Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 1.djvu/576



While great progress had been made in the character of the district school buildings the report of the Secretary of the State Board of Education shows there were eight hundred and ninety-three log school-houses still in use in the State at the close of the year 1859. The total number of schools at this time was 4,927. The average attendance of pupils was 77,113 while the number entitled to attend was 127,517. There were employed 6,374 teachers of which 3,155 were women. The average compensation for men teachers was $5.94 per week, for women $3.82, for the year 1859. The aggregate amount paid the teachers of the entire State was $445,467.88; and the value of the school-houses was $1,206,840.24, while the number of volumes in the school libraries was 2,325. The permanent school fund was now estimated at more than $2,000,000 and yearly increasing.

The report of the State University at this date shows a total fund arising from the sale of lands amounting to $110,982.11, while the land unsold is estimated to be worth $61,996. The University at this time had a Preparatory Department, a Normal Department and a Model School. The number of students in all of the departments for the year was one hundred and eighty-two, and the number of professors, including the president, was six. The only building at this time was the old Capitol, but a boarding hall was in process of erection. The library contained 1,410 volumes. The salary of the president was $2,000, but in 1860 was reduced to $1,500. The five professors received salaries of $1,000 each.

The annual appropriation of interest on the permanent school fund was in 1849, in round numbers, $6,137, and in 1859 it amounted to $145,034.

The Agricultural College was not yet organized, but a farm of six hundred and forty-seven acres had been purchased in Story County, where the location had been made, and a farm house had been erected. An office was kept in the Capitol under charge of the secretary for the