Vandercook Lake High School - Reviewer Yearbook (Jackson, MI)

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Early History Of The Vandercook Lake Schools By Fred L. Yoss At the Annual Meeting of fractional School District No. 10 of Jackson and Leoni September 25, 1848 - Selah Loomis Moderator and J, Waldren clerk protein the following were chosen officers for the ensuing year: Moderator, Thomas Vreelandg Assessor, William B, Josling Director, L. T. Higgins. The above minutes are the earliest available of what is now the Vandercook Lake Public Schools. The earliest record of any kind is a quitclaim deed to what is believed to be the earliest site, dated March 22, 1841, lt is difficult to locate the first site because of the unusual wording of the deed. Beginning at the southwest corner of the Ami Filley Land . . . is difficult to locate with any degree of accuracy inasmuch as land changes hand and boundaries are altered, Based on the records of that time, the site was located one-fourth of a mile north of present McDevitt Avenue and some distance west of present Oak Lane, a street running northerly from McDevitt just west of the US 127 overpass. Why the school was located so far from a road is somewhat puzzling, Perhaps there was a high- way of some sort 'near the school site, Many of the roads of that era were merely two parallel wheel tracks going where they were needed. Usually only those which followed section and half-section lines were legally established rights-of-way, So it must be assumed that there was a road near the school and both have disappeared from sight and memory, One might wonder why that location was selected, being so far removed from the center of population, But one must remember that there was no center ofpopulationw outside of Jackson in 1841 and that some ofthe district extended into Leoni township, At the 1849 annual meeting, September 24 , the following officers were elected: Moderator, Selah Loomisg Assessor, Owen Ellisong Director, Daniel O', Lee. However, lvlr, Lee's tenure was short because the record shows that on October 23 of that same year, L. T. I'iiggiI1S WHS appointed Director . . in place of Daniel O. Lee, deceased, It is apparent that all officers were elected each year because, in 1850, ll. H. Vandercook became Moderator, Ezra Davis, Assessor and Isaac Bennett, Director, ln later years officers were elected to three year terms, At that same meeting it was also voted to raise three dollars to repair and furnish the school house for the ensuing year! , At the 1851 annual meeting it was voted to a ' Ixlr, lli ins thirt '-ei tht cents, That was fol- O P 5 SS 5 5 lowed by a vote . . that the District reject all accounts for labor for the district by officers, Perhaps Mr, Higgins had been indiscreet, The elusive first school was obviously unsatisfactory because as early as lS5l an effort was made to build a new school, At a special meeting in October of that year it was . . motioned to locate the school house at Youniflox'e's corners. Lost. This was followed b ' a motion to . . . to Q D purchase one half acre of land on the East Side of Sec, 233 within 15 rods of quarter post on the East Side of Said Section 253. There was no record as to whether or not this motion carried or lost, llowever, a following motion to build a new school house lost.

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There evidently was considerable controversy about the location ofthe school as several attempts were made to place it in various areas, ln 1831 it was decided by a vote of 15 to 7 to locate the new school in the northwest quarter of Section 252, This vague description could be anywhere within a half mile square northwest ofthe present McDevitt School, ' Selecting a site was one thingy building a school house was another, Through the years, several attempts to authorize money for a new building were defeated again and again. The minutes of September 27, 18-BS, record that an effort to raise 5-101+ to build a new school LOSTQ to raise S5300 for a new school LOS'l'g to raise S13 for repairs to school LOSTg motion to ad- Journ CARRIIZD! The impersonal, faded writing in the crumbling record books do not mention the tensions among the citizens but the facts fail to hide them, Less than two weeks later, however, it was voted to raise S50 to purchase one half acre of land from Selah Loomis in the SE corner ofthe Nl? ll!! of Section 2511. A motion to rescind this action lost, lt was then voted to raise S300 for the new school. The above description placed the new school on the site of the IOOF lflall fthe old Draper Schoolj on the corner of McDevitt and Draper Road, The lowest bid for the building was 354120 and was accepted, lnasmuch as only 533011 had been , authorized, it was voted at the next annual meeting to spread S150 on the next year's taxes to make up the difference, The new building was to be Qi' x i3O', The old building was sold to Owen Ellison for S10 to be paid on or before January 1, 1359, The stove and stovepipc was sold for 15 on the same liberal terms - presumably without carrying charges, The new school served the community until the Draper school was built on the same site in 1891, ln the early years, the purchase of firewood was an important matter to be settled at the annual school meeting, along with the election of one of the three board members for a three year term, The cost' of firewood varied from a low of one dollar per cord to well over two dollars as the years passed by, ln many cases the contract for the wood went to a member of the board, The cost of fuel was on a par with teachers' wages and the specifications were often more rigid than those for the teacher, llere is a sample: Voted to raise money to buy fourteen cords of two foot wood for use of the school house, lt was further moved that , , Allen D, Lyons furnish the wood at two dollars 003 per cord the wood to be half seasoned and half green to be delivered and corded at the schoolhouse at or before the first day of November 1865, Until the latter part of the nineteenth century, the cost of operating the school was small in terms of dollars, llowever, the value of a dollar at that time was much greater than at present so it is difficult to make comparisons, ln 18415 it was voted to raise 323, OO for repairs to the school, ln 1868 Owen Ellison painted the school building for 3211, including the cost of the paint. ln 1883 an entry stated that the amount of money on hand at the end of the year was not any, The school patrons kept a collective eagle's eye on board members, ln 1883 it was decreed that the school board , , be instructed NOT to purchase a flag or other appendages without the vote ofthe district,