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Harvey Marion LaFollette
HARVEY MARION LAFOLLETTE.
The career of Mr. LaFollette shows a man of pre-eminent
usefulness, holding a prominent place among the men whose
industry and ingenuity have illustrated the history of the
west. Few have done more or obtruded themselves less than
himself. His success, like all great successes, has been
achieved against constant disappointments. Perseverance and
indomitable energy have been characteristics of Mr.
LaFollette’s life, which has been one of struggle,
self-reliance, bold efforts, hard won though inadequately
required succes [sic]. He was a son of Harvey and Susan C.
LaFollette, born in the state of Wisconsin, near Madison,
September 8, 1858; two years later removed to Indiana, and
made their final home in Thorntown, Boone County, Indiana,
where his father was accidentally killed by putting a new
wheel in his flouring mill, in 1865, leaving a widow and six
small children, Harvey being the fourth.
Young LaFollette received his early education in the
Thorntown academy, entering school for the first time at the
age of nine years, passing in five years through the primary
grammar grades, finishing Ray’s higher algebra, and studying
geometry and Latin. His summer vacations were spent in farm
work and in the village stave factory. Every dollar earned
was invested in books of histories and travels. Skating to
an excess in severely cold weather brought on hemorrhage of
the lungs, and at the age of fourteen he was taken out of
school for nearly three years. During these three years he
spent most of his time reading the Thorntown library, it
being at that time one of the most complete libraries in the
state. In 1874 he attended for a time at the Friends’
school, at Sugar Plain. In 1876 he entered the junior year
of the classical course in Wabash College, at
Crawfordsville, but had scarcely begun his term when he was
threatened with a relapse of the disease. He then decided to
seek a milder climate, where he might hope to secure the
coveted education without the certain sacrifice of his
health. He determined to go to France, and in the sunny land
of his forefathers seek at once health and culture.
It was certainly a great undertaking for a boy of eighteen,
with but little money and no acquaintances in Europe, to go
alone among strangers, trusting to make his way by his own
ability. He embarked from New York, February, 1877. He
studied two years in Paris at the College of France, the
Academy of Paris and the Ecole des Ponts et Chaussees. At
the last named he took the regular polytechnic course with
the view of an outdoor life, at the same time keeping up his
favorite studies in metaphysics and the languages, taking
the full course under Laboulaye, Franck and Guillaume
Guizot, at the College of France.
To assist in maintaining himself he taught at night in the
international school of languages, under the direction of
Mous. At the end of two years, having regained his health,
he devoted his time exclusively to languages, metaphysics
and teaching. Spent some of his time at the university of
Gottingen, and passed six months in Rome attending lectures
at the Collegio Romano and studying the Latin tongues. He
traveled through Germany, Bohemia, Hungary, Austria,
Switzerland, Italy, the Netherlands, France and England,
sometimes for weeks on foot, sleeping in peasants’ houses
and learning by actual contact the life and speech of the
people.
In 1880 he returned to Indiana, having accomplished what he
had planned, and in that and the following years he taught
in the Union high schools at Westfield, Hamilton County.
September, 1881, he took charge of the former institution in
Tippecanoe County, was elected county superintendent in
March; has been re-elected. His work as a teacher and
superintendent has received great praise from those who are
acquainted with it. The Indiana School Journal, August,
1886, says of Mr. LaFollette: “He is one of the leading
superintendents in the state. He is perhaps the most
scholarly man in the field. He speaks five different
languages and studied several others. He spent some years
abroad studying, and owns one of the best private libraries
in the state. He is a hard worker and usually accomplishes
what he undertakes.”
At the solicitation of many educational men who knew his
eminent qualifications for the position Mr. LaFollete [sic]
was a candidate for the Republican nomination for
superintendent of public instruction, was nominated
September 2, 1886, and after a heated contest was elected on
the 2d day of November following, receiving a handsome
majority over his opponent and led his ticket by above two
thousand.
His studies and observations in Europe, his knowledge of
literature and varied work in the different grades of public
schools gives him a breadth of knowledge and personal
experience that especially fits him for the duties of the
state superintendency. He succeeded the Hon. John W.
Holcombe, March 15, 1887, Mr. Holcombe and Mr. LaFollette
being the youngest men ever elected to the state
superintendency by the people of Indiana. His friends feel
confident that he educational interests of Indiana will be
ably administered by him. That the efficiency of the office
reached under his immediate predecessor will be maintained,
and that the public schools of this great state will
continue to be the pride of the people during his
administration, no one who knows him can doubt.
Source Citation:
Boone County Biographies [database online] Boone County
INGenWeb. 2007. <http://www.rootsweb.com/~inboone>
Original data: Harden & Spahr. "Early Life and Times in
Boone County, Indiana." Lebanon, Indiana. May, 1887, pp.
322-325.
Transcribed by: Julie S. Townsend - June 29, 2007
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