Manitowoc County WI Archives History - Schools .....Liberty Jt. 5 - Liberty Bell ************************************************ 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, 10:28 pm LIBERTY JT. 5 -LIBERTY BELL June Jole The present site of Liberty Joint 5 is in Sections 35-36. The district is joint with Newton. In 1918 the school was officially designated the Liberty Bell School because of the close association of the name Liberty with the Liberty Bell made famous during the Revolutionary War. To old timers the school is known as the "Brady School" because it is located near the Brady homestead. Liberty Joint 5 was set up in 1854 in the township of Newton which then included this part of Liberty. It was made up of sections 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 34, 35 and 36 of the present town of Liberty. This district was then called Newton District No. 3. The first school meeting was held on September 25, 1854 with Timothy Hanley, chairman. At this time there were 22 district settlers. Those who attended the first meeting were James Taugher, Nathan Stewart, John Murphy, James O'Rourke, Patrick Brady, Thos. Bohan, Thos. Finch, Mich. Lynch, Thos. Donahue, Lawrence Walsh, John Stephenson, Patrick Dorsey, John Barnes, Mich. Morris, Mich. O'Connor, James Shanahan, Mich. Mulloy, Francis Murphy, and Mich. McGuire. The nationality of the settlers in this community is indicated by the family names listed. The first school house of logs, costing $92.04, was located about a half mile east of the present site. It was built on the John Stephenson farm, now owned by Thomas J. Morris on the present Highway 42. A tax of $2.00 was levied on each "eighty" to defray building and school costs. The first officers elected were Clerk Patrick Dorsey, Director Thomas Bohan, and Treasurer Nathan Stewart. The first teacher was a Mr. Dudley who received $14 per month. The second teacher was Patrick O'Shea. In 1856 the voters voted for nine months of school - six months in the winter and three months for the summer. In 1857 teacher trouble must have been encountered because Lawrence Abbott, Patrick O'Shea, Henry Marks, and Henry Mulholland served as educators. In 1857 the W 1/2 of Section 31, Township 18, Range 22 was detached from Newton District No. 2 and made a part of Newton No. 3 -now Liberty Joint 5. In 1857, too, the township of Buchanan was set up. The name of this district then was Buchanan, District No. 5. In 1860 the name of the township of Buchanan was changed to Liberty and so this district became District 5, Liberty. In 1912 it became Liberty Jt. 5 because the W 1/2 of the NW 1/4 and the NW 1/4 of the SW 1/4 of Section 31, and the S 1/2 of SW 1/4 of the SW 1/4 of Section 30 of the township of Newton were added to the district. The second log school house was built on the present site, which is the SE corner of the SE 1/4 of Section 26, in 1864 for $400. It was 22 x 28 feet with a height of 12 feet. The interior was painted a light blue while the exterior was painted a slate color with white trim. The school yard was enclosed by a board fence, but in 1877 it was removed because the records state that "the bigger pupils are destroying it". The first teacher in the second school house was Henry Mulholland who taught a four month winter and a three month summer term. In 1876 the voters instructed the school board, to hire a teacher on the condition that he or she could be "sent forth" if not satisfactory. Evidently all teachers hired thereafter were satisfactory as none was "sent forth"! In 1876 the school month was changed from 22 days to 20 days. The first female teacher, Mary Cody, was hired that year at a salary of $30 monthly. The first enrollment record shows that 115 pupils were enrolled. That was in the second school built. In 1877 the number of pupils had decreased to 73. During the rest of the 1800's the enrollment was around 75. At present the attendance is about ten. The decrease is due to parochial school attendance at Osman and to a school near Thalhammer's, and due to the fewer number of children per family. The 1945 school census reveals the fact that there were 35 pupils of school age in this district. In 1887 the voters at the annual meeting decided to build a new school at a cost of $850. The material was to be hauled by the taxpayers at the rate of $2.50 per load. One-half acre of land was added to the site. The building was to be of frame, 26 x 38 x 14 feet. It had a hall six feet wide with shelves for the children's lunch pails. The inside was to be plastered and wainscoted. August Luebke contracted to build this school for $750. Building operations began in July 1888. Alice Kennedy began teaching in this school in October, 1888, for the sum of $35 per month, fire building included. In 1889, the voters decided on only one term, replacing the split term prevalent up to this time. The old building was given to Dave Stewart on condition that it be moved from the premise by January 1, 1891. From 1890 to 1919 many necessary additions to the equipment and school yard were made. In 1919 the third school house burned down due to a chimney fire. A special meeting was called and adjourned to the shade of a woods nearby. At this meeting not much was accomplished, so another meeting was called in May and was held in Walter Brady's barn across the road from the school. At this second, meeting an additional three-fourths acre was purchased from Charles Selle to add to the old site. $7,000 was raised to build a modern red brick and concrete structure with indoor toilets, furnace, basement, teacher's room, cloak rooms, and a large library room. Electric lights were installed in 1941. Some of the former pupils who made names for themselves in the professions were the Bradys, the Gradys, the Finches, and the Taughers. The list of residents serving on the school board is a long and impressive one indeed. The complete board membership is carefully recorded in a well kept district record book dating back to 1854. Some early teachers, in addition to those named, were Joseph Finch, Francis and James Taugher, John Cary, James Kirwan, Peter and Charles Brady, John Barnes, E. S. Crowe and Anna Cavanaugh. The wages varied from sixteen to one hundred dollars per month. Free text books were furnished since an early period. An old school register, kept by Francis Taugher in 1876 shows that Robinson's Arithmetic was taught to the A and B groups. Swinton's Grammar and Composition, Harper's Geography, and Martin's "The Human Body" were other texts used. Reading, spelling, and writing were also taught then. The spelling classes were for poor spellers only, although, spelling matches were held on Fridays. The school has served as a center for school plays and programs. To the rear of the school site there was once a fine park of pine trees, with a large creek running through it. Small buildings used for recreational purposes were built in this park, but no traces of these now remain. 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/libertyj170gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/wifiles/ File size: 7.6 Kb