Stanford, Indiana

In general, the citizens of Van Buren Township have been a very well-behaved people. A large portion, since the earliest settlement, has been connected with the various religious classes ; and the other portion - the non-professors; or unbelievers - has been sober and moral. A class of the Church of Christ was early organized - about 1830 - and for a time met for worship at the house of Joseph Berry, who was one of the leading members. Robert Hamilton, Joseph Berry, John Porch, John Goodnight, Dudley C. Smith, John Givens, John Bunger and their families, were members. This class was made up from Van Buren and Indian Creek Townships. A log church was built quite early - about 1834 - and was used for many years. The Methodists established a class in the southwestern part early in the thirties, the leading early members being Lewis Harman, David Carpenter, Dennison Whaley, E. W. Tarkington, Malden Baker, Jacob Baker, William Higgins, Lewis L. Allen, Jesse Tarkington, Samuel Day, George G. Walker and their families. Lewis Dale was the pastor in 1850. This class has endured until the present, and early built a church at Stanford, which is yet used. Early in the forties, the United Baptists organized a class in the vicinity of Stanford, among the earliest members being the families of John Griffith, Jesse Goss, James Steele, Henry Flood, William Sparks, Abe May, W. H. Treadway - the latter four also belonging to the Baptist Church in Richland 'Township. This class grew, thrived, and built a church about 1850. The old Union Meeting-house. on Section 36, also had a large membership in the four townships - Van Buren, Perry, Clear Creek and Indian Creek. The old Baptist Church in the southern part of Richland Township, drew a strong membership from the limits of Van Buren. 'The citizens in the northeastern part joined the churches at Bloomington. The educational and religious community at the village of Harmony, northeast of Stanford, was the earliest union of religious sentiment in the county. Members of any orthodox denomination were eligible to membership. Later years have seen the organization of other religious classes, and the increased membership and prosperity of the old, until no portion of the county is better supplied with moral advantages.

Passage source: 1884 History of Monroe County Indiana, published 1884.

The first school was taught in about the year 1824, at what afterward became the village of Harmony, the teacher being, so it is stated, Jonathan Nichols. The house was a vacated log cabin that had been erected for a dwelling, and was temporarily fixed up for school purposes. It is not certain where the next was started unless it was at the village of Harmony, where two or three terms of excellent school were conducted under the supervision of the Blue Spring Community. A school was started in the sontheastern part about 1828, one of the Berrys, it is said, being the first teacher. A schoolhouse that was erected in the southern part of Richland Township was attended by the children of Van Buren, in the northern part, but soon after 1830 a log schoolhouse was constructed on Section 4 or 9, which answered the purpose for several' years. Some state that the first school in the township was taught near what is now Stanford, one of the Tarkingtons being the first teacher. In 1836, there were four school districts and schoolhouses. In 1847, there were eight school districts in the township, and during the winter of 1846-47, six schools were taught. The enumeration in the districts at this time was as follows: No. 1, 73; No. 2, 94; No. 3, 64; No. 4,47; No. 5, 72; No. 6,19; No. 7, 66; No. 8,48. School was not taught during the winter in Districts No. 5 and 6. The average daily attendance was as follows : No. 1,.48; - No. 2; 15; Nes 8,175, Nos LACINO Ties No. 8, 13. Six months school was taught in District No. 3; two months in No. 7, and three months in the others. The teachers were paid for the term, exclusive of a small amount of tuition or subscription, as follows: No. 1, $80; No. 2, $25; Nv. 3, $75; No. 4, $45; No. 7, $36; No. 8, $415. The School Trustees at this time were Conrad Koons, John H. Porch and James P. Givens. In 1849 (March), there were eight school districts, as above given, with the following enumeration: No. 1, 38 males and 48 females; No. 2, 26 males and 24 females; No. 3, 36 males and 12 females; No. 4, 30 males and 23 females; No. 5, 34 males and 42 females; No. 6, 45 males and 31 females; No. 7, 24 males and 25 females; No. 8, 28 males and 28 females. Total enumeration, males 261, females 233; grand total, 494. The schools at this time were not surpassed by any other country portion of the county. When the new school law came into effect in 1453, and one Trustee took the place of three, and new funds were created for the common schools, within a few years many of the districts built new houses - not of logs, but of the best native lumber. Great improvements were made during the fifties in school methods and systems. During the sixties, still greater improvements were made, and now the school system of the township, the county and the State, is not only the pride of the residents, but the mee: object of neighboring States. The following table explains itself :

Passage source: 1884 History of Monroe County Indiana, published 1884.

From the table it will be seen that Stanford (District No. 4) has two schools. The old frame house at Stanford, built late in the forties, was succeeded by a better frame building, with two rooms, some eight or ten years ago. Now there are two teachers, as indicated in the table.

Passage source: 1884 History of Monroe County Indiana, published 1884.

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 Van Buren Township - it names this place 4 more 4 times.