The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1903-09-10
WAS ANCIENT HISTORY
The Salem Correspondent 4 Second
Rip Van Wrinkle.

Saturday is especlap' from SALEM
Iowa, glvlng an account Of the found,
ing near there Of manual training
school. or Of a bequest Fer THAI pur-
Pose, by d noted Quaker named
White. recently deceased, "
Is your correspondent q second Rip
Van Wrinkle, Just awakened from q
sleep Of fifty years, or Is he endeav.
oring to perpetrate a joke, or is there
really a second philanthropic Mr..
White duplicating an act Of over flfty
years ago..
Historical sketches record the TACT
that in 1851 Joseph White, q wealthy
resident OF Philadelphia, died, and In
his will, among other requests, left
$4,000 to be used In establishing a
manual labor school near salem, Ia.
for the benefit OF poor children,
white, colored and Indians" The
will recites that one.half Of the be-
quest shall be used 10 buy tract OF
land one and half miles square III
tho north part OF Lee county, near
the town OF Salem, (Which land he
was negotiating for &c the time Of his
DEATH, ami the other half to be used
for the erection of buildings His
plan was to establish school and
home for destitute children, where
they would be taught in lines Of man
ual labor as well as branches OF
schools studies and religiously also,
without sectarlanism. He left this IN
charge of the Society Of Friends on
Quakers
Under the will, Il ,440 acres of land
were bought at cost Of $f,760. The
location was about sis miles south OF
Salem, twenty northwest Of Fort
Madison and twelve miles from Bon.
aparte, The purchase was made by
trustees appointed by the Indiana
Yearly Meeting Of Friends, who were
TO have the care and management or
the trust. Several tenement houses
were built and arrangements made TO
erect a school building.
In 1864 the Yearly Meeting OF
Friends In Indiana transferred the
trust to the Iowa Yearly Meeting Of
Friends.
Six hundred and forty acres were
put under cultivation six frame
houses with barns, granaries, wells,
etc, were provided for the use Of the
tenants, and 800 acres were enclosed
for pasture, The school building be.
gun was 355a feet wide and "a feet
long with stone basement ~ feet
high and two stories of brick, each
16 feet high When the walls were
up their funds we're exhausted ana
about $1,000 Of debt incurred The
property by that time was estimated
as worth all the way from $4,000 To
s75 600.
Not being able to 60 on with the
work the trustees made a proposition
to lease the property to the state Of
Iowa to be used substantially as pro.
vfded by Mr.. White in his viii
In the winter Of 1868 the Iowa leg.
fg1ature passed On act providing for
the establishment OF an Industrial
school for the reformation Of bad
boys and girls. This act carried on
appropriation Of $4,000, provided for
board Ct trustees to have charge OF
the Institution and made it nanda-
tory On the trustees 70 accept q prop
oaition to lease 70 the state for ten
years what was known as Whites
Iowa Manual Labor Institute" in ,IIee
county, and this was done The
state completed the school building
and on September II, 1868, opened
the school for the admission of boys
only, The trustees deemed 10 I'M
wise to receive boys aud girls both,
The state continued to use this as a
reform school for boys until property
was acquired and buildings erected
at Eldora and in April, 1873, the boys
were removed to that place, The
property near Salem was then tarn8r
into raformatory FOR girls until the
expiration Of the lease in 1878, ~
the expiration Of he lease the g1ls
we're removed to the leased building
at Mt. Pleasant, which was occupied
until the state acquired property 81
fits own at Mitehellvflle In 1880,
OF course I do not personally vouch
for the accuracy Of the foregoing; I
give merely what I have gathered
from several different historical
sources and have coed reason to be-
Heve them Substantially correct IA
every detail
Your Salem correspondent Raisllt
fnd something Of interest in sketch
ing the history Of whites Iowa Man
ual Labor institute since the expira-
ton 81 IT'S lsase to tho state.
w. 6. Hayward
Davenport. Ia, Sept z, 1868
I'd sEMEN DEAD.