Shawnee County Schools
"Columbian History of Kansas Schools"
Shawnee County, by Josiah Jordan, 1893
The early history of education in Shawnee county cannot be made up from official records; in fact, very little of the early work in the schools of Shawnee county
was recorded in any manner, and it is only by a diligent search through old letters,
newspapers and miscellaneous documents in possession of old settlers, and owing
to the fact that the writer is somewhat of an antediluvian himself, that some information has been gleaned that may be found of interest to the student of educational
progress. There is no doubt that the unwritten history of the early 50's would
make what Jim Lane used to call "mighty interesting reading."
The records in the county superintendent's office furnish very little information
as to the schools previous to 1865. The reports from that date to 1880 are more
complete, and the reports from 1880 to 1892 are full and in excellent order.
In 1855, there were several private schools in the county. It is not possible to
ascertain when the first school was opened. Miss Sarah C. Harlan taught a school
in Topeka in the fall of this year. The school was held in a small shanty made of
cottonwood boards, until the first snowfall. This had a depressing effect. The
teacher got married, thus establishing a dangerous precedent, which her followers
have maintained to this day. In the spring of 1856, private schools were taught in
Topeka by Miss Jennie Allen and Miss Carrie Whiting. Schools of this character
were also in progress at this time at Rochester, Tecumseh, Auburn, and other parts
of the county. Only a partial list of names of these pioneer teachers of the early
50's can be obtained. The names are: Sarah Harlan, Jennie Allen, Sarah Allen, Carrie Whiting, Olive Packard, Maria Bowker, Phoebe R. Plummer, and Jennie Penfield.
It must be remembered that these teachers were the sisters, wives and daughters
of that sturdy, patriotic class of pioneers who came to Kansas not only to subdue
the prairie sod and make homes for themselves, but they came to uphold and fight,
if need be, for the great principle of human liberty involved in the free-State issue.
Those brave women who gathered about them in sod houses and log cabins the children of "Bleeding Kansas" are, perhaps, more deserving of a place in history than
are some of the more noisy "statesmen" of that period. But those women teachers
left a monument more enduring, more precious to the State, than any marble shaft
or stately granite tomb. The barefoot boy who went trudging across the prairie to
school, his ragged straw hat just visible above the prairie grass and golden rod, is
the patriotic, active, pushing citizen, the "Kansas man" of 1893. The West knows
him and respects him, the East is just getting acquainted with him, and the world
will know him quite well before the "Fair" is over.
In 1858 and 1859, the tide of immigration to Kansas and Shawnee county swelled
proportionately as the echoes of the border war died away. Men came with their
families and their goods, and settled down to stay. Shawnee county was soon
fairly well settled with a most desirable class of citizens. The schools began to assume a more systematic condition.
In 1859, Rev. R. M. Fish was elected county superintendent of schools. The oldest document on file in the superintendent's office is a notice of the organization of
district No. 8, known as Rice district. It is dated July 30, 1859. There is no doubt
that Superintendent Fish organized several districts under the territorial law this
year, as the report of the Territorial Superintendent of Schools reports 14 districts
in the county organized in 1859.
The schoolhouses were mostly built of logs. The writer well remembers the first
schoolhouse built in district No. 11, where he was taught his letters. The house
was built in 1862. The logs were bought of Burnett, the chief of the Pottawatomie
tribe, who died on the banks of the Shunganunga, a lazy stream that flows peacefully along the shadow of Burnett's Mound, a familiar landmark to the inhabitants
of Shawnee county. Our fathers hauled the logs with ox teams, and built the schoolhouse on the Fitzpatrick homestead, near the Burlingame road. The house was
"chinked" between the logs with sticks, stones, and mortar; but certain lawless,
tow-headed boys would ofttimes knock the chinking out, in consequence of which
acts the ventilation was all that could be desired — rather more than was agreeable,
in fact, on cold mornings.
But the first school in this district was held in a log shanty owned by the Rev.
Jesse Stone. It stood near the present home of Perry T. Foster. The first school
was taught in 1857, by Miss Olive Packard, a live Yankee girl of 16 summers. Her
career as teacher was cut short by the arrival of a certain young man, who persuaded her to change her name to Mrs. Wm. Owen, and again the ranks of Shawnee
county teachers met a loss. But Mrs. Owen did not lose her interest in the educational affairs of the county, as she is the mother of 10 living children, five of whom
have taught school in Shawnee county.
School district No. 23, now the city of Topeka, was well supplied with schools,
judging from the local papers of that time. The Emigrant Aid Society erected a
four-room brick schoolhouse, near the corner of Fifth and Harrison streets, in 1856.
The Topeka Association afterwards bought the building of the aid society, and used
it as a public schoolhouse for a number of years. In the fall of 1859, November 20,
D. B. Emmert opened an evening commercial school in Museum Hall, Topeka.
The Topeka Normal School opened in the brick schoolhouse, above mentioned,
in November, 1859. The advertisement states that Prof. C. W. Bowen, A. M., was
principal, and Miss Jennie Penfield, preceptress. The Topeka Academy, E. B.
Conklin, principal, assisted by Mrs. H. E. Conklin, Mary E. Steele, and Clara Foster, opened September 12, 1859. The announcement was made that the following
branches would be taught: Reading, spelling, writing, arithmetic, geography, grammar, U. S. history, Latin, Greek, and music on the piano and melodeon. In 1860,
W. W. Ross, clerk of district No. 23, made a report, giving the names and ages of
all the persons over five and under 21 years of age in the district (Topeka). The
total number was 191. There were 50 enrolled in school. On March 12, 1860, Miss
Mary Pickett opened a select school at the brick schoolhouse. Her terms for tuition were $3 per month.
In 1860, the clerk of district No. 1 (Auburn) reported 108 pupils of school age,
and an enrollment of 86. Miss Brigham taught a nine-months school, receiving $32
per month. District No. 3 (Wakarusa) reported 21 children residing in the district.
A six-months school was taught three months by "Mr. Thomas" and three months
by "Miss Holliday." The district clerks in those days did not bother themselves or
the superintendent with the teachers' given names. Mr. Thomas was paid $20 per
month, and Miss Holliday $10 per month. It is to be presumed that Miss Holliday
"boarded around." District No. 20, Geo. B. Holmes, clerk, reported a three months
school taught by Miss Sarah W. Austin, who received $12 per month and board.
The following notation is made by the clerk: "Bill for board of teacher, $24. We
shall probably be able to raise enough money to pay our teacher her wages, but not
enough to pay the board bill." District No. 22, now College Hill, reported a three-months school in 1860, taught by Jane F. Nichols. District No. 4 maintained a
four-months school, and paid the teacher $25 per month. Seventeen children attended school. Robert Simmerwell was district clerk.
The drouth of 1860 is still remembered by those living here at the time; and it
was owing to the failure of crops and general hard times that more than half the
districts in the county failed to sustain any school. A great many of the homes
were deserted; the prairie, parched and desolate, was dotted with empty houses.
All honor to that noble band of teachers who kept the sacred fires of education
burning throughout those days of trial, while the hot winds withered the grass,
burned the corn, and dried up the springs. It was indeed a year long to be remembered by Kansas people. John Brown's death, the election of Abraham Lincoln and
the intense political excitement of the times all serve to impress other events of a
peaceful nature on the mind of the old timer.
In 1861, Rev. Peter McVicar was elected county superintendent. The civil war
began, and Shawnee county sent many of her best men to the front. The reports of
this year are meager, and indicate that but little was done in the line of education.
But one clerk's report can be found for 1861 which shows a school taught during
the year. James S. Griffing, of district No. 8, reports a three-months school, taught
by Miss Marcia Pierce. She was paid $30 per month — an indication of the subsequent "war prices." Sixteen pupils were enrolled. Reports from a number of the
strongest districts in the county show that no schools were in session in those districts. Of course, schools were maintained at Topeka, Auburn, Tecumseh, and perhaps two or three other points, but it seems that they were private schools.
In 1863, 20 clerks reported to the county superintendent that there were 978
pupils of school age (5 to 21) in the county, 593 of whom were enrolled. The average daily attendance for the entire year was 395. The average length of school
term was four months. The teaching was done by 18 women and 2 men, who received a total amount of $1,280.10. In 1865, nine more clerks reported than in 1863.
The total number of pupils of school age had increased in two years from 978 to
1,499. The enrollment had almost doubled, being 1,022. There were 37 women
employed in the county as teachers, who received an average salary of $28.50 per
month. The five men teachers employed this year received an average of $41.20
per month. A steady increase in school population is shown until 1870, when there
were 4,500 pupils of school age in the county, nearly five times as many as there
were seven years before. The number of districts had increased from 14, in 1860, to
57, in 1870. There were 3,000 children enrolled, with an average daily attendance of
1,670. The school term averaged 6 months in length. There were 85 teachers in
the county. The men were paid $50 per month, the women $35. It is interesting
to note that the average wages of women teachers has gradually been nearing that
of the men for the past 30 years in Shawnee county. The highest wages of any
teacher in 1892, in the district schools of the county, is paid to a woman. The next
highest is also paid to a woman. District No. 83 pays Miss Emma P. Cooper $85
per month, and district No. 97 pays Miss Eliza Nagle $80 per month. Nine women
teachers in Shawnee county receive $60 per month and upward this Columbian
year.
In 1880, a most astonishing increase in school population is shown. Let us
compare the statistics for 1880 with those of 1870. In 1870, the school population
was 4,500; in 1880, 9,258 — more than double. In 1870, there were 3,000 pupils enrolled; in 1880, we find more than twice that number, viz., 6,077. The average daily
attendance has increased from 1,670 to 3,542. In the year 1880, there were built
nine schoolhouses, making a total of 91 in the county. In 1870, there were 52 in the
county, six of which were made of logs. During the decade from 1870 to 1880, the
last log schoolhouse disappeared, from the reports, at least.
The report for 1892 is before us, and we briefly summarize it, as follows: There
are 98 organized school districts in the county. The school population is 17,079.
There are 10,797 children enrolled as pupils, with an average daily attendance of
7,472. It takes 228 teaohers to train this little army — 82 men and 143 women. The
men receive an average salary of $58 per month, the women $50 per month. The
value of the school property of the county is estimated at $671,232. There are 240
schoolrooms in the county. The amount of money raised and collected for school
purposes during the year was $256,000; the amount paid out, $197,000; leaving a
balance on hand for the year of $59,000.
The educational system of the county is in a most satisfactory condition, although far from perfect. In 1889, the present (1892) superintendent introduced a
plan of gradation and classification which has unified the work of the county materially. A systematic record of the work of each pupil is kept in a permanent register, separate from the attendance register. A new teacher can, by referring to
this, ascertain just what work has been done by the pupils the previous term. Reports of the classification, gradation and standing of each pupil are sent twice each
year to the superintendent — at the end of the first month and at the end of the term.
A uniform system of text-books is used throughout the county, having been
adopted September, 1891, for a period of five years. The books in use are as follows: Barnes's series of readers; White's two-book series of arithmetics; Butler's
geographies, descriptive and physical; Reed's Speller; Hutchinson's Laws of Health,
and "The House I Live in," a primary physiology; the Eclectic United States History; Harvey's English Grammar; Powell's "How to Talk;" Roudebush's Writing
System; Thomson's Intellectual Arithmetic; Thomson's Algebra; Gage's Physics;
Williams & Rogers's Bookkeeping; Graphic Object Drawing; the International Dictionary; Townsend's Shorter Course in Civil Government; and Canfield's Local
Government in Kansas.
Soon after the adoption of these books, the writer prepared a "Course of Study
for the Schools of Shawnee County," which is now in use. It is adapted to the needs
of the teacher in the district school, and makes th~ gradation of the district school
practicable.
The normal institutes of Shawnee county have been a great help to the teachers.
There were few institutes held in the early days. The first institute ever held in
the county was April 21, 22, and 23, 1865. Lectures were given by Rev. P. McVicar,
Prof. C. H. Haynes, and Hon. I. T. Goodnow. Discussions of practical questions of
interest to teachers were also held. In 1876, a four-weeks normal institute was held.
Miss Una Hebron, who was then county superintendent, managed the institute, and
it was very successful. In 1877, a normal-institute law was passed, requiring each
county superintendent to hold a normal institute in his respective county, for a
term of not less than four weeks. Under the provisions of this law, successful normal institues have been held each year.
Teachers' associations have been maintained regularly since 1880. Previous to
that time they were not very successful or regular. A program is prepared and
printed in September each year for the entire school year. The meetings are usually held on the afternoon of the first Saturday in each month. Papers are read and
discussed; current events are discussed; scientific and literary topics are introduced.
The teachers derive great benefit from these meetings. In 1892, a new feature was
added, lectures by prominent men of Topeka being given every other month. This
has proved a pleasing and satisfactory innovation, and it is quite likely that it will
be a permanent feature in the association programs of the future.
The school buildings of the present are of a somewhat different style of architecture from that of 30 years ago. Instead of the rough log structure standing on a
slope of prairie surrounded by a wealth of wild grass, golden rod, and wild roses,
forming a romantic and picturesque subject for poet or painter, the Shawnee county
schoolhouse of 1892 is of a more practical and prosy nature. It is generally built
of wood, is neatly painted, and usually surrounded by a neat fence, and by graceful
shade trees. In a district before mentioned, where the writer learned his ABCs,
the old log house has been replaced by a handsome frame structure, with a low porch
in front, surmounted by a stately belfry. It is finished tastefully inside, and has
two cloakrooms, and a library well filled with choice reading matter for all grades.
The school is well supplied with the latest maps, charts, globes, blackboards, and is
seated with handsome, comfortable furniture.
One district, No. 35, has built a brick schoolhouse costing $10,000; and there are
several that cost $4,000 and upward. Nearly one-half the schools are supplied with
good libraries. Many school boards furnish daily papers, magazines and literary
papers for daily use in the schoolroom.
It must be said that there are a few districts in Shawnee county that have almost
stood still for 30 years. There are schoolhouses that are dirty, out of repair,
yards unfenced, outhouses in a disgraceful condition, windows broken, no school
apparatus. But such schoolhouses are rare exceptions.
The lowest wages paid any teacher in 1892 was $30 per month. There is a growing demand for trained teachers. The school men and school women and the
parents are realizing that it does not pay to train teachers at the expense of their
own children. They see the advantage of good normal schools, and the time is not
far distant when a young man or woman will not attempt to teach in a public
school without first having received some professional training.
On the 21st day of October, 1892, the schools of Shawnee county observed the
four hundredth anniversary of the greatest discovery the world has ever known.
"Columbus Day" was more generally observed, and in a more fitting manner, than
has been any other special-day observance in the history of the .county. Nearly every
schoolhouse raised a flag and followed the official program, as prepared by the national committee. It is common in most of the schools of the county to observe
Washington's birthday, and quite a number of the schools have had flags floating
over them for several years.
The public schools are a source of pride to the people of Shawnee county. They
recognize in them a fuller source of power, and an intellectual force more potent
than that of the fabled Hercules in the physical world. They see, in the patriotic,
energetic, busy boys in the public schools at the close of the nineteenth century, a
foreshadowing of the high-minded, intelligent, God-fearing citizen of the great
American republic, who will enter the twentieth century equipped for the high destiny awaiting him.
When the five hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America shall be held, let
it be held in Kansas — the exact geographical center of the greatest republic the
world has ever seen. At that time, the center of population will have shifted far to
the westward, and Shawnee county will be near the center of the most remarkable
agricultural region on the face of the globe; the Anglo-Saxon will have long since
ceased his restless and resistless march towards the setting sun, and will have quietly
settled down in the bosom of the American continent, there to solve the great problems of future centuries.
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