List of Principals of Freeport High School

Three of our principals are also graduates of FHS: Louis Mensenkamp (Class of 1910), Reuben Baumgartner (Class of 1930), and Pat Norman (Class of 1966).

George Montague and the other teachers and male students left FHS to serve in the Civil War. Montague served as a Colonel of a regiment.

Horation C. Burchard, one of our earliest principals, later served as a United States Congressman (1869-1879) and as director of the U. S. Mint (1879).

A. B. Campbell, 1850-1852
William Johnson, 1852-1854
Horatio Chapin Burchard, 1854-1855
Henry Freeman, 1856-1858
A. N. Mariman, 1859
George Montague, 1860
M. W. Tenksbury, 1861-1862
H. M. Barnum, 1863
W. H. V. Raymond, 1864
David Parsons, 1865-1866
G. G. Alvord, 1867-1869
S. C. Cotton, 1870
Miss E. R. Bekwith, 1871 (also spelled Beckwith)
C. C. Snyder, 1872-1874
Miss S. H. Stocking, 1875
A. W. Green, 1876-1882
J. H. Hutchinson, 1883-1888
Miss F. A. Rosebrugh, 1889-1891
R. E. Loveland, 1892
W. D. Hawk, 1893-1894
J. E. McGilvery, 1895-1896
J. W. Bray, 1896-1897
S. E. Raines, 1897-1904
Luther A. Fulwider, 1904-1940
Louis Mensenkamp, 1940-1956
Reuben A. Baumgartner, 1956-1972
Willard Prynn, 1972-1979
Doctor Evans, 1979-1983
John Bevan, 1984-1991
Steven Fager, 1992-1995
Patricia Norman, 1995-2002
David Thake, 2002-2010

Patrick Hardy, 2011-2013
Beth Summers, 2013-2023
Sarah Hasken 2023-

Many thanks to Wendy Hess & her brother-in-law John Hess, who helped with 1979 to 2013, and Karen Otto Hutmacher, 2013 to present.

The following superintendents have been in charge of the Freeport schools, per the 1911 Polaris:

G. G. Alvord, 1867-1872
C. C. Snyder, 1872-1890
A. O. Denbelt, 1890-1891
R. W. Burton, 1891-1893
F. T. Oldt, 1893-1893
R. S. Page, 1895-1904
S. E. Raines, 1904-

 

All sales go to help support this website. Remarkable Stories, Volume 1 by Robert Bike Remarkable events have happened in Freeport and Stephenson County, Illinois, and remarkable people have lived there. These are stories gathered about people and events from 1835 through World War II. By no means complete, these are overviews of lives and events which shaped our country and our world. From events in the lives of Tutty Baker, Abraham Lincoln, Charles Guiteau, Leonard Colby, Jane Addams and Bob Wienand come stories that will amaze you. Welcome to Volume 1 of our living history. The author lives in Eugene, Oregon, and works as a Licensed Massage Therapist and Life Coach. An amateur historian, parts of these stories and many more appear on his website, www.robertbike.com. Buy now! Only 99 cents to download in .pdf format! Want a paperback? $14.99

The Freeport School District #145 Mission Statement

In partnership with students, family and community,
we prepare every student for the world of today and tomorrow
through excellence in education.

The 1852 Freeport High building.
The 1885 Freeport High School is shown here,
with the 1905 addition in the foreground.
The 1926 building is shown here.
The newest addition is shown here.

I have read several different versions of how schools were organized in Freeport. I'll combine the various versions to give you an approximate history.

The early settlers arrived in Stephenson County between 1834 and 1840. The first classes were held in private homes and later in small, drafty log cabins. Miss Jane Goodhue started the first school at Ransomburg in 1834, located between Winslow and McConnell.

In 1836 a school was established in Buckeye Township northwest of Cedarville.

In 1837 a school was established at the home of Mr. Timms at Burr Oak Grove in Kent Township. William Ensign was the teacher. The Timms house was built by Oliver Kellogg in 1827, then abandoned. The building was the second one built in Stephenson County. It was famous for having been used by soldiers in the Black Hawk War.

In Damascus, school was held on the threshing floor of Alvin Fuller's barn. At Winslow, school was held in the loft above Hunt's Wagon Shop. In 1839, the first schoolhouse was built on Luman Montague's farm in West Point Township.

Schools in Stephenson County were supported by voluntary subscription and by the sale of public land set aside by the government in the Ordinance of 1787 for the support of schools. In the Eldorado School District, the citizens voted for a tax to pay the salary of the teacher and building upkeep.

Nelson Martin opened the first school in Freeport in the fall of 1837. It was located in the old L. O. Crocker store at the foot of Main Street, on the west bank of the Pecatonica River. It was a small building, only 10 by 14, and just 7 feet high. It had a puncheon floor, which are logs split in half, laid close together, split side-up. This made the floor warm, as it fit snugly to the sides and end of the building. There was a single window.

There were initially 25 students, both boys and girls. Freeport's first students were Frederick Baker, John Baker, Elmus Baker, Thomas Baker, Levi Davis, Olive Davis, William Davis, Enos Fowler, Salome Fowler, A. C. Hunt, Eliza Hunt, Sara Hunt, Hamilton Hunt, Michael Reed, Chloe Smith, Ann Smith, Rebecca Smith, Jane Smith, Elizabeth Smith, Orange Smith, W. W. Smith, Polly Strockey, Elizabeth Thatcher, Ellen Thatcher, and John Thatcher.

Freeport has always been known for its excellent school system. A. C. Hunt started school at age 12 in 1837, and used his education well. He became the second mayor of Freeport in 1856-1857, and the fourth governor of Colorado from 1867-1869.

Mr. Martin was known for being a strict disciplinarian. He had forbidden skating on the river with the penalty for disobedience being a whipping. John Thatcher was caught skating one day, and was whipped so severely that all the families except the Hunts and the Davises pulled their children from the school. Since it was a subscription school, Mr. Martin was forced to close the school for lack of funds.

In the fall of 1839, Mr. Everett opened another school in the same building. The same students attended, with the addition of Rivers Fowler, the Wilmit children, W. H. Hollenback, H. W. Hollenback, A. P. Goddard, and a few others. Since there were far more students than the building could hold, the existing building was moved with a large team of oxen, and an addition was built as a combination school and church at the northeast corner of Stephenson and Van Buren. This building served as a school on weekdays, and a church on Sundays. John A. Clark, T. J. Turner and an unnamed woman made up the church choir. Frederick Buckley taught there in the fall of 1840. The building eventually became a cow stable, and finally burned down. Later Wilcoxon's Opera House was built on the site.

Freeport formally organized schools in 1840.

A school opened in a house at the northwest corner of Main and Chicago. Rothilda Buck, Lucinda Williams and Morilla Williams taught there.

D. A. Knowlton erected a schoolhouse on Broadway, and William Bulkley taught there.

The "Little Red Schoolhouse" was a one-story frame building built in Freeport in 1843 for $300 on the site of the old Wertman's Wagon Shop, and painted bright red! D. H. Sunderland and Miss Louisa Burchard were the first teachers. Students at the Little Red Schoolhouse included the Schofield brothers, John and George, who both became Civil War Generals, and Black Abe, Freeport's first black student.

Other early Freeport teachers included Frederick Buckley, Miss Wright (1841-1842); Miss Cornelia Russell, Mrs. Hazlett, Rev. Coon, Rev. Dickey, A. B. Campbell, and George W. Lutz.

The first organized High School program started in 1847. Freeport Senior High school evolved from several private schools. The first started in 1847 in the Presbyterian Church basement and was known as Freeport High School. There were no free, tax supported schools then. Parents or students paid for their own education. Tuition at Freeport High School in 1847 was $2.50 to $3.50 for at 12-week term. George Scoville was the solitary teacher at Freeport High School in 1847.

The Freeport Seminary for Young Ladies opened July 30, 1849. James Bentley opened the school and taught; A. B. Campbell was the principal.

Freeport High School's first public organizational format was in 1850, and April 12, 1850, is the formal date of the opening of what came to be known as Freeport High School.

Having purchased a new site (now S. Galena & Pleasant) and levied taxes to build the Union school house, the directors of the district proceeded to rent the basements of two churches, and created three departments, a higher, intermediate and primary. Mr. A. B. Campbell was named principal and was given general supervision of all the departments. School opened April 12, 1850. His assistants were Miss Emily Jackson (later married John K. Brewster) and Miss Mary Burchard (sister of H.C. Burchard) in the higher department; Mr. Lutz and Miss Delia Hyde in the in intermediate department; and Miss Louisa Burchard (who married H. D. Converse) in the primary department located in the Little Red Schoolhouse. John Rice was a teacher.

Male students at the original Freeport school system in 1850 included Dexter A. Knowlton, Steuben Stoneman, John Black, Urias Mayer, Michael Stoskopf, Charles Green, Fred Norton, Peter Lerch, George Carter (brother of E. L. Cronkite), Charles Smith, Chancellor Martin (later a West Point graduate), David Burrell (later a pastor), Charles Sweet (drowned in Pecatonica; brother of Mrs. J. A. Grain).

Female students included Julia Sweet, Ellen Clark (daughter of John A. Clark), Ellen Carter (later the mother of William N. Cronkite), Matilda Rosenstiel (daughter of Charles H. Rosenstiel, later married Dr. Carey), Ellen Krinbill, Josephine Krinbill, Amanda Black (later married William McHenry), Mary Smith (daughter of W. W. Smith), Anna Stibgen (later married C. H. Chapman), Eva Tarbox (later married J. S. Cochran).

The schools were placed under the Board of Education of the Freeport School District in 1851. Luther Guiteau was elected the first County Commissioner of Schools. He was instrumental in organizing the union system of graded schools, Freeport being the second city in Illinois to adopt this system (Chicago was the first).

In 1852, the building shown above was built at Pleasant Street and South Galena Avenue at a cost of $3000. Middle grades and High School were in the building.

In 1854, the Freeport Seminary for Young Ladies became the Female Seminary and was relocated to the Plymouth Hall building; Mary A. Potter was the instructor.

In 1855, Illinois passed a state law providing for free school supported by taxation.

In 1857, the Select School was opened by Miss F. B. Burchard in the Pennoyer Block. Freeport's first college, the Freeport Commercial College, was opened by L. D. White in 1857 in the Bank Block.

In 1861, the teacher and many of the students enlisted to fight in the Civil War. The Class of 1863 was the first official "graduating" class, and consisted of four students, all girls.

In 1878, the High School was moved to a new building, later known as First Ward School.

In 1882, the high school was expanded from three grades to four.

The 1852 building was torn down, with a newer building replacing it in 1885, with a large addition added in 1905.

The present High School building was built on a 25-acre site for $720,000 in 1926. The site was known as Camp Scott during the Civil War. If you follow the link, you will see a drawing of Camp Scott as it appeared in Harper's Weekly on June 15, 1861.

From the original establishment of Freeport High School until 1904, there was but one course of study, the college preparatory course. There were few electives. After 1904, more electives were introduced. The first was manual training, followed by mechanical drawing, and cooking and sewing in 1906. Both physical education and the commercial (business) department were added in 1910. The High School library opened in 1917. Auto mechanics was added in 1920.

In 1926, two years of home economics were required of all girls, and electromagnetics was begun.

In 2008, the National Grammy Award Association named Freeport High School’s music department one of the top 100 music programs in the nation, designating the high school a Grammy Signature School.

Freeport High School

Freeport Junior High School

Freeport Junior High School was established in 1926, though it didn't get a principal until 1928. The first Junior High building was the old High School building at 612 S. Galena Avenue.

In 1952, the Freshman class moved to the present Freeport Junior High School, built at a cost of $1,648,000, across Empire Street from Freeport High School. The new FJHS has large physical education facilities, a swimming pool, and a large auditorium with a stage, all which the High School has shared use of.

In 1982, the ninth graders moved back to the High School to be once again the Freshman Class.

Freeport Junior High School Principals

Byron Cully, 1928-1965
Born in 1899, Byron O. Cully was a football star at Illinois College. He taught school and coached football and basketball at Flora High School (near Decatur). His three year record in football was 16-7 from 1922 through 1925; his basketball record was 51-23. He coached both football and basketball for Monmouth High School (near Galesburg) for two seasons; his basketball record was 21-26, the football record was not saved. While he was the football coach for Dixon High School, the captain of the team was Ronald "Dutch" Reagan, who later became a Hollywood actor and President of the United States. He was named the first principal of Freeport Junior High School in the fall of 1928, and served for 37 years! His wife Edna had a Masters degree from Columbia University and taught at FJHS. Byron died in 1979, Edna in 1980.

Lyle Reedy, 1965-1969
Lyle Reedy, FHS Class of 1942, was co-author of a book, Humanizing Instruction in the Junior High School, published in 1974.

Dean Garrett, 1969-1983
Dean Garrett joined the Navy in 1940 and was shipped to Hawaii to serve at the Navy Hospital at Pearl Harbor. On the morning of December 7, 1941, he was at the mess hall getting a cup of coffee when he heard explosions. He looked out a window and saw a plane with a “meatball” climbing away. He raced to the hospital and worked 72 hours straight in an operating room. He transferred to the USS Minneapolis, a heavy cruiser that was involved in many Pacific battles. After the liberation of the Philippines, he finished the war as a Chief Pharmacist’s Mate at St. Louis Naval Air Station. After the war he became a speech and debate teacher before becoming FJHS's third principal from 1969 to 1983. He retired as an Assistant Superintendent of schools. He was the featured speaker at Chicago Mayor Richard Daley’s 2006 annual dinner for veterans of the Pearl Harbor attack, and a keynote speaker at the 2007 opening of the Stephenson County All Veterans Memorial Park. (Photo courtesy of Pat Garrett Clary)

Roger Reardon, 1983-1987
Scott Wiley, 1987-2011
Nick Swords, 2011-

Remarkable Stories, Volume 1 by Robert Bike From events in the lives of Tutty Baker, Abraham Lincoln, Charles Guiteau, Leonard Colby, Jane Addams and Bob Wienand come stories that will amaze you. Welcome to Volume 1 of our living history. Only $14.99 paperback; only $0.99 ebook.

• scan of the cover
• list of graduates, see 1966 or 1972 for examples
• scan of the Polaris staff
• scan of the Pretz News staff
• scan of the page with your senior photo on it
• scan of pages of groups you were in that year that has your photo on it, like clubs or sports
• scan of something different that year, see 1974 for the courthouse and red light examples
  

I give credit to those who help with completing the classes project.

Freeport in 2002

Freeport in 1954

Freeport in 2006

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