Manitowoc County WI Archives History - Schools .....Franklin Jt. 3 - McKinley ************************************************ 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 31, 2007, 12:10 am FRANKLIN JT. 3 — McKINLEY Bernice O'Hearn Grall Franklin joint 3 school district includes the village of Maple Grove and should be the Maple Grove district. The voters at the annual meeting in 1918, however, wanted to name it in honor of some American president and so the name McKinley was chosen. The Franklin joint No. 3 school district was organized on June 27, 1863, according to township school records on file with the town clerk. It was formed by detaching areas of land from the old Franklin No. 6, from Franklin No. 13, and from Maple Grove No. 10 (formerly the Reedsville district). Several changes have been made to the original boundary lines, for in 1890 a part of section 13 in Maple Grove was attached to this district; in 1895 a part of section 32 in Franklin was detached and added to Cato Jt. 7. The first schoolhouse was a log building on a piece of land owned by John Hogan. The site was about one-half mile south of the present schoolyard. No information is available as to the size of the log structure, but it, no doubt, was a small, one-story building of one room with homemade furniture and a cast iron boxstove. This school is said to have been destroyed by fire in 1874. School was then conducted in a vacant building which was formerly a store located on the present Ambrose O'Hearn farm. Some public school pupils must have attended the parochial school from 1875 to 1879 for the district records show that $100 per year was paid the parochial school, evidently for tuition. On March 21, 1880, a special school meeting was held for the purpose of purchasing a school site. The voters favored a location as near the center of the district as possible. A committee of three voters, composed of Thomas Goggins, Michael Doolan, and William Mullins, was selected to investigate possible sites. They selected the present site in section 30, on county highway G. The schoolboard bought this one-half acre site located adjacent to the St. Patrick congregation cemetery from Thos. Burke for $100 on February 27, 1881. It was not until May 29, 1881, that the voters after much discussion decided to buy the Thos. Mangin hall at Mangin's Corner for $500 for a school house. The agreement made with Mr. Mangin was that he was to move the hall on the school site before August 1, 1881. The building, the present school house, was placed on corner stones 18 inches high. The hall had to be remodeled into a schoolhouse consistent with the times. Bryan Lorrigan, William Mullins, and John O'Hearn were appointed on the building committee. The job of remodeling was let to the lowest bidder who would furnish proper security. The building when remodeled and completed was 24 x 40 x 12 feet with two front doors opening into cloakrooms. The schoolroom was furnished with double desks and seats, a teacher's desk, a heater type stove, and the usual blackboards, maps, and library book cases. The total cost of the building and equipment was about $830. The voters at the annual meeting, usually voted the length of the school term, specified whether a male or female teacher was to be hired, let the bid for furnishing the firewood, and voted for a school officer. Records show that female teachers were usually hired during the 1880's and 1890's. Seventeen cords of maple wood were purchased for $11.55 in 1881. A fence costing $32.75 was erected around the schoolyard in 1887. The specifications were that the posts had to be 8 feet apart, with black ash poles or 2 x 6 inch scantlings placed top of these posts. The fence itself was to be made of pine boards, four boards high., A gateway 12 feet wide for a driveway was to be left at the front of the schoolyard. In 1902, a woodshed was built and shutters were placed on the schoolhouse windows. Before the establishment of the parochial school at Maple Grove in the 1880's, Franklin joint No. 3 had an attendance of 60 to 75 children each year. The town clerk's report to the county superintendent of schools for 1880 shows that 60 pupils were enrolled, but by 1885 the number attending had dropped to 30 out of a school population of 117 children of school age. After that date there were great fluctuations in enrollments every five years. In 1890 there were only 18 pupils enrolled, but by 1895 there were 41 enrolled with an average daily attendance of 22. A total of 14 children with an average daily attendance of 4 were the figures for 1910, while only 4 were enrolled in 1915. During the school term 1917-1918 there were no children enrolled. For that term the teacher came to school in the morning and at noon, rang the bell, and went home for the rest of the day. For that he received $80 per month for eight months. Naturally the voters at the next annual meeting voted to suspend school, but in 1921, the district re-opened the public school for 12 children who maintained an average daily attendance of 3 for the year. In 1923, the number of district children wanting a public education had decreased to such an extent that it was no longer profitable to continue operating the district school. For several years the one or two public school children were educated in the parochial school, but for the past 20 years none of the district children of, grade school age is under public school expense. The first schoolboard members were John Hogan, John Hennessey, and Michael Cain. County records show that John Hogan served as clerk until 1879. Other clerks prior to 1906 were M. Mulcahey, J. J. Mulcahey, James O'Hearn, and John Mullins. Others serving on the board acocrding [sic] to county records were J. P. Sheahan, John Rolland, and John Cummings. The list of names of the teachers who taught the Franklin joint 3 school is incomplete. The county record lists the following as having taught here before 1906: John Mulholland 1872, John P. Sheahan 1874, M. Mulloy 1877, J. W. Corse, 1878, J. P. Donohue 1879, P. H. Long 1894, G. W. Kings 1895, Pat Linane 1896-7, Nellie Walsh 1898, and Lawrence Morrissey 1904-05. The last teacher in 1918 and again in 1921-22 was: James O'Hearn. The preferred nationality of the teacher hired is indicated by the names listed above. During the early 1870's, this district had the distinction of paying the highest wages for teachers in the town of Franklin. John Mulholland in 1872 was paid the magnificent sum of $50 per month! After 1880, the teachers' wages were, average or below average for the township. Eight month terms were common long after the other county schools were maintaining nine month school years. In 1943, the voters at the annual meeting authorized the sale of the unused school building. Bids were, taken but opposition to the sale developed among some district residents and the sale was abandoned. With the passing of years, the old school first erected and used as a dance hall became more and more dilapidated. Finally in the summer of 1947, the voters again decided to put the school building up for sale through bids. Again opposition to the sale developed. A petition signed by about a dozen taxpayers was served on the board in September calling for a special meeting to vote on the question of selling the school property. The special meeting was held at 2 P. M. on October 14, 1947. The vote was 27 to 5 not to sell the school house and site. 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/franklin125gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/wifiles/ File size: 8.1 Kb