Manitowoc County WI Archives History - Schools .....Gibson Jt. 6 - Melnik ************************************************ 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, 12:56 am GIBSON JT. 6 - MELNIK Dorothy Hamernik The first settlers in the present Gibson. Jt. 6 district migrated from Melnik, Czechoslovakia. The little settlement in this district was named in memory of their European village. When schools were officially named in 1918, it was only natural to designate this as the Melnik school. Gibson district No. 6 was first, organized as Mishicot district No. 8 which included the present sections 29, 30, 31, 32, and the W 1/2 of 33 in Gibson. After Gibson became a township by itself, this area became Gibson school district No. 6. Changes have occurred in the original boundaries as time went on. It was not until 1906 that this district became Gibson Joint 6 when an area of land in Cooperstown was attached. Written records for this school date back only to 1916. Most of its history was obtained from the older residents and from town and county records. On October 25, 1858, Jos. Richtarik and wife Katherine sold to the district for a school site the S. W. corner of the S. W. 1/4 of section 29 for the sum of $30. That is still the school site at the present time. District residents state that a part of the present building was the original school erected about 1859. It is said to have been built by Anton Kriwanek, a farmer in this district, for the sum of $600, which included labor and building materials. The pioneer residents offered to help in any way possible. Mr. Kriwanek furnished the logs for lumber from his wooded tract. He also agreed to saw these logs into lumber, as he operated a grist and sawmill on the West Twin river. The ruins of these mills are still in evidence. The original building was about 24 x 28 feet with three windows on each long side. An entrance door led into a cloakroom. The classroom itself was small, poorly lighted, and poorly heated. The desks were homemade affairs consisting of long benches or planks placed on wooden blocks. These were later replaced .with manufactured double desks and seats. Ordinary pine boards about 3 x 12 feet and painted black were the blackboards. A boxstove in the room made the winter days fairly comfortable. A pail and dipper dispensed the drinking water obtained from a neighbor's well. With the coming of more settlers and with the increase in the size of families, the little frame school was becoming over-crowded. By 1900, conditions were such that more room had to be provided. Accordingly, the voters authorized an addition to the original building. The new part, about 14 feet long, was added to the north end of the old building by Frank and Chas. Rezek for the sum of $378. At about the same time a small entrance shed was built on the front of the building. Thus the school built almost 90 years ago with the addition made in 1898 serves the community today. The building now has a modern heating and ventilating floor furnace located in the southwest corner of the classroom; single, adjustable, pedestal-type desks; a piano and radio; a steel filing case; movable bookcases; modern recitation chairs; and sanitary drinking and hand-washing facilities. The entrance shed leads into a narrow hallway with doors leading to two cloakrooms. This district was one of the first to provide electric lights. A well was drilled in 1946, the first for the school. The school-yard has toilets to the rear and a fuel shed a few feet west of the front of the school. A few pieces of playground equipment are placed to the front of the yard. The enrollment in the Melnik school has been fairly constant during the past twenty years. Before the organization of Kossuth Jt. 1 and Gibson Jt. 7, the enrollment became so large that an addition to the school was made necessary. At one time, the matter of organizing as a graded school was considered. County records indicate that the largest enrollment occurred in 1900 when 88 pupils out of a school census of 118 children were in attendance. Today the number of pupils enrolled yearly averages between 20 and 30 out of a census of about 50. Parochial schools have not affected this district because none are located nearby. Early settlers came to this community from Bohemia. County and local records list the following as pioneers of this district: Jos. Richtarik, John and Wm. Shimonek, Nicholaus Kreis, Jos. Londo, Frank Bohacek, Wm. Pfefferkorn, Wencil Shimonek, Jos. Shara, Caspar Bouda, Anton Lamach, Frank Witt, Emil Kretche, Richard Kubichka, Stephen Dvorak, Gustave Knuth, and Anton Kriwanek. The third, fourth, and fifth generation of many of these settlers are now residing in this community. The administration of local school affairs has always been placed in the hands of capable residents. The Spevaceks- John Sr., John Jr., and the present Stanley Spevacek, as well as the Hlinaks - Frank Sr., Joseph, and Frank J., have served consecutively on the board. Other residents serving were Jos. Shara 1872-76, John Shimonek 1876-79, Albert Kazda 1879-. Jos. Zivney, Fred Shimonek, Wenzel Podhola, and Milo Dushek also were board members before 1906. The first teacher in the Melnik school, Chas. Kind, is said to have come from eastern Germany. To get to this school he had to wade across a nearby creek. During the rainy season, he usually removed his footwear and carried them to school. The second teacher was said to have been a Mr. Kolacny. Others listed in county records were Geo. L. Anderson 1872-3; Viroqua Sheldon 1874-5; J. P. Donohue 1876, James O'Hara 1877, Minnie Richardson 1878, Bridget Patnode 1879, Emma Gibson 1880, John Gruber 1894-5, C. J. Mulcahey 1896-7, Jos. J. Gruber 1898, Chas. Skwor 1899, Anton Knutson 1904, and Wm. J. Gill 1905. Others teaching this school prior to 1906 were a Mr. Shimonek, John Shambeau, and Clara Zentner. County records show also that summer and winter sessions were common during the first 30 years of this school Even after that the five and six month terms were divided by short vacations when the weather and roads were bad. The pioneer school children had no grades as we have today. The subjects were limited to reading, spelling, arithmetic, geography, and history. Later the subjects of constitution, physiology, and agriculture were added. During the years when Clara Zentner taught this school, the pupils carried on debates with the Greenstreet and Larrabee schools. School fairs at which agricultural products and school work were displayed for prizes were held in the early 1900's. Later on in the 1920's, the pupils from this district took part in town and county spelling and achievement contests. Many prizes and honors were captured by the Melnik pupils. Early district industries were located along the river north of the school. Anton Kriwanek carried on a thriving grist and sawmill business when this district was first settled. Later a trout hatchery was established along this same river. The business places at Melnik were razed by fire in the 1920's. Mail was gotten from Francis Creek, Larrabee, and Melnik as the years passed. At the time of the first settlement, a post rider brought mail twice a week from Francis Creek. The Melnik post office was established in the 1890's and discontinued when the rural free delivery system became common. Today mail is gotten from Maribel. A well-known proving ground for early cars was Rezek's hill just north the school. Pioneer cars that could climb Rezek's hill on high were considered outstanding and their owners boasted loud and long about the feat. Today Gibson Jt. 6 is a community of prosperous farmers faced with the problem of how and in what way to meet the present and coming trends in rural education with their building erected almost a century ago. 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/gibsonjt156gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/wifiles/ File size: 8.4 Kb