Plymouth High School - Mayflower Yearbook (Plymouth, IN)

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Story of the l.ibrarv The flint suggestion of a public library came at a meeting of the CYvic club shortly after it» organization in December. 190 The meeting was held at the Plymouth Inn and the matter was brought up by Mrv C W Metsker Rev Warring and Professor Randall (ell in with the Idea Editor MtSakrr was delegated to comult the stair librarian and ascertain the method of procedtr and law relative to instituting a library Intereat In the project did not materialize and thr matter rested far about eight months when Mrs Winnie Humnchouser took It up with the business men and citizen» Finally. the ladies divided the city into sections and canvassed for subscriptions In a short time, over $2.000 had been subscribed to insure the purchase of the Cleveland lot After considerable correspondence with Mr Carnegie, a statement was made that he would make available $15.000 for the project. A hoard was selected by the Common Council Serving on the first board were L J. Hess. George Marks. C. A Reeve. John R Jones. Mrs Harry tlumiichouser. Mrs. A. R. Underwood, and Mrs J W Smith After the Common Council passed a resolution to levy sufficient funds to maintain the library, they notified Mr Carnegie the amount needed to build the building After much discussion, the board made a contract with W S Kaufman and Son. of Richmond, to make plans and specifications for the building In April of 1913 the contract (or the construction of the building was aw arded to Arthur W O’Keefe of Plymouth for the sum of $12,15937. The corner stone was laid on 7-7-13 The ceremones Included a parade with several Masonic Lodge groups from the surroumkng areas participating The main speaker was Hon. Samuel Parker. The board members then were C. A Reeve. President, K Frank Brooke. V»ce-Pres . Winnie L Humnchouser. Secretary. George D Marks. Trees . Eva L Underwood. F W Boa worth, Rena F, Armstrong, John Richard, and Ralph R. Jacoby. The copper box in the comer stone contains: copies of the Plymouth Republican. Plymouth Democrat. Culver Citizen Argo Reflector, Bremen Enquirer. Bourbon New» Mirror, and . copy of the Industrial Edition of the Republican of Nov 50. 1911 the Yearbook of the Saturday Chib, and the Yearbook of th Wythougan Chapter of D A R The first librarian was Miss Gordon who began her duties o December 1. 1911 The library opened with 3.000 books for UM The total cost of the library was $21.«« 50 of which Mr Camegi paid $15.000 As the years have progressed, so has the library The volume now total 34.605 and an additional 2.000 items tn periodicals record», film», etc Now. in this BCcntrnrsal year, after 63 year we are again approaching another building program, to rnaht the public library to efficiently and effectively serve its patroni The present board members are: Wm Lar amore. Presidrn Neil Sherwood. Vice-President. Lyn Ramsbey, Secretary Dominic Bnziolara. Treasurer. William Fortin. Shirley Morrow and Sylvia Bieghler The present librarian is Dennis luiwson an his assistant is Hilda Williams EDUCATION OUTSIDE THE SCHOOLS Since the early schools concerned themselves with hasi education various music group were formed in the area and it in this interest that we record many cf these group . As school programs developed to include these as part of for mi education they seem to dwindle In importance The following is list of these organizations The Old Brass Band The Mozart Musical Club Plymouth Skiver Cornet Band Oratory The Plymouth Glee Club The Old Tone Fiddlers —20- i'HS 1876 'V7,

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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—

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THK OLD BRASS BAM) The first musical band in Marshall county was what was called The Plymouth Sax Horn Hand, which came into existence in the winter and spring of 1853 The member at the Ume of organization os near as can be remembered were William H. Salisbury , leader. IXamel and Platt McDonald. David Vinnedge. Rufus Brown. A C Capron, Thomas K Houghton. Rufus Mert Rrown There might have been two or three others in the original organisation, but if there were their names cannot now he m ailed Later on from time to time new members were admitted until the band consisted of about sixteen faeces, among whom were Alex Thompson. John McDonald and Charles H Reeve Mr Reeve was not a permanent member, but met with the boys frequently and was useful in writing music and in helping them to learn to play. “Old Joe Iherson. as he was familiarly called, who resided somewhere in l.aPartr county, was employed as teacher and bandmaster He had but one eye, the other having, in some way. heen put out He came at stated Intervals by stage from laiPorte to Plymouth, and generally remained two or three days He was not a very brilliant or accomplished musician but as a teacher, as rhe boy» used to put it, be was onto his job ' In those days there was no printed hand musicas now. and the music for the different instruments was all written with a quill pen on blank music puper by Old Jor He first selected the melody and then composed the accompaniments and various parts to fit the several instruments Among the pieces remembered are Wood-up Quickstep, Old Dog Tray. Lilly Dale.” Old Kentucky Home. Ben Bolt. TKd Uncle Ned. ‘Old Folks at Home. Number 14, and many mere that were popular in those days There was no foolishness about1 •« ld Joe. When the time came for practice every member was supposed to be on hand ready to do his part If he found a member particularly weak he would give him special attention until he was able to master the difficulties Then all the in- «(rumenLx would be started, and such music as was made in the beginning was not such as is said to have charms to soothe the wvaRt beast. to rend the rock, or split the knotted oak But it was not long before the members became quite proficient and • ere able to follow the score fairly well The leader of the band as William II. Salisbury, who was an accomplished cornetist. who had learned the mysteries of that instrument at La Porte before coming hrrr He was employed as bookkeeper for the firm erf Pomeroy. Houghton. Barber, the principal business firm in Plymouth at that time. He was a most pleasant, genial gen tlcman. and has many delightful memories clustering around his ife while a resident there The band began to play in the political campaign of 1854, but did vot get down to real business until the memorable presidential ampuign of 1856 and I860, and it played for moot of the local •ntcrtuinrnents and picnics, of which there were many in those lays, nearly always without money, or any thing else but thanks' Hiring the wartime the band went to pieces, many of those «•longing to it enlisting In some of the several companies nrruited in Plymouth the instruments, which belonged to the ndivukial members were sold or given away — at least none of hem have ever been seen since Stiver then many hands have wen organized, flourished for a time, and gone to pieces as their jredecessors have done In 1900 Bea M Seybold organized a band, vhich has developed into the best one Plymouth ever had Music is the grandest und most sublime of the sev en liberal arts ind sciences It u the only thing earthly of which there is any icrount of tn heaven Shakrxprarr put it none too strongly when w said: TT e man that hath no music in his soul And is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, la fit for treasons, stratagems and spoilt • The motions of his sptnt are dull as night And his affections dark m Erebus • let no such man be trusted '' Music is the only universal language in existence The con ounding of the languages at the tower I of Babel did not destroy PHS 1876-1976 the language of music It speaks the same language to every inhabitant of the earth that it did when the loud timbrels sounded the grand chorus o'er Egypt ’s dark seas The German who cannot understand a word of English will go into ccstacies over the playing of The Blue Danube or The Watch on the Rhine. and the Frenchmen in a strange land will weep tears rf )oy on hearing The Marseillaise Hymn, and our own American, when among peoples whose language he cannot understand, will shout for joy when he hears played America. The Star Spangled Banner. Hall Columbia. or Yankee Doodle, because they speak to him a language which he understands Life b motion, and motion, or vibration, is music. The whole world is full of music. The gentle zephyrs that stir the leaves of the trees; the tornado that fells the forests in its mad career; the roar of the ocean's waves as they dash against the rock-bound coast; the cannonading and rumble and crash of the thunder, the dashing of the raindrops on the roof; the continual hum of the great cities, all these In one b the basis and foundation of the music as we have it in its present form The universe b a magnificent operahouse in which the combined music of the earth and air is the grand anthem that b continually being heard by all the inhabitants of the world The standard keynote, the tonic on which all instruments are keyed, b derived from the basic sound of all thb music of nature and of the spheres ORATORY An orator b one who delivers an oration; or, one who b skilled in public speaking To a considerable extent it is a gift the gin of knowing what to say. and how to say it The orator must un- derstand thoroughly the science of rhetoric, for. as it has been well said, 'It teaches him to speak copiously and fluently on any subject, not merely with propriety alone, but with all the ad- vantages of force and elegance; wisely contriving (o captivate the hearer by strength of argument and beauty of expression whrthrr It be to entreat or exhort, to admonnh or applaud Closely allied with this b logic, without a thorough knowledge of which he can never expect to become an accomplished orator, because it teaches us to guide our inquiries after truth It consists of a regular train of argument. whence we infer, deduce and conclude, according to certain premises laid down, admitted or granted, and in it are employed the faculties of conceiving, judging, reasoning and disposing; all of which naturally leads on from one gradation to another until the point in question b finally deter- mined What constitutes genuine oratory has never yet been definitely determined Certain It b that it b not frantic gesticulations of the arms, head or body Marshall county has produced its average share of orators, who have been trained In the courts of justice, in the pulpit, and on the political rostrum Among those who have made their mark in these lima above their fellows may be mentioned C. H Reeve. M A O Packard. John G. Osborne, of the older practitioners, and later Samuel Parker. C. P Drummond, Charles Kell bon. and several others who are still with us. who. when warmed up to the siiiject. are considered more than ordinary speechmakers Henry G. Thayer, several years before hi death, was the first to bring the subject of oratory before the school authorities, by offering 850 in gold yearly as a reward of merit for the one who should be considered the best orator in a competitive contest This was continued a number of years, when for various reasons it was discontinued About 1903 an oratorical contest between picked pupils of the LaPorte and Plymouth high schools took place in the auditorium of the Plymouth high school building, which stood on the site of what was a beautiful grove in the early times where all the public political meetings of all parties were held, and where many noted orators had made the welkin ring with their eloquence The gentleman who was selected to preside over the meeting, on taking the chair, delivered a short address, in part as follows: Tlie entertainment provided for in the program of the evening b something new along educational lines here, and in the outset it b hoped that the results of this coming together may be the means of forming an association which shall embrace the northern port of the state —21—