearings - at first far apart, but gradually becoming more numerous and closer together. No sooner did settlers become established than some central place was selected for a school house. Here there soon arose a little log cabin dedicated to the cause of education. The first school house in Gibson county was built in the Robb settlement, in White river township, about 1807. In 1808 another was built near where Owensville now stands. As the settlements became more numerous, the little log school houses grew in number.

"During the period from 1807 to 1813 a number of families settled in what is now Princeton. Their first school was organized in a log cabin, which stood near the present site of the White Lumber Company.

"These primitive school houses were built from the abundance of logs furnished by the forests. The floor was made of split logs, and a large fireplace extended almost across one end of the building. Providing wood for this fireplace furnished the big boys exercise. The chimney was made of sticks and clay. The light came through the greased paper, fastened over a wide space left between logs on one side. The door swung on wooden hinges and was fastened by a large wooden bar.

"The furniture of the room was in keeping with the building. There were no blackboards, globes, maps, charts, unabridged dictionaries, supplementary readers. The children were seated on benches, facing walls and with backs toward the teaclier. The desks were rude shehing arranged around the walls of the room. When pupils did writing or figuring they stood up to the wall desk. When they recited they marched up to the front of the room near the master's desk, and 'toed the line' - generally one of the cracks of the floor.

" 'No lickin', no larnin', was the motto of many a teacher in those days, and the course of study, 'readin', 'ritin', 'rithmetic' was frequently taught to 'the tune of a hickory stick.'

"In 1 818 the state Legislature passed an act providing for the establishment of a seminary of learning in the county seat of each county, and in 1829 the Seminarv building, as the center of the Gibson county school sxsteni, was completed. This occupied the site of our present new city high school building.

"From 1829 to i860 is known as the seminary period in the history of our county schools. During this period population rapidly increased and the country schools became more numerous, while the attendance at the seminary gradually increased as Princeton added to its population. The }ear i860 marks the beginning of a modern graded school system in Princeton, with D. Eckley Hunter as superintendent of schools. From that time to this the development of the schools has kept pace with the growth of the city, and the high ideals that have characterized the people of Indiana.

"Today more than fourteen hundred school children of the city are accommodated in the various well eiiuipped school buildings, constructed of brick and stone, and this year, the centenary of Gibson county, the people of Princeton rejoice in the completion of one of the most beautiful and sanitary buildings in the state of Indiana.

"The story of school development is the same in all parts of the county. Gibson county has two hundred and thirty-five teachers. It has twehe high schools, of which number four are commissioned - Princeton, Oakland City, Fort Branch and Owensville.

"Besides the pulilic schools, the parochial schools at Warrenton, St. James, Haubstadt, Snake Run and Princeton, and last, but not least, Oakland City College must be given a place in the school system of our county. The high standing of Oakland City College is attested by the fact that many of our best teachers are now, or have been, students there, and that its enrollment is year by year increasing.

"But the log school house has quite disappeared. The term has grown from sixty days to eight or nine months. The Hoosier schoolmaster, whose stock in trade was suflicient for the pioneer days only, has passed to his reward. The state of Indiana is demanding better school jjuildings for its children, better preparation of teachers, better attendance of children, better co-operation of ])arents, and as a result citizens thoroughly prepared to build into the life of our state the ideals of an educated, industrious and \-irtuous people.

"Our fathers have builded well in the hundred years just past. Will the verdict of the next hundred years he as fa\nrable to us? To make it so, we as children, as patrons, and as teachers, must remember that our schools are the hope of our country, and act v>ell our part."'

Old-Time Schoolmaster And His School

From \-arious data at hand, including, state reports, educational works, interviews and the local writings of men in this and adjoining counties, the following paragraphs have been culled and selected for the purpose of showing the manner of teaching, the character of buildings, etc.. which obtained in Gibson county at an early date, but all of which are really necessary to bring the reader to an intelligent understanding of what trials and difficulties our present boasted public school system has passed through during the last century :

The log school house of the first generation, with its clapboard roof, its mud-and-stick chimney, its greased paper windows, latch-string door, puncheon floor and huge fireplace; its puncheon seats, without backs or desks, and its rude, primiti\'e writing desk beneath the window - this was the domain of the earlv rural school teacher in Indiana. Here assembled the pioneer chil- dren for such instruction as the early master was capable of imparting. The school hours in the early pioneer days were often very long, lasting in some localities from early morning until sunset, with perhajjs an hour or an hour and a half at noon for dinner and recreation. In spite of the blazing fire in the great hreplace, both teacher and pupils were often chilled by the cold winds which found entrance through the numerous chinks and cracks between the logs. Seated upon the liackless benches, many of the smaller ])U])ils remained nearly the entire day with tlieir feet dangling several inches from the Hoor, except as they were called to their recitations.

It was the general custom in those days to stud}' the lessens aloud, each pupil conning his spelling and reading lesson aloud or in an audible whisper. The droning of the words in spelling was frequently accompanied by a rh}-thmical swaying of the head and bod\- Ijackwards antl forwards, generally in time to the syllabication of the words.

There was one great requisite on the part of every pioneer teacher - he must be a good disciplinarian. The most important query usually put to an applicant was, "Can vou govern? Can vou make the scholars stand around? e'an you handle the big boys?" When this point was settled affirmatively in the minds of the district school directors, the applicant was generally sure of being employed, irrespective of other (|ualifications. It was primarily a question of "no lickin', no larnin'," in those days.

The schoolmaster was a \eritable Squeers. Beech and hickory s\\ itches, of which he always kept a good supply, constituted the persuading and corrective features of his instruction. The daily application of the rt)d or "ferule" was considered just as necessary by some teachers as was the conning of the spelling lesson or the noon hour lunch. Some teachers made it a point to patrol the room regularly and whacked each jjupil over the shoulders whether he needed it or not. This type of schoolmaster was "one of llio.se old-fashioned teachers who gave the impression that he would rather beat a boy than not. and w'ould even like to eat one if he could lind a good excuse. He whipped for poor lessons; he whipjied for speaking in school: he took down his switch for not speaking loud enough in class ; he whipped for coming late to school: he whipped because a scholar made a noise with his feet, and he whipped because he himself had eaten something unwholesome for breakfast." - Eggleston.

There was generally very little system, methrjd or scho(jl room art manifest in the pioneer schoolkeeping days. In some districts the first pupil t<i arrive in the morning was the first one to recite, there usually being one scholar to the class. After the first lesson was heard there were frequently exciting and amusing scrambles to recite, the general rule being that pupils were to recite in the order in which they reached the teacher's side. Every pupil was usually in a class b}' himself, there being as many classes as there were pupils. The pioneer teacher rarely grouped his pupils into classes, such a meLhod of recitation apparently never entering his mind. The individual method, however, possessed some solid advantages which the group method of the present day sadly lacks.

The course of study in the log cabin school house during the first generation was not a very extensive afifaii'. It usually consisted of reading, writing, spelling and ciphering to the single rule of three or simple proportion. Some of the teachers were not able to teach ciphering, but one was found occasionally who could even do compound proportion or "the double rule of three." The latter was considered a prodigy in the early days. The earliest arithmetics used were Guthrie's, Smiley's and Pike's, the last being the one most often referred to. The New Testament and Murray's English Reader were the common reading books, although the custom was, in the pioneer days, for the pupil to bring any book he might happen to ha\'e at home. Some of these books were the Bible, hymn books, books of religious poems. Fox's "Book of Martvrs," Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress," Aesop's Fables, Weem's "Life of Washington," Grimshaw's "History of England," Flint's "Natural Historv" and Emma Willard's "History of the United States." Webster's old "Blue Back" Elementary Speller was almost universally used.

.\n extended course in spelling always preceded the reading. The scholar progressed gradually from "a-b ab" to "incomprehensibility." After a prolonged apprenticeship in spelling the words, and in pronouncing them at sight, reading was taken up. The speller contained progressive lessons in reading, made up of short, pithy moral sentences and pointed stories, which usually contained one or more words used in connection with the annexed spelling lesson.

Great stress was placed upon spelling by the old schoolmasters. It was a universal custom in the country schools, e\'en up to and later than 1850, for the whole school to stand up twice a day and spell for head. Upon one day in the week, usually Friday, the afternoon was given over to a spelling match in which the whole school took part. The custom when spelling was to pronounce the word first, then spell and pronounce each syllable separately, repeating each of the preceding s>-llables in connection with the syllable last spelled, then pronounce th.e whole word again when completed.

Writing usually followed spelling and reading. Ouill pens were universally used in the earlier days, there being at that time no lead or slate pencils. It was one of the requirements of the schoolmaster that he should be able to fashion pens out of goosequills. Copy books were usually made of sheets of foolscap paper sewed together. Home-made ink was made by mixing together the inner bark of the maple with copperas, or from sumac and oak balls in vinegar. Pokeberry juice was sometimes used, but on account of its tendency to sour it never came into general use. The most common type of inkstand of that period was made from a section of cow's horn which was fitted into water-tight wooden bottles. Pewter and lead were also used for making inkstands.

During the writing recitation the scholars sat on a 1)ench Ijy the long shelf or table under the window. If they were beginners they practiced on making the "pot hooks and hangers"' that constituted the first exercises. If the}- were further advanced, they followed the copy set by the master, this copy usually consisting of some moral or literary gem wurth remembering, such as "Commandments ten, God gave to men."

After writing, the subject of arithmetic or ciphering was usually taken up. This was practically limited to the boys, as the girls were not considered, as a rule, to have "heads for figures.'' Occasionally the girls would take up grammar or geography when these branches happened to be taught, which was not very often. Grammar was seldom looked upon with fa\or, it being considered an absolute waste of time to study it.

Indiana was admitted as a state in 1816. The system of schools in the first generation lasted, therefore, until about 1850. .\ number of new and better text-books were introduced during the latter part of this generation. McGuffey's readers and spellers became very popular, as did also Ray's arithmetic, which was introduced in 1848. This arithmetic took the place of the older Guthrie's, Smiley's and Pike's, and introduced dollars and cents instead of shillings and pence as a form of money exchange. The more ad\anced teachers now taught "square and cube roots" in addition to the single and double rule of three. The best types of schools used Olney's or Mitchell's geographies, Kirkham's grammar, Goodrich's history and Comstock's physiology.

The county seminaries, established by the state Legislature in the early twenties, were distributed liberallv through the state in aljout half of the counties. These institutions, in connection with pri\'ate academies, formed the basis for the higher pubHc education in the state. Seventy-three pri\'ate and incorporated schools were opened between 1825 and 1850. These seminaries and pri^'ate schools constituted the first approach to the present high school sj^stem. Types of each of these schools have already been given in the discussion of the schools in Princeton.

Notwithstanding the leavening influence of these institutions in connection with the rural school districts, the school system of Indiana before 1850 was woefully lame. Free schools were considered by many as undemocratic and those who objected to them were bitterly opposed to taxing themselves to educate other people's children. The idea had not yet become prevalent that it is !he right and the duty of the ^tate through the taxation of all its citizens, to pro\'ide e\-ery child with an education. A member of the Legislature in 1837 declared, during the discussion of a propiised school tax, "When I die, I want my epitaph written, 'Here lies an enemy to free schools!'" (Boone, Richard G. ; History of Education, p. Sy.) In 1833 it was estimated by a competent educator that "only about orie child in eight between fi\e and fifteen }'ears was able to read."

Caleb Mills, a thoroughly progressive educator from X'ew Hampshire, settled in Indiana in 1833. During the next decade and a half he labored incessantly to create a more enlightened educational sentiment in Indiana and to reduce the large per cent of illiteracy. Principally as a result of his agitation the Legislature of 1847-48 passed an enactment allowing the people of the state to vote for or against a proposition to ta.x themsehes for the support of free schools.

The election for this purpose was held in the fall of 1848, and tlie proposition was carried by a majority of 16,636 for free schools ; 78,523 \-otes were cast in the affirmative and 61,887 in the negative.

The Legislature of 1848-49 enacted a new school law, authorizing public taxation for schools, but leaving the people of each county free to accept or reject the law as they chose. An election for this purpose was held in August, 1849, and the result was a majority in favor of the law of 15,767. Fiftynine counties in the affirmative and of the thirty-one that voted against the law twenty were in the southern half of the state.

According to the Indiana census of 1850 there were at that time nearly seventy-five thousand people over the age of twenty-one who could not read. "Forty thousand voters could not read the ballot they voted, and nearly thirtyfive thousand mothers could not teach their children the alphabet." ( Conklin, Julia S., Young People's History of Indiana, p. 215.)

Gibson Couxty, Ini

Following the adoption of the Coiistiti supplemented and amplified the educational p thus laid a broad basis for future educational development. By enactment of this Legislature the township became the political and the school unit of the state, Indiana being the first state to adopt the township as the school unit.

By the Legislature of 1852, a law was passed providing for the sale of all county seminaries, the funds to be used for the benefit of the common schools, .\ general tax of ten cents on each one hundred dollars was also provided for school tuition purposes. Section 130 of the same act declared that "The X'oters of any townshiji sliall ha\'e power at any general or s])crial meeting to vote a tax for the jniriiose of Imilding or repairing school houses and purchasing site therefor, providing fuel, furniture, maps, apparatus. liljraries, or increase thereof, and for continuing their schools after the public school funds shall been expended, to any aiuount not exceeding annually fifty cents on each one hundred dollars of property and fifty cents on each poll."

Thus were free schools ushered in for the first time in Indiana. I'p to this time secondary education was pojiularly relegated to pri\ate enterprises and religious denominations and it was still a question in the minds of a large proportion of the people whether it was right to tax everybody for the maintenance of the common schools. Lender the provisions made by the law of

1852, howexer, new school houses were rapidly erected, graded scli joIs were organized all o\-er the state, and within a few years many of the larger towns and cities had excellent high schools.

Just at the time, howe\'er, that educational [irogress had gained an excellent start a severe blow was given it by an unfavorable decision of the supreme court of Indiana. In 1858 the court declared unconstitutional the laws permitting local taxation, on the ground that these laws were not "general and uniform"' as required !)}- the Constitution. This decision proved disastrous not only to the common schools but caused the abandonment of every high school in the state.

In 1865 the Legislature passed the same law with dit^'erent wording and this was soon afterwards declared constitutional ])y the supreme court.

I40 Gibson County, Indiana

No complete record is extant concerning many of the iirst schools of this county, for the pioneers made, but seemed to have little time to preserve, history. It is generally conceded, however, from such facts as have been preserved in printed page and memory, that the first school house was erected about 1807-08, in the northern part of White River township, in the Robb settlement, and soon thereafter in two or more other localities.

Of this first school house it may be related that the structure was a onestory log house with clap-board roof and puncheon floor; the roof was held on by weight-poles made fast by hickory withes ; it had windows of greased paper to admit the light, a portion of a log being left out on each side to make room for a substitute for glass. - A large fireplace extended across the entire rear end of the room, which was made of clay and sticks forming a chimney in which on cold days a roaring fire of logs, piled high, sent out heat ; the schoolmaster took good care to have his seat in the warm corner of the room. The fine desks of modern days had no place there, but slabs fastened up around the side of the house by pegs driven into the logs answered as a writing and ciphering table, while puncheon benches served for seats. The pupils all faced the walls when studying, but ranged themselves in a semicircle in front of the fireplace when called to recite. In those primitive days the varied apparatus to be found in most of our school houses at the present day had no place, no maps faced the wall, neither did a globe or Webster's "unabridged" have a place on the teacher's desk, if desk there chanced to be. No disagreeable chalk dust filled the room, for no blackboard was used. The three rudiments - reading, writing and arithmetic - were the principal studies, the Avriting being done with goose quills from ink made by boiling in water the outer and inner bark of the majDle with copperas, which formed a black fluid. The early schools of the county were subscription schools ; the teachers generally boarding round from house to house, among the patrons of the school, and receiving their salary in money or produce. The school houses being few and far between, it was no unc(5mmon thing for the pupils to have to trudge three, four or even five miles morning and evening to get a little schooling. The teachers, generally, were poorly educated, if stories told of them are to be believed, and in many instances sadly needing to be taught themselves. Most of them were proficient in wielding the rod. It is related of one of the earlv teachers that he would occasionally get drunk during the school hours and \-ary the program of exercises by whipping the whole school, beginning on his own poor boys first, by way of getting his hand in.

It is believed tiial tiie secoiul scIuhiI taught in Cihsdi) cminty was l>y Joseph Duncan, an F.astern man wIki was better educated tlian the average man of this section. He taught scIkm,! liere in iSo8 in an old log cabin, situated at the spring in the southeast corner of section 2, a half mile west and north of where now Owensville stands. In 1810 William Woods taught in the Williamson settlement, in a small log building, with a hre place in both ends, and a log was left out on one side over which was pasted greased paper to admit the light. Mr. Woods "boarded 'round," as they called it. In 181 1 John Johnson taught in the same place, and in 1S12 Adley Donald taught in a little log cabin which stood on the south side of the branch, in what is now Princeton. This cabin had previously been occupied by one of the pioneers. It stood on what is now South INIain street. David Burch also taught in the same building, later. In 18 17 another log school hou.se was built opposite the corner where the L'nited Presbyterian church now stands. This was only used a 3'ear or two, and after the erectinn of the frame Cox'enanter church, school was taught in it until the erection of the brick seminary building in 1830. Teachers who taught in these buildings were Solomon D. King, John Coursley, Matthew Cunningham and William Chittenden. Ira Bostwick taught a subscription school in the old Covenanter church immediateh- after it was finished. Major James Smith was another early teacher in riincelun. John Kell also taught a subscription school about 1820. In 1823 William Chittenden taught a private school in his own dwelling. In 1818 William Putnam tatight a school in what is now Barton townshi]). in a cabin of one of the old settlers, the building being located on section 7, township 3. range 9 west. George Sharp and James Simpson were others whd taught earlv schools in the county.

Year after year and decade after decade, the schools of the countv increased in number and, generally speaking, in efficiency, until in 1884, when the county school superintendent (H. A. Yeager) reported that at that date there were in Gibson county white and colored children of school age amounting to a total of 7,833, divided among the various townships as follows : Barton township, 705; Center, 562; Columbia, 369: Johnson, 1,004; Montgomery, 1,091; Patoka, 997; \\'abash. 125; Washington, ^24: White River. 911 ; in Princeton corporation, 1,072; in Oakland City corijnratinn. 473.

At that date there were fourteen graded schools in this county, Princeton, Fort Branch, Oakland, Owensville, Plaubstadt, Patoka, Hazelton, Francisco, Somerville, Snake Run, in Barton township ; Gra\el and Black River, in Montgomery township ; Ennes. in \\'ashington township ; and Orr, in

The total number of school houses in this county was then one hundred and eleven, of which one hundred and seven were frame, one log and three brick. The number of teachers employed was one hundred and forty-eight, and the amount of school property was estimated at one hundred twelve thousand three hinidred and seventy dollars. This was the showing made in 18S3-84.

Barton township had enrolled 436 pupils : an average attendance of 364 ; number of frame school houses, 13 ; value of all schoolhouses, $29,000.

Center township enrollment. 412 ; average attendance, 350: frame houses, 9; brick, i; valuation of school houses, $25,000; number volumes in library, 1,200.

Johnson township, enrolled, 227; average attendance, 185 ; number frame buildings, 6; brick, 3: books in library, 500; valuation of school houses, $17,500.

Union township, enrolled, 572: average attendance. 428: number frame schoolhouses 8 and brick 2; \-aluati(»n of buildings, $40,000; books in library, 1 , 1 00.

Washington township, enrolled. 407; average attendance, 319; buildings, II frame and i brick; \aluation of buildings, $18,200; books in library, 477.

City of Princeton, enrollment, 1.440: average attendance, 1.229: number schoolhouses, one frame and four brick, with new buildings for 191 3 costing $75,000.

First, the law of 1824 provided for the election of three trustees in each township, a part of whose duties it was to examine teachers and grant licenses. No educational qualifications were required of the "e.xaminers."

Third, the law of 1833 pnnided for the election of three sub-trustees in each district who were to hold office one year. These persons examined applicants for schools.

Fifth, the law of 1849 abolished the office of school commissioner of counties, and retained the three school examiners above mentioned, in each county, and substituted one trustee in the township for the three before employed.

Sixth, the law of 1859 made the numljer of township trustees one instead of three. In 1861 the law provided for one examiner with a term of three years for the three that had held office heretofore in each county. The appointive power was in the hands of the county commissioners. Examinations were now for first time made public.

Seventh - In 1873 the law was changed again and the old system of commissioners, examiners and trustees was all wiped out and the ofifice of county superintendent of schools was created and is still in operation.

Oakland City College

Oakland Institute was the original name of the present Oakland City College. The two-story brick school ])iiilding was erected in the years 1868 and 1869 by a number of citizens of Oakland, the building costing a sum of eight thousand dollars. The school was at first a subscription school, and the first superintendent was Prof. Lee Tomlin. The college did not succeed, however, at first, and was sold to the township in 1877, to be used as a public school building. Later new and larger buildings were erected and the capacity has been increased from year, to year until now Oakland City College has every modern equipment for educational work.

At present both high and college students attend. The courses are diversified and meet the requirements of all. The elementary, or preparatory courses, lead to the regular classical courses of a college. A corps of twehe

Various Schools At Princeton

The schools of Princeton may be classed as follows : The pre-seminary period, 1812 to 1829; the seminary period, 1829 to i860: the private schools and academies; the Princeton Female High School; the graded school period, i860 to the present date.

Between 1807 and 1814 there were a number of families settled in what is now Princeton, but it is doubtful whether any schools had been taught before 1812. The first of which there seems to be any authentic account was one held in a vacated log cabin, with puncheon floor and a fire-place extending almost across the end of the building. The chimnex' was made of sticks and clay. A space was hewn out between two logs extending along one side, over which greased paper was fastened to admit light to the interior. The great door swung on wooden hinges, in the middle, on one side of the building. This house stood on the south bank of the little creek near Alain street in the south part of town. The first teacher was Adle\- Donald, who began teaching in 1812, before the citv was laid out and before the second war with Great Britain had lieen fought. The second teacher was David Buck, in the same building.

In the winter of 1814-15 Rev. Hickman, Presbyterian, taught a private school in the second story of a log house built for a store-house by Willis C. Osborn in 1814. It was the first store-house erected in Princeton and stood on the corner west of the southwest part of the cfnu'thouse square, and about where the Farmer's Bank now stands.

In 181 7 a log house was built especially for school purpcjses, near the site of the present United Presln'terian church. This was used until 1820. There the teachers were: Solomon D. King, John (."oursely, Matthew Cunningham and William Chittenden.

For the next nine years the schools were taught in the old Covenanter church, on the east side of Prince street between Broadway and Water streets. Mention has been made of the teachers here l)elow. But \er\' little can be learned of the schools of Princeton for the vears between 1820 and 1829. (10)

The Seminary Period

On December 31, 1818, an act was passed by the General Assembly of the state entitled, "An Act for the Encouragement of Religion and Learning." This act made provision for the establishment of a seminary of learning in each county seat, the proceeds for its maintenance to be obtained by the sale of school lands and the rental of the same. In August, 1829, the sixteenth section (school section) in each congressional township was sold for school purposes. The seminary was intended to be both a common school and a preparatory school for higher institutions of learning. All pupils of the county were entitled to attend and to have a part of their tuition paid from the school fund.

At the meeting of the county commissioners' court in May, 181Q, Alexander Devin, William Prince and Robert E\ans were appointed trustees, "'to be styled a Board of Trustees of the Princeton Academy." These men for some reason did not seem to ha\-e acted and in 1822 the county authorities appointed another set, consisting of Alexander De\in, Robert Milburn and Samuel Hall. The court at this time authorized County Agent Robert Stockwell to con\-ey to the said trustees a title to lot No. i, in the second survey of Princeton. This lot had been deeded to Gibson county for school purposes in 1818 Ijy Robert Evans, who h;id entered the land in the east part of Princeton.

Delay after delay occurred, and finally a school building was erected on the above lot. A private subscription was raised to the amount of six hundred and eight dollars, composed of some cash, but mostly in merchandise, produce and labor. The building, a two-story brick, thirty by sixty feet, was not finished until 1829, three years after provision had been made for its erection. It should be stated that this building stood on the same ground where now stands the high school building. The lot then contained many fine old forest trees.

The old seminary building was located near the middle of the western side of the l)lock, facing what is now Seminary street, and was just in front of the present new high school building. It contained originally five unplastered rooms, a hall, running east and west divided the north from the two south rooms on the first floor. A stairway led frum the hall to the two upper rooms in the second story. The two south rooms on the first floor were used as living rooms by some of the teachers. The upper north room was the only one used for school purposes for many years. About 1847, how- ever, the school sessions were mo\'ed from the upper north room tu the lower north room and the southwest lower room was also used as a study room. There were two windows on each side of the hallway facing west, in both the upper and lower rooms. There were also two upper and lower windows on the north and the east side and no windows at all on the south side of the building. There was a fire-place about the middle of the north wall in the upper and lower rooms. The teacher's desk was on the south side of the room. The east side of the room was a favorite place for the boys to sit. A race track existed at that time from the northeast corner of the grounds for a quarter of a mile north and as races took place frequently the boys were very desirous of getting a choice seat where they could watch the sport. There were holes of generous dimensions in the foundation of the building for the passage of air and hogs running loose in those days would occasionally retire to the shady retreat and, fighting for the coolest spot, would lift up their voices to the discomforture of the master in the rooms above who was hearing the "a-b abs" or the "rule of three." Mrs. J. T. Duncan relates that as late as 1868 the hogs would occasionall_\- run into the hall-way in an effort to get out of the rain or the inclement weather.

There were few school equipments in those early days. The pupils used slates and slate pencils, but nobody but the master used a lead pencil. Metal pens were an unknown quantity. The farm yard produced the material for the pens, the goose quill being used for that purpose. The pupils were taught the art of making a pen by the master, who posed as a connoisseur in that art. Mrs. Youngman, who in 1914 is in her eighty-sixth year, and who has spent her entire life here, relates how the boys and girls used to catch the geese which ran at will in that day, antl enter into a contest to see who could pick the most quills for pen purposes.

The proverbial dunce-block was in evidence in the old seminary, and rnan}' of the older residents of Princeton used to frequently occupy it. School desks were not known then, as they are today. The puncheon benches had no backs.

Cah'in Butler was chc'sen tlie first principal and Andrew Erskin, assistant teacher. The salaries were not large and were not in cash, but usually in produce which they had to barter away as best they could. Rev. Ilirani A. Hunter, a finely educated man, was to recei\e a salary of two hundred and fift}- or three hundred dollars in nione_\-, "pro\ided that aniornl ciuld he realized." This sort of a teacher's contract would hardly suffice in this century. He taught from 1S32 to 1834, when came Thomas HornbriHjk.

or six dollars a year From the school fund was drawn one hundred dollars and the balance, two hundred dollars, was made up by subscription. In 1S46 the number enumerated of school age was two hundred and twentyseven; of these, one hundred and thirteen were boys and one hundred and fourteen girls. Of the boys enumerated, only forty-two attended school. It is no wonder that in 1848 there were thirty thousand voters in Indiana who could not read or write, if this condition obtained throughout the state.

On December 12, 1853, J. F. Bird became principal of the old seminary. In 1854 it was announced that those who cared to board themselves could do so. They were given rooms in the seminary for this purpose. It was during the second session that year that the term "Princeton Graded School" was first used, and probably the term had never been used in connection with any school system prior to that date.

Prior to 1854 girls were practically excluded from attending this school and great was the agitation as to educating boys and girls together. The community was evenly divided on this question, and for all those years the parents had to provide for the separate schooling of their daughters in Princeton. The Clarion of January 16, 1847, waxed eloquent along this line and said: "Shall the more beautiful pillars of our intellectual and moral fabric be passed by as unworthy of notice? It is believed that a female qualified can impart female education to a better advantage than a male. There is a sweetness of temper, a comely female deportment, accompanying their instruction, peculiar to themseh-es. They need not Morse's telegraphic code to convey intelligence, but the invisible attractive bond of tenderness and love, which they peculiarly seem to possess."

A recent school history, a part of an official report, gi\-es the following as having taught from 1829 to i860 during this "seminary period." The recalling of these names will touch many a tender chord in memory's realm, hence the list and dates are here appended: 1829, Calvin Butler, Andrew Erskin, assistant; 1830-32, Calvin Butler: 1832-33, Hiram A. Hunter; 1833- 34, Hiram A. Hunter;- 1834-35, Thomas Hornbrook ; 1835-36, William Rowe; 1836-37, John J. McClerkin ; 1837-39, Rev. H. H. Patten and wife; 1839-42, William J. Bryden ; 1842-43, William Stockwell; 1843-44, Doctor Smith; 1844-45, ^^- Collins, Dr. J. C. Patten, assistant; 1845-46, Wasson Stormont; 1846-47, Harvey Munford, Mr. Nesbit, assistant; 1847-48, John

The first private school in Princeton was taught by Rew Hickman in 1814-15. In 1820 Rev. John Kell taught one and in 1823 William Chittenden taught another at his own residence. Other pri\ate terms were taught by Mrs. Berbeck, 1832; Mrs. Emily Harrington, 1S35; Mrs. John Ewing, 1836; John \\'right, in the winter of 1835-36; Tandy B. Montgomery, in the winter of 1836-37. The second term taught by Montgomery was held in a log cabin near a spring and the scholars used to slake their thirst from this spring by means of a gourd dipper. "No lickin', no larnin' " was his motto and he practiced what he preached almost daily. In 1837 Mrs. Galloway had a private school for girls, as did also Miss Mary Foster. In 1842-3-4 the jMisses Sue and Lou Walling taught private schools. In 1850 John N. Evans taught and was very successful. Mrs. McKelvey taught in 1852 and 1853.

Other private institutions here were the short-lived "Misses and Young Ladies" school: the "Princeton Female Seminary": the "I'^emale College"; the "Princeton Female Institute," which were all attended, at \arious dates, on account of the decision that none but boys should be allowed to attend the old seminary, which gives one today the idea that boys and men were counted far superior to the gentler se.x in those good old days prior to 1850.

The Princeton Female High School

Still another institution must be treated in this connection - the Female High School, as first designated. This was organized in April, 1855, with Henry T. Morton as principal and Mrs. M. W. Paxton and Mrs. M. M. Morton as assistants. The school was held in a room under Temperance Hall, where now stands the Odd Fellows building. Mr. Morton decided to erect a building and have it ready for school in the autumn of 1855. He failed, but in the spring following he had it completed. The building was at first known as the "New Seminary building," but the style of the school itself was known as the "Girls High School Seminary." In September, 1856, both boys and girls were admitted, after which it was known as the "Male and Female Academy." The building was a two-story, five-room structure, located on the east side of ^Vest street, between Emerson and Chestnut. It was warmed by hot air and finely ventilated. It was seated with Boston school chairs and desks. The school was well supplied with maps, charts and globes, also chemical apparatus and a cabinet for geological specimens and a good library. The whole was counted among the laest equipments in Indiana. Board, washing, light and fuel were estimated to cost fifty dollars per term, while the tuition was twenty-five dollars additional. It had a normal department, doing fine work for those intending to become teachers. In 1856-57 the total attendance was one hundred and forty -three. In the fall of 1858 it changed hands, after which Messrs. Henderson & Brown were proprietors. A year later they sold to Brown & Sturgis, who conducted it until i860, when, on account of too small attendance and the Civil war cloud, its doors were closed. It was, however, opened again in 1862 by a few citizens who refused to donate toward the maintenance of the public school in the old seminary building. On August 31, 1863, the building was purchased b}' William Kurtz, acting for the school trustees of the city of Princeton. It thus became a part of the pubhc school property of the city, and there the intermediate department of the public schools was kept until the completion of the new school building in January, 1871, on the site of the old seminar}-. Seth A\'ard bought the academy building in 1S70 and it was remodeled for residence purposes. This was the parting of the ways - the old private and subscriptions schools were abandoned forever and the new era of a sane, sensible and universal public school system was ushered in.

The Graded School Period

These schools were organized under the newly formed laws of Indiana by D. Eckley Hunter in i860. They were divided into primary, intermediate and academic departments. The schools were, for some time, kept in the old seminary building, in the Odd Fellows building and in the basement of the Methodist church. The salaries of the teachers were as follows : Principal of academic department, fifty dollars; intermediate grades, thirty-two dollars; primary grades, twenty dollars. Miss Harmon received twelve dollars per month as an assistant. The first day's enrollment was two hundred and sixty, and reached three hundred and eleven by Septemlier 11, i860. For the first ten years subscriptions had to be raised in order to maintain these "piibhc" schools, alter which date the tax levy ctnered the exper.se. Tiie first ])rinci|ial of these schools, Professor Hunter, was a son of Rew Hiram Hunter, whn had taught in the "Old Seminary" in 183J. He was a tine schular and an excellent educator; served until 1863. Professor Hunter was engaged in educational work elsewhere for a few years, and in 1865 he returned to Princeton and again became superintendent of the schools here. At this time the higher grades of the school were in the former Morton academy. In 1866 Professor Hunter again left Princeton to become principal of the preparatory department in the Indiana State University. In 1871 he was again recalled and became superintendent of the Princeton graded schools, now all comfortably provided for in the new school building on Seminary hill. Here he remained until 1874, and during this term of service the schools were for the first time thoroughly organized under the graded system. The tirst graduates of the high school were in 1872, under Professor Hunter's administration.

The superintendents of the Princeton schools have been as follows, since 1871, when the entirely free system began: D. Eckley Hunter, 1871-74; A. J. Snoke, 1874-1890; F. B. Dresslar, 1890-91; C. N. Peak. 1891-1903; Harold Barnes. 1903-10: AI. D. W'elib, 1910 to the coming of the present superintendent, James W. Stott.

Present Conditions

The tiftieh annual report of the Princeton public schools, published in 1910, gave many interesting historic facts, including the following items :

Among the innovations in schools was the introduction of Thanksgiving offerings by the pupils, first established in the schools here in 1903. All kinds of useful articles and cash are annually brought by the pupils who can afford it and donated at the Thanksgiving season to aid, comfort and cheer the less fortunate children of the town. Medicines and pay for treatment for poor children was thus provided for. While the sums are usually small, they show a true spirit and teach the children to be benevolent and thoughtful for their fellow creatures.

The subject of caring for the teeth of pupils in public schools was first introduced in Indiana at Princeton in 1906, when the tirst s])ecial effort was made along this line and since 1908 general inspection of the pupils" teeth have been made. About the same date was introduced medical insjiection of the schools, and this has averted disease and in some cases cured many children of ailments that would sooner or later have been serious.

The playgrounds about Princeton school houses are excellent. The teachers and pupils spend their intermissions, in good weather, on these grounds, where swings, teeter-boards, bars and other appliances are found in large numbers. The lawns about the school grounds are kept in a tasty, beautiful condition since 1903, when this subject was first taken up and developed. Lectures were given and the proceeds went toward improving the grounds. The saying, "A thing of beauty is a joy for ever," applies to these modern school grounds.

The new electric clock, purchased and installed by the board in 1910, at the Lowell school building, has proven a splendid improvement. This clock controls the ringing of the bells for all recitations and intermissions in the high school as well as at some other departments. Fire alarms are also sounded by this clock. Fire drills are in constant use in the schools now.

Ten years ago - 1903 - there was a corps of thirty-three teachers. In 1910 it had increased to forty-one. The average salar\' of all teachers per month, grades and high schools combined, in 1903 was fifty-six dollars; of grades separately it was almost forty-six dollars ; of high school separately, sixty-six dollars and fifty cents. In 1910 it had increased to seventy-two dollars and ninety-eight cents and sixty-eight dollars and seventy-nine cents respectively.

In 1903 the Lincoln high school for colored children was provided. The building is a two-room addition to the Race Street colored school building. In 1910 the total enrollment'in the colored school was one hundred and eighty, but it rapidly increased and a two-story frame building was leased. There are now six colored teachers.

The schools of 1913 are : The high school, Lowell school, Irving school, Franklin school, Lincoln school (colored), Prince Street school (colored).

The new high school building, completed in 19 13, is among the finest in this section of the state. It cost sixty thousand dollars, aside from the grounds, which have been owned many years liy the town. The old seminary once occupied these grounds, as has before been noted.