First Real Job
Upon leaving the Amanda School, the boy did not go back to the farm. He was determined to get to work, and was willing to do almost anything else, honorable, in order to get a start. He earned money at several odd jobs. He acted as tutor, as janitor, as newsboy and as printer’s devil. His first regular work after leaving school was teaching in “the little red school house.” Many thought he would be a school teacher for life, being so much interested in history, geography and other subjects. He seemed to have a natural knack for seeking the truth and teaching it to others. Those who remember him say that he stood for more liberty than did the other teachers and allowed the scholars more freedom. On the other hand, they say, he took much more pains in explaining to the boys and girls what is right and what is wrong. In those days, school teaching was more of a physical than an intellectual task. Corporal punishment was in vogue, and a school teacher was supposed not to argue but to rule with the aid of a rod. Cox disagreed with this custom and preferred the now accepted methods of teaching. Instead of relying for discipline upon a piece of bamboo, he appealed to the hearts and the reason of his scholars.
Among the schools in which he taught were the Tytus School, which was two miles north of Middletown, and the Rockdale School, which is in Liberty, a township several miles down the valley. These were all little one-room buildings. Cox taught three terms.
Mr. Cox tells me that he owes much to these early years of school teaching. His success in leading, rather than driving, men may be due to these early experiences. Perhaps his attitude on many current questions was really determined by his experience with his scholars in the little red school house. He believes that human nature is the same today as then, and the same in Massachusetts and California as in Ohio. He believes all men should be educated and led rather than driven and forced. Hence he is opposed to the use of clubs or bayonets by either capital or labor so far as possible also he is opposed to the use of force in solving international questions. He believes in creating, through religion and education, within the people’s hearts, a desire for better things.