Plymouth High School - Mayflower Yearbook (Plymouth, IN)

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 L Michael’ Academy SCHOOLS Th» a the name of a Catholic institution il learning established in Plymouth in UN The building u and» on Center trrei near the courthouse «quare, la of hock. substantially built, well arranged (or Ibe purpose lor which ii i» umxI. and coot about fl2.C00 The management of the school is under the immeihaie supervision at the Sister ofThe Hdy Oou from Si Maty s, Si Joseph county, who have spared m effort during the past thirty -«even year» of M existence to make H what II Is. a first da» academy of learning, an honor to the town and the denomination through whoac liberality it was fnundnl N E W CA THOUC SCMOOC EAST SIDE W hen the lir t settlerscame to Manduill county Indiana had r v hi J system and Mich school as were taught were conducted according to I hi will and pleasure uf the school master, who wa employed by those of the neighborhood having children to s«nd t him There were nocounly school superintendents then no «choc oil leers no srhoolhouses. and no public M-hool funds There wa then, as there are now , a Urge proportion of the pioneer who labors and influence have been the mean» of giving us our presen unexcelled puldic school system There were others, a there ar Mime now who IxTieved with iXigherry. that ’ education shoul cum ti nature'’ They are of that class who beheve with one Mvikespear s characters when he said loan educator of the olde time: •Thou ha most traitorously corrupted the youth of the realm I erecting a grammar school and whereas tx-toro. our forefather had no other books but the score and tally, thou hast cause printing to be used, and contrary to the king, his tTown an dignity thou hast built a paper mill It will lie proved to thy fac that thou hast men about thee that usually talk of a noun and verb and such abominable word as no (liratum ear can endur to hear! It w a thought by these men that to learn to read and write an ’’cipher ' wa the chief rnd of man When there were in a neigl tux-hood .1 sufficient number of children large enough to find the way through the woods to the schoolhouse preparation wrr made for the w inter s term The building of a schoolhwne was th first thing in order The neighbor» got tugelher and selected suitable location, as convenient as possible for all concerned plan wa ik.iwn for the tuilding and everybody interested agree to meet on the grounds at the time drsignated for the work to t begun (’bopping axes to fell the trees, broad axes with whirh t hew the logs yoke» of oxen to haul the timber to the place whei the building was to be erected, inch augers to bore hole whet needed to pm together Joists and rafter and uch othrr tools I were necessary and could tir secured were provided It didn't tal long for the horny handed sons of tod of the neighborhood to g out the material and erert a budding twenty by thirty feet, afl complete It tor occupancy The school kidding of which we spea wan of the dimension named, and wa rrrctrd an a high rise ground on the larm then owned by Vincent Hrownlee. half a mi east of w here he and hi family resided a mde or so from Lai Muxmkuckee It was provided with a ’ punrbron floor and clapboord roof A chimney of nigger Tie ads and oak ala daubed with mud. was huilt on the outside of one end. and puncheon door hewn out of poplar timber fastened together wi wooden pin and hung on leather hnges, was placed in the otb end of thr building The latch was made of wood, fostrnrd on tl inude of the door, to which was attached a leather string whu was pasxd through a small hole an inc h or so above, so that wh the String was pulled from the outside thr latch would tie ruised t out ol t he slot on t he cheek of thr door, the door would open «xnd t pupil would walk in These were the door fastening in univer Use at that lime And I his » how onginated the saying comeai see u , you will find the latch string out. Thr latch stni hanging through a hole on thr outside wa» an emblem hospitality such as only the pioneer of those day knew o w« how to dispense Therr were no locks and keys on the door those days The latch string w a ah»ay out All you hud to do w to pul) it. walk right in and make yourself at home The cracks t etween the log wrrr chinked and pinned and fill up with mud to keep the cold out A log on each side of t schoolhouse and at the end opposite the fireplace at the prof bright, wa cut cut a short distance from the corner and aorv as windows to lurnish light for the room There wa little or glass in this part of the country ut that time. and. whether the w a or not. it w as too expensive and money was too scarce to f ha of indulging in such a modern inv cntion a that. and o a sort rctigh wooden trame was put in with slats upright to which wi pasted old newspapers, alter which they were greased so a make them a transparent as possible In front of these wtndov on the inside, were placed long puncheon ' I there wax no luml -16- I Mc. H V, '9

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PLYMOUTH. •MS 1876 19 6 -IS- ■imh(f»ilf; Kthel 1. WiUfong, ninth grade. Carrie K. Baker, with and seventh grades ; Kldora Carpenter, seventh and eighth grades; Helen (iond, eighth grade. Ida M ll«m«, ninth grade. A complete library hu been attached to the schools of Plymouth, and every apfdi- anoe that woukl in anjr ».iv advance the interests of student supplied, to tlial mi the achool ia one of the Boat thoroughly equipped in the land. A reference to the illustration» mil give our reader an recel- lent vie of all thrive buildings, and «till illustrate the fact that Plymouth » well taken care of in matter of education. l'lvmouth alao Itaa the St Michaels Academy, which ia a Catholic institution. Tli» academy is well supplied with able instruct ova. sKSiiih.Mi. or mot', n. a, oiau;

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then) writing desk , in front of which wore high seats for the accommodation of such as might be advanced to the writing grade There were rough benches without backs far the children to sit upon, and how the little fellow »' spinal columns did ache before school was “let out for the day no one who has never gone through such an experience will ever know. Auger holes were bored in the logs in convenient places and wooden pins driven tn on which to hang hats, bonnets and clothing. The grounds about the building were nicely cleared up. the logs and brush burned, and the play-ground for Jumping, foot races, wrestling matches, bull pen and town ball was properly laid out. and a good big pile oI wood cut and piled up a convenient distance from the door to last during the winter term A well was dug and curbed up with red oak boards, a well sweep was added to which waa attached at the lower end of a long hickory pole which was fastened to the top end of the sweep. and old fashioned wooden bucket Mow that well and the sweep and e'en the rude bucket which hung in the well is remembered. and how vividly comes back the memory of that good old song: How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood When fond recollection presents to my view The orchard, the meadow, the deep tangled wild-wood And every loved spot which my infancy knew The w »de spreading pond and the mill that stood by it. The bridge and the rock where (be cataract fell; The cot of my father, the dairy house nigh it. And e'en the rude bucket which hung in the well. The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket. The moss-cove red bucket which hung ui the well The buildings and grounds and other necessary conveniences having been provided, the next thing in order was to blaze the way to the schoolhouse from the homes of the parents having children to send to school At that time there were no road» except •trails made by the Indians, of whom there were still quite a number in the county These trails were by-paths through the woods leading from one Indian village to another, and to the various lakes and rivers in the northern part of the state Indians, you must know, always went ••tandem , that is one after the other, and in this way the trail was sometimes worn down several inches. They wound around through the woodi. avoiding swamps, bilk and fallen timber as much as possible. Some of these trails are still in existence—one through a section of unimproved Land near Twin lakes, that we hare seen, and there are doubtless others about Maxinkuckre lake, and in the vicinity of Tippecanoe river, both of which were favorite resorts far the noble red man, from w horn the lands here were stolen, after which he waa driven by the government out west to grow up with the country. The nearest route to thr school house was selected, when the trees at convenient places were blazed, that is. a man with an axe chipped the bark off about aa high aa his head on both sides of the tree so it could be seen both gomg and coming Lots and brush were removed, and by following these blazed trees the young scholar. as he was called, had no difficulty tn finding his way to the seat of learning The schoolhouse and grounds having been duly and truly prepared, the next step was for those having children to send to school to select by common consent, a master to take charge of the children who were to compose the school. There were no professors or superintendents of schools, or instructors or teachers then. Those early educators were always known as schoolmasters ‘ until Edward Eggleston changed the name to Hocaier Schoolmaster in his charming story of that name, written in the early history of the state There were no professional schoolmasters then Those who taught school simply did so to pass away the long winter months when there was very little work on the farm to do He was generally a resident of the neighborhood who was supposed to have attained to a higher grade of educational knowledge than his neighbors, and whose skill in manipulating the birch rod was known to be all that the most enthusiastic advocate of corporal punishment could desire PHS 1876-1976 —17 It was also deemed necessary that he should be provided with a pen knife and that he should be able to make a quill pen. for. be it known, at that time steel and gold pens had not found their way into this part of the country, and it is possible that pern made of metals had not then been invented, at any rate, all the records in the various offices in this cotmty. all the bookkeeping in com- mercial transactions, and all the letters, both of a business and social nature, at that time were written with a quill pen. and it was corendered quite an accomplishment to be able to make, out of a goose quill, a pen that would enable the writer to do his work in a satisfactory manner. Some of the finest penmanship we have ever seen can be found on some of the early records of Marshal) county made with qpuill pens In the Auditor's office some of the records made by the then auditor are equal to any ever made since with gold or steel pens. In the clerk's office William G Pomeroy left some fine quill pen record» Samuel C Sample was one of the three commissioners who organized the county June A. 1M6 He afterwards served as judge of the circuit court until October 19. 1843 He was an ex- cellent penman, and his signature to the last court record on Order Book A. page 673. written with a quill pm, is equal to the famous signature of John Hancock to the Declaration of In- dependence Moat of the ink used in those days was of domestic manufacture A solution of pokeberry Juice boiled down was sometimes used Black walnut hark boiled w water until it became as thick as syrup was the basis for much of the ink used in the country schools A solution of copperas was added, after which it was reduced to the proper thickness by pouring into the whole a quantity of hot water After a cornu)taboo had been held and an agreement reached as to who should be the schoolmaster, and how much salary he ought to have for the quarter's term, a subscription paper was circulated through the neighborhood to ascertain how many chiWkren would be subscribed to attend during the winter The amount it was decided each one would pay was determined by dividing the total amount the master was to receive by the number of scholars' subscribed The amount generally agreed upon was from IIS to 130 per month, and the master was to board around among his scholars, dividing the time as nearly equal as convenient. The first day of school was a day long to be remembered The nearest resident to the schoolhouse was on hand early and had the building well warmed with a great btg crackin' fire long before the appointed hour for school to take up By nine o'clock the scholars were all on hand ready for the opening of the misade against the citadel of ignorance. No record of attendance was kept, and so. of course, there were no tardy marks recorded against any of those composing the school There were very few school books to be had. and those in use had been transmitted through several generations. Webster's Elementary spelling book. Pike's or Smith's arithmetic, the Columbian Orator. Weem s Life of Washington, and the Life of Francis Manon, Undly Murray s or Kirkham s grammar, comprised the books used in the curriciium of those days, and at no time were there enough to go around Each pupil in attendance was permitted to study such branches as he saw fit, or all of them if he thought he could master them The larger number, as a rule, were in what was called the A B C class, and special efforts were put forth that the members of this class mastered this part of the course of study, and advanced and gained some insight into spelling in words of one syllable before the last day of school The reading class was arranged so that all those who were able to read could be accommodated whether they were provided with books or not The class was seated on a long bench, and the lesson was so arranged that half a dozen of the scholars could use the same book Theheadof the class would rise to his or her feet, read the first paragraph and hand the book to the next In line Thus progress was made without unduly disturbing his neighbor, and was continued until alt had read around and until the lesson for the day had been fully mastered