“The first school in the township was taught in the summer of 1831, in a log building, on the farm of Richard Holmes, one mile west of Nathan Cobb’s, by the latter’s daughter, Mary Ann Cobb, who died in the fall of 1833. The house had been erected for a Mr. Metcalf, who had come in the spring of 1831, and owned what was afterwards the Henry Breese farm, south of Mr. Cobb’s, now the farm of the Cox brothers. The school was a private one.
School districts Nos. 1 and 2, in the then township of Brady, were formed early in 1837. The former, organized on the 7th of February, included sections 17, 18, 19, and 20, in what is now Schoolcraft township, covering the village of Schoolcraft. District No. 2 included sections 16 and 21, the southwest quarter of section 15, and the west half of section 22. Benjamin Taylor and Isaac Briggs were the school commissioners.
Before this time, however, schools had been taught in various places in the neighborhood. Rev. T.W. Merrill taught in, the winter of 1830-31 at Insley’s Corners, in Prairie Ronde township, that being the first attempt at having a school by the settlers in the vicinity. In the winter of 1831-32 a bargain was made with E. Lakin Brown to teach a school in the Joel Clark neighborhood, in the northeast corner of Prairie Ronde township, but before the time arrived for him to begin his labors the position was given to an old man, and the school began before the day agreed upon with Mr. Brown. About 1832 a school was kept in the village of Schoolcraft, in a small frame building afterwards used by Frederick Hatch as a hat-shop.
James Smith, Jr., of the firm of Smith, Huston & Co., built a small office, in which school was taught quite early by Mrs. Thomas (sister to E.L. Brown), and also by a man named Brown, a graduate of Cambridge University, and a very intelligent man. This building is yet standing.
About 1846 an institution known as the “Cedar Park Female Seminary” was founded at Schoolcraft by Rev. William Taylor, then pastor of the Baptist Church at that place. The work was paid for from Mr. Taylor’s private funds, and the school for some time was one of the best in the western part of the State. Considerable uncertainty now exists as to who was the first teacher, some asserting that it was Esther P. Straw and others that another person was in charge earlier. The lady mentioned was a graduate from New Hampton Seminary, New Hampshire, who came West under the auspices of Governor Slade, of Vermont, and remained in charge of Cedar Park Seminary a little over a year. Young ladies only were then received as pupils. “Father Taylor,” as he was called, often visited the school. Mrs. Smith, a widow, took charge after Miss Straw returned to her home in Manchester, N.H., and also remained about a year. Several subsequent attempts to establish a school were unsuccessful, until, in the fall of 1849, Miss Mary A. Barrett, of Windsor, Vt., also a graduate of the New Hampton Seminary, opened a school, to which she admitted all ages and both sexes, and soon had a flourishing institution.
In the fall of 1850 she secured as assistants Mrs. Kedzie, wife of Dr. Kedzie, of the State Agricultural College, and Miss M.A. Miles, now Mrs. E.L. Brown. The school was at this time very prosperous. In the spring of 1851, Miss Barrett was married to Edmund Fish, who had graduated from the State University as a member of its first class,—that of 1845. Mr. Fish and his wife conducted the school with great success, and had at times as many as 130 or 140 pupils.
During the early part of their administration, in 1852, “Father Taylor” died. Previous to his death he had conveyed the seminary property to the trustees of the Kalamazoo College, under whose auspices the school was continued for more than twenty years. In the spring of 1868 the property was purchased by School District No. 4, of Schoolcraft, including the seminary building and 2 acres of ground, for the sum of $2200. In September of the same year it was voted to raise $10,000 by issuing district bonds to pay for the grounds and build a new school-house, to be used as a “union” or graded-school building.
In March, 1869, it was voted to raise an additional like sum, issue more bonds, and appoint a building committee. The old building was, however, repaired at considerable cost, and used for a few years. Finally, after numerous plans for a new building had been submitted, one by architect G.P. Randall, of Chicago, was adopted, and the house erected in 1871, being dedicated on Tuesday, December 5th, of that year. It was 50 by 60 feet in dimensions and three stories high, with a basement. Its seating capacity was something more than 400. The same bell was placed in it that had been in use nearly thirty years in the old Cedar Park Seminary.
In January, 1872, but little more than a month after the new building had been opened for use, it was almost totally destroyed by fire, a portion of the walls only being left standing. The familiar tones of the old bell were heard no more, for it was melted out of shape amid the mass of fire in which it lay after its fall from the belfry. The old school-house, Merrill Hall, and a room over Knight & Vickery’s store were fitted up for temporary use, and with the insurance-money a second union school building was erected on the site of the former one, part of the walls of the first entering into the new structure. Some improvements were made, and the house was finished so that school was opened in the fall of 1872. It is a sightly building, and stands in the eastern part of the village.
The present board of trustees in the Schoolcraft district (now No. 4) consists of the following persons, viz.: John Earl, Jerome T. Cobb, Dr. J.W. Briggs, Dr. B. Barnum, William T. Smith, and Gilbert Stuart. The teachers for the school year of 1879-80 are the following: Mr. Graves, Principal; Mrs. Kniss, Assistant; Miss Josephine Penham, Grammar Department; Miss V. Burgess, Intermediate Department; Mrs. Caroline Pursel and Miss Miller, Primary Department.
At Vicksburg a log school-house was built at some date previous to 1844, on the ground now occupied by the residence of Dr. Ezra Smith, in the southeast part of the village, immediately west of the township line. Some time between 1844 and 1850 it was replaced by a frame building. Probably the first teacher in the log school-house was Miss Laura Royce, daughter of Rufus A. Royce. In the winter of 1854-55, Dr. Ezra Smith taught in the one-story frame building then in use,—the same which is now used as a store-house near the railway station. The doctor had previously taught for several years in Brady township. In 1869 a union school district was organized, trustees were elected, and the construction of a new school-house was at once begun. This building is of brick, two stories in height, and cost about $6000.
The present school board is as follows: Mottram Hill, Moderator; O.B. Dunning, Director; John Long, Assessor; A.J. Johnson, Howard Cook. The sixth place is vacant owing to the removal of James Kenyon. The teachers are: Principal, L.L. Perrin; Preceptress, Miss Ida A. Mosher; First Intermediate Department, Miss Phebe Nottley; Second Intermediate Department, Miss Esther Briggs; First Primary Department, Miss Lucy Hill.
John Long, the present assessor of the school board and a prominent merchant in the village, has been connected with the board about twelve years. He came to the neighborhood of the village about 1851, and in 1860 or 1861 entered the store of Russell Bishop,—the same now owned by David T. Miller,—at the southwest corner of Main and Prairie Streets. Mr. Long afterwards purchased the establishment, but is now located near the middle of the block on the same side of the street.
The following table is from the latest report of the township school inspectors, and shows the condition of the schools at the time it was made,—Sept. 1, 1879:
| Number of districts (whole, 6; fractional, 3)…… |
9 |
| Number of children of school age………………… |
710 |
| Attendance during the year……………………….. |
687 |
| Number of days school taught……………………. |
1447 |
| Number of school-houses (brick, 4; frame, 5)….. |
9 |
| Number of sittings………………………………….. |
940 |
| Value of property…………………………………… |
$31,650 |
| Number of teachers employed (male, 8; female, 23). |
31 |
| Wages paid teachers (male, $1880.75; female, $2726.12). |
$4,606.87 |
| Total resources for year (except Fractional District No. 1, not reporting)………………………. |
$10,229.48 |
| Amount on hand, Sept. 1, 1879……………………. |
$964.61 |
| Total expenditures, less amount on hand… |
$9,264.87 |
School Commissioners
1833, Abiel Fellows, Darius Wells, James Noyes; 1834, James Smith, Jr., to fill vacancy caused by death of Abiel Fellows; 1835, Stephen Field; 1836, Benjamin Taylor, Isaac Briggs, Martin McKean.
School Inspectors
1833, Edwin II. Lothrop, J. Humphrey, Thaddeus Smith: 1835, Joseph A. Smith, E. Lakin Brown, D.M. Dilon, S.0. Wells, Andrew McKinstry; 1836, James Smith, Jr., Edwin IH. Lothrop, E. Lakin Brown, D.M. Dixon, H.G. Wells; 1837, Benjamin Taylor, E.H. Lothrop, Stephen Vickery; 1838, S. Vickery, E.H. Lothrop, E. Lakin Brown; 1839, E. Lakin Brown, S. Vickery, Jeremiah Humphrey; 1840, S. Vickery, Jesse Thomas, George V. Lothrop; 1841, H.G. Wells, S. Vickery, E.L. Brown; 1842, H.G. Wells, E.L. Brown, M.R. Cobb; 1843, H.G. Wells, E.L. Brown; 1844, Hezekiah G. Wells; 1845, E. Lakin Brown; 1846, John Carmon; 1847, E. Lakin Brown; 1848-50, H.G. Wells; 1851, Elias Cooley, Jr.; 1852-53, H.G. Wells; 1854, Edmund Fish; 1855, James M. Neasmith; 1856, Stephen Vickery; 1857, Roswell R. Prentice; 1858, Eleazer Beebe; 1859, R.R. Prentice: 1860, E.W. Beebe, Charles F. Wheeler; 1861, Charles F. Wheeler; 1862, Elisha A. Simmons; 1863, Charles F. Wheeler; 1864, Elisha A. Simmons; 1865, Wesley Martin; 1866, James M. Shafer; 1867, Jerome T. Cobb; 1868, William T. Smith; 1869, William Fisher; 1870, Charles F. Wheeler; 1871, William Fisher; 1872, Moses R. Cobb; 1873, William Fisher; 1874, Philip D. Miller; 1875, Moses R. Cobb; 1876, P.D. Miller; 1877, Gilbert Stuart; 1878, Walker Kniss; 1879, George L. Stuart.
“School Superintendents
“1875, Alexander B. Rath; 1876, G.A. Douglass; 1877, Win. Roberts; 1878, G.L. Clark; 1879, Lewis L. Perrin.”