USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Hartland > History of Hartland, the 69th town in the Colony of Connecticut > Part 10
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During the next 57 years (The Treasurer's Record Book ends with the year 1897) the activities of the District fell into a set pattern. Each annual meeting elected a committee-in many cases only one individual -who was chargd with procuring teachers and appointing school visit- ors as well as having general supervision over all things applying to educational problems in the district. The bidding for supplying the wood seems to have been one of the highlights of the annual meetings; the following being an example: At the Annual Meeting held on January 13, 1873, it was voted: "To have six cord of hard wood 2 feet long got and put in wood-house on or before the Ist of April next. Voted: To let it to be got by the lowest bidder and to be set up by Moderator. Bid off by Albert A. Newton at 1 75/100 dollars a cord, to be measured by District Committee."
In 1841 they paid $60. to E. S. Cornish for teaching the Winter Term and in 1893 the amount was the same. During that period the teachers' wages were sometimes much less especially if they happend to be of the female sex. One of the older boys was paid as much as $2.00 to arrive an hour early and make the fire during the winter terni.
In 1841 there appears an entry showing that the Treasurer received, in addition to Public Money in the amount of $54., an amount of $5.71 from the Deposit Fund. This is the first time the Town Deposit Fund is mentioned and it is listed in the receipts columns quite regularly after the year 1856. (This is the fund divided among all Connecticut Towns, the interest to be used for School Purposes only, resulting from the sale of the "Western Lands" in Ohio, and pro-rated among the Towns on the basis of their population in 1836.)
The following contains the names of some of the teachers and, so far as possible, they are presented in chronological order, from 1841 to 1897. Some of them taught for several consecutive terms but their names are listed one time only : Mr. Andrus; Sarah A. Huggins; E. S. Cornish ; Sylvia O. Ford; Timothy E. Williams; Elvira Sage; Julia E. Selden; Flava Case; Harriet Gilman; Augusta Newton; Fidelia Griffin; Cather- ine Beach; Jane Baldwin; Maria N. Jones; Emeret Wilson; Miss Os- borne; Miss Rose; Miss Smith; Miss Cook; Annie P. Gaylord; Adeltha
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Fowler; Charlotte Seymour; J. M. Smith; Frances E. Gaylord; Miss Whiting; Miss Freeman; George L. Gilman; Hattie Hayden; Henry H. Griswold; Addie A. Smith; Miss Jennie Wilcox; Warham H. Williams; Mark W. Stillman; Miss Spencer; Ida Barrett; Ida Stillman; George Wilcox; Lizzie Clark; George B. Cornish; L. E. Manchester; Miss Twin- ing; Burritt Hitchcock; Clara Griswold. From 1890 to 1897 the names are not given and no doubt there were others whose names are not in the record.
The entire Nineteenth Century saw little progress in the country schools of Hartland. All of the districts conducted their individual pro- grams on the basis of getting along with the barest essentials and with as little expense as possible. No consideration was given to the pupils or teachers in the way of creature comforts and transportation was unheard of. Many of the pupils walked distances of two to three miles over lonely roads and in all types of weather. The pail for drinking water sat on a shelf in the entry-just above the wood-box-with a battered tin dipper hard by it. Lucky the boy who was assigned to make the daily trip to the nearest house for a fresh supply-for there was no well or water on the school premises. Germs were not discovered by school committees until many years later. The out-houses were always in a filthy condition and were seldom inspected more than once a year. As long as the three R's were thoroughly taught and strict discipline maintained, the school committees believed they had done their duty to God, their Country, their neighbors and themselves. So far as the children were concerned -they were incidental. If they learned to read, cipher and write a good hand, they went on to fill the various Town Offices which their fathers had held before them. If not, there was always a dearth of strong muscles needed to guide the plow and cut the winter's wood. In spite of all these disadvantages, many emerged (and this is true of all the dis- tricts) both boys and girls alike, to become outstanding citizens, adding their contribution to the betterment of a way of life and education they knew at first-hand.
But to return to the Centre Parish School on the West Mountain: time flies and after 28 years, repairs were again required. On September 30, 1868, the committee voted: "To repair the School House. To shingle the house and outbuildings. Make a door from entry into wood-house. Close the outside door except a window for putting in wood. Plaster in- side where needed and white-wash the whole. To get a new stove and pipe, also a black-board." Something must have gone wrong or at least some dissatisfaction arose for on December 28th, 1868 (the same year) a special meeting was called and it was voted: "To appropriate $20. out of money to be raised to paint School House. To repair the inside of the school house. Either put in new desks or substitute cast iron chairs with desks in place of old ones. Voted: To borrow Eighty Dollars to pay for repairs already made on school house." The Northwest District had temporarily closed their school and were sending their pupils to the Centre Parish District; and at the same meeting they voted: "That those children attending school from out of District be taxed for support of
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History of Hartland
school in same proportion per scholar as (those) belonging to District, after deducting their public money."
With the exception of having a considerable discussion regarding the building of a new "out house" in 1884, there was little to upset the yearly routine during the next 40 years.
By 1892 the original boundaries of the Centre School District of the West Mountain came into question and were reaffirmed by the select- men of that date as follows:
BOUNDARIES OF THE CENTER SCHOOL DISTRICT OF WEST HARTLAND, CONNECTICUT Bounded on the North by the State Line and Green Lot. EAST by land of Phineas C. Stevens, Ansel Cables, Steb- bins farm, Blakesly farm, and L. L. Dickinson.
SOUTH by L. L. Dickinson, William Spencer's Estate and Polly Moore.
WEST by land called the Hodge Lot, Amos M. Osborn, Darwin Griffin's Estate, Burrill Giddings, Mary Mallison. Seth Giddings, and thence on line of tier of lots to State Line.
Hartland, December 13th, 1892
Henry J. Gates ) Selectmen John H. Wheeler ) Selectmen
Osborn E. Murphy ) Selectmen
Children have always been notoriously destructive of school prop- erty and those attending the Center District were no exception. They seem possessed of an innate desire to leave behind them marks of their ability in carving initials in most conspicuous places-and if secure from detection-a well-aimed stone would shatter enough glass so that the school committee would have something to work on before school opened for the next term.
Thirty-eight years without major repairs found the school house and buildings again in need of a complete renovation. The committee called a meeting on June 23, 1906 at which the following vote was passed: "On motion made by E. A. Gaylord and seconded by Ernest Hall, as follows: 'We appoint a committee of three tax-payers of said district to make the following repairs on Center School House West Parish, West Hartland, Ct. To seal school house and build new chimney, buy a new stove and pipe, purchase necessary black-boards, teacher's desk, new windows and shades and other necessary repairs, said repairs to be completed by September 1, 1906 and tax said District for enough to cover expense." Building committee appointed consisted of Carlton Osborn, Charles De- voe, Frank Fuller, and Frank T. Osborn was collector of the tax to cover expense.
The expression "seal the school house" may stand in need of clari- fication for the benefit of the younger generation. Around 1900 some of the more progressive lumber companies developed a board, usually hard-pine, which was about 31/2" in width and 1/4" in thickness. These were of the tongue and groove variety with an additional groove in the center and were commonly called "sealing boards". They were used
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The Schools
extensively in the repair of old buildings as they could be easily applied over old plaster by the use of furring strips, and when the natural wood was finished with clear varnish, it became a pleasing substitute for the cracked plaster and dirty white-wash which it usually replaced. Shortly after 1900, nearly all the school houses in Hartland's several districts were remodeled and the interiors finished in this fashion.
The committee completed the repairs at a total expense of $160.66, and the inhabitants of the District with the amount of their assessment and the tax paid by each is as follows:
Names
Assessment
Tax
Harry F. Brensinger
$ 906.00
$ 6.34
Rev. Thomas Booth
20.00
.14
A. D. Brown
240.00
1.68
Charles Devoe
1559.00
10.91
Thomas Booth
3802.00
26.61
Frank Fuller
2277.00
15.94
Edward A. Gaylord
1208.00
8.46
Albert J. Hall
4163.00
29.14
James B. and Ernest Hall
352.00
2.46
Albert Hitchcock (Abatement)
352.00
2.46
John L. Hitchcock
2338.00
16.35
Peter Lefeber
705.00
4.94
Albert A. Newton
1521.00
10.65
Jane Newton
1374.00
9.62
Pearl Newton
100.00
.70
Carlton E. Osborn
1350.00
9.45
Frank T. Osborn
380.00
2.66
Calista A. Dean
700.00
4.90
Belle P. Foster
1763.00
12.34
Mrs. Belle Gilbert
792.00
5.54
S. G. Howd
535.00
3.75
Henry Gay
500.00
3.50
Amos W. Dean
2036.00
14.25
$162.39
Constant W. Gower and Ralph U. Griffin, Assessors, certified that the list and assessments were correct. These were the last repairs of any consequence made to the building during the remainder of the 33 years in which it was to serve as seat of learning for the younger generation of the Center West Parish.
(From September 1907 to June of 1909, the writer attended this school. Although residing in the Town of Granville, Massachusetts. special arrangements were made to send my brother and I to this school instead of the 31/2 miles to the Ore Hill District in Granville. It was but 21/2 miles to West Hartland, and we walked, of course. Furthermore, I was selected to arrive an hour earlier each morning and build the fire, for which I was paid the munificent sum of $2.00 for the entire portion of the school year whenever a fire was required, which can be considered as approximately from November Ist to May Ist. Consequently, I am now on familiar ground and know whereof I speak.)
In 1907 the teacher was Nellie Barnes, who came from North Hart- land Hollow and resided with her family in what was originally the
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History of Hartland
"Old Red Lion Inn". The distance was too far to travel back and forth daily, so she boarded with one of the local families in West Hartland during the school week. According to the Town Report for that year, her salary was $3.50 per week. There were some twelve pupils in the West Parish District at that time, and all eight grades were represented. The school-day opened at 9 A.M. with the teacher and pupils reciting the Lord's Prayer in unison, followed by the singing of America, a capella, not so much as a pitch-pipe being available in the way of musi- cal equipment. From then until recess at 10:30 to 10:45, there were recitations constantly in progress among the several grades and those not on the recitation bench were studiously engaged in mastering the daily assignments. With a lunch-hour from 12 to 1 and another recess at 2:30 to 2:45 P.M., the school-day ended at 4:00 P.M. Then began the long walk home, after which there were wood-boxes to fill, cows to milk, stables to clean and other minor chores to fill the interim before supper at 6:30. Thermos bottles were unheard of, and the noon-hour lunches, usually consisting of bread and meat sandwiches carried in Swift's premium lard pails or Mayo's tobacco boxes from which the original contents had been removed, were washed down with copious draughts from the battered tin dipper, previously mentioned, its contents re- plenished, as necessary, from the dusty water-pail in the entry. (Those who survived-and their number is legion-are the ones who now so willingly pay the increased taxes to pay off the bond issues and main- tenance costs in connection with those utopias of transportation, hot lunches, dixie cups and drinking fountains so necessary in our present system of modern education.)
Monday through Thursday was pretty much routine. Reading, writ- ing, arithmetic, spelling, grammar and American history comprised most of the curriculum, but a comparatively new subject called "civics" was being added to the seventh and eighth grade schedules. Friday, however, was different, especially in the afternoon. That was the day the older grades had classes in physiology-an extremely interesting subject to the older boys in a day when a feminine ankle was seldom seen after its owner had attained the age of 14 years. Each Monday all grades were given poems or prose to memorize during the week. The last hour, or from 3 to 4 on Friday was the elocution period in which each pupil was made to orally recite the assignment of the week. To some, this became the final torture of a tortuous week; while others who were "good at it" really enjoyed the performance. Unhappy the wretch, who, after much stuttering and stammering, could not remember the opening lines and was forced to stay after school until he could recite them.
There was one decided advantage in attending a one-room country school in which all eight grades were taught-an advantage which is seldom if ever, mentioned by today's proponents of modern education. It was simply this: For eight years each grade heard the other classes recite. While those not engaged in recitation were supposedly intent on their own assignments, nevertheless, their subconscious minds (and sometimes conscious) were absorbing what all the others were doing and saying. At the end of the first year the first-graders knew what to
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The Schools
expect in the other seven; and if the eighth graders had not learned their lessons well in preceding years, they had an opportunity to review. Subjected to this routine under a system of strict discipline-after eight years there were few who did not know most of the lessons "by heart". At least, they had been thoroughly steeped in the fundamentals.
The year 1908 brought a new teacher to the West Hartland Center School. She was Miss Gertrude Shelley (now Mrs. Charles Osborn) of East Orange, New Jersey, and has the distinction of being one of the first teachers in the Center District who was not a native of the District or of one of the towns in the immediate area. The school and its pupils made great progress under her direction and she, in turn, liked Hart- land so well that she remained a member of the community, married, and continued teaching.
Up until this time there was little in the way of supervision by the District over the teachers or the pupils. Each year at the annual ineet- ing of the District, school visitors were appointed whose duty it was to drop in unexpectedly to see how the teachers were conducting their classes. These visits seldom occurred more than once or twice a year and were always an occasion of great flustration on the part of the teach- er and pupils alike. Mr. Edward A. Gaylord was the visitor who usually
Ha
-Courtesy Irene V. Shepard
West Hartland Center District-Student body of 1910. (l. to r.) Mildred Tompkins, Mrs. Charles Osborn, Teacher, Bertha Hitchcock, Marjorie Osborn, Florence Eastland, George Martin, Christel Hitchcock, Ade- laide Crunden, Hazel Martin, Gladys Gray, Barney Strohm, Edward Martin, Viola Brensinger, (seated) Harry Brensinger, William Bren- singer, Raymond E. Hall, and George Bent.
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History of Hartland
came to the West Hartland School and, after observing one or two classes recite, seldom had any criticism to offer in connection with the way and manner in which the school was "kept". The visitors were paid $1.00 for each visit made, and if payments for more than two visits appeared in the Annual Report for any one term, it was the general feeling that the visitors were trying to make a lot of easy money at the District's expense.
The year 1909 brought about a complete revision of the entire rural educational system in the State of Connecticut. Legislation enacted at that time, placed the responsibility for educational activities in the hands of a State Commissioner of Education, who in turn appointed supervisors for the rural areas. The schools of each town were adminis- tered by the local Town Board of Education on a Town-wide basis. At the Annual Meeting of the Town of Hartland held on October 4, 1909, the several School Districts were abolished and the property of each District acquired by the Town as a whole. Although this ended the func- tions of the District Committees, the schools were still maintained in their same locations for many more years. The West Hartland Center School continued for twenty-eight additional years under the new sys- tem; subject now to the governing policies of the "School Board" and the periodic visits of the new State Supervisor-the first being Mr. William Bliss.
The average daily attendance is given as 13.14 in 1910 and by 1913 it had climbed to 27. Five years later in 1918 it had gone down to only 13. Some of the teachers during these later years-and the list is by no means complete, are as follows: Mrs. Florence Eastland; Miss King; Bertha L. Hitchcock; Hollis M. French; Marjorie Osborn; Roy Cowles; Loretta Donsbough; Mrs. Margaret Cook; Mrs. Elinor Dotson, and oth- ers whose names are not available.
In 1910 the Annual Budget of the Town of Hartland carried a rec- ommendation of an expense of $270. for the West Parish Center School for the ensuing year. This amount included teacher's salary, wood, books, and all other incidental expense. The Center District in the East Parish, however, had a recommended amount of $360. but the average attendance was 21 pupils compared to 14 for the West Parish. It was at this time that the Town began to receive aid from the State of Connec- ticut, the amount in 1910 being $865.23, based on the average attendance in all seven Districts which were maintained at that time.
In 1930 the population of Hartland dropped to an all-time low of 296, and the schools had few pupils in attendance at any one District. The automobile had come into common use and school transportation had been in effect for quite some time. For a few years between 1930 and 1937, pupils in the Mill and Center Hill Districts were transported to the West Hartland Center Parish and the schools in those Districts closed permanently.
With the advent in the early 1930's of the Metropolitan District Commission and the subsequent closing of the North and South Hollow Schools, it was the general opinion of the School Board and the inhabi- tants of the West Mountain that a new one-room consolidated school
The Schools
--
-Courtesy Lewis S. Mills
One of the last one-room schools housing all eight grades built in the State of Connecticut. West Hartland Elementary School built in 1937.
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100
History of Hartland
would be the answer to their educational problems. Using some of the money obtained from the sale of the schools in Hartland Hollow, they proceeded to build a new brick building in West Hartland which was ready for occupancy in October 1937. It was at that time the West Par- ish Center School closed its door on school activities for the last time, the Distriet having been in existence for a total of approximately 165 years.
The building built in 1840, however, still survives, and after being moved to a new location nearby, comprises the living room of the summer home now owned and occupied by Miss Mildred Holt.
NORTHWEST DISTRICT West Parish-Key No. 99
Set off as a District by Second Ecclesiastical Society and school built about 1779. Tradition has 80 pupils attending in 1800. Map of 1870 shows a different location from original site. No records extant of com- mittes or teachers. School closed temporarily in 1868-pupils remain- ing in district sent to West Hartland Center Parish. District discontinued completely by 1875. Foundation stones of original building still discern- ible on present Dish-Mill Road.
SOUTHWEST OR CENTER HILL DISTRICT West Parish-Key Nos. 18 and 19
Set off as a District by Second Ecclesiastical Society, December 27, 1779. Committee consisted of Simon Crosby, Jason Millard, and Joshua Giddings. Gamaliel Wilder appointed Committee and Collector. Voted to raise money one-half on Grand Levy and one-half on Polls from six years old to fourteen-2 shillings on the Pound, and 2 shillings on the Polls.
The original building was of wood and burned about 1820. It was at this time that the Ecclesiastical Societies were replaced with District Committees under the so-called "Separation of Church and State" amendment. It became necessary to build a new school-house as one of the first duties of the new District Committee.
It may have been because of a good selling job on the part of some local stone-mason or the fear of fire that prompted the committees of three of Hartland's Districts to build stone school-houses all at about the same time. Center Hill Distriet seems to have been the first to choose this method of construction with the Southeast District in East Hart-
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The Schools
Courtesy Metropolitan District Commission
Southwest or Center Hill District Stone School House as it appeared in 1937
land second, and the Mill District a short time later. The walls of all three are extremely thick, and the mortar is of sand and lime-cement not being available at the time. Whatever the reason for the choice of stone-it was a good one. The 140 years which have elapsed still finds the main structures in a good state of preservation.
A new site was chosen for the new building. This was a little farther south of the original location and located close beside the highway which ran at that time from the main Center Hill Road to the present Hi-Vue Road emerging near what is now the residence of Maurice and Annie Laurie Crain. The building was built on a solid ledge of rock extending into the highway. This school was in continuous operation until the early 1930's. By that time the Metropolitan District Commis- sion and the State Forest had acquired all but one farm in the District.
Like many of the other Districts-records are few and scarce. Many are still residing in West Hartland who attended this school and there have been many who began their careers as teachers within its damp and gloomy walls. Their number is legion but the only ones of which we are certain are: Carlton E. Osborn; Mrs. Elnora Snow; Rev. Hollis M. French; Miss Bertha L. Hitchcock (Dodd) ; and Stanley A. Ransom. Yes, the writer taught this school for one week in March, 1916. The snow was so deep that the regular teacher, Miss Bertha L. Hitchcock, could not wade through the drifts. Mr. Bliss, Superintendent of Rural Schools at the time, hired me to teach the week of Spring Vacation while I was attending Gilbert School in Winsted.
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History of Hartland
The school being discontinued, it was leased in 1952 by the Town of Hartland to John Nelson for a period of 99 years. He occupies the building at the present time.
MILL DISTRICT SCHOOL Key No. 149
The present Mill District School House was no doubt built shortly after the one on Center Hill and a comparison of the stone work would indicate it being built by the same stone mason. As this was a section settled early, there is every probability that a school house existed be- fore the present one, but there is no record of it. It followed the pattern of the other districts but the records of the District Committees and their doings are lost and any accurate information with them.
The Mill District School was continued until 1935 when it began transporting what few pupils were left in the District to the West Hart- land Center School. In the 1920's it was overcrowded and by 1935 there were less than five.
The Mill District in later years has become the subject of much sentiment on the part of those who taught and those who attended since the 1900's. An association called "The Old Mill Street School As- sociation", consisting of those still living who taught and attended school in that place. meets once each year to renew friendships and to rem- inisce.
The bottom panel of the top drawer used for many vears as the "Teacher's Desk" became a place for each teacher to inscribe his or her name. Over the years they were many, and we are listing those which are still decipherable :
Helen Curtin
Gertrude Wright
Margaret Murphy (Cook)
Marie Feley
Myra Maxwell
Hazel Gibbs
Lillian Oshorn
Daisy Wraight
Louise H. Schenetsky
Maude Beach
Miss Holton
Ada M. Titus
Myra Parsons Ira Moore
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