Manitowoc County WI Archives History - Schools .....Newton 2 - Elm Grove ************************************************ 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 22, 2007, 6:44 pm NEWTON 2—ELM GROVE Eleanore Knipp Newton school district No. 2 became known as the Elm Grove school in 1918 because of the large number of elm trees growing along each side of the old Green Bay road which passed by this schoolyard. The large number of elm trees made a sort of grove near which the school was located. To old-timers it is usually referred to as the Gallagher school because the site was purchased from the Gallaghers and because it is situated next to the Gallagher homestead. The early school records have been lost so the exact date of the district formation is unknown. Perry Smith, in 1849, received a 53 acre tract of land in section 30, Newton, from the government. That was the tract on which the school is now located. In 1853, Smith sold this land to Michael and Catherine Gallagher for $135. These transactions seem to indicate that the school district was organized in the early 1850's, for with the coming of settlers, schools were set up. It was not until August 17, 1897, that the one-half acre school site was sold to the district for $35. It is supposed that the first schoolhouse was a log structure, but where it was located and something about its size are unknown. It was abandoned in 1870 for county records show that a new school was built that year. A frame school, was built, in 1870 for $550, and followed the general pattern of schools of that period. It was about 24 x 32 feet with windows on the long sides and it was painted red, making it truly a "little red school". An entrance door facing the east opened into a hallway extending across the back of the schoolroom proper. The wraps, lunch pails, and school supplies were stored in this hallway. From the cloakroom, a door at each end of the cloakroom opened into the classroom in which the girls sat on plank seats and desks on the north side of the room and the boys on the south side facing the west wall. There were three rows of seats and desks, with the teacher's platform across the west end of the building. A box stove in the center of the room provided inadequate heat to those along the outer walls. Water was carried to the school from Gallaghers and dispensed by a tin dipper from an open pail. Wooden blackboards were placed on the west wall. These were cleaned with rags until erasers became common in 1890. The school was located on the present site along the old Green Bay road. When it had served its usefulness, it was sold to Dan Gallagher for $50. He moved it to his farm and used it for an animal shed. The present frame school building for Newton No. 2 was erected in 1903 at a cost of $1,500. The building is 36x36 feet, with the schoolroom itself 27x35 feet. The district residents agreed to haul the building materials upon a three day notice. If he failed to do so, he would be charged $3 a day. The school was to be built anytime except during harvest time. The building has no basement. It has two porches which lead into cloakrooms. The boys' cloakroom is in the northeast corner and the girls' hall in the southeast corner. Between the two entries there is a large library with well built cupboards. This room is lighted by three windows built in a bay room effect with the whole surmounted by a cupola type bell tower. The class room at first had double desks but these have since been replaced by chair-type desks. The room has three windows on each of the north, west, and south walls which give adequate and proper lighting. A floor furnace in the northeast corner of the school-room provides the heating and ventilating. The school is now modernly equipped with all necessary teaching and learning aids. The large, schoolyard for which an additional one-half acre was purchased on August 15, 1924, from Ed. and Nellie Gallagher for $200, has in addition to the school, a combination fuel shed and garage and the two outdoor toilets. A few pieces of playground equipment are provided. In 1906 a man was hired to watch the grounds so that no one would walk or drive over it. Offenders would be fined $5, of which one half would go to the watchman. A well was drilled on the grounds in 1914. The clerks' reports to the county superintendents indicate that large enrollments were common in the 1870's when fall and spring sessions were held. Even after that the children were given several weeks' vacation periods in the spring when the roads were impassable. The time of this vacation period was decided by the schoolboard. In 1870, a total of 91 children attended out of a school census of 145. The average for the period before 1900 was between 50 and 75 pupils. With the establishment of parochial schools at Osman and in Liberty, the attendance in this school was reduced to less than 20 out of 60 children of school age. At present about 10 pupils are enrolled. The county records also reveal that Sander's spellers and readers, Ray's arithmetic, Cornel's geography, and Pineas' grammar texts were in use in the 1870's. Other texts used before 1900 were Swinton's readers, spellers, histories, and geographies, Robinson's arithmetic, Kerl's grammar, Guffey's history, and Mitchell's geography. Each child had to purchase his own texts. Slates and slate pencils were used in place of the tablets and lead pencils of today. Newton district No. 2 has always demanded the best teachers available. The district voters made a rule that no teacher was to be hired who had a standing of less than 70 in any subject. Irish teachers seem to have preference according to the following names of educators employed. The county records give the exact teaching dates of the following: Mich. H. Cleary 1872-3, P. J. White 1874, Frank Cleary 1876-7, P. H. Hewitt 1878, Henry Walsh 1879, Jos. Morris 1894, Chas. Brady 1895-7, Katie McNulty 1898, John Finch 1904-5, and Cornelia Stephenson 1906. Others who are said to have taught this school before 1906 were John Cary, Mary Ann Maloney, James Taugher, Chas. Whalen, Robert Mulholland, Julia Hayes, Maggie Crowe, Fred Axley, Mary Taugher, Jos. Brady, Elizabeth Shallue, Thos. Morrissey, and Jos. Chermak. Frequent changes of teachers seemed to be the practice. Many of the pioneer names are no longer common to the district According to the 1856 assessment rolls G. Naumann, F. Morrison, F. Follmer, C. Behrens, W. Kreie, T. Bruckschen, M. Hacker, W. Goodwin, G. Goldie, T. Heimann, and T. Federspiel were pioneer land owners in this community. Many Irish names were common around the 1900's. The county records show that the following residents served as school clerks from 1872 up to 1906: Mike Taugher 1872-3 and from 1877-188-, Wm. Goodwin 1874-77, Thos. Morris 1894-5, Geo. Goldie 1896-8, and Dan Gallagher 1906. Others on the board before 1906 were Wm. Morris, C. Eberhardt, Mich. Gallagher, Owen Murphy, and Wm. Kolb. Many early residents of the district and former pupils in the little red school are still living in the district. Among them are Mrs. Ed. Gallagher, Peter Bonde, Ed. Carstens, Mrs. Henry Vogt, Wm. Lembke, Lewis and Gust Naumann, Geo. Luebke, Jos. Gass, Mrs. Henry Waack, and Mrs.' Herman Sonnenburg. Four families have added their names to the county education profession. They were the Gallagher, the Morris, the Goldie, and the Taugher families. The list of names of former students who have become prominent in their respective communities is long indeed. During the decades of spelling contests, district fairs, and town and county achievement contests, this school took an active part. Many of the county prize winners came from this district according to the report of these affairs in the County Annuals. Newton No. 2 has been a leader in providing the best possible educational facilities in the past for its youngsters. The future of this school will be watched with interest. 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/newton2e213gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/wifiles/ File size: 8.6 Kb