ed chiefly by subscription, and were, therefore, in some respects select schools during a portion of the year, open only to the well-to-do. As a rule the public schools were ungraded, and there was no uniform system of text-books in use. Above all, the laws governing teachers and the granting of teachers' certificates were lax, and teachers' institutes were rarely held. There was a provision in the
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UNION EXPERIMENT STATION FARM
(See School of Agriculture, page 206)
state constitution, however, that after five years from adoption, it should be competent for the legislature to provide for the election of a state superintendent of schools; the office was, therefore, separated from that of governor in 1873. The first superintendent of public instruction was Sylvester C. Simpson, who was appointed to the office by Governor L. F. Grover. Mr. Simpson assumed the duties of his office January 30, 1873.
