Buffalo County, Wisconsin - Chapter 12: Education, 1919

One of the greatest difficulties that the early pioneers of Buffalo county, in common with the pioneers of other regions, had to contend with was the lack of educational facilities. Every one of the early settlers came from a civilized country, where they had received such an education as opportunity had offered, and many of them, deploring the total or partial deficiency in this regard in this new country, determined that their chil¬ dren should have an opportunity to get an education, even though all con¬ ditions were new and crude. However, the first consideration with the pioneers was the necessity of concentrating their efforts to compelling the virgin soil to yield the ordinary necessities. Furthermore, to start a school it was imperative that several families should be living within walking distance of each other. During the early years of settlement the popula¬ tion was small and scattered over a large area, so that there were actually but few people living in any one place or neighborhood.

Then, too, in those days the system of school government was de¬ cidedly different from the present system. The provisions of school organi¬ zation were : (a) Each town had a town superintendent and he divided the town into school districts each of which was governed by a district board ; (b) the town superintendent had to license teachers and report to the county clerk; (c) the county clerk had to make a report for the whole county to the state superintendent. Under this system the early schools in Buffalo county were organized.

Probably the first school taught in Buffalo county was in Fountain City in the winter of 1854-55. It was held in a log house owned by John Buehler and taught by Mrs. J. P. Penney, of Arcadia. However, this school was maintained by private subscription, and was not in a regularly organized district until the following year.

It is apparent from the records that the first school district organized in the county was District No. 1, Belvidere, now Joint District No. 1, Belvidere and Cochrane. The first term of school in this district was held in the winter of 1855-56, at the home of Henry Klein, and was taught by Fannie Bishop, of Arcadia. That same winter District No. 1, town of Buffalo, was organized. This was probably the Fountain City district. School was kept that winter in Fountain City by John Meade. The fol¬ lowing year a joint district was organized in Belvidere. Information con¬ cerning this district is somewhat vague, but it probably included the people living in Alma and in that part of Belvidere township near Alma. School was taught at Alma in the winter of 1856-57 by Dr. John Ehing.

the early schools. That report shows three districts, as mentioned above, one at Buffalo, and two, one being joint, in Belvidere. In these three schools there were 102 boys and 88 girls registered.

A list prepared by Lawrence Kessinger gives the first schools in the county, after the three already mentioned. Mr. Kessinger, himself, how¬ ever, had considerable doubt as to the correctness of the list. The list follows, giving first the year of the first school, next the township, next the first teacher or teachers, and next the immediate neighborhood:

"1857, Waumandee, Minnie Kirchner and Mrs. Charles Hohmann, on Baechler's land; 1857-58, Glencoe, Thomas Stone, on Cowie's land; 1858, Nelson, Rachel Evans, Mrs. J. Burgess, in Cascade ; 1858, Mondovi, Thomas Fisher, Waste Valley District; 1858, Milton, John J. Senn, near the mill; 1858, Maxville, unknown, on section 30, township 24, range 13; 1858, Gilmanton, Olive Hatch, Mrs. Daniel Gilman, near the mill; 1858-59, Cross, John Bert, on Baertsch's land ; 1858-59, Alma township, J. K. Bennett, in Mill Creek Valley; 1858-59, Naples, Achsa Hilliard, H. Adams, Pace's Dis«- trict; 1859, Buffalo City, Lawrence Kessinger; 1859, Modena, Elizabeth Gilman, in the present village; 1861, Buffalo township, George Harper, in Lenhard's old log house; 1863, Lincoln, John Muir, in what was then District 3, Waumandee ; Dover, 1866, Emily A. Turner, Mrs. W. H. Church, in Bennett Valley ; 1867, Montana, J. P. Remich, in Danuser Valley.

"It is possible that the first school in Gilmanton may have been taught on the west side of Beef river in Gilman Valley. One authority says that Dora Cook, later Mrs. John Hunner, of Eau Claire, taught the first school on the east side in a little log house between R. E. Fuller's and J. M. Hutch¬ inson's. Afterwards the little schoolhouse was built near Gilmanton and John Peso taught there first; after him Georgiana Lockwood, afterwards Mrs. G. W. Gilkey; after her, Albert Southworth, of Mondovi, brother of Ryland Southworth, and after him, Louisa Lockwood. In Lincoln town¬ ship it is possible that the school district at Mattausch's existed about the same time as the school in District 1. It seems positive, however, that in 1863 John Muir taught the first school in the latter district, the schoolhouse standing on the land of F. F. Schaaf between his own house and that of M. Profitlich. In District No. 2 the first school was taught in the house belonging to M. Hammer, and the first teacher was Henrietta Ainsworth."

Jan. 1, 1862, a new system went into effect, created by the legislature of 1861. The main provisions of this law were: (a) It created the office of county superintendent of schools; (b) the school district clerks were to report to the town clerks, who in turn reported to the county superin¬ tendent ; (c) the power to divide the towns into school districts was vested in the town board of supervisors. The first superintendent under this sys¬ tem was Augustus Finkelnburg.

Rapid progress in creating new districts was made in the ten years following 1856. In 1866 there were 52 districts in the county, with 2,445 children enrolled, 1,300 of whom were boys and 1,145 girls.

In 1886 there were 82 districts taught by 92 teachers. There were 6,351 enrolled, of whom 3,240 were boys and 3,111 were girls. The reported attendance was 3,977, or a little less than 64 per cent.

Ten years brought but little change. In 1896 there were 85 districts taught by 123 teachers, with a total representation of 6,333, of whom 3,242 were girls and 3,091 were boys. The reported attendance was 4,064, or 64 per cent.

Ninety-one districts existed in 1906, taught by 114 teachers, the total registration being 6,083, of whom 3,112 were boys and 2,971 were girls. There was a reported attendance of 4,443, or 73 per cent.

In 1916 there were 92 districts with 132 teachers. The total number of children was 5,541. There was a reported attendance of 3,723, or 67.2 per cent.

There are still 92 districts in 1917-18 with 132 teachers. The number of children was 5,345. There is a reported attendance of 3,479, or 65.1 per cent.

Comparing the school population of the decades here enumerated, it will be seen that it increased up to 1886, when it reached its highest mark, 6,351, after which it gradually decreased until in 1918 there is a school population of 5,345, or 1,000 less than in 1886, when it reached the highest point.

There is no record as to when the first graded school was established in the county. In 1872 there were but two graded schools in the county, one at Fountain City and one at Alma, each with two teachers. Alma and Fountain City then had brick schoolhouses and Mondovi a large frame building. Waumandee also had one brick schoolhouse, and a few other districts had frame houses. For the most part, however, the schoolhouses were of logs. Some were substantially built, but others were of the crudest kind. The furniture consisted for the most part of unplaned benches and desks. No facilities were provided for an even temperature. A stove over¬ heated those nearest to it, while those in the further corners were chilled and cold.

In 1876 there were four graded schools in the county, Alma City with three teachers; Fountain City with three teachers; Mondovi with two teachers; and Waumandee District No. 2 with two teachers.

In 1886 there were four graded schools : Alma City with five teachers ; Fountain City with four teachers ; Mondovi City with three teachers ; and Waumandee District No. 2 with two teachers. District No. 2, Waumandee, about that time abandoned the practice of employing two teachers.

In 1901 the legislature created a system of state graded schools, pre¬ scribing certain qualifications for the teachers of such schools, and offered special state aid to districts maintaining such schools in the amount of $100 for schools of the second class employing two teachers and $200 for schools of the first class employing three or more teachers. The special state aid has been increased by subsequent legislatures to $200 for schools of the second class and $300 for schools of the first class, also an additional

The first state graded schools to be established in this county under this act were: District No. 1 Joint, Belvidere and Cochrane; District No. 1, Gilmanton; and District No. 5, Nelson. After the law had been in opera¬ tion for a few years state graded schools were established also in District No. 1 Joint, Modena; District No. 3 Joint, Belvidere; and District No. 3 Joint, Town of Alma.

The first high school established in the county was located at Alma. Later on high schools were established in Mondovi and Fountain City. The first and only township high school in the county was established at Gilmanton in 1911 with A. S. Wells as principal and Mabel Bahr as assist¬ ant. The statistics for 1903 are as follows:

High schools and grades below high - Alma City with eight teachers; Fountain City with six teachers ; Mondovi with ten teachers. State graded schools - No. 1, Belvidere (now Belvidere and Cochrane), two teachers; No. 1, Gilmanton, two teachers; No. 5, Nelson, two teachers.

For 1918 the statistics are as follows : High schools and grades below high - Alma City with eight teachers ; Fountain City, seven teachers ; Gil¬ manton Township High, three teachers; and Mondovi City, sixteen teach¬ ers. State graded schools - District No. 1 Joint, Belvidere and Cochrane, four teachers; District No. 1 Joint, Gilmanton, two teachers; District No. 3 Joint, Belvidere, two teachers; District No. 3 Joint, Alma town, two teachers; District No. 1 Joint, Modena, two teachers; and District No. 5 Joint, Nelson, two teachers.

The high schools at Mondovi, Gilmanton and Alma offer courses in agriculture. The Mondovi high school also offers besides its regular courses in English and Latin, courses in domestic science and a complete commercial course, also a teachers' training course. The Fountain City high school also offers a commercial course.

The Buffalo County Training School was established in Alma in 1902 for the purpose of training teachers. It is supported jointly by the state and county. The state pays annually the teachers' salaries and Buffalo county provides the additional funds necessary to maintain the school. It occupies a substantial two-story solid brick building, constructed on modern plans, beautifully situated on high ground overlooking the river, providing ample and commodious quarters. The building is well lighted and provided with a modern system of heating and ventilation, city water, drinking fountain and sewerage system. Special courses are maintained in domestic science and art, agriculture and manual training. The faculty consists of B. F. Oltman, principal; Nora A. Carter, supervisor of practice; and Alma May Ganz, domestic science. The training school board con¬ sists of Nic Weinandy (president), H. J. Niehaus and E. F. Ganz. The committee on common schools of the county consists of Valentine Thoeny, of Fountain City; E. A. Kenyon, of Gilmanton; and T. S. Saby, of Alma. The original faculty consisted of H. H. Liebenberg as principal and Carrie J. Smith, supervisor of practice. During its sixteen years of existence

First Year. I - Language and composition, reading and orthoepy, ag¬ riculture, food and nutrition, library reading, cooking and manual training, and algebra (elective). II - Language and composition, reading, arithme¬ tic, physical geography, spelling, sewing, and algebra (elective). Ill - Geography, physiology, arithmetic, general science, U. S. history, cooking, and algebra (elective). IV - Language and composition, American litera¬ ture, agriculture, physical geography, penmanship, sewing and manual training, and an elective study.

Second Year. I - Psychology and manual, reading and orthoepy, home geography and Wisconsin history, agriculture, library reading, cooking and manual training, and American literature. II - Methods and observation, composition and grammar, civics, arithmetic, penmanship, cooking, Amer¬ ican literature (five weeks), and physical geography (five weeks). Ill - Methods and observation, composition and grammar, geography, arithme¬ tic, physiology, sewing, and physical geography. IV - School management, U. S. history, physiology, agriculture, spelling, sewing and manual training, and an elective study.

One Year Professional Course. I - Reading and reading methods, lan¬ guage and language methods, arithmetic and arithmetic methods, agricul¬ ture, cooking, and physical geography. II - Geography and geography methods, civics, writing, spelling and library work, physical geography, cooking, and American literature. Ill - Physiology and hygiene, pedagogy, history and history methods, American literature, practice teaching, sew¬ ing, and reviews. IV - Agriculture, use of school library and rural sociol¬ ogy, school management and law, practice teaching, sewing, and reviews.

Throughout the year in all the courses there are plays and games and music and literary society work, with manual training given at convenient times.

The first authentic records we have of the schoolhouses of the county date from 1872. At that time, as already mentioned, Alma and Fountain City had brick school houses and Mondovi had a large frame building. In the country districts they had mostly log schoolhouses, although Waumandee had one schoolhouse built of brick, and frame houses began to make their appearance about that time. Fountain City and Alma now have modern brick buildings. Mondovi City has three brick buildings well heated and ventilated. The state graded schools are at present all located in modern brick buildings, Cochrane and Gilmanton having commodious fourroom buildings with basements, while Nelson, Herold, Tell and Modena have modern two-room brick buildings.

District No. 3 Joint, Town of Alma, known as the Tell district, was the first rural school district to build a modern school with provisions for ventilation. It was quickly followed by No. 4, Gilmanton, and No. 2, Waumandee. There are at present, besides the above modern rural school buildings in No. 8, Mondovi ; No. 1, Maxville ; No. 4, Nelson, known as the

The legislature during the session of 1907 passed a law granting special state aid of $50 a year for three years to rural schools hiring efficient teachers, installing a system of heating and ventilation and furnishing equipment as prescribed by the state superintendent. All but six of the rural schools in the county qualified under this law and today, with a few exceptions, our rural schools have a system of heating and ventilation and an equipment including supplementary readers, dictionaries, maps, etc. The long benches of 1872 have given way to modern single and double seats.

The first school libraries of any importance were found in Alma and Fountain City. They were mostly composed of donations by citizens. The legislature of 1887 enacted a law creating the township library system. As the law stands at present the county treasurer withholds ten cents for every child between the ages of 4 and 20 years. This fund is expended by the county superintendent in purchasing books for the different districts in the county. The first books appeared in the schools in about the year 1889. Their initial value was probably not in excess of $600. How the system has grown in the succeeding years may be seen from the fact that the report of 1918 shows a total of 20,195 volumes in the public school libraries of the county, purchased at a total cost of $11,037.

In 1888 there were Catholic schools at Fountain City and in the Wau¬ mandee Valley. In addition to the usual studies, courses were given in sewing, knitting and ornamental work. Boarding facilities were offered in connection with the schools. The German language was an important subject of instruction. There are now Catholic Parochial schools in Foun¬ tain City, Mondovi and Waumandee. There are also numerous Protestant Parochial schools connected with the various Lutheran churches, some of which are conducted throughout the school year, and others of which are vacation schools.

Conditions as shown in the report of the county superintendent for 1917-18 present many features of interest as compared with the old days when reading, writing and arithmetic were taught in a crude log cabin. During the year covered by the report, the superintendent made 136 official school visits. In this work he was assisted by the faculty of the Training School, by the supervising teacher and by the State Graded School In¬ spector. A teachers' institute was held in Alma in August, and a county teachers' meeting was held there in February. School board conventions were held in December in Alma and Mondovi.

A summary of the report shows the following items : Total number of districts, 92 ; total number of rural schools, 4 ; total number of state graded schools, 6; number of teachers employed in the state graded schools, 13; number of teachers employed in rural schools, 84; number of teachers em¬ ployed in grades below high schools, 17 ; number of teachers employed in high schools, 18.

Enrollment and graduates : Total number in rural schools, 2,247 : total enrolled in state graded schools, 421; total enrolled in grades below high school, 597 ; total enrolled in high schools, 283 ; number who graduated from rural schools, 96 ; number who graduated from state graded schools, 36 ; number who graduated from grades below high schools, 54 ; number who graduated from high schools, 51.

Miscellaneous: Number of children between ages of 4 and 20 years, 5,484; number of public gatherings held in schoolhouses, 319; number of children who were present every day school was in session, 249 ; number of districts furnishing free text books, 31 ; number of districts in which a foreign language is taught, 15; number of districts transporting children, two ; number of wagons used, two.

Special activities: Number of boys' and girls' agricultural clubs, six; number of schools in which warm lunches have been served, nine ; number of schools in which some hand work has been done, 43 ; number of schools having some playground apparatus, 12; number of schools in which some form of evening school has been held, five; number of schools in which credit for home work was given, 11 ; number of schools containing parent teacher associations, 43 ; number of schools having community clubs, 47 ; number of schools doing work in manual training, nine ; and number of dis¬ tricts having school gardens, 16.