Hancock County OhArchives History - Books .....Chapter VII, Part III 1886
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Book Title: History Of Hancock County
CHAPTER VII.

EDUCATION IN OHIO—LANDS ORIGINALLY GRANTED FOE EDUCATIONAL
PURPOSES—COMMISSIONERS OF SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL LANDS IN 1822—THE SCHOOL LANDS SOLD
AND A SCHOOL FUND ESTABLISHED—ANNUAL DISTRIBUTION OF SCHOOL MONEY—PIONEER
SCHOOLS, SCHOOL-HOUSES AND BOOKS IN HANCOCK COUNTY—CHARACTER OF THE EARLY
TEACHERS—"BARRING-OUT" THE MASTER—HOW PIONEER TEACHERS WERE USUALLY PAID-GROWTH
OF EDUCATION—GOVERNMENT AND PROGRESS OF SCHOOLS PRIOR TO 1851—SCHOOLS FOR
COLORED YOUTH ESTABLISHED—REORGANIZATION OF SCHOOLS UNDER THE LAWS OF 1853—THEIR
PRESENT GOVERNMENT AND THE EDUCATIONAL ADVANTAGES THEY AFFORD.

THE most casual observer cannot but have noticed, notwithstanding the privation
and discomforts attending the lives of the early settlers, the zeal they
manifested in education, and that, as soon as a sufficient number of pupils
could be collected and a teacher secured, a house was erected for the purpose.
The period just preceding the Revolution was characterized by its number of
literary men, and the interest they gave to polite learning; and the patriots
who where conspicuous in that struggle for human liberty were men not only of
ability, but of no ordinary culture. We can readily understand that the
influence of their example had its weight in molding; public sentiment in other
respects besides that of zeal for the patriot cause. To this may be added that,
for the most part, the early pioneers were men of character, who endured the
dangers and trials of a new country, not solely for their own sakes, but for
their children, and with a faith in what the future would bring forth, clearly
saw the power and value of education. Then we find, from the beginning, this
object kept steadily in view, and. provision made for its successful
prosecution; and the express declaration, of the fundamental law of the State
enjoins that "the principal of all funds arising from the sale or other
distribution of lands or other property granted or intrusted to the State for
educational purposes, shall forever be preserved inviolate and undiminished, and
the income arising therefrom shall be faithfully applied to the specific objects
of the original grants or appropriations, and the General Assembly shall make
such provisions by taxation, or otherwise as, from the income arising from the
school trust fund, shall secure a thorough and efficient system of common
schools throughout the-State."

   The act of Congress providing for the admission of Ohio into the Union
offered certain educational propositions to the people. These were, first, that
Section 16 in each township, or, in lieu thereof, other contiguous or equivalent
lands, should be granted for the use of schools; second, that thirty-eight
sections of land, where salt springs had been found, should be granted to the
State, never to be sold, or leased for a longer term than ten years; and third,
that one-twentieth of the proceeds from the sale of the public lands in the
State should be applied toward the construction of roads from the Atlantic to
and through Ohio. Those propositions were offered on the condition that the
public lands sold by the United States after the 30th of June, 1802, should be
exempt from State taxation for five years after sale. The ordinance of 1787 had
already provided for the appropriation of Section 16 to the support of schools
in every township sold by the United States. This, therefore, could not, in
1802, be properly made the subject of a new bargain between the United States
and Ohio; and by many it was thought that the salt reservations and
one-twentieth of the proceeds of the sale of public lands were inadequately
equivalent for the proposed surrender of a right to tax for five years. The
convention, however, accepted the propositions of Congress, on their being so
modified and enlarged as to vest in the State, for the use of schools, Section
16 in each township sold by the United States, and three other tracts of land,
equal in quantity respectively to one thirty-sixth of the Virginia Military
Reservation, of the United States Military Tract and of the Connecticut "Western
Reserve, and to give three percent of the proceeds of the public lands sold
within the State to the construction of roads in Ohio, under the direction of
the Legislature. Congress agreed to the proposed modifications, and thus was
established the basis of the common school fund of Ohio.

   We have seen in the foregoing how Congress, by a compact with the people,
gave them one thirty-sixth part of all of the lands northwest of the Ohio River
for school purposes. The lands for this purpose set apart were, however, often
appropriated by squatters, and, through unwise, careless and sometimes corrupt
legislation, these squatters were vested with proprietorship. Caleb Atwater, in
his history of Ohio, in speaking on this subject says: "Members of the
Legislature not unfrequently got acts passed and leases granted, either to
themselves, their relatives or to their partisans. One senator contrived to get,
by such acts, seven entire sections of land into either his own or his
children's possession." From 1803 to 1820 the General Assembly spent a
considerable portion of every session in passing acts relating to these lands,
without advancing the cause of education to any degree.

   In 1821 the House of Representatives appointed five of its members, viz.,
Caleb Atwater, Loyd Talbot, James Shields, Roswell Mills and Josiah Barber, a
committee on schools and school lands. This committee subsequently made a
report, rehearsing the wrong management of the school land trust on behalf of
the State, warmly advocated the establishment of a system of education and the
adoption of measures which would secure for the people the rights which Congress
intended they should possess. In compliance with the recommendation of the
committee, the Governor of the State, in May, 1822, having been authorized by
the Legislature, appointed seven commissioners of schools and school lands,
viz.: Caleb Atwater, Rev. John Collins, Rev. James Hoge, N. Guilford, Ephraim
Cutler, Josiah Barber and James M. Bell. The reason why seven persons were
appointed was because there were seven different sorts of school lands in the
State, viz.: Section 16 in every township of the Congress lands, the United
States Military lands, the Virginia Military lands, Symmes' Purchase, the Ohio
Company's Purchase, the Refugee lands and the Connecticut Western Reserve. This
commission of seven persons was reduced by various causes to one of three,
Messrs. Atwater, Collins and Hoge, who performed the arduous duties incumbent
upon them with but little remuneration and (at the time) but few thanks.

   The Legislature of 1822-23 broke up without having taken any definite action
upon the report presented by the commission, but during the summer and autumn of
1824 the subject of the sale of the school lands was warmly agitated, and the
friends of the measure triumphed over the opposition so far as to elect large
majorities to both branches of the General Assembly in favor of its being made a
law. The quantity of land set apart was ascertained in 1825 to be a little more
than a half a million acres, and was valued at less than $1,000,000. The school
lands were finally sold, the proceeds taken charge of by the State, the interest
accruing from the moneys derived from the sale of the different classes of lands
to be annually distributed among the counties in the respective land districts,
according to the school enumeration of each county. It might be well to state
here that the school age at this tune was from four to sixteen, which was,
however, changed whenever the General Assembly considered such a change
necessary or judicious.

   From the time the school lands were sold up to the present, each county in
the State has received annually its quota of the interest obtained from this
school fund. Nearly one-half the counties of Ohio pay more money into the common
school fund of the State than they receive back again, the surplus thus raised
going to poor or sparsely settled counties. Up to a recent date Hancock has been
in the list of counties that receive more than they pay into the State fund. In
1875 she paid to the State $12,150.53, and received $14,334.40, or $2,183.87
more than paid in. In 1880 she paid $12,190.81, and received $13,909.50, or
$1,718.69 more than paid in. The tide, however, has at least turned in her
favor, for the duplicate of 1885 shows that the State received from this county
$14,730.88, and paid back to her $14,406.00, or a balance of $324.78 in favor of
the county. This balance will be somewhat reduced by delinquencies and the
treasurer's fees, but there will be still a small amount in the county's favor,
which fact fairly illustrates the progress made in the past ten years.

   In the early development of Hancock County, a great variety of influences was
felt in the way of general education. The settlements were and for years
continued to be sparse. The people, as the pioneers of all new counties are,
were poor, and lacked the means of remunerating teachers. Their poverty
compelled all who were able to labor, and the work of the females was as
important and toilsome as that of the men. Added to these, both teachers and
books were scarce. This condition of things continued perhaps for more than a
quarter of a century. Taking these facts into consideration, it is surprising
that they had any schools whatever. It was not uncommon for children to trudge
through the snow-covered forest from two to four miles before reaching the
little log schoolhouse. And though the great majority of the pioneers of Hancock
County embraced every opportunity to educate their children, there were some who
cared little for educational matters—genuine backwoodsmen who reared their sons
to shoot and trap successfully, and their daughters to spin and weave, but not
to read or write.

   The interest awakened in literature and science immediately after the
Revolution, followed the pioneers to their Western homes; but to make their
efforts productive of useful results time became absolutely necessary. Just as
soon as the settlements were prepared for the experiment, schools were opened;
but at every step it was the acquisition of knowledge under difficulties.
Everything connected with them was as simple and primitive as were their
dwellings, food and clothing. Houses were built in the various neighborhoods as
occasion made necessary, not by subscription in money, but by labor. On a given
day the neighbors assembled at some place previously agreed upon, and the work
was done. Timber was abundant; they were skilled in the use of the ax, and
having cut logs of the required length, the walls were soon raised. The roof was
made of clapboards, kept in place by heavy poles reaching the length of the
building. The door was of clapboards and creaked on wooden hinges; the latch of
wood and raised by a string. The floor was "puncheon," or trees split in the
middle, tolerably true, the edge and face being dressed with the ax. The
crevices between the logs forming the walls were tilled with "chinks," or split
sticks of wood, and daubed with mud. The fire-place was equally rude, but of
ample dimensions, built on the outside of the house, usually of stone to the
throat of the flue, and the remainder of the chimney of split sticks of wood,
daubed with puddled clay within and without. Light was admitted through the door
and by means of an opening made by cutting out one of the logs, reaching almost
the entire width of the building. This opening was high enough from the floor to
prevent the boys from looking out, and in winter was covered with paper
saturated with grease, to keep out the cold, as well as to admit light.

   In the rural districts school "kept" only in winter. The furniture
corresponded with the simplicity of the house. At a proper distance below the
windows auger holes were bored in a slanting direction in one of the logs, and
in these strong wooden pins were driven, and on the pins a huge slab or puncheon
was placed, which served as a writing desk for the whole school. For seats, they
used the puncheon, or more commonly the body of a smooth, straight tree, cut ten
to twelve feet in length, and raised to a height of twelve to fifteen inches by
means of pins securely inserted. It has been said that not infrequently the pins
were of unequal length, and the bench predisposed to "wabble." Many of the
pioneer teachers were natives of Ireland, who had left their homes for divers
reasons, prior to and succeeding the struggle for Irish independence, in 1798,
and here, in this land of freedom, were putting to good use the education
obtained in their native isle. Dr. Johnson's notion that most boys required
learning to be thrashed into them was practically carried out in the pioneer
schoolhouse. The pupils sat with their'faces toward the wall, around the room,
while the teacher occupied the middle space to superintend each pupil
separately. In some rooms a separate bench was furnished for those too young to
write. Classes, when reciting, sat on a bench provided for this purpose.

   The books were as primitive as the surroundings. The New Testament was a
common reading book; the "English Reader" was occasionally found, and sometimes
the "Columbian Orator." No one book was common in all the families. The reading
class recited paragraphs alternately, and the book in use was made common
property, passing from hand to hand during recitation. It was not unusual for
the teacher to assist a pupil in one of his "sums," discipline a refractory
scholar, and hear the reading-class at one and the same time. Dabold' s,
Smiley's and Pike's Arithmetics were commonly used, with the examples for
practice almost exclusively in pounds, shillings and pence, and a marked absence
of clear rules and definitions for the solving of the different divisions.
Webster's "American Speller" was the ordinary spelling-book, which afterward
made way for Webster's "Elementary Speller." This latter book maintained its
popularity for half a century. The spelling class closed the labors of the day.
All who could spell entered the "big class," and the rivalry was sharp as to who
should rank first as good spellers. The class was numbered in the order in which
they stood in line, and retained the number until a miss sent some one above
them. Spelling-matches were frequent, and contributed largely to make good
spellers. Grammar was not often taught, partly for the reason that books were
hard to get, and partly because some of the teachers were not proficient in this
branch of learning. When the science was taught the text-book was Kirkham,
which, though of little real merit, stimulated a taste for grammar. The boys and
girls went to the same school, but sat on opposite benches.

   It occasionally happened that teachers were employed who had learned that an
elephant may be led by a hair, or more probably were blessed with gentle
natures, and won the hearts and life-long affection of their pupils by their
pleasant and loving ways; but these were exceptions. The standard of excellence
was often measured by the ability and swift readiness to thrash the scholars on
any provocation. Disobedience and ignorance were equal causes for the use of the
"birch." "Like master, like boy." The characteristics of the one tended to
develop a corresponding spirit in the other, and the cruelty of the one, with
the absence, too frequently, of all just discrimination in the use of the rod,
excited animosities which lasted through life. There were few boys of that day
who did not cherish the purpose to "whale the master" on sight, at some future
time.

   When Christmas came the teacher was expected to treat the school. If he
ignored this custom, through stinginess or some other reason, he was "barred
out" by the offended pupils. Arriving at the schoolhouse early in the morning,
they would fasten the windows securely, pile the benches high against the door,
and when the unlucky pedagogue appeared a struggle for possession and mastery
ensued, which generally resulted in the capitulation of the building, only after
satisfactory arrangements were made for the treat. Exciting stories about
"barring out" the teacher in nearly every township of Hancock County have been
told, the relators, who were generally participants in this backwoods revenge,
being now gray-haired men.

   The schools were supported by subscription, the charge being from $1 to $3
per term of three months during the winter, to begin at 8 o' clock in the
morning with an hour to an hour and a half recess at noon, and close at 5
o'clock. One-half of Saturdays, or alternate Saturdays, made part of the term.
Writing was taught to all the larger pupils, and the only pen used was the goose
or turkey quill, made into a pen by the skillful hand of the teacher. Mending
the pens was an essential part of the work. Copy-books were made of sheets of
foolscap paper stitched together, and copies were "set" by the teacher during
recess, which were commonly taken from the maxims in use from time immemorial.
Sometimes the teacher was partly paid in produce or other commodities, which
were the equivalent to him for money, while his support was often obtained by
"boarding around."

   The introduction of schools in one settlement was an incentive to their
speedy adoption in others, and the foregoing description applies to all of the
earlier schools and schoolhouses of Hancock County, The erection of sawmills,
and the opening up of wagon roads, brought about a better order of things, and
plank, weather-boarding and glass took the places of clapboards, puncheon floors
and desks, log benches and greased paper windows. The pioneer schools opened in
the different townships of this county will be found fully spoken of in the
eighteen chapters specially devoted to the local history of said townships, to
which the reader is referred for more definite information on the subject.

   The gradual development and progress of education in Ohio was encouraged and
fostered by State laws that were the germs from which came forth the present
common school system; and, believing that a brief synopsis of these enactments
would be valuable in this connection, the following facts have been compiled
from the Ohio statutes, which will enable the reader to understand more
thoroughly the history of the public school system up to the adoption of the
constitution of 1851. On the 2d of January, 1806, three trustees and a treasurer
were authorized to be elected in each township for the purpose of taking charge
of the school lands, or the moneys arising therefrom, and applying the same to
the benefit of the schools in said township. In 1810 this act was more fully
defined, and in 1814 every scholar was entitled to his or her share of said
school funds, even when attending a school outside of their own township. In
1815 those moneys were distributed according to the time of school attendance,
an account of which each teacher was required to furnish to the trustees, and
the apportionment made accordingly. No act of any importance was then passed
until January 22, 1821, when a vote was ordered to be taken in every township
for the purpose of deciding for or against organizing the same into school
districts; also for the election of a school committee of three persons, and a
collector, who was also treasurer in each district. The inhabitants were
authorized to erect schoolhouses in their respective districts on land donated
or purchased for that purpose, said schools to be paid for by donations and
subscriptions, together with the taxes raised for that object. This act
authorized that all lands located in said districts liable to State or county
taxation were also liable to taxation for erecting schoolhouses, and for
educating the children of those unable to pay for schooling. Parents and
guardians were assessed in proportion to the number of children sent to school
by them, but those unable to pay had their assessment remitted, and such
deficiency was paid out of the fund raised by taxation. Of course, the moneys
accruing from the school lands went into the school fund held by the treasurer
of each district.

   The first general school law was passed February 5. 1825, and it provided
that "a fund shall hereafter be annually raised among the several counties in
the State, in the manner pointed out by this act, for the use of common schools,
for the instruction of youth of every class and grade without distinction, in
reading, writing, arithmetic and other necessary branches of a common
education." This was in harmony with the constitution, which asserted that
schools and the means of instruction should forever be encouraged by legislative
provision. This act provided for a general tax to be levied for the fostering of
common schools throughout the State, which was to be collected annually and used
for general educational purposes. Three school directors were to be elected
annually in each district, to transact the business of said schools, erect
buildings, employ teachers, receive and expend all moneys derived from any
source, etc. The court of common pleas in each county was authorized to appoint
annually "three suitable persons to be called examiners of common schools,"
whose duties were to examine teachers for qualification and grant certificates,
also to visit and examine the schools throughout the county. If any district
neglected to keep a school therein at any one time 'for the space of three
years, its proportion of the school fund was divided among the other districts
in said township that employed teachers. The school fund of each county was
taken charge of by the auditor, who distributed the same between the several
townships. In 1827, this act was amended. The directors were instructed to
appoint a treasurer for each school district. Fines imposed by any justice of
the peace, for offenses committed in any given district, were to be paid to the
treasurer, to be used for the support of education in said district. Taxes were
levied to build new houses and repair old ones. Every householder, whose tax was
less than $1, had to pay that amount or give two days' labor toward the building
or repairing of schoolhouses. The number of examiners was increased, but at no
time was it to exceed that of townships in the county.

   In February, 1829, a law was enacted providing more fully for general
education, but the children of black or mulatto persons were not permitted to
attend these schools, nor were such persons compelled to pay taxes toward their
support. The official term of examiners was designated as two years, and their
number to be not less than five in each county, nor more than one in each
township thereof. "Whenever the regular school fund ran short, the teachers, if
not paid by voluntary subscription, were to be paid by those sending scholars to
said schools. Often the regular fund did not pay for more than three months'
schooling annually, so that even then the schools, though slowly improving, were
anything but flourishing. The act of 1830 did not materially improve them, and
in March, 1831, the following clause appears in a law relative to raising the
school fund. It says a general fund shall be raised ' * for the instruction of
the white youth of every class and grade," so that, although Ohio was a free
State, a black man was debarred from the educational advantages accorded to his
white brother, and, though his body was not kept in slavery, his mind was kept
in ignorance as far as the State laws had the power to do so. With all this
injustice the property of negroes was extempt from taxation for school purposes,
which was at least a small grain of justice to the despised race. The school age
was changed so as to include those between four and twenty-one years, and the
number of examiners read "not less than five in each county, nor more than two
in each township."

   On the 2d of March, 1831, an act was passed authorizing the establishment of
a fund to be designated "The Common School Fund," the income to be used for the
support of common schools. All moneys arising from the sale of school lands were
to be put into this fund, and the State guaranteed a certain interest on all
such moneys paid into the State treasury. The county auditors were authorized to
draw said interest and distribute it among the several districts in their
respective counties, to which said lands originally belonged. Donations and
bequests were also put into this fund and used for the same general purpose.
These moneys, however, were to be funded annually, until January 1, 1835, after
which date the interest was divided among the several counties in proportion to
the number of white males over twenty-one years of age residing therein.

   Up to this time women were not eligible as school teachers, for we find that
an act was passed December 23, 1831, allowing directors to employ female
teachers, but the directors had to signify in writing to the school examiners
that it was the desire of the inhabitants of said district to employ "a female
teacher for instructing their children in spelling, reading and writing only."
The examiners were then empowered to give the lady "a special certificate" to
teach those branches. It is unnecessary for the writer to comment on this
injustice; he takes it for granted that the most illiberal of men will agree
with him that this discrimination against women was a grievous wrong and
unworthy of this great Commonwealth. In 1833 other provisions and amendments
were made to the school laws, whose object was to increase their influences, but
no material changes were made in former ones.

   The office of State Superintendent of schools was created March 7,1837, and
made permanent a year from that date. He was elected by the General Assembly for
a term of five years, but on the 23d of March, 1840, the office was abolished,
and the Secretary of State required to perform the duties thereof. In 1838 a
fund of $200,000 was provided for, to be annually distributed among the several
counties, according to the number of white youth, unmarried, between the ages of
four and twenty-one. It was known as the "State Common School Fund," was reduced
March 7, 1842, to $150,000 and again raised to $300,000 on the 24th of March,
1851. By Article VI of the constitution of 1851, it is declared that the
principal of all funds accruing from school lands, donations or bequests, '
'shall forever be preserved inviolate and undiminished.'' It was enacted by the
law of 1838 that the township clerk should be superintendent of schools within
his township, and this law remained in force until the reorganization of the
school laws, in 1853. By this same law the county auditor was endowed with the
position of superintendent of schools throughout the county. The number of
school examiners was reduced to three members for each county, who were
appointed by the court of common pleas.

   On the 16th of March, 1839, an act was passed providing for the establishment
of night schools in towns, wherein male youth over twelve years of age, who
could not attend school in daytime, might be instructed. This law also enacted
that scholars could attend German schools and yet receive their quota of school
money. Subsequently the German language was introduced into the schools as a
part of the regular studies.

   On the 24th of February, 1848, a law was passed authorizing the establishment
of separate schools for colored children. This law was amended in 1849, and was
thought by many to be contrary to the spirit of the constitution, but the
supreme court declared it constitutional. Separate school districts were
authorized to be organized and managed by directors chosen by the adult male
colored tax-payers, whose property was alone chargeable for the support of said
schools. Colored children were not really debarred under the constitution at
that time from attending the schools provided for white children, but it
amounted to about the same thing, as the objection of any parent or guardian
whose children attended said school prevented the attendance of colored youth.
Thus the law existed until 1853, when .the schools for colored children were
placed upon the same basis as those for white. By the law of 1853, boards of
education were directed, whenever the colored youth in any school district
numbered more than thirty, to establish a school for them. This law was so
amended in 1864 that two or more districts could unite for the same purpose.
Much trouble has been caused in different towns by the colored people insisting
on sending their children to the schools for whites. In some places little or no
opposition has been manifested, while in others a bitter struggle resulted. In
the country districts and smaller towns white and colored children usually
attend the same schools, and, as far as the writer has investigated the plan, it
seems to work harmoniously.

   The school law of 1853 made ample provision for the education of every class
and grade of youth within the State. We have seen in the preceding pages that
those who participated in the organization of the Northwest Territory, and
subsequently the State, recognized religion, morality and knowledge as necessary
to good government and the happiness of mankind. We have also seen the gradual
development of education from its earliest inception in the State up to its
present permanent foundation through the law of 1853. Under the present law the
State is divided into school districts as follows: City districts of the first
class, city districts of the second class, village districts, special districts
and township districts. To administer the affairs of the districts, and to look
after and promote the educational interests therein, the law has provided for
the establishment of boards of education in each district. These boards may
acquire real or personal property for the use of their districts, and are
required to establish schools for free education of the youth of school age, and
may establish schools of a higher grade than the primary schools. They are to
determine the studies to be pursued and the text-books to be used in the schools
under their control; to appoint superintendents of schools, teachers and other
employes, and fix their salaries. They are authorized to make such rules and
regulations as they may deem expedient and necessary for the government of the
board, their appointees and pupils.

   The State Commissioner of common schools is elected by the people, and his
official term is three years. He is required to superintend and encourage
teachers' institutes, confer with boards of education or other school officers,
counsel teachers, visit schools and deliver lectures calculated to promote
popular education. He is to have a supervision over the school funds, and has
power by law to require proper returns to be made by the officers who have
duties to perform pertaining to schools or school funds. It is his duty to give
instruction for the organization and government of .schools, and to distribute
the school laws and other documents for the use of school officers. He is
required by law to appoint a board of State Examiners, consisting of three
persons, who hold their office for two years. This board is authorized to issue
life certificates to such teachers as may be found, upon examination, to have
attained "eminent professional experience and ability." These certificates are
valid in any school district in the State, and supersede the necessity of all
other examinations by the county or local boards of examiners. Each applicant
for a State certificate is required to pay a fee of $3.

   There is in each county in the State a board of examiners appointed by the
probate judge, their official term being three years. The law provides that "it
shall be the duty of the examiners to fix upon the time of holding the meetings
for the examination of teachers in such places in their respective counties as
will, in their opinion, best accommodate the greatest number of candidates for
examination, notice of all such meetings being published in some newspaper of
general circulation in their respective counties, and at such meetings any two
of said board shall be competent to examine to applicants and grant
certificates; and as a condition of examination each applicant for a certificate
shall pay the board of examiners a fee of 50 cents." The fees thus received are
set apart as a fund for the support of teachers' institutes.

   In city districts of the first and second class, and village districts having
a population of not less than 2,500, the examiners are appointed by the boards
of education. The fees charged are the same as those of the county boards, and
are appropriated for the same purpose.

   There are, in the different townships, subdistricts, in which the people
elect, annually, a local director, whose term of office continues for three
years. From this it will be seen that each subdistrict has a board consisting of
three directors. These directors choose one of their number as clerk, who
presides at the meetings of local directors, and keeps a record thereof. He also
keeps a record of the proceedings of the annual school meetings of the
subdistrict. The board of education of each township district consists of the
township clerk and the local directors, who have been appointed clerks of the
subdistricts.

   The law provides that "in every district in the State there shall be taken,
between the first Monday in September and the first Monday in October in each
year, an enumeration of all unmarried youth, noting race and sex between six and
twenty-one years of age, resident within the district and not temporarily there,
designating also the number between sixteen and twenty-one years of age, the
number residing in the Western Reserve, the Virginia Military District, the
United States Military District, and in any original surveyed township or
fractional township to which belongs Section 16, or other land in lieu thereof,
or any other lands for the use of schools or any interest in the proceeds of
such land: Provided, that in addition to the classified return of all the youth
residing in the district that the aggregate number of youth in the district
resident of any adjoining county shall be separately given, if any such there
be, and the name of the county in which they reside." The clerk of each board of
education is required to transmit annually to the county auditor an abstract of
the returns of enumeration made to him on or before the second Monday of October.

   The county auditor is required to transmit to the State Commissioner, on or
before the 5th day of November, a duly certified abstract of the enumeration
returns made to him by clerks of school districts. The law provides that "the
Auditor of State shall, annually, apportion the common school funds among the
different counties upon the enumeration and returns made to him by the State
Commissioner of common schools, and certify the amount so apportioned to the
county auditor of each county, stating from what sources the same is derived,
which said sum the several county treasurers shall retain in their respective
treasuries from the State funds; and the county auditors shall, annually, and
immediately after their annual settlement with the county treasurers, apportion
the school funds for their respective counties according to the enumeration and
returns in their respective offices."

   The law provides that the school year shall begin on the 1st day of September
of each year, and close on the 31st of August of the succeeding year. A school
week shall consist of five days, and a school month of four school weeks. The
law also provides, in relation to common schools, that they shall be "free to
all youth between six and twenty-one years of age who are children, wards or
apprentices of actual residents of the school district, and no pupil shall be
suspended therefrom except for such time as may be necessary to convene the
board of education of the district, or local director of the subdistrict, nor be
expelled unless by a vote of two-thirds of said board of local directors, after
the parent or guardian of the offending pupil shall have been notified of the
proposed expulsion, and permitted to be heard against the same; and no scholar
shall be suspended or expelled from the privilege of schools beyond the current
term: Provided, that each board of education shall have power to admit other
persons, not under six years of age, upon such terms or upon the payment of such
tuition as they prescribe; and boards of education of city, village or special
districts shall also have power to admit, without charge or tuition, persons
within the school age who are members of the family of any freeholder whose
residence is not within such district, if any part of such freeholder's
homestead is within such district; and Provided, further, that the several
boards of education shall make such assignments of the youth of their respective
districts to the schools established by them, as will, in their opinion, best
promote the interests of education in their districts; and Provided, further,
that nothing contained in this section shall supersede or modify the provisions
of Section 31 of an act entitled ' an act for the reorganization, supervision
and maintenance of common schools, passed March 14, 1853, as amended March 18,
1864.'"

   Provision is made by law for the establishment and maintenance of teachers'
institutes, which are established for the professional improvement of teachers.
At each session competent instructors and lecturers are employed to assist the
State Commissioner, who is required by law to superintend and encourage such
institutes. They are either county, city or joint institutes of two or more
counties, and the examination fees paid by teachers to boards of examiners are
devoted to the payment of the expenses incurred by these instructions.

   Every youth in Ohio under twenty-one years of age may have the benefit of a
public school education, and since the system of graded and high schools has
been adopted, may obtain a general knowledge from the alphabet to the classics.
The enumerated branches of study in the public schools of this State are about
thirty-four, including mathematics and astronomy, French, German and the
classics. Thus, Ohio, which was in the heart of the wilderness one hundred years
ago, and has been a State only eighty-three years, now presents to the world not
merely an unrivaled development of material prosperity, but a very good system
of popular education.


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