Brown County MN Archives History - Books .....Educational Interests 1916 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/mn/mnfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 November 20, 2014, 11:15 pm Book Title: History Of Brown County, See Below CHAPTER XI EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS. In the matter of education the people of Brown county have ever stood abreast of any community in the commonwealth. No sooner had the German colonies that founded the city of New Ulm and braved the dangers and hardships incident to the settlement of what was in the fifties a "howling wilderness," on the broad prairies and rich but untouched valleys within her borders, made a permanent settlement than they began to plan for a good school system. Years have rolled away and townships have been organized and re organized numerous times, and finally the present excellent public school district system has come to obtain. On July 6, 1857, the first four school districts were formed. They were only temporary districts, however, made for the purpose of apportionment. On January 2, I860, the total number of children in the several districts were as follow: Milford, 89; Linden, 26; Redwood, 47; Madeira, 37; New Ulm, 139; District No, 10, 26; Cottonwood, 104; total, 465. Some of these districts, it will be observed are now situated in other counties than Brown. The amount of school tax at that date was $672, an average amount for each scholar of a fraction more than $1.43. In January, 1862, the number of scholars reported was four hundred and eighty seven, and total amount of school tax was only $951.07. In January, 1867, an appropriation was made in order to send three suitable persons to the State Normal School at Winona, and pay their expenses while there, the consideration to be that they should agree to teach for three years in the schools of Brown county. In 1882 the reports show that there were sixty-five school districts and the total of scholars enrolled was 2,797. PIONEER SCHOOLS. The first school taught in New Ulm was in a small frame building, in which August Westphal opened a school on December 17, 1857, there being twenty-four scholars in attendance. In the summer of 1858 the school was divided into two classes, Frederick Forster taking charge of one and Mr. Westphal the other class. The first year's expenses for these pioneer schools were paid by the German Land Association. In 1859, the school consisted again of but one class taught by Mr. Forster, this being the first school term taught and paid for by regular taxation. In 1872 an independent school district was created, and by 1882 there were three school buildings, all built of brick. The high school was located in the center of the town, was thirty by seventy-five feet in size, two story in height, with two primary schools, one in the northern and the other in the southern part of town, each one-story buildings, twenty by forty feet in size. The high school building was erected m 1864, at a cost of five thousand dollars, and soon thereafter enlarged. Each of the two other schoolhouses cost a thousand dollars each. The 1881 school report shows that there were then in New Ulm four hundred and fifty scholars attending public schools. The Catholic people have always maintained large schools here, an account of which is given in connection with the church history given in this volume. MILFORD SCHOOLS. The earliest school taught in Milford township was at the house of Anton Henle in the spring of 1857, by a Pole, named Pokofski. In the winter of 1859-60, a log school house was built, and educational affaris kept pace with the growth of the township until in 1881 there were five buildings. The tornado of that season destroyed the house in school district No. 9, but it was soon rebuilt. COTTONWOOD SCHOOLS. Cottonwood township was made a school district in 1860, and numbered No. 1; the first school was taught by Sarah Shaw. Great has been the advancement in schools since that time. SCHOOLS IN HOME TOWNSHIPi In Home township the earliest school was taught in 1866, by Miss Hattie Wright in a log house put up for that purpose, in the northeastern part of the township; it was later included in district No. 13. In 1881 there were seven school houses in the township, the average cost of each was about eight hundred dollars. They had all the furniture and fixtures usually, at that date, found in school hurl flings, but not such as is demanded and furnished at this time. SCHOOLS OF EDEN TOWNSHIP. In a claim shanty, in the summer of 1867, Elen Eldred taught the first school in Eden township. By the following winter a log building had been provided for the school. It was erected by public subscription and stood in section 32; subsequently the district bought it, and it was then within what was then district No. 16. It was but a short time before two or three more good schools were started in this township. SIGEL SCHOOLS. Sigel township's first school was taught when the whole township constituted one school district—No. 4 and the date was 1864. In the late seventies there were several good school buildings; the one in district No. 6 was considered the best school building in Brown county, outside of those found at New Ulm. With the passing of years these district schools have had competent instructors and kept up with the usual standard of district schools in Minnesota. LEAVENWORTH SCHOOLS. In Leavenworth township the first schools were taught by Mrs. Wylie in 1866, at her own home in section 17. The first school house was built on the subscription plan in 1868; it was a log building. In 1881 there were five good school buildings in this township. SCHOOLS OF BASHAW TOWNSHIP. Maggie Keegan taught the first school in Bashaw township in 1877, in a dwelling house in section 26, in what came to be known as district No. 2. It was hard at first to get enough scholars living near one another in a thinly settled township to cause a schoolhouse tax to be levied. As a rule it required thirteen pupils before the board was allowed to levy a school tax. But as more came in schools were secured, and have been maintained ever since. ALBIN TOWNSHIP SCHOOLS. In Albin township the first school was taught by Clarissa Ives, in the summer of 1870, in John Tew's granary. At first the whole township was included in one school district, but before 1880 there were three substantial school buildings in the three districts of this township. LAKE HANSKA TOWNSHIP SCHOOLS. In Lake Hanska township the first school was taught after the 1862 Indian outbreak, by Martha Hanson. In 1880 the township had two schools. With the settlement of that part of Brown county, the settlers were in favor of good public schools, though many were Scandinavians they really took more interest and spent more money for schools than their Yankee brothers in some other parts of the county. SCHOOLS OF LINDEN TOWNSHIP. In Linden township the earliest school was taught by Charles Mullen, in 1860, at the house of Peter Thormodson. In the spring of 1862, a log school house was erected belonging to district No. 7. At that time the district comprised both Linden and what is now Lake Hanska townships. This seems to have been among the first, if indeed not the very earliest school taught by a man in the county among the rural districts. MULLIGAN TOWNSHIP SCHOOLS. The first school taught in Mulligan township was in the summer of 1877 by Hannah Collins. In 1880 there were three school buildings in this township. BURNSTOWN TOWNSHIP—SPRINGFIELD, In Burnstown township the first school was taught by Miss Marian Hall, in the school house built in district No. 41. The school at Springfield village was mentioned thus in 1882: "There is one school building, two stories high, costing twenty-eight hundred dollars. Two teachers are employed and the number of pupils is eighty." THE SLEEP EYE SCHOOLS. While business has been uppermost, for the most part, in the minds of business men in Sleepy Eye, they have not lost sight of the advantages gained by keeping pace with all that is good and progressive in educational affairs. The public schools of the city have not only been up to the standard, but have usually led off in advanced methods. When through legislative enactment provision was made for establishing industrial departments in the high schools of the state, it was at once realized that the Sleepy Eye school building, built some dozen or more years before that date, was of sufficient size and arrangement to accommodate such an innovation, and the city was among the earliest in Minnesota to establish such new school departments. Again, in the matter of agriculture and its being scientifically taught in the schools, no school has done more along that line and actually benefited the farmer and his sons and daughters, than the department found in the public schools of Sleepy Eye. Animal husbandry and field crop growth have each claimed their share and that to the betterment of both pupil and parent. The agricultural instructor spends one-fourth of his time in going out among the farmers, offering suggestions. In the manual training department much of the furniture there produced challenges the ability of many experienced cabinet-makers. In the domestic science department, also one sees the latest facilities. Here the school is furnished all sorts of materials for cooking and testing foods. Home management, nursing, house sanitation and all these branches are handled with good results. A state teachers' training department has also been recently added and is under the supervision of a competent instructor. All in all, the public school building at Sleepy Eye is a bee hive, where no drones are reared in laziness, but all must be doing some useful, practical work with hand or brain power. SCHOOL BUILDINGS OF NEW ULM. The following shows the date of building and cost of the present school houses in the city of New Ulm: Emerson building, in 1900, cost $18,452; high school building, erected in 1914, cost $77,594; Lincoln building, erected in 1913, cost $13,776; Washington building, built in 1907, cost $14,698; East Pi nary building, erected in 1892, cost $3,770. These figures represent the contract prices. PUBLIC SCHOOL STATISTICS FOR 1915. The following was taken from the county school superintendent's report to the state, for the year ending July 31, 1915: The total number of school districts in Brown county on that date was eighty-four. Districts having more than ten and less than twenty pupils, was fifteen. Less than ten pupils, one district. Superintendent's salary per year, fifteen hundred dollars. Number fo visits made in schools by superintendent, one hundred and eighty-nine. The total number of pupils enrolled in county, in rural and semi-graded schools was twenty-one hundred and eighty-one. Number of teachers in county, in rural and semi-graded schools, five males and seventy-six females. Average wages per month for males was fifty-four dollars, and a fraction less for females. HIGH AND GRADED SCHOOLS. New Ulm, with an enrollment of 877; days of school year, 190; wages of males, per month, $133; of females, $59; number of departments, 24; number of teachers, 25, Sleepy Eye, enrollment, 410; days in school year, 180; average wages paid males, '$144; females, $68; number departments, 14; number of teachers, 15. Springfield, enrollment, 345; days in school year, 180; number of departments, 13; number of teachers, 14; wages paid males, $138; females, $63. Comfrey, enrollment, 135; days in school year, 180; wages paid females, $61; number of departments, four; teachers, four. Hanska, enrollment, 141; days in school year, 180; wages paid males, $105; females, $55; number departments, four; teachers, four. The average wages pate in high and graded schools in county was: Males, $130; females, $66. One meeting of teachers was held in the school year— attendance, thirty-seven. Aside from the public schools in New Ulm, there are about eight hundred pupils attending the various church or parochial schools. RURAL AND SEMI-GRADED SCHOOLS, The following shows the enrollment of the various districts in Brown county for the school year ending July 31, 1915: District No. 1, 860 pupils; No. 2, 30; No. 3, 28; Nc. 4, 40; No. 5, 25; No. 6, 35; No. 7, 20; No. 8, 13; No. 9, 36; No. 10, 28; No. 11 23; No. 12, 35; No. 13, 34; No. 14, 24; No. 15, 14; No. 36, 19; No. 17, 23; No. 18, 34; No. 19, 21; No. 20, 29; No. 21, 17; No. 22, 24; No. 23, 14; No. 24, 361; No. 25, 24; No. 26, 27; No. 27, 11; No. 28, 24; No. 29 22; No. 30, 18; No. 31, 23; No. 32, 32; No. 33, 48; No. 34, 21; No. 35, 18; No. 36. 89; No. 37, 17; No. 38, 26; No. 39, 21; No. 40, 23; No. 41. 14; No. 42, 31; No. 43, 30; No. 44, 19; No. 45, 31; No. 46, 11; No. 47, 27; No. 48, 33; No. 49, 34; No. 50, 32; No. 51, 31; No. 52, 14; No. 53, 22; No. 54, 25; No. 55, 13; No. 56, 13; No. 57, 15; No. 58, 56; No. 59, 34; No. 60, 34; No. 61, 37; No. 62, 15; No. 63, 23; No. 64, 328; No. 65, 25; No. 66. 27; No. 67, 25; No. 68, 43; No. 69, 26; No. 70, 18; No. 71, 20; No. 72, 40; No. 73, 13; No. 74, 13; No. 75, 20; No. 76, 22; No. 77, 43; No. 78, 14; No. 79, 16; No. 80,134; No. 81,140; No. 82, 24; No! 83, 15; Goshen district, 8. SCHOOL FINANCES IN 1915. The receipts and disbursements for all school purposes in Brown county for the school year ending July 31, 1915 were as follow: Receipts. Received from school apportionment $ 19,965.41 Cash on hand at beginning of year 48,057.47 Received from special tax 59,646.50 Received from local one-mill tax 10,423.25 Received from special state aid 15,140.00 Received from bonds, etc 10,167.64 Disbursements. Teachers' wages and board $ 70,072.21 Fuel and repairs 10,048.12 Improving grounds 8,173.54 New school houses and sites 6,311.39 Interest on bonds 8,010.09 Library books 722.31 Text books 1,869.48 Apparatus 477.80 All other purposes 9,533.38 Cash on hand 48,182.95 Total $163,401.27 DR. MARTIN LUTHER COLLEGE. New Ulm is the seat of a college of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Minnesota, known as the Dr. Martin Luther College. This institution was founded in 1884. Primarily, it was intended more especially to teach theology and fit for the ministry young men of the Evangelical Lutheran church, hut by a reorganization which took place in September, 1893, Wisconsin, Michigan, Dakota and other states were admitted and the plans somewhat changed. Especial attention was then paid to the training not only for the ministry, but for teachers in Lutheran parochial school work. Under the former arrangements, many young men came from Germany here, the same desiring to do efficient work in the Evangelical Lutheran church in the United States. The first faculty was composed of Prof. O. Hoyer, president; Prof. Ad. F. Reim and Prof. G. Burk. The corner-stone of the first college building was laid on June 25, 1884, and on November 10, the same year, the building was dedicated and its doors opened for the reception of students. Hundreds of young men have graduated from this institution since then, and gone out into various walks of life to make their knowledge and influence tell for the betterment of mankind. Among the faculty who have served faithfully and well may be recalled the names of Profs. J. Schaller, president and director for nineteen years; A. Ackermann, president and director; A. F. Reim, O. Montgomery, G. Burk, J. E. Sperling, Fr. Reuter, J. Meyer, E. R. Bliefernicht and the present faculty head, Professor Ackermann. On the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of this college, in June, 1909, a "Silver Jubilee" was held and prominent men of the church, from various cities in the synod were present and made addresses. It was also at that date when a vote was taken to decide whether the college should remain at New Ulm, or be removed to another city. The popularity of the New Ulm institution was seen when the votes were counted, for they stood as follows: For New Ulm, ninety-two; for Hutchinson, nine; for St. Paul, one, and for Minneapolis, one. The college is finely located on the hills to the west of the city, proper, the campus is within a natural and beautifully timbered park, to which man has added the finishing touches, by creating walks, driveways and erecting many pretty buildings and terracing the sloping hillside. It is now' known as one of the city's permanent educational institutions. Besides being a good school for the higher studies demanded in this age, it is also a good proposition in way of business for New Ulm. Those who associate themselves with this college soon adapt themselves to the general interests of the community. This is to Brown county what the Gustavus Adolphus College at St. Peter is to Nicollet county, next east of this county. Both are doing a splendid work in their lines, the one being supported largely by the German people, while the other is a Swedish institution. There are now (spring of 1916) one hundred students in attendance. The officers and faculty of the institution are: A Ackermann, president, teaches religion, psychology and history; G. Burk teaches English, language, music; A. E. Reim, mathematics, natural science and civil government; O. Montgomery, arithmetic, English, geography, drawing, penmanship, history; J. E Sperling, methods, school practice; Professor Wagner, Latin, Greek; E. Reuter, music; E. R. Bliefernicht, German and history; H. Mosel, German, Latin and geography. Additional Comments: Extracted from: HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY MINNESOTA ITS PEOPLE, INDUSTRIES AND INSTITUTIONS L. A. FRITSCHE. M. D. Editor With Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families VOLUME I B. F. BOWEN & COMPANY, Inc. 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