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ebook History of Watertown, Wisconsin
Professor Charles Viebahn
Early Educator
1900
11 30 FIRST
MEETING WITH THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
Prof.
C. F. Viebahn, in looking over the files of The Republican in our office Saturday,
ran across the news items recording his first meeting with the Board of
Education in this city, and noticed the fact that it was just 20 years before
to a day (Nov. 24, 1880.) Although engaged as city superintendent by
the board at that time, Prof. Viebahn did not locate
here until the following spring. W. D.
Parker, of the town of Watertown, now residing in Iowa, having charge of the
schools in the interim. Twenty years is
a good long time to hold a position of this nature continuously, but Prof. Viebahn has done so with entire satisfaction to all
concerned. It is interesting to note
that three of the teachers who held the positions in the schools when he first
came here are still numbered among his co-workers. WG
1905
12 29 PROF.
VIEBAHN ON TEACHING GEOGRAPHY
Prof.
C. F. Viebahn was in attendance yesterday at the
State convention of state superintendents. He made a very interesting report on
the teaching of geography in which he urged the practice of making vivid word
pictures for the pupils to base their lessons upon. It was a good principle to
have the pupils draw outline maps of continents and countries from memory which
would be of inestimable benefit to the child. He also suggested the study of
the globe in which cities and countries with certain conditions exports,
peculiarities of the people and historical incidents could be associated as
worthy reference.
1907
03 16 VIEBAHN
VISITS FORT
Prof.
C. F. Viebahn of Watertown spent a few hours in our
city last Friday. Mr. Viebahn has visited and reported upon the condition of
every rural school in Jefferson County during the past few months, in his
capacity of assisting superintendent.
His candidacy for county superintendent is being very well received
throughout Jefferson county and his high standing as an eminent educator of
Wisconsin assures us that, if elected, the county schools, will lose nothing
from their present high standing. [Ft. Atkinson Democrat]
1911
05 18 COMPLIMENTS
PROF. VIEBAHN
Professor
Viebahn needs no defense in connection with the so-called
book trust legislation. No fairer man
exists among all the solons. That fact
we all know — and those of us who have known him longest know it best. Prof. Viebahn is a
fine, scholarly, upright character, and old friends will not remain silent a
moment when, even in remotest manner or by vaguest innuendo, his honored name
becomes carelessly linked up to a legislative transaction the least
questionable. To be sure, no insinuation
really worth recognition has been voiced, yet one who has noted with respectful
appreciation and almost affectionate interest the high-minded course of this
cultivated gentleman for nearly forty years will be pardoned for a quick
assumption of the defensive at the very first intimation that might in any
degree involve his integrity. [Madison Democrat] WG
1915, OBITUARY
One of
Watertown's most beloved and highly respected educators in its public school
system was the late Prof. Charles F. Viebahn. He was not
only an outstanding school man who helped introduce many modern transformations
into the public schools of the city; he was also a civic leader and had an
active public career aside from his education activities.
Prof. Viebahn died at his home at South Seventh and Western
Avenue. He had held the position of principal of Watertown
High School and superintendent of schools for 24 uninterrupted years - from
1880 to 1904. Before that he had also been county superintendent of schools in
both Sauk and Manitowoc Counties.
Watertown
knew him in many different capacities. He was a legislator, instructor and
counselor.
No
educator in the State of Wisconsin was better or more favorably known over the
state than Prof. Viebahn, who in addition to the
laurels won as instructor par excellence, was three times selected to represent
his district in the Legislature.
Educator
Mr. Viebahn was the first in many things: while he was
principal of the schools of Manitowoc in 1873 he established the first
kindergarten in the state to be operated in connection with a public school;
while he was county superintendent of schools of Sauk County he prepared and
introduced a course of study for country schools, the first course of the kind
in the state; he was the first teacher in the state to be granted an unlimited
teachers' certificate.
Honored
as an educator from one end of the state to another, Mr. Viebahn
had been president of the Wisconsin Teachers' Association, and had frequently
conducted teachers' institutes and presented many papers before educational
bodies. He had been a member of the state board of examiners for many years,
serving under five different state superintendents, and was at the time of his
death its chairman.
Born in Germany
Mr. Viebahn was born in Germany, near the city of Cologne, in
1842. At the age of ten years he came to Wisconsin with his parents, and for
the next ten years his home was on a farm. He was educated in the public
schools, by private instruction and study and by attending the University of
Wisconsin for three years.
During
two winter terms his course as a student was interrupted by teaching a country
school. He studied law and was admitted to practice, but finally decided to
adopt teaching as a profession.
The
honorable and responsible positions he held in his lifetime followed in rapid
succession until his retirement in 1904.
Legislator
Elected
to the Legislature in 1908, 1910 and again in 1912, Mr. Viebahn
served with honor, and was chairman of the committee on education during one
term and also member of the committee on legislative procedure.
Mr. Viebahn was in the University of Wisconsin with John Muir,
famous naturalist and explorer. In the
Legislature in 1912-13, a Democratic colleague of Mr. Viebahn
was I. N. Stewart, Appleton. The three students, Muir, Viebahn
and Stewart, roomed in the same house back in 1861. Viebahn
and Stewart were the oldest Legislators in the session of 1913.
After
completing his last term in the Legislature, Prof. Viebahn
lived quietly and unostentatiously in Watertown, yet by no means without
interest in the life of his fellow citizens, for he retained till the last his
interest in the affairs of life, and most particularly the affairs of
education.
He was
an almost daily visitor at the high school of the city, and even during the
last winter before his death had taught classes in the schools, relieving
teachers who were ill or forced to be absent for other reasons. In November,
1914, he took an active part in the meeting of the Wisconsin State Teachers'
Association at Milwaukee.
Mr. Viebahn mastered one of the most difficult of arts, that of
growing old gracefully. During the months before his death, his friends noted
with regret that he was failing in bodily health. The tall, impressive figure
was growing stooped; the old educator walked more slowly and was less light on
his feet. But his every-day smile was always in evidence and his words of
greeting were as bright and cheery as of yore.
With
the passage of Prof. Viebahn, Watertown lost one of
its most honored and best loved citizen, a man whose honesty and integrity,
faithfulness and abilities were never questioned.
Married Twice
Prof. Viebahn twice was married. The first wife, who was Miss
Lona Fischer, to whom he was wedded in 1868, died in 1893. One son was born to
the couple, the late Gustave O. Viebahn, a brilliant
man with many of his father's talents, who served the city of Watertown for
several years as city engineer. The professor was saddened by the death of this
son, which occurred Feb. 2, 1897. In the fall of 1895 Prof. Viebahn
married Mrs. Josephine Hall, who had two daughters of a former marriage.
Prof. Viebahn's grave is in Oak Hill
cemetery. In the history of Watertown schools and its progress in education
his name will always loom large among the men of the city's first century.
Prof. C. F. Viebahn
As a
man of sterling integrity he whose name heads this sketch ranks high. As an
earnest, conscientious, progressive educator he occupies a leading place, and
has achieved honor in his county and among his own people. In the enthusiastic
pursuit of his chosen profession he has awakened public sentiment to a higher
appreciation of the benefits of education that will bring renown to his memory
as well as satisfaction to his highest aspirations. He is well entitled to the
reputation he has certainly acquired of being one of the most successful
educators of Wisconsin, and as superintendent of the public schools and
principal of the High School of Watertown, Wis., he has proven himself equal to
the task imposed upon him, and enjoys to the fullest extent the respect of his
fellow men, as well as of his pupils. Public education has no more earnest
advocate and co-operator than he, and as he is a man of action, of original and
positive character, he has left his impress upon his sphere of public duty.
He was
born in Cologne, Germany, April 20, 1841, and possesses some of the most worthy
characteristics of that race, being intelligent, persevering, and at all times
to be relied upon. His parents, Peter V. and Wilhelma
(Deitenbach) Viebahn, came
to the United States in 1851, and after a short residence at Baraboo, located
on a farm near Mauston, Wis., where they were both eventually called from this
life. The father was a notary public when in his native land, and although he
gave some attention to agriculture after reaching this country, he was
practically retired from the active duties of life. Two of three children born
to them are living: Prof. C. F., and William, who is a farmer in the vicinity
of Blue Earth City, Minn.
The youthful
days of Prof. Viebahn were spent in his native land,
in the public schools of which country he received his initiatory scholastic
training. At the age of ten years he was brought to the United States by his
parents, and until he attained his eighteenth year he made his home with his
father on the farm and pursued his studies in the district schools near his
rural home. He then began the calling of a pedagogue, in order to acquire means
with which to put him through college, and as he pursued this occupation during
the winter months, he was enabled to attend the University of Wisconsin during
the summer.
In
1862 he became principal of the Sauk City public schools, continuing as such up
to 1869, with the exception of one year, and from 1870 to 1872 was county
superintendent of schools of Sauk County, Wis. From that time up to 1879 he was
the efficient principal of the public schools of Manitowoc, Wis., then was
elected to the responsible position of superintendent of schools of Manitowoc
County, a position he filled with marked ability, as he had also in Sauk
County, until 1881. Since that time he has been
superintendent of the public schools and principal of the High School of
Watertown, positions for which his varied talents eminently fit him.
The
present high school building of the place was erected under his supervision,
contains seven rooms, and has an average attendance of 120 pupils in the high
school. Prof. Viebahn is a man of fine intellect, is
a fine disciplinarian, and has the faculty of presenting his explanations in a
clear and forcible manner, and in language fitted for the comprehension of the
dullest pupil.
He is
with reason regarded as one of the ablest educators of the State, and his heart
is in his work, a secret, no doubt, of his success. He keeps well posted on the
progress made in his profession, takes some leading educational periodicals,
has a well selected, though small, library, and is advanced in all his views.
He was
married in 1868 to Miss Lona Fischer, by whom he has one son: G. O., who is the
present city engineer of Watertown, and a substantial and intelligent citizen.
Prof. Viebahn is a member of the Sons of Herman, but
as a rule has not interested himself in secret organizations. He has been a
widower since 1893.
Reference:
Above section derived from Memorial
and Genealogical Record of Dodge and Jefferson Counties, Wisconsin,
Chicago: Goodspeed Brothers, 1894.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
PROF. VIEBAHN CALLED BY DEATH
Well
Known Educator Passed Away At Watertown March 17, 1915.
BURIAL
SERVICES SATURDAY
Watertown Daily Times, 03 26 1915
Hon. Charles F. Viebahn died at his home in Watertown,
Wednesday evening, March 17, 1915, at 8 o’clock.
The immediate cause of his death was pneumonia, his sickness covering a
period of less than ten days. Previous
to the fatal attack he enjoyed his usual health. The announcement of his death came as a
surprise to the people of Watertown as well as to many friends all over the
state.
Mr. Viebahn was born in Cologne, Germany, April
20, 1841. In 1851 he came to this
country with his parents and located at Baraboo, from there they removed to a
farm near Mauston, Wis. Mr. Viebahn received his early education in Germany and later
in the public schools in and around Mauston, teaching school at various times,
which enabled him to get a University of Wisconsin education, from which
institution he received a life state certificate. From 1862 to 1869 he was principal of the
Sauk City public schools and from 1870 to 1872 was county superintendent of
Sauk County, and from 1872 till 1879 he was principal of the city schools of
Manitowoc, and was then elected superintendent of schools of Manitowoc county,
filling that position till 1881, when he was appointed superintendent of
schools and principal of the High School of Watertown, Wis.., filling this
important office with great distinction for 24 years. He was twice married, his first wife and one
son, Gustav Viebahn, former city engineer at
Watertown, dying quite a few years ago.
His second wife survives him, also her two daughters, the Misses Lucy
and Catherine Hall. After retiring from his
school work in Watertown Mr. Viebahn represented his
assembly district in the state legislature from 1908 till the close of the
1913-1914 session when he retired voluntarily.
He has been president of the State Teachers’ Association and for many
years previous to his death, was chairman of the state superintendents of
public instructions. He was earnest,
conscientious and progressive in all his work and was honored and esteemed not
only at home but throughout the state as a man of high ideals and worthy
motives. He was an earnest advocate of
purity in politics and as a public educator there was no more earnest advocate
in the entire country than he. In his
death the city of Watertown has lost one of its very best citizens, and all
classes of people mourn his death sincerely. His funeral services were held at Watertown,
last Saturday, Mar. 20, 1915.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Through
the death of Mr. Viebahn, which occurred March 17th,
the high school lost a warm friend, a faithful supporter, and a fair critic,
whose presence encouraged pupils and teachers.
Mr.
Viebahn was sympathetic and kindly disposed towards
us at all times. His wide experience as teacher, supervisor, and
superintendent, made him a valuable counselor.
He
was for twenty-four years, from 1880 to 1904, superintendent of Watertown
Public Schools. During that time he made many friends for the schools and his
high ideals became a part of the life of students who worked with him.
Within
the memory of the class of 1915, he has conducted classes in botany, in algebra
and in German in the high school. He visited classes often and usually left
some word of encouragement or advice.
His death is mourned by the entire student body. He will be remembered as a kindly, venerable
man, whose place will never be fully filled by another.
Thomas
J. Berto, Superintendent of Schools
1915
Watertown High School Orbit
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Watertown
Gazette, 03 25 1915
On Friday last Mayor Charles A. Kading issued the following proclamation in honor of the
late Prof. C. F. Viebahn:
This community has suffered a great loss in
the death of the Hon. C. F. Viebahn. By choice devoting himself for almost a half
of a century to instructing and imparting knowledge, he justly earned for
himself the reputation of being one of the foremost educators of our
state. Having been the head of our
public schools for almost a quarter of a century, his spotless character and
enviable qualities have valuable and lasting teachings with all those of our
citizens now residing here who came under his influence, and with many who have
gone from our city to all parts of the United States.
Let the flag be placed at half-mast on the
city hall until after the burial of our great and good citizen, in honor of his
model and useful career and well spent life.
Dated Watertown, Wis., March 19, 1915.
Charles A. Kading,
Mayor.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
FUNERAL
OF PROF. CHARLES F. VIEBAHN
Watertown
Gazette,
03 25 1915
Mr. Viebahn’s
funeral was held Saturday afternoon from his late home at 2:30 o’clock. At the home were assembled many of his
neighbors and intimate friends, members of the Board of Education, the city
superintendent of schools, high school faculty and teachers of the public
schools, members of the city council and city officials. There were many present from throughout the
state . . .
Prof. C. E. Patzer,
head of the manual training department of the Milwaukee Normal School, was the
chief speaker at the funeral services at the home. Prof. Patzer was a
former student of Prof. Viebahn and was principal of
Watertown schools under Supt. Viebahn. He spoke feelingly of the magnificent
qualities as a teacher and as a man possessed by his former teacher. Prof. Sims also spoke briefly on the splendid
character of Mr. Viebahn and a vocal selection was
rendered by Mrs. Wm. Sproesser.
At the graveside in Oak Hill cemetery Speaker
Whittet paid a fitting tribute to Prof. Viebahn and laid the handsome floral tribute of the
legislators on the casket.
The honorary pallbearers were — William H.
Rohr, William D. Sproesser, William F. Voss, John Schempf, Julius Wiggenhorn, John Habhegger, Max H. Gaebler, C. H.
Jacobi.
State Superintendent of Schools Cary of
Madison and Ex-Assemblyman Judson Hall of Hartland were also here for the
funeral.
Among the relatives, E. Fischer, brother of
the professor’s first wife, was here from Manitowoc, and Mrs. Kate Owen, who
was Miss Kate Fischer, was here from Ft. Pierre, Dakota. Mrs. Owen was a niece of the late Mrs. Viebahn, and as a girl, lived here with the Viebahns for many years.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
FINE
TRIBUTE TO CHARLES F. VIEBAHN
President
Sims of Stevens Point Normal speaks eloquently of late educator.
The
Watertown News, 20 Apr 1915
The following address, delivered by president John F. Sims of the Stevens Point Normal School at
the funeral of Hon. Charles F. Viebahn, March 20, 1915,
is such a masterpiece of diction that we take the privilege of publishing it.
Friends: We are met to pay the last tribute of respect
and affection to your friend and my friend — Charles F. Viebahn.
“His life was gentle, and the elements
So mixed in him, that nature might stand up,
And say to all the world, This was a man.”
On such an occasion one’s thoughts naturally
turn to the theme of religion. When we consider the enduring things of life in
relation to the individual, we instinctively inquire what was or is his
religion. A man’s religion is the chief thing
about him; compared with this all other factors sink into insignificance. What does he consider as his relationship to
the eternal verities? What has he
formulated as his plan of life to fulfill the measure of his existence in the
abiding and enduring satisfactions of life?
Our friend lies here pale and still; his lips
are cold, his heart is pulseless; the blood current is
congealed in his veins. Many a time and
oft have I listened to his words of encouragement, to the gentle tones which
sounded the call to duty and industry. On
this solemn subject of religion, I do not remember to have had conversation
with him unless it was on a subject of close and vital relationship — education.
Could I now be vouchsafed the privilege of
conference on this theme I know he would voice convictions in harmony with the
following sentiments, which were instilled into our hearts by our mothers in
the paradise of childhood, whence we have long been driven by the passing
years. Our angel mother taught us as she
folded us in her arms, or as we sat upon her knee, that we were created in the
image of God. What did this mean to us
in the tender years of childhood? Into
what concrete and familiar pictures were these words transformed? Did you not often with the divine faculty of
imagination make effort to form a picture of God — weaving into your creation
such elements as his patriarchal form, his flowing robes of white, his erect
carriage, his facial expression of dignity, sympathy, and genuine goodness, his
personality of inexhaustible power and love? How fruitless were our best efforts!
When the years of maturity came, and
reflection was habitual, we conceived this Creator to be the embodiment of
mercy, power, wisdom, and love. God is
all-merciful, all-powerful, all-wise, and all-loving. We endow Him with those beneficent attributes.
Then into our consciousness surged the
comforting and hallowed thought that we, even the poorest, the humblest, and
the least among us, possess in some degree, however infinitesimal, those
attributes which He possessed in superlative degree: that we have in our own
personalities the element of mercy, power, wisdom, and love. To be made in his image, then, signifies that,
possessing these in small degrees, we may, through the inborn principle of self
activity, incorporate these qualities into our own personalities in ever
expanding degrees, until we approach, as a limit, the type of that Man who
wrought as never man wrought, who spoke as never man spoke, whose achievements
in the spiritual realm have never been transcended — Jesus Christ.
Measured by this supreme test, our friend,
Charles F. Viebahn, whose spirit has winged its
flight into eternity, was a religious man. From boyhood, through youth to manhood, by
reason of his faith —
“Heaven’s rich instincts in him grew
As effortless, as woodland nooks
Send violets up and paint them blue.”
It is my fortune to count him for many years
as a friend. Friendship with him was
sacred, and one of his striking characteristics was his loyalty to his friends.
Another beautiful trait in his nature
was his custom of finding out something good in all whom he met and of
complimenting them upon this quality, whatever it might be. Nothing gave him more enduring satisfaction
than discovering boys and girls, ambitious and worthwhile, and quietly urging
them to make the most of themselves, always contributing, always unostentatiously,
from his own means to further their education. I do not recall that he ever spoke a word in
disparagement of any one, though provocation was often present.
In his chosen profession, that of teaching,
he rose to eminence, many of his fellow craftsmen speaking of him as the Nestor
of Wisconsin City Superintendents. Believing
that all instruction must contribute to the mental and moral development of the
child, and knowing that such development will follow
only from activity of mind and conscience on the part of the learner, his
methods of teaching were purposeful and effective. As a superintendent he labored diligently to
inculcate those methods and ideals into the personality of his teachers in
order that all of the children under his supervision be taught how to think and
how to behave, the two most important functions any one is called upon to
perform. This master teacher’s memory we
shall ever cherish in our hearts; we shall follow his example in our
educational efforts; and we shall endeavor to fit ourselves to enter the home
of the soul to which his spirit has gone, and to which, sooner or later, we
also must go.
In the Book of Books
we are warned of a day “When the Son of Man shall come in His glory and all the
holy angels with Him; then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory. And before Him shall be gathered all nations;
and He shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divideth
his sheep from the goats; and He shall set the sheep on His right hand and the
goats on the left. Then shall the King
say unto them on his right hand: ‘Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’ Then shall he say also unto them on his left
hand: ‘Depart from me into everlasting punishment.’ ” Whatever may have been the belief of our
friend concerning this remote day, I know that he held fast to the faith that
every day was a day of judgment; that each day’s close brought its reward or
its punishment in proportion as man lived and wrought in the light of his
highest ideals, or was traitor to them. He
knew that each day brought its heaven, or the keen accusation of a sensitive
conscience. Through his long life of
more than three score and ten years, he sought to make every day a heaven, by
ever doing, in full measure, with all his growing might, the duty that lay
nearest him, which is the surest entrance into the kingdom of heaven, for it is
the kingdom of justice, peace, righteousness, and good will. I know of no one whose every effort was to
make it more complete in accordance with the “Golden Rule,” or whose life
better exemplified the life glorified by our New England poet, who exhorts us:
“So live, that when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan, that moves
To that mysterious realm, where each shall
take
His chamber in the silent halls of death,
Thou go not life a quarry-slave at night
Scourged in his dungeon, but, sustained and
soothed
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave,
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies
down to pleasant dreams.”
All that is mortal of Charles F. Viebahn has passed away. He has put on the garb of immortality. He is gone, but he yet lives. Friend and teacher, we cherish his memory. Hundreds and thousands have large reason to
mourn the passing of this generous, beneficent, and forceful soul. A great light has gone out. Peace to his ashes. Peace and comfort to those who knew and loved
him best.
1915, continued
05 20 PROF. VIEBAHN'S PORTRAIT
Former
pupils of the late Prof. C. F. Viebahn at Manitowoc
will present an oil painting of Mr. Viebahn to the
Board of Education of that city to be placed in the First ward school of which
Mr. Viebahn was formerly principal. WG
08 12 MEMORIAL FOR PROF. VIEBAHN
A plan
for the raising of money to create a fund for the purpose of placing in the
First ward school a fitting memorial to Prof. Viebahn
was started last week by graduates of the school and pupils who attended at the
time that Mr. Viebahn was principal of this
school. Miss Emile Richter was made
chairman of the committee in charge of the matter and she has requested that
all donations to the fund be handed to the East Wisconsin Trustee Co. —
Manitowoc Pilot.
The
late Prof. O. F. Viebahn, was an educator and later
as a member of the legislature from the first district of Jefferson county, did
splendid work in furthering education.
The fitting tribute to his memory at Manitowoc where he spent the
earlier years of his life, should inspire his Jefferson county friends to also
give some acknowledgement of his work. —
Ft. Atkinson Democrat.
Cross-References:
No 1: Viebahn, C F, 1917,
Watertown library citation
No 2:
Watertown High School from 1881 to 1904
History of Watertown,
Wisconsin