Manitowoc County WI Archives History - Schools .....Newton No. 7 - Whittier 
************************************************
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, 7:07 pm

NEWTON NO. 7 —WHITTIER
Mrs. Irma T. Polster

    Whittier school, the name chosen for Newton district No. 7, was named in
honor of one of America's famous poets. The older residents called this the
Korthaurer school because it was located near their home. It was also referred
to as the Fehrmann school because of the official connections that that family
had with the affairs of the school.

    Newton No. 7, organized about 1853, embraced the present school districts
No. 7 and No. 8. It was not until 1866 that the original district was split up
into two school communities. An old district record dating back to 1853 records
the fact that the town, board of Newton in 1863 received an appeal from the
residents of school district No. 7 to change the boundary by taking land away
from it and adding such detached lands to another district. (Evidently district
No. 8). Some of the residents were opposed to this detachment because with less
land, school taxes would be increased. No decision could be reached so an appeal
was made to the state superintendent of schools who recommended a division of
the district. All of this agitation for two districts came as the result of some
sentiment for a new schoolhouse.

    The first log schoolhouse for the original district was erected about 1853
and was valued at $89.79. It was located a short distance north of the village
of Clover. No record of its size is available, but it very likely was small and
meagerly furnished. It served the original Newton district No. 7 until 1866 when
the district records show that in October, 1866, the following described parcel
of land was leased by Johann Schneider and wife Caroline to district No. 7,
Newton, the N.W. corner of section 23, 8 rds. E., 5 rds.S., 8 rds W., thence 5
rds. N. to place of beginning. That is the present location of the schoolhouse.
It was not until 1882 that this quarter acre of land was sold to the district by
G. Degenhart and his wife for $75. In 1917, another quarter acre of land was
purchased from L. Groelle for $50 to enlarge the schoolyard to the east.

    District records written in German until nearly 1900 give an interesting
history of the formation of the present district No. 7. At a meeting called on
the 12th day of December, 1863, the question of alteration of district
boundaries and detaching this area from the original Newton No. 7 was
considered. Finally on September 18, 1866, the voters decided to build a log
schoolhouse, 20x26 feet. The voters of the district were to have the necessary
logs for $15. It was to be located on the present site leased from Johann
Schneider. It was voted that six months of school was to be held commencing on
October 1st. Only English was to be taught in this school, although that
provision was later rescinded. The inside of the school was whitewashed yearly
for sums like 2 dollars, 5 shillings, and six cents. Someone in the district was
hired one year to make the fire and clean the room each morning for the sum of
$4.50. No record is given as to the disposal of this school.

    The second and present brick schoolhouse was erected in 1879. Money for this
building was raised by taxes and by loans from district residents. The district
purchased 8,000 bricks from the Zelinski brickyard at Northeim. The cost of
lumber, foundation work, and front door stones totaled about $185. The cost of
the completed structure was $275 according to county records. Wooden boards
painted black with two quarts of black paint were the first blackboards. Some of
these blackboards are still in use today: The first hand-made desks were later
replaced with patented double desks, and in turn replaced by modern, single,
adjustable seats and desks. The small teacher's platform is still in use — a
reminder of the days when the master kept a watchful eye on his pupils. The
first geography case of maps was installed in 1893 for $42.65. Bookcases stored
the few library books available in the later 1800's. School records show that as
early as 1861, the district boasted of an eleven volume library. Four of these
early library books were California Illustrations, Pictorial History of the
American Revolution, History of England, and Expedition to Borneo. Yearly
expenditures recorded were "lite" glass, pail and cup, and brooms. Yagg's
Anatomical Study and reading charts were used before 1900.

    The brick school, still in use after almost 70 years of service, is about 24
x 32 feet. An entrance door leads into a small narrow hallway. On each side of
this hallway there is a cloakroom in which the outer clothing of the children,
as well, as their lunch pails, is stored. A door from each cloakroom leads into
a classroom lit by three windows on each side, and heated by a floor furnace
located at the northwest corner of the room. Blackboards are placed along the
front of room and in between the windows. Electric lights were installed in
1934. A large, well-constructed bookcase was built between the two entrance
doors along the west wall in 1929. A belltower was erected in 1892 and a bell
acquired for $28.

    The large schoolyard is well drained but barren except for the usual
outbuildings. The stone slab at the doorway has been worn down by the thousands
of pairs of feet that have trod it. The present combination woodshed, garage,
and storage room was built in 1934. Outdoor toilets are located to the rear of
the schoolyard. A well was drilled in 1926 for $295. Up to that time the water
supply was gotten from a neighboring farmer.

    The town clerk's reports to the County Superintendent from 1870 on show that
the yearly enrollment averaged between 50 and 60 from 1870 to 1906. The highest
enrollment occurred in the 1890's when about 65 pupils were in attendance. The
yearly enrollment averaged about fifty percent of the pupils of school age. By
the 1940's, this school had been affected by the decrease in the number of
children to a family just like other districts had, for by then the yearly
enrollment was only between 15 and 20 children out of a school census of 50.

    Most of the early settlers were German emigrants who became farmers. The
Newton assessment roll of 1856 lists J. Hochkammer, H. Bruckschen, G. Degenhart,
Fr. Sachse, P. Clausen, and C. Wernecke as early land owners in this area.
District residents prior to 1906 who served on the schoolboard were Carl
Wernecke, Wm. Schroeter, Carl Schmitz, Louis Groelle, F. Reinhardt, F. Schmitz,
F. Groelle, Albert Weyer, Carl Waak, Herman Heydrich, Henry Schmitz, H. C.
Wernecke, and A. Solveson.

    Two of the earliest teachers known to have taught in the old school near
Clover were Wm. Gielow and Robert Rudolph. Others who taught in the present
district were Thos. Coleman 1872-73; P. H. Martin 1874 to 1877 and again in
1879; J. P. Martin 1878; Robert Houkhol 1880; James Kennedy 1894; L. A. Schmitz
1895; Simon Wehrwein 1896-7; John Goldie 1898; John Arends 1904; and Carl
Wernecke 1905. The first teachers were paid only twice a year. There is no
record that a two term school year was common to the district, but very likely
there were spring or winter vacation periods when the weather and road
conditions were bad. Many of the early teachers became prominent in the business
circles of Manitowoc. A later teacher, Geo. Barthel, became Kewaunee county
superintendent of schools.

    In 1929, the fiftieth anniversary of the erection of the present school
building was commemorated with a community gathering and box social at the
school. Henry Fehrman, the oldest living pupil of that school, attended. Former
teachers were present and spoke briefly to the gathering. The funds realized
from the box social were used to buy a victrola.

    Newton town hall is located in this district. It was remodeled from an old
Methodist church, said to have been the first church in the town of Newton.


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/newtonno215gms.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/wifiles/

File size: 8.6 Kb