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Page 19 text:
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The first school building in Hastings was erect- ed in 1841. It stood on the vacant lot west of Hoffman Bros.’ store on Court street. This one- room frame building did service for ten years. The first teacher was Sophia Spalding, now Mrs. Henry Knappen of Kalamazoo, and among the first pupils were William Hitchcock; Mrs. Hitchcock, nee An- gelo Hayes; Mrs. George Heed, nee Ann Burch; Mrs. George Osborn, nee Wilhelmina Hubbell; Mrs. Ed. Reed, nee Sarah Hubbell; Mrs. Mary Geer, nee Mary Young; Hiram Jones, and Mrs. Charlotte Rus- sell, nee Charlotte Barlow'. The first annual meeting of which w'e have any record was on September 30, 1850. At that meet- ing Nathan Barlow, Jr., was appointed Moderator; H. A. Goodyear, Director, and William Temple, Assessor. The minutes of that meeting contain these entries: “Motioned and seconded, that a por- tion of the stove pipe be sold to the highest bidder. Sold to T. J. Harvey for $1.76. Motioned and sec- onded that ten dollars be raised for contingent ex- penses, which motion was carried. It was voted that the school teacher be hired in the ensuing year at a rate per month; that such teacher board at his or her expense. Motioned and carried that three hundred dollars be raised for the purpose of build- ing an Union School House.” We are told in the minutes of a special meet- ing held May 17, 1852, that “after considerable quarreling and a great many words of no account,” it w'as decided to build a two-room school building “immediately north of the cemetery”—the present Historical location of the main buildings. In the winter of ’51 and '52 “school was taught 4% months by I. S. Geer at the rate of $26.00 per month.” Mr. Geer was assisted by Mrs. Margaret Geer for twelve weeks, who drew a salary of $2.00 per w’eek. “The whole No. of Scholars in the Dis. between the ages of 4 and 17 is 155,” gives some idea of the size of the school of that day. In 1871 the school building had grown to be a three-room house, “with a large entry.” It was con- sidered a large structure, and in appearance re- sembled the old Court House which stands today in the rear of the Hastings House. During the winter of this year, the school house burned and tempo- rarily the school was held in a hall which stood near where the Herald office now is. At a district meeting of that spring, it was de- cided to build the present High School building. The contract for this structure was awarded an Ann Arbor party for $38,000, and later $6,000 more was given a second contractor to complete the work, “since the first contractor jumped his job.” It was about a year before it was completed, and the bonds which were issued for the payment of the cost ran 20 years and “were to draw 10 per cent interest.” In November, 1872, school opened in the new building, with “Mr. Samuel Dickie,” now President of Albion College, as first superintendent. Under his direction the school w'as first regularly graded. There were three teachers in the High School de- partment, who taught Geometry, Algebra, Trigono-
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Page 20 text:
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Historical metry, German, Latin, Greek, Chemistry and As- tronomy. At first only two rooms on each floor of the new building were used, and for a number of years the janitor lived in the building. In these early days, and until 1903, the Board of Education consisted of twelve members. This first graduating class of 77 contained five mem- bers and the exercises were held in the old Union Hall. Since then there have been thirty-three graduating classes. With the growth of the town the “new” building became filled to overflowing, and two small one-room ward school houses were built. In the early part of the “nineties” a commo- dious seven-room building was erected on the square with the main or “High School” edifice, at a cost of $11,000. In 1904 the little district school type of the Second ward building was replaced by a nice two-room structure, and the next spring our Board of Education voted to build a First ward building similar to that of the Second ward, at a cost not to exceed $4,500. The growth of our school system has not been strikingly different from that of the average town. From the foundations, well laid by our “educational pioneers,” there has grown steadily under the watch- ful care of the able men who have supervised it, of the teachers who have served it well, and of the community which has been sensitive to its needs, an institution of which we believe we are justly proud. This product of the devotion of over a half century, today stands high among the schools of the state and influences mightily our little city and community. Our Superintendents Samuel Dickie...............1873—1877 Hutson B. Coleman...........1877—1878 Irving N. Mitchell..........1878—1880 Clark B. Hall...............1880—1884 Charles B. Cole.............1884—1887 J. W. Roberts...............1887—1890 Wellington D. Sterling......1890—1895 Berto A. Holden............1895—1898 John E. Mealley............1898—1900 N. H. Hayden...............1900—1902 Charles F. Field...........1902—1904 Addison W. Chamberlin......1904—1906 J. F. Thomas...............1906—1908 M. E. Osborne..............1908—
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