LaPorte County, Indiana - Chapter 29: Education1. - the County Schools, 1904

In America the introduction of schools is not far behind the settlement of the country. The first constitution of Indiana, adopted in 1816, provided for education. Yet in an early day the cause advanced slowly. The first constitu¬ tion made provision for the appointment of super¬ intendents of school sections to take charge of and lease the school lands in the townships. In 1824 the general assembly passed an act to in¬ corporate congressional townships and provide for public schools therein. The act provided for the election in each congressional township of three persons of the township to act as school trustees, to whom the control of the school lands and schools generally was given; and for the building of school houses. Every able-bodied person in each school district who was over twenty-one years of age must work one day in each week, or else pay thirty-seven and one-half cents in lieu of a day's work, until the school house was built. Almost every session of the legislature or general assembly witnessed some addition to or modification of the school law. Provision was made for the appointment of school examiners but the examinations might be private, and the examiners were quite irrespon¬ sible. Under such circumstances it could not be expected that competent teachers be employed. Often the most trivial questions were asked a teacher, and this was called an examination. In many instances there was no examination at all - the teacher was simply engaged to teach. How¬ ever, it must be said that there was generally an endeavor on the part of the trustees to do the right thing; the fact is that, generally competent teachers were not to be had. The original scheme of education embraced the district schools, the state university and the county academy as intermediate between the two and as a preparatory school for the latter. In some instances county academies were built and a few became famous and gave to the state some of her strongest men. But those institutions were sold and the proceeds added to the permanent school fund of the state. In 1841 there was some agitation in LaPorte county about building a county academy. At that time the fund which had been provided by law for the purpose amounted to $2,000. Under the laws regulating this fund, trustees were to be appointed and the names of Samuel Treat, John C. Reed, and James H. Andrews, of Rolling Prairie, were suggested for that office; but little ever came of it.

to the school laws and the subject of education. In 1842 there was much complaint against the district schools and the practice of employing incompetent teachers. Up to this time and later, no provision was made by law for the pay of the teacher and the support of the schools, but now the subject began to be agitated of levying a tax for that purpose. In the August election of 1848 a vote was taken in the state to try the minds of the people as to levying such a tax, and in this congressional district - then the ninth - there was a majority of 10,451 in favor of it, one of the largest majorities in the state. LaPorte county gave a vote of 1,715 in favor of levying a tax to support free schools, to 207 against it. This was the largest majority of any county in the district - and there were fifteen - except Wabash which gave a vote of 1,887 f°r> and 3°9 against. LaPorte county gave a larger proportionate majority than even Wabash.

By 1850 union schools had been established; that is, several school districts would unite and combine their funds and forces, and establish a union school at some center convenient to all. Little was done in this direction by LaPorte county, but the subject was agitated, and had it not been for the meeting of the constitutional convention which was to frame a new constitu¬ tion providing for a new school law, doubtless union schools would have sprung up all over the county. Under the new constitution the legis¬ lature of 1852 enacted a liberal school law which embodied principles of practical excellence; and from that time, notwithstanding the selfishness of a few retro-action ists, and the stupidity of certain courts, the educational affairs of the state have progressed wonderfully.

But it may be well to glance at the schools of the county as they were before the year 1852. Undoubtedly the first school ever taught in the county was that of the Carey Mission at Du- Chemin or Hudson lake. In the year 1833 an¬ other school house was built there, in which a school was taught by a man named Edwards. One of the most interesting schools of the earliest times was that taught by Rachael B. Carter in the settlement in New Durham township, near Westville. It was taught in Aunt Sally Eahart's loom house. Here Miss Carter gathered the children of the settlement around her and taught them the rudiments of an education. She began on January 1, 1833. She had eighteen scholars, among whom were Levi J. Benedict, William Garwood, and scholars by the name of Morgan and Eahart. This teacher was a strong character. The In¬ dians of all ages would sometimes come to her school wrapped in their blankets, and stand for hours without uttering a word or making a motion while they gazed curiously at the pro¬ ceedings. Then they would glide away as noise¬ lessly as they came. On one occasion an Indian woman called "Twin Squaw" told Miss Carter that the Indians intended to kill all the whites as soon as the corn was knee high. The teacher replied that the white people were well aware of the intentions of the Indians. "But," said she, taking up a handful of sand, "the white soldiers from the East are coming as numerous as these grains of sand to destroy the Indians before the corn is ankle high." The next morning there were no Indians to be found in the vicinity, and it was several months before they returned. Miss Carter afterwards taught in Noble township. A G. Webster, E. S. Harding and John Wakefield built a school house on Webster's farm, in the fall of 1835, and she became the teacher, begin¬ ning the school in January, 1836. This school in early times was very jealous of its reputation, and particularly in relation to spelling correctly. In those days a scholar was not taught to read unless he could spell correctly. Doubtless this was carried too far, but it is a question whether we have not swung to the other extreme, especially in view of the fact that some of our best educators declare that according to careful tests the at¬ tainments in spelling by pupils in schools and col¬ leges are now very unsatisfactory. Miss Carter's school in Noble township was for a long time the champion in spelling, and many were the inef¬ fectual attempts of schools in the neighboring districts to spell it down. This school was es¬ pecially distinguished for the number of persons who in the little log structure prepared them¬ selves for teaching. The furniture was made of logs split with axes and planed off with grub hoes. From such material the seats and desks were manufactured. The fireplace and doors oc¬ cupied one entire side of the house. The floor was made of puncheons manufactured in the same manner as the desks and seats. Yet in this school room many of the active business men of LaPorte county received the rudiments of their education. It is said that in November, 1834, Miss Carter married a man named Jacobus. This name figures in the early affairs of the county, but the marriage does not appear on the mar¬ riage record of that year. Richard Jacobus died in 1876 or 1877. In 1832 the first school house in Springfield township was built, about eighty rods west of the village of Springfield. This school house was burned in 1835. During the year 1834 a school house was put up on the Michigan road, in Kankakee township. It was constructed of logs, opposite the place after¬ wards occupied by John Provolt. Difficulties arose with regard to its location. From every point of the compass there were settlers who wanted it near their dwelling. After it was finished a man named Emerson was employed to teach. Before his term was completed the school house was burned in the night. Another was soon erected in the same spot afterwards occu¬ pied by a frame school house. The first school house built in Pleasant township was known as "Old .Charity." A number of those interested were opposed to having it on the site where it was built, and they put it on wheels or rollers and moved it to another place which suited them better. Then the other party hitched to it one night and pulled it back to its former location. A second time it migrated and this time it was run on the top of a stump so as to fasten it. But it was afterwards got loose and made to take two or three more journeys before the dispute was settled and the migratory school house was permitted to have a permanent abiding place.

What has been written will give a fair idea of the schools of that early day. More might be given, but it would be of the same piece. It is surprising, on studying the records, to find how many districts and townships built school houses at almost identicallv the same time, with¬ out any communication with each other or pur¬ pose of concerted action. There was great unanimity of spirit in this respect. The school houses were rude structures in fit harmony with the dwellings. The accommodations were not good. Stoves and such heating apparatus as are now used, were unknown. A mud-and-stick chimney in one end of the building with earthen hearth and fireplace wide and deep enough to re¬ ceive a six-foot back-log and smaller wood to match, served for warming purposes in winter and a sort of conservatory in summer. For win¬ dows, a part of a log was sawed out in two sides of the building and the space filled with a light of glass; or, if that was not to be had, with greased paper or cloth. If a spelling match or other meeting was held in the schoolroom in the evening, the old tallow dips were brought into requisition. Everything was rude and plain. Yet from out of just such schools houses came some of the greatest men of America and of the world, a long list of whose names might be given. The teachers were put to great inconven¬ ience in "boarding around." They had to "bunk with the children or, where a spare room was afforded, the teacher was cheerfully informed how many and what members of the family had "died in that bed;" and when in winter he got into a bed that perhaps had not been slept in for six months, he thought, as his teeth chattered and his frame shook for a few moments, that he was in a fair way to add to the number. Yet from just such experiences came some of the ablest educators of the state and nation. En¬ vironment is something ; but if it is true that the individual mind is from the environment, it is a larger, stronger and deeper truth that the en¬ vironment is from the collective or social mind, of which the individual forms a part. All told, one age is much like another and it is neither wise nor safe to decry the past.

The schools of those days were dependent upon local taxation. In 1840 one seventh of the adult population of Indiana could not read nor write, and many of those who could were densely ignorant. In education Indiana stood sixteenth among twenty-three states ; in 1850 she was twenty-third among twenty-six states. Now, though twenty-fourth in area, she is first in her invested school fund, fifth in population and number of schools, sixth in churches, seventh in wealth, and the most typically American state of the Union. Her population and development furnish data which form an index to the history which the country has already written. Nowhere else in the United States except in West Vir¬ ginia and Missouri, which in other respects are less characteristic of the nation, is so large a percentage of the population native bom. More than ninety per cent, of the inhabitants of Indi¬ ana are American by birth, while in the states north of it more than ten per cent, are foreign and in the states to the south the same propor¬ tion of the negro race obtains.

Well settled in the early '20s of the last cen¬ tury her farming lands did not attract the strong stream of immigration which presently overran the western mines and ranches and the northern wheat fields of the country. Her lack of great cities of national importance protected her from the later immigration which turned the larger centers of the east and middle west into little Europes. Add to this the fact that Indiana was originally settled along lines of immigration which ran north and south as strongly as east and west, and we have another explanation of the reason why to-day the state is typically American.

The golden era of progress in the LaPorte county schools has been since the year 1852. From that time the county school examiners have been, in their chronological order, F. P. Cum¬ mins, John C. Reid, Henry Safford, John Sailor, M. K. Farrand, S. L. Trippe, Jasper Packard, W. R. Biddle, A. P. Bliss, J. G. Laird, and Joel Foster. Until the year i860 there were three school examiners each year ; but at that time the board of three was abolished and one single ex¬ aminer substituted in its place. Jasper Packard was appointed school examiner in 1861, and after him J. G. Laird and William P. Phelon. But each of these served more than one year. In 1872 the office of county examiner was abolished and that of county superintendent took its place, since which time the incumbents have been James O'Brien, W. A. Hosmer, O. L. Galbreth, Charles A. Zeigler and E. C. Bunnelll.

These men have labored assiduously to ele¬ vate the standard and enlarge the scope and in¬ tensify the usefulness of the county schools, and even* district in every township has felt the ben¬ eficial effects of it. Even those townships which as yet were hardly settled soon had school build¬ ings. One was built in Johnson township on sec¬ tion sixteen about a mile and a half south of the river. John B. McDonald, who came to the county in 1836, was one of the first teachers in the township. In Wanatah a stock company was formed in 1870 which built what was called the

"Enterprise" school house. F. McCurdy after¬ ward owned most of the stock. Soon there were seven good schoolhouses in the township of Cass, showing the interest of the people in education. In 1856 a schoolhouse was built on Hog island in Dewey township, with a Miss White for teacher; a township settled largely by Germans. In Center township every school district soon had a good schoolhouse. In the village of New Dur¬ ham the frame schoolhouse of 1854 gave place to a brick structure. Clinton had good schools and school buildings. The schoolhouse at Hud¬ son burned by an incendiary in June, 1874, was replaced by a brick one, and all over the county were seen the quickening effects of the new sys¬ tem of education, and of the supervision of the new officers.

In 1863 the new system of education was well under way, having been in progress for eleven years. In that year Mr. J. G. Laird, then county examiner, made a tour and a thorough inspection of the county schools. A few extracts from his report are given here. He says:

"The first school I visited was Mount Pleasant in Galena township. I found a school of thirty pupils in a nice and well arranged room. The school is conducted by William A. Coombs. I stayed here half a day and heard several classes read ^nd recite in arithmetic and grammar, and was well pleased with all the recitations, and especially with the government of the school. I consider the house, school and teacher number one.

"I next visited the Ross school in Springfield township and found the school in charge of Mr. I. Austin, a young man of fine abilities. This is his first attempt at teaching. Here I spent half a day. The school numbers about forty - all crowded in a small and poorly arranged room, and considering the circumstances, I think the school is doing well. I learn that they intend to build a large brick house soon. I really hope that they will let some practical teacher get up the plan for them.

"A school known as the Byron school I then visited. Here I found a large school, sixty in number, in charge of Mr. I. T. Lloyd. The school is too large considering the variety of the text books and scholars. A half day convinced me that the teacher and a majority of the scholars were industrious ; and that the order was good considering the large number of small scholars in attendance. Here they have a large, commodious and well arranged house (at least 1 think so for I drew the plan myself.) Here as elsewhere there is too great variety of text books, which is perplexing to the teacher and detrimental to the school. Parents and especially school officers should attend to this matter.

"I next visited the school known as the Hunt school. Mr. McDonald, the teacher, does not enjoy good health ; yet I think the school is mak¬ ing good improvement. At this house there is a feature I do not like, which is a large mud hole right in front of the house. And to this point I wish to call the attention of the school officers in this county. All schoolhouses should have a good and substantial fence around them ; and yet nine out of ten in the county are unfenced. Hogs and cattle are allowed to roam to and ajxmt the schoolhouses that we send our children to. Here I saw some modern Hieroglyphics upon the walls, which I do not think very ornamental to a schoolroom.

"From here I went to Door Village. This school is in charge of Mr. Vickery, and is small, numbering twenty-five. I heard several classes recite. The recitation was not as good as I could wish ; yet the teacher is not to blame, for he in¬ formed me that the scholars came very irregu¬ larly to school. Parents can not expect their chil¬ dren to make much improvement, unless they are in regular attendance. While I was present the best of order was maintained and I was pleased with the technicality of the teacher; ev¬ erything had to be just so. And to this point I would respectfully call the attention of several teachers of the county. Whatever is worth do¬ ing is worth doing well.

grove. Here I found my friend Everhart teach¬ ing the young idea how to shoot. Here they have a house large enough in size, but poorly seated. There were about forty pupils in at¬ tendance. Mr. Everhart is an active and wide¬ awake teacher, and judging from what I saw and heard, parents and pupils will be satisfied with the school.

"I then, according to promise, visited the school at Beatty's Corners, on New Year's day. Here I found a large school, sixty in number. An elderly man (fifty-six years of age) by the name of Bull is teaching the school. Here I spent a profitable afternoon, hearing them read, and recite in geography, and spell. Several of the patrons were present (a very uncommon occurrence in all our schools) during the after¬ noon. I have been engaged in teaching most of the time during the last twenty years ; I have visited a large number of schools, and I must say as to government, this school exceLs all ; not a whisper, not a jar, no noise (useless,) such industry, and eagerness to learn, and harmony of feeling between teacher and pupils, I never saw before. When the time came for dismissal all the scholars put their hats and bonnets on, in a quiet and orderly manner, and then the teacher placed himself at the door, and one by one, bidding him good afternoon ; and he return¬ ing the compliment, all in perfect order. I then went and took supper with Mr. and Mrs. Doing (thanks to them for kindness). By re¬ quest I delivered a lecture on education in the evening."

In this manner Mr. Laird went over the schools of the county, publishing his observa¬ tions on each school. His report makes very' in¬ teresting and useful reading as indicating the condition of the schools at that time ; they were constantly improving.

Not only so, but the township libraries were improved. These were well under way as early as 1856. In that year the state superintendent of instruction published a circular calling for statistics concerning them. At times interest in them has lagged, but again it has revived, and especially of late years an effort has been made by the county superintendent to improve the town¬ ship libraries, which has met with good re¬ sults. In 1900 the number of volumes in town¬ ship, town and city libraries in LaPorte county was 15,345. Only seven counties had a greater number. The number of volumes added during the year was 1.748. Only three counties had added more. This made a total for LaPorte county, in 1901, of 17,093. In the township libraries in 1901, there were 2,108 volumes. Only fifteen of the ninety-two counties had more. This shows something of the comparative intelligence of the county.

The importance and growth of the State Teachers' Reading Circle is shown in figures re¬ cently compiled, showing the number of books from the circle lists purchased and read by In¬ diana teachers. Up to 1904, 352,481 books had been circulated, and up to April, 1904, this num¬ ber has been increased to 466,613, a gain of 1 14,-

In the atmosphere of the new system of edu¬ cation, teachers' institutes, school exhibitions, literary and debating societies began to be formed, in connection with the public school work, in 1852 Mr. Hawkins, of LaPorte, Dr. Boynton, who used to illustrate his lectures, with a manikin, and others, were interested in institute work. This work was voluntary then, and entered into from the love of it ; but now it is one of the re¬ quirements of the Indiana school laws that an institute be held in each county during one week of each year, and it is to be feared that institute work is not in all cases entered into from the love of it. There were also literary societies, etc. For instance, in 1862 there was a young men's liter¬ ary society regularly organized and meeting statedly at Farnsworth schoolhouse. All were invited to become members and "assist in the diffusion of knowledge and the exchanging of ideas." The exercises of each evening consisted of a criticism, an essay, an oration, a declamation, and a discussion. Mortimer Nye, afterwards lieutenant-governor of the state, was secretary. In this manner the young men of the county were educated for important positions in life. Mr. Nye was eminently a self-made man, be¬ ginning his public career as a school teacher, for which he had fitted himself by his own exertions.

In the fifties and before, there were teachers' associations which used to meet at different cen¬ ters in the county, not only in the winter but even during the hottest months of the summer. There were long and cosy rides to the jingling pf merry bells in winter, or to the scent of flowers and newmown hay in summer. There were feasts of the soul, delightful repasts of the body, and pleasant associations were formed which in many cases ripened into closer ties of life-long friendship, and in some into marriage union. Occasionally the state superintendent of public instruction would put in an appointment in the county, and then there would be a big meeting, and a grand rally of the educational forces, in some central place, and the whole county would feel the im¬ petus of it.

augurated in 1852, are seen in the high schools of the county. We write now more especially of the township high schools, or those located out¬ side of the two largest centers, Michigan City and LaPorte.

At the present time there are ten township high schools in LaPorte county and a high school in the town of Westville. They are all non-commissioned and all pursue a uniform three years' course, with the exception of Wanatah and Westville, where a complete high school course covering four years is pursued.

In all but one of these schools the high school instruction is done bv one person. At Wanatah two teachers devote all of their time to high school work, and it will probably become a com¬ missioned high school in the near future, as they have already fulfilled all of the requirements necessary to entitle them to a commission.

At the present time there are 189 pupils en¬ rolled and doing regular high school work in the eleven non-commissioned high schools. These schools are located at Rolling Prairie, Waterford, Otis, Door Village, Stillwell, Kingsbury, Union Mills, Westville, Wanatah, Hanna and La Crosse.

The development of these schools has been a slow process of evolution covering several de¬ cades. Twenty-five years ago most of them were graded schools of two or more rooms, doing little or no work beyond the common school branches. Although some of them went by the name of high schools, the work was not organized or system¬ atized, each pupil being permitted to do such work as he might elect or successive teachers suggest.

Mr. C. J. Brown attended one of the old time graded schools, or so called high schools, and re¬ members that they did good thorough work. Reading, grammar and arithmetic were well taught. The scholars mastered Robinson's Prac¬ tical Arithmetic and Ray's Higher. Before quit¬ ting school young Brown had studied five branches beyond the common school as follows: philosophy, German, algebra, elocution and book¬ keeping.

The love of those old-time pupils for the vil¬ lage school, as well as the pride taken in them by the citizens, was something beautiful to see. Young men and women would continue in school reviewing the common school branches, taking bookkeeping and possibly one or two other high school branches, for three or four years after hav¬ ing a diploma of graduation from the common school.

Usually, connected with the school was a liter¬ ary and debating society in the deliberations of which pupils, teachers and citizens participated. Certain it is that the old-time schools succeeded in preparing many worthy and capable young men and women for splendid careers in the battle of life.

The first organized township high school was at Rolling Prairie in 1884, O. L. Galbreth, prin¬ cipal, the course of study covering a period of two years. Hanna was next to fall in line, in 1889, to be followed by Wanatah, Stillwell, Union Mills and Kingsbury in the order named.

At a meeting of principals held in 1891, a uniform course in all of the township high schools was adopted. It was a two years' course and embraced the following subjects: Algebra, rhetoric, civil government, bookkeeping, physics, plane geometry, general history, physical geog¬ raphy, literature and botany.

In February, 1900, at a meeting of the princi¬ pals, a three years' course of study was devised which was acceptable to the superintendents of the two city schools, and an arrangement was made by means of which pupils who have com¬ pleted the prescribed three years' course in the township high schools may be admitted into the senior year of the city high schools.

Graduates of our township high schools are found doing good work in nearly every profes¬ sion and calling, and many of them are honor¬ ably fulfilling their duties in places of responsi¬ bility and trust. Such being the case, we are justified in believing that these schools are do¬ ing a splendid service for the people.

The secret of their success is not due merely to the fact that the principalships are filled by capable, well educated men but just as much to the fact that they have received the hearty sup¬ port of the people. So long as these conditions exist, we need have no fears as to the great good that must come from the training received in our township high schools.

Of the above places, Westville, in point of time, takes the precedence. In the spring of 1863 the place had a fine school building in which was taught a graded school. It was divided into three departments, of which Mr. A. H. Harriet had charge of one, Mrs. Harriet of another, and Mrs. Miller of the third. The school gave exhi¬ bitions, being assisted by Miss Flora Cathcart, the Westville String Band, Messrs. S. Closser, G. D. Wright, and others. This graded school advertised its excellencies, and received acces¬ sions from other places. One thing which drew them there was the pleasant schoolrooms in which to study and recite.

The Westville high school began under the wise and able supervision of Mr. J. G. Laird in the fall of 1865. Professor Laird taught till the spring of 1869. Under Mr. Laird's discipline and direction the Westville schools achieved a splen¬ did reputation, pupils from a distance attending. In 1876 the school building was destroyed by fire, and all records of the preceding years were destroyed to that date. A new and better build¬ ing was immediately erected and the school con¬ tinued prosperous. In 1896 the second building was burned, together with all records and a li¬ brary of several hundred volumes and the labora¬ tory apparatus. The present beautiful brick and stone building was then erected. It is heated by furnace and has a thorough system of ventilation and is equipped with modern furniture, and the schools have done thorough and efficient work. The Westville high school has a four years' course, and its graduates are admitted to the various state institutions without examination. This building was erected and seated at the very low figure of $7,500. The following are the courses of studies : geometry, English history, Latin (Caesar), phys¬ ics, music. Third year - Geometry, general his¬ tory, Latin (Cicero) zoology, music. Fourth year. - U. S. history and civics, Latin (Virgil's Aeneid), commercial arithmetic, review (elec¬ tive) music.

There are seven township schools in Cass township and the Wanatah high school, making eight schools in Cass township. The condition of schools is very good. There are three hun¬ dred and sixteen children going to school in Cass township; of these one hundred ninety-three go to Wanatah school. The township schools and teachers are : North Morgan, Eva Shurt ; South Morgan, Mary Shurt; Newman, Otto Waitman; Johnson, Grover Tilden; Sitx, Roy Tuley; Thomaston, Mollie Henning. The condition of the high school is good ; it consists of four years work and has twelve grades, each teacher teach¬ ing two grades. The names of rooms and teach¬ ers are: Principal of Wanatah high school, Mr. F. Famam ; assistant in high school, Florence Ringle ; grammar room, Adaline Lee ; intermedi¬ ate room, Marie Fudenski ; second primary room, Alma Stowell; primary room, Ella Sulli¬ van.

In the fall of 1861 Mr. John E. Selleck opened a select school in the basement of the Christian church at Union Mills. He was a young man, but was highly endorsed as being fully com¬ petent to teach a good school. But here, as else¬ where, select and union schools gave place to the high school.

Want of space prevents enlarging upon the high school work of other places. But it is worthy of remark that Rolling Prairie, Water¬ ford, Otis, Door Village, Stillwell, Union Mills, Westville, Wanatah, Hanna and La Crosse all have good school buildings in which this high school work is accomplished. Some of them are exceedingly fine buildings, and five of them are new. And now comes Kingsbury following in the same course. Indeed, it is said that the pro¬ ject of erecting a new school building in Kings¬ bury was what led the people in the southern part of the old Union township to rebel, and ulti¬ mately led to the division of the township and the formation of the new township of Washington. On June 26, 1904, Trustee H. H. Long, M. D., let the contract for the erection of the new schoolhouse at Kingsbury to contractor Charles O. Larson, of LaPorte. The structure will cost $10,000 and will be modern in every particular.

In the winter of 1903-4, in the county super¬ intendent's rooms, at the court house, the county schools displayed their exhibit which afterwards was taken to the World's Fair at St. Louis. The written work was not all in and arranged, but what there was and the other work were excel¬ lent. The county schools have not taken up man¬ ual training and drawing as distinctive and re¬ quired lines of work, but there is a tendency in that direction, and the exhibit showed what could be done, and what was being done. Every township was represented, and a majority of the schools had sent in work along those lines. In most of the schools there will be found a sand table, materials for weaving, paper cutting and folding, sewing, and drawing. This is known in the schools as "Busy Work," and has very great value in cultivating manual dexterity, neatness, accuracy and taste. The township high schools are doing more and more laboratory work, re¬ cording experiments with both notes and draw¬ ings. Although this work will not compare favorably with schools that have given this work to competent specialists for a long period of years, yet the work which the schools already do is prophetic of a time when, through manual training and art, all the powers and faculties will be fully cultivated and developed. The exhibit contained photographs of the different school buildings in the county, and the whole contribu¬ tion has been spoken of very favorably at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition.

For many years the graduation exercises of the county schools have been an event. They are held in Hall's opera house, the best talent procur¬ able is secured to give the address, an orchestra is in attendance, and after the exercises the pro¬ cession, headed by the LaPorte Band, marches to the city park, or to the fair grounds, where the people spend the day in feasting, sports and pastimes.

At this point it may be well to refer to a few of the men whose efforts have contributed to make the work of the county schools a success. One of these was Mr. J. G. Laird. In the fall of 1861 he was teaching school in Rolling Prairie, and was highly esteemed and favorably men¬ tioned. When Jasper Packard went into the army in 1862, Mr. Laird succeeded him as school inspector. Mr. Laird was an exceedingly strong man and wielded a great influence in the county. He emphasized character building on true lines. Both in teachers' institutes and in his day school sessions, he gave frequent talks on the necessary traits of good character. In his reading classes he brought out the deeper meaning of literature better than most teachers; there were few who could equal him in this respect. He was a tall man, angular in his motions, with a build some¬ thing like that of President Lincoln. He finally drifted out of educational into the school fur¬ nishing work.

William P. Phelon once taught a select school in LaPorte. As county examiner he was a competent, good man; not so forcible as Mr. Laird, but more forcible than some others.

James O'Brien possessed good executive abil¬ ity and qualities which were very beneficial to all the business affairs of the county schools.

W. A. Hosmer was a good, substantial man of more than ordinary ability, but with very little show. He was honest in his convictions, and al¬ ways had the courage of them. Messrs. Galbreth and Zeigler also did good work as county superintendents.

The present incumbent is E. G. Bunnell. His genealogy is interesting. The family is of French extraction. In the latter part of the eighteenth century two brothers came from France to the United States and settled in Elizabethtown, New Jersey. One was Mr. Bunnell's great-grand¬ father. Stephen Bunnell, his grandfather, was in the war of 1812 as lieutenant of artillery. He fought at Lundy's Lane and at Chippewa Falls. He fired the last shot at the bombardment of Fort Erie after he had received orders to move, and in a newspaper discussion some time after, it was stated on good authority that that shot blew up the fort. After the war Stephen Bunnell moved to Meadville, Pennsylvania, where, in 1829, the father of our subject, Judson Bunnell, was born, who with his father's family, moved to Indiana in 1841 or 42. He enlisted in the Civil war. First he stood the draft and then, later in the war, enlisted as a substitute for New Durham township. He was present at the siege of Nash¬ ville and remained in active service until the close of the war. He married Clorinda Black¬ man, who is still living, the daughter of Hiram Blackman. E. G. Bunnell was born November

29, 1861, in Noble township, where he has lived ever since. He was educated in the township, and in Valparaiso college. He has taught school ever since he was seventeen years old. He mar¬ ried Miss Etta Line, who was born in Ohio and came from there to Noble township. Of the union there are two sons - Lee and Frank. Mr. Bunnell is a member of the Disciple's church, and is a Democrat in politics, with an element of in¬ dependence. His family is of good stock on both sides. His grandfather used to exhort, and was the principal one in founding the Door Village Baptist church. Fifty years ago, at Indian Point, in Noble township, there were people of a high type of character, who had very advanced views for those days. They had a very large and pros¬ perous school, though no school is there now. Many of the people read music readily and there were enjoyable choruses. Judson Bunnell was an authority on the Scriptures. Mrs. George Den¬ nison, the sister of E. G. Bunnell's mother, the Indian Point Dennisons, the Blackmans, the Bun¬ nells, the Churches, the Cooks, Mr. Pike, the father of Mrs. Doolittle, the Harsons, the Canfields, the Englishes, the Lloyds, and many others lived in the neighborhood and though, as in all such cases, there was a disturbing element, it was a remarkable community ; and many to-day, as they look back upon it, feel that those were good old times.

In his work as county superintendent Mr. Bunnell has suggested the course of the state board, as nearly as circumstances and local con¬ ditions admit of following it. He keeps the schools in the front rank of methods as under¬ stood in Indiana. When he came into office the children in the schools would jump up and run out at recess or when dismissed, but all that has been remedied, the scholars now marching out. Mr. Bunnell has introduced many little things of that sort. He insists on good reading, writing and spelling, especially in the lower grades, as he believes that is the only means to what is higher. He is not strenuous with number work until the scholars are older. Mr. Bunnell does not show off, nor have to be discounted.

One of the teachers who has done as much as, perhaps more than, any one to make the county schools a success is Mr. Charles J. Brown, now living at Union Mills. He began teaching in the fall of 1867, at Curran school, two and a half miles south of Michigan City in Cool Spring township. Daniel Low was the school trustee. There Mr. Brown introduced Webb's word method in place of the ''a b abs," the first instance in the county. J. G. Laird was the county ex¬ aminer, through whose influence Mr. Low was induced to secure the services of Mr. Brown as teacher. From 1877 to 1880 there was a ten¬ dency, perhaps it may be called a movement, in the county to make every thing easy for the schools. For the time the necessity of effort against obstacles was lost sight of. There were also those who were fond of discussing what they termed the injustice of free schools. It would be easy to give names but it might not be best, as some of the persons may be living now and in the light of advancing intelligence have thought better of the position which they took then. Nevertheless it is a fact that bachelors who had no children to educate - or at least who ought not to have any - and also people who had reared their families and had no more children to edu¬ cate - these and others argued against taxing the people to support free schools. They wanted our county educational affairs to be as they were in the south, where every man was left free to edu¬ cate his own. * This of course hindered the school work. In Mr. Brown's experience a racial war would sometimes enter the school, and the chil¬ dren of foreigners would refuse to learn English ; but by great tact and perseverance he over¬ came all difficulties. Mrs. Brown had taught in the Curran district, her parents resided there, and he was a success in the neighborhood ; though there as in many other districts there were some serious troubles, some times between the parents and teacher, and at other times between the larger boys and the teacher. Mr. Brown next taught in Union township in the "Billy Travis school," then called the ''Polly Winchel school," where E. M. Bums had taught the year before. Many, many incidents might be related of these district schools - incidents where the teacher was whipped, where the teacher suddenly found him¬ self taken out of school and deposited in a snow drift, his watch ground to powder under offend¬ ing boot heels, or where an irate parent threat¬ ened to whip the teacher, etc., etc. Brown taught in those districts and often had a hard school, but he had smelled powder in the Civil war and been in many a scrape requiring nerve ; and often by pluck, but generally by kindness, he won the respect of the district, and the obedience of the scholars. In both district and high schools he has done a grand work.

Before closing this chapter we mention one other teacher who has contributed much to the progress of the LaPorte county schools, and that is Warren C.-Ransburg, Esq. He was born in Steuben county, Indiana, July 16, 1855, of Ger¬ man stock, and reared on a farm. After the death of his father he worked out by the month and attended school until he was eighteen years of age, when he became a Hoosier schoolmaster. At the age of twenty-two he entered the senior class of the Northern Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso, and was graduated a B. S. in 1878. Then he became principal of the high school at Hanna, and then of the high school at Westville. At this time he was a close student of natural history and the mound builders, preparing sev¬ eral valuable cabinets of specimens. He was a power in the educational affairs of LaPorte county, especially in institute work; a teachers' institute was not considered complete without his presence, and his entrance into the room always gave a degree of courage and confidence. Fol¬ lowing this, he became associate editor of the Northern Indiana School Journal . Later, he pub¬ lished the American , which was devoted to more general educational matters. Then he was prin¬ cipal and superintendent, for two years, of the schools in Quincy, Michigan, after which he opened a law office in LaPorte, where as an at¬ torney he still remains.

LaPorte county, according to the Indiana Statistical Report of 1902, had nine township high schools. Only fifteen of the ninety-two counties had more. The enrollments in those schools were seven hundred and ninety-two ; four hundred and thirty-two more than any other county. Putnam county had three hundred and sixty, Hamilton three hundred and forty, Marion three hundred and twenty-six, and next come Allen and Gibson with two hundred and fifty each. Comment is unnecessary. There are facts in this chapter which show that in point of Amer¬ icanism Indiana is forging ahead of other states, and in point of education LaPorte county is forg¬ ing ahead of other counties.