During the 18th and early 19th centuries, free public education in North Carolina was not a high priority. It was not until 1825, when a former North Carolina State Senator, Archibald D. Murphey, succeeded in pushing a bill through the Legislature to create a Literary Fund that would finance “public” education in the state. The Fund’s purpose was to help counties in the building and maintenance of common schools in their communities by distributing funds according to the free population. The Fund was to be managed by the Governor, Chief Justice, Speakers of both houses of the Legislature, and the State Treasurer.
It took another fourteen years, however, for the state to finally approve a referendum for the first “Public School Act.” The Act called for each county to vote on whether to support or oppose a local school tax. If a county approved the tax, the Literary Fund was to provide $2.00 for every $1.00 raised by the tax. The Act also called for the appointment of ten superintendents in each county to oversee the schools, creating what would later become a local board of education. There were, however, no provisions in the Act to establish standards for teacher qualifications, subjects to be taught, length of school term, or a centralized office at the state or county level.
The referendum, held in October 1839, saw sixty-one of sixty-eight counties then in existence vote on whether or not to support school taxes. Voters (white male property holders) in Cabarrus County approved the act even though their neighbors, Rowan and Mecklenburg, voted against it. (Both Rowan and Mecklenburg already had strong, well-established, and influential private academies.)
When the referendum was held, the town of Mt. Pleasant had not yet been established, although there was a Post Office called Mt. Comfort. There were, however, some types of schools in the vicinity, though they were probably neither public nor free. St. John’s Lutheran Church, located about three miles from the the village, conducted a school for its congregation and possibly others, and there was apparently another school nearby called Holechers (Hurlockers). [See the reference below.]
Another eighteen months passed before any action was taken on the referendum approved in 1839. On April 22nd, 1841, the newly appointed Superintendents of Common Schools for Cabarrus County held their first meeting. Present were Christopher Melchor, John H. Bost, George Barnhardt, Henry Blackwelder, Michael Frieze, Charles W. Harris, and R. W. Allison. R. W. Allison was elected Chairman of the Board, which then authorized the creation of districts within the county to include eighty children from five to twenty-one years of age, with “due regard for the number of children who will actually attend school.”
The Board met for its second meeting on July 2nd, 1841, with two additional members present, James Young and Robert Kirkpatrick. The Board proceeded to lay off thirty-six districts and assign two freeholders (white male property owners) from each district to conduct elections of school committees.
The small village surrounding the Mt. Comfort Post Office was designated Common School District #26, which was described as, “beginning at [Dutch] Buffalo Creek at the mouth of Adams Creek, thence up said creek to Henry Ludwick’s, thence South to Adams Creek including all the Ludwicks, Jacob House, Jacob Misenheimer, and Alfred Oury to the Lytecker plantation on Adams Creek, thence down said creek to the beginning.” In August, two local residents, John Shimpock and Nicholas Ludwick, conducted the committee election which was held at “the schoolhouse at “Holechers.” The school committeemen elected were Jacob Misenheimer, Christopher Melchor, and John Shimpock.
According to the School Act, there was to be initially only one school in each district. The schools, while accepting students from the ages of five to twenty-one, were to provide only a basic elementary curriculum. They extended through only few grades and were conducted for only four to six months a year.
Even though funding for the new schools was subsidized by State and County funds, each district still had to raise additional funds, and it appears that the first “public” school in District #26 was not constructed until 1854.
On Oct 21st, 1854, the District #26 School Committee, i.e., Daniel Barrier, Daniel Shimpock, and Martin M. Misenheimer, purchased from Daniel Miller for $1 a parcel of land “for the purpose of erecting a suitable building for a common school.” The land was described as “beginning at a red oak Daniel Shimpock and J. D. Scheck’s corner, thence N59E 33 poles crossing the Salisbury Rd. to a red oak said Scheck’s and M. Petrea’s corner on the east side of the road, thence N38W 8 poles to a stone on the west side of road, thence S71W 24 poles to a stone on said Shimpock’s line, thence S6W 14 poles to the beginning containing one acre and 111 sq poles.” [Based on this deed description and a later 1901 deed, this tract of land appears to have been located somewhere on or near current North Main Street, between current Broad Street and Elm Street.] Interestingly, this proposed school site was only a short distance from the location of the construction site of the Western Carolina Male Academy, a private school for boys above the age of fourteen, being built under the auspices of the North Carolina Lutheran Synod. [It opened in 1855 and became North Carolina College in 1859.]
In 1857, Mathias Barrier, a resident of Mt. Pleasant and the man who provided the land for the construction of the Western Carolina Male Academy/NC College, was appointed to the County Board of Superintendents. In that same year, the Board ordered that the local school committees not be allowed to hire a teacher unless they produce a certificate from the examining school committee according to the law. It was also ordered that the school committees report all the heads of families in their districts and the number of their children and names.
In January 1859, the village, now called Mt. Pleasant, was incorporated as a town. Also in 1859, the Board of Superintendents ordered that each school district should receive $50 and that the remaining funds be distributed on a per capita basis. The Board reported that the Spring installments amounted to 371/8 cents per student from the state Literary Fund and $1.15 per student from the local school tax. School taxes reported collected in October 1859, totaled $3,283.58.
In September 1859, a group of citizens from Mt. Pleasant opened a private school for females called the Mt. Pleasant Female Academy (later called Montamoena/Mont Amoena), “to pursue the business of high school and education in Mt. Pleasant.”
In 1860, a report from the Board of Superintendents stated that District #26 received $160.80 cents from the County fund total of $5,234.
There is no information on the status of the public schools in Mt. Pleasant during the Civil War during which both North Carolina College and Mont Amoena Seminary were closed.
In 1868, the state of North Carolina, under the Reconstruction Act, was required to adopt a new constitution. The new Constitution introduced Townships, which required each County to adopt for the purpose of elections and other civil and political activities. Mt. Pleasant was included in Township #8, which was described as: Beginning at a point opposite Bear Creek Church, thence along the Stanly County line south to Caleb Dove’s old place, thence to Solomon Dry’s, thence to John B. Dry’s mill, thence to Henry Bangle’s, thence to the old Savannah place, thence along said road to the Fogleman Branch, thence to George Bost’s, thence with said road to four mile post, thence to George Blackwelder’s, thence to George Cline’s, then to John Barringer’s, thence to Paul Bost’s, thence to Nicholas Ridenhour’s, thence to Cress’s, thence to Daniel Miller’s, thence to Isaac Beaver’s, thence down the east bank of Dutch Buffalo Creek to the widow Isaac Barringer’s, thence to N. H. Barringer’s, thence to widow Moose’s, thence to the beginning.”
Article IX of the new State Constitution made free public education available for all children between the ages of six and twenty-one “unless educated by other means.” School terms were required to be at least four months a year, and persons between the ages of six and eighteen were required to attend at least sixteen months of school during twelve years. The Article also created and defined the duties of the State Board of Education, which was given the power to regulate all free public education within the state.
In 1869, the General Assembly added a general school tax, a prescribed four-month school term, and mandated the education of blacks. In 1877, Cabarrus County created new school districts for white and colored students. Some districts crossed Township lines, each had its own School Committee, and each received funding based on projected enrollment.
The number of school buildings in each district was not defined. Districts for white students that included portions of Township #8 were #29, #30, #31, #32, #33, and #35. The town of Mt. Pleasant was not mentioned in any of the descriptions of the districts, but based on the members of the school committees and points of reference in the descriptions, it appears that Mt. Pleasant was divided into two districts – #32 and #33. District #32 was described as, “Beginning at the mouth of Adams Creek, then up said creek to the mouth of Church Branch, then up said branch to E. D. Lentz line, then to Main St. [Mt. Pleasant] at E. Lentz’s house, then down Main St. to J. M. Harkey’s house, then to Reed and McNamar’s mill on [Dutch] Buffalo Creek, then down said creek to the beginning. 90 children $103.50. School Committee – L. G. Heilig, J. J. Misenheimer, K. M. Cox.” District #33 – “Beginning at the mouth of Church Branch, then up said branch to the Misenheimer Branch, then up said branch to the road near R. W. Misenheimer‘s, then with said road to the Salisbury Road, then up said road to Miller’s mill including Miller’s place, then down [Dutch] Buffalo Creek to Reed & McNamar’s mill, then with the said line of District 32 to the beginning. 53 children $60.95. School Committee – J. M. Fisher, M. C. Rinehardt, E. D. Lentz.”
The “Colored” school districts included in Township #8 were #10, #11, and #23. These districts were much larger (geographically) than the white districts, and it is not clear if a school building was located within Mt. Pleasant.
In 1879, Reverend L. A. Bikle, the President of North Carolina College in Mt. Pleasant, was appointed examiner of the county schools. He was responsible for testing potential teachers and monitoring their performance during the school term.
On December 29th, 1881, Daniel and Magaret Barrier sold to the District #32 School Commssioners, L. E. Heilig, J. J. Misenheimer and K. M. Cox, for $28.25 a one acre tract of land described as – ”adjoining the lands of A. C. Barrier and others bounded as follows – beginning at a Spanish Oak by the road A. C. Barrier’s corner, thence with said A. C. Barrier’s line S10¾W 15 poles & 9 links to a stone said A. C. Barrier’s corner, thence S83½E 12 poles to a stone, thence N10 ¾E 15 poles to a stone, thence N81¾W 12 poles to the beginning.” This appears to be the location of a school building later known as South Boston School. It was located on the south edge of the Mt. Pleasant town limits off of S. Main St. at the end of what today, is South Boston Street.
In January 1885, Mt. Pleasant resident and Professor at NC College, H. T. Ludwig, was appointed to replace Reverend T. W. Smith as Superintendent of Cabarrus County Schools. Ludwig served only eighteen months in the position, as in June 1886, James P. Cook, Principal of the Concord Male Academy (formerly Arrowwood School) was appointed Superintendent. Cook was the son of Mt. Pleasant merchant and resident, Mathew Cook, and a graduate of North Carolina College (’85).
In July 1885, H. C. McAllister, President of the Board of Trustees of NC College, was appointed to the County Board of Superintendents.
On September 2nd, 1889, the Board of Education ordered Districts in Mt. Pleasant (#32 & #33) consolidated and re-designated District #33. The school committee was W. H. Fisher, A. C. Barrier and W. S. Hartsell. They were ordered to dispose of the property no longer in use by the district (no description) and turn the funds over to the County Treasurer. The new school district was described as, “Beginning at the mouth of Adams Creek then up the creek to the mouth of the Misenheimer Branch, thence up said branch to the road near Rufus W. Misenheimer’s place, thence with said road to the crossroads, thence up the Salisbury Road to Miller’s mill, thence down Dutch Buffalo Creek to the beginning.”
Three weeks after the Board of Education’s order, two local residents, William M. Eudy and Cager D. Barringer, stated to the Board that they were dissatisfied with the consolidation and asked for a change in the district. The Board recommended that the males in the new district were to be enrolled in the Preparatory Department at NC College, and the females, at Mont Amoena. It was also ordered that all parties living outside of the Mt. Pleasant town limits and declining to enroll were to get the benefit of their proportional part of the public money allocated to the district by applying to the local school committee. [It is unclear how this Board ruling affected students in Mt. Pleasant in the lower elementary grades, or if they actually attended classes at NC College and Mont Amoena. Reverend J. D. Shirey, President of the College, noted in his year-end report that the program was unsuccessful.]
In June 1892, the School Board announced that it would cost at least $10,000 to maintain the current common schools in the county for a four-month session.
In August 1893, C. G. Heilig, a resident of Mt. Pleasant, was elected to the County Board of Education. He remained on the board for two years.
In April of 1895, the State Legislature enacted a law that dissolved the local County School Boards and placed supervision of the schools in the hands of the County Commissioners.The position of Superintendent of Schools was also abolished, his duties were transferred to the Chairman of the County Commissioners. The law also mandated that all taxes levied by the State, and all fines, penalties, and forfeitures collected by counties, be turned over to the State Treasurer and be equally reallocated to the local schools on a per capita basis. Also in 1895, the School Board Minutes mentioned for the first time the names of schools in each district. Four districts were designated as Mt. Pleasant – #31 Hahn School – Commissioners J. A. Hahn, J. H. Lipe, and J. F. Hahn; #32 South Boston – Commissioners, Harris Crowell, John R. Heinze (replaced in 1896 by George Ury), L. A. Lentz; #33 Tammany Hall – Commissioners, C. D. Barringer, W. G. Barringer, W. H. Fisher, and #34 St. John’s – Commissioners, Jacob Ridenhour, M. L. Cline, L. A. Ridenhour. Two colored schools were also listed as Mt. Pleasant #11 – Commissioners, William Parker, Joseph McLane, & Elias Miller, and #13 – Commissioners, Jerry Roseman, Dan Miller, & Henry Cress.
It appears that at some point either the state law changed or Cabarrus County created its own Board of Education as in July 1897, A. W. Moose, owner of Moose Drug Store in Mt. Pleasant, was elected to the Board, and former Superintendent, H. T. J. Ludwig was appointed as Secretary of the Board and acted in the role of Superintendent of Schools.
Also in 1897, the Board of Education and County Commissioners agreed to re-designate the school districts to align with their corresponding township number, thus placing all the schools within the same township under one school committee. The Committee for Township #8 which included Mt. Pleasant consisted of C. G. Heilig, James L. Peck, R. L. McAllister, W. A. Kindley, and Martin L. Cline (replaced by L. A. Moser).
In 1899, the State Legislature passed another act concerning public education. “The General Assembly shall appoint three men in each county of good business qualifications and known to be in favor of public education, who shall [then] constitute a County Board of School Directors.” The Directors would serve two year terms and bi-annually elect a County Superintendent of Schools. Under this new organization, H. T. J. Ludwig was initially appointed as Secretary to the Board of School Directors, but when Board member W. W. Morris resigned to become County Superintendent, Ludwig was selected to replace him on the Board.
In 1899, the Trustees for Township #8 were – T. A. Moser, Mt. Pleasant; C. D. Barringer, Mt. Pleasant; John Cook, Concord.
The School Committes for the schools were:
St. John’s, No. 1 – G. M. Moose, L. A. Ridenhour, W. O. Petrea
Tammany Hall, No. 2 – Adam Kindley, J. D. Barringer, D. H. McEachern
Hahn’s, No. 3 – Jno T. Hahn, W. L. Hahn, Jno. H. Lipe
South Boston, No. 4 – A. M. Nussman, A. W. Moose, Harris Crowell
Finks, No. 5 – R. A. Smith, George D. Bost, J. R. Barnhardt
Cold Springs, No. 6 – Jno. D. Walker, G. T. Bost, James A. Barnhardt
Colored
Mt. Pleasant, No. 1 – W. M. Parker, Calvin Cook, Charley Misenheimer
T. J. Ludwig died on July 28, 1900, and was replaced on the Board of Directors by George E. Ritchie, a resident of the St. John’s area and former student at North Carolina College.
On August 13th, 1900, W. W. Morris resigned as Superintendent and was replaced by M. B. Stickley. At the first meeting of the Board of Directors after appointing Stickley, the Board directed him to “make a demand on the Towns of Concord and Mt. Pleasant for all fines and penalties enforced by the Mayor or his successors for violations of state laws and town ordinances that are made misdemeanors, said sum to be placed to the credit of the Cabarrus County Public School Fund.”
On 8 Oct 1900, Board member George E. Ritchie made a motion that a suit be filed against Concord and Mt. Pleasant to comply with the demand for the fines and penalties. The Board hired attornies, W. G. Means and M. H. Caldwell to prosecute their suit. There is no record of terms of settlement of the suit, but in April 1901, the Board received an accounting from the County Clerk of Court for fines paid to him for the months October 1900 – January 1901.
In January 1901, the Board of School Directors allocated from the School Fund to Township #8, $913.50 based on an enrollment of 609 students. This was the second highest enrollment in the County, behind Township #12 (Concord) which reported 2,797 students.
July 1901 – School Committee appointed for Township #8:
White
District #1 – G. M. Moose; L. A. Ridenhour; W. O. Petrea.
District #2 – C. D. Barringer; John L. C. Miller; D. H. McEachern.
District #3 – John T. Hahn (replaced by Martin Lipe, W. L. Hahn; John H. Lipe (replaced by J. R. Hahn)
District #4 – Harris Crowell; George L. Barringer; John H. Long.
District #5 – J. L. D. Barringer; Thomas S. Rinehardt; Rose A. Smith.
District #6 – John D. Walker; G. T. Bost; James A. Barnhardt.
Colored
District #1 – W. M. Parker; Calvin Cook; Charley Misenheimer.
Township #8 reported 274 white students and 90 colored students.
On Sept 13th, 1901, a petition “signed by the best people of Mt. Pleasant” was presented to the Board of School Directors requesting that the districts above and below Mt. Pleasant known as Tammany and South Boston be consolidated, and “that the committeemen retain their rights to use the old school houses for public school purposes of this winter, if they be needed as such.” The Board directed the Superintendent to visit the district and select a site that in his opinion would be the best “for the interests of the district.”
On Oct 14th, 1901, “Three acres of land, more or less” of D. D. Barrier’s property in No. 8 Township was ordered “to be purchased for the location of a school house for districts two and four in said township and the Board agreed to erect upon said property a suitable house for the accommodation of the children of said districts.” D. H. McEachern, Harris Crowell, and A. W. Moose were appointed Committeemen for the new consolidated district. The Board directed the Superintendent to meet with the Committeemen to make plans for the building of a new house.
On Oct 22nd, 1901, the Board of School Directors (James P. Cook, D. J. Little & W. F. Smith) purchased from Daniel Dixon Barrier a 33/8 acre tract of land on Cemetery (Walnut) street adjacent to the Holy Trinity Lutheran Cemetery and Mrs. Frances Petrea. The first Principal was Sidney T. J. Ludwig, brother of H. T. J. Ludwig. John Miller and Whit Dry were awarded a contract in the amount of $680 for materials to erect a two-room schoolhouse in District #2, Township #8 (Mt. Pleasant). They were also awarded $22.14 for blinds and fixtures for the house. Jessie Shuping was paid $25 for building water closets for the school.
The new school, later called the Mt. Pleasant Graded School, opened on January 6th, 1902. The Principal was Sidney J. T. Ludwig, brother of the late H. T. J. Ludwig, and Ina Belle Barringer Sifford wife of Sidney T. Sifford, was a teacher. Ludwig had been a student at North Carolina College and was an accomplished musician who had organized and directed several bands in Cabarrus and surrounding counties. Ina Bell Barringer was the daughter of William G. Barringer and Mary Ann Walker. She graduated from Mont Amoena Seminary in 1896 and married S. T. Sifford in 1901. [See Historic MP for further information on the MP Graded School.]
Sometime after the opening of the Graded School, the Town of Mt. Pleasant (District #4) School Committee was no longer listed in the County School Board minutes. It appears that the school in Mt. Pleasant was hereinafter designated as a “city school,” (like the town of Concord), with a semi-independent school committee appointed by the town rather than the County. Mt. Pleasant still received some funding from the County, but it is not clear if the statistics concerning the operation of the school, ie. student population, teacher information, income from taxes, etc., were included in reports by the County Board each year.
In July 1902, Cook & Foil Merchantile in Mt. Pleasant was listed by the County School Board of Directors as one of the merchants authorized to sell to students the textbooks authorized by the State Board of Education. The books were available at “list price.”
On July 6th, 1903, George F. McAllister, Principal of the Mt. Pleasant Collegiate Institute, was appointed by the State Board of Education as one of three members of the Cabarrus Board of School Directors.
On Jan 7th, 1907, Mt. Pleasant was apportioned $573.20 from the County School fund
On July 1, 1909, the Mayor of Mt. Pleasant, J. B. McAllister reported $25.50 in fines paid to the City Treasurer for use by the School Fund.
On Oct 5th, 1908, G. F. McAllister resigned from the Board of School Directors to run for election in the State Legislature. The Board refused to accept the resignation and in the subsequent election, McAllister was defeated by the Republican candidate, H. S. Williams, an attorney from Concord.
In January 1910, Mt. Pleasant received $725 from the County School Fund.
In June 1910, Mt. Pleasant received $674.40 from the County School Fund.
In June 1911, Mt. Pleasant received $801.00 from the County School Fund.
In June 1912, Mt. Pleasant received $879.00 from the County School Fund.
On October, 12, 1912, James P. Cook resigned from the County School Board of Directors. W. R. Odell was appointed to the Board on December 14, 1912 and elected Chairman.
In June 1913, Mt. Pleasant received $874.50 from the County School Fund.
On November 8, 1913, Charles E. Boger resigned as Superintendent of Cabarrus County Schools to accept a position as Superintendent of Jackson Training Schools. David S. Lippard was named as the new Superintendent.
On February 28, 1914, Mt. Pleasant received an apportionment of $200 from the County School Board.
On July 11, 1914, the County School Board agreed to a request from the St. John’s School Committee to pay half of the cost up to $200 for an additional room on their school provided the church deed the entire property to the Board. The bill, presented in October 1914, placed the County’s payment at $276.31.
On March 3, 1915, the County Board approved an appropriation of $200 to Mt. Pleasant for a supplemental library.
In July 1915. Superintendent Lippard, reported the following statistics: School Districts – 49 (white), 22 (colored); Districts with no school houses – 2 (white), 4 (colored); Districts with less than 65 students – 16 (white), 5 (colored); Number of different school taught – 51 (white), 22 (colored); Schools with one teacher – 22 (white, 22 (colored); number of schools where High School subject are taught – 12 (white), 0 (colored); average term of days – 112 (white); 105 (colored).
On January 8, 1916, Mt. Pleasant was apportioned $1,178.60 from the School Fund. In March, Mt. Pleasant received an apportionment of $150.48 from the State Equalization Fund.
In October, 1916, Board member and Principal of Mt. Pleasant Collegiate Institute informed the Board that the Institute was offering a scholarship to a male student from the County who achieved the highest score on the Seventh Grade examination. The Board accepted the offered and and agreed to notify the teachers in the various schools.
On December 16, 1916, the Board approved an appropriation of $300 to the Mt. Pleasant School. In January 1917, Mt. Pleasant received an apportionment of $1,178.60 from the County School Fund.
In April, Mt. Pleasant received $158.46 from the State Equalization Fund.
On June 23, 1917, the County Board discussed the “matter of increasing the the number of High Schools in the County,” but no action was taken.
In July 1917, County Superintendent D. S. Lippard resigned to take over operation of his father’s business, the Concord Roller Mill. On July 30, 1917, the County Board elected R. S. Proctor as the new Superintendent of Schools. Proctor was the Principal of Rich Square Farm and Life School in Northampton County. In August, however, it was announced that the the Rich Square Board of Education refused to release Proctor from his contract and the Cabarrus County Board then appointed W. W. Morris as their new Superintendent. Morris had previously served on the County School
Board. Only three weeks later, W. W. Morris announced his resignation due to health problems, and the Board was held a third election, appointing J. B. Robertson, as the newest Superintendent. Robertson had previously been the Superintendent of Schools in Alamance County.
In November 1917, “the people living in northeast corner of Mt. Pleasant and the territory adjoining,” asked the School Board through G. F. McAllister to consider the availability of creating a new school district. McAllister and Superintendent Robertson were appointed a committee to look into the request.
It appears that sometime in 1917, Mt. Pleasant was again included in County Board Minutes as District #4, Township #8 which received an apportionment of $1,278.50 from the County School Fund. However, no School Committeemen were listed in the County Report in July 1918.