system, which he then generously characterized as being in “admirable condition.”
II. SHERMAN BECOMES THE FIRST INDEPENDENT TERRITORIAL SUPERINTENDENT.
Closely following his own accession to office, and within a few days after the enactment of the law of February 14, 1879, Gov. Frémont appointed Prof. Moses H. Sherman as his representative to take over the work of the Territorial school superintendent, which, in earlier years, had been performed by the governor himself[1]—for the purpose of the act of 1871 had been to add this school supervision to the duties of the governor, with no extra pay except an allowance of $500 for traveling. The governor was now relieved of the duty, and the $500 allowed him for expenses was given to his successor as salary. Prof. Sherman was a trained school man; he had been for five years at the head of the Prescott schools, was already at the head of his profession in Arizona, and his entrance on the Territorial superintendency was recognized as an advance by the United States Commissioner of Education, who said in his report for 1878 (p. 268):
Even the few statistics received show the advantage of having a superintendent who can give his whole attention to school work, as was the case for the first time in 1878.
Prof. Sherman’s term of office extended from February, 1879, to January 11, 1881, and was continued—by a popular election, in 1880—from January, 1881, to January, 1883. During these years Supt. Sherman did not, however, devote all of his time to Territorial education. He remained principal of the schools of Prescott, and he gave to the Territorial schools such time only as he could spare from his local school duties. Certainly Territorial duties were of less importance from the financial side, and it has been said even that the Territorial superintendency was during this administration little more than a sinecure.
McCrea remarks that the duties of the Territorial superintendency “were mainly of a clerical nature;” and, therefore, that Supt. Sherman was not compelled to relinquish his position as principal of the public schools of Prescott, but continued to serve both the town and the Territory until 1883. McCrea believed that Supt. Sherman’s “reputation for efficient work for educational interests in Arizona would no doubt have been greater had he confined his services to one or the other, instead of trying to serve both.” The Territorial work may have been made clerical from choice, but was not so from
- ↑ There are indications that Sherman had acted in this capacity before his formal appointment, but ex-Supt. Long thinks that this was not the case.
