Center Township

Center Township

Organization : Two-thirds in Pine and one-third in Parish Grove from 1840 to 1851, when the part that had been in Pine was placed in Oak Grove. In Parish Grove and Oak Grove from 1851 until March, 1855, when the north half became parts of Prairie and Washington until December, 1855, at which time Prairie was again placed in Oak Grove and Parish Grove where it remained until March, 1861, when the east two-thirds was again placed in Prairie, where it continued until 1872-5, when the present boundaries were fixed and the west third taken from Parish Grove. Under the civil trustees of Pine and Parish Grove, and Oak Grove and Parish Grove, until the Prairie succession, which was as follows: 1861, William Wisher; 1863, John E. Fenton; 1864, George Armstrong; 1865, Thomas Childs; 1866, John E. Fenton; 1867, Thomas Childs; 1869, Nathan Hibbs; 1870, William Hughs, who served until the west third was joined to Prairie and the name changed to Center, since which time the Center succession has been as follows: 1876, William Hughes; 1878. John W. Switzer; 1882, O. C. Brockway; 1886, Henry Taylor; 1890, Warren B. Sheetz; 1894, B. F. Johnson; 1900, O. H. McMaster, resigned, R. P. Chenoweth appointed in January, 1903 ; January 1, 1905, Allen W. Hagenbuch.

The first settlers of Center seemed to have arrived in 1838. The logs with which their cabins were built were hauled from the nearest groves. The settlement grew so slowly that no

Sfliool was opened until the sjn-in};- of 1852. Tl)(;n Anna Birdsall taught school in one room of her falh(;r'H home, enrolling ten pupils and charging |1,50 per month for each child attending. The house in which she taught stood on what is now known as the Marlow jdace, a half mile east and a little north of Swanington. The next yeai- a school was taught in an old cabin that stood on the Carr farm about a half a mile north of the Birdsall home. Eliza McClure was the teacher and a part of the term was paid for with jmblic money. In 1854 a public school was opened in an old cabin that stood a few yards south of the site of George Ptieeger's home near Swanington. This school was taught by Elizabeth Young, who re- ceived a salary of twenty dollars a month. In 1856 William Wisher, John Carlyle, George Chanii)ly, Haucy Hamilton and others built a schoolhouse about forty rods south of the old cabin. This was called the Wisher school. The desks were slanting shelves fastened to the wall. The seats were backless and placed around the house in front of the shelves. When a shelf was used the pupils had to sit with their faces toward the wall, ^^'hen through using this rustic desk, the pupils would turn with a quick motion that threw their feet over the long bench, and sit upright facing the center of the room.

Mar}' Logan was the first teacher in this building and numbered among her pupils members of the Wisher, Kommel, Crosson, Calkins, Beazel, Young, Lamborn, Miller and Wentworth families. The great events of that year were the spelling matches between the pupils of the Oxford and Wisher schools. These interesting occasions were then looked forward to with much the same spirit as now inspires our young athletes and orators, and the boy or girl that stood up the longest at a spelling match was the hero or heroine of the occasion. "The principal modes of punishment in this school," says one of the pupils, "was flogging the boys, and keeping the girls in, or making them sit with the ugliest boy in the school. History has not recorded the names of any of the "ugliest boys," but it is known that those were happy days for some of them who later won the damsels that had been "punished" by sitting by their sides.

The first teacher in the Wisher school after the formation of Prairie township was Mary M. Calkins. She was succeeded in 1862-3 by Henrietta Barnes who received a salary of twenty dollars a month. The number of persons of school age was thirty-one in 1855, forty-one in 1861, seventy-seven in 1862, and sixty-seven in 1864. Blackston Freeman taught in 1863-4. He taught eighty-six days, with a daily average of thirty-four, at $1.07 per day.

Previous to 1852 no district or township school tax of any kind could be levied without a vote of the people. The early settler was a man of independent thought and action. He wrought the forest into a habitation for his family and for its members he wrested a living from the untried soil. His code of law often was that his family and his property belonged to him and that nothing should be done for or with either with- oul Ills coiisciiL As liis fatlior liad not Kubiiiillcd to school taxation witlioiil givinj;- liis consent, why should he do so? This spirit was early abroad in some conininnitics in Bimton county and yielded slowly, often only after a fi(?rce struggle. The county commissioners passed on ail lax levies made by township trustees, but in many instances levies for school purposes w<^re annulled on jietition of the taxpayers.

Trustee Center 190.V190

Wheu William Wisher became the first trustee of Prairie township, in 1861, he received from the trustee of Oak Grove I38.G7 as Prairie's share of "the schoolhouse building funds." This and the schoolhouse he and his neighbors had built composed the school property of a township, then six miles wide and twelve miles long, containing 15,175 acres of occupied land and total taxables amounting to $197,118. This being true, it is little wonder that the commij-isioners two years later promptly approved a levy of twenty cents on the one hundred dollars made bv Mr. Wisher for "schoolhouse building purposes.'- The levy and approval aroused great indignation in the vicinity of the school, and, on July 25, 1SG3, a public meeting was held in the one schoolhouse in the township to consider ways and means for defeating the levj'. A long petition had been prepared and was unanimously adopted at the meeting. Among man}- things set forth in it were that this was "A tax believed to be without a parallel in Benton county" ; that "Considering, as your petitioners respectfully wish you to consider, the unparalleled burdens, National, State, county, and township under which we labor, imperatively calls for a diminution rather than an augmentation of taxation; and which, if not in a short time diminished, will render it impossble to meet such excessive demands upon our capital and constant toil, and provide for the continual wants of our suffering families. It is entirelv useless for us to enumerate a family's wants, and their attendant costs, for you are fully aware of such." When one realizes that the total amount of this levy amounted to but $394.20, not more than half of what one country schoolhouse now costs, he may become lost in wonder at such a struggle to defeat the levy. But again, when be realizes that for forty years no school tax could be levied without a special vote of a district, township or county, ana when it is remembered that this was in the midst of the Civil War - a time of conflict of opinions on many questions - little surprise should be felt at such action, and no condemnation should be visited upon the actors. The levy was annulled and withdrawn from the records.

Elizabeth Young, S. H. Payne, George Yancey, Henry Edwards, Lizzie Birge, John S. Beazel, Mollie T. Wentworth, Rosa Orsbourne, Lewis H. Harney and E. H. Young followed in regular order as teachers in the Wisher school. In the spring of 1867 Henry Rommel taught a school in a log cabin that stood on the northeast corner of the northeast quarter of section twentyseven, range eight west, receiving |100 for three mouths' work. No other term was taught in this cabin. In the fall of 1871 another school was opened in the summer kitchen of Joseph J. Lewis, about three-fourths of a mile west of the site of the East

Center sclioul. The first part of the term was taught by Jennie Lane of Lafayette, but it was completed by Elizabeth Young. She also taught the first term in the East Center school which was built in 1872. Laura Lewis, Henrietta, Jessie and William Graham, and ^lary A. Pearson (Chenoweth) were pupils in the summer kitchen school. Matthew H. Walker taught the second term at East Center. The third schoolhouse built was in Fowler, and two other buildings were erected before Prairie became Center township. The country- teachers in 1875-6 were Adelaide Smith, F. J. Brown, Samuel Heisler and T. M. Underwood. The enumeration was seventy-five in 1866 and 109 in 1871. In 1870-1 but one school was taught; the enrollment was seventy-nine, daily average forty-two, days taught 120, teacher's daily wages |1. 871/2? total value of school property in township |360, and forty-six volumes in the librar}'.

On October 17, 1853, the southeast quarter of school section sixteen, township twenty-five, range seven west, was sold for $3.75, and the west half for $8 an acre. April 21, 1857, the remaining quarter of this section was sold for |5 an acre, making $3,960 for the entire section. October 6. 1854, the southwest quarter of school section sixteen, township twenty-five, range seven west, was sold for |5 an acre, and on January 13, 1855, the remainder of the section was sold for |5 an acre, making $3,200 for the entire section.

Warren B. Sheetz established a graded school at Swanington in 1894, employing Carl McCaslin and Lulu Johnson as the teachers in 1894-5. The people in the vicinity have always taken pride in this school and have done much to uphold it. They are now asking Trustee Hagenbuch to build them a new building and organize a high school. There are 1,210 books in the school libraries of the township. Many of Center's common school graduates have completed the course of the Fowler commissioned high school, and quite a number of them have taken a college course. Mr. Hagenbuch has been both a high school and college student, and is especially anxious that his teachers and schools should be of the best.