Livingston county history
CHILLICOTHE CITY GOVERNMENT
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- SCHOOLS IN LIVINGSTON COUNTY
CHILLICOTHE CITY GOVERNMENTOn August 7, 1837 the Livingston County court, then in session, took the first steps toward establishing the town of Chillicothe and the lots were laid out. Because of the location it was to be the county seat. At this time it was given the name Chilicothe, spelled with one l and was named for Chillicothe Ohio. It later took the present spelling because of an error made by a deputy county clerk who wrote the records. The name Chillicothe is a Shawnee Indian name and means “the big town where we live.” Chillicothe was first incorporated by the county court August 13, 1851 on a two-thirds petition of the inhabitants. The next incorporation was by an act of the Legislature February 26, 1869 and the town became “the City of Chillicothe.” The municipal government is a charter form of government with powers to operate vested in a mayor, one councilman-at-large and one councilman from each of the four wards in the city. The municipal government looks after the care of the streets, enforcement of sanitary measures, operation and care of public parks and playgrounds, maintains and operates a police and fire protection department and ambulance service. The care of the trees and shrubbery and upkeep of the Court House Plaza are municipal responsibilities. Elected officials of the city government besides the mayor and council are the clerk, whose duty it is to be the custodian of the city sea[, keep all records, prepare commissions, file deeds, publish ordinances and annual reports; the City Treasurer handles the finances which includes collecting taxes, general and special licenses and revenues of the city, and keeps an account of all monies received and spent; The City Auditor, who is the accountant and as such receives and preserves all books, vouchers, contracts, and accounts pertaining to the city, purchases city supplies, makes monthly reports and assists the mayor in preparation of the annual budget; the Constable who is appointed by the council to act as chief of police and an Attorney who handles all legal matters. The members of the Public Utilities Board, Hospital Board, Airport Board, Zoning Board and the Federal Housing Authority are appointed by and operate under the jurisdiction of the council. Besides members of the various Boards the council appoints the City Assessor, the Fire Chief, the City Engineer, Animal Control Officer, Public Health Administrator, and the Street Commissioner. The city owns the Public Utilities which includes the Light and Water Plant and the Garbage Disposal System. It owns the Hedrick Medical Center, Simpson, Gravesville, Clay Street and East Side Parks, an airport located three miles east of Chillicothe and will own two low rent housing complexes when the Federal loan is retired. In 1978 the city purchased the Robertson building located in South Chillicothe on Highway 65 which is used to house the street department maintenance equipment. An aerial ladder fire truck was purchased in 1979 at a cost $212,000 to supplement the two pump trucks in use; in 1980 one new ambulance was bought which, in addition to two old ones, serves that system. Five police cars are owned by the city. The Coburn building was given to the city by Mr. Richard Coburn to be used for community services. The city charter contains nine Articles which delegate the duties and powers of the city government. The Articles contain all the code of Ordinances that the charter provides and under which the city receives its power to operate. Until 1901 city officials were elected to serve one year, but since that time all terms are for two years. The First city hall built in 1869 and all its records were destroyed by fire in 1875. A second City Hall of brick veneer was constructed in 1876-77 at a cost of $20,000 and stood until it too was destroyed by fire on May 18, 1925. Most of the records from that fire were saved and were housed in the Sipple building until on May 6, 1926, when a contract was let at a cost of $72,997 to build the solid brick structure which now stands and was dedicated in 1926. The mayors and city council members who have served the city since 1875 are on record at the city Hall. We list only the mayors and their terms here: Mayor J. 0. Trumbo, 1875; H. M. Pollard, 1876; F. W. Trent, 1877; W. E. Gunby, 1978; J. T. Johnson, 1879; Henry Hatch, 1880; John W. Butner 1881, 1882 and 1883; Archibald McVey, 1884; Wm. E. Crellin, 1885; James L Buford, 1886; Moses Alexander, 1887; J. L. Schmitz, 1888; David Gordon, 1889; L. J. Broaddus, 1890; Charles F. Stewart, 1891; Frederick H. Hoppe, 1892; John T. Milbank, 1893; W. H. Booth, 1894; W. D. Leeper, 1895; Frank S. Miller, 1896; Isaac Hirsh 1897,1898; Robert S. Hall, 1899; Thomas J. Hoge, 1900; Isaac Hirsh 1901-03; W. W. Edgerton, 1903-05; Isaac Hirsh, 1905-1907; Charles F. Adams, 1907-1909; John H. Taylor, 1909-1911; Chris Boehner, 1911-1913; Stephen Hawkins, 1913-15; and again in 1915-17; L. A. Chapman, 1917-1919; Burdette V. Gill 1919-21; Frank Ashby, 1921-23; A. R. Coburn, 1923-25; William Scruby, 1925-27; Harry H. Pardonner, 1927-29; and 1929-31; John H. Taylor, 1931-33; William A. Rensch, 1933-35; G. C. Carnahan, 1935-37; and 1937-39; Murray N. Windle, 1939-41 and 1941-43; Beal Shaw, 1943-45; Frank Lang, 1945-47; Oscar 0. Cooke, 1947-49; Robert A. Staton, 1949-51; and 1951-53; R. B. Taylor 1953-55 - 1955-57 - 1957-59, 59-61, 61-63; Louis H. Stein, 1963-65; Frank C. Lang 1965-67; Woodrow Kline, 1967-69; 1969-71; Roy Rodebaugh, 1971-73; Ralph L. Moore, 1973-75; Mary E. Smith, 1975-77; Cecil Campbell, 1977-79; J. T. Oliver, 1979-81. Miss Willa Jane Smith is Councilwoman-at-large for the present term of 1979-81, Charles O’Hara is first ward councilman, Richard Garr is second ward councilman, Richard Knouse is third ward councilman, and Darrel Rinehart, Jr. is fourth ward councilman. SCHOOLS IN LIVINGSTON COUNTYThe one room school had an early start in Livingston County. Some of the early records show the earliest schools were Chillicothe, Black, and Blackburn. There were at least ten rural schools in the county before 1855. Descriptions of schools show the early ones were very similar. They were built of rough logs with dirt or split log floors and a clapboard roof. Benches were split logs with pegs for legs. Often there was only one or two desks where students could write. Slates were used. Fireplaces were the only heat and wall reflector oil lamps were used occasionally for night meetings. Schools were used on Sunday and during the summer for church and Sunday Schools and later for community meetings such as the Grange. There were at least 99 school districts within the county, excluding the Chillicothe district, at the height of population about the turn of the century. Many of the earliest schools were subscription schools where payment was required for each student and books were provided by the family, each according to what they had available. Classes were not always divided according to eight grades or classes. Ages varied from five to twenty years, with schools having an enrollment as high as fifty to seventy-five students. If the teacher kept order and taught the three “R’s” they had met the local requirements. School terms were often five months in winter with a two-three month spring term. Salaries in the ‘80’s varied from $20 to $40 per month with few earning the higher salary. Janitorial work was expected of the teacher; this included sweeping, fixing fires and emptying ashes. Not only were reading writing and arithmetic taught, so were geography, grammar, history and government. Goose quills were often used as pens and ink was made from local berries. Many of the early schools were named for the people who donated land for the school. A few examples would be Smith, Gibbs, Slagle, Warner, Wye, Baxter and Hicks. One of the most unusual school names was Hog Skin Hollow. It had two other names, Brassfield and later, Happy Hollow. The origin of the name is unclear. General Enoch Crowder of military fame was a teacher at Sneed School in the early 1870’s before he attended West Point. Another national figure was included in the history of a school. Grover Cleveland visited Stone School south of Dawn on October 18, 1887, during his first term as president. The teacher at the time was R. Morgan Jr. Why he stopped has been lost as far as local history is concerned, perhaps a study of the president’s papers might show why. Memory chords are often struck by mention of McGuffy Readers, basket dinners, Christmas programs, Spencerian writing, games played at recess, ciphering and spelling matches, box suppers and school board elections. A red letter day at school was the visit of the county superintendent because the teacher wanted to make a good impression. The State Department of Education developed as the years went on and provided a state guide for the teachers. Students who completed the eighth grade had to successfully pass a state examination before they could go on to high school. High Schools were organized in most of the villages in the county; at first they were only two-year schools, but by the 1920’s, there were several four-year high schools. The first twelfth grade graduation in Dawn was in 1919, and in 1922, in Ludlow. About the time that high schools were expanding, the movement toward consolidation started. There was a great deal of conflict within some districts over the move. One consideration that led to dissatisfaction was that consolidation often resulted in higher school taxes. Another change that came with consolidation and high schools was more educational requirements for the teachers to be qualified. Early teachers only needed to convince the school’s patrons that they could teach. As time went on college credit became a requirement. Local tests, administered by the county superintendents, were given each summer for prospective teachers. Passing the test and a summer of college was all that was required for a high school graduate to teach the following year in a rural school. The teachers were given a county certificate if they had passed the exam; a passing grade in college classes exempted them from parts of the test. Sixty hours of college credit were considered necessary for teaching high schools, but as time passed, a college degree in education became the goal of the consolidated districts and the high schools. Information of specific schools and their individual history can be found in several places in the area. Chillicothe Constitution Tribune in its centennial edition (1937), had a great deal of information about the area schools. This paper is laminated and available in the county library and is also on microfilm there. In Roof’s Past and Present in Livingston County, published in 1913, there is material in volume 1, pages 174-190. It includes the names of most of the districts and who the teachers were and the presidents of the school board. In 1958-59 the Chillicothe Constitution Tribune published Mrs. Luther Boone’s histories of local schools. These have been collected by the library and are available there as well as on microfilm. The county clerk has the old records of the rural schools on file and they are available for research. -- M. S. 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