Jim Ned High School - Warrior Yearbook (Tuscola, TX)

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Jim Ned School Jim Ned School was started by Sam Friend who came to Taylor County , and what is now the Rogers community in 1877 . He was interested in seeing a school develop and started a movement for a sub- scription school to be built. In 1878, a small one- room structure was erected near the old camp meeting grounds, where the Jim Ned community first held Methodist services in 1877 . The school was a round stnicture, built of pickets with a thatched roof, and no floor. School lasted onlya few months during the year. After enough students were found who wanted to go to school, CI believe about 121, Mr. Friend asked John Rumph, who was then 28 years old, to teach the first school. John Rumph was the second oldest son of David and Mary Rumph. who came from Georgia during days of reconstruction. At the time the school was taught, both David and Mary had died , and John taught school to help earn money to send his brothers back to Georgia for a medical education. After the first winter a log school was built. The very first school was called Ned after the Indian scout. In the early day it was also called Catclaw. When the school was consolidated, it became Rog- ers and was moved on the road near the present Rogers Methodist church and cemetery . Juanita Zachry Catclaw: A Two-Story Building Catclaw was a small two-story building located about seven miles east of Lawn. It began around 1910 and lasted to about 1918. The bottom floor was the school room and the top floor was the Woodman of the World Lodge . Catclaw was a nick- name for the school. It got this name from the many catclaw bushes in the area . The pupils did not have desks to sit in but used benches instead. About 45 to 50 pupils attended the school and one teacher taught grades one to eight. The school hours were 9 to 4. School only lasted 4 or 5 months out of the year. Most of the teachers stayed only a short period of time, two years at the most. The teachers were usually young and single women. Baseball was a popular sport with both boys and girls. The ball they used to play with was home- made. It was made of old socks and string. At recess t.he boys would play on one side of the build- ing and the girls on the other side. They would see- saw, jump rope , and play games such as Wolf over the river. On occasional Friday nights, spelling bees would be held which were always great fun. Rogers School, One of the First Consolidated Schools Rogers School was built in 1918 about six miles east of Ovalo on land donated by John Rogers. This school included Jim Ned and Catclaw . It was a three-room school with three teachers. The teach- ers divided up the classes equally. The subjects taught were reading, spelling, arithmetic, geogra- phy and grammar. The pupils liked school and were sad when the school term was over. The most fun thing to do was getting together six to ten couples, to go on a pic- nic. Most of the courting was done in groups. Picnics, dancing , and singing were about all the activities at that time . Bertha Rutland and Calvin Rogers interviewed by Becky Rutland i Catclaw School Ruth Adams, Bertha Morse, May Williams, Bernice Johnson, Lillie Wright, Sudie Hancock. Second Row: Wilson Morse , Clarence Edwards. I-lillin Hancock. Jack Wright, Neal Williams. Third Row: Carl Johnson, Sammy Johnson, Zanie Edwards, Talpa Walker, Marshall Wright, fsittingp Ernest White, Clyde Johnson, Claude Johnson. .. rv AH: 1 Rogers School Lemons Gap named after first settler In the southwestern part of Jim Ned Valley is a pass tltrough the mountains called Lemons Gap. This Gap was named after Mr. Henry Lemons, the first settler. Mr. Lemons saw that there was plenty of wood in the nearby hills, a big spring and free grass that would supply him. his family and his animals. Many people came by Mr. Lemon's home on the way to Buffalo Gap, so he thought it would be a good idea to stock a few groceries and start a store. This was the stan of the town. With families settling thicker all the time , it became evident that a school was needed. Henry Lemons gave the land for a schoolhouse on a high, dry, graveled cemetery hill where the cemetery is today . The schoolhouse served a dual purpose, church and school building. It was a one-teacher school. This was the earliest church in these parts. ' ' The church was a Union Church with all denominations represented meeting together. The

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ray'-A, -, 'If Buffalo Gap School-1920 Ovalo Rural High School-1941 Lawn High School-1946-47 South Taylor High School-1948-1957 ' ,t 2-A N We, the students of Jim Ned are proud to be American citizens and part of the heritage of our Jim Ned Valley. This year, in celebrating the Bicentennial we have chosen to give recognition to our community around us. Sometimes we as stu- dents tend to forget those who came here long ago and helped establish a foundation for the growth of our prospering communities today . No longer do we see the wagons, buggies with the parasols with fringe on top , fancy harness and horse nets or the old plow behind the plow horse. No more Saturday evening village ball games, hor- eshoe pitching, and horse swaping. The shade tree, wash tubs and rub boards are out. No more wood cook stoves. The farms that were small, now take in hundreds of acres operated by machines, tractors, plows, and irrigation equipment. We now have automatic dish washers , washers and dryers. Modern telephones, lights, gas, school buses to the door, and mail delivered to our homes. The schools have gradually changed through the ages. Beginning in 1920 Bethel school was the first to consolidate to Tuscola. At that time Tuscola was the first consolidated district in the county with two schools. But, there was still a problem of no school buses. Soon Cedar Gap, Bradshaw, and Ovalo schools consolidated . The school was then named South Taylor equipped with up-to-date accomodations including school buses. Consolida- tion was completed in 1957 , the school is now Jim Ned Independent School District. The thirty smaller schools that consolidated and the date when they were established are as follows: Old lim Ned 1877 uion 1893 Sandy Ridge Lemons Gap 1879 Audra 1894 Possum Trot Cedar Gap 1881 Dewey 1897 Mountain View Bluff Creek 1881 Red Lake 1898 Old Rogers Content 1884 Bethel 1904 New Rogers 1919 Old Tuscola 1884 Ned 1907 Tokeen Moro 1887 Ovalo 1909 Elm Creek Red Land Oak Lawn 1890 Lawn 1910 Valley Creek Bald Eagle 1892 Bradshaw 1910 Catclaw Tuscola 1910 Knight Jim New Ind. School Dist 1957 fFo11owing Historic Trails, Tuscola Homv Demon- stration Club, Tuscola, Texas. Vickie Lippincott

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church had several different denominational preachers. ln about 1880 , the church and school split and the school was called Guion. It was the only school between Buffalo Gap and Winters. In 1906 the school was moved to Guion, south of Lemons Gap. A couple of years later the church also moved to Guion but it was still called the Lemons Gap church. References: The Buffalo Trail 1922 Early Day Cedar Gap School Rattlesnakes at Cedar Gap - Rattlesnakes, barking prairie dogs in vil- lages, and yelping coyotes seemed to be numerous in early day West Texas commu- nities according to the stories told by the early settlers . Other early stories reported oil seeping out of the cedar-covered chain of mountains known as Cedar Gap. Although we have not been able to confirm this report, we do know the first school was erected in 1881 , a one-room log house scantily equipped. There were no desks: split logs were used for seats. The first writ- ten record obtainable on this school was the school year 1896-1897. The school term lasted 5 months, and the teacher was Miss Fannie McNees who received forty dollars a month. She taught thirty-nine students. This log school no longer remains but was located on land now belonging to Tom Gra- ham. The log school was replaced in 1900 by a IWO-SIOIY frame building which was erected across the road for the last school building that is still standing. The school was sup- plied with double desks. In 1917 another school building was erected at a cost of fif- teen hundred dollars. Constructed by Mr. R E Standard , the school was made of con crete blocks the blocks were made on the S116 The two room structure had a vestibule and cloak rooms on each side In 1922 play ground equrpment Front Row Left to Right Micheal Williams J T Lambert Mar Prnkson Laruee Williams Jean Kidd Third Row Lola O Con ion Graham Dillard Dodson Bill Graham J A Junior Wil ne 1 Arlene Lambert Rosa Lee Snodgrass hams Eugene Prnkston J G Williams Ray Graham Julius Rat Clara Bell Snodgrass Lonna Stanaland Wilford Kmght hen Sammy Stanaland Harvey Kmght Second Row Mildred Derwood Lambert Aldridge Powell Fourth Row Walter Pink TLu'ner Maxine Snodgrass Ima Jean Lambert Luella Prnkston ston Clarence Turner Tom Graham Earl Prnkston Teachers Vemia Dodson Eva Mae Holt Edna Reddell Lavene Miss Hester Smith Mrs Kate Causseaux ',V- . . . .- . . .. . .. . - . . . - . . . . . 5 , H . . . . . . . - ' . ' . . . ' '- 1.1. ' . . . 1 1 ' ' . . v 1 . ' v ' n 1 . . 1 1 , - - ' , ' , - l - f . . ' . - v . ' . : l l I l . 1 1