Manitowoc County WI Archives History - Schools .....Franklin 1 - Grassy Knoll ************************************************ 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 30, 2007, 11:56 pm FRANKLIN 1 —GRASSY KNOLL Marie F. Duggan Franklin district No. 1 was named the Grassy Knoll school in 1918 by the pupils because the school is situated on a grassy knoll near the N. W. corner of section 20, Franklin. Prior to this it was often referred to as the Stoker school because of the connections that members of that family had with the school. Today Franklin residents call this the Phillips or the Mangin school because it is located near those farmsteads. In 1856, according to the township assessment roll, this district was Franklin No. 6 and consisted of sections 6-7-17-18-19-30. On April 20, 1859, Patrick Hogan, the town superintendent of schools, changed this district number to Franklin No. 1 (See Franklin township records). A few years later, Franklin districts number 2 and 3 were set up and certain areas of Franklin No. 1 were detached to become parts of those districts. Today the Grassy Knoll district is a very irregular area in western Franklin township .The land on which the school is located was granted to the state of Wisconsin by the United States on Nov. 28, 1848. Paul Mangin, Sr. on February 12, 1867, purchased the property from the state. The first schoolhouse, a log building, was erected in the 1850's. There are no records of its size and general construction. The equipment consisted, of crude homemade furniture common to the early pioneer schools. At the first election, Alanson Hickok was elected chairman. This school served the district until 1890 when the present building was erected. The old schoolhouse was sold to Joseph Krummel, Sr. and removed to the farm to be used as a granary. The present frame school was built in 1890 by Tom Brown, assisted by George Kupsch, for $500. He supplied all of the necessary lumber and labor for the structure. The furniture then consisted of large homemade seats and desks, large enough to seat four pupils each. The children used slates and slate pencils, with the blackboards being "black" boards. The schoolhouse is about 24 x 28 feet, one-story high. There is no basement, and the main floor consists of a classroom and two entry-cloakrooms. Four windows on each of the long sides supplies the light for the classroom. The interior walls and ceiling are covered with tin. A few cupboards fail to care for the hundreds of books and texts now piled in various parts of the building. A stove, without provisions for ventilation, heated the schoolroom. Single and double desks of the unadjustable type were used. Up to 1946 a large school bell on the roof called the children to their classes. This bell was removed in the interests of safety and for other reasons. Franklin No. 1 was one of the very few county districts maintaining a school without electric lights and most other modern conveniences. The enrollment has fluctuated with the years, but the winter attendance was for years greater, for then the older boys and girls from the farms and from the parochial school at Maple Grove attended. The erection of St. Patrick's school seriously affected the enrollment in Franklin No. 1. County records show that the highest enrollment occurred in the 1870's when the average attendance was 65 pupils. For the rest of the period up to 1906 the average has been between 30 and 50 yearly. Although only five pupils attended in the 1930's, the school remained in continuous operation until the fall of 1947. Faced with demands for extensive modern improvements, the voters in the spring of 1947 voted to discontinue operating the school to transport the few pupils to the Menchalville school. The names of the early settlers are still prevalent in this community. District and county records list these as the pioneer Irish settlers: John Touhey, Pat Murphy, John Flanagan, Theo. Morrissey, James and Pat Mullane, James and David Long, John Doolan, Tom Goggins, Robert Cummings, John Hennessey, Pat Mullins, Dennis Shea, Wm. Playfair, Peter Stoker, the Corrigans, Enrights, Hartnetts, and Hickok. Playfair and Hickok served on the county board from 1850 to 1860, while Peter Stoker represented the town from 1878 to 1884. A later resident, Tom Sullivan, also was town chairman and later an assemblyman. Peter Falvey, a district resident, is the present town chairman. A number of the pupils of this school at the turn of the century became teachers. Among them were Elizabeth Cohan, Edward O'Hearn, Helen Falvey, James O'Hearn, Peter Falvey, and James Doolan. More recent district residents who became teachers were Lucille and Mary Daley, Marie and Wm. Falvey, Margaret Cohan, Marie Harlow, and Veronica Nate. Other well-known former residents are James Sullivan, a government inspector; Rev. E. A. Radey, pastor of Holy Innocents at Manitowoc; and Jos. Kupsch, an eastern sales representative. The district has always put its leading citizens on the schoolboard. Their duties were to hire the teacher, provide for the best in teaching and learning conditions, and to handle the financial affairs of the district. Among the school officers serving before 1910 were James Mullane, Peter Stoker, Wm. Playfair, Jos. Kupsh, Dan Mangin, Pat O'Hearn, Alfred Stoker, and Tom Sullivan, Jos. Baroun Sr., John Philip, John Radey, and Dan Falvey. Franklin No. 1 maintained, summer and winter terms of school until 1873. The winter sessions were from November to April, while the summer session of three months lasted from May to August. At one time this district paid the highest wages of all the Franklin districts, but in general the salaries have been average or below average. The first nine month term was held in 1898. The teachers' names on record in the county office are: Agnes Classen 1872, Mary French 1872-3, G. W. Johnson 1873, Jere Falvey 1874, Angeline Heath 1876, Celia Fitzmaurice 1877-8, Mary Maloney 1879, Katie Mullins 1894-5, Mamie Guhin 1896-8, and Anna B. Morrissey 1904-05. Others who taught here before 1906 were Chas. Whalen, James Corrigan, Neal Mulcahy, Patrick Guhin, Joseph Morrissey, and Bertie Goggin. The texts used in the 1870's and 80's were Sanders readers and spellers, Monthieth's geography, Phineas and later on Kerr's grammars, Wilson and Swinton's histories, and Ray's arithmetic. Robinson's arithmetic and McGuffey's readers were also used in the first pioneer school. At the turn of the century, it was customary to hold spelling bees in the winter with neighboring schools. Contestants would be selected, and to add greater interest, the young men and women of the district were invited to take part. These contests began by singing "America". Each school had a school yell which was used to the fullest extent by the winners. At the close of the school term the pupils and their parents enjoyed a public picnic and dance. Assembly at the schoolhouse at 9 A. M., the closing day would begin with a program of recitations and songs. Then a parade to the Nate cheese factory was in order. From there conveyances were provided to transport the merrymakers to Zahorik's dance hall at Taus. There dinner was served by the teacher and parents. In the afternoon a program was given, while the evening was devoted to dancing, with music furnished by Frank Rathsack, Fred Stoker, Albert Radey, and Albert Yohanek. In later years, school fairs were popular. The Branch river flows through the district. Along this stream on the Edward Brown, Paul Mangin, and Anton Rathsack farms, Indians made their homes in conical wigwams during the summer months. The old settlers exchanged their farm produce for venison and tallow with the Indians. Many of the settlers attended their pow-pows which often were noisy affairs because the redskins were under the influence of the white man's "firewater". Remains of their fireplaces were but recently obliterated. A short distance east of the school was the site of a sawmill operated by Peter Stoker. This mill was in operation until the turn of the century when the Stoker farmstead was sold and the family removed to Glen Flora. The mill was dismantled and taken to the new family location. The first cheese factory in the western section of the township was erected upon the present Phillip farmstead by Peter Stoker and James Mullane. The present "old-timers" recall the day when they were patrons of the factory, when milk was delivered by oxen. In later years the Nate factory was established and flourished for years but is now out of existence too. A brick yard was established in the early 1900's by Joseph Baroun Sr. and Frank Rathsack upon the property of the former. The pits and kiln still remain. Today Franklin No. 1 is a quiet, prosperous community of farms. 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/franklin123gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/wifiles/ File size: 9.4 Kb