Manitowoc County WI Archives History - Schools .....Maple Grove Jt. 4 - Maple Grove 1948 ************************************************ 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 3, 2007, 11:15 pm MAPLE GROVE JT. 4 -MAPLE GROVE Hildegarde Jandrey Maple Grove school joint district No. 4 was designated the Maple Grove school because of the grove of maple trees which grew near the school. In 1887 the voters authorized the planting of 34 maple shade trees on the school grounds. Because of the official connection of the Miller and Hickey families with this school for many decades, it was often referred to as the Miller or the Hickey school. Maple Grove No. 4 was organized about 1867 according to the Maple Grove assessment rolls. Before that date most of this area belonged to Maple Grove district No. 3. It was not until about 1890 that this district became joint with Rockland when a small area in that township was attached to Maple Grove 4, making this Maple Grove Joint Dist. No. 4. The records reveal that other changes to the original boundary lines occurred from time to time up to the present. The first school, a log building, was built about one-fourth mile north of the present schoolyard. Nothing is known of its size. The furniture consisted of crude homemade benches seating 5 or 6 pupils each. The usual box stove provided insufficient heat while ventilation was cared for by opening the door and windows. The interior was often whitewashed to keep it in usable condition. It was not until 1870, that a double privy was built for $7.25. The school was insured in the Milwaukee Mechanics Corp. in 1871 for $200. Two years later the voters passed a resolution to have the parents of the pupils pay for any damages done in school. This school served the district until 1880. The disposition of the old log school is not recorded. The sum of $100 was raised for a building fund in 1879. At a special meeting held on March 25, 1880, the voters authorized the purchase of the S. E. corner of the NE 1/4 of the NE 1/4 of section 30 for a school site. They also voted for a frame building 28 x 44 feet to be completed by October, 1880. The building committee was composed of Frank Steinfest, Jos. Miller, and John Bratz. At another meeting held on April 15, called at the request of 15 voters, the residents decided to purchase one-half acre of the approved site, and to cover the exterior and interior walls of the school with rough, matched, and grooved boards. The exterior to be sided and the interior, in 1882, was plastered. The foundation had to be 2 feet in the ground and 18 inches above the ground level. Bids for the construction of the school were taken. At another special meeting in May, a motion was made to borrow $425 from the State Trust Fund to be paid back in four yearly installments. According to the money raised and borrowed the school must have cost about $550. The building had windows on three sides and the same crude furniture and-heating equipment were used in the new school. New double desks were purchased in 1891 and the old ones sold at a special meeting to residents for about 10 cents apiece. The yard was fenced with a three-board fence by Carl Jonas for $37 in 1881. Efforts were made at most every annual meeting to authorize a woodshed, but it was not until 1891 that Tho. Wordell was given a contract to erect one, 12 x 18 x 8 feet at a cost of $43. Two separate toilets, one at each end of the grounds, were erected in 1880 by Carl Schwartz for $20. In the summer of 1886, the voters ordered that the yard be cleared of stumps at a cost of $15. The planting of 34 shade trees along the fence was authorized in 1887. By 1895, the fence had to be replaced, and so again detailed directions were voted on how to rebuild it by Aug. Thurow for $39.75. A low swampy place on the yard was ordered filled and the grounds graveled in 1905. There was no well on the school grounds although a motion to provide one was made at several meetings but always defeated. The second school served the district until 1918 when it was sold and moved to a farm on highway 32 where it is now used as a shed. The frame school was replaced by a red brick structure about 32 x 42 feet which is modern except for indoor lavatories. The building houses a full-sized basement having a fuel, a furnace, a storage, and a playroom. The first floor entrance has a hall with two separate stairways leading to the basement and one stairway leading to a divided cloakroom. From the hallway, three doors lead directly into the large classroom with windows from the left and rear. A large library alcove along the west wall houses the library cupboards and storage drawers. A small teacher's room leads off from this alcove. The school is modernly equipped with single, adjustable desks, a piano, a radio, a steel filing case, tables, chairs, encyclopedias, electric lights, and ample blackboard and bulletin board spaces. The initial cost of the structure was $7,250 but since that time many improvements have been made to the building to keep it modern. The Maple Grove school has had a fairly large enrollment until about 1935. Tuition pupils were allowed to attend upon payment of fifty cents a month or upon payment of the amount set by the school board. The large enrollment as late as 1915 was a factor in building the present building as large as it is. Today the enrollment averages about ten pupils yearly. There is now some sentiment to close the school unless the enrollment increases. The school records indicate that the Hickeys and the Millers were influential district residents. Others mentioned often were Chas. Schwartz, Peter Hahn, Jos. Nagel, Adam Herwig, Joseph Manlick, Wm. Schroeder, Otto Krueger, John Ecker, Albert Haese, Robert Thurow, Carl Jonas, John Kleiber, and John Spatchek. District residents who have served on the Board before 1906 were John Hickey 1867-77, Jos. Miller 1877-1902, and John Kleiber, Jr. 1902- as clerks; Peter Hahn, Jos. Nagel, Herman Werner, Carl Koch, Albert Sohrweide, Jos. Krizenesky as directors; and James Hickey, Jos. Miller, John Hickey, John Bratz, Carl Jonas, Otto Krueger, and Adolph Ecker as treasurers. The first teachers were hired for winter or summer terms. The voters always voted whether a male or a female teacher was to be hired, if possible. The salary to be paid was also set by the voters. The winter term was always longer than the summer session. The names of the teachers engaged to teach this school are recorded in the district record books. Those listed prior to 1907 are Mary Hogan and Mary Gleason 1870, Mae Mulcahy and Margaret Walton 1871, Maggie Stokes 1872-3, Charlotte Flynn 1873, Mary Patnode 1874, Dora Squire and Pat Lynch 1875, Pat Lynch and Chas. Whelan 1876, Robert Rudolph 1877, P. W. Lynch 1878, E. D. McMahon 1879, Jennie Koelzer 1880, Ellen Kennedy and Rob. Rudolph 1881, James Burke 1882, A. Dassler 1883, Fred Meisnest 1884-5, G. M. Morrissey 1886, Thos. Morris 1887, Mary Noonan 1888-9, Maggie O'Brien 1890, J. A. Miller 1891-3, J. L. Morrissey 1894, Henry Werner 1895-6, M. M. Guhin 1896-7, D. E. Hickey 1898-1900, Ida Schwartz 1901, Hulda Kasbaum 1902, Nellie Walsh 1903, Oscar Drews 1904, and Randolph Stoehr 1905-6. According to present day taxes, this school had low taxes each year during the later 1800's. In 1870, only $180 was raised to maintain the school. By 1890, only about $25 to $50 yearly was raised, but still the district had $400 to loan out at 4% interest in 1892. Aids from the county and state must have been sufficient to create a surplus. Today the tax raised amounts to between $1500. and $2000 yearly. Tax money in 1870 was obtained by tax certificates. John Hickey, that year, was authorized to sell tax certificates at a discount of 50 cents on a dollar. The residents of the district at the annual meetings always voted who was to furnish the fuel. Textbooks were voted to be sold to the pupils at cost. The term of school always received attention at these meetings. As late as 1900, the voters stipulated that a spring vacation called at the discretion of the board members be allowed. Bad roads and spring's work were, no doubt, the factors that decided when this vacation was to be held. Every year until 1890, Herman Koch moved that one hour of German each day be taught, and usually this motion was carried. A motion made in 1882 forbid the holding of Sunday school in the building, but this was voted down. In 1890, Karl Koch sponsored a motion to forbid dancing in the schoolhouse. Evidently the building was used as a community recreation center at that time. The clerk was granted a salary of $5 per year in 1874 which continued in effect until 1907, when he was granted $10 yearly and the other two officers $5 yearly. Today Maple Grove No. 4 is a community of prosperous farmers deeply interested in the educational welfare of their children. The nearness of the parochial schools at Reedsville and Brillion has affected its public school seriously even though the district census still lists about 70 children of school age residing in 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/maplegro186gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/wifiles/ File size: 9.7 Kb