The Johnson County Historical Society has kept great detailed records over the years and recently shared some pictures and documents about our school location. Want to know more? Read with us!
A. W. REESE M. D., page 725,
A. W. Reese, M.D., prominent among physicians of Johnson County, is the subject of this sketch, born in Jefferson County, Indiana, Aug 18, 1828. John Reese, his father, was a native of Kentucky and was a missionary Baptist preacher A. W. was a graduate of Hanom College, Indiana. When 22 years of age he went to Lowell, Kentucky, and read medicine with Dr. S. B. Richards for three years, and was afterward a graduate of the Kentucky School of Medicine, In 1855 he came to Missouri and practiced in Cass County. He was married to Miss Ellen Cobb a native of this county.
They had 2 children: Lissie and Gertrude. His wife died on Nov. 25, 1865. In 1858 he moved to Elmwood, Saline County, and was there till the war when he accepted the position of Surgeon of the 31st Missouri infantry. Col. Fletcher Ex-Governor, Was with the regiment through the Sherman Campaign. In 1864 he was ordered to Warrensburg and had charge of the U.S. Military Hospital until August 1865. Had an extensive practice at Warrensburg, and was a Coroner for four years of the time. His second marriage was on Oct. 22, 1867, to Susanna E. Bade of Preble County Ohio. They have five children living: Sallie B„ Effie Eugenia, Minnie V., Paul, and Mark. The doctor is a minister of the German Baptist, or (Brethren) church. His wife and oldest daughter are members of the same. They have a well-improved farm of two hundred acres, where the doctor is found hard at work filling in the time on the farm, between the calls for his services in the medical profession. He is a man of culture and conversant with all the matters of interest of the present day. As a neighbor and Christian gentleman, he stands well with all who are brought in contact with him, and no man has a larger number of friends.
The first public school building erected for that purpose was the old brick that still stands in Old Town. The upper story was owned and occupied by the masons, while the first floor was used for school during the week and religious meetings on the Sabbath. It was erected in the year 1845, at a cost of $1,800. The war put a stop to all well-organized schools; but after its close, in 1867, the old Reese building was completed at a cost of about $13,000. It was afterward discovered that the foundation was defective, and the walls commenced cracking, rendering the building unsafe. Accordingly, the present, imposing and commodious structure was finished in 1879, at a cost of $4,500. The Foster building was completed in the year 1870, at a cost of about $13,000. The Reese building is situated on the corner of Market and Warren Streets, and the Foster building is situated east of the railroad on the corner of Grover and McGuire Streets.
Under the general statutes of the state, approved on March 20, 1866, Warrensburg City was “ organized into and established as a single school district, ”on April 18, 1866. Special privileges were granted cities, towns, and villages, thus organizing for school purposes. It having been decided by the legal voters of the town of Warrensburg to organize, directors were elected and qualified. Their names were as follows, constituting the first Board of Education in this city: A. W. Reese, president; Melvill U. Foster, secretary; Jehu H. Smith, treasurer; Elias Stilwell, John L. Rogers, and Nelson Dunbar. Among the first acts of the above-named directors was the securing of teachers and providing ample accommodations for the children, both white and black. Rev. Matthew Biggar, S. L. Mason, and Rev. M. Henry Smith were the principal teachers selected, the two former were placed in charge of the schools for white children, and the latter was the principal of the colored school. From 1866 to 1875, in accordance with all other professions, teachers received a much larger salary than they do at present; the superintendent during a considerable portion of that time received a yearly salary of $1500, and subordinate teachers from $40 to $60 per month. The colored school was conducted in the Howard building, situated on Culton Street, between Old and New Town, also in a building formerly used as a Baptist church.
The Howard school was named in honor of General Howard, an officer of distinction in the Union Army during the War of the Great Rebellion. The Howard building is a small, one-story frame structure, 32x24, and cost $800 besides the lot on which it stands. Through the untiring and self-sacrificing exertions of Mr. Smith, the colored people of Warrensburg and vicinity were provided with educational advantages never before enjoyed; for this and many other philanthropic acts, the blacks and whites, too, will hold him in grateful remembrance. He was sent here as a missionary, under the auspices of the Congregational church, in the fall of 1865, but when it became apparent that his particular denominational following was not sufficient to support a regular pastor, he gave his attention to teaching, for which he was well qualified. Rev. Smith is a native of New York, and was educated at Oberlin college, both in the collegiate and theological courses. In 1871 he was called from Warrensburg to take charge of Lincoln Institute, at Jefferson City, a school for the education of colored teachers.
Reference
THE HISTORY OF Johnson County, Missouri, INCLUDING A RELIABLE HISTORY OF THE TOWNSHIPS, CITIES, and TOWNS, TOGETHER WITH A MAP OF THE COUNTY; A CONDENSED HISTORY OF MISSOURI; THE STATE CONSTITUTION; AN ABSTRACT OF THE MOST IMPORTANT LAWS; THE PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE COUNTY; THE EARLY SETTLERS AND PIONEERS; THE POLITICAL AND WAR HISTORY; THE RELIGIOUS AND EDUCATIONAL history; the portraits of prominent citizens; ILLUSTRATIONS OF STATE AND COUNTY INSTITUTIONS; BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES; A HISTORY OF THE AGRICULTURAL interests; statistics and miscellaneous MATTERS, ETC., ETC. ILLUSTRATED. KANSAS CITY, MO.:
1883