early schools in starke county indiana

Early Areas of Settlement

The History of One-Room Schools in Starke County

Subscription Schools

•Willoughby McCormick taught a subscription school

in Knox during the winter of 1851

•Later he also served as County School Examiner, County Clerk,

County Recorder and County Treasurer

•Other school histories indicate school was taught in Oregon Twp, North

Bend Twp and Washington Twp about the same time.

•Other early subscription school teachers that we know of were:

•William Parker (North Bend Twp)

•Eli Brown (North Bend Twp)

•William Chapman (North Bend Twp)


Education Law of 1852

•Mandated free public education funded by property taxes and other misc

funds such as the sale of swamp land

•Provided for a State School Superintendent

•Provided for a County School Examiner

Starke County Ledger 1872

•Required Township Libraries


Building a One-Room School

•The Early Schools in Starke County were built using peeled logs

•Chairs & desks were made from split logs

•Some did not even have an outhouse

•Drinking water was carried from a nearby farmhouse or swamp


The First Schools

•Parker School, North Bend Township


The Parker School was made of peeled logs with a clapboard roof over logs – then secured by

laying logs over the clapboard.

The school had a hearth made of sticks and clay. Desks were boards attached to wood braces

that went around the perimeter of the room, and the seats were split logs.

The teacher earned 87 cents to $1.50 per day depending on worth and had to stay in the area,

living 3 months in a home, then with another family for 3 months, etc.

Children had to walk as far as 5 miles to school where there was no water or baths. Water was

taken in buckets from a nearby swamp.

The First Schools

•Spoor School, California Township


…the cracks between the logs were chinked with pieces of wood and dabbed with mud inside

and out. The building was something like 16 feet by 20 feet, with slabs of split timbers for the

floor.

A fireplace was at one end of the building. The chimney was made of mud and sticks, and

some of the light in the room came down the chimney.

A door and a hole in the wall for a window permitted a little light to enter.

The seats were sassafras poles split in two, the heart side up, with wooden pins for legs.

These were made to suit the larger scholars and were quite uncomfortable for the smaller

ones.

The writing desk was also a slab of split timber set up on pegs for legs on which the scholars

laid their slates.

The First Schools

•Spoor School, California Township


The ceiling was made of round poles extending from one side of the room to the

other. Mud was spread over the poles, which when dried, formed a ceiling that

held out the piercing winds of winter and the scorching heat of the summer sun.

The roof was made of clapboards held in place by logs laid on top, called “weight

logs”.

The drinking water was from a water pail and dipped from a swamp. There

were no toilets.


•Later one-room schools were built to specific plans


Spoor School c. 1914


•Later one-room schools were built to specific plans


School Life in the 1870’s Starke County Ledger December 1877


County Superintendent Law of 1873

•Changed County Examiner to County Superintendent

•Examine Teachers

•Supervise School Institutes

•Supervise Course of Study

•Visit all Schools

•Spend at least one day working

on each school

•Paid $4 for each day of work

•Elected by Township Trustees

every two years

•Women were not eligible

for the position




•Established Reading Circles



•County School Board consisted of Township Trustees and County School

Superintendent

•Each Township Trustee was responsible for:

•Location and construction of schools

•Employment and pay of teachers

•Purchase of supplies and books

•Care of school property

•Preparing an annual report for superintendent each August

•Providing an enumeration report to the superintendent each April


County School Examiners & Superintendents


Alexander H. Henderson, M.D. 1st County School Superintendent

1873-1874

County School Examiners & Superintendents


Porter Andrew W 1861-1862

Howard MT 1863-1864

Jacobs Samuel 1865-1866

Short John E 1867-1868

McCormick Willoughby 1869-1870

Kline Uziah 1871-1872

Henderson Alexander H 1873-1874 *

Musselman Oliver 1875-1876

Netherton George A 1877-1882

Rodgers Henry C 1883-1884

Sinclair William B 1885-1894

Foust William A 1895-1898

Butcher George E 1899-1902

Dunn J Walter 1903-1906

Rodgers Elmer E 1907-1911

Cannon Carroll W 1912-1917

Barr J Allen 1918-1929

Stanley Albert F 1930-1936

Young Earl E 1937-1944

Peregrine Donald 1945-1964

One-Room Schools as of 1876


8th Grade Graduations

•County Wide Program 1904 – 1950


1906


•March down Main Street to Fairy Theater



•Diploma


Commissioned High Schools

•Knox High School 1901 Commission


Commissioned High Schools

•Standard requirements for Indiana commissioned high schools were

adopted in 1888

•The 1st Commissioned High School in Starke County was Knox in 1901

•North Judson had the 1st high school graduates in 1892

•Knox had their 1st high school graduate in 1896

•Hamlet High School was built in 1900 and later fully commissioned

•San Pierre was built in 1902 and fully commissioned in 1917

•Grovertown was built in 1904 and later fully commissioned

•Center Township had their 1st graduates in 1914 and was fully

commissioned in 1917


Other High Schools

•Ora was built in 1897 and had 3 years of high school until 1913

•North Bend was built in 1912 and had 3 high school grades until 1931

•Ober was built in 1914 and had 2 years of high school until about 1918


Township School Consolidations

•Local counties were under a lot of pressure by the state to consolidate

their rural one-room schools into a larger centralized school, not to reduce

costs, but to improve the quality of education

•One teacher for each one or two grades

•A more standard course of study and grading

•Better resources such as libraries, laboratories, theatrical & sports



•Center Township was the first township in Starke County to consolidate

its one-room schools in 1910

•This resulted in the closure of the following one-room schools

•Desardee / Jackson, 250 E & 100 S

•German / Cottonwood, 200 E & 250 S

•Atkins, 400 E (US 35) & 200 S

•Bigler, 525 E & 100 S (SR 8)

•Harden / Oak Grove, 500 E and 150 N

•Pleasantview / Klein / Tucker, 300 E & 250 N

•Only the Nickel Plate / Brems School remained open


early schools in starke county indiana

Documents

room schools

schools parker school

schools spoor school

county recorder

county clerk

county treasurer

school histories

early schools