History of Hardin County, Iowa 1883 - Hardin County Education

Hardin County >> 1883 Index

History of Hardin County, Iowa
Springfield, Ill: Union Publishing Company, 1883.

Education

J. M. Comstock, the second Superintendent of Public Schools of Hardin county, was born in Northern Ohio, and came to Hardin county in the spring of 1858, and located in Steamboat Rock, where he was employed as a clerk in a dry goods store.  In 1859 he was nominated and elected to the office of Superintendent, and served one term.  He subsequently moved to Grundy county, and was there elected Clerk of the District Courts.

Edwin Fuller, the first Superintendent of Public Schools, was a native of Ohio.  He came to Hardin county in the fall of 1857.  By profession he was a physician.  In 1858 he was elected Superintendent of Common Schools of Hardin county, and served one year.  In that time he laid the ground work for future Superintendents.  In 1860 he left Eldora for Nevada, where he remained for a time, and then went to Kansas, where he died.

Howard G. Fuller, the present Superintendent of Common Schools of Hardin county, is a lawyer by profession.  He was born in Warren county, New York, January 5, 1850.  In 1846 his father, Garrett Fuller, came to Iowa and located a lot of land in Jackson county and then returned to New York.  Shortly after Howard's birth the family came out and settled upon the land Mr. Fuller had located, Howard had but few advantages for securing an education when a boy, and it was not until he had attained nearly to manhood, when the value of an education became apparent to him, that he put forth any great effort for mental culture.

He came to Eldora in 1871, and attended for a few weeks what was known as the Eldora Academy.  In the winters of 1872-3, he engaged as teacher of the primary department of the school at Xenia.  His success may be inferred from the fact that he was soon made principal of the school, a position he held for six years.  He was afterward principal of the school at Union for three years, and was elected County Superintendent of the schools of Hardin county in the fall of 1881.

Mr. Fuller is a self-educated man, a thorough, practical teacher, and a popular and successful superintendent.  He has also found time to devote to his favorite study, that of the law, and was admitted to the Bar in March, 1881.  His wife was Maria E. Leonard, a former teacher of Hardin county.  They have three children:  Thaddeus L., Arthur L., and Harry L.

L. S. McCoy was first elected to the office of Superintendent in 1875, and re-elected in 1877.

L. S. McCoy, a native of Ohio, was born in Ganges, Richland county, February 28, 1837. He is the son of John C. and Levina (Ayers) McCoy. In 1839 his parents moved to Morgan county, Mo. He received his early education from his mother, and was instructed by his father, he was a physician, in Physiology, Chemistry and Latin. In 1855 the family moved to Livingston county, Mo. In 1858 he became editor and proprietor of the Utica Times, a paper whose sentiments partook considerably of Unionism. His office and contents were destroyed by fire in 1860, the origin of which was always a mystery. In 1861 he enlisted in Company E, Regiment of Merrill's Horse, so named by J. S. Fremont. He soon after returned to his home, and there fulfilled a promise made to an old colored woman belonging to his father. He bought her freedom and liberated her. He was always loyal to the Union, and let no opportunity pass without expressing himself. He madr the first abolition speech ever made at Chillicothe, Mo. In 1858 he began the study of law, and in 1863 was admitted to the Bar. In 1863 he made a study of military tactics, and was soon after appointed to the captaincy of a company, from which he was honorably discharged at Baton Rouge August 15, 1865. After the war he was engaged in journalism at Kingston, Mo. He started a paper devoted to universal suffrage. In 1869 he lost his first wife; she was Miss Catharine G. Newman, to whom he was married May 3, 1860. He then attended Washington University at St. Louis, and in 1872 he was married to Mrs. Sarah L. Roberts, and came immediately to Eldora, and was appointed Deputy County Surveyor, and afterward elected to that office. He was afterward elected County Superintendent of Schools, which office he filled with credit to himself and entire satisfaction tro the county, for six years.

Enos P. Stubbs was born in the town of West Elkton, Preble county, Ohio, in 1834.  His parents were members of the Society of Friends.  He was educated for a teacher, receiving special training for that profession.  He began teaching at the age of nineteen, and followed that business for many years.  He came to Hardin county in 1862, and bought a farm in this township, on which he lived for eight or nine years; he then resumed teaching, was elected to the office of County Superintendent of Schools in 1869, and served in that capacity two years.  He has always been deeply interested in the cause of education, and during his term as County Superintendent several normal institutes were held, the first held in the State.   There were productive of a largely increased interest in the cause of education in Hardin county, and also served to introduce advanced methods of imparting instruction.   Mr. Stubbs was one of the committee who planned the academy building at New Providence.  This academy is still in successful operation.  He was County Surveyor of Hardin county for several years ending January 1, 1882, when he resigned that position.  He has been engaged in the sale of farm implements for several years.   Mr. Stubbs married Mary H. Hunt in December, 1855.  They have six children, five sons and one daughter.