The Hastings Banner — Thursday, February 29, 2024 — Page 7The time capsule at TK Middle School
Joyce F. Weinbrecht
Banner Sept. 9, 1999
When the Brick Committee opened the
capsule on July 14, 1999, which had been
placed in Thornapple Kellogg Middle School
when it was built in 1930-1931, they did not
know what they would find in it.
The capsule had been prepared and submit-
ted to the school board on July 14, 1931.
The Middleville Reading Club had gathered
together the items to be placed in the capsule
and had written a history of the school, which
had served the area over the years. Writers of
the letter to the school board were Mrs. John
Otto, Mrs. Harry E. Bennett, Mrs. Frank Pratt,
Mrs. John Dietrich and Mrs. Frank Prindle.
They had assembled several magazines
and papers from the time, as well as the his-
tory of the area and, of course, the history of
the schools.
The letter read:
“Thornapple Township, so named from the
Thornapple River, which received its desig-
nation from the beautiful growth of thornap-
ple trees upon its banks, is located on the
United States survey as township 4 N in
range 10W.
“Thornapple Township was organized
under a legislature act approved March 6,
1838, and included the NW quarter of the
county, now occupied by the townships of
Thornapple, Yankee Springs, Rutland and
Irving. Yankee Springs became a separate
township (in) March 1839. Irving, which
included Rutland, was separated in April
- (Rutland was not separated until 1847.)
“The first annual meeting in Thornapple
was held at the house of B.S. Dibble on April
2, 1838. (At this meeting were Supervisor
Calvin G. Hill; Clerk Henry Leonard; Asses-
sors Benjamin Cummings, Estes Rich and
John Miles; Commissioners of Highways Cal-
vin G. Hill, William Lewis and Chester Field;
Justices of the Peace Hiram Lewis, Aaron
Freeman and Lorenzo Cooley; Overseers of
the Poor Henry Leonard and Benjamin Cum-
mings; Inspectors of Primary Schools C.G.
Hill, John Miles and Estes Rich; Collector
William H. Whitney; Constables Ashbel
Beach, Robert Scale, B.S. Dibble and William
H. Whitney; Highway Overseers, Calvin
Lewis, District No. 1; Robert Scales, District
No. 2 and Lorenzo Cooley in District No. 3.)
“The earliest white settler in Thornapple
and the founder of the village of Middleville
was Calvin G. Hill. In the fall of 1834, he
purchased from the government 400 acres
lying on both sides of Thornapple River,
within the present limits of the village of
Middleville.
“The stage route from Battle Creek through
Yankee Springs, crossing the river one mile
north from the location of the present bridge
and on to Grand Rapids, passed through Mid-
dleville and by the log school building.
“The first meeting of the school inspectors
was held on April 12, 1838. Calvin G. Hill
was chosen chairman and the township was
divided into five school districts, the present
township of Thornapple constituting District
No. 1. This was subdivided into four districts,
but these were soon again united into one.
“Middleville (called Thornapple in the
beginning) was named Middleville from the
Indian village called Middle Village, by rea-
son of being midway between Kalamazoo
and Grand Rapids.
“The name Middleville was adopted in- However, the village was not formally
recorded until April 12, 1859.
“The first schoolhouse built in the town-
ship stood in what is now Middleville on the
west side of the river one half-mile north of
present Main Street on Arlington Street. This
was the main stage road between Kalamazoo
and Grand Rapids.
“The structure consisted of one room and
was made of logs. Charles Paull, the carpen-
ter, finished it off in a high style of art, as
circumstances permitted. Sarah Paull was
the first teacher and Mrs. Coman was the
second. Teachers changed, often twice in
one year. The Reverend Mr. Wilcox, a Disci-
ples minister, taught the school and preached
also to a church organization that met in the
schoolhouse.
“About 1840, a frame schoolhouse replaced
the log building.
“A report made by the inspector of this
district in 1843 gave the number of children
in the district between the age of 4 and 18 as
19; the number attending over 18 and under 4
years of age was 10.
“The report also stated that the school was
kept seven months. J.H. Hare and Jane Hill
were the teachers. Mr. Hare received $43 for
three months of service. Jane Hill received
but $16 for four months. Both teachers board-
ed in the community.
“In May 1843, Jane Hill and Amanda Har-
wood were appointed teachers. In November
1843, George B. Manchester and A.C. Hill
received appointments, and in that year $
was raised for a township library.
“May 4, 1844, Jane Hill was appointed to
teach in District No. 2, and on Nov. 2, 1844,
Samuel C. Sprague became a teacher in the
same district. Mary A. Bugbee was appointed
to teach in June 1845 and Johnson C.
Goodrich in October 1845.
“District No. 3 was organized on Nov. 29,
1845, and the first meeting in the district was
held Jan. 17, 1846, at the house of Robert
Scales. In 1846, Caroline Leonard and W.B.
Goodrich were appointed teachers.
“District No. 4 was organized in Septem-
ber 1849. No. 5 was organized in 1853 and
No. 6 in 1857. No. 7 was organized in 1868.
The condition of seven township schools, as
set forth in the official report for 1879,
appears (in) the following abstract: No. of
Districts, 7; No. of Children of school age,
573; average attendance, 458; value of prop-
erty, $21,000; teacher’s wage, $2,058.
“The school directors for 1879 were John
Moe, P.C. Freeman, J.S. Johnson, J.C. Syter, J.
Carlisle, C. Rosenberger and A.A. Thompson.
“The village school was kept on the west
side of the river until 1854, when a brick two-
room, one-story building was built on the
present grounds now occupied by the Union
School, on the east side of the river, the lot
being donated by Calvin G. Hill, and there-
upon the school on the west side of the river
was abandoned.
“In 1871, the present Union School con-
sisting of a basement and three-story struc-
ture was built on the same grounds just back
of the old building, at a cost of $15,000. It
contained four departments, primary, inter-
mediate, grammar and high school. Four
teachers were employed. The fourth floor was
used as an auditorium and later, when needed,
as classrooms.
“The attendance of pupils in March 1880
was 288. The principal was Charles W. Pickel.
“The village school was used for worship
until 1863 when Charles Paull’s hall was
occupied. In 1866, this was vacated for Swift’s
Hall, which served until the campaign of the
present church edifice in the spring of 1871.
“The Union School of two or three stories
was being promoted by the State of Michigan
Board of Education. They supplied plans to
the villages so the schools would be more or
less uniform.
“The school building was badly damaged
by fire in 1877. The school was closed six
weeks for repairs.
“In 1878, the school was organized into a
12-grade, accredited high school.
“Due to the growth of the school in the fall
of 1924, a two-room portable building was
purchased for the use of the primary depart-
ment. Teachers were increased as needed until
the present faculty numbered eight. Music,
Kindergarten and athletic departments were
added. In athletics, the basketball teams have
been very successful. They have won the cup
for the county several times and been very
close contestants for first place in baseball.
“In 1928-1929, Mr. Jennings, superinten-
dent, drew a salary of $2,6000 a year. The
bell that called the children to school now is
the same one used in the two-room school
building in 1854.
“In December 1930, at a special election, it
was voted that again the township schools,including Middleville High School, become a
township unit to take effect in the fall of 1931.
“A building is being erected again on the
west side of the river at (a) cost of approxi-
mately $90,000. It is a beautiful structure and
expertly equipped.
“The teachers for 1929-1930 were as fol-
lows: Superintendent D.D.Wolverton; Princi-
pal B.F. Harris; language, Emma Vaughn;
mathematics, Geraldine Wolverton; seventh
and eighth grades, Dorris Hyde; fifth and
sixth, Reva Moored; third and fourth, Mary
Blosser; Kindergarten and music, Vera Lewis;
first and second grade, Minnie McFall; Dis-
trict Nop. 1, Helen Brog; District No. 3, Vera
Carter; District No. 4, Julia Eaton; District
No. 5, Doris Snyder; District No. 6, Crystal
Finkbeiner; District No. 7, Marjorie Currier,
and District No. 9, Barbara Windes, Jackson
District.
“The teachers for 1930-1931 were as fol-
lows: Superintendent LeRoy Bell; Principal
Ivan Lyons; manual arts, Irving Forthworth;
domestic service, Zetta Thomas, Geraldine
Wolverton and Emma Vaughn; grades, Bar-
bara Windes, Crystal Bragdon, Evelyn Thom-
as, Lydia Marsh, Minnie McFall and Winn-
ifred Gentzler.
“Middleville School closed the year of
1929-1930 with an enrollment of 239. They
expected to begin 1930-31 with an enroll-
ment of at least 400.
“Board of Education members are Charles
Parker, president; G.E. Blake; James L. Rugg;Philip Bender and Howard Smith.
“A committee of the Middleville Women’s
Reading Club hereby respectfully submit the
above report and data to the School Board of
Middleville on the day, July 14, 1931 A.D.
“Committee: Mrs. John Otto, Mrs. Harry
E. Bennett, Mrs. Frank Pratt, Mrs. John Diet-
rich and Mrs. Frank Prindle.”
The W.K. Kellogg School was built on the
west side of the river in 1930-1931 and was a
state-of-the-art school building. Many of the
rural schools of the area were annexed to the
new 12-grade Middleville school. School
buses were needed to transport the children to
school from the outlying districts. Middleville
had two women bus drivers: Mary Rosenberg
and Mary Boley Rosenberg.
The new school became overcrowded and
a new high school was built to the west of the
1930-1931 school. A new grade school was
also built on the north side of the street, and
the former high school building was used as
a middle school.
In 1999, Thornapple Kellogg Schools are
experiencing many new services in all of the
buildings and the middle school students
have entered a new, state-of-the-art school for
the year of 1999-2000.
Sources: Contents of a time capsule removed
from the cornerstone of the T.K. Middle
School; Thornapple Township School, Norma
Velderman, Barry County Historical Society,
Hastings Banner, July 29, 1931; The Sun and
News, Aug. 3, 1999 and Aug. 24, 1999.Thursday, Feb. 29 – Movie Memories &
Milestones watches a 1943 film starring
Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland and June Ally-
son, 5 p.m.
March 1-31 – Winter Reading Challenge
(adults); National Quilting month, quilts on
display; March is Reading Month.
Friday, March 1 – Friday Story Time,
10:30 a.m.
Saturday, March 2 – Eclipse Safety: Stand-
ing in the Shadow of the Moon, 2 p.m. Join
HPL and the Kalamazoo Astronomical Soci-
ety to learn about April’s upcoming totaleclipse. Attendees will receive a pair of solar
eclipse glasses.
Monday, March 4 – Crafting Passions, 10
a.m.; library board meeting, 4:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 5 – Baby Cafe, 10 a.m.;
mahjong, 2 p.m.; chess, 5 p.m.
Wednesday, March 6 – Itsy Bitsy Book
Club, 10:30 a.m.; Digital Literacy: Expand
Excel Skills, 2-4 p.m.; Writers’ Night, 6:
p.m.
More information about these and other
events is available by calling the library, 269-
945-4263.Marine mammals
Why are dolphins mammals and not fish?
Evie, 9, Wash.Dear Evie,
As fellow mammals, you and I have a lot
in common. It’s easy to see our similarities
because humans and cats spend lots of time
together. We may even be roommates or
family.
But humans and cats don’t usually have
dolphin besties. It’s harder to see what we
have in common when our bodies and lives
are so different.
To better understand mammal life, I
talked with my friend Kevin Turner. He
teaches marine biology at Washington
State University.
“The name mammal comes from the
presence of mammary glands,” Turner said.
“So, the major characteristic of mammals is
that we have mammary glands to produce
milk for our offspring.”
Mammary glands are organs in a mam-
mal’s torso that make and secrete milk. It’s
how mammals feed their babies. Dolphinsand other whales make milk that’s thick like
yogurt or toothpaste. That makes it easier
for their babies to feed underwater.
There are three other traits that mammals
share–with some exceptions.
First, mammals are warm-blooded. That
means we make heat to keep the tempera-
ture inside our bodies much warmer than
the temperature outside. To stay warm in
cold water, dolphins and other whales have
a layer of fat called blubber to help hold in
the heat they make.
Turner told me that naked mole rats are
mammals that act more like cold-blooded
animals. They can’t hold their internal
body temperature steady. So, they stay
warm by moving to warmer tunnels and
snuggling together.
Second, mammals have fur or hair. But
dolphins aren’t furry. They feel like wet hot
dogs. Baby dolphins are born with just a few
whiskers around their mouths. Ocean dolphins
lose their whiskers as they grow. River dol-
phins keep their whiskers and use them like
feelers to help find their way in murky waters.Third, mammals give birth to live young.
Dolphins and other whales birth their babies
underwater and then help them swim to the
surface to take their first breath. That means
mammals don’t lay eggs.
But don’t tell that to a platypus or echid-
na. They belong to a group of mammals
called monotremes. They lay soft, leathery
eggs that enclose their babies–called pug-
gles.
Turner told me that monotremes are
unusual mammals when it comes to milk,
too. Their bodies aren’t set up for suckling,
so monotremes ooze or sweat milk from the
skin over their mammary glands. Their
babies lap up the milk. That’s why people
who rescue orphaned monotremes don’t use
bottles. They pour milk or formula on their
hands for the babies to slurp.
The big question is: Why are there so
many mammals who break the mammal
rules?
It’s because nature didn’t make the rules.
People did. In fact, humans made a whole
branch of science for sorting living things
into groups–called taxonomy.
“In taxonomy, all the named bins we sort
organisms into is for our convenience,”
Turner said. “But animals did not evolve
into perfect distinct bins, and sometimes the
bins we use don’t perfectly line up with
actual species.”
Sorting things is just one of the many
adorable quirks that make humans stand out
in a sea of mammals.Dr. UniverseDo you have a question? Ask Dr. Uni-
verse. Send an email to Washington State
University’s resident scientist and writer at
[email protected] or visit her website,
askdruniverse.com.HASTINGS PUBLIC
LIBRARY SCHEDULE
Pierce Cedar Creek Institute
events for March 1-
March 1-31 – March Storybook Walk:
“How to Catch a Clover Thief” by Elise
Parsley. Follow this funny tale about prob-
lem-solving and ingenuity to discover
who’s stealing Roy’s favorite meal from
right under his snout. The Storybook Walk
is free and self-guided.
March 1-31 – Who Stole the Rose Hips?
Mystery game on the trails. Be a naturedetective and help solve the mystery of the
missing rose hips.
Saturday, March 2 – Stewardship work-
day, 1:30-4 p.m. Join Stewardship Man-
ager Mary Parr for winter land manage-
ment.
Those interested can register for these
events and find more information at cedar-
creekinstitute.org/events/.GRIEF SUPPORT GROUP
Help and encouragement after the
death of a loved one
GriefShare is a special weekly seminar and support
group designed to help you rebuild your life. We
know it hurts, and we want to help.
Mondays 6-8 p.m.
March 4 - May 27
Community Baptist Church
502 E. Grand St.
Hastings, MI 4905
945-
The Union School, built in Middleville in 1871.Middleville Middle School, built in 1930-1931.