Johnson County, Indiana - Chapter 4: By D. D. Banta, 1888

Chapter 4: By D. D. Banta

Schools - Early Legislative Acts in Relation to - Examination and Qualifications of Early Teachers - Primitive Buildings and Methods - First Schools - List of Early Pedagogues - Later and More Improved Methods - Provisions of New Constitution - Present School Census - Flanklin College.

pFj&OXGRESS of the United States, in the month of x^fcp April, 1819, passed an act to enable the people of the Indiana Territory, to form a state constitution and to organize a state government. Five propositions were offered for the " free acceptance or rejection "' of the people, through their delegates in convention assembled, two of which related to learning. In the first it was proposed to grant the sixteenth section in every congressional township " to the inhabitants of such township for the use of schools," and in the fourth, to reserve an entire township " for the use of a seminary of learning." To the everlasting honor of the members of the first constitutional convention of the state be it written, they accepted these propositions in a spirit as broad and liberal as that in which they were tendered. The constitution they framed provided that all moneys realized from the sale of school lands should "remain a fund for the exclusive purpose of promoting the interest of literature and the sciences, and for the support of seminaries and public schools." And it was further provided that " It shall be the duty of the General Assembly, as soon as circumstances will permit, to provide by law for a general system of education, ascending in a regular gradation from township schools to a state university, wherein tuition shall be gratis and equally open to all."

Whatever may be said of the performance, the promise made by the new state was as liberal as the most zealous lover of learning, of that early day, could have wished. The state stood committed in her organic law to a free school system that should begin in the district school, and end in the university. But how utterly impossible it was to carry into immediate effect these commendable resolutions. All of Indiana was a savage wilderness, save a narrow border along the southeastern, southern and southwestern boundaries of the state. The population was less by nearly four thousand than the population of Johnson, Shelbv and Bartholomew counties, at the time of the taking of the last census; and the cash value of all the property in the state was, doubtless, less than that within any one of the counties named, at the same time. The constitution itself wisely provided that "no lands granted for the use of schools" should be sold before 1820, the year in which the first settlers came to Johnson County. As a matter of fact, more were sold prior to 1828, at which time the first legislative act was passed, authorizing the sale. Prior to that time, the laws authorized the leasing of the school lands, and in some townships of the state, they never have been sold, but are still leased, and the proceeds turned into the school fund of the townships.

It would be a useless task to present, even an epitome of the many school laws that were passed from the organization ofN the state up to the time of the adoption of the present constitution, in 1850, when a radical change in educational affairs was brought about. Whether these laws were wise or unwise, it would be hard to judge, save from a speculative stand-point, for the funds derived from the school revenue sources, were in general, so meager that the maintenance of a district school depended more upon the enterprise of the people in nearly every case, than upon the law. Yet the Taws passed from time to time served one most excellent purpose; they pointed out a convenient line of action to the people who were desirous of maintaining schools, and gave a sanction to all their efforts.

The first comprehensive school law was passed in 1824. It provided for three trustees in every school district, a feature that was kept on foot up to the time of the adoption of the new constitution. These trustees were given authority to examine teachers in reading, writing and arithmetic, the only studies mentioned in that law or in any succeeding, for many years. For thirteen years the district trustees were the school examiners, and we may well imagine the character of some of the examinations. Hardly one in a hundred may be said to have been fitted to conduct a school, let alone pass upon the qualifications of another before hand, to do the same thing. We may readily see the course such an examination would be apt to take if made at all. While it was not uncommon to meet with trustees who could neither read nor write, it seldom, if ever, happened that there was not one of the three, at least, who did not make some claims to elementary book knowledge. The candidate's hand-writing could be seen of all, and in the early days a full, round, smoothly flowing hand was more than half the accomplishment. It opened the store door to a clerkship for the ambitious youth ; it was pointed to as a master qualification in the candidate who was running for public office, and to the school-master it was deemed an invaluable acquisition. It is easy to see how the trustees would scan the candidate's chirography. They could do this and remain silent. Mentally, they could admire or criticise, and not subject themselves to criticism in turn. As to the rest, they talked with the candidate on various themes, judging of his general fitness for school teaching, from what he said. If they were- not book-learned, they were, at least, fair judges of men. They could give an estimate of the applicant's general intelligence, more or less satisfactory to themselves, and one which nearly always had the merit of satisfying their constituency.

In 1837, the law was so changed that three county examiners were chosen to conduct examinations in lieu of the district trustees who were to be appointed by the circuit judge of the county. This system, with modification, principally affecting the appointing power, continued in vogue up to 1852. It was unquestionably a step upward. It afforded an opportunity of securing men, qualified to discharge the duty, which was a great deal. But such men were not always secured, if we 'may judge from contemporanious history. Barnabas C. Hobbs, a former superintendent of public instruction in this state, made application for a license to one of these county examiners. The only question asked was : " What is the product of 25 centsby 25cents? " " We had then," says Mr. Hobbs, "no teachers' institutes, normal schools, nor ' best methods' by which nice matters were determined, and precise definitions given. We were not as exact then as now. We had only Pike's arithmetic, which gave the sums and the rules. These were considered enough for that day. How could I tell the product of 25 cents by 25 cents, when such a problem could not be found in the book? The examiner thought it was 6% cents, but was not sure; I thought just as he did, but this looked too small to both of us. We discussed its merits for an hour or more, when he decided that he was sure I was qualified to teach school, and a first-class certificate was given me."

The early laws provided for the erection of school-houses, but like every other public improvement of that day, the school house when made, represented the labor of the district applied to the material growing on the ground. Under the law the trustees were empowered to call out every " able bodied male person of the age of twenty-one or upwards, being a freeholder or householder, residing in the school district," one day in each week until the building was completed. Such person might, in lieu of work, pay in " plank, nails, glass or other materials," but if he failed to work or pay in materials, he suffered a fine of *37^ cents for each day lost. The law provided further that the school-house should be "eight feet between the floors, and at least one foot from the surface of the ground to the first floor, and finished in a manner calculated to render comfortable the teacher and pupils, with a suitable number of seats, tables, lights, and everything necessary for the convenience of such school. These exceedingly general requirements were not always observed in the building of school-houses. All were not raised a foot above the earth, nor all eight foot from floor to ceiling, but so general was this last requirement observed in Johnson County, that the old school-houses, in general, bore strong resemblance to each other on the outside.

In the beginning the few houses erected were of the most primitive style of log cabin architecture. Indeed, some were little or no better than the hunter's camp. The first school-house built in the south half of White River Township^ was arranged for the fire to be kept Durning in the center of the earthen floor. A chimney built on four posts planted in the ground, about six feet apart, and rising 10 the roof, was intended to carry the smoke away. The benches were arranged on the four sides of the fire. Usually the chimney was placed in one end. One house in the south part of the county^ in very early times, was made without a window. It was lighted by the door and its very large chimney. As the children increased in a neighborhood, to a number sufficient to support a school, their fathers were quite sure to make provision for one. While they themselves were, in general, the most meagerly educated, they, nevertheless, were anxious that their children should have good school advantages, and willingly they joined in providing school-houses. Whether made of round or hewed logs - whether eight feet between the floor and ceiling, or less, all school houses (save a few at the very first) had puncheon 'floors, capacious fire-places with mud and stick chimneys, long benches made of slabs or puncheons. Every house had a long window, made by cutting out a log the full length of one side or end of the house, beneath which window was the writing table. This, was made by laying a plank on pins, driven with an upward slant into the wall, or if a plank was not to be had, which was sometimes the case, by laying smoothly shaved riven boards thereon, or even smoothly shaved halves of logs.

One of the greatest drawbacks to the efficiency of the pioneer schools, was the want of competent teachers. This want was felt in every county in the state with more or less severity. " The pioneer teachers were generally adventurers from the east, or from

England, Scotland or Ireland, who sought temporary employment during winter while waiting for an opening for business," says Barnabas C. Hobbs. The southern states furnished their quota, and western Pennsylvania was not behind any section ot equal area in the number sent forth to become educators of the youth of the land. While there was one here and there of the early teachers who was well qualified for the work, the great majority, it must be admitted, were not. So loud were the complaints of the inefficiency of the school teachers throughout the state, that they reached .the ears of the governor. In the annual message of Governor Noble, in 1833, he thus calls the attention of the General Assembly to the subject: "The want of competent persons to instruct in the township schools, is a cause of complaint in many sections of the state, and it is to be regretted, that in emplo}*ing transient persons from other states, containing but little qualifications or moral character, the profession is not in that repute it should be. Teachers permanently interested in the' institutions of the country, possessing a knowledge of the manners and customs of our extended population, and mingling with it, would be more calculated to render essential service, and be better received than those who came in search of employment." And he proposes as a remedy for the evil the establishment of a seminary for the special training of our native teachers or the incorporation of the manual labor system with the preparatory department of the Indiana College at Bloomington.

All sorts of teachers were employed in Johnson County. There was the " one-eyed teacher "; the " one-legged teacher"; the " lame teacher" ; the " single-handed teacher " ; the teacher who had," fits ;" the teacher who had been educated for the ministry, but owing to his habits of hard drink had turned pedagogue ; the teacher who got drunk on Saturday and whipped the entire school on Monday. Some are remembered for the excellence of their teaching, and some for their rigorous government. Some are remembered for their good scholarship and some for their incompetency. As late as 1848, teachers were employed in Johnson County whose license certified that they could teach arithmetic to the " Single Rule of Three." While the curriculum of studies was confined mainly to reading, writing and arithmetic, there were schools wherein no book was used but the spelling book. There were schools taught by teachers who did not claim to be able to teach anything beyond spelling, reading and writing. One such- was taught by John Pruner in the northwest corner school house of Union Township. Pruner taught two or three terms in succession, and proved himself an acceptable and popular teacher. The children spelled and read and wrote in accordance with the custom of the schools of the times. It came to pass, however, that some of his students wanted to study arithmetic, and there came a young man to the neighborhood, Abram Aten, who claimed to be able to teach it. He offered himself as a candidate for the school against Pruner, and there was at once a great commotion in the neighborhood. Should the popular Pruner be thrown overboard to make room for a man who could cipher? was the all-absorbing question. A school meeting was held and the matter was thoroughly canvassed. Nothing could be said against the character of either candidate, and so the question was debated upon the square issue of arithmetic or no arithmetic. Fiery speeches were made extolling reading and writing and John Pruner on the one side, and reading, writing and arithmetic and the untried man on the other. A great deal of feeling was evinced, and it looked at one time as if the district would be rent assunder. On taking the vote, those in favor of the arithmetic carried the day by two or three majority, and Aten was given the school. Thomas Lynam was a popular pioneer teacher, but he made no pretense to a knowledge of arithmetic. One of his pupils, A. B. Hunter, ciphered through the arithmetic without any assistance from his teacher.

One of the curious chapters of the times, is the low wages paid for all manner of intellectual labor. The governor of the state received $1,000 per year, a supreme judge and a judge of the circuit court each $700, a member of the General Assembly drew $2 per day, and legislated on Christmas and New Year's days the same as on any others, except when they happened to fall on Sunday. Salaries of officers were even less in some of the eastern states. The governor of Vermont received $750 per annum for his services, the secretary of state $450, and the treasurer $400. Ministers, well educated, and of most excellent natural abilities, preached the year round for $300 or less; nay, the "Rev. Allen Wiley, a man of varied learning, deep in theology, strong in faith, and full of the Holy Ghost, received that year (1830) as his portion of the sum total, $20. My colleague, Rev. Amos Sparks, a most unique man, full of goon common sense, of marked eloquence and power in the pulpit, and popular with the people, received for his portion, being a married man with several children, $i75> a Par^ °^ which was paid in dicker."* An unmarried circuit rider of the times, who was paid $100 per year, was deemed to have been paid a good compensation.

Bloomington, which was the state school, received a salary of $250 per year. He was elected in 1823, and when two years after, the board of trustees elected John M. Harney to the chair of mathematics and philosophy, one applicant informed the board by letter that he was "educated in England, and would accept the situation at a salary of $250 and find his own family." For a great many years the pay of teachers was in general, kept at the lowest notch. The first school taught in Henslev Township, was by Jesse Titus, a "lame school-master," at $1.00 per scholar. This was in the winter of 1826-27. He could not have had over nineteen scholars, which would reduce his compensation to $6.00 per month. Out of that he paid his board, which cost him $1 per month. The patrons of his school were all poor men, but anxious to afford means for the education of their children. John Stevens had three to educate, and as an inducement to Titus to teach the school, he proffered to set off the board against their tuition, and it was done. Ten dollars and $12 per month was quite frequently paid to teachers in Johnson County during the earlv days. Indeed, a subscription school of twenty-five scholars, at $1.50 per scholar, was long considered a well-paying school. The winter schools might go over this, butfhe few summer schools taught, so often fell below, that it was quite customarv for the teacher to "board around," in order to make up the loss as nearly as he could.

In 1844, Anderson B. Hunter taught a school in Waggoner's smoke house, which had been fixed up for the occasion, for $8 per month, and boarded himself. In the spring of 1846, he taught for $14 per month, paying for his board 50 cents per week. A like condition of things prevailed elsewhere in the state. In Orange Countv, a subscription school was taught at " three bits per pupil for three months." In 1845, schools were taught in that county at $10 per month. Nor was this peculiar to Indiana alone. In Massachusetts the school system had reached such a stage of development by the year the first settlers came to Johnson County, that the school-districts had been laid off in such a manner that " no scholar is obliged to walk further than three-fourths of a mile from the extremity to the center of the district where the school is situated." Public schools were kept open from three to four months each winter, and a master was paid " from $10 to $20 per month," while a mistress for a summer school was paid " from $5 to $6 per month."* The wages paid to teachers during the formation period of our state's history are believed to have been in the main up to the level of the wages paid in most of the other states during the same period.

It is much to be regretted that we have no record of the time when the earlier schools of the county were opened. It would seem that the time has passed when the information can be supplemented by an appeal to human memory. No other query calls out such a diversity of answers as the one relating to the time and place of the first schools. Inasmuch as a considerable settlement was established on the Blue River, before at an)- other point, it seems reasonable to suppose that the first school in the county was opened in that neighborhood. In this place a reference will be made to some of the earlier schools of which we have knowledge, but without any attempt at a chronological arrangements of them.

In White River Township I have encountered three first schools. It is claimed that a school wras taught somewhere in the south half of the township, in a log school-house, in wrhich the fire was built in the center of the dirt floor. The name of the teacher is not given. It is very certain that Mrs. Samuel Parks, a widow, taught a school in her own house, sometime after her husband's death, which occurred in August, 1825. By some, hers is said to have been the first school in the township. In very early times a double log cabin stood on the Bluff road between the bluffs and the present site of Brownstown. One John Collins, a school-master, lived in one of the rooms, and taught a school in the other, as early as 1826. It is remembered of him that he owned the land on which the house stood, and at play-time he made the school children " pick trash." The labor of the children at the noon hour in the clearing may have been understood beforehand. I remember a school which run four days in the week, nor was he required to call books before 9 o'clock in the morning. Fridays as wrell as Saturdays the teacher gave to the cultivation of his corn. Three of the largest boys of the school, all belonging to the same family, by some sort of an arrangement between the father and teacher, worked in the latter's clearing of mornings, and helped him plant his corn. They thus earned the money to buy their books and possibly paid a part or all the schooling of the family for that term. They had a walk of two miles to the master's clearing, and were always on the ground by sun up. I yet remember the great store they set by their bright new Eclectic Readers.

A like uncertainty as to the first school taught, we encounter on entering Union Township. William Bond, about 1832, taught a summer school in the neighborhood of the present site of Union village. About the same time, a pole cabin was built for a~schoolhouse, on the west side of George Kerlin's farm, on the Three Notched Line Road, in which Jeremiah Callahan opened the first school. In Hensley Township there were three first schools, but the weight of evidence seems to point to the fact that in the winter of 1826-7, Jesse Titus taught the first school. The log house in which the school was taught was erected near the present Friendship Church site, and was 16x18 feet, and fronted south. A log for a window was cut out at the west end, and the sash was filled with " paper glass." The wide-throated chimney was in the east end, and under the long window, logs split into halves, and smoothed to a face, were mounted on a sort of trestle work for a writing table. The following is the roster of children that attended that first school: Ephraim Harrell, Gideon and Betsy Stevens, Betsy Harrell, Averv, Godfrev, Elizabeth and Xancy Chase; Abram, Daniel, Permelia and Anna Heethers; Polly, Bloomfield, Roland and Richard Hensley; Milford, Bluford and William Richardson. The American Spelling Book was used in that school, and the English First Reader. Toward the close of the school, six or seven of the scholars were furnished with copy books, and set to making " pot hooks and hangers." The succeeding winter, Samuel B. Elkins taught in the same house, and by some this was thought to have been the first school. Elkins is said not to have been " very good in figures, but wrote an excellent hand, and was a good reader and spelled well," and above all, was a " good hand with young children."

In 1824, Aaron Dunham moved from Brown County, Ohio, to the Nineveh neighborhood, in which there were living at the time, twelve families. He was an educated man for his time, being a good mathematician and a good grammarian. I have seen specimens of his hand writing among the files of the Circuit Court, and I know that he wrote an excellent hand. In November of this year, Dunham came to open a school in a log cabin, formerly lived in by William Strain, about one-fourth of a mile northeast of Williamsburg. This house was furnished with a puncheon floor, split log benches, greased paper windows and a hewed log writing table, resting on stakes driven into the earth. The teacher was paid $40 for a three months' school. About twenty scholars attended, of whom Jeremiah Woodruff, then twelve years old, and still living, was one. One of the girls, a Miss Dunham, studied grammar, and young Jeremiah tried it for a day, but his father, Joab Woodruff, who was the leading man in the community, pronouncing grammar nonsense, the boy abandoned it. About twenty scholars attended that school, the following of whom are remembered, viz.: the brothers, Jeremiah, William and Nelson Woodruff, a Miss Dunham, Benjamin Crews' three boys, David Twet's two children, William Strain's two, and Daniel Pritchard*s two. Mr. Dunham continued to teach

In 1826, Benjamin Baily taught a school close to the Vickerman place in the same township. This school was in a cabin on a dirt floor. At a very early day a school was opened not far from the present site of Amity, by James Hemaner, who was succeeded the next year by one named McClosky. George Adams, yet living, attended both those schools and still has the " ciphering book " he wrote then. He used Bennett's arithmetic, and according to the custom of the times he transferred the examples to a copy book together with the processes employed in solving them. In 1828, Elzy Mathes taught in the Price school-house, three miles north of Edinburg, a subscription school of three months at $1 per scholar. During his term the deer annoyed him a great deal by coming to lick during school hours in the outside chimney corners of his school-house. The children would give attention to the animals at the expense of their lessons. Mathes secured two planks which he so arranged, that by pulling a string that was brought over to his seat in the school house, as to fall with a great clatter and bang. Not long afterward the deer, a buck and a doe came, and Mathes enjoining silence, pulled the string and down came the planks with a mighty racket and away went the deer never to return. The master and his school went out and were amazed at the great leap the terrified buck had taken. It was over twenty feet. The deer never after, were a source of disturbance to his school, and as far as I have heard, his was the only school in the county ever disturbed by them. Austin Shipp, the first student from Johnson County, who ever attended the Indiana Seminary at Bloomington, " taught in 1830, in an old cabin on the Marshal farm three miles northwest of Edinburg." A log school-house stood on the Maux Ferry road, a short distance south of the present site of Furnas' mill, in which Thomas Alexander taught during the winter of 1827-8.

Coming to Franklin Township, we find that the first schools were held in the log court house. A cloud of uncertainty hangs over them. Dr. Pierson Murphy is known to have taught at an early period in the history of the town, but whether he was the first may be doubted. Aaron LeGrange attended his school seventeen days, which he says must have been about 1825. " I used Pike's arithmetic. Our other books were anything we could get. I remember we had Dilworth's spelling book." In the winter of 1829-30, Thomas Graham is known to have taught in the log court house. John Tracy, a young man of twenty-one years, attended, walking from his father's house, a distance of five or six miles. Mr. Tracy studied arithmetic. Gilderov Hicks, who moved to the town in 1834 an^ began the practice of law, wh'ich he successfully pursued for over twenty years, turned aside occasionally during the first years and taught school. Another who is remembered to have taught in the town schools during the earlier years, was William G. Shellady. " The first school between Franklin and Martinsville " was at the present site of the Mount Pleasant Church - the Byers neighborhood. Joseph Ringland was the teacher, and after him came Henry Drury, and then a man bv the name of Vitito.

In September, 1825, Thomas Henderson moved from Kentucky, and settled at Big Spring, now Hopewell. His first inquiry was for a tract of land to enter, on which was a site suitable for a school house, a church and a grave-yard, and he succeeded in becoming the owner of the tract of land on which these indispensable adjuncts to every good neighborhood were subsequently located. In 1829, a hewed log house, 20x30 feet, was erected, the floor and ceiling of which were laid with whip-sawed lumber. For a few years this building was used as a church, and for many as a school house. The first school taught in that house was the same year of its erection, by John R. Smock. He taught two winters out of three, one of which he boarded with Simon Covert, at 50 cents per week. Nancy Henderson taught the intervening winter. In 1833, the people of the neighborhood organized an educational society, which, by the terms of the compact, was to continue for five years, during which two terms per year of five months each were to be taught, and the patrons were to pay $1.25 per scholar, per term. This society was kept on foot for three years, during which the school house doors were kept open for ten months of each year. Two and a half years Samuel Demaree, a Kentucky school-master taught, and after him came a Mr. Ayers, who finished the last of the three years.

The first school in Pleasant Township was in the Smock neighborhood, at Greenwood. The date is uncertain, but it is believed to have been as earlv as 1825. William S. Holman, since become so celebrated as a statesman and politician, is remembered to have taught one or more terms of school in the Greenwood school while a student in the Baptist Institute in Franklin. Clark Township was late in being peopled, but it is said that a school was taught therein well up toward the north side, as early as 1828; but of it little is now remembered.

teachers as have been remembered by their old pupils. This list is necessarily incomplete, because of the fallibility of memory. Many of these persons taught in more than one school house and township, and no attempt will be given to localize them. It is as follows: William Bond, John L. Jones, Sr., Henry Drury, Jeremiah Callahan, Henry Banta, John L. Jones, Jr., Matthew Owens, Charles Disbrow, David V. Demaree, Washington Miller, Asa B. Nay, Joseph Raynor, William Lane, Louis Shouse, John Roberts, Thomas Graham, Piersen Murphy, Gabriel M. Overstreet, A. D. Whitesides, John Slater, A. B. Hunter, Elijah Harrell, Andrew Robe, Franklin Hardin, Jacob Fishback, Hiram Jackson, D. Loper, Joseph Ringland, William F. Johns, Hugh Smiley, Sebastian C. Fox, Joshua Eccles, Nelson Brock, Elizabeth Sutton, William Mitchell, Andrew Robe, James Collins, James Abbett, Samuel Hare, Elisha Hardin, James Wishard, David Todd, Thomas Alexander, Thomas Lynam, E. W. Morgan, Zalmon Disbrow, A. B. Hunter, William Cotton, James Mullikin, William Jones, Peter H.

During the first fifteen years of the county's history, school houses were located with reference to the accomodation of neighborhoods, [solely. As the county became settled other considerations began to rule. From 1835 to 1840, the county was laid off into school districts, so as to give about five to each congressional township. White River, which is a third larger in area than a congressional township, was laid off into six school districts, and provided with as many school houses. The Lyons school house was in the northeast corner, and the Glenn, in the northwest. The Hughes school house was toward the east side, not far from the center thereof, while the Low occupied a like position on the west side. The Dunn school house was in the southwest corner, while another stood over toward the southeast. In Union Township there were five houses, one near the center of the township and one in each corner. Something like this order prevailed in all the townships.

It will thus be seen that the division was on a geographical basis, of one house to from seven to nine square miles territory, and that some school children would necessarily have long roads to travel. Two, and even three miles were not infrequently traveled, night and morning, by the little folk of the early day. And when we remember that the school paths often led through the gloomy woods the greater part of the way, we may imagine something of the courage of both parents who sent, and of the pupils who went, to the early schools. One man remembers that he went a mile through an unbroken wood. He was eight years old, and used to run every step to and from the school-house, fearing lest a bear might overtake him. Another says, that he and his little brother one morning actually encountered a bear on their way to school, and that although it fled, they were ever after so afraid that they ran from home to school and cowered in a corner if they were the first comers, until others arrived. Two young girls, the daughters of Peter Whitenack, met a bear on the way to the Hopewell school one morning a little to the east of what is now known as the Donnell hill, and it disputed the path with them by " setting up in it." The preciptancy with which they turned and fled is easier to imagine than describe. When the man with a gun arrived the bear had gone.

There were no teachers' institutes, no normals, no training schools in those days. There were no books to be had on pedagogics. No " best methods " were inculcated. Every teacher was left to his own way of doing things in the school-room. Of course there was great variety in the manner of teaching adopted. Here were teachers from the Carolinas, from Virginia, from Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsvlvania, New England, Old England, Ireland and Scotland. Each had his way - a way learned in the country he came from. The dissimilarity of methods, however, was usually seen in minor matters. In the graver phases of school life, the dissimilarities usually disappeared.

A pre-requisite to successful teaching always has been, and always will be, an ability to govern. In the early days government occupied a higher place in the teacher's qualifications than it does in this. In whatever else he lacked he must not in this. It was for him to make his scholars mind, and the entire catalogue of punishments were in general at his disposal. The pioneers were a sturdy, thorough-going set of men and women, who were seldom content with any half-way measures. The same may be said of their children, and it may be doubted whether they would have entertained a feeling of respect for a teacher who would not on occasion, inflict corporal punishment with savage severity. Be this as it may, the early school-masters ruled writh a rod of iron. It was the custom to whip on the slightest provocation, and now and then for no provocation at all. An early teacher in Blue River Township would sometimes drink to a state of intoxication on Saturday. On Monday morning he would reach the school-house all broken up, and sometimes he would switch the entire school before the noon hour. But there were not many drunken teachers employed in Johnson County, and the severest teachers were among the most temperate.

Sebastian Fox, an early teacher in the northern part of the county, stood at the very head of those who whipped with the greatest severity. He kept in the school room a green, tough switch, about six feet long, and he invariably took off his coat and threw it on one of the joists overhead, before administering his punishment. He whipped not only for violations of school rules, but he whipped for laziness and natural dullness. He frequently whipped till the "red streaks could be seen on a boy's back through his shirt." He carried his punishments to such a pitch, that his school at last revolted, and the trustees had to be sent for. Edward Keene was a young man, almost grown, whom he very much disliked, and had, on more than one occasion, mercilessly whipped, as Edward thought, without sufficient cause. One day the boy did something that inflamed the master, who told him he must take a whipping or leave school. To the big boy or girl the alternative of leaving school or taking a whipping was always given in those days. Keene left, but after consulting with a couple of his mates, he concluded to return the next da)'. On his arrival, the schoolmaster at once pulled off his coat and took down his best switch. " Will you step out and take your whipping," said he. " Yes, if you are able to give it," bravely answered young Keene. At that point, his two big school-mates, William H. Wishard and Washington Culver, arose, and proposed to help him out. The whipping was put off and the trustees were sent for, to patch up a peace.

Not a few instances occurred in the county, in the early days, of the larger pupils of the school being driven to open rebellion by the severity of their teachers. Such an occurrence once took place at the Hurricane school-house. A teacher named Cottingham, whipped with a six foot switch ferociously. One day he undertook to make a stubborn boy cry, and lashed him until the school rose en masse and demanded a cessation. In Union Township, a Canadian by the name of Bradley, once taught. He undertook to introduce a new punishment, by striking the scholars with a rule on the open palm of the hand, and on the bunched end of the fingers. His punishments seemed to the eyes of the larger pupils inhuman, and once when about to beat a little boy on the finger nails, tlie big boys interfered. They told him he might whip the little one on the back and they would say nothing, but he could not beat the ends of his fingers; and Bradley wisely forbore to ever after whip, save in the orthodox way.

Sometimes the school-master's discipline took a humorous turn. On one occasion, Andrew Rabe, who was an exceedingly strict school-master, but a very popular one nevertheless, went to his school and discovered that something had been going on out of the usual order, but what, he could not divine. At the noon hour he learned that two of the big boys had fought that morning, and that one of them had received a bloody nose. Immediately, on " calling books," the teacher, in accordance with his custom, impanelled a jury and proceeded to try the accused. Three big boys were selected to try the case who were acceptable to the accused. The teacher sat as judge and prosecutor, and saw that the evidence was properly introduced. But the jury hung. Two of the jurors voted guilty, affixing the proper punishment, but the third stood out for mercy. He insisted upon a verdict of "not guilty," but was willing to affix to it, "if they ever do it. again, each to have twentyfive lashes well laid on."

The judge and prosecutor was equal to the occasion. There could be no failure of justice in his court because of a stubborn juryman, and so without further ceremony he was set aside and another put in his place. The new man was a brother of one of the accused, but kinship was not a disqualification in that court. The parties on trial, however, were consulted, and agreed to the substitution, and the record was thus kept straight. Thereupon the new jury retired, and promptly returned a verdict of guilty, with " five good licks apiece." The inevitable question followed: " Will you take your whipping or leave school? " One of the parties, now a venerable man, who has for many years wisely administered the law as a justice of the peace in his neighborhood, after a few moments' thought, said he could not afford to leave school just then, and gave his back to his master's use. Rabe was a good whipper, and it is said he got all the good there was to be had in the five strokes on that occasion. Turning to the next victim he put the same question of going or staying. This young man was not so sure. His mind was not made up. He did not much like to leave school, but he liked less to take the whipping. He had about made up his mind to leave, when the thought occurred, " What will father say?" " Go," said he to that very brother who had sat as a juror and approved the sentence, "go and see what father says." He went, and presently returned with these words : " Father says if you come home he will give you the all-firedest licking you ever had." That settled it. He, too, stood out on the floor and let Andrew Rabe tip-toe it on five of his best, and there was no more fighting in that school.

fingers with a rule, were not all the punishments inflicted. The early school-masters were ingenious in devising novel modes of torture for their children. One school-master habitually pulled the ears of refractory pupils. Sometimes one ear, after a manipulation at his hands, would puff up to double its natural size. The "dunce block" and the "fool's cap," were in every school. Some teachers kept a " leather spectacles." I remember to have seen two boys alternately tie on each other the "leather specs," in the meanwhile dancing and crying in rage. I once saw a teacher incarcerate quite a big girl for some mischief, "in the hole under the floor." I will never forget how he pushed her fingers off the unmoved puncheons at the sides, when he closed the lid over her. Making a pupil stand in the corner or by the side of the teacher, or on one leg, were favorite modes. If a boy was particularly bashful (which was not often the case) he might be seated between a couple of girls with admirable effect. " Bringing up the switch" was another mode. An idle child would be startled out of a doze by the switch dropping at his feet. "Bring up the switch!" would be the stern command, and there was no escape. The idler must carry the evidence of his subjection to the master, in the presence of the whole school.

How often have I seen a teacher rush up to an idler, or mischief-maker, and strike him over the back and shoulders with all his might and main. Boxing a child's ears with a closed book or the open hand was quite common with some. I remember once an edition of the elementary spelling book, bound in wooden backs. The wood was exceedingly thin, of course, and split so easily that a blow with a book over a child's head would shatter the back into splinters. After the backs of two or three books had been ruined by the teacher, the children made such an outcry over the mutilation, that the teacher ceased their use altogether as instruments of punishment. I have seen teachers kick their pupils; have seen them attach split quills to their noses; bumb their heads together, and one old teacher kept a short rod of whalebone, which had the merit of never wearing out.

In these days teachers were careful to seat the boys and girls on different sides of the house. This was the custom at church and at the dinner tables. In no case were the school children to sit together, except for punishment. Nor were they allowed to play together. I remember one school-master who was so strict in this particular that he established an east and west line, which ran from the spring through the middle of the school-house, on the west side of which, in the house, the girls sat, and out of doors they played. On the east side, within, the boys sat, and without, played, and the rule was not deemed an unreasonable one by his pupils. It was the custom in that school, as in a good many others, throughout the county, for the children to be seated in the order of their arrival in the morning. The first arrival sat at what the teacher chose to call the head. The next arrival sat next to him, and so on in order to the last. The only advantage to the scholar arriving first, was that he recited his lesson first. There were few classes, save the spelling class, in the old schools. In the beginning, Dilvvorth's spelling book was used, and after that came " Webster's American Spelling Book," and that in time was succeeded by the " Elementary Spelling Book" by the same author, which held the field against all rivals for more than twenty-five years. The old school-masters placed great stress on spelling. Twice a day the whole school stood up and spelled " for head." A half-day in every week was given to the spelling match. Night spelling schools were of frequent occurrence. Every scholar was kept hammering away at the spelling book as long as he went to school, and there were few schools in which one or more pupils had not the book by heart. The words in the elementary spelling book were written rythmically, and it was no hard matter to commit by rote whole columns of words. This book was used as a reader also. In some schools, after a pupil had learned to spell sufficiently well, he was set to pronouncing the words in the book at sight. After he was able to readily pronounce all the words in the book, he was deemed sufficiently advanced to begin reading. The elementary spelling book served the purpose of reader.

See how the hen can run." This was the first lesson. After the book had been read through a half dozen times, another was in demand. There were few, or no, readers, accessible. A few copies of the "English reader," or of the " Columbian," might be had, but in general, such books as could be picked up in the neighborhood, were used. The " Life of Marion" was not an uncommon school reading-book in those days. Histories, the Pilgrim's Progress, "dream books," and even sermon books, were used. The Bible and the Testament were very common. About 1835, B. P. Emerson's readers came into use, and his " third class reader " was often met with in the schools of the county. About five years after, McGuffey's Eclectic series appeared, and ultimately occupied the field, to the exclusion of all others. The introduction of the eclectic series marked an era in the schools of the county, and they were of incalculable advantage to the people of the western country.

It was the custom in those days for a pupil to study one thing at a time. I have already adverted to the practice with regard to the spelling book. The pupil was kept in that till he could pronounce all the words it contained, at sight. He might have actually learned in the meantime to read fairly well, but the teacher would ignore his acquirement. He must go through the spelling book in the manner I have indicated. After that he was set to reading, and thence on, that was his chief study. He continued to spell, it is true, as long as he went to school, but until he finished his course in reading, his two or four lessons a day were reading lessons. During the interval his teacher might consent for him to take a copy book to school and learn to write. Learning to write was a very simple exercise in that day. The copy book consisted of a few sheets of foolscap sewed together. The teacher made and mended all the pens. This work he usually did while hearing a boy or girl read a lesson. The pen made, he wrote a line of pot hooks, or a, b, g's, or a sentence for the pupil to reproduce, on the lines below. Whenever, in the judgment of the teacher, the scholar could read and write well enough, he was permitted to fetch an arithmetic and slate, and begin to cipher. Pike's Arithmetic was the one generally used in the beginning. This book consisted of "sums" and "rules." There were other arithmetics to be met with, however. I have heard of Dilworth's, and Smiley's, and Bennett's, as being in use. There were few definitions, and no methods given. The scholars recited no lessons in arithmetic, no matter what book he used. He committed the rules and multiplication table, and " worked the sums." When he failed to get the true answer, he went to the teacher, who " worked the sum " for him, and if not too busy, explained the process. A bright boy might study arithmetic for weeks, and the teacher never give him a word of instruction.

The practice of pursuing one study at a time doubtless had its advantages. The course of studies was so limited that it was well for a scholar to have one fairly learned before beginning another. The same plan was pursued in the only college in the state. In 1828, Doctor Andrew Wylie was elected president of the Indiana College at Bloomington, and into that institution the learned Doctor introduced a like practice. The student therein studied languages and nothing else, until he had completed the language course;, mathematics and nothing else, until he had completed the mathematical course, and so on. But the plan has long since given way in both college and common schools to what is now considered the better one of " mixed courses of studies." Whatever the faults of the modern method, the old was faulty in this : scholars were someschools. 379 times kept back to an unwonted degree. The writer could read so as "to make sense of his reading" before his teacher allowed him to read in school; he could write a hand that could be read, and read writing readily before his teacher allowed him to write after a copy in school; he learned to read numerals, add, subtract, multiply and divide in short division before his teacher would recognize his slate. Indeed, he ciphered in school for two weeks before his teacher showed him any attention. And there were many others who in some sort went through a Kke experience.

A picture of the early school days in the county would be incomplete without an allusion to the efforts of the old masters to teach good manners. There was a vast deal of bowing and courtesying (crutcheying it was called) in the early days. Every boy had to doff his cap and bow to the assembled school, oh entering in the morning, and every girl had to make her courtesy. In some schools every pupil, on re-entering the .school-room after going out, had to go through a like ceremony. In some, the children were required, on the entrance of a visitor, to rise to their feet and salute him by bow and "crutchey." Some teachers, on entering the school-room, would bow to their scholars, thus teaching them by example. John R. Smock, an old-time pedagogue, before dismissing school in the afternoon, had his scholars collect their belongings and march out of the school-house, and form in line with the tallest at the head, and by his side, the next tallest, and so on, down to the very least, who stood at the foot, when they awaited his coming to the door. While the line was forming, he covered the fire with ashes and righted the room, after which he appeared at the door, when all hats, including his own, were doffed, and after an interchange of formal bows and "crutchies," the little folks broke ranks and scattered for home. It is remembered that one very cold evening a big boy refusing to wait for the lire to be covered and the bowing to be done, left for home. The next morning the teacher called him out and inflicted such a severe punishment that, no matter how inclement the weather, he never after failed to return his master's bow from his place in the line.

-It was the rule in those days for all scholars to be "loud scholars." The silent schools were few and far between. The odds in the argument were believed to be in favor of the loud school. The man who can carry on a train of abstract thought, amidst noise and confusion, has a great advantage over one who must seek privacy and quiet. The business man must learn the secret, and so must the lawyer. All the old school-masters had it. Franklin Hardin, it is said" by his old pupils, " could hear a class recite, work a sum in arithmetic and keep one eye on the school, all at one time." Charles Disbrow could hear a class, make a pen, and watch the school at once. " A celebrated Scotch teacher, Alexander Kinmont, of Cincinnati, as late as 1837, would conduct a school by no other method. He claimed that it is the practical, philosophical system, by which boys can be trained for business on a steam-boat, wharf, or any other place." And so the schools in Johnson County were very generally loud schools. The boys and girls spelled and read oftentimes at the tops of their voices, and in favorable days the noise of their lesson-getting could be heard half a mile off. 1

How incomplete this review would be without some reference to the school sports of the pioneer days. The boys played with a dash and vim worthy of imitation yet. No half-acre or acre school lots bounded their play .grounds, for hardly a school-house that did not stand in an unenclosed woodland of from forty to many hundreds of acres in extent. Every sport was calculated to call for the utmost endeavor of the player. The races run in " prisoner's base," sometimes covered railes. There was " cap ball " for the little boys - a game of short, quick dashes, and admitting of boisterous talking and hallooing by all at once. The leading games for the larger boys were " cat," " town-ball " and " bull-pen." The first two were played with the bat and ball, and out of the second has come our modern base ball. The third, " bull-pen," was the best pioneer game. It had an element suggestive of warfare in it. To become a proficient player in " bull-pen," required a quick eye, physical activity, speed on foot, good bottom, manly courage, good throwing powers, quick perception, good judgment, and last, but not least, the ability to maintain one's position in the innumerable arguments that were sure to arise in the course of the game, for there were no umpires in those days. How earnestly the pioneer boys would debate questions on the play ground, and how apt were they to come to blows before a conclusion was reached. The moral sentiment of the country took high ground in the early day against turbulence, and the teachers labored to repress it among their scholars. The fathers and teachers, too, would fight on small provocation, but every effort was made to repress the tendency among the boys, but, in spite of it all, the boys were quite often as quick to assert their manhood as the testiest father or school-master in the county. The usual thing when a fight took place in school, was for the teacher to whip both combatants by way of punishment, but there were instances when whipping carried with it no repressing tendency. A Washington County school-master had two boys who, disliking each other, often fought to the teacher's great annoyance, but without a decisive victory attending the banner of either. Both had been punished time and again by the teacher without avail. The usual fight occurring one day, the teacher bethought him of a new scheme. He cut a bundle of good switches, and bade the boys stand up in the school-room and switch each other till one cried " enough " ! The temper of the lads was yet up, arid they were not sorry of the opportunity given to still further punish each other, and so they tell to with a will and kept at it till one under the pain cried out the word, and the switching ended. Ever after there was peace between those two boys.

An old student of Franklin Hardin, says that quite a number of large boys and young 'men attended his school, many of whom would fight with each other on the slightest provocation, to the great vexation of their teacher. Hardin always played with his scholars, which, indeed, was the custom with nearly all the school masters of the early day, and he was thus ever present to quell disturbances on the plav ground. The turbulence of the young fellows greatly annoyed their teacher. Hardly a day passed that he was not called upon to exercise his office as peace maker. There came' a time, however, when he wearied in well-doing. Two lusty boys, ringleaders in all quarrels, disagreed for the tenth time, and showed fight. " Boys," said the teacher, " we have had enough of this, I think you had better now settle it once and for all. You may fight it out, and I will see to it that there is fair play." " Here," to the bystanders, " let us form a ring and see it out." The proposition was no less unexpected than novel. The ardor of the lads cooling down they concluded not to fight. After that the practice of fighting fell into neglect in that school.

Among the other school practices in the early days was the one of " turning out," or " barring out the master." This occurred at Christmas time, and the event was usually not less enjoyed by the teacher than his scholars. The custom was for the big boys to bar the school-house door against the entrance of the teacher, and keep him out till he agreed to furnish a treat, usually of apples, for the school. Sometimes cakes and cider were furnished, and in some parts of the state whisky, even, was demanded, but I never heard of a Johnson County teacher treating his scholars to any thing stronger than cider. Of course the teacher resisted - there would have been no fun else, and sometimes by superior skill or strength, he managed to make his way into the school house, when the victory was his. In the effort to do so, it was allowable for the scholars to seize his person if they could, when, if he still held out, they might tie him and carry him to a neighboring creek and duck him till he promised the treat. Not many teachers held out thus far, but instances have been known, when, after cutting a hole in the ice, teachers have been immersed once - nay, twice, and held under till they were glad to give in. All this, be it remembered, was done in fun and taken in good part by the teacher, who held no ill-will against any one on account thereof. Instances, it is true, have occurred in the county, where the effort of the scholars to force a treat was resisted in good earnest by the teacher and bad blood followed, but the general rule was otherwise.

Many amusing stories are told of turning the teacher out. On one Christmas occasion, William Surface's scholars barred the school-house door against him. On reaching it he demanded entrance, which, of course was refused, unless he would agree to treat. He declined, however, to answer to an oral proposition. " Some dispute,*' he said, " might arise, as to what was said," and so he demanded that a written proposition be presented to him. It was done, and pen and paper passed out to him with it. Beneath the boys' scrawl he wrote :

William Surface," and passed the writing back. The boys were satisfied, and at once admitted the master. " You had better read with care what I have written," said he to his scholars. " It is one thing to accept a proposition, and quite another to except to it." The boys acknowledging that the tables had been turned upon them, the teacher improved the occasion, " Were I sure," said he, " that you knew not the difference between the meaning of the words, I would be ashamed of you. I think you do, but your carelessness is not much less reprehensible, than your ignorance would have been. Unless you mend your ways in this respect, you will be fleeced all through life by every scoundrel who meets you." The treat followed the lesson, and all was serene in that school.

A teacher by the name of Groves, who taught in the early day, in the northern part of the county, was barred out one Christmas morning. Living in a cabin hard by, he called on his wife to assist him. The weather was extremely cold, and it occurred to him that if he could drown out the school-house fire he could freeze out the meeting, and accordingly ascended to the top of the chimney, and his wife, handing him up buckets of water, he poured it down into the fire-place. But the effort was in vain. The boys raking the coals upon the ample hearth defied him. He next thought to smoke them out, and to that end laid boards over the chimney top; but the boys had thought of that contingency and were provided with a long pole with which to remove the boards. The teacher, not to be outdone, replaced the boards, and calling upon his wife, who entered with spirit into all his plans, had her mount the roof of the house and take her seat upon the chimney top, while her lord went below to be ready to enter the house as soon as the boys should leave it. Once more the youngsters resorted to the pole, and with such vigor did they heave at the obstruction above, that they not only removed the boards, but upset the dame, who, at the risk of limb and life, came tumbling to the earth. The obdurate master, abandoning all hope of taking the fortress by direct attack, sat down before it in siege. As the girls and younger scholars arrived that morning, he sent them to his own cabin, where his wife, turning school-mistress for the occasion, kept watch and ward over them. The " stars fought for Sisera" that day. Nature asserting her claims, one by one the garrisqn had to go out, and each one became the captive of the besieging master, who, marching him off in triumph, left him under the charge of the madame. By the time for dismissing the school in the afternoon came around, every boy had been taken in, and the school was in full blast in the master's cabin.

He who investigates the history of the common schools of Johnson County during the early years of its existence, cannot fail to find evidence of their growth in usefulness as he goes over the ground. The growth may not be very marked, taking one year with another, but the evidences of it are to be seen nevertheless.. There is an influx of better teachers and of better methods. Geography is introduced into the schools quite generally, and also the study of English grammar. In geography, Olney's and Smith's are the books in general use. Murray's grammar was the first, but it was soon superseded by Kirkham's and Smith's. New arithmetics took the place of the old, first Smith's, and next, Ray's, and a series of reading-books. McGuffey's Eclectic, was by degrees introduced into every school. A partial uniformity in text-books wras attained, and this allowed to some extent, the organization* of classes. Elsewhere, reference has been made made to the eclectic series of school books as potent factors in the advancement of the schools of the county.

There was another factor deserving of mention in this connection. In 1837, the "Indiana Baptist Manual Labor Institute" was opened to students in Franklin, and, notwithstanding the fact that poverty hung like a cloud over the infant institution, it was so managed as to keep its doors open to the youth of the land in search of opportunity for achieving a higher education. Doubtless, its work seemed of little consequence to the general run of people of that day, but looking back from our " coigne of vantage " now, we see that Johnson County reaped a rich reward from the infant college, even then. Numbers of young men, attending the institute in its early years, went forth to teach in the district schools of the county. They took with them not only a knowledge of the rudiments of the elementary English branches, but they taught in such a spirit of enthusiasm as to implant in the minds of their scholars far higher ideals of education, than had been the case before. They did much to leaven the lump and prepare the people of the county for what was to follow. The people of Johnson County have done well by Franklin College, the lineal successor of the institute, since that day, but what they have done has been less a benevolence than the payment of a first debt. How much is owing to the colleges of the country by the beneficiaries of the public schools, in general, we are slow to concede. But in the blessings brought to the people of Johnson County by the Eclectic schoolbooks, and by the masters sent out by the Baptist Institute, we have the lesson brought home to us. The books were prepared and perfected by the professors who taught for their daily bread in the Miami University, and the old Cincinnati College.

In this place it may be proper to refer to the old county seminary at Franklin. By an act of the legislature of February 4, 1831, evefy county was authorized to establish a seminary in which a higher education than the common schools afforded, was to be taught. Under this law steps were taken looking to the establishment of such a seminary in Franklin. A two-story brick building was begun about 1840, and finished in the summer of 1842. But no school of the kind contemplated by the legislature was ever established therein. In September, 1842, the Rev. William Sickles, a Presbyterian clergyman of the town, began a subscription school in the new seminary building, which continued for a year. After him, two young women, the Misses Atell and Merrill, taught for a brief period. Afterward, it was used by the Methodist congregation of the town as a preaching place for a year or two, and ultimately the county sold the building, and it was turned into a private residence.

In 1850, a convention was called to frame a new constitution for Indiana. Two college professors were members of that convention when it assembled, one of whom was John I. Morrison, who represented Washington County, and who was made chairman of the committee on education. He had quite recently been a professor in the Indiana University at Bloomington, but had returned to his old home in Salem, where he had long been principal of the Washington Academy. Professor Morrison was at heart a thorough-going free school man, but he did not believe that free schools in Indiana could ever be successfully inaugurated, without such a systematic organization of all the school forces, as could only come from a state department of education. To that end he framed a resolution providing for the office of a state superintendent of edu- cation, and presented it to his committee; but his committee promptly rejected it. Thereupon, with a courage worthy of all praise, he presented his resolution to the convention itself, which not only gave him a patient hearing, but approved of his proposition and framed it into the new constitution. The office of superintendent of public instruction was thus provided for, which meant systematic organization, equality of means and uniformity of methods throughout the state. It required many years to put the department in full command, but the fact has been accomplished.

During the years that have come and gone since 185 1, the public schools of Johnson County have steadily grown in usefulness and public favor. The public school fund has been constantly augmenting; courses of study have been greatly enlarged; uniformity in text-books and consequent classification of pupils has become a fact, and schools are kept open, free to all, and within convenient distance to all, from not less than five to eight months in the year. In addition to all this, a system of township graded schools has been established, wherein a higher education may be had than is taught in district public schools. One of these is in the center of White River Township; one at Trafalgar, in Hensley; one at Williamsburg, in Nineveh; one at Hopewell, in Franklin, and one at Whiteland, in Pleasant. To these add the city schools of Franklin,, and the Edinburg and Greenwood schools, wherein more extensive courses of studies are introduced and taught, and we have an educational system in active operation in Johnson County, which is the pride and glory of its people. The following table presents a view of the condition of the schools of the countv at this time:

Franklin College

This sketch would be incomplete without some reference to Franklin College. Early in the history of the state, the leading men of the Baptist faith saw the necessity of founding a school of higher education, which should be under the control of their denomination. In 1834 tne first steps were taken looking to that end. A meeting was held in Indianapolis, of Baptist ministers and laymen, and an educational society organized, the chief purpose of which was to " establish one or more literary or theological seminaries." At the third meeting of the society, held at Indianapolis, in January, 1835, the plan for a college was so far developed that four places were selected from which to receive bids, two in Decatur County, and the others at Indianapolis and Franklin. In the following June, the location was made at Franklin, and the " Indiana Baptist Manual Labor Institute," was formally established on paper.

This was the age of manual labor schools. About this time Hanover College was staggering under a name indicative of the manual labor carried on in shop and field by the youth who went there in quest of knowledge; and during the same period, not a few of the legislators of the state sought to graft upon the state college at Bloomington something of the same sort. The reader of the Senate and House journals for 1830 up to 1840, will find many resolutions and reports referring to "glebes" and "farms" and "Fellenberg" and " Lancastrian" systems of education in connection with the Indiana College. It was in the air, and the founders of Franklin College could not well help beginning with a Manual Labor Institute.

In 1837 a frame building was completed on the chosen site, at a cost of $350, and a school seems at once to have been opened therein by the Rev. A. R. Hinckley. In 1843, a large and commodious brick building was begun, but was not completed for four years. It is what is known as the North Building. The year following its beginning, the Manual Labor Institute, by a legislative enactment, gave place to Franklin College, and soon thereafter the Rev. G. C. Chandler became its first president, who served as such up to 1849, when he resigned, leaving the college without a presidential head, for a period of two years. These were years of gloom for the college and its friends. The' institution was in debt, and liable to be sold on execution. But its friends rallied, the debt was paid off, and in 1852, the Rev. Silas Baily, D. D., an able man and a profound scholar, was elected to the presidency, and a new and brighter chapter in the history of the college was entered upon. "Within a few months after the Doctor had signified his acceptance, a new building, the counterpart of the one of 1843, was projected and under way. Its corner stone was laid by Judge F. M. Finch, in the presence of the college, and a large number of the citizens of the town, during the spring session of 1853, and the building was completed in about one year from that time.

Like every other college in the state, Franklin knows the disadvantage that comes of poverty. As early as 1842, a plan of raising an endowment was submitted, and many times since the plans have been put forth having the same end in view. But only a college man can realize how painfully slow the work of building up an endowment progresses. By 1853, a scholarship endowment of $60,000 was subscribed for, but for some reason the subscription proved of little advantage to the institution. The larger part of it was never collected. Dr. Baily continued, to exercise the office of president up to 1862, a period of ten years, when failing health obliged him to resign, shortly after which the college doors were closed. All the boys save two lame ones went to the war. For three years the school was abandoned. In 1867, Professors William Hill and Jeremiah Smith, opened a private school, which they continued with success, up to 1869, when the board of trustees once more took possession, and the college wa^s put on its feet. A corps of teachers, with the Rev. W. T. Stott as " acting president," was put in charge. The next year, the Rev. H. L. Wayland, D. D., was elected president. " Vigorous efforts were now made to so present the needs and importance of the college, that the Baptistsof the state wouldraiseatleast$ioo,ooo. After repeated efforts, President Wayland became discouraged and resigned. The board had incurred a considerable debt in repairs, and in advancing the pay of instructors, and so, in the early part of 1872, the college property was taken to secure the debt," and further work was abandoned.

This was the darkest hour in the history of the institution. The admirable work done under President Baily's administration had endeared it to the love of the young men who had been its students under him, as well as to the thousands of its friends throughout the state.

For several years the friends of the college had been hampered in their efforts to build it up, by a sentiment of hostility, on account of what was deemed its unfavorable location. In proportion as the peril increased, the clamor on account of location increased, and for a time it seemed as if the college would go down altogether, or be moved to some other place. To avert the impending calamity, a joint stock association was organized, mainly of citizens of Johnson County, who promptly subscribed $51,175, and the institution was once more free of debt. The Rev. W. T. Stott was then elected president, an office he still holds, and a full faculty gathered about -him, since which the work of education has gone on with the regularity of the seasons.

The work of increasing the permanent endowment of the college has slowly but surely progressed. To-day, the productive endowment is $110,674.37; not yet productive, $30,118. Small as this endowment is, it is, nevertheless, large enough to be a guarantee against any such financial troubles in the future, as have overtaken the college in the past. The erection of a large and handsome new building, to which the old ones are to be the wrings, has been commenced, and has so far progressed as to insure its enclosure the present year. This building will cost $40,000, which will be borne by voluntary contributions. A greater era of prosperity has never befallen the institution than the present. During the collegiate year just closed, the number of students in attendance was 223. The entire number who have received all, or the greater part of their education in Franklin College, is 3,000. The first graduate was John W. Dame, in 1847, since which ninety students have taken their degrees at the end of a full course of studies in Franklin College.

The names of the presidents of Franklin College have already been given. Among the persons who have served as professors, we may note William Brand, Dr. John S. Hougham, John W. Dame, Jeremiah Brumback, Barnett Wallace, Mark Baily and C. E. Baily. The faculty, as now constituted, is as follows: Rev. William T. Stott, D. D., president, and professor of mental and moral philosophy; Rev. Columbus H. Hall, B. D., vice president, and professor of Greek language and literature; Miss Rebecca J. Thompson, A. M., professor of mathematics, pure and applied; Rev. Arthur B. Chaffee, A. M., professor of chemistry and physics; David A. Owen, A. M., professor of geology and botany; John W. Moncrief, A. M., professor of history; Francis W. Brown, A. M., Ph. D., professor of Latin language and literature; J. D. Bruner, instructor in modern languages ; Mrs. Arabella R. Stott, instructor in painting and drawing; James M. Dungan, instructor in music, instrumental and vocal; Miss Lucia May Wiant, instructor in elocution.