Manitowoc County WI Archives History - Schools .....Mishicot 2 - Jefferson ************************************************ 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, 10:27 pm MISHICOT 2 — JEFFERSON Lucille Daley It was no easy task to trace the history of a school which is almost a century old. None of the first settlers and few of the second generation are alive today, but nearly all of the pupils now enrolled are of the third or fourth generation of the first settlers who attended school in this very school house used by their descendants. Written records are limited to a treasurer's book dating back to 1867 and preserved by the Schetter family, and to old school registers resurrected from the school attic. To supplement the information obtainable from these few written records, a community get-together was sponsored by the school on October 24, 1945. Invitations were sent to old residents living in this and other communities. The invitations were enthusiasically accepted and a goodly number of old-timers attended. After a short program, the teacher and wives of the schoolboard members served a light lunch. Then over their coffee cups, the older residents began to reminisce. The interesting facts that they recalled about their school days and about what they had heard from their parents helped fill in the records of this school. Old-timers present and the years in which they attended this school were: Emma Schmidt Schroeder 1875-1882; Henry Eller 1881-1888; George Barthels 1880-1890; Helen Wilke Schwake 1888-1895; Laura Petri Leist 1895-1904; Mayme Schuerer Peterick and Clara Schmidt Liese 1898-1906. Mishicot district No. 2 was named the Jefferson school in 1918, probably because there were so many Democrats in the district, but most likely so named in honor of Thos. Jefferson, the third president of the United States. Older residents remember this as the Altmeyer school because Johann Altmeyer was the original owner of the land on which the school house is built. It is also known as the School Section school as it is located adjacent to section 16 of T. 20 N., R. 24 E. County records show that the United States government in 1850 conveyed to Johann Altmeyer the NE 1/4 of Sec. 17, T. 20 N., R. 24 E. In 1866, Mr. Altmeyer sold this property to Louis Barthels and Geo. Kahrs. In 1869, Geo. Kahrs conveyed a portion of his farm to district No. 2 Mishicot for a school site. Mishicot No. 2 was organized as Mishicot joint 3 in the early 1850's, being joint with the town of Two Rivers. At first the district consisted of sections 17 and 18 in the present town of Mishicot and sections 20, 21, and 22 in the town of Two Rivers. In 1863, Two Rivers district No. 3 was organized, detaching all of the land in Two Rivers township. Then this district became Mishicot No. 2. Today the district is made up of section 17, nearly all of section 16, and the S 1/2 of section 8, T. 20 N., R. 24E. The first school for the old Mishicot Jt. 3 was a log building located where the present Wm. Michel home now stands, to the south of the present schoolyard. It cost about $25 and was a crude unplastered building. The equipment consisted of room furniture common to pioneer schools. There is no record of just when this school began to operate, but acocrding [sic] to other districts nearby this school was organized in the early 1850's. The second school was built in 1869, for it was at that date that the district purchased the present school site. It too was a log building which has since been covered with siding and is the structure in use today. The school has a little shed entry which leads directly into the schoolroom. The clothes and the lunch pails are stored in the schoolroom since there is no cloakroom. The schoolroom is about 20 feet wide, 26 feet long, and about 9 feet high. Two windows for each of the long sides and two for the entrance side supply the natural lighting. At first the equipment was very meager consisting of the usual pail and dipper, a hand bell, and long home-made tables and benches costing about $35. In 1887, a real blackboard valued at $2 was purchased. Patented double desks were purchased in 1880. At the turn of the century some textbooks were purchased, a& well as a bookcase, a blackboard, and .a map of Wisconsin. Up to 1901 a small hand bell was used, but that year Henry Barthels was paid $9.75 for building the belfry. The materials cost $7, and the big school bell cost $19. An old fashioned box stove heated the school until in 1908 when a Wernecke furnace for $90 was installed. The present floor furnace and ventilating system were installed in 1933. Although this is one of the oldest school buildings in our county, the district through its officers has maintained a well-equipped school. Individual desks and seats of the latest type were purchased in 1931 at a total cost of $270.75. In 1934, electric lights were installed. Modern reference books were purchased as early as 1927 and again in 1942. Today, the school is as well equipped as most modern school buildings are. The schoolyard was added to in 1928 when Harold Eis sold a triangular strip along the western schoolyard boundary for $25. The strip was 13 feet wide on the north, 26 feet wide on the south, and 110 feet long. In 1939, the road past the school was relocated, adding about 11 feet to the southern boundary of the schoolyard. This strip was donated to the district by the owner, Wm. Michels. Well-built, home-made playground equipment as well as a modern merry-go-round care for the recreational needs of the pupils. The usual outbuildings are located to the rear of the schoolyard. The highest enrollment for this school occurred before Two Rivers No. 3 district was set up. Even after that date, large enrollments were common up to 1880. From 1885 on, the average yearly attendance has been between 20 and 25, while the census listed, between 40 and 60 children yearly. Today, the census is still near the 40 mark, but the number of pupils' enrolled has dropped to between 10 and 15. The 1858 Mishicot assessment roll recorded these early settlers living in the present school district: Wm. Barthel, Carl Schmidt, Jacob Christoffel, John Altmeyer, Louis Barthel, Theo. Wiemann, and Martin Bonfigt. The descendants of these and later settlers served for long periods on the local schoolboard. Some of these early board members were Henry Althen, Christ Wullner, Geo. Kahrs, Carl Meissner, John Eller, Adolph Zeddies, and B. Wilke. In more recent years Henry Eller served as treasurer for 25 years, and Geo. Schmidt clerk for 22 years. The number of graduates has not been as large as for some other county districts. The hundreds of former pupils have gone forth to become substantial citizens of other communities. Many of them have remained as residents of this community and are recognized as the leading farmers in the county. Two former students, Hernard and Helen Schwake, were well-known county teachers. The names of teachers teaching this school are recorded as follows: Melora Shove 1871, Lizzie Hayes 1872, Mary Walsh 1873, Pauline Stoll 1874-5, Mary Honey 1876, Aug. J. Schmitz 1877-8, Frank Blesch 1879, Isaac Craite 1880, Minnie Torrison 1881, John Hoffmann 1882, Martha McGee 1883-4, Louise Koehler 1885, Lizzie Jahnke 1886, Tina Arneman 1887-8, Katie Sechrist. 1889-90, Isabel Trossen 1891, Rose Mueller 1892-3, Emil Thiel 1894, Peter Federspiel 1895-6, Otto Boettcher and P. Mittnacht 1897, Melvin Halverson 1898, Alice Thompson 1899-1900, Viola Westgate 1901-3, Alma Hanson 1904, and Josephine Peterson 1905-6. Those teaching after that date are listed in the county annuals. Today Mishicot No. 2 is a progressive farming community faced-with the problem of providing the best educational opportunities for the small enrollment common to their little district school. To erect a modern building seems out of the question because of the limited enrollment. The first step to solve this problem was taken on Tuesday evening, March 4th, when a special school meeting was held to vote on the question of continued maintenance of their little district schoolhouse erected in the 1860's. The vote was 16 to 13 to suspend operations for the school year 1947-48 and to transport the pupils to a nearby district. This action was rescinded at the annual July school meeting and school was ordered kept in operation because the tuition and transportation costs were higher than actual operation costs. 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/mishicot197gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/wifiles/ File size: 9.1 Kb