Manitowoc-Brown County WI Archives History - Schools .....Franklin Jt. 14 - Menchalville ************************************************ 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, 5:40 pm FRANKLIN JT. 14 — MENCHALVILLE Rita W. Tisler Franklin joint district number 14 officially became, the Menchalvile [sic] district in 1918. The school house is now located one-half mile east of Menchalville in section 4, town of Franklin. Franklin No. 14 was organized on November 8, 1856, on order of N. A. Harris, town superintendent of schools. Franklin at that time consisted of the present townships of Franklin and Cato. Since Franklin No. 14 was the first school, district organized in the northern half of the present Franklin township, many changes have occurred to its original boundaries as the present districts surrounding it were organized. The original Franklin No. 14 consisted of sections 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 15, and 16. It was not until 1896 that this district became joint with the town of Cooperstown, and not until 1914 that it became joint with the township of Morrison in Brown County. Today this area is a joint school district, joint with Cooperstown and Morrison. The first log schoolhouse was erected soon after the district was organized. It was built across the road from the present school, site. Old timers remember this school as a small building with shuttered windows and equipped with pioneer schoolroom furniture. The old log building was destroyed by fire about 1883. In 1884, a special school meeting was called to vote a new school. The residents, keenly interested in providing an education for their children, voted that a hewn log building 32 x 22 feet be erected. A new school site, the present one, was also voted. The building was erected at a total cost of $457 and was equipped with desks and benches 7 feet long. The blackboards were just "black" boards. The building was lighted with windows from the entrance and the long sides. A boxstove supplied as much heat as it could. The other equipment consisted of a pail and dipper, a wood-box, and a teacher's desk. The small schoolyard was fenced off from the road by a board fence in 1890. After having served the district for about 20 years, the second building was torn down and the logs used for a new school. The third schoolhouse was constructed in 1901. The old logs were placed upright to form the walls of the new school and covered on the outside with siding while the interior was lathed and plastered. This building, about 24 x 36 feet, had three windows on each of the long sides and a center one to the front. Two doors from an open wooden porch lead directly into the two separate cloakrooms — one for the boys and one for the girls. The space between the two cloakrooms was a part of the schoolroom in which the old boxstove and shelves for the lunch buckets were located. Since the blackboards and recitation benches were at the opposite end of the room, the teachers had to take time out between classes to thaw out by the stove during the winter months. On many a cold day, all classes were held around the stove. The third school boasted of patented double desks, a library case, and a bell tower. The building was sold and dismantled in 1940. The fourth and present brick schoolhouse was erected in 1940 at a cost of $5,600. It has a full basement with a fuel room, a heating and ventilating plant, and a playroom. The main floor consists of an east entry with steps leading to the basement and to the cloak and classrooms. The eastern part of the building also houses a combination cloakroom and separate chemical-type lavatories. The classroom, about 30 x 36 feet, has a well-built library along the south wall, with the blackboards on the north wall. Window lighting is from the left and rear of the room. Modern, single desks replaced those used in the old school. Electric lights were installed in the winter of 1947. The schoolgrounds which at first consisted of one acre was added to in 1912 when about 1/4 acre was purchased from Jos. Wiesner. In 1940, another 1/8 acre was purchased from Ed. Spurney to the west. Today the grounds have well laid out playground equipment and play areas. Franklin Jt. 14 has always had a one-room-school. The Menchalville school did not have extremely large enrollments until the early 1900's. Records on file in the county superintendent's office indicate that only 45 pupils attended in 1870. After single terms were held, the enrollment averaged from 35 to 60 yearly. By 1895, only 53 out of a school census of 110 children attended school. Today the school census has dropped to between 50 and 60 children of school age with about half that number attending the district school. Franklin district No. 14 is now settled largely by Bohemians, but Irish settlers were among the first to come to this area. The township assessment roll of 1856 lists Mich. Rolland, Pat Hart, Mich. Joyce, Miles McMahon, John Hayden, Pat Keehan, Steve O'Neil, R. Grady, R. Collins, and Pat Barrett. Stephen Menchal, after whom the crossroad village is named, settled here in the early 1890's. He operated the first postoffice for the community until the coming of the rural free delivery. Today the names of Menchal, Shebesta, Slager, Ramiker, Tisler, Stedl, Sauer, Stradal, Rolland, Kopidlansky, and Korinek as well as others are common to the district. The many graduates have become prominent in their own local communities. The voters of this district always have selected prominent leaders of the community for their school officers. Richard Rolland is listed as the clerk from 1870 to about 1890. After that Jos. Haas senior and junior served in that capacity from about 1890 to 1940. Other district residents on the Board prior to 1906 were Richard Collins, Jos. Decker, Dennis Grady, Matt Shimek, and Stephen Menchal, who served as treasurer of the Board for 27 years. School records date back to 1870. The list of names of teachers reported to this office was incomplete. John Judge, who lived in the district, taught this school in 1870 to 1872 during the winter terms. For the summer terms, Mary Cummings taught those years. After 1873, single terms of five or six months were held. Teachers up to 1906 on record in the superintendent's office were: 1874 Pat Lynch; 1876 P. H. Hewitt; 1877-8 Chas. Whelan; 1879 John F. Sims; 1880 Joanna O'Connor; 1895-6 Maggie Taugher; 1897-8 Anna Muench; 1904 John O'Connors; 1905 Walter O'Connell. A later teacher, Jos. J. Rappel, became county superintendent of schools. Franklin Jt. 14 has no places of historical or scenic interest. The rolling hills and level lands are dotted with well-built farm buildings. The crossroad village serves the surrounding community as a restricted trading area. The pride that the district takes in its school is reflected in the modern structure and the conveniences which the citizens have provided for the children of the community. 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/franklin131gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/wifiles/ File size: 7.6 Kb