Cleveland Past and Present: Its Representative Men Part 33

The General a.s.sembly to which he was now returned, was the first that convened under the new Const.i.tution. Upon this body devolved the responsibility of reconstructing the statutes of the State, and adapting them to the requisition of the Const.i.tution, so as to secure to the people the practical benefits of the great reforms which had been achieved by its adoption. Mr. Rice contributed quite as much as any other member to the important legislation of the two sessions held by that General a.s.sembly.

It was said of him that he _was always at his post_. The degree of influence which he exercised as a legislator, was such as few have the good fortune to wield.

Among the variety of measures which engaged his attention, he took a prominent part in procuring the pa.s.sage of the act which authorized the establishment of two additional lunatic asylums in the State.

His course in relation to the subject of common schools attracted public attention throughout the State, and called forth from the press commendations of a very complimentary character. The correspondent of a paper published at Newark, writing from Columbus, remarks as follows:

Senator Rice, of Cuyahoga, has in charge a bill for the reorganization of schools and providing for their supervision.

No better man than Mr. Rice could have been selected for this work. He is a model man and a model Senator. Clear headed, sound minded, carefully and fully educated, with a painstaking disposition, he is the ablest chairman of the standing committee on schools that any Ohio Legislature ever had. Deeply impressed with the great importance of the subject--of the stern necessity which exists for basing our whole republican form of government on the intelligence of the people, he has carefully provided a bill, which, if enacted into a law, will give a good _common_ school education to every child in the State, and in so doing, has been equally careful that the money raised for that purpose be not squandered. The bill provides for a State Commissioner of Common Schools, and it has been mentioned to me as a matter of deep regret, that the Const.i.tution excludes Mr. Rice from being a candidate for that office--no member of the Legislature being eligible to an office created while he was a member, until one year after the expiration of his term of office.

On the question of the final pa.s.sage of the bill, Mr. Rice addressed the Senate in a concluding speech, which was published, and very generally noticed by the press. Among these notices, a leading paper published at Cleveland, with a magnanimity rarely possessed by a political opponent, makes the following comments and quotations:

Mr. Rice made the closing speech on the School Bill, in the Senate, on the 24th. It was his Bill. He had labored over it, and for it, a long time, and given to it every consideration, and gained for it every counsel, which, by any possibility, he could gain.

The text of his speech was the language of the Const.i.tution itself; the duty of securing 'a thorough and efficient system of common schools throughout the State.'

Mr. Rice goes into detail on the school bill, and, regretting that we have not room for the detail, we close our synopsis of his very sensible speech by quoting its conclusion:

"It is certainly much cheaper, as well as much wiser, to _educate_ than to _punish_. How much of crime would be prevented if a higher order of education were generally diffused among all cla.s.ses. A well educated and enlightened people will have but little occasion for criminal courts, jails and penitentiaries. The educated man has ordinarily too much self-respect, too much regard for moral principle and the value of a good character to stoop to crime. In short, sir, the perpetuity of the government, and security of the citizen, and of property, depend upon the virtue and intelligence of the people.

"By the provisions of this bill, it is intended to make our common schools what they ought to be--the colleges of the people--'cheap enough for the poorest, and good enough for the richest.' With but a slight increase of taxation, schools of different grades can be established and maintained in every towns.h.i.+p of the State, and the sons and daughters of our farmers and mechanics have an opportunity of acquiring a finished education, equally with the more favored of the land. And, in this way, the elements of mind now slumbering among the uneducated ma.s.ses, like the fine unwrought marble in the quarry, will be aroused and brought out to challenge the admiration of the world-Philosophers and sages will abound everywhere, on the farm and in the workshop. And many a man of genius will stand out from among the ma.s.ses, and exhibit a brilliancy of intellect, which will be recognized in the circling years of the great future, as

'A light, a landmark on the cliffs of time.'

"It is only the educated man who is competent to interrogate nature, and comprehend her revelations. Though I would not break down the aristocracy of knowledge of the present age, yet, sir, I would level up, and equalize, and thus create, if I may be allowed the expression, a democracy of knowledge. In this way, and in this way only, can men be made equal in fact--equal in their social and political relations--equal in mental refinement, and in a just appreciation of what const.i.tutes man the brother of his fellow man.

"In conclusion, sir, allow me to express my belief, that the day is not far distant when Ohio, in the n.o.ble cause of popular education and of human rights, will 'lead the column,' and become, what she is capable of becoming--a star of the first magnitude--the brightest in the galaxy of our American Union."

A proud hour now came for Mr. Rice! A good and glorious one for the State! The roll of the Senate was called, and that body, on the 24th day of January, 1853, proceeded to cast its final vote upon the bill, when only two negatives were announced.

Another bill, of scarcely less importance than the school bill, was introduced into the Senate by Mr. Rice, near the heel of the adjourned session, which with him was a favorite measure, and which seemed to meet with the hearty approbation of the public. It had for its object the establishment of a "State Reform School," expressly designed for juvenile offenders.

But owing to the late day of the session in which the bill was introduced, though very favorably received by the senate, a motion was made to postpone it until the next session. In reference to this motion, without attempting to make a formal speech, Mr. Rice explained briefly the object contemplated by the bill. His remarks relating as they did to a subject of public interest, were reported and published. The bill, at a subsequent session, resulted in establis.h.i.+ng the present Reform Farm School.

The eminent services which he has rendered the State in the promotion of her educational interests will be long and gratefully remembered by those of his fellow citizens who properly appreciate the true objects of life, and who wish to secure to themselves, to their children, and to the generations which will follow them, the social blessings which flow from a high degree of refinement, intelligence and moral virtue.

While a member of the City Council, in 1857, Mr. Rice took the lead in establis.h.i.+ng the Cleveland Industrial School, and was chairman of the committee that put it into successful operation. It has now grown to be one of the most important charitable inst.i.tutions in Cleveland. Mr. Rice is still active in extending its usefulness.

In the same year he originated the project, and introduced the resolution into the Council, authorizing the erection of the Perry Monument which now graces the Public Park of the city. The cost of the Monument, by the terms of the resolution, was made to depend on the voluntary subscriptions of the citizens. Mr. Rice was appointed Chairman of the Monument Committee, and after three years of persevering effort, succeeded in carrying the object of the resolution into effect. The Monument was inaugurated with imposing ceremonies, on the 10th of September, 1860, the anniversary of Perry's victory on Lake Erie. Mr. Bancroft, the historian, delivered the Inaugural Address. As carefully estimated, not less than one hundred thousand people attended the inauguration. In carrying out the programme the battle of Lake Erie was reproduced, in a mock fight, on the Lake in front of the city. It was a proud day for Cleveland. Both the Monument and the inauguration were p.r.o.nounced a perfect success.

In 1861, Mr. Rice, being elected to the Board of Education, was appointed President of the Board, and during his term of office rendered essential service in promoting the educational interests of the city. In fact, he has always been a zealous friend and advocate of popular education. In his literary career he has become widely known as the author of "Mount Vernon, and Other Poems"--a volume containing two hundred and fifty pages which has reached a fifth edition.

In 1862, Mr. Rice was appointed by the Governor of the State, with the concurrence of the War Department, a commissioner for Cuyahoga county, to conduct the first draft made in the county during the late civil war. In executing this delicate task he acquitted himself with firmness, integrity, and discretion. While in the discharge of his duties he found his office one morning suddenly besieged by some five or six hundred excited citizens, who were armed with pistols and other weapons, threatening to demolish the office and destroy the records. They had been instigated to make this demonstration by false rumors regarding the fairness of the draft. Mr. Rice met the crisis firmly, sent to the military camp on the Heights for a detachment of soldiers, infantry and artillery, who came to his relief on the "double quick," and dispersed the riotous a.s.semblage. To satisfy the disaffected that all was right and just in relation to the draft, Mr. Rice proposed that they should appoint a committee of their own to investigate the state of affairs in the draft office. They did so, and with his aid an elaborate examination was made, and the committee reported that the draft had been conducted fairly and justly in all respects. Mr. Rice then proceeded with the draft, and as luck would have it, two of the committee, who had been ring-leaders in getting up the demonstration, were drafted on the spot, and every body seemed pleased with the result.

In 1867, Mr. Rice, wis.h.i.+ng to express his regard for the cause of Missions, as well as for the college where he graduated, erected at his own expense, and with the approval of the college authorities, a beautiful marble monument in Mission Park, at Williamstown, Ma.s.s., commemorative of the origin of American Foreign Missions. The park is a part of the college domains, and within it there is a maple grove where a few pious young students of the college, in the summer of 1806, held occasional prayer-meetings. At one of these meetings a shower of rain compelled them to seek the shelter of a neighboring haystack, where they continued their exercises, and where one of their number, Samuel J. Mills, first suggested the idea of a mission to foreign heathen lands, as being a religions duty.

In this n.o.ble and philanthropic thought his a.s.sociates all concurred, and there, while at the haystack, consecrated themselves in solemn prayer, to the great work. From this circ.u.mstance originated American Foreign Missions. The monument was planned by Mr. Rice It is erected on the spot where the haystack stood, is twelve feet in height, and surmounted with a marble globe three feet in diameter, and cut in map lines. The face of the monument has the inscription, "The Field is the World," followed with a haystack, sculptured in bas relief, and the names of the five young men, who held the prayer-meeting, and the date 1806. The monument was dedicated July 28th, 1867, at the maple grove, in the park. A large audience was present. Mr. Rice, by special request, delivered the dedicatory address, which was received with a high degree of satisfaction, and afterwards published, with the other proceedings, in pamphlet form.

Mr. Rice has acc.u.mulated a reasonable share of "this world's goods;" has been twice married--first in 1828, and afterwards in 1840.

He has a wife, three sons and three daughters still living, and now leads, comparatively, a retired, yet not an idle life.

He still has the appearance of a well preserved gentleman, he is six feet in height, erect and of good proportions, and his general personal appearance is pleasing. In manner he is a true gentleman,--modest and kind, but prompt and decided. Two of his sons, Capt. Percy W. Rice and James S. Rice, are settled in business at Cleveland. The youngest son, Harvey Rice, Jr., resides in California. The three daughters are married and settled--one in California and the other two in Cleveland.

Mrs. Rice is a lady of refinement, exemplary, and much beloved and respected. As a family, but few have been more highly favored, or lived in more perfect harmony.

Andrew Freese

The name of Andrew Freese will always hold a place of honor in the scholastic records of Cleveland. No educator in the city is held in such affectionate esteem by a large cla.s.s of former pupils, and none better deserves the grateful tributes paid to his abilities as a teacher and his worth as a citizen.

Mr. Freese was born in Levant, Pen.o.bscot county, Maine, on November 1st, 1816. His father was a farmer, but Andrew was of such slender frame and weak const.i.tution that he was completely unfitted for farming life. His father destined him to be a printer, and took him to the nearest printing office to show him how types were set and newspapers printed. The boy was not favorably impressed with what he saw, and begged to be allowed to enter college. This was considered out of the question, his father being too poor to provide the necessary funds. But the boy's heart was set upon it, and he thought that by teaching school for a time he could obtain money enough to complete his own education. This idea he carried into execution, and had no sooner entered on the business of teaching than he realized that he had found his true vocation. He continued to teach and study until his collegiate course was completed, and then he resolved to fit himself for the business of teaching by studying the best systems of education, as laid down in the most approved books and practiced in the most successful schools. He examined the best school buildings, and brought away plans of construction, and models of their furniture. The most thorough teachers were consulted as to the results of their experience, and when he had thus acquired a thorough mastery of the whole science of teaching, instead of setting out as an educational empiric, he resolved to seek the West as a better field for turning his knowledge to account, than was the East, where educators were far too numerous to make the business profitable.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Yours Truly, Andrew Freese]

Mr. Freese came to Cleveland in 1840, and offered his services to the Board of School Managers as a teacher. His rare ability was appreciated, he was immediately engaged, and was at once recognized as the head of the schools. There was then only the general school law to work under. The law as then understood, made it almost a crime to give instruction in the higher branches of even an English education. There was then no high schools, or graded schools in the great State of Ohio. To Cleveland, and to Mr. Freese, belong the honor of establis.h.i.+ng the first free high school in the State. The scholars from that school may now be found in almost every State in the Union, eminent in all departments of life. They have been met with as Governors, jurists, mechanicians, and artists, and the first inquiry from them _all_ has been, "Is Mr. Freese still with you? All I am, and all I have, I owe to him; may G.o.d forever bless him."

The high school was established in July, 1846, and Mr. Freese at once placed at its head. Those unfriendly to public schools, and especially to this department, offered him large inducements to engage in a private school, but Mr. Freese had faith in the success of the experiment, and was determined not to abandon it until its success was insured. The pay given by the city was but a beggarly pittance, and his labors inside and out of the school room were exceedingly arduous, but no discouragement could daunt his zeal, and he resisted blandishments as he treated opposition, with indifference. The unexpected and severe labors imposed upon him shattered his health, but with him love overcame all other considerations, and he persisted. In June, 1853, the office of Superintendent of Instruction was created, and tendered to Mr. Freese, who held it until 1861, when his failing health admonished him to retire. Recently he was summoned from his retirement to take the position of princ.i.p.al of the Central High school, now grown to proportions its founders scarcely dared hope for it. It was with extreme reluctance that Mr. Freese consented to resume his old profession, but he finally did so, working with great zeal and success until the close of the Summer term of 1869, when, immediately after re-election by a highly complimentary vote, he was compelled, by the condition of his health, to resign his position and bid a final farewell to the profession he so much loved. The proceedings of the Board of Education in relation to the resignation of Mr. Freese are of interest, as showing the high value set upon his services to the cause of education.

The following communication was presented to the Board:

To the Honorable the Board of Education of the city of Cleveland:

Gentlemen: I have to submit herewith the resignation of Mr. Andrew Freese, who has for the past year acted as princ.i.p.al of the Central High school.

On account of ill health it was with great reluctance that Mr. Freese went into this position. In accordance, however, with the advice of friends, he finally yielded to persuasion and entered upon the discharge of its duties with the well known earnestness of his character. The result has been marked in the earnestness with which his able corps of a.s.sistants a.s.sociated with him have co-operated to promote the highest interests of the school, and of each and all its pupils. It has been specially marked, too, by the increased devotion of all the scholars to their studies, and the ready acquiescence with which they have obeyed all the rules and regulations of your Board.

In taking leave of Mr. Freese it is due to him that I should thus formally and earnestly record my high appreciation of his services.

Furthermore, it may not be inappropriate for me testify to the fact, that much of the hearty earnestness of the corps of teachers with which I am now laboring, is due to the influence of this gentleman when he held the office which I now hold.

Andrew J. Rickoff, Superintendent of Instruction.

The Board of Education having received and accepted the resignation of Andrew Freese, Esq., princ.i.p.al of the Central High School, Mr. Perkins offered the following resolutions, which were adopted:

_Resolved_, That the thanks of the Board are hereby tendered to Mr.

Freese, for the valuable services he has rendered in the various relations he has sustained to the public schools of this city during the last quarter of a century. In every position he has been called to fill, he has proved himself faithful to the trust committed to his keeping. To him more than any other are we indebted for the deservedly elevated character of our System of graded schools.

_Resolved_, That the president and secretary of the Board be requested to communicate to Mr. Freese the feeling of regret occasioned by his withdrawal from our service, together with a certified copy of its action this evening.

Mr. Freese was the originator of the celebrated outline maps. Many years before any were published by Mitch.e.l.l, they were in use here, and may still be found on some of the walls and floors of our old school houses, where they were placed by Mr. Freese. What Horace Mann and William Colburn did for the schools of New England, Andrew Freese has done for the schools of the West. Almost immediately after commencing his labors he began to protest to the Board of School Managers against our school laws; under them he could do no justice to himself or his scholars. His efforts were aided by the Board of School Managers, and after a hard contest with city and State authorities, the laws were altered so as to give us one of the best school systems in the world. The first free high school in the State was started by Mr. Freese, in the bas.e.m.e.nt of an old church, at a rent of fifty dollars per annum, and this was regarded by some of our largest tax payers as so great an outrage that they threatened to resist the payment of their taxes. The school now enjoys the use of a palatial building, and our grammar schools have the use of the most elegant and convenient structures for educational purposes in the State. Many of our citizens devoted their time and money to bring about this great change, which has done and is doing so much for the welfare of our city. But perhaps no one man has done so much as Mr. Freese.

It would be difficult, if not impossible, to overrate the services of Mr.

Freese to the cause of education in Cleveland. It was the sole business of his life, and he entered on it with utter unselfishness. With him the cause was everything, self nothing. He traveled far, spent his own slender funds freely, and labored a.s.siduously in the endeavor to secure the best of everything in plan and machinery, for the city schools. He had no ambition outside or beyond the school room, and his shrinking modesty prevented him claiming the credit justly due him for the unintermitted and successful labors performed within the school walls.