The following text was transcribed from chapters on the history of education in individual Kansas counties found on pages 134-135 in:

FORD COUNTY -- Gov. T. A. Osborn issued a proclamation April 5, 1873, declaring Ford county duly organized, and at the same time appointed provisional officers, to serve until the special election, which was called for June 5, 1873. At this election, Morris Collor, one of the pioneer business men, was elected superintendent of public instruction. Mr. Collor was reelected at the general election in November of the same year. He was followed by Dr. T. L. McCarty, by appointment, who made the first annual report, in 1874. Mr. Arthur Wilder taught the first school in Ford county, in 1873, at a salary of $55 per month, in a building erected at Dodge City, the county seat. Miss Margaret Walker taught the second year, at $60 per month. It will be interesting to examine the tabular statement given here. These items are taken from the annual reports of the county superintendents, beginning in 1874.

Year	No. of organized districts	No pupil enrolled	Average daily attendance	No children school age	Average salary paid teachers per month	No. teachers employed	No. houses	Value of school property	Receipts for school purposes	Disbursements for school purposes	No. certificates granted	Institute enrollment
1874	1	30	13	110	$55 00	1	1	$2,025 00	.........	...........	...........	...........
1875	1	32	13	97	60 00	1	1	1,525 00	$1,842 69	$857 07	1	.........
1876	1	54	47	80	60 00	2	1	2,030 00	1,574 39	1,499 54	2	.........
1877	.........	........	........	..........	..........	...........	........	..............	.........	...........	...........	...........
1878	5	255	150	399	55 00	5	7	...........	2,402 71	2,306 56	12	........
1879	14	439	..........	572	36 75	13	8	7,653 00	7,036 96	5,880 87	26	.......
1880	18	........	.........	592	...........	..........	.......	...............	........	...........	...........	........
1881	16	729	315	716	46 00	17	.........	............	6,763 19	5,470 70	19	.........
1882	22	672	333	1,002	38 52	20	........	..............	9,862 91	7,465 73	27	20
1883	.............	..........	..........	........	.........	.........	........	.............	.........	...........	.........	........
1884	21	686	335	1,021	44 67	20	17	20,000 00	20,203 68	14,005 05	27	50
1885	31	851	447	2,516	43 94	40	19	21,450 00	20,253 20	15,654 94	44	50
1886	47	1,522	833	2,786	42 00	40	23	30,000 00	32,149 99	22,037 57	54	56
1887	54	1,823	901	2,759	40 38	61	39	36,000 00	37,133 81	31,694 00	85	86
1888	59	2,242	1,150	2,634	42 38	79	61	50,000 00	48,404 82	42,249 14	77	89
1889	59	2,060	1,508	2,342	41 45	87	68	67,060 00	42,630 67	36,699 41	91	85
1890	60	1,883	955	1,873	37 93	83	68	63,880 00	51,987 14	38,261 34	112	75
1891	61	1,543	927	1,728	38 79	76	70	72,579 00	37,704 35	30,359 07	89	80

1892

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75

In 1883, when Mr. Groendyke was elected county superintendent, about one-seventh of the State, comprising 15 unorganized counties, was attached to Ford county for judicial and school purposes. In all this area of 12,450 square miles there were at this time only five organized school districts, as follows: Cimarron, Garden Ctiy, Fowler City, Seward county, and Sherlock, west of Garden City; and all this territory had a school population of less than 300. These 15 counties, considered the offspring of Ford, have all been fully organized since 1884, thus relieving the Ford county superintendent by giving him a territory to supervise 30 miles north and south, and 36 miles east and west.

It will be observed that this county, and most of the school districts in it, took their present form during Mr. Groendyke's administration. Ford county proper had only 110 children of school age when the first annual report was made, in 1874, reaching the highest number, 2,786, in 1886. Next year, Gray county was organized, and considerable territory was detached from Ford, leaving only 2,759 persons of school age in 1887. The schools of 1888 had the largest enrollment and daily attendance of any year in the history of the county. In 1889, there were employed 87 teachers, the largest number for any one year. During the years 1887 and 1888, there were 40 school buildings erected, more than half the number in the county at present.

The first normal institute was held in 1882. The following have been employed as conductors: A. P. Warrington, J. M. Abbott, J. C. Hamm, J. H. Hill, E. D. Webb, E. B. Smith, and J. E. Klock. The following have instructed in the institutes: Miss M. P. Spencer, Frank Aiken, John Groendyke, C. N. Edwards, E. D. Webb, F. A. Lee, J. A. Beadle, M. A. Woods, L. D. Ellis, D. Swinehart, and B. F. Nihart.

Ford county has had six county superintendents--Morris Collor, T. L. McCarty, John Whittaker, John Groendyke, Fannie M. Thome, and D. Swinehart.

The schools of the rural districts and those of Dodge City were under the same administration until 1886, when Dodge was organized into a city of the second class, the subsequent history of which is given under the heading of "Dodge City."

It is generally conceded that our educational affairs rank second to those of no other county in the western part of the State. We cannot, of course, compete with the older and better-settled eastern counties, where the various systems adopted have had time to mature, and where the financial advantages are greater.

The method pursued for several years, of graduating pupils from common schools, has proven a great incentive to more and better work on the part of both pupils and teachers. About 50 now hold common-school diplomas.

The county board of examiners requires an average of 70 per cent., and allows a minimum of 50 per cent. for a third-grader certificate, and the number of such certificates is limited by the following resolution:

Resolved, That the board of examiners of Ford county, Kansas, will hereafter grant no more than three third-grade certificates to the same person: Provided, That those persons already holding third-grade certificates shall receive but two more.

Ford county has held 11 normal institutes, all of which have been well attended, considering the number of teachers employed. Since this county claims to be the first in the State to organize a model training school on an extensive scale, it will probably not be out of place to speak of it briefly here. In order to avoid the presentation of mere theory without application, as is usually the case in our institutes, this country made a digression, in August, 1892, by organizing a model department, as an appendix to the normal institute. About 75 children, of different grades, were enrolled in this department, and placed in charge of two teachers specially prepared, and adapted to the grades represented. The theory advocated in the normal was exemplified by these teachers putting it into practice, either in their rooms, in the presence of those who were observing, or before the institute. The normal students were also frequently called upon to conduct recitations, under the direction of these special teachers and the conductor. Conductor J. E. Klock, whose efforts made the undertaking a success, says: "The average teachers fail to do professional work, not because they have not read or heard a sufficient amount of theory, but because of the fact that they have no opportunity of seeing 'theory' in practice. Teachers need proper ideals, and ideals are formed not by hearing, but by seeing." Our teachers are unanimous in pronouncing this the most practical institute in the history of our county, and predict a great improvement in our schools; and the writer hopes to see the time when there will be a model training school in connection with every normal institute in the State.

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