Plymouth High School - Mayflower Yearbook (Plymouth, IN)

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Thrn came the claw. In arithmetic. the member of which hod been laboring to commit to memory the rule laid down by Pike. Smith, or Talbott, each in his day renowned for the great labor through which he had attained fame by puuhng his brains m making what to the scholars seemed to be impossible mica by which to work more impossible problems Then the class in anting took their places at the long writing desk in front of the windows They attempted to follow the copy set by the master, and with the new beginner the master would find it necessary to stand at his bach and hold his hand while he directed Its motion so as to shape the letters attempted to be made During the lesson the master had to answer many questions aside from miking and mending numeroua goose quill pm that were continually in need of repairs. When the sun's rays cast a shadow straight into the schoolroom through the south door, indicating that It was noon, then came from the master the welcome announcement You are d«sim ed Such scrambling as there was. and such tumbling over benches to get out into the open air. and to the play grounds, was s performance not permitted nowadays The noon hour was spent by the master in eating his dinner, which, like the children, he had brought with him. and In setting copies and blocking out a line of procedure for the following day The dinner baskets were quickly emptied, and then came the play, that best of all things to teach the complicated study of human nature Among the boys was oon heard thecali bull pen, town ball. or base bail, and other games, while the girls chose other amusements Of these the more athletic game» and sports were generally preferred by the vigorous young fellow» of the woods, and a roystrrou . bonrtertous hour it was. from which memory recalls many a happy incident Why can't our schools of the present day get out of their confined limits where space compels that the lives of thr helpless, innocent, prattling children whom we love be risked in tucked up rooms and their noon hour be lout to the first lessons of thr study of nature, human and physical, in healthful outdoor play ? The afternoon was a repetition, generally, of the forenoon exercises, except that spelling down ended the day'» doings The school was divided Into two classes, those that coiid sped in worth of two syllables, and throe who could stand up irtdrr such wards as Con-stan-ti no-ple and val-e-tu-di-na-ri-an ' When the spelling class was called to its place the members stood up in a straight line the long way of the room, while the master gave out the words, beg swung at the bead of the class or number one. who tad one trial at spelling and pronouncing the word, which if missed, was quickly taken by the next, who if successful, went up to the head of the class It sometimes happened that the word was not properly s pH led till at or near the foot of the class, when the nnr who spoiled it right went clear up to the head of the class This was the custom every day until Friday afternoon, when the week’s exercise» were closed with a spelling bee M The master selected two of the best spellers as captains of the forces, one of whom threw up a stick which was caught by the other, and so on until the one who held the top of the stick was awarded first choice, and then they would choose alternately until all were on one side or the other The master gave out the words, and when a scholar missed, under the rule, he was required to take his seat, and so ft went on until all were spelled down but one. and he and the side he was on were declared the victor. There is a very wide difference between the education of the children of the early pioneer and those of the present day The one had only the rudiments embraced in the three H's instilled into his mind, while the student of the present day. even m the common schools is thoroughly drilled in orthography, reading, writing, arithmetic.geography, grammar. United State history, physiology, literature, etc., and a system of graduation has been devised under which it is possible for all who complete the course of study pursued to secure a certificate that they have mastered the various branches named Nowadays to enable one to attain any considerable degree of success in life it is deemed essential that he should be at least fairly well educated in the common branches In the pioneer days the small amount of business transacted was of such a nature that beyond reading, writ» , and arithmetic, education was not required If all had been graduates of Harvard. Cornrll or any oi the great universities of the country they could not have mad any use of their surplus knowledge, and that being the case it wai not deemed necessary to waste time in acquiring it The men oi Marshall county who have left their impression for good on hri institutions and who were identified with its organization. and th building up of society generally, were blessed with but limiter education Some of them could barely write their name», and 1 few that we have in mind who attained to distinction and wealtl could neither read nor write On the other hand, many of thoa who have had the benefits of high schools, seminane am colleges, and hold certificates of graduation, have dropped intc kinds of business requiring little education, and with all thru acquired knowledge have hern impotent to make their mark if the world to any considerable extent It is a serious quest or whether, in this progressive age. we are not cramming the head; of many childrrn who go to school too full of the knowledge o branches that they can t understand, and which will do them nc good in fighting the battle of life before them The theory seem U be that children's heads are hollow, and so they Ram it in, cram ft in. CTiUdren s heads are hollow; Slam it in. jam It in. Still there's mare to follow. Hygiene and history . Astronomic mystery. Algebra, histology. Latin, etymology. Botany, geometry. Greek and trigonometry - Ram it in. cram ft in, Children's he» k are hollow Rap H in. tap ft in - What are teacher» paid for’ Hang it in. slap it in • What were children made for? Ancient archaeology. Aryan philology. Prosody. Zoology. Physics, cltnictology. Calculus and mathematic . Rhetorics and Hydrostatics Hoax it in. coax it in. Children's heads are hollow! There was another kind of education in thr early day» that wai deemed as essential to the well bemg of the community as th branch» usually taught in the schools That was a knowledge o the science of vocal music Education in this branch of learning was taught in what wa called singing schools, usually held in the school houses in th evening They w ere patronized mostly by the young people as i sort of meeting place to visit and have a good time, but there wer a ho a considerable numhrr of married people who had master the mysteries of the old buckwheat notes, who attended am assisted in helping to carry the parts The singing master, as a rule, didn't know much about th science of music beyond what was contained in the rudiments printed in the Introduction to the old Ml—ouri Harmony ; til only vocal music hook then known in this part of the country If h had been asked what w as a musical sound or what was meant b; concert pitch, and how it happened that the letter A on th second space from the first line below had hern sett tied upon a the sound, or pitch, to which all human voices, and alt musica instruments ail over the world must be adjusted, he would tav fallen flat on the floor in a spasm of surprise He could no mor have told how many vibrations prr second were necessary t produce a sound fixed by all the musical congresses of the worl known as concert pitch. or the sound from which every othe musical sound in every musical composition that has ever bee written must be In harmony, than he could have told by mathematical proresss how many ckops of water there were I the ocean He arranged the singers so that all with voices fitted to one pat PHS 1876-197« —18—

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then) writing desk , in front of which wore high seats for the accommodation of such as might be advanced to the writing grade There were rough benches without backs far the children to sit upon, and how the little fellow »' spinal columns did ache before school was “let out for the day no one who has never gone through such an experience will ever know. Auger holes were bored in the logs in convenient places and wooden pins driven tn on which to hang hats, bonnets and clothing. The grounds about the building were nicely cleared up. the logs and brush burned, and the play-ground for Jumping, foot races, wrestling matches, bull pen and town ball was properly laid out. and a good big pile oI wood cut and piled up a convenient distance from the door to last during the winter term A well was dug and curbed up with red oak boards, a well sweep was added to which waa attached at the lower end of a long hickory pole which was fastened to the top end of the sweep. and old fashioned wooden bucket Mow that well and the sweep and e'en the rude bucket which hung in the well is remembered. and how vividly comes back the memory of that good old song: How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood When fond recollection presents to my view The orchard, the meadow, the deep tangled wild-wood And every loved spot which my infancy knew The w »de spreading pond and the mill that stood by it. The bridge and the rock where (be cataract fell; The cot of my father, the dairy house nigh it. And e'en the rude bucket which hung in the well. The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket. The moss-cove red bucket which hung ui the well The buildings and grounds and other necessary conveniences having been provided, the next thing in order was to blaze the way to the schoolhouse from the homes of the parents having children to send to school At that time there were no road» except •trails made by the Indians, of whom there were still quite a number in the county These trails were by-paths through the woods leading from one Indian village to another, and to the various lakes and rivers in the northern part of the state Indians, you must know, always went ••tandem , that is one after the other, and in this way the trail was sometimes worn down several inches. They wound around through the woodi. avoiding swamps, bilk and fallen timber as much as possible. Some of these trails are still in existence—one through a section of unimproved Land near Twin lakes, that we hare seen, and there are doubtless others about Maxinkuckre lake, and in the vicinity of Tippecanoe river, both of which were favorite resorts far the noble red man, from w horn the lands here were stolen, after which he waa driven by the government out west to grow up with the country. The nearest route to thr school house was selected, when the trees at convenient places were blazed, that is. a man with an axe chipped the bark off about aa high aa his head on both sides of the tree so it could be seen both gomg and coming Lots and brush were removed, and by following these blazed trees the young scholar. as he was called, had no difficulty tn finding his way to the seat of learning The schoolhouse and grounds having been duly and truly prepared, the next step was for those having children to send to school to select by common consent, a master to take charge of the children who were to compose the school. There were no professors or superintendents of schools, or instructors or teachers then. Those early educators were always known as schoolmasters ‘ until Edward Eggleston changed the name to Hocaier Schoolmaster in his charming story of that name, written in the early history of the state There were no professional schoolmasters then Those who taught school simply did so to pass away the long winter months when there was very little work on the farm to do He was generally a resident of the neighborhood who was supposed to have attained to a higher grade of educational knowledge than his neighbors, and whose skill in manipulating the birch rod was known to be all that the most enthusiastic advocate of corporal punishment could desire PHS 1876-1976 —17 It was also deemed necessary that he should be provided with a pen knife and that he should be able to make a quill pen. for. be it known, at that time steel and gold pens had not found their way into this part of the country, and it is possible that pern made of metals had not then been invented, at any rate, all the records in the various offices in this cotmty. all the bookkeeping in com- mercial transactions, and all the letters, both of a business and social nature, at that time were written with a quill pen. and it was corendered quite an accomplishment to be able to make, out of a goose quill, a pen that would enable the writer to do his work in a satisfactory manner. Some of the finest penmanship we have ever seen can be found on some of the early records of Marshal) county made with qpuill pens In the Auditor's office some of the records made by the then auditor are equal to any ever made since with gold or steel pens. In the clerk's office William G Pomeroy left some fine quill pen record» Samuel C Sample was one of the three commissioners who organized the county June A. 1M6 He afterwards served as judge of the circuit court until October 19. 1843 He was an ex- cellent penman, and his signature to the last court record on Order Book A. page 673. written with a quill pm, is equal to the famous signature of John Hancock to the Declaration of In- dependence Moat of the ink used in those days was of domestic manufacture A solution of pokeberry Juice boiled down was sometimes used Black walnut hark boiled w water until it became as thick as syrup was the basis for much of the ink used in the country schools A solution of copperas was added, after which it was reduced to the proper thickness by pouring into the whole a quantity of hot water After a cornu)taboo had been held and an agreement reached as to who should be the schoolmaster, and how much salary he ought to have for the quarter's term, a subscription paper was circulated through the neighborhood to ascertain how many chiWkren would be subscribed to attend during the winter The amount it was decided each one would pay was determined by dividing the total amount the master was to receive by the number of scholars' subscribed The amount generally agreed upon was from IIS to 130 per month, and the master was to board around among his scholars, dividing the time as nearly equal as convenient. The first day of school was a day long to be remembered The nearest resident to the schoolhouse was on hand early and had the building well warmed with a great btg crackin' fire long before the appointed hour for school to take up By nine o'clock the scholars were all on hand ready for the opening of the misade against the citadel of ignorance. No record of attendance was kept, and so. of course, there were no tardy marks recorded against any of those composing the school There were very few school books to be had. and those in use had been transmitted through several generations. Webster's Elementary spelling book. Pike's or Smith's arithmetic, the Columbian Orator. Weem s Life of Washington, and the Life of Francis Manon, Undly Murray s or Kirkham s grammar, comprised the books used in the curriciium of those days, and at no time were there enough to go around Each pupil in attendance was permitted to study such branches as he saw fit, or all of them if he thought he could master them The larger number, as a rule, were in what was called the A B C class, and special efforts were put forth that the members of this class mastered this part of the course of study, and advanced and gained some insight into spelling in words of one syllable before the last day of school The reading class was arranged so that all those who were able to read could be accommodated whether they were provided with books or not The class was seated on a long bench, and the lesson was so arranged that half a dozen of the scholars could use the same book Theheadof the class would rise to his or her feet, read the first paragraph and hand the book to the next In line Thus progress was made without unduly disturbing his neighbor, and was continued until alt had read around and until the lesson for the day had been fully mastered

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would be together such as halts, counter, tenor, and treble, as the parts were then calk’d, and then be commenced leaching them the notes, and him to run the gamut ’ The pupils soon learned the namrs of the notes by their buckwheat shape and their position on the staff, and as the master knew all the pieces in the book by heart. it didn’t take very king drilling for the whole school to become familiar with the favorite tunes selected for practice, although they knew nothing absolutely about the science of music or the culture of the voice At the ctase of the term a concert was usually given tor thr benefit of the people in the locality where the '•ctvool -.to. taught N« .n'.misMiwi fee was charg«si. and of cour r the room was jammed full, while many renuiined ouLxidr in hearing distance Tliose who may havr lived in those days, and who may have attended any of those exhibitions of musical culture, will call to mind with what feeling and phthos those oM MUgers executed lamox “Old Hundred. Schenectady, •Solitude New. Portuguese Hymn. Pastoral Klegy and other fuinthar piece which they will readily call to mind • Heavenly Vision was reserved for the grand closing anthem When the master had hit his tuning fork and placed it to his ear. and had given the key note to the several parts, then the trouble began The counter. always composed of a goodly number of strong voice», broke forth with: 1 bchrld and to! A great multitude, which no man coukl number And then the bass •usands and thousands, and ten times thousands, itood before the luimh. and then then tenors came to the rescue • ith: And they ceased not day nor night crying And here the rebles joined in the fray and the four parts raised the roof when they sang Holy. Holy, laird, God Almighty, which was and to, and to to come and so on over a dozen page occupy ing more than half an hours' time in its rendition That was a grand an them, indeed, that Heavenly Vision Since then we have heard the finest instrumental twind in this country, have heard the t est pera companies in existence, hsv e heard famous Hngnolc. Patti. Silssonaixi all the fumous singers since Jennie Lind s day. and at he opening of the World's Fair, listened to the grand chorus of ive thousand voices under the direction of Theodore Thom», hut he music of all these, to us. was 1 flat. Male and unprofitable. as ■ompared with the charms of Heavenly Vision as sung by our •Id time pioneer friends, nearly all of whom have long since gone t is hoped, to participate In a realization of that dream of bliss ropbested in that grand okl anthem of long ago. It must have been about 1M74S that the round notes by the lamesof do, ra. ml. fa, sol. la. tl. do. began to take the place of he old style flat notes, or buckwheat note», as they were called mown ax law. sol law. faw, sol. law. mi, faw AO the singer tad to do was to learn the shape of the nofe and then he wax ire pa red to master anything in the hook Faw was half a qua recut diagonally Sol was round, law was square, ml n shape was a hexagon In the different keys. sol. law. and faw kiublrd up so ax to fill up the gamut .” Lewis A Joseph was the lioneer who introduced the round note Innovation at the Pisgah nreting house a mile northeast rf Wolf creek mills It was something new .and thene who had mastered the buckw heat notes ook hold of the new system with conuderable real, and it was not Mg until the round note were all the go Among the leaders in the movement were the Lelands. Hands. 'Cans. Dickvins. Thompsons. McDonald , and others who livrd n that neighborhood at the time Pisgah was a noted place for meetings, spelling and singing ■chooU. and other social gatherings, from the tune it was built mtil a doom or more years ago. when having outlived its aefulnesa It was abandoned It was built by James Logan Carpenter Jim ), and was considered one of the finest frame wildings of the kind in the county at the time It was given the tame Pisgah by Thomas McDonald, deceased, who was nainly instrumental in securing its erection. TIIF. TOM NSHIP LIBRARY During war times, or shortly after the dose of the war of the Ubellicn. a system of township Ubrarie was created by act of he legislature, by which the township trustees were authorized to PHS 1876 1976 ENUMERATION FOR SCHOOL PURPOSES. MAY 1.199» Male female To al Sour toon township »1 224 467 Center township 4»9 410 «9 German township . m 7S4 412 Green township 167 III 272 North township 2SS 771 SJ7 Roll townthip »1 in SS4 TippecanoetowMhip 194 190 2S4 Union township 2M 240 SOI WTJinut tonnxhlp . JOS 20» 412 V«vl townthip ...m 1« 400 Arpos town ... 147 149 211 fVtnrbon town ... 149 in 220 Bremen root 21« 219 42» fiilwar lnw«n vV1 TV' twwn • 0 ■ 17« Plymouthc »v 224 229 445 Grand total un L442 Ml» purchase books and provide for their keeping and distribution The books were selected more for the benefit of the school children than for the general reading public At first these libraries gave promise of being quite popular, but as tune went on interest in them ceased, and one by one they were moved around and boxed up. and finaQy disappeared from public view, and now none of them are in existence so far as Is known. PUBLIC SCHOOL LIBRARY The Public School Library of the dty of Plymouth, which was organized about twenty five years ago by Prof R A Chase, superintendent of the city public schools, is the only library of a public nature in the county at the present time It to under the management of the superintendent and the board of education, w ho employ a librarian to wait on those desiring to obtain books A small tax is levied on the taxable property withui the city limits, which is used to purchase new books, magazines, maps, etc . and in this way a library of choice books has been obtained, mim hering mail probably from three to five thousand volumes These books are open free of charge, not only to the pupils of the public schools, but to thecitizens of Plymouth as well The collection of funds for the beginning of this library was begun in April. 18». by the efforts of several ladies and gentlemen who presented the comic opera of Tl. M. S. Pinafore. The amount thus raised was increased by two concerts given by the teachers and pupils of the primary rooms, the total amount thus raised being 817016 The intention in the first inception of the scheme was to make it purely a school library which should not be open to the public, but a law having been passed about that time authorizing towns and cities to levy and collect a small amount of tax each year which should be applied to the purchase of books and the building up of libraries which should be open to the public, the plan was clunged to make it not only a school library but a library which should be open to the public as well, and in this way the tax collected from year to year could be secured for the benefit of this library. The plan has worked well, and the library is a credit to the school and the people of Plymouth who have assisted in the way of tax a boo in building it up PLYMOUTH PUBLIC LIBRARY Since for year the students throughout our school system have made use of the Library for all sorts of reasons, we almost con- sider it part of the school system For this reason we include it in our history of P I! S. A recent picture taken by Howard Borvig captures the beauty of the building and saner it to under consideration to raze the building and replace it with a new structure we fell it to important that we keep the memories of this hall of learning for future generations We asked the library for a short re-cap of Its origin and growth which is as follows: —19—