Monroe County, Wisconsin - Chapter 26: Sparta Schools, 1912

Chapter 26: Sparta Schools

A woman, a rare and noble soul, whose name is numbered among the pioneers of '55, was given the task of first establishing the cause of education in the little village on the banks of Beaver creek, and it was not a task which she undertook at a request of any school board, but because she was a large-hearted, kind woman, well educated and bright, whose pity was aroused by the children of this little village roaming the streets without school advantages, that Elizabeth Trux voluntarily assumed the duties of teacher, procured a room and gathered around her eighteen pupils and thus inaugurated the cause of education in Sparta, aud it grew mightily with the passage of time, from 1855, when the first school house was built, to the present. Her own language will convey the difficulty which was encountered by ]\Irs. Trux in this little pioneer school, and we here quote from an article written by her in 1897 the following:

"As there was no school here Avhen we came and I had had some experience as a teacher, I opened a school on the 6th day of April, 1855, with eighteen children. Besides teaching them to read and spell I taught them to sew and to work perforated cardboard and often kept them with me for company until tea time, sometimes taking them out to pick flowers and Avintergreens ; I think they were all very happy and I am sure I was, for I loved the little ones dearly. There was at that time a frame building on the corner of Oak and "Water streets, now occupied by the Williams block, facing Oak street, containing three rooms. One was ]\Ir. S. D. Jackson's store, another the postoffice, and as the other had just been vacated we were fortunate to secure it. Here we kept house and taught school in the same room. In about two weeks jMr. Pott and J\lr. Scheler with their families came from Pennsylvania and bought the building, so we were obliged to move into one room of what was known as the 'Old Log Fort,' which stood just back of where Mr. Foster's harness store now stands, facing Water street. Mr. Thomas Blyton's people lived in the next room and another family in the back room. Uur room contained onr cook stove, l)ed, and such other furniture as possessed, witli the same benches made of slabs that we had in the other school room. More children came until Avo had twenty-eight in that small room and it was pretty well tilh'd. In a few weeks ]\lr. Blyton's people moved into a house they had built and I had the room they vacated for a school room ; new families came with more children, and our number increased until we had forty-seven. "When tlie school had been rnnning a little more than tAvo months Mr. Edward Canfield, who owned the house, came from Connecticut Avith his family and Avanted the Avhole of it. so the school had to be giA'en up for Avant of a room in Avhich to hold it.

"In June the first school house Avas built on tlie present site of the West Primary and is noAv occupied as a residence in the southAvestern part of the city.

"Miss Ann Shepherd, an experienced teacher from Fond du Lac, Avas the first teacher in the first public school. I taught as a substitute for her for one month Avhile she Avas sick, and such a school Avas never taught before ; there Avere one hundred pupils of all ages, from all parts of the county, Avith the books they had brought Avith them, and as there Avere no books to be bought in Sparta, there Avere no two books alike, Avhich made each pupil a separate class, and made it \'ery hard for the teacher, as avcII as for the scholars. I sometimes Avonder if the members of our schools at the present time can appreciate the Avonderful |)i-iviloges they have in getting an education."

Pioneer days in the schools Avere pretty much alike in this county, a story of struggles for better things, better school houses, better equipments, better teachers, better everything that starts the young American on his Avay in the Avorld Avith something of an education, Avhether he is rich or poor; and progress at times found hanging on her skirt the old saying, "What is good enough for our forefathers is good enough for us" fallacy, but be it said to the credit of the good sense of the citizens of Sparta exercised as a Avhole that running through all the years has been a disposition to give to the schools anything Avhich in reason ought to l)e provided, a loyalty Avhich has borne rich fruit in the past and Avill continue to do so in the future.

Perluips there is no subject more choice to the people than the history of the schools of any community, for in a great degree characters are built, careers mapped out. iuul i)erhaps men of history here receive the fundamental education upon Avhich to build for the future. But of the details of the earlier years little can be gathered; with the gradual change of methods and better equipments the village schools kept pace with modern methods, resulting in the establishment of a high school which was accomplished during the time of Professor Bloomingdale. Of him no better description can be given than that which is contained in an article written by Dr. D. C. Beebe in 1897, after long service on the school board, from which we quote as follows :

"I see way back in the '60s an important personage in educational affairs here. He really is the pioneer, for no worthy pretentions to aggressive educational work were made here before his time. He was rough in manner, untidy in dress, of strong personality, had a tender heart, and an unflinching courage that never forsook his convictions, let come what would. Closely allied and almost inseparable, w^as the educational institution of the place at that time - the new brick school building just finished and equipped.

"Prof. J. Bloomingdale was not only principal and superintendent of the Sparta schools, but he was the oracle, the compendium, the beginning and end of all matters that savored of public education. He planned with great nicety the new school building, and superintended its construction with jealous care; and when it was completed, it was to him the embodiment of all that was then worth knowing in school architecture. I remember distinctly the first quasi-theatrical that I enjoyed in the new. building on one public Friday. It was a grand success. The house was filled Avith proud fathers and mothers. The stage appointments were admirable, and the costumes of the players all that the delighted patrons could wish. The principal, with unshaven face and bushy, frouzled hair, seemed enveloped in a halo of glory as the good work went on.

"Professor Bloomingdale was a type and teacher of the old school, and as such he held the ground without a rival. Death called him home before his eyes ever saw the dawn of the new educational era. AYhat seemed to him to be the acme of schoolhouse perfection fell far short of what is demanded for our children today. ' '

The building mentioned in the foregoing quotation was the brick high school building built on the present site of the grade school in 1868-69 at a cost of about $13,000, and was considered at that time as a high school building well in advance of the usual buildings devoted to this purpose. How the school

"Prior to ]87() the progress of our sehools Avas retarded by false notions of economy. To 1)e sure, we lind built fi'om lime to time fairly good school buildings, but evidently hut little care Avas given to the matter of selecting experienced teachers. If a suitable and competent principal Avas secured it seemed to be the policy of the authorities to fill the other places in the schools at the lowest possible cost. Not until after a special meeting of the electors of the district, Avliich was held on the 27th of July, 1876, at which time the people there present unanimously resolved to organize a free high school district under the laAV of the state, being chapter 322, general laAvs of 1875, Avas sufficient attention given to the selection of sul)ordinate teachers and adoptiiig Avholesome rules and regulations. AVhen this Avas done the school seemed to at once spring into neAV life and began to attract attention. Sparta schools had been under the immediate care and direction of Professors Bloomingdale, Smith, Cummings, AVinter and Clark, and the corps of teachers liaA^e been increased from seven in 1870 to sixteen in 1897. The question of providing more and better accommodations for the school appeared to liaA^e been settled for all time, as many of our people then supposed, by the erection of the high school building in 1868-69 at a cost of $13,000, but as the population of the district increased the demand for more and better school buildings became so f>ressing that not- Avithstanding the additions and alterations heretofore made to the several buildings the school board iit the annual district meeting on July 1, 1895, reported as folloAvs :

" 'The problem of Avhat Ave are to do Avitli oui- overeroAvded school Avithout more school loom. has conl'ronted the school board for more than a year. When the present high school building Avas built the school census of the district shoAved betAveen oOO and 600 ehildi'en of school age, tln^ census just taken shoAVS over one thousand children of school age. It has finally come to this - something must be done, some plan must be devised that Avill relieve these overeroAvded schools or they Avill greatly suffer for the ensuing yeai". Indeed, if no relief is provided the board is of tile opinion thai the half-day plan should be a(lo])ted and preferable to crowding so many pupils together.' Upon the foregoing report and at the suggestion of many citizens the people Avere jirompted to act, and the result Avas finally recorded on July 8, 1895, by the adoption of proper b^gal resolutions authorizing

"The school board immediately took the proper steps to secure the necessary ground, caused plans and specifications to be prepared for such new building, and on the 26th day of September, 1895, awarded the contract for the ncAV building to L. V. Huschka, of Sparta, for the sum of $18,379.66, and work thereon was promptly begun, and the present high school building was completed and ready for occupancy September 1, 1896. The destruction of the old high school building by fire on December 2, 1895, again called for prompt action and an additional outlay of money. Again the people were assembled in special meeting on December 30, 1895, to authorize the construction of a new building to take the place of the one destroyed, which was done without a dissenting voice. On July 6, 1896, at the annual meeting of the district, more money was voted and the result of the action of the taxpayers in tiie district is the two fine, substantial school buildings of which we are all so justly proud. AYith the loss of the West Primary building by fire on January 3, 1892. the high school building on December 2, 1895, and the AY. C. T. U. building, in Avhie-h the high school Avas temporarily located, on April 6, 1896, it will be seen that the duties of the school officers and teachers have not been altogether easy to perform and the demands on the taxpayers by no means light. How^ever. we have survived and today M^e are in possession of fine buildings and equipments which have cost as follows :

"High school building, $18,379.66; seating and furnishing, $938.75 ; intermediate building, $12,280 ; seating and furnishing, $628.55; Depot school building, $601.05; boiler house and boiler, $1,703; East Primary building, $1,200; AYest Primary building, $1,020.55; estimated value of school grounds, $9,800; making a grand total of $49,551.56 invested for school purposes. The annual current expenses of conducting the schools have increased from $6,668.21 in 1876 to $11,617.76, being an increase of $4,919.52. AYhile this is cpiite a large increase it is not so large in proportion as the increase in the number of scholars."

The above article, written in 1897, certainty shows a remarkable amount of progress made in the building of buildings and equipping the high school and the ward schools of the city, and since that time new school houses have been built for the depot primary and the east and west primaries so that the buildings now owned l)y the school district are all modern and up-to-date in every particular, and with the addition of a department of domestic science and anotlier of manual training in connection -svitli the high school, has brought the Sparta schools down to the present time as thoroughly ecpiipped and efficiently managed, giving all the advantages that any high school in the state can offer, except, perhaps, not as complete equipped in the laboratory for scientific investigation or as large a reference library as is desirable.

Tlie training of the child has indeed largely changed in the last forty or fifty years; not only in the course of study arranged for his benefit mentally, but also much attention is paid to the pliysical growth and restraints of bad habits of body. Sensible, muscle-making and health-giving athletic exercises are now recognized as of imperative importance. A substantial foundation for special or professional work is now laid in the high school. For not only is domestic science and manual training taught, but stenography, typewriting, bookkeeping and commercial pursuits are also a part of the courses of study. Scientific methods of inquiry on particular lines of knowledge as developed through laboratory work and in other ways in bringing practical education to every high school student, in fact, in all lines and in all courses of study the Sparta high school has proved to be one of the best and has turned out many fine examples of young American manhood and Avomanhood. whose careers as citizens in various parts of the country have demonstrated the thoroughness with which the foundition of their education and physical lives was wrought.

In the earlier days in the high school baseball was more or less prominent, and in fact was the principal game to wliich attention Avas devoted by the students, and perlmj)s was never better played than in the time of Professor AVinters. At that time the McCoy boys, S. H. Burroughs, Palmer. Reck brothers. Caliioun and Leyden were almost expert players. Later came Gould, Burr and ^Moseley, who had foremost parts in connection Avith the game. In the spring of '96 Sparta won the championshij) of the AVestern AVisconsin High Schools for ])aseball. Track and field athletics began with the advent of ^Ir. A. F. Barnard as a teacher in the school during '94 and '95. A field day was held in June, 189."). l)etween tlie ^lauston and Sparta schools at the latter place, and Sparta won many of the events. This was nothing more than a start, however, and during the succeeding year a league was formed called "The West AVisconsin High

School Athletic League,"" which had in view the promotion and maintenance of general athletics and comprising the towns of Viroqua. Tomah, JMauston and Sparta, and the field day between the teams representing these several towns was held at Sparta, June 6, 1896. This league was maintained for two or three years, l)ut owing to the lack of support on the part of the various organizations, it was finally dropped.

It is to be regretted that more records were not kept of the various athletic events during the past years with which the high school has been connected, but as a rule since '96, when athletics took in a larger field of events, including football and the ordinary track and field sports, the Sparta high school has maintained a prominent place in high school athletics and at times has taken a championship or two.

Particular attention during the latter years has been paid to the football team, and perhaps the greatest success was attained by the team of 1908, under the captainship of Earle Jefferson, when the Sparta team, having defeated LaCrosse in past contests for seven straight times on the home grounds, an exciting game was played at LaCrosse between the two teams on Thanksgiving day. Fully five hundred people went to LaCrosse on that day to witness the game and give moral and ''vocal" support to the Sparta team. The game was close, well contested and exciting throughout, the score finally being twelve to ten in favor of Sparta, and this added eight straight victories over LaCrosse. It was indeed a victory, for LaCrosse had been very energetic in perfecting her team and had gone to considerable expense in employing a coach, the home team having been coached l)y Dr. Barlow, a dentist residing in the city, himself an athlete and deeply interested in everything that pertained to athletics. An athletic association exists in connection with the high school to which students are eligible, and it is connected with the Interscholastic Athletic Association of AVisconsin, under the rules of which all contests are held.

The Spartan

A little quarterly magazine, entiled The Spartan, is published by the students of the high school, which originated in the early part of the fall term of 1885. Numerous publications were received from different schools and colleges in Wisconsin and the neighboring states, among them being the University Press and Badger of our own state. As these papers continued to arrive and were almost invariably accompanied by requests for an ex- cliaii^c. tlic idea yratlually sugyi-stt'd ilself that tlie liigli school might be able to get out a journal of its own, and after considerable investigation it was finally decided to i)ul)lisii a school ])ai)ci-, and witli that end in xicw tlic studcnls ])i-oceeded to elect a board of editors, and The Spartan made its first appearance on the 20th of November, 1880. In its first issue the purpose of the publication was set torlli as follows:

The Spai'tan aims first, to ])e a true representative of the Sparta High School. It is to be the pi-oduction of the scholars as a body. Its columns will always be open for the expression of honest opinions, and the only test for the admission of articles will be merit and originality. We purpose to insert each montli several original essays on live subjects, subjects that will Ite interesting both to the students and to the community at large. No pains will be spared in iiuiking the alumni column one of the most valual)lo departments of llie paper, for we wish The Spartan to be indispensable to all graduates and former students of the school." The editorial board of the publication was selected from different classes, each class having one or more representatives. At the outset it was the intention to publish the pai)er once each month, but oAving to the amount of school work tnat was not always found adv«isable, so that it resolved publications of four numbers each year.

Outside of the articles coutril)uted by students there have been frequent articles by the alunnii and former members of the school, which, from time to time, have proved of great interest. It is the plan of each board of editors to produce an attractive and valuable magazine, and particular attention is paid to the printing and illustrations. The paper is supported pi-incipally from subscriptions of the students and alumni and (piite an amount is also received from advertisements, and the business and professional nu'u of the city are glad to render assistance to this meritoi'ious work by giving small advertisements, which are carried throughout the yeai'. The little paper has proved to be of considerable value in |>n'S('rviiig in. this form tlu^ records of graduating classes and of some atliletic events, and also oratorical contests and debates. It was published for two years. com]ileting two volumes of eight nund)ers each, aftei- which the publication was di'opped for a luuuber of years. Jt was finally revived in 1898 and 1ms been published continuously ever since, having reached its fifteenth \olume in the school year of 1911 and 1912, and now is one of the pcnnaiiciit institutions of the high school.

Numerous societies sprung up, had their day, and were no more, especially those of a musical nature, although in 1908, 1909 and 1910 a very creditable glee club was maintained among the boys of the high school known as the ''Owl Glee Club." It has a membership of something like twenty voices, and was quite successful in its work. There was also a girls' glee club, called the "Greig Choral Society," and in the fall of 1909 a high school orchestra made its bow to the public and proved to be a very popular organization during its one or two seasons of existence. The oldest society in point of years is the Jefferson Debating Club for boys, which was organized during the fall of 1897 and has been in existence ever since. This is a society conducting debates and literary exercises and has developed good material and furnished several debating teams, which in the past has held up the honor of Sparta High in contests Avith other schools.

The Girls' Athena Society, a debating club, is also successfully maintained, and its meetings have proved to be interesting and instructive to its members. The athletic society has been previously mentioned. But, perhaps, the most interesting association from the point of its membership is, of course, the Alumni Association, which numbers as its members all of the living graduates of the Sparta High School. This association meets once a year, during the holiday season, between Christmas and New Year's, and indulges usually in a reception and a banquet, followed by a program of varied interest.

This society numbers among its members many who have achieved prominence in different walks of life. They are scattered in many states and to attempt to enumerate them would be a task indeed, and we will be content with mentioning here some of the more prominent. Of course there comes to the mind at once the name of John J. Esch, who has achieved a national reputation in congress as the representative from this district ; Frank Oster, Julian Bennett and Howard Teasdale, all have been mentioned in a previous chapter on the legal fraternity ; Corwin J. Steele, of the class of '77, became a prominent physician at Milwaukee, AVis. ; Dr. Carl Beebe and Dr. Spencer Beebe, now both of this city, prominent physicians in this part of the state ; Dr. Albert J. Miller, of the class of '92, who served in the Philippines in the United States troops, and is now located in California; A. R. Smith, of '87, an attorney practicing at Bara-

1)00; R. B. ]\U-Coy. at i)resent county judge of IMonroe county; S. R. Burrouglis, quite prominent in insurance circles, who engages ill luisiness now in Sparta. There are c|uite a number of the legal fraternity who did not graduate from the Sparta High School but received a portion of thcii- education in it. who are all referred to in a previous chapter on the "legal fraternity."

Among the alumna^ may be mentioned ]\Iiss Laura Miller, now a prominent educator in ^Montana ; ]\Iiss Bell Ady, who graduated from the school in '81, afterwards taking a course of music in the Boston Conservatory, and for some time filled a position in the Sparta school ; Mary L. Bisbee, a poet of her school generation, now in California. But to go over the whole list will consume more space than Ave can devote to the subject and it will suffice to say that the graduates of Sparta High School as a rule have made good.

Class of 1877 - ]Mary E. Greene, Emma ]McKeu/.ie, ]Mary McKenzie, AVilliam J. Hughes, Lizzie H. Palmer, Annie Streetou and Corwin J. Steele.

Class of 1882 - George Grossman. Alviii Regan, Addie ]\I. Sabin, Fannie Cook, "NVm. F. Jones, Louis Brooks, Jennie ]McAIillan and Gertie Bancroft.

Class of 1884 - George Petis, Flora Dalaba, Lou BaldAvin, I\Iamie Sarles, Anna Beckler. ^Minnie Lee, George Stevens, Neeta ]5aldwin, Nellie Hanchett and Carl Beebe.

Class of 1886 - Franc C. Angle, George E. Gray, Rose E. Heller, ]\Iiriaiii J. JcAvett. Hattie AV. LaAvrence, Dora E. Link, Mary A. Smitli, AValter AI. Smith and Alary P. SpafTord.

Class of 1891 - Flora A. Angle, Alargaret A. Jones, George AL Link, Alabel L. Alasters, Lila D. Newberry, Alabel A. Payne, Louise Foote, Clare L. AIcAIillan, Charles Stimson, Alaggie Taylor and Hugh H. A\^illiams.

Class of 1894 - Nellie AL Bnsh, John AL AYoy, Emma E. Gantka, Bernard Alulrenin, Lena A. AVright, Rose L. Finn, Carrie A. Huftman, Anna J. Evans, Stella 0. Thorbus, Clara A. Fowler, Jessie J. Sias, Ruth AL Hanchett, Jas. J. Bowler, Alaude AVoy, Anna B. Durrie, Alary A. Barber, Tillie I. Olson, Thresia Ingersoll. Lulu E. Bush, Josephine Erickson, Arthur Hollenbeck and Nellie Throbus.