BRONTE SCHOOL BEGAN AS OSO IN LATE 80s - Coke County, TX Contributed by Jo Collier 7 September 2003 Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/tx/txfiles.htm *********************************************************************** BRONTE SCHOOL BEGAN AS OSO IN LATE 80s From Historical & Progress Edition of the Bronte Enterprise issued at Bronte, Texas, September 3, 1964. By Mrs. Jessie Newton Yarbrough Chairman, Coke County Historical Survey Committee Bronte School has not always had easy sledding, but patrons have always met emergencies with chins up and a forward look. Bronte School had its beginning as did most schools in pioneer settlements. No bonds were issued. Instead, the fathers raised the necessary funds for materials, hauled the lumber, and with their own hands erected the small one-room, boxed and stripped building which housed the first school. Twelve years ago (when this writer was attempting to compile the history of Coke County) only a few "old Timers" could remember the name and exact location of the old school. Some of the "Old Timers" called the school "Oso," while others called it "Bronc" or Broncho." Whether you refer to the school as "Oso" or "Bronc" or Bronte, it is all one and the same; however, the official name of the original school was OSO. the records in the office of the County Judge and Ex-Officio School Superintendent list the school as OSO, District 4, Coke County. It was recorded as OSSO as late as 1895; however, it was probably called Bronte from the time the Bronte P.O. was establisted. According to the memory of the Old Timers, the school was actually built a few months before Coke county was organized and while the area was still a part of Tom Green County; however, the earliest records were burned; therefore, the first available record (1891) refers to the school at Dist. 4, Coke County. The first settlers in the area were ranchers attracted to the open- range country in the early 1880's. Homes were too isolated and transportation too slow for the children to be assembled for school purposes. It was in 1888 that the OSO school was established, with Mr. Madison McCutchen as the first teacher. OSO Schol was located west of East Kickapoo Creek near where Highway 70 (No US 277) crosses the East Kickapoo. No Old Timer could give the total enrollment of the school. None questioned was willing to guess the average daily attendance. The upgraded school's curriculum consisted of the 3-R's and little else. They did not have uniform texts. The students studied whatever texts happened to be available, and each progressed according to his inate ability and his willingness to work. According to the late Mr. Forest Clark, the second teacher was Mr. J. N. Bullard. Mr. Bullard was followed by J. A. Carter, W. B. Jones, F. K. Poppplewell, and J. D. Jowers in that order. According to Mr. R. E. (Eddy) Cumbie, the school was moved in 1890 to a site very near but slightly west of the present school building. Mr. J. A. Carter was the teacher at that time. The curriculum had been expanded to include some geography, grammer, and history. The school was still ungraded and progress remained on an individual basis. Commissioner's Court records reveal that "qualified voters of Coke County" were appointed t hold trustee elections on the first Saturday in June, 1891, for ten school districts in the county. Those appointed for OSO, District 4, were J. B. McCutchen, L. H. Creswell, and J. F. Clark. Settlers, including farmer-homesteaders, were coming faster in the early 1890's. School enrollment increased so much in 1894-95, during Mr. Popplewell's tenure, an assistant, Miss Janie Stewart, was employed for two and one-half months. Since the school stil had only one room, Mr. Popplewell held classes in one end of the building, while Miss Stewart taught in the other end. Records were still in the name of "OSO." The County Superintendent's records lists six vouchers paid to F. K. Popplewell for $49.00, $47.50; $50.00; $55.00; and $43.15 - the last on Aug. 17, 1895. Miss Stewart was paid in three vouchers - $35.00 on Feb. 22, 1895; $35.00 one April 2, 1895; and $17.50 on August 18, 1895. Evidently money was slow. By 1899, the school enrollment had increased until more room became a necessity. According to Mr. R. E. Cumbie, bonds were issued, and two rooms were added across one end of the building, making a three-room, T shaped building. The late Mrs. W. L. Hayley said, "Since the Masonic Lodge needed a meeting place, the Masons, cooperating with the school board, added an upstairs room which was used by the lodge. Also the various church organizations held services in the building." Then tradedy struck. School was scheduled to open in October, but the schoolhouse burned to the ground before the opening date. There was some difference of opinion among Old Timers as to the exact date of the fire. The late Mrs. Larkin Hayley said, "Mr. P. S. Stark, an Ex-Confederate soldier, a Presbyterian and a very fine man, was superintendent of the Union Sunday School held in the school building and attended by all the community. The Baptist and Methodist each had services once a month in the schoolhouse. It burned to the ground the 1st Sunday in September, just after services. The people living near by tried to put out the fire, but with no equipment and no water nearer than the creek, it was impossible." (Mrs. Hayley believed that the building had been built by public subscription.) Mr. Eddy Cumbie said, "The Methodists held services at eleven o'clock on Sunday," and he and his brothers saw smoke from the fire about three o'clock in the afternoon. "School was to open the next day," Mr. Eddy said. There was no insurance on the building. The district was unable to float bonds, so it was up to the community to meet the emergency head- on. The late Mrs. Hayley said, "Rev. R. M. Cumbie, a Baptist minister and great leader in the community, called the people together to see what could be done to build another schoolhouse. We decided to build by organizing a stock company and selling stock at $25.00 per share . . . We built a much better school building than we had . . . When finished, we lacked $700.00 or $800.00 having enough money to pay it out. It was insured against fire and wind. In a year or two a bad sandstorm with a terrific wind came and nearly blew it down. The top was pushed over about four feet and walls sagged. The insurance company paid $1000.00 damage. That enabled us to fix it up and pay off to the lumber company the note which all had signed. Several years later when they organized the independent school district, the State gave us our money back on the stock for the building and grounds. Of course, we had drawn no dividend nor interest on it." Other leaders in the stock company included Dr. W. F. Key, J. B. McCutchen and Lee Good. Only one "Certificate of Stock" of the issue is known to be in existence. Mr. Eddy Cumbie has it. (See accompanying photos.) The certificate is for two shares at $25.00 each. It was issued to R. M. Cumbie on the 22nd day of January, 1900. On that date, Mr. Cumbie had paid $12.50. He had paid another $12.50 in April and the remaining $25.00 in November. (It must have been a real sacrifice for a farming minister with a large family to support to raise that amount. No doubt many others made real sacrifices to help meet the emergency.) A bountiful crop in 1906 and the coming of the K.C.M. & O. Railroad about 1907 put Bronte on a boom. The town was moved, but that is a different story. Under the leadership of Mr. J. B. Reilly, a banker, Bronte organized an independent school district in 1907, a little less than five miles square and containing twenty-three square miles. The new district floated a $6,000.00 bond issue for the construction of a new school building. The native stone building contained six classroms and a completed in 1908. Mr. W. E. (Edgar) Lockhart was the first superintendent to teach in the new stone building. Bronte took on another building program in 1922, when bonds totaling $21,000.00 were issued and the north section of the present building was erected. The building contained two stories above ground level plus a basement. It contained fifteen classrooms, an office and an auditorium. Jacketed coal stoves were used to heat the building. In 1931, a move to consolidate schools gained momentum. A grouping election was held for the purpose of forming a Rural High School at Bronte. The districts to be grouped were Bronte Independent, Cow Creek Consolidated Common School District (comprised of the Cow Creek, Indian Creek and Mineral Springs), Fort Chadbourne, Hayrick and Union Common School Districts. The grouping movement caused much controversy and some hard feelings. Results of the election ordered March 14, 1931, for and against grouping were: Against For Against Bronte Independent . . . . . . . 239 19 Cow Creek . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 24 Fort Chadbourne . . . . . . . . . 4 54 Hayrick . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 24 Union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 29 Total votes . . . . . . . . . . . 278 149 An annexation election on July 14, 1931, brought Juniper into the Bronte Rural H.S. Dist. Bronte voted 102 for with only one against. Juniper voted 29 for and 24 against - the first of the small rural schools to approve consolidation by their vote. Through the grouping and annexation moves, the old 23 sq. mi. district was enlarged to 158.32 sq. mi. Other consolidations with Bronte at later daates were Marie Common School District of Runnels County and Tennyson Common School District. Also Brookshire and Oak Creek came to Bronte on a contract basis. The consolidation was ended when Mays became part of Bronte District Aug. 20, 1948. Bronte Consolidated Rural School became Bronte Independent School district in 1934. The curriculum was enriched. Vocational Agriculture was added in 1931, with Mrs. R. R. Petty as the Ag teacher. Typing was added in 1934. Other courses were added from time to time. With the enlarged district, the increased enrollment and the expanded curriculum, Bronte once more was faced with a new need for more space and better facilities. In 1935, a $20,000.00 bond issue provided funds for remodeling and new construction, which was done under the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works. In spite of the enlarged district, enrollment and average daily attendance (ADA) declined steadily from 1934 to 1950. During that period, enrollment in the high school ddropped from 139 in 1934-35 to 67 in 1950-51, with the ADA dropping from 123 to 64. Total membership for the school (H.S. and Elem.) for 1934-35 was 514, with ADA 481. In 1950-51 total membership had dropped to 339 with and ADA of 317. Exodus from the rural areas to the cities explains the decline. One extreme example of this exodus is to be found in the records of the old Hayrick district, now a part of Bronte district. Hayrick once had an enrollment of 91 with an average daily attendance of 72. Today, there is not even one child of scholastic age residing in the old Hayrick district. No doubt there are few scholastics in other rural districts. The discovery of oil in Rawlings No. 1, on July 17, 1948, and subsequent development in the oil and gas industries painted a new economic picture for Bronte School; however, stringent limitation of oil allowables has hurt, and the ADA of scholastics remains a problem. Bronte has 27 accredited H.S. Units and a faculty of 18 well qualified teachers. Bronte graduates give a god account of themselves in college and as citizens of the community. Last spring when the problems seemed acute and rumors were flying, the community held a mass meeting to clarify the situation. As usual, Bronte rose to the occasion, pledging to take "whatever" steps were necessary to maintain a first class school "in" Bronte. BRONTE SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS OR HEAD TEACHERS Copied from the Bronte Enterprise, Sept. 3, 1964 1888-89 - Madison McCutchen 1889-90 - O. N. Bullard 1890-92 - H. T. Carter 1892-95 - W. B. Jones 1895-96 - F. K. Popplewell 1899-03 - J. D. Jowers 1903-04 - W. P. Leslie 1904-05 - N. R. Thomas 1905-07 - S. M. Evans 1907-09 - W. E. Lockard (Lockhart) 1909-14 - J. W. Skinner 1914-16 - E. H. Hankins 1916-17 - J. B. Glaze 1917-18 - Wm. (Bill) Hall 1918-20 - D. E. Renfro 1920-21 - J. R. Haliburton 1921-25 - J. H Hollingsworth 1925-29 - W. R. Hardy 1929-32 - John Armstrong 1932-34 - E. H. Hankins 1934-35 - C. R. Owens 1935-38 - Nathan Johnson 1938-41 - B. B. Covery 1941-45 - B. F. Kirk 1945-48 - Jeff Dean 1948-54 - O. K. Wolfenbarger 1955-59 - Garland Black 1959-Present - C. B. Barbee Permission granted by the Observer/Enterprise for Publication in the Coke County TXGenWeb Archives.