The history of the schools of Sumner County

Abstract

Sumner County, a county in the south central part of Kansas, was organized in February, 1871. Settlement was influenced by the geographical barriers and the cattle trails . Immigration into the county was heavy during the first ten years of its life. With the entrance of the railroads, the county started on a "boom". Schools grew rapidly. The first school in the county was a select school held at Oxford in 1871 by Miss Mary Pearce. The first schools held in Belle Plaine and Wellington were select or subscription schools. These three towns were also the first to organize into school districts. Oxford was first with Belle Plaine, second, and Wellington, third. The first county superintendent was elected in November , 1871. Since that time seventeen different persons have held the position. The first three districts grew rapidly, quickly outgrowing their first buildings, which were soon replaced with more substantial structures. Welling ton and Oxford were the first two schools in the county to be come graded. A number of select and subscription schools were held in the county at different times in order to provide schools where public funds were not able to support them or to supplement the public school. These schools aided in filling the gap between the time the public schools could not provide all the education the people wanted and the time when they could.