Stivers High School - Annual Yearbook (Dayton, OH)

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William Campbell Reeder HERE were neither vocational guides nor conferences nor even long magazine articles on the subject of choosing one’s life-work, when William C. Reeder was a boy of sixteen. It was not, therefore, as a result of pondering over the demands of the profession and its possibilities that he decided to become a teacher; but his aptitude for study and a desire to be useful started him, almost without his consideration or consent, in the work which he has been doing cheerfully and well for fifty-four years. Perhaps Mr. Reeder inherited some portion of his pedagogical skill, for his greatgrandfather, Andrew Small, a soldier of the Revolutionary War, who had been with Washington at Valley Forge, was one of the first teachers in Montgomery County. He taught in a country school near Miamisburg. A paternal ancestor, Elijah Reeder, kept a tavern in Franklin, at the beginning of the nineteenth century. His descendants, among them Alexander I). Reeder, the father of “our” Mr. Reeder, who had married Margaret Denise, continued to reside there. The family, therefore, had become quite well established when William C. became a member of it, on January 16, 1844. The house in which he was born is still standing. He received most of his education in the Franklin public school. In his fifteenth and sixteenth years, however, he attended a private school, where, because the teacher had too many pupils, he took charge of the classes in Mental, Grammar and Spelling. At the same time he made daily preparation for seven recitations in his own work. So useful an assistant had no need to seek employment. He was offered a position in the Franklin Township School, where he taught, as he expresses it, “everything from A, B, C’s to Second-part Algebra,” twenty-six weeks, for one-hundred-sixty dollars. He continued teaching in various township schools of Warren and Montgomery counties until 1868, when he entered Germantown High School, where he remained three years. Following this he was superintendent of the Miamisburg schools in 1871-72. He taught in the Franklin High School from 187S until 1884, one year after his removal to Dayton. His experience a little later as a teacher at Chambersburg is interesting, for it shows his vitality and energy'. He walked to that town from Dayton, each morning, and walked home in the evening—a distance of fourteen miles in all. After a series of attempts at various other kinds of work, which followed the two years at Chambersburg, Mr. Reeder returned to teaching in 1893, when he was chosen as a member of the Steele High School Faculty. He remained there seventeen years, shortly after which he came to Stivers to teach five weeks. These, he says, have been the longest five weeks of his life. They are only now drawing to a close after eleven years of service in Stivers, where many who have known him either as teacher or as co-worker and those who have known him well in both relations will miss his cordial greeting and his kindly manner. Mr. Reeder is strong, vigorous, even young except in years of service, and were it not for the state pension law he might “carry on” for a long time to come. Perhaps the secret of his “eternal youth” lies in his philosophy of life, or, rather, lack of it, for he declares that he has none, saying, “I just took things as they came.” Perhaps we are most interested in the experiences heretofore mentioned; but these have not been all of life for him. In 1865, when he was twenty-one years old, he married Miss Lovina Brown, who died in 1882. There were seven children, four of 9

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Thou Hast Served (To W. C. Reeder) Thou, too, host served by daily duty done, By numerous kindly acts thou scarce couldst know, As much as they who glorious victories won; And thou the seeds of character didst sow; From thee the timid soul the courage caught Which led him to that realm where honors wait— Thy messenger, he is avoiding naught That tries his will; and, taught to conquer Fate, He wins the laurels thou canst not acquire; Ifor thou didst sacrifice much true renown When thou to thy disciples gavest thy power. But, multiplied so many thousand times, Thou seest it in these retrospective years, Through many channels, aid the world each hour. 8

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whom are living: Mrs. Jennie Palfrey and Alex D. Reeder, of Oakland, 111.; Clark B. Reeder, of Berkeley, 111.; and Frank Reeder, Dayton, Ohio. In 1887, he married Mary Ida Dunne, his present wife. He carried mail for Uncle Sam in ’85 and ’86, when sixteen carriers constituted the entire force. Later he worked in the Stoddard factory for a short time and clerked at a housewares store for a still briefer period. Here, according to Mr. Reeder’s statement, the proprietor hired him for life and kept him a week. Then for several months, he was chief inspector at the N. C. R. factory, putting his “seal of approval” on thirty machines a day for the small wage of one dollar and fifty cents. But a much larger sum was paid to the members of the Dayton Police Force; and so, for the next five years he helped enforce the law. Some activities in journalism also helped to add spice to life. The first attempts were made on “The Gleaner,” a high school paper published in Germantown. Later Mr. Reeder edited regularly nine columns in the “Franklin Chronicle.” He was at one time Germantown correspondent for the “Miamisburg Bulletin.” He even read proof for a town daily for two years. All this, however, was in addition to his teaching. Our sketch would be incomplete if we failed to mention the fact that Mr. Reeder was a soldier in the Civil War from May to September, in 1864. His regiment, the 146th O. N. G., did guard duty in West Virginia. Here, as sentinel, he had his most thrilling war experience. Scene, an old road with a pine forest in the background ; the time, midnight. A heavy body moved along in the pitchy blackness. The young sentinel cried, “Halt! who goes there?” and received for reply, “Moo-oo” from the old cow, which, we suspect from the twinkle in Mr. Reeder’s eye as he tells this, was not so much disturbed by the challenge as was the young guard of twenty who gave it. When asked about his relics of the war Mr. Reeder mentioned only a cannonball brought from Pittsburg Landing by his brother. Among other treasures, however, is a portrait of his father, an excellent likeness, painted by Thomas Buchanan Reed on a piece of bed-ticking. The artist had set out with a theatrical troupe, had found himself without funds, and so had been forced to remain in Franklin where he earned his living by painting. Equally as precious is a sword used by his maternal grandfather n the war of 1812. But there are treasures that are more valuable than these. They are memories that a traveler stores away. Mr. Reeder has many such, for he met with the National Educational Association in Washington, Detroit, Boston, Chicago and Denver; visited the world’s fairs at Buffalo and St. Louis; and has seen Niagara Falls and Yellowstone Park. He recalls a most enjoyable trip to Mammoth Cave in a wagon and a summer spent in Mississippi and Texas. In reply to the question, “What has been your greatest compensation in life?” Mr. Reeder answered, “Meeting my old pupils who recognize me and always seem glad to see me.” Among these thousands the writer wishes to include herself and to assure Mr. Reeder that she has ever kept in memory her first high-school instructor in English by preserving a little bundle of themes—brave first attempts—bearing his pencil-marks and critiques. And so, Mr. Reeder, In whatever fields your work may be, Whatever tasks may come to thee, Be mindful of these thousands still Who by your aid have climbed the hill; And know that many a wish sincere Goes with you ever, there or here; For health and joy and everything That you would have the future bring. 10