Caldwell County MO Archives History .....STORIES ABOUT COUNTY SCHOOL COMMISSIONERS  
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/mo/mofiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Karen Walker khw4@yahoo.com September 8, 2008, 4:23 pm

STORIES ABOUT COUNTY SCHOOL COMMISSIONERS IN CALDWELL COUNTY
	Narrators:  Sarah Chain, Mr. W.J. Blair, Mrs. Mary Kautz, and D.N. 
McClintock 

     The first county school commissioner that the oldest narrator mentioned 
is Hamilton McAfee of Kingston, grandfather of Floyd McAfee of Hamilton.  He 
served in the middle and late 60s and both Mrs. Mary Kautz and Mr. W. J. Blair 
took examination under him for a teacher's license, as they were often termed 
then.  There was no fixed date as now for a general examination, but when you 
needed a certificate, you asked for a date and took it.  Mr. McAfee gave a 
certificate to Mr. Blair when he had worked a problem in cube root.  Mrs. 
Kautz said he gave her a real hard oral examination, and among the grammar 
questions was the business of "parsing" the sentence - I never saw a saw saw a 
saw as that saw saws a saw.  He gave her cousin from N.Y. state, who had 
taught considerably and had quite an education a certificate without any 
examination.
     Stephen C. Rogers (who died in July 1935) was probably the next county 
commissioner.  He lived in Kingston and was one of the best educated school 
officials ever in the office.  Sarah Chain now in her eighties, took her first 
examination for a certificate under him and said his questions were fair and 
had no catch questions.  Under him, there were set times for examinations.  He 
published a column of helpful hints to the teachers in the county press.  He 
held teachers' institutes in the summer for the instruction of teachers.  At 
that time and later, the county school commissioner was paid about fifty 
dollars a year which meant that it was a side issue and amounted to little but 
grading papers and running the summer institute or Normal as it was more often 
called.  The Normal was a God send to poorly prepared teachers, for subjects 
were actually taught, and how the teachers used to study up to pass their 
exams!  The instructors were paid by the fees of the teachers attending, 
something like $3 a person.
     Some of the following school commissioners were D.M. Ferguson, principal 
of Hamilton Graded schools, Professor Burdick of Breckenridge, and Henry Gee 
of Hamilton, formerly a teacher in the Hamilton schools before they were 
graded.  Miss Chain said his examinations were plenty hard.  Teachers were now 
getting over numerous and the examinations and standards were made 
accordingly.  Books were fine combed for unusual facts to put in questions, it 
seemed to the teachers.  Examinations were given for certificates at the end 
of the summer normal.
     If for a special cause, you got a spring school without having a 
certificate, the county commissioner would give you a special exam, and 
special certificate good till the next Normal.  (The interviewer recalls 
taking such a special teacher's exam about 1897 in the first of March under 
Prof. F.F. Thompson of Polo then the commissioner.  We started before 
daylight, rode for three hours through terrible mud, and wrote all day long 
till five o'clock on the required subjects.)  Other county school 
commissioners in Caldwell county have been D.T. Gentry, first superintendent 
of the Hamilton Schools, J.R. Riddle, a Hamilton teacher, John Eckleberry of 
Braymer and Hamilton school fame.
     Perhaps the most notable of all was D.M. McClintock who held the office 
of county school commissioner and its successor county superintendent of 
schools, twenty six years, retiring in July 1935 to farm life.
 
     He recently wrote at length concerning his work with the teachers of this 
county.  He was first elected as county commissioner in 1909 and shortly after 
the name of his office became changed to county superintendent of schools by 
legislative edict.  This new office meant more than the old office and also 
carried an independent salary with it.  It brought him in touch with every 
rural school in the county.  He had to visit them to criticize and suggest.  
In order to do this, he used a horse and buggy in the earlier years, leaving 
Kingston before daylight and after visiting two or three schools, he got home 
after dark.  In those first years, rural graduation was unknown, diplomas for 
country pupils unheard of.  The school were graded in a way, but not leading 
to a definite time saving plan as now.  In 1909, there were but three first 
class high schools in the county.  There were 4500 pupils enrolled at one time 
in the town and rural schools.
     Not only did he come to have oversight over this vast number of youth, 
and give teachers' examinations with the short teacher's institutes, but he 
was expected to do almost anything connected with youth, as examine the boy 
sent to the Missouri State Fair and judge all sorts of contests, and work up 
youth programs for the county farm agent.
     Thus it may be seen how greatly the function of the present county 
superintendent of schools has changed from those of the old county school 
commissioner, and all have resulted in a betterment of the conditions of the 
schooling of the country boys and girls.
     Interviews  1934-5.


File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/mo/caldwell/history/other/storiesa335gms.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/mofiles/

File size: 5.6 Kb