An Education Lesson
In 1835 two early Marshall residents, Isaac Crary and Rev. John Pierce, developed Michigan's public school system.
Among the first recruits the Ketchum brothers brought to Marshall was a young attorney from Connecticut named Isaac Crary. He immediately became Michigan’s first territorial representative and then the first state representative to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Another early recruit was Reverend John D. Pierce, who moved to Marshall from New Hampshire as a missionary for the Congregational Church. Reverend Pierce had innovative ideas about education, and in 1834 he worked with Isaac Crary to create a plan which would became the first state educational system in the United States, ratified into the Michigan Constitution in 1835. The innovative educational ideas included coordinating elementary schools within districts, putting libraries inside schools, establishing teaching qualifications, and creating a separate department of education run by a superintendent within the state.
Later, Pierce served as the first state superintendent of education in the country, from 1836 to 1841 (predating Horace Mann of Massachusetts who is also credited with this distinction). In addition, Pierce worked as a preacher, served in the state legislature, and founded The Journal of Education, the first professional education journal in the Great Lakes region.
Crary served as regent for the University of Michigan from 1837 to 1844 and was appointed a member of the State board of education. He was also editor of the local newspapwer, The Marshall Expounder for several years and a member of the Michigan House of Representatives from 1842 to 1846, serving as Speaker of the House in 1846.
Local legend says these two gentlemen sat under a large oak tree while discussing and finalizing their public school plan. When that tree died in 1980, local school childern raised money to pay a chainsaw carver to use the tree trunk to create a sculpture of the event. This "Education Oak" sculpture now resides in the main lobby of the Marshall Middle School.
Entrance into the school is free, but you must check in at the front office, just inside the main front doors, before viewing the statue.
