first schools, private institutions—establishment of public schools—early schools and pioneer teachers—district schools—statistics—manual training—atchison county high school—county superintendents of public instruction—atchison city schools—private schools—mt. st. scholastica’s academy—parochial schools—midland college and western theological seminary—st. benedict’s college.
during the turmoil and confusion that accompanied the movement of population into atchison when the town and county were organized, the question of schools appeared to be a secondary one. it was not until the bitter days of 1854, 1855 and 1856 had passed that the attention of the people was directed to this important question. the first schools in atchison were private institutions, and a number of them flourished until after the beginning of the civil war. among those which were first in the educational field here was the baptist seminary, at the northeast corner of eleventh and santa fe streets. it was a school for young women and was conducted by mr. stork. later mrs. lizzie abbott, who afterwards became the wife of judge cassius c. foster, conducted a young ladies’ school at the northeast corner of sixth and laramie streets, and in the eighties miss mary teasdale conducted a private school at the same place. miss lizzie bay, the daughter of hugh bay, a prosperous farmer living southwest of atchison, was also active in early day educational affairs, and so was mrs. amanda blair, at that time miss amanda meeker, who is a resident of atchison in 1916. mrs. blair was the first teacher in atchison county. while there was no activity in educational affairs during the period just mentioned, the first territorial legislature did, in fact, pass a law in the summer of 1855 providing for the establishment 267of common schools, but the history of the atchison county school system did not begin until 1858. the city of atchison, district number 1, was organized august 5, 1858. on september 13th of that year a meeting was held in the law office of franklin b. adams, and the following school officers were elected: james a. coulter, director; dr. william grimes, treasurer, and franklin g. adams, clerk. o. f. short was the other member. phillip d. plattenburg, who had previously served as county superintendent of fulton county, illinois, was elected principal of the schools and mrs. blair his assistant. school was opened the first week in november, in two rooms over bury’s grocery store, on the corner of fourth and commercial streets, where the y. m. c. a. building now stands. the next year the corps of teachers had increased to four, and miss lizzie bay and miss melissa kipp, who subsequently became the wife of chief justice martin, became the other two teachers. the school was moved to the old masonic building further west on commercial street, where it was conducted for two years. mr. plattenburg was also appointed county superintendent, and the first teacher’s certificate issued by him in atchison county was to d. w. rippy, who died in severance, kan., in 1914, the richest man in doniphan county. mr. rippy taught the first school in the second district, organized near the waggener farm, southwest of atchison. mrs. blair had her teaching certificate when she arrived in atchison, as one was issued to her by dr. plattenburg in fulton county, illinois, before she came to atchison. her school opened in atchison the first monday in november, 1858, and she had charge of the primary and intermediate departments. dr. plattenburg received a salary of $100.00 a month and mrs. blair a salary of $45.00, which was increased to $50.00 by dr. plattenburg giving her $5.00 of his own salary. mrs. blair had sixty-five pupils. mrs. blair says that the first spelling match in atchison county took place in w. d. rippy’s school. she participated in the spelling match, and was spelled down on the word “poisonous.”
mr. plattenburg served in the capacity of principal and superintendent of schools until may, 1861, when the schools were closed for lack of funds. because of the civil war very little progress in education was made, and the records of the county superintendent’s office for that period are not available. the earliest record in the office of the county superintendent concerning the schools of atchison county is found in an old record book of july 7, 1863, as follows:
“through the kindness of the present board of county commissioners, e. leighton, b. wallack and c. g. foster, this book was furnished for the 268records of the public schools of atchison county. it is hoped that every superintendent, into whose possession this book may fall, will perform every duty devolving upon him officially, and make every effort to advance the cause of education.
“orlando sawyer,
“superintendent of public instruction,
“atchison county.”
old high school building, atchison, kan.
in spite of the fact that the records of county superintendent sawyer, who held his office from 1863 to 1867, are somewhat incomplete, they contain much interesting information.
the average length of the school term for the first year was three and one-half months, and in some districts, owing to the distance and the rigors of the winter climate, school was held only during the summer months. among the early teachers in this county were miss lizzie keith, who taught in district no. 29 in 1863; miss mary a. shields, who taught in district no. 16 in the same year; miss helen l. bishop, of district no. 26, and miss stewart, of district no. 31. miss bishop was a pioneer in advocating the teaching of vocational subjects in the public schools, including domestic science, manual training, agriculture and sewing, and for her zeal in this respect she was derided 269and laughed at. women teachers in those days, as now, outnumbered the men. the following are the names of those who received teacher’s certificates in 1863: july 8, michael roach; july 27, mrs. esther thayer; july 30, w. d. barnett; august 15, mary a. shields; august 15, solomon k. mccrary; august 27, richard dunn; september 14, martha stewart; september 25, allen abbott; september 27, adelia guest; october 11, carlos e. pease; october 14, john c. butman; november 23, i. j. adams; december 1, r. s. cook; december 4, l. a. messenger; december 4, harriet hollister, and december 4, w. r. dewitt.
there were thirty-one districts in the county in that year, and the amount of state funds apportioned to atchison county was $295.30. the school population was 1941, with an enrollment of 1,072, and an average daily attendance of 500. twenty-nine teachers were employed, twenty-two women and seven men, with an average monthly salary for the men of $25.20 and $16.75 for the women. the total valuation of school houses was $1,050, and the amount of money received from the county was $827.05. the following is a list of the atchison county school officers in the year 1863:
district no. 1: p. h. woodard, director; m. s. gaylord, clerk; f. bier, treasurer; district no. 3: peter boyer, l. a. messenger and a. wheeler; district no. 5: nathan mcclintic, hosea norris and james cravins; district no. 6. w. h. bowen, j. w. cain and jonathan hartman; district no. 8: s. cummings, milo carleton and lewis brockman; district no. 9: george scarborough, joseph scarborough and jacob pochler; district no. 10: jacob beck, frederick neerman and james a. smith; district no. 11: john graves, henry shell and henry widner; district no. 15: john w. best, george lamberson and boaz w. williamson; district no. 17: hiram quiett, chas. williamson and wm. cummings; district no. 18: w. j. young, f. l. fortune and a. j. reed; district no. 19: henry cline, f. leighton and w. j. mayfield; district no. 20: w. j. oliphant, d. h. sprong and dandridge holladay; district no. 21: dwight williams, jacob reese and john j. halligan; district no. 22: f. roach, c. b. keith and joseph speer; district no. 23: w. a. adams, w. h. seever and w. m. hamm; district no. 24: james r. may, e. s. evington and jefferson gragg; district no. 26: r. breedlone, c. may and james fletcher; district no. 27: james f. butcher, c. g. means and w. l. davis; district no. 28: andrew c. pittman, david earhart and george h. mcpherson; district no. 29: anderson pate, james m. wylie and h. t. gill; district no. 30: p. b. chadwick, j. w. roberson and r. a. van winkle; district no. 31: samuel vanatta, william hamon and hamilton 270bailey; district no. 33: benj. rivers, silas a. hooey and j. plotner; district no. 34: d. kottle, john s. van winkle and a. king; district no. 35: a. a. f. randolph, d. m. stillman and joshua wheeler; union district no. 1: j. a. anderson, m. c. willis and george storch; union district no. 2: james cooley, l. h. masterson and wm. h. cook; union district no. 3: w. j. brown, thos. a. snoddy and j. lasswell, and union district no. 4: richmon dalton, albert henson and frederick eleman.
the next record that can be found of the progress of schools in this county is of 1868, when norman dunshee was county superintendent. in that year there were forty-six organized school districts, and a school population of 3,878, with a total enrollment of 2,247, and an average daily attendance of 1281. the term for white children was increased to five and one-half months and for colored children to ten months. there was a total of sixty-four teachers, of whom thirty-seven were women and twenty-seven men. the wages of the men were $42.92 a month, and for the women, $28.76 a month, and there was a total of $15,117.87 paid out for wages. the amount received from the state was $2,627.09, and an additional source of revenue was from the pounding of stray livestock, which brought into the school fund of the county that year $589.58. the amount raised by district school tax was $24,373.21, and there were forty-three school houses in the county, of which twelve were built of logs, twenty-six of frame construction, and five of stone, with a total valuation of $16,750.00. during the interim between 1863 and 1868, the third kansas teachers’ association met in atchison. the meeting was held july, 1865, and there were fifty-nine teachers present in price’s hall. john a. martin, john j. ingalls and geo. w. glick attended the meeting and made addresses.
in comparison with the figures of those days, the figures of 1915 are interesting, and they are here given as follows:
school population, june 30, 1915 3,530
total enrollment, 1914–1915 2,477
average daily attendance, 1914–1915 1,915
teachers employed, 1915–1916, including county high school, males 23, females 81 104
teachers employed 1915–1916, including county high school, holding state certificates 19
normal training 33, first grade 22, second grade 27
teachers without previous experience 21
271teachers serving first year in present positions 56
teachers more than two years in present position 16
average experience of teachers:
one-teacher schools 5 years
graded schools 6 years
average length of term in weeks: 1914–15 1915–16
one-teacher schools 30.4 30.65
graded schools 35.3 35.33
average salary of male teachers: 1914–15 1915–16
one-teacher schools 63.75 67.25
graded schools 84.77 85.81
average salary of female teachers: 1914–15 1915–16
one-teacher schools 58.16 57.45
graded schools 59.64 60.00
average attendance per teacher: 1914–15
one-teacher schools 21
graded schools 26
average cost per pupil per month in attendance: 1914–15
one-teacher schools $ 3.69
graded schools 4.38
amount expended for school purposes: 1914–15
one-teacher schools $39,756.47
graded schools 19,212.88
county high school 17,719.71
total $76,689.06
common school graduates, 1915:
boys 57, girls 71, total 128.
high school graduates, 1915:
boys 17, girls 19, total 36.
total number of libraries in rural schools 63
number of volumes in rural libraries 4,314
number of schools having room or basement furnaces 66
number of county certificates issued during year:
first grade 9
second grade 24
third grade 7 total 40
272number of first grade renewed 5
number of state certificates registered 7
number teachers normal training certificates registered 13
number of first grades indorsed 3
number of second grades indorsed 1
the city of atchison is not included in any of the above statistics.
it is interesting to note that the vision of miss helen e. bishop of 1863 has been realized, for in every school in atchison county, not only agriculture is taught, but in about one-third of the schools, plain sewing and various kinds of fancy needlework are taught also, and while no rural school as yet is equipped to teach cooking, a number of the teachers are directing some work along this line and it is done in accordance with the teacher’s directions in the homes, with the assistance of the mothers. more attention than ever is also being given to drawing and music. earnest efforts are being made by superintendents and teachers to secure the co?peration of parents by means of community gatherings. in many districts teachers’ associations, literary societies and debating clubs have been organized, in which parents as well as children are taking a great interest. many of the districts have availed themselves of the opportunity to use the stereopticon lectures sent out by the university of kansas. lecture courses are being made in some of the schools, and provisions have been made for serving hot lunches for children. medical inspection is also provided for, through the efforts of teachers. one of the most interesting and valuable features introduced into the rural school work of the county in recent years is the community school fair. the plan is to have three to five schools unite and meet at a school house, where the children enter exhibits of corn, cereals, seeds of various kinds, vegetables and fruits, and in addition to these are also exhibited canned fruits, peaches, jelly and loaves of bread, and other samples of the art of cooking, together with articles of fancy needlework and plain sewing. many prizes are awarded for the best exhibit, and the result is that much interest is stimulated among the children in these accomplishments. the county farm agent is also lending great assistance in organizing school gardens, and boys’ and girls’ clubs of various kinds for the purpose of agricultural development. much attention is also paid to the supervision of the children at play, on the theory that all work and no play makes jack a dull boy, and the equipment for the playground of various kinds has been supplied. six rural schools of the county have organized basketball teams.
273besides the rural and graded schools, atchison county has four high schools. muscotah maintains an accredited four-year high school, offering a college preparatory and general course, and the school building which was destroyed by fire january 13, 1916, will be replaced by a larger and better school, reference to which has already been made in this history.
under the direction of j. s. blosser, an excellent two year high school is maintained in huron.
the atchison county high school.
in 1888 atchison county, in accordance with an act of the kansas legislature of 1866, established the second county high school in the state, and it was due to the efforts of senator b. f. wallack, and also the efforts of the public spirited citizens of effingham, that this school was located there. the first board of trustees of this school were as follows: a. j. harwi, a. s. best. j. e. logan, f. e. cloyes, l. r. spangler and w. e. knight. john klopfenstein, who was at that time county superintendent, became the first president of the board.
the present site, which comprises a spacious campus of eight acres, was purchased by the city of effingham and donated to the county. a handsome pressed brick and stone building was erected in compliance with plans and specifications designed by alfred meier, of atchison. the building, costing more than $22,000.00, was completed in june, 1891. school opened september 14, 1891, with f. j. squires, principal, assisted by j. o. ward, miss julia heath, and miss n. grace murphy. three courses of study were provided for: normal, general and college preparatory.
on the night of november 6, 1893, the building was destroyed by fire. school was opened the next morning and was continued the remainder of the year down town in lodge rooms, churches, and the public school building. the present building, erected on the same site, was ready for occupancy by the fall of 1894.
following are the names of the principals who have served the school: j. f. squires, 1891 to 1893; s. j. hunter, 1893 and 1896; j. w. wilson, 1896 to 1907; w. h. keller, 1907 to 1908; e. h. mcmath, 1908 to 1911: j. r. thierstein, 1911 to 1915, and a. j. mcallister and g. w. salisbury. 1915 to 1916.
the county high school exists mainly to afford free high school education to every boy and girl in the county. since its students come principally 274from the rural districts, it must educate them to become better homemakers and better farmers, and to appreciate more fully the advantages of rural life. it must also help prepare better teachers for the rural schools and train them for business as well as for college.
atchison county high school, effingham, kansas
it has grown in efficiency and influence until it is recognized as one of the best high schools in the state and is on the accredited list of the north central association of colleges and secondary schools. this means that our school is recognized by the colleges of kansas, oklahoma, missouri, nebraska, iowa, minnesota, wisconsin, michigan, ohio, indiana, illinois, west virginia, south dakota, wyoming and colorado, which admit our graduates without examination.
the faculty has increased in number from four in 1892 to twelve in 1915. the number of graduates in 1892 was two, in 1915, thirty. since its organization the departments of commerce, music, manual training, domestic art, domestic science, and agriculture have been added, a farmers’ short course established, and a demonstration farm in connection with the work in agriculture put into operation.
the school is well equipped in laboratories, and has a library of 3,000 275volumes, and all the leading magazines and papers. a lively interest is taken in athletics, both young men’s christian association and young women’s christian association have a large membership. every year the students have the benefit of a splendid lecture course.
from its halls have been graduated 387 young men and young women, who are now filling positions of honor as doctors, lawyers, ministers, teachers, superintendents, farmers, bankers and missionaries, and are found in nearly every state in the union and in some foreign countries.
atchison county further increased its educational advantages in june, 1915, by establishing at potter, a rural high school, in accordance with a law passed by the legislature in 1915. this district is known as rural high school, district no. 1, and comprises 26? square miles, including portions of nine school districts, five of which lie wholly in atchison county, and the four others jointly in atchison, jefferson and leavenworth counties.
august 9, 1915, the first school meeting in this district was held, and j. e. remsburg was elected director, t. f. hall, treasurer and d. h. strong, jr., clerk. it was not necessary for this district to vote bonds for a building, because union district no. 1, which includes potter, and is a part of the new high school district, already had a beautiful modern four-room structure, which was leased to the newly organized high school district. a. t. foster was elected first president, and miss sarah armstrong, assistant. the school opened september 6, 1915, with an enrollment of eighteen pupils. the course of study is that prescribed by the state, board of education, and covers four years.
the year 1915–16 has been a year of progress for the schools of atchison county. the state department of education, by virtue of authority given them by the state legislature in 1915, established a definite standard of efficiency for the rural schools of the state, and formulated plans for standardizing rural schools. as a result, two rural school supervisors were added to the state department. j. a. shoemaker, county superintendent of this county, was appointed as one of those supervisors, and was succeeded in office by miss d. anna speer, who is making one of the most earnest and efficient county superintendents this county has ever had. it is universally conceded that the board of county commissioners made no mistake when they selected miss speer as a successor to mr. shoemaker. miss speer is making an earnest effort to bring our schools up to the standard set by the state department of education, in which she is receiving the cordial co?peration on the part of the school officers, parents and children of the county. the work that 276is being accomplished here has been highly commended by miss julia stone, one of the new state supervisors, and three schools, approved by the supervisor, have the honor of the first three “standard schools” in northeastern kansas. these are: new malden district no. 45, h. s. mahan and eugene crawford, teachers; lancaster district no. 10, o. e. seeber and miss ione gibson, teachers, and white clay district no. 6, j. m. pennington, teacher. in 1915 the county normal institute was combined with midland college institute, at midland college. a six weeks’ session was held, june 15 to july 28. besides thorough reviews of all subjects required for county teachers’ certificates, numerous courses for college credit were offered. the corps of instructors consisted of county superintendent, miss d. anna speer: professors, w. e. tilberg. e. m. stahl, s. l. soper, d. w. crouse. c. f. malmberg and bruno meinecke.
the following is a list of county superintendents of public instruction of atchison county from the beginning of our history to the present time:
philip d. plattenburg, served september, 1858, to may, 1861.
orlando sawyer, served july, 1830, to january, 1867.
norman dunsher, served january, 1867, to january, 1869.
thomas f. cook, served january, 1869, to january, 1873.
j. e. remsburg, served january, 1873, to january, 1877.
mr. martin, served january, 1877, to january, 1879.
w. h. tucker, served january, 1879, to january, 1883.
a. g. drew, served january, 1883, to january, 1885.
j. f. class, served january, 1885, to january, 1887.
george a. ward, served january, 1887, to january, 1889.
john klopfenstein, served january, 1889, to january, 1893.
samuel ernst, served january, 1893, to january, 1895.
c. e. reynolds, served january, 1895, to january, 1899.
john klopfenstein, served january, 1899, to january, 1901.
e. e. campbell, served january, 1901, to may, 1901.
the kansas legislature of 1901 changed the date of beginning of superintendent’s term from the second monday in january to the second monday in may, thus creating a vacancy in the office for four months. mr. campbell was appointed by the county commissioners to serve during that period.
john klopfenstein, served may, 1901, to may, 1903.
o. o. hastings, served may, 1903, to may, 1907.
277j. w. campbell, served may, 1907, to march 18, 1909, when he died.
j. a. shoemaker, served march 23, 1909, to july 1, 1915.
d. anna speer, served july 1, 1915, and still remains superintendent.
atchison city schools.
it was lamentable, but, nevertheless true, that there were many residents of the city of atchison of the early period in its history who doubted the justice of supporting free schools. in 1860 the school board refused to levy a tax for school purposes in the city of atchison. following this, however, a more progressive spirit prevailed, and free schools were regularly supported by annual tax levies. for ten years the schools occupied rented quarters, excepting two frame buildings in south atchison. the basement of the congregational church, the lower floor of the old masonic building that stood near the corner of eighth and commercial streets, the upper floor of the auld building on commercial street, near sixth, price’s hall and probably other buildings were used during those years.
there was little or no general supervision of the work of the schools up to 1866, little or no system, and little distinction between public and private schools.
during this unorganized period the business affairs of the schools were administered by a district board of three members.
under a law approved march 1, 1867, the atchison city schools were organized june 3, 1867, at which time the first board of education of atchison was elected, as follows: first ward, wm. scoville, wm. c. smith; second ward, m. l. gaylord, l. r. elliott; third ward, john a. martin. julius holthaus; fourth ward, geo. w. gillespie, jacob poehler. in the organization of the first board, wm. scoville was elected president, john a. martin, vice-president, and m. l. gaylord, clerk.
the board consisted of eight members until atchison became a city of the first class in 1881, at which time the ward representation was increased to three members each, giving a board of twelve members. at the organization of the first enlarged board, j. c. fox was elected president; j. b. kurth, vice-president. the time of organization was the first regular meeting in august, a change from the former time, the first regular meeting in may, which was the law till 1881. during this year the time of organization was extended three months, giving fifteen months’ service under the organization of may, 1880. another change made at this time was the election of a clerk not a 278member of the board. at the organization, august 1, 1881, m. noll was elected clerk. he was succeeded in october, by c. n. seip, who was followed in may, 1882, by james h. garside.
by the addition of the fifth ward, 1884, the board organized in august, that year had fifteen members. the board organized in august, 1885, had ten members. this representation continued till the law of 1911 provided for the reduction to six members, and for a term of four years instead of two years. the reduction was completed in 1913, and since august of that year the board has had six members, elected without regard to city wards.
the presidents of the board from 1871 have been as follows: for the year ending in may, 1872, h. s. baker; j. t. coplan, to may, 1873; j. k. fisher, to may, 1874; a. j. north, three years, to may, 1877; john seaton, two years, to may, 1879; a. f. martin, two and one-fourth years, to august, 1881; j. c. fox, to august, 1882; john b. kurth, to august, 1883; j. c. fox, to august, 1884; seneca heath, two years, to august, 1886; e. a. mize, five years, to august, 1891; r. c. meade, to august, 1892; j. t. hersey, two years, to august, 1894; j. f. woodhouse, to august, 1895; j. t. allensworth, to august, 1896; w. l. bailey, to august, 1897; chas. s. osborn, ten years, to august, 1907; h. h. hackney, eight years, to august, 1915; alva clapp, now serving his first year.
while the records of the early days are not available, there are indications that the chaos of the early schools was reduced to order in the middle sixties, the graded system unifying the free schools being established at that time by d. t. bradford, who served as superintendent and principal of the high school for four years. in those early days the superintendent taught during the greater part of his time.
mr. bradford was followed by a mr. owens, who served one year and was followed by r. h. jackson. available records show that mr. jackson was superintendent in august, 1871, and served till june, 1876. how long he served prior to the election of may, 1871, is not indicated by records at hand.
the superintendents following mr. jackson are as follows: i. c. scott, to 1878; c. s. sheffield, to 1880; r. c. meade, to december, 1886; f. m. draper, to 1889; buel t. davis, to 1891; john h. glorfelter, to 1901; nathan t. veatch, serving at present (january, 1916).
the principals of the high school serving prior to the union of the duties of superintendent and principal of the high school were, p. d. plattenburg, orlando sawyer and david negley.
the course of study in the high school then was latin, followed later 279by the latin-scientific. little change was made for years, except the introduction of german in the fall of 1871. for more than thirty years there was little change in the subject matter of the work. the most important change during those thirty years or more was the complete organization of the high school by superintendent r. c. meade, in 1880, at which time a distinct principal was placed in charge of the reorganized high school. the first principal under the new plan was f. w. bartlett. definite classes were started and the first class graduated june 7, 1881, in corinthian hall, as follows: jane boone, arthur challiss, blanche challiss, daisy, l. denton, della estes, mary e. fox, frances l. garside, lilly g. hathaway. maggie r. hedges, may hosier, victor linley, nellie g. reid, mary e. scott, annie underwood, 14. total graduates to date (january, 1916), 568.
“the ingalls school,” atchison, kan.
f. w. bartlett was principal of the high school until 1883. the following is the list of principals since 1883: j. b. cash, to 1883; geo. d. ostrom, to 1887; j.t. dobell, to 1895; c. a. shively, to 1900: w. c. jamieson, to 1902; a. h. speer, to 1909; w. h. livers, to 1910; j. t. rosson, to 1911 h. p. shepherd, now serving his fifth year.
280the superintendent and principal aided by one assistant taught the high school subjects till 1882. with the opening of school in september, of that year, the high school course of study was changed from two years to a full three-years course. miss sarah e. steele and miss anna m. niklaus were assistants during those early years.
the addition to the teaching force, the lengthened course and the tendency toward greater latitude in the choice of subjects soon doubled the high school enrollment. the start toward vocational studies began in september, 1881, when, at the suggestion of j. h. garside, bookkeeping was made an optional study.
the growth of the high school was gradual. during the late eighties, another year was added to the course and an additional assistant was employed. manual training was added in december, 1903; sewing, 1907; commercial subjects were added from time to time till the introduction of a full business course, including shorthand and typewriting, in 1910; normal training, 1909; cooking, 1910; physical training, 1910; elementary agriculture, 1913; school nurse, january, 1914; special music director, 1915. the addition of courses and optional subjects has so increased the high school work as to require eighteen teachers, in addition to the principal, and the enrollment has grown to 393. the school is on the accredited list of the university of kansas and of the north central association of colleges. a school paper, the optimist, is now in its sixth year. a glee club and orchestra have been organized. a young men’s christian association and a young women’s christian association are doing good work. the athletic association is giving an outlet for the surplus energy in football, basketball, etc.
grades and teachers were added in the different buildings until there are now (january, 1916) five buildings having full eight grades of work, one building with three grades, and the branchton school having two grades. the branchton building belongs to district 65. manual training for the boys and sewing for the girls are given in sixth, seventh and eighth grades and high school. all the grades have the benefit of inspection by the school nurse, and instruction in music by the special director.
in 1882 the teaching force was thirty beside the superintendent. this grew to forty-one by 1901, and to sixty-five in 1915.
during march, 1881, it was resolved that a “kindergarten” be opened during the next term. no record is found indicating the opening of such school. the kindergarten was not made a part of the system till 1910. such work was offered earlier in rooms granted by the board. this was, however, the result of private enterprise.
281at the opening of the new high school building in 1910, the first public kindergarten was established. in the spring of 1914, another kindergarten was opened in the new washington school.
the corner stone of the central building was laid in august, 1868. this building was destroyed by fire in october, 1869. the construction of a new building on the old foundation began as soon as plans were completed. this was the three-story brick building, costing $35,000, torn down in 1908, to make room for the magnificent high school building completed in 1910, and occupied for all school purposes in september of that year. on october 5, 1892, the name was changed to “the ingalls school.”
the building begun in 1869 and, when completed, said to be “one of the finest in the state,” was opened in 1870 and served without change till 1903, when a three-story addition, costing $5,264.00 was built to provide for the office, manual training, one high school room and sanitary fixtures. it was finally outgrown after serving thirty-eight years. while the present building was being constructed, the high school was housed in the old three-story douglas building, fifth and r streets, and in two rooms of the old washington building, sixth and q streets.
during the two years’ waiting for the new ingalls building the colored pupils from douglas school were housed in a vacant store at sixth and spring streets for one year, and in lincoln school for part of the second year, and the grades of ingalls school were housed as follows: seventh and eighth, banquet room of odd fellows hall; sixth, martin school; fifth, pioneer hall; second, third and fourth, basement of congregational church; first, basement of presbyterian church; manual training, in old fire department for the first year, and in a vacant store room till the latter part of december of the second year, when it was moved to the new building.
the present high school building, the ingalls school, cost about $103,500. the equipment and added lots at the southwest corner of the block, improvement of grounds, etc., will bring the present value of the property at least to $130,000.
governor george w. glick was largely instrumental in the work of securing the lots for the ingalls school. the ten lots purchased prior to the erection of the first building cost, approximately, $3,500. lots 8 and 9 in the same block secured by condemnation in 1911, cost $2,250.
the three-story brick building at the corner of fifth and r streets, built in 1873 at a cost of $15,000, was originally called washington school. a three-room, one-story frame building, erected on this site in the middle sixties, 282was the first building owned by district no. 1, and served till 1873. the lots cost $1,200 and the building $2,425. at that time a frame building at the corner of sixth and q streets was used by the colored pupils and was called douglas school. this was built in the middle sixties. it was at first a two-room, one-story building. later, a third room was added. the lots cost $820. this was the second building owned by district no. 1. early maps of atchison show the locations of washington and douglas here given.
the names “central,” “washington,” “franklin,” “lincoln” and “douglas” were authorized february 2, 1880.
in 1884 work began on two new buildings, one a ten-room brick building to take the place of the frame building called “douglas,” and the other an eight-room brick building at sixth and division streets, named north atchison school. the one at sixth and q streets cost $18,682, and was occupied for school purposes january 5, 1885. the white pupils in “washington” school were taken to the new building, and the colored school formerly housed in “douglas” was taken to the “washington.” the names were also transferred soon after the new order of things was established.
the ten-room washington building was used till the close of school for vacation, december, 1913. on january 5, 1914, the school began work in the present beautiful building, south of r street, between fifth and sixth streets. the old property at sixth and q streets was sold for $2,300, but the name of the school was retained. the new building with grounds and equipment cost $63,000. the site was secured by condemnation and cost $5,350.
the original “washington” remained the “douglas” until the completion of the new douglas on sixth, between u and v streets. the pupils of “douglas” were housed in “lincoln” till late in the fall of 1909. the site of this building, lots 18, 19, 20 and 21, block 35, south atchison, was secured in march, 1909, in exchange for lots 10 and 11, same block, the old hospital property, which had previously been donated to the board of education for school purposes, the money involved being the payment of some back taxes by the board.
the north atchison school, sixth and division streets, was occupied for school purposes in september, 1885. the lots cost $800 and the building, equipment and retaining walls, $5,381.94. on october 5, 1892, the name of this school was changed to “the john a. martin school.” this building was used till the last of may, 1915. immediately after the close of school, may 28, 1915, it was wrecked to make way for the new building now in 283course of construction. the added ground, secured by condemnation, cost $6,200 and the building, equipment and improvement of grounds will cost, approximately, $56,500. during the year 1915–16 this school is housed in the ingalls building.
the west atchison school building, named franklin school, february 2, 1880, was, originally, a three-room, one-story brick, costing $2,617.10. this was changed to six rooms by the addition of a second story in 1883, at a cost of $2,498, and was remodeled and changed to an eight-room building in 1908, at a cost of $12,500, and reoccupied early in 1909. the lots cost $400. during the change in franklin, the pupils were housed in the “green-tree house” and in a vacant store room at 1521 main street.
the lincoln school (colored), eighth and atchison streets, was originally a three-room, one-story brick building erected in 1871 at a cost of $2,425. the lots cost $750. in 1883, this was changed to a six-room building at a cost of $2,498. this is the only school building in the city not modernized.
the records reveal some interesting things. in 1878 it was decided that “the work of the grades should be completed in eight years.” in 1884 an attempt was made to establish a branch high school in south atchison. while this failed, it was voted that “a sub-junior grade be maintained in the washington school.” this was discontinued within a few years.
in march, 1883, it was ordered that the schools close because of lack of funds. the city council came to the rescue and appropriated $4,000 for school purposes. the schools re-opened march 29.
the school year was shortened several times in those early days.
the school spirit is in splendid condition. the increased material equipment is adding greatly to the educational opportunities. “continuation schools” have been conducted for several years, with good attendance.
the improvements have been made without bonds, excepting the $100,000 issue for the high school in 1908. the total bonded indebtedness (january, 1916) is $122,000. of this amount, $4,000 will be paid july 1, 1916. of the issue of 1908, $94,000 remain unpaid, and will fall due in 1923. the $24,000 refunding bonds issued in 1913 will be due in 1933. the board of education is not using the full limit of its taxing power.
it is only fair to add a tribute at this point to the faithful, enthusiastic and efficient work rendered by prof. nathan t. veatch to the public school system of atchison. during the period of his service here, atchison has seen 284its greatest development in its public school system, and this has not only been brought about by the fine public spirit that exists here but by the splendid co-operation which prof. veatch has given it.
private schools.
in addition to the private schools that existed here in an early day, there were a number of private schools which did good work in atchison subsequently to the teasdale school, which was operated here in the eighties. mrs. harriet e. monroe rendered the cause of education in atchison county an invaluable and also an imperishable service. mrs. monroe founded the atchison institute. in 1871 she erected a building at the northwest corner of third and kansas avenue, to which a wing was added in 1876, and three years later the large brick building, all of which are still standing. the property represented an investment of $25,000, and the success of mrs. monroe’s enterprise was phenomenal. she received no bonus or assistance from city, county, state, church or individual. she had nine students when she started her school, and subsequently increased her enrollment to 300. she had a musical department and an art department, and they were admitted to have no superior in the missouri valley at that time. she also conducted a kindergarten, primary, intermediate and academic grades. also a collegiate department, consisting of preparatory, scientific, classical and literary courses, together with the normal and commercial courses. she had thirteen teachers. her vocational department covered all the arts of domestic economy and domestic science, before which she employed most eminent women in their special lines to deliver lectures. mrs. monroe was then, and is now, a truly remarkable woman. her school was a forerunner of midland college, and when it came to atchison in 1887, mrs. monroe closed her school shortly thereafter and has since been a resident of washington, d. c. she is a highly educated lady of refinement and culture, and has spent much time upon the lecture platform.
following the monroe institute, some years later, prof. flint conducted a latin school here, which was largely attended. mr. flint was succeeded by prof. foot, and as an outgrowth of these two schools, misses helen and abigail scofield opened a preparatory school, and successfully conducted it for a number of years, when they were succeeded by miss mary walton, who ran her school in the building owned by mrs. j. w. parker, on laramie street, between third and fourth streets, until a few years ago.
285in 1916 the public school system is augmented in its work by several parochial and denominational schools, conducted by the catholics and the german lutherans.
mt. st. scholastica’s academy.
one of the first sights to impress the visitor to atchison is the imposing collection of buildings which crowns its southern hill, now commonly known as mt. st. scholastica.
mt. st. scholastica is practically as old as atchison itself, the first sisters having come here in 1863. few who gaze upon the massive and commodious array of buildings, surrounded as they now are by well-kept lawns, spacious meadow and woodland, stop to think of its humble beginning and the many trials which beset the early foundation. but the first sisters were in time to feel the effects of the civil war and the hardships attendant upon the same.
at the request of rev. augustine wirth, o. s. b., then prior of st. benedict’s college, and the first pastor of the church in atchison, rev. mother evangelista and six companions were sent from the benedictine convent in st. cloud, minn., to establish a school in atchison. two more sisters were sent the following april. as these latter were on their way, they were detained at hannibal for two days. the funeral cortege of president lincoln having reached that city at the same time as the sisters, one of their sad privileges was that of attending the obsequies of the martyred president before continuing their journey kansasward.
the little convent, situated at the corner of second and division streets, near st. benedict’s church, was the cradle of the present institution. second street at that time was not a street at all, but rather a passageway cut through the hazel brush, then so abundant in atchison.
the academy organized its classes december 1, 1863. it was incorporated in 1873. its roster bears the names of many of atchison’s best families of both town and county.
in the summer of 1877 the price villa was purchased. a new building was added in 1889. the third building was commenced in 1900. the buildings are surrounded by thirty-eight acres of woodland and meadow.
besides the academy in atchison, the sisters supply teachers for a large number of missions or parochial schools in kansas, nebraska, missouri, and iowa, also one large school in walsenburg, colo. the institution in atchison is the center or mother house of all these branch houses, and in vacation all the sisters from the missions assemble here for the annual retreat, and for the summer normal.
286
mt. st. scholastica’s academy, atchison, kan.
287the venerable mother evangelista, the first mother and foundress, was succeeded in office by sister theresa, who governed the community as reverend mother for the next twelve years. since that time mother aloysia has ably carried on the work of her predecessors.
the early days of mt. st. scholastica, like the early days of kansas, were times of struggle and hardships. yet, these brave pioneer sisters were of the true kansas type, and tell us that they never for a moment regretted their mission to the sunflower state. they tell us, too, that the sunflower itself had a strange power to cheer and encourage their early days. its sturdy stalk and bright disk seem so fit a type of faith, labor and grateful content, that, even to the present day this rustic flower always finds a place in the convent garden.
the later history of mt. st. scholastica is too well known to need repetition. its actual growth began with the purchase of price villa in 1877, since which time progress has been steady and vigorous.
a most comprehensive plan of study is pursued at mt. st. scholastica. it includes all branches needful for a thorough, literal and refined education, the outcome of long years of experience and thoughtful consideration. that this fact is appreciated, not only by neighboring cities and towns, may be seen by consulting the academy roster, which records a long list of names from many and various sections of the country. besides the academic or classical course, mt. st. scholastica furnishes a complete commercial course, together with special advantages for the study of music and art.
the home life of mt. st. scholastica is ideal. the association of fellow-students amid wholesome environments has the tendency to bring out and develop every noble and womanly quality, while the beneficient and judicious guidance of the sisters wisely leads to the attainment of those lofty principles so needful to right living.
sacred heart parochial school, in atchison, is also controlled by the benedictine sisters, and is supported by tuition. its curriculum extends through the grades, and the school is under the direction of sister monica, o. s. b., and one assistant. both boys and girls attend, and the enrollment in 1916 is seventy-four.
st. louis college is another parochial school, offering work through the 288grades, and admitting both boys and girls. it is maintained by st. benedict’s parish. number of teachers employed is six, and the rev. gerard heinz, o. s. b., is principal. enrollment in 1916 is 293.
st. patrick’s parochial school is located near st. patrick’s church, in union district no. 2, about seven miles south of atchison. two teachers are employed in the school, and ven. sr. merwina, o. s. b., is directress. it is controlled and supported by st. patrick’s parish, and its curriculum extends through the grades. boys and girls attend the school, and the enrollment in 1916 was sixty-seven.
st. ann’s school is a catholic parochial school, at effingham. it is controlled and supported by st. ann’s parish. both boys and girls enroll in the school, which completes the work of the grades. the past year, forty-six pupils were in attendance. two teachers are employed, one of whom is sister sr. m. marcellina, o. s. b., the directress.
the trinity lutheran parochial school is controlled and supported by the trinity lutheran parish, corner of eighth and laramie streets. the curriculum extends to the eighth grade, and work is offered to both boys and girls. the enrollment in 1916 is fifty-three, and rev. carl w. greinki is principal.
midland college and western theological seminary.
the board of education of the general synod of the evangelical lutheran church, after considering propositions from a number of cities in the middle west, decided on atchison as the most suitable location for a lutheran institution. it is easy of access from the whole territory from which students are most likely to come, and the offer of the city to give $50,000 in money for buildings, twenty acres of land for a campus and professors’ houses, a half interest in the sale of 500 acres of land, and to furnish 200 students the first year, was a tempting offer.
owing to some difficulties that arose, this offer was not entirely fulfilled, but the twenty acres of ground was donated, and about $33,000 put into buildings. the college was opened on the fifteenth of september, 1887, with 101 students registered.
in 1888 the main building, known as atchison hall, was begun, and turned over to the board of trustees in the spring of 1889, and formally dedicated on the 30th day of september of the same year. the institution was given over to the care of a self-perpetuating board. from time to time the constitution has been changed, so that the trustees would be elected by the synods supporting the college.
289at the present time the board is composed of twenty-nine members; four are elected by the board from the citizens of atchison, six from each of the kansas, english nebraska and german nebraska synods; two from the rocky mountain and iowa synods each, and three from the alumni association, with the president of the college advisory member, ex-officio.
carnegie library, atchison, kansas
rev. jacob a. clutz, d. d., was elected first president, and served efficiently in that capacity for fourteen and one-half years. in 1904 rev. m. f. troxell, d. d., pastor of the english lutheran church of st. joseph, mo. was elected president, and was succeeded by dr. rufus b. peery.
in 1891 oak hall, a dormitory for girls, was erected, to which, about ten years later, the annex was added, giving accommodations for thirty young women. in 1893 the gymnasium was erected, the money being solicited by the students of the institution. through the solicitations of dr. clutz, a splendid six-inch telescope was donated, and an observatory built in 1899. through the efforts of dr. troxell a proposition was secured from andrew carnegie to donate $15,000 towards the building of a library, provided the same amount could be raised for its upkeep. from the synods on the territory, alumni and friends of the college, this amount was secured, and 290the handsome library building was erected during the winter of 1910–1911, and formally dedicated on may 30, 1911. a legacy of $5,000, given several years before, was added to the building fund in order to have a public hall, and a memorial tablet was placed in the hall to the memory of the generous donor, rev. j. g. griffith, d. d. on the retirement of dr. clutz, his home was bought by the college board for the use of the president.
the western theological seminary was organized in 1895, and the first president and professor, rev. f. d. altman, d. d., was inaugurated.
the german department of the seminary was added a few years later, with dr. j. l. neve as dean of the department. the home owned by ex-senator john j. ingalls was secured in 1908 for seminary purposes. it is admirably adapted to that purpose. at the annual meeting of the college trustees in 1910 the board of education turned over the management of the seminary to this board.
st. benedict’s college.
st. benedict’s college is the product of benedictine activity in kansas, in the cause of christian civilization. father boniface wimmer, o. s. b., the founder of the benedictines in the united states, settled in pennsylvania in 1846, and ten years later he sent missionaries in all directions, and where they settled, promptly there, too, their schools soon were founded. father henry lempe, o. s. b., was the first benedictine to touch upon kansas soil in 1856, and he inspired bishop miege, s. j., of leavenworth, with the idea of inviting abbott wimmer to make a foundation in kansas, and thereafter father augustine wirth, o. s. b., was sent out to doniphan, in 1857, but in 1858 he moved to atchison. father augustine’s management of the college continued until 1868, when he was succeeded by louis m. fink, o. s. b., who remained at the head of the institution until 1871. it was under father louis that the first printed catalog of st. benedict’s college appears. father giles christoph, o. s. b., succeeded father louis, and held the position three years, from 1871 to 1874, and was succeeded by father oswald moosmueller, o. s. b. the college is situated on the hills north of atchison and commands an extensive view of the missouri river and surrounding country. in 1908 the college planned to erect a new group of buildings to crown the brow of the hill, east of the old college, new st. benedict is to be not only first class, but it is to be a monument of beautiful architecture, which will be in tudor gothic and uniform throughout. the administration building, already erected, comprises the first of the group, part of which comprises living quarters of the students. it is a fire-proof building of re-inforced concrete and vitrified brick, spacious, well ventilated, and conveniently arranged. the buildings in the old group are of substantial structure, well fitted to serve their purposes. they comprise an auditorium, recitation room, kitchen and dining rooms, scientific laboratories, museum of natural history, music and typewriting departments. the college has two distinct libraries, one for the exclusive use of the students, and the other, the college library proper. the students’ library contains upwards of 5,000 volumes, in addition to a number of papers and magazines. the college library proper, maintained for the use of the professors, occupies four rooms and the monastery, and it contains more than 27,400 bound volumes and over 5,000 pamphlets. the scientific laboratories are adequate for present use, and the museum is one of the best of its kind in this part of the country. the playgrounds of the college are large and well suited to afford all manner of healthful exercise for the students.
st. benedict’s college, atchison, kan.
the courses available in the college are the academic, the collegiate, business and stenographic, which are presided over by twenty-two professors, and in which are 300 students. st. benedict’s is one of the finest catholic institutions in the west.
