Hall Counnty NEGenWeb Project Presents

Hall County School District No. 2

This page is a history and demographic of the early schools of Hall County, Nebraska.

Administrative History of School District No. 2

In 1872 the expenditures showed for male teachers, $1, 052.50 and female teachers, $280: for fuel $105.77; for building school houses $1,458.39; and repairing school houses $100.19, and for all other purposes $107.40.

Text books used at that time in the Grand Island schools included Wooster spelling books, Hilliard readers, Spencerian writing books, French's aritmetics, Bryant-Stratton bookkeeping, Robinson and Davies' algebras, Gundt geographies, Harvey's grammers, and Quackenbos' histories. John D. Hayes and Geo. G. McKenzie were two of the teachers for that year.

The schools in 1876 were presided over by B.F. Bellows of Plainsville, Ohio, assisted by Miss. Meth. Students enrolled in the high school then were:

  1. H. P. Clark
  2. H. C. Howard
  3. C. G. Hurford
  4. S. C. Huston
  5. F. W. Cramer

. . . and the femaile students were:

  1. J. L. Bacon
  2. J. Heffleman
  3. A. E. Hooper
  4. E. E. Howard
  5. A. M. Hurford
  6. M. C. Hurford
  7. H. Shoemaker
  8. H. K. Van Pelt
  9. E. L. Watson
  10. A. Wiseman

The teachers employed in August, 1877 were Henry Garn, Nellie Butterfield, Belle Fer- guson and Mrs. Camille Ballou Laine.

The enumeration of school membership in Grand Island in 1879 was 525; in 1880, 667; in 1881, 835, in 1882, 939, in 1882-1883, 974 and in 1883-1884, 1046. In 1884-1885 there were 1,160 children enrolled, and this enrollment has continued until it has grown to such proportions that in 1914-1915, there were 2,587 enrolled, in 1915-1916, 2,667, in 1916-1917, 2,819, and in 1917-1918, 3,039.

When Mr. Barr came to the schools in the fall of 1882, there was no outlined course of study, with a definite aim, for the schools. There was no high school as such, only an aggregation of pupils pursuing different branches of study, much as was done in the coutry schools, and one of the first tasks of the new superintendent was to write a course of study for the schools and organize the high school. The high school course has since been developed into six different lines of work or courses including a strong commercial course and work in domestic arts and science and manuel training.

In June, 1883 the first commencment of the Grand Island high school was held and the class of graduates were:

  1. Miss May D. Lamb
  2. Effie M. Taylor
  3. P. S. Heffleman
  4. Mary C. Hurford
  5. Mrs. George Bell, formerly Emma Howard.

In 1884 a class of five were graduated: in 1885 and in 1886 there were seven graduates.

In June of 1888 the class comprised:

  1. Kate A. Hurley
  2. Clara L. Pierce
  3. Mary E. Brennan
  4. Hattie M. Clendenin
  5. Carrie L. Fraser
  6. Nellie M. White
  7. Nellie M. Serviss
  8. Ada C. Laine
  9. Jennie Oppenheimer
  10. John F. Mathews

the last named graduate having now served as principal of the Grand Island High Schools for twenty-two years.

SCHOOL TRUSTEES HISTORY

In 1878 the school trustees for Grand Island district were R.C. Jordon, H.A. Koenig, John Wallichs, O.A. Aggott and W. H. Platt. Their successors in this office were as follows:

Elected April, 1878, R.C. Jordon, moderator, W.H. Platt, director, H.A. Koenig, treasures.

April, 1879, trustees were R.C. Jordon, O.A. Abbott, H.A. Koenig, C.E. Lykke, T.J. Hurford, W.H. Platt,elected, O.A. Abbott, moderator, director, W.H. Platt, treasurer, H.A. Koenig.

On June 17, 1897, the board hired Prof. Olmstead to teach at $1,000 a year; Miss Sears, Miss Butterfield, Miss Ferguson were employed as teachers. In July the board employed Mrs. Harrison, Miss Watts, Miss McNish, and Miss Kate McCarthy for the ensuing year, and in September added Miss Peterson to the force.

April, 1880, the board organized with O.A. Abbott as moderator, W.H. Platt, director, and H.A. Koenig, treasurer. Teachers elected in 1880 were: John Janss, Sylvia McNish, Mellie Butterfield, Clara Petersen, Vina Watts, Kate McCarthy, Emma Sears, Prof. Olmstead as principal. In October 1880, another teacher was found necessary and Mrs. Kelly was selected at $25 per month. The board at the beginning of 1881 consisted of Abbott, Hurford, Jordon and Koenig. Miss McNish resigned in December, 1880, and Miss Butterfield resigned in March 1881. Mrs Boehne was hired.

In 1881 the board organized under a new school law and the following members were elected at the city election:

D.P. Handy, T.J. Hurford, Blake C. Howard. J.P. Kernohan, O.A. Abbott and S.N. Wolbach, with Howard as chairman and Kernohan as secretary. Teachers elected in 1881 were John Janss, Belle Ferguson, C.A. Peterson, Vina Watts, Emma Sears, Kate McCarthy, Mrs. M.D. Boehne, Anna Milgate, Mrs. Alice Kelly. Later in the term Alice Tomlinson, Ida E. Mack, Jennie Alvord, Katie Kirkpatrick, L.E. Hamilton, G.E. Barber, Mrs. M.J. Sprague were added to the teaching force.

In 1882 Howard was president and Kernohan, secretary of the board.

On August 14, 1882, the following entry appears on the minutes of the Grand Island school board.

"Special meeting adjourned from Aug. 7, 1882 (at which time the resignation of Principal Grove E. Barger had been received). Voted that we now ballot for Prin. Schools for the coming year. First Ballot.

Robt. J. Barr: 4 votes

Sapp: 2 votes

Robert J. Barr was declared elected and secretary authorized to communicate with him."

And Mr. Barr has been serving Grand Island's public schools ever since, for thirty-seven years. Where is a community that can match that record?

The board in 1883 were W.H. Platt, C.P. Handy, B.C. Howard, Fetherstenaugh, H. C. Held, C.F. Bentley, and organized with Platt as president and Bentley as secretary.

In 1884 the new board was Thomas, Held, Bentley, Platt, Bush, and Murphy organized with Howard, president, and M. Murphy as secretary.

In 1885 Messrs. Held, Bush, Platt and Murphy held over and two new members elected were Ball and Martin.

In 1886 the board members were Howard, Ball, Platt, Murphy, Sanders and Handy.

At a board meeting on April 4, 1887, the following resolution was adopted:

"RESOLVED, That we now name our school buildings and give them names by which they will be known hereafter, dropping those names of a sectional character.

"RESOLVED, That the school buildings at the east and west ends of the city be, as already, known by their names, respectively, of the 'Evans' and 'Wasmer' schools, as that will only be an evidence of our appreciation of the generosity of the donors.

"RESOLVED, That we call the high school building on the south side the Dodge School, the name commemoration the president of the board, who donated the land upon which it is located. [Referring to Gen. Grenville M. Dodge of Union Pacific Railroad.] And that the north side building be known as the Howard School in honor of B.C. Howard, long a member and president of the board."

In June 1887, a committee of the Liederkranz Society was appointed to pre-

,p>pare and obtain signatures for a petition to the school board, asking for the teaching of German in all of the city's schools. L. Vieth, H.C. Held, Ad. Egge, Frederick Hedde, George Cornelius and Henry Vieregg formed this committee.

The board in 1887 consisted of Messrs. Howard, Ball, Platt, Handy, Sanders and Murphy, all holdovers of re-elected, with Mr. N. Platt as president and Murphy as secretary. Teachers elected were R.J. Barr, Superintendent, Mrs. M.E. McLaughlin, Miss Anna L. Nichols, Mrs. C.T. Caldwell, Grace M. Edwards, Ida Heffleman, Christie Terpenning, Lucy Sanders, May D. Lamb, Kate M. Thorn, Mrs. R.C. Glanville, May C. Hurford, Anna West, Amelia F. Hodgkins, Emma Mohrenstecher, J.H. Thompson, Miss Serviss, Florence Horton, Eva Murphy, Hattie Van Kuren, Mrs Emma Brewster. Other teachers for that term were E.E. Cole, D.H. Van Tine, Anna L. Nuckolls, Max Eisenbeiss.

In 1888 Geo. Mohrenstecher succeeded Mr. Ball on the board, and he was elected secretary.

The board in 1889 consisted of Platt, G.H. Geddes, Chas. Rief, E. Sorenson, Hockenberger and Mohrenstecher.

The board of 1890 consisted of Rief, Geddes, Hockenberger, Sorenson, Mohrenstecher and Platt.

In 1890 teachers elected were: Prof. R.J. Barr, E.E. Cole, H.H. Thompson, M. Eisenbeiss, Hallie M. Squiers, Hattie L. Van Keuren, Mrs. C. F. Caldwell, Eva Murphy, May D. Lamb, E.M. Mohr- enstecher, Ida L. Francis, Ida Heffleman, Mrs. M.E. McLaughlin, Mrs. G.W. Edwards, Mrs. Jennie Glanville, Mayme B. Brownover, Jessie Haggert, Lillian Cole, Kate M. Thorne, D.H. Vantine, Nellie Murphy, Mary Brennan, John F. Mathews (still principal of high school in 1919), Delia B. Edwards, Minnie Guthrie, Carrie Fraser, Rose Wickwire, Carrie Knipley, Mrs. C. Peterson, Edith Irvine, Edith Whitney, Kate Hurley, Hattie Norris, Anna Rief.

The total cost of running Grand Island's schools for the school year 1889-1890 was $30,935.70, while for the year from July 1, 1917, to July 1, 1918, it had grown to $89,672.58.

In 1898 the schools employed forty-one teachers and in 1918, there were eighty-six on the force.

In 1891 Al Miller and Chas. Milisen came onto the school board.

In 1892 the board consisted of G.H. Geddes, B.C. Howard, A.C. Miller, Chas. Milisen, Louis Veit, Nathan Platt and Geo. Mohrenstecher, with E.C. Hockenberger as secretary and E. Sorenson. Chas. Milisen died in February 1893, and his place was taken by C.B. Handy.

The new board organized in July, 1893, were Geo. A. Mohrenstecher, president, B.C. Howard, vice president, E.C. Hockenberger, secretary, and Messrs. O.A. Abbott, H.C. Miller, E. Searson, E, Sorenson, G.H. Geddes, and Louis Veit.

The board organized in July 1894, were G.H. Geddes, president, L.Veit, vice-president, Wm. Frank, secretary , Messrs, Abbott, D.A. Finch, Ed. Sorenson, R.L. Harrison, and Henry Mayer. Mr. Frank resigned as secretary and Mr. Mayer was elected.

The board organized in July 1895, A.H. Waterhouse was elected principal of the high school. He was principal here for two years. He then resigned to become principal of Lincoln, Nebraska, high school, which position he later resigned to take the principalship of Omaha high school and after some years he was elected superintendent of schools at Fremont, Nebraska, which position he now occupies.

In 1896 members elected to the board were Thos. C. Shaw, H.S. Ferrar and G.H. Geddes. Holdover members were Howard, Farnsworth, Harrison, Frank, Veit and Finch. Geddes was elected president and Dr. D.A. Finch secreatry.

A.H. Waterhouse was reelected principal of the high school and Bayard H. Paine (now district judge) and John F. Matthews (now principal of the high school) reelected and E.A. McGlasson elected principal of Howard school.

The board in 1897 organized with L. Veit as president, G. H. Geddes, vice-president, R. L. Harrison, secretary, and members, D. A. Finch, W. R. McAllister, H.S. Ferrar, B. C. Howard and L. F. Farnsworth.

Before the close of the school year 1897-8 Assistant Principal Bayard H. Paine became court reporter for District Judge Jno. R. Thompson and left the school work.

The board was reorganized on July 5, 1898, comprised Louis Veit, president, R.L. Harrison, secretary, and members were McAllister, G.H. Geddes, H.S. Ferrar, L.F. Farnsworth, D.A. Finch, B.C. Howard and a new member Herry Rosswick. High school teachers elected in 1898 were John F. Matthews, principal, Miss Edith Abbott, Grace Bentley, and Mrs. C. Petersen, Mrs, S.A. Clarke for music, M.M. Burnham for drawing and Ella Blunk for German in the grades.

In July, 1899, Miss Edith Abbott resigned as assistant principal of high school and Miss Grace Abbott became her successor as teacher of history. H.O. Sutton, now of the Kearney Normal staff, became assistant principal of high school. The board for 1899-1900 were Messrs. Veit, Harrison, Finch, McAllister, Farnsworth, Howard, Ferrar, Rosswick and Geddes, being the same members as served the year before.

In July, 1900, the board reorganized. M.H. Wilkins was elected to fill a vacancy, vice B.C. Howard deceased. H.A. Edwards came on as new member for three years, and G.H. Geddes and R.L. Harrison were reelected. L. Veit, president, and R.L. Harrison, secretary, were reelected and L.F. Farnsworth chosen as vice-president.

During the ensuing year the board was composed of Messrs. Veit, Willkins, McAllister, H.S, Farrar, L.F. Farnsworth, G.H. Geddes, H. Rosswick and R.L. Harrison. Mr. Marrison died in February 1901, and A. Cosh was appointed in his place.

In 1901 Lewis S. Moore was elected for a term of three years and Bayard H. Paine for a term of two years, and Messrs. Veit and Cosh reelected.

From that time on the new members and old members reelected to serve on the board, each year were:

1902 - C.B. Norris, new member, vice L.F. Farnsworth, otherwise the board remained the same.

1903 - B.H. Paine, H.A. Edwards and Henry Rosswick were reelected.

1904 - A. Cosh, L.S. Moore and Louis Veit were reelected for a term of three years.

1905 - H.S. Farrar and W.R. McAllister were reelected and Mr. John Dohrn came onto the board.

1906 - Messrs. H.A. Edwards and Henry Rosswick were reelected and Chas B. Norris came back to the board.

1907 - Louis Veit was reelected and Chas Fralick and Dr. B.B. McGrath succeeded Dr. Moore and Mr. Cosh.

1908 - John Dohrn was reelected and Wm. T. Alden and John R. Geddes succeeded Messrs. Ferrar and McAllister.

1909 - H. A. Edwards and Chas B. Norris were reelected for three year terms and A.J. Baumann came onto the board for a full term and Wm. Scheffel was elected for a two year term vice Alden, and Henry Vieregg for one year term to succeed Louis Veit, who died after serving as a member of the board for seventeen years.

1910 - Vieregg and Dr. McGrath were relected for three years and A.B. Harriott succeeded Mr. Fralick.

1911 - Schefel and Dohrn were reelected and Simon E. Sinke succeeded Geddes.

1912 - A.J. Baumann was reelected and Jos. R. Fulton and Jens Rasmussen succeeded Norris and Edwards.

1913 - Dr. B. R. McGrath was reelected with Mrs. Grace Bentley Paine and Mrs Jennie S. Shuman as the new members. These two women served the full term of three years and were not candidates for reelection and were the only women who have served as members up to the date of the publication of this history. During this period domestic science and manual training were added to the course of study.

1914 - Simon E. Sinke was reelected and O.A. Abbott, Jr., and J.E. Lyle came onto the board.

1915 - A.J. Baumann and Jens Rasmussen were reelected and Julius Boeck succeeded Mr. Fulton.

1916 - Three new members were elected, Theo. P. Boehm, Carl H. Menck and Frederick H. Colwell.

1917 - O.A. Abbott, Jr., J.E. Lyle and Simon E. Sinke were reelected.

1918 - E. H. Baker, W.A. Drulinger and Herman Nelson were elected. Mr. Drulinger resigned to become janitor of high school and P. Ralph Neumeyer was appointed to fill the vacancy. Menck, Neumeyer and Dr. Chollette were elected in 1919.

A Special Thanks to Our Transcribers: Kaylynn Loveland, Larry Coates, & the many volunteers at the Prairie Pioneer Genealogical Society

Cited Source:

A. F. Buechler and R. J. Barr, editors. "The Schools of Hall Cuonty," History of Hall County Nebraska (Lincoln, NE: Western Publishing and Engraving Company, 1920): 348-367. Provided by the Prairie Pioneer Genealogical Society, Grand Island, Nebraska.

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION

All materials contained on these pages are furnished for the free use of those engaged in researching their family origins. Any commercial use or distribution, without the consent of the host/author of these pages is prohibited. All images used on these pages were obtained from sources permitting free distribution, or generated by the author, and are subject to the same restrictions/permissions. All persons contributing material for posting on these pages do so in recognition of their free, non-commercial distribution, and further, is responsible to assure that no copyright is violated by their submission.