Ohio History Journal
|
THE McNEELY NORMAL SCHOOL AND HOPEDALE NORMAL COLLEGE R. H. ECKELBERRY Ohio State University Among the many educational institutions which have existed in Ohio and have now been discontinued, few are more interesting than the McNeely Normal School, which later became the Hopedale Normal Col- |
|
|
|
lege. It was in operation for about forty-five years, of which forty-three were continuous, and contributed to the education of some ten thousand students. In many respects its history is typical of that of scores and hun- dreds of small colleges and academies which were so numerous during the nineteenth century. On the other hand its history presents features which are unique, (86) |
McNeely School and Hopewell Normal
College 87
in this state certainly, and not
improbably in the coun-
try at large. It is probably the only
case of a normal
school directly maintained and
controlled by a state
teachers' association, while there must
have been few
if any other instances of a village
church congregation
maintaining a college of its own.1 Its
history, there-
fore, deserves a fuller treatment than
it has as yet re-
ceived.
ITS ORIGIN AS AN IMPROVED COUNTRY DAY
SCHOOL
It owed its existence chiefly to the
philanthropic in-
terests arid activities of Mr. and Mrs.
Cyrus McNeely.
Mr. McNeely was the son of Andrew McNeely, who
was of Irish descent and who migrated
in 1802 from
Berks County, Pennsylvania, to Cadiz,
Harrison County,
Ohio. He seems to have attained some
local promi-
nence, as he served four terms in the
legislature.2
Cyrus was born at Cadiz in 1809 and
spent his boy-
hood there. In 1821 his parents moved
to Green Town-
ship, just east of Cadiz. Here Cyrus
grew to man-
hood, working on the farm and attending
the country
1 It was not, as it has frequently been
called, the "first normal school
in Ohio," in the sense of the first
institution designed for the training of
teachers. The Marietta Collegiate
Institute and Western Teachers' Semi-
nary was incorporated in 1832 for the
instruction of youth in the various
branches of useful knowledge and
especially the education of teachers for
common schools. Ohio Laws, XXI,
18. It was opened for instruction
in 1833, and in 1835 was rechartered as
Marietta College. Semi-Centennial
Celebration of Marietta College, June
28-July 1, 1885, pp. 7-8; Ohio
Laws,
XXXIII, 53. The Western Reserve
Teachers' Seminary was in existence
at Kirtland, Lake County from 1838 to
about 1853, and educated several
hundred teachers. Ohio Educational Monthly, 4.260,
September 1863;
Ohio Laws, XXXVII, local, 59. The McNeely institution apparently
was the first in the state to use the name
"normal school."
2 Commemorative
Biographical Record of the Counties of Harrison
and Carroll, Ohio, p. 110.
|
88 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications schools. His parents were Presbyterians and raised him in that faith, but when he became of age he, to- gether with his mother, joined the Disciples Church. He soon became an elder or minister and occasionally |
|
|
|
preached, but apparently never had the regular pastoral care of any congregation. He was a successful busi- ness man and took an active interest in the anti-slavery agitation and other movements for social reform. In 1837, while on a visit to Cincinnati, he married |
McNeely School and Hopewell Normal
College 89
Miss Jane Donaldson, of that city. Miss
Donaldson
was born in England in 1808, and
migrated with her
parents to America in 1820. She was a
woman of fine
character, well balanced, charming, and
self-sacrificing.
Like Mr. McNeely she was keenly
interested in the anti-
slavery movement and actively in favor
of improve-
ments in education.3
Mr. McNeely returned with his bride to
the Green
Township farm, and it was while they
were living there
that the plan of a new educational
institution was for-
mulated. It seems to have been
Mrs. McNeely who
originated the idea, but it met with
the hearty approval
of her husband, and of her sister, Miss
Mary Donald-
son, who was living with her. All
contributed both
counsel and financial means, and the
project and its
relation is to be considered as the
result of their joint
efforts. A friend, Mrs. Eliza
Hogg of Cadiz, was also
interested, but apparently her
contribution was made
later.4
3 The entire Donaldson family was
prominent in the anti-slavery
movement, and Mrs. McNeely herself had
on one occasion shown great
courage in facing an anti-abolitionist
mob. John Hancock, in Ohio Educa-
tional Monthly, 37:242-243, June, 1888. The biographical details given
above have been secured from the
following sources: Obituary notice of
Cyrus McNeely in Cadiz Republican, May
8, 1890; John Hancock, "The
First Normal School in Ohio," O. Ed.
Mo. 37:241-250, June, 1888; Letter
from John Hancock in O. Ed. Mo., 39:614-616,
November, 1890; Com-
memorative Biographical Record of the
Counties of Harrison and Carroll,
Ohio, pp. 105-106; History of Carroll and Harrison Counties,
I, 410.
4 Infra, p. 90. Mr. McNeely in his
"monograph" on "Hopedale Normal
College" which John Hancock
included as part of his article on "The
First Normal School in Ohio" (O. Ed.
Mo., 37:241-250, June, 1888), gave
the entire credit to the three women,
but Hancock points out that Mr.
McNeely "earnestly joined in every
part of the undertaking," and this
statement is confirmed by many other
sources.
90 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
The inception of the idea can best be
given in Mr.
McNeely's own words:
Some forty years since, Mrs. Jane D.
McNeely, Miss Mary
Donaldson and Mrs. Eliza Hogg
. . . cultivated the
thought that they could do something for
the improvement of
the school system of the State; especially for the
country dis-
trict schools. They were sufficiently observant of the
progress
of the cause of popular education to
note the fact even at that
early period, that the town and city
schools were far in advance
of the rural schools, in point of
efficiency. To inaugurate some-
thing that would look toward a
modification of this difference
became eventually the burden of their
discussions and their
wishes.
. . .
They had buried all their own children
and were thus left
without the ordinary objects of life and
in the possession of
some means with which they desired to be
doing something for
the good of others. .
. .
Their motives may not, at the beginning
have been exactly
the same; and they may not all have been
equally interested in
the progress of the work. They were a
unit, however, in their
desire to promote the improvement of the
country district
schools. . . .
They were a unit also in their dislike
of fashionable board-
ing schools. . .5
[They believed that] boarding schools
are pernicious in their
influence, and that children, before
they reach their majority,
should not be removed from parental
authority and influences.
They believed that the practice of
parents in transferring such
fearful responsibilities to school
teachers and boarding house
keepers is contrary to nature and
dangerous in the extreme. They
fully believed too, that all of this
danger might be avoided; that
proper cooperation on the part of the
citizens, even in the most
rural districts, could secure all the
facilities necessary to meet
the wants of children, until they reach
that period of life when
nature makes them responsible for their
own success or failure.6
They were a unit also in their dislike
of .
. . de-
nominational partisan colleges. The
agents of those institutions
were always repelled and resisted.
5 McNeely, "Hopedale Normal
College." O. Ed. Mo., 37:244-248. June,
1888. I have reversed the order of
paragraphs two and three of this
quotation.
6 McNeely,
"McNeely Normal School." A History of Education in
the State of Ohio, pp. 288-289.
McNeely School and Hopewell Normal
College 91
Their plea for cultivating this
antagonism was that all of
the interest, educational enterprise, money, and even
the sprightly
and active children, that were absorbed
by the fifty, more or less,
rival partisan colleges of Ohio, was the
abstraction of so much
of the vitality, the life blood, that
should flow into the public
schools, where nine-tenths of the whole
population must always
be educated, in spite of the
multiplicity of denominational col-
leges.7
To accomplish this purpose (i. e. the
improvement
of the rural schools) Mr. McNeely, on
behalf of himself
and his co-laborers, first attempted to
secure the coop-
eration of the citizens of Green
Township. He pro-
posed that in each of the four districts
a model school-
house be erected and a school
maintained which might
serve as a model for other rural
districts. He offered to
pay half the cost for the one in his
district.8
This project failed to secure the
support of the peo-
ple of the township, so the McNeelys
resolved to pro-
ceed alone. A farm of about two hundred acres, "re-
mote from town and village
influences," situated about
the center of the northeast quarter of
the township was
selected and devoted to the work. The
farm was laid
off into lots and "sold out for
improvements."9 The
village which grew up came to be called Hopedale.10
7 McNeely, "Hopedale Normal
College," p. 245.
8 "A Model School House and a
Model School Man." O. J. of Educ.,
2:252-254. This is a letter addressed to
the editors, dated June, 1853, and
signed "E. L. C." The place
from which it was written is not given, but
it is evident that the author was
personally familiar with the facts.
9 McNeely,
"McNeely Normal School," p. 289, and "Hopedale Normal
College," p. 245.
10 The
plot of the village was made in 1849 and filed in 1851. History
of Carroll and Harrison Counties, I, 410. Mr. McNeely says ("McNeely
Normal School," p. 290) that
"Hopedale" became the name "almost by
intuition." It is not improbable
that the choice of a name was influenced
by the fact that a communistic
experiment was in existence at that time
at Hopedale, Massachusetts. For an
account of this experiment, see W. F.
Draper, Recollections of a Varied Career,
chap. II, passim.
92 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
A ten-acre lot in the center was
reserved for the
school and in 1850-51 a building was
erected and the
grounds were landscaped.11 The
following is a descrip-
tion of the school plant and equipment
by the author of
the letter previously cited:
He [Mr. McNeely] has accordingly erected
a most mag-
nificent frame building. .
. .
[It] is two stories high, and has a
front of 80 feet. The
main building extends back 60 feet, and
the wings 28 feet. There
are three departments, with their
recitation rooms, etc., a chapel
or lecture room, a library room with 600
volumes, and a large
amount of school apparatus, already in
it. One of the wings,
and a part of the main building, form a
commodious and com-
fortable residence for the
Superintendent. This is a novel fea-
ture in school architecture. The rooms
are all beautifully pa-
pered, neatly seated, and furnished with
all the necessary maps,
charts, and school apparatus. The
windows are furnished with
Venetian shutters and painted blinds,
thus imparting to the whole
building an air of neatness and homelike
comfort. The rooms
are all heated by means of a hot-air
furnace in the cellar. And
I may well remark, in this connection,
that even the cellar is a
paragon of neatness, cleanliness and
order.
The grounds are enclosed with a fence,
tastefully laid out,
and planted with trees and shrubbery. At
each side of the lot,
where the pupils enter the grounds, in
the rear of the school
building, is a large play house--one for
boys, the other for girls
--to be used in bad weather. In the winter they are
heated by
means of stoves, in order that the
pupils may become thoroughly
warm and comfortable before entering the
school room, which
they are not permitted to do till the
hour arrives for school.
I made some inquiry as to the cost of
this enterprise, and
am informed that, in addition to the ten
acres of ground, and
two years of Mr. McNeely's time and
labor, there was an actual
outlay of ten thousand dollars--one
thousand of which was
appropriated for maps, charts, school
apparatus, etc.l2
11 McNeely, "McNeely Normal
School," p. 289, and "Hopedale Normal
College," p. 245.
12 0. J. of Educ., 2:252-254,
July, 1853. The building was large
enough to accommodate 200 children,
McNeely, "McNeely Normal School,"
p. 289.
McNeely School and Hopewell Normal
College 93
The proprietors "expected to be
able to gather one
hundred school children of all ages,
and organize them
into a perfect, ungraded country
district school, such
as would be a model for the imitation
of any other dis-
trict that might be emulated and
stimulated to follow
the example.13
In 1852 the school was opened with
Edwin Regal
as Principal, assisted by Dr. G. L.
Work and Miss Re-
becca McGrew.14 The
enterprise, of course, required
the cooperation of the people and the
local board of
education. Evidently, the program
was entirely too
advanced to secure this cooperation,
and misunderstand-
ings and struggles ensued.
The struggles with boards of education,
which had no con-
ception of what a school ought to be,
the prejudice of the com-
munity against all innovations upon the
old routine of a country
school, soon convinced all concerned
that there was a mistake in
depending upon the cooperation of the
citizens of Green town-
ship to carry forward such a work to
success.15
The enterprise in its original form had
to be aban-
doned; apparently this took place in
1853 or early in
1854.16
13 "Hopedale Normal
College," p. 245.
14 Ibid, p. 289. Mr. Regal came to the position from the
superin-
tendency of the schools of Wellsburg, W.
Va.; Dr. Work was a graduate
of Franklin College; Miss McGrew was a
successful local teacher.
15 "McNeely Normal School," p.
289.
16 None of the sources gives the date.
The letter of "E.L.C." already
cited, written in June, 1853 says
nothing about any change in plans. The
property was offered to the state
teachers association for normal school
purposes late in 1854. Infra, p. 95.
94 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
THE MCNEELY NORMAL SCHOOL OF OHIO
At the suggestion of the principal, Mr.
Regal, it was
then determined to continue the
enterprise as a normal
school:
The Principal of the school, Mr. Regal,
during this struggle
with the neighborhood, made a trip to
New England for the pur-
chase of a library, apparatus, etc., and
after spending a few
months in one of the Massachusetts
normal schools, conceived
the idea of carrying forward the
enterprise as a normal school.
The proprietors cheerfully seconded this
purpose, and every ef-
fort was made to make the new departure
a success.16a
The institution opened under the new
plan, appar-
ently in the autumn of 1854.17
Although, as Mr. Mc-
Neely says, the proprietors were
"humiliated by the so
sudden bursting of the
anti-boarding-school bubble,"
that they did not know how to proceed
without boarding
facilities for the students. At this
juncture, Mrs. Eliza
Hogg, came forward and volunteered to
establish board-
ing facilities for the young
ladies. She purchased a
tract of six acres adjacent to the
school ground, and in
the spring of 1855 erected the boarding
house for ladies
known as Pumphrey Hall, in which forty
students could
be accommodated.18
16a "McNeely Normal School,"
p. 289.
17 The
O. J. of Educ., 3.283, September, 1854, has a brief an-
nouncement of the opening of the next
session of "Hopedale High
School." The Mammoth Weekly Herald (Steubenville) and the Cadiz
Republican in March and April contain official announcements of
the
spring term under the same name.
According to these announcements the
"high school" offered
instruction in Latin, Greek, French, and the "English
branches." Professional subjects are not mentioned, but
it is not im-
probable that such instruction was
considered and given as an "extra," as
it was in many of the early academies.
18 McNeely Normal School," p. 290.
McNeely School and Hopewell Normal
College 95
Mr. McNeely realized that outside
support was
needed to insure the success of the
normal school. He
made strenuous efforts to get the State
to accept the
school as a gift, hoping thereby to
interest the legisla-
ture in the subject of state normal
schools.19 Having
failed in this, he resolved to turn to
the State Teachers'
Association, which was strongly in
favor of normal
schools and at that time was seriously
considering the
advisability of establishing such a
school under its own
auspices.20
On December 12, 1854, the first day of
the annual
meeting, a letter was read from Mr.
McNeely in which
he offered the Hopedale property,
including grounds,
buildings, and equipment, valued at
more than $10,000,
to the Association for normal school
purposes on condi-
tion that it would raise $10,000 for
the support of such
an institution.21
This offer naturally provoked a lively
discussion. It
was not immediately accepted, but the
thanks of the as-
sociation were extended to Mr. McNeely,
and the sub-
ject of normal schools was referred to
the finance com-
mittee with instructions to entertain
other propositions,
and to report a definite plan at the
next semi-annual
meeting.22
19 Hancock, op. cit., p. 248.
20 Proceedings of the semi-annual
meeting, in July 1854, 0. J. of
Educ., 3:226-227, 229, August, 1854. At this meeting the
executive com-
mittee of the association was directed
to report a definite plan for such a
school at the next annual meeting (i.e.
in December, 1854). The com-
mittee was also authorized to take such
steps as it might deem proper to
determine practicability of raising funds
for the establishment of such a
school.
21 Proceedings of
Ohio State Teachers Association in O. J. of Educ.
4:33-34, and 262, February and
September, 1855.
22 Ibid., 4:39-40, February, 1855.
96 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
At this meeting, which was held at
Cleveland on July
5 and 6, 1855, the committee presented
an extended
report, comprising "General
Propositions," "Necessity
for Establishment of a Normal School in
Ohio," "Objec-
tions to the Establishment of a Normal
School by an
Association of Teachers," and
"Plan of Organization."
They reported favorably on the offer of
Mr. McNeely,
and stated that he had liberalized it
by giving the asso-
ciation five or ten years in which to
raise the required
amount. They expressed the belief that such a sum
could be raised, and that it would be
sufficient to main-
tain the school:
It is believed that the salary of a
competent Principal might
nearly or quite be met from the tuition
of pupils, and that an
annual or semi-annual assessment of the
percent upon ten or
fifteen thousand dollars, which might be
pledged as stock for that
purpose would for the present meet other
salaries and contingent
expenses.23
In the section on "Plan of
Organization," the com-
mittee insisted that the course should
include in intimate
union both academic and professional
subjects:
Your committee respectfully submit that
the whole course
of instruction ought to be so arranged
as to unite thorough aca-
demic instruction with that of a strict
professional character; in
other words, that while sciences are
most thoroughly and critically
studied, that the best possible methods,
both of learning and teach-
ing these sciences, should invariably
form a part of the course
of instruction and discipline in the
institution. In connection
with careful and critical reviews of all
the elementary studies of
children, the best method of presenting
all these subjects should
receive the most assiduous attention.
Let not the objection be urged that such
a union of studies
and instruction has never yet been
practically carried out. ...
23 Ibid., 4:262-263.
McNeely School and Hopewell Normal
College 97
Indeed, it is believed to be one of
the advantages of conducting a
professional school of this kind
exclusively by practical teachers,
that it may be made stable enough to
carry out connectedly, and
perseveringly, the most liberal plans
and measures, and yet flexible
enough to adopt whatever the experience
of the thousands of
teachers of our state may unite in
pronouncing improvements, in
the labor of instruction.24
The association accordingly accepted
the McNeely
offer, and appointed a committee of
eleven to take legal
possession of the property.25 This
committee met at
Hopedale on August 14 and procured from
the county
auditor a certificate of incorporation
under the name
"The McNeely Normal School of
Ohio." Control was
vested in a board of eleven trustees,
to be appointed in
the first instance by the corporators
(the members of the
committee named above together with Mr. Regal).
Thereafter, the members of the board
were to be elected
at each annual meeting of the State
Teachers' Associa-
tion, the terms to expire alternately.26
The corporators chose themselves (with
the excep-
tion of Mr. Regal) trustees, and the
board of trustees
organized by electing Mr. McNeely,
President, A. D.
Lord, Secretary, and George K. Jenkins,
Treasurer.27
A resolution was passed recommending
that the teachers
24 Ibid., 4:263, September, 1855.
25 Ibid., 4:227-228, August, 1855. The committee members were:
Cyrus McNeely, Asa D. Lord, Lorin
Andrews, George K. Jenkins, M. F.
Cowdery, John Hancock, James Taggart, M.
D. Leggett, John M. Black,
James Cope, and Samuel Paul.
26 O. J. of Educ., 4:264-265,
September, 1855. The articles of incor-
poration are reprinted on p. 265. The
property was appraised at $11,600.
27 Messrs.
McNeely, Cowdery, and Hancock were appointed as an
executive committee.
Vol. XL--7.
98 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
and other interested parties in the
state raise $10,000 by
subscription, payable in ten annual
installments.28
A teachers' institute for Harrison,
Jefferson, and
the neighboring counties was announced
to be held at
the normal school during the week of
October 22, and
it was hoped that at that time definite
arrangements
could be made for opening the school
under the new
management.29 The institute
was attended by nearly
200 people and resolutions were adopted
pledging the
members to work for the success of the
normal school.
But a quorum of the trustees was not
present, and con-
sequently no action could be taken.30
An adjourned
meeting of the trustees was held at Columbus
on No-
vember 3, at which the school was
ordered to be opened
on November 26. John Ogden, recently
Principal of
the Normal Department at Ohio Wesleyan
University,
was appointed Principal, Edwin Regal,
Instructor in the
Academic Department, and Jacob N.
Desellem, Agent.
Tuition was fixed at twenty dollars in
the academic and
thirty dollars in the normal department
for the school
year of forty weeks, and Mr. McNeely
was
authorized to fit up rooms on the
premises for the accommodation
of an Experimental School, and to
negotiate with the School
Directors in the village of Hopedale for
the instruction of the
children of the district in said School.31
28 Official report of the proceedings of
the board of trustees in O. J.
of Educ., 4:265-267, September, 1855. Teachers were asked to make
sub-
scriptions of fifty or one hundred
dollars. It was pointed out that some
$1400 had already been subscribed in
sums of $100.
29 O. J. of Educ., 4:267, 313, September and October, 1855.
30 O. J. of Educ., 4:340, 342, 372, November and December, 1855.
31 Report of the meeting by A. D. Lord,
Secretary, in O. J. of Educ.,
4:340, 345, November, 1855. The salary
of Mr. Regel was fixed at $700,
and that of the agent at $600 and
expenses. No salary was fixed for the
Principal, Mr. Ogden, which would seem
to indicate that the board was
following the plan of financing which
had been suggested at the Cleveland
meeting. Supra, p. 96.
McNeely School and Hopewell Normal
College 99
The school was opened on November 26
with favor-
able prospects, and with a
"respectable class" in at-
tendance.32
Normal and academic departments were
established,
the latter intended for those who were
not advanced
enough to pursue a professional course.
For admission
to the academic course pupils were
required to be thir-
teen years of age, while the age limit
for the normal
course was fifteen. The only other admission require-
ment seems to have been the furnishing
of "satisfactory
testimonials of good moral
character."33
The course of study for the normal
department was
described as follows by the State
Commissioner of Com-
mon Schools:
The regular course will occupy two
years, to enter upon
which with profit, the student should
already be familiar with the
branches usually taught in the schools.
The studies of the first year, are
Reading, Orthography and
Phonetic Analysis; Penmanship and the
elements of Drawing;
Geography, History, and the Constitution
of the United States;
English Grammar and the Analysis of
Words and Sentences;
Arithmetic, Mental and Written, Elements
of Algebra; Physiology
and the Laws of Health; Natural History
and Botany; Natural
Philosophy and Astronomy, Elementary
Geometry and Mensura-
tion.
The studies of the second year, are
Language, its History and
the Various Modes of Analysis; Physical
Geography and Mete-
orology; Geology and Mineralogy; Mental
and Moral Philosophy;
Natural Theology; Evidences of
Christianity; Logic, Rhetoric
Elements of Criticism.34
32 Letter from Mr. Ogden, summarized in
O. J. Educ., 4:372, De-
cember, 1855.
33 Cadiz Republican, July 16,
1856; the American Union (Steuben-
ville), July 23, 1856. Each of these
newspaper notices of the school pur-
ports to be based upon an examination of
the first annual catalogue. There
is one discrepancy: the Republican giving
thirteen and the American Union
giving fourteen as the minimum age of
admission to the academic course.
Ohio School Report, 1855, p. 20.
100 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
The length of the academic course is
not indicated
by any source that I have seen but the
studies are indi-
cated, in part at least, by the
textbooks for this depart-
ment adopted by the trustees at their
meeting in Decem-
ber, 1855. The following subjects
were included:
reading, arithmetic (both
"intellectual" and written),
algebra, geometry, geography,
composition, history of
the United States, physiology,
chemistry, natural philos-
ophy, geology and mental philosophy.35
The work of the first year was such as
to encourage
the friends of the school.36 The
first session, ending on
March 22, 1856 had a total attendance
of about seventy
in the combined normal and industrial
departments.37
In the meantime, Mr. McNeely had been
pushing for-
ward the work of providing practice
school facilities.
He and his family
erected at their own expense a model
practice school building, suf-
ficient for one hundred children, with
glass partitions to secure
the necessary observation, and supplied
it with all necessary fur-
niture and apparatus. The Board of
Education consented to the
occupancy of the building for a few
years on condition of joint
control and joint expense.38
Early in 1856 the arrangements had been
completed
and the village school of Hopedale,
consisting of some
35 O. J. of Educ., 5:13,
January, 1856.
36 O. J. of Educ., 5:157, May, 1856.
37 Cadiz Republican, March 5,
1856; 0. J. of Educ., loc. cit. This is
the number given by the strictly
contemporary accounts. An article on the
school published in 1857, states that
the total attendance for this term was
fifty-six. Ibid, 6:105-106,
April, 1857. It is possible that the larger figures
represent the total number enrolled,
while the smaller represent the number
who completed the work of the term.
38 McNeely, "Hopedale Normal
College," p. 247.
McNeely School and
Hopewell Normal College 101
ninety pupils, was moved into it. Miss Betsey M.
Cowles was employed
as teacher.39
A "grand Normal
Institute of one week," with sev-
eral well-known men
as instructors was announced for
the week following
the close of the first term.40
This was followed by
the second term, which ex-
tended from April 8
to June 27, and which had about
the same attendance
as the first.41 During this term ar-
rangements were made
to increase the teaching staff,
which had previously
consisted of only two, and the
work of the model
school was more closely integrated
with that of the
normal school proper.42 Instruction in
music and in
phonography were given in addition to the
regular subjects of
the curriculum.43
The second year's
work opened on August 25, 1856
and comprised three
terms or "sessions."
So far as I
can learn, there was
no essential change in the character
of the work, but the
enlarged staff and the closer integra-
tion of the model
and normal schools apparently ren-
39 The date of this change is not given. The Trustees on
December 27,
1855 authorized the
Principal to employ a teacher for the model school.
0. J. of Educ., 5:13, January, 1856. See also ibid., 6:105,
April, 1857. An
announcement in the
Cadiz Republican for February 6, 1856, signed by Mr.
Ogden, mentions the
work of the model school as a part of the course.
40 Cadiz Republican,
March 5, 12, and 19, 1856.
41 Cadiz Republican,
July 16, 1856.
42 0. J. of Educ., 6:105, April, 1857. The first annual catalogue, pub-
lished about the
close of this term's work listed a faculty of five, as fol-
lows: John Ogden,
President and Principal of the Normal School; Edwin
Regal, Principal of
the Academic Department; Miss Betsey M. Cowles,
Edwin S. DeLancy,
Bettie B. DeLancy, Assistants. Cadiz Republican, July
16, 1856.
43 The latter was given by Mr. C. S. Royce the State
Phonetic Agent,
and reflects the very
great interest in phonetic spelling and phonography
which was in evidence
at this time. Mr. Royce also introduced phonotypy
in the model school.
Cadiz Republican, April 30, 1856.
102 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications
dered the teaching more efficient than
before.44 Attend-
ance at the normal school proper for
the first two
sessions of this year, was sixty-eight
and ninety respec-
tively, with about ninety in the model
school.45
The work of the school during this
period may not
unjustly be described as that of a
typical academy, sup-
plemented by instruction in theory and
practice of teach-
ing and by observation and practice
teaching in the
model school. While instruction in theory and practice
is not mentioned in the description
already quoted from
the Ohio School Report, Mr.
Ogden in a published state-
ment clearly indicated that it was
given.46 There must
also have been included what would
today be called pro-
fessional subject-matter courses. Much of the work
consisted of advanced instruction in
subjects taught in
the common schools, and it is entirely
reasonable to
suppose instruction would also be given
in best methods
of teaching them.47 Like many of the
academies and
early high schools, this institution
had so many subjects
crowded into a two-year period, and
taught by a small
staff, that much of the teaching,
judged by the stand-
ards of today, must have been quite superficial.
Judged
by the standards of its own day,
however, there is, I
44 O. J. of Educ., 6:106, April, 1857.
45 Ibid., 6:25, 106, January and April, 1857. Figures for the third
term
are not given.
46 Cadiz Republican, January 30,
and February 6, 1856. In some of
the early teacher training courses in
the academies, instruction in theory
and practice of teaching was considered
an "extra," to be given in the eve-
ning or at some other time not occupied
by "regular" subjects. This may
account for its omission from the
description of the course above quoted.
47 The language used by the committee of
1855, quoted supra, p. 96,
would seem to indicate that it
contemplated the establishment of such in-
struction.
McNeely School and Hopewell Normal
College 103
think, no reason to doubt that the
enterprise was highly
successful from an educational point of
view, or that it
did "unite thorough academic
instruction with that of
a strict professional character."48
Financially, however, the institution
was far from
successful. It will be recalled that in
taking over the
property from its original proprietors,
the Association
had pledged itself to raise $10,000 for
its support. This
was not meant to be an endowment, but
was to be ex-
pended for current expenses and was
evidently re-
garded as a temporary expedient, until
more permanent
sources of revenue could be found.49
Meanwhile another normal school had
been estab-
lished in the state under the auspices
of teachers in serv-
ice. In the summer of 1855, a five
weeks teachers' in-
stitute was held at Oxford, Ohio with a
large and en-
thusiastic attendance. During the
session, the members
of the institute organized the "South-western
State
Normal School Association" for the
purpose of estab-
lishing a permanent normal school and
sustaining it
until aid could be obtained from the
State. Mr. Alfred
Holbrook, who had already achieved
notable success as
a teacher and educational administrator
at different
localities in the State, was chosen
Principal and the
school was opened at Lebanon in
November, 1855.50
48 Report of
the finance committee of the State Teachers' Association,
quoted supra, p. 96.
49 See the language of the committee,
quoted supra, p. 97.
50 This account is based upon the
following sources: History of Edu-
cation in the State of Ohio, pp. 262-263; 0. J. of Educ., 4:275-276, 345,
August and November, 1855; Ohio
School Report, 1855, p. 20; Hamilton
Intelligencer, May 3, 1855; Kay, History of National Normal
University,
pp. 11-12.
104 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
It was natural that the friends of the
two normal
schools should join forces in their
effort to secure state
support. At the annual meeting of the
State Teachers'
Association in December, 1855, a
committee was ap-
pointed at the first session to draft a
petition to the
Legislature in behalf of normal
schools.51 This com-
mittee drew up a petition, of which the
following is the
most important section:
WHEREAS, we are fully persuaded that the
best possible
appropriation of a portion of the School
Funds will be to the
support of Normal Schools, for the
preparation and training of
Teachers for the Public Schools of the
State; and that whereas,
at least four Normal Schools are
requisite to furnish anything
like an approach to an adequate supply
of trained teachers for
our Public Schools, we hereby earnestly
solicit that your honor-
able body divide the State into four
Normal School Districts,
each comprising an equal number of
counties most conveniently
situated for such purpose, and that in
each or any of these dis-
tricts, a Normal School having been
established by the members
of the State Teachers' Association, who
shall have obtained at
least $15,000, applied in the form of
buildings, lands and ap-
paratus appropriate for such schools,
the value and fitness of
such building, land and apparatus to be
determined by the State
Commissioner of Common Schools, the
Legislature shall ap-
proprilte to each such Normal School
thus established by the
State Teachers' Association, the annual
sum of $5000, to be ap-
plied exclusively to the payment of the
salaries of Professors
and Teachers in said Normal Schools, on
condition that two
pupils from each county in the several
districts in which said
Normal Schools shall be located shall
be entitled to free tuition
under the rules and regulations of such
schools, these pupils to
be elected by the County Teachers'
Associations at their regular
meetings.52
After some discussion the petition was
approved by
the Association, two thousand copies
were ordered
printed, and a committee was appointed
to distribute
51 O.J. of Educ., 5:2-3, January, 1856.
52 The petition is reprinted in 0. J.
of Educ., 5:5, January, 1856.
McNeely School and Hopewell Normal
College 105
petitions, appoint subcommittees,
secure signatures, and
transmit the petitions to the
Legislature.53 A number
of petitions were circulated and
presented to the Senate
during the following February and March
and referred
to the Committee on Common Schools and
School
Lands.54
Lorin Andrews, who was former president
of the
Teachers' Association and one of the
most active labor-
ers on behalf of normal schools,
apparently sought an
opportunity to address the legislature
on the question.
On February 15, a resolution was
introduced in the
House of Representatives inviting him
to "express his
views on the subject of Normal
Schools," on the follow-
ing day, but no action was taken on it,55
and the session
closed without action of any kind on
normal schools.56
At the second session of this
Legislature (1857), a bill
to establish normal schools was
introduced in the Senate
and referred to the Committee on
Schools and School
Lands, upon whose recommendation, it
was indefinitely
postponed.57
The campaign for subscriptions for the
support of
the school was not much more successful
than that for
state support, and financial
difficulties soon appeared.
The first year closed with an operating
deficit of $650,58
and at the July meeting of the
Association, Mr. Ogden's
53 O. J. of Educ., 5:6-7, 8.
January, 1856.
54 Ohio Senate Journal, 1856, pp. 139, 207, 208, 216.
55 Ohio House Journal, 1856, p. 200, 200-208.
56 The O. J. of Educ. 5:92,
March, 1856, stated that a bill to establish
four normal schools had been introduced
into the Senate. But I find no
record of it in the Senate Journal
for that year.
57 Ohio Senate Journal, 1857, pp. 121, 154, 329.
58 Report of the treasurer,
reprinted O. J. of Educ., 6:243-244, August,
1857.
106 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
report urged "the necessity of
having more funds ap-
plied to relieve the embarrassments
under which the
school was put into operation."59
There was consider-
able difference of opinion expressed as
to the wisdom
of the Association's undertaking the
burden of support-
ing a normal school, but also a feeling
that the Associa-
tion was obligated to make good its
pledge to Mr. Mc-
Neely. Lorin Andrews made a stirring
appeal to the
Association to redeem its pledge, and
was seconded by
several other influential members.
Under the inspira-
tion of this appeal, some $3000 was
subscribed by the
members present.60 But
payments came slowly in spite
of repeated appeals for the redemption
of pledges, and
the second year's work ended with an
indebtedness of
some nine hundred dollars.61
The trustees, therefore, determined
that no more
debts should be contracted and
attempted to conduct the
institution so that the indebtedness
should be gradually
liquidated.62 To accomplish
this it was necessary that
the enrollment be increased to 125 or
130, and to secure
this increase, it was determined to
provide facilities by
which the living expenses of the
students could be re-
duced. Arrangements were made by which
board and
room for women at Pumphrey Hall should
not exceed
$2.00 or $2.25 per week. A group of
small cheap "cot-
59 O. J. of Educ., 5:328, August, 1856.
60 O.
J. of Educ., 5:238, 241-242, 249,
August, 1856.
61. J. of Educ., 6:32, 106, 243, 244, 291, January, April,August and
September, 1857. "It is to be
regretted, however, that the engagement
[to raise $10,000] has not yet been
fulfilled nor much realized upon that
which has been pledged." Ibid, 6:107,
April, 1857. The treasurer's report
presented at the July 1857 meeting of
the Association showed out of total
cash pledges of $6607.00, $225 had been
received. Ibid., 6:243, August, 1857.
62 O.J. of Educ., 6:244, August, 1857.
McNeely School and Hopewell Normal
College 107
tage rooms" was erected on the
campus, which could be
rented to male students at a very low
price.63
These arrangements, however, did not
secure the
desired results; the total attendance
for the year
1857-58 was only 89, with an attendance
of 116 in the
model school.64 Mr. Ogden evidently
became dis-
couraged, and resigned his position as
Principal in
October, 1857.65 This necessitated the
suspension of the
course in theory and practice of
teaching, but academic
subjects were continued as usual.66
The association, at its meeting in
December 1857,
extended to Mr. Ogden its thanks for
his industry, zeal,
and efficiency, and determined to make
another effort
63 O. J. of Educ., 6:107, 243-244, April and August, 1857. "It
is the
determination of the Board, and those
having charge to keep the price of
boarding within the limits of $2.00 per
week--and it is believed that the
facilities that will soon be opened for
self boarding will reduce the ex-
penses nearly one-half." J. Ogden, Principal, in Cadiz Republican,
July 15,
1857. The opening of the autumn term was
postponed from August 18th
to August 25th, in order to permit the
finding of the "cottage rooms."
Ibid., loc. cit. When the new charter was granted to the institution in
1879) infra p. 124) there were
twenty-one of these rooms, appraised with
the land they occupied at $2000.
Presumably they were paid for by Mr. and
Mrs. McNeely as there is no record of
any response to the appeal for funds
(O. J. of Educ., 6:244, August 1857) with which to build them.
It is probable that in this effort to
increase enrollment by providing
boarding and rooming facilities at very
low rates, those in charge of this
school were influenced by the great
success of Alfred Holbrook in doing
this at the Southwestern State Normal
School at Lebanon. See Kay,
History of National Normal University
of Lebanon, Ohio, pp. 12, 15-16,
and passim.
64 Third annual catalogue, as reported in Cadiz Republican,
July 14,
1858.
65 Ibid., November 4, 1857. Miss
Cowles resigned, apparently about
the same time.
66 Ibid., November 18, 1857. Mr.
Regal had resigned during the sum-
mer, but he returned to his old place in
the academic department after a
year's absence. O. J. of Educ., 6:264,
August, 1857; Cadiz Republican, July
28, 1858.
108 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
to have the school taken over by the
state.67 A memorial
was presented to the Legislature,68
petitions were cir-
culated, and a bill introduced in the
Senate to ac-
complish this purpose. By the terms of
this bill, the
State would take over the McNeely
property and es-
tablish on it "The Ohio Normal
School" under the con-
trol of a board of five trustees
appointed by the Gov-
ernor with the advice and consent of
the Senate. For
five years, the State was to pay for
its support as much
as was contributed by individuals, up
to $2000 per
year.69 The bill was
referred to the Committee of the
Whole and then to the Committee on
Schools and School
Lands, with instructions to report
after inspection of
the property by the committee or any
two of its mem-
bers.70
On March 31, the committee presented
its report.
No opinion was expressed as to the
advisability of ac-
cepting the offer, but facts and
considerations bearing
on the question were presented. Great
stress was laid
upon the importance of normal schools,
but the necessity
of economy in public expenditures was
pointed out. The
value of the property was estimated at
about $11,000,
and the opinion expressed was that for
an efficient nor-
mal school, a new building costing not
less than $10,000
67 O. J. of Educ., 7:7, January, 1858.
68 O. J. of Educ., 7:58, February, 1858.
69 Ohio Senate Journal, 1858, p. 105 (February 9, 1858). The bill
is
reprinted in O. J. of Educ., 7:91,
March, 1858.
70 Ohio Senate Journal, 1858, pp. 125, 143. A resolution in the House,
directing its Committee on Common
Schools to accompany the Senate com-
mittee on its inspection of the property
was lost. House Journal, 1858, p.
329. While the bill was pending, a
number of petitions were presented,
some for, and some against it. Ibid.,
p. 353; Senate Journal, 1858, pp. 22
140, 159, 160, 197, 229.
McNeely School and Hopewell Normal
College 109
to $12,000 would be necessary. High
praise was ac-
corded Mr. McNeely for his liberality
in so worthy a
cause.71
No further action was taken during the
session, and
the bill went over to the adjourned
session in 1859. On
February 24, it was taken from the
table and referred
to the Committee on Schools and School
Lands; two
days later it was by unanimous vote
indefinitely post-
poned.72
Without waiting for the result of their
second effort
to secure state support, the Trustees
of the Normal
School employed Professor A. S. Hayden,
as Principal
and the fourth year's work was started
with expressions
of confidence.73 No further
debts were incurred, how-
ever, because Mr. and Mrs. McNeely bore
the ex-
penses.74
The Association was burdened not only
with the
normal school, but also with the Ohio
Journal of Edu-
cation, each of which had incurred indebtedness. After
the final failure of the normal school
bill in 1859, the
Association authorized the Trustees, if
they thought
proper, to relinquish all claim on the property to Mr.
McNeely,75 and took no
further part in the manage-
71 This report is reprinted in the
Appendix to Ohio Senate Journal,
1858, pp. 183-184.
72 Ohio Senate Journal, 1859, pp.
189, 200. At the same session, a bill
to establish normal schools was
introduced in the House, but died in com-
mittee. House Journal, 1859, pp.
95, 96.
73 O. J. of Educ., 7:222, July, 1858. Mr. Hayden had been Principal
of the Western Reserve Eclectic
Institute.
74 Hancock, op. cit., p. 249; O.
J. of Educ., 8:251, August, 1859.
75 O. J. of Educ., 8:251, August, 1859.
110 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
ment of the institution, except to
struggle to discharge
the indebtedness already incurred.76
The Trustees did not return the
property to Mr.
McNeely as the Association had given
them permission
to do, but continued in nominal control
of the institu-
tion. They employed the Principal,
however, on condi-
tion that he should assume the entire
financial responsi-
76 See
O. J. of Educ., 8:251, August, 1859; Ohio Educational Monthly,
9:237, August, 1860. The total
indebtedness in 1859 was reported as "ten
or twelve thousand dollars;" of the
$6000 pledged, about ten percent had
been paid in. The association also
discontinued the Journal and arranged for
the Ohio Educational Monthly, published
privately, to be the organ of the
association. These two ill-fated
ventures (the McNeely Normal School and
the Ohio Journal of Education) apparently
came near causing the death
of the association. The following
editorial is an illuminating discussion of
the difficulties and the low status of
the association.
"It is our opinion that a chief
cause for discouragement in regard to
educational interests, is found in the
fact that our State Teachers' Associa-
tion has almost entirely ceased to be a power for good . . .
It may be well
to inquire the cause of this decline and
decay.
"When the association undertook the
establishment, endowment, and
management of a Normal School, it
assumed very heavy pecuniary respon-
sibilities. The trustees were mostly
teachers, scattered from Dan to Beer-
sheba, i. e., from Ashtabula to
Cincinnati. They could not often meet for
the transaction of business, and the
institution was left to drift with ad-
verse currents. Debts accumulated, and
the cry 'give, give' was continually
heard at all meetings of the
association. This remorseless dinning at length
became a disagreeable amusement to many
of our teachers whose salaries
left them no surplus funds. They found
little pleasure and less profit in
such meetings, and abandoned the association.
Other causes may have
operated to this end, but pecuniary
embarrassment has been the chief
trouble . . .
"We trust that our state
association is about to arise and come up to
the help of our school system. The
causes of its backset no longer exist. It
has no Normal School to provide for--no
Journal to support. Both Hope-
dale and the Monthly depend upon
Providence and themselves for a living.
Both are better off without than with
the guardianship of the association,
and that, in turn, is better off without
their care," O. Ed. Mo., 1:154-156,
May, 1860. See also Ibid., 9:259,
and 19:24, August 1860 and January, 1870.
Evidence confirming the low status of
the Association--the near failure of
two or three meetings--is to be found Ibid.,
1:203, 250, and 2:187, July and
August, 1860, June 1861.
McNeely School and Hopewell Normal
College 111
bility.77 In 1871, Mr.
McNeely released the Association
from its pledge to raise $10,000, and
conveyed the prop-
erty, free of incumbrance, to the
Trustees, on the one
condition that there should always be
maintained on it
a normal school for the training of
common school
teachers.78 As I have found
no record that the early
indebtedness was discharged by the
Association, it is
probable that Mr. McNeely assumed it.
Meanwhile the school itself was
continuing its career
of usefulness. Mr. Hayden, after
serving one year,
was succeeded as Principal by Mr.
Regal, who, except
for the one year's absence already
noted,79 had been with
the institution since its inception. He
was joined by
William Brinkerhoff as Professor of
Mathematics and
Natural Philosophy.80 These
two men were for many
years the chief teachers at the
institution, and served
alternately as principal. They seem to
have been not
only excellent teachers, but also good
business men, and
under their management the finances of
the institution
were placed upon a sound basis and it
entered "a career
of solid prosperity and usefulness
which lasted many
years."81 Mr.
McNeely, of course, continued his in-
77 McNeely,
"McNeely Normal School," pp. 277-278.
78 O. Ed. Mo., 20:239,
June, 1871; Cadiz Republican, June 1, 1871.
The property at that time consisted of
the original tract of ten acres and an
adjoining tract of six acres, the
college building, Pumphrey Hall, the gym-
nasium, a number of cottage rooms,
together with library and equipment.
Its estimated value was $40,000.
79 Supra, p. 107.
80 Cadiz Republican, August 10,
1859.
81 Hancock,
op. cit., p. 250. Mr. Hancock stresses especially the busi-
ness qualifications of Brinkerhoff. Mr.
Regal severed his connection with
the school in 1873. O. Ed. Mo., 14:437,
438, October, 1873. Mr. Brinkerhoff
continued to serve until 1878-1879, when
the normal school became a col-
lege, and became the first president of
the new institution.
112 Ohio
Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
terest in and
support of the school,
serving on the
executive committee
and sometimes occupying the posi-
tion of
"Superintendent."82
The model school was
discontinued after a few
years, due to
disagreement with the board of education
and financial
inability to maintain such a school without
the board's
cooperation.
The partnership
[between the normal school and board of
education] finally became
unsatisfactory, and unmanageable. The
want of absolute
control, and the want of sufficient funds to pay
a perfect teacher, were
insurmountable difficulties. By econom-
ical management the
academical department could be made self-
supporting, but the
proprietors, after expending so much in build-
ing, fitting up, and
furnishing one of the most beautiful school
properties in Ohio,
sufficient for one hundred and fifty normal
school pupils, did not
feel justified in incurring an additional per-
petual drain of,
perhaps, $2500 a year for the sake of securing the
absolute control of the
practice school, although they regarded
that as indispensable
to the perfection of their work. . . .
There was now no
recourse but to make the elementary academ-
ical training as
thorough as possible, and fall back upon the plan
of delivering lectures
upon "Theory and Practice."83
Although the practice
school had to be discontinued
the normal school for
a number of years identified itself
82 Annual Catalogue, 1859-60, p. 3, 1867-68, p. 3, 1868-69, p. 3; Cadiz
Republican, August 12, 1870. "Superintendent" presumably
meant business
manager.
83 McNeely,
"Hopedale Normal College," p. 247. The date of the
discontinuance is not
given, but it not improbably took place during the
year 1857-58. The
latest contemporary reference to the existence of the
model school which I
have seen is an announcement in the Cadiz Republican
of July 14, 1858,
purporting to be based upon an examination of the third
annual catalogue. It
states that the price of tuition in the normal school
is twenty-six and in
the model school, thirteen dollars per year. This
would seem to indicate
that the jointly controlled model school was discon-
tinued at the end of
1857-58, and that the normal school authorities attempted
for one year to conduct
a private model school supported by tuition fees,
and then discontinued
all efforts in this direction.
McNeely School and Hopewell Normal
College 113
closely with the public school
interests of Harrison
County and vicinity. This is most
clearly shown by the
institutes which were held in normal
school buildings,
in many or most of which members of the
staff of the
school were instructors. The two
institutes during the
first year's work have already been
mentioned.84
In August and September 1856, a
two-weeks union
institute of Harrison and Jefferson
County teachers
was held there, at which Mr. Regal was
chairman of
the executive committee and Mr. Ogden
was one of the
instructors.85
The next session of this joint
institute was held at
Steubenville for one week beginning
April 6, 1857, and
because the interests of the institute
were "somewhat
closely identified with those of the
McNeely Normal
School" the opening of the spring
term was postponed
until April 13.86 A three-day session
was held at Hope-
dale beginning August 23, 1858, at
which Mr. McNeely
was elected president and Mr. Regal
again was one of
the lecturers.87
The following summer, a more ambitious
program
was launched in the form of a
five-weeks institute, at
which the regular staff of the normal
school and five
additional instructors were engaged.
The announce-
ment stated:
The course will consist of regular
recitations and class drills
in the Common and Higher English
branches, in connection with
84 Supra, p. 98, 101.
85 O. J. of Educ., 5:312-313,
365, October and December, 1856; Cadiz
Republican, July 30, 1856.
86 O. J. of Educ., 6:104, March, 1857; Cadiz Republican, March 24,
1857.
87 O. J. of Educ., 7:314,
October, 1858; Cadiz Republican, September
1, 1858. Horace Mann was one of the instructors
at this institute.
Vol. XL--8.
114 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
Model Teaching, exercises and lectures
on the Theory and Prac-
tice of Teaching . . . Instruction in Practical Surveying,
Vocal Music, Bookkeeping and the Natural
Sciences will be given
to those who desire it.
Terms, $3, in advance; Elocution $1
extra.88
This meeting, with its long session,
large faculty,
tuition fees, provision for recitation
and drill as well as
lecture, evidently was more akin to the
modern summer
school than to the teacher's institute
as we usually think
of it. Eighty members were in
attendance and receipts
totaled $372.75, including $75 from the
county com-
missioners.89 Similar
five-weeks normal institutes or
summer sessions were held in 1860,
1861, 1862, 1863,
1868, 1879, and possibly other years.90
In each case, staff teachers of the
normal school
were supplemented by outsiders employed
for the ses-
sion only. The session of 1860 is
notable by reason of
the fact that Hermann Krusi, son of
Pestalozzi's first
assistant, and himself a well-known
normal school and
institute instructor, was instructor in
drawing.91 Krusi
88 O. J. of Educ., 8:277-278, September, 1859; Cadiz Republican, June
15, 1859.
89 Ohio School Report, 1859, p. 47.
90 Announcements in O. Ed. Mo., and
Cadiz Republican and Statistics
in Ohio School Reports.
91 Cadiz
Republican, June 20, 1860; O. Ed. Mo., 9:190, June, 1860;
Ohio School Report, 1859-1860, p. 63.
Mr. E. E. White, editor of the
Monthly, visited this institute and wrote a very favorable
report, mention-
ing Krusi, as one of the instructors (O.
Ed. Mo., 9:279, September, 1860).
Krusi himself, however states that he
opened the year of 1860 at Lancaster,
Massachusetts with excursions to various
institutes and that his trip to
Hopedale in 1861 was his first
opportunity to see some of the great West.
Krusi, Hermann, Recollections of My
Life, pp. 165-167. He was also an-
nounced as instructor for the 1861
session (Cadiz Republican, July 3, 1861)
but was not mentioned in White's account
of his visit to this institute
(O. Ed. Mo., 2:326). This visit lasted only part of one day during
the
last week of the session, and the
account mentions only two instructors.
McNeely School and Hopewell Normal
College 115
described his experiences at Hopedale
in part as fol-
lows:
It was amidst such anxious anticipations
and stirring news
about the beginning of hostilities in
Virginia, South Carolina, etc.,
that I received quite unexpectedly an
application from Mr. Regal
in Ohio, to take part in a Summer
Institute to be held at his place,
Hopedale, by giving lessons in Drawing.
As this invitation gave
me the opportunity of seeing, for the
first time, some portion of
the great West, I was not slow in
accepting it. . . . .
At a solitary station surrounded by
woods, I got out, and as
there was nobody to meet me I found my
way to Hopedale after
a tramp of some miles.
The place was decidedly rural in
appearance, and the ac-
commodations in the boarding house where I slept the
first night,
rather primitive. The Normal building
too, was of simple con-
struction. A new feature to me was found
in the students'
dwellings, little shanties with one or
two rooms, which at almost
nominal rent, combined with the
cheapness of board, caused a
student's expense not to exceed a dollar
or a dollar and a half.
At the same time there was something
idyllic and restful in the
situation of the building, near shady
groves of oak or hickory,
which covered the hills.
As for the character of teachers as well
as pupils, I never
saw more simplicity, willingness, and
earnestness in performing
their duty among an equal number of persons. The
principal, Mr.
Regal, was as obliging as could be
desired. Some of the lecturers
came from a distance. . . .92
The influence of the Oswego Movement is
clearly
traced in the 1863 session. Mr. Regal,
in a rather
lengthy announcement said in part:
The "Object system" of
instruction, nature's method, partly
revealed by Pestalozzi and worked out to
greater perfection dur-
It is possible, therefore, that Krusi
might have been an instructor this year.
The statistics in the Ohio School
Report for 1861 do not give the names of
the instructors. Krusi's account was
written many years later, and he might
very well be in error as to the year,
but he could hardly fail to recollect
whether he made one or two visits to
Ohio. The most probable conclusion
therefore, is that he was at Hopedale in
1860, but not in 1861.
92 Krusi, op. cit., pp. 165-167.
116 Ohio
Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
ing
the last half century, opens up to the child all the wonders of
nature,
tutors the senses to perceive, develops the powers of con-
ception,
memory and imagination, and trains the powers of ex-
pression
and reason.
I
take pleasure in saying that a school upon this plan will be
established
in connection with the normal school during the sum-
mer
session, commencing July 14th and continuing five weeks
It
will be under the immediate charge of Miss Helen A. Davis, a
teacher
in the N. J. Normal School and trained expressly for this
work
in the Oswego training school.
Teachers
attending the Institute will be trained by Miss
Davis
to conduct similar exercises. . . .93
At
the attendance these institutes or summer ses-
sions,
so far as I have been able to obtain figures were
as
follows:94
Number
in
Year Attendance
1859 .............................. 80
1860 .............................. 91
1861 .............................. 66
1862 .............................. ..
1863 .............................. ..
1868 .............................. 56
1879 .............................. ..
What
of the regular work of the normal school dur-
ing
this period? The earliest catalogue of the institu-
tion
which I have seen is that for 1859-60. This lists a
faculty
consisting of Messrs. Regal and Brinkerhoff,
three
other teachers (one man and two women), besides
four
instructors employed for the summer normal insti-
tute
only. The names of one hundred gentlemen and
seventy-six
ladies who had been in attendance during
the
preceding year, are given. The course of study
covered
four years of forty weeks each, divided into a
93
Cadiz Republican, July 1, 1853. See also O. Ed. Mo., 4:189,
286.
June
and September, 1863.
94
Statistics from Ohio School Reports.
McNeely School and Hopewell Normal
College 117
fall term of eleven, a winter term of
sixteen, and a
spring term of thirteen weeks.
The course of study for the first year
included arith-
metic, penmanship, orthography,
grammar, etymology,
geography, and elocution. For the
second year, algebra,
geometry, geography and physical
geography, and Eng-
lish analysis and composition, were
required. This was
followed in the third year by
geometrical problems, ap-
plication of algebra to geometry, trigonometry
and sur-
veying, conic sections, history of the
United States,
rhetoric, botany, and natural,
intellectual, and moral
philosophy. The fourth year studies
were astronomy,
analytical geometry, chemistry, organic
chemistry and
household science, geology, higher
English grammar,
English literature, general history,
logic, and evidences
of Christianity. In addition, exercises
in composition
or declamation were required throughout
the course,
and lessons in Latin, Greek, vocal music,
and phonog-
raphy were offered without extra
charge, while lessons
in piano or melodies were offered
"at the usual rates."
Curiously enough, no "theory and
practice" or other
professional subject is mentioned in
the regular course,
although it is quite probable that many
of these sub-
jects were taught as "professional
subject matter"
courses.95 Tuition was $26.00 per year, and
board
95 A paragraph calls attention to the
five-weeks "teachers' class" dur-
ing the summer months at which in
addition to academic instruction, "the
necessary principles [are] developed
upon which all education worthy of
the name must be conducted," and
"the material and practical wants of the
teacher in the school room are considered."
P. 13. Furthermore, the pub-
lished announcement of the school in
1861-62, states that "Lectures are
given each term on the 'Art of
Teaching,' on the 'Management of Schools'
and other subjects of interest."
Cadiz Republican, October 30, 1861, and
subsequent issues.
118
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
(with room) $2.00 per week for men and
$1.75 for
women. In addition furnished rooms were
provided
for those students who wished to board
themselves.
The catalogue of 1867-68 lists an
enlarged faculty
(seven teachers and a Principal of the
Ladies' Depart-
ment) and parallel courses of
study--scientific and
classical--and an attendance of
ninety-nine gentlemen
and seventy-two ladies. "Science
of Teaching" is re-
quired for one term each of the second
and fourth years
in each of the two courses. There is a
description of
the practice school building but no
definite statement
that a practice school is to be
maintained.96 Two-thirds
of a page is devoted to the importance
of physical cul-
ture and the advantages offered by the
gymnasium,
which had recently been built. Two
flourishing literary
societies are mentioned.97 Tuition
is now $40.00 per
year (one dollar per week) and board is
offered at from
$2.20 to $2.50 per week. Rooms for
students desiring
to board themselves on the Club Plan or
otherwise can
be secured at fifty cents and a few at
twenty-five cents
per week.
The copy of the 1868-1869 catalogue
which I have
seen has several pages missing, but so
far as appears,
no important change in the work had
taken place.
Stress is laid upon the importance of
the commercial
subjects and upon the fact that,
contrary to the usual
practice, they are offered at no extra
charge.
96 "The elementary schoolhouse is a
handsome one-story building, con-
tiguous to the Normal School--sufficient
for the accommodation of one
hundred pupils, and is intended as a
practice school." P. 18.
97 The contemporary newspapers contain
frequent accounts of and
reference to the activities of these
societies.
McNeely School and Hopewell Normal
College 119
The latest catalogue that I have seen
is that for
1870-71. There is still a faculty of
six, but only one
course of study, which is three years
in length. Most
of the studies which formerly were
given in the first
year of the course are now offered to
those not prepared
to enter upon the regular course; in
other words, the
regular course now is similar to the
upper three years
of the old classical course. There are
some modifica-
tions: neither science of teaching nor
Greek is now re-
quired. The fact that preparation for
teachers was
considered a less important part of the
work of the
school than formerly is evidenced by
the following pas-
sage from this catalogue:
The McNeely Normal School was
originally established for
the training of teachers for the public schools. But
the thorough-
ness and efficiency of its teaching, and the extensive
and practical
character of its course of study, adapt
it to the wants both of
those pursuing an elementary course, and of those
wishing a
liberal education.98
Data concerning enrollment and number
of grad-
uates each year, so far as they are
accessible, are pre-
sented in Table I. The data were
secured chiefly from
the Ohio School Reports and such annual
catalogues of
the school as I have examined.
98 P. 19.
120 Ohio
Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
TABLE I -- NUMBER IN ATTENDANCE AND NUMBER GRADUATED
FROM MCNEELY NORMAL SCHOOL
NUMBER IN NUMBER
IN
ATTENDANCE ATTENDANCE
Men
Women Total Men Women Total
1856-57 ......
.. .. 2 1 3
1857-58 ...... 49 40 89 0 0 0
1858-59 ...... .. .. 7 1 8
1859-60 ......
100 76 176 4 1 5
1860-61...
.... .. .. 1 4 5
1861-62 ...... . .. .. .. .. 2
1862-63 ...... . .. .. .. .. 4
1863-64 .. ........ .. 175 3 3 6
1864-65 .......... . . 6 0 0 0
1865-66 ...... .. .. 220 0 0 0
1866-67 ...... 159 71 230 0 0 0
1867-68 ...... 100 72 172 2 1 3
1868-69 ...... 82 73 155 0 4 4
1869-70 ...... 110 65 175 O 0 O
1870-71 ...... 108 67 175 2 2 4
1871-72 ...... 70 50 120 2 0 2
1872-73 ...... 74 59 133 O O 0
1873-74 ..... 98 71 169 O O 0
1874-75 ...... 110 74 184 1 1 2
1875-76 ...... 89 57 146 2 1 3
1876-77 ..... 84 41 125 0 1 1
1877-78 ...... 121 80 201. 0 2 2
Inspection of this table indicates that, measured by
total enrollment, the institution was at the height of
its
prosperity shortly after the close of the Civil War,
and
that it had a small but fairly steady enrollment down
to 1877-78.99 The
comparatively small
number of
99 The small enrollment is doubtless due in part to the
competition of
other normal schools in the state, particularly the
National Normal School
at Lebanon. Mr. Holbrook, the Principal of the latter
seems to have been a
genius, not only as a teacher but also as a business
manager and advertiser.
It consequently acquired a great prestige and a very
large student body, the
total enrollment for 1871-72 for instance, being 1423.
Mr. Regal and Mr.
Brinkerhoff of the McNeely School, moreover, do not
seem to have been
very successful in securing publicity. See, for
instance, O. Ed. Mo., 20:440,
21:220, 485, October, 1871, June and December, 1872.
McNeely School and Hopewell Normal
College 121
graduates would indicate that a great
many, probably
the great majority, of the students
attended for only a
few terms and did not seek diplomas.
THE HOPEDALE NORMAL COLLEGE
A new period in the history of the
institution began
in 1878-1879, when it was transferred
to the Disciples
Church at Hopedale and reorganized as a
college. Ap-
parently those in active charge of the
school desired the
additional prestige that a collegiate
charter would
bring, while the board of trustees
appointed by the State
Teachers' Association was weary of its
legal responsibil-
ity for a normal school which had to be
conducted with-
out aid from state funds. The Board of
Trustees, at
a meeting held at Put-in-Bay, June 30, 1875,
adopted
a resolution declaring that the
experience of many
years had demonstrated that without
legislative as-
sistance which they had a right to
expect, it was im-
possible to carry forward a
professional school for the
training of teachers, and that in view
of this fact, it
was desirable to change both the name
and character of
the institution. Accordingly, the
President and Secre-
tary of the Board were authorized to
convey the prop-
erty to the original proprietors, or to
any other parties
whom they might designate.100
The Trustees of The First Congregation
of Dis-
ciples in Hopedale, of which
congregation Mr. Mc-
Neely was a prominent member, had been
made resid-
uary legatees of a will, and as a
result of this they were
in possession of property valued at
more than $6000,
100 The minutes of this meeting are
copied as part of the introduction to
The Minutes of the Board of Trustees of
Hopedale Normal College.
122 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
which was known, from the name of the
donor, as the
"Hatcher Fund." By the terms
of the will this money
was "to be invested permanently and
the interest aris-
ing; appropriated to the cause of
Christ," by the Trus-
tees in such manner as their judgment
should direct. At
a meeting of the Trustees on November 8,
1878, the fol-
lowing resolution was adopted:
Resolved, That we regard the influence and the work of
the Normal School at Hopedale, as coming
legitimately within
the purposes of the testatrix in regards
to the residue of her
estate. The trustees are supported in
this judgment by the fact
that the Testatrix, during her life
time, contributed largely of
her means to promote the interests of
the Normal School.
As the proprietors of the school are
desirous to arrange for
successors in its control and
management, and wish on certain
conditions to transfer the property to
the Board of Trustees of
the "First Congregation of
Disciples in Hopedale" -- Now, there-
fore, we, that is to say, John Rife, J.
W. Cassell, and Samuel
Paul, Trustees of said Congregation
hereby agree to accept, in
behalf of the Congregation, the title to
said Normal School prop-
erty, on the conditions proposed: And
we, that is to say, John
Rife, J. W. Cassell, and Samuel Paul and
C. McNeely as in-
dividuals and as Trustees of the
"Hatcher Fund" hereby agree
to the same conditions: First, That
Cyrus McNeely continue in
charge of the property and manage it as
he has heretofore done
for the good of the community, and the
cause of general educa-
tion, until such time as the Board shall
consent to his release,
stipulating only that no debt shall
arise against the Trustees as
the result of such management.
Second. The proprietors . . . in transferring the prop-
erty to the new Board of Trustees, do
not, as in the transfer to
the original Normal School Board bind
them under penalty of
forfeiture of title to maintain
perpetually a school of any kind
upon the premises -- they leave that
question to the decision of
the Board, with this Understanding --
That if in their judgment
they had better withdraw their
investment from that department
of work, they have full power to sell
and transfer the property
to other hands and reinvest their
interest; Should such a con-
tingency arise in the life time of Cyrus
and Jane D. McNeely it
is understood that any surplus arising
from such sale over the
investment put into the property by the
Trustees shall pass to
McNeely School and Hopewell Normal
College 123
them--Should such contingency arise
after the death of those
parties then it is understood, that the
whole of the proceeds of
such sale shall vest in the Trustees and
that the said Trustees shall
report their proceedings to the Probate
Court.
Third. The Trustees of the Hatcher Fund,
upon the occur-
rence of this transfer of the Normal
School Property to the Trus-
tees of the First Congregation of
Disciples in Hopedale agree to
cancel the above liability ($6258.27) of
the Treasurer to the
Board.
Fourth. Cyrus McNeely while he remains a
general man-
ager agrees to keep the property in good
repair and to keep it
insured as he has heretofore done.
Fifth. Any change made possible by the
above second
specification in regard to an ultimate
sale of the property to other
parties shall not occur so as to
interfere with any contract the
manager might make with a corps of
teachers for a term of
years.101
Two days later, the president and
secretary of the
Normal School Board in accordance with
the resolution
of that board adopted on June 30, 1875,
delivered to
Cyrus and Jane D. McNeely a deed for
the property.102
Mr. and Mrs. McNeely in turn conveyed
the property
to the trustees of the church.
The latter formally decided to change
the character
of the Normal School and assume
collegiate privileges.
Accordingly the Trustees and Messrs.
McNeely and
Brinkerhoff as incorporators on July
15, 1879 adopted
articles of agreement and petitioned
the County Auditor
for an appraisal of their property, in
accordance with
the general law governing the forming
of corpora-
101 Minutes of the First Congregation of
Disciples in Hopedale, No-
vember 8, 1878. This resolution and
agreement was signed by both the
trustees of the congregation and the
trustees of the Hatcher Fund.
102 This deed is copied Ibid., pp.
11-14. On June 19, 1879, the Board
formally approved this action of the
president and secretary, and adjourned
sine die., Ibid. p. 14.
124 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
tions.103 The corporate name
adopted was the "Hope-
dale Normal College," the object
of which were stated
to be the imparting to the youth of
both sexes:
First. A sound elementary training in
common school
branches.
Second. An intimate acquaintance with
the science and art
-- the theory and practice of teaching.
Third. A thorough collegiate
course--scientific and class-
ical.104
The property was appraised as follows:105
College building and grounds
........................$20,000
Gymnasium--building and grounds
................... 5,000
Ladies Boarding Hall and grounds
................... 10,000
Twenty-one cottage rooms--and grounds
............. 2,000
Libraries--about 1500 vols.
........................ 500
Chemical and other apparatus, Maps,
Charts, Musical
Instruments
...................................
1,000
School, Boarding Hall, Gymnasium and
Basement fur-
niture, etc. .................................... 1,500
$40,000
On July 1, the board of corporators met
and elected
themselves trustees, and the trustees
elected Mr.
Brinkerhoff President of the College
and Cyrus Mc-
Neely as chairman of the executive
committee.106 Three
days later, the Cadiz Republican carried
a public an-
nouncement of the change, signed by the
President of
the Board:
103 Minutes of the Congregation,
November 14, 1878; Minutes of the
College Trustees, July 15, 1879.
104 Minutes
of the Trustees of Hopedale Normal College, July 15,
1879. One interesting feature of the
agreement was the requirement that the
Trustees select a board of five persons
not members of the Board of Trustees
or of the Faculty before whom all
applicants for "literary degrees" should
pass an examination.
105 Ibid., pp.
21-22.
106 Ibid., July 21, 1879.
McNeely School and Hopewell Normal
College 125
After an experience of more than a
quarter of a century in
the work of education, in which our main
object has been the
preparation of teachers for the public
schools, the Normal School
has yielded to the pressure of public
sentiment and has assumed
the rank of college among educational
institutions . . . By
this change, the new Board of Trustees
do not propose to abate
any of the attention heretofore given to
elementary studies, an
attention which has given the Normal
School a reputation for
thoroughness second to no school in
Ohio. They do not propose
to build without a foundation . . . The college shall be as
the normal school has been, moral and
religious in all its in-
fluences and as free from religious partisanship as the public
schools
. . .
The college opened for work early in
September, and
continued in operation until 1895.
Concerning the edu-
cational work of the college during
this period, I have
been able to secure very little
information. No cat-
alogues have been found, while from the
minutes of the
Trustees and from newspaper notices
only fragmentary
bits of information can be picked up.
A "college" or classical and
a scientific course lead-
ing respectively to the degrees of
Bachelor of Arts and
Bachelor of Science were offered.107
In addition, a two-
year normal course was offered,108
and various courses
in elocution, business training,
telegraphing, drawing,
painting, music, etc. leading to certificates.109
The teaching staff during the period
probably
averaged four or five.110 In
the Trustees' minutes for
107 Minutes of Trustees, June 23, 1882
and passim, where records of
the conferring of these degrees are
found.
108 S. K. Mardis
in O. Ed. Mo., 42:18-19, January, 1893.
109 Trustees' Minutes, June 21, 1883.
There are also numerous news-
paper notices concerning these special
departments and courses. See for in-
stance the announcement in the Cadiz Republican,
September 8, 1892.
110 The
Ohio School Report for 1886-1887 lists six; the Report of the
United States Commissioner of
Education for 1890-1891 lists four,
and that
for 1892-93 lists five. An advertisement
in the Cadiz Republican for July 19,
1890 claims a total of twelve teachers.
126
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
July 11, 1885 the faculty for the
following year is listed
as follows:
Rev. J. M. Jamison, President and
Professor of
Latin and Greek Languages, Mental and
Moral Phi-
losophy, and Logic.
W. G. Garvey, Professor of Mathematics
and Nat-
ural Science.
James R. Skelly, Professor of English
Literature,
Elocution, Phonography and Bookkeeping.
In addition, these men who constituted
the faculty
were authorized to employ two others
for any additional
teaching which might be necessary. The
minutes for
June 20, 1890 list the faculty for the
ensuing year as
follows (in addition to the President):
T. J. Milford and Dr. J. A. Richey,
teachers in the
literary department.
Miss Lizzie A. Wallace, teacher in the
"Elocution-
ary Department."
Miss Addie Patterson, teacher of music.
Mrs. Reitchez, teacher in the business
department.
The statistics of attendance and
graduation during
this period are quite scanty. In only a
few of the Ohio
School Reports or the Reports of the
United States
Commissioner of Education are any
statistics for this
college given, and the Minutes of the
Trustees give the
attendance for one year only. These
figures, so far as
I have been able to find them in the
above mentioned
sources, are presented in Table II. Of
the students
listed here, the great majority were
doubtless either
McNeely School and Hopewell Normal College 127
preparatory students, or students in some non-degree
course.111
TABLE II
NUMBER IN ATTENDANCE AND NUMBER OF DEGREES GRANTED AT
HOPEDALE NORMAL COLLEGE
Total DEGREES GRANTED
Year Attendance A.B. B.S. Honorary
1879-80 .................... 5
3 3 4
1880-81 ....................
1881-82 ..................... 1 2
1882-83 ............ ........
. 2
1883-84 .................... 146 0 5
1884-85 ....
.............. .. 5 3
1885-86 .................... 90 0 0
1886-87 .................... 75 0 2 8
1887-88 .................... 106 1 2
1888-89 .................... .... 12a 6
1889-90 ....................
.. 10 4 2
1890-91 .....................
1891-92 .................... 33
1892-93 .................... 132
1893-94 ......... ..
............. .. .. 5
1894-95 .................... . .. 2
The accessible sources give much more information
concerning the college in its institutional and
business
aspects. Its history during this period is that of a
gal-
lant struggle to maintain a college against heavy odds,
which finally became overwhelming.
Mr. McNeely continued to take an active interest in
the institution almost to the time of his death in
1890.
He served on the Board of Trustees until 1886, when
he resigned because of advanced age.112 His
service to
111 Of the 33 students reported to the United States
Commissioner of
Education for 1891-92, 25 are classified as
preparatory; of the 132 for
1892-93, 125 are classified as preparatory.
a. Including five conferred on graduates of the Normal
School.
112 Minutes of
Trustees, May 29 and June 7, 1886.
128 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
the institution, however, did not
cease. In 1889 he pre-
sented to the Board a communication
stating that dur-
ing the past four or five years he had
spent about $1000
in repairing, renovating, and cleaning
up the buildings
and grounds, of which he requested and
received the ap-
proval of the Trustees.113
In January, 1890, he again
accepted election to the Board, but
died the following
May.114
Except for the contributions of Mr. and
Mrs. Mc-
Neely, however, the college was almost
entirely de-
pendent upon tuition fees for its
support. The financial
arrangements between the Trustees and
the Faculty
during the first four years of this
period do not appear
from the records, but they probably
were not greatly
different from those adopted on
November 7, 1883. A
resolution of that date provided that
the number of
classes for any term was not to exceed
twenty-eight nor
fall below twenty-four, "unless by
consent of the Teach-
ers." The labor of conducting
these classes was as
nearly as practicable to be divided
equally among the
members of the faculty, consisting of
the acting Presi-
dent and three other teachers. In this
division of labor
the administrative work of the acting
President was to
be considered as equivalent to the
instruction of three
classes. Of the money received from
tuition fees, ten
percent was to be set aside as a repair
and maintenance
113 Minutes
of the Trustees, July 5, 1889. "All of this," so read the
communication, "has been done at my
option, and at my own expense in the
114 Minutes of the Trustees, June 16, 1890; Cadiz Republican,
May 8.
1890. Mrs. McNeely had died in 1887. O.
Ed. Mo., 37:241, June, 1888.
Thus neither lived to witness the death
of the institution which they had
founded, and for whose support they had
contributed the greater part of
their property.
McNeely School and Hopewell Normal
College 129
fund. From the net income remaining, current ex-
penses such as fuel, advertising, and
janitor service
were to be paid, and the remainder was
to be divided
equally among the four faculty members.
In 1885 this
arrangement was modified so as to
divide the residue
among three instead of four faculty
members with the
understanding that any additional
teaching needed
should be paid for as current expenses.115
The attendance was not large enough to
provide
more than a meager income,116 hence
there were frequent
changes in the Faculty. It is
impossible to trace all such
changes here, but a review of the
changes in the presi-
dency may be given as typical, and as
illustrative of the
difficulties of the institution. Mr.
Brinkerhoff served
until 1882, when he asked for a leave
of absence on ac-
count of the poor health of his
wife. During the fol-
lowing two years the Vice President,
Rev. J. M. Jamie-
son was in charge, and upon the
acceptance of Mr.
Brinkerhoff's resignation in 1884, was
made President.
Two years later he resigned, and was
succeeded by W.
G. Garvey, who had been Professor of
Mathematics. He
also served only two years, when he
resigned and Mr.
Jamieson was again elected.117
The following summer, Dr. John Hancock,
who was
115 Minutes of the Trustees, July 11,
1885. This arrangement was still
in force in 1888 and 1890 when Rev. J.
M. Jamieson and Rev. R. M.
Coulter, respectively were elected to
the presidency. Ibid., June 20, 1888 and
January 31, 1890.
116 From the minutes for May 31, 1884,
it appears that the income for
the current academic year was $1908. In
the remainder of this paper, state-
ments not documented are based on the
Minutes of the Trustees.
117 President Jamieson represented a
somewhat detailed set of con-
ditions upon which he would accept the
presidency which were agreed to by
the Board. They are preserved in the
minutes.
Vol. XL--9.
130 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
then State Commissioner of Common
Schools and who
had served for a long time on the Board
of Trustees of
the McNeely Normal School, attempted to
induce Dr.
Samuel Findlay of Akron, editor of the Ohio
Educa-
tional Monthly, to move to Hopedale, and carry forward
his editorial work, and at the same
time take charge of
the "professional work" of
the college. The condition
of his health, however, compelled him
to decline this
offer.118 President Jamieson's
second period of service
came to an end when his resignation,
presented in Janu-
ary, 1890, took effect the following
June. The Trustees
apparently tried to secure Dr. W. N.
Ray, principal of
the New Philadelphia Schools, as the
new president, but
did not succeed.119 Rev. R.
M. Coulter of Cadiz was
then chosen president120 but served
for only a year, his
resignation being accepted in June,
1891. Rev. N. W.
Parks, a member of the Board, was then
elected Presi-
dent and agreed to serve until someone
could be secured
permanently.121 Some difficulty was
experienced how-
ever, in securing a president. On July
23 the Board
conferred with Mr. N. B. Collins,
"who was making
araingment [sic] for taking charge of
the Normal Col-
lege as president," and a motion
that he be tendered the
118 This effort evidently was made with
the approval of the Trustees,
as it is announced by the Secretary in
the Cadiz Republican, March 13, 1890.
119 The
Cadiz Republican, January 9, 1890, stated that he had been
unanimously elected president. This is
not borne out by the Minutes, which
only show that on December 10, 1889, a
motion that the presidency be
tendered R. M. Coulter was lost by a tie
vote, and that the secretary was
instructed to confer with W. N. Ray in
reference to the presidency.
120 The new president and faculty were greeted by an
enthusiastic mass
meeting at the opening of the autumn
term. Cadiz Republican, September
11, 1890.
121 Minutes, July 23, 1891; Cadiz Republican,
July 30, 1891.
McNeely School and Hopewell Normal
College 131
position "at the next Meeting of
the Board" was car-
ried. The arrangements fell through,
however, and the
search for a president continued.
Apparently it was impossible to secure
a president
under the old financial arrangements.
After some
negotiations with Mr. Elmer E.
Henderson, an agree-
ment was drawn up by which he took
charge as Presi-
dent, leasing the buildings and grounds
for two years,
with an option for ten years in all. In
October, Presi-
dent Parks' resignation was accepted
and Mr. Hender-
son formally elected President,
apparently under this
agreement.122
At the end of two years, President
Henderson re-
signed and was again succeeded by Rev.
Mr. Jamieson.
In an effort to provide a slightly
larger income for the
teachers, the ten percent repair fund
for the fall term
was ordered paid to the faculty.123
But the end was fast approaching. At
the end of
the year President Jamieson offered his
resignation,
which was not accepted. At the same
meeting what ap-
pears like a pathetic effort to bolster
up the finances by
the sale of degrees was made. The
Secretary was di-
rected to inform those on whom the
Master of Arts de-
122 The minutes are somewhat obscure
concerning the terms of his
employment. On September 7, an agreement
for the lease was ordered
drawn up, and on October 10, when Mr.
Henderson was formally elected,
the articles of agreement at that time
written in pencil, were ordered writ-
ten in ink and presented to the next
meeting. At a later meeting, for which
no date is given, and which possibly
occurred the same day, articles of
agreement were "partly agreed
to" and placed on file. The articles are not
copied in the minutes.
123 Earlier efforts had been made to
have this fund paid to the teachers
(Minutes, May 13, 1889, January 26,
1891) and it had been so paid at the
close of the autumn term 1890.
132 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
gree was conferred that they each were
expected to pay
the sum of five dollars when receiving
it.124
President Jamieson was induced to
continue in office
and the College started its work for
1894-5 with a show
of confidence.125 But before
the close of the school year,
it became evident that the end was at
hand. On March
27, 1895, the Trustees determined to attempt to sell the
college property to "persons competent
in their judg-
ment to conduct the school in
accordance with the terms
of the charter," and its
advertisement was ordered. A
month later the President appeared
before the board
and presented to them "the
apparent necessity of closing
the present term at once for lack of
support" and recom-
mended the conferring of the degree of
Bachelor of
Science on two students. These
recommendations were
adopted and the resignation of the
President and Pro-
fessor May (apparently these were the
only teachers)
accepted. So closed the institution
after a continuous
existence of forty-four years as
improved country day
school, normal school, and college.
The efforts to sell the property were
continued, but
were not successful. In 1898,
negotiations were begun
with "Prof. Sayre of Chicago"
looking to the reopening
of the school, apparently under
lease. A tentative
agreement was reached, according to
which he was to
come to Hopedale to canvass the
prospects. If he found
the conditions favorable, the Board was
to clean up the
124 A great many American colleges in
the middle of the nineteenth
century had only formal requirements for the Master of Arts
degree.
125 "Rev. J. M. Jamieson, President of Hopedale Normal
College, was
in Cadiz on Saturday last. Dr. J. is
very hopeful for the future of the Col-
lege and regards the outlook for the
coming year as very encouraging..."
Cadiz Republican, March 1, 1894.
McNeely School and Hopewell Normal
College 133
buildings and keep them in repair for
one year. To se-
cure funds for this repair, a public
subscription was
started. Professor Sayre, however,
after looking over
the situation, decided that he could
not "maintain a reg-
ular college course," but was
willing to "start a com-
mercial school with vocal and
instrumental music."
Many of the subscribers to the repair
fund, however,
were unwilling to contribute to such an
institution, and
the project was dropped. The Board
seems then to have
abandoned hope that the College could
be reopened and
ordered the household goods and
furniture stored in the
boarding hall to be sold.
One brief flicker of life remained,
however. In the
autumn of 1899, arrangements were made
for opening
the college under Professor W. E. Harsh
as President
and the buildings were repaired and
painted.126 The in-
stitution was opened in September and
continued
through the year, having a total
attendance of 71.127
Those in charge seem to have been
encouraged by the
success of their efforts to
rehabilitate the College. They
arranged for a summer session, and
printed a catalogue
for the following year. According to
this catalogue, a
three-year normal and a four-year
language-science
course were offered, besides courses in
commercial sub-
jects, penmanship and school drawing,
and music. A
faculty of four was announced. The next
year's work
started in September as scheduled, but
the attendance
was so small that at the end of the
winter term the col-
lege was again closed.128
126 Minutes, May 28, and September 14,
1899; Cadiz Republican, June
28, 1900.
127
Catalogue, 1900-01, pp. 21-23.
128 Cadiz Republican, April 11,
1901.
134
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
All hope for the college was now
abandoned and
the Disciples Church and the Trustees
decided to sell
the property. Permission of the Harrison County
Common Pleas Court was obtained and in
1903 the
property was sold to Mr. W. B. Scott,
the highest bid-
der, for $3500.129
After selling part of the land and
buildings, Mr.
Scott disposed of the college building
and site to the
Hopedale Board of Education, which
moved its high
and grade schools into it. Later the
building was con-
demned, torn down, and replaced by
modern school
buildings.
So ends the history of the McNeely
Normal School
and Hopedale Normal College. Like many
other col-
leges, academies, and normal schools in
Ohio, it served
its day and generation faithfully. It
passed out of ex-
istence because the day of the small
college without en-
dowment or other assured means of
revenue was gone.
Contributing factors to its decline and
discontinuance
were the death of Mr. and Mrs. McNeely,
its principal
benefactors, and competition with other
institutions,
particularly Scio College and Franklin
College, which
were located in the same county.
129 The court record
of this case is found in Harrison County Common
Pleas Journal, Vol. S, p. 266. The deed
is recorded in Deed Records of
Harrison County, vol. 59, pp. 154-155.
McNeely School and Hopewell Normal
College 135
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A. PRIMARY SOURCES
State Commissioner of Common Schools, Annual
Reports.
Deed Records of Harrison County, Vol. LIX.
Harrison County Common Pleas Journal,
Vol. S.
Ohio House Journal.
Ohio Senate Journal.
Ohio Laws.
United States Commissioner of Education,
Reports.
The Addresses and Proceedings
Connected with the Semi-Cen-
tennial Celebration of Marietta
College, June 28, to July 1,
1885, Marietta, Ohio, E. R. Alderman and Sons, 1885.
McNeely Normal School. Annual
Catalogue.
Hopedale Normal College, Catalogue, 1900-1901.
Minutes of the Trustees of the First
Congregation of Disciples
at Hopedale. (Manuscript)
Minutes of the Trustees of Hopedale
Normal College. (Manu-
script)
Hancock, John, "The First Normal
School in Ohio." Ohio Edu-
cational Monthly, 37:241-250, June, 1888.
Lehr, Henry S. "Ohio Normal
Schools." Ohio Educational
Monthly, 52:97-105, March, 1903.
McNeely, Cyrus, "Hopedale Normal
College." Ohio Educational
Monthly, 37 :244-248, June, 1888.
McNeely, Cyrus, "McNeely Normal
School." A History of Edu-
cation in the State of Ohio: A
Centennial Volume. Pub-
lished by authority of the General
Assembly. Columbus,
Ohio, 1876. pp. 288-292.
Mardis, S. K. "Ohio's Need." Ohio Educational Monthly, 42:
17-21, January, 1893.
"A Model School House and a Model
School Man." Ohio Jour-
nal of Education, 2:252-254, July, 1853.
Newspapers and Periodicals:
The American Union (Steubenville,
Ohio).
The Cadiz Republican.
The Hamilton Intelligencer.
The Mammoth Weekly Herald (Steubenville,
Ohio).
The Ohio Educational Monthly.
The Ohio Journal of Education.
Draper, William F., Recollections of
a Varied Career. Boston,
Little, Brown, and Company, 1908.
Krusi, Hermann. Recollections of My Life . . New York
The Grafton Press, 1907.
|
136 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications B. SECONDARY SOURCES Burns, James J., Educational History of Ohio. Columbus, Ohio, Historical Publishing Company, 1905. Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Harrison and Carroll, Ohio . . . Chicago, J. H. Beers and Com- pany, 1891. Hanna, Charles A., Historical Collections of Harrison County in the State of Ohio. New York, privately printed, 1900. History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio. Chicago, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1921. Kay, Karl J., History of National Normal University of Lebanon, Ohio. Wilmington, Ohio, Wilmington College, no date. McGavran, Samuel B., A Brief History of Harrison County, Ohio, Cadiz, Ohio, The Harrison Tribune, 1894. |
|
|
