Greenbrier County, West Virginia - 160th Anniversary Booklet - Part 9 *********************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. *********************************************************************** Historical Booklet - Greenbrier County 160th Anniversary - 1778-1938 Published 1938 Transcribed by Lori Samples STILL STANDS THE SCHOOLHOUSE West Virginians, even in the early days when enemies both red and white were making difficult the mere matter of keeping alive, were ever anxious for their children to advance in learning. No matter how the selection of a schoolhouse site was made, in olden times, it was the same. Down on the broad river bottoms, in the valleys of smaller streams, or among the hills where was a bubbly spring or rippling brook, a spot handy to half a dozen or more cabin homes was agreed upon by the heads of the families. It was an old clearing which tradition said was "made by a man who was killed by the Indians or, tired of the wilderness, had gone back over 'the Ridge'" - the Blue Ridge. There, on the margin of that "improvement," an "old field" where half a dozen paths bisected, with the primitive forest in the rear and the plat of wild grass and tangled weeds in front, these men, advance guards of civilization, reared the schoolhouse. Rude structure it was; in size, perhaps 16 x 18 feet; the walls built of logs, sometimes hewn, but usually round, and from eight to twelve inches in diameter. The interstices were chinked with sticks and stones and daubed with clay. The roof of clapboards was held in place by heavy weight poles. The slab door hung on wooden hinges. The floor, if any, was made of puncheons split from the body of a large tree and hewn so as to have somewhat the quality of smoothness. A fireplace, ample as that of an ancient baron, spanned over half of one end of the building and was surmounted by a "cat-and-clay" chimney, not unlike a tall partridge trap, ever totering to its fall. Logs ten inches in diameter, split in halves, with pins or legs inserted in the oval sides, answered for seats. Along the side of the wall pins were inserted, and on them rested a broad slab sloping downward, used as a writing desk. One marvels at the fine handwriting which was the rule. Just above it, a log was chopped out and in its place was a long framework resembling sash for holding a single row of panes of glass, in the absence of which greased paper was sometimes pasted to admit the light. Such was the early "Old Field Schoolhouse." It was often used alike for day school instruction and divine worship, and in neither was it void of results. THE TEACHER In autumn, a stranger came into the community, and the report went from cabin to cabin that the school master had arrived. He was clad in the garb of the border. He brought no credentials from a big university. He was prepared to teach the three R's - and good living. He went from home to home, soliciting subscriptions, for he was to keep school for so much a "quarter" and "board round." The first week he stayed with John Yokum. The next week - well, the folks wondered where he would stay next. It was a pleasant diversion. With the help of one of John Yokum's boys, the school master put on a "back log" and built a roaring fire. William Jones was absent that first week, for his father did not get his shoes, owing to the fact that the leather "stayed green" too long in the tan trough. Martha Lawrence was not there either, for her mother did not get her linsey-woolsey frock made in time. Meanwhile, the master had made preparations for the "quarter" by cutting a bundle of switches in the nearby forest. When all was in readiness a stenorian voice cried "Come in to books!" In they went, with lunches in chip baskets made from the tough splits of the oak or hickory of the hills. Under some arms were copies of the English Reader and "Elementary Speller." And then - woe to be the one who provoked the wrath of him who presided over this temple of learning. We can see him standing by an apperture in the wall, called by courtesy a window, either mending pens or making new ones from the quills from the wing of the goose, the wild turkey or the eagle for some of the dozen children in his care, children who have in their number future mothers of famous men, statesmen, soldiers, leaders of embryo states to be hewn from the wilderness even farther west. Many pupils of Old Field Schools in land originally Greenbrier County made names for themselves in history. Jesse Quinn Thornton wrote the first constitution of Oregon. Lorenzo Waugh gathered the first Methodist congregation ever assembled in the Sacremento Valley. James T. Farley went west, became a United States senator from California. Milton Humphries, raised on Anthony's Creek, later attended Washington & Lee University and the University of Virginia and was one of the most brilliant Latin and Greek scholars and teachers in America. There were many others. These old Field Schools were a might factor in civilization. THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM Greenbrier's schools, originally, were on a "Pay System" basis. Later, the schools were part pay-part free. West Virginia was admitted into the Union June 20, 1863, and on June 24 Hon. John M. Phelps, President of the Senate, appointed a Senate committee of Education. Thomas K. McCann, of Greenbrier, was on that committee. Hon. William R. White was elected the first State Superintendent of Free Schools June 1, 1864. So well did he serve that he won for himself the title of "The Horace Mann of West Virginia." In Greenbrier, Zachariah Trueblood was the first County superintendent. The idea of public education steadily became popular. In order, such enterprising and successul men as Walter C. Preston, Judge J. M. McWhorter, William Lewis, and Hon. Thomas H. Dennis were elected county superintendents. In 1881 J. W. Hinkle, a young man of exceptional ability, was chosen for the office, and his eight years of service saw the system forging ahead rapidly. He was followed by E. D. Smoot, 1888-91; W. F. Lawrence 1891-1895; Alex. Thompson, 1895-99; and L. W. Burns, 1899-1903. Charles Tabscott served 1910-12. W. F. Richardson was in office in 1914-18. L. O. Haynes served 1918-22. A. R. Thompson again served as superintendent 1922-30. He was followed by W. E. Scott, the present incumbent. PRESENT PROGRAM It is a far cry from the early pioneer schools to the modern day well-equipped schools which serve the people of Old Greenbrier today. At present, there are four Model Elementary Schools, 17 First Class Elementary Schools, and two Second Class Elementary Schools, making a total of 23. There are 105 one-room schools, a reduction of 55 in the last seven years. Greenbrier has 147 school buildings. There are 10 first class High Schools, one Second Class School, and one Junior High School in the county. Three hundred forty-five white teachers and 24 colored teachers are employed. Over seven thousand elementary pupils and approximately 3000 high school pupils, a total enrollment of over 10,000, receive expert instruction in the free schools of Greenbrier County. NEXT: THE OLD LEWISBURG ACADEMY