Butte County CA Archives History - Books .....Schools In Hamilton Township 1882 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com January 28, 2006, 8:22 pm Book Title: History Of Butte County SCHOOLS IN HAMILTON TOWNSHIP. The several efforts made to divide the township into districts, as already stated, were abortive, until November 15, 1859, when Rio Seco was formed. By the subsequent action of the board, November 30, 1860, Live Oak and West Liberty were set off. As we propose to consider the township as at present constituted, we shall leave Rio Seco to take its place among the schools of Oregon township. HAMILTON DISTRICT.—The first school-house, built in 1855, by R. B. Moore and J. L. Henshaw, stood on Mr. Henshaw's place, some distance below the town of Hamilton. The first teacher was a Mr. Spurlock, who taught in 1855-56. In 1861,'this house was moved, and rebuilt at a place a little below the present residence of Maj. M. Biggs. Again, in 1870, it was moved to where the River school-house now stands, and, for a while, two schools were maintained in the district, one there, and one in the embryo town of Biggs. During the year 1879, a large and handsome brick edifice was erected in Biggs, containing four school-rooms. For this 'purpose the district has twice voted to tax itself. The building is furnished throughout with the very best patent desks. The school has continually grown in numbers and in excellence until now it is one of the very best in the county, and the building, which cost, with its furniture, $6,000, is justly a boast' of the trustees, not only for its excellence, but also for the economy with which it was constructed. G. W. Oman is the principal. LIVE OAKS DISTRICT made its beginning in the autumn of 1862, with E. G. Brooks as teacher. In 1865 there were eighty-one children, and in 1869 but forty-two. The district has a large and substantial house, well located and well furnished. The existence of the district was for a time endangered by the cutting off of its territory to form others; but it has had faithful and zealous trustees in C. S. Quimby and Jeff Stigar who have guarded its interests, and the outlook at present is better than for several years past. WEST LIBERTY DISTRICT reported twenty-eight census children in 1863. Territorially this district first embraced all the south-west portion, of the county, but it has suffered depletion by the formation of new districts out of its territory. The most noted event in its history occurred in 1876, when a petition, numerously signed and approved by Superintendent McDermott, was presented to the board of supervisors, asking that West Liberty district be abolished and its territory added to Gridley. The petition, receiving the sanction of the member from Gridley, and other members of the board, knowing of no opposition, was granted by a unanimous vote, and so the West Liberty district was abolished. This action soon waked up the quiet farmers of the district, and G. W. Gridley himself, then full, of his peculiar strength. Having employed John C. Gray as their attorney, Mr. Gridley and others appeared in person before the board of supervisors on the twenty-second of May, 1876, and demanded with considerable vehemence that the above-mentioned action of the board be reconsidered. It was shown that nearly all the signers to the petition were residents of Gridley town and not of the West Liberty district, and therefore the petition did not comply with the requirements of the law. The board with considerable alacrity voted to reconsider the matter, and unanimously rejected the petition. Since then the district has had uninterrupted peace and prosperity- The school has been large and efficient. The school-house is an excellent one, beautifully situated in a grove of large oaks, and is well furnished in every respect. MANZANITA DISTRICT was formed August 26, 1868, out of Live Oak. This district enjoys the honor, with two others in the county, of having a woman for trustee. The present school-house, built in 1873, is one of the best, beautifully located, and furnished with patent desks. The district enjoys harmony and prosperity. GRIDLEY DISTRICT was formed February 6, 1873. Its territory was but a mile and a half square from the railroad station as a centre. This small territory was intended to include only the prospective town, as the two district schools, Live Oak on the east, and West Liberty on the west, were so near. In 1874, a commodious two-story school-house was built and furnished in good style. The census reports from year to year have shown a steady increase of children in the district, until there is now demand for three teachers. The present teachers are D. W. Braddock and Fred Hackett. BUTTE DISTRICT was formed August 5, 1873, of that territory to the west of West Liberty. This district has had a varied experience on account of the unsettled condition of the population on the adobe land, and lands leased from G. W. Gridley. The school now has the best patent furniture, but is in sad need of a new house, the one first constructed being only put together, and now quite old and ugly. BEECHER DISTRICT was formed May 3, 1876, from the west part of Butte district. It is the extreme southwestern district of the county. Its territory lies in the midst of sloughs and tule ponds. The Spring valley canal runs diagonally through it, and Butte creek along its western border. The school-house, one of the neatest in the county and elegantly furnished, stands near the canal in the centre of the district, and just ten miles west of Gridley. FLORAL DISTRICT, situated eight miles north of Biggs, south of Cottonwood creek and east of Dry creek, was formed May 24, 1875. The district has a good school-house, well located and furnished. The number of children in attendance is considerably above the average of the county schools, being more than thirty of average daily attendance. SWAN DISTRICT, situated a few miles northwest of the town of Biggs, and west of Floral district, was formed on the same day with Floral. The district has a territory just four miles square, and the neat white school-house standing in the very centre could be seen from any point in the district, and for miles around over the black farming lands. Since the writing of this history was begun the house has been accidentally burned. LANDLOW DISTRICT, the last in Hamilton township, was formed March 5, 1876. Its territory lies to the west of Biggs seven miles. The Spring valley canal flows through it, and Butte creek along its western border. The character of the country we suppose suggested the name. The little dark shanty in which school has been kept from the organization of the district was accidentally burned during the past summer, but another and much letter one will soon be built in its place. Additional Comments: Extracted from: HISTORY OF BUTTE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, IN TWO VOLUMES. I. HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA FROM 1513 TO 1850. BY FRANK T. GILBERT. The Great Fur Companies and their Trapping Expeditions to California. Settlement of the Sacramento Valley. The Discovery of Gold in California. BY HARRY L. WELLS. II. HISTORY OF BUTTE COUNTY, From its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time. BY HARRY L. WELLS AND W. L. CHAMBERS. BOTH VOLUMES ILLUSTRATED WITH VIEWS AND PORTRAITS. HARRY L. WELLS, 517 CLAY STREET, SAN FRANCISCO 1882. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1882, by HARRY L. WELLS, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. FRANCIS, VALENTINE & Co., Engravers & Printers 517 Clay St., San Francisco File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/butte/history/1882/historyo/schoolsi318ms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/cafiles/ File size: 8.1 Kb