Plymouth High School - Mayflower Yearbook (Plymouth, IN)

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THE PLYMOUTH GLEE CLUB This wax a musical society which came into exigence in 1873. mainly lor the purpoor of giving entertainments for the benefits of the needy poor of Plymouth ami vicinity. It was composed of five gentlemen of some musical talent, residents of Plymouth The first entertainment under its management was given in Balcony hall. Plymouth. January I. 1873. The program embraced an opening address by the late Charte H Rrevr twelve vocal and instrumental srlrrtionv a charade. Wayward, and two recitations. Stamms O'Brian. the Brave Boy of GlingaU.'' and “Over the Hills to the Poorhouse. The opening quartet by the Glee Club took the Large audience by storm The music, was an arrangement of ’ Maryland. My Maryland, and the words by Mr Reeve They were so highly spoken of at the tune and were so appropriate to the objects of the entertainment that they are worthy of being perpetuated by being inserted here The words are as follows: Dread Winter spreads his icy pall. Chilling blasts around us roar. Before him Autumn's beauties fall— Earth’s green face is seen no more • frosts congeal the rolling tide. Disease and want move sJde by side. And desolation far and wide Face the weak and helpless poor. Health, strength and plenty on us wait. Peacefully our days go by; Shall those crushed down by hapless Pate. Vainly raise to us their cry? Shall thirst and hunger ceaseless crave, Shall death come near • beyond the grave - Shall we stand by with power to save. While the sick and needy die? No, no! The Lord has given us I m e And Faith and Hope' It must not be. Our Faith and Hope by works will prove Duily works of Charity. Haste then - bring forth fram out your store wiierrwith to clothe and feed the poor; Bring consolation to the door Of distitute humanity. Two entertainments were given during that winter, the net proceeds of which were $142.32. This was distributed to the deserving needy by a committee of one selected from each of the church organizations then existing in the city. PLYMOUTH SILVER CORNET BAND This band was organized in lMM under the control of the republican party, the money for the purchase of the imtmments t»nng contributed by that party It was. however refunded by the members o! the band about the end of the campaign of IMft It was composed of twelve members originally, but soon fell to ten. hich kept it going about ten years Those who composed the band after the reorganization in the ’70s were: Charles Hasianger, Frank Smith, Charles Chapman. Edward Quivey, Wm W Davenport. Daniel B Armstrong. James M Confer. H B Miller. Thomas No», William Moore. The present Plymouth band was organized out of the remnants a former band, which had been organized out of still another wnd Under the leadership of Ben M Srybdd it is considered one jf the best band organizations In northern Indiana In an interview not long ago with the only survivor of the Migmal members of the old band he said: In my time I have ward many world famous bands, such as ‘The Washington Marine Band.” “Sousa's Great Chicago Band. “Pat Gilmore’s EJand. “The German Prussian Band, “The French Band, The Mexican Military Band of seventy five pieces And yet. PHS 1876 1 976 he said, in the language of our own Hoosier port, slightly changed to fit the occasion. T want to hear the old band play! “Such tunes as ’John Brown's Body' and 'Sweet Alice.' don't you know. And The Camels is A-comin',and John Anderson. My Joe,' And a dozent others of 'em - 'Number Nine’ and 'Number Levem' Was favorites that faUt) made a feller dream o'heaven .And when the boys ’u’d serenade I've laid so still in tied I've even heerd the locus blossoms droppin' on the shed When 'Lilly Dale,' or 'Hazel Dell' had sobbed and died away • I want to hear the Old Band play THE OLD TIME FIDDLERS In the beginning of the formation of society tn Marshall county, there was nothing that was more conducive to enjoyment and to cement the young people together m the bonds of good fellowship than the old time fiddlers who made the music for the Hoe Downs that were so popular during the formative society period and for a number of years afterwards. Amusements of some kind were an absolute necessity, and during the winter season, when the few amusements of the summer had passed away, the boys and girfc determined that they would have an occasional dance— hoe downs' they were called to relieve the monotony of the long and dreary w inters The first and most important thing to do was to procure the services of a fiddler—not a violinist. because a violinist was considered entirely too high toned for the back woods dances in those days Some of the younger men who came with their parents and others for the purpose of making this part of the country their home had taken time by the forelock and had purchased fiddles and learned to play after a fashion before they started to “the new coiaitry. ’ and had learned to call” some of the figures of the country dances, so the getting things in shape for a start was not so difficult a thing as it at first apprared The largest house in the neighborhood was selected as the place w here the dance was to be held The beds were taken down and all the furniture removed, and upon a pinch there was room enough for two sets to dance, provided they did not spread out too much The boys and girls for miles around were un ited and generally were only too glad to accept the invitation, because in that way they could become belter acquainted, and many a happy marriage resulted from the acquaintance» formed and the associations of these primitive country dances As a matter of fact, the old fiddlers, who were artists in their way and could make a whole orchestra, with a caller to spare, were very few The writer remembers but one in all the region of country round about that could do it up to a turn That was Charlie Cook, who lived a short distance west of Pretty lake, and who was killed a few year ago. being gored by an infuriated bull He was not what was called a scientific Odder, but when he “rammed up his bow. and plinked and plonked and pliaiked the strings, and tuner her up. you know, and put his qtad of tobacco on the other side of his mouth, and called out 'Take partner for a quadrille. everybody knew the old fiddler would do hts level best He stood at the end of the log cabin dancing hall, and did the fiddling and calling at the same time, and you may be assured he kept the boys and girls buoy moving to the figures, down outside and up the middle.' balance all, doe see doe. ’ 'ero» over. “swing your partners. “all promenade, etc He played pieces that the old fiddlers of these days know nothing about, such as The Girl I Left Behind Me.' “Jamie's On the Sea. “Boyne Water. Fisher's Hornpipe, Arkansas Traveler, and the bke To these inspiring strains— They danced all night Till broad daylight. And wtnl home with the girb in the morning Charlie Cook was one of the pioneer of this country, having come here as an Tmftan trader in the yew 1832, and was. therefore, probably the first white settler in the ooiaity, and a representative of that class whose early years were a continued —7$—

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 Right here, on the grounds where this school building now stands. something over forty years ago occurred a scries of among the greatest political debates in the history erf the United States Schuyler Colfax, several times elected a member of congress from this district, also speaker of the United States house of representatives, and later vice president of the senate of the United States from Indiana, sere the contestants for congressional honors No more brilliant display of forensic oratory was ever heard than was shown in these memorable joint political debates ‘The faint rumblit of the coming storm of the great rebellion was just then beginning to be heard in the southern horizon, and the ey es of the whole country were turned toward these political gladiators, the trend of the discussion being national in It bearing These debates became the most widely known, and have been the lowest remembered of any political discussions, excepting, always the never-lobe-forgotten debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A Douglas in Illinois In 1858 Here, also in these beautiful grounds and in sight of them, have been heard such superb Indiana orators as Gov. Ashbel P. Willard. Senator. Gov and Vice-Pres Thomas A. Hendricks; Gov Isaac P Gray. Gov James D Williams. Senators D W. Voorhees and Joseph E McDonald. Senator and Pres Benjamin Harrison. Stephen A Douglas. Ban) F Shively. Gen and Lieut- Gov M D Mar son. and the most polished orator of them all, William Jennings Bryan All can call to mind sublime oratorical efforts that almost moved the workl and became immortal As illustration I need only refer to Paul s Appeal to King Agnppa.' and In our own time to Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. 1 which standi singly and alone as the ora lone a I gem of the age THE MOZART MUSICAL CLUB On the evening of September 13. IM. twenty ladies of Plymouth met at the home of Mrs James McDonald to organize a class in vocal music For a number of years the vocal chorus music of Plymouth had been in rather backward shape and the various church choir felt the effect in a marked decree A number of la krs had talked tht mutter over and this meeting w» held with a view to organize I society with the object of creating a sentiment in the city lha would encourage music of a high class and take the place of thi walled rag time trash that was rooting out all classica music The Mozart Musical Club was a success from the start Mrs Stella Drummood was the first president, serving until hei removal to South Bend Mrs Olive Soice then served a term o year and Mrs Eva L Underwood has since been at the head o the society Mrs James McDonald was the first Arector. am since then they have had Prof Franks, of South Bend, and Prof McHenry, and now Prof H W Owens, of Chicago, has jus commenced his fourth year with this club Each year since the organization the club has given one or twi concert , which have been well received by those who bean them No attempt has been made to amass money by these per for manors, the object only being to giv r to the public an exhibitus of the progress made and to bring m noted soloists who could bi heard here in no other way. When San Francisco was destroy» by earthquake this club sent the entire proceed of one concert ti the relief of the sufferers During these ears this club has given, among others, the Hoi; City. by Gaul; Roue Maiden. by Cowm. Messiah. b Handel and this year the work » Creation. by Haydn That thi club, started by a small company of laAes who were simply hen on self improvement and un earnest desire to elev ate the taste c the community for thr highest class of music, should succrssfull give Handel s Messiah. which is acknowledged to be one of th very best and most Afficult of the standard oratorios, speaks we for the individual membership and the directors they have hac Prof Owens, who drills the club once each week, has latel returned from England, where he went the past summer to gc what was new and useful for h» work, and under las supervisio the work on Creation is being enthusiastically pushed, an whrn the club is ready to give this oratorio it is expected to be th finest musical production the club has ever given For several years this club was composed entirely of ladies, bt now the gentlemen are taken into full membership, and the futur of the club looks very bright —22- PHS 1076-197

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struggle with poverty and the hardships of pioneer life When he first came to the county there were no while people here, and hi» associates were the Pottawattamie Indians, who were the only residents here then He necessarily learned their manners and customs, and learned to speak fluently their language, which he did not forget even to the day of his death There was a peculiar circumstance connected with his death which is not generally known, and will bear repeating here as a mystery that has not yet been solved In the neighborhood where he lived there was a considerable number of spiritualists, who held occasional meetings, and. through Ihr mediums that developed among the number, claimed to be in communication with those who had passed over.' Mr Cook was not inclined to be a ••believer and had not attended many, if any. of their meetings However, on a certain Saturday night. he had agreed that he would attend a meeting to be held at the house of his neigh bor, Edwin Dwinnell, about three miles distant He told them he was going to Plymouth to do some tracing, and when he returned and arranged things for the night he would go over He rode hb horse to town and when he returned, in leading him through the barn lot lo the stable, an infuriated bull gored Mr. Cook in the leg. inflicting a frightful wound, which was not only dangerous but painful Those assembled at Mr Dw inneU'» waited a long time for Mr. Cook to come, but as it wa» netting late the seance opened in the usual form One of the mediums went into a trance, and a sprit came who was asked if it could tell anything about Charlie Cook and why he had not come a» he had promised It replied that in trading his horse through the barny ard he was gored by a bull in the leg and was so badly hurt that he would die in three days Those present were much excited at the information, and Mr. Dwinnell said he would saddle his horse and go over and see if it w«v true He d»d so. and found Mr Cook gored and hurt as stated. Three «lays afterwards he died. Mr Dwinnell related this to the writer shortly after it occurred and declared that the information came to him as stated, and at the time and under the cir- cumstances he had no other possible way of finding out about it. Mr Dwinnell » long since dead, as are a bo moat of those who were present on the occasion named, and the matter remains as great a mystery today as it did when it occurred It was Charbe Cook, or one of whom he was a type, concerning whom our own 'Monster Poet wrote the following charming bit of poetry My fiddle ? Well. I kind o' keep her handy. don't you know! Though I ain't so much inclined to tromp the strings and switch the bow As I was before the limber of my elbow got so dry. And my fingers w as more limber like and capensh and spry: Yit I can plonk and plunk and plink. And tunc her up and play. And jest lean back and laugh and wink At rvYy rainy day! SmiKtNIlNNIAL SCRAPBOOK Schools mm! Teaching By Mn.JnrWMmrirr Anyone over seventy years of age could tell you about a pioneer vchoot in Indiana, but no one could tell you about THE pioneer schools. as there was no such thing A general description of all early schools in Indiana is impassible Each school was n i ac- cording to the wishes of three trustees elected by a particular township The citizens, who favored schools. not all people did) found a building and hired u teacher As ev ery man was required (by lawr) to contribute free labor towards budding a school house in the township, all men helped whether they believed m public schools or not The number of pupils varied from thirty to thirty-five or so. The ages varied from six to sixteen or older, and they studied out loud Heading or ciphering aloud by thirty pupils made the school room sometime «all the time?) seem like a miniature bedlam As one can imagine, things were very much confused and confusing The teaching profession began to disappear, and the teacher, who was brave enough to stick it out, was often the —2 laughing stock of the neighborhood Most often he was a bachelor There were «believe It or not some lady teachers The unmarried teacher lived with on family, and then another, during the teaching term, which wa iwally two. three, or four months The term, in most cas«. wa from December to March. The teacher's life was no bed of rosea; only the thorns wer present in the bed which was shared with two or three of th «mailer children In some homes, he was begrudged each bite h ate at the tahlc The shortness of tbs school term was duo to the needed on the farms for spring and fall work Even in the lat IWO's and 40 s many rural schools were of eight month duration«. The girls of Indiana, during the struggle for public school) were not sent to «ch«»l for various reason The parents felt it wa foolish for a girl to know how to read and write Her mother coul teach her at home the necessary essentials to be a wife an mother The salary of the teacher varied considerably It seemed t depend on the whims of the trustees of each township The sui could be as low as twenty dollars for the term or it night be i high as fifty dollars, but not likely to he hifgier A contract in my possession, which my great grandfathi signed the 50th day of November. 1KB. stated that the salar would be ten dollars a month He was to teach reading, writ» and arithmetic for a three month term The trustees promised supply firewood and keep the house in good order .School was commence on the 4th day of December The moat common textbooks used throughout Indiana wei Webster's Spelling Rook. English Header Pike's Arithmetic, ar Kirkham's and Murray's Grammars The New Testament was favorite hook for reading classes and The Colombian Oral furnished themes for declamation The state of Indiana w anted the individual to run his own schoc The people involved bent over backwards to do so. and eai school depended on the teacher and local conditions They ww all different Indiana law permitted twenty householders m congressional township to organize and open a school The citizens elected three trustees The township was also given lai by the state and if the trustees so desired, they could sell the lands instead of using them far school purpose». These three trustees were the legal ancestors of the ache directors, and this was the beginning of the district school syste (aider the general supervision of the township trustee Little w done about opening schools hecauie of lack of rev enues These three mm were authorised to locate houses or bu houses, determine the length of the term, and the method payment of the tuition tax, provided any were levied Hod discipline course of study, and even methods of instruction wt left to the trustees As one can imagine, much maladministrati and neglect were the chief features The schools being used were maintained by tuition paid for some persons la the township, mow provision was made existing law to provide funds from the sale of sections of t congressional townships.. People resisted being taxed schools By I MO the leading mm of Indiana recognized the comp) failure of the school system Tbr House Committee on Educati made known as follows: • We present almost the only example of a State professing have in force a system of common school education, which d not know the amount or conditmn of its school, thr number schods. and the scholars to be taught and to receive i distribution of these funds. It is a body A law passed in tktt laid the foundation for our prewent syst of free schools supported by ptiilic taxation In 1B5S this law w declared unconwtitutional by the Supreme Court In IR8S a not I test was made and another court reinstated thr law as c sbtutional The struggle for free public schools has been a long hi struggle in all sections of the country Some states still seem to in the throes of tnal and error PMS 1876-19