Ransom High School - Longhorn Yearbook (Ransom, KS)

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First School house, built in 1888 (Courtesy of Kansas State Historical Society.) of the construction and the stone used in the building was taken from his farm, six miles southwest of town. The town was very proud of this building. It faced the east and its one entrance opened into a narrow hall that ran clear across the east side. At the south end of this hall was the stairway to the second floor. At the north end was a small square room partitioned off, this room was called the Library. The rest of the first floor was divided into two large classrooms. the partition running east and west. The first teacher in the north room of this new building was John Sunley. This building was at first too spacious for the student body so the second floor was used by the city council for their meetings and also used for enter- tainment purposes. The Ransom grade school had two teachers. In the south room, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades were seated at desks running in rows from east to west. Each class when called upon to 1902 Grammar Room, used until 1954. recite came up to a long bench or row of chairs in front of the teachers desk at the east end of the room near the door to the hall. The same pattern was followed in the other classroom where the four upper grades were seated. The teacher of the higher grades was also the principal of the school. In 1907, there was some talk about establishing a high school in Ransom. It was to be comparatively inexpen- sive since space for it was available on the upper floor of the school building. A new and large high school district could be formed to bring in extra tax money to finance the extra cost and all the country school graduates could come to high school without paying tuition. Some approved and some thought that a school that taught a child to read, write, and figure was sufficient. What more did a farmer need? There was much argument and dis- cussion. One of the advocates for a high school was Dr. W.S. Grisell, the Ransom doctor. Dr. Grisell had a spe- cial counter set up in the S-D Mercan- tile Co., where he dispensed his drugs. He saw all the farmers who came into the store, and talked with them about the high school. Another person to give credit to in establishing the high school was Mrs. Florence (LaPlante) Dubbs, a country school teacher who was very devoted to the establishing of the high school. By 1909 the opinion had solidified and at the school meeting in the spring of that year, it was voted to organize a high school, beginning that fall. A teacher was founa, that being Mr. C.M. Livengood, who agreed to teach the four necessary high school subjects along with the four upper grades of the grammar school. Twen- ty-nine students were enrolled under Mr. Livengood, six of them for the high school courses. The second floor of the grade school was used for the high school classes. The subjects taught were, Latin, English, Ancient History, and Algebra. The members of the Freshman class were; Georgia Blocksome, Gladys Carroll, and Ag- nes, Minnie, and Albert Dubbs. Geor- gia dropped out at the end of the year and the remaining four made up the first graduation class of Ransom High School in 1913. As indicated earlier the first high school in Ransom was begun on tne second floor of the grade school. The attendance continued to grow until there was not sufficient room to ac- commodate this school building. The majority of the people decided the pu- pils needed more room, and voted bonds for $13,000 and built the fine new high school in 1915. This two story building was built on the south

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HISTORY OF THE RANSOM SCHOOL SYSTEM The wide level lands along the northern part of Ness County have always been called the Flats . Only a few years after settlements were made, the Flats came to be called the Dutch Flats because many of the early settlers were German-speaking. The very first locations were made along the trail from Ness City to Wa- keeney and the first settlers were all of one Pennsylvania-Dutch family, the Mast family from Berks County, Pennsylvania. In the fall of 1878, four men, John and Sam Mast, Jerry Young, and Pete Lawson and their families came to Ness County from Barton County, Kansas. They all made homestead lo- cations and built two sod houses for the Mast brothers. They then went back to Barton County for the winter. In the spring of 1879, the four families moved onto the Flats along the Wa- keeney road, which is now known as U.S. highway 283. They were joined here by the A. D. Baer family, and the elder Mr. Mast. Mr. Mast was the fa- ther of John and Sam Mast, as well as the father of Mrs. Young, Mrs. Law- son, and Mrs. Baer. In 1879 the Charles Schreiber family arrived on the flats . Following them, in 1880, were, Mrs. Schreiber's brother, Joseph Kraus and his family. They were ac- companied by the John Meik family. These families all arrived directly from Austria. Finally, in 1881, the last of the Mast's arrived. This being Emma (Mast) Moyer and her husband Franklin H. Moyer. The Young's and Lawson's moved away soon after set- tling, but all the rest of the Masts, as well as the Scherzinger, Schreiber, Kraus, Aeby, Ummel, Moyer, and Baer families stayed, and many of their descendents are still living in and around Ransom. Many are still farming their ancestors homesteads. The third group to settle on the Flats were the Swiss in 1882. Those who came were the Jacob Aeby fam- ilies and Abraham Ummel and his two sisters. Following them came the Amstutz families, the Rutschman and the Oppliger families, as well as the Julius Jaende family. Most of them arrived in Wakeeney on the Union Pa- cific Railroad and freighted down to Ransom. With this population explosion the need for a school became a press- ing one. So, in the winter of 1886, classes were held in a little sod house on the Jacob Aeby farm one-half mile east of what is now Ransom. The school board was composed of John Mast, Sam Mast, Sr., and Frank Moyer. The teacher was Mozelle Mul- vaney. The school term lasted only three months and even at that, there was not enough money to pay the teacher. On September 29, 1887, J. B. Bist- line, John A. Snodgrass, and Charles Horchem were elected to the office of school board. Then on October 31, 1887 a school district was formed in building, which had been built in 1888. This school had only one teach- er, Mr. J.M. (Clint) Bistline, who re- ceived $32.50 per month for his ser- vices. This school building stood just south of the east end of the present grade school and faced to the east. This first school building was used until 1902, when it was purchased and moved to be used as a church building Sod house of Frank and Emma (Mast) Moyer. Ogdensburg, (later to become named. Ransom), that being school district 71. With the organization of the school district and the completion of the railroad through Ogdensburg, there was enough money to pay the teacher, which again was Miss Mul- vaney. Money was sufficient enough to even pay Miss Mulvaney her back pay as well. According to the school daily term register of 1887, classes were held be- ginning November 21,1887 with Miss Cora Beardslee as teacher. This term ended January 13, 1888. Classes were held again from January 16th and ended February 15th. The roll of pu- fiils included; the Behymer children, enny. May, Oswald, and Rettie; the Carroll children, Charlie, Frank, Fred, and Walter; Franklin, Martin, and Re- becca Eshleman; David and Mary Field; Dollie and Fred Horchem; Da- vid, Martin, and Susanna Reiff; Otto Schell; Alman, Jacob, and Mary Young; Annie, Albert, and Mable Potts; and Emma Young. The first regular school term in Og- densburg began on September 3, 1888 and lasted until May 24, 1889. It was held in a new one room frame school by the Ransom Church of Christ. This building still stands on the Church grounds. The early 1900's were prosperous years in Ness County. The hard times of the 1890's had been overcome and the citizens were eager and financially able to improve their schools. Graded schools had been established in the smaller towns where before there had been only one-room ungraded schools. There was then but one high school in the County, at Ness City, the County seat. Since 1891 it had been offering two years's instruction beyond the 8th grade. There was great interest in education all over Kansas and the State began to take steps to standardize high schools, prescribe courses of study and specify require- ments for the entrance of graduates to colleges and universities. In 1907 the Ness City high school began offering the four years of high school specified by the State. In 1902 a new school building was built for the Ransom school system. This building was a large, two story, six room native stone structure, known as the Grammar Room. Henry Tilley was the stone mason in charge

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RHS HISTORY CONTINUED. - - High School built in 1915. edge of the present high school site. This building was composed of a study hall, an office, and two class rooms on the top floor; four class rooms on the main floor; and a gym, furnace room, one class room, and locker rooms for the girls and boys in the basement. As there were no res- troom facilities, everyone used the house out back when it was needed. In the fall of 1917, the grade school classes occupied the native stone structure witn the faculty as follows; Miss Jessie Morris of Salina, primary; Miss Rosa Vermillion of Ransom 3rd and 4th grades; Miss Mary Peters of Utica, 5tn and 6th grades and Frank Strickler, Principal and 7th and 8th grades. The high school faculty con- sisted of four teachers that year; L.W. Hampshire, Superintendent; Miss Dorothy Fitzpatrick, Latin and Math; Miss Mary E. Rubel, Normal Train- ing; and Miss Laura Mueller, Domes- tic Science and Art. The high school offered four courses; general, normal training, college preparatory, and do- mestic science and art. The following is an excerpt taken from the Ransom Record dated August 23, 1917: This is a better course of study than many of the larger schools offer. The par- ents have a right to be thankful that were; Peter Horchem, C.J. De Witt, and Dr. Grisell. Once again the students outgrew the school facility. In 1926 an addition was added onto the west side of the existing building. This addition con- sisted of a gym, stage, 2 dressing rooms and a boiler room on the ground floor; a balcony over the gym and one class room on the first floor; and five classrooms, offices, and a Li- brary study hall on the second floor. In later years, a kitchen was added to provide the students with hot meals. A hot lunch program was begun during the 1940’s and bus transporta- tion was added about 1958. In 1954 a modern brick school building with five classrooms, a gym, an office, and a kitchen was bunt to replace the native stone structure of 1902. This building is the present grade school building. Two class- rooms and a centralized library room were added in 1969 to serve the needs of the students in Kindergarten through grade six. An industrial arts building was built east of the high school in 1959. This replaced the basement room in the high school that was being used at that time for an industrial arts room. In the spring of 1960, the Arnold schools joined the Ransom district re- sulting in the high school attending at Ransom. The Brownell High School was also closed that summer with most of the High School students coming to Ransom and some going to McCracken. The following year the Brownell school joined the Ransom- Arnold district while maintaining an attendance center for grades one through eight in the former high school building. In 1961, the Ransom and Arnold Grade schools combined by having the students in grades 1-4 in the Ransom attendance center and the students in grades 5-8 in the Ar- nold attendance center. A Kindergar- ten class was added at the Ransom attendance center in 1962 for all of the Kindergarten students in the district. In 1966, a $700,000 bond issue was voted and passed for the construction of a new Ransom High School build- ing. And, later, a supplemental bond they can give their children a grade id high edu . The thing school successful is Everybody high education right here at home. The thing that makes every Boosting . Let’s be true to our best impulses and boost the Ransom schools. The members of the school board High School after 1926 addition.