Prof. Ezra J.H. Beard

 

Prof. E. J. H. Beard was a member of the Newton Public Library board from its inception in 1896 to 1921.[1] He was chairman of the book committee.[2] In 1914, on the death of longtime library board president W. O. McElroy, he was appointed “to fill the office of president until the expiration of Mr. McElroy’s term in July, 1915.”[3]

Superintendent of Newton Schools from 1892 to 1912[4], Ezra J. H. Beard was born in Jefferson, Schoharie County, New York, February 23, 1842, the son of Ezra Gibbs Beard and wife, the former Lois Gaylord.[5] He spent his early boyhood on the home farm there, and received his early educational training at Delaware Institute, Franklin, New York.[6] He then entered Hamilton College, at Clinton, New York, until he enlisted in the 91st New York Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War.[7] He participated in the Virginia campaigns of 1864-65.[8] Following graduation from Hamilton College in the class of 1866, Mr. Beard did governmental survey work in Colorado Territory.[9] He took his first teaching job at Nebraska City, Nebraska, then he taught at Rockport, Atchison County, Missouri[10], where he organized the first graded school in northwest Missouri.[11] In 1872, he was elected Atchison County surveyor on the Republican ticket.[12] Before coming to Newton, he was superintendent of schools at Hamburg, Iowa (14 years) and Maryville, Missouri (eight years).[13] During his 20 years as superintendent of Newton Schools, he wrote a completely new course of study for elementary grades, wrote all examination questions, supervised the teaching, and taught high school classes in Virgil and physics.[14] In 1892, Prof. Beard, his daughter, Miss L. Vesta Beard, and Miss Minnie B. King, comprised the entire Newton High School faculty.[15]The teaching force grew as more subjects were added to the curriculum: music, handwriting, commercial subjects, manual training, domestic science, industrial arts, physical training, athletics, German, and high mathematics.[16] Two grade schools were built during his administration, the East School (where Emerson Hough is now) and the West School (later the front of Washington School (non-extant)).[17] In 1908, a new high school was completed on the present grounds of the Newton Public Library.[18] Prof. Beard was much interested in legislation for better schools.[19] He authored the law which permitted pupils who graduated from country schools to enter city high schools in Iowa.[20] He worked for laws permitting school consolidation and for normal school instruction in high schools.[21] Prof. Beard was elected president of the Iowa State Teachers’ Association in 1909.[22] He was a charter member of the Walt Whitman Club[23], an organization of male educators; a member of Phi Delta Kappa[24]; Garrett Post No. 16, Grand Army of the Republic[25]; the Masons[26], and the Knights of Pythias[27]. In 1913, he was elected mayor of Newton.[28] He and his wife, Lura, were devout members of the Newton First Congregational Church.[29] He died on April 23, 1924[30], and this writer successfully proposed naming the new Newton Community Schools administration building at 1302 1st Ave. W. in honor of Newton’s pioneer educator, Prof. E. J. H. Beard.[31]

-Larry Ray Hurto

 

[1] 1896-1957 Library Trustees, Newton Public Library History. https://cdm16179.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16179coll1/search/searchterm/library{d88251a6d044bb92acfc6562c844669d257905d2c83f008be98127c59e94a890}20trustees/field/subjec/mode/exact/conn/and/order/title/ad/asc.

[2] 5th Report of the Iowa Library Commission, coverage 1908-1910 (1909), p. 35.

[3] Iowa Library Quarterly, July-September, 1914, p. 110.

[4] The Newton Daily News, April 24, 1924.

[5] Memorandum of the events in the life of E. J. H. Beard, in [John C. Daehler, comp.,] Beard/Baird-Gaylord Family History, Jasper County Genealogical Society, Newton, Iowa.

[6] Gen. James B. Weaver, ed., Past and Present of Jasper County, Iowa, Vol. I (Indianapolis, IN: B. F. Bowen & Company, 1912), p. 449.

[7] 91st NY Infantry List – Schoharie Co., NY – RootsWeb.www.rootsweb.com › ~nyschoha › 91st.

[8] Past and Present of Jasper County, Iowa, p. 449. The Jasper County Genealogical Society has typewritten copies of Beard’s Civil War letters, in Beard/Baird-Gaylord Family History.

[9] Past and Present of Jasper County, Iowa, p. 449.

[10] Ibid., pp. 449-450.

[11] The Newton Daily News, April 24, 1924.

[12] Ibid.

[13] Past and Present of Jasper County, Iowa, p. 450.

[14] Lucy E. Hall, A History of the Schools of Jasper County, Iowa [1959], p. 131.

[15] Ibid.

[16] Ibid.

[17] Ibid.

[18] Ibid., p. 91.

[19] Ibid., p. 132.

[20] The Newton Daily News, April 24, 1924.

[21] A History of the Schools of Jasper County, Iowa, p. 132.

[22] The Newton Daily News, April 24, 1924.

[23] Ibid.

[24] Ibid.

[25] Past and Present of Jasper County, Iowa, p. 451.

[26] Ibid.

[27] Ibid.

[28] The Newton Journal, April 2, 1913.

[29] Past and Present of Jasper County, Iowa, p. 451.

[30] Funeral Register, C. F. Morgan & Son Funeral Home, Newton, Iowa, Book 3, 1920-25, p. 446. Jasper County Genealogical Society, Newton, Iowa.

[31] The Newton Daily News, May 10, 2016, and May 11, 2016.