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concerned back in the 1880's would offer the
uee of their home until some site could be
found, perhaps an old soddie which a settler
had left after he proved up or where he had
paid the required $1.25 per acre, obtained his
patent and then decided to abandon. Above
all, it is very clear that respect for education
characterized the majority ofthe settlers, and
they made great sacrifices and expended
much effort in establishing some method of
having educational experiences for every
i-,
tJ
5J*'
-" i
Participating in the ride were Buster Jenkins, Dave Corliss, Shorty Hostetler, Betty Corliss, David Reid,
Ernie Cure, George Hubbard.
community's youth and children.
From the beginning furnishings were no
problem. A long plank could be transformed
into a teacher's desk or made into seats for
the students. Or someone's big table would
be donated. The blackboard was black oilcloth tacked across the front of the room. A
potbellied stove threw welcome radiance a
few feet around its circumference on cold
days, or one kept his coat on all day over the
heavy clothing he always wore. Walking
many miles, driving a little cart, or riding a
horse or donkey, sometimes with brothers
and sisters hanging on behind one another,
were that day's transportation methods. A
kind of shed out back for the animals, in
conjunction with a couple of tiny leanto-like
buildings for toiletg off in each corner made
up the school yard. Water was brought from
home in some fashion for few schools had
wells. A common drinking ladle went from
pupil to pupil and few drops were wasted.
lrt*
In the beginning the teacher was someone
with sufficient education to teach, but no
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$
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certificate was required and sometimes the
best educated person in the community was
prevailed upon to take this added responsibility. In some communities this turned out
to be the pastor ofthe church and the pay was
almost non-existent. Book stand pencils and
slates come with the students. Hungry for
companionship and learning, the pupils in
those school rooms transformed them into
hives of activity and much learning took
place. Probably no part offrontier life played
as great a role in the lives of those who went
to early day schools as those few months with
companions each year in a frontier school
house. And it was only a few months .
perhaps six at most.
For that school house was the center of the
community. Its uses were multiple! Church,
Sunday School, voting precinct, dance hall,
funerals, literary programs, basket dinners,
debates, preaching from an itinerant preacher, a place to meet for a rabbit drive or coyote
hunt, and all the ball games were scheduled
here.
Provisions for providing more formal
school settings progressed rapidly and by
t;:
;'t ift;4
1910 the one-room school system was preva-
Ient and teachers with a few months of
Riders following the trail along the Republican River through
Kit
Scouts of Flagler plan to place a marker at the
THE COUNTRY
Crystal Springs site.
by Betty Reimer
Carson County.
SCHOOL
"School" was
a
T138
prime concern and focus of
the early settlers of Kit Carson County.
Stories from families of the earliest settlers
indicate the great lengths to which those
citizens went to provide some way for the
children and young people of this frontier
area to be exposed to education. Those most
normal training were hired with the intent of
instructing the pupils in the essential academic skills of arithmetic, reading, geography, spelling and grammar. This pattern of
education continued for the next forty years
basically, with modifications in offerings,
number of teachers per school and other
changes in individual localities.
A typical day's experience for a student
began with at home chores before school,
followed by the walk or horse-related ride to
school, and a short play period before the
strident "ding-dong" of the 9:00 a.m. bell.
Opening exercises started the school day:
reading by the teacher from a favorite book
or a singing session, plus the Pledge of
�Arregrance ano mayDe a llag rarsrng quletect
everyone down before a short study period.
This was followed by a round of recitations.
When "recitations" began, each class as
called came to the long bench before the
teacher's desk, presented the assignments
they had finished for handing in, asked
questions, talked of problems associated with
new work, and got a new assignment. Simul-
taneously,
in their desks the other pupils
were supposedly studying and preparing for
their turn at the recitation bench. Sometimes
the absorbed teacher was unaware that chaos
producing activity might be underway some-
place in that school room. But the culprits
would be embarrassed when it came their
turn to recite, so things evened out. Eventually, recess time came and fifteen minutes
outside with romping or running and games
like "Black Man," "Dare Base," "Pump-
pump Pull Away" or baseball and a trip to the
"toilet" brought refreshed children back to
have another go at classes until 12 o'clock,
when dinner pails came out of the cloakroom.
Usually a syrup bucket or a fancier Union
Leader tobacco box held each student's lunch
of sandwiches, occasional cake, and maybe
canned fruit or rarely a piece of fried rabbit
or chicken. Trading one's boughten bread
sandwich for
a
sandwich with a favorite
filling
was common. More play during that noon
hour break and it was an hour and a chapter
or two of a special book like "Black Beauty,"
"Girl of the Limberlost," or "Little Shepherd
of Kingdom Come" made the long afternoon,
punctuated by a recess break, endurable until
4:00 p.m. Then students were asked to "put
away your books and pick up the floor."
Whispered last minute talk with a loved
teacher and furtive glances and last words
with one's favorite of the week, with a merry
scattering of "Good-byes" started pupils
home for a night of rest and readiness for
another day of school.
In a school with all eight grades, a teacher
might have thirty or more recitation periods
each day, while trying to keep an eye on the
total school room, so recitations were kept
briefand to the point. Because ofthis heavy
load each day, many teachers put two grades
together for some subjects and one might
study sixth grade arithmetic before he had
fifth and that created problems, some of
which might follow one all his life. Obviously
the teacher could not supervise a reciting
class and the diversionary tactics that might
be going on elsewhere in the room, but there
were benefits as well attached to this method
of instruction. For instance, fascination with
the subject being talked about in an advanced
grade often led to complete absorption in this
topic by someone who didn't seem to be at all
ready to tackle the topic. One teacher taught
Latin to her eighth graders and before long
in that room could converse to a
point in Latin. And the adoration of a
everyone
younger pupil for an older one who could help
with his perplexing subjects at the discretion
ofthe teacher developed into true friendships
that last to this day. Letting a student look
in the "answer book" helped many a distressed teacher get through a student's time of
indecision and trial with a heady problem
when the teacher had no time for interrupting a reciting class. Big ones helping little
ones was a great learning experience of itself.
The few resources to vary the routine and
stimulate interest and motivate
to
new
projects came from a set of encyclopedias
if
there was one, the dlctionary, and the dearly
loved "reading circle" books the teacher got
in a big trunk from the county superintendent who had procured them from the
Colorado State Library. What excitement
ensued when that trunk was opened! Usually
the books could be kept for six weeks and
getting to read as many as one wished often
was most impossible. Drawing and coloring,
ot having art, spelldowns or ciphering
afternoons. . occasionally with a nearby school . . varied the
matches on Friday
routine and gave something to look toward.
Practicing for the periodic programs given for
parents at Thanksgiving and Christmas or
other holidays was an added time of excitement. When the percale curtains which denoted a stage were placed on wires stretched
from side to side across the front of the
schoolroom, hearts beat just a little faster
because a little dialogue or play, a recitation,
a flag drill, some songs, and an exercise with
several students involved would be practiced
a few minutes each day and as perfection
seemed near and the afternoon or evening of
the performance drew close all knew thev
would present a good show.
As the years passed some things changed:
merry-go-rounds, teeter-totters, and slides
appeared in play grounds. The little ones
were sometimes let out early all by themselves at recess and noon times so thev could
have a short time to enjoy these unmtlested
by the pesky big kids. And sometimes, but
rarely, the big kids made life a bit miserable
for a teacher, especially if that teacher had
done something to indicate a "bearcat dispo-
sition." Teachers were known to fail to show
up on Mondays and forever after following
such a hazing. Typical kinds of punishment
from a teacher were a spanking on the bottom
or a knuckle whacking with a big ruler or
having to stay in at recess.
Sometime in these years mothers began a
sort of hot lunch program, taking turns
sending soup in a gallon bucket to be heated
on the stove all morning. One tale is told of
a gallon of bean soup heating away when
suddenly there was a great explosion with
beans going everywhere, even up on the
ceiling where they stuck. A lid on too tight!
What a mess, and no hot soup that day. A
World War II activity was saving all the foil
off of any gum. Tin was needed and the
source was cut off by the war in the Pacific.
Everyone tried to do what was possible to
help a little. Probably one custom that
anyone who attended a country school remembers fondly was being given permission
to dust the erasers by banging them on the
front steps, side of the school house or on the
footscraper near the front door.
For today's students in our modern technically equipped schools who have no idea what
the isolation and stark poverty of that day in
a school room was, one can scarcely paint a
realistic word picture. As the school year
began, some families from the school district,
probably the school board's, gathered to
clean the school house, wash any curtains,
dust the spiderwebs out of the toilets, stash
a little kindling and some coal in the coal
shed, chop any weeds in the yard and clean
up the fence row if there was one around the
school site. Sometimes there would be a new
coat of kalsomine for the inside or the
stovepipe needed repair and some new desks
might have been purchased. From then on
the custodial duties at the school belonged to
the teacher, who stoked the fire at night in
hope it would hold over and keep the building
a bit warm so that getting to school late would
pose no problems to complicate the firebuilding time needed. The chore of sweeping up
with a little sweeping compound was the
usual ending to a teacher's day. The smells
of a typical schoolroom were compounded of
odors of that sweeping compound, heavy,
damp clothing, overshoes that had been in
the barnlot earlier, plus any association with
animals such as the farmyard cattle, dogs and
cats and a skunk encountered on the wav to
school, and the smells of many luncires,
mingled with those of young bodies that had
received no daily shower or bath.
One must remember that there were town
schools which had more to offer in numbers
of teachers and larger buildings with possibly
more materials with which to work. But much
learning evolved in those rustic, rural settings
if and when any student went to high
school in Flagler, Seibert, Vona, Stratton,
Bethune or Burlington, he or she usually did
well in competition with those who were town
folks' kids. And country grade schools sometimes had a few ninth graders, too, who took
examinations at six weeks time with the town
school nearest them so that those students
would be able to attend there without paying
tuition later on. That education for some was
and
a "catch as catch can" affair cannot be
denied. Many of the boys old enough to work
were kept out to pick corn, help with early
spring farming or haying time, and lots of
girls had to stay home to help cook or care for
a new baby or someone who was ill. That
many went to school in a haphazard way is
true, and this led to much irregularity in
organization and sequence of classes. But
they learned . . . did they learn!
This was the pattern ofschool organization
into the mid-1940's. The quality of any given
school was dependent upon the caliber of its
individual teacher, guided to a degree by the
of schools. The
county superintendent faithfully visited each
school at least once each year. The following
were the Kit Carson County Superintendents
county superintendent
of
schools
from 1888 through
1979:
188&1890: D.S. Harris; 1892-1894: J.W.
Augustine; 1894-1896: Wm.
H.
Bennett:
1896-1900: Susie Morgan; 1900-1902: G.H.
Hobart; 1902-1904: John F. Stott; 1904-1908:
Eva Rogers; 1908-1910: Dessie M. Bolt:
1910-1916: Jennie
L.
Tressel;
LSLG-L922:
Jessie C. McGee; L922-1926: Della Hen-
dricks; 1926-1928: Lenore
Johnson:
1928-1932: Della Hendricks; 1932-1984: Ora
Cruickshank; 1934-1940: Laura Payne;
1940-1944: Virginia Welch; 1944-1948: Flor-
ence Wigton; Ig44-1962: Willa Zick:
1962-197 9: Lucy Russmann.
The education act which consolidated all
the schools of Kit Carson County in the very
late 1940's was the end of the individual one
room schools in this part of Colorado. The
problems that had begun for schools during
World War I, stretching through the depression and dirty 1930's, and the teacher shortage during and after World War II, along with
better roads and transportation methods,
created the situation which culminated in
consolidation and the creation ofonly the few
districts in which all the young people of the
county are now educated. The shifting of
district boundaries, the drops in county
population, the courthouse fire which destroyed all school records to that time. the
�moving of more recent records to the State
Archivis at the capital in Denver have made
a
confusing, intertwined skein of information
which is almost beyond unraveling even by
those who lived through the numerous events
involved. That we can have stories of any
kind which are at all factual and accurate is
due entirely to those precious memories of
folk who took the time to write a story of what
they recall of their school experiences. So,
enjoy each story and treasure each picture
because the days ofone room schools gave the
background for the wonderful schools which
now accommodate our young citizens, and all
of those who really remember the one room
school days will soon be gone like the school
itself.
by DorothY C. Smith
1889 ANNUAL
REPORT OF COUNTY
SUPERINTENDENT
OF SCHOOLS
DISTRICT 19, 1888-89
Tr40
The Colorado State Archives which house
the old materials of the Kit Carson County
Superintendent ofSchools has a recording for
District 19, when this was yet Elbert County,
that for the 1888-89 term from October 11,
1888 to March 29, 1889, teacher Julia
Doughty recorded that she had 20 pupils,
ages 5 to 1?. There wereT girls and 13 boys.
Families represented included 3 Leynde, 6
Doughty, 4 Strode, 2 Stark, and one each
from the Swazee, Landon, Stewart, Keeler,
and Robinson families. The teacher's salary
was $35.00 per month, and the expense for
the whole term was her salary, $210.00.
Colorado State Archives
PAGES FROM
TEACHERS DAILY
REGISTER - 1891
Tl41
T139
Superintendent D. S. Hanis, Superintendent of Kit Carson County of Colorado, sent
this report to the State Superintendent of
Public Instruction on 28th day of September,
1889: Census Total: 745; Total pupils: 406;
Total teachers: 43; Average Monthly Salary:
$29.9?; Teachers in District 5: S'L. Chapman,
Jennie Walters, Ira O Stucky, Myrtle Keller;
ll-#
District 16: Venessa D. Diltz; District 17:
Winn Combs and C.H. Frost; District 18:
Molly Doves and Lizzie Carmichal; District
19: Julia Doughty; District 20: Bill Kyle and
Mary Shafer; District 21: John Scott and
Mary Barr; District 22: J.W. Sutton and G.G.
Sutton; District 23: Lottie Rose and Mrs'
t#-/u
[r.'- i't "t';
E.T. Trull; District 24: T.W. Correll and D.W.
Correll; District 25: J.B. McFarland, Miss
A.L. Smith and Fred N. Willis; District 26:
E.E. Hubber: District 27t Lauta A. Gant;
District 28: Maggie Sater and Susie E.
Morgan; District 29r Jennie C. Finlayson,
D.H. Roberts and Henry Hoskins; District 30:
Minnie A. Smith, Hettie Howard, and Hettie
Bedoratha; District 31: Mary R. Bates and
Minnie Mesechre; District 32: Addie Miller;
District 33: V.M. Campbell and Julia
Doughty; District 34: Hattie Howard; District 35: Anna Crafton and Una E. Rhinehart;
District 36: Chas. L. Dickinson and May
Faurote; District 37: Mrs. Kindy and Mrs.
Amy Corliss; District 38: Charles N' Cogswell;
District 39: Clia Miller; District 41: J.C.
Davis; District 42: Mary I. Howard; District
44: Harvey A. Goodin; District 45: Jennie L.
Rice; District 46: Mabel F. Floris; District 47:
Mabel Daskam; District 48: John J. Neal;
District 49: Ida Kane; and District 49: May
M. B. Salaries ranged from $15 to $51.50 per
month and the total expenditures for year
1889: $4,896.63
Schools.
for the Kit Carson County
Microfilm, State Archives
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#t Ifi GBIDEI SiSOOLS this nesister is to bo tted at the close of
with the District
the
iem with
-- *:: .---.' :.-'
the Principal;
Secrctary.
l
TIIE SUPDRIN'|E\DENT
1a90-
OI1' PUIJLI(I ]]{STRUC1'ION
N
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Nuusen.
Bxexcsrs Sruonp,
Taxr 8oors,
Sulnaery
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ol
ENnor-rusx:
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Srertsrtcs.
Menonlnoe.
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t-4
Whole No. ol pupils enrolled during tenn
No. under r6 years eurolled during term .
.
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Algebra.
(ten,reitrl!lli,l
Geouretry
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Physiology i--d-l -6--',9,-t[--_-ll
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Philosoohv I}--l-iI
Natural Philosophy
i-- lPhysicai Geography l-Ll
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composition l- l-l..
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No. cases
of corporal punishrnent..
No.
of susbension
suspension
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No. visits by Co. Supt.
of
Schools
i1
No. visits by parents and others
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\Vhole arrrount paid to the teacher for the
Ths last month's wages ehould not be paid lhs Tsacher unti! lhis summary is flted out and filed with the Prlncipal or Secretary, a! tho caso may ho.
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tuo ol
�twelve blocks, you l(nowl"
I TAUGHT IN A
SODDY
Tt42
I have no quarrel with modern schools,
their breathtaking architecture, their
Twelve city blocks! One mile of snow
shoveled walks. And I thought of my early
pupils trudging through snowdrifts up to
their hips.
In those days Colorado had a well defined
course of study and a definite goal to meet
nel. Their courses which touch upon every
phase of present day living are in line with the
and we met it. We had arithmetic, history,
physiology, civics, geography,language, writing and spelling. There was no choice of
study; like it or not, there was one course for
march ofprogress. I know because I answered
everyone.
shsamlined efficiency, their trained person-
the urgent call for teachers during
the
shortage in WWII.
But sometimes I compare them with the
first school I taught, a lowly soddy, hugging
the prairie in eastern Colorado. I wonder then
if, in the new approach to mass education,
teachers as well as pupils have not grown soft.
Perhaps they've lost, with the personal touch,
some of the initiative, and teamwork as well
as some of the fun of years ago.
It was a golden day in September, 1908. I,
Avis Moyer, stood, bell in hand, in the door
of the Plainview school, 15 miles from the
little town of Flagler. My stiff shirtwaist and
even stiffer pompadoured hair made me look
older, and I hoped, more dignified than my
23 years. The children had been gathering in
the schoolyard. And now it was 9 o'clock and
time to ring the bell. I cried to make it sound
vigorous to hide my inward tremors as twenty
boys and girls, ranging in age from 6 to 16,
filed in and seated themselves at the double
desks. Not on the same side! Heavens no! The
boys, self-conscious in new suit pants orjeans
and dark calico shirts, sat on one side; the
girls, in clean wash dresses, their braids tied
with bright ribbons, giggling and eyeing the
boys, on the other.
Incidentally, those seats that I spoke of
were screwed firmly to the floor. "Learning"
was serious business and there was no
scraping or sliding of chairs as there is today.
We had the quaint notion that a quiet room
was conducive to study. We launched right
into our lessons. Education wasn't something
you took lightly, for the school "year" only
lastcd until Christmas. After that the roads
were almost impassable.
There was no well on the school ground.
recess two of the older girls
volunteered to go to the nearest ranch more
than a mile away to get a pail full. I let them
take my horse and buggy, and every morning
after that a huge jug of water, wrapped in a
blanket to keep it cool or from freezing, as the
case might be, was on the seat beside me as
I drove to school.
The early autumn days had been so warm
and sunny that, tenderfoot that I was, I didn't
realize winter was close at hand until one
morning a raw wind bent the dry grass to the
ground. I went to the adjoining shed to get
fuel for the fire. The shed was filled with coal,
but where was the kindling? One of the boys
waved his arm toward the prairie, "Plenty out
That first
there," he said.
"I don't see any wood," I said puzzled.
"Not wood!" he laughed. "Chips! Buffalo
chips! Cattle chips! We'll gather some for
you!" My squeamishness
in
using chips
I saw how dry and odorless
they were and what a quick hot fire they made
vanished when
in the potbellied
stove.
One day years later I was calling on a friend
in Denver when suddenly she looked at her
watch and said, "Pardon me, but I'll have to
run. It's time to pick up the children. It's
Memory work was important. Years later
I met one of my students on a city street, and
the greetings over, I asked, "Minnie, can you
still recite the names of the states and their
capitols?" She began without a moment's
hesitation: "Maine, Augusta, on the Kennebeck river; New Hampshire, Concord, on the
Merrimack river," and so on down to the last
state and capitol.
"I
can recite Lincoln's
Gettysburg Address and the BilI of Riehts,
and reams of poetry too," she said. Passersbys were looking at us curiously, two grayhaired women, one recitingThe Charge of the
Light Brigade, and the other listening critically. I came back to the present with a start.
For a moment I had been sitting at my desk
in Plainview School and Minnie was still in
pigtails.
Educators today say that children retain
only 5 percent of what they learn in school.
Making allowance for the mellowing of my
memory over the years, I'm still sure my
pupils did much better than that. Perhaps it
was because their minds were not distracted
with radio, movies, funnies and television.
We had no organized P.T.A. at our school,
but that didn't mean that teachers, parents
and children didn't get together. Our little
sod school house was the meeting place for
the entire community. We had box suppers
and spelling bees and all sorts of social gettogethers.
December came all too fast and school was
over for the year. I went back to Kansas but
the following year I returned to Colorado to
teach one more year. Then
I
married
a
homesteader, Henry Simmons, and said
goodby to my soddy schoolhouse.
People used to look at me in amusement
and pity when
I told
them of my early
experiences in teaching. But I say it proudly:
'I taught in a soddy."
by Avis Moyer Simmons
SCHOOL TEACHERS
1913- L9L4
Tt43
Kit Carson County, Colorado
JENNIE L. TRESSEL, County
Superintendent
District
1, Bethune School, F.B. Shumate,
Bethune; District 2, Lowell School, Miss
Nella Kean, Burlington; Emerson School,
A.I. Tyler, Burlington; District 3, Mt. Pleasant School, Miss Annie Evans, Hermes;/
District 4, Miss Mary E. Bogart, Burlington;
District 5, Peconic School, Mrs. Marguerite
Hines, Kanorado, Kans.; District 6, Brammeier School, Miss Erma Pfaffly, Bethune;
District 7. Pious Point School, Miss Ella
Kenn, Df,raf,ton; ulsf,rrc! d, west -raunaven
School, Mrs. M. Shanahan; East Fairhaven,
Mrs. F. L. Perrine, Seibert; District 9, Byers
School, Mrs. Clara Pollitt, Burlington; Holton School, H.E. Hayden, Cole; and Cole
School, J.W. Murphy, Cole; District 10,
North School, Gerald H. Rice,
Flagler;
Midway School M.G. Canada, Flagler; South
School, F.S. Yewell Flagler. District 11,
Gephardt School, Robert S. Gephardt, Kanorado, Kans.; South School, Miss Nellie Miser,
Burlington; District 12, Hunter School, Miss
Opal Chrisman, Kirk; Flageolle School, Mrs.
Mary C. Watmore, Kirk; Boger School,
August Carlstedt, Vona; and Plainview
School, A.G. Thompson, Vona. District 13,
Pond Creek School, Mrs. Eva Johnson,
Kanorado, Kans; District 14, Thompson
School, Mrs. Mary Larkin, Flagler; Hunt-
zinger School, Mrs. Birdie McBride, Flagler;
Grand View School, Miss Virgel LaRue,
Flagler; Heid School, Miss Jennie V. Custine,
Flagler; Dazzling Valley School, Miss Mabelle Jordan, Flagler; Ash Grove School, Miss
Prudence Robinson, Flagler; Fisher School,
Miss Lucy Muck, Flagler; Huntley School,
R.L. Pendleton, Flagler; Eckert School, Will
Inman, Thurman, and Mrs. W.E. Taylor,
Flagler. District 15, Rose School, G.M.
Baxter, Flagler; District 16, Miss Alta Shaeffer, Burlington; District 17, Beaver Valley
School, Miss Esther Anderson Kanorado,
Kans.; District 18, Burlington School, N.J.
Rice and Mrs. M. J. Rice, both of Burlington;
Miss Geraldine B. Case, Miss Katherine A.
Kane and Miss Nellie M. Culver, all of
Burlington; District 19, Karker School, Miss
Abigail Harvey, of Loco; Sunny Slope School,
Miss Frances Hyland, Seibert; Ackerman
School, Miss Iva E. Reynolds, Flagler; Albright School, Miss Pheba Redding, Flagler;
Progressive School, Miss Winnie Anderson,
Flagler; District 20, North School, Miss Pearl
Buchele, Burlington; Midway School, Mrs.
Mayme Kiefer, Burlington; South School,
Miss Clara V. Mills, Burlington; District 21,
Miss Margaret Rafferty, Burlington; District
22, Dobler School, V.V. Vose, Bethune;
District 22, Yale School, Thomas Dillon,
Bethune; District 23, Murphy School, Miss
Blanche Paul, Seibert; District 24, Blue View
School, Miss Lea L. Wellman, Bethune;
District 25, Shaw School, Mrs. Fern White,
Kanorado, Kans.; District 26, Prairie View
School, Miss Virginia Pemberton, Kanorado,
Kans.; District 27, Miss Virginia Pemberton,
Kanorado, Kans.; District 28, Union School,
Miss Gladys Pugh, Stratton; District 29,
Beaverton School, Miss Arline Harrington,
Beaverton; Lone Star School, Miss Dollie
Perkins, Beaverton; Webster School, Miss
Susanne Throop, Stratton; Day School,
Herbert J. Thomas, Stratton; Norton School,
Mrs. Goldie Rich, Bethune; District 30,
Golden Rule School, Miss Violet Munter,
Burlington; District 31, Broadsword School,
Grover Tyler, Burlington/ District 33, Wallet
School, Miss Goldie Anderson, Kanorado,
Kans.; District 34, Stamper School, Miss G.
Vera Dillon, Burlington; District 35, Flagler
School, N.W. Oakes, Mrs. Ethel Langcamp,
Miss Myrtle Nies, and Miss Edna Kivett, all
of Flagler;Texerado School, F.M. Yewell,
Flagler; Sunnyside School, P.A. Lofstead,
Flagler; Sunnyside School, P.A. Lofstead,
Flagler; District 36, Stratton School, W.A.
Hooper, Miss Beulah Bradshaw, and Miss
Helen Murray, all of Stratton; Blakeman
School, Miss Ellen R. Bradshaw, Stratton;
�Spring Creek School, Miss Eva Reeves.
Stratton; Nuttbrook School, Miss Alice Talbot, Stratton; Green Knoll School, Mrs. Tena
Meracle, Stratton; Hansen School, Mrs. Meta
Chandler, Stratton; Smelker School. Mrs.
Verna Austin, Stratton; Ford School, Mrs.
Olive Montgomery, Vona; and Jones School,
S.G. McConnell, Stratton. District 3?. Seibert School, W.I. Conley, Miss Izetta Wrenn,
and Mrs. W.L Conley, all of Seibert; Flint
School, Miss Jessie Magee, Seibert; Mennefee School, Mrs. Mae Cates, Seibert; Rock
Cliff School, A.L. Buller, Vona: Fair Mount
School, E.M. Short, Seibert; District 88,
Pleasant Hill School, Miss Elva C. Smith,
Morris; District 39, Tuttle School, Miss
Mabel Pugh, Stratton; District 40, Mount
Pleasant School, John Husband, Seibert;
Pleasant Valley School, Vivian E. Huff,
Seibert; District 41, Sold Center School, Mrs.
Lizzie Bigelow, Stratton; District 42, Kechter
School, Miss lda Martin, Tuttle; District 48,
Miss Agnes Pugh, Stratton; District 44, O.R.
EIGHTH GRADE
EXAMS AND
DIPLOMA
Van Syoc, Stratton; District 4b, Bassette
School, Miss Myrtle Branen, Kanorado.
Kans.; District 46, Bancroft School, Miss
Grace Waugh, Seibert; District 42. Mrs. Ada
Kepner, Vona; Vona School, Miss Sarah
Richards, and Mrs. Laura Alexander. both of
Vona; Pleasant Valley School, Henry U.
Sc!m!dt, Vona; Lucky Point School, Sidney
Tt44
A major milestone of every early year
country school pupil's learning experiences
was preparing for and taking the prescribed
exercise of "eighth grade exams." Only if one
E. Willis, Vona; Lucky Point School, Sidney
E. Willis, Vona; Pleasant Meadow School.
Floyd B. Allen, Vona; Rosedale School. Mrs.
H.I. Jackson, Vona; and District 48. Miss
Marguerite DeCloud, Hermes.
passed this battery of tests which came to the
county from the office of the Colorado State
Superintendent
Editors
of Public Instruction
made them even more dreadful. Teachers
and pupils alike were fearful. If a pupil failed
and had to repeat a grade, not only was he
"disgraced," but the teacher mighi be sev-
liighth Gratle Examinations for thc St:rtc of
l')ighth Orade Examinations for the State ot
Colorado. IgZl
Cclorado, l9Z3
Prepared by ltARY C. C. BRADFOND,
State $uperintendent of Public lnstruction
jrcnqred by MlnY C, C. 8RADFO3D,
State Superintendent of Pubtic Instruction
TH|II,SDAY, IIARCX 22, .{-, II.
.il
If
J,
!l
5.
IllTHil:Iltl't
}.IIIDAY, IIARCH 23, J). trI.
C
r'i.:h.to B{id or rubt|act cigbts and thiriis, r*
rvhat shall rr-( chanse thern? Write as a decintal
palt o, a rlollar, four cents three and one,half mills.
Tr.ll horv ta llnd the least eomnloll divisor, an<1 finsi
L- C. D. sf 3-4, 5-6, 2-9.
_,the
F r"rrrr I l-I5 tako 4-9;
l'itrd thq riiffer.ence betxreen 8l-? anii ? ?-g.
In. buyirrg a house for 94,500, I pay 12 per eent down.
Wirat aurount do I pay down?
-\.farruer bought 24 head of catile a.t g0.00 per head.
.\Iter lcsing 2 of lhem, he sold the renai&der at
$105.00 p€r head. What per cent of the cost r#a$
his xross proflt?
Our .of g3r
of gl25.00- per. rnonth a ).oung man
^i1c9mc.
put $45.0{.,ir.
the savings bank. }{ow nrueh nioney
. does he ,de$cisit iri a year? This is wbat per ceat
of his ir:e:t,ne?
I n.*a spelling test- fif teen rrords \.v.ere corf€e il1. speiletl.
ftow nlan) wolds rvere in the teFt if the. number
correctly spelled was [0 per cent of th.e entir€ nnrtI'?
rre.
lt.
1
li.
Whut is nreant h) lbo cireurnfprence of a eirel€ ? Bt.
the radius?
Irinil the radius of a cirile wi.th a d ianretcr of I 1
inchrs
Find the - selliug price nf a suit of clothe s bnui,.ht at
wholesale for 924.00 and marked to sell at al adr.ance of 33 1-3 per cent, and then sold at a r:.isccunt
of I0 per cent.
'..'* ('lt'lt's
1O.
1 l)xplain wh1' Governme-.lnsu'er
nt is necessafy.
1.. Whf is e study of Gover.nnrent important to €vert
eilizeu?
.3 Ho.s did American Government come into bFirig?
"t. What is nreant b.'. a "eitizen,,?
5. What ar.e rhe quillificafions for voting lhis State?
ri. Doen the Lhited States own any land in
in your s-tate?
For what tlnpo€e is lt used?
i. What is meant by the ,.short ballot,,?
.-3. May a person wbo is a citizen of the United l3talrs beculll(' a eitizen of anolhpr eountry?
't. \1-ho
i: the congrnssman in your district?
10. Wiro are Unitcd Stat*s Senators frsm your State?
1t. Give argurnente f or. and against municipal ovnere.hip
of waterworks.
"Eighth grade erams"
I.
,r
cltaltr\r.{n
,:
f'rll itr llrr' follo\\,in$ €enrences u.ith lay, laid,.has .nr
have laid:
Did 1ou
tho pieture on tho table?
.:..,.No, ,1
it on the deskThe calperrte
'l ne.\ ha\ e..-..
the ,foundatjolr of a lDonumetrt.
- ... _ nl). ;:_.,
hand on the
booli.
^.,
unoose
ille corr€et forru of thF pronoun in the follow_
itrgr Eentel ces: r
:::
ii* that ii was (her eir she;. '
, ,l(;uess
{who or }vhom} it is.
,
It is --,- -.
: Is it --'---*--'?
ilre differerrce betwtln ari adjective *a .**
*"":.:;,
alll t. an lnterjeetign? eenlloctjon? ,Giv6 exam-
.{.
pteF.
?-
DP
8.
in
Denver was it possible to move on to ninth
grade and high school. That tests were given
in a central location, probably a town school,
ti,;
,
s.
'
ll'
10.
Wiii; a sent(nce with an independenl
'--' clau*e.
A de-.
' P€n-dent one.
:-:: .
,Analyzi
oi diagrarn the followine:
. ... l
he h€aral r-olces that -w"r" .,.o'|.1. coriowful..
-*luddenly,
courplex senteRce anO,Oiaeram sa;reYJite.d
w na t rs a pal agr.a ph ?
Write:r lctter invitir)S a friend to spend Easlcr with
-,-xlu'
Write a letter of aceeptaneri' on above- letter. ,...'
:l
:
PlIysilolocy
:
'
I
1 What is the aliuentary canal?
'J.0f--Igryniatt.t.bonesis'the.skeletonionrposeri?.
_ Which ls the lon.qest?
, --. ' , - ..:'
is
ilre
workof__the
red
corpusele? Thr pblte?
: What
}-hat is a
4.
spratn? . What treatmfni- _.ho"rO"L""iiJEnr
,
5 Explain. how tJphoi,al
f€yer is
ulFeuss rts pt.et-ention. ""nirr.i&.
6, lVhy do boles of sld people break ,rarily &nd heal
with
7. *ut:l difiicuttl
be abundantly srrpprierl i;'ths'
;itT?;,,;r.iorru
.
.
.l
?
8... lvhat are the rallres of the tubes that earyy blrroil to
arid f r.o frorrr lhe heart ?
the effect of tobacco on the bear t of the'
":1
,ouns'
10. -D-_iseuss
\\,{;;";[.;;'ta.r"'arc,,t,ot all. rhe h€6rt?
�Eighth Grade Examinations for the State of
Colorado, 1923
erely criticized or lose a teaching position as
a result. No wonder it was a real accomplishment for all when a pupil received the
beautiful diploma that indicated "You made
it,"
l'r:elrare,tl btr i|I--\fiY C. O. RRADFOIiD,
State SuPet'ir, telrrlerrt of Public Instluctiolr
by Editors
FRIDAY, MARCH 23' A. }I.
IiETTDING
('outlast the foods of yesterday with the foods of
(a)
' today.
ar-rd how may their study help us in geoglaphy?
foods and
ttr)'Give a few exatnples of comrnonly usedare
producdescribe their iourney from where they
ed, to our table.
(a) Why are foods cantled and how?
and methods- o.f
Wtit. a short story on the history
iiri
'"unttittg,
of Foods'"
"Stor)
in
Ctiss"y's
as described
was a great man. Can you name other AmerLiucoln
-icans to whorn that term rightly belongs?
What burdens did Lincoln bear?
Crn vou tuention any speeeh to illustrate Lineoln's
"cuniiing with the Pen?"
liscuss hIs Gettysburg address' On what oceasion rvas
this address made ?
rviote the Village Blacksmjth ? Evarrgeline?
fVno'
Snowbound? A Man Without A Countr-v? The IIerchant of Venice?
Naure trvo books You have read in the Past }'e ar. Dii:cuss one of theur.
Have you f ormed the dietionarY habit? Why ls tltis
habit rrecessarY?
(
Whom do You regard as the two grcal sl Anericant ?
'why.
TelI
o
rl
,1
J.
8.
10.
A(lItI(-flLTtlRE
Arrnrrer' 10'
(Choice of Li-sts)
l.Whatissoil?Howdosoilsoriginate?Whatissoil
good ior? What kinds Plow easily?
good c^rops aud so-rr:e poor?
2. Why d,l .onr. .oil. produce
llorv d o weeds
water ?
save
cultivation
Oou.
ori'
ff
5:
damase crops in ]our vicinitv?
4. *il;tirJ::,ttll...
of seeds? Nanre some seed
germination
tne
Discuss
5.
testing devices'.
6. Does the air earry enough moisture f or ge rmination ?
7. trVhY are rnost leaves flat?
8. What is the effect of continued darkuess on green
plants ?
ffo* ttrav perennial weeds be killecl? What are per9.
ennial
10.
Irfav
weeds?
ioif be fertile anrl ret not
produetive?
classes of horses ?
1. ( a ) What are the f our genet'al
class?
(b) What ur" =o*" of the leading.breeds of each
points between the dairy type
2. Give tne distir:guishing cattle'
and the beef tYPe of
test of nrilk'
3. Describc the Babcockchicken
house' Give a ration for
1. bescriUe a fresh-air
daYs'
eight
first
the
chicks
.voung
the term poultry? What
5. What birds are included infor
meat? What are genbreeds are raised mainly
6.
i
s.
9.
10.
eral Purpose fowls?
How sirould eggs be marketed?
Wtrat are the tivo chief uses of sheep? Describe one
breed of each tYPe.
Give the chief differences between the common breeds
of hbgs.
Describe the bacon tYPe of hogs'' The lard type.
What insects are useful?
PROqRAN/lN4E
Presenled by Students of St. Clrorles Acodemg
Sundog Evening, June 1sf
tr{ojestic Theolre, Slrof lon
.(An fnterrupted Birfhdog Porfg"
cII-\lalaTUlls
...
tlr. IloDF.\ lietirql llcrchxnt -.
Wlllinm-I]ls \eDhes'-.-..-...-..-.
tlorrr-Snelont
StrmIcl-sttclent,.-...--.-Arthrr--student
IlteT*Tbo SeTTTnt
nALPIt I'DLLE
(iEOltGl; KLOCKER
LoLIs KNOCIIEL
- JOSEPII PAUTLEIT
-...... lt-\LPII IVEIIIEL
BERNARD S]IITH
'(Esfher, The Beaufiful Queentt
.{ Rlblictl Plcy in Throe.\cts
CI I,\ II A CTDII S
()S\f.lLD I'-\UTL!IIi
llorde(rl-Tbc I-lrdcr of tle JcNs . .
I'E,\ltL FLIGEOLLE
tlesheFlroster ltotber of Rsther -....- ..-.
J(lsLl'II GILLISPIE
Ilestrl-The liins's ChaDrlruirin ...
ttl TII FL,\GHOLLE
l;sth.r_Tlre l,.rshrn ()ueon
.' IIAnOLI) I'DLLE
.\hrsuerus-KlDg of Pexla
III-il-\\OkIt l'r|l'l,Elt
linzrrr-,\ l\.rsinD SiDger
lIAltY l{L(('Klllt
Koonh-Tha Khg'! Ftloritc
tr.\(iD-\LE\E LUOtsIfLEIt
o zooDr_:r I'crsitril Ladf
tsYnn..E
.-. LuiClltDT
I'ersirn I-trdy
Jiktrsla-l
.-. . (;ltNIJI.l CRO(IKER
Zu4cr-a I,eNiaD trjuccss
I}llItNAllD OlLLlgI'lE
l{rDrun-Tlc l(ing's Cotrnsell)r
Zerosb-Ills Wife.--.-...,,,....-. ' .' JE.{N.\E DELAi..DY
I]REI]I CH.\IIACTERS
ANrTA BEnTn-{ND
lvitch ol uDilor --..-.-..,
.-.-..' C,\LLISTA SCHIFEnL
Itob€cco,.-.-...-,...,
LOlllt,UND l'ENf,-D
.u'rlaDIIDLE\ 1VEINCARDT
Judtth -- -.....-.,,- -.-...-...-,..,IONA I'ENNE
.
-'
.
..
,
.,.,..,
....
,\dtrb
... - IltE\E I)ISCH\rR
llorthn -.-.,-.,-.--..-.--...LDON'\ Ht l't'ERT
Butn ..-.., ...
LIIDIIILLA DYOIiAK
Dleds ...
Rose
lloids Dancers aul -lltetrdaDts
]TL:SIC Bi TIIE IIUPILS {)F THE VUSIC
DEPAIIT]IE\T
�tsill Smith; tJill Mead; GIen schlosser;'l'om
Knapp; John Bloomquist; Bucknell's; Dave
Wright; Frank Kelley; Lee Raines; John
Armstrong; L.B. Armstrong; Clarence Nicherson; Bill Schaal; Charles Perkins; C.B.
Ouluruilu lfluhlir frilynnLx
g'hi.)
,";t,1"4*"/',-.^d//"/.2,./.t"r'
9
Ayers; George Baker; Penfold's; Wedmore's;
Stanley's; A.A. Graves; Vic Mitchell; Alvin
Bacon; Astracks; Okie Carpenter; Daddy
Flanigan (Mrs. Caryenter's Father); Robison's; Frank Daly; O.C. Dunlap; Thomas
Johnstone; Bert Loper; Ed Fanselau; Tom
Taylor; Roy Taylor; Charlie Peterson; Eddie
Peterson; Tom Schlosser; Clarence Schlosser;
Fred Dodd; Roy Dodd; N.S. Rich; Keeverts;
Art Wellman; Holsteins; Ed Beeson; Cliff
Beeson; D.D. Swann; Willis Perkins; Charlie
Perkins; Fred Storrer; A.J. Pfaffley; Charles
Snelling; Herndon;s; G.F. McArthur; Maynard Dunham; Frank Lesher.
People neighbored in those days working
together and exchanging work. Entertainment was not lacking with basket dinners
(now called potluck), ball games, rodeos,
g,rl'i fi *>' liy,r I
_-:,_:
9,** .-t 8 -,t^ra-,
6" t",
ru:U^"".4;/
u-.r*u,
.2, .77;,/-t'* / t-y
r-,'//
4)u2z-,
--tr'
=
e -zz
literary, school programs, oyster suppers,
home made ice cream socials, you were
welcome, just bring a cake, and country
dances. Musicians were: Tom Schlosser, a
good fiddle player; Roy Schlosser on the
ira(!#r;;;/":l-
EICHIH CFADE DIPIOMA A'iI-A-!.DD TO MELVEN hEAWR. OI{ THN 15 th MAY, 19]1.
FRoM ColORtDo P_gBLrC SCHoor,s, I(rT Crnsoll CoUNTY, COIiR-A1O.....
guitar; Harold Perkins added variety at times
with an accordion, rattle bones or mouth
harp; Clarence Snyder was another good old
time fiddler and Frank Whitmore played a
guitar.
An eighth grade diploma
EARLY SCHOOL DAYS
AND SOCIALS
rr45
The Ellsworth School was located twelve
and one half miles south and seven miles west
of Burlington. It was a one room cement
building that was torn down in the '20's and
a one room frame school house was built one
and one half miles south and one mile east of
the Ellsworth School, whichwas one mile east
of Fred Matthies place.
Fairview Grange was organized July
At one time church was held in the old
Norton School house near Charlie Perkins
and for a short while at Midway School house.
Near Ellsworth were the Roystins, Mrs.
Fred Matthies' parents who lived a half mile
north of Matthies. Joe Krolick, a Bohemian
bachelor, lived a half mile west of Matthies.
Some neighbors
in this
Then the Nazarene Church bought a piece of
ground one mile west of the Bethune road on
the correction line and dug a basement where
they held church services. Mrs. Hoover was
the preacher. The Hoover family also lived in
community were:
John Boggs; Sam Allen; Lester Pierson, Sr.;
.-
-^,
,
,l::rr:]li: .':l.f:::,
"The Doby": Columbine School in 1919-20 term'
|.]r.;1.:,ll
":;ii
Nancy Hartzler, teacher. Pupils: Isaphene Dunlap,
,::i{
Whitney in early part of Year.
,'l:,::
Loweil Dunlap, Mildred Whitney and Lloyd
ffi
First Central District 29 was a consolidated
echool n'ith all twelve grades. It was located
on the Correction line. There were two school
'buildings.
There was one room building for
8,
1916. Some of the charter members were:
O.C. Dunlap; Fred Matthies; Bert Loper.
.jt
..
,4&"*
the lower grades and a larger, two plus rooms,
building for the higher grades.
The old sod Norton School, No. 50, Twnsp. 10' Kit
Carson Co. 191? School Board: L.B. Armstrong,
Pres.; O.C. Dunlap, Sec'y.; C.H. Carter, Treas.;
Teacher: Bessie Kelley; PuPils???
Midway School, Dist. 50, Lg26-27 term: Back row, Left to right: Georgia Armstrong, Mildred ScNosser
Isaphene Dunlap, Raymond Schlosser, Lloyd Perkins, Teacher: Thelma Nielson (Armstrong Lowe).
Ho'*"ta Raines,'Verlin Dunlap; Middle rowt Clara Armstrong, Fredrick Schlosser, Helen Mitchell, and
Co Supt, Mrs. Johnson. Front row: Mattie Armstrong, Carl Snelling, Kenneth Schlosser, Everetl
Armstrong, Ray Snelling, Sarah Mitchell, Dorothy Schlosser, Margaret Schlosser, June Schlosser, Inez
Perkins, Minta Keiwer
�the basement. A nice building was later built
over the basement and the church was
dedicated April 29, 1928. Other preachers at
the church were: Cochran; P.C. Norton;
McKellips. The church stood vacant and
unused for some time. Later the building was
bought and moved to Burlington where it still
is used as a church. A cemetery still remains
there, however, most of the deceased were
moved to the Burlington Cemetery. There is
also an older small cemetery about two miles
north of where the church stood. It may have
been the Beloit cemetery.
The "Cracker Box" school house, in the
Fred Matthies district, was another place for
dances, as well as the "Doby" in District 50.
School was only held in the Doby for two
terms; thereafter it was used for many
activities such as basket dinners and quilting
bees, also Fairview Grange met here. This
"Doby," Columbine School, was built and
ready for school in the fall of 1918. It was
located one mile east of the Bethune Road
and two miles south of the Conection line,
and was set back L/2mile in the middle of the
section, and it was only used for two terms.
Bessie Kelly Pilling was the teacher for the
first part of the first term. She resigned due
to being pregnant and Mildred Penfold
finished the term. Pupils the first year were:
Lowell and Isaphene Dunlap; Lloyd and
Mildred Whitney Ferris "Chub" Robison.
The second term, 1919-1920, Nancy Hartzler
was the teacher. She married Ed Fanselau at
the end of school in June. 1920.
Tom Schlossers had moved to Colorado
from Missouri, by train, in the spring of 1919
and bought the M.S. Whitney place, which
was originally the Frank homestead. Franks
built a sod house. Whitneys built an adobe
house and a large adobe barn. The Schlosser
family added new kids to the school: Lucile,
Mildred, Edna and Raymond. Roy did not go
to school in Colorado and June was too young
to go to the 'Doby.'
Whitney's moved to the First Central
District and lived on the place that the
Maynard Dunham;s later lived on. The
Midway School, District 50, was a frame
school house built one mile north of the
correction line on the Bethune road. It was
ready for school in the fall of 1920. The
district hired someone and paid so much a
mile to haul school kids with their own car;
there were no school busses. There was a
north route and a south route. The north
route included: Perkin, Stanley, Armstrong,
Meyer, Wedmore, Penfold, Spratlin, Schaal,
Raines, Keiver, Moss, Wolf, Ellis and Conkey
families. The south route included: Tom
Schlosser, Okie Carpenter, Dunlap, Clarence
Schlosser, Dodd, Snelling and Mitchell.
Back in the early school days, there were
'double'seats and desks, two kids to a desk.
Don't you wonder how any studying got
done? Usually you could choose who was to
share your desk. Each desk had an ink well;
no ball point pens then. A recitation bench
was also part of school. It was up in front by
the teacher's desk. She would call a class to
recite a lesson and that class would go sit on
the bench and review the assigned lesson.
Blackboards were like painted heavy cardboard and what a joy and improvement when
we got slate blackboards.
Before the Midway school was built, the
north route students went to the Norton
school, a sod building on the Bethune road
next to Charley Perkins. Later Prairie Star
of the
Midway, which took some of the students out
of District 50: Helen and Ottis Moss, Elva
Wolf, Janice and Niel Ellis.
Most of the country schools were one room
and heated with a coal burning heating stove.
was built about five miles north
One teacher taught all eight grades. All
country schools had two'out houses,'one for
the boys and one for the girls, plus a coal
house. The teacher boarded with a family
living near the school. Her job included
getting to school early to build
a
fire and have
a warm room when the students arrived.
Usually one of the boys would fill the coal
bucket the evening before. Pupils carried
lunch from home in pails of various sizes and
kinds. The most common was a gallon syrup
pail with a tight fitting lid. A bench at the
back of the school room held lunch buckets
and a water fountain or water bucket.
Friday afternoon was a 'fun' time. After
Iast recess there was a spelling bee or a
geography match or arithmetic (ciphering)
match. Everyone chose up sides to see who
came out ahead. Another activity that was
fun on Friday afternoon was 'dusting the
erasers.' The teacher would ask two of the
students
to take the
blackboard
erasers
outside to pound out all the chalk dust they
could by pounding them against the side of
the school house. Each school day there was
a fifteen minute recess mid forenoon and
after noon. At noon there was 30 minutes to
an hour for lunch. School houses were lighted
with kerosene lamps and/or gasoline lanterns. School programs were held two or three
times a year with the students singing songs
and giving recitations and dialogues and
usually finished off with some adults having
a debate; then a box supper or pie social was
held. The women decorated a box, such as a
shoe box, with crepe paper, making flowers
and frills, the fancier the better, and filled it
with sandwiches, cake, fried chicken or other
goodies. The boxes were then auctioned off
with the money going to the school. The
owner of the box (name inside) ate the lunch
with the buyer. The same thing happened at
the pie social; two people would eat a whole
The county superintendent has visited all
19 schools of the county so far this fall.
The following districts and teachers have
been visited:
but
No. 2, Emerson Mrs. Elizabeth Conner:
No. 3, Columbine, Ona Gillespie; No. 3,
Prairieview, Mrs. Hazel Claussen; No. 4,
Carmichael, Marjorie Guthrie; No. 5, Peconic, Mrs. Velma Ford; No. 11, Green Valley,
Mrs. Mary Krueger; No. 12, Boger, Mrs.
Betty Smith; No. 14, Mt Pleasant, Mrs. Lola
Rillihan; No. 14 White Plains, Mrs. Charlene
Statler; No. 15, Rose, Mrs. Lois Lee Fisher;
No. 178, Beaver Valley, Mrs. Hallie Winfrey;
No. 18, Liberty, Mamie Huntzinger; No. 19
Second Central, Mrs. Opal Joy and Mrs. Julia
Dugan; No. 20, East Fairview, Mrs. Phillis
Havlat; No. 25 Lone Star, Linadell Knapp;
No.26, Prairie View, Mrs. Elsie Palmer; No.
27, Wilsonville, Mrs. Annabel Van Winkle:
No. 28, Union, Mrs. Esther Kingsley; No. 29
First Central, Stasia Walsh; Senior High,
Mrs. C.P. Heinrichs, Junior High, Mrs. Ida
Boecker, Intermediate, Mrs. A. Marguerite
Fox, Primaryi No. 31 Broadsword, Mrs.
Florence Raines; No. 33 Plainview, Alton
Olsen; No. 34, Jewell, Mary Isabelle Heid; No.
36, Nuttbrook, Mrs. Marie Greenwood; No.
38, Happy Hollow, Mrs. Elva Bartman; No.
41, Solid Center, Julia Berri; No. 44, Plainview, Gladys Quinn; No. 46, Progress, Mary
Ward; No. 47, Pleasant Meadow, F.S.
Carrington; No. 49, Idlewild, W.O. Seeley;
No. 50, Midway, Elizabeth Jarrett; No. 51,
Hook, Daisy Hewitt; No. 55, Shiloh, Edith
Gering; No. 55, Smelker, Jennie L. Tressel:
No. 58, Blakeman, Caroline Husenetter; No.
59, Rock Cliff, Mrs. Mary Allen; No. 60,
Green Knoll, Mrs. Bertha Pautler; No. 64,
Plainview, Mrs. Earl Henry; No.65, Midway,
Mrs. Blanche Dove; No. 66, Tip Top, Mrs.
Nan Hunter; No. 68, Pleasant Valley, Mrs.
Grace Clark; No. 70, Victory Heights, Mrs.
Alice Anderson; No. 71, North Flat, Mrs.
Bernice McBlair; No. 72, Prairie View, Mrs.
Ella E. Huntzinger; No. 73, Prairie Gem, A.L.
Sawhill."
Editors
pie!
by Catharine Dunlap and Isaphene
Leher
KIT CARSON COUNTY
SCHOOL DISTRICTS
BEFORE
COUNTRY RURAL
SCHOOL TEACHERS
L942
REORGANIZATION IN
T146
1950
This article taken from the Burlington
Record of November 5, 1942, indicates that
there were ovet 42 rural districts in the Kit
Carson County coverage ofschools. That this
list does not include the schools in Flagler,
Seibert, Vona, Stratton, Bethune or Burlington is meaningful. This listing of rural
teachers of that era is
"Registration
truly historical.
for gas rationing will
be
handled by the superintendents and principals of the town schools in the county.
Registration will last through Thursday,
Friday and Saturday new wee, November 12,
13, 14.
Arthur G. Hetler
at Vona.
is the new
superintendent
(See photo next page.)
Tt47
�Sdool
Kit Carson County
School Districts Before Reorganization
SCHOOL DISTRICTS
AFTER MAJOR
REORGANIZATION
Tl48
After the major reorganization of schools
in Kit Carson County in the early 1950's these
were the districts that remained as late as
1957-58: R1, Flagler; R2, Seibert; R3, Vona;
R4, Stratton; R5, Bethune; Cl, Burlington;
C2, Smoky Hill; No. 2, Emerson; No. 11,
Green Valley; Ql7, Beaver Valley;
CZ6,
Prairie View; No. 31, Broad Sword; No. 38,
Happy Hollow; No. 39, Tuttle; 48J, Rizius;
12J, Liberty; 74J, Idalia; and g3J, Newton.
Gradually even the last ofthese were incorporated into the six major town district's areas
and most recently Seibert and Vona formally
became Hi-Plains District R23 in 1984.
Today five school districts serve Kit Carson
County patrons and their children.
Box 13O26, State Archives
ALBRIGHT SCHOOL
Tr49
Albright School was located southeast of
Flagler in the SE corner of Section 22.
Township 9 S, Range 50 W. For convenience
of those of these late years, this location was
in the northwest corner ofan intersectionjust
north of Bill Grimes and Kevin Jarnigan
residences. Built of sod and in the image of
in
Ur{ctr.
1gb0.
many homes
in the early community, it
served not only as a place for education of
children but a community meeting place for
patrons of the early community.
One of the teachers was Mary McCall who
taught at a time when William "Bill" Wickham attended school here. Mettie Shanahan
is remembered as a teacher of this school.
Records show
that Iva Reynolds of
the
Flagler area was teaching in district 19 in the
1913-14 and 1914-15 terms. Since Bill Wickham mentioned Miss Reynolds, a teacher at
Albright, this is no doubt where she taught.
Mrs. William Strode listed Forrest Heck.
Dorris Keller and Miss Ford from Stratton
(Vona?), as teachers.
In
1916,
it
is recorded
"Willie" Wickham transferred to
Central,
a
consolidation
Second
of several small
schools.
In 1914-15, the Strode family children,
living two miles east, attended this school for
a time, no doubt including, Claude, Alta,
Rethal and Gilbert. William "Bill" Sutton
lived a mile south and a little over a half mile
east of Albright in 1916. It would be logical
to assume some of his children attended
school here. He sold in 191? but returned to
the Flagler area in 1918. Living nearby were
other-families including Love, Grove, Hughes
and Christopher, among others.
Early published news items indicate that
hail and rain in i916 damaged the building
to an extent it was considered too expensive
to repair. It is possible some students transferred earlier to Ackerman School. a short
distance south west.
At this time.
some
remaining students were transferred to Second Central of this district.
In later years, sod was broken for farming
and today the area is under extensive cultivation, erasing any trace of Albright. It had
served the purpose for which it was intended
and ensuing years reduced
from which it was made.
it
again to dust
by Lyle W. Stone
ASHVIEW SCHOOL
Tt50
Ashview School was located four miles west
and about five miles north of Stratton. It was
also known as the Fuhlendorf School since
the Fuhlendorfs lived just one half mile west.
This well-established pioneer family was here
when family, the Chandlers, moved here in
1909. The picture taken in the spring of 1910
came from Mrs. Elizabeth Fuhlendorf-Bigelow who at age 97 lives in the Seibert
community. Lizzie was teaching there at the
time, but the picture was taken on Sundav
qd is of young people attending Sunday
School. The little schoolhouse served as thl
center for many other community gatherings.
Marie Greenwood and Mrs. Bigelow knew
who the persons were although some of the
ones at Sunday School went to Hansen school
about four miles south of Ashview.
Mrs. Daisy Young stated that she and Ira's
children, Maxine, Nelson, Ella Mae, and
Wilma, attended this school before thev
moved into Stratton. Howard Reeder recalls
that he and his brothers and sisters. children
of the George Reeders, went to this school.
�--f4l6"'."^.'#4"
"
Sunday School at Ashview School in 1910. Identified in the picture are Selena Husband, Neva
Fuhlendorf, John Benezek, Walter Bridge, Henry
Mohr, George Williamson, John Husband, Marie
Chandler, LiIIie Husband, Homer Bridge, two
Benezek boys, and GIen Bridge.
Pickard, Paul Inman, James
Ashview School in year 1936-3?: Left to right, back rows back to front: Kenneth
Louis Pickard, Alice
Inman,
Frances
Hugley,
Klassen
rrau"
idiin
Waller,
Cailton
ii""a"r, Elmer Reeder,
WoIIer' Wilma
Marv
Reeder,
Edwin
Reeder,
Howard
row:
Front
fr,-"tt, Iytaritta Woller.
iiil;;; J"-".
Young, Doris Inman, Velma Pickard, Martin Woller, EIla Mae Young
West Bethel, 1943-44: Back row: Shirley Scheierman, Melva Googe, Virgil Basinger, Lloyd B
Borden. Front: Eleanor Scheierman, Carolyn
Hernbloom, Donnie Hodge, Clifford Borden, Marian Maricle.
ia-i'i1:.i',.,r,!llt,,
.1:iirii.1r1.
picture:
Last day of School at Ashview in the late 1920's. Edna Doughty recognizes the following in the
on are Edna,
Grandma Rhoda Monroe, Anna and Raymond Monroe, Ott Maag. Sitting in front with hats
Cora
Mabel and Neva Monroe. Fred Woller is on far left end, and LeRoy Fuhlendorf, Raymond Monroe,
and Bill Flynn were among the parents.
Other families having children there were the
Jim Pickards, Don Bowens, Alvin Monroes,
Kendalls, Fred Wollers, and of course the
Fuhlendorf children.
Edith Mae Klassen Hugley remembers
Ashview as a busy, busy school with all the
daily classes as well as extra programs and
entertainment. She expressed how much fun
school was when she was attending'
by Marie Greenwood
BETHEL SCHOOLSTr6l
The first Bethel school was a sod building,
built in
1908, located on road
M, between
roads 34 and 35. (Ofcourse, the roads weren't
numbered or named then, but the spot can
be located today by using these markers.)
Some of the teachers were Dora Jean Baird,
Susanne Troupe, Lillian B. Hopkins, EIla
Rehn, Sheck McConnell, Bert Thomas, Hildred Perry, Tena Rhen Maricle, Edna Campbell, Ray Dorothy.
In 1918 school was discontinued at the sod
schoolhouse and two new frame school
Bethel located
buildings were built
- West
at the corner of Rd. M and Rd 33, and East
West Bethel. 1947-48: Back row: Max Mason,
Clifford Borden, LeRoy Herndon and Altha Borden, teacher. The others: Dean Herndon, Paul
Brown, Bruce Brown, LaneII Mason, Vivian
Brown. Dale Mason, Theo Borden.
�Bethel located between Rd. 36 and 37 on Rd.
N. Sunday School was still held in the sod
building until the wall fell in.
Some of the teachers at West Bethel were
Mrs. Sawhill, Averine Seaman, Edith Beeson,
Loren Smith Whitmore, Leona Smith,
Blanche Dove, Caroline Hussennetter, Win-
nie Hooper, Mae Calvin Kellogg, Altha
Borden, Daisy Hewitt. In 1948 the West
Bethel building was moved to Walter Herndon's pasture on Rd. M between Roads 34
and 35
the road from the original
- across
sod building
location. Some of the East
Bethel teachers were: Mr. Sawhill, Roy
Mc0ullock and Mr. Patterson.
When the country school houses were sold,
after consolidation in the fall of 1950, the
West Bethel building was bought by Herb
Scheierman and moved t/2 mile west of his
home. It was later sold and moved away in
1964.
The early history was told to me by my
mother, Vena Scheierman and my aunts, Vic
Whitmore, Wilora Waite/ and Wilsie Reeder
who were the "Hughes Girls" who grew up in
the Bethel community. My earliest memories
of West Bethel were when I began my
schooling there as a first grader in 1942. The
students that year were myself (Eleanor
Scheierman) grade 1, Shirley Scheierman,
grade 5, Melva Googe, Virgil Basinger, Marion Maricle, Lloyd and Clifford Borden. Our
teacher was Winnie Hooper.
For the 1943-44 school year the teacher was
Mae (Calvin) Kellogg. Students were Don
Hgdge, Carolyn Hernbloom, Eleanor and
Shirley Scheierman, Virgil Basinger, Marion
Maricle, Lloyd and Clifford Borden and
Melva Googe.
At recess and noon we played "Fox and
Googe," "Deer and Dog," or "Annie, Annie,
Over." We'd have track events, play baseball
and drown out ground squirrels with our
drinking water. By the time school was out
for the day, we were sometimes wondering
about the advisability of using all the drinking water to drown out the ground squirrels.
The teacher brought the water with her each
morning, so when it was gone, it was all gone
for that day.
Shirley and I lived closest to the school (13/4 miles). We would walk 3/4 mi. to the
corner and Mr. Hodge would pick us up, or
we would ride our shetland pony. That was
usually a disaster. We had a white flour sack
we carried our lunches in when we rode the
horse so we could hang onto the horse and the
Iunches. One day Marion Maricle put his
lunch
in a white sack and waved it
at
The 1944-45 school year was quite calm,
with only Shirley (7th grade) and I (3rd) and
Elsworth (7th) Pottorff in the school. The
teacher was Winnie Hooper. The bomber
pilots stationed at Lowery Air Force Base
flew over often on their training missions.
Mrs. Hooper always let us go outside and
watch when we heard the planes. Shirley's
and my cousin, Marion Reeder, was one of
those pilots, so we always waved to him and
he would "buzz" the school house.
From this year on I attended school in
Stratton. Some of the children who attended
West Bethel between 1945 and 1950 were:
LeRoy and Dean Herndon, Paul, Vivian,
Bruce and Loren Brown, Max, Dale and
LaNell Mason, Clifford, Theo and Lila
Borden. I'm not sure of the exact years each
family attended, though.
Averine Seaman Henry wrote of her years
as teacher at West Bethel inlg2l-22 that her
pupils were Bernard and James Spratlen;
Vivian, Elvin, Ruth and Clair Wilson: Vena
and Vic Hughes; Charletta and Ruth Hoover;
Jean, Helen and Hugh Deakin; Kenneth
Kalb; and Floyd and Linadell Whitmore. Her
Wood, and Zelia Deakin. Jessie C.M. Gray
was then county superintendent of schools
by Eleanor Herndon and Averine
Henry
membership divided, one-half going to West
Bethel School and the other to South Pious
Point. About 1926 South Pious Point disban-
ded and again came
to Bethel. In
1929,
following a revival meeting by Rev. Pollock,
an Evangelical Church was organized.
by Virgiuia TYilson Foster
BLAKEMAN SCHOOL
DISTRICT 58
The first school in the Bethel community
was a soddy constructed in 1908 and named
the Clift School. It was used for ten years.
The first teacher was Ella Rehn. The first
pupils were Wilsie, Raymond and Wilora
Hughes; Hazel and Leonard Hamilton; Hobert, Hazen and Rasil Hopkins; Winona and
Oris Sloan; Elbert, Merna, and Ezra Coad;
Merle and Daigh Reader; Paul Webster,
Edith Wilson, Imogene Clift, Thomas Wilcoxin and Kyle Walker.
In 1918 the soddy was replaced by a ferame
A solid reminder of the one room echool
days:
Blakemsn old District 58 south of Stratton. Still
there.
school called West Bethel. It was located one
and one half miles west of the sod building,
seven miles south and two and one-half east
of Stratton. The first teacher in the
new
building was Mrs. Sawhill. The first pupils to
attend West Bethel were Ruth and Alton
Mericle, Edna Brown, Helen and Jean Deak-
nn 3/4 of a mile
home and got Mother. The only thing
crippled was my pride. I liked walking to
school; there was so much to see. A short side
a piece of burnt sugar
cake was a real treat.
and the school enrollment was growing.
Those enrolled in the L92l-22 school year
were Vic and Vena Hughes; Vivian, Elvin,
Ruth and Clair Wilson; Floyd and Linadell
Whitmore; Gleeta, Marvin, Melvin and
James Everett Hall; Charlotte and Ruth
Hoover; Kenneth and Walter Kalb; Jean,
Mrs. Kellogg made a keepsake photo and
autograph book for each one ofus. One ofmy
friends wrote in mine: "When you get old and
out of shape, Remember there are gridles
(their spelling) for $2.98."
the first superintendent. The next fall, in
1910, Mrs. Lewis of Selden, Kansas, held
revival meetings and a Baptist Church was
organized with Rev. Ripley as pastor. Services were held in the old soddy until one of
the walls caved in in about 1921. Then the
Tt62
Hoover, Hildred Hopkins, Wilora, Vice and
Vena Hughes.
More people were following the advice of
Horace Greeley to "Go West Young Man"
schoolhouse.
1934
and the ensuing dust storms of 1935, there
were many things for which to be grateful.
In the spring of 1909 a Sunday School was
organized in the old soddy school house with
about 40 members. Mrs. Mattie Hopkins was
BETHEL COMMUNITY
AND SCHOOL
in, Elmer Howard, Charlotte and
Our extra curricular activities included: a
Christmas program, a Valentines party at
District 7d, Mrs. Hussennetter, teacher,
sectional track meet at First Central, track
meet at Vona, spelling contest at Bethune,
and a last day of school picnic at the
the Great Depression, the drought of
T163
our horse, which scared her.
Shirley and I fell off. I told Shirley, "I'm
trip to Ida Wilson;s for
1926 through 1939, a community dinner was
held at the various homes in the community.
Everyone came with well-filled baskets and
big appetites. Although those years covered
school board members were R.O. Hoover, J.C.
Clarabelle,
crippled for life," so she
Beeson, also from First Central,
Each Thanksgiving Day, from the years of
Ruth
Blakeman School in the 1930s: Back row, I to r: Joe
Green, Duane Kindred, BiII Bowker, Leo Kindred,
Gerald Bowker, and teacher. Edith Powers. Front
row: Harry Bowker, Dale Kindred, Earl Schniederwind, Helen Green and Bob Green.
Hugh and Helen Deakin, and Lyle Hooper.
I. Virginia
Wilson Foster, started first
The earliest recollection of the Blakeman
grade in the fall of 1924. Darrell Barrett from
School was the year 1915 when Meta Chand-
the First Central area was the teacher. I
completed the eighth grade in the spring of
1931. During these years the teachers were:
Leona Smith, 2 years; Dale Baker (Wood);
Donald E. Smith; Ethlyn Steele and Edith
Ier, mother of Marie Greenwood, taught
there. The Campbell children and others
were going to school there at this time. I
visited with one of theses early day teachers
who taught at Blakeman School in the year
�Blakeman school in 1948-49: left to right: Jimmy
Thompson, Jerry Lucas, Glenn Lucas, Bernice
Charles Mill's donkey at school: front to back:
Oscar Knodel, Floyd Mills, Amanda Richards,
Leona Hefner, Hilda Ziegler, (all AdoUgirls) Lydia
(Stahlecker) Adolf and Ida Knodel
Dunlap, Gerald Thompson, Gwendolyn Einspahr,
Betty Einspahr, RonalC Einspahr.
::,ti
18
I
d
Irene Neller, teacher, by the adobe school in 1917.
Last Day of School gathering April 29, 1949: Front
row of kids: Glenn Lucas, Gwendolyn Einspahr,
Rasmussen boys, Jimmy Thompson, Cecilia Isenbart, WaIt Isenbart, Jerry Lucas, Leo Isenbart and
Dwight Thompson with 2 boys. In the background:
John Schulte, Orville Rasmussen, Elic Thompson,
down, round and round, over and over.
One teacher taught all eight grades. Few of
the older children got to the 8th grade but
later on most of them did. The teacher was
responsible to keep the school house clean,
and warm, fuel in to burn, help the smaller
children take off wraps and dress again with
overshoes and coats, etc. She supervised the
playground. Most of the teachers boarded at
the different homes, usually close to the
school. They would walk to school some rode
horse back or used a buggy and team. Later
some had their own cars. Transportation for
1930 and 1931, Edith Powers Hasaft. Then
she had to go back to school to renew her
certificate. The year she was gone, Edith
Beeson taught the school. Then Edith Hasart
returned and taught three more years, 1932,
'33 and '34. Erma Gerke also taught this
rchool. In the late 1940's the Lucas boys and
school children was walking; some came
horseback or by horse and buggy. The Miller
family had a donkey and cart. They went
where the donkey wanted to go. Later the
boys rode the donkey back. This was a lot of
entertainment for all the children during
others were attending this school. School was
held there until they consolidated the county
lchools in 1950. Part of the school's frame still
at its original location. The picture
which shows a peach tree brings to mind an
rften told story of a young man who poked
his peach pit under the school house in a
lmall hole after lunch, squashed it with his
boot heel, and after that the rain dripping
lrom the eaves took over and the seed
rprouted. Teachers in later years were Ted
imith and Ella Dunlap.
recess and noon. Poor donkey!
Some of the earlier school children were the
:i;lli:,
.,,t;:l:
rlll:ilti
u-.
.
'--:'.", '.
Adobe school girls: Amanda Adolf Richards, Elsie
Lofing Kramer, and Leona Adolf Hefner. (on the
roof, Floyd Mills)
by Eleanor Herndon
SCHOOL DISTRTCT 24
Tr54
Blue View and Prairie Wylde were schools
n District 24. The Blue View school house
vas built in the very early nineteen hundreds
br in 1902 when the William (Billy) Weber
bmily settled along the Landsman Creek, it
vas already built. It was a frame house
ocated 9 miles north and 2 east of Bethune,
md it soon was moved t/2mile farther south
io as to be more centralized for the pupils as
nore settlers came with more children for
chool. An adobe school house was built in the
with the school subjects which was hard to do.
Some of the subjects taught were reading,
grammar, geography, physics, history, and
arithmetic. A lot of thinking and fast figuring
was done. Penmanship, (the Palmer Method), was one of the main subjects: having to
sit up straight, staying in the line, up and
?, Edith Isenbart, Ruby Rasmussen, ?, Dorothy
Lucas, Bernice Dunlap, Leona Schulte and son,
Emily Thompson and baby, Dwight Thompson,
Cecil Isenbart. In the doorway: Jerry Thompson,
?, ?, Thelma Thompson and Ab Lucas.
rtands
and 20 years old went to school for a couple
of months in a term. Then they had to help
at home with farm work. The smaller children went through all the term of about 6
months. Most of the children were German
so had to learn the English language along
Chris Strobels, Dickmens; Webers, Bauders,
Fanselau, Wahl, Bauers, August Adolfs,
Knodels, Mills, Stahleckers; Schmidke,
Weiss's. Later the Meyers came, Kloeckners,
Ed Stohlechers, and Weisshaars.
Each pupil carried their own lunch and for
years their water, but later the board members got a water cooler with a spigot, some-
thing the children liked, and they took turns
keeping it filled. It was a good improvement
as we had carried water 3Vz miles every
west part of the district about 1910. This was
7 Vz miles north of Bethune and went by the
name "Prairie Wylde."
Each school had their own teacher except
one term when for reasons unknown in 191415 one teacher was hired and held school half
a term in Blue View and half a term in Prairie
Wylde, which was fair to all the pupils to
travel. This was not satisfactory and each
school had their own teacher again after that.
Some of the earlier teachers were Amanda
Stott, Alice Moore, Vera Dillon Harvey
Jensen, Victor Voss, Lea Wellman, May Long
who married Christ Adolf, Irene Neller
Alvina (Brown) Pickerll.
In the early years the older children up to
morning,
if
we didn't spill
it before
we got
there.
To raise money for things used in school,
we had a program, ending with a pie or box
Billy Weber was the community
auctioneer for the suppers; his children say
he enjoyed every program and pie or box
supper immensely. We had spelling bees or
ciphering (here the arithmetic was used) with
different schools on a Friday afternoon. The
teacher and all the children walked from one
school to the other. Some of the games we
played were baseball, jump rope; in winter
we'd go skating if teacher allowed children to
go off the school ground, or skated on snow,
played fox and goose, or games like last
supper.
�couple out. We found plenty of interesting
Items taken from old Seibert Settler
entertainment for recess or noon.
In the spring of 1929 the Blue View school
house was moved again; this time 1/2 mile
newspapers also give some insight into the
activities of the school. Nov. 9. L923 . . .
"Miss Goldie Iverson was hostess to her
pupils and their parents at a Halloween party
north and one west. The adobe was closed.
The district was cut up to where the south
children went to Bethune and the north and
east to the Blue View. Some of District 22
from the north came to this school as this was
closer to some families. Distance makes a
difference when walking is the transportation. In 1955 the district was dissolved and
all were now in the Bethune district with bus
routes and high school for everyone.
by The Stahlecker sisters, Martha
Adolf and Theresia Kramer
BODEN SCHOOL
Tt55
The Boden School was located southwest
ofStratton on a quarter ofland owned by the
Boden family who donated land so a school
could be built in 1908. Some of the early
students attending Boden were Ernie and
E.R. McConnell. Ethel Jones Hazen and
others. The school house was used as a center
for many different gatherings of the community: voting precinct, Sunday School, preaching, debates, literary programs, dances, bask-
et dinners, and to meet for rabbit drives,
coyote hunts and ball games.
by Florence McConnell
THE BOGER SCHOOL
Tl56
The Boger School, in District 12, was a one
room, frame building built
in
1909.
It
was
Boger school in 1944: Edwin Lowrey, Bob McCaf-
frey, Darrell McCaffrey, Kenneth
McCaffrey,
Melvin Lowrey, Jim Camp, Virgil Gagnon, Wayne
McCaffrey, Helen Zimmerschied, Alice Joy, Vera
Camp, and Verdie Gagnon.
first located 12 miles north, 1 west, and 1/2
north of Vona on the property of Frank
Boger. In 1911 it was moved to 12% miles
north of Vona which made its location more
in the center of the community, as it was then.
The first school board members were:
President, Charlie George; Secretary, Bill
Butler; and Treasurer, Frank Boger. This
board served for many years until Butlers
started to school at Vona and George's moved
out of the area and Frank Boger apparently
felt that it was time he should retire from the
board. They were replaced by president, Roy
Johnson; secretary, Flora Boger; and treasurer, Gus Herrel.
The first teacher at the school was Gailon
Lewis. Some of the others who taught there
were: August Carlstedt, Sadie Dulmer, Marie
Klassen, Vern Meyers, Mr. Wagner, Quinten
Vose, Marie Farquar, Lottie Putnam, Helen
Herrel, Goldie Iverson, Cassie McDougal, Bill
Sealey, Alfred Schmidt, Viola Burkardt, Mrs.
McKenzie, Howard Bigelow, Grace Clark,
Mae Carlson, Maurice Wrenn, A.G. Sawhill,
Bettie Smith, Minnie Eaton, Ruth Gulley,
and Betty Smith Shaw.
held at the Finch home, Nov. 2. The evening
was spent in Halloween pranks, making
candy, and roasting weiners until a late hour,
when all departed for their homes declaring
Miss Goldie a royal entertainer."
Nov. 23, 1923 . . . "Miss Goldie Iverson
invited the mothers to visit school Friday
afternoon. The pupils had prepared a fine
program which the mothers enjoyed. Then
the visitors were asked to recite for the pupils.
Mrs. Strode, Mrs. Hubbell, and Mrs. Boger
responded with recitations."
Dec. 21, L923 . . . "The Sunday School and
School are preparing a Christmas program to
be given at the Boger schoolhouse Dec. 23, at
8:00 P.M."
Feb. 1, 1924 . . . "The teacher and pupils
at the Boger school are rejoicing over a fine
new teacher's desk and chair and dictionary.
All purchased by the school board."
Also of interest are a couple of items
concerning neighboring schools. Nov. 23,
1923 . , . "Miss Meta Rassmussen, teacher of
the Progress school, recently received stove
and fixtures required to install the hot lunch
service in school as recommended by educational authorities."
Oct. 19. 1923 . . . "School marms should
be more careful not to entertain company too
late. A young man from Vona became so
drowsy on his way home the other night that
he missed the road, getting in where he was
compelled to wake up the neighbors to get
him out again."
Surnames of some of those known to have
attended the Boger school are: Boger, Butler,
Camp, Carrigan, Dulmer, Flinch, Gagnon,
George, Hartwig, Haynes, Herrel, Hubbell,
Jackson, Jewitt, Johnson, Joy, Lowery, Martin, McCaffery, Naute, Oliver, Seaman, Smit,
Stolz, Strode, and Zimmerschied.
A favorite story, handed down through the
generations, tells of the adventures of John
Boger, son of Frank and Flora. John would
start off to school each day with the rest of
the Boger children but, instead of going to
school, he would hide out in the fence row or
the draw south of the house and play all day
and then rejoin the group on their way home.
He managed to get by with that for some time
before his dad caught him at it and then, "He
didn't try that again!"
The Boger school was also the meeting
place for the Unity Sunday School.
Classes at the Boger School were discontinued in about 1950 and the building was
bought by Gus Schreiner and moved to his
place.
by Joyce Miller
BROADSWORD
SCHOOL DISTRICT 31
Tr57
|oger School about 1909, Gailon Lewis, Teacher
The Claude H. Hall family moved from
Clay County Nebraska, to the farm 13 miles
north of Burlington, known as the "Fairview
Farm." This was in February 1923. There
were four children, Thomas Merlyn, age g;
Goldie Evelyn, age 7; Claude Harold, 5; and
�Inez Maxine, age
2.
Merlyn started at Broadsword School in
March, 1923, as a fifth grader. He was in the
same grade as Carl Kreoger. Goldie staded
at the same time in third grade. Harold
staded school in the first grade, September,
1924, and Inez started school in 1926.
During the school term when Daisy Hewitt
was the teacher, one wintery day during
morning recess, two energetic boys livened up
the recess by throwing a handful of 22 calibre
rifle shells into the old potbelly stove. All
shells responded in short order creating lots
of excitement.
It is recalled that Frank Moose and Mrs.
Story lived in the sod house across from the
school which eventually was the William
Kreoger farm. Frank Moose operated the
sorghum mill and the zillions of flies it
created is unforgettable.
Three and one half miles to the east of our
place lived Mr. and Mrs. Grant Stephenson.
Mrs. Stephenson used to conduct religious
services at the school every Sunday morning.
After her sermon, the congregation would
break up into Sunday School classes accord-
ing to
age.
My father, Claude Hall, was a member of
the school board along with Charlie Miser,
Louis Kreoger, and Charlie Kreoger. I'm not
sure they all served at the same time, but they
were all on the board at one time or another.
by Inez Ilall Emsbach
BROADSWORD
SCHOOL
T168
DISTRICT 31
The
Broadsword School
District
31,
(named for one of the early families who lived
in the community), was a typical one-room
country school, located fourteen miles north
on Highway 51, later Hwy. 385, in the
northwest corner of Louis Kreoger's field.
Presently, the site is across the highway from
the William Kreoger farm, where his daughter, Katherine Lundien, and family now live.
Originally built as a soddy, in the latter
1800's, a wooden structure replaced it in the
early 1900's, eometime before 1915. All labor
was volunteer for the school building as well
as the horse barn and out-house. The outhouse had a divider between the boys'side
and the girls'side. Controversy arose during
the building of the school when one of the
volunteers who was working on it thought the
rafters were not quite high enough. This
controversy came after
the rafters
were
already put up. The volunteer redid them and
this resulted in a very pitched roof and high
ceilings. According to the School Board
records ofJune 1923, the Board decided that
a horse barn was needed for safety of the
children. Transportation to school in the
early days was by riding horses, walking, or
using a buggy or cart. Horses were usually
tied to fence posts or turned loose in the
schoolyard. Finally a barn was built. In the
later years, the auto was a form oftransporta-
tion.
As in other communitiee, this school was
also the social center of the community. This
was where community meetings and gatherings were held, box and pie socials, and the
literary programs, consisting of debates,
skits, etc. At one time this is where Coop
meetings were held with Frank and Ida
Rankins, and in the days of the early
telephones, telephone meetings were held
here.
Clothing for the boys was bib overalls or
knickers. Girls always wore dresses and most
of them wore high top shoes and leg warmers.
Later the boys continued to wear bib overalls
or blue jeans and the girls, dresses.
During the history of this country school,
indoor and outdoor games played were
unchanged. Outdoor games consisted ofAnte
Over, Pump Pump Pull Away, Drop the
Handkerchief, Baseball, Fox and Geese, and
Red Rover. The wooden poles of the swing set
broke in L946-47 and were replaced with very
tall steel pipe set in concrete. The person
swinging was challenged to see if he could go
as high as the "bars" (top of the swing set).
Believe me this was "fun"! Indoor games
consisted of Hide the Thimble, Hangman,
Spell Downs, and Geography Matches.
This school had no well for water, ever.
Consequently, the water needed to be carried
in every day. Either it was up to the teacher
to bring it in or up to the students to carry
it in a bucket on a stick between them. (Three
places were used to obtain water: the Frank
Moose place, which was across the road west;
Pete Broadsword farm which was 3/4 of. a
mile north; and the Louis Kreoger farm which
was L/2 mile southeast of the school. Many
times the water from the well at the Moose
place was no good, so the students had to
choose somewhere else to go. After 1950, the
water was always carried from the William
Kreoger farm (former Moose place). This was
after Kreoger had drilled a new well and had
good water.) Water was put in a crock from
which to dip or use a spigot for drinking. Each
student was required to bring his or her own
drinking cup and hand towel. If warm water
was needed, it was heated on the pot belly
stove, that stood in the center of the room.
Lots of cold air came into the room due to the
fact that there were large windows directly
opposite each other, and there were no storm
windows.
Discipline was done in a variety of ways,
such as standing on one foot on the stage, use
of a razor strap or belt on the posterior region
or staying in at recess. One teacher was
known for throwing an eraser in front of a
student who was daydreaming and not
studying. It was reported that one student
was sent to get a switch and if he didn't come
back with it he would not need to return to
school. The studentdidn'tcome back, butthe
school board eventually let him return to the
house of learning.
Christmas programs were always a traditional part of the school, where parts were
learned, recited, and three act plays were
presented. Nemes were drawn and gifts
exchanged. Treats were given to all the
students and their families. Of course. Slta
made an appearance.
The area where the school was located was
called "Bottle Ridge." Indians fought on the
'Ridge' and school board members had
disagreements here also.
member was arrested
It
was here that one
for disturbing
the
peace. One member wanted to have dances
in the school and the other two didn't.
Basically, he wanted to stir up trouble. After
the arrest when they went to court, the judge
ended the dispute by throwing out the case.
If
adult neighbors had battles or disputes
they would usually end up at the school airing
their problems.
Academically things were somewhat differ-
ent from what they are today. In the early
days, the parents were responsible for their
children's books. When the year's workbooks
were finished for the grade we were in, the
students were advanced to the next grade
level. Usually this occurred about March.
Children usually started school at age six and
were given a primer to learn to read. In 1942,
the famous reading series was Dick and Jane.
Penmanship was a part of the daily routine.
During the last four years of the school's
existence, the most famous place to go to
learn anything for memory was behind the
piano, which was set at an angle in the back
of the room. This was also the place where one
child was sent to go to the restroom, using a
tin can, which normally caught the drip from
the water crock, on the day the drought
broke, 1956. The rest of the students were
asked by thew teacher to take their seats.
This same student was asked to go behind the
piano to learn the words to "America the
Beautiful." This was quite an undertaking
since the student was only a first grader.
It was noted in the minutcs of the School
Board Secretary dating in the early 1920's,
that whenever a vote was taken the names of
the men and how they voted was always listed
first and then the names of the ladies were
Iisted.
Teacher of the Broadsword school were:
Mrs. Nellie Grabb, Clara Shannon, Miss
Bogart, Mrs. Bill Sperry, Maude Crist, Mr.
E.A. Schwenker, Mrs. Antonie Schutte, Miss
Annette Smith, Edith Miser, Eva Shumate,
Miss Hewitt, Maxine Beal, Neva Henderson,
Mrs. Harlin Romberg, Mary Winfrey, Florence Raines, Josie Youtsey, Barbara Kieber,
Helen Young, Helen Kreoger, Alvin Johnson,
Doris (Keeler) Kreoger, Hazel Fromong,
Larry Megel, Mrs. Pearl Johnson, and Mrs.
B. Leo Devlin.
In the fall of 1959, this school was consolidated with the Burlington School District,
thus bringing the era of the country school to
its demise.
School Board members not listed in order:
Louis Kreoger, Carl Kreoger, William (Bill)
Kreoger, Don Scheierman, Bob Parmer, Lucy
Broadsword, Clarence Crist, Charles Miser,
Claude Hall, Clara Fender, Orin Miller,
Everett Winfrey, Ellis Clark, Harrison Clark,
Newel Guffy, and the last three members
before the school consolidated in 1959 were,
Grace McNeill, Doris Kreoger, and Helen
Kreoger.
by Katherine Lundien and Carl
Kreoger
BROADSWORD 31
Tr69
I graduatcd from Burlington High School
in the spring of. L927, having taken courses in
teaching. (I was 19 at the time.) Then I took
a test conducted by the County Superintendent of Schools to become a teacher. I put in
my application for a teaching job at the
Broadsword School and was awarded the
teaching position. The school board consisted
�of
Charles Miser, Charles Kreoger and
Claude Hall.
I received $100.00 per month. Sometimes
there was not enough money in the County
Treasurer's office to pay my wages, and I
would have to wait until more funds were
available. It was in the contract that I do all
my own janitor work, and put on a program
each year followed by a box social to raise
moneyfor playground equipment. The pupils
were very good to help me bring in the cobs
and coal from the shed just east of the school
building, erase blackboards, sweep floors and
various other duties. I had to have the
building warm by 8:30 A.M.
The teachers before me had raised money
for a nice set of three swings, so I used money
I took in for curtain material, (made eight
curtains), a picture of George Washington
and one of Abraham Lincoln, colored crepe
paper for decorating, stencils, and putty for
the windows (which I applied to help keep the
cold wind out.)
I always went out of doors when the
weather was fit, to play with the students. We
played games of various kinds, but baseball
was the favorite by far. The older boys
delighted in getting me to swing, standing up,
with them. They would take me so high I
thought we would go over the top, but luckily
we never did. I'm sure recess time was their
favorite but they seemed to learn neverthe-
cents each and pencils were one cent each.
Much of their work was done at the boards.
As recreation, the children loved to do Spell
Downs or do Arithmetic at the board.
I always soaked corn cobs in kerosene to
help start my fires more easily, then used a
generous amount of cobs to make a good bed
of coals to start the coal.
My uncle had a real sense of humor. I
always put some saying on the blackboard on
Friday evening and one such time I had put
"In union there is strength." He changed the
U to O and made it read "In onion there
is
strength." This caused so much laughter on
Sunday morning when we were all gathered
for Sunday School. Many Sunday evenings
we would gather, young and old alike, and
sing. I played the piano and had quite a lot
Melven Weaver and his daughters, Sallee Lee and
Vee Ann, beside the old pitcher pump at Carmichael School in December, 1950.
of sheet music.
time we cut across the fields, right over the
grades, as they all compared report cards at
fence posts. Later on we rode a horse, and still
later on we got a two-wheel buggy with shaves
for one horse. My dad put Model T Ford front
I
loved teaching, but hated giving out
report card time. Writing this has brought
back many pleasant memories.
by Eva Shumate Graybill
CARMICHAEL
SCHOOL
wheels and tires on it which made it easier
pulling and riding. In the winter Mom would
heat a big rock and wrap it in gunny sacks to
keep our feet warm. We kids fought over who
got to put their feet on the rock! As we got
older, we used horses and kept them in the
barn at school.
When visiting the site of Carmichael
in more recent years I found a
School
T160
less. They were a nice group of children.
cornfield covered the spot where the building
once stood.
We took up school at 9:00 A.M. and
by Melven Weaver
dismissed at 3:30 P.M. when days were short,
but otherwise at 4:00 P.M. The first thing we
did was to pledge allegiance to the American
Flag. If the weather was nice we went outside,
otherwise we stayed inside. This was followed
by 15 minutes of singing, or my reading to
them. One of their favorites was a book called
The Pride of the Prairies, a book about the
massacre at Beecher's Island, fought between
the Indians and the U.S. troops around 1865.
COLE SCHOOL
Tl6r
I had to make every minute count with
eight grades to teach and hear recite. My
youngest pupil was Lavern Hulse in first
grade and my oldest was Julian Kreoger, that
I taught the first year. Julian was given a test
by the County Superintendent of Schools and
passed this to be promoted from the eighth
grade and qualify him for high school.
The first year I boarded with my aunt and
uncle, the Grant Stephensons. I had to ride
horseback three and one half miles. The
second year I boarded with the Louis Kreoger
family and paid each family $20.00 per month
for room and board. During my first year of
teaching I paid Julian Kreoger $2.00 per
month to carry water to the school and the
second, I carried it from Louis Kreoger's
home. Also being caried were my lunch,
papers and books. The pupils all drank from
the same water bucket and each one was to
have his own cup, but generally they used the
first one that was handy. Luckily there was
very little sickness in my school.
The first year I taught, my aunt and uncle,
the Stephensons, organized a non-denomina-
tional Sunday School that proved to be
successful. The attendance was good and
while we were meeting there they purchased
a used piano. This instrument was used in
school as well as Sunday School.
Pupils had double desks and recited at the
front ofthe room on a long bench specifically
designed for that purpose. We had two large
blackboards so that helped save on tablets
and pencils. At that time, tablets were five
CoIe School, Miss Jenny Shaw teacher, year 1916-
t7.
Carmichael School pupils, L92l-22;backrow on far
right: Pearl Weaver; front row, L to R: Melven
Weaver, Zelda Ann Ross, and Harry Weaver. The
four unidentified girls are two sets of sisters: Ellen
and Frances Bey and Stella and Bessie Adkisson,
but Melven can't remember "which is which."
At its first location this country
school,
Carmiehael, District 4, was four miles west
and two miles north of the town of Burlington. A few years later it was moved
directly south, one mile, and placed on a
cement foundation as shown in the 1950
picture, with water just outside the door!
Almost all of the nine children of Jim and
Josie Weaver attended the Carmichael
School. We had to walk three miles one way
to school, winter and summer. In the winter-
During the years 1910 to 1920 the community south of Burlington, Colorado was being
settled. To help the settlers get their mail and
educate the children the Cole School and post
office was started. The location of the sod
school house was fourteen miles south of the
southeast corner of Burlington, on the east
side of the road. Until the last few years there
were still the foundation, two small ?, and the
gate posts standing.
This school was consolidated with the
Smoky Hill School District in the early
1920's. The teacher of that year, Miss Jennie
Shaw, still lives in Kansas. She had come
from Kensley, Kansas to teach. Jennie Tres-
sel was County Superintendent of School
then.
This was all told to me years ago, so hope
it is nearly right. The
school and post office
�}rr;:
,ta'r,ri.
.
''
'
Later a good well was drilled in the school
yard of the second and last building location
for school
i:::"'' t :a::,: :'.:i.:
1:,,,,,;iii,,i
''*,,:&
use.
Grades one through eight were taught at
the Cook School. The regular school day
would begin at 9:00 a.m. with the children
and teacher giving the pledge to the American flag followed by the children singing or
the teacher reading to the group. There was
morning recess for fifteen minutes about
10:30 a.m. If weather permitted, gemes were
played outside. If the weather was too cold
or stormy, indoor games were played. Afternoon recess was fifteen minutes and scheduled around 2:00 p.m.
Outdoor gemes played were Baseball, Ante
Over, Tag, Red Rover, Hide and Go Seek, and
sometimes foot races. In winter Fox and
Geese was a popular game when snow covered
the playground. Some indoor ga-es played
were I Spy, Hide the Thimble, Upset the
Fruit Basket, Old Cat, and Quaker's Meeting.
Friday afternoons, after recess activities
were Cipher Match, Spell Down, or a Geography Quiz at the blackboard. When weather
permitted, the teacher and children would go
for hikes west of the school grounds where
there were interesting rock formations emer-
ging from the ground of small canyons.
During the last three years at the Cook School
the teacher and children would walk to the
river and locate beaver dams.
The school room was heated with a stove
located near the middle of the room that
burned corn cobs, kindling and coal. On cold
mornings the children would move their
desks around the stove and study, also recite
in 1916-17, Back row, L to R; Mary Parsley age 13, Percy Morford 13, Mary Greene 15, Alice
Magnuson 14. Middle Row, L to R; Stella Goodwin 10, Thelma Little 10, John Parsley 10, Isaac Goodwin
11, Myrtle Magnuson 10. Front row, L to R; Adolf Parsley 6, David Magnuson 6, Cline Goodwin 6, Bryan
Goodwin 8, Frank Parsley 7.
Cole School
were both gone when I came to this community from Norton County, Kansas, in 1928.
by Velma Walstrom
COLUMBINE SCHOOL
Tl62
The Columbine School. the first school
house in the Spring Valley Ranch neighborhood, was built of sod. Mr. E. McCrillis was
the first elected school district secretary, an
office held for fifteen years. The first teacher
was Mrs. Helen Slusser. School warrant
number one was drawn on October 12, 1889,
for $20.00 for her first month of teaching.
by Ruth Goebel Bauder
COOK SCHOOL
DISTRICT 86 J
Tr63
The first Cook School, which was District
number 86, was built of sod on the Jim Cook
Ranch which was located south of the South
Fork of the Republican River, and this area
is now covered by the Bonny Reservoir.
School District 86 was originally in Yuma
County in the early 1900's. Later the county
line was redrawn, as a result part of the
original district was in Kit Carson County.
This change made a joint district of School
District 86 thus adding the letter "J" representing "Joint" to the 86, 86J. After this
change the salary of the teacher was paid in
two checks, one check from the Kit Carson
County Treasurer and one from the Yuma
their lessons from where they were seated
near the stove.
Throughout the school year the teacher
would provide parties for the children on
Halloween, Valentine's Day and have an
Easter Egg Hunt at Easter. A program at
Christmas with parents and community
attending was the highlight of the school
year. On the last day of school there would
be a picnic for all to attend.
One year there were several older boys
attending Cook School who convinced the
teacher to let them have a "smoking period!"
County Treasurer.
The coal shed was designated as
Indians and Kit Carson County honored the
great western scout Kit Carson. Both Yuma
the girls got sick and told her
Originally Yuma County and Kit Carson
County were a part of Arapahoe County.
Yuma County was named for the Yuma
Kit
Carson counties were founded in
1889. These two counties and others were
planned so a slice of railroad track would run
through a part of each county. This helped
share in the tax burden for financing schools
and
and help with county expenses.
A former student who attended school in
the sod building recorded the following
events on tape before she passed away.
Several ofthe children walked a long distance
to school. When it was cold and snowy the
children wrapped their feet in gunnysacks to
keep them warm and dry. At recess time they
left the gunnysacks behind and "skated" on
the ice on the frozen river. This was great fun
until one father noticed his children's shoe
soles were wearing thin and requested the
teacher to stop the skating.
In about 1916 the sod building was replaced. A wooden frame building was built and
located about one half mile south of the
original sod building. At first the children
carried water from the original Cook Ranch.
the
"smoking" room. One younger child went to
the coal shed and found part of the students
"rolling their own" using sawdust for tobacco.
This activity did not last very long as one of
parents.
Immediately the school board ca-e to school
to meet with the teacher and there was no
more smoking. It is a wonder they did not
burn the shed down.
In the spring of 1945 there were six
students attending Cook School. These children came from three farm families. In late
March two of the three farms sold and five
of the six students moved away. This was the
Iast year the school building was used. One
students remained. He was one of the two
who had taken the ninth and tenth grades at
Cook. In order for him to finish, he was given
lesson plans for the whole week and the
teacher would check his papers each weekend
and provide new plans for the coming week.
This lasted for six weeks until the term
closed. The reason for the above arrangement
was that the teacher had been asked to teach
high school in Kanorado, Kansas, to finish
out the existing term, teaching typing and
English.
Mrs. Jessie Winfrev boarded teachers as
�well as Mrs. Clemence Buraker. The Winfrey
Ranch was three miles from school and the
Buraker Ranch was a little more than one half
mile from school.
At present the buildings at the Winfrey
Ranch have been removed and an irrigation
sprinkler covers where the ranch buildings
stood. The buildings at the Buraker Ranch
have been removed and the site is now the
Wagon Wheel Qnmp Ground south of Bonny
Reservoir. The buildings at the Cook School
site were sold and moved. The only things
that remain are chunks of concrete over the
pipe of the water well, a few currant bushes
near the pasture fence and a lot of memories.
A complete record of the teachers who
taught at Cook was not available, however
this is a partial listing: Clemence Buraker,
Ruth Fithian, Bernarda Bohrer, Nellie Fox,
Mildred Sperry, Lenora Heckert, Clair Ford,
Wm Nye, Jr., Iris Herndon, and Helen
at this corner. Magnesia rock was
present
about the area, seen by many who remember
this place. Mrs. Ida Gwyn recalled a rock look
of the building and remaining rock in later
In 1987, no evidence is apparent to
mark a site of this old soddie school erected
years.
so many years ago.
Mr. William Strode remembered his teacher through his school years as: Mrs. Florence
Rumming (Miss Lyons), next teacher, Miss
Mina Miller, Julia Doughty, Miss Alice Kelly,
B.F. O'Dell, C.W. Smith and Harvey God-
interviews was obtained by my children when
in
school. Since
the school project
was
discussed, conversation turned to memories
of school. Also contributing was correspondence with a member of the Doughty family,
written memoirs of Adda (Doughty) Brookhart and interviews, generously given by Mrs.
Ida Gwyn. Mr. Duane Loutzenhiser aided
this writer in determining a location along
with other useful information.
by Lyle W. Stone
ding.
some of the students using this school were
William Strode, Mary Elizabeth (Molly) and
Adda Blanche Doughty, Mable Lynde, Archie Lyons (grand son), probably Carl Stark
EAST FAIR HAVEN
T165
and any brothers or sisters. Frank McDonald
may have attended among others. Families
living in the area were Farr, Lyons, Strode,
Lynde (Lind in some records), Doughty,
Editors
Wilson Kreoger.
Some of the families who had children who
attended the Cook School were as follows:
Armknecht, Homm, Buraker, Reinhold,
Winfrey, Rice, Parmer, Payne, Insco, and
Stafford.
by Clemence Buraker, Ilarold
Buraker, Lillian Ebeler, Lola
Winfrey Rhoades, and llelen C.
Kreoger
CRYSTAL SPRINGS
SCHOOL
T164
Crystal Springs school was first located
near the home of Stephen S. Strode in the
Crystal Springs alea, east of Flagler. Classes
began in 1887 in a dug out near the home for
the first few months. After a new soddie was
finished, classes moved to this structure at a
location near the present Duane Loutzenhiser home. A first reference found ofthis school
was during an interview in the 1950s with
William "Bill" Strode. He said the first
school he attended was a dug out and later
soddie. He said his first teacher was
Florence Rumming. Research revealed that
Miss Florence Lyons married Simon Rumming in 1890. I believe the first teacher in this
school was Miss Florence Lyons of a family
Iiving near the old Claude Verhoeff place.
a
Several physical locations have been suggest-
ed for the school following the dug out.
I
believe a most accurate place was west some
distance from the row of pine trees at the
Loutzenhiser place. The name, Crystal
Springs School, is recorded by a statement in
the memoirs of Adda (Doughty) Brookhart:
"My aunt Julia had come from Missouri and
taught a term of school which I attended at
the old Crystal Springs school." A logical
location would be in the northwest corner of
Section 9, Township 95, Range 50W.
On best authority, I believe this school was
built of sod and that in subsequent years,
some magnesia rock might have been laid on
its exterior to protect walls or corners from
elements of weather and damage from livestock. According to Duane Loutzenhiser,
present owner of the site, a magnesia rock
foundation was removed at the corner of the
section west of his place to facilitate farming
there. This is just south of the county road
East Fair Haven School, 1912 Back row, I to r: Jim Berry, Francis Tillum, Lewis Reed, Paul Miller, Mabel
Bushnell, Gladys Chew Front row: Flossie Tillum, Ward Chew, Flossie Benson
Stark and Miller, among others.
An interesting story tells of Molly and
Adda Doughty carrying butter milk to the
railroad crew workers when the Rock Island
track was built, passing near their residence.
EMERSON SCHOOL
Tr66
Rail hands placed coins in
paraffined
wrappers and tossed them to the Doughty
children in return payment. Mrs. Gwyn
remembered a nickname given Adda
Doughty as "Ab-doughty." Mable Lynde was
a "seat partner" of Adda Doughty when they
attended school. Mable became very ill and
died in November 1888. She had typhoid
fever and is the first person listed in records
of the Flagler Cemetery. Others were buried
here before record keeping began.
When District 19 was formed, this school
was located within its boundaries. A theory
exists suggesting when District 19 was
formed, its boundaries were set to include
railroad property to assure a tax base. This
might explain why students, after Flagler
schools were established, attended school at
the consolidated school of Second Central
some distance away. No definite record has
been found to determine how long Crystal
Springs School was in operation or when it
was closed, although certainly it was among
Emerson Consolidated School built in 1926. It
burned in 1935 and was rebuilt on the same place
to the same design.
Before Emerson School was centralized
there were two schools in one district. One
was Lowell School on
Rd 45- BB
and
Emerson School on Rd 47- FF. The new
larger centralized school kept the name
Emerson, probably named after the poet
Ralph Waldo Emerson. It was located on Rd
in the south east corner of
the first in the area.
46-EE
history was obtained from earlier interviews
with Will-and Mamie Strode. One of these
section L6-7-44. The grounds were fenced to
keep range cattle and horses out. However,
when baseball was played at recess or noon,
Much of the information in this short
school
�Emerson were Miss Ruth (Church) Schaal,
Miss Mary (Mahoney) Kruger, Miss Carlotta
Berger, Mr. Jake Jeager, Mr. and Mrs. Harlan
Romberg, Mr. and Mrs. S.L. Lightsey, Mrs.
Luella O'Hare, Mrs. Villot, Mr. Theisson,
Mrs. Youtsey, Mr. Tekel, Mrs. Rosina (Bau-
der) Schaal, Mr. DeRitter, Mrs. Dunlap, and
Miss Virginia Felch was the last teacher at
Emerson in the year 1958. In the fall of 1959
busses from the Burlington district transported all students to Burlington School.
by Ted Schaal
Left
to right: Glen Schaal, Wayne Winston, Teacher
Virginia Felch, Geneva Schaal; 2nd row: Nancy
the kids climbed the school ground fence and
made a baseball diamond in the pasture
outside the school grounds using cow chips
for bases, eliminating the possibility of a ball
being thrown through a window of the school
house.
The school building had two large
class-
rooms go two teachers could teach the first 10
grades usually 1 through 6 in the south room
and 7 through 10 in the north room which also
had an elevated stage. The two classrooms
were divided by folding doors that could be
opened for public school programs, school
elections and Farm Bureau meetings.
The school building had a full basement for
living quarters for the teachers and a separate
room for a coal furnace to heat the building.
Water was supplied by a windmill with a
supply tank in a tall building beside the
windmill which allowed an indoor restroom
on each side of the entry hall and a drinking
fountain in the middle.
Some children came to school with teem
and wagon, some in a buggy drawn by one
horse and some rode horses or burros (donk-
eys) so
mangers
a
large barn was provided with
to keep horses sheltered and fed
during the day.
In the early
30's, thirty-two students
attended one year. In 1935 the school house
caught fire, caused by a deteriorated chimney
behind the furnace and burned to the ground.
While a new identical school building was
being constructed on the basement foundation, school classes were held in the barn.
Some students came from districts that
taught eight grades to finish the 9th and 10th
grade at Emerson. One girl, Joyce Senti, rode
horseback from Spring Valley Ranch, a
distance of 10 miles one way and others were
not much closer.
About 1937 the 9th and 10th grades were
discontinued as some of the older students
finished the 9th through 12th grades in
Burlington. So after that Emerson had one
teacher and taught only from 1st through 8th
FAIRMOUNT SCHOOL
Tl67
Fairmount School was established in 1913
on Section 22, Township 11, Range 49, south
of Seibert, at a place known as the Joe
Trabert place. This information comes from
a paper, Of Land and People, written by
Leon Bloder, formerly of the Rock Cliff area.
didn't
get to finish that term ofschool (1920-
Fairmount School was later consolidated
with Rock Cliff School. The Fairmont School
had a barn for horses and later the school
building was moved to Rock Cliff and was the
small building used for the upper grades.
Selma went to Rock Cliff the next term and
finished there. Rock Cliff had bus barns built
after that.
Sybil Wiem boarded with the Gunderson's
when she taught school at Fairmont in 192021.
by Lyle
tion valuable to those of us today. Mr.
TY.
Stone
Bloder's comments follow:
The school was first located in an old
shanty located in the southeast part of the
section. Earl Short was the tcacher. The
common water dipper, the slate, and also
cowchip fuel were on the way out. In 1914 Ben
Loiler constructed a new school building on
FAIRVIEW SCHOOL
NO.20
T168
the same site, also two 4' x 4' "necessaty
houseg." These were of the "modern" type,
having a basement (although still supplied
with mail order catalogues), and a barn for six
horses. Later teachers were Agie Sawhill,
Alpha Wolfe in 1918-19, and Sibyl Wrenn in
L920-2L.
The school house was in a fenced pasture,
and during the term taught by Agie Sawhill,
the Loiler kid's dog would sometimes come
to school with them. and when cattle came
near, would run them off. One day we heard
rifle shots outside. All noses pressed to the
windows, we saw the rancher who owned the
cattle chasing the dog round and round the
school house getting in a shot every time he
could. Just as the dog rounded the corner
Adobe School 20: Children are from Matthies,
Ellsworth and Armstrong families.
ahead, the dog stopped and scratched on the
door. The oldest boy opened the door and
shouted at the man, just as he got in a final
shot. The dying dog fell into the room. At this
One of the first school buildings in district
20 was an adobe building on the SW corner
underpants, teacher included as he stepped
outside to speak to the man, calmly standing
there with his hand cupped over the muzzle
of the 22 caliber Savage Hi-Power rifle.
Students that attended Fairmount school
through the years included: Ruth and Ruby
Hungerford; Lee, Everett and Leola Cline;
Donald, Leslie and Johnnie Norris; Joseph,
Agnes, Mary and Leon Bloder; Ralph,
house was built on the southwest corner of 1611-44. fifteen miles south and four miles west
of Burlington. This schoolwas known as West
Fairview No. 20: sometimes it was called the
years at West Fairview.
time we were all about scared out of our
District consoli-
Short; Alice Short; Theadore Douglas; Allie
Ferguson; Hollister and Kenneth Reece;
Ivan, Clifford and Merle Noxon; Sterling
district hired Elmer Schaal to haul some of
the pupils in his Jeep Station Wagon to
Burlington where the district paid tuition.
At one time Clara Fender conducted
Dawe; Selma and Gladys Simonson.
School was not held here in 1919-20 as only
Somc of the fnachers who tsusht et
miles west of there so Selma drove a horse and
cart to school until a wheel wore out and she
his
memories of this school, thus saving informa-
dated with Emerson District and that year
some students from Hook attended Emerson,
but in following years the larger combined
Sunday School during the summer and Ben
Parmer had evangelistic meetings for a short
time.
brought a lady from Norway and they were
married in October of 1920 and moved four
Mr. Bloder thoughtfully wrote down
Wilford, Marvel and Burton Loiler; Austin
Valquette; Clara Martin; Ruby Irvin; Robert
grades.
In 1953 the Hook School
Oliver Gundersons. Matt, Selma's brother,
2r).
Emereon School pupils its last year: 1958-59.
Winston, Iva Winston, Linda Smith, Clyde Schaal,
Alene Winston. Front Row: Karan Smith and
Marie Winston
Deeter, E.M. Short, Troy Martin, Albert
Martin, Inez Short, James Deeter, Bessie
Short, Harry Short and Odry Martin.
Selma Simonson Nordquist who went her
first year to Second central in 1917-18, went
to school at Fairmount School in 1919 and
they lived with their Aunt and Uncle, the
two pupils lived in this end of the district.
Mr. Bloder's record included a 1915 program of entertainment. Names not previous-
ly mentioned and located in the
of the NW% 8-11-44, southwest of BurIington.
Sometime
in the 1910's a frame school
'Crackerbox school.'
Some of the families attending West
Fairview were Hicks, Matthies, Hines,
Meyers, Hawthorne, and Boyd.
Florence Wigton taught school several
East Fairview No. 20 was on the southeast
corner of the SE% L4-Ll-44, three miles east
of West Fairview School. Before the
1920's
East Fairview was about a mile west of this
location. Some years school was held in both
schools and some years it was held in just one
of the schools.
Some of the children attending East
Fairview were the Smiths, Pearson, Boyd,
program,
Matthies, Hicks, Abbott, Walstrom, Wind-
(some may have been among the older set),
were: Leaoold Bloder. John Deeter. Reeina
sheffel and Williams.
Fairview consolidated with the Bethune
�School around 1951. The children then rode
a school bus to Bethune where they could
attend all twelve grades.
The school houses were then sold and
t!.
:,t:.
f:..
moved away.
€#ffi
FARRffi"::
f,nlsorslrlcf,ln
rvro.
EEF
.
%"iiz:
,ff
lT .b*t:''3:fr1 !:s?l?Ji::'sl:
early teacher was Miss Stella Strode. Other
teachers of the district in early years were
First Central School in
Haidee Nealley (or Neeley), Emma Liggett,
Mrs. Flo Shunate, Ethel Durbin and M.R.
*.
1912 when Grace Wellman Greenwood was a baby
(in the picture)'
Shanahan.MissLuellaSchwynmayhave1908or1910.Afewyearslater,probably
beenteachingbefore1915.Arecordof19151914,twolargeframeroomswereaddedto
tellsofMiss-EverettarrivingonaSaturdaythenorthofthisbuilding.Anicelookingroof
eveninginFlaglerfromWisconsinandthatandwindowsenhancedthisbuilding.Itwas
shewinbetheteacheratFarrSchoolinthewhitewithdarkbrowntrimandverypretty.
comingterm.Ithadneatstepsandanentranceontheeast.
"fl',:"'31*f"'.11tif;3'rff-?,-"n,'jii#f'Jfl
l3lt'S'fr3t"'f,T:'A'fr5'*fft":lfljt;
mentionedinlastweek'spaperwill!eheldtyping.andbookkeepingclassroom.Two
attheFarrschoolhouseinDist.19.Thanks-typewriterswereusedinthisclassroom.
givingeve.LadiesbringwellfilledbasketsTherewasastoveandinbittercoldweather,
and men don't forget your
purses."
;j:#,:'*t:runji*:ln,1lf:;n
Duncan and Dewey Farr attended as students. Although a careful search has
-:
a
,--r,,, o-L,,,
:_
r-__
___L^-
rr-
ilfi:,?:,11*:"*ff:il,1'.'"?*:,$f;;::il"X'
teachersbroughtormadehotsouptosupplement the chirdren's cord runches. Inlater
years another school house was
built on the
westedgeoftheschoolgrounds.Inl92?Alta
Ellis Wolfe taught the first three grades. She
been
made, other students are not apparent except
that children of the Paulsen family may have
attended here. It is known that in 1915, 'i:'r.": "----'--'
Durr"- Farr was a right guard on the Flagle;
HighSchoolfootballieam.Itisinterestingto*;;.*;..-"-."-..'..--'...--.''..-'''',..'.,.*
backfield on this team. Duncan would have
attended Farr School much earlier.
Records indicate Farr School was still in
operation in 1915, with school beginning this
year, the teacher boarding with the John
Paulsen's.
W.W. Reynolds hauled a load of coal to the
Farr School in the fall of 1915.
It is unlikely Farr School operated much
later than 1915. This is stated because Flagler
schools had improved a gteat deal at this time
and was within a distance where students
could have been transported to the school.
Often, this made little difference if patrons
were unwilling. District 19 had embarked on
an effort to utilize a centralized consolidated
school npmed Second Central at this time.
by Lyle W. Stone
FIRST CENTRAL
SCHOOL
TI.70
First Central was an early day community
school located 12 miles south and 4 miles east
ofStratton, Colorado on the Correction Line'
A long slim frame school house was built in
Pupils at First Central in 1929-3G Back ro*', I to r: Jarnes Grccetooa, Ly'e Xcllogg, Delno Norton, Jennie
L. Tressel, Lowell Dunlap, Walt Ackerson, Warren Hodge, La Denhom. Middle row: Edith Beeson, Albert
GIad, Irene Dunham, Glen Smith, Bessie Whitrnore, Lloyd Prxhe, IlGlEn Mitchell, Elbert Ayres. Front Row:
Violet Norton, Cloyd Storrer, Eva Raleigh, Ralph Greenrood, Dorothy Hodge, Clarence Ieeman, Wanda
Norton, Kenneth Scheierman.
�lived six miles south of Bethune on the
present Leo and Maxine Kindred farm. That
same year, Lola Shaw Pearce Rillihan was
also a teacher there. She loaned her horse
"Sparkplug" (Sparky) to Vena Hughes to
ride the 4-112 miles to and from school each
day. Vena was a junior in high school that
year.
Teachers that your writers can remember
were: Miss Troxel (one of the first); Miss
Johnson, Della Glaze, Chester Glaze, Florence Ellis Glaze, Jesse McNay, Wilsie
Hughes Reeder, Marie Chandler Greenwood
(1921-22), Amy Petefish McConnell, Jack
McConnell, Violet Campbell Barr, Lola Shaw
Pearce Rillihan, Thelma Neilson Armstrong
Lowe, Ida Smith Boecker, Mr. Terry, Mr.
Elder, Oris Bunch, Otis Ross, Mr. Frog, Miss
Bohl, Jennie Tressel, Virginia Felch, Mr.
Hampton, Jackie Hendricks, Mr. Fox, Ruby
Schlotman, Josie Youtsey, Della Hendricks,
Fred Carrington-Conradson/, Lyle Bunch,
Edith Campbell Johnson, Marvel Simpson,
Jesse Roach Ardueser, McCune, Edith Beeson, Margaret Simon, Caroline Husenetter.
Theodore Smith was the first graduate
from First Central (1923). Arlene (Bunch)
Rains was the last graduate (1947). There
were no graduation exercises held for Theodore so he graduated later with the class of
1925. He was enrolled in Greeley Teachers
College at that time. He later taught school
at Smokey Angle. In 1927, Mr. Elder taught
some post-graduate courses, on top of all the
high school classes. Garvin Church attended
the post-graduate courses, one of which was
trigonometry.
At one time there were 100 pupils and five
teachers and four busses at First Central
School. In the years from 1923 to 1947 when
the last class graduated there were 80 graduates on the records. The names of those 80
graduates are listed in the Stratton alumni
listing which one will find in the article titled
"High School Graduates
and
- Stratton
First Central." When the school
was closed
in 1950, all records were taken to Stratton
School District R-4 and incorporated into
that school's records.
Oris Bunch recalls that he attended the
house grades 1, 2 and 3. Later he
taught in it two years then lived in it one year
and taught in the big school. He taught all
Iittle school
eight grades.
There was a Dr. Troxel who lived just east
of First Central on the north side of the
Correction Line. It is thought that he built
that house. Later Frank Whitmore lived
there, also Bill Churchwells and Cage Bunchs
lived there.
Charles and Iva Day
farmstead.
It
built a very
nice
had a huge barn and a very nice
frame home, according to the standards of
that day when many lived in sod homes. Just
above it to the east L/2 mile was the Day
School (built in about 1906). Raymond
Hughes was one who attended there. Giles
and Ada Hunt and son, Wayne, lived on the
Day place after Days left. Later Melvin Wall,
Henry Scheiermans, Bill Berrys and the
Ralph Isemans lived there. At present it
belongs to Clarence and Allie Jean (Beck)
Iseman.
About 1912 or 1914 there was a Beaverton
store where Mrs. Clair Eichenberger now
lives. This is 1/4 mile east of the Art Lowe
place where Paul Lowe now lives. This store
was run by Mrs. McPheeters. She and her
children. Bertha and Jim. lived in the back
rooms of the store. She bought cream and
from the people and hauled this produce
into Stratton. One could buy a new Easter hat
and some summer and fall clothing at this
eggs
store. Later McPheeters left and George
Church ran a store there in 1920. The
Churches either moved in or built a large
frame building close to First Central School
where they continued their grocery business.
About this time people began to buy Model
T cars and a few other models and went to
Stratton more often. so the Church store
closed. They moved into Burlington.
The following are First Central community
people your writers recall. Some may have
lived in the Norton School District just east
of First Central. The Norton School was
about 2 miles north of the Nazarene Church
which was on the Correction Line. Dunlap,
Storrer, Swan, Erickson, Lesher, Herndon,
Pfaffly, Dunham, Huscher, Holstein, Ora
Wellman, Art Wellman, Frank Beeson, Ed
Beeson, Cliff Beeson, Jap York, John
Higgins,
Bill
Bill Whitmore, Frank
Churchwell,
Whitmore,
Art Lowe, McPheeters,
Kellogg, E.R. Smith, Griggs, John N. Williams, Perry Taylor, Dr. Troxel, A.J. Glaze,
Ralph Iseman, A.D. Radspinner, Charlie
Perkins, Willis Perkins, Walter Collins, Clark
Geist, Henry (Red Henry) Wilson, Rex
Barrett, Ayers, Christenson, Fred Norton,
Snelling, Vic Michell, Greenwood, Wink
Hall, Jim Hall, Simms, McArthur, Tom
McMahan, H.D. Greenwood, Lou Beck, Giles
Hunt, Melvin Wall, Herman Baetz, Lawrence
and George Sherrod, Dave Megel, Elmer
Magnuson, Pete Burgraff, Keever, Keeling,
Labonte, Perry, Andrewjeske, Austin, Johnson, Bauman, Tatkenhorst, Sponsel, Kirby,
Windsheffel, Kaufalks (not sure of the
spelling), ISallee, Loobe, Simons, Kiper,
Holder, Stegman, Werner, Cage Bunch,
Church, Swem.
In the 1916 census of First Central school
district it shows it to be a big district (No. 29)
which included Tom Wilcoxin who lived 3
miles south of Highway 24.The school house
was located 12 miles south of Highway 24.
The Wilcoxins lived on what is known now
as the Bert Stramel place, owned by Miltenberger Brothers. Tom Wilcoxin's parents
were Jerry and Miranda McNair.
There were literary programs
often in
- crackers,
the winter we had oyster stew and
as everyone had lots of milk. At times fresh
oysters could be bought at the Stratton Meat
Market. Someone in the community needed,
at times, a load of coal, or a bushel of apples
and other things, so they would get two
gallons of oysters. These were 91.00 per
gallon. Each family gave about 10 cents to
cover the cost of the oysters. The women also
made pies and some popped about two
bushels of popcorn. Most folks raised popcorn in their fields. Debates were popular
entertainment at these progrerms. Homemade icecrenm was often made, also.
An
interesting and funny thing that
happened often at the literary programs or
church services was the "chirping chicken."
If the meeting got dull, a little chicken would
chirp in the back of the room. This chicken
sounded just like a real one who had lost his
Mama and was running around the chicken
house, cold, looking for the Mother Hen. It
was a perfect mimic. It was Irvin "Skinny"
Lesher making the noise. About the time
Frank Lesher, Irvin's father, turned around
and looked to see where Irvin was. the chick
disappeared into the side room. It was a cute
act and happened quite often.
Church and Sunday School were held every
Sunday, with a good youth program on
Sunday evenings. Everyone attended this
and different people led devotions. Rev.
Huscher and Rex Barrett were some of the
speakers. Fred Storrer was a fine Sunday
School teacher. In later years the Evangelical
United Brethren Church of Stratton sent
ministers to preach. Rev. Ness lived near the
First Central School. Later Delbert Paulson
First Central Church and the
Smokey Angle Church into the Stratton
Church. A number of people didn't go into
merged the
Stratton because the distance was too far. so
those families remained unchurched.
In the fall of 1950 First Central and other
country schools were consolidated into one
district and all of the country children were
bussed into Stratton to school. At present
there are no buildings left on the First
Central school grounds. A few years ago there
were cattle and hog pens there, but those, too,
are gone.
First Central had a girls basketball team
which played on an outdoor court. Lola Shaw
and Miss Bohl were two of the coaches. Agnes
Iseman, Gertrude Church, Ruth Church,
Hazel Lesher and Vena Hughes played on
that team at various times.
During the late 1940's the school had a hot
lunch program. Mrs. Heiman was one of the
cooks. Also during that time there were two
particular teachers, one quite heavy and one,
a tall, slender lady. The kids built two "snow
women" to resemble the two ladies. The tall
teacher took thejoke quite well but the heavy
lady didn't think it so humorous, so she took
a bucket of hot water and poured it on the
heavy "snow woman." Consequently, the
"snow woman" turned to ice and outlasted
the slender one by several days.
The Lesher and Storrer boys would give
each other rides in the windmill wheel. One
would climb up the tower and hook his hands
and toes into the wheel and the one on the
ground would turn on the windmill. After a
few spins, he would turn off the mill and they
would exchange places!
During most of the First Central era there
was a community baseball team. In the early
years, about 1912 and 1913, the team was
of George Sherrod, Lawrence
Sherrod, Jack Thomas, Bert Thomas, Bill
Holt (or Houch), Hans Ho5rt, Floyd Cunningham, Lou Dages, Jap York and Enoch
made up
Thomas. Their home baseball diamond was
at the Beaverton Store. In the late 1940's the
team consisted of Shelby Taylor, Darrell
Taylor, Hap Bauman, Leonard, Clark and
Duane Beeson, Don Thompson, Bill Storrer,
Jerome Stegman and LeRoy Herndon. The
1940's team played such community teams as
Homm's Settlement, Bethune, Pottorffs,
Knights of Columbus (Stratton). Their home
diamond was located 2 miles east of the
schoolhouse.
The following people contributed to this
story: Leonard and Agnes Beeson, Vena
Hughes Scheierman, Irene Dunham Kennedy, Maxine Iseman Chandler, Loraine
Iseman Wood, Vel Lowe Pickard, Marie
Chandler Greenwood, Oris Bunch, Wilsie
Hughes Reeder, Grace Wellman Greenwood,
�Elsie Beeson Herndon, LeRoy Herndon, Ivan
Smelker.
by Leonard and Agnes (Iseman)
Beeson
board. All of these early schools were used
both as schools and on Sundays the community gathered there for Sunday School.
Jim McConnell and his cousins along with
others attended this school in 1931. His first
GREEN KNOLL
SCHOOL
teacher was Miss Virginia Felch. She boarded
with the Jack McConnells while teaching at
FLAGEOLLE SCHOOL
T17r
My early school days in Colorado were in
It was 16 miles north,
1 mile west, and 1/z mile north of Vona,
a large adobe building.
Colorado. [t was on the Frank Rehor place.
I went to school there until the fall of 1915
or 1916. Some of the pupils were the Bogers,
John Horace and Bonney; Bill and Mae Ilers;
Evelyn and Pearl Brookshire; John and Alva
Flageolle; Beatrice and Buelah Strode; Lester
Crist; Verdie and Cleo Elsey; the Balangas;
and Orval, Avirene and Bertha Seo-an.
We took our lunches in a pail or paper bag.
The water was brought in . Some of the pupils
had what was called folding cups. They were
tin or aluminum. There was a large stove in
the middle of the room for heat.
For games we enjoyed "kick the can",
"steal sticks", "drop the handkerchief',
"anti-over" and ball gemes. My home was 16
miles north of Vona, 1 mile east and 1 mile
north.
Orval. Bertha and I walked the mile on nice
days. If it was stormy, some older brother
would come for us. Finally my dad, William
Seaman, put a shaft on a spring wagon and
we drove old "Bill" the horse for several
years. It wasn't a nice ride. We sat on boxes
and had a cover over our laps. Later Ernest
Elsey made a catt, put a shaft on it and a
horse was used to pull it. His girls and I went
to school this way until the fall of 1915 or
Grandview.
My first school years were at Grandview
School, and the first teacher I remember was
Amy McConnell. There were only four of us
that first year: Paul Brown, Dean Smith,
Barbara Wilson, and myself. The last year
that Grandview had school, Vivian Brown
joined us. That last year, 1946, Miss Evelyn
Gouge was our teacher. I can remember when
the county superintendent of school came to
visit our school. The first one I recall was Miss
Virginia Felch, formerly my husband Jim's
teacher.
For a few years the building was used for
community events with a group of Young
Farmers and Homemakers meeting once a
month. They enjoyed square dancing, giving
plays, and having box suppers.
Mildred Anderson has told us about
Grandview School. This school was located
twelve miles south and,3l/z or 4 miles west of
Stratton and about the same distance, only
east from Vona. Mildred moved thereinl92T
and the first teacher she remembers was
Mary Martin, now Mary Blodgett who was
postmistress at Joes, Colorado until retire-
T173
Not much is remembered about Green
Knoll school which is located two miles west
and two south of Stratton. but it is one of the
few school buildings remaining at its original
Iocation. The McCormick's older children
went there and one of the teachers that is
remembered is Julia McCormick Lowe. The
building sits on land owned by Dean Wigton.
by Florence McConnell
OLD SCHOOLS IN
DISTRICT NO. 38
Tt74
The Charles Nealleys lived in the SE 1/4
of 35-6043 when their two daughters, Haidee
and Blanche, attended this school.
It
was
located a mile west of the Neallev home. The
tat:',
:i:'1
ment. Another teacher was Miss Virginia
Felch who was the last teacher to teach there.
She had taught there for a long time. Also a
Mr. Fred Carrington taught there.
by Florence McConnell
1916.
For entertainment we had pie and cake
suppers with programs before we ate. There
were Christmas programs and many more
that I can't remember. I do remember at the
Christmas program Santa gave me a piece of
material for a dress. It was a red and white
check.
The only teachers I can remember were
The outside of school house that Haidee and
Blanche Neally attended. Taken in 1904.
Miss Kozard and Mary Watmore.
by Avirene Henry
GRANDVIEW SCHOOL
Tt12
Grandview School was another school
belonging to District 36 in which there were
several schools. Each district had a school
-&;t
.&{'
;:*,:
t,:ti:urn
,&t$
Grandview School in 1946: front row, I to r: Vivian
Brown, Barbara Wilson, Dean Smith, PauI Brown.
Back row: Denise Wilson, Teacher: Evelyn Gouge
1901 school in District 38: Teacher, Miss Eva White. Pupils: (back to front) Haidee Neally, Vinnie Reisch,
Gertrude Reisch, Clyde Knapp, Lucy Knapp, Zuella Knapp, Blanche Neally, Cora Knapp, Jake Knapp,
Oral Reisch
�school house was located in the SE L/4 of 346-43 on the north side of a creek bank. The
rocks for the foundation can be seen very
plainly yet. It does seem like a very odd place
to build a school. I don't know the nane of
the school but it was in District 38. Mrs. John
Nohr and Olive Hill were two teachers for the
Hill School located about 3 miles
NE of this school in the NE L/4 of L4-6-43.
Pleasant
Later Happy Hollow replaced both of these
schools, but all were in District 38.
The teacher in this school was Mise Eva
White. Later she married a man from south
of Kanorado and continued to live here for
a few years. She passed away and is buried
in the Kanorado cemetery. The pupils in this
picture all came from three families: the
Knapps, Reischs and Nealleys, namely back
to front: Haidee Nealley, Vinnie
Reisch,
Gertrude Reisch, Clyde Knapp, Lucy Knapp,
ZuellaKnapp, Blanche Nealley, Cora Knapp,
Jake Knapp and Oral Reisch. As far as I know
Lucy Knapp Russmann is the only one still
living and she was our last County Superintendent of Schools in Kit Carson County.
This picture was taken in 1901.
by Elna M. Johnson
on the farm in the fall ofthe year and so could
not complete their school grades. A Bohe-
mian family moved onto a place about a mile
northwest of the school and two boys attended the school. Then the next year a little blueeyed sister entered the first grade. She could
not speak English, but before the term was
over, she had not only mastered the language
but maintained her grades along with her
classmates.
In those days a good teacher kept a very
strict order. No whispering was
allowed
during the school session, and the children
did not leave their seats without permission.
If one needed the teacher's help, a hand was
raised. A hand with one finger raised was for
a request to
speak to another pupil, two
fingers raised was for permission to get a
drink, and three fingers indicated a need to
leave the room. Someone in that school came
up with a system of sign language using the
fingers to express the different letters of the
alphabet. We became quite adept at sending
Tt?6
When the Chandler family settled on their
homestead northwest of Stratton in March,
1909, there was no school nearby. Soon a
thrifty Danish family named Hansen, with
five children, Carrie, Martin, Nicholas, Margaret and Abbie, homesteaded on a piece of
land adjoining on the north. They erected a
nice frame house, barn, and other buildings.
Then they promoted interest in establishing
a public school. My mother, who had been a
gchoolteacher back East, was making certain
that we children's education was not neglected by teaching us at home. However, our
parents were very much in favor of establishing a school in the community. So were other
families whose children had been attending
school some distance away. Six or seven of the
men hitched their horses to breaking plows
and soon had enough slabe of sod to build a
neat, little sod schoolhoue€. It was located
four milee west and four miles north of
Stratton, and just one mile north of our home.
Mr. Hansen had donated the land so we
named it "The Hansen School." There were
also two outhouses and a small shed for coal.
In the corner of the yard was a lilrc bush,
probably planted and then abandoned by a
discouraged settler in the late eighteen
hundreds.
Mrs. Jerome, who lived one mile south of
from the school. was our first
teachor. She was a good teacher rnd included
singing in our curriculum. Since she owned
and played an organ, she would loan it to the
school when she had a Christmas or LastDay-of-School prog:ram. The school term
lasted only six monthe. Some of the pupils
were Nicholas, Margaret, and Abbie Hanren;
Henry Mohr; Stuart, Fred, Madie Lee, and
Bessie Ray Harvey; Marie, Elsie, Joseph, and
John Chandler; Walter, Blanche, Glen and
Homer Bridge, Esta Gray and en older sieter,
Rosie Vader, and others. Some of the boys
were quite old and nearly grown due to the
fact that thev had to stav at home and work
us and two miles
I
have wondered
first day.
blackboard. We had Big Chief tablets but
one
mostly we wrote on slates, and proud indeed
was the youngster who possessed a double
There were eight grades and we sat in
double seats, two to a seat. On the back of
each seat was a flat projection that served as
a writing desk for the two in the next seat
behind. Between the front desk and the
teacher's desk was a long bench where each
class was routinely called up to recite their
lessons, or they might be sent to the blackboard to perform arithmetic calculations.
Every day we had ten minutes of penmanship
practice, and along toward evening, we often
had a spelling match, where we stood in line,
and a good speller might advance to the head
of the line and earn the "Head Mark" for the
day. Nor were History, Geography, Physiology, Civics or Science ever neglected.
Two pupils were excused each day to a well
down at the bottom of the hill to bring back
a bucket of drinking water. We played many
games at recess and noon, Pump-Pump-Pull-
Away, Darebase, New Orleans, London
Bridge-Is-Falling-Down, Ring Around the
Rosie, Blackman's Buff, Drop the Handkerchief and Baseball. If we were lucky to have
a wet fall, there would be a lagoon down the
creek a short distance to the northwest. When
this would freeze over, we would quickly eat
our lunch at noon, then go skating for the
remainder of the hour-long recess. None of us
had skates, but if we would take a fast run to
the edge of the pond, we could skim across
the ice on the soles of our shoes. Hard on sole
leather! and shoes were not easy to come by
in those days. Also, when it snowed, we
played Fox and Geese and as the snow melted
we beat down tracks until we could follow
them like cow paths. Years later after the
schoolhouse had been leveled and the other
buildings removed, I chanced to drive by the
location one day and could still see traces of
those Fox and Geese paths, like a small scale
copy of the Santa Fe Trail reminding us of
early days. The lilac bush still thrived. A few
years later, all had been plowed under.
About the third year a young lady named
Miss Blodgett came to teach our school. She
was friendly and pretty and we girls admired
her dainty clothes and her blonde hair piled
high in the back and accented with little loops
of black, watered taffeta ribbon. The boys
if
Miss Blodgett taught
school somewhere else the next year, and I
hoped that she set her foot down firmly the
messages to each other, especially when the
teacher had her back turned to write on the
slate.
HANSEN SCHOOL
regarded her, too, but showed their admiration in a different way. They pestered her and
irked her and the more she reacted, the more
tricks they would play. One day she stepped
out of the door a minute and one of them
jumped up and locked the door on her. She
banged the door and screamed. They told her
to say "Please" and "Pretty Please." Finally
she did and they let her in. She looked to
neither right nor left and all the children
appeared to be studying intently. The boys
now had the upper hand and after that our
school was a riot. Although we felt sorry for
her, we girls sometimes got into the act. It was
so much fun and we sort of wanted to go along
with the boys. She looked so sad so we talked
it over, and before school was out, Margaret,
Blanche, and I went together and told her
how sorry we were and that we loved her. Of
course she did not get her contract back, and
We had many successful teachers and the
I remember the best was Miss Alice
Talbott. After I graduated from the eighth
grade, my mother, Mrs. Meta Chandler,
taught one or two years before we moved to
town.
Miss Jennie L. Tressel who was the County
Superintendent of Schools, each year visited
all the schools in the county, driving a tenm
ofhorses hitched to a buggy. She was the one
who signed my eighth grade diploma. When
she came to visit our school it was a great
event and we all tried to be very polite and
on our best behavior.
by Marie E. Greenwood
HAPPY HOLLOW
Tt76
Edna Bartman Stahlecker sent this information about Happy Hollow School District
38. Who was teacher and in which year and
any marriages are indicated. Some of the
teachers at Happy Hollow School District 38
were Elva Smith Bartman: 1916 Miss Edna
Swanson, who later manied Edgar King;
1921 Marie Klassen; 1922 Miss Sperry; 1924
Mr. and Miss Johnson. a brother and sister:
1925 Thema Opal Muirhead; 1925-26 Loyal
Brown, high school and grade 8; 1926 Dorothy Bowers, who later married Max Litell;
1927 Elizabeth Eastin; L928 Zella Fowler,
elementary, Iris Sweigart high school; 1929
Edith Miser who married Rayond Wells; 1930
Dorthea Schmidt, elementary and Mr. Leslie
Cates, high school '29 and '30; 1931 Hallie
Miser who married Everett Winfrey;
1931
Frank Kurtz grades 8,9, l0; 1932-39, Mr. and
Mrs. C.B. Ford; 1940 Claude Cheny and 1941
Melvin Sall.
Sunday School was also held at Happy
Hollow School for many years. Some years
there were literary programs held there.
Students attending Happy Hollow were
Straughn, Rhoades, Barnharts, Smiths, Timmans, Bartmans, Hanrahan, Tieman, Parmer, Rogers, Bagleburger, Benge, Trotters,
Murphys, Proehle, Winfrey, Cody, Lundvall,
Jackson, Clarks, and Henderson.
by Edna Bartman Stahlecker
�HOOK SCHOOL
own children. Many residents here remember
Tt77
Little HiSh Plains School
Temple of Learning
years later
1906 it was a soddy
- two
a good sturdy adobe. It was a country school,
used for almost half a hundred years.
In
For homesteaders' youngsters and next
generations, it was a happy, worthy place.
There eight grades of classes went on in a
room 20 by 28 feet, and a short time after its
opening there were also three high school
students taught there.
Now only small traces remain of this school
which closed its door 25 years ago, and which
a Burlington artist, Ralph Binard, knew well
for his boyhood learning there. He painted a
striking version of a thunder storm over the
little high plains building which stood ten
miles north. one east and a half back north
again from town. It is very likely typical ofthe
hundred of little schools which dotted the
country sides in a surprising number.
Although the Kit Carson County court
in 1908, destroying all records,
including those of the many schools, it is
house burned
remembered that a homesteader, W.B. Hook
built the first building located on his land
when the centur5r was young. After the sod
structure collapsed, the help of neighbors to
the west were enlisted one summer. Settlemen of the Weisshaar and
ment builders
Doder farnilies- knew well how to lay the
them: Roydon of Colorado Springs, the late
Elmer and Delvin and a daughter Bernice,
now Mrs. Ephram Watkins of Longmont.
Elmer's only daughter, Letha, now Mrs'
Lloyd Churchill of South Sioux City, Nebraska, has kept in touch with friends here. In
1909, Dwight and Theo, sons of James Hook
who for a brief time tried homesteading, and
Borton Hook were also listed in the school
census. James was a brother of W.B. Hook.
In an interview in the Springs recently,
Royden mentioned that his brother Elmer
passed away in Sioux City in the 1940's and
his brother Delvin died three years ago.
Delvin's wife, Gladys Ivy Hook, now of Sand
Point, Idaho, taught the school during the
l92l-22 term.
In the year 1908 there were 53 carried on
the roll, according to records of a former
teacher of the school, Mrs. Lucy Russman,
county superintendent of schools. Mrs. Russ'
man, who taught 20 years, besides three at
Hook, had a special fondness for this little
post, as she rode horseback four miles each
way through sunny, snowy or windy days of
1912, 1913 and 1914. She pointed out that
probably during 1908, although there were
the large number carried on the roll, that did
not mean that there were that many children
going there at one time. Their names were in
the book for purposes of state aid to schools.
Until a child of a district reached 21, even if
he or she dropped out to get married in those
days the name could be kept on the roll.
"My father walked into this
country,"
been
stated Mrs. Russman. He was James Knapp,
one of the first homesteaders, coming from
Illinois. The family had come to McDonald,
Kansas, and joined him here as he established
a homesite. He dug a well on his land north
of Burlington with a hand shovel. Later he
dug many wells with a horse drawn auger for
other settlers, among whom were the W.B.
Hooks, Mrs. Russman believed. Her father
Pueblo to work
took other long walks
- to
in the steel mills part time.
Others who joined the Binards in classes
simultaneous to the years of World War I, he
remembered as five children of the Bud
now Evelyn Flick of ldalia, was once a
student of thig institution, known as District
No. 2. Bethune District 1, is thought to have
their children, Ellard and Marie. The Charlie
Normans enrolled their daughter Naomi, son
Paul and an adopted daughter, Corine Be-
- last of which spring winds
adobe blocks, the
blew down.
Many early day settlers caused school
houses to be erected on their pastures, and
there were no deeds, so the land on which the
buildings stood reverted to the owners or
buyers eventually. The Ora Likes, who csme
in the 1930's
buying the W.B. Hook acree through a
here from Atwood, Kansas
Burlington real estate man, Ed Finegan, are
still living in the Hook house. This is a
remarkably well preserved adobe, having
built in 1910. Surrounded by farm land,
the winds still blow across the pasture where
Ralph's painting shows the flag was raised
each day. A daughter of Mr. and Mre. Like,
preceded the Hook school by a short time.
"The Binards made up quite a few of the
roll call," stated Binard, who began in the
second grade there. His parents, the
William
Binards, came from South Dakota in 1916'
For a little while he remembered 35 pupils
were enrolled one year. Hie brothers and
sister scholars were Joe, Don, Marie, Rosalie,
Andrew and Agnes. His cousins, children of
the Henry Binards, were KaY, Art, Bill,
Bernard,Madeline, Clara and Doris' The
other Binard kids were either too young or
too old for school at that time. None are now
living in this vicinity. Ralph was well known
for not only his Hub Service at the south end
of Main Street, the Greyhound bus stop, but
for his hobbies of astronomy, travel and those
of his former rock and coin shoP.
Having been proving up for a year since
staking out his homestead in 1905, W.B.
Hook gave the acre of land for the construction of the soddy school, as he and his wife
were anxioug about the education of their
Williams: Margie, Vera, Wendell, Charles
and the twins Ila and Lila; Roy, Harold and
Alpha Hess; the Charles "Pat" Doerings sent
dard. The L.L. Pennisons sent their boy
George. There was a Carl and Earl Ashley, a
Josephine Smith, Evelyn and Iva Steel. He
remembers Marie Beard, Genevieve Shannon, Robert Shannon, Nora and Erma Frost,
the latter Mrs. Perry Robertson of Burlington.
County Clerk, Iva Gross of Burlington and
her sister Elsie Proehl, daughters of the late
John and Mrs. Margie Knapp, began their
Hook school attendance in the third grade,
moving in 1936 from Emerson school, located
just west, on the day Emerson school burned
down.
"We moved just in time," smiled lva,
adding that Emerson was built back and
survived a couple of years longer than Hook,
which closed its doors in 1949 when Burlington's RE-6J was formed. For by then the
high plains rural population was diminished,
and what pupils remained on farms were
bussed to town schools.
Both Raymond and Richard Gramm of
Hook school studenta
Burlington wet"
"-ottgAnderson.
as was a Mrs. Bertha
Mrs. Mabel Munter-Hines of Kanorado
not only went to District 2 for eight years, but
after some high school and two weeks of
"Normal" institute, she headed up her old
school in 1919 and 1920 as a valued and
beloved teacher. Her education was more
than was required then, as an orientation in
August at Normal was sufficient to teach.
Mabels' parents, the Charles Munters,
came out from Iowa, buying land just across
the section from the Hook holdings and thus
she and her brother Frank had only a short
way to walk for a part of each year, although
a five mile jaunt the rest of some terms when
an experiment was tried.
An early version ofsplit sessions took place
with school being held at another building
during parts of the term, in order to alternate
the distances children had to travel. This
experiment
of having one school open in
spring, another in fall, prevailed until there
was a population change in the area, Mrs.
Hines remembered.
There were two sisters, daughtcrs of Mr.
and Mrs. Charles Neally, who lived at the
town of Wallet, north of Peconic and now
only a memory, who had to go a long way
when school took place in the west side.
These were Blanche James and Haidee
Weeden. "Wallet was the name of my
grandparents," stated Don Winter of Burlington's First National Bank. "They founded the town, operating the Post Office."
Mrs. Hines recalled that those were the
days when jolly and helpful early day teachers always boarded and roomed at
their place.
Her favorites were Jessie Matson, Myrtle
Brannon and Gladys Ivy.
"The kids who were further away rode
horses to school and then turned them loose
themselves. That meant
walking home in the evening, but there was
no rush then," Ralph reminisced, also recollecting that there was a shed that existed for
some years for the convenience of those who
drove, just as a white clapboard front was
added to the school in later years.
One of the county's first "mobile" homes
nestled next to the school house for the years
of L942 through 1945. A teacher, Daisy
Hewitt, moved in a small one-room dwelling
to go home by
for herself, taking it with her when
her
teaching days were finished there.
Teaching the years from 1922 through
1924. Ella Schutte came back for the L925-26
term. Estella Hudson was instructor for three
terms. Pupils agreed that one of the better
school marms was the late Nellie KeenGrabb, who taught in very early days as a
homesteader, coming there from a school
further north, known as the Broadsword
School, then retiring for a time to raise a
family and spending the years 1935 until 1940
at Hook district again. In the '40's, teachers
were Cora Boyd, Phyllis Coakley, Miss
Hewitt mentioned above, Phyllis Abbott
Seelhoff, Ella Rehn Dunlap and Ethel Mines
Winfrey. The roll book was closed for the last
time following the 1947-48 terms. Tuttle,
Smoky Hill, Rock Cliff, Second Central,
many other little institutions
Emerson
gave way-to the changing times, as have
almost all rural schools in America.
Twenty-two teachers guided the educational aims at Hook from 1913 on, and
although there is only memory rather than
court house records, there were several more
�the five years before 1913. The sod house
teacher was Miss Myrtle Churchill. Then
csme the Widow Roper who took up a
homestead, taught school, which included
her sons Vernon and Harry, while proving up
on her land nearby.
The teacher capable of conducting the
classes for the three high school students was
Mrs. Bertha Anderson.
Black as the brooding storm, laced with
hail, appears in Ralph Binard's nostalgic
painting, no former student interviewed ever
nurtured first class men and women. It
guided for good and enriched lives for a great
part of our century.
IDLEWILD SCHOOL
DISTRICT 49
by Bonnie Gould
Tr79
HUNTZINGER
SCHOOL
recalled any disaster such as flood, fire,
Tl78
confining blizzard,, cyclone, snake bite or bad
injury ever occurring to mar the tranquil
days. The earnest perusal of McGuffey's
Reader, spelling and ciphering matches, went
on under the long stove pipe that stretched
across the room from the heating stove.
Several remembered that there was one time
during the dust bowl years that everyone had
to stay until eight o'clock in the evening,
before the dirt cleared away enough to permit
going outside.
Each pupil carried water along with lunch.
Likely as not there would be a piece of tender
fried jack rabbit. No tularemia disease had
then spoiled that fine meat.
Cow chips were gathered to kindle the fire
and the small glistening black mountain that
was the coal pile had in later times a basket
of corn cobs nearby for a quicker fire.
The old version of the open school was not
so different from the new fangled partition-
less idea now. First graders learned from
eighth graders if they could not be kept busy,
so that there was no time to listen to other
lesson recitals. Discipline was minimal, as the
big difference between then and now seems
to have been the feeling of all being one big
happy family. It could be nostalgia that
glosses over drawbacks, but many former
rural learners truly believe they lived then
during the "good old days."
Of course W.B. Hook school had only 560
square feet. Compare this to Burlington's
middle school which has 46,820 square feet.
Almost 84 times larger
does it serve 84
times as well?
-
We voted, with scarcely a whimper, to pick
up the $989,300 tab for the aforesaid beautiful new three grader. The mind boggles a bit
at the change in times: in
1906, roofing
lumber sold for only a few dollars a thousand
board feet and adobe was dirt cheap. Taxes
on a quarter of grassland in the area in 1905
ran $1.65. In 1912 Mrs. Russman'salary was
a monthly $35, but a year or two later, since
she promised to hold school all holidays, even
Thanksgiving, 20 days each month, her raise
came up to $50, $450 per year.
With never a switchblade, with loco weed
fearfully avoided by kids and horses alike,
with only paths on the buffalo grass to
disturb the ecology and a whole lot of hard
to learn history yet to come, the halycon days
Idlewild School in 1928.
The first Idlewild School was located about
two and one half miles northwest of Stratton
near the Edgar Ancell home, but it needed to
be located more to the center of the district.
In 1914 it was moved about two and a half
miles to the northwest near the Talbot home.
Huntzinger School, 1911 Dora Butler, teacher,
back row right.
The Huntzinger School was a one room sod
school located near
Hell Creek north of
of the school's
Flagler. The exact date
opening is unknown. T.J. Huntzinger and his
wife Elsie and their five children moved to
that area from their homestead near Thurman by April, 1900. Mr. Huntzinger was
instrumental in building the school because
he wanted a school nearby to educate his
children. One former student, Viola Williams
of Salida, Colorado states that her father, L.
Boyd Williams filed on his homestead in the
spring of 1907 and chose his location to be
near a school. By those reasons, we know that
it was built after 1900 and before 1907. It was
known as District No. 14 and because so
many children attended the school, an addition was soon built onto the east side to make
it one Iong room. Some early teachers were
a Miss Brown'Mettie Love; Dora Butler who
to be used as a residence. It is now the home
of Dale and Irene Courtright.
by Helen Kerl
KECHTER SCHOOL
Tl80
causing some arguments. Students played
ball, ante-over, and occasionally ice skated on
a small pond near the school when it would
freeze.
The school served the following families:
leenager.
essential feeling ofthat little adobe ofthe
plains, standing lonely but staunchly against
lhe elements of storm and burning sun, all the
while a bulwark against ignorance.
Looking back, the hundreds of lucky ones
who trudged to it can view it as a symbol of
personal, effective and loving education that
When the consolidation was done with
Stratton district, the building was sold and
moved into Stratton where it was renovated
lunches to school in the familiar gallon syrup
pails. Occasionally these pails got mixed up,
Jenks Brewers, Charley Brewers, Baileys,
McKissicks, John Veiths, Ball family,
Baldwins and probably many others.
In his painting, the artist caught forever
were Byrnes, Bakers, Reillys, Collins, Kennedy, Steinberger and Thomasons.
the lower grades. Students carried their
"delinquent" had not yet been combined. In
fact, nobody was ever conscious of being a
bhe
accompanying picture was taken. Some of the
families represented among the students
later married Jake Wolverton. AII eight
T.J. Huntzingers, Boyd Williams, Fishers,
The words "juvenile" and
Bertha Byrne Pautler, and June Scofield.
Bertha Byrne was the teacher when the
grades were taught. Many of the boys could
only attend when the farm work was finished
and each time they returned to school they
just picked up where they finished before
until they were able to complete that grade.
That made for some good sized students in
of the little country school truly seem far
removed.
Later a new building was built.
Some ofthe teachers known to have taught
there were Alice Talbot Reilly, Elizabeth
Zittle, Myrtle Bradshaw McConnell, Gray
Spurlin, Elsie Chandler, Theodore Smith,
by Agnes Otteman
The Kechter School in 1923.
In 1911 the men in our community made
adobe bricks and erected a small one room
schoolhouse. The school was located 16 miles
north and 5 east of Vona in District 42 and
was commonly referred
to as the Kechter
School.
The students, numbering as many as 40 in
in a seat. Water was
carried from the Dircks' place L/4 mile away.
Two trips were made a day by two pupils
some years, sat three
going together. Long before school
was
dismissed for the day, the water bucket was
�empty. Many children went through all eight
r:l*
grades in the old "dobie," including my sister
and brother, Velma and Nolan.
lr,,l,l.'l
Miss Bessie Wilder was the first teacher.
Other early teachers were Grace VanWinkle,
Ida Martin, and Wilma Ford. All were local
girls, daughters of homesteaders. Miss Wilder and Miss Van Winkle had homesteads of
their own.
It was not until L922 that a new larger
frame building was built just across the road
south of the old one. Migs Estel Straughn of
Kanorado was the first teacher in the new
building. Members of thq board of directors
were: Erastus Godfrey, Ch'arley Andrews, and
Jacob Kechter. Some of the other teachers in
the early years were Marie Klassen, Marvel
Simpson and Ruby Carlstedt.
Some of the family names of the pupils in
Dist. 42 in the early years were: Ackley,
Atwood, Arthur, Atterbury, Andrews, Bolin,
Calkins, Calhoun, Dircks, Hagen, Hamilton,
Gulley, Godfrey, Woods, Wilkinson, Wasson,
Phillips, Kechter, Keelery, and others.
"Literary" was a part of every school. I
believe it was held once a month. People came
from other districts to attend as well. Some
of the adults gave readings and sang songs.
The kids put on plays, spoke pieces, and sang
songs.
We also had pie suppers now and then. I
remember the time that I stumbled while
fighting with some other kids back stage and
ran my elbow into a chocolate pie under a
fancy wrapping. I was glad that the owner of
that pie never knew who did it! Each of the
ladies usually took an extra pie and the extras
were sold after the others at a cheaper price.
A certain man usually bought all the extra
pies so once my dad coaxed my mother into
making a pie filled with cotton as a joke on
him. The man did buy the pie and second
only to Dad's glee was that of my cousin's,
Jakie Dircks. He never ceased to tease his
Aunt Bertha about her cotton pie.
by Opal Roger
KECHTER SCHOOL
TrSl
District 42 was organized and a sod building erected in 1911. The school was located
17 miles north and 3 miles west of Stratton,
Colorado. The Kechter school was named
after Jacob Kechter, William Kechter's father. Jacob Kechter was one of the original
school board members and the school house
was located 1 mile north of his house.
Following is a list of teachers taken from
the records in the Colorado State Archives:
1912-13: Grace VanWinkle: 1913-14: Bessie
Wilder; 1914-15: Wilma Pagett; 1915-16: Ida
Martin; 1916-18: Grace VanWinkle; 1918-19:
Wilma F. Ford; 1919-20: Grace VanWinkle;
1920-2L Marie L. Wood (four months) and
Amon B. Calhoun (four months); l92l-22
Marvel Simpson; 1922-23: Estel Straughn;
L923-27: Marie Klassen: L927-28: S.W. Sawhill;
1928-29: Lola Jean Pound; 1929-30: Ted
Smith; 1930-31: Omar Guy Ansell; 1931-35:
Ruby Carlstedt; 1935-36: Mary Rush; 193638: Glen A. Smith; 1938-39: Claude C.
Chaney. (Added 9th and 10th grades this
year). 1939-41: GIen A. Smith and Betty
Taylor; L94L-43: Betty Taylor; 1943-44:
Louella O'Hara; 1944-45: Helen Heinrichs:
Kechter School, District 42 in 1928-29. Top row, I to r: John Stewart, Lloyd Wilkerson, Fred Godfrey, Neva
Stewart, Maude Clair, Sadie Clair, Lola Jean Pound, teacher; and Mabel Godfrey; Middle row: Arlene
Wilkerson, Edna Paine, Mary Hoyda, Irene Stewart, Catherine Hoyda, Alma Liming, Thelma Wilkerson,
Vera Godfrey; Bottom row: Dale Davis, Robert Liming, John Hoyda, Dale Godfrey
1945-48: Blanche Dove; 1948-49: Linanel
Davis; 1949-50: Avrine Henry and 1950:
KELLOGG SCHOOL
Tl82
closed the school.
As a former student of Disttict 42,I became
very interested in the facts discovered while
researching the records. For example, in
1912, due to a very severe winter, they were
only able to hold five months of school. The
fuel bill for the year was $19.70 and the total
school year expenses were $262.33, including
the teacher's salary. The teachers'salaries
ranged from $40.00 per month in 1912 to
$1,665.00 per year
in
1950. The school board
members' names were not recorded but they
were also a vital part of our education and
deserve credit for their involvement.
My memories are of one teacher, teaching
eight grades, with 42 students. She, or he, had
to come early to build the fire in the coal
furnace. Some of the teachers even lived in
the basement ofthe school house. Besides our
classes, the teachers had to prepare the
programs that we gave for our parents and
friends. We would also have pie and/or box
suppers that would be auctioned off to raise
money to buy our playground equipment.
I failed to state above that a new frame
school was built in 1922 or 1923; and when the
school closed the children were bused to Kirk
and Joes schools. In 1965, the school house
was moved to Kirk and attached to the Kirk
School and used for a lunch room; and when
the Liberty School was built between Kirk
and Joes, the Kirk Lions Club made the
Kechter School building into a meeting room
and community center.
I, Alma Van De Weghe, understand that it
is now owned by a private individual and is
to be moved, again. I hope as you read over
the history, it will bring back memories to you
as
it
has to me.
by Alma Van De Weghe
Kellogg School was located just over the
line in
Cheyenne County, southwest of
Seibert. Many of Kellogg's students lived in
and became well known in Kit Carson
County. One was Mrs. Phil Mullen. The
Mullen family is well known for musical
ability and performed often throughout Kit
Carson County. Also in this record are
members of the Bloder family who came early
and lived in Kit Carson County for many
Mr. Leon Bloder, who thoughtfully
years.
recorded many of his memories in a paper he
entitled, "Of Land and People," is the sole
source for information of this school. Because
Mr. Bloder was concerned and recorded his
information, we
€ue able to be aware of this
early school.
On a 1912-13 record Mr. Bloder saved for
many years, the following information is
written: "Kellogg School, District 1, 1912-13,
Aveta Lichtenhan, teacher. Pupils: Perry
Eash, Mary Bloder, Rose Bloder, Arthur
Eash, Agnes Bloder, Hazel Kellogg, Joseph
Bloder, Lottie Kellogg (Mrs. Phil Mullen),
John Fredrick, Barbaraan Eash, Ladie Fred-
rick, Mayme Fredrick, Moses, Katie and
Malinda Swartzentruber. School officers
were L.J. Roden, Pres., Cyrus Platner, Sec.
and D.D. Hayward, Treas.
Kellogg School was the first school Mr.
Bloder remembered. He said it was located
at the old Alfred camp. In trying to define this
location, a best effort seems to be one mile
south and one mile west of the Sig Olson
place. Another for those knowledgeable ofthe
area would be at "Big Springs."
Information was taken from records written by Leon Bloder, formerly of Seibert,
Colorado. Rock Cliff area.
by Lyle W. Stone
�LIBERTY SCHOOL
T183
oped the habit ofturning and biting Zoe when
she mounted, Homer held the bridle. Then
the pony learned to kick Zoe when
she
mounted so Agnes held the bridle and Homer
raised the pony's front foot. The pony was so
determined that she even tried to stand on
2 feet ta kick at the rider. Another outstanding transportation method during the 193637 school year was the Model T Ford that the
Sidney Huntzingers fixed for their children,
Homer and Agnes. It had been a four door
and they removed the back seat and put on
a
box. Homer, who was in the 8th grade at the
time, was the driver. On the way to school
Liberty School, 1931 Back row, left to right: Ruby
Huntzinger, Teacher Orpha Howard, Mildred
Kyle, Albert Huntzinger. Middle Row: Homer
Huntzinger, Agnes Huntzinger, Evelyn Kyle, Irene
Armistead, Phillip Armistead. Front row: Poy
Petersen, Don Lightle, Cecil Petersen, Floyd
Jensen
Liberty School, District 18, was built in
1919. It was located 11 miles north and 2
miles east of Flagler. It was one of many white
frame schools in Kit Carson County. It was
under the jurisdiction of the Kit Carson
County Superintendent of Schools. This
superintendent signed the eighth grade di-
plomas and on rare occallions brought a nurse
to help with some health testing. The superintendent also had responsibility for some of
the curriculum. The district was in the hands
of a 3 member school board and of course at
that time the board always consisted of men.
Some of the teachers have been Opal Wise,
Vivian Roberts, Frank Hyser, Orpha Howard, Lola Peatse, Margaret Page, Laura Mae
Malbaff, Marnie Kyle, Doris Copley and the
final teacher, Bonnie Armitstead. This list is
no doubt incomplete.
Softball was the usual recreation interspersed with ante-over, kick the can, run sheep
run and hide and seek. Hide and seek was a
real challenge when the many dry thistles
piled on the fence were used as hiding places.
Fox and geese was popular after a snow. Ball
games were played between schools but more
exciting than softball were the ciphering and
spelling matches between schools. Nearby
Victory Heights was always a good rival,
especially during the school years of 1934-35
and 1935-36 since sisters Margaret Page at
Liberty and Betty Page at Victory Heights
were the teachers. Liberty always came out
the winners because no matter what happened in the lower grades, Liberty always had
their ace-in-the-hole lrene Armitstead ready
to go and she was unbeatable when in the
upper elementary grades.
During the dirty thirties the many dust
storms necessitated keeping the students at
school until a parent could make their way to
the school to take the children home. At this
time. handkerchiefs were moistened with
their drinking water and placed over their
faces. Most of the students walked to school
but in the later 30's other modes of transpor-
tation were noticeable. The school grounds
Floyd, Ruth and Gene Jensen were picked up
and then lrene, Phillip, Bonnie, Elizabeth
and Charlene Armitstead were added after
they had walked across the prairie to meet
them. Ten students riding on a Model T Ford
driven by an 8th grader! To keep the radiator
from freezing it was drained upon arrival at
school and then refilled when going home.
Floyd and Phillip "earned" their rides by
being responsible for this task.
Liberty not only functioned as a school but
also as a community center. During the dirty
thirties when no one had any money, there
still was a place to go every two weeks and it
was free! That was Literary Night at Liberty.
On those nights the people in the community
were as involved as the school. This gave the
school children a chance to perform before a
crowd but also to watch their parents perform
and perform they did. They not only held
ciphering and spelling matches but also gave
plays. One play called for Sidney Huntzinger
to saw off his brother lvan's leg. With Sidney
on top of him and a large carpenter's saw in
hand, Ivan giving out with the proper amount
ofscreaming, you could actually hear the saw
actually the leg bone
sawing through bone
- caused
a lot of crowd
of a cow. This certainly
reaction! The school was also used for Sunday
School and worship services which consisted
mostly of hymn singing, usually the favorite
one of anyone who could play the piano.
Occasionally an itinerant preacher arrived,
who usually had more zeal than knowledge.
Through the years the school served the
following families: T.J. Huntzinger, Boyd
Williams, Walter Zion, Lew Harker, Sidney
Huntzinger, Loyal Kyle, Jake Wolverton,
Charlie Baldwin, Brewer family, lvan Gwyn,
John Williams, Charlie Armitstead, Cline
Jones, and Don Loutzenhisers and probably
many others. The school closed at the end of
1945-46 school year. In 1949 the district
consolidated with the Flagler School. After
the district consolidated, the school house
was sold and moved to 625 Quandary Avenue
in Flagler and was converted to a home by
Glen Stone. The Lark Laue family presently
(1987) make their home there.
by Agnes Otteman
Mullen children, Roy, Guy, Charles and
Phillip may have been old enough to shoulder
duties of the ranch or could have attended
this school. Howard, Lester, Harold and
Grace probably attended. Lena and Lloyd
arrived later. Beula Frisbie, who taught at
Mt. Pearl in later years and her sister, Avis
were probably too young to attend Loco.
Regretfully, I have no knowledge of older
children.
This early location, Loco, is recorded to
have had a postmaster, Charles Davis, who
was appointed in 1903. After this is a local
record of Mr. Frisbie in 1906-07. In 1911, Mr.
Marion Short, son of J.S. Short of the
Texerado area, operated a store and post
office bearing this name. It is possible Mr.
Short built a store at the last location ofloco.
Mr. Short homesteaded land where Loco was
finally located. A new frame school building
was built here, in the southwest quarter of
Section 32, Township 11 S, Range 50 W,
about midway on the east side. This place is
about a half mile north of the Cheyenne
County line and near the Wild Horse road
south of Flagler. Sometime in 1913-14,
Marion Short sold out to Alvin B. Radebaugh, who was appointed postmaster on
February 4, Lgt4. A store continued to
operate in Loco, this assumed because it is
said to have been a popular place for Texans
to congregate who had migrated to this area.
Later many of these people returned to
Texas, according to records. Loco post office
was closed on May 31, L922.
At Loco's last location. children of
A.B.
Radebaugh, Fern, Paul and Allen, attended.
Children of the Kinzer, Lanier, Buttons, and
Barton families were mentioned with no
definite record. In the 20s, children of the
Loco School were transferred to Second
Central, a consolidated school in District 19.
by Lyle W. Stone
..UNKNOWN'
(McALLISTER?)
scHooL
Tr85
Tr84
Among the many small early schools of the
area, there exists a record of a school located
at the northeast corner of Section 20, Township 11, Range 51. AL922 atlas pinpoints this
Loco School was first located south of
miles southwest of where Texerado is located,
LOCO SCHOOL
contained a barn so horse and buggy was used
as well as horses were ridden. In the mid-
Flagler in the southeast corner of Section 22,
Township 11 S, Range 50 W. In or shortly
had 5 miles to come and rode a Welsh pony.
This pony was a bit mean to say the least.
Homer Huntzinger and his sist€r, Agnes, also
were riding horses. Since Zoe's pony devel-
Colorado to make preparations for a school
in his area since no school existed there. The
school was built at a place designated already
as Loco, Colorado where a store and post
thirties one student, Zoe Jones (Goodwin)
office was located in the James "Jim"Frisbie
home. No doubt, labor in constructing the
soddie school was shared by neighbors in the
area. Florence Mullen was the first teacher
and was reported to be a good one and
especially strict with her brothers and sisters.
No record found describes the fixtures or
general appearance of the school. It was no
doubt very similar to others scattered about
the area. Certainly, Mullen children attended
this school and children of the Frisbie family,
among others living in the vicinity. Among
after 1906, Clark Mullen rode to
Hugo,
place. This site is slightly less than three
about 3-% miles due west of the old Jim
Kountz place. It is very tempting to believe
this may have been the McAllister school,
mentioned in an April, L9L7 Flagler News
edition. This item says that Minnie Short
(Texerado area) attended the Easter program at McAllister school. A distance from
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Text
the Short residence in the Texerado area
would have been 3 or 4 miles or a little over
2 miles cross country to this school. This
would be a reasonable trip.
An only other unknown location is for a
school mentioned in the Flagler Neros in
1916, saying "Dan Grim, with the assistance
of several men, tenms and saddle horses,
removed the roof of the old Plainview school
house last week." The location in question
would have been about 8 miles from the Grim
home (this home was about 3 miles south of
Second Central, some distance away from the
site in question). This is a considerable
distance
at this time, but not unreal for
moving a roof.
Robert Wesley McAllister
at one time
owned section 34 in the southwest edge of Kit
Carson County, about 3 miles from the school
in a southeast direction. In searching Lincoln
County records, where Mr. McAllister is
recorded, it was learned he owned land some
15 miles east of Hugo. This would place him
very near the county line. A statement in the
Lincoln County record, by George T. Vassios
says he started to school when he was 4 years
old in order to have enough pupils, along with
the McAllister children, to hire a teacher. His
father was Tom Vassios who homesteaded on
Section 24, Township 11, Range 52, on the
county line, about 2 miles west of the school
site in question in Lincoln County.
It is sad that records are so dim and that
we have waited so long to document some of
the history of our country. Legends die with
the generations. There comes a time when
information. such as for these schools in
question, is forever lost.
If this school is indeed the McAllister
school, a small amount of information can be
found. Robert Wesley McAllister became a
lawyer and after an illness, came to Colorado
in 1910, homesteading about 15 miles east of
Hugo. A two-room sod house was built and
after school was out in Nebraska, Mrs.
McAllister, Emma and two small daughters,
Marjorie and Alfarata, moved to the home-
st€ad. Emma began teaching in the fall. She
had performed this duty as a profession,
in her lifetime. Mr. McAllister, called Wesley by most, served on the
school board and often gave legal advice to
his neighbors. A new daughter, Gail, arrived
late in 1915.
Of their school, Sunday school was held at
teaching 45 years
the schoolhouse and in summer there would
be picnics. The school had a Christmas
program each year, with decorated tree and
a visit from Santa passing out gifts to dl
children. If there was snow on the ground, a
big sled would be filled with straw and hot
bricks put down in the straw, keeping
children warm to enjoy a beautiful ride to the
program.
In 1921, the land was sold and the family
moved to Greeley, Colorado. In the late '20s,
the land was repossessed and the family
returned. Emma taught at Boyero, where
Gail attended. Alfarata taught at Kawal.
Marjorie taught at Oak Creek. In 1937, Mr.
and Mrs. McAllister moved to Estes Park.
Alfarata began teaching at Arriba where she
met Max Hutchins; they were later married.
This is not a great deal of information,
however it may be a beginning to work with
and locate more about this school. An effort
should be made to learn more about the other
school, Plainview. I feel the latter may have
been
a Cheyenne County school. For this
record, Tom Vassios lived very near the
county line, in Lincoln County, as did the
McAllister family. It is possible another
school existed nearby in Lincoln County
bearing this name, McAllister. If so, it has not
been located. Searching to clear up this
record will continue.
by Lyle W. Stone
MIDWAY SCHOOL
Tt86
Midway School was last located at the
northwest corner of Section 8, Township 10
S, Range 51 S. This property belonged to Earl
Brown of Flagler. In its last location, Midway
was often called Beeler's school. This school
was located in District 10 which was about
two miles wide and twenty two miles long,
adjacent on the west side to Flagler school
district 35. There is evidence the school
building had been moved at least once to this
location. In an interview with Oliver Blanken
and Natalie Kueker, it became apparent the
early school nnmed Midway was probably
closed near 1914. An exact location of
Midway of this period is not known; however,
it was located in District 10. At this time,
Marvin Beeler, living some distance south,
attended a school west of the present Allen
Petersen place, where Blanken children went
to school. This school was finally determined
to have been called Robb School. Natalie
(Blanken) Kueker told of Marvin Beeler
riding a mule to school. "Tollie" remembered
how he teased her and other girls in school.
He had previously attended the older
Midway school. Although no record
Ford. On May 1, 1918, Hubert Beeler was
elected secretary of District 10 for a term of
three years.
In 1926 several families with children lived
in the Midway area. Among these were M.R.
Beeler, Elbert Chilson, George H. Evans,
William Strode, Nels Smith, Ernest S. Graham and Clarence W. Johnson.
An August, 1929 record states that "Miss
Dorris Weller is a teacher at Midway school
this year, teaching the 1929-30 term." In
May, 1930, Mrs. Nels (Anna) Smith was reelected treasurer of the district. Miss Norine
McCullum started school at Midway in
March, 1930. In 1933 it was recorded that
Miss Lord would teach the '33-34 term and
that she had taught two terms, 1931-32 and
1932-33. Research reveals this teacher to be
Miss Alice Lord. Also about this time, Jay
Strode was helping Mr. Hayes make blocks
for construction of a barn on the Midway
school grounds for teacher's car and for
horses ridden and driven to school by most
students.
No record was found, dating the closing of
this school. We know it was still in operation
in 1933-34. Since modes of transportation
had improved, it is possible students were
transported to Flagler schools in later years.
by Lyle W. Stone
MURPHY SCHOOL
T187
was
found. one must assume the school was closed
and later opened at a new location.
A May, 1915, record reveals that overtures
were made to District 10 by the Flagler
district 35 for consolidation of the two
Districts when the new high school was being
planned at Flagler. A vote was taken among
patrons and the proposal was turned down.
Apparently, consolidation was not accomplished, for in 1951 over $400.00 from District
10 was turned over to the new consolidated
District R-1.
The last location of Midway School was six
miles south and four west of Flagler, Colorado. One must assume a student population
warranted a school in the area. Transportation for taking students to Flagler at this time
was not easily accomplished. a similar prob-
lem is recorded for students of Texerado,
even in later years. The Strode family
attended school at Midway, having moved to
the old Leeper ranch about two miles east of
the school. This may have been about the
time the school was again revived. Rethal
Strode may have attended Midway, along
with Gilbert, Elnora, Jay, Clayton, Stanley
and Fay. Certainly, members of the Beeler
family attended school here including Lucille. Some recollections of the school mention the n'me as Beeler school. The Chilson
family lived nearby and children of this
family also attended school at Midway.
It
is
unfortunate that names of students and some
of the teachers of this time are not included.
Speaking of a time, about 1917 and later,
Mrs. Wm. Strode mentioned, in an interview
of the 1950's that teachers at their school
were Forrest Heck, Dorris Weller and Miss
1923-24 lunchtime by the lagoon west of the
Murphy schoolhouse. L to R: Frances Burcar, Doris
Harris, Grace Faass. Naomi Dalgetty, Freda
Harris, Edith Mae Klassen, Roy Harris, Paul and
Dick Klassen, Vincent Dalgetty, Carl Schauffler,
Clarence, Elgie and Archie Wasson.
District 23
The first Murphy School was a soddy,
about one-half mile west of our home, north
of Vana. Paul and Dick walked with Rover
their very good dog. Sybil Wren was the
teacher. Soon the school was moved to the
center of the district. It was in a little frame
building, a blackboard in front and a heating
stove in the back by the door. We used coal
and chips for fuel. My brothers Paul and Dick
would drive the buggy or a wagon with horses
sometimes not too tame, and we would have
a very scary runaway. There was a barn for
the horses to stay in during the daytime. Each
horse had its own stall. Ifthe horses ran away,
then we would have to walk the three and
one-half miles home.
In the year 1923 -L924, Emma Klassen, my
father's sister, taught. I was in the first grade.
�The other pupils who attended that year
were: Roy Harris, Clarence Wasson, Deitrich
Klassen, Dorothy Heindricks, Vincent Dalgetty, Elgie Wasson, Arline Peterson, Paul
Klassen, Robert Heindricks, Archie Wasson,
Freda Harris, Naomi Dalgetty, Doris Harris,
Grace Faass, Carl Schauffler, Frances Burcar. The school board members were Anton
Burcar, President; Bert Dalgetty, Secretary;
Frank Jones, Treasurer. The next year Fanny
Boren taught.
The next summer a new schoolhouse was
built. It was a large building. It had a hall
where we kept the coats and overshoes and
lunch pails. We had a Iong row of hooks for
our own tin drinking cups. The water was
hauled by the bus driver, in a large can with
a tight lid. It was then poured into the
drinking fountain; we pressed a button and
the water ran into our cups. This was very
important as a sanitation measure. The
schoolroom was large with a long row of
transom windows on the east side. On the
south side another long row of windows, with
curtains; this made the room warm, light and
bright. Under the school was a lovely basement, with a furnace and a coal bin, also a room
where the teacher could live ifthey so desired.
The two outdoor toilets were north of the
schoolhouse, one for boys and one for girls.
There was also a big yellow clay pile of dirt
in which the children made tunnels and
played with play cars. In the playground west
of the building was a basketball court, and
there was a merry-go-round south of the
building. The baseball diamond was south of
the building in the pasture outside of the
yard. The barn was removed for now we all
rode to school in buses. All the school supplies
were furnished by the district, such as books,
the morning, the sun shining, we saw wagons
coming over the snow banks; how thankful!
by Edith M. Hugley
school.
T188
t@,
@::"\,":'
Some
of the
teachers who taught in
Murphy were: Minnie Fingado, Zelma
Arrington, Lindy Cates, Grace Smith, Helen
Deakin, Cecil Rawley Gates, Alvina Becker
Esarey, and Dazy and Clay Frankfather.
Some of the families who attended Murphy
School were: Cornelius Klassen (all nine of us
graduated from the eighth grade at Murphy
School), Otto Hanis family, Anton Burcar,
Wincell Burcar, Frank Jones, Glen Jones,
Fosha Gorton, Clyde Miller, William McCormick, William Hartsook, Burt Dalgetty, Jim
Sesler, Wilfred Wasson, Hubbells, Grahmms,
Willis, Schauffler, Whitman, Sparks, Charlie
Boren, and others.
One winter day a very bad blizzard came
up in the middle part of the day. Zelma
Arrington was teaching, and Otto Harris and
Loyd Smith were bus drivers. We had to
spend the night in the school; Mr. Arrington
kept the boys upstairs, while the girls slept
in the teacher's apartment in the basement.
This was a terrible anxious time for our
parents, for the school had no telephone. In
T190
i.];::rlir:
:::::'
Oriska School in 1924-25
by Catherine DunlaP
NUTBROOK SCHOOL
T189
in 1924-25: A Schultz
boy, Lloyd Parks, another Schultz boy, Paul
Fulton, Mae Fisher, Pauline Fulton, Maurice
Students at Oriska School
tw
,liN
ir,
&r*
..
'';
&'
programs, basket-dinners, parties and other
would take turns and furnish hot soup.
:':..xi.,.
ORISKA SCHOOL
Catherine Dunlap, Burlington, sent this early shot
of the sod Norton Schoolhouse District 39 near
Bethune.
under the blue, blue sky. The community
loved the school, and there were many
fun things. The spell downs were fun on
Friday afternoon. In winter the parents
by Florence McConnell
NORTON SCHOOL
DISTRICT #39
etc. The teacher would get library books from
Burlington, the county seat.
On the south side of the schoolhouse were
three big cement steps (they are still there),
and the flag pole. We were all so proud to put
the flag up and watch it wave in the breeze,
and Miss Lavina Stevens.
In the winter time when there was snow.
the favorite game was Fox and Geese during
recess or sliding on an ice pond close to the
Nutbrook School in L947-48: front row, I to r:
Hoagland girls and Myrna Wilson. Second row:
Barbara Wilson, Hoagland boy, Ivan Schaal,
Sandra Stewart; Third row: Denise Wilson, Edna
Lewis; Fourth row: Bob Griffith and Dan Schaal
The first Nutbrook School was a soddy. In
the 1920's a frnme school was built a mile
north of where the first school was located.
teachers that early
students remember were Marie Greenwood,
Some
of the first
Seeley, Fred Carrington and Ted Gulley.
One of the events that the children looked
forward to was when all the schools gathered
at First Central School and had a track meet.
Bill
The winners of each event went on to the
county track meet held at Vona, Colorado.
Christmas programs, box suppers and spell
downs were held each year.
The last year that school was held was
1950. The schools were then consolidated and
the children were bused to Stratton, Colo.
There was also a nice barn on the school
grounds to tie the children's horses in while
they attended school. There were also two
outhouses.
Some of the teachers in the last years were
Evelyn Gouge, Lee Carpenter, Ethel Stewart,
Fulton, Lucille Fulton, Barney Davis and Bernard
Fulton.
The Oriska School was located 16 miles
south and 2lz miles west of Stratton. Ivan
Smelker states that it was built by the same
carpenter who built the Smelker School and
the two schools were identical in plans. We
did not find anyone who could recall the
names of many of the teachers who taught at
Oriska. Marie Greenwood did teach one term,
1924-25. Mrs. Lucille Schreiner is quite sure
that her mother, Byrelle Swem, taught one or
two years after her husband died during the
1918 flu epidemic and she had remarried a
man by the name of Rich. Mrs. Schreiner
thinks that her brother and sisters Mary
Alice, Lunette, and Burdette Swem, and
Jesse Rich probably attended school there.
Carl Harrison taught a number of years and
his two sons, Bob and Guy, attended at that
time. Families who had children in school
during 1924-25 when Marie Greenwood was
the teacher were the Schultz, Parks, Fulton,
Fisher, Davis, Hawthorne, Hoot and Teels. A
romance could have sprouted there since
Bruce Davis later married Amanda Fisher.
Carl Harrison relates the following incident that occurred in the winter of 1926 when
he was the teacher and his son, Bob, was in
the first grade. One forenoon a
raging
blizzard suddenly whipped in and Carl
decided at noon to take the children home.
A short distance from the schoolhouse, his car
got stuck in a snowdrift and he and the
children returned to the schoolhouse where
they stayed all night. They had plenty of fuel
for the stove so could keep warm, but only
�had about three sandwiches left over from the
dinner pails for food. The next morning, Mr.
Teel came on horseback looking for them. He
and Hide and Seek. On stormy days
tied his horse to the doorknob and came
inside. The blizzard had subsided so they
decided to start home. The horse, meanwhile,
had broken loose from the doorknob. and
headed for home. They bundled up and
trudged the two miles through the snow to
the Teel home, the men carrying little Bob
making the one who wanted it bid more.
Sometimes it was several dollars. The monev
was used for school purposes.
In later years some families moved away.
More moved in. Some of the families were
on an "anm-saddle" between them. Mrs. Teel
cooked a big breakfast for them. Then Carl
borrowed a horse from Mr. Teel and he and
son, Bob, rode horseback the four miles to the
Harrison home. Carl's wife, Winnie, at home
alone
we
played Upset the Fruit Basket.
For entertainment there were programs on
certain days. Sometimes after the progroms
there would be a pie supper or box supper.
In the boxes were goodies they sold to the
bidders. Sometimes a guy had a girlfriend
and wanted to buy their box or pie. There
were always men who kept bidding higher
Meyers; Havens, Homer and Wilkinson.
with little son, Guy, was greatly
Some ofthe teachers who taught in the school
relieved to see them.
were Ida Reynolds, Helen Klassen, Ora
Cruickshank, Fern Moffat, Julia Wanzuk.
by Marie E. Greenwood
Forest Draper, Zelm Bridge, Ruth Nikkel,
Reva Sawhill, Grace Clark and Avirene
Seaman Henry. I taught the last term in the
school just before it consolidated into Kirk.
PIONEER SCHOOL #L2
Tt9r
by Avirene Henry
I
attended Pioneer School in District No.
in Kit Carson County. The name was later
changed to Seaman School. Members of the
school board were Chas. George, President;
Chas. Vanderkooi, Secretary; and N. Brownwood, Treasurer. The school was located 16
miles north, I east and % mile north of Vona.
It was built in early 1915 or 1916 of cement.
The men of the neighborhood did most of the
work with help from a carpenter. It had three
windows on both the north and south sides
with a coal shed on the west. It was located
just south of my father's homestead on my
Grandmother McHenry's homestead.
The first two teachers were Ida Reynolds
of Flagler and Helen Klassen of Kirk. The
12
first year pupils were
Florence See-an,
Walden (Bob) Finley, Mary Finley, Avirene
The Pioneer School.
Seaman, John Weststeyn, Cleo Elsey, Susie
PLAINVIEW PUBLIC
SCHOOL DISTRICT
NO. 64
Crist, Sarah Crist, Floyd Finley, Leroy
Calkins, Virdie Elsey, Faye Crist, Frances
Finley, Ray Brindle, Ardith Horton, Vern
Brindle, Vergil Horton and several Atwood
Tr92
boys. One was named Ed.
The children brought their lunches except
Seaman's. They were close enough to go home
for lunch. Water was carried from
the
Senman house.
The gnmes we played at school were Ring
around the Rosey, Antie over, Drop the
Handkerchief, Crack the Whip, Pull Away
Plainview School in 1930-31: Margaret Blanchard,
Dorothy, Pauline, and Harold Hubbell. Wavne
Weakland, and Wayne Peterson. Fern Summers
was the teacher.
.,.]
'$1E:,',1
;, i ":':::'
A Plainview School Halloween Party in the war
years, 1943-44: Anna BeIIe Jackson (Keith), Mary
Jackson (McCaffrey), Jerry Summers (Weis-
schaar), Everett Yonts, Betty Jackson (Monroe),
Paul Jackson, Virgene Jackson (Morburg), and
Keith
F:
',1
.
r",",r
Plainview School, District No. 64,
was
t7,,
located north of Vona, Colorado. In 1921 Miss
iti!:r,
Florence Seaman was the teacher and was
paid a salary of $75 a month. School board
officers were G.M. Ott, President; R.R. Scott,
Secretary; Wm. Laughner, Treasurer.
Pioneer School 1916-17. Standing L. to R.: Bob Finley, John Weststeyn, next two unknown, Florence
Leroy Calking, Susie Crist, Floyd Horton, Mary Finley, Boy Atwood, Orville Seaman, Ardith
Horton, Virdie Elsey, Sarah Crist, Cleo Elsey, Avirene Seo-an, Dave Seaman, Bertha Seaman, Ed Atwood,
Boy Atwood, Floyd Finley. Seated; Francis Finley, Faye Crist, Boy Atwood. Orville and Dave Seaman were
visiting school when picture was taken.
S,eaman,
YonLs.
Pupils were Melvin and Kitty Haynes;
Verna Sparks; Rudolph and Johnnie Fredrich; Earl and Glen Wyllys; Madeline and
�f
$l$.1$r:r$l{{$
School Year 1945-46 at Plainview School: Back
row: Paul Jackson, Keith Yonts, Virgene Jackson,
Betty Jackson. Front row: Everett Yonts, Mise
Jennie L. Tressell, teacher and Mary Jackeon.
Pleasant Valley School, District #40 about 1912. Standing; Lula Wescott, Hazel Wilson, Earl Wescott, Mrs.
Rush, teacher, Wilber Hougland, Ralph Miller, Bert Wilson, Lula Miller and Orpha Jensen. Seated; Goldie
Jensen, Allie Hougland, Hettie Lipford, ? Hougland, Oliver Jensen, Johnny Wescott and Leslie Jensen.
Plainview School's last year: Back row: Mary
Jackson and Ardis Henningson, teacher. Front
row: visitor Duane Henningson and Anna Belle
Jackson.
Lucille Ott; Lester and Violet Butler, Russell,
Charles and Leonard Scott; Rena and Lus-
ture and Iola Hartwig; Milo and Ora Lammery; and Raymond Bosley.
InLg24Miss Avirene Seaman was teaching
with school board officers G.M. Ott, President: Mrs. G.M. Ott, Secretary; and C.C.
Wyllys, Treasurer.
Pupils were Rudolph and John Fredrich;
Lucille and Madeline Ott; Earl, Glen and
Lester Wyllys; Mary and Nan Flanagan.
by Avirene llenry
being held, box suppers, pie socials, Christmas programs and other activities.
Sometime in the 1920's the district was
divided. One school, known as North Flat
District 11, was located one mile south of the
old school. Pleasant Valley, District No. 40,
was placed in the Hell Creek area southeast
of the North Flat School.
Some of the teachers at Pleasant Valley
were Izetta Wren, Johnny Husband, Mrs.
Rush, Miss Lucy Muck, and Edith Gering.
Dora Wolverton taught many years at North
Flat School.
After the school was divided, Mrs. Rush
and her daughter fixed up the old school
house and lived there.
by Orpha Goodrich
PLEASANT VALLEY
SCHOOL DISTRICT
NO. 68
PLEASANT VALLEY
SCHOOL DISTRICT
NO.40
Tl93
The Pleasant Valley school was a one room
school made of adobe blocks and located 15
miles north and three miles west of Seibert.
The early spttlers in the community built the
building around 1911-1912 as at this time
there was need of a school. It was built by
Mason Wilson, Tom Jensen, Ed Hougland,
J.C. Miller, Ace Harmon, Mr. Wescott, the
Barnett brothers and Don Miller. Later the
Edwardg brothers, the Quintin fanily, the
Ridgways, Ollie James, and Alex and Grover
Todd were in the district.
The school brought their drinking water
from a nearby home occupied by the Mason
Wileons, later the Ollie James home, now
owned by Walter Timm. There were outside
toilets and a coal house. Many of the teachers
lived in a portion of the school house, going
to their home on Friday evenings. The school
was the center of entertainment, literaries
Tl94
In the summer of 1919, the old soddY
Pleasant Valley School in District No. 47 was
razed. A new bigger cement block school
house was built on a hill 1/4 mile west of the
soddy.
In
1921,
the School District
was
changed to Pleasant Valley District No. 68.
Now the name should appropriately have
been changed to Pleasant Hill, but that was
not to be; there already was a Pleasant Hill
School in the county.
A.M. Boese again volunteered about four
acres of his land for this new school house'
The new school house was still built on the
same quarter as the old soddy, SW 1/4 33-948.
You know, our parents were very wise,
when they aranged the school yard. The
school was built at about the center by the
west side. The coal shed was at the center of
the north side. The "Her Outhouse" was in
the extreme northwest corner, and the "His
Outhouse" in the extreme northeast corner,
and the barn for the horses and burros on the
east side. Some of the children drove a buggy
hitched to burros.
Henry U. Schmidt, who had taught for
some years in the old soddy, was the teacher
the first year in 1919-1920. In the spring of
1920, after his wife and newborn son passed
away, Henry U. Schmidt with the younger
children left for Oklahoma. His son Alfred
Schmidt, a student at Bethel College, finished teaching our school that year.
Often in the early years, up to forty pupils
attended Pleasant Valley. Many years during
the twenties, we had enough boys to have two
teams for playing baseball. It was the
Babe Ruth era. My, how us boys hit homeruns, stole bases and threw those wicked
full
curves! Milking cows and doing chores was all
but forgotten.
This Pleasant Valley community was very
musical. The teachers put on some very
interesting progrtms for Christmas, pie
socials, and the last day of school events'
Often there was standing room only.
Among teachers in the old soddy, were
Emma Liggett, the first teacher in 1908,
followed by Henry U. Schmidt, Amber
Palmer. Lee Buller and Mariam Schroeder.
In the new cement block school house after
Henry Schmidt, the teachers were Mrs. Ned
Clark, who lived where Fay Knapp now lives,
Alfred Schmidt, Mrs. Hill from Vona, Mrs.
Wheeler from Seibert and Mrs. Vivian Myers
from Seibert. After the twenties, in the
thirties and fortieg some of the teachers were:
Jennie Tressel, who at one time was the
County Superintendent; Florence Wigton,
who also was our County Superintendent at
one time: Carl Harrison, Rose Pickard,
Alvina Becker (Esarey), Imogene Burd, Mrs.
Earl Bigelow, Ms. Sigurd Olsen from north
of Kit Carson and Lavina Stephens from
Stratton.
Many of the farmers had to abandon their
farms in the depression years of the thirties.
The number of pupils declined. It became
impractical to have school in these old
country schools. Transportation
becnme
available. The better education provided by
more materials and better facilities made
consolidation with the town schools a necessary duty. Butmany timeswe think aboutthe
intimate events and true country style of our
old country schools and it brings back fond
memories.
Old Pleasant Valley School District No.68
was closed in 1948 as it was consolidated with
Vona School District R-3.
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to paint it in 1930. The teacher had to keep
it clean during the school year as well as start
the fires in the morning.
There were four little rooms on the west
side of the building. At the south was the
closet for coal, brooms, etc. Next to it was the
coat room for the boys. North ofthe entry hall
was the coat room for the girls and a little
room north of that for the extra books
- our
library.
The children who attended Prairie Star in
1920 were: Roy C. Bassette, Earl F. Bassette,
Glen W. Bassette, Mary E. Bassette, Mabel
E. Bassette, Russel Carlson, Leo Dunham,
Ines Dunhnrn, Irene Dunham, Earl Paul and
Julia Paul.
Those who came in 1921 were: the five
Bassette children, Russel Carlson, the three
Dunham children, the two Paul children, and
Melvin, Clarence, and Nellie Snelling.
By 1924 there were some different pupils:
Wayne Brennan, Raymond Brennan, Roland
Hernbloom, Elmore Hernbloom, Gordon
Pleasant Valley School, District No. 68 in 1919-20. Teacher Henry U. Schmidt in extreme left. In the picture
are 6 children of Andrew B. Becker, 4 Abe M. Boese, 1 Ben Boese, 3 John Boese, 4 William Brantly, 4
Henry Burkholder, 3 Steve Card, 1 Hasbrook, 2 Martin Nelson, 5 Henry Schmidt, 1 Tanner, and 3 John
Wanick.
Hernbloom, Violet Hernbloom, Luella Hernbloom, Anchor A. Larsen, Starlet F. Larsen,
John Wilson Moss, Helen Irene Moss, Freida
Speakes, and Elva Wolfe from Alma, Nebraska.
to pick up the children. Wayne Glaze was our
driver for a year or so and Ernest McArthur
helped take the children to school in later
years.
Pleasant Valley School, south of Vona
Today the tall abandoned old cement block
school house "Pleasant Valley" still stands as
a sentinel to guard the reading, writing and
arithmetic taught at this memorable country
school.
by Wilbert A. Becker
PRAIRIE STAR
SCHOOL - DISTRICT
#45
T195
The white frame country school
house
known as Prairie Star was built in 1920. It was
located five miles south of Bethune.
Sometimes the school with all eight grades
had its ups and downs. The attendance was
spotty because when spring and fall work was
at hand some of the children obviously had
to stay home and help with it. For several
years, the children had to get there the best
way they could. Some had to walk quite a
distance. Some rode horseback and some of
the time my brothers and I rode in a buggy.
I remember one boy came part of the time on
a donkey. We had a small shed to put our
horses in during the day. One evening when
we got home the stars were shining. We had
had to walk the three and one-half miles
home. We lived a mile east and two and onehalf miles north of the school. After several
years the District hired someone with a car
Our country school had some advantages.
We recited lessons aloud and when we had
our next lessons studied, we could learn from
the older ones as they recited. We learned
how to play with older and younger children
than we were.
Frequently we had "spell-downs" which
ended when the lone champion was still
standing. My twin brother, Elvin Ernest,
took either first or second place in the County
"spell-down" at Burlington one year.
Pupils brought their lunches with them in
a lunch pail and we all ate together in the
school room except on nice days when we
went outdoors. We carried our drinking water
from a cement covered cistern on the Jake
Wolf place. At first, we had a bucket and
dipper, then later we got a water container
with a spigot.
We put on some very interesting programs
for special occasions with plays, recitations,
readings, and singing. We had an old pump
organ to sing by. Then in 1927 the school
bought a piano and sold the organ to my
father for three dollars. That is what I learned
to play on until 1930 when my father bought
me a piano.
At times our parents were invited to the
school to enjoy a box supper or a pie social.
The highest bidder got to eat with the one
who had brought the pie or box.
For entertainment, we students had
a
teeter-totter and merry-go-round. We loved
to play anti-over and several other wellknown games. Our special game in the winter
when there was enough snow was fox and
geese. There was lots of room to play in the
section of land just north of the school house.
Two of our County Superintendents were
Della Hendricks and Virginia Felch. That
was Ern interesting time when the County
Superintendent came to visit our school. The
teacher always warned us to be on our best
behavior that day.
The school building was kept up in good
shape. I remember my father and I were hired
The year 1925 brought the same students
as the previous year except Freida Speakes
did not return.
Eighteen students came to Prairie Star in
1926: Raymond Brennan, Lela Brennan,
Celia Brennan, Cora Conkey from Duncan,
Oklahoma, and the Ernest twins from Oshkosh, Nebraska
Elvin and Eleanor Ernest.
Six Hernbloom -children were in school that
year: Luella, Violet, Gladys, Roland, Elmore,
and Gordon. Grant Hills, John and Helen
Moss, and Marie and Agnes Ottens, and Elva
Wolfe returned that year.
lnl927 the girls far outnumbered the boys:
Raymond Brennan, Elvin Ernest, my next
younger brother Stanford Ernest, Neil Ellis
and John Wilson Moss. The girls were: Lela
Brennan, Eleanor Ernest, Helen Moss, Marie
Ottens, Agnes Ottens, Helen Ottens, and
Elva Wolfe.
The picture was changed in 1928. The boys
were: Dana, Howard and Gerald Buckles:
Lyle Conkey; Elvin and Stanford Ernest;
Charles and Robert Evans; Dale, Dean, and
Dennis Humrick; James, Ralph, Delbert, and
Glen and Hollis Rowley. The girls
were:
Eleanor Ernest; Ruthie Giddley; Cora Conkey; Marie, Agnes and Helen Ottens; LaRee
Retherford; Eva Rowley; and Elva Wolfe.
There were twenty-three pupils in 1929.
The boys were: Lyle and Melvin Conkey;
Elvin and Stanford Ernest; Robert, Charles
and James Evans; Dale, Dean, and Dennis
Humrick; James, Ralph, Delbert, Glen, and
Hollis Rowley. The girls were: Eleanor Ernest; Ruthie Giddley; Marie, Agnes, Helen
and Celia Ottens; Eva Rowley; and Elva
Wolfe.
In
1930 the boys were:
Elvin, Stanford, and
Paul Ernes! Robert, Charles, and James
Evans; James, Ralph, Delbert, Glen and
Hollis Rowley; and Edward Houser from
Monette, Kansas. The girls were: Eleanor
Ernest; Marie, Agnes, Helen, and Celia
Ottens; Eva Rowley, Elva Wolfe, and Marie
Houser.
I still have my Report Cards from Prairie
Star Grades four through eight so I have a
record of the teachers for those years.
Teacher 1926-1927: Edrie Terry; t927-L928:
Dorothy Smith; 1928-1929: Alta Wolfe; 1929-
�1930: Jessie Ardueser: and 1930-1931: Florence Glaze.
There was a bus in 1942 when my youngest
of miles. The school district was controlled by
dents that I remember were Jessie C. MaGee
Gray, Della Hendricks and Zella Payne.
There were probably others during that time
brother, Leland Ernest, went to Prairie Star.
The two other students besides Leland were
three board members under what was called
a "Gentlemen's Agreement". The board
members were chosen from different sections
of the district. Some of the names of schools
was Dessie Cassity.
Fairview, Dazzling Valley and Prairie View.
I will mention some of the pupils that went
to one of the three schools, and their families:
Miles and Ted Ellis, Lloyd Huntley, a Larsen
school, which was located one and a half miles
boy, Earnest and Frank Green, the Hans
Wilma, Oneta,
Wendel family
- Harry,
and Mildred, the Bob
Hank, Russel, Lela
Ruby and Marvin Buckholtz. The teacher
In 1946 Betty (Schaal) Reimer was the
teacher. The students drove to school that
year in their own cars. That year the students
were: Leland Ernest; Lavana, Bonnie, Will,
John, and Gerald Johnson; Bob Young; and
Richard Robinson.
The Prairie Star school closed in mid-year
1947.It has served its purpose. The District
was included in the Bethune School District
and the building was later moved to Bethune
and used as a teacherage.
I wish I had a list of more of the students
and teachers for other years. There
was
Leona and Helen Blanchenship; Joe, Elsie,
Curtis, and Phyllis Woods; Leo, Mabel,
Wilda and Les King; and Orville and Rosalee
Pannell.
Other families in our District were: Everett
Alleman, Art and Fern Casson, Billie Lamb,
Helen Ruhs, Rome Warner, and others.
Many families have come and gone from the
Prairie Star School District. My parents,
Harry and Ida Ernest, are in their 90's in 1986
and are living in Burlington.
by Eleanor (Ernest) Varce
Pleasant,
Prairie View was the school our family
attended. It was known as the "Huntly"
south of the old Huntly place on the Thurman Road. Where the school was located was
the "Proaps" place. School was held there in
191? and 1918. Then the district built a new
school, which was one mile north and one half
mile west of the first school. This school
house was built of sod. Local labor was
donated and a one room school house was
constructed.
The larger district began to break up into
local schools with the board members in the
local areas. After a short time in the sod
school, the smaller district decided to build
a frame building one half mile east and one
half mile north of the sod building. It was
built on the corner of my dad's farm. Even
though the name of the school was Prairie
View, it was known as the "Walker" school.
The district had a well drilled and also built
a barn to shelter the horses used for transportation of the children.
Some of the teachers who taught in one of
the last three schools I mentioned, the
Huntly school, Sod school and the Walker
school were: Leona Lee Quigley, Ethel
Langcamp, Jenny Costine (later Serena),
Irene Potter, Lola Shaw Rillahan, Dave
PRAIRIE VIEW
SCHOOL
in the district #14 were Mt.
Williams, Grace Clark, Ella Robb Huntzing-
er, Alice Roberts Fruhling, Pearl
T196
My folks, Mr. and Mrs. Ed Walker, moved
from Arkansas to Colorado in the fall of 1917
and built a house and barns on their farm
about 10 miles north of Flagler. At the time
we moved I was 8 years old. There were
several small schools north of Flagler that
were all in District #14, covering a wide area
Robb,
Blanche Byers, Ruby Dorsey, Lorena Hohen-
stein, June Kyle and Doris Moore. There
were probably a few more that taught there
that I do not remember.
In those days we had a County Superinten-
dent of Schools who came from Burlington
occasionally to visit each small school. We
really had to be good while she was visiting
they had superintendents, but they finally
did away with that office.
Beeman children, Roy, and Marie; Bert Souls
daughters, Alberta and Maxine; the Floyd
Fager children, Harvey, Florence, Virgil,
Harold, Alvin, Hazel and Shirley; the Oliver
Orth children, Phyllis, Vernon and Delmer;
the John Walker children, Mary, Edith,
Ernest, Helen and Elsie; the Ed Walker
family, Roy, Lorene, Ima, Clarence and
Elbert; Max and Curran Driskill; the Gerald
Eachus children, Buckley, Dixie, Barbara,
Orvin and Betty; Parker Weatherly's boys,
Duane, Floyd, Lloyd, and James; the Carroll
Elricks' children, Scotty, Raymond and
James; Earl Kent Walker, son of the Clarence
Walkers'. My parents boarded some of the
teachers.
I
remember Ethel Langcamp and
Blanche Byers stayed with us. After my
brother Clarence and wife Shirley moved to
the Walker farm in 1939, Ella Robb Huntzinger boarded with them. The school house
was the center of activities for the community. They had Sunday School, programs, box
suppers and literaries there.
About 1949 the Prairie View school consolidated with the Flagler school. The school
building was moved into Flagler on north
Main Street (708 Maine Ave.). It was used as
a teacherage for years, then sold to Sam Short
of Roy, Utah. He and wife Lucille and
children Ruth Elaine and Sammy J. moved
into the old schoolhouse in the late sixties.
Now our country schools are just a memory,
but they contributed much to the commu-
nity.
by Roy F. Walker
or we got punished. Some of the superinten-
SCHOOL DIST. 22
Tr97
Prairie View - German School,
later Schaal School
Prairie View, District No. 22 School was
probably the first school built in the settle-
Alvin Fager, Dixie Eachus (child a visitor), Hazel
Prairie View School children: Back row
- Betty Eachus,
Fager, Buck Eachus, Dorothy Johnson, Barbara Eachus, Duane Weatherly. Front Row: Irvin Eachus, (a
visitor), Lloyd weatherly, shirley Fager, Jim and Floyd weatherly, and Earl Kent walker.
Moving day for district 22 schoolhouse. It was
moved 1% miles west of original location in 1919.
Pulled with a Hart Paar and Jacob Strobel's
Wallace tractors.
�l:lllilll
a::4.:')a:'
one year and all pupils attended the Schaal
school. Also for 2 years the first grades ofhigh
school were taught. When it closed the pupils
were bused by car to Prairie View School
it was dissolved and taken
Bethune district in 1955.
until
into the
One year a third school was opened for the
Germans and the north district scholars. but
that did not
seem profitable and the pupils
came back to Prairie View again.
The school term was about 6 months a vear,
School was from
9 to 4 o'clock with
fS
minutes recesses and one hour noon. In
winter school houses were crowded, up to
thirty pupils in one school. The older pupils
would go until they were 18 or 20 years old.
Most of the pupils had to learn the English
ffi
language and the 3 R's. As mostly everyone
talked German, some teachers would punish
pupils for talking German at school, but all
talked it at home so it went on in the school
yard too.
Some of the early scholars I remember were
the Schaal's children of Matt Sr., John, Sam
and Carolina, the Strobels, Doblers, McClen-
#
't4
4
Prairie View school house, pupils and families, about 1g12.
ment when the Germans settled in Colorado
from 1890 on. This was a frame school built
by Chris (Grandpa) Dobler who was a
carpenter by trade. The size ofthe school was
about 20X30 ft. It was built just east of Hope
Church 11 north and 1 east ofBethune, across
the road. This being a frame building, it was
moved several times to be closer to the pupils.
The first move was in the 1920's, one and
one fourth miles west on the hill east of the
Frank Kramer farm. In 1929 or 1930 it was
moved one fourth mile east and one mile
north where it stayed until it was torn down
and replaced by a cement block building in
1949 and is
still there, but the district
dissolved
1955 and cut into the Bethune
District.
In
in
1907 an adobe school house was
was
built in
the eastern part of the district. It was called
the German school at Yale and later the
Schaal school as Sam Schaal bought the old
Yale place which was across the road from the
school 11 north and 3 east ofBethune. In 1910
the school board members were Jacob Weidmaur, President; Sherman Yale, Secretary,
and Sam Schaal, Treasurer.
This school was closed in1942 or 1943 but
before it closed the Prairie View closed for
togs, Pete Knondels, and Kramers, a little
later the John Knodel's, John Weiss's. William Adolfs, Stahleckers, and Weisshaars.
Some of the German and later Schaal school
scholars were the Weisshaar's since it was
closer, the Schlichenmayers and Warners,
later also Schaals. Knodels, Adolfs, Bauers,
and Jacobers.
Having a school full of big guys and gals,
a teacher had to have discipline and most did.
If need be, they would take them down. sit
on them and spank; even a small lady teacher
would. The parents would back up the
teachers. The saying was "If you get a
spanking at school you'll get it twice as hard
at home" and the parents would.
Pupils were not compelled to go to school
so all older children had to help gather in the
crops and in spring, help at home again, and
only get 2 or 3 months of school a year, so
most only got to the third or fourth grade.
Later more were able to graduate from the
eighth grade. All eight grades were taught by
one teacher.
The early requirements for a teacher were
8th grade diploma and pass the teacher's
examination. The first salaries were $30.00 or
$35.00 a month and that included, teaching,
janitor work, having the school house warm
when the children came, etc. The older bovs
would fill the coal bucket before going home.
Most of the teachers boarded with families
close to the school; transportation was walking, horse and buggie or horseback. Each
school also had a barn of horses for the day;
however, Vera Dillon and brother Tom.
Victor Voss and Quinton Voss had farms B
and 5 miles off. They came horseback. Some
of the other teachers, I
remember were
Katherine, Helen and Mary Klassen from
Kirk, Gladys Sherman, Fern Russel, Mary
Everet. Some later ones were Mable Guv.
Lela Pottorff, Minnie Eaton, Daisy Heweit.
Some
of the Schaal School teachers
were
Bessie Dingham, Jake Yeager, Daisy Hewett
The German school also known as the Schaal school, about 1910. Teacher is Bessie Dingman. Pauline
Weisshaar Schlichenmayer on left by blackboard, Mary Weisshaar Adolf and Margaret Weisshaar
Stahlecker by blackboard. Anna Weisshaar Adolf standing by desk. The boys are William Weisshaar,
Warden Warner with Jake and William (BiIl) Schlichenmaver in back bench.
and Mr. Keys.
For heating there was a big belly heater in
the middle of the school, heating the side
close by, and the other side froze on cold
mornings. Two seated desks were lined up on
both sides of the building, some times from
the front to the back, the lower ones in front,
the larger to the back. There was a recitation
bench in front of the teacher's desk. where
.
�at the time. This building is still in use as a
community center for 4-H clubs. It is located
12 miles north of Bethune.
I remember my first day at school. Dad
took us, my cousin Arleen Grammand me, to
school with the team and wagon. We were so
anxious to go but, oh, so scared. Arlene
I could because
my older brothers and sister taught me. We
all spoke German at home but we were not
allowed to speak German at school.
We always had a big crowd at our Christmas program. Some people had to stand
outside and look through the windows.
The activities that I remember were spelling bees; Valentine's Day brought great fun
with making and exchanging valentines.
Halloween came with the older kids making
a "spook house" in the coal shed. I was too
frightened to go and look. Music festivals at
Stratton were attended sometimes.
We played games such as "Steal Sticks",
"Farmer in the Dell", "Last Couple Out",
"Annie Over", and "Hide and Seek". Winter
time brought "Fox and Geese" to play in the
snow. Softball and track meets were held with
couldn't speak English but
Grace Smith and students. 1922-23, Schaal school.
to recite their lessons
out loud, while the rest studied their assignments. This went on all day long: reading,
writing, arithmetic, language, physics, geography, history were some of the studies we
had. To start the school we would read from
the Bible or a story.
Friday afternoon after recess often was
spell down or ciphering. Some afternoons our
school would go to another school for spell
down or ciphering. Prairie View also played
basketball with Bethune several years. Some
games we played were shinny, baseball, Greg
Wolf, drop the handkerchief, and more. Most
of the teachers would play along or at least
go out and watch.
Everyone brought their own lunch and
water was brought to the school and put in
each class took turns
PRAIRTE VIEW #22
T198
"Blue View", Tuttle, Union, and
Schaal
schools. In the fall we also made play houses
out of thistles.
The Later Years
Our family, the Gramms, all attended
Prairie View school and my older brothers
and sister remember Miss Elva Richards
(now Powell) and a Mr. Jake Yeager as
teachers. Other teachers from 1938 on were
Mrs. Olsen from Burlington, Miss Marian
Turner of Ogden, Utah, Daisey Hewett, Mrs.
Mabel Guy, and Mrs. Husenetter of Stratton.
We had grades 1 - 8 in our one roomed
school house until 1955 when grades 1 - 6
were taught. The new schoolhouse was built
in 1955. Mrs. Minnie Eaton was the teacher
We had outdoor toilets with the ever
present Sears and Roebuck catalogue. The
horse barn had stalls to tie up the horses. I
also rode a bicycle and walked to school.
Our day began with the "Pledge of Allegience to the Flag" and singing (our music
class). We had22 - 25 students and our desks
seated two pupils. To heat the room was a big
"pot-bellied" stove. At first we used a water
bucket with dipper, then a round crock jar
with a push button spigot, and Iater we each
had our own cup.
Punishment was, if the boy was naughty,
he had to sit with a girl and visa-versa; what
humiliation.
a cooler.
Children would have programs at least for
Christmas and usually another one or two for
their families and friends, giving plays,
recitations, singing. If there was a need for
something for the school, there would be a pie
or box supper which would have all kinds of
goodies in it. Girls bring the eats and boys buy
their box or pie, then eat it together. Should
a certain boy and girl be sweet on each other,
that boy might have to pay a big price for it,
if he wanted to eat with the girl.
Before the district dissolved. the ones that
went to high school met the school bus at the
A.W. Adolf farm, or had to go on their own
to
school. Some boarded
in town; some
families moved to town in order to be closer
to high school.
When the district was dissolved in 1955,
and pupils went to Bethune School, buses
came to get the children from their home;
now there were very few that did not graduate
from high school anymore . . . a big change
from the early years.
by William Kramer
A family gathering at Prairie View school. Front row, younger children, L. to R.: Irene Kramer, Norman
Kramer, Edie Kramer, Max Kramer, Ernest Adolf, Lorena Kraner, Vernon Schlichenmayer, Esther Adolf,
Buddy (Rudolf) Schlichenmayer, Ralph Adolf in white cap, Esther Gramm, Harold Adolf, Elmer Dobler,
Stanley and Russell Davis. Middle Row - L. to R.: Theresa Kramer, Martha Adolf, Frieda Schlichenmayer,
Rosser Davis, John Adolf, Elmer Schlichenmayer, Edmund Gramm. Back Row, L. to R.: Mary Kramer,
Katie Davis, Lydia Gramm, Lydia Adolf, Lena Schlichenmayer, Pauline Knodel, holding Loyd, Lena
Dobler, Margaret Adolf, William Adolf, Mr. Lamb, John Dobler.
�We went up front to the "recitation bench"
for our individual class time. One time, to
punish one of the boys, the teacher sent him
out to get a paddle and he brought in a board
with nails in it.
When the dirt storms came, we hung wet
sheets on windows and got the lanterns out.
It was a frightening experience for us. We
couldn't leave unless someone came and got
teacher), Velma Rice and a tall lady who
taught the last year the school was open,
whose name could not be recalled.
using Charley Jackson's barn to stable horses
ridden to school. He added that the first
money he ever earned was from Charley, who
paid him a quarter to drive a team hitched
to a wagon. Charley rode in the back and
"blow outs" or "sand hills" on the Bill
Kramer place.
to shorten the distance. The road near the
For our end of school picnics we went to the
by Esther Corliss
scHool- #32
Tr99
There was a school 972 south and 5 miles
west of Burlington known as the Ritzdorf
School and later as School #32. The school
building was made of adobe. Skunks had
made their home under the building and
some days the smell was so bad that it was
impossible to hold school. Later they cemented over the adobe to keep the skunks out.
Some of the families attending this school
were the Carlsons Warners, Meyers, and
McCormicks.
This information given by Emma (McCor-
mick) Mullis.
by Shirley Matthies
school was very populated with farmsteads in
early days, very different from today. Along
this road was the Heck family, across the road
from the Heck family was the Widenheimer
family. East of the school was the Schwyn
family. Tollie remembered that Marvin
Beeler often rode a mule to school and she
said he always teased girls at school, especially her! Schwyn children (girls, Luella and
Lydia), living nearby, attended at Flagler,
probably because they were located just over
the line in district 35.
In 1915, when Flagler built a new high
school, a request to consolidate District 10
with Flagler District 35 was voted down by
patrons ofthe district. It is interesting to note
that in 1951, when all schools consolidated to
form District R-1, more than 9400.00 was
added to R-L funds from District 10. Mr. D.F.
Blanken and many of his neighbors were not
fully convinced that a better education could
be had in town. In 1915, even though a
consolidation was not accomplished, most
children who had attended Robb School
transfened to Flagler.
ROBB SCHOOL
T200
Robb School was located in the northwest
corner
of the northeast L/4 of Section
Robb School closed in 1915. Other schools
continued to operate in the district, perhaps
some time later. One of these was Midway,
which may have reopened later some distance
southwest
of
Flagler. Some information
5.
Township 9 S, Range 51 W. This location is
found suggests that one of the school houses
was moved to a new location in the district.
6 miles due west of Flagler, Colorado on the
south side of the old highway. It is located on
a 1/2 section line. An early description ofit's
location would be across the road south of an
old barn on a place Charles Jackson owned
and may have farmed. In 1987, a description
of it's location would be about 1/4 mile, more
or less, west of the Allen Petersen home on
District
the south side of the road. This school was
located in district 10. Mr. D.F. Blanken and
Mr. Beeler were two known school board
'members.
Some
of the families utilizing this early
school were Robb, Blanken, Weidenheimer,
Heck, Jackson and possibly, Schmidt. I am
told the Johnston family used the school.
Some known students of the school were
Oliver Blanken, Natalie (Kueker) Blanken,
Forrest and Creighton Heck, J.T. Robb
miles wide and 22 miles long,
bordering the west side of Kit Carson County.
10 was 2
Its northern border was south of the Hohenstein place. Its southern border was at the
county line. A 1922 atlas shows a school
location in this southwest corner area. A
theory exists that the name of this school was
McAllister. If this is true, McAllister,
Midway and Robb were the three early
schools in District 10.
A word about the name recorded for this
school. At first, no known name could be
recalled. Much effort was expended to try to
determine the name used in those early days.
In a 1915 issue of the Flagler Nerus, an item
was found which told of the beginning of
school that year. "It is estimated that there
will be an increase in enrollment of last year,
of about fifty, in all departments. The Robb
school, in Dist. No. 10, west of Flagler, has
arranged for the entire school to take work
children, Weidenheimer children. Johnston
children and children of Harry Schmid (or
Schmidt) could have attended at one time.
Children of Charles Jackson did not use this
school, all attending at Flagler. Mr. Jackson
lived farther north. The Jackson home was
west and a little south of the present Ralph
Conrad place. His property near the school
record, a name in use at this early time was
learned. It is interesting to note that the
district did not consolidate with Flagler,
however, children of Robb School began, in
1915, to attend school in Flagler.
was vacated and still had improvements on
it. Marvin Beeler attended about 1914 when
by Lyle W. Stone
another school in the district farther south,
recalled as Midway, was closed.
Known teachers at this school were Arthur
Robb (Natalie "Tollie" Kueker's last teach-
er), Gerald Rice (Oliver Blanken's first
T20l
Oliver Blanken remembered students
broadcast seed from the tail-gate. Oliver said
when they went to town, they often cut across
Charley Jackson's place, north of the school,
us,
ROCK CLIFF SCHOOL
in Flagler this year." In finding this
1915
Rock Cliff School
Rock Cliff school was located on the south
edge and about midway of Section 34,
Township 10 S, Range 49 W. This location is
due south of Seibert, Colorado on the correction line. Rock Cliff was a consolidation or
upgrade of education in the district. Smaller
schools in the area transferred to the new
school. Two of these schools may have been
Martin and Fairmount schools. The buildings ofthis school were offrame construction,
consisting of two school houses accommoda-
ting grades 1 through 9. Two outhouses and
a large barn were located on the school
grounds. The barn served as shelter for horses
used by students riding or driving buggies
and wagons to school. This barn was even-
tually used to house three model T Ford
buses until 1925 when bodies of the buses
were placed on Model A Ford chassis and
used in the Seibert school system. Two
teachers were employed at the school in the
beginning. A well on the premises provided
drinking water for the students and animals.
Known teachers at Rock Cliff were Agie
Sawhill, Opal Conarty Murphy, Maurice
Wrenn, Minnie Fingado, Wilma Lettman,
Marie Benson, Lucy Schack, Dacy Frankfather, Roy Howell, Evelyn Allen, Norma
Jean Murphy Moore, Minnie Eaton and
Rogene Boren, who was teacher in 1949-50,
the last year school was held at Rock Cliff.
1915-16 news items tell of funerals, debates, sports events and other activities ofthe
community. One recorded debate names
patrons of Rock Cliff and Second Central
areas. Subject was: "Resolved, that it is better
for the country to have free range than a herd
law." Speakers on the affirmative were C.
Reece, W. Dowse and F. Van Wanning, while
those having charge ofthe negative side ofthe
question were Orrin Hendricks, S. Westover
and Walter Conarty. Judges were John Davis,
Charley Pettis and Will Stone. Judges'
decision was three for the negative, thus
making the unanimous opinion of the judges
that we should have a herd law. The debate
in February, 1916. In the terms
taught by Opal (Conarty) Murphy and
Maurice Wrenn, an extensive program in
sports was apparent when the students of
Rock Cliff school walked away with much
more than their share of ribbons at a track
meet in Burlington.
Some of the families living in the Rock Cliff
area were: Quigley, Murphy, Stone, Short,
occurred
Livingston, Martin, Dix, Christie, Mayberry,
Matthews, Hendricks, Sawhill, Pelser, arnong
many others.
Students were numerous and manv were
�from previously mentioned families. A few
stories remain, such as the time Troy
Murphy, who started school in 1927, attempted to wind a barbed wire into the fur of a
rabbit in an air vent under the school. He was
so intent, he didn't appear when class took
up, resulting in punishment for his deed.
"Billie" Stone, son of W.F. Stone, remembered a yearning kids of this time had for
fruit. He said he once traded a beautifully
browned drumstick his mother had fried for
the core of an apple! "Billie", how did you
know any apple would be left?" "Oh, I
watched him and stopped him before he ate
it all!" Viva
(Livingston) Boger and Billie
reminisced about a time the Quigley family
hauled in some apples. Billie said they put
them in a hole in the ground packed in straw.
He said, "When I looked down into that hole
and saw those apples, I thought I'd died and
gone to Heaven!" They talked of the hard
times then, and when
it was 1928-29 that they started using cars for
far as I know this was always
District 59. I don't know what happened to
buses. As
the small school house, but the larger one was
moved to the Jolly Ranch south and east of
the Phil Mullen place in Cheyenne county
and made into a machine shed.
Rock Cliff was a constant ally of Second
Central school, participating in spelling
matches, sports events and entertainment. In
1987.
little remains but a scar on the earth to
mark a location of this school. Rock Cliff
district was consolidated with Seibert school
after a push for consolidation abounded in
the late '40s; this was accomplished about or
before 1950.
A book could be written about Rock Cliff
School. These few items will record only a
very small portion of events occurring there
and of people who lived them.
by Lyle
I heard Billie tell of
TY.
ROSE SCHOOL
Mettie Rose Love, daughter of the George
Rose's, was probably the first teacher. Other
early teachers were Mrs. Lena Smith, Mettie's sister, and Miss Mary Beecher. George
Baxter was an early teacher and the only man
in the school's history. He homesteaded 2 miles north of the school.
In 1908, the teacher was Miss Chick,
students were Jim and Opal Gwyn, Hazel and
Orlo Searcy. Others may have attended. In
1912 and after, Claude, Alta, Rethal and
teacher
Gilbert Strode and others attended Rose
school. The William Strode family lived on
the Rose homestead at this time.
Remembered families at this time were
Strode, Gwyn and Smith. Teachers through
years following were Lois Fisher, Mrs.
Phoebe Cooper (1924), Mrs. Ben Sawhill,
Lola Shaw (Rillihan), Alice Roberts (Fruh-
Iing) and Mrs. Bledsoe. Known students of
T202
1939 were Agnes, Margie, Albert Gwyn and
Immogene Harrison. Mrs. Laura Mae Malbafftaught from January, 1942 and finished
this term. Agnes and Margie Gwyn, Immogene Hanison, Joan Fisher and Jim Statler
were students. Mrs. Malbaff taught the 19423 term. Of this time, she remembered preparing hot lunches on an oil stove in the entrance
area, sometimes even baking biscuits. As with
grease,
brought by one family to school for lunch, I
had to agree. Most of us who live in eastern
Colorado, have felt the crunch of hard times
but always there were the good times.
Vera Livingston Gattshall says, "I remember that busses for Rock Cliffwere purchased
for the year 1922. My father, Earl Livingston,
school.
Stone
pancakes in layers, stacked in a 5 gallon lard
pail, each garnished with bacon
and may have had a hand in building this
and Odbert Martin were two of the bus
drivers. T.J. Short was on the board. There
were 14 beginners in 1922 when I was a
beginner: Billy Stone, Ernest Christie, Jesse
many teachers of our area, bad storms were
remembered well. Times of staying at school
until parents came to take children home,
required ingenuity of teachers to quell alarm
Pelser, Leroy Newton, Winnie Douglas,
Lucille Noxon, Olga Gunderson, Dorothy
and create entertainment. Orpha Goodrich
has vivid memories of the two-foot snow fall
Turner, and maybe Ruby Mitchel and others
whose names I don't remember. Many had
moved by the next year though."
Twila Gorton well recalls the blizzard of
1926-27 school year. "Odbert Martin, the bus
driver, got to school and took us to Fingado's
to stay. Odbert left us at Quigleys' while he
and Francis Fingado went to Mayberry's to
call what parents he could; lots of them didn't
have telephones back then. When they got
back, we started on to Fingado's. I remember
Francis got out and walked, holding onto the
fender of the bus to help Odbert keep on the
road. We 10 students and Odbert spent the
night at Fingado's. We had potato soup for
supper and played games until about midnight when they found a place for all of us to
go to bed. It was clear the next day, but Dad
came for us with a sled and the snow was knee
deep on the horses. In 1929 we had a May Day
blizzard and didn't go to school, but the next
day we got to school about 10 o'clock. That
was the year I took County Exams for eighth
grade, and we didn't have much time to take
the exams. The snowy winter of 1924-25, Opal
in November of 1946 when she was able to get
to town safely but no school was held at Rose
for about a month. Her students included
children of Perry Vernons, Benny Thorsens,
Bill Anslingers, and Andrew Selenkes.
Conarty, the teacher, was staying at T.J.
Shorts and I remember Dad fixed the sled so
Opal could drive it to school and Viva and I
could ride with her."
Viva Livingston Boger said, "I don't know
when the school house was built but T.J.
Short moved to Seibert in 1913 and their
daughter Alice was 12 years old and went to
Rock Cliff."
Twila Gorton remembers a crack in the
ceiling that her mother said was there when
Alice Short went to school and the children
weren't allowed to jump for fear the plaster
would fall down. It was still there in the
1940's. (A long time to never jump in that
room!) Twila said, "When Maurice Wrenn
taught he used his own car as a bus. I think
so
Other teachers whose nnmes could be
recalled included Marjorie Miner Allison,
Rose school, October 10, 1913. George Baxter
teacher, Strode, Searcy, Smith and Gwyn children
are the students.
Rose School was one of the first schools in
the area, built in 1886-7 by Mr. George Rose
and his neighbors. Location ofthe school was
the southwest corner
Section 24,
Township 8 S, Range 50 W. The Republican
River crosses a county road less than a mile
in
of
south of the school, hampering teachers and
students on their way to school in times of
high water. First construction of the building
was of magnesia rock, abundant in the area.
These were carefully laid into walls. Covering
a one room structure was a roof of wooden
construction, no doubt first covered with sod.
In later years, concrete was poured on outer
walls. A conventional roof and other improvements were made. A wooden entrance was
added to the south side about L922.I am told
the wooden entrance displayed a painted
identification: Rose School, established 1886.
The Bradford family and others lived nearby
Alice Ligget, Edith St. Clair, Nellegene Mort
Ashton, Margie Schiferl, and Elaine Mason
Miller, the last teacher before school closed
in early 1950's when all were consolidated
and moved into Flagler and Seibert districts.
The school served as a community center
during the 50 years of its existence. Buck
Fisher recalls the dances held there, and the
literary meetings. Sunday School was also
held for many years. Ida Gwyn recalls seeing
her first "Christmas tree", a cottonwood
wrapped in green paper, at the Rose School
when she was about 6 years old and the family
went there for a program.
Each fall, special attention was given to
policing the school grounds for invariably,
one or two rattle snakes were found, Prairie
dog colonies and magnesia cliffs jutting out
on the south bank of the Republican made
an ideal setting for these critters.
Malbaff remembered
so very
it
Mrs.
well, help given
her by Ida Gwyn when roads, storms, etc.
made her late to school. Mrs. Malbaff said
Mrs. Gwyn seemed very experienced in
driving two very large horses hitched to
a
Iumber wagon used to bring her children to
school. In the event Laura Mae was late, Mrs.
Gwyn expertly taught school until she arrived.
One of the special treats of the pupils was
when Claude Ervin would stop after checking
his cattle nearby and play baseball with the
�kids. And sometimes those recesses would
last all afternoon!
SECOND CENTRAL
SCHOOL
by Jean Mudd
ROSEDALE SCITOOL
#47
T203
T206
Second Central School was located in the
southeast corner of Section 21, Township
10S, Range 50W, nine miles south and 4 east
of
Flagler, Colorado. This school was
a
consolidation of other small schools in DisSecond Central about 1917
consider consolidation and construction. In
the spring of 1915, patrons ofthe district were
still not content with consolidation. Early
1915
rain and hail damaged two of the soddie
school buildings. The school board had
promised to build a new building in the west
end of the district. They compromised by
building a two room centralized frame building on land purchased from Henry "Hank"
Galer.
Since consolidation was unpopular with
it is possible much effort
some of the patrons,
was expended in designing, selecting best
material and providing best teaching mate-
rial. Nearly full length blackboards
were
placed on north and south walls of two rooms,
separated by a divider offolding doors. This
Rosedale School, 1915, 18 miles south of Vona (The Charley Duncan Caravan)
trict
19. These were Ackerman, Albright,
Sunny Slope (south ofFlagler) and Loco. The
new school was built of best materials and
design
to
allow unparalleled lighting of
classrooms for this time and a unique design
to assure beauty of the building. A central
heating system using coal was eventually
added. In 1914 meetings were called to
made it convenient to accommodate the
community at meetings and school programs.
Oiled pine floors were laid and additional
windows high on the north wall, augmented
Iighting from five large windows on the east
and west side. Two cloak rooms were provided on either side of a south, central entrance.
Located here was a crockery water container
on a wooden shelf. No details were left
lacking in the trim and finish of the building.
Above the transom fitted door at the entrance was placed a round wooden sign with
Rosedale School in 1917 when Marie Farquahar
was teacher. Top row, I to r: Charles and Wilma
Lettman, Elmer Rose, Mary Hinds; Middle row:
Joe Hinds, Don McAuley, Lee Calhoun, Charles
Goff; Front row: Josie Hinds, Evelyn Duncan,
Orville Duncan, Freeman Goff.
by Don McAuley
SAND CREEK
scHool, -
1898
T204
by Velma Hines
Sand Creek School about 1898: Pupils at this Seibert school were: Front row, I to r: Ruth Rogers, Sammie
Rogers, Mirian Blake, Mable Blake, Ethel Blake, Bessie Kistler, Cordia Hendricks (Hines), Herbert Bandy.
Center row: Berl Lee, Leona Bell, Clara Blake, Audrey Blake, Jim Kistler, Rollie Rose, Roy Hendricks,
Clarence Bandy, Jesse Bandy. Back row: Mildred Blake, Elda Blake, Roy Rogers, Grover Blake, Harry
Rose, Ralph Rogers, Milton Rose, Mottie Rose, Maude Rogers. Rear back: J.S. Scheib, teacher.
�In September, 1917, 55 students were
enrolled at Second Central according to
Adam Phiester, Secty. Professor and Mrs.
W.I. Coley were hired to teach this year, and
classes were held for students up to the 10th
grade. No record was found ofother teachers
this year. In 1917-18, teachers paid by the
district were: W.I. Conley, Mary O. Harmon,
Helen Potter and Phoebe Cooper. This year
well casing was purchased; however, later in
time, water was still being hauled to school.
In 1917 the elegant new school building
sported a bronze plaque below the round
black and white Second Central sign. This
plaque read: "State Of Colorado, Standard
'*.*-:*
Second Central
in
and a matter of record. Many drivers of
1930
animals used for this purpose. Drinking water
school buses and school board members can
be recorded and remembered.
In the 1918-19 term, teachers were Mrs.
was brought
Phoebe Cooper, Helen Potter and Mary O.
in a 5 gallon cream can by
someone living nearby. Walter
"Mike"
Co-
narty remembered doing this task. On most
Sundays, church and then Sunday school was
held. The school board members were W.H.
Conarty, President, Adam Phiester, Secretary and C.J. Far, Treasurer.
At a Standardization Day meeting at the
Second Central teachers, Viola Short Pursley,
and Mrs. Stella Boote.
School, Superior Class."
It would seem the heart of a school, beyond
its physical structure, must lie in the greatness of teachers and students. Second Central was blessed with an abundance of both.
very special teachers and many outstanding
students. A list of students would be numerous and difficult to assemble. Many of the
teachers through the years remain in memory
left
the words, Second Central School, District
19. On a contrasting black background, it was
very impressive.
First students at the new school are
believed to be: Opal Conarty, Lela Galer,
Gladys Ploper, ? Carlson, Aljy Stinton, Vern
Joy, Elmer Joy, Glen Stinton, Irma Conarty,
Helen Potter, Howard Westover, Walter
"Mike" Conarty, Tom Conarty, Eva Ploper
and Solomon "Sollie" Stone. Teachers for the
1915-16 term were Misses Francis and Ruth
Hyland. Warrants were also issued to Miss
Estelle Wille. Other schools were still in
operation and it is difficult to determine
where Miss Wille taught. Warrants reflect
much work on the school house during
school in 1915. Second Central received a
score ofseventy-five, which pleased the board
very much. This satisfaction was expressed
by the secretary of the school board, Adam
Phiester. At a parent-teachers meeting held
April 21, 1916, the score of seventy-five was
raised by the county committee to eightytwo. Headlines at this time read, "Second
Central Scores Highest in County." Reasons
for raising the score were attributed to
lighting and ventilation of the building, care
of grounds, certificates, salaries of teachers
and efforts of the Misses Hyland and their
students.
In August, 1916, the school board asked for
bids to dig a basement under the Second
Central School building for additional classroom space. Solomon Stone was awarded the
contract. A basement was dug and concrete
walls were poured while classes were in
session. Eight windows were built below
ground level with appropriate covers to keep
out elements of weather. Blackboards were
placed on three walls in the west half of the
basement area. The east half was used as a
furnace room; a coal bin was located in an
additional section of basement on the southeast side. A partition separated the two
rooms. Mr. Sam Valquette installed a large
coal furnace with appropriate piping to
provide central heat in October, 1916. A large
water jacket around the furnace provided
needed humidity in classrooms. The new
basement classroom was used for the 9th and
10th grades.
Transportation of students to school was a
Miss Ora Cruickshank taught at Second
Central in 1916-17, along with W.I. Conley
and his wife, Pearl. In May, 1917, 8th grade
graduates were Irene Wickham, Irma Conarty, Flossie Kinzer, Charles Conley and
horseback, buggy and wagon or cart. A barn
was located on the school ground to house
Sollie Stone. Mrs. Hayworth served as minister at the school where church was held on
most Sundays.
September, October and December in 1915.
family obligation and students came by
Harmon. No bus drivers were recalled.
probably because it was before such a service
was provided. Board members of this time
were W.H. Conarty, President, Adam Phiest-
er, Secretary and S.W. Sloan, Treasurer.
L920-L92L school term was taught by A.O.
Tudor and Mrs. Phoebe Cooper. Only two
teachers were listed this year. Bus drivers
were numerous, Harry Eaton, Conrad Stone,
Joe Short (short route), E.I. Vawter, M.I.
Ploper (short route) and A.A. Frager (short
route). Board members were O.L. Vawter,
F.J. Van Wanning and V.F. Shrode.
In L92l-22, Mrs. Phoebe Cooper, J.H.
Jaeger and Mrs. Helen Westover were teachers. Routes were driven by G.F. Baxter, A.B.
Radenbaugh, E.I. Vawter with short routes
driven by W.R. Stewart and N.C. Wheeler.
Board members this term were Ora L.
Vawter, President, V.F. Shrode, Secretary,
W.Y. Grove was Treasurer.
The L922-23 term was taught by John F.
Matthews, Mrs. J.F. Matthews and Thelma
Wright. Bus drivers this year were C.E.
Reavis, E.I. Vawter and Odbert Martin.
1923-24 school term was taught by Murvale
H. Moore and Mrs. M.H. Moore. Drivers were
Ora Dunivan, Fred Lange and E.I. Vawter.
Board members were Wm. H. Wickham,
President, V.F. Shrode, Secretary and B.H.
Short, Treasurer.
ln 1924-25, J.F. Matthews and Mrs. J.F.
Matthews taught the school, C.E. Reavis and
H.J. Shrode were bus drivers and the school
board remained the same as last term.
1925-26 term was taught by A.W. Dix, Mrs.
A.W. Dix and Zella Stone. Bus drivers were
Clem Nixon, Fred Christopher and Harry
Eaton. Board members were Wm. M. Wickham, President, Fred Griffeth, Secretary and
B.H. Short was Treasurer.
ln 1926-27, Mr. A.W. Dix and his wife
taught the school, Harry Eaton and W.F.
Lana drove the routes. "Bill" Lana operated
two regular buses this year. Board members
were Mr. Wm. M. Wickham, President, J.L.
Short, Secretary and B.H. Short, Treasurer.
The 1927-28 term was taught by Dolora
Tiller, Elizabeth and Awilda Nixon. Drivers
of school routes were Mrs. Rose Wickham.
�Bill Wickham, James H. Reade, Mr. Wm.
Wickham drove a route in a touring car. Mr.
Wickhem bought two new Chevrolet buses
this year. Board members were Mr. Wm.
Wickhem, President, J.L. Short, Secretary
and B.H. Short, Treasurer. In December this
year, Elizabeth Nixon and her sister, Awilda
became ill of diptheria. Alwilda survived but
Elizabeth died. Clyde Roberts finished teaching the term in Elizabeth's place.
Mr. C.A. Finley and his wife along with
Alwilda Nixon taught the 1928-29 term. Mrs.
Rose Wickham, W.H. Fogg, Ray E. Curtis
and Mary Joy drove school routes. Mrs.
George Blanken drove a short route. Board
members this term were Ellis McConnell,
President, B.H. Short, Secretary and J.H.
Short. Treasurer.
In the 1929-30 term. teachers were Mr. and
Mrs. Bon V. Davis and Miss Ida Reynolds.
Bus drivers were Mary E. Joy and Vern Joy.
Board members were Effie Eaton, President,
J.L. Short, Secretary and B.H. Short, Treasurer.
1930-31 school year was taught by the same
teachers as last term, Chas. R. Smith was
elected to the board as Treasurer. Bus drivers
this year were Vern Joy, Mrs. Rose Wickham
and Mary E. Joy.
The 1931-32 term was taught by E. Ellis
and Wynona D. Graham. Also teaching was
Ida Reynolds. Drivers were Willard Eaton,
Everett Joy and Wm. Wickham. Fred Martin
and Wm. Driskill drove short routes. Board
members were Effie Eaton, President, J.L.
Short, Secretary and Chas. R. Smith, Treasurer.
1932-33 teachers were E. Ellis Graham.
Mrs. E.E. Graham and Irene Graham. School
Amy Nichols and only one teacher was
employed this year, as there were only 16
unusual accomplishments which must also
students in school. Ted Wickham and Elmer
Joy drove school buses.
In the L942-43 term, Opal Joy taught 1st,
2nd, 9th and 10th grades. Julia Dugan
(Wanczyk) taught the other grades, finishing
the term started by a teacher who is unknown. Bus drivers this year were Birney
Short, Harlan Rogers and Sollie Stone. There
were 25 students enrolled in school.
Teachers for the 1943-44 school year were
Mrs. Roy Cook and Julia Dugan. School bus
drivers were Orley Conarty and Jack Held,
who took over the route when Birney Short
left for military service. B.K. Moss was
elected to the school board.
In L944-45, Peggy Warrington taught the
first semester with Mrs. Viola Pursley finishing the term, along with Miss Mona Snow.
School bus drivers are believed to be Orley
Conarty and Jack Heid.
In the 1946-47 term, Wayne E. Gouge and
wife, Dixie Bell Gouge (Sawhill) were teachers. Drivers this term were not found. The
school board members were Fred Martin,
President, Maurine Wold, Secretary and
Cleo Radebaugh, Treasurer.
The term, L947-48 was taught by Julia
Dugan and Mrs. Sig (Evelyn) Olsen. The
1948-49 term was taught by Julia Dugan and
Orpha Goodrich. Julia Dugan taught the last
year school was held at Second Central in the
1949-50 term, thus ending
a long list of
teachers of the school.
Among many outstanding accomplishments of the Second Central Community was
the spiritual background instilled throughout
the years in its graduates. The community
was seldom without church and Sunday
school through the years. A number of very
Roberta Wrenn. Bus drivers this year were
Cliff communities gave of their time
V.F. Shrode, Harry J. Shrode and H.W.
Robinson. Board members remained the
same as last term.
In 1934-35, Mr. and Mrs. K.K. Parsons
continued to teach along with Janet Mitchell.
School bus drivers were Mr. Wm. Wickham,
Carson County and was
schools
bus drivers this term were H.W. Robinson,
O.W. Boston and V.F. Shrode. Board members remained the same as last term.
Teachers for the 1933-34 term were Mr.
K.K. Parsons, Mrs, Marion Parsons and
of Kit
record of board and drivers was found.
L94L-42 school term was taught by Miss
special people in Second Central and Rock
and
effort to provide this very special training. I
remember no professed denomination,
though both Baptist and Congregational
ministers presided in church at times, but
rather a basic study of the Bible and its
presented there. These were only a few ofthe
include dedication of many very special
teachers who brought out the best in their
students.
Along with joys and exhilarations of school
were times of sadness when World War I
came, taking young men from the community
in 1917-18. Farewell parties were often held
at the school when local boys left to go to war.
While they were gone, they were remembered
in church on Sunday and missed throughout
the week. Letters arrived in the community,
sent from many places. These were read and
reread by friends and neighbors. Soon the
war was over and great joy was celebrated
when boys returned. A thread of sadness
remained for, sadly, some never came home.
A lingering tug of heartbreak for some
students remains when they tell of the time
Elizabeth Nixon, a much loved young teacher, died of diphtheria in 1927 . One can sense,
today, a hurt so great it remains after sixty
years. Both Nixon teachers were ill. At first,
the disease was thought to be a light form,
however, only Alwilda survived. Dr. H.L.
Williams, health officer, ordered the school
closed and fumigated. A quarantine was
placed on the patients. No regular funeral
was held because fear of the disease \pas so
great.
A
memorial was held on Sunday,
January 1, at the school house at 2:00. Rev.
Dexheimer of Seibert conducted the service.
It was a painful time in the community,
especially for students at the school.
In 1936 a very active 4H club movement
was apparent in Second Central community
with many young people taking part. January
22, James Vawter gave a talk on KOA radio,
telling what 4H meant to him. Many of the
local students took livestock to the stock
show in Pueblo where Georgia Vawter showed a calf she had won the previous year. Dale
Eaton, Robert Shrode, James and Georgia
Vawter served as a judging team at the fair.
R.O. Woodfin, county agent, took an active
interest in activities of 4H in the community.
Many will remember yet today the moving
pictures he brought to Second Central,
running them with the aid of a small light
Short, Secretary and Conrad L. Stone, Trea-
teaching with a general expectation of elders
for good conduct of youngsters in the community. I believe this background, given to many
young members of the community, followed
surer.
them throughout their lives.
coyotes. They ran their Model A Ford into a
bank in the bottom of a valley and this "head
on" caused very serious injuries. School had
just ended and buses were arriving when news
reached the school of their accident about 3
D.F. James and Elmer Joy. School board
members were Effie Eaton, President, J.L.
1935-36 teachers remained the same as last
term. Wm. Wickham, Elmer Joy and V.F.
Shrode drove school buses. Board members
were J.F. Martin, President, J.L. Short,
Secretary and Conrad L. Stone, Treasurer.
The 1936-37 school term was taught by Mr.
and Mrs. Harlan G. Romberg and Opal
Murphy (Joy). Bus drivers were Virgil Short,
Elmer Joy and Ora L. Vawter. Board members remained the same as last term.
The 1937-38 term was taught by Mrs.
Grace Hill and Miss Viola Short. Van
Goodwin was elected on the school board.
In the 1938-39 term, teachers were Mrs.
Stella Boote and Miss Viola Short. It is not
certain who bus drivers were or school board
this year.
In 1939-40 school year, J. Carl Harrison
and Mrs. Bledsoe were teachers. Harley
Short, Elmer Joy and Conrad L. Stone were
bus drivers.
It is not clear who the school
board members were this term.
The 1940-41 school term was taught by J.
Carl Harrison and June (Short) Conarty. No
number of firsts in the Second
Central community. It is said to be the first
school to have school buses, the first to
purchase a community radio where many
gathered to marvel at a new medium, the first
school to have church and Sunday school as
a regular event on Sundays, and the first
school to attain a state rating of superior
There were
a
class.
Outstanding events at Second Central with
periodic presentations by members of the
community occurred at the beginning in
1915, with an event called a Lyceum, where
recitations, short plays, musical numbers and
short addresses were given. Very special
community debates were held at this time.
Outstanding accomplishments in musical
presentations were apparent in L922 during
the time Mr. John Matthews taught. Long
remembered stage plays were presented and
enjoyed in 1934, 35 and 36, when K.K.
the acting abilities of
many community members. One of these
Parsons enhanced
special community plays toured many
plant in the school yard.
In 1936 two brothers. Wes and Jess Pelser
met with a serious accident while hunting
miles south of the school. Mr. Ora Vawter
took his big Studebaker, used to haul his
school route, and drove Wes and Jess to the
hospital. There were moments of deep concern among the students at school.
In 1939, 4H club activities were yet a vital
part of the younger community with showing
of Iivestock at the Kit Carson County Fair
among other projects. Bunnie (Short) Elliott
and others won a trip to the state fair at
Pueblo with their special exhibits. This year
many Second Central people rode horses,
drove wagons and impersonated Indians at
the "Indian Massacre" presentation at Seibert. In April, 1939, Harold "Bud" Short and
Lyle Stone represented Second Central
School at a meeting of the Young Citizens
League in Denver. Bud presented a scrap
book on soil conservation practices prepared
at the school and Lyle gave a talk on soil
�conservation. These presentations were given
to a large gathering of county school superintendents of the state.
In the early 1940s, World War II took
young men away to perform a task not
covered in the curriculum of the school. New
drivers hauled students when old ones answered their call. Stars were placed in
windows of homes for those whose sons had
gone to war. This was a time of shortages felt
by everyone. There was even a shortage of
teachers to be dealt with. War bonds and
stamps were continually sold. Scrap iron and
other salvageable items were collected to help
win the war. The local LSC (Ladies Social
Circle) club made packages to send to boys
of the community, as
it
had done before.
seemed so very long, and some were lost,
It
but
eventually the war was over. There was
rejoicing when boys came home, as there had
been years before in World War I.
District 19 faced a reduction in the number
of students; this began in the'30s when many
had to move away. Some build up of population occurred in better years ofthe 1940s but
a farming trend to Iarger acreages for each
operator decreased the school population
even more. In 1950 an active state initiated
the drive for consolidation which forced most
schools to join in larger districts. Second
Central, District 19. merged with Flagler to
become part of School District R-1, ending
activities since 1915.
In September, 1951, the school house was
sold to James Vawter for $1001.00. Most
school houses wee sold at this time by the
Flagler School District R-1. Part of District
19 was consolidated with the Seibert School
district, a larger share went to Flagler. In 1951
$1041.51 was transferred from District 19
funds to the new consolidated district.
Second Central School was noted for
providing exceptional training for students.
This had been a goal for 35 years of its
existence. A tally of students receiving their
grade and part of their high school training
here has been impossible to make. Certainly
there were many. It is amazing to find so
many people still living in the area who
attended this school at one time or another.
Opal (Conarty) Joy began as a student at
Second Central in 1915 and served as a very
special teacher in the school for a number of
SMELKER SCHOOL
T206
The Smelker School, located thirteen miles
south and two and one-half miles west of
Stratton, was built in 1917 in the southwest
corner of the section. It took the place of an
old sod or adobe schoolhouse a mile south.
Just across the road intersection to the west
lived the Charley Smelker family and north
of them across the road lived the Minor
Warren family. The Smelker family, Myrtle,
Victor, George, Leon, Wesley, Theodore,
Ivan, and Dean, all attended school there. So
did the Warren family, Myrtle, Wilma, and
Bud. When Wilma married George Smelker
and lived in the Warren home, their children,
Vivian, Verla, Velma, Lola, Franklin, Myrna,
Twila, Una, and Arva Kay, also attended
school there. Other children attending were
James, Noble. and Audrev Struthers. Law-
rence, Duane, and Jerry Megel, Ugene and
Lois Carpenter, the Segal Proctor twins, Fay
and Fern, the Walter Proctor children, Lois,
Doris, Willard, Ivalee, GIen, Irma June, and
Helen, the Harry Greenwood children, Laura, Thelma, and Allen, Kenneth Hoot, the
McCormick children, Joe, Julia, and Rosemary, the Houghton girls, Irene and Marjorie, the Leon Smelker girls, Carol and Elaine,
the Iseman children, Clarence, Loraine,
Agnes, John, and Wayne, and many others.
I am indebted to Ivan Smelker for much of
my information and to Orris Bunch, whose
mother was Myrtle Smelker. Orris says that
when his mother finished the eighth grade,
to further her education, she took the eighth
grade a second time, then taught one year in
the soddy school, before the new school was
built.
Other teachers in the school, not necessarchronological order, were Beatrice
Brady; Mrs. Hoescher; Joseph Chandler,
ily in
rs
l{'*,f
tL"
tux
Smelker School 1930-31 when Esther Davis Beattie was the teacher: back row, I to r: Dean Smelker, Willard
Proctor, Ivan Smelker, Doris Proctor, Faye Proctor, Eloise Proctor, Fern Proctor. Front row: Noble
Struthers, Audrey Struthers, Vivian Smelker.
years near the end of its existence. Julia
Dugan first attended Second Central school
in 1921 as a student and served as a teacher
during those Iast years including a last one in
1950.
Plans were being made in 1984 to restore
and move the Second Central School building
to Flagler. In 1987 a new wood shingle roof
was put in place for preservation. A funding
problem delays actual moving of the old
building but interest in such a venture is
prevalent in the community. A need exists for
old
treasures. An age old fact remains, that it is
a place to store many artifacts and
far too distant from the west end of Kit
Carson County to its county seat. What a
problem this must have been for west patrons
of the county in those years so long ago! For
this reason, a depository ofhistorical artifacts
at Flagler remains a much needed developrnent.
by Lyle W. Stone
Smelker School: back row,
I to r: Kenneth Hoot, LoIa
Smelker, Jennie L. Tressel, teacher, Thelma
Greenwood, and Allen Greenwood. Front row: Twila Smelker, Franklin Smelker, Mvrna Smelker. Howard
Gilmore and Lawrence Megel.
�Julia Felch; Beulah Mott, Marie Greenwood:
Esther Davis-Beattie under whom Ivan
Smelker, Lois, Doris, Faye and Fern Proctor
all graduated from the eighth grade; Nina
Blomquist; Rose Henry; Mrs. Huebner; Ora
Cruickshank; Violet Campbell-Barr; Leona
Sharp-Schaal; Jennie L. Tressel under whom
Thelma Greenwood graduated from the
eighth grade in 1941; Bill Seely; Florence
Wigton; Orris Bunch, Vivian Smelker; Dorothy Smelker and others.
There was a building north of the schoolhouse that housed the coal shed, and two
toilets, one on each side. To the northeast was
a little barn to shelter the horses that the
children often rode to school.
The teacher or children carried water each
day from the Smelker well, then dumped it
in a large stone jar with a faucet.
home via buggies, spring wagons, horseback,
or cars.
by Marie E. Greenwood
of Allegiance, and often
a three story modern concrete structure.
SMOKY HILL SCHOOL
T207
the children.
Every year, at least two programs, Christmas and "Last Day ofSchool" were prepared,
with much drilling and practicing by the
school, to which the parents and public were
invited. Every pupil participated, probably in
three or four numbers,
two or three songs
by the school, "Recitation"
by each
one
separately, special numbers by groups, and a
play or two.
Sometimes
in the spring of the year,
put into service at the time school
opened, which was the term of Lg2l-22.
Four teachers and a custodian comprised
the staff with ten grades being taught. The
custodian also drove one of the busses and
kept all busses in repair during the school
term.
Three ofthe one room school houses which
Smoky Hill teacherages and buses.
a full day round trip plus loading
Smoky Hill School after the June 8, 1941 tornado.
In
1920 a group
of patrons from several
school districts had the courage and fortitude
to organize the consolidation of small districts into one large district. The new district
was approximately twelve miles square. The
boundary lines were, the Kit Carson County
line on the south, and Highway 385 (formally
51) on the west. The north boundary was six
miles north of the correction line which was
also six miles south of Burlington. The east
line was near the Kansas border.
The new school building was central in the
district which was twelve miles south and five
miles east of Burlington. The school received
prcnrc.
The schoolhouse was the center of the
community and was utilized for many com-
munity events,
school elections,
- dances,
money-making projects
for the school such as
box suppers, pie suppers, oyster suppers,
voting precincts, Sunday School and church,
basket dinners, gathering place for rabbit
drives, coyote hunts and ball games. Often,
sometime during the fall of the yeat, a
Literary would be organized by the people in
the community. Officers were elected and the
event was held at a regular time, probably
once a month. The program was presented by
local talent
music, poems recited, plays.
a Debate
conducted in true parlimentarian order with
three men on the Pro side and three men on
lhe Con side, and judges to determine the
winning side, all conducted with much fun
rnd hilarity. After the program the ladies
lerved refreshments. Then all departed for
were moved to the school grounds were
remodeled and used for dwellings for the
teachers and their families.
In the fall of the year a train car of coal was
purchased and placed on a siding on Rock
Island Railroad in Burlington. Some patrons
made a little extra money by hauling coal to
the school with teams and wagons. This was
another school would be invited to compete
in a baseball geme, and near the end ofschool,
they. might go to some grove of trees for a
Usually the- last number was
generator for electricity. Fire drills were held
occasionally using the third floor fire escape.
A four vehicle garage was also attached to
were
sang the "Star
younger child who was having a problem. On
Fridays, the last one hour and one-half after
recess was devoted to something special like
a spelling match, a geography race, crafts, or
a story read. Bible stories were a favorite with
It
was steam-heated with a pressure water
system that allowed indoor plumbing and a
the building, and four Model T Ford busses
Spangled Banner." The children then congregated in the schoolhouse for 15 minutes of
"Opening Exercises" which might consist of
some rousing singing around the old organ or
a stimulating story read by the teacher.
Since there were twenty or more pupils
with classes from first to eighth grades, there
was a great hustle and bustle of studying and
reciting, with the teacher hurrying to help
different pupils whose hands were raised.
Often the older children, their lessons completed, would be allowed to help some
tion effort were Lester Beveridge, Harry
Coleman, and Ellen Zuelke. The building was
Every morning, unless the weather was
inclement, at nine o'clock, the children
gathered around the flagpole out in front for
the school opening ceremony. One pupil was
given the honor of hoisting the Flag, while the
others saluted. Then all repeated the Pledge
its name from the Smoky Hill River which
was one mile south of the school site. A few
of the people responsible for the consolida-
Smoky Hill School, L92l-22, a three story building.
and
unloading the coal with a scoop shovel. The
coal was shoveled into an underground
bunker at the school which was to be used in
the furnace during the winter.
The year of 1928 one hundred thirtv five
students attended Smoky Hill which was the
highest enrollment recorded.
Area track meets, basketball games (outdoor courts), spelling and oratorical contests
were a small part of extra school activities. In
general the school was a form of a community
center. The auditorium located on the
basement level had
a
stage which was used for
all types of programs. Several large school
programs were presented each year with the
one at Christmas being the students'favorite.
The annual visit of Santa Claus distributing
goodies to the pupils was always looked
forward to. Non-denominational church services, Sunday School, parties, basket dinners
and dances were some of the additional
activities held.
One winter a snow storm escalated into a
severe blizzard during the day, and the bus
�SMOKY HILL SCHOOL
MEMORIES
T208
Vernon Jantzen told of his years at Smoky
Hill
School this way: my recollection of
Smoky Hill School starts the first week of
March, 1946, as I enrolled in the eighth grade.
The eighth graders shared the west room on
the second floor with 5th, 6th and 7th
graders. Our teacher was Mr. Levi Lengel. My
older sister said he looked like a farmer from
the dustbowl of Oklahoma. He was a gruff
individual and did not seem suited to thejob.
Since I was a city boy from Fresno, California,
the school certainly had some lasting impressions for me.
I remember Dale Eberhart to be our best
athlete. Our favorite and only recreation was
softball. We could count on Dale to hit the
ball the farthest, and with great agility and
speed he was able to round the bases and be
home safe before the rest of us could recover.
Jerry, his younger brother, was almost
Smoky Hill School as rebuilt after the 1941 tornado, only two stories'
was fear
teaching the ten grades the remaining years
that classes ere held. The school suffered with
the general economy as a large percent of the
people were unable to pay their taxes.
For several years a spring epidemic of
scarlet fever went through the school. One
patron theorized that the germs were in the
text books from year to year and a decision
was made to put the books in the hot sun and
fresh air for several days during the summer.
Believe it or not this appeared to be the end
of the annual illness.
I attended school ten years at Smoky Hill
from its beginning in 1921 and graduated in
1931 in a class of seven. In the same year four
International truck chassis were purchased.
The old bus bodies were too short so were
lengthened and remodeled to fit the chassis.
In the late 30's crops were being raised in
eastern Colorado. New families moved to the
area and a new era for Smoky Hill began.
In June, 1941 a tornado struck the school
classes ceased at Smoky
the job of
house which resulted in heavy damage.
Extensive repair was made which included
taking off the top floor and a new roof style
used. Contractor Harley Conger undertook
the remodeling job. The garage part and
busses were destroyed as were two of the
teachers'dwellings. A three family apartment
building was constructed for housing of
teachers following the tornado.
In 1945 a prairie fire started in Cheyenne
County and with a strong southwest wind
swept northeast at record speed. The bridge
across the Smokv Hill River burned and there
river bed which had thistles in
as
if Dale and Jerry were on the
same
team, they always batted and the rest of us
of the fire reaching the school
grounds. Apparently there was a wind change
or sheer providence as the fire followed the
drivers could not deliver the students to their
homes. We spent two days and two nights at
the school. The third day toward evening we
were taken home by horse drawn wagons by
some of the parents living nearest to the
school. Some parents came for their children.
Imagine the agony the parents went through
not knowing if their children were stranded
in a bus or their whereabouts.
The only telephone line in the area was
between Smoky Hill and Burlington. People
made emergency calls from the school.
During the depression and drouth of the
1930's many families moved away and the
declined enrollment no longer warranted four
teachers. Two teachers took
good, so
it
and went
east sparing the school house.
New families brought new life and enthusiasm with them. A gun club was organized
in 1948, Sunday School in 1946, 4-H Club in
1950, and Friendship Circle Home Demonstration Club in 1947. In 1949 a school hot
lunch program was started with mothers
taking turns in helping cook the noon lunch.
In 1957 following the consolidation of all
county rural schools into six districts, namely
the town schools, Smoky Hill became a part
of Burlington RE-6J. The following
year
Hill.
For a time the building was used as
a
community center. Later it housed Mexican
families that came to the area to work in the
sugar beet fields. The building soon deteriorated and was no longer in use. In January,
1981, the remainder of the building burned
and following sixty years of service a special
land mark became stark concrete walls.
A few of the teachers whose names are
remembered were Mr. Frost, Mr. Rhodes,
W.I. and Pearl Conley (W.I. Conley was from
Indiana and attended school with Orville &
Wilbur Wright, the founders of aviation), Ora
Cruickshank who later became county superintendent, Helen Holloway, Leonard Ziemann, Dacy Frankfather, Ada Bey, Gordon
Guffey, Fay (Alexander) Bryner, May (Rose)
Hume, Edna (Bartman) Stahlecker, Hazel
Fromong and Josie Youtsey.
Others who helped compile the Smoky Hill
story were Velma (McCalmon) Walstrom and
Bernice Eberhart. Velma moved to the area
in 1928 and graduated from Smoky Hill in
1930. The McCalmon family came from
Norton, Kansas. Ted and Bernice moved to
the Smoky Hill area in 1939 from St. Francis,
Kansas. At this writing both ladies live in
Burlington.
by Leona (Fanselau) Wiedman
chased the balls.
Willard (Juny) Butterfield was the quickest and easiest to make friends with. He was
forever teasing whenever an opportunity was
given. Later, in May, my brother Francis
arrived from California with my mom and
sisters and he joined our eighth grade class.
Now we eighth graders were six in number.
At times we were too much for Mr. Lengel.
On occasion he became very angry with us
and one time took off his big, wide belt and
threatened to use it. That was pretty effective!
The next year, for whatever reason, transportation was not offered to some of us in the
outlying areas to go to Burlington High
School. So, Harold Walstrom, Francis and I
spent the 9th grade at Smoky Hill. Mr. Lengel
did not return. I don't remember who the
teacher was, but he drove a very old car,
which we jokingly teased him as being a 1921
Franklin. He was a curly red-haired young
fellow about 20 years old with an excellent
sense of humor and we liked him very much.
He taught algebra to us three 9th graders and
really struggled to get us to understand "X,
Y and 2". Our classroom included 5th
through 9th graders and some that I remember especially include Kenny Drager who was
forever teasing and chasing the girls. Shirley
Chapin was forever the most studious and
everybody liked her. Bertie Reeves was the
one who caught the brunt of most of Kenny's
teasing.
Perhaps the most outstanding event of the
year was the school play in the spring ofL947.
We rehearsed daily and prepared for the
Smoky Hill Community highlight of the year.
The play took place in the lower front room
which had a small stage and could seat
perhaps 40 or so people. The night ofthe play
the room was packed with anticipating
friends and parents. As the curtain was
pulled back, I came onto the stage and said
my opening line which gave the cue for my
brother Francis to enter from the other side.
Francis came out and was to say something
to me. He said the first two words and burst
out laughing. So the whole play continued on
with all the characters saying their lines while
Francis giggled. Needless to say, Francis was
�not without support as the audience joined
in the emusement with laughter throughout
the play. It was the talk of the community for
a long, long time.
Ruth Gulley, Eva Vanatta, Evelyn Atkins,
and Vivian Whitmarsh,
Garold Paintin's frrst grade teacher was
Murfin. Besides teaching them to read,
write and do arithmetic, he also pulled their
Jess
Another highlight was on the last Sunday
of the school year. Parents, students and
friends gathered together at the school and
had a big potluck diner. After dinner ever-
ybodyjoinedtogetherforagameof. . none
other than softball.
by Bernice Eberhart
SOLID CENTER
SCHOOL
T209
The Solid Center School, District number
41, was located in the northeast corner of
section 21 T 7 R 47 of Kit Carson County. The
first records on file of this district began in
19U. This was a sod structure. In about 1928
a new wood structure school building was
erected and the little soddie was used for a
barn. The Republican River flooded in 1935
and filled the new school basement with
water. The little sod building was washed
first
loose teeth. Some of his
first classmates
were Glen Edmunds, Robert Garner and Jim
Spurlin. George Paintin would ride his horse
past the school to check cattle. From the
commotion inside the school building, he
wasn't sure if school was in session or if it was
recess time. The students liked this teacher.
Wilda and Doris went on to graduate from
the Stratton High School. Ivan married one
of the teachers, Evelyn Atkins.
With consolidation of schools in 1950. this
school building was moved into Stratton and
converted into a home for Mr. and Mrs.
William Thyne who lived there for many
years. Ethel Wears is the present resident.
by Jean Paintin
SPRINGWELL,
DISTRTCT #43
T210
away,
All the George Paintin children attended
this school beginning with Eva in 1916 and
ending with Doris in 1945. Their transportation for the mile across the pasture was on a
trusted pony or on foot. Their lunches were
carried in half gallon syrup buckets that had
wire handles.
Other families having children
in
this
school thru the years were Joe Garner, Frank
Connaway, Fred Carpenter, William Thyne,
Joseph Anthofer, Maynard Edmunds, Dave
Sealock, Nick Stoffel, Dale and Russel Spurlin, and Alvin Kitten. Most of thege parents Springwell School, constructed of sod bricks, the
book their turn serving on the school board.
building material of the plains.
Some of the teachers were Bill Seeley, Dale
Baker Wood, Jess Murfin, Gladys Quinn,
School opened in District #43 at Springwell school in October of 1911 with Miss
Nellie Keene of Iowa as first teacher. In a
short while she received word that her
brother in Iowa had passed away. She left by
train, F.L. Beattie taking her to the train. She
decided not to return as her salary was only
$35 per month. However, she did return later
and married Henry Grabbe and they lived
north of Burlington.
A homesteader's wife, Maude Turner,
taught for a few weeks until Mabel Pugh
(Guy) finished the eighth grade; then she
finished the term.
The first schoolhouse was an abandoned
homesteader's soddie. By 1917 or 1918 a
building 30 feet by 40 feet was erected nine
miles north and one and one half miles east
of Stratton and named Springwell. The
building was painted white. When consolidation took place the building was sold and only
the foundation remains.
The first pupils were Mettie, Alfred,
Minnie and Elmer Jones. Other families:
Richard and Arthur Jones; Richard and
James Osborne; Henry Hadden; Raymond
Debban; Eva, Clifford and Charlie Bohl, and
Blanche Beattie (Dove).
Later after squabbles and several elections,
a district was formed to the north
- Covote
Ridge, changed to Sunnyside. Solid
Center
was to the west of Springwell.
by Blanche Dove
SUNNY SIDE SCIIOOL
T2rl
Sunny Side School was located southeast
ofFlagler in the southwest corner ofthe south
east quarter of section 12, Township 10 S,
Range 51 W. In 1987 this location would be
about 1/4 mile north and about 1/2 mile west
of the present James "Jim" Richie residence.
Sunny Side was built of sod, much like some
of the surrounding homes. Benches and a
teacher's desk were home made. It is probable
this was another school where the teacher
arrived early to shoo out the varmints and
snakes in order that classes could be held.
Small similar schools appeared about the
country side in the early 1900s, serving
patrons nearby who had homesteaded in the
area. Sunny Side school was located in
District 35. When operations ceased a number of years after it was built, students were
transferred to Texerado and Flagler schools.
Although the heading "Sunny Side" appeared in earlyFlagler News items, little could be
found to add to a record of this early school.
Living in the area about this time were
West, Moss, Lana, Sloan, among other
families. Research has not uncovered students that could be named. It is felt the school
did not
operate long
until it was more
economical to utilize Texerado and Flagler
schools. At this point, no specific teachers
have been found.
Until recent years, bits ofplaster, wood and
iron pinpointed the location of the school.
The area had been under cultivation for some
iolid Center pupils about 1929: From Gladys Paintin standing with her back to the group: Eugene Paintin
n front of Leona Paintin, then clockwise: Edna Sealock, Juanita Sealock, Wanda Garner, Magdlene Stoffel,
van Paintin, Mabel Garner, Ruth Sealock, Leo Stoffel and Leona Stoffel complete the circle.
time. In the 1980s, this debris was picked up
to clean up the area and little can be found
to locate the exact site of the school todav.
Sunny Side fell by the way of consolidation,
�like many others. This was probably due to
better methods of transportation of student.
by Lyle W. Stone
SUNNY SLOPE
SCHOOL
to perform recitations and other presenta-
facility in 1915. Some of the other schools
held back for a while. Loco was the last to
attend here. In 1916, A.B. Radebaugh moved
the coal shed to Loco near his residence.
In 1987, evidence of this school still exists
provided better lighting.
Water was brought to school in a cream
can. Families took turns performing this
in the untouched grassland ofthis school site.
A ridge of earth outlines walls of the soddie
crockery container. Each student had his or
her own cup or used paper cups folded from
a piece of paper. A pot bellied stove occupied
a central area ofthe room. Benches were used
by students facing the teacher. Opal (Conarty) Joy remembered some of the bitter
caved in. Also remaining are memories of an
tions. In comparison with other sod schools,
it would appear Sunny Slope was a higher
grade building than many others. Walls were
thicker than most; a large number of windows
duty. Water was stored in a convenient
T2t2
building. A depression in the earth today
marks a location of its hand dug well, now
outstanding school and of hardy, dedicated
patrons and teachers.
by Lyle W. Stone
cold days when the teacher allowed these
benches to be moved nearer and around the
most welcome warm stove in the center of the
TEXERADO SCHOOL
T2t3
room.
A first teacher at Sunny Slope is believed
to be Mettie (Love) Shanahan. In these early
times, at least three schools were operating
in District 19. Names of some teachers in
District 19 for 1909-10, 1910-11 and others
are known with no school designation. In
1909-10, teachers were Haidee Nealle, Emma
Liggett, Mrs. FIo Shunate and Miss Ida
Hayes. In 1910-11, teachers were Emma
Sunny Slope School after abandonment.
Sunny Slope School was located southeast
of Flagler near the northwest corner
of
section 26, Township 10 S, Range 50 W. This
location was a mile east of the site of the
consolidated school, Second Central. Sunny
Slope was built on the south side of the road
a few hundred yards east of an intersection
at this location. The school was established
by Walter Conarty, Frank "Mac" Franklin
and their neighbors about 1910. Sunny Slope
School was constructed of sod, much like
others in the area except for its hip roof. This
roof was also covered with sod. Most soddies
sported a curved or peaked roof, which was
probably used to save scarce and expensive
materials. On top of this unusual roof was a
cast iron bell, used to call the students to
class. A raised floor was located at one end
for the teacher's desk and a place for students
Liggett, Ethel Durbin and Mettie R. Shanahan. A record does exist, believed to be about
1914, listing the teacher as Mrs. Mettie
Shanahan. Students this year were Bill
Petersen, Aljy Stinton, Frank Matzke, Stella
Petersen, Nettie Petersen, Marie McMulkin,
Opal Conarty, Irma Conarty, Flossie Kinzer,
Glenn Stinton and Sylvia McMulkin.
A well was eventually hand dug near the
school building to provide drinking water for
students and for animals serving as transportation to school. Two outdoor toilets and a
coal shed were located on the school grounds'
A spoked, rotating wheel separated the kids
from the cows at the entrance to the school!
Students of Sunny Slope were transferred
to Second Central after the new two room
school was built. Records indicate Sunny
Slope was the first school to utilize the new
Texerado School, located in the northeast
corner of Section 10, Township 11S, Range
51 W, was established by James S. Short and
his neighbors and built in 1911 in the
northeast corner of Mr. Short's homestead.
Lumber for the school was hauled to the site
by team and wagon. Being a frame structure,
Texerado was quite unusual in a day of many
soddies. The usual pot-bellied stove heated
the room. Drinking water was hauled to
school each day by the Short children or other
families who took turns bringing
it.
This
school was especially noted for its community
events including musical presentations and
other activities of this time. The teacher
spent a lot of time practicing the children on
their plays, songs and recitations, so the
children did really well. In common between
surrounding schools and Texerado were
basket dinners, spelling bees, public meetings
and sports competition, especially base and
softball.
The earliest teachers roomed at the Short
home, and later at various residences in the
community. Lena Short Weatherly particularly remembers Mr. Lofstead, Addie Alexan-
der, Murvale Moore, Marjorie Yewell, Aljy
Stinton and Bertha Strohmeyer. Other
known teachers were Agnes Gwyn, Bertha
Hyde, Mrs. Feeback, Don C. Smith, EIizabeth Nixon, Opal Conarty Murphy, Bernadine Reavis and Tressie Vassios. Families
with children in school included
Short,
Stanger, Newby, Rhule, Burris, Laurent,
Birchfield, Vinsonhaler, Borquin, Davenport, Stone, Alexander, Vassios, Kountz,
Newsom, Rowland, Ebert and Overmiller.
Early records show that problems were
encountered in District 35 in transporting the
students of Texerado to Flagler, a considerable distance, so economics made this school
continue. Texerado
is important in
the
heritage of this area and much could be added
to its history. Plans exist to
relocate the
building in Flagler and to restore it as a one
room country school. The building, although
relocated in a different spot, remains in
reasonably good condition.
by Lena Ylteatherly and Lyle Stone
Sunny Slope School in 1911-12. Note the bell!
�TIP TOP SCHOOL
T2t4
..,L{
)'' i,'"
rit
,f
,*'.:,
n'
a
f-
Old sod schoolhouse in background with new frnme
building moved in about 1901
Tuttle. CO.
-
,'
A few boys and girls, and just a very few,
were going to school in this county before the
schools were recorded. This first school. that
was later to become District 39 and known as
the Tuttle School, was held in a deserted sod
house, not
built for a schoolhouse. Stone's
History of Colorado lists it as an unrecorded
school before 1886, but the date of the first
term cannot be stated and the location is
vague but was in the vicinity of the Tuttle
Tip Top
S_chool' 1930-31 year when
Ted Smith was teacher. His pupils were Della Clark, Leroy Dunivent,
Corrine,-Helen, Twyla and Louise Knapp, Leonard and Lorraine Schlichenmayer, Elna, Lyla, bhester and
Marvin Jemes. Genevieve Shannon, teacher at Lone Star and her three pupils, Wayne and Harold Boland
and an unknown girl are in this picture, too.
Clara Olson, Mrs. Sell, Mrs. Wolf, Claude
Cheney, Gene Hale, Jack McDill, Tom
w*e
- :"*
::
.t..
Tucker, Harlan Romberg, and Elsie Johnson.
In an effort to keep the country schools,
Tip Top consolidated with others in 1951 as
Beaver-Valley. The new school house was
built in 1953, but was closed in 1968 when
children began going by bus to Burlington.
by Elna M. Johnson
Iip Top School with a farm in the background; and
;he attached coal shed visible.
Tip Top School District #66 was a small
)ne room frame school house located in the
JE corner of the
NE 1/4
LL-7 -43 on the James
Knapp Ranch. The closest home was Jake
ichlichenmayers and students carried the
lrinking water from there to school, usually
lvery day. A coal burning heater in the center
rf the building provided heat and a kerosene
amp was the only light. A coal shed was
rttached to the back of the school house.
TUTTLE SCHOOL
T2t5
There were no schools authorized or organized by the State of Colorado in this county
previous to 1886, but during the next three
years, 1886-1889, thirty-one were organized
in Elbert County which at that time included
this county and parts or all of several other
counties.
Some of the teachers were: Grace Connett.
lenevieve Shannon, Leliah Henderson. Fred
,humate, Alice Moorehead, Elsie Rogers,
,usie Bogart, Ted Smith, Kathleen Clark,
Hugo. As she was returning to her homestead
in the spring of 1887, she was thrown from her
horse and killed. James T. Gilmore was the
next teacher. The desks and benches were
homemade and they used the books that had
been brought from Nebraska and Missouri.
Griff Davis who lived about six miles from
this school attended it in 1887.
In
1889 when the young Davis boys needed
to go to school, they were told that schools
were too far from home for them to attend.
An arrangement was made then for
the
teacher to teach two months in an old sod
house and then to come up and teach two
months in an old frame house that was nearer
the Davis home. This old house was owned
by a saloon keeper at Benkelman, Nebraska,
and was located on the SE y4 24-6-46. Glass
and Ed Davis and Dave Daniels were the
pupils. The teacher and the boys all had
chairs and they sat around an old poker table
that the owner, Frank Rich, sent over from
Benkelman. Mr. Rich was hardly ever there
as he spent most of his time operating the
saloon. After Mr. Gilmore taught these boys
for two months, he went northeast to some
early date, listed by Stone's Colorado History
is District 26 atCarlyle,located two and onehalf miles west of the stateline and south of
where the railroad went through. This school
remained active until consolidation took
place in the 1950's.
ode a pony to school, some as far as six miles.
)ne teacher taught all 8 grades and in 1980il the ninth grade was added. Teachers lived
o that the older children could help their
rarents with the farm work.
The first teacher at this sod house was
Celia Miller and she had a homestead at
other location and taught two more months
of school to other pupils.
The only other unrecorded school at this
The Christmas program, an occasional
trogram followed by a pie supper or box
,ocial, and a picnic on the last day of school
vere the only activities. Games played were
raseball, anteover, last couple out, kick the
an and when it snowed fox and geese. The
'arlier pupils and teachers either walked or
r'ith families of the District. Lunches were
arried usually in a half-gallon pail. School
rours were 9-4 and the term lasted 8 months
Ranch.
by KCC Cattlemen's Association
School children at Tuttle school about the middle
1940's. Back row, L to R; Lois Corliss, Miss Ana
Gillespie (teacher), Merna Wood, Doris Corliss.
Middle row; Leroy Belt. Front row; Eileen Wait-
man, twins Arlene and Arthur Waitman, Bill
Wood, Phillis Waitman.
�Arlene Waitman; Dale Crist.
Some students rode horses, drove horses
with carts and walked to school. Others were
brought by their parents in cars.
From what we can gather from information
available Tuttle school was the first established school in the county and the last
country school to consolidate in 1955.
by Betty Guy
uNroN DrsrRrcT #28
T2t7
Union school was organized sometime
before 1906. The Roy Jones and Osborne
families came to Colorado and parked their
wagons in the school yard the summer of 1906
according to Mettie Jones Sisson. They
camped there with the Osborns taking a
claim just east of the school and the Jones
family taking up a partial of land just 3 miles
northwest of the school.
New frame school building, Tuttle, Colorado, completed in 1903. Pictured are the schoolboard, the children
and their teacher, Ethel Burr, and some parents.
TUTTLE SCHOOLT216
The last year of school at North Tuttle
school was the year of 1934-35. GIen Smith
was the teacher and pupils were from the
families of Rosser Davis, Earl Messinger and
Sherman Corliss.
The summer of 1935 the South Tuttle
school was moved from the southeast corner
of the Hightower place to the southwest
corner of the east half of section 18. Maxine
Messinger-Radcliff taught the term of 193636. The school was District #39.
Teachers through the years were: Miss
Wilson, Avis Page, Dorothy Yoast, Barbara
Hitchings, Georgia Taylor-Clair, Mr.
Baldwin, Betty Corliss-Guy, Beatrice
McKay, Hazel Kennedy, Mrs. Heinrichs,
Louis Heinrichs, Willard With, Jack Smith
and Ona Gillespie. Mrs. Lucy Russman was
the teacher for the last term of 1949-50.
The district was divided in 1960 and
consolidated into Bethune, Stratton and
Liberty, in Yuma County. The last school
board consisted of Sherman Corliss, Harvey
Wood and Mervin Corliss.
Families represented during the years from
1934-50 were the families of Earl Messinger,
Rosser Davis. Sherman Corliss, Orville Hutton, Harvey Wood, Phil Waitman, Clair
Whipple, John Cooper, Ernest McArthur,
Cecil Crist and Russman.
Students were Clifford and Norma Jean
Messinger; Betty, Lowell, Lyal, Mervin,
Albert, Doris, Lois, Mary, and David Corliss;
Marguerite Hutton; Russell and Stanley
Davis; Lois Adolf-Wood, Bud, Merna, Bill,
Bob and Audry Wood; Harry Covey; Phillip'
Phillis, and Elaine Waitman; Clifford and
Mavis Whipple; Gilbert Cooper; Kenneth,
Elaine, Mary and Betty McArthur, Art and
Some of the early families living in the area
were the Amman, Evans, Gaddy, and Zeiglers. Students and teachers hauled water
during the entire life of the school. Most of
the time it was from the well on the nearest
homestead east of the school.
The school was the typical sod or adobe at
first and then a frame structure was built.
This was a one room building with a coat
room where the belongings of the students
were kept along with their lunch pails. In the
winter those lunches were frozen by noon and
no doubt many were froze before arriving at
school. One student remembers that his pony
got in the coat room and ate someones lunch
before dinner. There was a barn for the
horses, a coal shed, and the "outdoor facilities". Play ground equipment consisted of 4
teeter-toters made by Bill Zeigler and the flag
pole. Games played outside at noon and
recess were the mainstay of their recreation.
Teachers in the 1920's were Gladys Mace
and Mr. Jake Veager. Students attending
during that era were Anna, Lena, Otto, Bill,
Fred, Richard, Esther, Alma and Emma
Zeigle4 Wayne Gaessner who drowned in the
1935 flood; Minnie and Stanley Johnson;
Ernest Stolz; Osborne children; Martha
Lohr; Albert and Russell Glad; Reinhart,
Mae and AIma Adolf; Clara, Otto, Emma,
Gotthielf, Bertha, Johnny, and Anna Stahlecker; Hulda, Emil, Robert, Herbert, and
Amanda Stahlecker: Paul and Frank Stolz;
and others that we have not remembered.
During the 1930's and 40's these children
attended; Marvin and Donald Schaal;
Blanche, Esther, Hank and Bud Stolz; Reuben, Leona, Ella, Gladys, and Narita Zeigler;
Ken, Mina, and Bonita Stolz; John and
Elizabeth Graham; Darlene, Delphine, and
Denice Veribest; Scott Fox; Clarence, Alfred,
and Mildred Schritter; Christina Knodel;
Arnold, Viola, Alvin and Calvin Strobel;
Vernon, Phil, Ralph and Diane Stolz; Ernie,
Darlene, Donnie Tnigle4 Don and Harold
Churches; Jim and Virginia Hasart; Milbert
Beringer; Clarene, Margie, George, Willard,
Iva, Ivan and Jean Stahlecker; Leo Stahlecker; and others that haven't been remembered.
Alma Newberry was one of the teachers
Tuttle School, 1930-31 term: Back row, I to r: John and Jess Clair, Loretta Bretthauer, Willis and Fern
Stump, Hazelkennedy, teacher. Front row: Theodore Bretthauer, Dale Bretthauer, Marie and Rose Mary
Hitchcock.
during the thirties and forties. There were
many others as they had a hard time finding
teachers especially in the 40's because of the
shortage of teachers caused by the war effort.
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€luln rn leu days to
TVAIIL
& soNs
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Yolc, Colo.
rulrgP, on Logtmiru Creek.
Union School 1940's; L. to R. standing; Viola Strobel, Gladys Zeigler, Virginia Hasart, Scott Fox, Ernie
Zeigler and Arnold Strobel. Sitting: Narita, Zeigler, Darlene Zeigler, Margie Stahlecker, Dennise Veribest,
Mildred Schritter, Alvin Strobel and Alfred Schritter. Next row; Delphine Veribest, Leo Stahlecker,
Darlene Veribest, Phillip Stolz, Willard Stahlecker. Seated on ground; Don Churches, Calvin Strobel, Ivan
Stahlecker, Vernon Stolz, and Harold Churches.
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cllrls stshleckel'r
Burllngton, Colo.
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southwest of lletbulte
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Yotlt. Colo.
Rangc il rrrlles sor,th ot V,rna.
llillrsrck
sells tbose stvlish Service
atrle hats 1ou are lookrng for.
Look
ai
0amplreli's drierl and
bnying
and
Mills for
coru,
canucd frrrits before
gave lnon8v.
Burlingtou Roller
corn
chop. ill f:
rl
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prices.
Union School 1930's. L. to R. on horses; John and Elizabeth Graham, Bud Stolz, Ernie Zeigler, Henry Stolz,
Jirn and Virginia Hasart; On fence; Dennise Veribest, Don Schaal, Ben and Ken Stolz, and Arnold Strobel.
Much can be said about the closeness of the
sountry school and the friends that were
made during this time have endured for a
iifetime.
In 1950 Union was consolidated into the
Bethune and Stratton school svstems.
by Anna Strobel
rrlr, right
Notice of Application to Lease
Stute Lands.
I
�WIBEL SCHOOL
,wb
T2r8
A picture to Agnes (Dollie) Keller Hatterman from
her teacher Ella Robb Huntzinger at Christmas
1945: left to right: Dollie Keller, Vern Miller,
Maggie Keller, ?. Front row: Zenelda Keller, Jim
Miller, Mary KeIIer, and Lee Miller.
Wibel School, 1915, Teacher Edith Huntzinger on right,
Wibel School was
a one
room sod house one
mile east and 8 miles north of Flagler. It
served the families of Sypherd, Wibel and
Gwyn. Little can be found about it except for
the picture.
be in one corner or the other and a large world
globe with a plant arrangement on a stand in
the other corner. The chimney opening was
in the center ofthe north wall and during the
winters there was a large upright heating
stove.
by Agnes Otteman
Location: The school was located L/2 mile
west, 11 3/4 miles north of Flagler on the west
side of the Thurman Arickaree road. The
HUNTLEY SCHOOL
legal description was the northeast corner of
the northeast L/4 of Section 3 Township
7
T219
Range 5L,3/4 mile south of Frank Harwoods.
New location: John Shulda first bought the
The Huntley School was a little soddie
building and school was held here until the
construction of the Prairie View School in
school building to move and add on to his
present house, but things didn't work out, so
or 23, then abandoned. Frank Harwood
remembers going home from Flagler and
getting caught in a severe rain and hail storm
with his dad and a team of horses at this
school. To protect themselves they held the
reins of the horses through the window of the
school until the storm was over.
LOCATION: The school was located 1/2
mile west,7 miles north of Flagler on the west
side of the Thurman Arickaree road. The
legal description was the southeast corner of
the southeast l/4 of Section 27 Township 7
Range 51 I/2 mile south of Huntley house.
Mrs. Stella Strode Fisher taught here in
1903-04 and Mrs. Landcamp taught here
before she became Postmistress in Flagler.
L922
it to Bill Girvin for $1100.00. Bill
moved it to its present location 3/4 mile east
of Flagler on the cemetery road to his home
he sold
to build a chicken house and later a milk
By Victory Heights School in 1946: left to right:
barn.
Teachers: Mary Young, Miss Howe, Pearl
Robb. Art Robb, Lola Rillahan 1927 - 22 23, Maxine Carpenter, Mrs. Serenna, Lucile
Thompson, and Azel Dorsey among others.
Students were from the families of Charles
Art
Miller's boy, Lee; and the Charlie Keller girls,
Mary, Agnes (Dollie) and Zenelda, and the teacher,
Agnes Williams Short.
Kyle, Frank Harwood, Frank Michal, Carol
Elrick, Cecil Charles, Ed Carlson, Row
Gustin, Tom Kraft, Sam Harwood, Charles
Holden, the Moodies, Iva Johnson, as well as
many others.
by Norman Michal
by Norman Michal
VICTORY IIEIGHTS
FAIRVIEW SCHOOL
T220
There was once one little soddie which was
so small that it was torn down and another
soddie built before the frame school was
built
which was about 24 feet by 34 feet with a
shingled roof. The door was to the east from
an enclosed porch built on the south and
there was a little lean-to built on the north
end for coal. There were three windows on a
side with the blackboards on the north. The
teacher's desk would be in the center of the
north end, while a rack of world maps would
SCHOOL
T22l
This was a one room school built caddycornered across from the soddie school
known as the Wibel School inL927 and on the
corner l/2 mile north of the Charlie and
It was bought by
Hammer Shaw in 1949 and moved to Flagler
Tonnie Keller farm site.
and again used as a school for the seventh and
eighth grade classes since the High School at
the end of Main street had burned in
1950.
Classes were held there for two years and the
graduating classes
of
1956 and 1957 were
Victory Heights school, March 31, 1944, taken by
Ella Huntzinger. L. to R.: Mary, Agnes (Dollie)
Keller, Vern Miller, Maggie Keller, Mary Lou
Miller, Lee Miller, Jim Miller, Zenelda Keller.
They dressed up to celebrate "tacky day" which
was held every spring.
those two classes. The school was then made
into a nice home which was bought by Buck
DeFreeze and today is the home of Wayne
Kuntz at 329 Ouray Ave. The original
location of the Victory Heights School was
the northwest corner of the NW 1/4 of
Section 30 Township 7 Range 50 in School
�Dist.
70.
Teachers: Margie Willson, Lucy Huntly,
Irene Philbom from Minnesota, Lois Fisher,
Lora Mae Malbaff 1936-37, Betty Page
Robinson 1938-40, Evelyn Kyle Taylor 194041, June Conardy Short 1941-42, Frank
Young I94L-42,Mrs. Alice Anderson L942-43,
Mrs. Steve Munger L943-44, Mrs. Ella Robb
Huntzinger L944-45, Mrs. Nel Whiteman
L945-46, Agnes Williams Short L946-47.
Students: Dale, Faye and Cora Courtright.
Jake, Barbars, Fred, Peter, Martha, Kather-
ine Heinrich. Virginia, Harold, Alice, Edwin
Kyles, Albert and Paul Andres, Clemmons,
Kenneth Codry, Charles Holden, Frank
Michals, Carol Elricks, Carl Sparks and
others.
Classes was held here through
grades,
by Norman Michal
DAZZELING VALLEY
SCHOOL
and Norma Moore. Rose, Vern, Lee, Jim
Miller. Don Moss. JoAnn Fisher and her
Father Buck Fisher. June Courtright. Nellie
Courtright. Bob, George, Neil, Roger and
Ruth of the Ivan Gwenn family. Regina,
Viola, Maggie, Agnes (Dollie), Mary and
Zenelda of Charlie Kellers. The Wolfs.
Todds. Brookovers. Wid Courtrights. Cammeron. and Hawkins.
Ida Reynolds Stone was also a teacher in
1928.
by Norman Michal
WHITE PLAINS
scHooL
T222
the gth
T223
This school is located t/2 mile west of
Flagler, 10 miles north, 2 miles west then 1
mile north; L/4 mile east of the present
Wilbur Haeseker farm. It was then located on
the corner west of Clyde Elricks and on his
land. The first building was a small soddie
which deteriorated away until a new soddie
was built. The second soddie was onlv used
for two years until a frame building was built
in 1923. Irv Rambat bought this building and
moved it to 1 mile east of Anton, Colo. where
he made it into a house for his son Verdis
Rambat and his new wife. This farm is on the
north side of Highway 36.
Teachers: Peggy Splain, Yetta Burger,
Miss Byers, Rachel Harwood Kyle, JoAnn
Lobmeyer Pelle and Elbert Andry.
Students: Children of Elbert Andrev.
Clyde Elrick, Frank Michals, Vincent Ostrowski, Charles Holden, Charles Kyle, Sam
Harwood, Andrewjeski, Norman Haeseker,
Latrlue, Robb, MaHaffie. Tom Krafts and
others.
Huntzinger Gering through the War years
and others. Ruby Dorsey Hollenbaugh 1941.
Ora Cruickshank.
There were two rooms
in the
school
separating the grade schoolers from the high
schoolers. In some years there were two
teachers
high school and grade school. At
one time -there were 30 grade schoolers and
20 high schoolers in one year. Also when the
migration of settlers was at its highest there
were 23 new families from Kansas and
Missouri settling in the Shiloh community.
Students: Blanch Lippford Carper, Roll
Duncan, Art, Emily and Alice Niles, Archie
Harman, Clyde Harman, Bernice Harman
McBlair, Mary and Lear Nelson, Clint Jones
kids Marie, Dale and Lee. E.T. Loutzenhiser
kids Clair, Everett, Rex, Millard, Vera, Irene
and Lila. Velma Colier Taggaft 1922 and her
daughter Phelma and son Larry. Wrights.
Merl, Lila, and Maxine Jenkins. Margarie,
Juenita and Loren Portner. Frank and Hazel
Harwood. John Shaw. Porebasco kids. Charlie Back kids
Ralph, Bill and Tom. The
- Edwards
Jenkin kids. The
kids. Paul Moore.
Bud Todd. Billie Wilson. Helen Sproul. The
Codreys.
The Borings
Norman, Bill,
- The Ed Gerings
Tracie, Kenneth and Mona.
Ernest, Paul, Louis and Marie. Margarie
-Beck Scott. Art Robb in 1920, Lester, Delmar
and Dale. Bill Beck. Ruth Simmons Gustin.
Albert and Ruby Huntzinger. Art Riches
Merl, Mabel, Vera and Raymond. Cecil
Merl Dean, Josephine and Irene.
Mildred -Moore. Schiers. The Prest Kids
Robert, Sam, Larry, Dennis and Beatrice.
Charles
Roglands. Ollie James. Elmer Kings daughter
and
Ruth. Florence Smock. Bill. Jessie
Evelyn Simmons. The Lester Loutzenhisers
by Norman Michal
and the children of Mary Nelson Loutzenhiser were Loretta, Willard, Maryetta and
Dorthy. The Don Loutzenhiser kids
SHILOH SCHOOL
Darlene, Duane and Edith Jo. The Edward
Allachers
Willard and Florence.
-
T224
by Norman Michal
The Shiloh School was Iocated 1 mile east
of the northeast corner of Flagler, 8 miles
White Plains school, District 14. L. to R. back row:
Hazel Harwood, Louise Potter, Eulah Eckert.
Charlene Holden, Carl Sparks and Frank Harwood. Middle row: Gladys Andre, Marion Potter,
Kate Andre, and Robert Andre. Front row: Edna
Andre, Marjorie Clemens, Helen Michal, Mae
Andre, ? Clemens, RoyClemensand GeorgeAndre.
This School was located L/2 mile west of
Flagler then 14 miles north and 2 1/2 miles
west across the road from Vincent Ostrowski's farm and on Frank Michal's land. There
was first a soddie there before the frame
building was built in 1922 or 1923. The legal
description of its location at that time was the
northwest corner of the NW 1/4 of Section 29
Township 6 Range 51. School Dist. 14. The
building was bought by the Flagler School
District and moved to Flagler. It was made
into a home for the superintendent and today
is the home of David Edwards at 708 Main
Ave.
Teachers: Anna Liza Brown, Mrs. Loulla
Deiterick, Art Robb, Clyde Roberts, Mrs.
Dale Wiant, Rachel Harwood Kyle, Peggie
Splain, Charleen Holden and Nina White,
Alice Roberts Fruhling Liggett and possibly
others.
Students: The community families of the
Potters, Eckerts, Dines, Ostrowskis, Charles
north,
1 mile east, 6 miles north, 1 mile east.
1 1/2 miles north on the east side of the road
(ust north of E.T. Loutzenhiser or LeRoy
Loutzenhiser). This is 18 1/2 miles from
Flagler and today it is still at this location.
It has been referred to as the Sucker Flat
School but it is only in the Sucker Flat
community out in the Loutzenhiser country.
Most of the time there were two school
teachers teaching and often one or the other
would live in the basement. At one time there
were as many as 50 students attending in one
year. At one time there would be as many as
20 - 25 horses of the kids in the school barn
throughout the day. It was Iocated 1/2 mile
south and across the road from the old Ash
Grove School and the legal description was
near the southwest corner of the northwest
1/4 of Section 16 Township 6 Range 50. The
school district was known as Dist. 55. You
could attend High School here up to your
senior year but not including the senior year.
Students attending from outside the District
would have to pay tuition to go to school here.
The Shiloh School was built in 1915.
Teachers: Algie Sinton 1922,Mr. Parsons,
Art Robb, Alice Whittiker Fhruling, Frank
Day, Mr. Romburg 1937, Beatrice Pickenpaw
1937-38, Mrs. Hill 1936-37, Leah Davis
Portner 1934, Margie Beck Scott and Edith
MOUNT PLEASANT
SCHOOL
T225
This school was located L/2 mile west of
Flagler and 17 miles north then L/2 west (1/4
west
of Cecil Charles). There was first
a
soddie before the frame building was built in
either 1922 or 23. The legal description was
the southwest corner of the SE 1/4 of Section
3 Township 6 Range 51. School Dist. 14. The
Mount Pleasant School was sold to the
Seibert R.L.D.S. Church and moved to
Seibert where they held church until thev
built again and sold the school building. From
here it was moved west of Burlington about
three miles and is located on the south side
of old highway 24 on a high foundation.
Teachers: Mrs. Blanch Carper for two
years. Margie Minner, Clyde Roberts, Crystal
Stevens for two years, Rachel Hatch, Mrs.
Ella Rob Huntzinger, Lola Rillahan for two
years, Betty Pelle Loadmeyer, LaJean Cayton, Irene Charles Travis, Charleen Holden
and once Neil Bromley and possibly others.
Students: Frank Harwood and a daughter
Coreena, Azel Dorsey, The Frank Michal
family, Cecil Charles family, Laten Harwood
family, Donna Lee McCullah, Statlers.
�Thompsons, Phipps, Buckles, the families of
Vincent Ostrowski, Ed Carlson, Eaches,
Parker, Charles Kyle, Lee Smith, George
Codery, Carl and Clod Cuthbertson, Estel
Rose Baker and Marlin, MaHaffies, Cathlet,
Lonnie and Carl Elrick, Burches and others,
Bddie Stewart, Rosalee Moss Loutzenhiser,
Helen and Burl Miller.
bY Norman Michal
PLEASANT VALLEY
SCHOOL
T226
This school was located in the Sucker Flats
community and 1 mile east of Flagler, 8 miles
north. I mile east, 8 miles north, 6 miles east
and then 1 mile south. 1 mile south of The
North Flat School. Built in 1923 or
James
- was held only a few years until
1924 school
it burned in 1931.. The legal description was
the northeast corner of the NE 1/4 of Section
19 Township 6 Range 449. Teachers were
paid $75.00 per month.
The Teachers were Dora Buttler Wolverton for several years. Irene Heisten Bancroft
1930 - 1931, and Bernice Harman McBlair in
1931 at which time the school was burned.
Marion,
Students: The Tom Jensens
Leon, Aletha and one other -girl. Clyde
Harman. Dale Jones and his sister Marie
Vernie, Alma and
Jones Smith. Jensens
-
Lesa.
This was a very early day school and a
soddie located l/2 mile west of Flagler 13
miles north and then about 3/4 mile east. If
a person was looking there today at the site
you could see nothing at all that would
resemble a school site. The location is 1/2
mile north and L/2 mile east of the Frank
Harwood farmsite. In talking with Frank
Harwood, he says that he and his sister
Rachel Harwood Kyle were the only students
he could ever remember there and could not
even remember the teacher or her name.
The legal description would be the south-
west corner of the SE 1/4 of Section
Township 6 Range
26
51.
by Norman Michal
ASHGROVE SCHOOL
T227
This school was in the Sucker FIat country
it was 1 mile east, 8 north,
1 east, 8 north and 1 mile east on the south
side of the road. It was a soddie building built
in 1910. A picture ofthis school building can
be found elsewhere in this history book. The
legal description of the location was the
northeast corner ofthe NE 1/4 of Section 17
and from Flagler
Township 6 Range 50.
TEACHERS: Clair Williams 1909
-
1910.
1912. Dora Buttler
Wolverton 1911-1912 was hired to take the
place of Dazzie Hewett after a horse ran away
-
SCHOOL
T229
The Brandenburg school was located from
the northeast corner of Flagler; 1 mile east,
8 miles north, 3 miles east and 1/4th mile
south on the east side of the road' It was a
soddie school and was only used for a couple
ofyears. It was built in 1912 and the teacher
was Jennie Custine Sereno. Mrs' Sereno was
the lady who later had the triplet girls 9 miles
Gwynn went there to school for 1 year and her
sister Marguerite for 3 Years.
The soddie school building was no longer
safe so school was held in the LaRee farm
house for a short time until agreements were
made to have the kids schooled at the Weibel
soddie School in 1914' Those attending
Weibel School at that time was Ida and
Marguerite Fisher and Emit Chase with
Jennie Custine Sereno teaching.
The LaRee farm was locatedl/2 mile north
and I 1/4 mile west of the Brandenburg
School. The Brandenburg School legal location was the southwest corner just north of
Art Brandenburg's farm and the NW /4 of
Section 27 TownshiP 7 Range 50.
The first teacher was Jennie Custine in
1912. Miss Muck taught in 1913, and Jennie
Custine before she was married Sereno in
1914.
winter.
to live in
the school because
of the
severe
by Norman Michal
STUDENTS: Blanch Lipford Carper and
Flo Gering.
by Norman Michal
now belongs to The Church of Christ where
they held church for several years. The
present location is at 425 Pawnee Ave. in
Flagler. The legal description of the Prairie
Gem school location was the northeast corner
of the NE 1/4 of Section 26 Township 7 Range
50 District 14.
Teachers: Idra Phipps, Orpha Goodrich,
Virginia Harold, Miss Minnie Petty, LaVerna Reed, Mrs. Dora Wolverton several
years, Ben Sawhill, Gorden, Lola James 1932,
Betty, LaVell. The Burr girls. Harris JonesLeRoy, Phyllis, Don and Erma. Kenneth
Inmans-Stan and Louis. Clarence Burgess.
Floyd Reed.
by Norman Michal
PRAIRIE VIEW OR
WALKER SCHOOL
T231
School had been held here in one soddie
and then another soddie building prior to the
construction of a frame building in 1922 or
1923. The school was located l/2mile west of
Flagler, ? miles north, 1 mile west and then
3/4 mile north on the east side of the section
line. This was known as the Walker and
Huntley communities. It is not clear as to
where the school was moved but some seem
to think it is here in Flagler. The legal
description was the northwest corner of
Section 27 Township 7 Range 5L in District
14 until that community withdrew to come
to the Flagler District in about 1940.
Teachers: Dola Belden, Mrs. Olie Swenn
Olsen, Mrs. Ella Robb Huntzinger, Mrs. John
Codery, Mamie Kyle Huntzinger, Lola Shaw
Rillahan 1921, Ruby Dorsey Hullenbaugh
1936, June Kyle Schidler and others.
Students: The families of Roy Walker,
Floyd Fager, Cecil Bogat, Andrewjeski,
Meyers, Eddie Stewart, Pasley, Robbison,
George Bull, Frank Jorden, Park Weatherly,
Eatches, Beeman, Chapla and others.
bY Norman Michal
her sister Hattie. Ruth and May King. Velma
Churchwell. Dewie Landeau' Glenn Gomer.
Ralph Clapp Funeral Home. The property
Roger, LaVetta. Copleys-Louis, David, Doris,
several years. Later teachers were Winfield
Keneese, Dora Buttler Wolverton again and
Nina Anderson.
Colier Taggart. Theadore, Ethel' Byron,
Blanch and Mable Gourd. Bruce Nelson.
Ethelyn Curry. Russel, Tom and Florence
church and at one time was the Chapel ofthe
mie and Orville. Louis Reids-David, Orlin,
her buggie and upset and broke her arm.
Dazzie Hewitt returned to teach 1912-1913.
Miss Prudence Robbinson Bragg taught
During the War years (1942 - 1945)
mattresses were made from Government
supplied material in this school. The school
building was bought by Hamer Shaw and
moved to Flagler where it was made into a
Students: The Brandenburgs-Mertle, Jim-
BRANDENBURG
It was in 1914 during the winter that the
teacher Jennie and Ida and Marguerite had
*ith
apparently ofan over heated and unattended
heating coal stove. It was rebuilt and school
was held there until consolidation into the
Flagler District in 1949.
Mrs. Thompson and others.
north and 1/2 west of Flagler. Ida Fisher
bY Norman Michal
Dazzie Hewitt 1911
DOLAN SCHOOL T228
PRAIRIE GEM
SCHOOL
T230
The Prairie Gem School was located 1 mile
east of the northeast corner of Flagler, 8 miles
north and then 5 miles east on the south side
of the road. This is what is known as the Jones
and Burgess communities. The first frame
building was built about 1924 and school was
held there only two years before it burned
IIOENSTEIN - BEHEN
SCHOOL
T232
This school was located 3 1/2 miles west of
the north edge of Flagler, 3 miles north and
then 1/2 mile east. It was very small with only
a few kids attending. Erwin Hoenstein remembers some older boys once stuffing him
�down a prairie dog hole there when he visited
before he was old enough to attend school.
They were unable to get him out and had to
go for help to get him out. The school was
located about 3/4 mile east of the Hoensteins
and was later moved to just across the road
east of their house and Erwin used it for a ice
house as it was only 14 feet wide and 14 feet
long inside.
Teachers: Unknown.
Students: Olivar Perrish, a fellow whose
first name was Guss and the Behen kids.
Possibly a few others.
The legal description was the southeast
corner of Section 17 Township 8 Range 51.
by Norman Michal
NORTH FLAT OR
JAMES SCHOOL
T233
This school was located at the eastern edge
of what is known as Sucker Flats 1 mile east
of Flagler, 8 miles north I mile east, 8 miles
north and 6 miles east on the south side of
the road andjust east ofwhat was known then
as the Ollie Ja-es and now the Walt Timm
Farms. The legal description is the northeast
corner of the NE 1/4 of Section 18 Township
6 Range 49. The school was first an "adobe
block" building and at that time was known
as the "James School", then later when the
frame structure was built the school was then
known as "North Flat School." The adobe
building was built in 1911-1912 by Kelley
Hembrie, Mr. Hogland and Olie James.
TEACHERS:lzetta. Wren 1911-19t 2. Jonnie Husband. Mrs. Harold Jenkins. Mrs.
Edith Huntzinger Gering. Irene Heisten
Bancroft L92l-1922. Madeline Ott Becker
1930-1931.
Dela Hendricks
193r-1932
(boarded at the Jensens). Dorothy Schmidt
(lived in the school). Julia Wanczyk Dugan
1935-1936. Irene Heisten Bancroft 19371938-1939. Francis Vandermeir 1939-f940.
Bernice Harman McBlair 1940-1941. Reta
James Lounge 1944-L945. Neva Back McCaffery (the last year school was held here).
STUDENTS: Hattie Lipford. Jasper Wolf.
Hoglands
Allie, Wilbur. Ruby Loutzenhis-
er. Nellie- Sears. Ace Harmans
- Clyde,
Archie and Burnice. Kenneth Weise.
Alex
Todds daughter Bula. Grover Todds
-
Robert and Owen.
STUDENTS: Tom Jensens
Oliver,
Leslie, Goldie and Vernie. The Quintins
Emily, Todd, Merl, Matilda, Jonn and Sam.
J.C. Millers
Ord, Norman, George, and
Burl. Ord Millers
Thelma and Lorance.
-Johnie,
Billie Weskins
Clode and
- James Elzie,
Jim. Frickies. Ollie
Lola, Reta and
Bill. Burt Scotts daughter -Kathleen Graffis.
Neva Back McCaffery. Ed Allachers
Willard and Florence. Segal Grimes Beckie, Bill and Bob. Archie Harmans Patricia, Beverly and Barbara. Richard
Forbes Srs. son Richard Jr.
It
is interesting to note that the
very first car or automobile to come to the
NOTE:
northwestern corner of
Kit
Carson County
was owned by a Mr. Lee who lived about 16
1/2 miles north of Seibert, Colorado and on
the west side of the Cope road in 1913. He
would hire out to take those who had made
a claim on a piece of land to Hugo, Colorado
where they would have to register their claim
or "Prove IJp" as it was known then, with
witnesses, on that land. Now this Mr. Lee
lived within 3 miles of Mr. Ollie James who
was the grandfather of the Astronaut Michael
"Mike" Lounge who flew on the Discovery in
August of 1985 and is scheduled to fly again
in August 1988 on the Discovery. See the
story of Michael "Mike" Lounge as a astronaut elsewhere in this history book.
by Norman Michal
McBRIDE OR FISHER
SCHOOL
T234
The McBride School was first held in a
farm building 14 feet by 14 feet square on the
farm of the McBrides. Now this is a different
Mc Bride than the Dr. Mc Brides
who
doctored in Flagler during the 1950s. It was
located from the northeast corner of Flagler
1 mile east, 4 miles north, 1 mile east, 1 mile
north, 1 mile east then north 1 mile and about
1/8 mile northwest off out in the prairie on
the land now owned by Buck Fisher. School
was held here only a couple of years but one
year a small boy had an appendix attack and
died and was buried nearby. The
house
Harrington school 1940 in the Mangus buggy, L.
Mangus, Ruth Harrington, Jack
Mangus, Vernetta Korbelik, Dale Mangus, Ona
Jean Mangus, Ina Lea Mangus and Lyle Shook in
front.
to R.: Leslie
burned to the ground so the school building
was moved east across the road west of LeRoy
Jones present farm site. Mrs. Mc Bride
taught l year and Miss Muck I year while the
school was at the Mc Bride farm. While at the
new school site near Jones the Dillon kids
Tom, Opal and Hazel; the Bonhams
Russel, Margaret, and Loretta; the Fishers
-
Ida, Marguerite and Buck; E.M. Copleys
Neoma and Betty, all attended.
The TEACHERS were Mrs. Vernon Simpson at one time and then Mrs. Purrish in
1920. The echool was moved again I mile west
to Buck Fishers and the Fisher homestead
and used as a grainery before being burned
to destroy it. The first location was in the
south center of the SE L/4 of Section 32
Township 7 Range 50 and the second location
was the southeast corner of the NE 1/4 of
Section 26 Township 7 Range 50. From the
northeast corner of Flagler 1 mile east, 4 miles
north, 1 mile east, 1 mile north, 2 miles east,
2 miles north, 1 mile east and l/2 mile south
on the west side of the road.
by Norman Michal
GREEN VALLEY
DISTRICT #TL
T235
Prior to the construction ofthe new "Green
Valley" school house in 1941, there were
classes held in two other schoolhouses in the
Green Valley community in the 1930's. One
was located in the SW corner of Section 269-42. Teachers in that school included: Ora
Cruickshank, Christine Manley and Genevieve Shannon. Students known to have been
enrolled there were: Marjorie and Erma
Schmidt; Ona Jean, Ina Lee, Garth (Jack),
Dale, and Leslie Ray (Bob) Mangus; Lyle
Shook; Vernetta Ann Korbelik: and Elna
Fairy princess, Vernetta Korbelik; Erma Schmidt;
Doll, Ina Lea Mangus; Ona Jean Mangus; Soldier,
Lyle Shook; Phyllis Shook; Back row; Miss Shannon and Ruth Harrington, 1940-41.
Ruth Harrington.
The other schoolhouse was located in
NW % of Section 29-9-42. Enrollment there
was: Marjorie Schmidt, Beata and Duane
Schaai Erma Schmidt and Vernetta Korbelik. The teachers there were: Marie Ann Esch.
Marjorie Guthrie and Lily Mae Behl. Eighth
grade graduates in the school were Marjorie,
Beata and Duane.
On June 16, 1941, these two schoolhouses
were sold. Charles Kaestner bought one for
$8?.50 and Walter Gillespie bought the other
one for $65.00. Adolph Korbelik paid 952.00
for the coal shed.
A new schoolhouse was built in District
#11 in 1941. It was later titled the "Green
Valley School". It is located in Section 28-942, a nice roomy building with a full basement. The community attended the new school
dedication along with the graduation of the
first 8th grade graduate, Elna Ruth
Harrington, on May 2, L942. Mrs. Josie
Youtsey was the teacher. First school board
members were: Adolph Korbelik, Ralph
Schmidt and Miles Kiper. Adolph served as
board member until the school consolidated
with RE-6J, some 15 years later and then on
�center of many fond memories, hard work
and togetherness of the community.
by Rose Korbelik
ALL I EVER REALLY
NEED TO KNOW I
LEARNED IN
KINDERGARTEN
T236
At the 1987 Colorado Governor's Conference on Aging, Governor Roy Romer quoted
an article which appeared in the Konsas City
bib overalls to tall girl; Danny Gilbert, Ralph and Rod Heskett, David Rollo, Shirley
- dark
Harrington. Front row; Kenneth and Clair Heskett, Ona Jean and Ina Lea Mangus, Erma
Heskett, Ruth
Schmidt, and Vernetta Korbelik.
Back row
& Mrs.
Shook, and
Mr. & Mrs. Marvin
Gilbert. The two families who are still in the
Green Valley community are Mr. & Mrs.
Adolph Korbelik, the last of the "old time"
residents since 1931. (Their children: Vernetta, Harvey and Patricia were raised here
Green Valley School
built in
to
lhe RE-6J Board for two more terms. Last
students to attend Green Valley School were:
Donald Gilbert and Patricia Korbelik (both
3th grade graduates) and Glenda, Nolan and
Teddy Davis. Edith Whiteman was the
beacher.
Names of parents who are no longer in the
Green Valley school area, but have had
children enrolled in this school: Mr. & Mrs.
Tom Warren, Mr. & Mrs. George Blomenclahl, Mr. & Mrs. Ray Mangus, Mr. & Mrs.
Ralph Schmidt, Mr. & Mrs. Burdette Miller,
Mr. & Mrs. Marion Harrington, Mr. & Mrs.
Wayne Davis, Mr. & Mrs. Ralph Haskett, Mr.
& Mrs. Herbert Gaines, Mr. & Mrs. Carl
Denton, Mr. & Mrs. Jack Hines, Mr. & Mrs.
Chambers, Mr. & Mrs. Bisbee, Mr. & Mrs.
Gene Davis, Mr. & Mrs. Showalter, Mr. &
Mrs. Dale Gilbert. Mr. & Mrs. Winston, Mr.
hit
people. Put things back where you found
them. Clean up your own mess. Don't take
things that aren't yours. Say you're sorry
when you hurt somebody. Wash your hand
before you eat. Flush. Warm cookies and colc
milk are good for you. Live a balanced life.
whose son, Rodney, attended Green Valley
every day some. Take a nap every afternoon.
School.
When you got out into the world, watch for
quired its own piano
R. Donald Gilbert and Patricia Korbelik, graduates, Glenda Davis and Edith Whiteman, teacher.
Front; Yvette Miller, Teddy and Nolan Davis.
the things I
learned: Share everything, play fair, don't
Learn some and think some and draw and
paint and sing and dance and play and work
and surprised the children during their
Christmas program. When the school ac-
3th grade graduation at Green Valley School; L.
nursery school. These are
and all attended School District #11 through
the 8th grade), and Mr. & Mrs. Rynal Amack,
Teachers in the district 1941, Mrs. Josie
Youtsey, 1942, Mrs. Mary Krueger, 1943,
Mrs. Lois Blomendahl, l944,Lil Olsen, 1946,
Mrs. Haulsy, t947, Mrs. Hazel Fromong,
1949, Darrell Mann, 1950, Mrs. Sally Bauder,
1951, Lily Mae Behl, 1952, Mrs. Ruby
Conarty, 1954, Edith Whiteman.
The school was appreciated by everyone
and served well as a community center for
club meetings, parties, etc. During Mrs.
Bauder's term, on December 22, 1950, one of
the most exciting times in the kids'memories
was when Santa Claus, himself, came by
airplane, landed in the pasture by the school
1941.
Times written by Robert Faugham. We print
it here to remind us all: "Most of what I really
need to know about, how to live, and what to
do, and how to be, I learned in kindergarten.
Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate
school mountain but there in the sandbox at
it added to the fun of
school programs and parties. Rose Korbelik
played the piano for many such functions.
Green Valley school got its familiar name
when the first 4-H Club in the area was
organized in 1944 and was named Green
Valley 4-H. Harold Schmidt was the first 4H Leader. Charter members of the club were:
David Bogart, Russell Davis, Stanley Davis,
Dale Eberhart, Jerry Eberhart, Marlin (Moe)
Eberhart and Vernetta Ann Korbelik. Long
term serving leaders were Lyla Davis Enyart,
25 years and Adolph Korbelik, 17 years.
Green Valley Home Demonstration Club
also held their meetings there for many years.
Green Valley Home Demonstration Club was
organized in January, 1946, and is still active.
Farm Bureau meetings and meetings resulting in community progress, such as, installing the telephone lines in 1948 and REA
electric lines in the early 1950's. These were
community projects, organized and physically accomplished by the families of the
community. Many other business and social
activities made Green Valley school the
traffic, hold hands, and stick together. Be
aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in
the plastic cup. The roots go down and the
plant goes up and nobody really knows how
or why, but we are all like that. Gold fish and
hamsters and white mice and even the little
they all die. So do
seed in the plastic cup
we. And remember the -book about Dick and
Jane and the first word you learned, the
biggest word of all LOOK. Everything you
need to know is in there somewhere. The
Golden Rule and love the basic sanitation.
Ecology and politics and sane living. Think
what a better world it would be if we all
had cookies and milk
the whole world
- afternoon and then lay
about 3 o'clock every
down with our blankets for a nap. Or if we had
a basic policy in our nation and other nations
to always put things back where we found
them and cleaned up our own messes. And it
is still true, no matter how old you are, when
you go out into the world, it is best to hold
hands and stick together."
by Editors
SCHOOL DISCIPLINE
THEN
T237
An incident recounted by Charlotte Godsman, an early day teacher in the Seibert area
and later prominent in Denver schools,
vividly recounts how times have changed, "A
couple of the boys, still wishing to show their
to school quite
casually from nine to ten o'clock A.M.,
without excuses, perhaps whistling a little in
the hall before entering the school room. I
independence, would come
�insisted on excuses for both tardiness and
absences, but they determined to win out.
(soNG) - *scHOOL
DAYS"
A
tslk with their father showed me that he
could not make his son mind. I fortified
myself with a good riding whip. The next day,
Friday, they took the afternoon off. I had told
them I would punish them if they came again
without excuses. Sure enough, the boys
returned Monday morning without excuses.
I brought out the whip and asked them to
stand; one did. I whipped him, then turned
and whipped the other boy as he sat there in
his seat. After a few etrokes of the whip, I
stopped to ask him if he had matches in his
pocket, and if so to please remove them. He
looked amazed, smiled queerly, put his
fingers in his vest pocket and drew out some
half burned, smoking matches! The room was
as
still
as
still. I had seen a little smoke curling
upward from his vest pocket and knew that
the whip's lash had ignited the matches. The
pupils were now amused, but
I
calmly
finished the punishment and proceeded with
the program. I never had any more trouble
with those boys. Years after one of them told
me that whipping him was the best thing that
ever happened to him as he had never had to
mind before. I never used corporal punishment if it could be avoided. But, those days,
if a teacher showed that she was afraid to
whip, she was lost and no discipline could be
maintained. Times have changed much since
1g96!"
to the school house and wait out the storm or
the arrival of possible help.
T239
T238
THE RURAL
As a beginner first I canre, into the spacious hall of fame.
Great was the atre that filLed nry nrind, next for childhoocr left behincl .
soon came teacher stern and tall saying don't stancl there in the hall.
You should be working at your lessons nor,r, then r began my,jreat career
in P.V.S. , in P.V.S.
trr'ith teacher true and schoolmate dear, we,ll sing three cheers for our
dear old P.V.S.
to cLass now with me, and the results of labor see;
Reading, arithmetic, grammer, too; history,.Seography ever new.
Here we may learn to lvrite and drar.r, r,.'ork with a irarnmer and a saro.
And to be kind to everyone fie meet, but if vre do not nalk just right,
or turn our head or v"'ink an eye, then to the teacher r^)e must go and be:
to renrain in our dear old p.V.S.
Come
CHORUS: Oh P.V.S. days how dear to me, so free fron
care, so full of glee.
Our tuneful hearts in song we raise, our troubles
leave for future davs.
Song
school house. I carried plenty ofcoal in from
the coal house to last the rest of the day and
SCHOOL AND A BAD
BLIZZAB'D
SCHOOL
Your days are numbered, few remain
That point the way you l<new
To let the mind and spirit grow,
As bone and ntuscle grew.
The children learned and lived as one
In grades from one through eight;
lf they absorbed what each should learn
Lhat mattered age or rate?
But who has seen a one-room school
llith nrud roads to the door?
On winter mornings, snow was deep
But walking or riding a horse was the score.
l{ithin there were the screw-down seats,
The oily floor and broonr,
Pot-bellied stove, and pile of coal
To heat the crowded roonr,
The blackboards scant, the waEer pail,
No telephone fo boast-But there was space to
fly a kite
Or slope on which to coast.
Nostalgia haur,ts the one-room schooL,
No marker tells its rrorth;
Among those passinl through the door
L:ere great ones of the earth.
Author
unknown
Poem
T240
The blizzard that we experienced on March
1977, reminded my wife and I of an
experience that we had in a storm fifty years
ago: she, as a mother, a rancher, a country
IL,
school teachers' wife during a real old time
blizzard; I, as a country school teacher and
school bus driver. My bus was a 1918 Model
T Ford, quite a car at that time. It had a top
that could be put up and side curtains that
could be put in place in stormy weather.
On this memorable day in March L9ZE, I
had my oldest son Bobbie, a six year old
beginner and three of Collie Teel's children,
Sylvan, Chest€r and Hazel, whom I bused to
school at the Old Pleasant Meadow school
where I taught that winter. This school house
was located twelve miles south of Vona.
Colorado to the correction line then 1 mile
west. The weather being very threatening
that morning, no more of the fifteen pupils
that usually attended my school showed. As
the morning wore on the storm intensified to
the extent that by noon
I
decided that
I
should dismiss school and head for home with
my four pupils. We ate our lunches before
starting as each child always carried his own
lunch bucket with his noonday meal. I put the
side curtains on and bundled my four pupils
into the Model T with robes and quilts that
I always carried.
by Eleanor Varce
lined the four
SCHOOL DAYS
by Editors
THE RURAL SCHOOL
I
children up in a row, covered them completely with the quilts from the car, and led them
through that raging blizzatd, back to the
The Model T started alright but before we
had traveled % mile the blizzard had intensified to the extent that the blowing snow
whipped up under the hood wetting the
motor and the electrical wires and the motor
died. The only thing to do then was walk back
possibly the night. We moved four long
benches into a square around the pot bellied
stove. We sang songs and played games to
pass the time as studying was out of the
question. As the dark of night approached
and no help came for us, I lighted the coal oil
lamp that hung in a bracket on the wall.
If I remember right, we had three sandwiches left in our five lunch pails which the
children let me divide as even as possible
among the five of us which we made do for
supper. I kept a good fire all night and let the
children sleep on the benches with what
quilts and covers were available.
On our home ranch six miles away, my wife
Winifred was at home with our five year old
preschooler, Guy, who had an earache all
night. She also had to milk and feed the cows,
feed calves, horses, chickens and hogs as best
she could in a blizzard with the womy of not
knowing why I and our six year old Bobbie
didn't come home, wondering where we were,
maybe stranded on a prairie road where there
were few if any fences to follow, no graded
roads and of, course, no telephones.
Meanwhile, the four children and I spent
a reasonably comfortable night, sleeping part
time at least on the floor or the benches near
the heating stove. Not long after daylight the
next morning, we saw a man ride into the
school yard on a horse. It was Mr. Teel. the
father of the Teel children. He had worried
all night about us so started out at daylight
trying to find his way to the school house, just
two miles from his home. He was aimlesslv
drifting in the storm. He had accidentallv
seen the school house that he was about to
pass. Mr. Teel was surely relieved to find us
safe and fairly comfortable except that we
had nothing for breakfast.
By 8:00 a.m. the storm seemed to be
slackening some and we decided to try
walking the two miles to the Teel home.
Thl
�horse that Mr. Teel had tied to the door knob
had rubbed his bridle off and was gone.
Before we had traveled
a half mile I
realized that little Bob wouldn't be able to
walk very far in all the snow, so I carried him
on my back piggyback for some distance.
Then Mr. Teel and I made a saddle of our
hands between us and carried him most ofthe
rest of the trip. Another mother was much
relieved to see us come walking in, safe but
tired, cold and hungry.
Little Bob's cheeks showed white spots
indicating that his cheeks were somewhat
frozen. Mrs. Teel gave us a good hot breakfast
after which I borrowed a horse of Mr. Teel's,
took little Bob on with me and rode the rest
of the four miles home, ariving about 11:00
a.m. much to the relief of my wife who had
done an excellent job of choring and caring
for a sick boy and all the time worrying as to
what the fate of the school children and me
might have been.
This is just one of the harrowing experiences that my wife Winnie and I went
through during my twenty years as a country
school teacher in Kit Carson County, Colorado. Written by Carl Harrison.
bY J. Carl Harrison
****{€*******:lc**
Flagler News, Oct. 13, 1927: "Prairie Gem
School House Dedicated Sunday"' "A large
crowd gathered at the new Prairie Gem
schoot building last Sunday morning. Sun'
day
School was held as usual,
after which
a
bounteous basket dinner was serued in the
basernent. The meeting was called' to order
about two o'cloch and the following program
was rendered: Seueral songs by the audience,
followed by a beautiful song by Mrs. Schekel,
accompanied by Mrs. Harry Cates of Seibert.
C.I. Bonham, as president of the school
board, extended a hearty welcome, in a few
well chosen words. Miss Reba Edwards, the
teacher, followed with remarks of congratu'
lations to patrons and friends of the districtSidney P. God,srnan of Burlington deliuered
the main address, which was uery inspiring.
He spoke on 'Americanism, CommunitY
Interests and Difficulties and our Wonder-
ful Educational Aduantages.' His talk
was
thoroughly enjoyed by all that were present.
Prairie Gem school is located about 15 miles
northeast of Flagler, and, has always taken
an actiue interest in educational matters
and cornmunity betterment, and is justly
proud of the new building just completed.
The patrons of this school are uery loyal to
the school as there is not a child in the
district being hept at home to work! All are
in school and the district has a 100 percent
high school enrollment. Seuen pupils from
this district are attending high school in
Seibert and Flagler. The school house is
24x40 feet with full basement and is
equipped with a hot air furnace.
1931-2, Laura Mae Malbaff taught at
Sunny Dale School, staying with Grandma
and Grandpa Plum. Two teachers were
employed at this school; the other was Mary
Furlong. They roomed at the Plums for
per month. Later, the board and. room
was lowered to $15.00 when word by grapeuine hinted they might consider mouing into
$25.00
the school house. The time was the year
Phillip was born. Mary Furlong and another
teacher were driuing here from Iowa to teach
at this school. They had a car accident and
the other teocher was killed. Laura Mae took
the job because of this. Loren and Mable
Plum liued here and prouided transportation from home to school. Often in cold
weather Loren wouLd build a fire under the
Mod.el T to get it started. If he failed, he
hitched up a team and took them in a sleigh.
In good weather, the teachers would walk; it
was about three miles. Teachers' salary at
this tirne was $75.00 per m.onth. Laura Mae's
first uisit to Flagler was to a debate here with
her tearn from Englewood, Colorado. They
stayed ouernight at the Lauington home and
she neuer dreamed then that one day she
would liue in Flagler.
Ash Groue School: Flagler News, 1916.
"New School District." "A new school district has been organized in the Shiloh
country. A meeting wos held at the Ash
Groue School house last Monday when it was
d.ecided to elect officers and forrn an organi-
zation. The new d.istrict wiII
be composed
of
a territory about fiue miles square and will
haue nearly twenty scholars.
George And,re was elected president, Bed-
ford Nelson, secretary, and Delbert Todd,
treasurer. The officers will hold until the
regular school election next May.
A special election will be held in the near
future for the purpose of uoting bonds for a
new school building. It is now planned to
build a two-room school house with
a
basement. County Superintendent Miss
Tressel was present at the meeting and gaue
aduice as to the conduct of the new d'istrict.
We are sure pleased to see the great interest
rnanifest in school matters in rural school
districts. With the new church, new school
house and other improuernents, the Sucker
Flats country is coming right to the
Harry DeLos
in
1903
Ross taught his
front'"
first school
of
in the Chase District north
Burlington.
Edna Browning Rose-Priest attended the
1887-1888 and taught at
Hoyt School about
Hoyt later.
Mettie W. Rose-Shannahan-Loue was
born Nou. 7, 1883, in the old home in
Madison County, Iowa. She was less than
four years old when her family came to
Colorado. She was a good student and
becarne a teacher in Kit Carson County
rnany years. She made the best auerage in
the Teacher's Exam.ination of any one else
euer taking it.
�
Dublin Core
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Title
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History of Kit Carson County
Description
An account of the resource
Brief historical stories and elements from the founding and recent history of Kit Carson County, Colorado.
Text
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Book
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Country Schools
Date Created
Date of creation of the resource.
1988
Subject
The topic of the resource
history
Description
An account of the resource
Record of the Country Schools in Kit Carson County as recorded in the book History of Kit Carson County.
Type
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text
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salmons, Janice
Hasart, Marlyn
Smith, Dorothy
Language
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English
Is Part Of
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History of Kit Carson County Volume 1
Format
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text/pdf
Publisher
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Curtis Media
Rights
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a>