Janesville High School - Phoenix Yearbook (Janesville, WI)

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sv' Q, 49 fm.. WN 'W -. 0 -. W, - E . Qvll i-li l P. L f2f?5?iie6i4:5L.Z.',llflfQ 5 : Fifteen The jefferson School, located in the sixth ward, is at present used as a grade building. lt was erected in 1858 at a cost of 540.000, and housed the high school until 1895. In that year the high school plant was moved into the new building on High Street, which re- mained in use until Feb- ruary, 1923. In that month the first class was graduated from the splendid struc- ture on South Main Street, built at a cost of S5800,000, and said to be the most completely equipped high school in the state.

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.., , ell 111.1 4 P in History of Janesville 's Public Schools ' AEGQQQQSQ HE earliest settlers of Janesville pitched their camp and QR fu' erected their lirst log cabin in October, 1835, opposite the big l',..gVD rockn near the southern end of the bridge connecting Mon- M terey with the Spring Brook portion of the city. The first 1 SS? chool was t l l' l d 'n 1838 in the l ch ol h use on tl 'tvyL,,,4fQ-lej s es aJ1sie 1 I og s o v o ie Atl' 'I' property of Mr. Abram C. Bailey, on the south side of the bend of the river. The first teacher was Hiram H. Brown, who later lived in Green County. This was probably the first school opened in Rock County. if not in the entire Wisconsin portion of' the Rock River Valley. This primitive schoolhouse was of the rudest construction. Its chinked walls were of rough hevvn logs and the seats were basswood slabs. Thus at the big ford of the Rock River. within a few rods of the Big rock, from whose fiat summit Mucketay Muckekawkaik fl-Black Hawkj harangued his braves, was founded in 1838 the first educational institution in Rock County and the upper Rock River Valley. This log schoolhouse was used until 1843, when another log house was occupied by the school until the erection of the red frame schoolhouse of the joint districts of Rock and La Prairie in 1844, a .full half-mile east of the first log house. Daniel Nurse taught the school in the winter of 1841-42, and Mr. Benedict in 1842-43. Orrin Guernsey was the first teacher to wield the birch rod in the new frame building during the winter of 1843-44. Mr. Guern- sey in 1856 wrote the first history of Rock County, a work of 350 pages. pub- lished under the auspices of the Rock County Agricultural Society and Me- chanics' Institute. VVhile school matters were well under way in the Spring Brook region, the settlement near the Janes tavern and ferry also established a school. This school was opened in a log house in the woods near North Main Street three rods north of East Milwaukee Street. Miss Cornelia Sheldon later CMrs. Isaac VVoodlej taught the first term of school in the summer of 1840. She was succeeded the following winter by Rev. C. XV. Lawrence, who established the lirst debating society in 1841. Other instructors in the village school were Messrs. Little, Bennett, Arnold, VVood, and iNhite. The names of the women who taught sum- mer terms of the school are Miss VVingate, Miss True, Miss Bennett, and Mrs. Catlin. In 1845 a brick building was erected on Division Street which was regarded as a model of comfort and convenience in the early '40s and '50s. THE JANESVILLE ACADEMY Before the days of the free high school, private academies were established throughout the Middle VV est. In 1843 a charter was granted to S. Hyatt Smith, E. V. Whitoii, I. B. Doe, Charles Stevens, and VV. H. Bailey for the establish- ment of the Janesville Academy. A stone building was erected on High Street near Milwaukee Street on the site of the present Lincoln School, and in 1844 the academy was opened with Rev. Thomas DI. Ruger, an Episcopal clergyman, as principal. Many of the business men of that generation received their educa- tion at this old stone academy on High Street. Mr. Ruger was succeeded by Mr. Alden, and he by Messrs. VVoodard, Webb, Spicer, and Gorton. In the early '50s the school was known as the Janesville Collegiate Institution. It was pur- chased by the city in 1855 and became known as the Janesville Free Academy. It was used for public school purposes until 1876, when it was superseded by the present Lincoln school. i f X! S -i .rtecn