The Founding of the Homeplace
The First School
From the short story collection:
Part IV.
Dr. Bill ;-)
1871-1875 Activity Summary
The First
School
Lewis and Caroline (McDonald) Truesdale, along with
his sister, Nellie, set the stage for the first school in Oak Springs during
the planning phase of their return to Oak Spring in late 1865. Nellie had been
attending the same girls academy that Caroline had attended during her teen
years. Nellie already knew she wanted to become a teacher. The plan became for
Nellie to return to Oak Springs, to assist Caroline with the baby, but also to
continue her studies under Lewis and Caroline through the spring. Sometime
during the summer of 1866, she would return to school in Jefferson City to
continue her education with a focus on being ready to teach in a new school in
Oak Springs, probably for the 1869-70 school year. Lewis and Caroline would
organize a subscription school and build a building, enlisting help from the
community. They knew that doing this would also help attract prospective new
residents to the valley.
Jerry Potts joined with Lewis and Caroline in creating
the subscription school, which they named “The Patton School” in honor of Jake
and Kate Patton. Jake Patton entered into an agreement to provide land for the
school to be located between Patton Road and Patton Spring (Lot 1, Block Q).
This was across the road south from the Livery Stable business, and west of
where Lewis and Caroline were building their new home (Lot 2, Block Q). Nellie
would continue to live in the Patton cabin, just southeast of that location
(southeast corner of the same block), once the new Truesdale house was
completed.
The first innovation of The Patton School was that
transportation would be available from both the east valley and the west valley
to and from school during the fall and spring school sessions. Two carriages
were built that would accommodate up to eight adults or up to sixteen children.
Two livery stable workers were assigned, one primary, one back up, to make the
two “school” runs. After the fact, several of the families said having the
transportation available was the primary reason they were able to participation
in the school for their children.
The initial plan was for the school to run from
mid-September in the fall to mid-December and then from mid-January to
mid-April in the spring. Classes would be five days a week, from 8:30 a.m. to
3:30 p.m.
It was also arranged for Alex McDonald to teach each
afternoon, 1:30 to 3:30, the older children, aged 10 through 13, in history,
literature and the classics. He would also serve as substitute teacher if
Nellie Truesdale was unable to be in the classroom. Alex had been working with
Jerry Potts at the print shop and continued to do so.
As so often happens, all the pieces were not yet in
place for the 1869-70 school year, so the start was delayed a year. During
early 1870, however, subscriptions began to be received, fairly quickly. These
included, from east to west:
East:
Penelope Street, 12
Oscar Street, 9
William McDonald, 6
Charlotte Crane, 6
Jason Garrett, 13
Sharon Garrett, 10
Dora Garrett, 7
Fred Gower, 11
Samuel Gower, 8
Vicky Wingfield, 12
Peter Wingfield, 7
Vic Campbell, 6
West:
Bonny Die, 12
Lula Die, 8
Vance Rhodes, 12
Earl Rhodes, 8
Alice King, 11
Hattie Cox, 13
Roy Cox, 10
Ada Bishop, 13
Pearl Bishop, 9
The twenty-one (21) students broke out this way by age
groups:
Charlotte Crane, 6
Vic Campbell, 6
William McDonald, 6
Dora Garrett, 7
Peter Wingfield, 7
Earl Rhodes, 8
Lula Die, 8
Samuel Gower, 8
Oscar Street, 9
Pearl Bishop, 9
Roy Cox, 10
Sharon Garrett, 10
Alice King, 11
Fred Gower, 11
Bonnie Die, 12
Penelope Street, 12
Vicky Wingfield, 12
Vance Rhodes, 12
Ada Bishop, 13
Hattie Cox, 13
Jason Garrett, 13
The fall session of 1870 went remarkably well for an
opening term. An overnight snowfall the first week of December caused some
anxiety, but was not enough to disrupt picking up and delivering the children
very close to the scheduled time. Nellie Truesdale proved to be an excellent
teacher and beloved by the children. Some parents had been concerned about Alex
McDonald teaching the older students, but he demonstrated an intense interest
in his subject matter in a way that was infectious to the students so that they
learned much and were enthusiastic to continue.
To be continued... next Friday.
Now in Print Edition and on Kindle, as well. Kindleunlimited read for free.
May we each have a Homeplace, if only in our hearts!
Dr. Bill ;-)
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