Manitowoc County WI Archives History - Schools .....Cato Jt. 9 - Lowell 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com October 27, 2007, 12:46 am

CATO JT. 9 —LOWELL 
Bernice O. Grall



    Cato Jt. 9 has a most complicated and interesting history. The first Cato
Jt. 9 school district was formed in the area which is now the western part of
Cato Jt. 8 consisting of sections 19, 20, and 30 in Cato and sections 23, 24,
25, and 26 in Rockland. The school was said to have been located in Cato on the
old Steiner farm which was located in the NW 1/4 of the SW 1/4 of section 19,
Cato. School was conducted in the private home of a Mr. Boehm. Mr. Boehm was the
teacher according to "old-timers" like Frank Wallander, Martin Rappel, and
Tienors. That district was absorbed by Cato Jt. 8 in 1860 and no Cato No. 9 was
in existence for thirty years.

    Cato Jt. 9 was organized in 1890 and replaced the districts of Cato 2 and
Cato Jt. 5. It embraced all of sections 17 and 18 and parts of sections 7, 8, 9,
16, and 20 in Cato-township, as well as parts of sections 12 and 14 and all of
section 13 in Rockland. Since its organization various pieces of land have been
added and detached.

     Cato Jt. 9 was given the name of Lowell school in 1919 in honor of James R.
Lowell, the famous American poet. The school is located in the S.W. corner of
section 8, township of Cato. The school is often referred to as the Denk school
since it is located across the road from the former Jos. Denk farm. .To others
living in this area of the county it is also known as the south Grimms school,
being located a mile south of Grimms.

    The first schoolhouse for the new district was the old school used by Cato
Jt. 5. In 1891 this building was moved to the present school site of Cato Jt. 9
and used until it was replaced by the present structure in 1924. The present
site was purchased from Henry McCourt for $40 on December 21, 1891 and contains
about one-half acre of land. The old school was repaired and rebuilt at a cost
of $250 while another $500 was spent for additions and repairs in 1900. Some of
the teachers teaching this school from 1891 to 1906 were J. L. Laughlin, Nellie
Laughlin, Bridget O'Dea, and Blanche Laughlin. Some members of the school board
at that time were James Brennan, P. J. McCulley, M. H. Cooney, and Anton
Eigenberger. The first year after the new district was set up the enrollment was
56. The attendance for the next thirty years averaged about 35 to 40 pupils.

    In the spring of 1924, the voters voted to replace the old frame school by
constructing a modern brick building costing approximately $11,215. The old
building and the woodshed were auctioned off for $200. The new school has a full
sized basement with dry toilets, and large play, fuel, and furnace rooms. The
first floor has two large cloakrooms, a large well-lighted classroom, and a
built-in library. The room is equipped with sufficient blackboard space,
bulletin boards, single type adjustable desks, and electric lights which were
installed in spring of 1946. Shortly after the new school was erected, the
attendance began dropping because of the rise of the parochial schools at
Reedsville and Clarks Mills. During the 1940's the attendance has averaged about
ten pupils. Other rural factors, of course, have affected the attendance too. On
February 6, 1948, a special school meeting was held to vote on the question of
suspending school for the 1948-49 term. After due explanation of costs and other
important maintenance factors, the vote was definitely in favor of maintaining
school for another term.

    Early settlers of this community were John and Pat Laughlin, Michael and
James Meany, Hugh Halloran, Michael O'Laughlin, P. Hammond, David Mason, John
Lyons, Geo. Hardgrove, M. O'Dea, Dan O'Brien, James Nelson, Jerry Murphy, and
Edmund Burke. The many former students of the old districts and of the new
combined district became prominent in agriculture, business and the professions.
The district has no places of scenic or historical interest.


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 


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