davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Mena weekly star., 1918-01-17
FORMATION OF POLK COUNTY
 AND ITS OFFICIAL DIRECTORY

Polk County was formed by an act of the state legislature Novem- Der 30, 1874, being the forty7ninth county in order of formation. The territory now embraced in Polk county was originally a part of Se- bastian and Montgomery counties, a part of Sebastian having been an -neXed by ordinance of. convention, June i 1861.
 We have no figures giving the population of the county at. the time of it's formation, but the census of 1850 gave the population as l,263. The population increased gradually until 1890, when it reached 9,2S3. The greatest increase, however. was from 1890 to 1900. During this per- iod there was a gain of 9069 making the population 1852.
 When the Constitutional Conven- ton of 1861 was called, the county had become sufficiently interested in the affairs of the state to send a delegate and elected Archibald Ray. The county had two delegates in the Constitutional Convention of iS64- Thomas Young and James Huey. Elijah Kelley was selected to repre- sent Polk and Pike counties in the convention of 1868, but it seems that he was never present during the convention. stephen c. Bates repre- sented the county in the convention that formed the present state con stitution.
 Edward L. Pryor was the first man to represent Polk county in the state legislature. He served in the Sixth General Assembly, which met November ?. 1861. Since. then the county has been represented by Ed ward II. Featherston, A. G. Atkins, ! T. Hayden. William Jernigan, Samuel Gray, Peter B. Allen, J. B. Williamson. John Ware, J. D. Baker, ]. II. Demby, J. NJ. Bethel, J J.. Suhipter, George G. Latta, H. H.. Barton. Calvin Cochran, Joseph G. Mcleod, K. H. Jordon, A. P. Alexan- der. ]. E. Johnson, J. G. Hudgins, B. r, Thompson, J. M Green. T. M Car der, John T. Miller, R. T. Connally, John I. Alley, w. W. Whitley, J. H. w. NJ. Pipkin, J. R. Neal, E. Hatley, Charles Burnett.
The Mena weekly star., 1918-01-17
oLp porrER SCHOOL puIlpINe-AN EpucAr1oNAL RALLY

strength to a state must be offered
 to all within it's boundaries. There must be nc age limit and no distance limit. The. state must protect and
 preserve itself, compel school at
 tendance of all children under II
 years of age and provide a practical
 and an industrial secondary course
 of training for them and it should salso. compel attendance for part time upon continuation industrial schools
 for all between the ages of la and
 i7 who cannot attend high school, and permit and encourage the at
 tendance of others without an age
 limit. Arkansas cannot afford to neglect any part of it's educational
 system. The work am pleading
 for in the elementary and secondary schools cannot be secured until we have provided for the professional training of two thousand teachers a year for rural schools; nor can we hope to have the right teaching of agriculture or the mechanic arts or home economies until we come to realize the importance of building up and Loyalty supporting a great state university that must always be necessary for the ultimate and per- manent success of our whole system of public education No state is making marked educational, agri- cultural or economic or social prog ress today that is not magnifying it's university as the head of it's educa- tional system.
 Arkansas two years ago made a great forward step in the education al march in so splendidly meeting the conditions of the Federal Gov ernment in the great campaign for a better rural living thru eo-opera- ton with the United States Depart ment of Agriculture. Thousands of our people who cannot attend any school are this year receiving useful instruction in agriculture and homel making and in rural health. publicl extensions service by the state thruI it's College of Agriculture eo-oper- ating with the United States Depart- ment of Agriculture will reach this year thru it's many agencies not less than 250O00 people. with suggestions and advice, instructions and wordsl of cheer and hope. The public ex- tension service of our national gov
The Mena weekly star., 1918-01-17

J. T. Hayden served as the first county judge of the county. The of flee has since been filled by Samuel Nichols, John Bolin, Wm. Nichols, D. Foran, D. H. Howell, G. V. Bates, M. Morris, Thomas Mills, T. J. Robin son, T. M. Carder, G. B. Bates, J. D. Garland, T. R. Rowe, w. s. Stin- nett, ]. +. Lewey, J. NJ. Hilton, R. Nj. Anderson, Wright prickett, W. N. Martin and A. k. Wear.
 The office of county clerk was first filled by ]. M. Scott, who was succeeded by the following in the order named: !. A. Morris, k. k Story, J. Brumley, D. B. Harrison G. s. Turrentine, s. M. White, J. w
 Miller, A. P. Alexander, w. J. Davis II. G. Rind, ". Nj. pipkin, W. N. Mar ! tin and W. L. Parker.
 | Those who have served as sher- iff since the formation of the coun- ty are: B. F. Pope, J. Pollock, J $
 Winton, John Lewis, A. D. Finn, J
 w. Earp, D. Nj. Baird, G. R. Miller
 J. R. Lane, J. l.. Pipkin, J. M. Hop
 kins, Frank Pearson, D. B. Joplin, R w. Johnson. J. w. Cunningham, J. A Thornton and H. w. Finger.
 l The office of county treasurer has | been filled by J. Pirtle, E. Bull, Il. w Jones, J. Cagle, s. White. J. M. Nor
 ris, A. w. Cole, ]. M. Hilton, s. B 1 White, l.. Joplin, Minor Pipkin, R. J
 Robbins, B. F. Pirile, w. J. Neigh.
 bors, Young Mckinney, |. D. Jones
 A. J Davis, w. R. Jones, J. A. Thorn
 ton, Nj. Nj. Shields, w. F.. Anderson. , The office of assessor seems tt have been created in 1862 and hai : been filled by A. ?. Alexander, NJ. , Duggan, G. H Warren, J. F. Lane : D. T. Lawrence, w. Nj. Williams, !
 w. Cunningham. John Beavers. H. J 7 Hoover, W. L. Parker, w. R. Shinr
 and J A. Hughes.
 \ The first term of circuit court ii r said 10 have been held al farn house on the old pirtle homestear , near Dallas At the time the coun- ' ty was formed the small settlement ; desivnated IS tho county seat was
 known as Panther, that bein0 tho
The Mena weekly star., 1918-01-17

i2-mill tax for the support of their school.
 The school has made no effort tc do high school work. all the time be- ing devoted to the common school work. The district is now in need of good rural high school, which will probably be established within she next year or two. Several young people of the district are new ready for high school work and unless the proper school advantages are pro- vided, many of them will eventually drop out of school.
 J H. Stephens Mad charge of the school during the summer term and was ably assisted by Miss Etta Gar land Miss Garland is one of the progressive young teachers of the county and is always ready to do her share in developing the school in- serests of the county She is a member of the Arkansas Teachers Reading Circle and is always in at
The Mena weekly star., 1918-01-17
DALLAS PUBLIC SCHOOL.
Mlss Beulah Hughes. Teacher.

Owing to the destruction of the records by fire, the date of the for nation of this district is uncertain. as we'll as it's original boundaries. In the later 70's there were spas modic efforts to have short terms of public school taught in this dis trict, but it was not until the middle of the sos that an active interest was taken in the maintenance of regular schools.
 Active in the support of public ed ucation at that time were Major Thomas Wright, I. N Lane, J. R. Lane, B. F. Pirtle, A. ?. Alexander, B. c. Pyland, B. F. Thompson, Holder Hudgins, and others whose names I cannot recall. Of the above, only II. N. (Dill) Lane and B. F. Thompson are living.
 Among those who taught in this district in the early days were Pro fessers Mcintosh. Baugh, Finch, w. NJ. pipkin. G. w. Howard, and Joseph Estes. The greater number of the above named pioneers in ed ucational progress were possessed of good literary attainments, A lit tie later came Prof. John Trainer, who was probably the best equipped educator. that ever wielded the "bireharQdp in this district. He was able and devoted to the cause of ed ucation, but his career was ended by a' painful and fatal malady.
 . In recent years the school has been in charge of different teachers. Miss Florence Thompson had, charge 'of the school several terms, and for the past five years Miss Beulah Hughes has had charge of the schol- astic interests of the district. For several years the school was a kind
The Mena weekly star., 1918-01-17
ECCER PUBLIC SCHOOL.
Faculty: ]. H, Stevens, Principal; Miss Etta Garland, Teacher.

Situated about sixteen miles east ef Mena, amid one of the most fertile sections of Polk county, is tho little village of Egger. Possibly no other section can boast of so large an area Of choice agricultural land. The land slopes gently southward toward the 0uachita river which is only ene-half mile away.
 The citizens of the community are ef n progressive type and many of them are very prosperous, owning hundreds of acres of land. Many of them came to this community dur ing the early days of the county and have had much to do with She development of the county. They are wide-awake and are en- shusiastic in their support of the educational work of the community. gt is seldom that wei nd a com munity more interested in building ID good school than is this district. Often when the district funds are exhausted the good people of this community go down in their pock els and contribute sufficient money to carry on the school work of the district
 For a number of years the district used an old dilapidated school building that was wholly unfit for school purposes. Two years ago the people voted a permanent building tax for the erection of a new build ing, which has been completed and equipped with modern furniture. That there is an increased school interest in the community, is evil denced by the fact that the people have taken advantage of the new school tax amendment and voted
The Mena weekly star., 1918-01-17
LONGER SCHOOL TERMS.

For the past few years there has been gradual increase in the length of the school term turnout the county. The annual report of the County Examiner for the year 1907 showed that the average length of the school term for that year was 66 days. The average length of term last year was i2i days, an in crease of 55 days during the past ten years. We are now having approx imately six months school during the year. but we should not be satis- fled until every school in the county can have at least eight months of school during the year. The boys and girls Of Polk county are entitled to just as good educational advant- ages as he children of any other county in the state. and by united effort we can provides these advant- ages.
The Mena weekly star., 1918-01-17
EDUCATION FOR A DEMOCRACY
By J. II Miller.

A school system for democracy should train every child to be use ful member of his or her commun-
 fly; to do something well that must be done ins that community. Iso-
 lated communities must therefore come together tc accomplish this purpose for themselves. A school system for Arkansas must magnify agriculture and teach the greatness and the science of agriculture in both urban and rural schools; it must teach the elements of indus trial arts to all boys from the third grade to the end of the course: it must teach to all the girls the sci ence of food and it's preparation for the family and the art of preparing the clothing for the family. Each and every town and city should as- sume the duty and responsibility for training each and every child in the fundamentals of some vocation. Every school with boys should have manual training and agriculture and NNNly oCippl Mibil 6i io blOulu OutE instruction in cooking and sewing. It is right in a democracy to teach in the schools anything that will add ito the economic efficiency of the people of that community, from building a house to selling ribbons, wiring a house or growing flowers. Each and every school should be the center for all community effort for. advancement. A school house is in itself an investment, a sort of fac tory for the building of an efficient and prosperous and happy citizen ship. Instead of being closed for more than half the hours of a year it should be open for some good cause every day in the year what ever may serve that community. It should be the logical place for all community meetings, for farmers clubs, women's clubs, political meet ings and elections as well as for continuation schools, night schools and public lectures. It should be- the common forum for all the peo- pie for all their social, economic, industrial, educational and agricul- tural problems. The greatest prog ress will not come until our people
The Mena weekly star., 1918-01-17

efnment cooperating with the sev-
 eral states is the greatest example of
 state aid known in history. Arkan-
 sas met the offer of the National
 Government in a beautiful spirit and
 it is the prayer of more than one
 hundred men and women now in
 that work that they may be of serv-
 ice to the people of the state. Not
 only would plead for larger sup
 port for all our state schools for the teaching of agriculture, mechanics, home economies and for the training of rural teachers as a measure to preserve our democracy, but I af-
 firm that we cannot make right
 progress, nor deal fairly with the boys and girls of the state until the
 state gets behind a great continuous
 movement for giving state aid to | village and town and city schools
 that will offer courses for teachers
 courses in agriculture, industrial
 arts and home economies. If our
 state is poor, and if our people are poor, all the greater reason for this investment, as nothing on each will | change this condition as fast as the
 right kind of an education. In all
 these courses I would magnify agri-
 culture, training in the trades, train l ing in home making, the sciences English and music, history and civ ies. We can never hope to make oui people rich until they are better ed ueated and when better educated 1T
 agriculture, in the industries and 1T
 home making they will be more re- captive to new truth and be more
 ready to serve the state. With thi' condition there will come broader , patriotism. a greater desire for thu ' advancement of the state thru com. } munity betterment and clearer ap- preciation that in true democrac, 1lthere are no worthy poor nor no un- } worthy rich; a greater economic ef z -lsficiency because all will be traineI 7 in the public schools to he efiicien : and those only are honored who arr : efficient and honorable and willnI l to he of service to the stale in time f of peace and in the ways of peace.
The Mena weekly star., 1918-01-17

awake to the absolute necessity of
 having the state assume more re- sponsibility for the right education of the people and offer larger sup port. Some say that the state is poor, but Denmark in 1870 was the poorest nation in Europe, and in 1900 it was the richest. No nation in Europe added so heavily to it's taxes for twenty years and no nation ever rallied so fast and no nation taxed itself so heavily for it's schools. When the Danish king or the Danish farmer is asked today to name the one great cause of the marvellous national change from poverty to riches the answer is the same-the schools, both the folk high schools with their humanizing and patriotic influence and also the agricultural schools, twenty-nine of them with their courses in agrieult- ure for boys and men and their courses in home economics for the girls and women. Farm ownership may be named as contributing cause and cooperation may be named as another, but these eoulC not have existed but for the univer- sal education and intelligence of al
 the people. Arkansas must awake ts the wisdom of spending more none, for her schools for the teaching O
 agriculture. mechanics, home eco monies and for the preparation 0
 teachers for our rural schools. WI need three thousand new teacher | for our rural schools each year ans all the state schools combined ar
 able to send out only about two hun ! dred with more or less training. Ok
 lahoma with practically the sam
 population as Arkansas has toda
 5000 young people in normal school Land university preparing to teach
 while we have in our schools onl
 about 500 who are studying 10 b
 tfaehers This is. a daf1eerous con
 Ctition of unpreparedness. None
 voted to advance the cause of agri
 culture and the industries consti
 tlites a wise investment. Educatio
 when looked upon as a source (
The Mena weekly star., 1918-01-17

equipped with good composition blackboards. The directors are add ing other needed apparatus as funds become available for that purpose.
 The building is situated on a high well-drained spot. and is surround ed by beautiful grounds, on which many of the natural forest trees have been preserved.
 The students have taken quite an interest in athletics under the care full directon of the teachers. During the summer a number of games of baseball were played with neigh boring schools, majority of which were won by the home team.
 The Rocky school can easily be made one of the best rural schools in the county. One of the greatest needs of the district is a good rural high school and il is hoped that some steps will be taken by the be- ginning of the next school year to provide at least a two-year high school course. When this is done it will be unnecessary to send any boy or girl away from home in order to give them the proper school ad-s vantages.
 During the past term the school was under the supervision of Bert Ogden, who was assisted by Ray Og- den. Both were ambitious to make their work a success and did every thing possible for the proper de- velopment of the boys and girls un- der their supervision. At the close of the summer term. both accepted better positions elsewhere
The Mena weekly star., 1918-01-17

The Rocky school building is a M0dern two-room structure, with xestibuie and convenient cloak rooms The window space is full sne-fifth of the iloor-spaee. and is B distributed that the light enters enly from the back and left side The windows have been supplied with shades. The Nslls and ceilings are hard oiled in restful yellow aoRe.
 Modern desks and seats in vari- sts sizes, suited to children of all ages have been substituted for tho nake-shift homemade desks anC seats so often found in the rura school
 The school is reasonably equipped sith maps, charts. and globe Al 1ise available space of each room i
The Mena weekly star., 1918-01-17


 Some forty or fifty years ago the pioneer settlers of the Hatton com munity came together and estab- lished a school district They erect ed a small log building that served the purpose of a school building for a number of years. Owing to the prominence of one of the settlers, MT. Hatton. the school was given his name. When the old log build ing was destroyed only few years later, the district erected a small box building that was used until the building of the Kansas City South ern railroad thru the community, when a modern two-room building was erected. The building is now well equipped for school work.
 No one in the community seems to know who taught the first school in the district. The directors always endeavor to employ the very best teachers available and some of the leading teachers in the county have taught in the district. For a num- Der of years only one teacher was employed but two teachers are now used The school is now under the supervision of K. w. Hamby. who is assisted by Miss Georgia Hamby. Mir. Hamby has taught several years in the county and the fact that he usually remains in the same district a number of years is evidence that his work has been success. The school makes no effort te do high school work but the course of study embraces all the common school course. The school usually has class to graduate from the | eighth grade each year and is all ways represented at the annual School Fair.
The Mena weekly star., 1918-01-17

name of the postotlice The settle ment soon became the leading town of the county and on July ', 1879, it was in corporated as the town of Dallas. The second incorporated town in the county was Bethesda Springs, which was incorporated on August 28, 1882. For number of years these were rival towns, each trying to outstrip the other How ever. with the building of the Kan sas City Southern railroad in 1896, Mena became the leading town of the county and later became the county seat. This meant the death of the historical towns of Dallas and Bethesda Springs, and there re- mains today very little evidence that such towns ever existed.
The Mena weekly star., 1918-01-17

the west and carry her away from useful labors of training the youth full ideas in the shooting art.
 The writer of this sketch" is old enough to avoid the effects of sen timent or sentimentality, but must confess that, when he recalls the days of "Old Lang Syne" and the fact that so many of the actors who
The Mena weekly star., 1918-01-17
EXTRA COPIES.

Extra copies of the School Edition of The Star may be obtained by ap- plication at the office, or by mail at 5c each. Preserve one for your own reference and if you have an interested friend anywhere. send him one-you will be doing some thing to spread the good name Of your county.
The Mena weekly star., 1918-01-17
WORKING. AN EXAMPLE.

A teacher received the Following note: Dear Madam Please ixcuse my Tommy today He won't come to skule. because he is acting as time keeper for his father, and 1t is your fault. U gave him a ixampleif field is miles around how long will it take a man walking 31a miles an hour to walk 2A times round it..
The Mena weekly star., 1918-01-17

Tommy ain't no man so we had to send his father. They went early this morning X father viii walk around the field and Tommy will time him, but please don't give my boy such ixamples agin, because my husban must go to work every day to support his family"
The Mena weekly star., 1918-01-17

have contributed to the upbuiIding of the educational interests of the district have gone to their reward, he cannot repress feeling that the most of tliem were his friends. thPu-. out his entire association with them. The citizens of the district are contemplating the erection of a
The Mena weekly star., 1918-01-17

The earliest age is the most im- portant one for education, because the beginning decides the manner of progress and the end"
The Mena weekly star., 1918-01-17

Intelligence and Virtue are the safeguards of Liberty and the hull wark of a free and good govern ment."
The Mena weekly star., 1918-01-17

If a child has any claim to bread to keep him from starving, he has a far higher claim to knowledge to preserve him from error.''
The Mena weekly star., 1918-01-17

of intermittent institution, but it has now become permanent and receives the cordial support of the commun- ity.
 It is not deemed best to praise Miss Hughes too highly, as some young Lochinyar may come out of
The Mena weekly star., 1918-01-17

The secret of education lies ii respecting the pupil"
The Mena weekly star., 1918-01-17

tendance at the various cdueali nal sieetings of the county.
The Mena weekly star., 1918-01-17

modern building that more nearly compor'ts the present requirements of the school and, while we draw no funds from the taxation of the rail- road, we will have ample funds to build and equip the same suitably.
 E.x-School Director.
The Mena weekly star., 1918-01-17
OLD POTTER SCHOOL.

Faculty: R. B Holder. Principal;
 Misses Hazel Mckee and stella
 Campbell, Assistants. t,
 One of the oldest schools in Polk ,ounty is the Old Potter school, five
The Mena weekly star., 1918-01-17
HATTON PUBLIC SCHOOL.

Faculty: F. W. Hamby. Principal
 Miss Georgia Hamby, Assistant.
The Mena weekly star., 1918-01-17
ROCKY PURLIC SCHOOL.

Faculty: Bert Ogden. Principal {. Ray Ogden. Assistant