Manitowoc County WI Archives History - Schools .....Mishicot Jt. 1 - Mishicot ************************************************ 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 4, 2007, 10:15 pm MISHICOT JT. 1 — MISHICOT Reuben Harpt Mishicot Jt. 1 school district began its school system in the later 1840's. It is claimed that the Mishicot school was among the first four schools set up in Manitowoc county. Since it was always located in or near the village of Mishicot, it was officially designated by that name in 1918. The Mishicot school district was set up when Mishicot was a part of Two Rivers township. In 1852, when Mishicot was organized and included the present Gibson township, the district consisted of almost all of the northern part of the present township of Mishicot plus several sections in the present township of Gibson. (See Mishicot Assessment Rolls of 1856). By 1858 the combined townships of Mishicot and Gibson, had 13 school districts. Then Mishicot Jt. 1 consisted of the west 1/2 of section 30; all of section 31, T. 21 N., R. 24E, and W 1/2 of section 4, and all of section 5, T. 20N., R. 24 E; and sections 25, 35, and 36 in Gibson. After Mishicot and Gibson separated and became separate townships, Mishicott Jt. 1 kept its school district number. Since its organization and up to the present, the district has always been joint with Gibson and now contains about the same area as in 1858. The first school for this locality was one shared with the Jambo Creek district in Gibson. It was located about 1 1/2 miles northwest of Mishicot village and near the present site of the Jambo Creek school. Because of the distance to that school for the boys and girls in the Mishicot area, the voters decided to erect a school in Mishicot. Accordingly, a frame building was erected about 1845 to 1849 on a site just north of the gristmill near the cemetery. This was one of the first frame school buildings of the county and was of frame construction because Mishicot was a pioneer sawmill town. There are no written records of the size nor cost of this building. Because many of the English settlers were without a church building, this school served as their meeting house on Sundays. In 1873, this pioneer schoolhouse was abandoned and a new two-room frame building was built on the site of the present school. What was done with the old schoolhouse is not recorded. Daniel Smith, a generous "lumber king" and sawmill operator of this community plotted the village of Mishicot and donated the site for the present school property. By a vote of 18 to 16, the citizens in 1873 voted at a special school meeting to build a two room frame schoolhouse. They also decided to raise $500 by direct taxation and to borrow an additional $500 at 7% interest for four years to cover the cost of the new structure. The building committee had John Mayer of Manitowoc draw plans for a schoolhouse 56 x 36 x 14 feet. Bids were advertised in the Manitowoc Pilot with the result that F. Quisdorf, the lowest bidder, was awarded the contract to build the structure. This school served the district for 32 years or until 1905. It was then sold to the township of Mishicot for a town hall and moved across the road to the east where it still stands and is still used as a town hall. The old bell tower housed the school bell that had a unique history. It is recorded that Daniel Smith "salvaged" the bell from the railroad wreck which occurred near his home in New York state. When Smith moved west to Mishicot, he brought the engine bell along with him and donated it to the school. In 1905, by a vote of 50 to 28, the old two-room frame schoolhouse was to be replaced by a two-room brick structure. Evidently there was enough sentiment in the district at that time for a four room brick building, for at another meeting it was voted to change plans and build a four room, two story brick schoolhouse at a cost of $6,000, with the upper rooms not finished. The following year, though, these upper rooms were completed and ready to accommodate the ninth grade students. By 1915, the four rooms were used when the tenth grade was added. The demand for a four year high school course made necessary an addition to the four room building. Accordingly, in 1920, the voters favored the addition of a large auditorium and three class rooms which was built on to the north of the brick school and was of the same design as the structure to which it was attached. The cost of this addition was about $37,000. Today the Mishicot high school and grade building consists of a large auditorium, a library room, seven classrooms for high school students, two classrooms for the grammar and primary grades, and spacious halls and cloakrooms. The basement has several spare classrooms, a small kitchen in which noon lunches are prepared by two cooks, the lavatories, and fuel and furnace rooms. The large high school enrollment is now more than taxing the capacity of the building. The structure has no gymnasium, so the Levenhagen hall is used for basketball games and the social affairs of the school. Mishicot Jt. 1 has within a century become the educational center for northern Manitowoc county. Its school has grown from a little one-room rural building to one of the largest rural high schools of the county. The first graded school for the district was set up in 1881 when two teachers were employed. The first teachers of the two-room school were Prin. John A. Hussey and primary teacher Martha McMillan. In 1904, the school became a first class state graded school when three teachers were employed and the ninth grade work was begun. The teachers then were Prin. F. J. Sievers, A. L. Stengel, and Stasia Kenny. By 1915, the schoolboard employed four teachers when the 10th grade was added. The teachers at that time were Prin. Elmer Koch, Laura B. Smith, Amanda Heyroth, and Jennie Stoneman. Three district owned buses transport the rural high school pupils to this school from the surrounding areas. Summer and winter terms of school were held .until about 1876 according to county records. The winter session of five or six months began in September and closed about March 1st. The summer session began in April and continued to about the first week in August. The monthly salary has always been above that of other teachers nearby. The county record shows that in 1872 R. C. McLeod was paid $60 monthly for a six month term. Because the summer session was not as strenuous, Mr. McLeod was paid $50 per month in 1873. No record of the names of teachers prior to 1872 was given, but those teaching after that year up to 1906 were: R. C. McLeod 1872-75, both winter and summer sessions; Anton Braasch 1876; Chas. Tift 1877; E. A. Benedict 1878; M. Hale Smith for the first 10 month term in 1879; John A. Hussey and Martha McMillan 1880-83; John O'Hara and Ella Scott 1884; no records from 1885-1890; Floyd Westgate and C. Thompson 1890-91; Wm. O'Hara and Carretta Thompson 1892; Wm. O'Hara and Josie Thompson 1893; Walter Stoker and Hilda Thompson 1894-97; Otto Zander and Dora Halverson 1898; Walter Runge and Dora Halverson 1899; Walter Runge and Leona Wagner 1900-1902; E. S. Crowe and Leona Wagner 1902-03; F. J. Sievers, Stasia Kenny, and A. L. Stengel 1904; and A. L. Stengel, Stasia Kenny, and T. Tollefson in 1905. Daniel Smith, an early settler owned and operated the sawmill which was located on the site of the present Lambert garage. Across the river opposite the Smith sawmill, Peter Rau operated the first gristmill. Christ Selk conducted a store at the site of the present Opera House. M. Damsen was one of the pioneer postmasters. Other early residents, according to the 1858 assessment roll, were Ole Olson, Mathias Mathison, F. Dunker, H. Beyer, Gottlieb Bigalky, Fred Meyer, Niels Sorenson, A. K. Westgate, Jacob Trossen, Tim Thomas, T. Blank, August Lemkuhl, Jos. Young, and Ben Birdsell. Later residents of note were the Terens families who conducted the hardware store, Isaac Craite, who later became an attorney and judge at Manitowoc, and Julius Lindstedt who founded the Lindstedt-Hoffman real estate business in Manitowoc. Lillian L. Chloupek, a graduate of this school, became county supervising teacher and superintendent of schools. From among the hundreds of graduates who lived in Mishicot Jt. 1, many have become successful in the professions, in business, and in other fields of endeaver. [sic] It is impossible in this article to cite the success of all of them. There is no record of the names of school officers before 1872. The county record books show that Louis Koehnke served as clerk from 1872 to 1875. John T. Terens served in the same capacity from 1876 to 1880; Jule Lindstedt 1880-; Isaac Craite 1894; Bruno Mueller 1895-98; and C. Ploeckelman from 1904 to 1918. Others who served on the board before 1906 were Albert Wehausen, Peter Rau, Jacob Trossen, Ira Beyer, and Jacob Roemer. Since its inception as a sawmill town in the early 1840's, the village of Mishicot has grown and prospered. Although not on a rail line, the village has its share of industries. Its principal function is to serve as a trading, religious, educational, and social center for the surrounding communities. Eastwin river which flows through the district generates power and served as a favorite recreation and fishing area for district residents as well as for residents throughout the county. The citizens have realized the importance of the school to the welfare of the community. The voters and the schoolboard members were among the first in the county to set up courses of particular value to the farm boys and girls attending their high .school. Their fore-sightedness in this regard has paid rich dividends and puts, the district in a position to meet modern trends in rural education. 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/mishicot196gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/wifiles/ File size: 10.4 Kb