The county of Eaton, Michigan : topography, history, art folio and directory of freeholders / Bullock, Taggart & Morrell, topographers and publishers.

F^ nnns.nflnnnnn

W " " AIW " AOW.AV " " " AMF AW " " ASF " AW AV IdWr AOW AW " AW -"--AAV AV AV IMF AW MW "F -Affdir. IýV Aý-ýW dý- - --IM

112:--dafty MW Omr AMEW Anisr -ý

70
S'iHOOLS OF EATON COUNTY.
By Rev. CHARLES McKENNEY, A. M., B. S.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The author of
this sketch wishes to puiblicly express his
obligation to Hon. Frank A. Hooker,
Hon. Daniel Strange, and Mr. George W.
Sherwood for valuable information fron
which he has freely quoted.
On January 26, 1837, the last necessary step was taken by Congress, and
Michigan became a state.
The population of the new state was
87,278, centered mostly 'in the southeastern portion. There were but few
organized counties and Eaton was
joined to Calhoun till 1839, and had in
1837 not to exceed 300"inhabitants.
It was the good fortune of Michigan
that the foundation of her school system should be laid by such wise master-builders as Gen. Isaac E. Crary and
Rev. John D. Pierce, both of MLarshall.
Mr. Pierce was the first to hold the
office of Superintendent of Public'Instruction, filling the position for five
years, and to him more than any other,
is due the credit for whatever worth
and excellence our school system possesses. His general plan was to have
a free public school in reach of every
family,schools for academic training at
favorable places in the state and a
university for higher education. With
some modifications the public school
system of Michigan.today is the same
as planned by Father Pierce.
The early settlers of Eaton county
were mostly from New York and states
lying farther east, and brought into the
Western wilds the love of education
which has ever characterized the people
of New England and their descendants.
They determined that the privations of
pioneer life should not rob their children of at least a common school education, and soon after the scattered clearings, each with with its rude fashioned
log house, appeared the settlers joined
in rolling up the log building which
should be the home of the district
scchool. In some instances, as in
Oneida and Sunfield, a school was kept
in a settler's home before the school
house was built.
In 1835 the territorial council passed
a bill organizing certain townships, one
of which was Belleville (Bellevue) including all of Eaton county. The
township now known as Bellevue' contained about twenty-five families and
here the first school in the county was
taught by Hepsebeth Hutchinson in
1816. It is fitting that the name of
this pioneer teacher should go on record and should be remembered by the
never ending line of educators in Eaton
county who, under more favorable conditions, shall carryon the work she so
faithfully begun.
The Inspector's report for 1836 gives

the valuation of school property at $70,
the number of children, between five
and sixteen, as fifty-six,-and the total
attendance seventy-two. For ten
months school $61 were paid, the rate
of wages being $1.50 per week. It is
not staled that the teacher " Loarded
'round " Lut we may safely conclude
that the blessed experience was hers.
Gradually settlers began to locate in
the other parts of the county, and in
1837 schools were taught in Eaton Ralpids and Hamlin, though the townships
were not then organized. A glance at
table 1 will show how rapidly pioneers
pushed into all parts of the county, and
how the school teacher, the pioneer of
education and.'culture, was abroad in
the land to train the children who grew
- as ple-fitifAi1-Pnd- robist as "the peachblow potatoesivhich [,the settlei s
planted between the roots of beech and

oak stumps. Benton and Windsor were
the last townships to support schools,
but in 1843 schools were taught in every
township in the county.
The limitations of pioneer life were
well reflected in the school facilities of
that early day. School house architecture had not reached the -classical period. One common type prevailed. The
school house was usually made of unhewn logs with the bark still adhering.
The crevises were stopped by fitting in
split sticksand mud. Long shakes, split
from ash or oak, covered the roof; the
windows were few and small and the
door turned on wooden hinges. A
huge slick chimney often relieved the
monotony of outline at one end. Knotholes in the logs often became the
homes of yellow jackets and bees and
not unfrequently snakes would be seen
coiled on a projecting end enjoying a
sun-bath till the recess or noon hour
literally verified the prophecy that the
seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head.
The exterior of the building" was prophetic of what was to be found within.
Rude logs formed the walls; planks
hewn from logs with an ax made the
floor. Soon, however, sawmills were
started in the county and the ax-hewn
planks gave way to the product of the
mills. A huge fire place filled one end
of the room and baked to a crisp those
who sat near it while those farther away
were shaking with the chill. On the
sides, and at one end of the room, desks
were made against the wall by boring
holes into the logs, and driving in pegs
on which boards were fastened. In
front of these rude desks were benches
made by splitting a log in hialves and
inserting legs under the convex side.
The pupils while using these desks sat
with their backs to the teacher and
when classes were called they rightabout-faced by lifting their feet over
the benches on which they sat. In this
position only did they have backs to
their seats and they were formed by the
-sharp edges of the desk.
Books, whose names long since ceased
to be heard in school circles, were studied by the barefoot lads and lassies of
fifty years ago. Mitchels geography,
Adams' arithmetic, McGuffy's readers
Webster's an d Townsend's spellers were
the most commonand the attics of modern houses contain mutilated copies of
these books that puzzled while they
developed the brains of the children of
the 40's. But while these books were
common they by no means exhausted
the list, for " uninformity of textbooks'
was much farther away then than to

day. As a rule each child studied the
_. books which chanced to be in use in the
place whence he came, be the place
New York, Massachusetts, Perinsylvania, Ohio, or Canada. Few branches
were taught, and the three R's,"readin',
writin' and 'rithmetic " with spelling,
claimed almost the sole attention.
Grammar was rarely studied and not
till very recently did history, civil government, and physiology find a place
in the district school curriculum. In
very many instances the teachers were
poorly qualified and methods were of
the shake-roof and ash-bench order and
yet, in the rude log school houses, pouring over these ill-constructed books,
guided, and often misguided, by the
teachers, sat the boys and girls who,
'as men and..oniienr, hlave shaped the
destiny, made the honorable present

and made possible the more honorable
future of Eaton county.
Educational enthusiasm which now
finds vent in so many ways had its
chief outlet in early days in the spelling school. Of the spelling school,
Hon. Daniel Strange writes the following: " The spelling school was an important and frequent institution in
Onedia for a quarter of a century. I
have known a crew of young men to
capture a pair of wild steers, never
before yoked, and hitching them to a
sled; push and pull them to the middle
of the-road, and with a whoop and hurrah, go merrily off to spelling school.
If the sled tipped over or became entangled p,mong the stumps there were
enough on hand to right all again, and
he was a luckless wight who failed to
catch tne sled when the steers again
started on the run. Of course the more
orthodox and satisfactory way was
with a staid yoke of oxen and a long
sleigh, with the box half filled with
straw, but without other seats, the
boys and girls sitting closely huddled,
while practicing the spelling of such
intricate words as 'necessary,' 'separate,' etc.
"You ask after the value of the spelling school. It was inestimable. It was
the most important social institution of
the day. It was there Ifound my wife.
In an educational sense its pirice was
above rubies. I knew a young man
fitting for a spelling contest, who began spelling on Sunday morning, and
with different members of the family
to pronounce words to him, he spelled
till ten o'clock at night without missing a word. But he failed to win the
contest, for though he had mastered
four spelling books he had not learned
all the words in the Geography. One
who learned to spell at these contests
has recently written a treatise of 200,COO words, and assures me that in writing the whole he consulted the dictionary for the spelling of but one word."
The following graphic account of the
old-timie spelling school is from the pen
of Mr. Geo. W. Sherwood, who is well
known throughout the county as a believer in the spelllngschool, and as a
dangerous antagonist in the lists:
'What a multitude of reminiscenses
crowd thick and fast upon the memory
as we contemplate the 'old-time spelling school.' Looming up in our mental vision stands the old log school
house with its stick chimney, its long
writing desk next to the wail, with
oblong windows running parallel therewith, the big benches and the little
benches, the long birchen whip on a

couple of nails, just back of the teacher's desk in handy reach on short notice,. and off in one corner that most
dreaded and mortifying seat, 'the
dunce block,' and last but not least the
old-fashioned schoolmaster, with goosequill pen over his left ear, rule in hand,
pacing back and forth the room with
all the assumed dignity of a country
judge. All these old-time relics in panoramic view come up before me as I
ruminate on this subject-relies of the
long ago that this rising generation
know but very little about. Being
myself a student in those days, w'ell do
I remember with what joy and gladness every scholar hailed the announcement from the teacher that 'on Friday
evening we will have a spelling school,'
acgompanied with the remark that
the -adjoining districts would probAtly
'catch on' and be out in force, and that

we had better be prepared for them.
With what renewed energy would the
industrious scholar betake himself -to
the old 'elementary' in looking up all
the hard words, if in so doing hle might
perchance be able to 'take down' the
whole school.
"Night after night lhe may be
seen by the dim light of his
hickory torch pouring over his spelling
book until he becomes fully satisfied
there is no word in that book he cannot spell. Again what a, thrill of joy
vibrates his every nerve as he contemplates the possibility of his being chosen
by one of the captains in the coming
contest, to sit beside the modest and
fascinating blue-eyed Mary Jane, the
prettiest girl in school, and thereby be
afforded a most golden opportunity to
engage her company home after shool
is out, much to the chagrin of that
'other fellow,' his most hated rival.
But to my subject-the old-fashioned
spelling school in Eaton County. It
may not be amiss to mention right here,
for the benefit of those who may never
have attended one, the 'modus operandi' of an old-fashioned spelling
school, which consists simply in extending a general invitation to meet at
a certain time and place for a friendly
contest in spelling. Having convened,
the first thing in order is to elect a
moderator, whose duty it is to keep
tally of all the words lost and gained
on either side, and, in conjunction with
the teacher, to settle all difficulties
that may arise in the contest. Next [in
order is tihe election of two captains,
whose duty it is to choose sides; they
generally draw cuts for first choice.
Having chosen all that care to spell,
the contest is now ready to co:nmence.
If any teachers are present from adjoining districts, out of courtesy they
are generally invited to take part in
pronouncing words. After spending
about an hour in this exercise the
teacher calls a halt and requests the
moderator to report, which of course
plainly shows which side has gained
the victory. A recess of fifteen minutes is now taken, when the 'dewks are
cleared' for the final contest in 'spellinm down.' Now is the time the average scholar feels a slight shock to his
nervous system. Confidence, or lack of
it, now plainly asserts itself. Having
taken their places the teacher commences by pronouncing the first word
of that old familiar lesson, 'ail-to be
in trouble,-and the trouble commences. One after another they go
down like shocks of corn before the
wind until there are but two left standing. The cross-firing now becomes fast

and furious, and the feeling runs high
as it is observed that one of these belongs to a neighboring district and is
considered a champion of that school,
while the other is of our own home
school, and from the merry twinkle of
his eye is plain to be seen that he feels
himself master of the situation, andlhas
'come to stay.' A word finally strikes
the former like a thunderbolt, when all
eyes are centered on him as he hesitates, not knowing whether to say
'ion' or 'eon.' It is a critical moment,
on which hangs possible victory or
sure defeat.'. He finally guesses, and
guesses correctly; his friends breathe a
sigh of relief and the battle goes on.
Back and forth the words fly in quick
succession, when another one strikes
the champion 'amidship' and d/own he
goes all in a heap, and thus e'ds the
contest in favor of the home suihool.

"4It is with much regret that I learn
on careful inquiry that for the last fifteen or twenty years the old-fashioned
spelling school in the majority of districts in this county has been most
sadly neglected.. This is very lamentable, for nothing is of more importance
in writing than good spelling. Poor
penmanehip may be excused, but poor
spelling, in this age of free schools,
never. 0
It is of interest in the light of Mr.
Sherwood's closing lines to know that
the Superintendent of Public Instruction is endeavoring to revive the interest in spelling by stimulating contests
somewhat of the nature of the spelling
school of early days.
Another educational institution,
fruitful of unmeasured good, was the
singing school. It gave play to social
impulses, besides cultivating an art
which added cheer to the home and interest and power to religious gatherings. During the winter months a
singing teacher would organize schools
in adjoining districts, to be held on
different nights, thus occupying each
night of the week Merry loads of
young people from one district would
visit another and in not a few instances.
Fires of love were kindled then that
barn on warmly yet. The following
sketch of the old time singing school
is from the pen of Mr. Strange:
"If the spelling school was golden
the singing school was solid silver, not
yet demonetized. James Bailey, father
of E. H. Bailey of Charlotte, taught

our first singing schools. A great
bulky lad of seven, I was sent along as
escort to my elder sister. I remember
well his quaint English accent as he
counted wan, tu; wan, tu, sing. I
learned 'do' was on the addedline, 'mi'
on the first line, 'sol' upon the second
line and so on for the eight notes.
Imagine my surprise to learn later that
'do'was on the second line. I mastered
this key with some courage, but when
the following week 'do' took another
skip, I refused to follow, and would
sing only when the music was in my
two keys.
"Do you askthe value of the pioneer
singing school? 'By their fruits ye
shall know them.' Previous to the
singing school we had in our neighborhood two singers, my aunt Sally and a
negro. When a hymn was read,they
would consult together and he would
whistle a tune half through, in a whisper, to see if it would fit. If it did not
fit, he would try another until one in
the right meter was found, when she
would lead the tune and he would follow at a respectable distance. Young
people were present but not one of
them could sing. After the course of
lessons by Mr. Bailey, a choir was organized that would do credit to any
country church today. Our first chorister has since led the choirs in many
villages and cities; our second has led a
church choir in Lansing, and our third
led the chappel singing at a Michigan
college for three full years.
"One who had noinstruction in music,
beyond the Eaton county singing
schools of thirty and forty yeaas ago,
has written sacred music which has
met the approval of criticts, and though
the harmony is somewhat erratic, the
wonder is, as Josh Billings said of
woman's preaching and a dog s walking
on two legs, that he could do it at all.'"
with the singing schools of -twenty-five
years ago, can endorse Mr. Strange's

/NSA~