Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-09-16
OLDEST In low A
NJ. D. BROWN HAS TAUGHT I'M
COUNTRY SCHOOLS FOR FOR
TY-FlvE YEARS.
Washington County Man Said TO Be
Oldest Country School Teacher in
the State = Expects to Retire After
This Year.

the State = Expects to Retire After
This Year.
Forty-fi five years teacher in the
rural scho,l Is is the record Of M. D.
Brown of Washington county, who
claims the distinction of being the old
est country school teacher in Iowa.
The following special from Washing
ton published in a Des Moines paper
recently gives an interesting account
OF the work of Mr.. Brown:
Advertising gave fame to that funny
s ssr,,s Id director, Old Man Means in.
Inc Hossier School Master" who en- h
pioyed Ralph Hartsook to teach. It
also gave fame to that old, antiquated
school master, Old Squeers, wl-o taught
IN the days of Charles Dickens With
Mule advertising, Washington y
county mas another school teacher who I
would be just as famous as these
NJ D. Brown is his name. He has
never been advertised. He has been a
peleVer in the old Biblical motto, that
ny their fruits We shall know Them"
ana ne has been content to let his
WORKS show forth his fame, and his
GOOD deeds advertise him. For forty
nVe years Morgan Davis Brown has
Taught country school and if he has not
become as famous as the man of whom
IL was said. Il would sit with him on
one end Ut log and myself on the
other, and thus acquire a college edu-
cation" he yet has the distinction Of
being the oldest county teacher in
Iowa. There are, perhaps, older per-
sons teaching. but not in country
schools. There have been greater men
probably than this old teacher, but
none who have done more good in
their humble way. There is no meas
urlng In dollars and cents the good ha
has accomplished.
6 irit of Research.
He has not grown rich. School
teachers never do. He has not endow-
ed colleges, nor has he built libraries
nor churches nor founded scholarships
put ne has done what is vastly of
the hearts Of hundreds and hundreds
or growing girls and boys the spirit OF ,
investigation and study and research
and ambition to do greater things.
How many women and men of note
today there are who can trace their
first building ambition to some faith
full school t-acher! Maybe 1t was a
young man who was teaching as a
stepping stone to some better pro-
fession. Maybe 1t was some beautiful
girl who has long since raised fam-
lily of her own. No difference. If the
or girl was inspired to do the right
thing the work of the schoolmaster
was, well done So M. D. Brown may
have set many a boy or girl on the
high road to professional prosperity
while he trudged along In his country
school to set others on their way to
fame and preferment.
M. D. Grown was born In Hanover
ton, Columbian county, O., July FL,
1886. He came to Iowa in 1854. He
10 irSf II j,,n 1Ir ~
trict, Brig .on township, Washington
county, in 1860, and the term lasted
four months, his salary amounting to
$40 month: he had to board himself
The days of boarding around" had
already vanished
His first director or board Of educa-
ton was composed of uncle" Jimmie
Stout. That sounds exactly like the
names you read in early day histori-
cal romances, but this name was real
for the descendants of Uncle Jimmie
still live Whereabouts.
Wildcat Currency.
Mr.. Brown does not recall how
many terms he has taught, but he
does know the kind Of money he was
paid for his first term. He received
currency, part of it being on the Corn
Exchange bank of Chicago, and theA
rest on the bank of Florence, Neb. Hen
got his money on Monday, and as was
the custom of early day teachers, and
is yet in some localities he spent it all
by Tuesday evening paying debts. 1t
was lucky for once that he spent his
money as fast as he could, for on
Wednesday the banks both failed, and
LEFT the currency worthless. Both were
state banks. as it was in the days Of
wildcat banking, and the money wasn't
worth the paper it las written on.
Mr.. Brown has taught country
school only except couple of years
that he had charge of the village
school at Riverside, in this city. He
got the munifcent salary of SOS
month there, but the highest salary
he ever got in the country schools was
| $40 month. His largest enrolment
| in country school was 118 in one
room, but that was before the days
of threatened race suicide.
He taught mostly the three RS in the
early days, but he has kept up with
| the procession and teaches what is res
CURED now. But he never has been
like the teacher who wished to be
obliging and agreed to teach that the
| earth was round or fiat, whichever the
| board preferred. He said he could
/ teach it either way. Mr.. Brown never
1 could do that.
Old Time Studies.
Forty-five years ago he taught Rays
arithmetic, Monteith's geography, Pin-
neos grammar. and McGuffys readers,
but it is suspected that grammar was
not very popular, and it is not popu-
!, lar today. The country boys, as a rule
4 don't want to study no grammar, as
I it hain't no use, nohow.' Brown says
!. he used to- employ the CAD freely, as
folks did not think he was doing any
good otherwise They believed, you
know, with mo lickin', no larnin.' -
p,,f &C