Harvard Boys High School - Review Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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CED V. I I. I I I , . II II I I I I I I I I I I I I H II I 1 I II Il II I VU' a .af id L. I I ,I THE ALUMNI SECTION John J. Schobinger 1846-1927 Wfhen the life of a man has given something constructive to the development of his city, that life is worthy of being recorded in its annals. John J. Schobinger, school teacher, lived and taught in Chicago during one of the most interesting half centuries of its development. He set educational standards which are reflected in the personalities of many of the city's leading citizens who feel even now the impress of his intellectual in- tegrity, solidity of character and simple personal charm. When Mr. Schobinger arrived in Chicago in 1873, he found the city rising courage- ously from the ruins of a fire which had made its name known in every land. Even the little country of Switzerland from which he came had contributed 516,000 to the re- habilitation of the flame-swept city. The country, too, was slowly regaining its poise after the upheaval of the Civil War. For the United States and for Chicago, the seventies were in a sense the dawn of a new era. Into this period of youthful vigor, Mr. Schobinger fitted admirably. How fortuitous chance influences a man's destiny is shown by the circumstances which brought him to Chicago. Johann Jakob Schobinger was born on May 1, 1846, in the little village of Hallau, in the Canton of Schaffhausen, Switzerland. His uneventful childhood was marked chiefly by his insatiable intellectual curiosity, that impelled him to seek a wider education than the village afforded. In this effort, his mother encouraged him to the best of her ability, and it was a proud day for her when in June, 1867, her son finished his university work at the Polytechnikum of Zurich, passed his teacher's examination, and was appointed principal of the high school of the neighboring town of Neunkirch at a salary of 2,000 fr. fS400j a year. However, as he had borrowed the money for his higher education, and as his work did not begin until September, he set about to earn some money during the sum- mer months. In this way, he became acquainted in Montreux with Thomas Byrd Bryan, of Chicago, a fine type of American gentleman of means and culture, who employed Page 112 ' T ' i Ya

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Sigxgstguvx. SZQVIQW Q? ?A xugxbxux5xs.tsb.xSxux5x him to tutor his two young children. A warm friendship developed between Mr. Bryan and Mr. Schobinger. and before the summer was over, the older man had tried to per- suade the young teacher to give up his plans and come to America. Upon his refusal to do this, Mr. Bryan left him the parting offer: Whenever you feel like coming over, just let me knowf' Already the seed was planted. Whatever longings for adventure Mr. Schobinger may have felt, he submerged them in a whole-hearted devotion to his school work in the restricted circle of a provincial village. After five years in Neukirch, the narrowness of his environment became in- tolerableg he obtained a year's leave of absence and wrote to Mr. Bryan of his desire to spend the year 1873-74 in America. Mr. Byran's reply was characteristic. He cabled- Have sent Charles to meet you, keep him rest of school year. A letter followed in two weeks, and soon after, Charles, then a youth of 16, appeared in Neunkirch, finished his year in the little school under Mr. Schobinger's tutelage, and in the summer the two left for Chicago, Hrst taking a trip together to Vienna, Prague, Berlin, Paris and London. The circumstances of Mr. Schobingerys transplantation to America were singularly fortunate. A timid, countryiied young man of twenty-seven, totally unused to the refinements of society, he was suddenly plunged into the midst of the cosmopolitan life of the diplomatic corps in Washington where Mr. Bryan had important political con- nections, and where Mrs. Bryan, a gracious southern grande dame kept open house, often entertaining two to three hundred guests in an evening. It was there that Mr. Schobinger met President Grant, General Sherman and other notables. When the Wash- ington season was over, the family left for the Bryan house at Elmhurst, Illinois, where Mr. Bryan had assembled many treasurers of art-paintings, etchings and early American and European antiques-and had built up on a small scale an estate resembling that of an English country squire. There was a park, a rookery and a small Episcopalian chapel where Mr. Bryan conducted services for his family and those of a few neighbors. There began a quiet and studious life. Lessons went on busily every day, and in his spare time, Mr. Schobinger actively pursued his study of English, and browsed in Mr. Bryan's excellently stocked library. It was a life of keen intellectual progress and social training. The remarkable fluency with which Mr. Schobinger wrote English even during his first year in America may be observed in many letters of these early days. He was intensely interested in American life and culture, and his observations show penetration and clear analysis. In a letter written during the first year he says: There is a great deal of non- sense said on the other side of the water concerning a supposed state of barbarism in this country. I think that in Switzerland and in Germany what school does is much over- rated in comparison with what life does. An American would probably carry off a less brilliant examination than a German, but in life, the American would be far ahead. The American knows less and possesses greater executive powers. He is nearer the harmony between knowing and doing. At the end of one year in America, he had decided not to return to his post in Neun- kirch and wrote to the school board of his decision. They released him from his eight year contract, but only upon condition of his reimbursing them for his salary for the unful- filled time-a sum of 4,500 francs, After his second year in Elmhurst, as Charles was soon to enter college, Mr. Schobinger began to look for a wider Held of activity. He had been offered a position at Howard University in Washington, another at Elmhurst Seminary, and was thinking of applying for work in Chicago's only high school, at that time undergoing reorganization. Just then an opportunity was offered to substitute in science work for the remaining ten weeks of the term in the Harvard School for Boys on 16th Street, Chicago, a very small school under the direction of Mr. Edward S. Waters. During the next year, he was employed as a regular instructor, and at the end of that time, Mr. Waters, who wanted to leave the teaching field, offered to sell him the school. Page 113 .f 'Lf 7 ' -