County History : Chapter IX - Public education in Pueblo

When one views the progress made by our American public schools in the last fifty years, he stands amazed that an institution of such magnitude and possessing such a high degree of efficiency could be developed in so brief a time. True, the origin of our free public schools dates farther back than fifty years ago, but it is equally true that it has been much less than fifty years since our free schools seriously set themselves at the task of educating the public.

If any one should have prophesied, at the close of the Civil War, that in fifty years every city of three thousand or more inhabitants in the United States would have a college which every young person in the community might attend without cost, he would have been declared insane, but this is exactly what has transpired. Today, every young person in this broad land, who lives in a city large enough to support a modern high school, has an opportunity to secure an education equal to that offered by the colleges of fifty years ago. Such historic institutions as Harvard, Princeton and Yale, whose work has always been above high school grade, should be excepted from this comparison.

In this brief space of time an equal advance has been made in elementary schools. Fifty years ago it was assumed that any one was qualified to teach in elementary grade. It was quite the custom to give the school, which was usually conducted for three or four months during the winter, to most any needy person in the community—the chief requirement being that he be needy. Less than a quarter of a century ago the writer taught in a middle western state with an education equal to not more than that offered in a sixth grade at the present time. How different do we find the situation today, when practically every youth in this great nation is under the instruction of a trained teacher, selected because of his special qualifications for educational work.

In other features of educational work the progress has been equally marked; this is particularly true of two features, namely the equipment of school buildings and the wide range of subjects taught. When we add to this the movement of our state universities in bringing a real university to the various sections of the country, the statement, made in the opening sentence of this chapter, is justified, that one "stands amazed" at the magnitude and high degree of efficiency of our system of public schools.

The history of the development of the public schools of Pueblo, were it to be written, would contain all that is remarkable and wonderful in the development of our American public schools at large. Beginning in a one-room cabin of small dimensions, there have been developed in the city of Pueblo, within one generation, two of the most efficient school systems to be found anywhere in the West. A few persons are yet living in Pueblo who have witnessed the evolution of our schools from their embryonic stage back in the early sixties. These schools represent the flower of which the little cabin on Santa Fe Avenue was the seed.

In every American community there has been a definite order in which its institutions have been established ; first the general store and the lodging house, and after these the school and the church, established either simultaneously or one at a time, in the order named. This chapter makes no pretense of giving a complete history of the Pueblo schools, but is rather a record of their early development.

One of the first legal acts of our board of county commissioners, at their first meeting, held on February 17, 1862, was the levying of a tax of one-half mill for school purposes. The income derived from a half-mill tax in Pueblo county at that time was very small— too small in fact to make possible the opening of a school without other assistance. The first school building which was erected, therefore, was paid for largely by private subscriptions.

This building was completed and ready for use in the fall of 1863. Its location was on Santa Fe Avenue, about where the rear end of the building at 421 North Santa Fe now stands. It is stated, by one who attended school in this building, that it was a frame structure about sixteen by twenty feet. This diminutive building served the community for all school purposes until the erection, in the year 1869, of the "Adobe School," at Eleventh and Court streets. Two members of the first board of education were Jack Thomas and Captain Wetmore; the name of the third has been lost in the hazy mists of the past.

The person having the distinction of being the first school teacher in Pueblo, was George Bilby. Mr. Bilby came to Colorado in the late fifties and was, by occupation, a miner, having taken an active part in the California Gulch excitement in 1860. He spent practically all of his life in Pueblo county, being at one time under sheriff and again, city marshal. Mr. Bilby has a son, George F. Bilby, and two daughters, Mrs. Ollie Stewart and Mrs. Clara Barr, who still reside in Pueblo.

Among those who attended school in this first building, the following are still living in Pueblo: M. Scott Chilcott, P. T. Dotson, Jeff Steel and H. E. Steel. Some interesting and exciting accounts are given by Mr. Bilby's "scholars" of their teacher's ability in wielding the rod. There is a rumor also to the effect that some of his pupils objected so strenuously to his castigations that certain articles of school furniture were badly demolished e'er the question of mastery was settled.

The summer of 1864 was an interesting one for the school. Miss Clara Weston, a sister of Eugene Weston for many years a resident of Pueblo, was employed to teach a summer term. She, with her sister, lived at the home of A. A. Bradford, on the east side of the Fountain river. Miss Weston adopted a method of crossing the river which, td present day members of her profession, would be pronounced at least unique. For four months this young teacher removed her shoes and waded that stream twice a day in going to and from school. Since there was no bridge, the only other method was to cross on horse back, but in true pioneer style Miss Weston resorted to the primitive method.

During this summer, the school was closed for several weeks, owing to a threatened attack by the Indians. At this time practically every woman from Beaver creek on the west, to a point twenty-five miles below Pueblo, was crowded into the stockade built for the defense of the populace. A serious salt famine occurred at this juncture, the situation finally being relieved by securing a quantity of this indispensable article, the price paid being a dollar a pound.

Miss Weston, now Mrs. McCannon, is still living, her home being in Denver. Among others who taught in the old building were George Peck and E. A. Jamison.

It was during this early period that some of the more serious difficulties of the district occurred. A county superintendent absconded with school funds to the amount of $652.97, which amount was collected from his bondsmen, N. Paquin and G. M. Chilcott.

In 1866, C. H. Kirkbride filed his bond with the county commissioners as the first county superintendent of schools, and in that same year School District Number One was organized. It should be remembered that it was several years after the organizing of the first school before it became necessary to extend the school system beyond the settlement at Pueblo. The income from the school tax continued small. We note from the county records in 1868 that the tax levy for school purposes was five mills, and that it yielded an income of $2,043.78. If we assume that the assessed valuation of property in 1862 was as great as in 1868, we see that the first school tax levied would have yielded an income of barely more than $200. It was not probable that the valuation at this earlier date would have been half as great as in 1868, hence the income with which to inaugurate the school system of Pueblo in 1863 amounted to the munificent sum of $100 or less.

The school report, which is given below, tells more of the early school on Santa Fe Avenue than it would be possible to give in an entire page of description:

"Report for the week ending Friday, December, 18, 1868.

The following were constant and punctual in attendance at school for the week ending, Friday, Dec. 18, 1868:

Olivia Waggoner
Sarah Waggoner
Alice Allen
Emeline Shaw
Frances Burt
Douglas Wetmore
Max Dickerman
Florence Allen
John Waggoner
Charles Shaw
James Rice
Ambrose Bradford
Charles Hinsdale
Frank Davis
Adolph Nathan
Lewis Nathan
Nettie Allen

Average daily attendance 39

E. A. JAMISON, Teacher."*

* Quoted from the Colorado Chieftain, of Dec. 24, 1868.

By the year 1869 the school population had increased to such extent as to require the erection of a larger school building. Accordingly, a site was purchased at Eleventh and Court streets upon which the adobe building was erected and for twenty years it occupied the south-east corner of the block upon which the Centennial building now stands. Before the erection of this building the old Methodist church, which still stands at the corner of Seventh and Main streets, had been rented for school purposes, the board paying $15 a month for its use. This school building was completed in March, 1871.

The complete itemized report of the erection of this building was published by the school board in the Chieftain under the date of April 30, 1871, and contains items of sufficient interest to warrant its publication in full. The report is as follows:

Amount paid for south half of Block 20, $100; deed $3 $ 103.00
P. Craig's bill, stone for foundation 180.00
Do. sand, etc 15.75
Lewis Conley, plan for house 25.00
Mariana Gormez, making adobes 207.00
R. N. Daniels, lime; 35.00
G. B. Schidmore, lime 15.30
Z. G. Allen, laying foundation and walls 540.00
Do., material furnished 28.25
M. Huese, hauling sand 8.00
Eichbaum & Co., for water 8.80
______ Gomer, for lumber 885.53
Ferd. Barndollar & Co., lumber 190.00
Thomas Owen, carpenter's bill 875.00
Thatcher Bros., material furnished 102.28
Jacob Schipper, painting and glazing 60.00
William Edmundson, plastering 218.39
Steinberger & Co., paints and oils 18.80
H. E. A. Pickard, brick for chimney 6.30
Stove for school house 30.00
E. M. Smith, for building privy 28.50
Do., leveling yard, etc 16.00
Benches and fasteners for windows 11.75
$3,563.65
Bal. Due $963.30

This building consisted of two rooms and stood facing east. In striking contrast to the more modern and expensive furnishings of school rooms, is the item referring to the expense for benches for a two-room building.

The item of $8.80 for water will recall to the minds of pioneers, Pueblo's water system prior to 1874. All family and other regular consumers of water were provided with barrels for receiving water from the water wagon, which made regular daily trips much the same as our milk wagons do at the present time. The water was taken directly from the Arkansas river with perfect fearlessness for, as some one has remarked, "there were no germs in those days."

The board of education, under whose direction this building was erected, was composed of M. G. Bradford, P. Craig and C. G. Allen. Among other members of the various boards of education during the early period, the following names have been handed down: L. R. Graves, H. C. Thatcher, D. Sheets, Eugene Weston and Charles Peck. The early teachers in this building were Mrs. E. S. Owen, Mrs. S. J. Patterson, Mrs. William Ingersoll, Miss Hillock and Miss Lottie Meyer. The salaries for teachers in those days ranged from $75 to $80 a month.

No sooner had this building been completed, than additional quarters were required to house the increasing school population, a building on Main Street being rented for this purpose. This adobe building continued to serve as a part of the growing school system of District Number One until 1889, when it was torn down.

The next step in the development of Pueblo's schools was the organization of District Number Twenty, in South Pueblo. This new town, which was laid out in the autumn of 1872, was growing with great rapidity and immediate steps were taken to erect a school building. It was largely through the activity of Alva Adams, now one of our honored ex-governors, that this new district was organized.

The first school building was erected in 1873 on South Union Avenue, on the top of the bluff directly north of the McClelland Library. It was demolished and removed only a few months ago to make room for a gravel pit. The first teacher in District Twenty was Mrs. William Ingersoll, known at that time as Miss Lou Stout. This building being located on the bluff, was difficult to approach. Mrs. Ingersoll recounts many a scramble in stormy weather to reach the heights upon which South Pueblo's educational center was situated. Following Mrs. Ingersoll came Theodore F. Johnson, now Dr. Johnson of California, who was a boyhood friend of ex-Governor Adams, and who came to Pueblo at the latter's invitation.

This building served the needs of the district until 1882, at which time a new building, the Central, was erected. This was South Pueblo's first high school, and was opened in 1883, with C. W. Parkinson as principal. The next year, Mr. Parkinson was elected the first superintendent of schools of South Pueblo. In addition to Mr. Parkinson, the following persons have served as superintendents in the past thirty-three years: F. B. Gault, P. W. Search, H. E. Bobbins and J. F. Keating who for almost a quarter of a century has superintended the educational interests of District Number Twenty, and has brought the schools of this district to their present high state of efficiency.

The first class graduated from Central High School in 1886. Many members of this class of '86 are well-known residents of Pueblo. The class was composed of the following persons: Grace Guernsey, Ralph Jones, Clara McCann, Alice McDonald, Charles McVay, Harlan Smith, Mable Stonaker, Nannie Walker and Frank Young.

A fact which is well worth recording in connection with the development of the schools of District Number Twenty and which illustrates the progressive spirit which has always dominated the board of education of that district, relates to the introduction of manual training into the schools. In 1889, this course was established in the Central building, District Number Twenty being the first school district west of the Missouri river to introduce manual training as a part of the curriculum, with the exception of the city of Omaha, where it was introduced at the same time as in Pueblo. Two of the wood lathes forming a part of this original equipment are still in a good state of repair and are being used in the manual training department in the new Central High School. Another fact worthy of mention concerns the tenure of office of two members of the board of education of this district W. L. Graham recently resigned from the board with a record of twenty-four years of continuous service, while Dr. R. W. Corwin will have served continuously for a somewhat longer period upon the completion of his present term of office.

The story of the erection of the Centennial building in District Number One is of more than ordinary interest. In 1874, the question of a new school building was brought before the people, in the form of a proposal to issue $30,000 in bonds for the purpose of erecting a modern school building. It should be remembered that at this time the town was experiencing a rapid growth, owing to the recent coming of the Rio Grande railroad. For some time prior to this date a building on Main Street had been rented for school purposes.

The bonds were voted by the district and were sold at twenty per cent below par. The board of education was composed of Judge Wilbur F. Stone, Col. I. W. Stanton and Sam McBride. The building was well on the way to completion when the board was suddenly apprised of the fact that their treasurer, Sam McBride, had absconded with more than $14,000 of money belonging to the district.

This was a serious blow to the enterprise which had been undertaken by the community, and it was only through the heroic efforts of the board of education that it was made possible to complete the building. Bills were falling due, labor must be paid for, and still more bills must be incurred in the completion of the building. In the face of all this, the treasury was empty. The difficulty was finally bridged over by issuing interest-bearing warrants, payable in one, two and three years. In this manner the building was completed in 1876 and was named Centennial.

The district was unable to collect from the bondsmen of the absconding treasurer because of some technical flaw in the bond, the entire loss to the district being $14,392.32.

The Centennial building was built of brick and contained eight rooms. It was looked upon as the most up-to-date school building in the state. School was opened in this building in the autumn of 1876, with Isaac Dennitt as superintendent of schools and principal of the new building. Mr. Dennitt served as superintendent until 1879, when he accepted a position at the state university. Mr. Dennitt was succeeded by J. S. McClung, who has had a remarkable career as city superintendent, serving for a period of twenty-six years continuously, with the exception of a few months in 1887, during which time Judge J. H. Voorhees acted as superintendent. During Mr. McClung's administration of twenty-six years, the foundation of a broad educational system was laid, and when in 1905 this energetic superintendent passed on the reins of government to his successor, no more efficient system of schools could be found anywhere in the West than the schools of District Number One. The following persons have held the office of superintendent since that time: George W. Loomis, Milton C. Potter and Frank D. Slutz, the present superintendent.

In 1878, the school census showed 449 children of school age within the district, the appropriation for school purposes being $2,126.26. East Pueblo comprised what was known as District Number Nineteen, but in 1879 this district was added to District Number One, thus increasing the school population to 720. The amount expended for teachers' salaries in 1880 was $675 a month. This amount seems insignificant when compared with the monthly budget for the same purpose at the present time.

n June, 1884, occurred the first graduation from Centennial High School. The Chieftain of that date published a full account of this first graduation exercise ever held in the city. This was back in the time when custom required each graduate to deliver an oration. Many of the names of the members of this class are familiar to a vast number of Puebloans at the present day. Following is a list of the graduates, with the subject chosen for the commencement oration: Loren M. Hart, "Growth"; Geniveve Hinsdale, '•Germs"; Nellie Corkish, "Old Wine in New Bottles"; John W. Collins, "The Coveted Goal"; Ella Hart, "Nota Bene", (Mark Well); Ella Shepard, "The Marble Waiteth"; Rebecca Nathan, "Dangers of the Republic."

The exercises were held at the First Baptist Church, the address to the graduating class being delivered by Judge Wilbur F. Stone, who was then living in Denver. During the course of his remarks he announced that he would offer a prize of ten dollars for the best poem written by a student of Centennial.

District Number One, like her neighboring district beyond the river, has been extremely fortunate in the selection of her superintendents, there having been but five different persons appointed to this office during a period of more than forty years.

The public schools of Pueblo are today looked upon by impartial educators as standing for all that is sound and at the same time progressive in the educational world. The only step required to place them in the fore front as the leader in public education in the entire Rocky Mountain region, is the union of the two districts.