Perry High School - Clock Yearbook (Massillon, OH)

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'fain' 1, flint X . t l, H lqx f I Q L u' M' . , my-A g , , . 'A ' H f' , 5 . ' X 1 4 x 1 9 if N 1 ,. ,f i s- , fax 'fl ' 1 as 1 ' ff? 1 til ' ' dit! if el fr, tmp. 2315: .AM Q . . ' ,.- ff 2 . ' 'E 't Vi' . w'l i. ' ' , f?'.1. - -'f '7',a li.: qt ,IV A A U-N I A -tr , Iv 1 1 Ivins 1 X. i'.Y..ff 2aa 1f f iw.-.Xu N P I x' ,W . if H 6 . if fy N 1 .: - fgtflf, fl f .. .ggi 3, ,45 0 ,J it- e lf' 1 wt it 7,513 l tk? ff 5,3 My A ,A if pa it f ' - ZW if V 4 lt 'tl Feld f t l ti -Tv?-Q'-,. S' ya 'lf-t xc- .J f . fy fl' 1 if 4, , 32:7 do WLING 6- A Direct gina' 1 Hatch is inlay Before and during the Civil War, the under- ground railroad, as it came to be called, trans- ported many runaway slaves to the North and freedom. A major artery of this fugitive slave route extended through Stark County and Perry Township. The Negro struggle for civil liberty was championed by the Quaker faith. One of the most prominent and respected Quakers in this arealat that time was Thomas Rotch who settled in the northwest portion of Perry Town- ship, now a part of Massillon. An account of his experiences with runaway slaves follows. Much of it is verbatim from William Henry Perrin's 1881 publication, tory of Stark County. September 14, 1823 Thomas Rotch . . . was shrewd in all business matters, and, as all Quakers did and do, bore faithful testimony against human slavery. He was frequently called on to protect the fugitive slave on his flight to Canada, and never was known to let the call pass unheeded. A single instance will illustrate his devotion to his prin- ciples on that subject, as well as courage. In the spring of the year 1820, a woman with two children called at his residence and satisfied him that they were fugitive slavesg he at once provided them with a place of safety in the second story of a spring house almost adjoining his residence. In the morning of the following day, immediately after breakfast, a couple of strangers on horseback rode up to the door and inquired if Mr. Rotch lived there. And, on being answered in the affirmative, commenced to make their business known,

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auf as Well as in Fas! 51715 However, sources state that the first school in Perry Township coincided with the organi- zation in 1813 of the first religious society west of Canton, the uKendall Preparative Meeting of the Society of Friendsf, The school was located in Massillon near the Spring Hill Farm area. Besides being the house of worship the Quaker meeting house was also to be the school. The first teacher was William Mott who was a young Quaker of limited education. Realizing this, he quit teaching and turned his job over to a Cyrus Spink, a very capable man who con- tinued at the profession until he was in his seventies. The schools were supported, not by taxes, but by tuition. Public, or common schools as they were known, did not come into existence until 1825. James W. Lathrop, a representative to the Ohio legislature from Canton, sponsored a bill which provided for free public education through the levying of taxes. The first tax levied was one-half of one mill and it met with great resentment on the part of the tax- payers. A milestone in the history of Ohio education occurred in 1829 with the opening of Charity Rotch School in Kendall which was still a part of Perry Township. When Charity Rotch died of dropsy in 1824, she left her whole estate for the establishment of a free school. The school was the first vocational school in Ohio. Its curriculum included courses in home economics, agriculture and regular academic classes. The school existed until 1924 when it was torn down. Funds from Mrs. Rotchas estate are still used for child welfare and edu- cational purposes, according to the dictates of her will. From the establishment of the Charity Rotch School until 1853 when Perry Local Board of Education was established, information of the schools are sketchy. But during this era, the one-room school came into existence. The town- ship was divided into sub-districts, and the sub- districts in turn were given the power to levy taxes to build schools or repair them, which- ever the situation demanded. Board minutes indicate that the schools were inspected, and reports were made. There were in 1859 eleven sub-districts and each had a school. Comments such as Malgebra was not taught, uschool in good conditionf, uorthography not taught, or Mifor Surugm ,taught for 356 .75 a day for two months and four months for 31.00 a day, uwere sprinkled throughout the early recordsf, ln 1875 the following one-room schools were in existence: Miller fsection 14 on mapj, Buz- zer's Glory fsection 22 on mapj, Murray fsec- tion 29 on mapj, Shidler fsection 36 on mapj, Freeman fsection 2 on mapj, Blue Clay fsec- tion 10 on mapj, and Charity Rotch School. Vinedale fsection 9 on map band Richville fsec- tion 27 on mapj were built at a later date. Still standing are Freeman, used by the Uni- tarian church, Shidlers, used as a union hall, Vinedale, used as a p1'int shop, and Buzzer's Glory, used as a residence. Buzzer's Glory falso called Buzzard's Glory and Perry Centerj got its name from a visitor who heard the students studying out loud and compared them to a buzzer for buzzardj. In 1925 a partition was put through one of the rooms at Richville school, and high school classes were held. But because of parental objec- tion, the students were transported fwith the purchase of the school system's first bus-pic- ture located in the board officesj to Murray School. In two years, the high school classes and the students were transported to Massillon. With the construction of the present Rich- ville, Reedurban and Genoa schools, the one- room school era in Perry Township came to a close. ln the fifties, Perry Township saw its greatest growth in schools with the constriction of Whipple, Perry High, Watson, and Lohr. The early sixties saw the emergence of a 6-3-3 plan in education with the opening of Edison Junior High. Growth of Perry schools is not over yet, pos- sibly its greatest growth lies ahead, since Perry Township, according to the Stark County Plan- ning Commission, is the fastest growing town- ship in Stark County.

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far Slaves lmpvrfanf 16016 underground Kailrmd which was that of slave-hunters, one being known as a man who was in the habit of aiding slaves to escape, advising them what route to take, then following them for the reward of- fered by their masters, the name, of the slave- catcher was DeCamp. The slavecatcher had become as familiar as household words in these parts. Thomas heard him very patiently describe the woman and children, and say that he had traced them to his fThomas'j' residence, and produced a warrant for their seizure issued under the act of Congress 1793, and supposed his work was done-that the Quaker being a law-abiding people, the mother and children would be at once delivered. After he had exhausted his vocabulary, Tho- mas said, 'aDost thou think thou can take the woman and her children here if thou canst find themfw Certainly, replied the slave-catcher. 4'Well,', said Thomas, HThou may be mis- taken, thou hast not found them yet, and shouldst thou find them, thou might have trouble to take them. The strangers had not been invited into the house, and while the dialogue was going on between Thomas and him having the Warrant, the farm hands, of whom Thomas kept three or four, gathered around, and seeing such a crowd, the strangers began to look at each other and evinced alarm, which Thomas was not slow to notice, and breaking a momentary silence, said to the person having the warrant, Dost thou know of a man who follows the business of slave catching by the name of DeCamp? 'cl do,', answered DeCamp, for it was he, and was betraying fear of bodily harm, and in- quired, Have you any business with me? My name is DeCamp. By this time, the men of Thomas, household, himself included had formed a sort of circle around the slave-catchers. Thomas replied with the utmost coolness, 'gl expect very soon to have some very important business with thee, and it will be well for thee to be prepared for it? DeCamp and his confrere concluded it would be best to beat a retreat, which they did with- out delay. On reaching their horses they sprang into their saddles and left Spring Hill farm and its Quaker occupants, and never again called there for human chattels.