Kalamazoo Township Schools
“About 1833-34 a log school-house was built near the town line between Kalamazoo and Oshtemo, standing in the latter. It was in that building that the children of the settlers living along the line received their first instruction in matters educational in the vicinity. In 1835 a man named Irons taught the school. He was subject to attacks of fever and ague, and kept his medicine constantly upon the stove ready to swallow a dose when the premonitory symptoms of a “shake” should become manifest. It is related, too, that the medicine served a double purpose, for whenever a pupil was the least refractory he was led up to the desk and given a good swallow of the master’s “hot stuff,” and it is to be inferred that in that instance, at least, was found a model school. The following is from the report of the township school inspectors for the year ending Sept. 1, 1879:
| Number of districts (whole, 3; fractional, 6)……………….. |
9 |
| Children of school age………………………………………….. |
3419 |
| Attendance during the year…………………………………… |
2253 |
| Number of days school taught………………………………… |
1487 |
| Number of volumes in district libraries……………………… |
7854 |
| Number of school-houses (brick, 6; frame, 8)………………. |
14 |
| Number of sittings…………………………………………….. |
2148 |
| Value of school property……………………………………… |
$91,300 |
| Number of teachers employed (male, 5; female, 52)……….. |
57 |
| Wages paid teachers (male, $3635.60; female, $15,813.75)… |
$19,449.35 |
| Total resources for the year………………………………….. |
$41,055.01 |
| Amount on hand Sept. 1, 1879…………………………. |
12,923.01 |
| Total expenditures; less amount on hand……………………. |
$28,132.00 |
District No. 1 includes the village of Kalamazoo.
School Commissioners
1833, Cyren Burdick, Titus Bronson, Cyrus Lovell; 1836, D.E. Deming, John Everard, A.H. Edwards; 1837, Luther H. Trask.
School Inspectors
1833, Cyren Burdick, Cyrus Lovell, Stephen Vickery; 1834, Stephen Vickery, John Haskill, Cyren Burdick, Elisha Belcher, Phineas Hunt, Jr.; 1835, T.P. Sheldon, Samuel Ransom, J.G. Abbott, Elisha Belcher, Cyren Burdick; 1836, J. Hall, E. Belcher, D. Grimes, S. Ransom, Jonathan G. Abbott; 1837, Jeremiah Hall, A.T. Prouty, A.G. Halmmond; 1838, Jeremiah Hall, 0.H. Hurd, Alexander Cameron; 1839, Fletcher Ransom, Lyman Kendall, Frederick Booher; 1840, D.B. Webster, Lyman Kendall, Jonathan G. Abbott; 1841, J.G. Abbott, William Dutton, Nathaniel A. Balch; 1842, 0.P. Hoyt, Jeremiah HIall, Volney HIascall; 1843, N.A. Balch, Edwin C. Hhinsdill; 1844, William Dutton; 1845, Lyman Kendall, Horace Mower; 1846, Ebenezer Hloskins; 1847, Alexis Ransom; 1848, Volney Hascall; 1849, John M. Edwards; 1850, Adam S. Kedzie; 1851, Nathaniel A. Balch; 1852, Adam S. Kedzie; 1853, Nathaniel A. Balch; 1854, Dwight May; 1855, John M. Edwards; 1856, Daniel Putnam; 1857, Andrew J. Gibson; 1858, Daniel Putnam; 1859, William W. Peck; 1860, Daniel Putnam; 1861-66, records missing; 1867, Ashmun A. Knappen; 1868, Jacob K. Wagner; 1869, Frank Little; 1870, William H. Woodhams; 1871, George Torrey; 1872, William 11. Woodhams; 1873, Merritt Moore; 1874, William W. Peck, J. Wilfred Thompson; 1875-78, Howard G. Coleman; 1879, Lewis Stewart (Did not qualify, and his brother, Charles M. Stewart, appointed in his place.)
School Superintendents
1875-77, William S. Eaton; 1878-79, Clarence L. Dean (Appointed in 1878 in place of Alex Hadlock, who was elected and resigned.)”
Kalamazoo Village Schools*
“The first step to establish schools in Kalamazoo (then Bronson) appears to have been taken on the first day of September, 1833, when the commissioners of common schools for the township of Arcadia divided it into five school districts, No. 1 being the village of Bronson. The township of Arcadia then included the present townships of Kalamazoo, Cooper, Oshtemo, and Alamo. Richland had been set off from it in 1832.
The village district was at once organized, and a building constructed of slabs for temporary use, until a better one could be erected. The first school in this rude apology for a school-house, and which was undoubtedly the first in the village, it is generally agreed upon all hands was taught by Miss Eliza Coleman, now Mrs. Rodney Seymour, and the lady tells us that, according to her recollection, she first taught in the spring of 1834; other authorities think it was in the summer or fall of 1833**.
This primitive building not only served the purposes of a school, but was also used for sessions of the courts, and Mrs. Seymour distinctly remembers that her school was twice dismissed to accommodate the dignitaries of the law. It was also used for religious purposes. It stood near where the Jewish synagogue now stands, on the south side of South Street, near the corner of Henrietta Street.
In the autumn of 1834 a frame building was erected a little west of the slab structure, and completed in season for the winter school of 1834-35. Previous to the opening of the school it was utilized for a session of the Circuit Court, at which Judge William A. Fletcher, of Ann Arbor, presided. This second building was used for school purposes, with occasional intermissions, so late as the summer of 1866,-a period of thirty-two years. In the last-named year it was removed to the north part of the village, the district having sold the lot in 1865. For a number of years succeeding its erection it was the only public building, save taverns, in the place, and was used indiscriminately for schools, town meetings, courts, and religious meetings; no less than three denominations holding services within its walls.
In 1837 a second district was organized out of the east half of district No. 1, the dividing line running north on Henrietta Street to South Street, west on South Street to the alley running through to Main Street, opposite the Kalamazoo House, thence northwest to Burdick Street, on a continuation of Portage Street, and thence north to the bounds of the village on Burdick Street. It was particularly specified that the Kalamazoo House should be in the new district. At the time of the division the new district was designated as No. 2, but this was soon changed to No. 8, in order not to have duplicate numbers in the township.
At first a school was taught for some time in an old bakery building erected by Lot North, which stood on the north side of East Main Street, a few rods east of Kalamazoo Avenue. In 1848 a brick building was erected by this district on the point of land between Kalamazoo Avenue and Main Street. This was the famous “klip-knock-ie” region of Kalamazoo, though what the term signified would be hard to determine. This property was sold by the district in November, 1862.
In 1846 District No. 11 was formed from the western half of No. 1, the dividing line being Church Street. No. 1 retained the lot and school building at the east end of South Street, and No. 11 was given two lots on the north side of South Street, between West and Park Streets, which were originally donated by Titus Bronson and wife for public purposes.***
Previous to the division of the district steps had been taken towards the erection of a school building on the Bronson lots, but in consequence of some disagreement the unfinished building (a frame structure), together with the nucleus of a library, consisting of about 50 volumes, were ordered sold to the highest bidder. The building was purchased by the Baptist denomination, removed to the southwest corner of Church and Main Streets, and converted into a church, and used for several years for religious purposes. A.T. Prouty bought the library at five cents per volume.
In July, 1849, a brick school building was completed at a cost of $606.80. The contractor and builder was John Whaley. This building continued to be occupied for school purposes until Feb. 15, 1865, when it was destroyed by fire. While this building was in process of erection, from the summer of 1846 to the fall of 1848, the basement of the old Methodist church, on the northwest corner of Church and Academy Streets, was used for school purposes.
In 1848, District No. 11 was divided and No. 12 created, the western part of the old district forming the new one. A building for the accommodation of this district was soon after erected on the southwest corner of Cedar and Locust Streets, at a cost of $300. The contractor was N. Root. It was known as the “Red School-House,” and was in use until the spring of 1859.
The early district schools of the village were entirely independent of each other. The officers were elected by the citizens in mass-meeting, and they provided school-buildings, hired teachers, and conducted the affairs of the district distinct from every other. One district might have a good school, another a very indifferent one, and a third none at all. The subdivision of districts in the township went on until the original numbers of 1833 lost their significance. This condition of things continued until the 23d of October, 1851, when those portions of districts Nos. 1, 8, 11, and 12 which were within the corporate limits of the village were consolidated under the jurisdiction of tile president and trustees and made District No. 1. The first director of the new district was Nathaniel A. Balch, who had been director of the old No. 1 district. The affairs of the village schools now began to assume a systematic and orderly condition, and arrangements were made to furnish equal facilities to every part of the consolidated district.
At the next annual meeting, held Sept. 20, 1862, it was voted that “the director be authorized to employ one or more male teachers, and as many female assistants as should be necessary to secure full and good instruction to all the scholars contained in the village, and to have school continue at his discretion, not exceeding ten months.” Accordingly, George L. Otis was engaged for six months, E. Whittemore for four months, and the Misses Frances and Alice Whaley for six months each.
A census taken in September, 1853, showed a population of 925 children of school age in the village, and to accommodate these there were four small buildings containing one room each. In October of that year Dwight May, Esq., was appointed to succeed Mr. Balch, and one of his first official acts was to rent the old Baptist church, which had been removed to the south side of Water Street, between Rose and Church Streets. It was divided into two rooms, and in this building the director organized what might very properly be called the first graded school in Kalamazoo.
From 1847 to 1856 was a period of active agitation regarding the best plan or system upon which to conduct the schools. In June, 1847, Mr. A. Prouty presented a petition, signed by Luther H. Trask and 138 others, to the board of inspectors, praying for the establishment of a union school and the consolidation of the various districts. This petition was unanimously granted, but the next meeting rescinded the action. From this time to 1853, a period of six years, the matter remained undisturbed.
In the autumn of 1853 the subject was again taken up at the annual meeting, and the agitation continued through the years 1854 and 1855, during which various propositions were acted upon, being sometimes accepted, and as often rejected. The most serious difficulty in the way of a consolidation was the selection of a site for the proposed new building; upon this the people could not agree, as it required a two-thirds vote.
In 1855 the Legislature helped them out of their trouble by passing a law which authorized the trustees, in case of failure to agree by the electors, to select the site. The electors failed in agreeing, as usual, and early in 1857 the trustees purchased of Arad C. Balch, for $6500, a tract of five acres, upon which the “old union” building now stands, and in June of the same year let the contract for the construction of the building. The corner-stone was laid by the Masonic fraternity on the 30th of July, 1857.
The high school department was opened in the third story on the 6th of December, 1858, and the building was fully opened and dedicated Jan. 27, 1859. The total cost of building, ground, and furniture was about $45,000. The contractors for the mason-work were Messrs. F. & E. Thorpe, and for the carpenter-work, Messrs. Kellogg & Stevens.
Mr. May served as director until June, 1856, when he resigned, and his administration covered the greater part of the period of agitation preceding the final adoption of the union school system. Towards the close of his term the director began to be called “superintendent.”
On the 16th of June, Mr. Frank Little was appointed by the village trustees “superintendent of schools,” vice Dwight May, resigned.
At the next annual meeting Mr. Little presented an elaborate report, recommending a comprehensive plan for a school system, to include a central building for the higher grades, and four ward buildings for the lower departments. The plan was partially adopted, but it was finally decided to erect one large building, in which should be conducted all the schools of the district, and the result was the new union building described above. Mr. Little held the office until April 20, 1857, when he was succeeded by Daniel Putnam.
As the new building approached completion, the matter of the organization and grading of the schools began to demand serious attention. On the 14th of July, 1858, Mr. Putnam submitted an elaborate report, proposing a plan for the organization of the schools by dividing them into four departments, viz., primary, intermediate, grammar, and high school, which was adopted on the 16th of the same month, and on the 12th of August, Mr. Putnam was engaged as superintendent of all the schools and principal of the high school, one-half of his time to be devoted to each.
In the summer of 1857 the district came into possession of the building, then standing on the east end of the present park, and known as the ‘branch of the University.’ It was removed to the north side of Willard Street, between West and Cooley Streets, and a school, divided into two rooms, was opened in the succeeding fall, under the charge of Mr. Willard F. Guernsey, which was continued until January, 1859, upon the completion of the union building, when it was transferred thither, and Mr. Guernsey became principal of the grammar department. A school was continued, however, in the old building until 1870, when it was sold to Messrs. Bush and Paterson, in part payment for building the Frank Street school-house. Still again, in November, the “old branch” was leased by the district and refitted, and a school opened therein, which continued until Nov. 27, 1876, when the pupils were transferred to the Frank Street building, and the old north school-building was dismantled and changed into a dwelling. It is now the property of Mr. Israel Kellogg.
A small, one-story, frame building, known for many years as the Portage School, came into possession of the district in consequence of an extension of the village limits in 1861. It originally stood on the west side of Portage Street, about eight rods north of Lake Street, but was moved to a location on the north side of Lake Street, east of Portage Street, the same year. In 1875 a lot, situated on the northwest corner of Lake and Russell Streets, containing an acre of ground, was purchased of Merrill & McCourtie for $900.
On this lot a two-story, four-room, brick building was erected in 1877 at a cost of $4500. Tobias Johnson was the contractor. Two rooms were completed ready for schools in September. It is a fine building, and an ornament to that portion of the village. The total cost of the buildings, grounds, and furniture was about $7000. It is called the Portage School. The old building was sold in September, 1877, for $250, and is now in use as a barn.
Between the years 1861 and 1871 the colored children of the district were placed in a separate school, which was located on the southeast corner of North and Walbridge Streets, where a building was purchased and fitted up for the purpose. Previous to 1861 the colored pupils had attended the schools in common with the white pupils. In 1871, it having been found that the plan presented legal difficulties, the colored school was broken up, and the pupils distributed as before among the other schools. The name of the building occupied by the colored children was changed to “East School,” and a primary school was kept in it until October, 1872, when the scholars were transferred to the Frank Street school. The building has since remained unoccupied.
In 1866 the building known as the Lovell Street School was erected, to accommodate the increasing demand in that part of the village. It is a two-story frame structure, and contains eight rooms, with accommodations for 375 pupils. The total cost of ground and building complete was $8000.
The Allcott School, situated on the east side of South Burdick Street, near the corporation limits, was erected in 1867, at a cost of about $600. The lot was obtained in exchange for one donated by the late W.W. Allcott.
The Frank Street School was erected in 1870. The cost of building and land was not far from $16,000. It is a large and handsome brick structure, two stories in height, and containing eight rooms, with accommodations for 400 pupils. It is considered a model of convenience and comfort. Messrs. Bush & Paterson were the contractors. It is situated on the north side of Frank Street, east of Burdick Street.
In November, 1873, the Frank Street building becoming crowded, an old dwelling on the north side of Summer Street, corner of Elm Street, was rented and arranged for a one-room school, with seats for about 50 pupils. This was continued until the new school building, west of Woodward Avenue, and near the Grand Rapids road, was completed.
The Woodward Avenue School.—The lot for this building was purchased of F.E. Woodward, in February, 1877. It contains 1 acre and 48 square rods of ground, and is a very eligible location. Its cost was $1500.
The building was erected in 1879, from a design by Mr. G.A. Gombert, architect, of Milwaukee, Wis. It consists of a solid stone basement story, constructed of stone, nine feet in the clear, and a one-story superstructure of fine red brick, manufactured by Tobias Johnson, who was also the contractor for the erection of the building. Its style is what might be denominated the modified French with the Mansard roof, made to correspond with its somewhat peculiar model. The roof is broken by towers and dormer windows, and substantially covered with slate. The total cost of the building when complete, with water and gas introduced, and including heating apparatus, furniture, and appliances, will be about $11,000, exclusive of the land.
The plan, not only of the building, but of the arrangements and practical working of the school, is at once original and unique; an almost entirely new departure from the stereotyped plans and arrangements of former years. The first grand idea was to have a one-story school building, with no running up and down crowded stairways, and no danger of exposure by fire. This has been accomplished in this fine building, of which we give a faithful and artistic engraving. The plans of the building and the internal arrangement and system of school-work may be called the joint effort of Professor Austin George and the practical and sensible school-board of the village.
The building is divided into two departments,—primary and intermediate, the intermediate occupying a large schoolroom sufficient to accommodate 250 scholars, and having six recitation-rooms attached. The primary department occupies a smaller room, having a capacity for about 60 pupils, and with a single recitation-room attached. The basement is occupied by the heating furnace and for storage purposes.
The working system is very peculiar. A superintendent is employed who directs the government of the schools, oversees the teachers, and also reviews the classes at stated periods. A teacher is employed for each branch of study, each one teaching the various grades of the branch. Under this system no dull scholar, or any one who may be dull in any particular branch, can retard his or her class. A scholar may be excellent in mathematics and deficient in grammar, good in geography but indifferent in some other branch, but it makes no disturbance in the classes. Each pupil is placed according to his or her grade in the various branches, and may occupy the head of the class or grade in one study, and be found at the foot in some other class or study. Every one is graded exactly according to capacity, or advancement, in each different branch, and the system works admirably.
The result of this new system will be looked for with unusual interest by the friends, patrons, and teachers of the public-school system.
The following paragraphs are from the pen of Professor Austin George, late superintendent of the Kalamazoo schools, now of the normal school, Ypsilanti. They were received after the first account of this school was ready for the printer, and we insert them here:
“In 1878 the number of pupils in the northwest quarter of the village had become so large that it was necessary to take steps looking to the erection of a new building for that section. At the annual meeting in July, on the recommendation of the board of education, $1500 was voted for the purchase of a lot on the southwest corner of North Street and Woodward Avenue, and in 1879 a building to accommodate 350 pupils was erected, at a total cost for building, grounds, and furniture of $12,000.
“As the building is a one-story structure, and its plan somewhat unique, we give a brief description: Size, 85 by 96 feet. There is a primary-room, 25 by 35 feet, in which the smaller children are taught, as in an ordinary primary school; a large room, 41 by 57 feet, where the advanced children assemble, under charge of a matron, who does no teaching, but who keeps the attendance, sends out classes, supervises the study of pupils, etc. The teaching is done in recitation-rooms, which open off from the large room, and which are under the charge of specialists,—one teacher having the department of reading, another of arithmetic, and so on. It is believed that this will secure a better quality of instruction, and closer.adaptation to the needs of the district, since pupils failing in any study need only be put back in that study, nor need a child gifted in any branch be retarded by slowness in other departments. Pupils evenly graded are accommodated just as in other schools; and while cross-grading is not encouraged, the machinery of the school is so adjusted as to meet without friction every case of irregular scholarship that may occur.”
By an act of the Legislature, approved Feb. 12, 1859, the schools were transferred from the control of the village board and placed in charge of six trustees, denominated a Board of Education, the members of which hold office for a period of three years. The first board was elected as follows: Two for three years, two for two years, and two for one year. Annually thereafter two were to be elected. The first election under this law was held on the 5th of September, 1859, at which the following persons were chosen: For three years, Hezekiah G. Wells and Israel Kellogg; for two years, David S. Walbridge and Curtis W. Hall; for one year, Silas Hubbard and Frank Little. On the 8th of the same month the newly-elected board met and organized with the following officers: President, David S. Walbridge; Secretary, Frank Little; Treasurer, Hezekiah G. Wells.
Superintendents
Daniel Putnam, from April, 1857, to September, 1865.
Elisha A. Fraser, from September, 1865, to June, 1873.
Austin George, from July, 1873, to 1879.
George E. Cochran, from Sept. 1, 1879.
Statistical.—The number of pupils of school age for a series of years from 1845 to the present time is shown by the following table: In 1845, 368; 1850, 675; 1855, 948; 1860, 1668; 1865, 2151; 1870, 2795; 1875, 3139; 1877,3115; 1878, 3335; 1879, 2915. The increase was steady and regular up to 1875, since which the population has probably remained nearly stationary.
The population of the district in 1875 was 11,225; assessed valuation of property in 1877, $2,149,500; cash valuation of school property in 1880, about $91,000; total cost of superintendence and instruction in 1876-77, $18,020; average salary paid in 1876-77, $450.50; total cost of incidentals in 1876-77, $4932.59.
System of Grading
“In July, 1873, the board requested the new superintendent to revise the course of study, having in view to simplify it. There were 12 grades below the high school. These were changed to 8, and each grade divided into 4 quarters of ten weeks each. The classes have gradually been arranged along these quarters, so that below the high school there are, on an average, more than one class on each quarter’s work through the entire course.
“In 1875 the nomenclature of the grading was somewhat simplified by the omission of the word ‘intermediate,’ and the schools are now divided into 3 departments of 4 grades each, as follows: Primary, grammar, and high school; in all, 12 grades of one year each.
“The grades of the school culminate in the high school; nearly every pupil who enters a primary or grammar grade expects, eventually, to become a pupil in the high school, and hopes to graduate therefrom. Its stimulating influence upon all the grades below is too wide-spread and deep-reaching to admit of computation; nor is it any less difficult to estimate its influence upon the community which sustains it. In one respect, however, its value and importance are easily recognized,—the number of teachers it has furnished, both from its graduates and from those who have not completed any regular course, is surprisingly large. The graduating exercises excite a larger interest among the people of Kalamazoo than any other educational event of the year; the largest audience-room attainable is far too small to hold those seeking admittance, and hundreds are turned away. The high school is not, to any great extent, a preparatory school to the University of Michigan; yet 15 per cent. of its graduates, and some of its undergraduates, have entered the university, while several have gone to other colleges.”
An annual teachers’ institute is held by the superintendent in the week preceding the fall term, continuing three days.
Besides its public schools the village had, almost from the earliest years, very good select schools. These were often taught by clergymen, lawyers, and other competent persons. As early as 1836 a gentleman by the name of Hall was teaching a select school; and among other prominent teachers between 1840 and 1850 were Rev. Richards and J.W. Bruce. A lyceum was also among the early institutions of learning.
* Sketch of the schools of Kalamazoo village is mostly from a history published by the board of education in 1877.
** According to the recollection of Mrs. Charles Gibbs, now living in Kalamazoo, a Mr. Barnard taught in the slab school-house on South Street in the winter of 1833-34, before Mrs. Seymour (then Miss Coleman) taught there. Mrs. Gibbs (then Miss Hays) taught a select school (the first in the place) in 1835, in a small building on East Main Street, below the Kalamazoo House. She taught a select school for several seasons, and in 1841 began teaching in the public schools of the village.
*** Sally Bronson held the title to the west half of the southwest quarter of section 15, by deed from Stephen H. Richardson (her brother), Jan. 5, 1833.”