FIRST GERMAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH.
This church was organized in 1866 by Rev. C. F. Liebe, home missionary of the Evangelical Lutheran synod of Missouri, Kansas, Ohio, and other states. The first regular minister was Rev. Mr. Menge, who was installed in 1867. Rev. G. Landgraf succeeded Mr. Menge in December and was installed the first day of that month. The church building at the corner of Tenth and Commercial streets was dedicated at the same time. In 1869 a parsonage, adjoining the church, was erected, and the following year C. Janzow, of Weston, Mo., succeeded Mr. Landgraf, who in turn was followed by Rev. C. Hartman, who died in the fall of 1872, and after which the call was extended to Rev. W. Zschoche, of Miami county, Kansas. Under the pastorate of Rev. Mr. Zschoche the congregation increased to a membership of 130, and a day school was conducted in connection with the church by Mr. Zschoche until 1881.
Rev. C. Vedder succeeded Rev. Zschoche, who in turn was succeeded by Rev. Theodore Bundenthal, whose untimely death in the latter part of 1915 deprived the church and its congregation of one of the best ministers it ever had. Mr. Bundenthal was succeeded by Rev. Frederic Niedner, who is in charge of the church in 1916. The present church building at the corner of Eighth and Laramie streets was built in 1889. There are 500 communicants and the church is affiliated with the Missouri synod.
In addition to the churches already enumerated, there are several negro churches, of which the Ebenezer Baptist Church, organized in 1867, and the African Methodist Episcopal Church, organized in the summer of 1868, are the most prominent. There are also several other denominations represented in Atchison, including the Latter Day Saints, and the Holy Rollers.
CHAPTER XVII.
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
FIRST SCHOOLS, PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS—ESTABLISHMENT OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS—EARLY SCHOOLS AND PIONEER TEACHERS—DISTRICT SCHOOLS—STATISTICS—MANUAL TRAINING—ATCHISON COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL—COUNTY SUPERINTENDENTS OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION—ATCHISON CITY SCHOOLS—PRIVATE SCHOOLS—MT. ST. SCHOLASTICA’s ACADEMY—PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS—MIDLAND COLLEGE AND WESTERN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY—ST. BENEDICT’S COLLEGE.
During the turmoil and confusion that accompanied the movement of population into Atchison when the town and county were organized, the question of schools appeared to be a secondary one. It was not until the bitter days of 1854, 1855 and 1856 had passed that the attention of the people was directed to this important question. The first schools in Atchison were private institutions, and a number of them flourished until after the beginning of the Civil war. Among those which were first in the educational field here was the Baptist Seminary, at the northeast corner of Eleventh and Santa Fe streets. It was a school for young women and was conducted by Mr. Stork. Later Mrs. Lizzie Abbott, who afterwards became the wife of Judge Cassius C. Foster, conducted a young ladies’ school at the northeast corner of Sixth and Laramie streets, and in the eighties Miss Mary Teasdale conducted a private school at the same place. Miss Lizzie Bay, the daughter of Hugh Bay, a prosperous farmer living southwest of Atchison, was also active in early day educational affairs, and so was Mrs. Amanda Blair, at that time Miss Amanda Meeker, who is a resident of Atchison in 1916. Mrs. Blair was the first teacher in Atchison county. While there was no activity in educational affairs during the period just mentioned, the first Territorial legislature did, in fact, pass a law in the summer of 1855 providing for the establishment of common schools, but the history of the Atchison county school system did not begin until 1858. The city of Atchison, District Number 1, was organized August 5, 1858. On September 13th of that year a meeting was held in the law office of Franklin B. Adams, and the following school officers were elected: James A. Coulter, director; Dr. William Grimes, treasurer, and Franklin G. Adams, clerk. O. F. Short was the other member. Phillip D. Plattenburg, who had previously served as county superintendent of Fulton county, Illinois, was elected principal of the schools and Mrs. Blair his assistant. School was opened the first week in November, in two rooms over Bury’s Grocery Store, on the corner of Fourth and Commercial streets, where the Y. M. C. A. building now stands. The next year the corps of teachers had increased to four, and Miss Lizzie Bay and Miss Melissa Kipp, who subsequently became the wife of Chief Justice Martin, became the other two teachers. The school was moved to the old Masonic building further west on Commercial street, where it was conducted for two years. Mr. Plattenburg was also appointed county superintendent, and the first teacher’s certificate issued by him in Atchison county was to D. W. Rippy, who died in Severance, Kan., in 1914, the richest man in Doniphan county. Mr. Rippy taught the first school in the Second district, organized near the Waggener farm, southwest of Atchison. Mrs. Blair had her teaching certificate when she arrived in Atchison, as one was issued to her by Dr. Plattenburg in Fulton county, Illinois, before she came to Atchison. Her school opened in Atchison the first Monday in November, 1858, and she had charge of the primary and intermediate departments. Dr. Plattenburg received a salary of $100.00 a month and Mrs. Blair a salary of $45.00, which was increased to $50.00 by Dr. Plattenburg giving her $5.00 of his own salary. Mrs. Blair had sixty-five pupils. Mrs. Blair says that the first spelling match in Atchison county took place in W. D. Rippy’s school. She participated in the spelling match, and was spelled down on the word “Poisonous.”
Mr. Plattenburg served in the capacity of principal and superintendent of schools until May, 1861, when the schools were closed for lack of funds. Because of the Civil war very little progress in education was made, and the records of the county superintendent’s office for that period are not available. The earliest record in the office of the county superintendent concerning the schools of Atchison county is found in an old record book of July 7, 1863, as follows:
“Through the kindness of the present board of County Commissioners, E. Leighton, B. Wallack and C. G. Foster, this book was furnished for the records of the public schools of Atchison county. It is hoped that every superintendent, into whose possession this book may fall, will perform every duty devolving upon him officially, and make every effort to advance the cause of education.
“Orlando Sawyer,
“Superintendent of Public Instruction,
“Atchison County.”
Old High School Building, Atchison, Kan.
In spite of the fact that the records of County Superintendent Sawyer, who held his office from 1863 to 1867, are somewhat incomplete, they contain much interesting information.
The average length of the school term for the first year was three and one-half months, and in some districts, owing to the distance and the rigors of the winter climate, school was held only during the summer months. Among the early teachers in this county were Miss Lizzie Keith, who taught in District No. 29 in 1863; Miss Mary A. Shields, who taught in District No. 16 in the same year; Miss Helen L. Bishop, of District No. 26, and Miss Stewart, of District No. 31. Miss Bishop was a pioneer in advocating the teaching of vocational subjects in the public schools, including domestic science, manual training, agriculture and sewing, and for her zeal in this respect she was derided and laughed at. Women teachers in those days, as now, outnumbered the men. The following are the names of those who received teacher’s certificates in 1863: July 8, Michael Roach; July 27, Mrs. Esther Thayer; July 30, W. D. Barnett; August 15, Mary A. Shields; August 15, Solomon K. McCrary; August 27, Richard Dunn; September 14, Martha Stewart; September 25, Allen Abbott; September 27, Adelia Guest; October 11, Carlos E. Pease; October 14, John C. Butman; November 23, I. J. Adams; December 1, R. S. Cook; December 4, L. A. Messenger; December 4, Harriet Hollister, and December 4, W. R. DeWitt.
There were thirty-one districts in the county in that year, and the amount of State funds apportioned to Atchison county was $295.30. The school population was 1941, with an enrollment of 1,072, and an average daily attendance of 500. Twenty-nine teachers were employed, twenty-two women and seven men, with an average monthly salary for the men of $25.20 and $16.75 for the women. The total valuation of school houses was $1,050, and the amount of money received from the county was $827.05. The following is a list of the Atchison county school officers in the year 1863:
District No. 1: P. H. Woodard, director; M. S. Gaylord, clerk; F. Bier, treasurer; District No. 3: Peter Boyer, L. A. Messenger and A. Wheeler; District No. 5: Nathan McClintic, Hosea Norris and James Cravins; District No. 6. W. H. Bowen, J. W. Cain and Jonathan Hartman; District No. 8: S. Cummings, Milo Carleton and Lewis Brockman; District No. 9: George Scarborough, Joseph Scarborough and Jacob Pochler; District No. 10: Jacob Beck, Frederick Neerman and James A. Smith; District No. 11: John Graves, Henry Shell and Henry Widner; District No. 15: John W. Best, George Lamberson and Boaz W. Williamson; District No. 17: Hiram Quiett, Chas. Williamson and Wm. Cummings; District No. 18: W. J. Young, F. L. Fortune and A. J. Reed; District No. 19: Henry Cline, F. Leighton and W. J. Mayfield; District No. 20: W. J. Oliphant, D. H. Sprong and Dandridge Holladay; District No. 21: Dwight Williams, Jacob Reese and John J. Halligan; District No. 22: F. Roach, C. B. Keith and Joseph Speer; District No. 23: W. A. Adams, W. H. Seever and W. M. Hamm; District No. 24: James R. May, E. S. Evington and Jefferson Gragg; District No. 26: R. Breedlone, C. May and James Fletcher; District No. 27: James F. Butcher, C. G. Means and W. L. Davis; District No. 28: Andrew C. Pittman, David Earhart and George H. McPherson; District No. 29: Anderson Pate, James M. Wylie and H. T. Gill; District No. 30: P. B. Chadwick, J. W. Roberson and R. A. Van Winkle; District No. 31: Samuel Vanatta, William Hamon and Hamilton Bailey; District No. 33: Benj. Rivers, Silas A. Hooey and J. Plotner; District No. 34: D. Kottle, John S. Van Winkle and A. King; District No. 35: A. A. F. Randolph, D. M. Stillman and Joshua Wheeler; Union District No. 1: J. A. Anderson, M. C. Willis and George Storch; Union District No. 2: James Cooley, L. H. Masterson and Wm. H. Cook; Union District No. 3: W. J. Brown, Thos. A. Snoddy and J. Lasswell, and Union District No. 4: Richmon Dalton, Albert Henson and Frederick Eleman.
The next record that can be found of the progress of schools in this county is of 1868, when Norman Dunshee was county superintendent. In that year there were forty-six organized school districts, and a school population of 3,878, with a total enrollment of 2,247, and an average daily attendance of 1281. The term for white children was increased to five and one-half months and for colored children to ten months. There was a total of sixty-four teachers, of whom thirty-seven were women and twenty-seven men. The wages of the men were $42.92 a month, and for the women, $28.76 a month, and there was a total of $15,117.87 paid out for wages. The amount received from the State was $2,627.09, and an additional source of revenue was from the pounding of stray livestock, which brought into the school fund of the county that year $589.58. The amount raised by district school tax was $24,373.21, and there were forty-three school houses in the county, of which twelve were built of logs, twenty-six of frame construction, and five of stone, with a total valuation of $16,750.00. During the interim between 1863 and 1868, the Third Kansas Teachers’ Association met in Atchison. The meeting was held July, 1865, and there were fifty-nine teachers present in Price’s Hall. John A. Martin, John J. Ingalls and Geo. W. Glick attended the meeting and made addresses.
In comparison with the figures of those days, the figures of 1915 are interesting, and they are here given as follows:
| School population, June 30, 1915 | 3,530 | ||
| Total enrollment, 1914–1915 | 2,477 | ||
| Average daily attendance, 1914–1915 | 1,915 | ||
| Teachers employed, 1915–1916, including county high school, males 23, females 81 | 104 | ||
| Teachers employed 1915–1916, including county high school, holding State certificates | 19 | ||
| Normal training 33, first grade 22, second grade 27 | |||
| Teachers without previous experience | 21 | ||
| Teachers serving first year in present positions | 56 | ||
| Teachers more than two years in present position | 16 | ||
| Average experience of teachers: | |||
| One-teacher schools | 5 years | ||
| Graded schools | 6 years | ||
| Average length of term in weeks: | 1914–15 | 1915–16 | |
| One-teacher schools | 30.4 | 30.65 | |
| Graded schools | 35.3 | 35.33 | |
| Average salary of male teachers: | 1914–15 | 1915–16 | |
| One-teacher schools | 63.75 | 67.25 | |
| Graded schools | 84.77 | 85.81 | |
| Average salary of female teachers: | 1914–15 | 1915–16 | |
| One-teacher schools | 58.16 | 57.45 | |
| Graded schools | 59.64 | 60.00 | |
| Average attendance per teacher: | 1914–15 | ||
| One-teacher schools | 21 | ||
| Graded schools | 26 | ||
| Average cost per pupil per month in attendance: | 1914–15 | ||
| One-teacher schools | $ 3.69 | ||
| Graded schools | 4.38 | ||
| Amount expended for school purposes: | 1914–15 | ||
| One-teacher schools | $39,756.47 | ||
| Graded schools | 19,212.88 | ||
| County high school | 17,719.71 | ||
| Total | $76,689.06 | ||
| Common school graduates, 1915: | |||
| Boys 57, girls 71, total 128. | |||
| High school graduates, 1915: | |||
| Boys 17, girls 19, total 36. | |||
| Total number of libraries in rural schools | 63 | ||
| Number of volumes in rural libraries | 4,314 | ||
| Number of schools having room or basement furnaces | 66 | ||
| Number of county certificates issued during year: | |||
| First grade | 9 | ||
| Second grade | 24 | ||
| Third grade | 7 | Total 40 | |
| Number of first grade renewed | 5 | ||
| Number of State certificates registered | 7 | ||
| Number teachers normal training certificates registered | 13 | ||
| Number of first grades indorsed | 3 | ||
| Number of second grades indorsed | 1 | ||
The city of Atchison is not included in any of the above statistics.
It is interesting to note that the vision of Miss Helen E. Bishop of 1863 has been realized, for in every school in Atchison county, not only agriculture is taught, but in about one-third of the schools, plain sewing and various kinds of fancy needlework are taught also, and while no rural school as yet is equipped to teach cooking, a number of the teachers are directing some work along this line and it is done in accordance with the teacher’s directions in the homes, with the assistance of the mothers. More attention than ever is also being given to drawing and music. Earnest efforts are being made by superintendents and teachers to secure the coöperation of parents by means of community gatherings. In many districts teachers’ associations, literary societies and debating clubs have been organized, in which parents as well as children are taking a great interest. Many of the districts have availed themselves of the opportunity to use the stereopticon lectures sent out by the University of Kansas. Lecture courses are being made in some of the schools, and provisions have been made for serving hot lunches for children. Medical inspection is also provided for, through the efforts of teachers. One of the most interesting and valuable features introduced into the rural school work of the county in recent years is the community school fair. The plan is to have three to five schools unite and meet at a school house, where the children enter exhibits of corn, cereals, seeds of various kinds, vegetables and fruits, and in addition to these are also exhibited canned fruits, peaches, jelly and loaves of bread, and other samples of the art of cooking, together with articles of fancy needlework and plain sewing. Many prizes are awarded for the best exhibit, and the result is that much interest is stimulated among the children in these accomplishments. The county farm agent is also lending great assistance in organizing school gardens, and boys’ and girls’ clubs of various kinds for the purpose of agricultural development. Much attention is also paid to the supervision of the children at play, on the theory that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, and the equipment for the playground of various kinds has been supplied. Six rural schools of the county have organized basketball teams.
Besides the rural and graded schools, Atchison county has four high schools. Muscotah maintains an accredited four-year high school, offering a college preparatory and general course, and the school building which was destroyed by fire January 13, 1916, will be replaced by a larger and better school, reference to which has already been made in this history.
Under the direction of J. S. Blosser, an excellent two year high school is maintained in Huron.