Hillsboro, Indiana

In Cain township the present school system has been in operation about fifteen years. The studies include reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic, geography, history and grammar, and since 1862 physiology and hygiene. The county board of education select the textbooks, which are consequently uniform. In this county the latest and best havcjbeen selected. The school term is limited by amount of school funds available, 120 and 125 days being the less and greater limits. In the year 1856 the entire school fund amounted to $40. Of the eleven schools in the township ten have male teachers and one a female teacher. Those now having charge of the schools have been selected with special reference to qualifications that render them serviceable as teachers, as well as general abilit}- and fitness. Two of them hold important positions as town and county officers, Mr. M. H. Beaver being county surveyor, and J. F. Davidson, justice of the peace of Cain township. The former is in the line of promotion, the latter in the line of succession. Scholars are admitted into the public schools from six to twentj-one years of age. There are about 400 entitled to school privileges in this township. In the Hillsboro school the average attendance is sixt}'. The teacher of this school, W. F. Ensminger, came from Boone county, Indiana, to Fountain county in the year 1863, at the request of the county officers, who made him county examiner, an officer now called county superintendent. The schools were at this time in a deplorable condition, consequent upon the general demoralization resulting from the war. In his efforts to reform abuses he met with persistent opposition, and even threatened with personal violence; but the bitterness then engendered has long since subsided, and harmony and cooperation have superseded strife. Mr. Ensminger entered upon his labors here at an auspicious period. It was the commencement of a new era of educational progress. The proclamation which gave freedom to the slave unfettered no less eftectually the mental bondage of our then youth, to wliose ardent vision new aims, new opportunities, new possibilities, were unfolding in bewildering profusion ; but the means, the facilities, by use of which they could hope to accomplish these aims, or improve tliese opportunities, and so make of themselves something more than " underlings," were widely lacking or inadequate. New teachers, new methods, new text-books, wherefrom knowledge less antique than Rome Could be acquired, were the demand of that hour, and truth demands the statement that to the impulse tlie public-school system received from the impact of warring civilizations, is due the unprecedented progress education has made and is now making in our land.

Passage source: History of Fountain County : Together with Historic Notes on the Wabash Valley, Gleaned from Early Authors, Old Maps and Manuscripts, published 1881.

Hillsboro Masonic Lodge was organized under a charter dated May 5, 1869, and of the masonic year 5869. The names of the charter officers arc Isaac P. Hartsock, W.M. ; William Holden, S.W. ; "W". H. Glasscock, J.W. Present officers are Frank Hal well, W.M. ; M. H. Beaver, S.W. ; T. C. Barton, J.W. ; C. ^V. Luther, secretary ; J. H. McCormick, treasurer. It has on its roll of membership the names of thirty-five men, who are pledged, in all life business,

Passage source: History of Fountain County : Together with Historic Notes on the Wabash Valley, Gleaned from Early Authors, Old Maps and Manuscripts, published 1881.

Plillsboro Lodge, I.O.O.F., jSTo. 290, was chartered in September, 1867, under officers J. M. Newland, N.G. ; G. W. Hutts, V.G. ; W. M. Leatherman, secretary ; J. N. B. Rice, treasurer. Present officers are A. F. McBroom, N.G. ; B. G. Malioney, V.G. ; B. S. Miller, secretary ; Wesley Armstrong, treasurer. This lodge is flourishing ; own their own hall, wliich is tastefully fitted up, and have funds on hand to meet all contingencies. The orphan fund exceeds $200. Meetings are well attended, and constant interest manifested by the members who, though few in number, are reliable and active. The citizens of Hillsboro could ill afford to witness a dissolution of this organization, and what is more to the point they are not like to.

Passage source: History of Fountain County : Together with Historic Notes on the Wabash Valley, Gleaned from Early Authors, Old Maps and Manuscripts, published 1881.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Cain Township - it names this place 3 more 3 times.