Zuck - John Stout - Montgomery InGenWeb Project

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Prof. John Stout Zuck, County Superintendent of Schools of Montgomery County, Ind., is not only well and favorable known throughout the State as an educator, but also as a fine organizer and as a lecturer. He has performed the duties of his present office with zeal, has kept the schools of this county in the front rank, and has much increased their proficiency.

Mr. Zuck was born one mile north of Wesley Chapel, Wayne Township, Montgomery County, April 10, 1850. He is the son of John and Emaline (Stout) Zuck, the father being a Pennsylvanian, and the mother an Ohioan. The grandfather of our subject was David Zuck, who was an early pioneer of Montgomery County, where his life ended, as also did that of his son, the father of the gentleman of whom we are writing. John Zuck, Sr., died in 1861 at the old homestead, but his wife still lives at the age of sixty-five at Waynetown. John Stout, the grandfather on the maternal side, was also a pioneer of the county, and became a public man and well-known personage.

The subject of this notice grew up with his father on the farm until the age of fifteen years, and then with his mother moved to Mt. Vernon, Iowa, in 1868, and there entered Cornell College. Here he enjoyed superior educational advantages for two and a-half years. At the end of this time he began to teach school, and continued this congenial employment for three years. Although teaching was the employment he most enjoyed, his first experience was one which must have severely tried his mettle. "The Hoosier Schoolmaster' has given the world an idea of how much annoyance a right-minded young man may have to undergo in some localities when he assumes the duties of pedagogue, and when Mr. Zuck, at the age of seventeen years, took charge of his first school, he was following in the footsteps of a teacher who had literally been driven out of his position by five of the pupils. We are in ignorance of the exact methods employed by our subject to quell the rebellious spirits, but he did so, and his term ended without his having had to administer corporal punishment during the whole term.

After this time Mr. Zuck taught school in other parts of Jones and Cedar Counties, Iowa, where there had been trouble with unruly pupils, but there was some magnetic influence about him that caused the dissentions to cease, and in every place he left peace and friendship behind him. After this time the family moved into Indiana again and Mr. Zuck entered the hardware business with his brother at Waynetown. In the mean time he read law, and in 1884 he was admitted to the Bar. He practiced law for about five years, and then returned to his old beloved profession of teaching and was made Principal of the Waynetown school for seven years. The Wesley Academy of that place had been changed into a public school and our subject took charge of it until 1886. After this he went to College Grove and for two years conducted a school there very acceptably, and in June, 1889, he was elected to the honorable office of Superintendent of Schools. So well did he perform the arduous duti es of the office that in 1891 he received a re-election, and by common consent was re-elected again in 1893.

Since taking charge of the schools of Montgomery County, our subject has adopted many excellent methods which reflect credit upon himself and upon the county. One of these is the rule that all teachers shall send a monthly report to the Superintendent, and as there are two hundred and two teachers, one hundred and fifty-six schools, and twelve graded schools, the work entailed by this method is not to be lightly considered. When our subject took charge of the office three hundred and fifty persons held certificates, and now there is no unemployed teacher in the county. Some of these have had Normal training and have received State licenses from the examinations upon questions given out by the State Board.

Mr. Zuck has two annual institutes, with monthly township institutes, besides having a Teachers' Association. The opening and closing of the schools all over the county is the same, and the busy Superintendent is seen in every school once a year, and in the mean time is spending his energies in the advancement of every educational measure which comes under his notice. Although Mr. Zuck has devoted so much time to his life work, he believes in the duties of citizenship, and has been one of the leading Democratic politicians in the State. In 1888 he stumped the county as a member of the Central Committee, and has been a delegate to the various conventions.

Mr. Zuck still lives with his mother, who has an extensive property at Waynetown, and has attended to all the business affairs of her lands and tenants. His connection with the Methodist Episopal Church is one of long standing. Fraternally, he is a member of the Masonic lodge and has been active in this work. His connection with temperance work is well known and appreciated in the State, and he is in demand as a lecturer. He is highly respected in the county of which he is a native son, and his work in the schools is regarded with approbation.