Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/254

 194 HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST iMISSOURI operations of fanning as it was then prac- ticed, and that thus equipped they were inde- pendent and scorned any notion that they needed to know more than these things. Peck says that ' ' after having gained correct knowledge, by personal inspection in most of the settlements, or by the testimony of reliable persons * * * the conclusion was that at least one-third of the schools were really a public nuisance, and did the people more harm than good. Another third about balanced the ac- count by doing about as much harm as good, and, perhaps, one-third were advantageous to the community in various degrees. Not a few drunken, profane, worthless Irishmen were perambulating the country and getting up schools, and yet they could neither speak, read, pronounce, spell or write the p]iiglish language."* Peck further says that there existed a cus- tom of turning the schoolmaster out of the house at Christmas and Easter. He records one instance of a schoolmaster who provided a treat for the children, in order to be per- mitted to re-enter the house. The treat con- sisted of a drink known as ' ' Cherry Bounce. ' ' Both teacher and pupils were partly intoxi- cated by their treat and the teacher was dis- missed. Peck gives this picture of the life of some of the people in the frontier settle- ments. He is careful to discriminate and point out that not all the people, by any means, were like those described. After la- menting their deplorable condition, religious- ly, and their ignorance of the Bible, and their indifference to the calls made upon them, and saying of them that few could read and fewer had Bibles or other books to read, he says that they were almost equally as poorly off con- cerning other matters. A small corn field, he says, and a truck patch was the height of their ambition. Venison, bear meat, and hog meat dressed, cooked in a most slovenly and filthy manner, with corn bread baked in the form of a pone, and when cold as hard as a brick bat, constituted their provisions. Coffee and tea, he says, were prohibited articles amongst this cla.ss, for had they possessed the articles, not one woman in ten knew how to cook them. He adds, however, "doubtless in a few years, when the land came into market, this class of squatters cleared out." In June, 1808, the territorial assembly char- tered the Ste. Genevieve Academy with the following as trustees: James Maxwell, John Baptiste Valle, Jacques Guibord, St. James Beauvais, Francois Janis, John Baptiste Pratte, Joseph Pratte, Walter Fenwick, An- drew Henry, Timothy Phelps, Aaron Elliott, Nathaniel Pope, Joseph Spencer, Jr., "William James, Frank Oliver, Joshua Penniman, Wil- liam Shannon, George Bullett, Henry Dodge and Harry Diel. The trustees were authorized to receive and expend money for the use of the academy, and they were bound to have instruction given in both French and English. One clause of the act of incorporation forbade their making any distinction in the employment of teachers, or in filling vacancies in the board of trustees, regarding religious beliefs. The academy was a necessity for all people and no religious dis- tinction was to be made. The trustees were farther commanded to admit poor children and children of Indians to the academy free of any charge for instruction. Power was conferred on them, also, to arrange, when- ever it seemed best to them, to open an insti- tution for the instruction of girls. On October 14th, 1820, the territorial as- sembly chartered the academy in Jackson with the following trustees: David Armour, Joseph Frizzell, Thomas Neal, Van B. De
 * Life of Peek, p. 123.