Gregg Co. TX School Days In Gladewater - 1901 Subsmitted by Elaine ,martin-elaine@lycos.com or Sharon Pierce ,tdsfw@aol.com ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. ************************************************************************ School Days In Gladewater - 1901 This was the day of slates and tin buckets. There was plenty of country ham, biscuits and bottles of syrup to pack in the lunch pails. Baked sweet potatoes and tea cakes were common, and for rare treats, fried fruit pies were added, and milk was carried in bottles. When lunch time arrived, groups were formed and lunches were spread together, picnic style. Most of the children came from rural areas, and had to walk, some for miles. They were happy when the weather turned bad, then they could stay in town with some of their friends. The bad weather might last a week and the "made-down" beds remained until the weather cleared up. The girl's wore calico dresses and sunbonnets. Because the dresses were difficult to iron, and they had very few dresses, they learned to take extra good care of them. They were carefully removed and hung up as soon as they arrived home. They could wear that dress for a week, if they were careful. The Gladewater school building in 1901, was located at the present elementary school campus, and was a two story frame building. The downstairs was divided by two long halls that separated the four large drafty classrooms. The upper story was an assembly room that was used as an indoor play room on rainy days. The school superintendent was J Henry Smith. In 1907 when Gregg County became an independent school district, superintendent Smith was elected to serve as the first county superintendent. Some of the students in 1901 were: Katie Lee Everett Edna Richey Robe Victory Wallace Norton Mary Hamilton Lee Wascom Alice Sheppard Dickson Annie Murphy Albert Murphy Virgil Allison Belle Armstrong Oma Allison Ida Allison Exa Allison Bell Vesta Shepperd Hawkins Alton Brazzil Euna Allison Minnie Clements Sam Wright Lucy Wright Virginia Tapp Craig Victory Ashford Hendrix Mary Tapp Augusta Johnston Chater Sandefer A F (Doc) Shepperd Ethel York Ralph Watkins Lena Walker Florence Shepperd Ruby Bruce Key Dell Everett Reuben Victory Bert Norton Bray From loose papers at the Gladewater Library. This page was created by Sharon Pierce & Elaine Martin on 7-3-2000. Copyright © 2000 by Sharon Pierce & Elaine Martin.