AKRON'S EARLIER SCHOOLS

Samuel A. Lane

Fifty Years and Over of Akron and Summit County

     Besides this and other outside schools, in the Ayres settlement, the Sherbondy neighborhood, the Spicer settlement, the Old Forge, etc., North and South Akron were each separate school districts, a small frame school house standing on the northeast corner of Middlebury street and Broadway, afterwards replaced by a one story stone building, which is still standing.

That school house, a cut of which, from memory, is here given, was the only place for holding public meetings-religious, political, literary or otherwise, the first number of Akron's first newspaper-the Weekly Post-issued March 22, 1836, announcing that "The Akron Lyceum and Library Association will meet at the School House in South Akron, on Friday next, at 6 o'clock P. M., to discuss the question: `Ought the right of suffrage to be extended to foreigners?"' and the further announcement that "the electors of Portage township will meet at the School House in South Akron, on Thursday, the 31st inst., at 7 o'clock, for the purpose of nominating candidates to be supported at the ensuing election;" and a few weeks later this: "A meeting of the members of the Akron and Middlebury Baptist Church and Society will be held at the School in South Akron, on Wednesday, June 16, at 4 o'clock P. M., the purpose of organizing under their charter;" and also this "The citizens of Akron and vicinity are earnestly requested to meet at the School House, in South Akron, on Saturday evening al 7 o'clock precisely, for the purpose of ascertaining the public feeling in this place with regard to' constructing a Railroad from Akron to Richmond, on Grand river in Geauga County."

     In North Akron there was then no public school house, such brief terms as were taught being dependent upon such hired rooms, in private houses or stores, as could be procured, though there was erected in 1835, back of where the Congregational Church now stands, a small house for a select school, but by whom built, or by whom the school was taught, is not now remembered.

In this house, also, religious, political, literary and other meetings were held, until the completion of the Congregational, Methodist, Baptist and Universalist churches, and the halls in the old stone building, in North Akron, May's building in South Akron, and Stephens' building, between the two villages, were completed in 1836-7.

     Of the earlier public teachers, the writer has no definite recollection, but the proportion of public money for the payment of teachers was then so meager, and the term so short and uncertain, that many parents preferred to send their children entirely to select schools, which were quite numerous about those days. Among those recalled, who taught for shorter or longer periods, were Miss Sarah Carpender, sister of Dr. John G. Carpender, of 315 Bowery street, afterwards married to Mr. John S. Harvey, one of North Akron's pioneer merchants; Miss Amanda Blodgett, sister of the late Mrs. A. R. Townsend, and later the wife of the late Dr. William P. Cushman; and our present well preserved 80-year-old fellow citizen, Nahum Fay, Esq.; Mr. Fay teaching the Nortli Akron district school for five successive Winters-1836-7 and 1837-8 in a store-room in Lewis P. Buckley's building, where the postoffice now stands; 1838-9 in a store room belonging to Elisha N. Bangs, where the Allen block now stands, and 1839-40 and 1840-41 in the new school house, below referred to, on South High street; his sister-in-law, Miss Emily Cummings, teaching in the lower story of the same house; the first Mrs. Fay also at one time teaching a small public school in a rented room on West Hill, near the present residence of Dr. John W. Lyder. Advertisements of other select schools are found in the newspapers of the period, as follows:

VARIOUS “SELECT” AND “HIGH SCHOOLS

     May 20, 1836, "M. and A. C. Joyce respectfully inform the inhabitants of Akron, and vicinity, that they have opened a school in South Akron, where ' they will instruct a few young ladies in Arithmetic, Orthography, History, Composition, Natural Philosophy, Astronomy, Botany, Rhetoric, Chemistry, Drawing in Crayon, Mezzotinto, Pencil, India Ink, Japaning, Flower Painting, etc. Terms made known on application. Those wishing to attend to Reading, Writing, Geography, Grammar, etc., $3 per quarter."

     July 27, 1836, "Mrs. Susan E. Dodge announces that on the 1st clay of August, she will open a school on the corner of Main and Exchange streets, for Young Ladies and Misses, in which the following branches will be taught: Reading, Writing and Spelling, $2.50; Grammar, Geography and Arithmetic, $3.50; Rhetoric, Philosophy, Botany, Map-drawing and Needle-work, $5.00: Painting (water colors) 24 lessons, $5.00, Landscape Painting, $5.00. Term eleven weeks."

January 2, 1837, Miss B. M. Hawkins, under the heading, "Akron High School," gives notice that she "will continue her school, over the room of M. C. and A. R. Townsend, in North Akron, during the Winter term of twelve weeks. Tuition: Orthography, Writing, Grammar, and Geography, $2.50; History, Arithmetic, Rhetoric and Composition, $3.00; Geometry, Chemistry, Botany, Intellectual Philosophy, Natural Philosophy, Natural Theology, $4.00; French Painting, $5.00."

     In the Spring of 1837, Mr. S. L. Sawtell, an eastern college graduate, opened a select school in Stephens' block (present site of Merrill's pottery) giving such satisfaction, that on the 15th of November, the " Winter term of the Akron High School," with Mr. Sawtell as instructor, is announced,-the price of tuition for a term of 11 weeks, ranging from $3.00 to $5.00.

     This seems to have been a regularly organized institution, lout whether chartered or not is not remembered, and the management seems to have included gentlemen from several neighboring townships in both Portage and Medina counties (Summit not having yet been erected), the officers named in the advertisement being as follows: Jedediah D. Commins, (Akron), President; Jonathan Starr, (Copley), Vice President; Simon Perkins, (Portage),. Treasurer; Horace K. Smith, (Akron), Secretary; John Codding, (Granger), Erastus Torrev, Eliakim Crosby, Gibbons J. Ackley, Justus Gale, Samuel A. Wheeler and Joseph Cole, (Akron), Roan Clark, (Middleburry), Lewis Hammond, (Bath), Allen Parctee, (Wadsworth), and Henry Van Hyning, (Norton), Trustees.

     But notwithstanding this solid backing, and notwithstanding the acknowledged ability of Mr. Sawtell, the attendance was so meager that, as an inducement to increase of pupilage, the Spring and Summer term, of 22 weeks, in 1838, without increased pay, was offered, Mr. Sawtell seeking, at the same time, to create an interest in his school, and the cause of education generally, as well as to piece out his income, by the publication of the " Pestalozzian," which had an existence of six months only, both his paper and his school being discontinued in the Fall of 1838.

     In the American Balance of December 27, 1837, is an announcement that "on January 3, 1838, a select school will be opened on the corner of Middlebury and High streets, South Akron, under the superintendence of Miss M. E. Hubble, of New York, where pupils will receive instruction in all branches usually taught in our Eastern Female Seminaries. Terms per quarter (11 weeks) from $3.00 to $5.00 according to studies pursued, and for music, $8.00, including use of piano."

     The growth of the public school system was slow for the next six or eight years, because of the disproportion of Akron's quota of the State school fund, to the number of children to be educated, though, in about 1839, a fair sized school house had been erected in North Akron, on High street, immediately south of the present Congregational Church (still standing there), with a room in the basement in which the younger scholars were taught; a small additional building, afterwards known as the "Bell" school house, on South High street, being used for a second school in South Akron. But owing to the fact that each parent was required to pay his pro rata proportion of the teacher's salary, over and above the amount received from the State, very many of the youths of the village were not kept in school, the average attendance, in 1845, being scarcely more than 350 out of a total enumeration o f 690.

     Yet, besides those mentioned in the "High School" advertisement, above quoted, many other citizens, of both villages, were deeply interested in the cause of education, among whom were Constant Bryan, Esq., Capt. Richard Howe, Gen. Lucius V. Bierce, Webster B. Storer, Ansel Miller, Horace K. Smith, William H. Dewey, William M. Dodge, Harvey B. Spelman, Allen Hibbard, Henry W. King, Sidney Edgerton, Hon. James R. Ford, James Matthews, James S. Carpenter, Dr. Edwin Angel, Dr. Elias W. Howard, etc.

THE “AKRON INSTITUE”

     Early in 1844, Mr. Thomas Parnell Beach, a graduate of Bowdoin College, at Brunswick, Maine, established a high school in the small stone building on the side-hill, north of the Dr. D. A. Scott residence, on North High street, originally used for church purposes by the German Lutheran Society, the school being removed later in the season to an upper room in the new TrusselL building, corner East Market street and Maiden Lane alley, which was carried on with a fair degree of success, until the death of Mr. Reach, September 30, 1846, his successor for a term or two being Benjamin Franklin Dennison, A. M., commencing in November, 1846.

.December 3, 1844, notice of the establishment of a "Select High School," in the "Stone Block," is given by Mr. Samuel S. Greele, the success or duration of which is not now remembered by the writer. In the meantime, a number of citizens had inaugurated a movement for the establishment of a permanent high school on the stock plan, and on the 10th day of February, 1845, a charter was granted by the Legislature for "The Akron Institute," with power to confer degrees, with Simon Perkins, Eliakim Crosby, Edwin Angel, Henry W. King, James R. Ford, Lucius V. Bierce and Samuel. A. Wheeler as corporators. Though the stockholders organized, nothing definite seems to have been done towards accomplishing the object sought, the last mention of the project found in the papers of the day, being the announcement of a meeting of the stockholders, held October 9, 1846, at which directors were elected as follows: Simon Perkins, Richard Howe, Samuel A. Wheeler, Henry W. King, Edwin Angel, Lucius

Bierce and William Harrison -Dewey, with Simon Perkins as President, Henry W. King, Secretary and Richard Howe, Treasurer.

THE GRADED SCHOOL SYSTEM.

     Though not a liberally educated man, himself, the late Ansel Miller was an earnest friend of education, in those early days, being for many years a trustee of the South Akron school district, as well as a member of the Board of Education later on.

     Mr. Miller, realizing the many defects in the old school system, as early as 1840 began to advocate the plan of educating all of the children of the people at the public expense, and the classification of schools into distinct grades according to proficiency. In this view Mr. Miller was warmly seconded by Dr. Joseph Cole, Webster I3. Storer, William M. Dodge, Richard Howe, and others in the South Village, and by Horace K. Smith, Nahum Fay, James Mathews, Henry W. King, Allen Hibbard, Hiram Bowen, Constant Bryan, James M. Hale, Dr. E. W. Howard, and others in the North Village.

     This doctrine, however, did not find favor among the childless property owners, and some of the larger tax-payers, they contending that aside from the amount annually drawn from the State School Fund, every parent was bound to provide for the education of their own children. Thus, for several years, the discussion went both in private and in public, culminating in a large and enthusiastic public meeting, at Mechanics' Hall, in the old stone block, the night of May 14, 1846, at which a committee was appointed “to take into consideration our present educational provisions the improvement, if any, which may be made therein."

            Rev. Isaac Jennings, Pastor of the Second Congregational Church, was made chairman, (the names of the others not remembered), and the committee at once vigorously entered upon the task of thoroughly informing themselves upon the question under consideration, and to the formulation of a report upon the subject at an adjourned meeting, held November 21, 1846, Mr. Jennings in behalf of the committee, submitted an exhaustive report, occupying three columns and a half in the BEACON.

     After setting forth the defects of the existing system, and advantages of the proposed change -greater uniformity, enlarged scope of studies, greater efficiency, etc.- the plan submitted by the committee, after full discussion, at a numerously attended meeting at Mechanics' Hall, on the night of November 21, 1846, was unanimously adopted, and a committee, consisting of Rufus P. Spalding, Henry W. King, Lucius V. Bierce and Harvey B. Spelman, was appointed to carry the report into effect, and secure the necessary legislation in the premises.

     Mr. Spalding, as the chairman, and Mr. King, as secretary of the committee, carefully embodied the substance of the report in <i bill, which, being duly presented and advocated by bur Representative, Hon. Alexander Johnston, of Green, and our Senator, Icon. Asahel H. Lewis, of Ravenna, was duly enacted into a law on the 8th day of February, 1847. The act is as follows:

     An Act for the support and better regulation of the Common Schools of the Town of Akron.

     SECTION I. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, that the electors of the Town of Akron, in the County of Summit, qualified to vote for members of the town council, shall, it the time and place of holding the annual election for said members of the town council, for the year one thousand eight hundred rind forty-seven, meet and elect six directors [Mr. Jennings' report styled them superintendents and recommended their appointment by the council,] of common schools for said town of Akron, two of whom shall serve for one year, two for two years and two for three years, the order of the seniority to be determined by lot, by such directors after their election; annually thereafter, at the time and place above specified, there shall, in like manner, be two directors elected and qualified. All vacancies which may occur shall be filled by the town council.

     SEC. II. The said directors, within ten days after their first appointment, as aforesaid, shall meet and organize by choosing from their members, a president, secretary, and treasurer; and such treasurer, before he enters upon the duties of said office, shall give bond -and security, to be approved by the council, and filed in the office of the Mayor of said town, conditioned for the faithful disbursement of all moneys that shall come into his hands as such treasurer, which bond shall be made payable to the State of Ohio; and when such bond shall be forfeited, it shall be the duty of the town council to sue and collect the same for the use of the common schools in said town; and the said directors, so organized and qualified, and their successors in office, shall be a body politic and corporate in law, by the name of "The Board of Education of the Town of Akron," and as such, and by such name, shall be authorized to receive all moneys accruing to said town, or any part thereof, for the use and benefit of the common schools in said town; and the said board shall be capable of contracting and being contracted with; suing and being sued ; pleading and being impleaded, in any court of law or equity in this State; and shall also be capable of receiving any gift, grant, donation or devise, made for the use of common schools in said town; and said board, by resolution, shall direct the payment of all moneys that shall come into the hands of said treasurer; and no money shall be paid out of the treasury except in pursuance of said resolution, and Oil the written order of the president, countersigned by the secretary.

     Without following the exact phraseology of the balance of the law, we summarize the remaining sections as follows:

     SEC. III relates to regular and special meetings of the board, quorum, etc.

     SEC. IV gives the board entire control of all the schools and school property; that after the then ensuing first Tuesday of June, Akron should constitute but one school district and that all moneys accruing to said district from the State, or otherwise, for school purposes, should be paid over to the treasurer of the board.

     SEC. V relates to number and grade of schools; the establishment of a central grammar school, studies to be pursued, what pupils entitled to admission, etc.

     SEC. VI confers upon the board power to make and enforce rules, employ teachers, fix salaries, purchase apparatus, buy lands, build houses, buy furniture, etc.

     SEC. VII requires the town council to levy such annual tax upon the property of the district, as, with the amount received from the State school fund, and other sources, would meet the expense of maintaining said schools; which provision, owing to the clamor of certain inimical tax-payers, was modified by an amended act, passed January 28, 1848, limiting the levy to .four mills on the dollar in any one year.

     SEC. VIII places the title of all lands, houses and other school property, with power to purchase, sell, etc., in the control of the town council.

     SEC. IX provides for the appointment of three school examiners, by the council, for the examination of all applicants as teachers, granting certificates, etc., and also for quarterly visits to schools, reporting progress to council, etc.

     SEC. X provides for public examinations of schools, annually, under the direction of the mayor, council, board of education and examiners.

THE LAW MADE GENERAL

     February 14, 1848, an amendment was adopted by the Legislature, providing: "That every incorporated town or city in this State shall have the provisions of the act entitled 'an act for the support and better regulation of the common schools in the town of Akron' and the amendatory acts thereto, pasted by the Forty sixth General Assembly of this State, extended to all or any of said incorporated towns or cities, whenever two-thirds of the qualified voters thereof shall petition the town or city council in favor of having the provisions of said act so extended," thus establishing a precedent for the "local option" laws, on the temperance question, now in vogue in Ohio, and other states.

     Changes and amendments have from time to time been made, extending the provisions, under certain regulations, to unincorporated villages, townships and school districts, 'so that now a large proportion of the State is working under the Akron School Law, a fact of which our citizens may justly feel proud.

     It will be noted that the plan of the original report was so modified in the act as passed, as to make the superindents, or as the act specifies, the directors, elective by the people, instead of appointive by the town council. At the first election under the law, June 1, 1847, Lucius V. Bierce, Harvey B. Spelman, William H. Dewey, James Mathews, William M. Dodge and Dr. Joseph Cole were duly elected as members of the board. The board organized by electing L. V. Bierce, president; H. B. Spelman, secretary, and W. H. Dewey, treasurer; James S. Carpenter, Esq., Abel B. Berry, Esq., and Mr. Horace K. Smith, being appointed school examiners by the council.

     The entire town, denominated the "Akron School District," was divided into eight subdistricts; additional primary school houses were built, and the property abutting on Summit, Mill and Prospect streets, then embracing about two and a half acres of land, was purchased for $2,137.21, and the castellated one story, frame building, already upon the ground, was fitted up for a grammar school, at a cost of $613.44.

     Mr. Mortimer D. Leggett, Ithaca, N. Y., a ripe scholar, and a thorough disciplinarian, was employed as Principal of the Grammar School, at the "munificent" salary of $500 per year, with Miss Lucretia Wolcott and Miss Helen Pomeroy as assistants, at $200 and $150 per year, respectively.

     The board was opposed in all of its movements by certain penurious property owners, and, as above stated, an amendment to the law was secured, limiting the rate of taxation for school purposes, in any one year, to four mills on the dollar, which compelled so great a degree of economy, in providing houses and apparatus, and the employment of competent teachers, as to very seriously threaten the success of the experiment, Mr. Leggett being impelled to withdraw from the schools the second year for lack of adequate compensation for his exceedingly efficient services.

     The graded system was found to work well, however, there being a much greater proportionate attendance, and at a considerable less expense per capita, and greater proficiency, than sander the old plan. In 1849, an additional sub-district was formed, the primaries were graded into primary and secondary, and the grammar school was suspended during the Summer.

September 3, 1849, Mr. Charles W. Palmer, assisted by Mrs. Palmer, and Mr. Josiah Gilbert Graham, took charge of the grammar school, Mr. Palmer's engagement being for two year:, at J joint salary, for himself and wife, of $600 per year, though owing to Mr. Palmer's illness, the school was again suspended early in 1851, not to be again resumed until the completion of the new grammar school building, a contract for the erection of which was entered into by the board with the late Charles W. Brown for the foundation, and the late Andrews May, for the superstructure, in the Winter of 1850-51, at a cost of $9,200.

     Meantime, Mr. Edwin Bigelow Olmstead, and his wife, were employed to teach a higher grade primary, or rather secondary, school, in lieu of the grammar school, at a joint salary of $50 per month, the fifth annual report showing the cost of tuition for the previous year (1851), to have been $2.00 per scholar upon the average number enrolled; $2.80 per scholar upon the average attendance, and $1.12 per capita on the enumeration.

     This arrangement continued until the dedication and occupation of the new High School building, October 13, 1853. This building was erected immediately south of the original frame structure, being a two-story brick, 50x70 feet, of fair exterior and interior finish with a large school room and recitation rooms, on either floor. In 1868, the two wings were added, giving four additional rooms, at a cost of $15,000, and is now known as the Central or Jennings School building.

     The dedication exercises were held in the upper room of the new building, which was crowded by parents and the friends of education. Sidney Edgerton, Esq., then a member of the Board of Education, made a formal presentation of the structure, on behalf of the contractor and the board, with congratulatory remarks upon the advanced position which Akron occupied in the educational world, and the bright future ill store for her both from a business as well as an educational standpoint. Rev. 1). C. Maybin, rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, read a portion of the scriptures; Rev. A. Joy, of the Baptist Church, following with an appropriate prayer. Brief addresses were made by Abel B. Berry, Esq., Rev. John Tribbey, of the M. E. Church, and others. Rev. Nathaniel P. Bailey, of the Congregational Church, offered a resolution of thanks to the Board for their efficiency in the promotion of the work which had beet done, and a hearty commendation of the system of education, so auspiciously inaugurated, to the unstinted support of the people of Akron, and the friends of education everywhere. The exercises were interspersed with music by the Akron Band, and closed with a benediction by Rev. N. Gher, of the Grace Reformed Church.

     Mr. Samuel F. Cooper was employed as Superintendent of Schools, assisted in the High Department by Mrs. Cooper and Miss Annette Voris, sister of Gen. Alvin C. Voris; the Grammar department being placed in charge of Miss Elsie A. Codding, assisted by Miss Mary Gilbert and Miss Rosetta Pryne. Mr. Cooper's engagement closing after two and a half years of faithful work, in April, 1856, Horace B. Foster, Esq., of Hudson, graduate of `'Western Reserve College, filled the position with great acceptance, to both board and pupils, from October, 1856, until the Spring of 1857. Mr. E. B. Olmsted was then appointed Superintendent, with Mr. J. Park Alexander in charge of the Grammar school, Mr. George 11. Root, of Tallmadge, having had charge of that department during the years 1855-56, assisted by Miss Harriet N. Angel and Miss Jerusha McArthur; Mr. Root also giving especial attention to penmanship, in both the grammar and high schools.

     The teachers' pay-roll for 1856, was $2,777.42, the average price paid in the primaries and secondaries being about $4.75 per week; in the grammar school and assistants in the high school $35 per month; superintendent $65 per month.

     The board, deploring the evils resulting from frequent changes of superintendents and teachers, in their 11th annual report expressed the conviction that the lowest wages principle was not the most economical, and that such liberal compensation should be paid for both superintendent and instructors, as would secure the best ability and skill in all the departments. . .