The earliest schools were semi-public, though supported entirely by
private subscription. Public sentiment clearly favored the public
school and secured its establishment so soon as conditions, including
the necessary school laws, made it possible. The reason for the
predominance of this sentiment in favor of the public schools can be
found in the fact that many of the leaders in the development of the
city came from the northern and middle western states, where the idea
of public education had a firm hold. V. Boelling, S. T. McKean, W. W.
Parker, Col. James Taylor, and later Capt. George Flavel, Mrs. H. B.
Parker, John Hobson and many others were earnest advocates and liberal
supporters of public schools.
The public school has had an almost uninterrupted growth from the
beginning, and to-day shows the result of half a century of effort.