The Horace Sumner Tarbell house (then 75 Adelaide) is a classic Italianate house built in 1869 in Historic Brush Park at the edge of Downtown Detroit.
Horace Sumner Tarbell
of East Saginaw, Michigan, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, was born in Chelsea, Vermont, August 19, 1838. From 1866 to 1871, he was principal of schools in Detroit; and, during the last three years of that time, was supervising principal of three schools, including Bishop's and Duffield. Professor Tarbell organized the evening school at the Detroit House of Corre
ction, in 1869, which awakened much interest among prison managers, as it was the first successful attempt at a regularly organized prison school. As an evidence of his thorough knowledge of his work and fitness for it, we give an extract from the report of the National Prison Reform Congress in 1872: "The best instance of this prison instruction in the United States is probably in the Detroit House of Correction. During the year 1871, the average number of convicts was three hundred and eighty-five; and two hundred and nineteen, nearly two-thirds of the whole, were in attendance on the school." In 1870 Mr. Tarbell was a delegate to the National Reform Congress, at which he presented an important paper on prison reforms. During his residence in Detroit, he was somewhat interested in real estate speculations, and erected a number of houses. In 1870 he was chosen Superintendent of the Public Schools in East Saginaw, and held the position until July, 1877. In the fall of 1876, he was elected State of Michigan Superintendent of Public Instruction. He was nominated for the position by the Republican party, at the request of the association of city superintendents of schools, and received several thousand more votes than any other candidate. He has held several offices in the National Educational Association; and, in 1875, was President of the State Teachers' Association. Like his parents, he has always been a strict member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics, he is a Republican. He authored numerous grammar school books on geography and the English Language. He married, December 29, 1859, Martha A. Treat, of Glastenbury, Connecticut. Professor Tarbell has won the esteem of the entire community, and his active and sterling worth in educational matters is freely acknowledged and appreciated by his fellow-citizens.
