Fifty Years In The Northwest
could to defeat the measure. When the incorporative act had been
passed, he moved outside of the city limits, declaring that he would
neither live nor die within them; but having been fatally injured by
an accident, he was brought back to his old home, and died within the
city.
THE FOURTH STATE NORMAL SCHOOL AT RIVER FALLS--HISTORY.
The constitution of the State, adopted in 1848, provides "that the
revenue of the school fund shall be exclusively applied to the
following objects:
"_First_--To the support and maintenance of common schools
in each school district, and the purchase of suitable
libraries and appurtenances therefor.
"_Second_--That the residue of the income of the school fund
shall be appropriated to the support of academies and normal
schools, and suitable libraries and appurtenances therefor."
No effort was made to take advantage of this provision of the
constitution for the endowment of normal schools until 1857, when an
act was passed providing "that the income of twenty-five per cent of
the proceeds arising from the sale of swamp and overflowed lands
should be appropriated to normal institutes and academies, under the
supervision and direction of a 'board of regents of normal schools,'"
who were to be appointed in pursuance of the provisions of that act.
Under this law, the income placed at the disposal of the regents was
distributed for several years to such colleges, academies and high
schools as maintained a normal class, and in proportion to the number
of pupils in the class who passed satisfactory examinations, conducted
by an agent of the board.
The law under which these schools are organized provides that "the
exclusive purpose of each normal school shall be the instruction and
training of persons, both male and female, in the theory and art of
teaching, and in all the various branches that pertain to a good
common school education, and in all subjects needful to qualify for
teaching in the public schools; also to give instruction in the
fundamental laws of the United States and of this State, and in what
regards the rights and duties of citizens."
REGULATIONS FOR ADMISSION TO THE NORMAL SCHOOLS.
Tuition is free to all students who are admitted to these normal
schools under the following regulations of the board of regents:
_First_--Each assembly district in the State shall be
entitled to eight representatives in the normal schools, and
in case vacancies exist in the representation to which any
assembly district is entitled, such vacancies may be filled
by the president and secretary of the board of regents.
_Second_--Candidates for admission shall be nominated by the
superintendent of the county (or if the county
superintendent has not jurisdiction, then the nomination
shall be made by the city superintendent) in which such
candidate may reside, and shall be at least sixteen years of
age, of sound bodily health and good moral character. Each
person so nominated shall receive a certificate setting
forth his name, age, health and character.
_Third_--Upon the presentation of such certificate to the
president of a normal school, the candidate shall be
examined, under the direction of said president, in the
branches required by law for a third grade certificate,
except history, theory and practice of teaching, and if
found qualified to enter the normal school in respect to
learning, he may be admitted after furnishing such evidence
as the president may require of good health and good moral
character, and after subscribing to the following
declaration:
I, ---- ----, do hereby declare that my purpose in entering
this State Normal School is to fit myself for the profession
of teaching, and that it is my intention to engage in
teaching in the schools of the State.
_Fourth_--No person shall be entitled to a diploma who has
not been a member of the school in which such diploma is
granted, at least one year, nor who is less than nineteen
years of age; a certificate of attendance may be granted by
the president of a normal school to any person who shall
have been a member of such school for one term; provided,
that in his judgment such certificate is deserved.
As an addition to the work of the normal schools, the board of regents
are authorized to expend a sum not exceeding $5,000 annually, to
sustain teachers' institutes, and may employ an agent for that
purpose. Institutes are regarded as important auxiliaries and feeders
to the normal schools. At present one professor from each normal
school is employed conducting institutes every spring and fall.
The normal school fund now amounts to over $1,250,000, and yields an
annual income of about $100,000. It will be increased by the further
sale of swamp lands, and will prove ample for the objects for which it
is set apart.
In 1865 the legislature divided the swamp lands and swamp land fund
into two equal parts, one for drainage purposes, the other to
constitute a normal school fund. The income of the latter was to be
applied to establishing, supporting and maintaining normal schools,
under the direction and management of the board of regents of normal
schools, with a proviso that one-fourth of such income should be
transferred to the common school fund, until the annual income of that
fund should reach $200,000. During the same year, proposals were
invited for extending aid in establishment of a normal school, and
propositions were received from various places.
In 1866 the board of regents was incorporated by the legislature.
JOEL FOSTER.--Judge Foster was born at Meriden, Connecticut, Dec. 15,
1814. He was liberally educated. He came to Edwardsville, Illinois, in
1830, and to Hudson, then known as Buena Vista, in 1848. After a
careful exploration of the country he made choice of the valley of the
Kinnikinic, and made him a home in the fall of 1848, at the junction
of the two branches of that stream, and within sound of its beautiful
cascades. He was the pioneer settler of the River Falls of to-day. He
built the first dwelling house, raised the first crops, and ever
proved himself a worthy citizen, first in every good work and
enterprise. He was a man of far more than ordinary intelligence and
moral worth, was temperate, industrious, public spirited, sagacious
and independent. He has filled many positions of responsibility,
amongst them that of judge of St. Croix county. During the Mexican War
he served as a quartermaster in Col. Bissell's Second Illinois
Regiment. Judge Foster was married at Chicago in 1856 to Charlotte
Porch. He died at his home in River Falls, Aug. 9, 1885.
JESSE B. THAYER was born Oct. 11, 1845, in Janesville, Wisconsin; was
educated at Milton College in 1870, and is by profession a teacher.
During the Rebellion he served in the Fortieth and Forty-ninth
Wisconsin Volunteers as a private. He served five years as principal
of the public schools in Menomonie, and since 1875 has been connected
with the State Normal School at River Falls as conductor of
institutes. In 1885 he was elected to represent Pierce county in the
state assembly.
A. D. ANDREWS.--Dr. A. D. ANDREWS was born in Lowell, Maine, Sept. 21,
1830. He graduated at the Chicago Medical College in 1860, and in 1861
was commissioned assistant surgeon of the Sixth Wisconsin Infantry, of
the famous Iron Brigade, with which he served up to the battle of
Gettysburg. After retiring from the army he came to River Falls and
engaged in milling, in which business he successfully continued until
1880, when he retired. He was elected state senator in 1878. He was
appointed a regent of the Fourth State Normal School in 1877. He died
at his home an River Falls, after a short illness, July 23, 1885. He
was mayor of the city at the time of his death.
JOSEPH A. SHORT.--Mr. Short was born in Madison county, New York,
April 16, 1806. He learned the trade of a millwright. He visited the
East and West Indies. He came to Milwaukee in 1842. In 1849 he went to
California, but returned in 1854, and settled in River Falls, where he
built a saw and planing mill, laid out an addition to the village and
in various ways promoted the interests of the settlement. Mr. Short
was a member of the Methodist church sixty years, and of the Masonic
fraternity fifty years. He was married Aug. 25, 1831, in New York, to
Olive Prossen. He died at his home, May 6, 1886, aged eighty years,
leaving a son and three daughters.
ALLEN H. WELD.--Prof. A. H. Weld, widely known as a pioneer educator,
and as the author of an excellent grammar, was born in Vermont in
1810. He graduated at Yale College. He came to River Falls in 1858 and
taught the first graded school in the village. For two years he was
principal of the high school at Hudson, and for six years was
superintendent of schools in St. Croix county. He was a member of the
state board of regents nine years, and was prime mover in securing the
location of the State Normal School at River Falls. The excellent
character of the schools in St. Croix county, and the high educational
position of River Falls, are due to his untiring effort and wise
direction. Mr. Weld was a member of the Congregational church and a
consistent Christian as well as a progressive, public spirited man. He
died in 1882, at his home in River Falls, leaving a widow and one son,
Allen P.
ALLEN P. WELD was born in North Yarmouth, Maine, in 1839. In 1859 he
graduated at Dartmouth College. He studied law and was admitted to
practice in 1867, at Albany, New York. He taught school at Albany
three years, and came to River Falls in 1859, where he is a dealer in
real estate. He was married in 1872 to Alice Powell, daughter of Lyman
Powell.
GEORGE W. NICHOLS was born in 1795, at Braintree, Vermont. His father
was a soldier in the Revolution. At the age of seventeen he enlisted
and served in the war of 1812. He lived in Vermont fifty years, in
Massachusetts ten years, and in 1855 came to River Falls, where he
engaged in farming until he was eighty years of age. He was married in
Vermont to Deborah Hobart, who died in 1874. His sons George H. and
William H. reside in River Falls. They were soldiers during the war of
the Rebellion. His son Isaac N. was a member of Capt. Samuels'
company, and was killed at Perrysville, Kentucky. The Grand Army of
the Republic post at River Falls has his name. He died in 1887.
W. D. PARKER--Prof. Parker was born in Bradford, Orange county,
Vermont, in 1839. He received a common school and academic education.
At the age of sixteen years he entered the Janesville High School, and
four years later graduated. He taught two years in Janesville, four
years at Delavan, and one year in Monroe, Green county, Wisconsin. In
1867 he visited Europe, after which he taught two years at Lake
Geneva, Wisconsin. He was superintendent of schools five years at
Janesville. In 1875 he was elected to the presidency of the Fourth
State Normal School at River Falls. In 1886 he was elected state
superintendent of public instruction. Prof. Parker was married to
Justine B. Hewes, of Chicago, in 1869.
THE POWELL FAMILY.--William Powell, the father, came to River Falls in
1849, where he lived with his sons until his death, Nov. 30, 1865. His
second wife was the widow of ---- Taylor, and the mother of Horace and
Lute Taylor, the well known journalists. Mrs. Powell died in July,
1884.
LYMAN POWELL came to River Falls with his family in 1855. He was
married to Lucinda Taylor, sister of Horace and Lute Taylor. Mr.
Powell died at River Falls, Nov. 9, 1872, leaving a wife, two sons and
five daughters.