History of Reedsburg and the Upper Baraboo Valley, by Merton Edwin Krug, Publ. February 1929 by the author. Printed by Democrat Printing Company, Madison, Wis., Page 371

Elder BARBOUR was another of the early ministers who appear prominently in the early annals of the city, exclusive of his pastoral work. He came to Reedsburg in 1852 as a Baptist minister. He was a man of culture and learning, and opened a private school for girls, which is recorded under the above name. An early pupil, Frances DWINNELL, daughter of the Reverend, (Mrs. ELLIOTT) wrote of this school: "It was taught in the fall, winter and spring of 1854-1855. A finely-bound volume of Tupper that I received as a prize the last day of school, bears date of March 16, 1855. A pleasant room over DANFORTH and SHUMWAY's store was the seminary building, and there being no cloakroom, our various wraps disputed with the blackboard for possession of the walls. The only ornament was a board placed conspicuously opposite the door bearing the inscription, "Order is the first law of Nature.' "The Elder's patience was often sorely tried by our failure to observe same. He was an excellent instructor. I shall never forget how, after tedious explanation of a problem, he would say, 'Now, if there is anyone in the class that doesn't understand perfectly I will go over it again'. After teaching a few weeks, he realized it was not good for schoolmaster's to be alone, and secured an assistant in the person of Miss Mary J. STORNG, aunt of Rollin M. STORNG. How well we all remember her, with her plain, freckled face, and bright, auburn hair, but with such a sweet expression of countenance and grace of demeanor as to be really beautiful. "Main Street was then in quite a primitive state, and the mud was appalling to behold and wade through. We girls, in consequence, adopted the bloomer costume. But in the breaking of winter the mud grew unbearable, even with pants; and one day, at noon, we grew desperate, and, going down to the mill, we confiscated each of us a slab, and, marching up single file with them on our shoulders, we deposited them with due solemnity on the mud. There were a lot of them and by laying them end to end, they covered quite a length of sidewalk. It should be inscribed on the archives of Reedsburg that its first sidewalk was laid by the young ladies of Elder BARBOUR's Select School."
Submitted by Carol