Long-Ago Schools of the Chicot Area
The Gazette - Thursday, February 19, 1981 - Ville Platte, La.


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With permission, August 17, 2006, from David Ortego, Publisher for The Gazette,
Ville Platte, Louisiana.

Editor's Note: This is the third article In a series by Miss Mabel 
Thompson about the old schools of the area.

by MABEL THOMPSON

'READING, 'RITING AND 'RITHMETIC
PART THREE

    There were other teachers, as I have mentioned and in 1885 
William Thomas (who was the father of Ed, Sam, Georgie, Lillian and 
John) taught in an old cabin.  School had started in the old Methodist 
Church but the room was as too small so teacher and pupils moved to 
the cabin.
    It was here that Mrs. Rosa Tatman Helmer first started her 
education.  Mr.  Thomas was her first teacher, and was ill and died the 
following year. It was about this school that Mrs. Helmer wrote this story 
and gave to me a few years before her death in 1968 at the age of 93 
years.
    I am going to put it down just as she wrote it out  in her own 
handwriting:
    
    "MY FIRST EXPERIENCE IN SCHOOL"
    by ROSA TATMAN HELLMER
    
    This is a story of a little girl's first experience in the "Halls of 
Learning", or in other words her introduction into the world of public 
school life back in 1885.  Schools were few and far between, and 
teachers just as scarse.  No school houses though a few years later 
regular school houses sprang up here and there throughout the country. 
These had glass windows, front and back doors, home made desks and 
benches, a blackboard if teacher made a fuss for one. That- was also 
made of plank on legs and the teacher painted it herself.
    I am  talking about my first introduction into school life back in '85. 
The schools were then taught in a church or vacant house. Our school 
was taught in an old cabin built at the edge of the woods on a low hill, a 
beautiful location. The cabin had two rooms, but we used the larger, 
even this was small.
    There were two windows, and a door on the front, a window in one 
end kind a fireplace in the other. Three desks which accommodated 
about four or five pupils each by squeezing,  and enough benches, all 
home made, and rough, to seat every one else.
    There were nice ire woods back of the house which furnished wood 
for fires. The boys picked up branches and broke them.  On cold days 
we had a fire which was not much more than a smoke, for the chimney 
was made of mud.  To make a mud chimney you first make a square 
frame of sticks nailed to posts, set that up, then wrap them with "cats" 
made of moss and wrapped in mud.  If a stick is not well wrapped it 
might catch fire, then that would be too bad, so on cold days we made 
out.  The teacher, an elderly man, who was not too well sat in a chair 
near the fire (Mrs, Helmer said she later found -out the teacher received 
the magnificent sum of $30 a month.)
    An old barn had blown down and that was what the girls used for a 
rest room.  The woods being near the boys fared very well.
    Our -drinking, water came from a neighbor's well about a quarter 
mile away. The boys with a bucket on a stick, went for the water.   With 
so many to drink one bucket did not last long.  We never had any water 
to wash our hands.  If  there were any germs around, they stayed under 
cover.
    At noon we ate our	lunch, which we carried in buckets, picnic style 
depending on weather conditions, in the yard on the ground.  We 
usually had potatoes, meat, bread, milk and syrup, maybe a piece of 
cake, sometimes a popcorn ball, always plenty.
    We did not know anything about going to the store for extras, there 
was no money and stores  were not close, but every one  seemed  
happy though occasionally a squabble broke out.
    This country, school opened the last week in October.  At first there 
were fifteen or sixteen pupils, but later the big boys began coming in and 
that little room became pretty crowded, the teacher did not know who 
was in the house or out, and the more advanced had to help by having 
lessons of less advanced, you heard lessons that had been assigned.
    One of the boys studied Latin . I liked to hear him conjugate those 
Latin verbs.  He did most of the substituting as he was studying for the 
ministry.
    	Some of these boys walked four miles, several six.  There were 
two little girls the oldest ten, the  next eight and a little boy six who 
walked three miles.  They were Evie, Olive and Preston	Griffith,	children 
of Carey Griffith.
    They never missed a day back then there was no nice bus to pick 
them up.  Between their home and the school was Chicot bayou. 
spanned by a bridge, but after a big rain the bayou overflowed and the 
water was deep wading on both sides.  The bridge was way out in the 
water. These children stopped  to consider the situation, when it came to 
going to school the big girl was not to be daunted.
    She took off her shoes and stockings, had the other girl do the 
same, then stripped their little brother, led him across the water nearly to 
his neck, redressed him, put on their shoes and stockings and on to 
school.  They took this in stride as they did other things. These girls 
became teachers of high rank, and the boy an educator in Baton Rouge.
    Books we used were bought by our parents, and descended from 
the oldest child in the family down the line to the youngest as they 
advanced. The same books were used year in and year out. there were 
no changes.
    We had McGuffey's Readers. from Primer to Sixth Reader. 
McGuffey's  Speller, old editions. Robinson's Arithmetic, Mitchell's 
Geography and Smith's Grammar.  Regular writing for everybody as all 
had a slate and a pencil. There were no tablets or lead pencils for 
writing sums.
    At noon the big boys played “Annie Over", and little ones were told 
to keep out of the way or else.  Little boys played "Leap Frog” or fought 
it out.  The little girls played “Ring Around the Rosie", or "Drop the 
Handkerchief." we were left to do what we wanted do what we wanted to, 
no one supervised. The teacher went home for lunch.
    The climax of the day's work was Spelling.  All from the Fourth 
Reader stood in line. The teacher gave out the words from the Speller, 
starting at the head on down the line. If one missed a word the person 
below spelled it and he went up.  Once in a while there'd be an 
argument.
    When all words were spelled, we'd call our numbers starting at the 
head. There was one boy who could not talk plain, his number was 
thirteen, but he said “sirteen", we simpletons thought  that the funniest 
thing we ever heard and giggled over it until school was dismissed a few 
minutes later.
    That was a rabble crowd that went my way.  They'd trip us, stick 
pins in us, batter our heads with dinner buckets, you had to fight to get 
by.  One day a girl snatched me by my which I wore in a plait.  When 
she did this I was the biggest and managed to get a hold on her hair.  I 
do not know who separated us.  That settled so much rowdyism, and no 
one ever looked as if they wanted to pull my hair after that.  Her pa came 
to see my folks about the "trouble" as they called it, and wanted me 
punished.  I thought for sure I was in for a paddling but when they found 
out how it was the trouble blew over.
    I think this school lasted five months. The teacher, Mr. Thomas, 
died  soon after school closed. Some students that went to this school 
the same time as I did were Maggie Tatman, Evie, Olive and Preston 
Griffith, Aaron and Charlie Haas, Marion Sparks, Frank, Otis, and 
Leonard Wharton, Lloyd Compton. Mary and Ed Wolff, Sam. John, and 
Lillian Thomas, Edwin, Cliff, Perk, .John and Tilden Tubre, Charlie and 
Zeno Carpenter, Louis Sudduth, John Forman, Sr., Bud, Aleck, and 
Leon Haas.
    
    (End of Mrs. Rosa Tatman Helmer's story.)