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The rural schools of Livingston county have had no small part in building its prosperity. Their origin dates back to the pioneers. As soon as a settlement was made, the great question of interest was the organization of a school. The first district organized in every township, usually, unless shut off by streams, had its boundaries coextensive with the township. It was called district No. 1. As population increased, other districts were formed out of this district. They were Nos. 2 and 3 successively, as organized in the township. This was the legal description of all districts, until a recent act of the Legislature which required the county court to renumber all the districts in each county, commencing at 1 in the northeast corner of the county and across the county alternately, the numbers to increase until all districts in the county were numbered. This act of the Legislature destroyed much local history. District No. 1 in each township had a peculiar prominence, it being the oldest district, was generally the best located and most widely known. Besides the historic memories that usually clustered about district No. 1, many of the districts were known far and wide by other names. The name of the pioneer most active in the organization of the district was generally the name by which the school district was most widely known. The McCormick district in Rich Hill township, named from Adam F. McCormick, father of Geo. and J. W. McCormick of Chillicothe, who with J. D. Beal, J. W. Allbrittain and Jacob Palmer organized that district and located the schoolhouse on the southeast corner of A. F.. McCormick's farm. The Pond school was called after David W. Pond who was active in its organization and donated the school site. The Cor. Campbell, in Fairview township, the Leaton school in Grand River township, the Burner, in Blue Mound, the Reisley in Monroe, the Musson, in Greene, the Hudgins, in Mooresville, the Brookshier, in Sampsel, the Blackburn, in Jackson and the Manning, in Medicine, are a few instances, where tradition has for a time sought to immortalize the efforts of the modest pioneer, who in his honest zeal, sought in that early day to advance the cause of education and linked his name for all time to the humble fane his efforts founded. There were other names prominent in local lore of the schools. Southeast of Chillicothe, where abode such sturdy pioneers as Moses McBride, Thomas Allcott, Lafayette Carlyle and Julian Gilbert, when their little white schoolhouse was completed at the edge of the Wide Bottoms, stretching far to the southeast, it was christened "Jack Snipe," and "Jack Snipe',' it is todav. North of Wheeling where lived Martin A. Spooner, father of our city treasurer, C. A. Spooner, and Larry Kinsella, and John Lawler, when they built, they erected a fairly respectable schoolhouse and as it surpassed all others, it was called the New York school, after the first city of the nation. There was the White Cloud, the Prairie Valley, Green Grove and Oak Grove - names derived from physical or geographical surroundings.

Other names could be mentioned. The most startlingly unique is the "Hog Skin School House," located in a deep hollow hard by Col. Scott J. Miller's famed Poland China hog farm in Jackson township. None of the Colonel's breed had anything to do with the naming of the district. It was historic before the Colonel's day. The name has been a matter of warm debate between Uncle Joe Kirk and Uncle Davy Girdner, the two most accurate antiquarians of Jackson township. According to Kirk, the first teacher employed in the school had the custom of larruping rebellious and unruly pupils with a hog skin whip. The contiguous propinquity of the assaulting epidermis of the hog upon the epidermis of the unruly student, made a deep impression upon his mind, so the school became known as "Hog Skin."

Uncle Davy Girdner's version is different. He tells us that in an early day a distinguished pioneer had four daughters, who married men and trouble for the old gentleman, except the youngest daughter. She married a man docile and civilized, who had the faculty of working the old man for many favors. The other sons-in-law became jealous. Every Thanksgiving day the old man presented this favored son-in-law with a fat hog, corn fed and ripe for the slaughter. To the other daughters, they of the bad, bold "hubbies" carne never a porker. This favored daughter lived in the hollow where the schoolhouse now stands. The other sons-in-law conspired to put a crimp in the fresh pork monopoly of their brother in the hollow. On Thanksgiving morning, when this favored brother, his hired man, and doting papa-in-law went out to the pen to do, in proper and legal form, execution upon the shoat, they found nothing in the pen but its skin, all that was edible having disappeared. No tracks on the ground were seen; there were no finger prints or tooth picks dropped to furnish a clue to the W. J. Burnes Detective Agency of that day. The hog had moulted and left his skin. The next Thanksgiving day the was mystery was repeated. A searching legal investigation was made. A grand jury exhausted its inquisitorial powers. The mystery remained unsolved. The hog disappeared and left its skin in the pen. The deep valley became known as "Hog Skin Hollow". When the district was organized they built the schoolhouse in the hollow. It became known as the "Hog Skin School" and "Hog Skin" it is to this day.

When first organized the revenues provided for the maintenance of the county schools were meager. The salaries paid teachers were distressingly small. But the teacher got his board and lodging free. He went from house to house alternately one day at a time, each family in the district taking its turn. Proud was the boy, when it was his turn to take the teacher home. The late Col. Ed Darlington used to tell in a dramatic way his week's experience as a teacher at this time. On the first day the board of directors gave him the list of families in the district, indicated to him their places and told hirn in a sort of "Ring Around the Rosie Manner" to take the circuit, staying one night at each place. The first night he was assigned lodging with only four healthy boys as bed fellows. That was good enough. Though somewhat crowded, good nature and healthy sleep waived the inconvenience. But the next night the population of his bed in addition to himself was five boys, the next six, the next seven, the next eight, a uniform arithmetical progression of healthy boys to sleep with. The Colonel was staggered. He resigned by the absconding method. Fearful of the strong Roosevelt sentiment that prevailed over that district he did not dare put his reasons in writing. A search was made for him. He was well liked in the district. When found he was a nervous wreck in the office of the Grand River Chronicle. Colonel Ed always waived with scorn the recital of deeds of bravery on land and sea, and declared them not a circumstance to the stern courage and heroic bravery required of a country school teacher in Livingston county in pioneer days.

The organization of the country schools in the beginning was extremely democratic. Each district was a government to itself. The directors examined the teacher as to his qualifications before employing him. The examination in books never went beyond the three R's and was often superficial as to them, but it was thorough as to government and discipline. The teacher with the largest and severest bill of pains and

penalties was usually employed.

The act of the General Assembly approved February 24, 1853, provided for a uniform system of public schools throughout the state and set aside funds for their perpetual maintenance. This act became a law November 17, 1853. The plan of organizing school districts, selecting school boards and employing teachers, as provided by this act, with only slight modifications, is the law today. This act created the office of county school commissioner in each county, whose duty it was to license teachers. His fees were to be $1.00 for every teacher's certificate granted, and $2.00 per day for not to exceed 100 days in any one year to be paid him for visiting the schools in the county. He was appointed by the county court and was to hold office for two years. Under this law David R. Martin was appointed by the county court as school commissioner for Livingston county on November 5, 1853. This law remained in force till amended in 1865, when the Legislature abolished the office of county school commissioner and created the office of school superintendent. The first superintendent was appointed by the county court who held office till the next general election, when he was elected for a term of two years. The county court was required to fix his compensation at so much per diem. This led to widespread complaint, as in many of the counties the superintendent would visit a school when he was engaged in other business, and charge up his per diem and traveling expenses to the county. On that account the Legislature passed the act of March 26, 1874, which abolished the office of county superintendent and created the office of county school commissioner. That act provided that the present county school superintendents should hold office until the annual school meeting on the first Tuesday in April, 1875, when a school commissioner for each county should be elected for a term of two years.

The following persons have held the office of school commissioner and superintendent in Livingston county:

D. R. Martin, commissioner from November 5, 1853 to November 5, 1856.

Isaac W. Gibson, commissioner from November 5, 1 856 to February 7, 1857.

Amos Bargdoll, commissioner from February 7, 1857 to February 7, 1858.

G. S. Edmonds, commissioner from February 7, 1858 to October 3, 1859.

Amos Bargdoll, commissioner from October 3, 1859 to January 1, 1865.

Win. Hildreth, commissioner from January 1, 1865 to January 1, 1866.

J. D. Roberts, commissioner from January 1, 1867 to January 1, 1871.

T. C, Hayden, commissioner from January 1, 1871 to April 10, 1875.

Henry 0. Neal, commissioner from April 10, 1877 to April 10, 1879.

C. R, J. McIriturff, commissioner from April 10, 1879 to April 10, 1883.

W. A. Henderson, commissioner from April 10, 1883 to April 10, 1885.

R. R. Dixon, commissioner from April 10, 1885 to April 10, 1887.

M. P. Gilchrist, commissioner from April 10, 1887 to April 10, 1889.

L. A, Martin, commissioner from April 10, 1889 to April 10, 1891.

John H. Lowe, commissioner from April 10, 1891 to April 10, 1893.

Annie Stewart, commissioner from April 10, 1893 to April 10, 1895.

Frank H. Sparling, commissioner from April 10, 1895 to April 10, 1899.

J. W. McCormick, commissioner from April 10, 1899 to April 10, 1905.

J. J. Jordan, commissioner from April 10, 1905 to April 10, 1909.

J. W. McCormick, commissioner from April 10, 1909 to April 10, 1915.

From the above list it will be seen that only one woman has been at the head of the schools of the county, Miss Annie Stewart, now Mrs. Ira Williams, who enjoys the distinction also of being the only woman in Livingston county that ever held an elective office.

Before the war and for a decade after the "School marm," or lady school teacher, was a rare person. In the common parlance of the early school director, "She was not as fitten a person to teach schule as a man." Whether this was true or not, men teachers were in a larger majority in those days than they are in a minority today.

Teaching school in the county by most men was regarded as a stepping stone to something better, at least that rule was true of most of the men teachers in this county at an early day. It is remarkable the number of our successful business and professional men who began life by teaching school. They have invariably made good. Their lives exemplify the sterling worth and the value of the training for life as a teacher.

Though the school districts of the county, prior to the war, were sparsely populated and the schoolhouse built of logs, yet in these humble places of learning many of our most successful men obtained an education. The school teacher of the early days shared the splendid character and sturdy virtues that marked the pioneer. This was the heroic age of constructive government, education and politics, In the work intrusted to him the pioneer school teacher heroically performed his part. It is unfortunate that no records are available to give their names, for to their work clings an immortality fadeless as the gold of evening in an autumn sunset. It is only from the memory of a few of our oldest citizens that the historian has learned the names of a few of the county teachers before the war; and below the following list is noted:

Nathaniel Matson, a brother of Roderick Matson, the founder of Utica and father of J. H. H. Matson of Chillicothe. He taught the first term of school and bestowed his name upon the Matson school district, about two and one-half miles northwest of Mooresville. In 1866 he was elected judge of the county court for the western district, being the only democrat elected in the county that year.

Hiram Comstock, an uncle of Field Comstock, was a teacher in the county at a very early day, but studied law and was sheriff of the county.

John R, Kelso for many years taught school in Mooresville township, studied law, went into the war as a Union man, advanced to the rank of a major, and afterwards was elected to Congress from Springfield, Missouri.

Benjamin Hardin taught school in Greene, Mooresville and Jackson townships, went to Kansas in the early '50s and was elected to the State Senate and was one of the parties that platted the town of Hiawatha, Kansas.

George Kirtley, uncle of the late E. Kirtley, was a leading pioneer teacher in the county. At the beginning of the Civil war he enlisted in the Confederate army, won the rank of major for gallant service, and was killed in the battle of Hartsville, Missouri.

Richard C. Jordan, an elder brother of our John J. Jordan, taught several terms of school in the northeast part of the county immediately before the war.

The eccentric Sam Cox taught for many years in the north part of the county. He is remembered for his easy going methods. When he heard his classes, he would lie down on his desk and go to sleep. When the noon hour came, the pupils would shake him and say, "Teacher, wake up, it is dinner time. "All right, children," he would answer "you. are now dismissed for noon." When the arithmetic class got over to fractions, he would say, "Now, scholars, we will skip fractions for there is no good in them; when you get anything except a fraction of it, you are near enough to it and there is no use wasting time studying fractions."

Reuben Hawkins began teaching in Jackson township some time in the early 50s. After teaching for several years he came to Chillicothe, clerked in stores until 1860, when he began studying law with General Slack. Mr. Hawkins is better known as a banker and business man, but nevertheless, as a teacher he ranked high in that day, and can now entertain the dullest ear by detailing the quaint methods and rude architecture of the log schoolhouse when he was a youth of sixteen and with dignity presided.

Thomas Kirk, a brother of Col. J. B. Kirk, was a famed teacher in the forks of the river in the '40s. One of the many men who attended his school was the Rev. W. E. Dockery, father of Ex-Gov. A. M. Dockery.

Charles and George Hutchinson were famed teachers in Jackson township before the war. They were sons of Thomas Hutchinson who lived to be one hundred years old. When he Charles Hutchinson was employed at the Hicks school, he and the directors drew up an elaborate set of rules. The first was: "Pupils are positively forbidden to use any profound language in this school." George Hutchinson now resides at Gallatin and is the father of Mrs. Emerson Hart.

George P. Pepper, father of John Pepper of Chillicothe, was a prominent county school teacher before the war. He is remembered as a genial good-natured pedagogue who was always liked by the pupils, but thought by some of the patrons to be too easy and lax in his discipline.

The two decades after the war might appropriately be called the "Renaissance" in the county school work in this county. Then education took on new life; new schoolhouses were built; new districts were organized and advanced methods were introduced. The annual Teachers Institute, now an institution provided by law, became a fixed and part of the educational work of the county. Then it was only a voluntary association supported entirely by the teachers. It is a high tribute to the zeal of the teachers of that period that they recognized the value of organization and professional training, and voluntarily assumed the expenses of the institutes. The names of the teachers most prominent in that important era of the early educational history are John J. May, L. A. Chapman, R. R. Kitt, Mrs. Gregory Lawson, then Mary Allbritain; W. T. Harper, John Smith, David Smith, William Smith, Wright Smith, T. D. Jones, Robert L.Black, P. P. McManis, Thomas Hurst, Mrs. Agnes Hurst, now Mrs. 0. Keafe of Moberly; Mrs. Wm. Lightner, then Miss Annie Roach; I. E. Wilson, Mrs. Lizzie Young, then Miss Lizzie Jordan; Otis Melon, Maggret Andrews, Otis Baylis, F. K. Thompson, and others not now recalled, as splendid and patriotic a band of men and women as ever enlisted in defense of flag or country. Their work was in a great measure a dedication, for the meager wages they received compared with the splendid work they did were so out of proportion that for just compensation they must charge the greater part of their efforts to the consolation of having performed a patriotic duty, nobly and well.

Livingston county has ninety-nine district schools. The largest in area is the Green Grove, the smallest in area is the Sturges district; both districts adjoin. A large area does not mean a large school. Some years ago an effort was made to detach an eighty acre farm from the Green Grove district and attach it to Sturges. On this farm lived a family with three children of school age. The effort failed, for the reason that after taking those three children from the enumeration of the Green Grove district, the total number of children of school age in the remaining six and one-fourth square miles of that wealthy and splendid district was less than twenty, the legal limit below which no district can change its boundary lines. This condition is a startling contrast to the school population of a generation ago. Then many of our district schools boasted of an enrollment of nearly one hundred pupils. When L A Martin taught the. McCormick school in 1885 the enrollment was eighty-nine, and the school population was then on the decline, having in terms previous been as high as one hundred pupils. Other schools famed for their large enrollment in the later '70s and the early '80s were the Kirtley school, east of Mooresville; then called the Rush College; the Butler school in Chillicothe township and the Blackburn school in Jackson township. Many other schools were famed for their classic excellence and in many of them were conducted debating societies, then called literary societies, that were famed throughout the county. It was in these societies that L. A. Chapman, Scott J. Miller, Z. B. Myers, R. R. Kitt, Dr. W. R. Simpson and many other of our older citizens that are oratorically inclined learned the forensic art

But one custom which at an early day was in vogue in the county schools was the weekly spelling school. Then the whole district turned out; everybody had to stand up and spell. When the sides were chosen and the battle was on, it was as interesting a contest as could be imagined. There was no writing. The word was pronounced; the speller had one trial and if he missed, one on the other side caught the word and spelled it; and that party was spelled down. The speller that stood up without missing until all were spelled down was the champion. It was an honor worth winning. The champion speller for many years was William Hoge, a younger brother of T. J. and George Hoge of Chillicothe. He was one of the leading school teachers in the county for several years prior to his untimely death in 1886. He was never spelled down. His memory was so accurate that no matter on what page a person would start to pronounce a word in McGuffy's spelling book, he could name the word following.

The Chillicothe school district has always been considered separate and apart from the schools of the county. It is a part of them, but since 1865 has a special charter which exempts it from many of the provisions of the general law. This charter was obtained from the Legislature of Missouri in 1865 by J. W. McMillen, then Representative from this county. That law provided the School Board of Chillicothe should consist of six directors, the first board to be appointed by the county court. In accordance therewith on June 15, 1865, the county court appointed the following named citizens to constitute the first School Board of the City of Chillicothe: Joel F. Asper, John M. Alexander, James B. Bell, James W. McMillen, John Dixon and William W. Walden. The school record of Livingston county in the past has been a clean page. No scandal has defamed the character of any teacher, and no graft tarnished the straight business methods of our people in managing our schools. Economy, honesty, diligence and devotion to duty has been the watchword of all our people in dealing with our schools. Their past is secure - as bright a page, when fully written, as ever historian penned. Their future is in the domain of prophecy and is beyond the work of the historian, but judging by the past is extremely bright.

Following are the numbers of the several school districts in Livingston county, together with the names of the clerks and presidents of the school boards, the names of the clerks appearing first. The postoffice of each is also given. Districts Nos. 72 and 73 do not appear, as No. 72 is now a part of a district in Linn county; and No. 73 a part of a district in Chariton county and No. 101 part of a district in Caldwell county.

District No. 1. I. W. Transue, Chula; J. L. VanHorne, Chula.

District No. 2. 0. 0. Phillips, Chula; Sam Thorne, Chula.

District No. 3. N. M. Martin, Chula; F. I. Thompkins, Chula.

District No. 4. Mrs. Wm. Pray, Chula; D. L. Ward, Chula.

District No. 5. Dr. F. P. Batdorf, Chula; J. Varney, Chula,

District No. 6. Chas. Mitts, Chula; J. M. Kelley, Chula.

District No. 7. J. W. Walls, Hickory; J. V. Maxey, Hickory.

District No. 8. Alva Campbell, Hickory; Milton Campbell, Hickory.

District No. 9. H. J. Kesler, Sampsell; E. A. Kesler, Jamesport.

District No. 10. Reed Pearcy, Sampsell; J. C. Masewell, Jamesport.

District No. 11. C. H. Lipke, Sampsell; L. P. Ott, Sampsell.

District No. 12. Wm. McCarthy, Chillicothe, R. 3; G. H. Bassett, Sampsell, R. 1.

District No. 13. S. F. Caddell, Chillicothe, R. 3; W. T. Hilt, Chillicothe, R. 3.

District No. 14. J. W. Case, Chula; J. M. Coltrane, Chillicothe.

District No. 15. Z. T. Hooker, Chillicothe, R. 7; J. J. May, Chula.

District No. 16. W. K. Thompson, Chula; W. E. Payton, Chula.

District No. 17. J. C. Raney, Chula; S. B. Patterson, Chula.

District No. 18. J. C. Edmondson, Chula; Andrew Durfee, Wheeling.

District No. 19. Ira Donivan, Chula; Peter Jacobs, Chula.

District No. 20. H. G. Schorr, Sturges; J. Thompson, Sturges.

District No. 21. Mrs. Ray Marsh, Chillicothe; C. T. Boyd, Chillicothe.

District No. 22. F. W. Goff, Chillicothe; Wm Fisher, Chillicothe.

District No. 23. Calvin Lamp, Chillicothe; A. B. Brassfield, Chillicothe.

District No. 24. A. E. Meserve, Chillicothe; G. W. Mast, Chillicothe.

District No. 25. Wm Grouse, Chillicothe; W. H. Boon, Chillicothe.

District No. 26. W. S. Lay, Sampsell; C. L. Mason, Sampsell

District No. 27. J. T. Zell, Sampsell; T. S. Breeze, Sampsell.

District No. 28. T. A. Brookshire, Breckenridge; S. A. McCreary, Mooresville.

District No. 29. T. E. Boucher, Sampsell; J. J. Comete, Sampsell.

District No. 30. L. M. Dryden, Chillicothe; F. M Tiberghien, Chillicothe.

District No. 31. G. L. Nothnagel, Chillicothe; W. F. Williams, Chillicothe.

District No. 32. J. H. Lowe, Chillicothe; Allen Thompson, Chillicothe.

District No. 33. J. K. Steen, Sturges; Chas. R. Wallace, Chillicothe.

District No. 34. W. M. Beal, Sturges; C. N. Boorne, Sturges.

District No. 35. Major Veserat, Chillicothe; D. J. Bowman, Chillicothe.

District No. 36. Edward Hogan, Wheeling; Thos. Kinsella, Wheeling.

District No. 37. S. A. Timmons, Wheeling; Chas. Siegrist, Wheeling.

District No. 38. Alvin Powers, Wheeling; V. J. Howe, Wheeling.

District No. 39. E. S. Inman, Chillicothe; John McGinnety, Chillicothe.

District No. 40. R. F. Cranmer, Chillicothe; J. V. Beazelle, Chillicothe.

District No. 41. A. S. Brown, Chillicothe; Chas. Elinger, Chillicothe.

District No. 42. M. F. Forbis, Chillicothe; C. S. Hagaman, Chillicothe.

District No. 43. W. M. Hutchinson, Chillicothe; M. E. Conway, Chillicothe.

District No. 44. Dick Hargrave, Chillicothe; Fred Hargrave, Chillicothe.

District No. 45. Jas. Trimble, Chillicothe; John Troeger, Chillicothe.

District No. 46. A. D. Walker, Sampsell; G. D. Wagner, Sampsell.

District No. 47. C. B. Reynolds, Mooresville; J. F. Gaunt, Breckenridge.

District No. 48. J. H. Roberts, Mooresville; Wm. Troeger, Mooresville.

District No. 49. R. L. Hall, Utica; L. F. Bonderer, Utica.

District No. 50. P. E. Bagely, Utica; Geo. Rice, Utica.

District No. 51. Maud B. Willard, Chillicothe; J. P. Hutchinson, Chillicothe.

District No. 52. Milton Lemon, Chillicothe; Lon Kinzer, Chillicothe.

District No. 53. John Lininger, Chillicothe; Fred McCurry, Chillicothe.

District No. 54. A. W. Bradford, Chillicothe; A. E. Glore, Chillicothe.

District No. 55. Frank L. Smiley, Wheeling. (Village school.)

District No. 56. Catha Inderwiesen, Wheeling; J. F. Harper, Wheeling.

District No. 57. Geo. Bate, Chillicothe.

District No. 58. J. F. Reed, Chillicothe; J. E. McVey, Chillicothe.

District No. 59. Steve Wilhite, Chillicothe; Louis M. Jones, Chillicothe.

District No. 60. Nat Fiske, Mooresville; W. O. Spears, Mooresville.

District No. 61. T. W. Hudgins, Mooresville; Wm. Dilly, Mooresville.

District No. 62. J. P. McClellan, Mooresville; C. C. Adams, Mooresville.

District No. 63. J. W. Garlick, Mooresville; Wm. Murphy, Utica.

District No. 64. __________________; A. J. Culling, Utica.

District No. 65. C. M. Seiberling, Chillicothe; W. S. Bowen, Chillicothe.

District No. 66. Roy Cameron, Chillicothe; Harry Stone, Chillicothe.

District No. 67. Ester Livingston, Chillicothe; H. S. Hoffman, Chillicothe.

District No. 68. J. H. Barnes, Bedford; T. J. Stagner, Bedford.

District No. 69. J. C. Graham, Bedford; John Dewey, Bedford.

District No. 70. Elijah Wolfscale, Bedford.

District No. 71. S. B. Eaton, Hale.

District No. 74. Jas. Dye, Hale; C. A. Colliver, Hale.

District No. 75. John W. Pultz, Hale; John W. Silver, Hale.

District No. 76. John Akerson, Bedford; Chas. Young, Bedford.

District No. 77. S. A. Browning, Avalon, (Village School.)

District No. 78. W. S. Bishop, Bedford; T. C. Linton, Bedford.

District No. 79. John Meeker, Chillicothe; C. H. Strang, Chillicothe.

District No. 80. H. J. Kleinschmidt, Chillicothe; Sam Evans, Dawn.

District No. 81. Lorenzo Wilcox, Dawn; Geo. A. Evans, Dawn.

District No. 82. A. T. Weatherby, Dawn; C. C. Curren, Dawn.

District No. 83. A. J. Anderson, Ludlow.

District No. 84. Earnest Austin, Mooresville; J. E. Toner, Ludlow.

District No. 85. Marcus Hamblin, Ludlow; Byrd Hamblin, Ludlow.

District No. 86. Wiley Miller, Ludlow; Isaac Wells, Ludlow. (Village school.)

District No. 87. John R. Davis, Dawn; John J. Griffiths, Dawn.

District No. 88. D. P. Williams, Dawn; E. J. Williams, Dawn.

District No. 89. __________________; W. O. Goff, Dawn.

District No. 90. J. W. Beauchamp, Dawn; C. M Drake, Avalon.

District No. 91. E. B. Dowell, Hale; E. E. Hawkins, Hale.

District No. 92. W. H. Smith, Hale; J. C. Good, Hale.

District No. 93. Irma Shannon, Hale; J. E. Crackenberger, Hale.

District No. 94. Edgar Baymiller, Hale; Wm. Bayles, Hale.

District No. 95. J. A. Lewis, Hale; O. I. Jones, Hale.

District No. 96. Mrs. Elizabeth Warner, Dawn; J. L. Condron, Dawn.

District No. 97. H. J. Elsas, Dawn; John H. Hoyt, Jr., Dawn.

District No. 98. T. J. Evans, Dawn; Ed Thomas, Dawn.

District No. 99. D. R. Lewis, Dawn; Asa Jones, Dawn.

District No. 100. W. H. Cowan, Braymer.

District No. 102. Mont Woodey, Chillicothe; Henry Faubion, Chillicothe.

Following named teachers are employed in the public schools of Livingston county, together with their postoffice addresses:

Chillicothe: Jennie Abeshire, Beulah Brownfield, Eugenia Bradshaw, Bena Brandenburger, Supt. A. R. Coburn, Ruby Cherry, Pearl Cherry, D. C. Clark, Ella Casey, Imogene Dennis, Zelma Gurley, Gladys Grouse, Odessa Hillman, Mary Hart, Alice Hart, J. J. Jordan, Belle Low, Goldie Lutes, Dixie Miller, Rosa Martin, H. W. McIntire, Josephine Norville, Pearl Peterson, Minnie Payne, Mina Smith, Laura Schmitz, E. A. Scott, Blanch Sawyer, Ruth Way, Don Walker, Daisy White, Mattie White, Estella Webb and F. L. Clark.

Rural Route: Lyda Zirkle, 2; Emily Allen, 6; Lena Bennet, 1; Martha Brown, 4; Elsie Bradbury, 2; Corintha Bruce, 7; Mabel Cranmer, 5; Eva Coburn, 3; Mabel Ducey, Frank Darr, 7; Maud Haines, J. W. Jones, 1; Marie Johnson, Lena Moss, Mamie Morris, 3; Elizabeth Morris, 7; Julia Matthew, 6; Helen Norman, 5; Edna Potter, 6; Mabel Reilly, 6; Catherine Slattery, C. B. Smith, 3; Foy Trimble, 3; Mary Tudor, 7; Nellie Tudor, 3; Jesse Wooden, Apollonia Martin, 5; Bevah Maxey, 3; Anna Allen, 2; Celia Lowe, 6.

Avalon: Stephen Blackburst, Helen Drake, Flora Wright.

Bedford: Stella Baymiller, R 1; Catherine Hapes, Blanche Richardson, Hattie Hawker, Kate Hoyt, 1; Clara Dye, R. 1.

Chula: Mary E. Lindsey, E. P. Thompson, Amy Casebeer, Inez Casida, Florence Coburn, Jennie Emily, Katie Black, Alice Terrill, R. 3; Nora Stream, Floyd A. Thompson, R. 3; Kathryn Waits, J. S. Waydelich, A. F. Molloy, and Don F. Runkle.

Dawn: Katherine Duncan, Theodocia Griffiths, Mary Griffiths, Daisy Hoyt, Ruth Linvlle, R. 1; Edna Glick, E. O. Harvey, E. Grace Hughes, Lena Johnson, R. 2; Oliver C. Perry, R 1; Ethel Perryman, R. 1; and Jessie Young.

Hale: Lois Baymiller, Retta Tutler, R. 3; Winnie Crackenberger, Grace Griffiths, Golda Eaton, Roxie Eaton, Dell Venard, R. 1; and Bessie Billingsly, R. 3.

Hickory: C. H. Frager and Gertrude A. Stith, R. 1.

Jamesport: Lyda McCue, R. 2.

Ludlow: Sadie Close, R. 1; Dovie Crithfield, R. 1 Mary Gilliland, Nettie Harlow, R. 1, Ada Mossbarger, J. L. Vincent, Ethel Kinzy, R. 1.

Mooresville: Nias Powell, Ethel Coburn, Almary Gibbs, R. 1; Bertha S. Gibeaut, R. 1; A. S. Hart, R. 1; and Margaret M. Martin.

Sampsell: Elsie Allen, R. 2; Alice Dunn, R. 1; Faye Dryden, Dave Johns, Mary Young, R. 2; and Donald Warner.

Sturges: Ruth Eckard.

Trenton: Mary Conger.

Utica: Florence Franklin, R 1; Theodore Bonderer, Vera Braden, Hattie Ferguson, J. W. Lee, Clara Phillips, Stella Phelps and Byron E. Western.

Wheeling: Ora Collins, Viola Davis, J. M. Gallatin, Alice Lawler, R 2; Cora Littrell, Lucy Wanamaker, and Elizabeth Durfee.

There is a total of 5,723 pupils of school age in Livinston county, with an enrollment of 4,500. Of this number 108 are negroes. The average daily attendance is 3,176.

The past year there were 12, 528 cases of tardiness. Speaking on this feature, Superintendent McCormick said that a child who contracted the habit of tardiness would regret it in later years, as the habit usually followed them through life. Offsetting this tardiness, however, is the small number of cases of truancy. A total of 44 cases was reported, and less than one-half of these were in the rural schools.

Ninety-seven of the ninety-nine schools in the county have libraries. The two without books, strange to relate, are located in two of the wealthiest and most progressive districts of the county. There are a total of 20,649 volumes in the public school libraries, and their value is estimated at $10,000.

There are 146 public school teachers in the county. There are 105 schoolhouses in the county valued at $180,070, with furniture, fixtures and libraries valued at $25,420. The total indebtedness of the schools is less than $18,000. The average salary paid male teachers in the county is $62.50 while the average salary of the female teachers is $45.72. The cost of operating the schools of the county the past year was $76,301.01.

When Missouri was admitted into the Union Congress donated twelve bodies of saline lands, of six sections each. In 1837 the General Assembly provided that the proceeds of the sales of this land, augmented by the profits on the United States deposits in Missouri banks, should constitute a permanent school fund. This was increased in 1865 by $132,000 from the sale of the state tobacco warehouse. This fund now approximates $3,250,281. The income from this sum, together with one-third of the ordinary revenue, is apportioned annually by the State Superintendent to the counties and to the city of St. Louis, according to the number of children of school age.

The first apportionment was made in January, 1842, on the ratio of sixty cents to each child above the age of six and under eighteen years, in the district in which an organized school was taught.

The second, third and fourth apportionments were also made on the enumeration of children between the age of six and eighteen years. The fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth were made on children between the ages of six and twenty years. The ninth to the twenty-first inclusive, were made on children between the ages of five and twenty years. The twenty-second, twenty-third and twenty-fourth were apportioned on children between the ages of five and twenty-one years. From 1871 to the present time the legal school age has been from six to twenty years.

In 1842 the number of children taught was 6,192; the number reported between the ages of six and eighteen, 10,839; the number of counties having organized schools, 28; whole number of counties in the state, 77.

From 1892 to 1900 the amount apportioned per child of school age was less than one dollar. In 1900 it was $1.00 and has steadily increased each year, except one, till 1910, when it was $1.79. In 1909 it was one cent less than in 1908, but the total was greater on account of the increase in the number enumerated. For the three years, 1906, 1907, and 1908, the enumeration showed a steady decrease. In 1909 an increase of 20,443 over the enumeration of the preceding year was shown. This was on account of a new enumeration of St. Louis being taken which is done only once in every five years. The enumeration of 1910 was 1,870 less than in 1909. This loss is known to be in the state outside the city of St. Louis, for the reason that the St. Louis enumeration of 1909 will stand until 1914.

While the increase of population in ten years, 3,106,665 to 3,292,335 is only a fraction over six per cent, the increase in the amount of money apportioned from the state treasury has increased in proportion from $1,085,700.65 to $1,792,303.58, or nearly seven per cent. It must be borne in mind that $13,078.13 was deducted from the public school moneys and apportioned to weak districts under the state aid law of 1909. The total amount apportioned in 1910 was $1,805,381.71, or an increase in ten years of $719,681.06. This is a bit of Missouri’s history in which all counties have an equal interest

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