Manitowoc County WI Archives History - Schools .....Cato 11 - Whitelaw ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/wi/wifiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com October 27, 2007, 1:26 am CATO 11—WHITELAW Suspended Cato school district number 11 was officially named the Whitelaw school in 1918 because it includes the village of Whitelaw. According to the county assessment rolls, this district was organized about 1854 by a mixture of nationalities upon order of A. D. Knapp, town superintendent of schools. That was when the town of Cato was still a part of the Maple Grove township. In 1855, this district became Franklin No. 11, and in 1857, it became the present Cato No. 11. Early written school records have been destroyed. The first clerk's record books and papers were lost when the Vitus Wiegert home was destroyed by fire. The treasurer's book dates back to 1900. A history of the first school buildings was obtained from Ignatz Grall, an old-timer in the district. He attended the public school in the 1870's and 1880's. He also served as school clerk at the turn of the century. Mr. Grail was unable to remember the first building used for school purposes from 1854 to 1872. It is supposed that a log building, rudely furnished for school purposes, was used. The first books were those brought to the district by the pioneer settlers. The second schoolhouse was a private house purchased from the father of Ignatz Grall for about $200. It was a log structure about 20 x 26 feet. It was moved to the present school site on the northwest corner of the southwest quarter of section 7, town of Cato, on a site purchased from Martin Wollenberg. Ignatz Grall remembers the school as being furnished with homemade seats and desks, each large enough to accommodate six pupils. The room was heated with a box stove. The woodbox was kept well filled with chunks of wood two and three feet long. The usual dipper and pail supplied the water which was carried to school from a nearby farm. County records show that Sander's readers and spellers and Ray's arithmetics were in use from 1870 to 1900. Those were truly the days of readin', 'ritin', and 'rithmetic. After the old log school had served its purpose, it was sold to the father of Vitus Wiegert for about $50. He dismantled the building and hauled it to his home, constructing a log barn or shed for his cattle from the timber. The third and present frame school building was erected in 1894 at a cost of about $415. It is about 24 x 28 feet with three windows on each long side. Two windows at the front light the one cloakroom which extends across the entire entrance way. A lean-to woodshed was later built on to the rear of the schoolhouse. The school was equipped with a heating-ventilating system, plenty of blackboards, a well-stocked library, and other necessary teaching-learning aids, required of schools in operation in the early 1900's. The Whitelaw district has always been affected by the parochial school in the village. It is said that the first private parochial school was held in the large front room of the present George Fischer home north of the village. About 1879, a log school was built at the site of the present parochial school next to St. Michael's church. The log building had only one schoolroom with small living quarters for the nuns above the schoolroom. The present four-room parochial school was built about 1906. The public school attendance had always been limited to pupils of non-Catholic families and to the younger and the more mature youngsters living nearby. The average attendance during the early 1900's was about 15 pupils yearly. By 1931, only four children were enrolled so the voters at the annual-meeting voted to suspend further operation of the district school and to transport the few pupils to nearby public schools. This community was settled by a mixture of nationalities. For that reason, evidently, no school terms to teach a certain language other than English were held. Early land owners, according to the 1860 assessment roll, were Martin Friedenberger, Wm. Baker, L. W. Dunham, John and Wolfgang Brandl, John Grall, Jos. Fischer, Andrew and Jos. Pankratz, Maurice Lawler, and M. Fenton. Two well-known residents of the early 1900's were Simon Wehrwein and Geo. Schadeberg, Sr. Other district residents became prominent farmers and businessmen in this and other communities. Some of the known school board members were Martin Wollenberg and Wolfgang Seidl in the 1870's and 80's, and William Kiel, Ignatz Grall, Frank Zipperer, Anton Vogel, John Drews, Anton and F. A. Kohlbeck, and Vitus Wiegert from 1890 to 1906. Cato No. 11 was among the early schools maintaining a single term yearly. As early as 1872, the records show that six month terms beginning in November and ending in May were held. There were short vacation periods between three-month sessions but no such system as winter and summer terms. The list of the names of teachers is incomplete. Frequent changes in teachers were made because of the fact that average or below average wages were paid. Teachers in the 1870's, as recorded in the Teachers' Book in the county superintendent's office, were Josie Howarth, Celia Fitzmaurice, Ella Ross, Chas. J. Hutchinson, and Adolph Jones. Those serving in the 1880's are unknown. Ella Jaeckel, Louise Pitz, Chas. Vogel, Nell Laughlin, Lillian Savage, Elma Hanson, Nell Sadlier, Thos. Reddin, Mollie Sheahan, and Theodora Johnson were known to have taught this school sometime between 1894 to 1908. Others remembered as former teachers were Albert Guttmann, Jos. Seidl, and Wm. Dunbar. During the days of town and county contests in spelling, adding, language, and other subjects, this district actively participated, but because of the low enrollment the pupils were handicapped when competing with larger schools. "Spelling bees" were held in the school as were seasonal programs put on by the children for then-parents and friends. Baseball games were popular in due season, for Geo. Schadeberg remembers playing ball among the pine stumps on the schoolground. The Whitelaw district was at first a pure farming community. The early settlers cleared the land of stands of pine which they hauled to Manitowoc or floated down the Manitowoc River. One of the finest stands of pine in Manitowoc county still remains on the present Highway 10. Today the district is a prosperous agricultural business area settled largely by people of one denomination who send their children to the village parochial school for an education. The public school, closed in 1931, still stands and is opened once per year for the purpose of holding the annual school meeting. Additional Comments: Extracted from: 1848 - 1948 CENTENNIAL HISTORY of the Manitowoc County School Districts and Public School System EDITED BY JOS. J. RAPPEL, COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS 1948 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/wi/manitowoc/history/schools/cato11wh69gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/wifiles/ File size: 7.3 Kb