Manitowoc County WI Archives History - Schools .....Gibson 5 - Lakeside School ************************************************ 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 November 2, 2007, 12:45 am GIBSON 5 -LAKESIDE SCHOOL Emma Rehbein Gibson district No. 5 was given the name of Lakeside because it is located near the shores of Mott's, Ording's, and Herman's lakes. By old-timers it is often referred to as the Mott school because of the close connections that three generations of Motts had with this school. This district was set up about 1859 according to district records. When Mishicot and Gibson were one township up to 1858, the present Gibson No. 5 was parts of Mishicot school districts numbers 6, 8, and 10 according to the Mishicot assessment roll of 1858. After Gibson became a township this area became Gibson No. 5. At present the district consists of parts of sections 17, 18, 19, and 20, all in Gibson. The land on which the school is now located was purchased by Henry Taylor from the government in 1850 at $1.25 per acre. It was sold to Felix Walsch in 1853 and in turn to James Hunter in 1857. On January 26, 1861, James Hunter leased one-half acre of the S. E. corner of the SE 1/4 of section 18 to Gibson No. 5 for school purposes for $5.25. The first schoolhouse was a frame building located on the present Jos. Ramesch farm adjacent to the present school site. No record is given as to its size or cost. The schoolroom furniture was crude and locally made. There were no blackboards. The teacher's salary was about $9 a month, and the total expense of running the school for a year was about $59. When the second school was built, the old structure was used as a home for a short time and is now used as a granary. The second frame schoolhouse was located on the present school site. No report was given as to what year this was erected, but it is believed to have been before 1870 because no record of expenditure for a new building is made in the town clerk's reports to county superintendent of schools from 1870 to 1889. Nothing is known regarding the size, cost, and other interesting construction facts. The building was furnished as crudely as the first school was. The members of the building committee were Jason Pellet, Michael Smith, Jim Hunter, and John McMullen. When this building was abandoned, the lumber was used to build the woodshed. The third and present school was voted for at the annual school meeting held July 28, 1888. The voters decided to raise $200 to build the new school, and Harry Wood was chosen as the building contractor. The structure was to be brick-veneered, 22 x 24 feet and cost about $1,000. Ralph Peterson and George Mott were appointed as members of the building committee. Residents received $3 per thousand for hauling brick and lumber, and $2 per day for short hauls. After this school was in operation the walls were whitewashed and the room cleaned yearly for $3. By 1911, it cost $25 to do the same work plus cleaning up the schoolyard. Cordwood was obtained for firewood in 1882 for 69 cents, but by 1907 the price had risen to $2.40 per cord.A well was dug for about $40 in 1897. Evidently this water supply was unsatisfactory for in 1907, at a school meeting, $300 was raised for digging a well. In 1910, a new woodshed was built, and in 1915, the sum of $400 was raised to build an eight foot addition to the front of the school. This addition was and is now used as the cloakroom for the boys and girls. The front porch was added to the building a few years later. The schoolhouse now is 22 x 32 feet in size and has one large classroom and a cloakroom. There is no basement, so a floor furnace furnishes heat and ventilation. Cross-lighting, that is window lighting from both sides of the room, is prevalent. The room equipment consists of modern seats and desks, a built in library space, plenty of black and bulletin board space, and much of the best learning and teaching aids. The other schoolyard buildings consist of a woodshed and outdoor toilets. Some playground equipment is available. During the first fifty years of this school, boys and girls from six to twenty years of age attended. The older pupils attended in winter and stayed home to help on the farm when the weather was favorable. The records in the county office show that this was never a very large school. In 1870 there were 51 pupils enrolled. The average from that time to 1905 was between 35 and 45, although the records show that in 1880, for some unexplained reason, the enrollment was only 17. Parochial schools have little effect on the attendance in this school, yet other rural factors have decreased the enrollment to an average of about 12 for the past few years. The early settlers consisted of a mixture of nationalities, as the following family names will denote: Jason Pellet, Henry Taylor, Benedict Meyer, Felix Walsch, Michael Smith, Jim Hunter, John McMullen, Charles Johnson, and Christian Nelson. In more recent years, new families have moved into the district and a few family names of the early residents remain. Some graduates since 1910 who have become teachers are Edward Ramesh, Viola Ording, and John Kunz. The first school officers of 1859 were Charles Johnson, Jason Pellet, and Christian Nelson. Others who served from 1872 to 1906 were Clerk John Johnson 1872 to the 1880's; Forrest Palmiter, Ralph Peterson, and Frank Kriwanek from about 1888 to 1894; and Peter Bartelme, D. Strouf, and Martin Nelson from 1896 to 1906. Wenzel Ramesh and later his son have held the office of school treasurer since 1904. The records kept by some past county superintendents prior to 1906 indicate that shorter terms of schools were held yearly than in most schools nearby. The teachers' salaries also were below average, consequently frequent changes in the teacher personnel were evident. The names of teachers on record are: Lottie M. Walker 1872, James B. Monaghan 1873, James L. Stitt 1874, Genie Clark taught 3 months in 1875, Hattie Richter 1876, Etta Solberg 1877, C. C. Blake 1878, Mary E. Burke 1879, Martha Thomson 1888, Hiram Fortier 1895-96, Jos. J. Gruber 1897, George Terens 1898, and Amanda Knutson 1904-05. The town clerks' reports to the county superintendent of schools state that Sanders spellers and readers, Rays arithmetic, Montieths geography, Pinneas and Kerls grammars, and Swintons history were used before 1900. Emphasis was put upon the teaching of the "three R's". There are school records that indicate that some books were read at least three times during the school term. By 1915, the school had only 239 library books. Because of the many lakes and streams in this area, the earliest settlers supplemented their earnings by trapping and hunting fur-bearing animals. When Jason Pellet purchased the present Wenzel Ramesh farm, there was a small store and postoffice in the present Ramesh house. That house was built for a hotel and depot because the railroad now connecting Maribel and Manitowoc was expected to take the route of the present highway 147. This district also had a small village called "Sleepy Hollow" along the West Twin River which runs through the southwestern part of Gibson 5. This village was located on or near the present Otto Strouf farm. Michael Smith and John McMullen owned a water-powered mill in that village. The remains of this mill are still in evidence. Several homes which were built in Sleepy Hollow are now no longer in existence. 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/gibson5l155gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/wifiles/ File size: 8.1 Kb