Marion High School - Cactus Yearbook (Marion, IN)

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so that when Astronomy IS studxed by the and of the fme telescope, the property of the Hrgh School, practrcal work can be done The same rs true rn Physics and Botany The work IS being done wxth apparatus and books and personal mvestxgatron, where formerly xt was done through books alone The past year the School Board has frtted up a splendid laboratory for doing elementary work tn Chemistry Regardmg the character of the work, nt rs not wise to say too much about our own products, but rt rs only just to record that the excellence of the work done rn the Marlon Hugh School, by teachers and pupils, rs recognized throughout the State both by public school and by unxverslty men The graduates are always sought for and given the first places when they leave us for hrgher work This short hrstory woutd be incomplete wrthout mention bemg made of the general esprrt de corps whxch pervades the entire Hugh School lt rs due to thus hugh spxrrt of things that so much can be accomplxshed of more than ordrnary worth The honor of being the fxrst graduate of the schools belongs to Mlss Alice Davrs From 1877 to 1883 there were no graduates Wxth the removal of the Hxgh School agam mto the Seminary building came new life, and on th 22:1 of May, 1883, the second graduating class was sent out, consisting of seven young ladres as follows Lettle Case, Ada Ikhelman, Annette Reynolds, Blrdre DeLong, Lxllxe Wrlkxe Lrda Larrrck and Sallre Clothxer The work so well begun was pushed vigorously rn the Hugh School during the years 1883 84 85, 86, and deserves special mention for its character and dlrectxon During those formative years a foundatxon was laxd which has been of great service ever smce The graduates by years and classes are as follows 1877, 1 1883, 7 1884 9 1885, 11 1886 14 1887, 15 1888, 12 1889 10 1890, 5 1891 5 1892, 9 1893 21 1894 16 1895, 20 1896 18 1897, 23 a total of 196 Begmmng with the school year of 1890 91 tno reliable data earlrer than this rs to be hadl and mcludmg the current year, there have b en 252 boys and 399 gxrls or 651 rndxvxdual puplls who have taken either a whole or partxal course rn the High School A mere mention of so many different pupils taking the work wrll famtly mdxcate the far reaching influence of the school power and its possible consequences Mention xs made elsewhere of persons serving early rn the towns history as school trustees, and xt ts fxttmg that a lrst of the men who have served m lxke capacity later should be a part of this sketch For xt is because of all that they have done that we have and are what we are as a system of publt s hools Begmnxng w1th the earliest offrcxal records available, June, 1877, the followrng men have served as School Trustees of Marion D H Horner, H F Clunk, George Sweetser, Isaac Vandevanter, I W Mxles, L M Overman, R W Barley, T D Tharp,J H Wxgger, E. Kxtch, Elkanah Hulley, Dr M M Wall, Sxmon Goldthalt W D Weaver, Isaac Smxthson, George Webster jr , and Dr H Forrest The length of term served by these gentlemen varies very much I. M Overman was elected to fxll a vacancy September, 1879, and served untrl january 1880 when he resxgned This rs the shortest term noted among the different trustees The longest term of service belongs to Elkanah Hulley, who has served contmuously smce hrs election rn December, 1883 The present Board of Education rs composed of Messrs Hulley, Webster and Forrest, who take great Interest in school matters, and are strrvmg to make xt possible for the young people of the clty to have as good high school opportunities as are afforded anywhere ln the State The wrxter of thts rs aware that rn the preparation of a short history there will b doabtless, many imperfections The information has been gathered from numerous sources, but m all cases has been verrfxed as far as possxble before usxng All avarlable facts have been used, and yet no doubt much valuable and mterestmg xnformatxon has escaped notice While collecting the data necessary for thxs artrcle and in its constructlon I was impressed that xt would be a very wxse as well as a very valuable thing for some one to wrrte out quite fully the educational hxstory of Marlon It should be done before many years, or much of the maternal for a full account would not be obtainable Those who have so kindly assisted me by suggestion or notes or otherwnse 1 wish to thank sincerely for all thexr and It is to be hoped that this chronicle of past events wrll mspxre its readers to greater actron, for to morrow is made possrble by what rs past WELFORD D WEAVER Tn: A 0 1 . 9 - 0 . . . . , . ' Y . - . Z.. Q. ,. .. . . . . . . ..... ,v , . . , . . 9 0 . - ' 0 a

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Both of these gentlemen were re-elected the following year to the same positions ln 1879 they were succeeded by Irving W Barnhart as superintendent and Frank R Osbom as assistant to the principal, Mr George Osborn having been elected to the county supermtendency It was durmg the administration of these gentlemen that the schools became so overcrowded that to relieve the conditions the Presbyterian Church was rented for High School purposes October 10, 1879, the school was moved mto the church and remained there until March 27 1882 While in the church the principal and assistant were again changed It was at this time that A H Hastings was elected supermtendent, Phariba White principal of the High School and Mary Lomax as her assistant In the spring of 1882 the new brick buildings in North and South Marion were completed The schools were reclassified and readyusted By this change the High School was enabled to return to the old Seminary building, which it did April 3 of this year While there had been some progress made in grading, with the new and additional accommodations, Superintendent Hastings and his assistants did much to bring the schools up to a better standard of work Mention is made in the school records that in August, 1882 Superintendent Hastings presented a 'Course of Study and Rules and Regulations, which were adopted by the Board of School Trustees All of this paved the way for the coming of Hamilton S McCrae, his wife, Emma Mont McCrae, and Alva Graves, who became Superm tendent of Schools, principal and assistant principal of the High School, respect1vely,1n the fall of 1883 The High School remained in the old Seminary building, with Mrs. Mc Crae as principal, Mr Graves as assistant principal, and Superintendent McCrae teaching part of the time until the beginning of the school year of 1887 88 Again needing more school room, the third story of the Tharp block, corner of Fourth and Branson streets, was rented for High School and eighth grade use, the High School to use the assembly and recitation rooms and the grade to use the room at the west of the assembly hall The latter part of the winter of 1887 Superintendent M Crae was taken seriously sick, and John K Waltz was appointed to finish his work for that school year The sick ness of Superintendent McCrae proved to be fatal, and Mr Waltz was continued as superintendent until his death, which o curred in March, 1890 During the summer of 1887 Mrs McCrae resigned as principal of the High S hool to accept a po mon in th faculty of Purdue University Mr Graves was advanced from the assistants place to that of principal, and Miss Lucy M Parker became his assistant The work in the Tharp blo k was done under many disadvantages, but the workers did the best they could under the circumstances, and hoped for a better condition of affairs While located here the new growth in the school incident to the discovery of natural gas was very distinctly felt, the fall of 1889 The school continu d to grow in numbers so that each su eeding year the great need of a large building for High School use was being felt more and more While in the Charles block Mrs E. C Gear and Mr A W Moore were principal for one year each While here, also an additional teacher tM1ss Minnie Tresslarl was added to the force The mcrease nn numbers increased the work in the different branches, so that distinct departments were now outlined Here the school worked and waited for the completion of the High School building This was ready for use in September, 1891 The building was formally dedicated by an address given by President John M Coulter of the Indiana State University and a reception given to the citizens and teachers by the Board of S hool Trustees In a few days the work opened for the year with Mr Russell Bedgood as principal and teaching Latin, having for his assistants Mr Alva Graves, Mathematics Misses Minnie Tresslar, English Herriott C Palmer, History, and Frances Anderson, Science, making five teachers doing high school work This number has since been increased to seven, and the school year of 1897 98 will need nine teachers, requiring ten rooms in which to do the work The corps of teachers and assignments for the current year are as follows Mr Virgil McKnight, principal and teacher of History, Civics, Ethics and Psychology Mr Alva Graves, Mathematics Mr Gilbert A Morris, Physics, Chemistry and Constitutional History Miss Minnie Tresslar, English Miss Carrie A Reynolds, Botany, Physical Geography and Algebra Miss Cora Bennett, Latin Miss Edith Beck English and History Mr Bedgood was principal for nearly three years, W I Williams working three months of the last year in his place September, 1894, Mr F M Ingler became principal and continued as such for two years, when Mr McKnight, the present incumbent, was elected With the mention of the election of Welford D Weaver in 1890 to succeed Superintendent Iohn K Waltz, all of the persons related to the schools as supermtendent or principal of, assistant, or teacher in th High School, have been noted Should there b an omission or error, it has been due to imperfect information In 1889 the course of study was changed from three years of work to that requiring four years for completion The enriching and lengthening of the work brought new con fidence in our results among school people Every year the departments are being better defined and better work is being done Gradually the material equipment is added 5 ' ' ' 1 1 f 4 ' n ' ' v g . , , , Z 5. , . Z . . g . V . , . , 6 , . , , ' , C , . and the crowded conditions demanded another move. This time the school went into two suites of rooms in the Charles block. The change to this building was made late in I , 3 . A :C , . . . . . 1 0 0 0 0 I , 0 I , l ' . . ' 3 . , z u , 0 . . . . . , z . . . . : . . 0 , 3 . , 3 , . Y . , . . . . . .

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WELFORD D WEAVER ,-- Je, ELFORD D WEAVER was born in Tyrone, N Y , July 10, 1856 He came with his father and mother to Indiana when a mere child, locating near Hardenburg, in enmngs County Here on his fathers farm, and in a shop and store in Vernon, he spent his boyhood and younger manhood Hts education wa obtained in the country school during winter terms and by two years of study in the graded schools of Vernon, which was supplemented by work in W ii Baptist minister in Pueblo, Colorado, and remained in that state as pastor of the Baptist church in Grand unction until the spring of 1885 In the summer of is this year he came to Marion to organize a Baptist church, of which he became pastor He was selected some years later a member of the school board, and in that capacity evinced an interest in the city schools Upon the death ol Mr john K Waltz, who was then the city school superintendent, the other members of the school board delegated Mr Weaver to take the place of superintendent for the unexpired part of the school year Mr Weavers term as school trustee expired at this time, and Mr lsaac Smithson succeeded htm on the board A little later in the summer he was elected superintendent of schools, and began his work uly 1, 1890 In this capacity he has served seven years 7 l l lx 1 X . , J ' , , . . ' . A 's ' S 7? -,lf Franklin College from 1879 to 1883. During the time spent in College six years of collegiate work were finished. In September, 1883, he was ordained a